Margaritifer Basin (Margaritifer Trilogy Book 1)
Page 99
“No. Sue attempted to grow over a hundred cultures from stuff we picked up. Nothing. Nada. Not one of them grew anything. And all the cultures she grew from earthborn organisms died almost instantly when taken outside.”
“Maybe the Martian bugs just didn’t like what she was feeding them.”
He chuckled. “Possibly, but I’m more inclined to think there aren’t any Martian bugs. It’s a dead rock in space. Nothing will live there without life-support.”
“Then why are we standing here frying our hides?”
“Good question. Beats me.” He switched the UV lamps off and retrieved a couple packages of fresh clothes that were bungeed to the bulkhead. He handed one to Abby. “Yours. Let’s get dressed and get out of here.”
“Works for me.”
Upon entering the commons, they found Gabe sitting at the dining table nursing Ghita and Susan in the kitchen. “How’s it going,” said Jeff.
Gabe groaned. “Well, after Ghita and I both lost our cookies, it’s a little better. At least she’s nursing.”
Susan turned around. “I gave Gabe 25 mg of promethazine. That should reduce the nausea. It’s contraindicated for children under two, but the miniscule amount that gets into Ghita from Gabe’s breast milk shouldn’t hurt her, and may reduce her nausea as well. It’s just going to take her a while to adjust. But, like Gabe said, at least she’s nursing.”
Jeff nodded. “There is that to be thankful for. Gabe, are you going to be in shape to help us with this MAV jettison and TEI?”
“Yeah, I think so. You just need to give me an hour or two to readjust to space, and let me see if I can get her to sleep.”
He smiled. “No problem. Eleven hours to jettison and twenty-four to TEI. Take your time.” He turned back to Susan. “And what are you doing?”
“Making breakfast.”
“Ah, now there’s a good idea. Either of you been in the CM yet?”
Susan shook her head. “No. We just got here.”
“Yeah, right. Uh, Gabe, you want me to setup Ghita’s bed while we’re waiting for breakfast?”
“Sure. Thanks. It’s floating somewhere in my room. While you’re in there could you also grab the baby harness? It’s in my bottom dresser drawer.”
“Rog.” He headed for the truss.
“Oh, Jeff?”
“Yeah.”
“There are also a dozen diapers in that drawer. Could you bring me one?”
“Sure.” He pulled into the truss, then into Gabe’s room, pulled down a tray attached to the bulkhead beside the bed and latched it in place. Then he retrieved Ghita’s carrier – and crib – which was floating near the ceiling, placed it on the tray, strapped it down, opened it and locked the hinges. Then he retrieved the harness and a diaper, and returned to the commons. “Here you go. Crib’s all setup.”
“Thanks.”
Jeff took a seat at the table next to Gabe just as Abby and Susan arrived with covered trays and coffee sippers. He took Gabe’s tray. “Here, let me help you.”
“Thanks.”
He pulled the cover off. “Ah, Breakfast Skillet. Hash browns, scrambled eggs, sausage, peppers, and onions. Want me to feed you or can you manage?”
She smiled. “I think I can manage.”
He set the tray back in front of her, and started in on his own. “I like this stuff.”
Gabe, with her mouth full, mumbled, “I’m starving.”
“Yeah, me too. Abby, after breakfast would you like to help me get that returnables crate stowed in the CM, then we can check it out and make sure everything is in proper working order after sitting in space for a year and a half.”
“Yeah, sure.”
“Then we can start in on the MAV jettison checklist.”
He took a sip of coffee. “I’d guess it’s gonna be another early morning tomorrow. That TEI checklist is pretty long.”
“Speaking of TEI,” said Susan.
“What about it?” said Jeff.
She drifted over to the counter and pulled a box out of a drawer. “Time to change the clocks.”
He groaned. “Oh god. It’s got to be what? About 0330 in Greenwich? This adds a whole new dimension to jet lag.”
Susan drifted back to the table and opened the box. “Hand them over.”
They all handed their red-crowned Speedmasters to her, and she disbursed the blue-crowned ones. They all wound them.
Gabe glanced over her shoulder at the instrumentation display. “0335 in 40 seconds.”
They each set their watch.
“And… mark.”
Abby shook her head. “It’s gonna be a long day.”
Jeff chuckled. “Yeah, well, following TEI we won’t have a lot to do except drift through space for seven months. We can sleep then.”
“Won’t have a lot to do?” said Gabe. “Speak for yourself.”
He smiled. “Relax, we’ll help.”
Wednesday, March 14, 2018
1453 UTC (T plus 722 days)
“Three minutes… mark,” said Gabe.
Jeff nodded. “Rog. Newport, Ares, three minutes to MAV jettison.” He sighed. “You know, I’ll sure be glad when we get close enough to Earth for a real time conversation. This sending postcards doesn’t work real well.”
Abby chuckled. “After reading the Apollo transcripts, I’ll bet there were times when the astronauts just wanted to say, okay CAPCOM, we’ve got it, would you just shut up for a while.”
He laughed. “I think there were a few times when they did say something like that.”
“Gabe,” said Abby, “we’ve got a good integrity check on the MAV tunnel. I’m gonna vent now and leave it there.”
“Rog.”
“Sue,” said Jeff, “do you have a camera on the MAV?”
“Yes.”
“Gabe,” said Abby, “are we Go for Logic Bus Arm?”
“You’re Go.”
“Rog.”
“You’re also Go for Pyro Arm and jettison.”
“Rog. Ten seconds.” There was a soft bang. “There she goes.”
“Newport, Ares,” said Jeff, “we have MAV jett at 15:08:09. Chrissie, send Grumman a case of champagne with our compliments. She didn’t serve us for long, but she served us well.”
“Two feet per second,” said Gabe.
“Rog,” said Abby.
“Okay, Abby, in fifteen minutes burn us minus-X with the RCS about two feet per second. That’ll give us some separation.”
“Rog.”
“And about five minutes after that, maneuver to preliminary TEI attitude.”
“Got it.”
“Sue,” said Jeff, “how’s the munchkin doing?”
“Just fine. Sound asleep.”
“I wish we didn’t have to knock her out for this,” said Gabe.
“If we’re suited up, she needs to be boxed up.”
“Just two more times,” said Jeff. “About twelve hours from now, then seven months from now. Then we’ll all be home.”
“Yeah,” said Gabe, “that’ll be nice.”
“Uh huh. Okay, as soon as we’ve got this wrapped up, let’s get some supper, turn in, and get a few hours’ sleep.”
“That sounds good.”
Thursday, March 15, 2018
0338 UTC (T plus 723 days)
“Hey Gabe?” said Jeff.
“Huh?”
“Do you remember that conversation in the Apollo 11 Flight Journal between Armstrong, Collins, and Aldrin just before their TEI? The one about which way to go?”
“Yes. That was funny.”
“What was it Aldrin said?”
She chuckled. “Shades of Gemini retrofire, are you sure we’re – No, let’s see – the motors point this way and the gases escape that way, therefore imparting a thrust that-a-way.”
He laughed. “That’s it. When I read that I was rolling on the floor.”
“Yes, well, you’re easily amused.”
“Gee, thanks. So we’re going to burn progra
de.”
“Yes, dear. Just command, and let Abby and I do the flying.”
“Okay.”
“TGO nine minutes.
“How’s it look?” said Abby.
Gabe nodded. “Fine. Do you need to trim again?”
“No. We’re good.”
“Well, so long Mars,” said Jeff. He craned his neck forward a bit to look out the window past Abby. “It looks about the same as we found it.”
“It’s not,” said Abby. “Now it has our footprints on it. It’ll never be the same.”
“At least the sun’s up and we can see it. Ought to be coming up on the station pretty soon.”
“A little before 9:00 a.m. down there,” said Gabe. “Time for breakfast.”
“Yeah. Sue, how much food did we leave down there?”
“Oh, about half a ton.”
“Guess we didn’t eat as much as we thought we would.”
“Not quite.”
“Eight minutes,” said Gabe.
Jeff, Gabe, and Abby sat staring out the window for a short while.
“Anything anyone is going to miss?” said Jeff.
After a moment, Gabe said, “Christmas was nice.”
“Yeah. But I think it’s better at Wrentham House.”
“Uh huh.”
“I know one thing I’m not gonna miss?”
“What’s that?”
“Having to suit up to go outside.”
There was a round of agreement.
“Falling in craters,” said Abby.
“What?” said Jeff. “You’re not just dying to visit that crater in Arizona?”
“Not on a bet.”
“I’m not going to miss putting Abby’s leg back together while reading the instruction manual,” said Susan.
“Seven minutes,” said Gabe. “Abby, you about ready for bus ties?”
“Whenever you are.”
“Rog. Bus ties on. TVC servo Power 1 to AC1, 2 to AC2.”
“1 and 2 to AC1 and 2.”
“Translation Control Power, On.”
“On.”
“Rotation Control Power, Normal, number 2, AC.”
“AC.”
“Arm Rotation Controller, number 2.”
“Armed.”
For five minutes they worked through the checklist.
“Two minutes. Delta-V Thrust A, Normal,” said Gabe.
“Normal,” said Abby.
“Translation Controller, Armed.”
“Armed.”
“Newport, Ares, we’re just under two minutes from TIG,” said Jeff.
“Gabe,” said Abby, “where’s the MAV?”
“About 75 kilometers behind us and four kilometers above.”
“Rog, that’ll do. Wouldn’t want to run into it.”
“That could only happen if you’re going the wrong way. Ninety seconds.”
“Rog.”
“Standby for 6 minute 15 second booster burn.”
“Sue, how y’all doing down there?” said Jeff.
“Fine. I wish I had a window.”
“In a few minutes there won’t be much to see. Mars will be in the rearview mirror.”
“Coming up on one minute. And… mark,” said Gabe.
“Jeff, you’re holding your breath again,” said Susan. “Stop it.”
He breathed. “Sorry.”
They all sat silently for a moment.
“30 seconds… mark,” said Gabe. “DSKY is blanks. EMS is in Normal.”
“Rog,” said Abby.
“Coming up on 15 seconds. Standby.”
“Rog.”
“Okay, here we go. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, ignition.”
“Ignition. We’re burning.”
“Thank God,” said Jeff.
“Ah, gravity,” said Gabe. “Tank pressures are good. Abby, how’s it look?”
“Gimbals are good, attitude is good, rates are damped out. I think this ship handles much better than the Apollo CSMs because it’s a lot heavier. Doesn’t whip around as much.”
“Rog.”
“Yeah, gravity,” said Jeff. “Except it’s backwards. I hate flying eyes out.”
“Whiner.”
“You ever fly eyes out in an F/A-18?”
“Not if I could help it.”
“10 seconds,” said Gabe. “And, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, shutdown.”
“Shutdown,” said Abby.
“Okay, give me a second. Um, 6,994 meters per second. Bingo! Right on the money. We are on our way home. Next stop – Earth.”
Jeff sighed. “I’ll tell you, after sitting in space for a bit over two years, I was just praying that booster would light. Nailing the mark is even better.”
“A lot better.”
“Newport, Ares, we have shutdown and 6,994 meters per second. We’re on our way back,” said Jeff.
“Abby, ready for booster sep?”
“Any time.”
“Pyros, Arm.”
“Armed.”
“Sep.”
“Sep.”
They all watched an aft facing view from one of the Sundancer’s rear cameras.
“There she goes,” said Abby.
“Opening at two feet per second,” said Gabe. “Five minutes to 30-second SPS burn.”
“Rog.”
“Abby, give it two minutes than turn us around plus Y and trim.”
“Rog.”
“Okay, that’s it,” said Gabe. “7,094 meters per second. Abby, trim the residuals.”
“Not much to trim, but okay… Alright, we’re plus or minus 0.1 on all axis.”
“Excellent. Nice driving. Okay, let’s shut all this down, do a P52, and get out of here. Sue, how’s my baby?”
“Starting to come to.”
“Can you hold her until Abby and I secure from this evolution?”
“Sure. But if she’s hungry, that’s something you will have to deal with. Sucking on my boobs would just frustrate her.”
Jeff chuckled. “Now there’s an image I’m gonna have to think about for a while.”
Gabe punched him in the shoulder.
“Ouch.”
“Would you stick to the business at hand, and put away your prurient instincts until later.”
“Uh, yeah, sure. Whatever you say.”
“Right answer.”
He grinned at her. “Yeah. Well, what say we get this wrapped up, get something to eat, and get some rest?”
“An excellent idea.”
#
Jeff climbed through the hatch into Gabe’s room and floated over to her bed. “You awake?”
“Uh huh.”
“How are you doing?”
“Still trying to get re-acclimated to space, but otherwise okay.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean. How’s the little one doing?”
“She cries whenever I try to put her down, so I’m going to keep her here with me until she falls asleep, then try again.”
“Yeah, I suppose it’ll take her a while to get used to zero-g. We can reason through it, but she’s probably pretty mystified.”
“And afraid.”
“Yeah, that too. One more thing we’ll have to explain when she gets a little older.”
“Too bad no one has come up with suspended animation yet. This would be a lot easier if we could all just go to sleep and wake up seven months from now.”
He chuckled. “That’s a fact. Well, I’m gonna turn in too. If you need anything just pound on the wall.”
She took his hand. “Would you lie here with us for a while.”
“Thought you’d never ask.” He undressed and slid into the bed, cuddling with Gabe, and Ghita tucked between them.”
Gabe kissed him. “That’s better.”
And 117 million miles from Earth, traveling through the void of space at over 15,000 miles per hour, they slept.
Thursday, March 22, 2018
0815 UTC (T plus 730 days)
Jeff got up from the breakfast table, drifted to the kitch
en, and refilled his coffee cup. On the way back he noticed a red flashing light on the communications console. “Anybody check the mail this morning?”
He got a chorus of “No’s.”
He opened the message folder. “Something here from Chrissie. Must have come in last night.”
“What is it?” said Abby.
“I dunno, but it’s entitled ‘Good news. You’re gonna love this.’” He opened the message, and read it aloud.
032218 0447UTC
To: Ares
From: Chrissie
Subj: Good news. You’re gonna love this.
Our old friend, Senator Landers, convinced Congress that, given the success of the mission to date and the enormous public interest in Ghita and what life is like on Mars, it would be in the government’s best interests to do what it can to see to it that you all return to Earth safely.
“Well that’s thoughtful of them,” said Gabe.
Jeff chuckled. “Yeah.”
As a result, Congress passed a bill amending the budgets for both the Defense Department and NASA to provide funding for return and recovery operations. NASA is staffing one of their currently unused MCCs at Houston on a part-time basis and will begin tracking you, and consulting with us on a regular basis with regards trajectory and course corrections. They are also going to take a look at our re-entry checklists and profile, just to confirm that we don’t goof somewhere along the way. Heidi and I had a lengthy chat with Houston yesterday about splashdown locations. We’ve tentatively agreed on 16º 39.0’ N, 161º 29.4’ W, and a splashdown time of around 1930 UTC. That location is about 500 miles southwest of Hawaii and 500 miles east of Johnston Atoll, give or take. Now, that’s all subject to change due to weather conditions at the time. But, for now, that’s the plan.
The Navy has tentatively slated the USS Makin Island (LHD-8), a Wasp-class amphibious assault ship, to handle the recovery. They will be fully equipped with helicopters, divers, boats, medical personnel, etc. to handle the recovery in basically the same manner as the Apollo recoveries. The only disadvantage to that is that the Makin Island has no aircraft onboard capable of transporting all of you to Hawaii. So, you’ll have to spend a couple days onboard making the transit to Pearl Harbor. But since the government is picking up the check, seems a small price to pay.