by gerald hall
“That sounds like a very good idea. It will also make it so that we do not have to disrupt the scheduling of our excavation assets quite so much. I would like to have more time to design and fabricate a cooling system for the submarine’s nuclear reactor before we put it in place anyway.” A relieved Tim replied.
“We are also going to have to design some way to cover and conceal the missile compartment while still being able to launch on short notice. I would also recommend that we determine a means of hardening the entire installation as well, just in case. The bad guys are not necessarily going to give us a lot of notice that they are going to attack.” The Marine informed the rest of the Council.
“It sounds like we are going to have a lot of work cut out for us, courtesy of the United States Navy.”
Chapter Twenty One:
Incoming Personnel Processing Center
Hebes Chasma, Mars
November 1, 2045
A group of nearly one hundred new arrivals from the Eastern Alliance, England, Israel and the Persian Republic crowded into the reception area of one of the domes near the shuttle landing pits. The one side of the room had a large window that allowed people to see many of the colony’s other aboveground structures. Some of them looked out, trying to see the transport Independence, which had brought these new colonists to Mars.
“So this is the Martian Miracle?” A man in his early thirties asked. Like all of the new immigrants to Hebes Chasma, he was still wearing a lightweight pressure suit. No one had a chance yet to change into regular civilian clothing.
“Yea, I guess that you could call it that. We’ve managed in less than twenty years after the CME to expand the colony’s facilities from being able to barely support twelve thousand people to increase that by nearly a couple of orders of magnitude.” Melody Atherton told the latest group of newcomers to the Martian colony. The former actress proved to be an ideal guide with her disarming beauty and brilliant wit.
“It is still hard to believe.” Wilford Taylor noted as he stood there looking out the large compartment’s viewport.
“Well, we have a lot of very selfless, hard-working and uniquely talented people here to start with. Secondly, Mars herself has been helping us quite a bit. As her temperature has been rising, her atmosphere has been increasing its density significantly. Of course, we have been helping that along quite a bit with several hundred million tons of ice, methane and other organic materials that we have added since our arrival. The thicker atmosphere makes building domes a lot easier since the pressure differential is decreasing every day. It also means that there are places in the deepest valleys that are already becoming potentially habitable in the very near future.
Our power situation has been steadily improving also. This has been combined with the latest generation of smart manufacturing processes to create an entirely new industrial base here on Mars. As long as we can find the necessary raw materials, we can make virtually anything here, although most items still are in small production runs.
The improvements in our energy supplies have also translated into the current construction of an entirely new underground complex here at Hebes Chasma. We have automated tunneling machines running on a continuous basis. I would say it was a 24/7 operation, but since a Martian day is a little longer than one of Earth, we actually get more done each day here.” Melody said with a smile that had several of the newcomers laughing before continuing.
“With every cubic meter of tunnel that we complete, we add to our ability to support more people coming here from Earth to escape a rapidly deteriorating political and military situation there. With more people here, we add to the genetic diversity needed to make Mars a viable long-term home for humanity. We see that as a victory for all of us.”
“Is it true that many of the colonists who came here initially brought firearms with them? That seems to be a terribly dangerous thing to do.” A blonde-haired woman in her early thirties who had just arrived to Hebes Chasma asked with a note of concern in her voice.
“Actually, it is true that a great many of our colonists have retained their personal firearms and other weapons. Most of our people were firearms owners prior to coming here and saw no need to leave their weapons behind when they came to Mars. We have been quite free of incidents involving firearms here on Mars. Our population simply is very responsible with their weapons. In the words of a famous science fiction author of the previous century, ‘An armed society is a polite society’. Our people are very polite, I assure you. In most cases, they can walk right past you without you even being aware that they were armed, simply because our citizen chose to carry his or her weapon in a concealed manner.
Besides, you wouldn’t want to be uncivil or violent towards someone if you knew that they were armed, now would you?”
“No, I would be too afraid that they would shoot me.” A new colonist in his late twenties named Tobias Clinton remarked with a pronounced New England accent.
“So, the alternative for you would be to resolve any issues that you might have with your neighbor in a civil, nonviolent manner rather than engage in any sort of violence. That makes for a much more pleasant society, don’t you think?” Melody said with a wink.
For people who had associated people from the entertainment industry as being universally holding leftist political views, Melody’s views were quite a surprise to many of the new arrivals. Then she surprised them again.
“Of course, a lot of the weapons that you do see people carrying here are not firearms at all.” Melody commented.
“What exactly do you mean? They certainly look like firearms.” Tobias asked.
“They are precharged pneumatic, or more commonly called ‘PCP’ weapons. They use essentially a small pressurized air bottle to propel a projectile at up to three hundred meters per second.”
“You mean like an air rifle?”
“Yes, but far more powerful in many cases. Some of these devices are more akin to the paintball pistols that people used to play with, but using more potent projectiles including some filled with capasin powder or using a miniaturized taser projectile to disable their target. If someone wanted to recharge their air bottle for their PCP pistol, there are plenty of high pressure air line charging stations around here to use too.”
“So these people are all carrying non-lethal weapons?”
“Oh, no. Some of the larger caliber PCP pistols are quite lethal. But in this environment, many Martians feel that they will not need an overly powerful weapon when they are just walking around. Now, if an outside force threatened the colony, you can be certain that a great many personally-owned firearms would be used by the colonists in its defense. There are also dedicated firearms shooting ranges here in the colony that are very popular as well.”
“This is all very surprising. Some of came from places where no one ever owned a gun at all, much less carried it in public. So, it can be very intimidating for us to see people walking around armed.” Tobias noted.
“Don’t worry. You’d be very surprised at how incredibly rare it is for anyone to pull out their personal weapon, much less fire it at another person here. But this is still very much a frontier world now. A lot of the colonists here have a bit of a ‘frontier spirit’ to them as well. But it is also very safe for everyone, I assure you. These are a lot of very good people here on Hebes Chasma.” Melody explained.
“That last part is certainly very good to hear. You are going through a lot of trouble to help us out here, Ma’am. I just wanted you to know how much we appreciate your efforts.” A young man carrying a large military-style rucksack remarked pleasantly. He had opted to carry all of his belongings with him rather than leave them in the cargo hold. From his appearance and demeanor, he appeared to have been in the military recently.
“Thank you, Sir. Even with all of our technological wonders, we still have to deal with people and their needs. This is a terribly small community, even with all of the new people arriving every couple of months. We a
re also very isolated from the rest of humanity out here on Mars. Some of us really value our privacy. But at the same time, we want to help our fellow man to the extent that we can.” Melody replied.
“When will we have access to our belongings, Ma’am? I know that we weren’t able to bring very much with us. But it would be nice to be reunited with what little of Earth that we have anymore.” One of the other women asked.
“You should be able to claim your property soon. We do have an actual customs area where we examine incoming baggage for anything that might be a problem. So once everything is checked, we will call you as a group to pick up your bags. You can then go through some orientation briefings followed by lodging assignments. Once you all get settled in, then we will have colonists meet with you to help you find gainful employment.”
“I hope that somewhere along the line, we are going to be fed.” Another of the new arrivals groused.
“Of course, we should have some food arriving here soon for all of you. The briefings will explain the economy around here and how you earn food vouchers for yourself and your family. You will also be able to earn vouchers for other items as well. Pretty much everything is purchased through electronic voucher or through private barter transactions here on Mars.
Of course, we know that all of you bring useful skills or other talents to our colony here. That was a requirement for being allowed to come here. In any event, there will be plenty of opportunities for you to put those talents to use, I’m sure.”
“Thank you, Ma’am. We really appreciate all that you are doing for us. I hope to join your militia to help defend this new home of ours as soon as I get settled in.” The young man, who was a Navy SEAL commando as well as a mechanic’s mate, only a year earlier.
“Thank you, Sailor. I’m sure that Colonel Walker will be very happy to have you too.” Melody said with a warm smile before seeing another Hebes Chasma resident walking in her direction.
“Ahh, here comes someone who will direct you to the dining facility. Good luck and God bless, everyone.”
A few days later, another Martian transport arrived in orbit after returning from Earth. Among its cargo was something very different and very much more lethal than what the Independence had brought. The transport’s primary payload was detached and placed into orbit on the far side of Mars adjacent to the Martian moon Deimos. No one there wanted prying eyes from the Caliphate to see what had just arrived. The ballistic missile submarine USS Wyoming now floated silently in space adjacent to Deimos after a small drone tug nudged the boat from the intrasystem transport Constellation that had brought the submarine from Earth to Mars.
“We got her here fully loaded. This includes her basic load of twenty-four Trident II ballistic missiles. Each of those missiles has at least eight nuclear-armed reentry vehicles. She’s even got her ballast tanks full of seawater and her pantries full of food.” The submarine’s executive officer, Lieutenant Commander Adam Larkin explained to the pilot of the small spacecraft that brought him from Constellation to Mars Space Station One.
“Well, all of that will be put to good use at Hebes Chasma. We can always use more food and water. It is much better that we have those nukes than for the jihadists to get ahold of them, I guarantee you. If the Caliphate decides to have a go at us in the future, they won’t like the surprise that they will be receiving though.”
“She’s got her torpedoes too,”
“Well, we don’t have any oceans to use torpedoes in. I suppose that we will just have to unload them before we bring her down to the pit. We would hate for one of those things to have an accident aboard while we bring this boat down. I’m sure that we will find a way to utilize their components for something else that we need somehow.”
“Roger that, Boss.”
“Now we just have to wait for a couple of our gravity drive shuttles to become available. Then we can finally get this boat into the hole that we dug out for her.”
Less than an hour later, the gravity drive shuttles Ceres and Callisto arrived and were attached to the underside of the Wyoming. At the same time, the submarine’s load of torpedoes were being ejected through her torpedo tubes and captured by other smaller Martian craft. The weapons were useless in space. But they would eventually be brought down to the Martian surface, disassembled and their components repurposed for other uses by the colonists.
Adam had hopped a ride aboard Ceres to see where Wyoming was going to be taken. He was the senior officer left from the submarine and the new expert on the systems onboard her. He would be working closely with the colony’s polymaths in integrating the vessel into their overall network. He would also be key in modifying the missiles for use in defending the colony if the need arose.
They could soon see a long deep trench that had been recently excavated. The trench was slightly longer than the massive submarine itself. On one side of the trench, there had also been two ‘notches’ that had also been dug out as well. These side excavations were actually slightly deeper than the main trench.
“How are you going to get us down into that big trench, Captain? Won’t your ships still be underneath us?” Adam asked Ceres’ commander.
“It is actually pretty simple, Commander Larkin. We are not actually going to put Wyoming directly in the trench. Our shuttles are going to land in the adjacent excavations. By doing so, we are going to place your boat on top of a series of steel cables on the surface. Your vessel will then be moved along those cables over the main trench and gently lowered into it. This way, we can actually get our shuttles out from underneath you.
Eventually, the pits that our shuttles will land inside of will be used to place access chambers and tunnels that will link your boat with the rest of the colony.”
“Your people have done a lot of work in a short period of time to prepare for this. I am very impressed.”
“Our leaders, including the commander of the Marine Security Detachment, all felt that this was very important for the long term security of the colony. I’m sure that you want the best protection possible for your family. I know that you brought your wife and three children with you to settle here at Hebes Chasma.”
“Yes. I want them to continue to enjoy the freedom that we used to take for granted in America. I’m afraid that it will all soon be gone on Earth, unfortunately.” Adam sadly replied as he watched the growing image of Mars on the bridge video screen.
A few minutes later, Adam felt the shuttle begin to slow down as the two shuttles and their payload began to make their final approach. Less than a minute after that, Ceres began to disappear within one of the notches cut into the side of the giant trench. The shuttle continued to decelerate until it stopped with a gentle thud.
With surprising swiftness, Wyoming was detached from the frameworks on the bows of the two shuttles. Adam and everyone on Ceres’ bridge could hear a faint grinding sound as the submarine slid along the series of steel cables towards the trench opening.
Once Wyoming slid directly over the trench, the cables were slowly played out so that the vessel began to lower into the excavation. Additional cables attached to the upper casing of the ballistic missile submarine kept her in an upright position as she began to disappear into the trench. Ceres and Callisto did not waste any time before they lifted off to conduct their next mission, moving additional modules from Constellation to Hebes Chasma.
Just as soon as the massive submarine settled down on the keel blocks located at the bottom of the trench, several Martian work crews descended upon her. They started by securing the hull so that it would not be in any danger of rolling off of the blocks. A lightweight camouflage screen was pulled over the top of the trench to conceal its contents.
Once that was completed, the workers quickly began to remove all of the submarine’s external passive sonar arrays, her towed sonar array, her bow-mounted active sonar transducers and even her huge bronze propeller. Coolant lines to the reactor and power transfer conduits were connected along with a large generator
that was connected to the bare propeller shaft. The generator was housed in a large steel box connected to the stern of the submarine. The generator’s power conduits ran from the generator box through a thin steel culvert pipe to the tunnel that connected the submarine to the rest of the colony. This process to prepare the submarine for burial took the better part of a month after its arrival to Mars. Once all of the connections were completed, then the Martians prepared to pour the Martian equivalent of a concrete shell around the submarine’s stripped hull to protect it.
At the end of the process, several large battery-powered earthmovers began pushing Martian regolith on top of the submarine’s reinforced hull. A short steel cofferdam had been placed around the missile compartment to prevent the regolith from falling on top of it. The cofferdam would also serve as the support for a pair of large steel doors that would cover the missile compartment and conceal it from viewing. The doors would then be camouflaged to make them blend in with the surrounding terrain soon after they were installed.
A Marine colonel was watching the final installation of the concealing doors from a nearby ridgeline. He had been conducting vacuum suit training along with two platoons of his Marines. Standing next to the Colonel were several members of the Martian Council including Deborah. The Colonel’s own Alliance-designed vacuum suit, swollen with supplemental armor, dwarfed the conventional vacuum suits worn by the civilians. But if they felt any sense of intimidation, they never showed it, especially Deborah.
“This is a hell of a thing that we are having to do here, Colonel.” Sharon Parker said as she watched.
“I know, Ma’am. I can’t say that I am all that fond of nuclear weapons either. They are, at best, blunt and very indiscriminate instruments of warfare. But if we are lucky, we will never have to use them at all. I doubt that the Caliphate will be to venture out into space at all in our lifetimes, much less send anything towards Mars.” Matt Walker replied.