Jordan Green and Lane Blake were selected to set up planetary defense systems, and to man the defense systems on the ship should the need arise. Mark and Leona Black were selected to provide medical services both on the ship and once on Mars. Shai Jackson was to be the cook on the ship, and to lead the terraforming process on Mars. Bob and Cindy Fink were selected to aid Shai on Mars. Cindy would run the communications on the ship, and her husband would be in charge of navigation. Heath Goodbar would aid him. John and Jane Johnson were to assist Jordan and Lane on the ship with weapons systems, and would begin the mining operations on Mars. To assist the Johnson siblings, Becky Garcia would be in charge of the refining operations on Mars. Loni Williams and Notah Yazzie were selected by Scout to continue the construction process and assist the robots. Lin Chin was to assist the Blacks as a nurse. Jordan had requested more military, and Scout approved Jack White, Joanne Clay, and Clive Walker. The eighteen people began the long trek from Portland to the spaceport in Upham, New Mexico.
They had loaded everything they would need into six semi-trailers, and Scout, Jordan, and Lane drove the trucks down the interstate. The truck that Scout drove had three trailers. Jordan’s had two, and Lane’s was a single. The rest of the crew drove their own vehicles to the spaceport. These vehicles were powered by a combination of solar and electrical power. Petroleum products had been exhausted ten years earlier, so any vehicle which required fuel ran on either ethanol or methane, and both of those were very expensive. The group had twelve vehicles that they would use on Mars. More vehicles would need to be built on Mars with Martian resources.
The cargo of the first set of trailers consisted of all of the colonists’ belongings. The total weight of the ship was very important; members were only allowed to take certain items with them. Each person was allowed to take a mattress, but not a frame or box spring. They were allowed twelve outfits and two pairs of shoes, but no hangers or boxes. People were allowed to take lightweight food preparation and serving equipment, so long as it was not too fragile, but not more than twelve total pieces. They were all allowed to take one communications device, and Scout promised them that they would work on Mars. One weapon was allowed per colonist, and one box of ammunition. They were also allowed to take three pieces of personal property with them, so long as the total weight of those items did not exceed 100 kilograms.
The first set of trailers was set up to be living quarters once on board the ship. All of the colonists’ belongings were vignetted so that the trailer resembled several bedrooms. Everything was bolted to the floor of the trailer both to prevent shifting during transit and to keep them from floating away in the reduced gravity of space. The things that could not be bolted down because they needed to be accessed were all magnetized.
The second set of trailers was loaded with the things that the colony would need to survive. Water was stored in 1000-liter tanks, and a water desalination system was stored next to the water. The colonists also took 500 kilograms of soil to be used in the biodome for plants. More soil would be brought later. Animal eggs and embryos were stored in cryogenic freezers to await incubation on Mars. Medical supplies, like vaccines and other drugs along with equipment, were stored in the front third of the fifth trailer. That trailer also stored seeds and. Many insects were also on this trailer, such as bees, ants, ladybugs, and flies. The colonists had wanted to avoid taking pests, but flies are useful for breaking down waste.
The final trailer was exclusively devoted to technology. The vast majority of the technology was weapons, but there were also communications and research devices on board the final trailer.
The convoy traveled south and then east down the interstate. They traveled first on I-5 from Portland to Los Angeles. They merged onto I-40 a little east of Los Angeles. As they left the pacific coast, Scout addressed the group on the radio. He had an encrypted frequency that was exclusive to his group. Everyone heard him simultaneously.
Scout said, “We’re on the final leg of this journey. Once we get on that ship, there’s no turning back. Anyone who is unsure about this mission needs to let me know your feelings now. There’ll be no rescue if anything goes wrong, and we’re on our own from now on. We need to make sure that we really want to go through with this before we get too far. If anyone is uneasy, please speak up now and make your feelings known.”
The other members of the team heard Scout’s transmission and thought very hard about what they wanted from their lives. Eventually, everyone came to the decision that what they wanted to do was what they were doing right now. The unknown is scary, but conquering it is far more rewarding than anything else. The groundwork had been laid, so the crew believed that they were on the right track.
Scout said, “No one answered me. If you want to continue, send a single beep to me.”
Seventeen beeps were heard in very quick succession, and everyone knew that everyone else was committed to the mission. The convoy continued into Arizona, and the group became both excited and apprehensive. They feared the dangers in space, but mostly they feared Earth’s authorities. Scout got on the radio once more.
He said, “When we get to the spaceport, it’s imperative that only the trailers without weapons are inspected. We also have to have our story straight. We’re on a research mission to Mars that will last five years. That should be enough time to prepare the colony for the eventual invasion by Earth’s governments. I hope that doesn’t happen, but I can’t guarantee that it won’t. This is especially true since General Rich has a bug up his ass for us.”
The crew acknowledged the instructions by each transmitting “Yes, sir” to Scout. The journey continued for the next twelve hours, until the convoy merged onto I-25 in Albuquerque. This was the final road. The convoy traveled for the next 250 kilometers until it reached the spaceport in the New Mexico desert.
Kathy’s phone rang. She looked down at it and her heart sank. It was her father.
She said, “Hi, Daddy.”
Her father said, “Hello, Kit-Kat. What’re you up to?”
Kathy said, “I’m going to my new job.”
Her father asked, “Is it true what I heard? Are you really going to do research on Mars?”
Kathy answered, “It’s true. I’ll be out of contact for a while, but I’d really appreciate it if you’d support my decision.”
Her father said, “You know I can’t do that. Mars is another world. You’ll be gone so long.”
Kathy said, “But I’ll be perfectly safe. There’s a whole team of us going, so I’m going to be okay.”
Her father said, “But if you’d stayed on Earth you could’ve done so well and found your fortune.”
Kathy said, “But I don’t want a fortune. I want to help people. I want to make life better. My research on Mars allows that. A corporate existence doesn’t.”
Her father asked, “So why didn’t you tell me about this decision before you got in line for the spaceship?”
Kathy replied, “Because I knew you’d never approve and you’d try to stop me. I wasn’t going to call you at all until I was already in space.”
Her father said, “I can still try and stop you.”
Kathy said, “But if you do I’ll hate you forever. Don’t you want your only daughter to be happy?”
Her father said, “I want you to be happy, but I also want our family to keep the power we have.”
Kathy said, “The whole of mankind is more important than our family.”
Her father said, “I guess I can accept that.”
Kathy said, “Thank you. I have to go now. I love you, daddy.”
Her father said, “I love you too,” and hung up the phone.
Once he had hung up, Mr. Jones ran a background check on the corporation that employed his daughter. He discovered that she was the engineer of record for the corporation. He found that the board of directors had been redacted. This raised red flags, which caused him to notify the authorities about his daughter’s activities.
Once t
he group arrived in Upham, they had to be inspected by customs officers. This was because the spaceport was primarily used for international travel in low earth orbit. Vehicles would leave from other spaceports around the globe and land at this spaceport. People then had to be inspected by customs just as if they arrived any other way. The group declared the contents of the first five trailers, but hid the sixth one in their private hangar. They would attempt to load the final trailer under cover of darkness using Jordan’s covert techniques. The people who had already been through customs would go to the hangar to begin painting the trailer so that no one would ask any questions if they were seen loading it.
The customs officer was sitting at his desk, waiting for something big and exciting to happen. Suddenly, he saw a convoy of trailers come to the inspection port. He became very excited at the prospect of having an illegal load come through. He was all set to give the convoy a thorough inspection when he saw Jordan Green behind the wheel of the lead trailer. His heart sank as he remembered the last encounter with Captain Green. He knew that any excess inspection would be taken as an extreme insult.
The customs officer performed a basic inspection. The inspection process took four hours, and it was now well past midnight on March 3.
At about 4:00 A.M., the crew decided to load the weapons trailer onto the ship’s upper deck. They saw that there was only one person on duty, so they had a small group create a diversion on the other side of the grounds. They drove the whole truck onto the ship while the ship was still hangared, then uncoupled the trailer and drove the truck down from the ship into a corner of the hangar. Then the team took the ship out of the hangar to begin loading the other trailers. The second and third trailers were placed next to the weapons trailer, and the quartering trailers were loaded onto the middle deck. No one questioned the trailers being loaded, because only the final three were seen. The diversion had worked. Jordan drove the truck used for the first trailer to the rental car return area and very quickly ran back to the hangar. No one saw him.
The vehicles were then loaded onto the ship. Each vehicle was driven onto the ship’s middle deck and parked next to the trailer. The crew then placed the life support system gasses into position on the ship. They placed fifty oxygen tanks, two carbon dioxide filters, and an oxygen recycler into their place and connected the distribution hoses. Then they placed the fresh water that they purchased and snuck on board the ship into the distribution system. They had 500 gallons of fresh water in bottles, which they poured into a giant holding tank and then connected to hoses that would distribute the water throughout the ship. They also connected the water filtration system, which recaptured and cleaned used water for repeated use.
The whole process of loading the ship was completed by 7:00. The takeoff was scheduled for 8:30, so the crew spent the next 90 minutes making sure that everything was working properly. Kathy spent the time programming Heath to assist the crew during the journey and offer advice on how to deal with the dangers of space.
At 8:27, the Renaissance was cleared for takeoff. Heath was put in charge of takeoff and landing because he was the only one on board who had ever traveled into space before. The android engaged the throttle and began to taxi down the runway. Everyone on board the ship buckled their safety straps. The ship hurtled down the runway and was airborne within six seconds.
At the moment of takeoff, the General’s operatives arrived at the spaceport. They seemed to be too late, but General Rich had a few tricks up his sleeve. He owned three orbital planes that had extended weapons range. Once in low orbit, the planes could attempt to disable or destroy the Renaissance with a sub orbital missile. General Rich and the three operatives ran to their planes and took off without the usual preflight checks. As a result, two of the three pilots passed out while in flight and crashed their planes into the New Mexico desert.
The lead operative saw his comrades falling to their deaths and screamed, “No! This can’t be happening!”
General Rich yelled to him, “That’s just part of military life, soldier. We still have a mission to accomplish.”
The lead said, “How can you be so cold and uncaring? Is money the be all and end all of your existence?”
Rich replied, “That’s the thing we’re fighting for, the freedom to make money a god if we wish.”
The lead said, “I can’t believe I’m hearing this. You’re a madman.”
Rich replied, “You’re my subordinate, and as such you will follow orders without question. Is that understood, soldier?”
The lead said, “Yes, sir. Let’s go take that ship out.”
Rich said, “Glad we understand each other. There will be a time for grieving, but this is not it.”
Rich thought, “I can’t fail. I’d lose everything I’ve worked for. I can’t let down my friends at Bank of America, or Coke and Pepsi. They’ve done so much for me and the nation that I can’t let them down.”
The lead thought, “He’s an asshole. I can’t believe that I’ve showed him so much respect over the years. Respect is supposed to be earned, and he’s proven that he’s not worthy.”
The third plane, flown by the General himself and gunned by the lead operative, was in orbit in a matter of seconds. Once in orbit, the plane shot two rocket-propelled missiles at the enemy ship. Heath Goodbar evaded the first missile entirely, but the second hit the top of the ship. It exploded on impact, and destroyed the laser weapon that was mounted on the top of the ship.
Scout asked, “Can I get a damage report?”
Jordan replied, “We took light damage, but I can’t give you more details until we can get up on the roof.”
Heath continued to maneuver the ship evasively. Bullets and lasers hit the ship, but they weren’t powerful enough to cause any serious damage.
General Rich said, “We hit them once. Keep pounding them!”
The Operative replied, “They’re moving way too fast for us to keep up. We’ll be out of fuel before we get in orbit.”
Rich was angry and said, “Damnit! Then take us down.”
Jordan asked, “Should we fire on them?”
Scout replied, “They’re retreating. There’s no need to make this worse than it already is.”
Two minutes later, the Renaissance was well out of danger and on the way to Mars. The ship was now traveling at full speed, which created a small amount of gravity. The gravity on the ship was about 15% of the gravity on Earth, but that was enough to keep the crew firmly in place while moving around the ship.
The General returned to the spaceport and hangared his plane. He had lost two men in his quest to stop Scout and his radical idealism. He ended the day utterly defeated.
He thought, “Someone should’ve stopped them before it got this far. I tried to warn the brass that there was a problem a long time ago, but no one listened to me. Now they’re gone with our resources. They’ll be back, though. They can’t survive long without supplies on Mars. There’s no way they can succeed, and when they fail I’ll be waiting for them.”
The journey had begun. All of the preparations had been made, and this was the real mission taking shape.
Scout looked around himself and thought, “We’re on a great adventure. It’s an adventure that no one has ever endeavored. What an awesome privilege.”
Jordan looked at his crewmates and thought, “I see all of these people who have put their hopes and lives in our hands. What an awesome responsibility.”
They were both correct.
Section II:
Space
Chapter Twenty-Two
Renaissance
The Renaissance had already proven itself reliable. It had already left Earth three times and returned safely every time. It had, however, just been attacked. The attack resulted in damage to the hull, as well as destroying one of the laser weapons. She needed in flight repairs.
Scout asked, “Do I have any volunteers to assess the damage?”
Jordan raised his hand and said, “Yes, sir.”
Scout said, “I need more than just one person out there. I need one person to assess the damage and perform the repairs, one to gather supplies, and a third to be on guard in case we’re attacked again.”
Lane raised his hand, but no one else did. Everyone looked around and waited for someone else to volunteer so they wouldn’t have to. Scout became visibly angry.
He said, “Really, none of you want to help? We’re supposed to be forming a new society where we all work together and help each other. Is this what you think that is, just waiting for someone else? If that’s what you wanted, then you should’ve stayed on Earth. That attitude is what led to the corporations having total control over all of Earth’s resources.”
Jordan said, “To be fair, Captain, not all of us are trained in zero gravity space walking.”
Scout said, “I’m aware of that, but I’m only speaking to the twelve people who are trained. The rest of you can prove yourself later.”
Clive said, “You talk about us not being willing to take on this responsibility, but I don’t see you volunteering either.”
Scout said, “I’m needed on the ship. If I wasn’t, then I would absolutely help Jordan and Lane. Now, if someone doesn’t volunteer in the next ten seconds, I’m going to order someone to do it.”
Jordan said, “What about your girlfriend?”
Kathy said, “I’m not trained, but if I was I would’ve already volunteered.”
Clive raised his hand and said, “I feel ashamed of my previous behavior. I’ll try to do better in the future. We should all be here to help each other.”
Scout said, “Very well. You three get out there and fix the ship.”
A little later, Mark Black’s office was very busy tending to the members of the crew who had been injured. Notah and Lin had both been very close to the blast, and Joanne was limping after the attack.
Mark said, “Are any of your injuries emergencies?”
MARS: Renaissance Page 17