Inside the long rectangular utility compartment, however, all was action and anticipation. Three people were busily engaged in the final stages of tidying-up the tools and hardware used to convert their temporary home into a prototype for Isaac Hardy’s ‘first great experimental application of pure physics’, as he rather long-windedly and affectionately called it.
Two days and two nights had passed since Latt Jusstinalss and Terry Stadt had miraculously returned from their failed attempt to stop the Controllers. Both the days and much of each night had been filled with frantic work, some of it fraught with danger. Latt and Isaac had managed to recover most of the Gravity Inducers from the wreckage of the laboratory before it was up-ended by the wind and ripped from its mounting, leaving part of the entrance still attached to the ‘Railcar’ as it careered off into the storm. Fortunately neither of them was inside the pitted and frozen shell when this happened. The previously pessimistic Latt refused to be defeated by this set-back, and had arranged for Isaac to periodically fire the laser along the approximate path down which the torn dome had been blown. Then he had managed to drive the hastily repaired mini-truck down a route parallel to the beam, find the crushed and battered remains a few hundred yards away, and laboriously transport each of the remaining undamaged Inducers back to the Railcar, one by one.
Once that part of the operation had been successfully concluded, Ruth was able to relax somewhat, as her husband no longer appeared to be in mortal danger. The same could not be said for Terry, however. He had sunk into a semi-conscious state a few hours after his return with Latt, and since then Ruth had spent a great deal of time administering what few drugs they had with them and attempting to keep Terry’s fever down below danger levels. All the drugs came from the fairly comprehensive emergency kit that had been removed by the Controllers from Getaway, a kit that was being used far beyond the circumstances for which it was designed.
The interior of the Railcar looked quite different now all four of them were spending all their waking and sleeping moments inside it; make-shift beds were shoved between stacks of boxes, and a rather strange-looking chair that had been made from parts salvaged from the laboratory was attached to the floor adjacent to Terry’s resting place, in an attempt to make Ruth comfortable while nursing him. Three more, similarly unique chairs were mounted in a row facing the end where the entrance into the laboratory had once been, and a long, sloping section of Transplyous[1] and structural reinforcements, had been mounted between the chairs and the now-useless door. This gave the appearance of a streamlined nose on a high-speed train, but the angular end of the Railcar complete with upright door, which was still visible through it, spoiled the illusion.
In front of the chairs, a couple of keyboards and monitors were mounted on hastily-assembled boxes of ‘Hybralloy’, the strange material of which the Railcar was constructed, as if the occupants planned to watch movies or play computer games there, and along the walls, forming a head hazard already tested by all the mobile occupants, were mounted all of the Gravity Inducers from the laboratory, including the ones that had been salvaged so heroically by Latt. He had finally finished readjusting one of these devices after a particularly large rock had dented the wall, moving the Inducer and spoiling the precise alignment he had achieved just minutes earlier. Each device had been hastily modified before it had been mounted, and all of the ones in the sub-floor had been removed and modified in turn, to redirect the artificial gravity fields beyond the confines of the Railcar.
“It looks real good,” Isaac commented as he surveyed the interior of the utility compartment that was now his Martian office, workshop and home-away-from-home combined. “We should use it before a really big rock comes our way and does more than just wreck the alignment.”
Latt nodded as he crouched beneath the device and reattached the cover. “Thiss is way beyond the design requirementss for these Inducerss; I only hope they don’t overload when we sswitch them on.”
Isaac made no response to this; it was obvious to all of them that if his plan failed to work, they would be stranded on Mars, doomed to spend a few more days, or perhaps weeks, within the confines of what would then become their tomb, once all the food was gone.
Ruth wiped Terry’s left arm with antiseptic and inserted another needle with the ease of much practice. As soon as she had finished, she walked down the Railcar to the other two. “I’ve reduced the dose by half, but it still won’t last for more than three more days, at the outside,” she said quietly. “After that, the stump’s gonna go fast.” And his shoulder is too near to it for any further amputation, I’m sure. She shuddered at the mere thought of performing surgery, and especially under such conditions.
Isaac looked back at Terry, noting the strange pallor of his skin, particularly on the partially exposed right shoulder. He found it intensely worrying, and strangely ironic: Terry’s appearance was now more reminiscent of Latt’s when they had first met him.
Terry opened his eyes and stared up at the curved roof, looking somewhere beyond the Gravity Inducer mounted above his head. Something of the words just spoken must have penetrated through the fog of pain and drugs, as he raised his head slightly and smiled glassily at the three figures that wavered in the distance of his fevered vision.
Isaac smiled back. “Don’t worry,” he said quietly as he squeezed Ruth’s aching shoulder muscles gently. “Once Latt has finished these final adjustments, we’ll be ready to go. He should be in hospital by the time it runs out.” I hope.
Ruth smiled with relief and went down to her seat next to Terry to try to relay the news to him while she slipped into her fluffy vacuum suit and checked out the air sphere.
Latt stepped away from another of the Inducers and leaned back, rubbing his thumbs into the knots that had formed in his lower back. “That’ss it! I’ll jusst walk around and check that no more adjustments are needed.”
Isaac followed him, looking anxiously at each of the Inducers in turn. The quick tour only took about a minute, then they got into their suits and returned to their seats, instructing Ruth to buckle herself in as they passed by. Each of them pulled the newly-mounted belts tight around their hips, well aware that the next few moments would either signal their escape from Mars, or sound their death knell.
Isaac pulled up his hood and turned to see that Ruth had done the same. If this fails… He looked at Terry’s unprotected body, aware that his fever would not allow the use of the over-warm alien spacesuits. He brushed the thought away and pulled the mask over his face. “Everyone ready?”
Latt nodded beside him and Ruth’s voice came through clearly on the short-range radio intercom system, indicating she had suited up completely.
“I’m switching on the power to the extra Inducers… now!” Isaac hit the appropriate key on the small panel before him, and saw the display indicate that stand-by mode had been achieved.
“Presetss to plus point eight ‘gee’,” Latt intoned as he checked his panel. “Current setting of Inducers one to eighteen is still stable at minus point nine five.”
“Let’s do it like this, Latt,” Isaac decided, after a moment of hesitation. “On the count of three, you cut the current setting, on four I’ll activate all the Inducers as planned.”
Latt nodded briefly.
“One, two, three-”
Latt depressed the disengage key, and they felt the gravity drop off abruptly.
“Four!”
The Railcar seemed to drop like a stone, causing them all to float up, their belts cutting into their legs. Ruth leaned over Terry and pulled one of his restraining bands tighter, as he floated an inch or so off the makeshift bed. Within moments the falling sensation reduced somewhat, allowing Isaac to complete the swallow he had unintentionally started on ‘two’.
Latt leaned forward, checking his equipment. “Reactor iss at twenty-five percent; everything is functioning ass required.”
Isaac smiled slightly, still expecting to feel a sudden impact as their Railcar, tur
ned over by the wind, smashed into the unyielding surface of the planet beneath them. Nothing happened.
Ruth leaned over Terry to get a better look out of the viewport. Nothing had changed; all she could see was dust.
Latt typed a command into the keyboard before him and watched as the door beyond the new, sloping transparent section opened, sliding slowly up, revealing the dust-filled atmosphere outside. The reddish murkiness swirled into the exposed area; the new seals around the Transplyous groaned and creaked as the pressure built up from within the occupied area. He found he had been holding his breath, so now he released it, as the seals appeared to be holding.
Isaac stared out of the narrow doorway. He imagined the dust was clearing somewhat, then decided visibility was as bad as ever. He found he was leaning forward; suddenly he remembered the altimeter he had rigged up, and keyed in the commands to get a reading. He smiled as the figures indicated a reduced pressure outside. We’re going up! He turned to Latt, but Latt pointed ahead excitedly. A dark band had appeared at the top of the doorway.
“I can see the stars!” Ruth shouted, breaking the tension in her excitement as she peered up through the viewport.
Isaac grabbed Latt’s shoulder and shook it. The one-time slave grinned back. Ahead, the band expanded as they continued their upward climb, and Latt carefully adjusted the power levels to the Inducers to correct the slight deviation from vertical that was now apparent. Within minutes the cloudy outline of Mars could be seen below as the curvature of the planet became more pronounced. Off to the left, as Latt programmed in a slow turn, could be seen the terminator, where the sunlight no longer illuminated the storm now safely below them. Next, the bright light of that near-by star called the sun streamed into the interior, blasting away the gloom and uncertainty of the past few days.
“And now… to Earth!” Isaac declared excitedly.
“Which way is it?” Latt asked simplistically, as the flying Railcar continued its slow rotation.
“Well,” began Isaac slowly. “It’s closer to the sun than Mars; only ninety-three million miles out, compared to Mars at about one hundred fifty. I figured we could rig up some kind of optical system and locate it. It’s not exactly my field, you know.” He looked at Latt, expecting some helpful suggestion.
Latt just looked disappointed.
“Can we take these suits off now?” Ruth commented, “I’m baking!”
Isaac laughed. “Sure! We seem to be safe from flying rocks now.”
Latt pointed ahead urgently. Something was crossing the narrow field of view through the open doorway.
The Professor followed Latt’s gesture and found himself grinning as he focused on the object, because its irregular shape and outline reminded him of how a potato might appear from about thirty feet away.
“Keep it in sight!” Isaac urged Latt as he pulled off his mask, “It will help us figure out the plane of the planets and simplify our navigation problems immensely.”
Latt adjusted the Inducers hastily, and the moon (Isaac was not sure if it was Phobos or Deimos; he could not remember which one was the more potato-like) slipped back towards the centre of the opening. Ruth swallowed as the rapid reorientation was preceded by wild fluctuations in the gravity field inside their strange spacecraft.
“If you can match its velocity, you’ll put us in orbit, and we’ll be able to turn off the Inducers while we do our modifications to the exterior,” Isaac suggested.
Latt nodded and continued his rapid keying-in of instructions. Ruth peeled her suit off her shoulders as she sat, still belted in, watching Terry mouth something in his sleep. Ahead, the potato-like rock known as Phobos seemed to rotate as it grew bigger, until it appeared to be an actual potato, just a yard or two beyond the doorway. Latt manoeuvred them even closer, completing the flipping-over process he had begun, so that their makeshift craft would be correctly orientated for the exterior trimming he and Isaac had planned.
Isaac waited until Latt had completed his adjustments and cancelled the rotation he had begun a full one hundred and eighty degrees earlier; he felt the sensation of weightlessness for the first time as the Inducers were finally shut down. After a few more swallows, he managed to convince himself that he wasn’t falling out of the sky, and he looked over to see how Ruth was taking the experience.
“I thought this would feel weird,” she began as she noticed his questioning expression. “It doesn’t feel bad at all – more like a Disneyland ride which got stuck, or something.”
Isaac grinned and tried to convince himself that he was as comfortable as his wife. Releasing the belt at his hips, he pushed himself away from the seat and found himself floating up towards the curved roof. He pushed off lightly again and directed himself back towards Ruth.
“Hi!” she said cheerfully as she caught him and swung him around until he was the same way up as her. “Who’s watching the store?” She inclined her head towards the front, where Latt had just released himself and was standing up, holding himself down by grabbing onto the seat back.
“That’s your job!” Isaac reached down and popped her belt buckle, pushing her gently forwards.
Ruth found herself drifting close enough to the three seats to grab the left one as she floated up.
“Just watch the rock,” Latt told her. “If it getss really close, hit thiss key and hold it for a second or sso, then push that one twice.” He looked at her face and saw she understood. “You shouldn’t need to; I think we are in a slightly sslower orbit.”
Ruth smiled encouragingly as she belted herself in.
Latt grinned back like a nervous schoolboy unexpectedly and inexplicably being acknowledged by a very popular, attractive girl. He turned reluctantly and bounced gently back and forth from floor to roof until he reached the airlock, regaining his focus as he performed this highly specialised task for which he had been so admirably prepared in his prior work for the Narlavs. Isaac was already inside, loaded up with a plastic welder and some long strips of Transplyous. Latt stepped in and thumped the brown bulge as soon as the door had closed behind him. The air whistled away, and he leaned against the curved surface in front of him until it slid out slightly.
Isaac watched as the door slid up, revealing the vast expanse of stars. He was so dwarfed by the immensity of the abyss that seemed to beckon to him that he was not aware of Latt attaching a safety cable to his belt.
“You can sstep out now.” Latt’s voice came through loudly, in contrast to the absolute silence of hard vacuum. “Try to crawl along the roof; there are hand-holds every foot or sso.” When Isaac failed to move, Latt squeezed past him, clutching the Transplyous, and climbed out, grabbing the top of the doorframe with his free hand as he floated upwards out of sight.
Isaac came to his senses and followed, turning his back on the opening as he grasped the top like Latt had done. He concentrated on the solid exterior surface of the Railcar and tried his hardest to ignore the endless emptiness behind him. The shiny cable ahead of him reminded him that Latt was probably waiting for him to arrive with the welder. He looked up and saw his new friend standing up, slipping his feet carefully under the rungs as he walked slowly up to the other end of the Railcar. Floating directly ahead of him, like a monstrous, grotesquely distorted ball of discarded modelling clay, the true size of the moon was now apparent. Isaac took a deep breath and knelt, sliding his left foot under the rung he had been gripping so tightly. He straightened the leg slowly, using his right to maintain some semblance of balance, and slipped his right foot under the next rung.
Ruth leaned over Terry; she was getting concerned with his moaning and had left her station at the front to check him out. He kept saying ‘news… news’ over and over again. Ruth put her hand on his forehead. The heat was enough to make her reach for the emergency kit once more. He’s burning up; I’ve got to keep the fever down, or he’ll be finished. She thought of her first meeting with Terry, at the canoeing club outing, and how for a while she had thought she was in love with him.
Then her attention had been drawn to the quieter young man with the soft brown eyes and a deep love of nature. By the time Terry had fallen for her and decided to propose, he was too late. I wish it hadn’t happened like that… Somehow I’ve got to keep him alive ‘til we get back, and find him someone he can really love!
Isaac stepped methodically onwards. He stared at the rugged moon, making comparisons in his head. Let’s see, the Earth’s circumference is forty thousand kilometres; that rock’s the same apparent size as a garbage can fifteen metres away. He found he was babbling; and his concentration wandered. His left foot slipped as he slid it under the next rung, and he broke out into a cold sweat as he arched his right foot in a desperate attempt to keep it from slipping out of the rung just behind him.
Somehow it held, and he managed to get his left foot into place beside it. He looked up as he felt the level of his anxiety ease off a fraction, and saw the monstrous boiling clouds of Mars above him. His perception changed, and he found himself hanging upside down, about to fall thousands of miles to the shrouded but ultimately unyielding undulations below him.
He froze.
Chapter Five
Vector Conveyance and Structural Theory skills are unconnected – Yendalte, VIC Theoretician
“Daddy?” Karen sat up suddenly and looked around, wide-awake. She stared desolately at the stars as the dream faded. It was so real. I thought he was… Tears flowed freely as she relived the experiences of a five year-old, playing with the only other human she had known existed at that tender age. And she recalled that it was all too soon after that happy moment that she was separated from her father and left only with a disembodied voice to keep her company and care for her.
Loving such an ethereal voice might seem out of the question to an adult, but the heart of a child is freely given, and Tutor never got angry with her, never criticized her, always answered her questions, no matter how strange, never snapped at her because she woke up in the night afraid, never left her with a stranger for a baby-sitter because there was a good movie in town, never left her alone at all, except when incapacitated by the temporary breakdown before Richard came to Redcliff.
Passage Page 5
