He climbed back into the Rover and started toward Harmony.
“Hey, farmer,” Aashi’s voice came soft in his ear. “We’ve got chickens inbound. They’re lining up for their approach.” She had a smile in her voice. “Bring the Batmobile back to the Batcave.”
“We can’t call it that. Copyright infringement.” Nevertheless, he couldn’t contain his laughter as he pictured himself in an Astronaut Batman suit. He wasn’t sure he could fabricate one, but he needed a new social media gag. The moisture from his breath and his wide-open mouth fogged his face shield. Moments later, the suit wicked it away.
“It’ll take them fifteen minutes to figure out I said it.” Radio communications did take a while to get between the two planets.
“Be home in ten, Alfred.” He never should have told her that the Rover reminded him of his favorite childhood toy.
“Besides, communications between the Rover and the base aren’t broadcasted to Mission Control,” she said.
“Good point.” And one he should have thought of himself. He shifted into the highest gear, bouncing over the uneven surface of the red planet.
“Thought you’d like that,” she murmured.
“ETA on the poultry?” Sallie wasn’t sure if his heartrate had increased because the last component of his mission had finally arrived or if it was Aashi whispering in his ear.
“A couple of hours. I’ll be starting some seeds in the greenhouse. Come see me when you get in.”
“Roger.”
Ten minutes later, Sallie parked the Rover on the sunniest side of the compound, next to their solar-powered carts and a four-wheeler. He slipped through the first door of the airlock. When it sealed, the second one opened into the storage portion of the exterior circle.
When he lifted his helmet off his head, Aashi was there, her dark hair tied in a low ponytail and tucked into her exo. She laced her fingers together, not quite wringing them. “I’m only getting gray water to my sprinklers. I managed to start the kale seeds, but I can’t soak the fodder.”
“That’s not good.” Sallie tucked his helmet beneath his arm. Bugs didn’t exist on Mars. Her fodder system was a part of how they planned to add variety and protein to the diet of the inbound chickens.
“I’m trying to start a few kale seeds and sprouting some fodder since our agricultural staff will be here soon.” Her mouth was tight when she said it, the smile didn’t quite reach her eyes. She was worried about it.
The crewmen knew how volatile the water tanks could be right before the arrival of the transport. They ignored it mostly, but there was a reason it was five hundred yards away.
“I was just there. There was some oxidation on the relief valve. It’ll need to be serviced soon, but that shouldn’t interfere with operation.”
The corners of Aashi’s mouth turned down. “John said an error code buzzed in the control room.”
“Want me to come?”
She shook her head. “You need to get everything ready.”
Sallie peered down the hall toward his project module then checked his wrist monitor. “I have time.” He pushed down on the hatch of her exo until the smart suit sealed.
“I’ll be fine,” she said, patting his forearm. “Don’t be weird about it, Sallie. It’s my job. Let me do it.”
She was right. He didn’t have to help her. She wasn’t his, but… He might have done the same for Cynthia. His mouth twisted, but probably not, and he wouldn’t have offered for John. Romantic interests complicated missions. The mission handbook hadn’t taken into account his internal programming.
“You win,” he said.
“Get used to it.” She lowered her helmet over her head. “I’ll be back in minute.”
“Be careful.”
Aashi gave him two thumbs up and twisted the helmet a half-turn to the left. The exo hissed as it pressurized. She stepped over the threshold and closed the door behind her.
Sallie climbed out of the hatch in the back of the exo. It was a bit like entering and exiting a body-shaped mini-ship. It made it fast to get on, though. The helmet took the longest. He hung the exo on the hook inside the locker marked with his name and placed his helmet on the shelf and headed toward the heart of the colony, ignoring the misgivings that turned his stomach.
Crewmembers milled about Harmony’s common rooms. Radio waves were limited to mission communication between Harmony and Mission Control. Digital correspondence came with the monthly shipments but wasn’t parceled out until supplies had been moved indoors. They didn’t have to say anything. They all knew. Everyone was antsy to get their monthly downloads.
He jogged down the hallway toward his ag module. He stopped at the edge. The compost had been freshly stirred. Even the waterer and feeder in the mobile chicken coop had been filled. Everything was ready.
Sneaky Aashi.
Sallie spun and jogged toward her greenhouse. Maybe he could find something to do in there. As he passed the control room, John appeared, his face ashen as he ran toward the exit.
“What happened?” Sallie froze. He couldn’t help it. There was only one crewman outside.
“It’s Aashi.” John stepped into his suit, pulling it up over his torso. “Her smart suit threw an error code. Something happened at the tank.”
Sallie sucked at the air as though strangled by giant hands. “Is this a prank?”
Please be a joke. Playful, sweet Aashi.
John grimaced. “No joke here, Sallie. Come on.”
In seeming slow motion, Sallie dove toward his exo and stepped into it. He yanked it up over him. Spots swam in his vision. Bile burned at the back of his throat. Someone, he couldn’t be certain who, pressed the hatch closed long enough for the smart suit to seal.
Then he noticed the silence. Nobody moved. It was if they were all holding their breaths. Accidents meant death. So far, they hadn’t lost anyone. Aashi might be the first casualty.
Aashi. His brown-eyed girl.
And then Cynthia materialized beside him, patting his exo. “Prep the medbed,” she bellowed. Her words sent everyone scrambling.
As one, the trio lowered the helmets over their heads, twisted them into place, and stepped into the airlock.
The wind whipped around them as they stepped onto the Martian surface. John peeled away from the group, no doubt grabbing the Rover. It would make quick work of the distance between Harmony and the main H2O collection tank.
“Do you see anything?” Cynthia asked.
“Not yet.” The tank was too far away to see, and he couldn’t make out any prone figures on the ground. At the thought, Sallie started jogging. He couldn’t help it. He couldn’t stand there and do nothing. He heard the Rover peel out and the low hum of the electric engine started his way, the sound broadcast from John through the open comm link.
The frequency slowed. John must be letting Cynthia inside.
But Sallie didn’t stop running. Aashi. He couldn’t. Another peel out and the low hum started toward him again.
“Get in,” John said, throwing a wave of dust over Sallie as he slammed on the brakes just ahead of him. The passenger door swung open.
Without slowing, Sallie jumped into the passenger seat. Cynthia had tucked herself in the backseat. John didn’t wait for Sallie to get the door closed. He flooded the electric engine with all the energy he could and it lurched forward, throwing them all against the seat.
A few minutes later, they could make out the tanks through the haze. Sallie squinted. “There she is.” She had been thrown over the four-wheeler and now lay across the seat, face up, her legs and arms contorted and tangled together with the handlebars.
About twenty feet from the end of the tank, they stopped.
“What are you doing?” Sallie fumbled with the door until John’s hand clamped down on his shoulder. “We have to get to her.” Sallie’s voice cracked.
John said, “I don’t know what the status of the collection tank is, Sal. When her smart suit sent the error warning, the tan
k dropped off the radar. There could be a cloud of hydrogen or oxygen. I don’t want to accidentally blow her to Phobos or Deimos. Either one.”
“We have to assess the situation so we don’t do any more damage to Aashi or our water tanks,” Cynthia added. “The transport has to be able to leave so it can come back.” She leaned forward, ducking between the two seats and twisting until she stared into Sallie’s eyes, their face shields as close together as they could get. “Don’t make me leave you in the car.” The commander was deadly serious.
Sallie took a deep breath. “You’re right.” He pushed his emotions to the side, imagining a void. He shouldn’t have lost his cool. They had training after training like that.
He stepped down from the passenger seat of the Rover. The atmosphere report showed on his HUD. Ninety-five percent carbon dioxide, almost three percent nitrogen. Normal for Mars. He eased closer. John and Cynthia followed.
“The pressure valve’s off the tank, Sal,” John said. “Be careful.”
“Stay here,” Cynthia said. She eased past them both in a crouching position. The closer she got, the slower she went. “Aashi. Come in, honey.”
Seconds as long as days ticked by.
Aashi didn’t move.
Sweat beaded on Sallie’s upper lip. He swallowed to keep the bile where it belonged.
“Atmosphere readings are showing traces of hydrogen and oxygen, but it’s not horrible. Whatever was here, the wind must have cleared out. Maybe I don’t mind the wind after all.” She kneeled beside Aashi, staring into the helmet.
Sallie bolted forward and dropped to his knees. “Aashi. Are you there, babe?”
“God of my mother. Keep him safe,” Aashi whispered, but her eyes didn’t open. She cried out, and Sallie’s heart twisted. Then she rolled to the side, and her words slurred together.
“We have to get her back to Harmony.” Sallie reached for her, but John’s arms clamped around him and dragged him backward.
“Let Cynthia check her over first. If she has a back injury…” John said. When Sallie nodded, John released him.
“Scan her,” Cynthia said. Aashi’s exo hummed as the smart suit went to work. “Hmm,” Cynthia said as she squinted at her HUD. “She has a concussion, but I’m not detecting anything else.” She stood. “Let’s get her into the Rover and back to Harmony.”
Sallie didn’t wait to be told twice.
Aashi looked so small, tucked beneath the thermal cover. She hadn’t stirred at all as they’d raced her back to the station. John sat at the control while Cynthia hovered over Aashi, using a stylus to jot things in her data pad. Aashi’s vitals were displayed on the monitor above the medbed.
“Transport is inbound,” John called over his shoulder. He had resumed his duties at the command center.
Near Aashi’s feet, Sallie crossed his arms, and Cynthia’s lips puckered.
“Don’t look at John like that, Sal. You still have a job to do.” She waved at Aashi. “She’ll be fine. I’ll keep an eye on her over night while we keep watch. Then we’ll let her wake up when she’s ready.”
Sallie dropped his arms and bit down on a frustrated growl. There was something primal, intrinsic to waiting beside her until she woke. He rubbed a hand across his face. He wanted to be there when she opened her eyes.
“I could relieve you of duty and confine you to quarters,” Cynthia said.
Sallie raised his hands in surrender. “I’ll go.” He ducked out of the room.
“You got it bad, man,” John said, grinning from ear to ear. Before Sallie could answer, he turned back to the screens. “Transport touchdown in 3…2… 1…”
“Shut up,” Sallie muttered. He could have flipped John out of his chair, but he had better things to do than getting tossed on house arrest. Chicken wrangling would have to suffice. Aashi would be ecstatic about them once she woke up.
An hour later, the crew stood at the bottom of the transport, waiting for the hatch to open. The transport crew waved from the windows. In order to keep the decontamination protocol to a minimum, they wouldn’t disembark, but they took pictures and chattered back and forth.
Once inside, Sallie made a beeline for a giant cube marked with the words Live Animals. Even his worry about Aashi couldn’t take away from his excitement over the next phase of his mission. “Sal to transport crew.”
“Go ahead, Sal,” a man’s disembodied voice sounded close to his ear. Ben Zult, the mission specialist, had been on the last two refueling transports. He was probably working up the courage to ask for a transfer to the Mars station.
“Anything to report on the poultry?” Sallie unsecured the straps that held the case in place. Once done, the crate moved easily on rollers, and he started for the transport, careful to avoid all the other crewman moving cargo through the hatch.
“Lost a few en route, but they were clucking happy when we closed them. It’s only been a few hours. We waited as long as we could. We wanted to do right by your chickens.”
Sallie chuckled. “Thanks, Ben. I would have waited until the last possible moment, too.”
“We figured it was better that you had a chance at them. No matter how often we wanted to strangle that rooster and his messed-up crowing schedule.”
“What happened?” Sallie stroked Aashi’s forehead. Her face already showed the bruising. She’s been out for almost a whole Sol—twenty-five hours. The transport had come and gone. She had mail from home waiting on her desk.
Aashi shrugged. “I’m not sure. I bent down to check the relief valve.” She scrunched her face and pressed her lips together. “It gets kind of fuzzy. I must have touched it?” She turned her head to the side. “I can’t remember.”
“You were face up across the four-wheeler when we got there.”
“All the gas leaching outward must have blown me backwards.” She rolled her shoulders.
“It could have killed you, Aashi.”
“It didn’t.” Her wide smile re-opened the split in her bottom lip, and she winced. “They’re noisy. I can hear them all the way in here.”
Sallie winked. “Wait until the rooster decides to crow.”
As if the head bird knew they were talking about him, he let loose, the sound echoing up and down the corridors.
John made a face as he entered the room. “They said you were up.” He jerked a thumb back toward the hall. “I hope he’s quieter when the ag-module doors are closed,” he said. “That crowing is gonna get old real fast.”
“Could be,” Sallie said.
“He can always join us for a festivus meal.” John’s gaze drifted over Aashi. He probably didn’t miss much. They’d been close to losing her, and the rest of the crew had been asked to allow a little recovery time before visiting. “Cynthia says you need to take it easy.”
“Cynthia can tell me herself.” Aashi sat up. She wobbled when she straightened, and Sallie stepped forward to catch her if she slipped off the medbed. She laid her hands in his. “I’m fine. Just sore.”
John nodded. “She will. She’s finishing reports before the transport leaves orbit.”
“Will you be able to get the collection tank back together?”
“We’re taking the rest of the crew to fix it. If we have to, we can use the backup this time. We should be able to drop everything in place, and we’ll be good to go,” John said. “I’ve already requisitioned for another set of backup replacements. They’ll get here in about nine months.”
“That’s good to hear. My plants will need the water.”
“Our reserves have worked well. In the meantime, Sallie got Mission Control to let us use a bit of the extra on your seedlings.”
“What caused it?” Sallie stroked the back of Aashi’s hand.
“Fred and Susan looked it over while you were unconscious. One of the tanks had a weak weld. Too much gas seeped out and that pressed on the washer. It made a weak spot in the protective coating so oxidation seeped in. It’s the kind of thing you don’t know to plan for until you’
re in the field.”
“Do you need me to fill out any paperwork?” Aashi tried to scoot up a little more in the bed.
John raised a hand. “I just came to verify the rumors, but I’ll tell Cynthia you’re up.” He strolled away, whistling Brown Eyed Girl.
“You’ve had a rough Sol,” Sallie said. “I thought I might lose—”
Aashi put her finger on Sallie’s lips. “You didn’t. That’s all that matters.”
“I’m glad I didn’t.” Sallie wrapped his arms around her, his heartbeat thundering in his eardrums. He had a feeling things were going to get more complicated as time went on. He pressed her to him. In the kitchen, John started whistling Brown Eyed Girl, and Sallie kissed the top of Aashi’s head. He liked complicated and maybe NASA would send somebody else to explore Valles Marineris. He had enough things to do around Harmony. In fact…
A wedding on Mars.
Now that had the potential to go viral. He chuckled. “Want me to walk you back to your room?”
“No, I’m good right here.” Aashi snuggled closer, her face pressed against his smart suit. “Hurry up and grow me some dirt, Mr. Farmer. We’re going to change the world.”
The End
About the Author
Bokerah Brumley lives on ten permaculture acres, complete with sheep, goats, peacocks, turkeys, geese, guineas, ducks, chickens, five home-educated children, and one husband. She serves as the president of the Cisco Writers Club and moonlights as an acquisitions editor for The Crossover Alliance.
For more information and a complete list of published works, please visit: www.bokerah.com
Bokerah has a busy year planned with lots of new novel releases.
Join the most awesome group of people in her world here: http://eepurl.com/b4r2Lr.
CRACKED: An Anthology of Eggsellent Chicken Stories Page 3
