“Oh crap,” said David.
Donald stopped the small transport and they pulled up beside him.
“Albert, go with Donald and get back to LZ as fast as you can. This thing is very slow while pulling the trailers. I’ll be there as soon as I can,” said David.
Albert jumped down and climbed into the small transport being careful not to crush what he carried in his arms. Donald hit the throttle on the fuel cell powered transport and the “Jeep” accelerated toward the LZ. David followed as fast as he could with the heavy transport being careful not to overload the heavily laden machine’s drivetrain.
When David finally drove around the last hill into the little valley that was the LZ he saw the small transport parked by the smoldering wreckage of two of the supply ships. The entire ground team was standing around the transport looking sullen. He drove up and hopped down.
“What happened?” he asked as he walked up to the Master Chief.
“They must have lost the control circuit. It came down hard and then rolled over and hit the other supply ship. The one on the ground had been opened and Doctor Doucette and Brianna have been unloading seeds, rations, and medical supplies from it. Since the hatches were open, the inside was ripped open and gutted when the other one exploded. We lost just about everything in both ships.”
“That sucks,” said David.
“You have no idea,” said the Master Chief. “They were the twin ships. They contained the really important stuff that they had sent us two of. We lost both the crew habitats, both the heavy hydrolysis units, and a lot of food and medical supplies.”
Kristy turned toward them. “Master Chief, could you please get us the manifests from both supply ships? I want everybody to meet under the ascent ship in thirty minutes. We need to assess what we’ve lost and how we proceed from here.”
She turned to walk away toward the ascent ship.
“Commander, please hold up a minute.” Doctor Abernathy walked up to her with what he had been keeping wrapped in his light jacket. “I found these about a kilometer from the vehicle lander. The mood of the occasion is somewhat lessened now, but I just wanted to apologize for going down to the alien site without permission.”
The whole crew was watching as Albert un-wrapped his coat and pulled out a handful of wild flowers. They were starting to look a little wilted from their journey, but the bright colors were in vivid contrast to the rest of the barren landscape.
Kristy stared at them in amazement. “Where…”
“One of the seed probes had landed not far from the first supply ship. Evidently somebody knew what they were doing. It seems the seeds that were released from it are not only growing, but seem to be thriving,” he replied.
They all crowded around to look at the flowers.
“My parents made those seeds,” Brianna exclaimed. She explained to them about how her folks had been tricked into altering and preparing the seeds that had been placed on the probes.
“I’ve got to get out there and see that site,” Brianna exclaimed.
“That’ll have to wait,” Kristy said. “We have to figure out where we’re going to live for the next four years.”
She turned and started toward the ascent ship again, carrying the flowers. She stopped and turned around.
“Thank you for the flowers, Albert,” she smiled grimly.
He nodded and she walked away.
About forty five minutes later, they were all gathered under the makeshift parachute tent below the ascent ship. Jason, Master Chief, and Chief McGill had gone through the wreckage of the two supply ships quickly and compared what they found with the manifest records of what had been packed in them.
“Ok, Master Chief, how bad is it?” asked Kristy.
“The situation isn’t too good, but it could have been worse. We lost both the habitats, both the large hydrolysis units, about half our medical supplies, one month’s rations, and approximately a quarter of the seeds for the green houses. There were a few miscellaneous spare parts for different pieces of equipment lost also.”
“The two biggest issues are the loss of the habitats and the hydrolysis units. Unless we want to rig up some quarters in the supply ships, we have no place to live for the next four years. The only other option we have would be to live in the green houses. The loss of the big hydrolysis units is the most critical. Without those, it’s going to be difficult to fuel the ascent ship and make enough fuel for powering our various fuel cells, like those on the ground transports.”
“The good news is if we really watch our rations, we’ll be ok until the green houses start producing. We do have enough seeds left to get those going. We still have all three solar panel arrays as well as the small nuclear generator so power isn’t an issue. Although the loss of the that equipment was a big blow, it’s still possible for Earth to send us some re-supply ships. It will however, probably take two to three years for them to get here.”
Kristy looked around and addressed the group. “The way I look at it, we’re all still safe. We have what we need to survive, and we have what we need to accomplish our primary objectives. So, we need to adjust and set our priorities. Master Chief, I want you to complete the erection of the communication array. Dr. Vaughn and Petty Officer Mullen will assist you. Lieutenant Greco, I want you to assess the capabilities of the small hydrolysis units. They should be capable of keeping all the small fuel cells going. We need to determine how much excess capability they have and see what we can do to begin fueling the ascent ship. Doctor Doucette, I want you and Doctor Driskall to determine a location for our green houses and coordinate with Chief McGill for what excavation needs to be done. We will need to get those up and planted as soon as possible. Chief, I want you, Doctor Abernathy, and Petty Office Chamness to get our other two solar arrays spotted and set up. We need power for the hydrolysis units as soon as possible. I also want you to determine the best place to obtain water. We need to scout the area for local streams or determine if and where we can bore a well that’s close to our campsite. I will float around and help each team as needed.”
“Commander Nichols, I would like to make a request if I may on behalf of the whole team,” said Doctor Abernathy.
“Go ahead Doctor Abernathy,” Kristy said.
“This isn’t technically a military expedition. We all know that Space force merely supplied the logistical and technical means to get us here. Can we please stop all the Commander and Petty Officer crap. We all have names. I’m perfectly ok if you and everyone else call me Albert. I would like to call everyone by their given names. We’ve discussed this before when we were still in training. If we’re going to be living together for four years, we need to dispense with all the formality. We acknowledge that you’re in charge. You don’t need a title for that. I think everyone will agree that this would work best.”
All the others nodded their heads and voiced agreement.
Kristy didn’t wish to cause dissention in the group, so she reluctantly agreed that they could drop titles and the formality. Everyone smiled at her and relaxed since they had expected this to be a point of contention with her.
“Well, since we’re being informal,” Kristy said, “Get up and get your asses to work!”
They laughed and jumped to their feet and went to their assigned tasks.
Chapter 31
April 30th, 2047
Houston, Texas
Peter Rockwell sat in a virtual conference with Robby Tully, Admiral Ellis, and the rest of the advisor team for the Elpis expedition. Robby Tully was briefing the team on the status of the expedition.
“The loss of the two robotic ships was a serious blow. While they’re in no type of immediate danger, their food supplies are going to be touch and go until they get the green houses up and producing. The most immediate concerns are that of shelter and the fueling of the ascent ship. While the ascent ship won’t be needed immediately, it was the goal to have it fueled and ready to lift off in two years in case there was an em
ergency. Otherwise, it won’t be needed for four years. They can fuel the ship with the two smaller hydrolysis units, but that will significantly curtail the exploration of the area as well as the preparation of a landing field. There will be very little extra hydrogen for the fuel cells on the ground transports.”
“The landing team has managed to erect their communication array and we have intermittent communications with them. It’s still rather spotty at times due to the lingering effects of the solar storm that is now slowly rotating away from Earth and Elpis. They have all three of their solar arrays up and have adequate power for their equipment. They also still have the self-contained miniature fission power plant if they need to use it for additional power. At present, they’re camped in a temporary tent they’ve erected beneath the ascent ship.”
Peter spoke up. “Admiral, what’s the status of the two transfer ships?”
“The crews are still in their storm shelters. Our best estimate is that they will receive about two to three times their allowed annual cumulative exposure limits by the time they reach Phobos base. By staying in the shadow of Elpis as long as possible, they significantly reduced their exposure. They’ll arrive at Phobos in about fifteen weeks. Both ships will refuel and return to Earth as fast as they possibly can. We need to rotate those crews off and minimize their radiation exposure for a while. Their rations and other consumable supplies will be tight, but they can make it to Phobos,” Admiral Ellis informed the group.
Peter looked at his display. “I need an estimate on how long it would take to get another robotic ship to Elpis with a habitat, another large hydrolysis unit, and the other supplies they lost.”
One of the design engineers spoke up, “We can get the equipment on a robotic lander and get it ready to go in about four months. The problem is going to be how to get it there and how are we going to control its landing. The ship cannot be VR controlled so it would have to land by automated programing. Depending on how close it comes down to the base camp, the expedition would have to go find it and then bring their supplies back. The biggest issue is we don’t have a way to get it there. The trip would be too long for a transfer ship and we don’t have a booster available at the moment that could get it there in a decent amount of time.”
“How long would it take for a transfer ship to get there and back?” asked another engineer.
Robby Tully did some quick calculations on his computer. “Assuming a transfer ship left in four months, it would take five months to get there and about seven to get back. That’s a whole year in deep space. Those ships with full crew are only capable of about half that at most.”
“Admiral,” Peter asked. What would be a skeleton crew for one of those ships?”
“I wouldn’t advise going that route,” the Admiral said. “It would be very risky and putting a crew that far from Earth with the chances of another freak solar storm like the one we just had would endanger the ship and the crew. My recommendation would be to let the Elpis ground team continue with the expedition as planned. We can use an automated booster to launch the supply lander when it’s available. We could modify one of the heavy lift boosters that we launch from Cape Canaveral. The worst case scenario is that if all else fails, that the recovery ship to Elpis could land a couple of supply ships with nothing but fuel on board. They could then fuel the ascent ship and climb back to orbit for pickup. In the meantime, they’re there, so let them proceed with the expedition as planned.”
“I think I agree with the Admiral that’s the wisest plan, as well as the safest. I want the engineers who worked on the heavy booster to see what can be done to modify it so that we can send an automated lander to the planet just in case. This brings us back to the most pressing need, shelter for the expedition crew on the planet,” Peter said.
The meteorologist on the advisory team indicated he would like to speak. Peter gave him permission via the VR conference controls. “In reality, the crew isn’t in any real danger from exposure. While it may get cool on some nights, the weather is going to be consistently temperate. They won’t freeze. They could survive in makeshift tents, or worse case, by sleeping in shifts in the ascent ship or in some of the supply ships, couldn’t they?”
“They could survive, but morale and their mental condition would really suffer,” the team psychologist added. They would get wet pretty regularly. The wind would really pound them during some of the storms that have been seen. I wouldn’t recommend that we ask them to sleep in a soggy tent for four years. Could they use one of the green houses as a habitat?”
Peter shook his head. “They need those for food production, especially since they lost a fair amount of the pre-packaged rations when they lost those two supply ships.”
One of the junior engineers indicated he wished to speak. “There’s another solution that everyone is totally ignoring.” Seeing that he had everyone’s attention, he continued. “From what the expedition has reported, the door on at least one of the smaller alien buildings is functioning. Why don’t they just set up camp inside of it? Just one of the smaller domes is about three times the size of one of the habitats they were going to use in the first place.”
The entire conference sat there dumbfounded. No one had even considered using one of the alien buildings.
“What if they’re inside and the door shuts and traps them?” asked Peter.
“Intelligent beings designed those doors,” the engineer said. “They wouldn’t be so stupid as to build a door with no means to open it from the inside of the buildings. There’s probably also a backup means of opening the doors in case of power failure. That’s how we would design them.”
“Be careful,” warned the team psychiatrist. “You’re assuming that a totally unknown intelligent species reasons and designs things like we do.”
“I’m making my assumptions from evidence we’ve already seen,” argued the engineer. They built a spaceship using roughly the same design that we would. They build solar cells like we do, although they’re definitely of a more advanced design. That beacon indicates a very logical thought process. I’ll bet my reputation that there’s means of opening those doors from both sides.” The rest of the engineers voiced their agreement.
Peter thought it over. “We had planned on waiting to examine the artifact site until the habitats and the greenhouses were set up. However, I think that under the circumstances, we should let them at least investigate whether one of the smaller buildings could be used as a shelter. We’ll let Commander Nichols make the call if that’s ok with Admiral Ellis. She’s on the ground and knows what the situation is really like. We have to trust her judgment.”
“I’ll relay that message to her,” the Admiral said.
“Very well then, this meeting is adjourned. We’ll meet again tomorrow. Please start work immediately on a plan we can use to get supplies and equipment down to them on a automated lander without using a transfer ship. That’s all for now,” Peter said as he closed the meeting.
Chapter 32
May 1st, 2047
Planet Elpis
They gathered together in the sun outside the makeshift tent for the morning meeting. It hadn’t been a good night. A strong thunderstorm had passed through the area and the winds had whipped their tent around and blown rainwater on them for several hours as they had huddled under the ascent ship. The sun was now shining and the warmth was slowly drying their clothes.
Over the past few days, the expedition team had finished unloading supplies from all the supply ships. All the equipment was now in four large stacks with tarps pulled over the piles to shelter them from the occasional rain storms. They had held off putting up the greenhouses for now. Beatrice and Brianna wanted to erect those on a large flat area on the other side of the alien site that the aliens had flattened out for some unknown reason. No one knew exactly what the aliens had planned to do there, but it was an ideal site for the greenhouses. That would put the greenhouses far from the area where the landing strip was going to eventual
ly be built.
Jason and Donald had taken the small transport or “jeep” and located a small stream one valley over that had cool clear water running through it. Analysis showed it was totally devoid of any microbial life and contained no contaminates or heavy metals. They now had a good source of water for consumption as well as for the hydrolysis units. Donald already had the small hydrolysis units running during the day when there was plenty of power from the solar arrays. The previous night, they had all taken turns walking over to the stream and taking much needed baths.
When everyone was seated on the various boxes and equipment that made up their camp area, Kristy started the morning briefing. “Ok, everyone listen up, please. As you all know from last night, sleeping under a re-cycled parachute in a pounding thunderstorm isn’t going to be an ideal solution for us for the next four years. One solution would be to sleep in the ascent ship. How many of you would want to climb up there and sleep in those seats?” She wasn’t surprised when no one answered.
“We received some new instructions from the advisory team at NASA during the night. Some of you, well, probably most of you will find them interesting. Especially you, Albert.”
Kristy still struggled with the name issue. She had been in a structured military system for so long it was difficult not to use titles and ranks. On the small ships, and with your close friends, it wasn’t an issue. On a large ship with a mixed crew of enlisted and officers it was much more difficult. Add to that four civilians with advanced degrees, and it really became a problem. She had agreed to go along with them in using first names, although it still just seemed “wrong” to her. The only exception was the Master Chief. Since he and Petty Officer Chamness were both named Donald, he had gladly told everyone to keep calling him Master Chief and the other Donald could keep going by his given name.
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