General Rich said, “I need this built by the end of the month.”
The subordinate protested, “How the hell are we going to do that?”
General Rich said, “Gather a team. I’ll make all the arrangements. You have 48 hours.”
The subordinate said, “Yes, sir. I’ll gather a team.”
General Rich asked, “What’s your name, soldier?”
He said, “I’m Sergeant Fortner.”
Rich said, “Sergeant, I’ll assign an officer to you, but you’re in charge of this mission. I’ll inform your superiors that you’re temporarily being promoted.”
Fortner said, “Understood, sir.”
Rich said, “You’ve just been given a field commission to Captain. Carry on.”
Fortner said, “Yes, sir,” and excitedly left the office.
Captain Fortner gathered a team while General Rich found another officer to assign to the project. A few minutes into the search, Fortner’s commanding officer joined the group. Captain Richter presented Fortner with his new rank insignia.
Richter said, “Put these on. Then we’ll be equals.”
Fortner removed his Sergeant insignia and replaced it with the Captain’s bars. It felt great to look down and see the officer’s rank on his shoulder.
Richter asked, “How does that feel?”
Fortner replied, “It feels great. Now I know how it feels to wear the rank of an officer.”
Richter said, “You’ll also feel the responsibility of an officer. You’re in charge of this mission. I’m just here to support you.”
Fortner replied, “I need your help gathering a team to work on the project.”
The next few hours were very stressful. The two captains spent hour after hour going over personnel files to find the most qualified people. Every person had to be thoroughly vetted to ensure the mission would be successful. They spent much of their time verifying that the people they wanted for the construction were still on active duty.
Two days after General Rich issued his deadline to Captain Fortner, a team was assembled. They were called into Rich’s office. When they arrived, General Rich, Captain Fortner, and Captain Richter were waiting for them.
Rich addressed the group, “You’ve been selected to undertake a unique mission. I have called you here to go over the details.”
He turned on a video screen that held his visual aids. He didn’t speak as the pictures flashed across the screen. Words weren’t necessary anyway. Among the pictures were artists’ renditions of the finished moon base. Upon seeing the expected result of the mission, the assembled group collectively gasped.
Rich said, “I know you must think I’m crazy. This is a mammoth undertaking, and nothing like it has ever been attempted. I know my Captains have recruited the best men they could find for the job, and I have faith that you can accomplish this mission. You’ll have approximately 28 days to complete the base’s construction. Then we’ll have NASA start to supply it once your job is done.”
One of the team said, “That’s insane. There’s no way we can finish this in a month.”
Rich replied, “We chose the best construction and design people for this mission. You can finish in a month, and you will.”
Fortner said, “Our ship leaves for the moon in fifteen hours. We need to be in Cape Canaveral, Florida by then. There’s a plane waiting on the tarmac. Now move out.”
The assembled group followed orders and marched to the tarmac. They boarded the plane and flew to Florida. The journey was silent because the group was in shock. The mission they were being asked to accomplish was surreal. Thirteen hours in an airplane with no noise was also surreal. The plane landed in Florida and the crew disembarked.
Captain Fortner said, “Move, men. We’ve got one hour until launch. Everyone needs to be in a spacesuit in forty five minutes.”
Captain Richter asked, “Isn’t it odd that General Rich didn’t have anyone go through any space training?”
Fortner replied, “It’s a little strange, but this project needs to be built. There’s a timeline.”
Richter said, “But none of us have any space experience. Our vetting was for construction and endurance.”
Fortner said, “Then this’ll be a trial by fire. Let’s move. We’re going too.”
The captains hustled to get suited up and onto the ship. It was waiting on the runway. Once everyone was on the ship, it took off into space. It was loaded with all the supplies that the crew would need while they were traveling to the moon. The ship would double as the living quarters for the first few days of the mission. It would be replaced once the crew built the permanent structure that would become barracks.
Fortner said, “Once we’re in space, we’ll need to quickly assess who needs some zero gravity training. I know none of you were vetted for that, but there was no time. This mission has to get done as quickly as possible.”
Richter added, “If anyone feels like they need to barf, there’s a bag in your pack. We don’t want vomit floating around the ship.”
The journey to the moon took about 20 hours. Once there, the crew immediately began building a landing strip. It would be the most important structure for receiving supplies from Earth. The first day was spent building the strip, and then the crew retired for the night. They still had a month of work in front of them. No one was looking forward to the next day’s work, but no one complained. They were all very disciplined. They had their orders, and they would follow them.
The next day, Fortner did a basic welfare check on his crew. He took the people who needed zero gravity training aside while Richter continued working with those who did not. Fortner issued everyone in his training group a second barf bag, and started a condensed training course in space survival. He spent the next two days training his crew how to deal with the absence of gravity, the loneliness of space, and wearing a spacesuit when not indoors.
Chapter Six
Rose Tennant
Rebecca walked into Rose’s office and took a seat on the couch. Rebecca arrived a few moments later.
Rose said, “I was wondering when you were going to come see me. You’re under more stress than anyone on this ship.”
Rebecca replied, “I didn’t want to come. Scout convinced me to call you, and you convinced me to come here. I didn’t want to seem weak to the crew. They rely on me for strength.”
Rose said, “Let that go. You need to be strong for the crew. An illusion of strength is just an illusion. That’s worthless. You’re too important to the crew to fall apart. I’ve seen every other person on this ship at least once, so I know you’re not the only one feeling this way. Space is hard to deal with. I have problems myself, and I have to rely on videos and training books to settle me down.”
Rebecca said, “But I have to lead everyone. I can’t seem like I can’t handle it. People look up to me.”
Rose said, “Your image won’t be tarnished. No one knows you’re here except Scout and the two of us. All of our visits are confidential. I only told you about everyone else because you needed to know. I expect you to not let anyone know about that.”
Rebecca said, “I won’t tell anyone. I know a lot of the other crew members come here to see you, but they’re not in charge.”
Rose said, “That’s my point. No one else has the responsibility you do. Your heart must be very heavy and your burden unbearable at times.”
Rebecca said, “The only thing keeping me going is Scout. His leadership keeps me motivated, but that won’t last forever.”
Rose said, “Neither will this trip. Once we get to Mars, we’ll take up our new positions. Then your responsibility will be your own choice.”
Rebecca asked, “How do you keep a positive attitude when everything is so dark all the time?”
Rose said, “I try to fill my mind with hopes and dreams. Then I try and focus on making them happen once we arrive on Mars. If you focus on your stress and depression, you’ll go crazy. Don’t let yourself do that.”
Rebecca asked, “Is there anything else I can do? Sometimes the loneliness is overwhelming.”
Rose answered, “Leona suggested to her clients that they start a casual relationship. I’m not sure that’s a great idea in your position.”
Rebecca said, “It’s not. I don’t want anyone to get jealous or think there’s any disparity when there isn’t.”
Rose said, “Then you might want to try a distraction. The first crew used the game room to keep their minds off the emptiness. Maybe you should try that.”
Rebecca said, “I don’t think I can. If I go up there, the crew might not want to be in there while I’m there. Being the captain is very lonely.”
Rose said, “You need to do something to take your mind off the monotony.”
Rebecca said, “I’ll think of something.”
Rose continued counseling Rebecca for the next two hours. Several times during the session, Rebecca cried uncontrollably. The stress of the mission was too much for her to handle on her own. The meeting could have gone on longer, but Rose had other appointments lined up. Rebecca still didn’t want anyone else to know that she went to see the counselor, so she snuck out before the next person had their appointment.
Rebecca told Rose on the way out, “Thank you so much for listening to me vent. It’s nice to have someone to turn to when the job gets too hard.”
Rose said, “I think you should come in on a regular schedule. I’m setting up an appointment schedule for you. You need to come in once every week until we land on Mars.”
Rebecca said, “Thank you. I’ll be here.”
Rose said, “Try to occupy your mind. Let me know what you come up with.”
Rebecca said, “I’ll do that.”
Rebecca returned to the command center. She tried to stay busy and keep her mind occupied.
Scout called Rose to check up on Rebecca. The sessions were confidential, but Scout needed to make sure that Rebecca was still fit to lead.
Scout asked, “How’s your captain doing?”
Six minutes went by.
Rose answered, “She’s got some major problems. I don’t think she can cope with command.”
Six minutes went by again.
Scout asked, “Do you think she needs to be replaced?”
Six more minutes elapsed.
Rose said, “Probably not. She just needs someone to talk to. She feels so alone.”
Another six minutes passed.
Scout said, “No one said being a leader was easy. So you think she’ll be okay going forward?”
Rose busied herself for the next six minutes. She made notes in her device to pass the time.
Rose replied, “As long as she doesn’t skip our sessions.”
Six minutes went by again.
Scout joked, “Are you sure she needs to see you? You seem pretty insistent. It’s almost like you’re running a racket.”
Six more minutes passed.
Rose laughed, “No racket. There’s no money anymore, so I don’t know why I’d do that. It would just make more work for me.”
Six minutes passed.
Scout said, “I was kidding anyway. We’ve wasted almost an hour waiting to reply to one sentence. I’ll talk to you later.”
Rose turned the screen off and got back to her patients’ files. She had a long stream of patients to keep her busy.
Chapter Seven
Base Construction
Captain Fortner awoke disoriented on the second day of the moon base construction. He opened his eyes to find himself on a spaceship. He didn’t understand why he was there at first. Several other crewmembers had the same problem. A few minutes after Fortner opened his eyes, he remembered what he was doing.
He woke and said, “All you people, on your feet. It’s time to get up and get cleaned up for work. There are no showers here because there’s not enough gravity. So get cleaned up and get to the worksite. You have thirty minutes.”
Richter ordered, “Move, people! I want everyone clean and in their space suits in half an hour.”
The crew got to their feet and moved toward the cleaning stations. They had the sweat removed from their bodies and used a little bit of water to clean what they could. Water had to be pressurized, so it was a precious commodity. The crew was issued food packets for breakfast, and had five minutes to eat. Then they were expected at the work site.
The first assignment that needed to be completed was building the life support building. All the sheet metal and concrete were loaded on the ship, so a small contingent retrieved the supplies. They came back to the site and work began.
Fortner ordered, “There’s a blueprint for this building. I want exact compliance to those plans. There’s no room for error. Remember that your life depends on this building being put together correctly.”
The blueprints called for a building 15 meters long, 16 meters wide, and nine meters high. It called for sheet metal welded together at the seams and then insulated with foam. The foundation was to be one meter deep concrete. Then the building was to be covered with a thin layer of concrete to provide an extra layer of protection against gases leaking. Then the whole building was to be painted white to reflect heat from the sun back into space.
The construction of the life support building took most of the day, and the men returned to the ship exhausted at the end of another long workday. It was almost surreal how fast they were working. The team worked like a well-oiled machine and the first structure took less than two days to complete.
On the third day of construction, the goal was to equip the life support building with its supplies. A ship from Earth arrived early in the morning containing all of the supplies for the day’s work. The support crew on Earth would send supplies up to the moon every three or four days until the base was finished.
Captain Fortner said, “Let’s get this ship unloaded. It needs to get back to Earth so it can reload for its next deliveries.”
The crew unloaded the ship in just over an hour and began moving things into place. The air distribution tubing was installed on the pre-drilled holes in the life support building. The metal ends were welded to the connections and then caulked to prevent leaking. Three water tanks were installed. The first tank was pressurized water for drinking. It had a thick hose leading to the area that would eventually be the barracks. The second tank was for return water. It would be used for water treatment. It had another thick hose that was attached to the other side of the connection housing. The final tank was not pressurized so oxygen could be freed and distributed to the other buildings. It had a thinner hose, but it was secured the same way as the pressurized hoses. The water would be delivered once the barracks were built. The little water on the ship was too important to take a chance moving it.
When the work was complete on the life support system, it was time to rest for the night. The crew all dreamt of their return to Earth that night. It would have to wait for a few more weeks.
Day four was a day off. The mission was ahead of schedule, and the next delivery was not until the next day. The crew grew bored on the ship very quickly as there was nothing to do.
The crew quickly descended into anarchy. With no work to do, they started infighting.
A corporal said, “This whole thing is just to get rid of people they don’t like. The Army’s always been a place to get rid of undesirable people. They want us to die up here.”
Her sergeant replied, “If that was true, don’t you think they’d just send us up here and leave us in space?”
She said, “Not necessarily. If they’d done that, we would’ve fought back. They’re trying to lure us into a false sense of security.”
The sergeant said, “You’re paranoid. We should find something to do. That’ll occupy our minds.”
The corporal said, “You’re in on it, aren’t you?”
The sergeant said, “Of course not. There’s no plot. Your mind’s playing tricks on you.”
The sergeant couldn’t fin
d anything for them to do. She really wanted to occupy their minds, but space offers limited opportunities for mental occupation. They just stayed in bed all day and longed for terra firma.
The next day, metal and concrete arrived. They were for construction of the barracks. The crew got to work with great zeal. Once the barracks were built, they would be able to sleep in a real bed and eat at a real table.
Fortner said, “There’s a blueprint for this building, but only for the overall dimensions and life support system connections. We’ll have to decide how we want to build the rooms once the walls are up. Now get to work.”
The barracks building’s blueprints called for a building fifty meters wide and fifty meters long. The height, along with a few other specifications, was left up to the crew.
Fortner asked, “How high should we make this building?”
Richter added, “Remember we need to make it functional for a large number of soldiers.”
The female corporal said, “I think we should make it three meters tall. That’ll be enough room for double bunk beds.”
Fortner said, “That’s probably a good idea. Anyone have any other ideas?”
A private said, “What if we make it tall enough for triple bunk beds?”
Fortner said, “The only problem might be if we don’t have enough materials.”
Richter said, “We have plenty. I think we should build it for triple bunk beds.”
The crew voted on the proposition. Fortner wanted the crew to feel they were valued. They decided to make it five meters high to allow for triple bunk beds.
Fortner asked, “The next issue is how to divide the barracks. How many rooms should this building have?”
A private said, “It should have a room for each bed.”
Fortner said, “The Army never does that. The beds are always in one big room.”
The private said, “Then it can just be one big room.”
MARS: Baroque Revolution Page 3
