Margaritifer Basin (Margaritifer Trilogy Book 1)
Page 79
She grinned. “Why?”
He turned his attention to Gabe. “Alright, but I also have a condition.”
“What?”
“No more drama. Che sarà sarà. Okay?”
She nodded.
“Promise?”
Gabe whispered, “Yes.”
“Okay.” Jeff sat back and looked around the table at each of them. “As I’ve said all along, this is just one part of a vast, complex mission. We still have sixteen and a half months left on this rock, then a seven-month trip home. It’s going to take all of us to get there.” He looked at Gabe. “Including you.”
She nodded.
“Now, there’s a dust storm brewing in the Hellas Basin and we all know what that could mean.”
They all nodded.
“Alright. Then let’s put this little evolution on the back burner for a week, and get busy. There’s a lot to do… just in case.”
CHAPTER 22
Thursday, November 3, 2016
MSD 50778.250 (Sol 28)
Jeff woke up and looked at his watch, 0500. Gabe’s naked body was stretched out beside him in the narrow bed, sound asleep. He slowly and gently rolled over on his side, pressed against her, carefully trying not to wake her, and wrapped his arm around her.
Gabe stirred and snuggled close to him making little ‘comfortable’ noises. “What time is it?”
“Five. Sorry, didn’t mean to wake you.”
“That’s okay. This is more fun if I’m awake.”
Jeff laughed softly.
They lay quietly together for a while, and then Gabe rolled over facing Jeff and wrapped her leg around him. “You were wrong.”
“Huh?”
“What you said the morning the MSL landed.”
Jeff shook his head, “I don’t remember.”
“You’re actually very good company at this hour.”
Around 0700 Jeff climbed out of bed, careful not to wake Gabe, and headed for the bathroom. He hadn’t slept that late since they left Earth and, though he and Gabe had spent much of the night in activities other than sleeping, he felt rested for the first time in years. In the commons he found Abby staring intently at the computer screen. “You’re up early.”
She glanced at him with a concerned look. “Thank God you’re up. I didn’t want to disturb you two, but you need to see this.”
“What is it?”
“Look.” Abby pointed to the video screen. It showed a daylight image of Mars.
“Yeah, okay, looks like an image from the MRO color camera. What of it?”
“It’s from yesterday. Look at the Claritas/Syria and the Hellas Basin.”
Jeff yawned, rubbed his eyes and stared at the images. He suddenly grew pale and his jaw dropped. “Oh, mother of God.” He paused and shook his head. “Previous day…”
“Here.”
“Split screen.”
“Okay.”
Jeff hung his head. “God help us.”
Abby put her hands on his arm. “Will it be that bad?”
“I dunno. Look at the 24-hour growth of it in the Hellas Basin. It’s massive.”
Abby leaned her head against Jeff’s shoulder. “What should we do?”
“Alright, first thing, let’s not panic. Get Chrissie on the phone. Have her wake up everyone in the world. We need answers; we need to know what their estimate is. Once it’s daylight over there, get the Pathfinder orbiter to image the Claritas/Syria, and forward it to JPL. We should be able to get a better image of it than the MRO and that’s what we need to watch. If those storms peter out, we should be okay. If not, we’ll need to get busy.”
“I’m on it.”
It was the perfect storm. In late June 2007, a series of dust storms arose on Mars. It began as off and on storms in the Hellas Basin, a 2,300 kilometer wide, 9 kilometer deep impact crater in Mars’ southern hemisphere; a hole in the ground so large it has its own weather. Four days later the storm exploded out of the basin, setting off secondary dust storms in the Syria Planum and Claritas Fossae. They enveloped the entire planet for a month and a half. At their peak the storms blocked 99% of sunlight to the solar cells on the Mars Exploration Rovers, Opportunity and Spirit. Their batteries failing, the rovers shut down when their power supplies tripped due to a low voltage signal. The rovers could – theoretically – remain ‘asleep’ for months. However, the possibility did exist that they may never awake from their low-power fault. During the storm, the temperature of Mars upper atmosphere rose by more than 80 degrees Fahrenheit owing to solar heating of dust in the atmosphere. However, the surface temperature at the equator, due to the absence of sunlight, dropped to well below minus 100 degrees Fahrenheit. By early August, the storms began to abate. And a few weeks later the rovers, their batteries fully recharged, were back on line. But they were robots and, in his heart, Jeff feared humans might not be so lucky.
Gabe came into the room wrapped in a blanket.
“Nice outfit,” Abby joked.
“Yeah, well, nothing to wear in there. What’s up?”
Jeff replied, “The Hellas Basin dust storm blew up.”
Gabe gasped, “Oh god, no.”
Jeff put his hand on her shoulder, “Just relax. Looks like we may be in for some climate change, but we’ll be fine. We can cozy up around the fire, drink some hot toddies and wait it out. This was an eventuality we planned for so, like I told Abby, let’s not panic. It could blow out just as quickly as it blew up.”
Gabe grimaced, “Or not.”
“Just relax, would you?”
“Okay. Oh lord, I need to use the bathroom,” and she ran off.
Early that afternoon Chrissie’s image appeared on the monitor, broadcasting from her desk at Wrentham House. “Hi guys. I’m afraid I don’t have much for you. Talked to Goddard, Marshall, JPL, USGS, and a host of others. Nobody knows any more about the storm than you do. In fact the best pictures they’ve seen were the ones you sent. Predictions? Really there aren’t any. You know as well as anyone how unpredictable these are. It could fizzle out, or it could cover the planet for months and blot out the sun.” She shook her head in frustration. “Nobody knows. Sorry I can’t give you more. I’m sending along a text message with some additional background and a bunch of housekeeping stuff. Keep in touch.”
“Well, that’s about what we expected,” Jeff said.
“So, what do we do?” Susan asked.
“Not a lot we can do. But let’s make sure we’ve covered all our bases. With a Tau of 4.25 our solar cells reach the tipping point; we don’t have enough amps for life support and keeping the batteries charged. Just to be on the safe side, let’s call it 4.0. Except for a brief respite, during the ’07 dust storm Tau was at 4.0 or better for 19 days.”
Gabe dropped into a chair and groaned, “Oh my god.”
“Yeah, well, don’t worry about it; we’re just brainstorming worst possible case.”
“You hope.”
“Gabe, let’s not go there.”
“Alright. I’m sorry.”
“Okay. So, assuming the worst likely scenario, we’d need to survive on generators and the gas heater for 19 days; call it three weeks. So let’s make sure we’ve got enough methane and LOX to last us. Abby, the Sabatier’s working on CO, right?”
“Yeah, liquefaction. The Sabatier is off, only the cryo plant is running.”
“What’s the status of the header tanks?
“Uh, let me see. H2O full, O2, H2 and CH4 empty, CO nearly full.”
“That’s not good. How much LOX in the transfer tank?”
“It’s almost full. Nearly a ton.”
“Anything in the methane transfer tank?”
“No, empty. We moved it all to the MAV.”
“What’s in the methane service tank?”
“It’s full, 100 kilos.”
“And the CO service tank?”
“About 70%.”
“Alright, so we’ve got plenty of water, LOX and enough CO to last us for a while. Let’s pu
mp the water tank, fire up the Sabatier and make some methane. If this gets bad, power to the cryo plant will be one of the first things we lose. If we need more methane we can drag the transfer tank over here, I’d hate to have to take some from the MAV in the middle of a dust storm. Contaminating the MAV’s fuel system would be… bad.”
“What do you want me to do with the CO?”
“Vent it. We’re not going anywhere for a while.”
“Will do.”
“Gabe,” Jeff turned and found her staring aimlessly at the floor. “Gabe!”
“Huh?”
“Come on, snap out of it. We need you.”
She bit her lower lip and winced, “Sorry.”
“How much methane do we need to power one generator and the heater seven by twenty-four for three weeks?”
She glanced furtively around the room, “Uh, three weeks, um… 1,184 kilos.”
“1,184 kilos? Yeesh.”
“But, Jeff, if you want to burn all that, we don’t have nearly enough LOX. To burn that much methane will require about 3,800 kilos of LOX. We don’t even have a quarter of that. And don’t forget, we’re also going to need some to breathe.”
“Oh, crap. So what do we do?”
“We need to make water, and find some place to store it. The electrolysis plant is one of our lowest power consumers, but it’s slow. In three weeks we could make, at best, about 1,000 kilos of LOX, but we’ve got no place to put it. So we’re gonna have to make as much water as we can, then electrolyze it as we go, and do the best we can. And in the meantime, we’re going to have to risk it and transfer methane from one of the MAVs. There’s no other option. And we need to do it as soon as possible, before this dust gets any worse. Also, as far as burning 1,184 kilos of methane goes; forget it. We just won’t have enough LOX.”
“So how much would we have?”
“I don’t know. Maybe, 400 kilos.”
“That’d only last us maybe a week.”
“Yes, if you’re running a generator and the furnace 24 hours a day. But if we only run them for eight hours at night, it might be enough. And it might be enough to keep the batteries charged.”
Jeff sighed. “Gotcha. Okay, Abby, change one: make water.”
She chuckled. “Okay, but do you want me to use the bathroom, or just sit here and pee in my pants?”
They all laughed.
“Uh, you know what I mean.”
“Yeah, but what do I do with it? Where do I put it?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know.” He looked at Gabe and Susan. “Any ideas?”
“Equipment transport cases,” said Susan. “We’ve got a whole stack of big empty ones out back, and they’re not only airtight, but watertight. Just fill up the lab with them.”
Gabe shook her head. “The floor won’t handle that much mass.”
“Alright, then distribute them throughout the hab. Fill them from the service tank, and there’s where you can put Abby’s water.”
Jeff gave Gabe a questioning glance.
She shrugged. “Makes as much sense as anything.”
He nodded. “Okay, job opportunities. Somebody needs to help me take the methane transfer tank back over to one of the MAVs, fill it and bring it back over here. Do I have a volunteer?”
They all immediately raised their hands. Jeff smiled, “That’s what I love about this job, there’s never a shortage of help. Didn’t you guys ever hear about what happens when you volunteer?”
Abby grinned. “We’d like to get home alive. Volunteering is just part of the job.”
Jeff smiled and nodded. “Yeah, but you need to make water. Susan, you don’t get out much, you’re elected.”
Susan grabbed her raised hand, held it in front of her face and scolded it, “Would you stop doing that.”
Jeff laughed, “That kind of adds a whole new meaning to ‘talk to the hand’.”
They all laughed.
Jeff grinned. “Ah, that’s better. Gabe, you want to handle the equipment cases? Make sure we don’t overload a floor?”
She nodded. “Got it.”
“Alright, let’s move like we have a purpose.”
Monday, November 14, 2016
MSD 50788.288 (Sol 38)
Gabe continued rocking atop Jeff for another minute or two as he lay there panting, her hands firmly grasping his shoulders. Then she shuddered and moaned softly. “Oh god! Uhn.”
He gently fondled her breasts. “Hmmm.”
Her head drooped and she rested her chin on her chest. “Oh my god, that feels so good.”
Jeff grinned. “Uh, yeah.”
She slowly opened her eyes and smiled softly. “Well, if I’m not pregnant by now, I’m probably never going to be.”
“Don’t be silly. Some couples try for years without success, then all of a sudden one day, bingo. Sometimes it just takes a while.”
“Marsha never got pregnant.”
“No, she didn’t.” Jeff paused for a moment. “She couldn’t, and you know that.”
Gabe fell upon him, clutched him and whimpered, “Oh god, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”
He kissed her. “Hey, it’s okay. She and I resigned ourselves to that fact, and accepted it as God’s will a long time ago. If she had lived we might have adopted, and been happy about it. But Gabe, you’re not Marsha. Okay?” Jeff felt her nod.
She stretched her legs and rolled over beside him. They lay quietly for a while, then Gabe kissed his chest and caressed his cheek. “I’ll miss sleeping with you.”
“I’ll miss sleeping with you too.”
“Really?”
“Of course.”
“But, aren’t you excited?”
“About what? Sleeping with Abby?”
“Yes.”
Jeff chuckled softly. “You’re weird.”
“Yes, but that wasn’t the question.”
“Yeah. No, I’m not excited, I’m apprehensive.”
“Why?”
He sighed. “Because there’s something about this that just doesn’t feel quite right.”
“Do you love me?”
“You know I do.”
“Do you love Abby?”
“Yes, but not like you. And this scares me, cause I don’t know how it’s going to turn out.”
“Jeff, we’re 200 million kilometers from Earth. None of us know how any of this will turn out.”
“Gabriel, when did you get philosophical?”
She laughed softly. “A few weeks ago. I was lying awake in bed and got to thinking about our kiss by the hot tub at Wrentham House.”
Jeff smiled. “I remember it well.”
“So do I. And it suddenly occurred to me that our time together now is infinitely more important than any time I may or may not have with you in years to come.”
He nodded and kissed the top of her head.
“Haven’t you seen my tattoo?”
“Your what? You don’t have any tattoos.”
“Well, I would if there was a tattoo parlor here.” She held up her left hand.
Jeff peered at it in the dim light of the Martian sunrise displayed on the LED widescreen ‘window’ over the bed. On her wrist, just ahead of her watch, were penned the words, Carpe Diem.
“Can you see it?”
“Yes.”
“Every time I look at my watch, I’m reminded to ‘seize the day’, for tomorrow may not come.”
He hugged her tightly. “Is it working?”
“So far, so good.”
“Will it still work tonight?”
She nodded. “I think so. I’ve been thinking about it.”
“And?”
“I’m going to lay awake and think about you and Abby and… gastrointestinal absorption of paternal immune modulating factors.” She laughed.
Jeff snorted, chuckling. “Okay, that’s pragmatic.”
“Yes. And I’m way ahead of her there.”
He smiled and nodded. “Yeah.”
#
While Jeff undressed, Abby took off her bathrobe, tossed it on the sofa and crawled into bed. She watched him.
“Um, convention would suggest that I’m supposed to watch you get undressed.”
She smiled. “You just did.”
“That was it? You’ve had better performances.”
“Do you want me to get out of bed and start over?”
“That won’t be necessary.”
“Alright then, get on with it.”
“Are you in a hurry?”
“In a manner of speaking.”
He grinned. “Uh huh.”
Abby shook her head. “Gabe told me you’re on loan, I can’t keep you.”
Jeff chuckled. “She did?”
She nodded. “Yes. So the meter’s running.”
He stood, just staring at her.
“She meant it too, didn’t she?”
He nodded.
“It’s always been Gabe, hasn’t it?”
He finished undressing, turned off the light, looked off into the dark and sighed. “Yeah, I suppose.”
“Figures. Tall blondes.” She tsk’d. “The rest of us just don’t have a chance.”
Jeff grinned, and crawled into bed beside her. “Hey, I like tall redheads too.”
“What about short Orientals?”
“Sure, them too. I’m an equal opportunity employer.”
She laughed, then snuggled into his arms. “When was the last time we made love?”
“Uh… hmmm.”
“Am I that forgettable?”
“No! It’s just been a while, give me a second. Oh, yeah, about a year ago, in the hotel in D.C. when we went down to train on the MAV sim… and you got me drunk on those… whatever the hell they were?”
“Sex on the Beach.”
He chuckled. “Yeah, that’s it. Hell of a name for a cocktail. When you ordered those, everyone in the bar turned and stared at us.”
Abby giggled.
“Then you started undressing in the elevator and left your bra dangling from the handrail.”
“Yeah, we were pretty drunk. We should go back sometime and check at Lost and Found.”
Jeff laughed. “You go, I’ll wait in the plane with the engines turning.”
“Coward.”