by Jason Bourn
“Yes,” Randy said sympathetically. “You have it right. “I’m very sorry. We checked and rechecked our results and have confirmed them. The CO2 recycling system is critical since it is the system to convert carbon dioxide back into oxygen – like what plants do but artificially and almost as efficiently. Anyway, when everyone is in suspended animation not much oxygen is needed, but with a faulty CO2 recycling system there wouldn’t be any oxygen when everyone attempts to awaken so you would all die an ugly death.
“The Oxygen tank assembly is where all the O2 is stored. Without this functioning, there is no way to support life on board the shuttle. The assembly is constructed of fifty small tank subassemblies so that if there were a breach in a single small tank, it would not disable the entire assembly. There is a ten percent margin, so we need at least forty-five small tanks to successfully complete the mission. There are ten good subassemblies in the backup shuttle and thirty-seven good subassemblies in the primary shuttle. The problem is that it is very time consuming to swap out the subassemblies from the primary shuttle to the backup shuttle. You just don’t have enough time.”
As Calaes thought about it, he knew that the primary shuttle was a lost cause. There were two major problems with it and possibly more. The backup shuttle was a possibility, but it too had a catastrophic issue. Were there other alternatives? Calaes had to think. They had come so far, only to be thwarted so close to success. Then he had a great thought. “Have you considered that we could all get into your backup shuttle? It is there just waiting for us.”
Randy frowned and consulted with his persa.
After a few moments he shook his head. “No, the logistics just don’t support this. We are physically too far away from you. Even if we diverted all the available vehicles to get you here, there is no way that we could get more than a handful of you there by the time the launch window closes. And that is cutting all the corners we could. I’m sorry, but it just isn’t feasible.”
Calaes heard what Randy was saying, but he was not ready to give up, so he turned his focus to the backup shuttle. “Have you looked for alternate oxygen tanks, instead of the original ones, for our backup shuttle? Are you sure there are no tanks anywhere that we could scavenge?”
Randy replied, “We looked everywhere and there are no compatible tanks. This design is unique for the shuttle retrofit, so there were only enough built for these four shuttles, with a couple of spares. The spares are too far away so that the launch window would have easily passed by the time they were loaded and shipped to you. Again, I’m sorry.”
Calaes thought and thought. It seemed like an intractable problem. There were no spares available and this was a unique design, so no other parts could be used. Their primary shuttle was not useable and there was no way to get the oxygen tank subassemblies to the backup shuttle in time. There was no way out that he could see.
Finally, a thought occurred to him. What if they swapped out the entire oxygen tank assembly from the primary shuttle and supplemented the few failed subassemblies with the good subassemblies from the backup shuttle?
Calaes quickly asked Randy asking if he the oxygen tank in the primary shuttle could be moved to the backup shuttle.
Randy quickly responded that he would check.
After waiting countless moments, finally Randy responded. “It was never meant to be a replaceable assembly, but it is possible to bypass all the safety protocols. If you do this, it will be extremely difficult, but it is possible with the time you have remaining.”
With that Calaes quickly broke the connection and swung into action. He quickly sent a message to all team-leads directing them to get their teams loaded into the backup shuttle immediately. The only exception was for the Engineering team to disconnect the oxygen tank from the primary shuttle and get it installed into the backup shuttle as soon as possible. This was the highest priority.
Immediately there was a hum of voices as everyone started talking among themselves. He could hear orders being given in the background, but he needed to ensure that the Engineering team was able to pull off this emergency feat.
He found Antony shouting orders to his engineering team. They formed several sub-teams so they could simultaneously perform the planning and implementation of all the areas. The sub-teams consisted of disassembly, packing, transport, unpacking, installation and test. Two disassembly sub-teams started work disassembling the oxygen tanks from both shuttles, while the other sub-team-leads put together a time table. The results showed they did not have enough time to accomplish all of these tasks.
Antony and Calaes discussed this with the sub-team-leads to decide which items could safely be skipped. The consensus was that if they were careful, the packing and unpacking would not be necessary. However, this meant that there was a higher risk of damaging the tank during transport. Since the transport was such a short distance between shuttles and since they didn’t really have too much of a choice, they decided to move forward. The packing and unpacking sub-team members were folded into the remaining sub-teams.
The updated timeline showed that they could make the launch window, but just barely, and only if the test phase was performed in parallel with the installation. This required a high level of interaction between the two sub-teams, but it was their only choice.
The disassembly was accomplished on schedule at both shuttles, with the transport sub-team already in position to start the move. It was a delicate balance of trying to hurry and yet not damage this assembly.
They successfully removed the oxygen tanks from both the primary and backup shuttles. They started removing the known-good subassemblies from the backup shuttle while the oxygen tank from the primary shuttle was moved close to the backup shuttle. Things were going well, until they were moving it into position in the backup shuttle. At that point their speed exceeded their caution and the assembly crashed into the side of the shuttle.
Cringing, Calaes asked for a status report on the damage. Antony responded that it was too early to tell, however since the installation and test would be carried out in parallel, they would know soon enough.
Calaes could not do anything but wait to see if they had lost their last hope of making the launch window.
The test sub-team broke into two, with one group assessing the damage to the shuttle and the other awaiting the installation of the tank assembly so they could perform tank testing.
The shuttle test team rapidly examined the shuttle. Their report was good – only minor cosmetic damage to the shuttle. After they were done with the examination, this sub-team quickly made their way into the shuttle to get into their suspended animation chambers.
There were no more mishaps with the transport of the tank assembly – they appeared to be much more cautious after their earlier mishap. As the tank assembly was moved into place, the tank installation work started. At each major installation milestone, the test sub-team performed their testing. Everything was still on schedule, but it was close – and the damage from the impact to the shuttle still could not be assessed until the final installation was completed.
As the final installation steps were completed, the installation sub-team melted away to get into their chambers. The only ones left to get into their chambers were Calaes, Antony and the test sub-team. The test team, thought Calaes wryly, always was squeezed like in a vice – the end schedule never moved, even though everyone before test slipped their schedules.
As the final tests were completed, Calaes looked expectantly back and forth between Antony and the sub-team-lead.
“Well,” shouted Calaes. He couldn’t constrain himself. “What are the results of the testing?”
The test sub-team-lead deferred to Antony, who spoke: “There has been some damage to the tank assembly. Of the thirty-seven good tank subassemblies, two were damaged leaving thirty-five tank subassemblies. With the ten good subassemblies from the original backup shuttle’s oxygen tank installed, that gives us forty-five subassemblies. This is the bare minimum – ther
e are no spares.”
Calaes thought about it. They didn’t have spares, but it was good enough to get off the ground. If they delayed, this would give the government another twenty-six months to prepare new problems for the candidates. As Calaes saw it they really didn’t have much of a choice.
Calaes shouted, “That’s good enough. We have to go now or we’ll never make it off Earth.”
With that Calaes, Antony and the test team ran to their chambers, just as the klaxon bells started ringing indicating imminent departure and last chance to get into suspended animation.
As Calaes climbed into his chamber, all thoughts of the battles they had just won were drowned by the knowledge that if something went wrong during the flight there was nothing that he could do about it. This feeling of helplessness was something that he just had to deal with. He had had enough to worry about without this feeling overwhelming him.
The thoughts of all the problems that lie ahead came back to him as he had a few moments to finally think. They still hadn’t determined who the government sympathizers were. There hadn’t been any more “accidents,” but then again everything had been double and triple checked. He still didn’t trust the rebels, but at least Hope and Randy were coming to the settlement. Strangely, Randy wouldn’t share any additional information on any of the other rebels.
As the lid slid closed on his chamber, Calaes heard the sounds of the air pressure seal going in place. He was quite apprehensive thinking about all his problems and his helplessness at being unable to do anything in case of an emergency. He heard a gentle hiss and knew that it was the first part of the sleep protocol, a sedative to relax both his mind and his body. His rancorous thoughts started to strip away, like a large flock of birds in flight where small groups continually left the flock until there were only ten birds left, then nine, then eight, then … Calaes lost count as he drifted into unconsciousness.
PART 6 – SETTLEMENT
CHAPTER 33
The alarm klaxon bell kept ringing and ringing. The ship was in imminent danger and Calaes had to respond to it, but he was trapped. He couldn’t move his arms or legs. He desperately wanted someone to turn off the alarm – it was pounding in his head. He slowly realized that he was still in his animation chamber and the lid had been raised up. He faded in and out of consciousness, trying to stop that damned klaxon sound drumming in his ears.
Calaes groggily looked around and slowly recognized that the alarm klaxon was actually the standard beeping protocol indicating the normal re-animation routine. His rapidly clearing mind found some humor in the way the brain always went to fight or flight mode when it couldn’t identify and classify a situation. He was sure that this evolutionary tactic had saved his ancient ancestors many times long ago, but he really didn’t appreciate it causing him so much stress on waking up this particular time.
Were they on Mars? They were scheduled to wake up the moment they had landed. With his head feeling like he had consumed too many of the latest high-alcohol specialty drinks that many of the candidates enjoyed, all the issues that Calaes had been worrying about prior to launch flooded back into his mind. His addled brain finally remembered that he had access to any information he wanted through his persa, so he asked for an immediate status of the situation.
Rapidly looking over the information, Calaes instantly felt elation. They had done it! After all the adversity, hard work and danger – here they were. Safe on Mars. This was the culmination of so much, but also just the beginning. Then he thought of the other shuttle and saw his persa showed it too had landed safely on Mars.
Calaes felt a wave of relief sweep over him like a cool silky breeze. All the candidates had made it safely. This was his primary responsibility for the last year and it felt like a great weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He thought about the three interrelated problems he had been contemplating what seemed like minutes ago, even though more than a month had passed. He had hoped that his subconscious might have come up with some answers, but evidently suspended animation didn’t allow the subconscious to work either.
Looking around, Calaes saw everyone who had worked so hard to get here. He felt proud having been part of a successful team. The government had done their best, but here they were anyway.
Of the three problems that had been haunting him, it seemed that he could put the government problem to the back of his mind. The next highest priority was to find out more about the rebels, and specifically what their real motives were. Yet he didn’t know how to approach that.
He thought about his last remaining problem – his relationship with Hope. That was a problem that he didn’t mind exploring. And now that they were both here at the settlement, there was nothing keeping him from doing it. As they said, this was a good problem to have. In fact, maybe he could use Hope to get more information on the rebels. Of course, the down side to that approach was that if she felt he was using her, it could adversely affect their relationship. If they even had a relationship. He decided that if she ever called him on it, he would be honest, but blame curiosity.
Glad that he had made a decision, Calaes decided that he felt well enough to sit up in his chamber. Other than his head swimming a bit, which quickly subsided, he decided he was feeling more like himself. When he decided he could stand up, he decided that maybe he wasn’t fully back to normal. He didn’t fully compensate for the lower gravity, so instead of standing up, he sprung up into the air. His persa helpfully provided the information that the gravity was only thirty-eight percent of Earth’s. On the plus side he grinned to himself, if he had wanted to lose some weight, his former 180 pounds now weighed in at a svelte sixty-eight pounds.
Looking around sheepishly, he noticed that other people were also getting up, with almost all of them making the same mistake he had. He thought about what other responsibilities he had right now, but unlike everyone else, he didn’t have a specific set of tasks. The engineers had engineering studies and assessments to do, the logistics personnel had to inventory all the equipment and supplies, the cooks would always be busy, but he wasn’t busy at all. It felt wonderful.
He asked his persa where he could find Hope. It turned out that their shuttle had landed several hours before his shuttle had, so she was already in the settlement, in the administration building. He sent a message to her informing her that he was coming to see her. It felt great to have that flexibility –she had never been accessible before. He realized that he couldn’t try to rush things. The last thing he wanted was to alienate her.
He received a non-committal response from her saying, “Ok, see you soon.” He wasn’t exactly sure how to take that, but since he didn’t know if she were busy with some task or talking to someone or just enjoying some free time alone – so he would have to play it by ear to see how to proceed.
As he maneuvered around all the chambers in the shuttle, his body remembered the feeling of walking with the long-strided gait from the Mars Simulation. He quickly got used to the lower gravity, glad that he had so much sim experience that could now be put to good use. It had been a brilliant piece of planning to get everyone trained in the Martian Survival Challenge Simulation. Everything should now come together quickly – much more so than if there were no prior training.
Others around him were starting to get out of their chambers, getting used to their legs again and the feeling of Mars gravity. Ahead Calaes could see the shuttle door and the circular bridgeway tunnel to the settlement.
The settlement. He waited impatiently as several people took their time getting to the bridgeway. Looking ahead, he felt excitement welling up in him. He had yet to see the Martian landscape, but the bridgeway was somewhat translucent and had a distinct red hue that emanated throughout. Then he was finally through the bridgeway and in the settlement.
Finally!
After years and years, here he was.
Looking out at the vast tableau, it was both new and thrilling and at the same time familiar and comforting. The simulation had b
een so accurate that he had seen this same view hundreds if not thousands of times. But the reality of actually being here on Mars made the view seem fresh and exciting. The mere thought of successfully making it to another planet was exhilarating.
Calaes’ persa informed him of the directions to get to Hope’s location and, not wanting to put off his long-anticipated meeting with Hope, his long-strided gait quickly took him to the administration building. The trip had been relatively short, as there had to be an economy of space since the settlement had been built to be both centralized, and hence easy to find and get anywhere, and economical, since it cost so much for every square meter of building.
Calaes slowed down when he approached the modular office that Hope was in. It was a typical 2.5 by 2.5 by 2.5 meter modular office with the normal not-quite-off-white and not-quite-gray coloring. While it was very efficient to put together and maintain, it did nothing for the aesthetics.
Looking in the room, he saw her. Her hair was tied up in a pony tail and she looked particularly cute studying information on a desk. She looked up when she heard him and smiled. “So how do you like your new home?” she asked.
Calaes walked over and sat down comfortably on the desk, smiled and said, “It’s great. We’ve been working so hard for so long, it is nice just to enjoy being here. I see you’re already getting into the work mode. Do you have some time to talk?”
She looked at him for a long moment, queried the time and said, “Actually, I was wondering when you might be coming by. There is something that I think you’ll want to see. If we hurry, we can see it right now.”
“What?” he responded. “Is it work-related? Now you’ve piqued my interest.”