by T I WADE
The search crews were very surprised at how happy and excited each letter recipient was after reading it. Most of them took only about ten minutes to pack and were ready to be escorted back to Nevada.
Upon receiving a visit from a U.S. nuclear submarine twenty miles off one of the Caribbean islands, even Bob Mathews and his two ex-co-pilots still aboard his boat with him told his shocked skipper to take her back to shore, freeze the day’s catch, and to remember to send their Air Force uniforms to the airfield’s address in Nevada.
The crew of the Dead Chicken was excited to be offered a free nuclear submarine ride back to the closest naval base. Bob’s skipper stood speechless as he watched the submarine disappear with his boss several yards off his starboard bow. Only thirty minutes earlier it had appeared on the sonar/fish-finder as the largest fish anybody had ever seen on one of these gadgets.
***
The airfield was a beehive of activity. A new fence already had been erected around the area when two jeeps and a leased bus arrived with Ryan’s old security guard. A new four-story, fifty-room hotel was being painted, the forty-room motel next door was complete, and the two swimming pools were being filled with water. Parked in front of both buildings were several large trucks filled with furniture from Nellis Air Force Base and a couple of Californian furniture warehouses.
A five-story air force control tower was being erected close to where Hangar Seven had been, and Ryan would be happy to see that it wasn’t erected on the one slab he would need.
Hangar One had returned, so had Hangars Two and Three. They had been found in a government auction yard in Las Vegas. Three smaller hangars, fighter aircraft hangars from Nellis, had been trucked in and were being erected. The engineer in charge didn’t know why there was such a rush, but the federal government had not worried about adding rush costs for the first time he could ever remember.
Within two weeks, the airfield looked livable again as the first of Ryan’s crew arrived. Unfortunately, it wasn’t until several hours after the arrival of Lieutenant Walls and his thirty-member security team that the food trucks arrived. First they had to install equipment in the kitchen on the hotel’s ground floor. Once the fridges and freezers were up and running, they filled them with food for the security detail so they could cook their own meals.
Just as they finished their first meal of steak and beans, the newly erected radio and mass of outside antennas squawked out its first message.
“America One to Nevada Airfield. Lieutenant Peter Walls, do you copy? Over.”
‘Reading you loud and clear, boss,” the lieutenant responded. “We’ve just arrived and are ready.”
“Well done. I heard you had arrived and should be ready to secure my airfield. Over.”
“Roger. The eight-foot fence is up, and we did a 360 patrol around it earlier. The main gate will be up in a few hours, and our command post and accommodation area next to the main gate will be complete for us to move into tomorrow. We are roughing it in the foyer of your new hotel tonight. Over.”
“What are the standards like?” Ryan asked.
“Not the same as before, boss, but comfortable enough for the duration your team will be here. It is far better than what you gave the import/export guys last year. By the way a dozen trucks are already waiting at the front gate with machinery and parts.”
Ryan gave Walls his orders to allow the trucks in to unload; he also instructed Walls to help the old team of scientists get settled in the hotel and that they should be arriving in small groups in the next few days.
***
Aboard America One, the bellies of the female crew were noticeably growing, and a new problem arose. Most of the pregnant women were Ryan’s astronauts and co-pilots, and his flight schedule could be in jeopardy once the babies arrived. So, a baby-scheduling meeting, attended only by female astronauts/pilots, Ryan, and Doctor Rogers was held the day after Nurse Rogers gave birth to a bright, blue-eyed baby boy. Jacob was the first delivery for the on-board medical crew, and the first human baby ever to be born in space. The whole crew listened in over the intercom as Suzi described the activities in the operating theater and encouraged her friend.
This little miracle awakened Ryan to the fact that this was the first of many others to come, including Kathy giving birth to their own baby, due in six weeks.
“OK, girls, baby dates, please,” he asked his flight crew and three other scientists who were also pregnant. Doctor Rogers attended the meeting while Dr. Martin stayed with his wife. The ladies all looked at Dr. Rogers, who already knew all their information.
“OK, well, it looks like the cat has got their tongues, so it’s up to me,” the doctor said, looking at his files. “Young Suzi here is due in fourteen days?” Suzi nodded beaming.
“Ms. Maggie Sinclair, flight crew, in 22 days, Ms. Kathy Pringle, backup flight crew, a little further out, six weeks or so?” he asked. Kathy nodded. “Then we have Ms. Joan Blackmore in Suzi’s team, thirteen weeks, and Frau Anna Zücker in Martha Von Zimmer’s team is due a day after Ms. Blackmore.” Both ladies nodded. “Then we have Ms. Penny Sullivan, flight crew, at fifteen weeks, Julia Nevbachov, on Igor’s team, at sixteen weeks, and finally Ms. Jamie Watkins, flight crew, holding out for another seven months and one week?” He looked at all the ladies present and they smiled sweetly and acknowledged. “Is there anybody I have forgotten?” There was nobody else mentioned. “Oh! Ryan, this could be our first problem aboard: Joey and Mark Bright. Mark works on Vitaliy’s team of mechanics. Joey came to me last week complaining of flight sickness. She actually just became pregnant with her third child. The problem is that once the child grows out of the bedside crib, there are no apartments big enough for a family of five. I suggest that you think about future possibilities of a few larger than four families aboard.”
“Thank you, Doctor. I have been pondering that possibility, and I’m sure one of the last accommodation cylinders on line could have a few larger apartments constructed. At this time, Doctor Rogers and you ladies, please listen. The family plan aboard ship is a maximum of two children per couple. Once we reach 100 inhabitants aboard our vessel, absolute birth control will be enforced. We will develop a request list of families who want children and that list will be mutually agreed on. Whether because of a death or because a crew member decides to leave us, when the time arrives that we can accommodate another baby, Doctor Rogers, Nurse Martha, or Doctor Martin, if she joins us, will give the first family on the list permission to have a baby. We must always understand that someone could become pregnant by mistake, and then that person goes to the top of the family list, and the others have to wait.”
Everybody nodded. This problem had been discussed before.
“So, Suzi, and Ms. Sinclair, where would you like to have your babies?” Ryan asked.
“In space,” replied Suzi. Everybody knew that.
“On Earth,” added Maggie.
“Kathy, you are due in six weeks. Do we want to have our baby in space?” Kathy Pringle nodded.
“Ms. Sullivan, you are the last as far as our new Earth timetable is concerned. What about you and Mr. Pitt?”
“In space, here with Doctor Rogers,” smiled Penny.
“Suzi, you already have been relieved of any flying duties. Max Burgos, Peter Smith or Yuri Gellagov will take over any flying you are scheduled for. Ms. Sinclair, yours is the most important situation to solve. Colonel Jones is particular about whom he flies with. Who do you suggest should take your place as temporary co-pilot of SB-III?”
“Kathy is not available if she wants her baby up here, so if our Mr. Pitt doesn’t mind, I think my ex-co-pilot Penny Sullivan should be Jonesy’s temporary co-pilot if the need arises. He knows she is as good as anybody in this room. There is a six-week break between my due date and hers, and by that time I should be recovered enough to fly again. I should have had at least two to three weeks of morning runs around the runway by then. I’m sure you are going to make us all run once we are down there.
Is breastfeeding while flying allowed in your air force?” All the girls giggled at that one, and Ryan was at a loss to respond. Smiling, he looked at Kathy for help.
“I think, ladies, that it shouldn’t be a problem except under dangerous flying conditions. Neither babies nor their mothers will be in the aircraft in those circumstances. SB-III will be checked out down on Earth, and any modifications completed on her while you are indisposed. The only reason SB-III would be launched early is if any threats are made. So it shouldn’t be a real problem and Colonel Jones does want to introduce you and the baby to his parents in Colorado. We will play SB-III by ear.”
“So, to control you female pilots, I hereby make my wife-to-be, Ms. Kathy Pringle, head of ‘Female Flight Rules and Regulations,’” smiled Ryan. “Also, I assume that we have to get married pretty quickly, if we want our children born in wedlock. Captain Pete, captain of this ship will be learning from Doctor Rogers how to conduct a marriage in our small one-cylinder chapel, about to be completed. I had better tell Vitaliy to hurry it up.” Again there was laughter.
“Ms. Sullivan, you stand in for SB-III when needed. Peter Smith, our first backup shuttle astronaut can join Mr. Pitt. Yuri Gellagov is also able to fill in, so I believe we have our ten-day launch schedule under control. Meeting adjourned. I had better go tell Vitaliy that we all want to be married and, Doc, get Captain Pete up to speed. The captain of the ship is the only person legally allowed to marry us.”
It had been a fun meeting for everyone.
Ryan took an elevator down to the mid-level, where the small oval-shaped chapel was. He exited the elevator and immediately began floating; there were no metal strips on the floor to attract his magnetic shoes. He grabbed hold of a rope stretched along the empty cylinder from one end to the other and pulled himself along the rope to the door to the next cylinder. He opened the door, entered the chapel and turned upside down. Magnetic batteries had been placed underneath the “floor” in the chapel so that the men could work, and his feet softly touched the ceiling.
He had purchased a few items that would be normally found in a chapel: a wooden cross, a few imitation stained glass windows, and a two-foot by three- foot altar. Twelve three-seat wooden pews were tied down in a pile ready to be bolted onto the newly laid floor.
There was just enough width, over fourteen feet, to have six pews each side and a three-foot wide aisle between them. Behind the last pew would be a small area where a dozen people could squeeze in and stand on each side. At forty feet long, fourteen feet wide and eight feet high, it was a very small chapel, certainly the smallest chapel in space.
“Has Vitaliy given you guys a schedule for this to be finished?” Ryan asked the men.
“Captain Pete and Vitaliy said an hour ago that we have twenty-four hours to finish in here,” one man replied.
“I think we will be done here before the captain has memorized the words to actually marry someone,” smiled the other. “The floor and gravity batteries are done, the six stained windows are pretty easy, the pews are just bolted onto the ceiling, and there are a couple of carpets to stick down. This altar is nearly ready. Once the furniture is in, we must bolt the cross onto the rear wall, hang the pictures, and it should be ready for the music. Once we are finished with the stuff I just mentioned, we need to fit in the recorder, amplifier and speakers for the music. That should not take more than six hours, so Mark and I should be done in about twelve hours.”
“What about temporary batteries in the empty cylinder we have to float through to get here?” Ryan asked.
“Sorry, boss, we are out of batteries. The ones we used here in the chapel are the last ones. If you want gravity in the cylinder, we will have to take batteries from the chickens or rabbits or the hospital ward. Since the engine is going to take months, why not get the darn thing out and begin the ship’s rotation early? It will be easier than trying to stretch our battery supplies.” Ryan agreed with the man.
He floated back through the cylinder to the elevator and had a two-hour meeting about advancing the schedule to begin the ship’s rotation.
As soon as Vitaliy’s two-man team finished the chapel, it would take seventy-two hours working around the clock to remove the defunct engine and secure it in SB-II’s cargo hold for the return to Earth.
Ryan gave orders to complete the chapel, remove the engine, and start tests to begin the rotation.
The ship’s rotation was governed by a computer controlling nine two-inch wide hydrogen thrusters; three were placed in the middle and one on each end of the outer-level cylinder walls. Once the rotation was at its correct speed, the thrusters would blast on and off intermittently to maintain the exact rotation speed and keep the whole ship aligned to stop any rotation wobble.
These thrusters were already operational, aiding with steadying the forward movement control of the ship. They could be turned to face in most directions, like the much larger thrusters on the Astermine craft.
The timing was coming together. Ryan needed another week before SB-II would return to Earth with the engine, followed by SB-III a day later with the designated crew. SB-I would be a day behind.
The newly re-powered SB-III would need a four-day parts refit and two-day refueling period on Earth before returning. Any additional modifications would be done later while Maggie was indisposed. SB-I and SB-II would be refueled the old way, each taking six days to be readied for launch; then, they would depart on a two-day orbital journey up to America One, which would be orbiting at a reduced altitude of 400 miles. Even at the lower altitude she still would not easily be seen from Earth with the naked eye.
The first shuttle to be pulled apart would be SB-I. She was the vehicle designated to be measured for new parts and would receive new hydrogen pulse engines and fuel tanks, laser equipment, and a few other modifications. It would take eleven weeks working around the clock to manufacture and refit the shuttle. There was no need for all three shuttles to carry cargo during the visit, so SB-I would then resume cargo duties after being tested. After the modifications were completed, each of the shuttle craft would not fly the same as its sisters, meaning the flight crews could not be interchanged as easily.
Since many of SB-III’s new parts had been produced on Earth and rushed into space, it would take far less time to refit any newer design features into the most important shuttle. The modifications for the other shuttles still needed to be produced which was why the mechanics were heading down first to take charge of part production.
Once the new modifications were ready it would only take ten days to complete the installations on SB-II, so she would be the main cargo carrier. For the first time since he had set up the airfield, Ryan had more time than cargoes. With all the available space for long-term solid storage in America One, he could launch thirteen flights with 35 tons of mostly solid cargo. Water, he hoped to find on Mars.
One extra launch each would be needed for stores and equipment for the ISS and Ivan. Eight tons of liquid hydrogen gas was to head up on the European freighter, and any launches after that would be water only. He could launch another 100 shuttles with only water, but that wasn’t feasible.
There was enough time to have the weddings before the flights back to Earth, and he set the next Earth Sunday, four days away, for the weddings to be held in the new chapel. That Sunday would be a day off for the whole crew, except for a presence in the Bridge, which would be rotated.
The female flight crews had found ways to bring up several pounds of materials and sewing supplies, and were already working in secret to create dresses for each of their ceremonies. The men would mostly be in military uniform.
The twelve bottles of champagne Ryan brought up with him had not been opened, so there were two bottles for each ceremony, plus a surprise Suzi and Mr. Rose had in store.
The cafeteria was to be decorated by the other crew members including the women and children. Flowers were chosen and prepared by Mr. Rose in the cubes and, as the chapel was completed, the order
of ceremonies was discussed.
It was decided that Ryan and Kathy should have the honor of being the first couple married in space. They would be followed by the flight crew, Jonesy and Maggie, Suzi and VIN, Allen and Jamie, and Penny and Michael. Wedding ceremonies for other crew members would take place next. It all worked well until Fritz approached Captain Pete and Ryan, asking to be married to Agent Yoon.
For two days, during which time the mechanics were dismantling the engine and the SB-IIIs modifications were taking place, Ryan, Captain Pete and a select group of crew members discussed Agent Yoon. For the two days, often with Fritz present, the group could not agree to a Chinese agent staying aboard. She just could not be trusted.
Nurse Martha would do a full checkup on Agent Yoon’s body to see if anything metal or out of the ordinary was implanted in her. Even if she had none of her own clothes or anything implanted, with her agent training, she was still a danger to the odyssey.
It was a hard decision to make; Fritz was an important member of the crew.
Wedding Sunday arrived quickly. It was a happy day aboard America One. Ryan dressed in his only suit, and Kathy wore a beautiful, full white wedding dress with a train. Maggie, Penny and Jamie all would wear the same dress. The girls were all about the same size, and there was only enough material for one dress between them.
Captain Pete mumbled the words in a short ceremony, the ship’s log was signed by the captain and the newlyweds, and the dress changed hands. The newly married couple joined the others in attendance to be guests at the next wedding. A few quick alterations were made to the dress, and the next bride walked down the aisle.
Only Suzi and VIN’s ceremony was different; Suzi wanted a floating wedding. The batteries in the chapel were turned off, the congregation strapped themselves down in the pews, and Captain Pete, tied to the altar, tried hard not to float around while conducting the ceremony. Suzi held onto Ryan, who was giving her away, and the two of them floated to the altar, assisted by congregation members on each side of the aisle who gently pushed them forward. Suzi looked really beautiful. She was wearing a simply designed but beautiful long, white dress that was closely fitted around her bulging belly and legs. Seconds earlier VIN had floated to the altar in his marine uniform. His old military shoes didn’t fit his feet anymore, so he had no choice but to wear one pair of the several sets of large Earth-made track shoes that he wore daily aboard ship. Jonesy was holding the gold rings.