Wanda nodded. "We're working on it. Professor Newman is building you a new one from the data I just sent."
Tess looked shocked. "Is true?" she asked softly.
Wanda nodded. "It might have to be with your being the first mom on another world," she said smiling. The Mars Company was paying for the shipping; the doctor said she'd donate the suit. It would hopefully come out on the next flight.
Tess nodded. "Is very generous." She looked over to Sergei who nodded.
...*...*...*...*...
"Mister Irons I represent a brokerage, we understand you have been investing your monies into CD's. We'd like to talk to you about that..." Mario scowled at the latest recording. He had been investing ten percent of his income into the cds for retirement before the buyout. They were safe. The rest he had been investing in firms related to the space program. "We understand your getting a modest profit from your investment with Newman biosuit industries; their new self healing memory polymer is doing revolutionary things to the marketplace. We'd like you to consider selling some of the stake and buying shares in Deuteron, a pharmaceutical company. We've taken the liberty of drawing up the paperwork and initializing the deal."
Mario's scowl turned grim. He didn't know who these people were, but they had no business messing with his trades. He looked over to Wanda reading her mail. "Did you get this crap from a brokerage?" he demanded. He waved to the tablet as he pulled his headphones off.
"Yeah, the one trying to get us to sell our shares in Newman? Seems fishy," she said wrinkling her nose.
He nodded. "Yeah, I guess we need to contact the brokers..." he sighed as he pulled up an e-mail and started to type.”I don't know who the hell these people think they are, but as soon as I am done here, I am going to give them a piece of something all right, I'm going to tear off one of their cheeks and stuff it down their throat..." he growled.
"Now now..." Wanda teased.
"Right, Now." He tapped send. "One down." He pulled the brokerage vid file up. "Okay, let’s see, reply. I don't know who you are but under no circumstances do I authorize anyone to do any trading on my behalf without prior consent. I and my wife wish to continue with our current trades. Find someone else to sell," he snarled and then hit send.
"My my. You actually let them off easy," Wanda said admiringly.
He chuckled. "I have e-mail." He looked at the tag. "Seems it is from our original broker." He opened it and read for a moment.
"What?" Wanda asked exasperated by the silence.
He chuckled. "It seems someone at the brokerage had a falling out and started their own brokerage. They took off with the keys to our accounts as well as others. A lawsuit is in the works," he sighed and rubbed his brow. "That means we may need an attorney as well." He shook his head. "Time to talk to Bob." He sat back with a groan. "I hate lawyers, you always feel a little slimy after dealing with one," he grumped. Wanda chuckled.
"Are we almost ready to go to Olympus Mons?" Mr. Treadwell asked Luigi.
Luigi smiled. "We're setting up a pair of half way points now. In fact there is a team out setting up the second one right now. I am looking over the map of the route mission control generated looking for safe places to stop for the night."
Mrs. Treadwell nodded. "And places we can hide in a solar storm too I hope?" She smiled.
Luigi nodded. "Right. Doctor Hotamba is coming with us, he minored in vulcanology. He is very excited," Luigi chuckled.
Mr. Treadwell smiled. "Well, glad it won’t just be pleasure trip."
Luigi smiled. "We'll do our best to make it worth your while. Mario and Joyce are working on a balloon craft, but I doubt it will be ready any time soon. The skin isn't a problem, it is the ribs," he sighed.
"I've seen it. It looks like a dirigible. Are you sure it is safe?" Mrs. Treadwell asked.
"Mario is going to use helium in the bags." She nodded. "The biggest problem is it won’t be very fast, and if we run into a solar flare event, anyone on board will be cooked,” Luigi explained. Both Treadwell’s winced.
Luigi nodded soberly. "I'd like to make it a robotic craft, something that we could haul scientific instruments with for Doctor Asanti. He's excited. Mario made a test balloon and launched a science package. If it lands on our path we'll need to make a detour to pick it up," Luigi shrugged.
Mr. Treadwell nodded. "The more we know, the more we grow." He smiled to his wife who nodded.
...*...*...*...*...
"We have a problem," the Senator growled as he sat across from Dr. Zubrin. Nick looked a little uncomfortable sitting next to Zubrin.
"Which is?" Dr. Zubrin asked tiredly.
"Well, it seems the reds; that is the Chinese have copied the plasma rocket design. They are planning on launching their own with the Ruskies," the Senator growled. "See, American ingenuity being stolen again!" He waved his hands up in the air. Nick tried to keep a poker face.
"Well, to be honest, the nuclear reactor design is Russian sir," Dr. Zubrin replied. The Senator stared. "The plasma rocket design, well, we perfected it, but it has been on the table for forty years." Zubrin shrugged. "And in Sci-Fi for much longer. Shows like Star Trek used it," he explained. He raised his hands. "Not much we can do about it."
He looked at the Senator. "Well, we can't let them take over space while we sit on our hands!" the Senator growled.
"We can't do much sir, congress cut funding remember?" Nick asked softly.
The Senator gave him a long look then sighed. "You're right." He shook his head. "So, we need more money?" He looked over to Zubrin expectantly.
"Yes and no. We need to ante in with the Russians and Chinese for the new rocket, so we can have a say on its use." Zubrin studied the Senator.
After a moment the Senator nodded. "Right," he growled. "No way are we turning over the entire solar system to them." He shook his head.
"Well sir, America was founded by pioneers. I don't see any reason we shouldn't lead the way, space is big enough for all of us," Nick replied.
"You're damn tooten it is. If they can do it, so can we," the Senator huffed.
Zubrin nodded. "Right, and by keeping the program working we can keep thousands of men and women working, with their pay going into the local economy. Now that we have the gas miner platform, we can even pay for it without touching tax payer money..." Zubrin finished.
The Senator paused. "You’re serious about that?"
Nick nodded. "The first load is coming back next year sir," he answered.
"Right. I never expected it to work," the Senator admitted and shook his head.
Nick chuckled. "If an Iron's is on board, I wouldn't bet against it."
The Senator smiled and nodded. That was true enough; the Irons brothers had worked wonders. No one in space history could believe how well everything had gone off. "Right. You did all right with them; they're a credit to their nation." He looked up. "Are they coming back?" he asked finally, not sure if he wanted an answer.
Nick shrugged. "I don't know sir; they have an entire world to explore and terraform. I bet they will be busy for a while," he answered and then shrugged.
Zubrin chuckled. "Even though there is ten lifetimes of work and exploring, I don't think either of them will sit still for too long. Too tame for them," he said dryly.
The senator shook his head and smiled. "Right." He chuckled with them.
·Chapter 18
Tragedy strikes:
Bruce and Mary grinned as they reached the top. The held hands and walked in unison as they reached the lip of the crater wall. "One small step for man, one big one for a pair of Treadwell’s," Mary said.
Bruce chuckled. "Amen to that." He squeezed her hand then let go to drive the flag into the regolith. He recaptured her hand and kissed it. "My Martian princess," he teased, echoing Mario. She blushed.
He chuckled. "I'm not sure that shade of pink goes with your makeup or outfit dear," he continued to tease. Her blush deepened. They waved to Luigi who was holding the camera.
He panned around to see Doctor Hotamba taking samples. "Here is Doctor Hotamba, South African geologist and resident Martian vulcanoligist taking samples..." The Doctor looked up and waved, then went back to tapping at a rock. He held up a sample to the sun, then put it in his bag and started writing on it with a grease pen.
"All business. Nothing for the folks back home?" Bruce asked. Luigi panned back to him.
Bruce waved. "Ladies and gentlemen, we would like to say, now that we have done it, gone where no man or woman...” He looked at his wife with a smile. "Have gone before, now it is your turn. You're turn to step out, to follow your dreams. Look where they brought us!" He threw his hands apart and spun around. Luigi panned around in a three sixty then back to Bruce. "Folks, I know a lot of you will say we did this because we had a lot of money. True. Entirely true. But Mary and I weren't born with wealth. Both of us started out the children of middle class Americans. If we can get here, then you can do it too."
He waved then turned to look down into the caldera. "Okay, we're going to move on to go down into the caldera and take a look around." Mary knelt and started rapping safety pins into the rocks and regolith. Luigi covered her for a few minutes then panned back to Doctor Hotamba who was taking photos of an interesting rock. He turned back to the Treadwell’s just as they hooked up their safety lines.
"What are you...?” He started to ask.
Bruce looked up. "See you below!" He stepped backward and down. Mary followed. Luigi huffed as he rushed to the top with Doctor Hotamba behind him.
"They're crazy!" Hotamba said.
Luigi chuckled as Bruce looked up and waved. "Well, it definitely got me awake." He watched as they walked backwards down the inside slope of the caldera then unclipped at the bottom. "Folks for those of you watching at home, the Treadwell’s have just entered the caldera, the mouth of the volcano. They are in the center; there are two craters to either side," he said for the viewers watching the video. Luigi panned from left to right so they could be seen, then back onto the Treadwell’s. Bruce and Mary were hugging in the exact center. He zoomed in for a moment to watch them break the embrace to hold each other's forearms, staring into each other's eyes.
"Talk about a great couple." Luigi zoomed back out then turned his focus on Doctor Hotamba. "So Doctor, have you found anything interesting?"
The Doctor chuckled. "Well, from the preliminary readouts the sulfur chloride level indicates a possible rise in magma. Whether that is because of the impact, or some Vulcan activity is unknown. We will need several readings to confirm the readings and to determine if the volcano will erupt." Luigi heard a gasp and spun, focusing on the Treadwell’s.
"Did he say erupt?" Mary asked, suddenly concerned about where she'd put herself.
Hotamba chuckled. "Yes, but it may not be for years," he replied. Luigi turned back to him as Mary murmured.
"Oh, that's good to know. Just to be safe though Bruce." She indicated the slope. He chuckled and nodded.
...*...*...*...*...
"We need an export, something other than science," Mario sighed rubbing his nose.
Luigi looked up to Mario. He had just gotten back from the Olympus Mons trip and was dog tired. He rubbed his brow. He wasn't sure how Mario had managed everything over the years. "Yeah, you’re just figuring that out?" He shook his head. "We've been racking our brains for the past seven years big brother, trust me, we've thought of a lot, but nothing really stands out," Luigi replied disgusted.
Mario sat down. "I remember in Zubrin's book he mentioned exporting Deuterium... We have the Deuterium extractor, it taps the hydrogen and we get about a fifty percent efficiency on its output. Most of that goes to the reactors... I bet we could bump it up a bit, maybe we could export some?" he asked thoughtfully as he looked to his brother.
Luigi shook his head. "Drop in the bucket. In order to make a big impact we would have to export over two thousand metric tons a year to keep expanding."
Mario sighed. "What about keep our heads above water and grow slow?" Wanda asked from the doorway. Both men turned to her. She smiled. Betsy was behind her. They came in and sat on their husband's laps.
"Hmmm..." Luigi sat back thinking after he hugged Betsy. “Missed you,” he murmured and kissed her. She smiled as he rubbed the small of her back.
"Let's start small genius, maybe a ton or two each transit. We already supply the ferries with fuel; why not send up a little extra? Bob can set something up on his end to deal with it," Betsy suggested.
Luigi nodded. "We can make fuel bags now, so that is not a problem," Mario suggested.
"Right. And if we load the ferry down with fuel, it won’t even need fuel for the return jaunt here," Wanda suggested.
Mario frowned. "As long as they don't break down,” he sighed. "Or run out of reactor fuel. Hon, I don't suppose you found any processed uranium lying around out there?" he teased.
She shook her head. "No way, even if I find it, I ain't touchin it. Mama didn't raise no fool." They chuckled at that.
"So, I see you’re getting big, getting too big for your britches?" Mario leaned over and glanced at Betsy's growing belly. She'd figured it out while Luigi had been on his historic jaunt. She'd thought she'd been putting on weight because of all the good food, or so she said. She'd broken the news to Luigi over the radio since her brother in law wouldn't keep his big mouth shut.
She rubbed it. "A bit, I can't fit into my skin suit unless I suck in. Another week or two and I am going to be grounded," she sighed.
Mario chuckled. "Little brother a father, I never did think of it. Going to have a brat smarter then you finally...” He smiled at Luigi.
Luigi chuckled. "Yeah, fatherhood, scary," he said and pretended to shiver. He smiled up at Betsy. "She makes it all worth it though," he said softly as he stared up into her eyes.
Wanda squirmed a bit until Mario hugged her tight. "We'll have our turn someday dear. Don't sweat it," he murmured into her ear. She sighed softly.
...*...*...*...*...
“The asteroid conglomerate is starting to pick up steam; we've managed to get Columbus off the ground. She's in space and now that she's assembled she will be used to carry an exploration team to an Aten asteroid in a couple months.” Zubrin looked tired but elated. “They are targeting a rare metal's asteroid. I had to point out to our friends on the hill that over thirty percent of the world's nickel comes from a single asteroid impact in Sudbury Canada,” he said dryly. Luigi nodded at this. He had used it in some of his own arguments.
“I wanted to get a test flight out to Mars but the nixed it in committee. I do have some good news; we have purchased several slightly used space planes at discount prices so we can get our people to orbit on this end on our own dime.” Zubrin smiled. Luigi frowned but then shrugged. It wasn't his problem.
“I am hoping we can get a few more loads of gear out to you. I've got over a hundred thousand people on the colony list now, it's insane,” Bob said and chuckled. “We even have some people trying to charter their own flights,” he waved a dismissive hand, as if that would ever really fly. “I had the FBI look into it, two are legit but don't have a snowball's chance in hell of getting off the ground, one was a money scam, and another just might work. They are trying to negotiate something with us now.” He grimaced. Luigi blinked.
“Okay, I've got a dinner at the White house so I will catch you tomorrow. Try to stay out of trouble Luigi,” Zubrin finished with a smile and wave before cutting the video. Luigi sat back with a sigh.
“It will be nice to have some fresh faces, but we're getting a bit crowded,” Betsy said as she sailed in and sat on his lap.
Luigi grunted. She was getting heavier, not that he'd ever dream of saying so. “Yeah,” he sighed. There were eighteen people in the colony, well, nineteen counting litt
le Piotr. Nine were confirmed to be staying, the other nine were either returning to Earth on the next ferry or on the fence. The Treadwells were definitely returning.
She smiled. “Fashion for the pregnant Mars women leaves a lot to be desired,” Betsy sighed as she rubbed her tummy. She had borrowed clothes on.
“Just be glad Wanda insisted all of Mario's clothes be stretchable,” he teased.
She giggled. “Yeah, I feel sorry for Mario though, we pregnant women keep raiding his closet for clothes.” She smiled as Luigi stroked her hair.
“I don't think he minds. As long as you don't go dying it pink,” he replied. She laughed.
...*...*...*...*...
“Mario can we build a canal or something to channel the water to the base? These trips to the well are a pain,” Wanda asked plaintively. She shook her head and rolled her shoulders in exasperation. Hastily Mario got up and started to rub her shoulders and neck. She practically purred giving a small smile to an amused Joyce.
“She's right, going to the well tapping it, filling the bags, loading them then hauling them back to base, dumping them, it's a monumental time suck,” Toshi replied as he came in. He kissed his wife.
“Canals on Mars? Novel concept, wish someone had thought of it years ago,” Mario joked. Joyce laughed. Wanda reached behind and pinched him. “Owe! I was joking!” Mario sighed. “Always beating me up,” he grumbled.
“Oh you'll live,” she teased back.
“So obviously we can't do open canals, what about an aqueduct?” Toshi asked.
Mario grimaced. “It would have to be underground and heated to keep the water flowing. Slopped too or we would have to have pumps,” he sighed, thinking the concept over.
“A lot of work?” Joyce asked.
He nodded. “We had a heck of a time cutting the permafrost to dig the vaults. Now think about cutting a three meter channel three or more meters deep two kilometers long?” He shook his head.
Toshi grimaced. “Yeah. Now that's a time suck,” he sighed.
“What about running a pipeline?” Luigi asked as he came in. Betsy followed.
First Steps (Founding of the Federation) Page 38