Jeff handed Gabe one end of the blanket. “Okay, roll over Rover.”
Abby rolled over as far as she could. “Woof.”
They tucked the blanket beneath her. “Alright, and back.”
She rolled onto the blanket. “Maybe you two can bang my head on the bulkhead a couple more times?”
Jeff grinned. “As you please.”
He and Gabe each grabbed a handful of blanket and lifted, cradling Abby in a makeshift hammock, and carried her to her room.
Abby glanced up at Jeff. “You know, this is actually kind of nice. Before you set me on the bed, maybe you guys could just, you know, rock me for a little while.”
Jeff grunted. “And maybe we could just drop you on the floor.”
“Okay, uh, never mind.”
They set her gently on the bed.
Abby sighed aloud. “Ah, that’s much better. Sue, you need a new exam table, that thing is really hard.”
Susan shook her head. “It wasn’t designed with your comfort in mind. You’re gonna be a really obnoxious patient, aren’t you?”
“You bet.”
“Okay, fine, no more pain medication.”
Abby cringed. “Oh god, please, I take it all back, I’ll be good.”
Susan cast her a devilish grin. “You better be.”
Gabe looked down at her. “Can we get you anything?”
“Thanks, I’m fine.”
She nodded. “Want some company? Or would you rather rest?”
“I’d like some company.”
They all took seats.
“I have to ask,” said Susan, “What possessed you to go bungee-jumping… without the bungee?”
Abby chuckled. “That part I remember. It was a really interesting looking rock. I wish I hadn’t lost it.”
Jeff reached into his coverall leg pocket and produced the rock. “You mean… this rock?”
Abby gasped. “Oh my god, you found it!”
“Yeah. I had to pry it out of your hand. I was going to toss it, but then thought you might want a souvenir.” He handed her the rock.
She smiled broadly. “Thank you.”
“Eh, you’re welcome.”
She turned the rock over in her hands. “I have no idea what this is.”
“Jeff showed it to me this morning,” said Susan. “It had me puzzled at first. Its porosity is rather like pumice, but it’s the wrong color and a whole lot denser. Then I checked its hardness. Whoa! I can’t scratch that with anything we have here. Even tried a tungsten-carbide drill bit. Didn’t faze it. That thing’s as hard as a diamond, which is why I think that’s what it is.”
Abby gave her a stunned look. “Huh?”
“I think it’s a carbonado; a black diamond.”
“You’re kidding?”
“No. Carbonados are relatively rare on Earth, particularly that large. So it’s a bit strange that you would be picking something like that off the ground here. However, the same can be said of the pallasite that Jeff found. The prevailing theory is that both carbonados and pallasite originate from meteorites. But, given Mars’ thin atmosphere, there is a great deal more meteorite activity here, so maybe it’s not all that odd.”
Abby frowned. “It doesn’t look like a diamond.”
“No, not on the outside. However, if you were to cut it, I imagine it would look very much like a diamond inside, but black.”
“Are they valuable?”
Susan shrugged. “I don’t know, it’s hard to say. But on Earth one that size would probably be quite valuable.”
Abby stared intently at the rock. “How valuable?”
“Jesus, Abby, who knows? If it is a carbonado, it weighs out uncut at 702 carats. So, cut, I don’t know, maybe a couple hundred thousand. Of course, since it’s from Mars, factor that by ten… or a hundred.”
Abby grinned. “I’m rich.”
Jeff shook his head. “You’re already rich.”
“Okay, now I’m a lot richer.”
“Point of order, NASA is paying for sample return, so it probably belongs to them.”
Abby clutched the rock to her bosom. “Over my dead body.”
Jeff frowned. “Yeah, it almost was… twice.”
“Sorry.”
“Forget about it. Just don’t do it again.”
“Right.”
“That’s not as funny as it may sound,” said Susan. “This little exercise just about exhausted our stock of major surgical supplies. Not only should we not do this again, we can’t.”
Abby, Gabe, and Jeff somberly nodded.
After spending a moment contemplating that thought, Jeff glanced at her. “So, Susan, in all these rocks, any signs of life yet.”
She chuckled. “Um, like I would have forgotten to mention it?”
Jeff laughed. “Just asking.”
“No, no signs of life.”
“Well, who knows? We may yet come across something that crawled out of the primordial ooze.”
Gabe frowned. “I’d rather we didn’t.”
“Oh? Why’s that?”
“Because it might be hungry.”
He laughed again. “Alright, you just have to remember what they say about coming face-to-face with a dangerous bear.”
“And what’s that?”
“You don’t need to outrun the bear, you only need to outrun whoever you’re with.” He grinned at Abby.
Abby rolled her eyes. “Great! Now I’m dinner for the Martian primordial ooze monster?”
Jeff smiled. “Yeah. Payback’s a bitch, isn’t it?”
Susan grinned. “Leaving aside Abby’s nutritional value to Martian creatures…”
They all laughed.
“Um, what’s this going to do to our exploration schedule? I mean, this place is a mineralogical gold mine. We really should take advantage of it.”
Gabe bolted upright in her chair. “Yeah! And I want to go see something… before I’m too fat to waddle around, or stuck here breastfeeding a Martian.”
Jeff looked at Susan, questioningly.
“Well, it’s still early. If it’s not too far…” She shrugged.
Gabe grinned. “Yes! The Loire Valles chaos is only about 20 kilometers from here. It’s on our shopping list, and not much more than a day trip.”
Jeff sighed. “Well, okay.”
Gabe bit her lip, excited. “Can we go tomorrow?”
“No.”
She frowned. “Why?”
“Well, in the first place, I just got back from one rather trying little trip, and I’m tired. And second, we have a ton of maintenance to do: rovers, Genesis, Sabatiers, fuel transfers, solar panels, incinerator, compost, blah, blah, blah. And with Abby laid up, you get the job.”
Gabe cringed. “Ugh.”
“But… assuming we get all that done, if you want to go sightseeing next week, okay, I’m up for a road trip.”
Gabe hopped out of her seat and pumped her fist. “Yes!”
CHAPTER 24
Monday, January 22, 2017
MSD 50856.435 (Sol 106)
Gabe flinched. “Eh, that’s cold.”
“Whiner.” Susan continued smearing gel over Gabe’s belly while Jeff and Abby watched with considerable interest.
“Will you be able to tell what it is?” said Abby.
“Doubtful,” Susan said, shaking her head, “it’s too early.”
Gabe frowned. “It is not an ‘it’. It is a boy or a girl.”
Abby leaned on her crutches and grinned. “Considering it’s yours and where we are, uh, I wouldn’t entirely rule out ‘it’ just yet.”
Gabe growled.
Jeff chuckled and smiled at Abby. “I’d be careful if I were you. You know, she’s moved up a weight-class since the last time she nearly took your block off.”
Abby frowned. “Uh, good point.” She worked her jaw back and forth. “I think I still have a couple loose fillings.”
He laughed. “Just shut up and watch.”
Susan wiped t
he gel off her hands, picked up the ultrasound probe and slowly began sliding it across Gabe’s belly. “Now, hold still.” Almost instantly an image appeared on the laptop screen. “There we go.”
Gabe lurched up. “What is it?”
“Hold still!”
“Sorry.”
Susan tried again. “Ah, there’s our little Martian.”
Abby shook her head. “Now there’s a sobering thought.”
Gabe sat up again. “Where?”
“Keep it up and I’m going to nail you down.” Susan pointed at the screen. “This oval dark area here is your uterus filled with amniotic fluid. And this…” pointing to a C-shaped blob in one corner, “… is your child. Whom, I would note, is being particularly cooperative.”
Gabe gasped, “Oh my god!”
“Alright, let’s see. Let me measure this.” Susan used the mouse and keyboard to draw a scaled line across the ‘blob’. “Hmmm, CRL of 5.5 centimeters.”
“Is that good or bad?” said Gabe.
“Just a minute.” She zoomed in on the fetus’ image and measured the nuchal translucency, the amount of fluid behind the neck. “Uh, okay, looks like 2.2 millimeters.”
“What does all that mean?” Gabe persisted with some agitation.
“It means that your child is boringly normal.”
Gabe grinned ecstatically.
“The CRL or ‘crown-rump length’ is a growth measurement and 5.5 centimeters is exactly where it should be for this gestation period, and a nuchal translucency of 2.2 millimeters indicates a low probability of Down Syndrome.” Susan patted Gabe’s belly. “So, looks like you’re good to go. Here, I’ll get some more pictures.”
“Are you going to do an amnio?” said Jeff.
“No, it’s not indicated. That’s an invasive procedure that carries some risk. At this point I don’t see where it’s warranted. Like I said, everything looks boringly normal.”
Abby grasped Jeff’s shoulder and shook him gently. “Welcome to fatherhood.”
Jeff grinned and chuckled. “Wow.”
“Excited?”
Jeff nodded. “Beyond words.”
“Can you tell if it’s a boy or girl?” Gabe asked.
“No. Like I said, too early. We’ll let it bake for another six weeks or so and check again. But I think it’s safe to say that it will be one or the other.”
“Are you sure?” Abby chuckled.
Gabe snarled. “Keep it up and I’m going to break your other leg.”
“Please don’t,” Susan replied, “I’ve got my hands full as it is. Just hold still.”
Wednesday, January 25, 2017
MSD 50858.556 (Sol 108)
“Okay, Gabe, I understand your interest in chaos regions, they’re fascinating and exotic terrain, and I’m interested in them too; but not this one. Remember what John Grant said? That chaos probably formed as a result of Amazonian epoch water flow from the Loire that ponded east of the volcano. So, it seems to me that if we want to find evidence of water and fluvial deposits, the best place to look is just east of the volcano. And on the way down, we can hit the lava fields, the crater, and those really neat canyons that were obviously cut by something. Furthermore, it’s a lot easier to get to.”
Gabe frowned and whined, “But I want to see a chaos.”
“Wouldn’t you rather see one of the ones at either end of the Morava Valles?”
“Yeah. But by then I’m gonna have a baby.”
Jeff sighed. “So take the baby with you.”
“Huh?”
“Why not? People take kids on trips all the time.”
“On Mars?”
“Sure, why not? Just think of the bedtime stories you can tell him… her… whatever.”
“Whatever?”
Jeff rolled his eyes. “Uh, never mind.”
“Jeff, the south Morava Chaos is over a 100 kilometers, that’s four days minimum just to get there. And the north is 150 plus, that’s a week on the road, each way. They’re too far. With a baby, we couldn’t do it. The Loire Chaos is only a day’s drive, and we were almost to it when we moved Pathfinder; we know the way. We have tracks to follow. And from there we can turn west, follow the Valles, and hit all those other sites on the way back.”
He groaned. “Alright. But when we get to the volcano if we can’t find a safe way down, we turn around and do it my way. Okay?”
Gabe grinned. “Okay.”
“In the meantime we have a lot of maintenance to do, so let’s get to it.”
“Okay.”
Monday, January 30, 2017
MSD 50863.301 (Sol 113)
In the airlock, Abby stood staring at them. “You sure you guys will be okay?”
Gabe smiled and nodded.
Jeff shrugged.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought. Well, give us a call if you get stuck or need help. We can be there in a couple hours with Andy, but it’ll take all day to get there with Jake.”
Jeff nodded. “Roger that. Alright, see you in a week.”
“Have fun. Try not to fall in any holes.”
“Yeah.” Jeff and Gabe climbed into the Genesis, closed the hatch as Abby closed the inner hatch, released from the airlock, commanded Amos to head for Pathfinder via the best-known route, and headed off. “Are you sure you don’t want to suit up, sit in Amos, and see the sights?”
Gabe shook her head. “I’d rather not. Though it’s much better now, I’m still having occasional bouts of morning sickness. I think the less time I spend in a suit, the better.”
“Gotcha. How far along are you now?”
“Thirteen weeks. Second trimester begins tomorrow.” She grinned. “Another four or five weeks and I should have a baby bump.”
He patted her belly. “Wow, already a third of the way there.”
She clasped his hand. “Yeah.”
“Are you feeling better?”
“Yes. Sue was right, the first trimester is hell, but it’s getting a lot better.”
He smiled and nodded. “Good. So, about five or six hours to Pathfinder?”
“Uh huh.”
“You think we should stop there for the night?”
“I’d say press on as long as we have some daylight. If we can find a descent path, we may be able to make it down into the chaos before dark, then go exploring first thing in the morning.”
“Alright. But we’re gonna be cautious and take our time. Like Abby said, if we get stuck, it’d be at least a day before they could get to us with Jake.”
“I know.”
“Okay. So, what do you want to do to kill six hours? Watch the scenery on the video screens, or play cribbage?”
“How about both?”
Jeff frowned. “Both? You know I can’t multitask. We try and watch TV and play cribbage at the same time, and you’ll whip my ass.”
Gabe chuckled. “I’ll whip your ass anyway, so what difference does it make?”
#
Five and a half hours later Amos pulled to a stop alongside Pathfinder.
Gabe scratched her head. “So, what do we do now? Follow Abby and Sue’s tracks?”
Jeff shook his head. “I don’t think so. Based on THEMIS imagery I think we should turn east until we intercept the minus 1,500 contour, then follow it and that ‘S’ shaped ridge right down into the chaos.”
“That’s 20 kilometers.”
“Yeah, I know. But it puts us in a good spot to explore the chaos, and gives us an exit to the west down the Valles toward the confluence.”
“It’s steep.”
“Yeah, but not as steep as the south face of the volcano.” He yawned and glanced at his watch. “It’s almost 1400. We need to suit up and get in Amos to do this so we can see where the hell we’re going. We haven’t even had lunch yet, and I’m hungry. I vote we camp here for the night, and tackle this descent in the morning. What say you?”
She smiled and shrugged. “Alright.”
Jeff chuckled. “You’re awfully easy today.
”
“It’s fun just to be out… and alone with you.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Ah. Well, maybe we can find something to do to keep us busy this evening.”
Gabe wrinkled her nose and grinned.
Tuesday, January 31, 2017
MSD 50864.354 (Sol 114)
“You ready?” said Jeff.
“Yeah, all set.”
“Okay, here we go.” He opened Genesis’ outer airlock and stepped out. Gabe followed. She closed the hatch and they climbed into Amos. “Abby? You there?”
“Yeah, I’m here.”
“Okay, we’re in Amos and about to head down into the Chaos. We’re gonna go east-southeast until we intercept the minus 1,500-meter contour and follow that, then enter the chaos about 300 meters north of the old eroded crater southeast of Frying Pan. You know the one?”
“Yeah, I know it.”
“Okay, from there we’re just gonna follow that canyon to the bottom. You’ll probably lose comms with us via Pathfinder pretty soon, so switch to UHF via the orbiter. We’re gonna take it nice and easy, and probably stop along the way for samples and snapshots. It’ll probably take us most of the day to get down there.”
“Rog. Have a nice trip. Don’t forget to send us a postcard.”
He laughed. “Will do, if we can find a mailbox. Later. Out.” He eased forward on Amos’ throttle and headed down the sandy slope. “Gabe, do you have any idea why, except for the monolithic rocks, this whole area is nothing but sand?”
“No.”
“The MSL found lots of bedrock in Gale, with just a light covering of dust. What’s so different about this place?”
“I don’t know. Gale is a crater, and this isn’t. There are lots of theories, but nobody really knows. Four billion years of weathering of unknown nature? It’s all just guesswork. But if we do our part maybe we can in some small way advance the science.”
After two hours and about 10 kilometers of slowly descending over small sand dunes through a two kilometer-wide valley, Jeff pulled to a stop. “Um, this doesn’t look good. Let’s take a walk.” They climbed out of Amos and strolled a hundred meters down the valley before coming to a drop-off. “Ugh. That’s got to be a 45º slope, and at least 100 meters down. We can’t go down there.”
Margaritifer Basin (Margaritifer Trilogy Book 1) Page 87
