by Gary Weston
'Agreed,' said Forbes. 'I'll leave the planning to them. Being on the spot they'll have a better picture of the situation than we do. I just hope the technicians can fix that damn satellite so we can radio Big Bird and tell them.'
That hope was shared by Vince Friar as he entered the electronics department the next morning. It didn't look good when he found Keith Taylor asleep at his work bench, surrounded by parts and tools.
'Keith.'
'Hmm? Where...Oh. Must have dozed off.'
'You've been here all night?'
Taylor stretched and rubbed the back of his neck. 'Looks like it. Oh. You'll be wanting this.'
'That the new unit?'
'It's damn ugly, but it works.'
'Jeez. You did it. Brilliant.'
Taylor handed the unit over. 'I made it exactly the same size as the old one. There the similarity ends. In another life I'd be getting awards for that.'
'Remind me to buy you a beer. Off you go home to bed, Keith. I'll get this fitted right away.'
Keith got up and stretched. 'Ok. I'll see you tomorrow. If you get stuck with the satellite, come and get me.'
'I will, but we should be ok. Thanks.'
Taylor shuffled off home, Friar hurried to the ship where his team were already at work.
'That the part?' asked Wilkins.
'Keith only just finished it. He tested it and says it's good to go.'
Fripps said, 'I'll fit it.' He took the part and the others gave him space to work. Five minutes later, he said, 'There. Now we can get on with the rest of this thing.'
They worked none stop for over five hours, then finally, it was done.
'That's it, people. Job done. We won't know for sure until it's got the solar panels on and positioned in orbit, but it looks damn good to me. You all go home and I'll tell the commanders to get this in space.'
As soon as the commanders got the good news from Friar, Breeze, Stella, Dillow and Skye were instructed to get ready to take off. Anna Graham was to stay with her own technicians to make sure the satellite was functioning correctly. Less than two hours later, the ship was ready to go.
They took off with their precious cargo, and with Stella at the controls of the ship, Breeze, Dillow and Skye were ready in the airlock, about to push the satellite into space. Dillow and Breeze had the satellite, Skye had the cleaned up solar panels and also a belt full of tools and fixings.
Dillow and Breeze went out first, their safety lines trailing behind them. Skye followed and between them they fitted the solar panels. Then they manoeuvred the whole thing into roughly the right position and fine tuned it with the calibrator. It was done. All they had to do was to see if it worked.
Chapter 46
'Calling Big Bird. Mars calling Big Bird.'
'Holy crap,' said Ramshorn. 'Finally we have radio. Hey, you guys. Where you all been?'
It was taking over thirteen minutes for the signals to reach between Mars and Big Bird. Allowing for that, they were told everything on Mars was as it should be and that they had some special tasks to do. After sending messages to their loved ones, they had time to decide what to do. When the helium extraction team finished another long shift, Morgan told them the good news about the radio. Once they had sent messages to their families, Morgan and Ramshorn sat with them to discuss plans.
John Mantle spoke for his men. 'I don't have a problem with any of that. Apart from one aspect.'
'Go on,' said Rocky.
'I don't see the point in ripping apart a perfectly good extraction plant just to get a couple of pumps, knowing we'll only have to waste time putting them back in when we return. If we're going to Earth, why not find a couple of pumps from there to take home, instead?'
'An excellent suggestion,' said Morgan. 'How's the helium extraction coming along?'
Mantle said, 'We could start filling the ship's tanks tomorrow from the extraction plant storage tank. It'll take another three days to fill all of them.'
'Ok,' said Rocky. 'Could you hold fire on that for another day and still be productive?'
'I guess,' said Mantle. 'We still have a heap of capacity in the main tank. Why do you ask?'
Rocky said, 'While you do the next shift, Max and I can take off and bag a couple of satellites. With zero gravity that shouldn't be too difficult. Then when we come back, you can fill Big Bird's tanks. Then, when the helium tanks are full, we can take off together and go to Earth. If the radiation level is too high, we'll abort, return here and get the pumps. If not too high, we will stay together, get any medical stuff we can find and hopefully a couple of pumps. Everyone happy with that?'
Richie said, 'I think we all are, knowing our families are ok.'
'It's a load off our minds,' said Morgan
They were all in agreement of the plan. After a feed and a shower, they went to bed, to be fresh for another long day.
Chapter 47
'How long do you think you'll be?' asked Mantle.
Morgan said, 'There are at least half a dozen satellite's within relatively easy reach. We're just taking two. We can come back another time for any more. So, we should be back here by the time your shift is over.'
'Fair enough,' said Mantle. 'Make it sooner if you can. In the ship is the only place we can take our helmets off. We don't want to be too dehydrated out there.'
Morgan said, 'If it is taking too long, we'll just grab one satellite and go again for another one tomorrow.'
Richie said, 'Can't say fairer than that. Ok. Time to get cracking.'
As soon as the extraction team were away, Ramshorn and Morgan took off in Big Bird. Taking the huge ship in an orbit, they found what they were looking for.
'A mark fifteen,' said Ramshorn. 'One of the later ones.'
Morgan said, 'There should be three more of those between here and Earth. What's the one on Mars? Any Idea?'
'A series nine, if I recall correctly. Pretty old. I think we should just get two of the mark fifteens. For one thing, they're much smaller for us to fit in the ship. One can be the back up for the other.'
'Agreed,' said Morgan. 'And being newer, less likely to break down. I'll take us in as close as I dare. Here goes.'
The huge ship was amazingly manoeuvrable in the right hands. Rocky Ramshorn stayed at the controls of Big Bird as Max Morgan leaped out of the first cargo hatch. The ship had been designed and built with a series of separate sections, each with its own massive hatch. The design made for an incredibly adaptable ship, capable of being used for many uses. All but two of the twenty, twenty metre long sections had been fitted out with the collection tanks for the helium-3.
The tanks were specially designed to have the atmospheric pressure reduced, so the lower temperature would maintain the helium in a liquid form. Each tank could then be removed from its section for storage on Mars, allowing Big Bird to be used for other missions. It would be a tight squeeze fitting the extra payload into the two spare storage sections, along with the equipment used by the extraction team.
Max Morgan was no stranger to space walking, and he was soon out on his line with a spare line to secure the satellite with. With that done, he returned to the ship and pulled the satellite inside. There was plenty of space inside the storage section because the two dozers were on Moon. With the hatch door still open, Morgan pulled the satellite to the far end of the section and used the line to tie it down to the securing mounts.
'One down, one to go,' said Morgan. 'Rocky. I may as well stay in here. You close the hatch and we'll go get another one.'
'On our way. Hold on to something.' Rocky made a slow sweep with the ship, and within thirty minutes, had found the second satellite. 'Ok. Pulling alongside number two. Opening the hatch.'
The massive hatch swung down and Morgan was impressed with the way Rocky had positioned the ship so close to Big Bird.
'On my way over.'
It was a repeat of the exercise to rope up the satellite, pull it inside the hatch and tie it down. Once that had been done, Morgan
told Rocky, who closed the hatch, waited until Morgan had made his way to the sealed flight deck and buckled up in his seat before taking off.
'Less than five hours, start to finish,' said Rocky. 'Way better than I'd expected.'
'It will be tight getting the two dozers in as well as the satellites and pumps.'
Rocky suggested, 'We might have to put the pumps in section one, with the accommodation. I don't think they'll be anything like the size of the satellites. It's all too important not to take everything we can lay our hands on.'
'We'll figure it all out between us. We'll have a feed and think about it then.'
Chapter 48
By the time they had landed and John Mantle and his team were safely on board, it was another day over.
'Perfect timing,' said Mantle. 'I'm amazed you got both satellites in such a short time.'
Morgan said, 'We wanted to have you filling the tanks. Once that's done, we are off to Earth.'
Richie said, 'Can't say I'm looking forward to that. God alone knows what's down there.'
Ramshorn said, 'If that radiation's too high, we'll never find out. Max and I will make that call, but we aren't putting our lives on the line. Our suits will protect us from most of it, if it isn't too high.'
'Fair enough,' said Mantle. 'No point gathering stuff to take back only to die doing it. Are you thinking of Westmont City?'
Morgan said, 'Those greedy devils kept anything worthwhile inside their volcano. Anything rather than share it with East. As long as we can get inside.'
'All I'm expecting to find are a lot of dead bodies,' said Richie. 'I'm glad of my suit. I wouldn't want to be smelling any of it.'
'Assuming we can leave the ship, we won't be hanging around,' said Rocky. 'Medical stuff, two pumps and anything else will be a bonus. Then we'll get the hell out of there.'
Mantle said, 'Three days of pumping gas and we can go.'
And so the three days passed. Rocky and Max took care of the domestic duties as the tanks were filled. Finally, the dozers were driven in and parked up next to the satellites and anchored down. A feed and a good night's sleep and it was time to take Big Bird to Earth.
Chapter 49
With Big Bird's marsillium coating, it was impervious to the soaring temperatures generated by the 40 degree entry of Earth's atmosphere. After several minutes of the roaring sound, the ship was at a low cruising speed and altitude. The extraction crew were unaware of the scenes of devastation only Ramshorn and Morgan were witnessing, which was perhaps just as well.
'I knew it would be bad, but this is beyond anything I imagined,' said Morgan.
Ramshorn said nothing, just his grim-faced expression giving a clue as to his inner feelings. It looked as if the whole planet had been put in a microwave oven on high and forgotten about. Patches of isolated green, clinging to life, were few and far between. The once vast jungles and forests breathing out life giving oxygen were long gone. And yet, the two pilots were reminded of Andrew Foreman and his son David, valiantly carving out a patch to call their own and with the brave community, actually flourishing and preserving what they could for use on Mars.
It was the same the world over. Desolation. Signs of life, none. They put the dire images from their minds and concentrated on the task in hand. They knew what they were looking for and where it was. The volcano, long dead, had been hollowed out and the elite of the West had called it home. Those less fortunate were literally left out in the cold to fend for themselves.
'Here it is,' said Morgan. 'Jeez. I'm guessing not all that damage was caused by Craggy hitting it with that missile.'
'We need to land as close as we can. See any very large flat spots?'
Morgan said, 'None looks particularly good. Or bad for that matter. That lot there will flatten out with no trouble, I'm thinking.'
'Then put us down, my friend.'
Morgan hovered and swung the ship about, balancing the landing thrusters for a gentle touchdown.
'And here we are. Might as well do the radiation check now and get it over with.'
The external radiation detector was turned on and they watched the counter move into the light orange range, white being safe, as in normal background radiation, right up to dark red. Dark red meant go outside, you die, and not in a good way.
Rocky called out the reading. 'One point three mSv per hour. That equates to a thirty two day danger limit.'
'Rocky. It's an accumulative poison. Like mercury. Absorb it, you live with it.'
Rocky stared at the numbers. 'I'm aware of that. But this is outside. We want to get inside the city. The volcano itself should have prevented at least some of the radiation entering.'
Morgan shrugged. 'So why did they all die?'
'I don't know. Maybe they were already a sickly bunch. The radiation tipped them over the edge. Look. I'm with you. I don't want to put ourselves or those back there to any unacceptable risk. I think we should set an absolute time limit. Whatever we achieve in that time is it. After that, we get the hell out of there.'
Morgan said, 'This isn't just our decision to make. We lay it on the line with the others, warts and all, and if they say no, we respect that and go.'
'Ok. Let's go talk it over.'
They entered the accommodation section where the men were waiting. John Mantle spoke up.
'What's the story?'
Rocky said, 'To be honest, not as terrible as I thought. I'm sure you know as well as Max and I that radiation is an accumulative poison. The only safe level is none. We have a reading of one point three mSv per hour. Which means we could be exposed for a few days with not too high a risk.'
Richie said, 'That's still an unhealthy number, Rocky.'
'We agree. But don't forget we have our suits and will carry our own air supply. That reduces the risk further. If we go outside at all, it will be for a strict period of time, say five hours. My gut feeling is that inside the city should be a lower level of radiation. If it's higher, we get back in here, go back to Moon for the pumps.'
Mantle said, 'We came here for medicines. Pumps would be a bonus. We need anything medical. My boy needs medication we don't have. His prognosis isn't good.'
'Sorry to hear that,' said Rocky. 'But it helps put it in perspective. Obviously even a few hours isn't good, but the alternatives for all of us could outweigh our personal risk.'
Morgan said. 'We need to decide. Majority rules. All in favour of going out there?'
It was unanimous. All hands were raised in the air.
'Outside it is,' said Rocky.'I'll advise Mars.'
Back on Mars, having received the news from Earth, Forbes paced the floor. 'I have that mother hen feeling again, Pottsy.'
'Again? Mine never goes away. It's like having a family of thousands to watch over.'
'Yeah. And right now, eight of ours are about to go out into...' He shrugged. 'And there never seems to be a right decision. I still think we should tell their families what's happening.'
Potts said, 'Go out in space, you're in danger. On Mars there's danger. We can't go around alarming people just because people go out of one danger into another. Trust them to make the right decisions.'
Forbes sighed. 'It doesn't get any easier. I'm off to bed before I lay an egg.'
Forbes went off for a well earned rest, leaving Potts in charge.
Chapter 50
'What are those?' Ramshorn asked.
'Emergency flares,' said Mantle. 'We have them handy when we are here, there and everywhere on Moon, just in case. Snap the top off here and it's a good safe light. I figure it'll be pretty dark in that city. These give off useful light for up to two hours. I've a box of fifty here.'
'Good thinking.'
With the suits air supplies replenished, armed only with a radiation monitor, the eight men walked down the ramp. Rocky closed the ramp from outside and staying close together, they pushed through gnarled, sickly vegetation. A tar-sealed road of sorts led to the huge main entrance of the volcano city. At leas
t there should have been a main entrance somewhere. A fall of rock covered the steel, grey painted door. Once slid open, it would be large enough for vehicles to go in and out.
'There must be a smaller side door,' said Mantle.
Richie said, 'Look. Some of the top of the door's exposed. There's a smaller door built into the main door.'
'We need to to shift the rock,'said Mantle. 'We need the dozer.'
Richie said, 'Come on, Max. Let me on the ship and I'll get the dozer here in no time.'
'Ok.'
'We'll take a look around in the meantime,' said Rocky. 'We won't stray far.'
Max and Richie walked back the way they came. 'Is this place creepy, or what?' said Richie.
'I'm not planning to hang around a minute longer than we need.' They soon reached the second section where the dozers were secured. Max keyed in the four digit code and the ramp gently swung down. A cold feeling crept up between Morgan's shoulder blades. He dared to look around. 'It's probably my excessive paranoia, but I can't shake off the feeling something is watching us.'
There was a sudden roar, and Richie drove the dozer down the ramp.
Once clear of the ship, Morgan shut the hatch up and jumped on beside Richie. In minutes, they were at the entrance, the others waiting for them.
'You didn't find another way in, I suppose?' Morgan asked.
'We didn't go far,' said Rocky, but no. Don't ask me where, but a half hour has already gone.'
Richie revved up the dozer and the sound echoed like a wild beast. 'Out of the way, people. I got a job to do.'
As Richie used his years of experience to safely remove the piles of rocks, Morgan stood quietly at the side of Rocky.
Rocky picked up on Morgan's uncharacteristic nervousness. This was a man who thought little of diving out of a ship into deep space. 'Are you ok?'
Morgan stared out at the scrappy greenery; the dying plants couldn't have concealed much...'Yeah. I just want to get home.' The rocks were gradually cleared and the door was exposed. He tried the small door; a double handed lever. 'Locked. Or jammed shut.'
