Tess sat down with the commander and sighed rubbing her arm. "Sore?" he asked concerned.
Yung Lin came in and looked. "Muscle again?"
Tess nodded. "I wish we had robot," she sighed rolling her shoulders.
The commander chuckled. "One isn't enough?"
Tess smiled. "Nyet, need worker robot. We spliced the lines to move kiln closer to the extruder. It is a straight shot with the open rover now. But it is so slow! A day per load!" she grumbled.
"Yeah, I don't like it either." Mario turned his chair around and sat down straddling it. He wished he'd thought of the move sooner. It would of sped things up a bit. Oh well, live and learn he thought.
He set his lasagna TV dinner down in front of him. Commander Bower looked over to what he had. "Lasagna? Well, no one can complain about you not being a stereotype," the commander teased.
Mario chuckled. "I've never claimed to be anything less than an Italian meatball." He took a bite. "Ohhh good. And real meat too not the vegetarian one Wanda likes." He chewed happily.
The commander looked at him. "How did you rate real meat?" he growled, eying him darkly.
"I bullied and threw a tantrum." Mario grinned. "Here want half?"
He pushed his plate over to the Commander. "Yeah," the Commander said firmly. The Commander dumped half his sandwich in front of Mario then carefully cut and lifted a portion of lasagna out. "Oh cheese! Hot too!" The stringy bits hung down clinging until they finally snapped. "Nice."
Mario grinned. "My family recipe." He took another bite.
"Can I try?" Tess asked holding up a fork.
Mario chuckled. "Sure," he said expansively. She took a bite. "Do you want to try it too Yung Lin?" he asked turning to the doctor.
She shook her head. "Cheese gives me horrible gas." She demurred with a smile.
He smiled. "Well as I was saying, moving the bricks is labor intensive, and having two operating kilns is a pain. We can't make another; we need the rest of the heater coils for the interior." He took a bite.
The commander looked up. "With what? And what interiors?"
Mario smiled. "The bits from the hab tanks we aren't using and the MAV's of course. Heater coils from the tanks, and a condenser would do the job..."
Tess nodded. "Temperature gauges, I get it. Putting it together out on the surface would be rough."
Mario shrugged. "Not if we did it in the garage," he replied. She nodded.
"Da is true." She turned to the commander.
Bower frowned. "But you said you wanted the parts for the interior? For the garage?"
Mario shook his head. "The garages and sheds are all open faced, but the vaults..."
Tess smiled. "Yes, we will need heaters inside. It will get very cold."
The commander's eyes went round. "You’re kidding me right?"
Mario shook his head. "No, we have the garages finished, sheds too. We started working on the first full scale vault a couple weeks ago," he explained, coming clean a little. He was surprised no one back home had picked up on their little project. After the initial landing the media had petered off to the occasional report on their welfare and little more. It would take a major incident to get any interest now apparently. That was just as well, right now he worked well without intrusive supervision, he thought with a wry twist of his lips.
The commander whistled. "You have enough material?" he asked.
Mario nodded. "Li brings back a load of clay every trip so we are keeping in sync. The only trouble is the two kilns like Tess here mentioned."
She nodded. "We could go much faster with another. Could make twice as many easily."
He nodded. "Yeah, we might have to sacrifice a heater coil to give it a go. I can check with Luigi and see if he has the plans on file still. That parachute one you came up with works by the way, but not nearly as well as the purpose built one," Mario sighed. The commander gave him a long look.
"Okay, what'd I miss?" Wanda asked. Wanda and Li came in and looked things over. "Oh, sorry I forgot."
Li went to the kitchenette and started pulling out a dinner. He handed one to Wanda. "So we're still on for the trip tomorrow commander?" Wanda asked as Li put both dinners in the microwave.
Bower's eyes cut to her and then he nodded. "Yup, looks that way." The topic changed to planning the mission.
...*...*...*...*...
"Mario are you getting your chores done? You’re spending an awful lot of time playing with the junk," Wanda asked over breakfast the next morning.
"Yup, Tess and I clean the rovers and equipment three times a day. In fact I'm running late." He kissed her on the lips then moved out whistling.
"Morning noon and night?" Wanda asked looking over to the commander.
"Something like that. They get the work done so I am not worried." He waved to the clean Hab. "Tess is on dish duty today, I am going to get my gear so we can go on the jaunt. Mission plan is for three days out and back," he said. Wanda nodded looking a little guilty.
"Oh don't worry about Mario, as long as he has his toolbox and a project he should be okay," the commander chuckled.
"Yeah I know," she replied distantly. It hurt her a little that he wasn't at all concerned about her leaving. She looked at the open doorway. She put her dirty dishes in the sink then went to the airlock. She started to pull on her skin suit when she felt a smack on her rear. "Hey!" She looked up to her grinning husband. "Bet you think that was funny!" she growled accusingly, rubbing the abused flank. He chuckled.
"Just wanted to see you off girl, have a safe trip. We'll keep the home fires burning."
She smiled, faith in her husband restored. "Okay, we will play later." She kissed him. He chuckled. "It's not fair, when are we going to get more alone time?" she mock pouted.
"Well, you have missions and rocks, I have chores and projects," he teased. She huffed wrapping her arms around his neck.
"Will you two quit? You’re like lemmings!" the commander grunted standing in the doorway with his arms on the overhead. "Damn. I bet you went through the entire NASA Karma Sutra didn't you?" he teased reaching in and grabbing his skin suit from the nearby shelf.
"Ohhh... They made a manual? Figures NASA would. We'll have to check it out; we may have missed something good," Mario teased with a wicked grin. Wanda blushed.
The commander groaned and covered his eyes as he shook his head. "Me and my big mouth. I'm never going to get any sleep am I? I'll just change in the other airlock and meet you in the garage Wanda." He waved as he left.
"Now that we're alone..." Mario leered.
"Later lover," she sighed. "We're burning daylight remember?"
He chuckled loosening his grip. "Well I could always help you get dressed..." he said suggestively.
She blushed. "You mean undressed you horny letch and I said no, we have work to do remember?" she growled, putting him and her own passions aside firmly. He sighed and pretended to pout.
"Mario? I am picking up a leak in the greenhouse again," Tess called over the intercom. She sounded apologetic.
He shook his head then tapped the intercom microphone on the wall. "Be there in a minute." He kissed his wife once more. "Have fun, stay safe," he said in her ear.
She grinned as she put her helmet on. "I'll save the fun for later." He chuckled as he exited the lock.
...*...*...*...*...
"This was a really smart idea your husband had," the commander commented as they walked to the garage.
"Oh huh? What?" Wanda asked distracted. She was eager to get out and about.
"The garage. And the sheds," The commander pointed.
"Huh yeah. He can be useful when he wants to be. Squashing bugs, building things..." She smiled.
"No really, look, it is almost completely made of native materials. It protects the vehicles on three sides so we have a lot less dust and fine problems when they are parked at base," Bower said. The commander checked the wheels over then nodded to her. "Looks good."
Wanda was l
ooking around at the garage. The red bricks were stacked five meters high, just high enough to give the enclosed rover room to drive in with a meter to spare. She studied the bricks, noting the mortar. "Wonder how they did this?" She fingered it. She really hadn't paid any attention to it until now.
"Duracrete Mario calls it. Ceiling panels are from the areo shell," The commander commented as he checked the rear of the rover.
She looked up. "Huh, they have been busy."
The commander shook her head. "Wanda, I think you've been a little preoccupied with your rock collection if you missed this. They built it months ago."
She shook her head. "They did? I didn't even think of it," she said. She climbed into the airlock. He followed. It was a tight fit. He used the lanyard to close the door.
"Ultrasonic’s on." She could feel her teeth vibrate as the ultrasonic’s shook as much dust as possible off. After a moment the vents at the bottom of the airlock opened and a vacuum turned on. "Okay." They opened the inner door and took off their helmets. "I hate the dust," Wanda sighed shaking her hair out.
"Yeah, we all do,” Bower said. “Let’s get going, we're burning daylight.”
...*...*...*...*...
"So this is the Reprap?" Tess asked motioning to the stack of plastic and metal in the corner making a lot of noise.
"Yeah. I know it looks like a tinker toy set, but it is pretty important," Mario said. He handed her a plastic part.
"It made this?" She looked at it examining the bracket.
He nodded. "That and more." He held up a box.
"What is all this for?"
He chuckled. "Why to make another Reprap of course!"
She looked at him confused. "One is not enough?"
He chuckled. "One is never enough. Besides, if a part breaks..." He held up another bracket.
"You can fix. I like!" She took the bracket. "Is that all it can do? Make parts for itself?" she asked. He shook his head.
"No it uses a sim card or link to the computer and we can load any model it can make on its table." He pointed to the square plate. It was moving back and forth, while an arm moved around extruding plastic.
Tess examined it and then nodded. "Oh I see. Small. Stinks too."
Mario nodded. "But we can make a bigger one. And that one can make a bigger one and so on."
Tess chuckled "Soon entire planet will be covered in Repraps!"
He chuckled with her. "No, but you get the point. We can make as many as we need, as big as the motors can handle. Once we have parts for a second, I'll set this one up to start making things to expand the base or repair things around here."
She nodded. "Cannot make tanks though," She observed.
He shook his head. "No, but we can make couplers, zip ties, plates, cups, molds, pieces of duct, fan parts, plastic fasteners, all sorts of useful bits." He held up a comb. "See?"
She took it from him and examined it. "Nice. Crude, but effective."
He nodded. "We'll get better over time. The creator, Doctor Adrian Boyer promised to send updates when he makes them. I was hoping we would have an ability to use a metal head, but..." He shrugged.
"It makes metal too?" she asked excited.
He nodded. "Change the head to a metal extruder and it can. Soft metals though, nothing hot or it would melt the plastic. It can make electronics too if you use different heads and settings," he explained.
She nodded. "I can see where this will come in handy." She picked up a fork and spoon careful of her busted index finger. She'd done a number on it the other day and now was stuck in the Habs until it healed.
"Yes, nice." She put the two items down. "We work on MAV or on hab computer fault?" She turned her full attention on him.
Mario sighed. "Well, since you have a busted finger, I'll take the MAV, you take the hab computer."
Tess nodded. "Not fair, I can get into suit."
He shook his head. "Better to play it safe, we want that to heal good and proper, and not leave you maimed." He waved. "Besides, we can't have you putting a hole in your gloves. Go play with the electronics, I'll be outside," he ordered. She nodded.
...*...*...*...*...
"What's this about DOD putting the kibosh to the cargo SSTO?" Luigi asked Dr. Zubrin.
"Well, it hits pretty close to some classified design I guess, and since we have to share everything with our international partners, they started squeezing some people on the hill," Zubrin sighed. He knew Luigi was going to be a bit put out over that.
Nick nodded. "It's an elegant design really, three aero spike engines on either side of a stern clam shell door... I was looking forward to seeing it in flight," he sighed.
Luigi frowned. "Yeah, me too," he said bitterly. He was fully back on his feet, ready to go on the next flight. He didn't have the heart to bump anyone though so he might have to wait for Mario's original seat.
He and Betsy were doing well; they had a few bumpy patches but were settling down nicely. It felt a little odd to be in a permanent relationship. There was still a lot for both of them to get used to as well.
"Well, so much for that for now, we can't even keep the paper study; they've locked it down and slapped a classified sticker all over it," Zubrin sighed frustrated.
"Okay, that really sucks. I still don't get it; it's designed to fly on Mars not Earth." Luigi shook his head.
"Yeah, well, try telling them that. We spent two hours going around in circles," Nick groaned. "Damn spooks wouldn't budge. They threatened to yank all funding so we had to fold." Nick finished.
"Crap." Luigi sighed.
"They did throw us a bone, we can have the two SSTO's we've built, plus two cargo Landers. We're going to load them with vehicles and industrial equipment and send them as soon as they are built and the window opens," Zubrin smiled.
"Great. Good to know," Luigi nodded.
...*...*...*...*...
Tess smiled as she watched Wanda dance in the lab. She had a set of headphones on and was not paying attention to the doorway. She was singing too. "...one step at a time...Na Na na..." Tess knocked on the door jam. Wanda didn't notice. "....You know you can, in the face your door slams..." She turned to see Tess standing there and stopped hands going to her headphones. "Oh!" She shut it off and blushed.
Tess chuckled. "What are you listening to?" she asked politely. She nodded to the headphones as
Wanda took them off and wrapped them around her neck. "Jordan Sparks One step at a time." Wanda blushed looking away.
"I fixed the computer, was faulty CPU. Mario is working on the MAV outside. I can't go out. Can I help?" she asked. She motioned to the lab. "I can't do much with these fingers..." She grimaced holding up the splinted hand.
"How did you do that?" Wanda asked.
"Machine caught me as we were moving it. Broke it and the middle finger a couple weeks ago while you were out," Tess grimaced. "At least it was a clean break, and it didn't breach my glove," she sighed. "But with the splint on I can't put my gloves on now that the swelling is down, so I still can't go out."
Wanda nodded. "So you can't use your hand." She waved to the rocks. "Well, if you remember a little of your geology, you can do a prelim sort of these samples over here..." She pointed.
Tess smiled. "Thanks Wanda." She moved in to help cradling her injured hand against her chest.
...*...*...*...*...
Tess looked the plans over and turned the tablet first one way, then another. "Which way is up?" she asked looking at Mario.
He sighed. "Yeah, remind me to thank my brother for sending us this... this horridly complex plan." He waved his tablet.
"Da is complex." Tess studied the plan. "We have buttresses? What is that?" She looked up at him.
"A support," Mario replied looking at his own copy. "Yeah, okay, see, here and here they go down at a diagonal. But they have cuts on each level to allow a passage through them," he explained, catching on finally. He nodded thoughtfully. He'd have to ask Luigi to break it down like Lego direct
ions or something. Sub assemblies or something easier to understand.
"And dis?" Tess pointed.
He looked over her shoulder. "Cross brace... no, it has an arch," he sighed. "Yeah, okay, so it is also floor bracing. We're going to have to have a chat with Luigi about this. Maybe he can send us a cad file so we can look it over and take it apart." He looked over to the stack of materials. The first two vaults were complete. Now they had this headache, the Gallery. That was what they were puzzling over now. He nodded, determined to get it done. Hopefully it would stay under the radar a little while longer so he could surprise Wanda properly.
"Okay, we have the ceiling to do, and these buttresses to hold vault two in." He looked up to the sky then shook his head. "We're going to have to do the buttresses; no way can we go without them. The air pressure alone could pop that wall out." He waved. The exterior of the gallery wall was double thick, but the interior wall was not. "I wish we could add glass to the tops." Mario pointed to the arch on one side.
Tess nodded. "Maybe material from MAV? Porthole under roof overhang?" she asked thoughtfully.
He sighed. "Maybe, but I am a bit concerned about the stress. If we have it in, that means we need to leave that area uncovered, so we have a stress problem."
She sighed catching on immediately. "Da, is a bit over head. Need architect." Mario chuckled.
"Can we help?" a familiar voice asked. They turned to see Li and Yung Han in the entryway. Both were looking around. Yung was chattering in Chinese. Mario wasn't sure if it bode good or not.
"Sure. We're trying to hash out these plans. Care to take a look?" He handed his copy to Li.
Li looked. "I made bricks with my family when was a child. My grandfather built many of the buildings in our village," he said. He smiled looking over the plans. "Yes is nice, good design, nice. We can have bricks different ways to make look good too." He held his hand and the tablet to demonstrate.
Mario nodded. "Okay." Yung looked over to Li and then grabbed his bicep. Li smiled to her she nodded.
"I have a test running so I will need to check on it in an hour," she smiled. Her eyes were bright with interest. "But I can help until then. I need the exercise."
Mario chuckled. "Okay, well, your husband is in charge, so I will go start fetching bricks." He walked off with a wave as the three began to plan out where to lay the bricks. He felt immense relief. He wasn't sure why.
First Steps (Founding of the Federation) Page 20
