First Steps (Founding of the Federation)

by Hechtl, Chris

  "I'm outside, heading to the package. Hopefully the flare did nothing to the electronics," Tess said over the intercom. Mario sighed and crossed his fingers... "Da." He watched as she pulled out the contraption. "Nice and simple," she said. She looked it over. "Power feed, controls, water line... Is this for the soil?" She pointed to the top.

  "Yup. The one on the side is for the output," he replied, checking her camera feed.

  She nodded. "Okay, I think I can handle this. It would be better to have more soil going into it; one shovel load at a time is slow." She looked it over.

  "Maybe if we scavenge some panels from the wrecked MAV we can make a chute..." he suggested.

  She looked it over. "Later."

  He chuckled. "So the four of you were in the storm shelters together during the flare?"

  She shook her head. "No, the Hans took the number one shelter, Wanda and I took the number two. It made it much less crowded." She grunted as she pulled out a power cable then trudged to the nearest reactor. "It was much easier, though Wanda complained about not being out with you."

  Mario chuckled. "We were fine."

  Tess laughed. "Not exactly. But that wasn't her main concern; she wanted to see the gully."

  He smiled wryly. Yeah, that's Wanda for you. Typical geology princess, he thought. "Yeah, that's my girl." He shook his head wryly. "I never could measure up when she started making goo goo eyes at a rock."

  Tess chuckled as she plugged the power line in. "Okay, just the water line and we are set. You'll have to wait to test it; I don't think the dirt here will work." She scuffed her boot.

  "No, we need finer material. Clay like," he explained. She waved her hand.

  "Were we going to find that?" she asked as she ran a hose out.

  Mario smiled. That base fortunately had already been covered. "Li found it already. About point two clicks south west of here."

  She grunted. "Good to know." She hooked the hose up and looked it over. "I don't want to waste water doing a test so you'll have to wait on that." She looked the cables over.

  "So now what?" she finally asked. She stood arms on her hips facing the camera. "I know this wasn't all you wanted to do."

  He chuckled. "You know me so well. Yeah, I wanted to do some digging." He waved to her from the porthole with his left hand. "See that low spot where we did the test dig? I wanted to take the spare rover and try to widen and deepen the trench," he explained.

  She looked at it. "Well, if we took samples and documented things I guess we won’t get too much flack."

  He sighed. "Yeah." That part he hadn't planned on. Like the damn shoulder.

  She climbed into the open rover and turned it on. She raised and lowered the blade on the front, then raised it again. "Okay here goes," she said trundling to the trench. She went to work.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  "Traded shifts with Tess Mario?" the commander asked as he looked them over.

  Mario flicked his left arm dismissively. "Well, Li and Wanda were out and about with you, and Doc Han was in the lab, so, yeah." He sat down next to Wanda. "Nice peach cobbler?" He looked hers over.

  She edged it away. "Mine," she growled possessively.

  He smiled. "Yes dear, well maybe a bite." He held up his spoon.

  She smacked his spoon away. "Go get your own," she growled, eyes flashing.

  The commander chuckled. "So you set up the brick extruder?" He looked over to Tess.

  She nodded. "And made the trench bigger." She waved to the outside.

  "I checked the greenhouse, that leak has been fixed by the way. I used some of the plastic resin we made," Mario smiled.

  "Leak?" the commander asked concerned.

  "Pinhole leak at the bottom. I think a rock pricked the greenhouse when we dragged it out to set it up." He took a bite of his apple pie then grimaced. "Hot!" He waved his hand in front of his mouth.

  "Yeah. Okay." The commander settled back. "You said you fixed it?" he asked when Mario settled.

  Mario nodded. "With the resin compound we made. Plastic resin spray."

  Tess smiled. "It is neat goop," she said. Wanda smiled.

  "When you dug the trench did you take more samples?" Li asked looking expectantly to the Russian.

  Tess nodded. "Da doc, they are logged in the lab with pics and data," she replied. Li smiled.

  "Why did you dig it deeper?" Doctor Han asked.

  "Tess suggested we redesign the brick maker so we were looking for a better supply of clay. We may have to go to Li's clay pit though," Mario replied glibly. Mario sighed.

  "Maybe," the commander nodded.

  "We can do it on the way back next trip in that direction," Wanda suggested. The commander nodded.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  "Why exactly are we bringing the heat shields back to base? They are not going to be used again! The heat shielding has ablated!" Tess grumped as she shifted the panel.

  "Oh we will get some use out of them, as a sun shade if nothing else." Mario used his driver to remove the stuck bolt. He had been stuck in the Habs for a week until doc and the flight surgeon had reluctantly cleared him for outdoor duty. Wanda had teased him unmercifully about acting like a sulking kid not allowed to go out and play.

  "Okay, let’s try this again,” he said patiently. He favored his arm; he seriously didn't want a relapse. He stepped back as Tess fumbled the remote. Slowly the panel rose as the winch wound tighter.

  "Okay, the nylon parachutes for brick, I get that, but a sun shade?" Tess asked.

  Mario chuckled over the channel. "Oh ye of little faith. We're going to use the pieces as roofing material for a shed and for the garage." The winch twanged and the panel moved gently. "Okay, let’s get this loaded on the flatbed then get the next one," he said. He moved it over with the guideline then Tess carefully lowered it. The suspension and tires sagged. "Darn, guess we'll have to take them one or two at a time or we will get stuck." Mario shook his head.

  "A roof?" Tess asked as they unhooked the cables.

  "Yeah, we can have it overhanging the front of the garage, so we can protect the vehicles," he explained.

  Tess grunted. "How is it going to hold up?"

  He smiled as they yanked the last cable out. "Careful, that thing comes back at you and it will breach the suit," he cautioned.

  She nodded. "Got it." She coiled the cable.

  "To answer your question, brick of course."

  She nodded. "I get it."

  He nodded. "Same deal for the sheds. We build a cylinder with one side open, about three hundred forty degree arch, then set a piece of the aero shell on top. Cover with sand bags and walla!" He spread his hands apart dramatically.

  She grimaced. "Lot of work Mario, but I get the picture." She grunted as she hefted the panel edge. "You lift; I'll get the cables under," she ordered.

  He chuckled. "I'm coming, I'm coming. Geesh, forty million miles from Earth and a woman is still having us lift furniture," he grumped. Tess chuckled.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  “So dis thing is really going to make bricks?” Tess looked at the series of boxes. One had a hopper on top, and then it connected to a series of boxes. She had gotten a look before when she had set it up a week ago, but hadn't thought it was really up to much use. The last box had an opening on the side. The power cables she had plugged in ran to the reactor.

  Mario rested his hand on the contraption. “Yes, it is the brick maker. We sent it in the first test shot. We can make a couple bricks like the plan specified... or......” Mario flipped the switch and began shoveling clay into the hopper.

  “Or a lot of bricks. For the garage?” Tess asked.

  “Not just the garage, we can use them for another project we've had in mind for a few decades...” Mario watched as the first series of bricks came out of the end. “They will have to be dried in the kiln, but that shouldn't be too hard.” He went over and picked one up. It crumbled. “Oops! Damn, tensile strength is definitely a must! Going to hav
e to add the nylon, no if ands or buts about it,” he sighed as he scraped the mess back into the top hopper. “I need to get a few finished ones to Li for testing,” he said absently. He looked around.

  Tess handed him a flat piece of aluminum. “What's this a door panel?” She had her palm on the underside, flat like she was holding a pizza.

  “Oh! I get it.” Mario caught the next series of bricks and moved them off to the sun. Tess went over and picked up a brick and crumbled it in her hands.

  “If is no good, why make a batch?” she asked.

  He sighed and looked back to her. “Testing. We can test them, then test the ones with nylon in them and compare the difference,” he explained. He shrugged.

  “Actually the tests are already on file. The Mars Foundation and the Mars society used simulated Martian clay to discover the best brick making method. This is the result.” He caught the next batch and carefully set them down. “I'm just being thorough.”

  “Why the holes in the centers?” She pointed to the three holes.

  “To make them lighter, and so we can run things through them easier.” He caught the next trio then shut the machine off. “Okay, I will be back in a bit. If you get done your chores early can you shred some nylon?”

  She looked up then nodded. “My pleasure.”

  He waved as he walked off hand held high. “Mario's brick pizza delivery...” He hammed it with his trademark Italian accent. She giggled over the net.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  "How do we use cement?" Tess asked a few hours later. She was starting to catch on to the project and was getting interested in it. As an engineer their part was mostly done. Now all they had to do was maintain the machinery. Which, with computers in just about everything wasn't all that hard. The computers reported exactly what was wrong and where most of the time. The day to day preventive maintenance of getting the dust out or off of everything was a different story though.

  "Well, Luigi sent instructions. We can turn the brick extruder down and bypass the mold and it will create slurry we can use. The Martian soil is high in Gypsum, the main ingredient in mortar. Once it dries we will coat the inside and outside of the bricks with a spray on plastic epoxy resin."

  Tess nodded. "The resin will bond to the brick?" she asked.

  He nodded. "But it is elastic, so it can flex as the building settles, or if there is a Mars quake," he explained. She nodded.

  "I wanted the self sealing version, but it was horridly complex to make and a royal pain to apply so we went with the next best thing," he sighed. “Our big problem is the mortar, in these temperatures the water will start to freeze the moment it comes out of the extruder. We will have to be fast. If it freezes too fast it will not bond or it will crack.” He waved to a brick. “We're going to need to keep the heater coils on and nearby to keep the bricks warm,” he finished.

  Tess nodded. “We have same problem in Russia, have to keep mortar from freezing.” she said thoughtfully. “It is tough,” she sighed in return.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  Mario grunted as he extended the pole. The pole was tipped with an air sprayer and brush so he could clean each of the habs out of reach places. He scrubbed the exterior walls, and then moved on to carefully blow away, then gently brush away dust from the porthole windows. The air wasn't oxygen of course, just the local atmosphere he'd pressurized in a bottle with a hand pump before starting out on this little project.

  "Somehow I do not see you as a window man Mario," a familiar voice teased. Li waved from the window he had just finished. "There are streaks."

  Mario sighed and shook his head. "There will be, some of them are scratches. Trying to clean the dust off can grind the sharp little things into the glass." He moved over to the next area.

  "I wish they had built ultrasonic’s into each window. I could whip one up with a couple spare transducers..." Tess grumped.

  Mario grunted. "We can't. Ultrasonic’s would have weakened the caulking and caused a potential blow out over time."

  She grunted. "I'm done with the rovers."

  He grunted as he finished the first Hab. "One down three to go," he said.

  "Want some help?" she asked.

  "No, go check on the bricks," he ordered. He waved to the brick maker.

  "You make a lot of brick Mario," Li teased. He'd checked them for tensile and compression strength as the engineer had asked.

  "Yeah well, the first couple batches didn't come out right. We took them out of the kiln too early and they shattered," Mario replied.

  "Yes, I remember, strength not good," Li said.

  Mario nodded. "Yeah, we were in so much of a hurry we were only putting a few in at a time, then running the kiln for an hour and not letting it cool down slowly like the directions said too do," he sighed as he finished the connector. He'd had to learn patience the hard way. Patience in making a full load for the kiln and letting it cool overnight. Now they had the routine down.

  "Now we do a thousand in a day, then run the kiln and let it cool off all night," he explained absently and then winced. He wasn't supposed to say that he realized. He grunted as the brush caught in a crevice between legs. "Come on get out of there you...” he sighed as the brush came out, minus a few bristles.

  "A thousand a day?" Li asked surprised. He moved to another window so he could see Mario.

  "Yeah. Need them for the garages, sheds, and vaults. I underestimated how many," Mario grumbled as he cleaned around the railing. "I think we should cover these things. Sandbags on top, maybe stack them up the sides." He blew on the window Li was looking out of then brushed it.

  "Yes, it would make for less area to clean. But the instruments and antenna on top..." Li pointed.

  "Yeah, I know. But it would help protect anyone in the Hab during a solar flare, not to mention our daily dose of cosmic rays," Mario replied.

  Li nodded. "Is good point. I will help when I can." He bowed his head.

  "Thanks Li, I appreciate it," Mario said. Mario moved on to the next area. "Oh me oh my it's a big pizza pie, that's amore..." He sang.

  Tess groaned. "If you’re going to sing do it off channel Mario?" she sounded testy.

  "Sorry," he apologized and flicked the mike off with his free hand.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  Wanda took one look at the structure and then shook her head. “I should have known.” She turned a scowl on Mario who had his best innocent expression on. “Sure. Couldn't wait to build a garage could you?” she accused him. The commander chuckled. She waved a fist at him. “You’re no help,” she growled. She threw her hands up in the air. “Boys and their toys!” Tess looked affronted. Wanda caught the look. “Okay, and some girls too. You just couldn't resist. Could you?”

  Mario chuckled and opened his mouth. “Well you said toys, now we have a toy box,” Bower said. The commander beat him to the line. Mario looked over to him and laughed.

  “He has a point. Safer to work on the vehicles and other bits out of the weather,” Mario replied. “It also helps lengthen their service life.”

  Wanda nodded. “Have at it,” she sighed and climbed in to the open rover with Tess. “Just be careful okay?”

  He waved. “Go have fun playing in the dirt honey. Supper is at five. We dug out a couple samples that the shields dug up for you to look at later,” he said. She chuckled as Tess drove off.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  "Crap!! Cramp!" Wanda started to limp and hiss. She'd been so focused on digging for so long when she got up she'd paid for it.

  "Right calf?" Tess asked turning to look.

  "YESSS..." Wanda hissed. She sat on a large flat rock and tried to massage the muscles through her skin suit. "It's no good, I can't do anything," she sighed frustrated. "Damn, like being locked in a body cast and not being able to itch...” She threw her head back and groaned.

  "What's wrong?" Mario called over the radio, sounding concerned.

  "Wanda has a leg cramp," Tess replied.

&n
bsp; "Bad?" Mario asked.

  "Bad enough," Wanda replied.

  "Stretch it. Walk on it, walk it out," Mario replied.

  "Easy for you to say, you’re not the one with your leg on fire..." Wanda grimaced as Tess helped her to her feet. Gingerly she straightened her leg, "Ah damn that hurts," she sighed, trying hard not to bite her lip.

  "Should we go in?" Tess asked.

  "May have too," Mario replied, the over protective husband.

  "No, I'll be all right in a bit. Damn." Wanda limped over to a rock and pulled out her hammer. "I'll just take out my frustrations on our friend here...” She started tapping at the rock.

  Tess smiled. "She's on the mend," she reported.

  "Roger," Mario replied with a sigh.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  The Commander piled the stack of bricks in front of the kiln and sighed as he stood, rubbing the small of his back where he could reach. "Damn, going to feel that. How can you two do this all day?" he asked. He turned to see Mario carrying another flat of bricks.

  "Practice. We've been at it a while," Mario replied.

  Bower looked at the stack of bricks. "Seems like an awful lot for a couple sheds and a garage."

  Mario chuckled. "You have no idea how much of a headache it is to not have enough when you need it. Easier to be safe than sorry," he replied flippantly. He smiled at Tess. Tess winked.

  "Well, we are also planning on other projects if weather and schedule permitting," Tess responded.

  The commander chuckled. "Well, you should find another way of making bricks; it seems you've got a bottle neck here at this thing." He tapped the kiln. Mario sighed.

  "Da, we know. I try to convince Mario to make another, but he is not doing," Tess waved disgustedly at Mario.

  "What's the problem?" Bower turned to Mario.

  "Well, it needs heater coils. I want to save them for other projects," Mario said slowly.

  Bower frowned thoughtfully. "Oh. From the tanks?"

  Mario nodded. "They are a pain to get out too. We may need them in the tanks if we decide to use them." The commander nodded as they trudged back to the extruder. Tess had another pair of flats ready.

  "I think your right, we should use the rover." The commander looked at the flats.