Acts of Survival
Orbit the Sun – Part 11
By John Stevenson
Copyright 2015 John Stevenson
Mars overwhelmed them. From the observation deck the orange/red planet obscured everything else; both their vision and their senses.
Not a single person looking down at the planet had ever imagined: even in their wildest dreams, that they would be looking at the sight before them, but things that happened in crazy dreams had become the normal over the last months of their lives.
Yet this last challenge could be the one that they would fail at the last step that would take them from the fragile shell that had protected them, to another type of hostile environment. Even so everyone on Earthrise was euphoric: what had begun as an adventure: that turned into disaster, was now once more an adventure could not have been imagined.
After all they had been through it had been a phenomenal feat to get the wandering satellite in a position to re-enter orbit, but in just a few hours the hotel would once again circle above a planet, but a planet far different and more alien than its makers had ever envisioned.
Earthrise had been slowing for some time and was approaching orbit almost precisely as planned: an amazing feat considering what was left still working on the station, but Mathew was already thinking on another problem; how could they get across to the Mars Explorer? They couldn’t dock: the explorer was unresponsive and Earthrise uncontrollable. There was no option but to choose a spot close enough to reach: but far enough to avoid colliding; and with hours to go he had no more time to plan.
“A leap into space?” Alisha looked at him in disbelief.
He tried to dismiss her shock. “Not really a leap: with the tractor?”
“The tractor is for moving heavy equipment not transporting humans across space?”
“There’s no reason it can’t?” he said defensively.
“Probably not, but it was never designed for being more than a few meters away from the station?”
“But it could have been; I’ve checked the specs, it’s got enough power to cross the gap.”
“Get across?” she said suspiciously. “We cant even be sure how far across is?”
Mathew couldn’t argue that. “That’s why we have to be ready when we pass by; so we can get the opportune moment?”
“I understand that, but the whole idea is not to pass close by; we’re deliberately creating a gap; a gap we have to cross.”
“Shashi has a readout of the coordinates in relation to the colony; we can locate our position to her; its simple math’s to work out when we have the best chance?”
Alisha was shaking her head
“We leap off Earthrise; the momentum we carry: plus the tractors thrusters should give us the velocity and cut down the time?”
“Matt.” She said in an exasperated way. “You do realize this is stupid; it’s a risk we don’t have to take?”
“No, we don’t have to; most of us can get down to the surface in the shuttle.” he said firmly. “Whoever’s left can survive here for two: maybe three years or at a push, even more; that’s if any of them are still sane. Or they can wait for the next malfunction r mechanical failure, or maybe they will drift off…”
“I get the picture.” She said moodily.
Matt smiled weakly; he knew he was clutching at any excuse. “Whatever happens they are trapped; if things go wrong and if rescue is delayed those that stay here could die?”
“As could both of us could trying to get over there?”
“There are no guarantees, but we can’t allow that to happen?”
“So we succeed by pure force of will?”
“By desperation.”
“As long as you realize that… So, assuming we get there I set all the controls and then what; I bring up the lander?”
“Yes.”
“What if it’s not working; we do another leap to get back?”
“No, it’s a one off; we don’t know if we’ll ever have the chance to do it again, but Shashi is certain everything is working. It was their emergency escape they had to keep it ready to go.”
“Okay,” she said begrudgingly.
“Once we have everything set up we wait for the next best orbital positions; and you send the lander to Earthrise. Pick up the eight and bring them to us on the Explorer. Once they are settled and ready to leave you bring us back here in the Lander.”
“Leaving them without any means of escape?”
“Where are they going to go?”
“And if they get back to Earth?”
“Once they’re back close to Earth the space station can get them off; that’s where the Explorer started from?”
“So once I have the eight over there I give them a five minute course on how to fly a spaceship from here to Earth, and leave them to it?”
“You’ll have most of an orbit; more if you need it; and anyway they’re crew; they know the basics; you just have to make sure they know what to look for and what to do if something happens?”
“Until something happens?”
“Nothing is going to happen.”
She looked at him reproachfully. “Your saying that after what has happened to us?”
“Yes.” Matt said in a voice that carried more confidence than he felt. “They’ll be on the auto flight path you have programmed.”
She sighed. “Then we’ll take the lander back over to earthrise, and I fly the shuttle down? … You realize after all this stress I’m going to refuse any duties and take a long holiday… that’s if we get down?”
Matt grinned. “I promise you will be relieved of any further pilot duties.”
“I want that in writing?”
“And you can have it.”
“What about fuel?”
“The lander? It’s fully fueled. It’s been cracking its own fuel since it landed.”
“Matt.” She said patiently. “It’s a great plan, but everybody is relying on me flying the shuttle. Have you stopped for just a second to realize the potential for it all to go wrong?”
“I did: just for a second, until I realized we all could die anyway.”
Peter was leaning against the wall looking at the boys, and listening to Vincent.
“Nobody is gunna give up their place at any price?” said Vincent looking back at him.
“Believe me for ten million everybody will.”
Vincent was shaking his head. “Another two; maybe more years? I’m not sure anybody will think it’s worth it at any price?”
Peter disagreed: but Vincent had a point, he had to accept that when he had suggested changing places to one of the crew the man had been only slightly interested. “Then I can offer twenty mill?”
Vincent’s eyes widened. “Twenty million; even I could be interested in that much money?”
“The offer is open to anybody who can give me a seat?”
“Up front?’
Peter stiffened at how Vincent dared answer him back, but showed none of his anger. “You think I have that much in cash on me?”
“Nobody is going to give up their place on a promise.”
“You don’t trust me?”
Vincent’s face took on its normal sneer. “Sounds tempting, but what about the job you promised me when we get back: maybe in two more years it wont still be there?”
“I will find you something.”
Vincent looked hopefully at Peter. “Naa… stuck with all that lot for years has to be worth at least fifty million?”
Peter held his gaze but didn’t up the offer.
“You promised me a good life working for you; I’ll take t
hat instead.”
Peter nodded. “Okay; like I said I don’t care who’s seat it is; so ask around; but discretely, I don’t want anybody topping my offer.”
“You think anybody would?”
“There are people who could.”
Vincent smiled. “I get a commission?”
Peter forced himself to remain calm. “One percent?’
“Just one?”
“Vince, people who work for me don’t bargain?”
“K,” he grinned. “It was worth a try.”
Peter watched in silence as Vince left the room.
As the door closed Ralph spoke. “Why waste money, why don’t you just take the shuttle?”
“If can buy a place there won’t be any repercussions?”
“There won’t be if we all pull out the guns?”
“It’s not heroes I’m worried about; it’s timing. Were outnumbered; show too soon and they will have time to realize that; too late and we may miss the chance?”
“We can take hostages?”
“That’s just more mouths to feed?”
“Not if they don’t make tit back?”
Peter smiled; in some ways Ralph was his younger self. “I take it you have someone in mind?”
“Yea.”
“Who?”
“Your bitch and Emma? It’s a long trip? Then we have a pilot; a doctor in case we get sick, and entertainment?”
“Our priority is to make sure we have that pilot; your certain she is going over?”
Ralph nodded. “Her and Matt; they have to get the Lander up, if they can’t nothing is going to happen?”
“I’d prefer it if he wasn’t going to be there.”
“I think he would too from what I’m hearing. It’s old tech, nuclear fission; extremely dangerous, but it’s his job to get things working.”
“And that worries me too; what if he can’t, and we’re on our way over. We could end up being stuck on a spaceship that’s dead?”
“That’s possible, but not probable. It’s semi mothballed, but you can’t switch off a nuclear reactor like a light bulb; it’s still active, just shut down. All he has to do is make sure it’s working; then it’s all down to Alisha.”
Peter nodded. “They don’t plan to come back here first?”
“You mean before the crew arrive? No, they can’t it off without settling the crew in. They’ll need to know that when they get aboard everything is okay. The problem is going to be that she’ll refuse to fly the spaceship.”
Peter shrugged. “That could be where Mathew comes in handy. Once we’ve used him for a bit of target practice she’ll do as she’s told so that we don’t start on her.”
“Okay we could take the space craft, but what about the shuttle; she’s the pilot. If she’s not here no one can get down to the planet; they will be trapped. They’ll contact Earth for sure, and tell them what we are doing?”
Peter smiled. “There will be no witnesses.”
Ralph looked at Peter as his expression slowly turned grim.
“You have a problem with that?”
“I guess not?” he said slowly. “But they are people I know.”
“Ralph you’ve got to be up to it if your gunna survive.”
“I know but … there’s a lot of them?”
“Yes, and they are going to die anyway; nobody is saying as much but they know there’s as good a chance of the shuttle being destroyed as there is of it landing intact; and even if they do get down in one piece they’ll go crazy stuck down there. Even these space cadets don’t have the mentality for what’s down there. It’s maximum-security prison; believe me they’ll crack and will have probably killed each other long before anybody thinks of rescuing them. The fact is we will be doing them a favour by making it quick?”
“It won’t be quick if they have to stay here?”
“Actually it will; there’s something I need you to do while everybody is occupied with the lander coming up?”
“Something?”
“You don’t want people you know to suffer do you?”
Ralph nodded reluctantly. “There’s another problem?”
“And that is?”
“If we hijack the Lander they will do will be to warn Matt we’re coming; we could end up really trapped… unless?”
“Go ahead?”
“I could build a radio Jammer?”
Peter looked at him and smiled. “I was hoping you would suggest something like that?”
Ralph was quite for a moment as he thought. “I could force a radio in one of the refuges to stay open, and feed a disruptive signal into it?”
“Whatever you do you have to make sure it can’t be discovered and switched off?”
“Cant isn’t possible; they’ll work out what’s happening and go looking.”
“Of course they will you just have to make sure its long enough for us to get over to the Mars Explorer; after that it will all be over?”
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Acts of Survival - Orbit the Sun – Part 11 Page 1
