"That bad huh?" Wanda asked. They'd been afraid of that happening. One of the reason they had so many things that were self sustaining or expandable.
"We knew public attention was going to drift away sooner or later. Your staying has riveted their attention for a while, but there is a growing undercurrent of resentment and anger over it," Luigi continued. Wanda grimaced.
"The time lag," Tess reminded her.
"I managed to squeeze in some gear for your vault Mario, and some care packages to help expand the base. I am hoping you can spruce up that vault so we can get a better view of it, the first well... you know how first impressions can go..."
Mario sighed. "Yeah, Home and garden special edition it wasn't. You caught us with our pants around our ankles little bro," he sighed.
"The next cargo lander will have construction equipment, just a multipurpose vehicle with a lot of attachments and parts. Also some medical and science supplies. Also the electronics for more fabricators. I understand your Reprap is providing plastic parts, so we should be good there." Luigi continued on.
"Okay, my time is limited so I will end this with wishing you a good evening," Luigi finished and the signal was cut.
"Hmm, funds must be tight if they are sending in packets," Mario observed, looking over the radio log. "That entire conversation was a one second squeal; he sent some data along with it though." He checked the data logs. "Damn, we really need to upgrade the computers; they are getting kind of full," he said tiredly.
Tess nodded. "We compress but data is too much," she said and then shrugged.
"Can we find another medium?" Wanda asked biting her lip.
"Nyet," Tess replied with a head shake.
"Crap," Wanda sighed.
...*...*...*...*...
"Still blowing?" Mario asked. Tess nodded. She was curled up by the window, sipping a drink. A blanket was wrapped around her legs.
"Is like blizzard," she sighed. "Even builds up," Tess said. Mario nodded. Wanda came in and looked out the window.
"Still going. We're into the fourth week. Most of the heavy particles should have fallen by now, but they will kick up the fines and microscopic dust," she sighed.
"Where did you hear that?" Mario asked. "NASA climatologist?"
She shook her head. "No, they concur though. No, I remembered a show I watched on the dust bowl in the twenty's. Erosion due to over farming and poor land management." She shook her head. "Drought was a major factor and wind of course. Dust storms blanketed the country for weeks. In some areas of the Midwest, for nearly a decade. Entire towns were buried," she explained.
Mario groaned. "Please tell me this won't last that long?" She shook her head.
"I hope not. Solar cells are about useless. Reactors, ethylene generators, wind turbines, and fuel cells are all we have for power. I lost the signal from the distant sensor stations," she sighed.
"Glad we have the nukes, we'd be up a creek without them," Mario muttered as he hugged his wife to his side.
"Yeah," she sighed. "So, hopefully it will be over with by the time the crew gets down here," she murmured. She didn't envy the crew in orbit. They sounded like they were going stir crazy up there. So close yet so far.
He shook his head. “But don't get my hopes up. Right. Gotcha. Joyce has her hands full, I bet they are pinging off the bulkheads,” he said wryly. He shook his head.
She snuggled deeper into his arms. "Yeah," she sighed. They clearly weren't the only ones he thought.
"Just so long as it ends by the time the third team is supposed to get here," he added.
"Why then?" she asked looking at him in confusion.
Mario chuckled. "So my darling little brother can land so I can strangle him," he replied.
She chuckled. "Can we help?" Tess asked looking up with a smile.
“Line starts behind me, I bet Joyce's crew and a lot of politicians will be in it too,” Mario laughed.
...*...*...*...*...
“Wow!” Mario sat with Wanda in his lap as Joyce performed the marriage ceremony. Apparently he and Wanda weren't the only ones having fun.
“Do you Dr. Richard Waldecker take Dr. Majorie Jordan as your lawfully wedded wife?” Joyce asked. The Doctor nodded.
“Glad they stuck with English, it would be hell for Joyce to try to get the lines out in German and French,” Mario murmured.
Wanda shushed him. “First wedding in space zip it!” she said softly picking up the remote and turning the volume up. He sighed and looked over to Tess. She was sitting on the edge of her seat, clutching a pillow to her chest.
“So much for the angel’s game,” he said and then chuckled as they both shushed him.
·Chapter 12
Second crew:
"Here they come," Wanda observed. It had taken a month since the last window when the MAV landed but they'd finally had a window in the storm long enough for the crew to land. Hopefully they'd do it safely.
"I can't see them." Tess ran into the room and craned her neck and body, trying to glimpse the falling Hab. "No I still can't see them. I bet they are itching to get out of that thing, they were stuck in orbit for two months until the dust cloud wound down."
Mario chuckled. "You two didn't see the MAV landing until it released its chutes and did a retro burn. Have patience ladies." He rested his hand on Wanda's shoulder. She reached up and squeezed his fingers.
"I think, no, not it," Tess grumped shading her eyes and craning her neck.
"Check the feed, they might be off course," Mario said as he handed her a tablet.
"Da, Is good idea as any." She pulled up the camera feeds. "Nothing here,” Tess said after a moment of study.
“Try the telemetry feed. Or the cameras on a passing satellite," Wanda suggested. She looked up to see Tess and Mario staring at her. "What, just because I have a rock collection doesn't mean I have one in my head."
Tess chuckled. "Checking, I am getting a feed. You're right, they are off course, wind is blowing them south east," she reported and then frowned. "Wow, they are twenty kilometers off already! They will have a long trip here!" Tess looked up.
Mario sighed. "No helping it. Unless they leave their Hab where it is and move in here." He shook his head.
"What and use the Hab as an outpost?" Wanda asked.
He shrugged. "Be a pain in the butt to get supplies back and forth," he mused unhappily.
"We'll see." Tess tapped the feed and fed it to the big screen on the wall. "I have it up,” Tess reported. Mario turned to the screen. Wanda looked then looked out.
"Chutes have been cut; she's falling, okay retro fire. Too bad we missed the aero brake falling, that would have been cool to see," Mario said softly.
"As long as you weren't under it when it fell," Wanda commented dryly. They had moved a few of the beacons to create a safer landing zone. Come to think of it, that might be why the lander is off course, she thought.
He chuckled. "Good point. Uh oh, looks like they are trying to use the retro's to move closer this way." Mario watched as the feed changed.
"Yeah, not good though they are eating into the reserves fast." He watched the fuel gauge fall fast. "Give it up gals, some things cannot be changed." He watched the Hab stop drifting. "Yeah, someone figured it out. The Hab's fall stabilized then began to speed up. Oops, spoke too soon." The retro's fired and kept firing. "Crap, not good." Mario watched as she set down hard. He winced. "Well any landing you can walk away from," he muttered.
"Tess check in, see if they are okay," he ordered. She was already tapping the communication channel.
"Mars base to Team two, are you guys okay? That looked like a hard landing," Tess called.
After a moment there was a squelch of static. "Mars base this is Hab four we are on the ground. A bit banged up but otherwise okay," British pilot Latisha Sominall reported.
Mario sighed in relief. "At least everyone survived."
"From the way we are listing, I'd say either we are on a slope or the landing
gear is toast," Commander Longfeather called. Mario groaned.
"So much for moving it," Tess sighed.
"Not necessarily. We can move her, but we will have to use the wheels from our habs, maybe entire truck assemblies," Mario replied and shook his head.
"Yeah. I see," Tess nodded.
"Mission control wants us to do an exterior check base; we'll do that and get back to you with a report," Longfeather said. Mario nodded.
...*...*...*...*...
An hour later Hab three called back. "Doesn't look good base, we have two trucks tucked up under, and another that is broken off. This thing teeters when we move around inside. We're propping her up with gear now. We have the rover out; we're about twenty four kilometers away from you. We will head out first light tomorrow."
Mario nodded. "You’re going to take four in the enclosed rover?" he asked. Team two had just one semi enclosed rover with them. Tess came over cradling a cup of tea and holding up a bunch of carrots. He smiled and nodded.
"Yeah. Unless you want to come out and get us," the woman sounded tired.
“Yeah, we'll come out in the morning with both rovers,” Mario replied.
"No cracks about women driving yet?" Joyce asked.
Mario chuckled. "Wouldn't think of it. I happen to have two women here with me; I don't dare step out of line with them watching..." Wanda grinned at Tess. She grinned back.
"Good. Just remember, I'll be in arms reach tomorrow too," Joyce replied. He sighed and shook his head.
...*...*...*...*...
The next morning the trio had a quick breakfast and headed out to the garage. "This sucks," Wanda muttered.
"Tell me about it," Tess muttered. Tess took the first rover, Mario and Wanda the second. Together they trekked out.
"Should we have brought something? Tools? A fruit basket?" Wanda asked Mario as he drove.
He chuckled. "We can give them a fruit basket later. Somehow I don't think a greeting gift is what they will have on their minds right now," he responded. She sighed and hugged herself to him.
"Glad we had a softer landing; can you imagine trying to get to the backup hab?" he asked.
She shivered. "Yeah." She looked over to the left. "Oh is that an igneous rock structure? I wonder if it was kicked up here by the asteroid impact? Slow down so I can see!"
He sighed. "Get in the bubble Wanda, I will slow." He pulled back on the throttle, slowing them down to a five kilometer crawl.
"What is de hold up?" Tess asked.
"Oops." Mario opened the channel. "Um, sorry Tess, wifey thinks she sees something interesting and wants to get a peak. Why don't you take lead for a moment?" he suggested.
She grunted as she passed them. "Don't mind if I do." He smiled then grimaced as he felt a jab on his calf.
"Owe! What was that for?" He looked down at Wanda.
"For the wifey crack," she growled. He rubbed his shin. "Slow down!"
He sighed. "This is going to take all day at this rate." He slowed down even further.
"Oh, no, I think... yeah, I cataloged this before, there is a boot print. Never mind," she finally said, sounding disappointed. He sped up. "Not so fast! This isn't a race."
He groaned. "A reallly REALLY long day." He felt the jab on his shin again. "OWE!"
"Tess, next time she rides with you, my shins can't take much more abuse," he grumped. Both women laughed. "It's not funny their all bruised and battered now!" He rubbed his aching shin. She'd pay for that later he vowed.
Wanda turned and gave him a lurking smile. "Want me to kiss it and make it all better?" she asked. He grinned.
"Now that you mention it..."
She laughed. "Just watch the road mister chauffeur."
He sighed. "Promises promises..."
...*...*...*...*...
They crested a rise and stopped. "What's up?" Wanda asked looking up from her view in the bubble.
"Damn," he murmured, eyes locked on the site outside.
She looked at Mario staring out and turned. "What. Oh crap. Talk about a bang up job," she muttered. She heard her husband sigh.
"Yeah," he said, gushing another sigh. The lander was listing to one side. Two wheel trucks were tucked up under it, another was ripped off.
"Looks like they have the rover out at least," Tess commented.
A figure in a skin suit came around a rock and waved. "Yeah. Nasty landing," Mario said, stating the obvious.
"How did they get the ramp down?" Wanda asked.
"They propped the end up so they could get it off I bet. Probably propped rocks under her to keep it stable." Mario pointed to a few rocks under the craft.
She nodded. "Damn. Glad they aren't carrying any sensitive gear."
Mario frowned. "Sensitive enough. Electronics don't like bumpy rides even more than people. A good jolt and wires can break, or cross."
She shuddered. "Yeah. Let's get down there and see what we can do."
Mario smiled. "Now you’re starting to sound like a junk yard specialist." He smiled as he started down the rise into the bowl.
...*...*...*...*...
They were met at the edge of the landing site by none other than Commander Longfeather. She waved as they pulled up. Mario chuckled. The lady had a not quite regulation paint job on her helmet, consisting of what looked like an Indian feathered war headdress. He shook his head. "Me likey!" Wanda giggled as she pulled her helmet on. "Think we can get one like that for me? In pink?" she asked. He groaned.
"Wouldn't show up right with the red background honey."
She sighed as she shouldered on her rebreather. "Well you’re no fun. We'll just have to change the color of the planet to match!"
He chuckled. "I think my brother was already doing that remember? And look how that turned out?" he asked. The air was still a bit dirty; visibility was less than fifty meters. Anything beyond that was lost in dust. The sky was still dark, the dust storms that had been kicked up by the asteroid impact had blocked out the sunlight for weeks forcing them to rely on the ultraviolet lights in the greenhouse. It wasn't quite as bad as it was a week ago but it was still annoying.
"Just the one rover?" Wanda asked as he checked her seals then turned so she could check his.
"Yeah, they left out the open rovers so they could squeeze in another greenhouse and a couple useful things for us to play with."
She slapped his shoulder and gave him a thumbs up. "Good to go." She hit the pump and watched as the interior gauges fell. "Another greenhouse huh? Cool." They exited the lock and looked around.
The commander was talking with Tess, motioning with her hands. Mario nodded and waved. "Pilots." He looked the Hab over. "Sweet mother of goo, what did you do?" he said in dismay. He kicked a broken spar.
"Careful, there are some sharp edges. Toshi ripped his skin suit a few minutes ago," the commander cautioned.
Mario grimaced. "Been there, done that. It isn't pretty. Is he okay?" he asked. He turned to the commander. "Good to see you again Joyce, though I was hoping under better circumstances."
She shook his outstretched hand. "You mean if I hadn't bollixed the landing? Okay I admit, I messed up..."
He shook his head. "Not entirely your fault. The dust had a hand in things," he sighed.
"Yeah that. Remind me to have a nice long... Chat with your brother about that when he gets here," Joyce growled.
Mario chuckled. “Line starts behind me.”
"So you’re a settler now?" Wanda came up and grabbed her forearm.
"Maybe," Joyce replied. She nodded to Wanda. She looked the hab over. "But if this is the way things are going to go..." She shook her head. "Toshi cut his arm, went right through the suit and into his arm. Nasty. It will teach him not to reach into dangerous places though." She shook her head. "Oh who am I kidding?" She shook her head as Toshi waved. His right arm was wrapped with tape.
"You all right Toshi?" Wanda asked.
The small Japanese man waved again then tapped the tape. "Just a scratch,
I'm fine. Let’s get what we can and get out of here." He was already moving boxes down the ramp.
"I'll help," Wanda said. She went over to do just that. Mario nodded.
Most of the second team was out unloading. "Doctor Waldecker isn't here?" He looked around.
"Oh he's here, over there getting a sample," Joyce replied dryly. Joyce pointed to the German scientist chipping at a rock nearby. "He's been at it since we landed. I had to frog march him in when dusk fell last night," she sighed. "He's bound and determined to prove Wanda and the others wrong so watch it," she cautioned softly. He nodded.
The scientist looked up and glared. "Das is not true!"
Wanda looked over to them then to Joyce and Mario. "You two going to talk or you going to help?" she asked plaintively.
Mario smiled. "I always left you with the grunt work remember?" he asked with a sweet smile.
Joyce slapped his chest with the back of her hand. "I'll help."
He waved. "Be with you in a minute, I want to check the bird out for a bit," he said. He wandered around looking at the underside of the bird.
"I wouldn't go under it if I were you," The German scientist cautioned.
"Naw, it's okay, I am an engineer." Mario studied the legs. "She has two legs supporting her weight, so I'm not worried." He went over to the listing side and took out his camera. "Crap." He carefully pulled off the lens protector then started snapping photos. "Damn. Not good," he sighed, engineering training taking over. "Let’s see, we could use two maybe three trucks...hmmm...” He kicked the tires of the bent truck. "Okay, maybe replace the spar?" He looked it over.
"Does he always talk to himself?" Toshi asked.
Wanda sighed. "Yes, yes he does. You get used to it."
Mario ignored the banter. "Okay." He walked over to the ramp.
"Glad you decided to finally join us," Wanda's sarcasm was cutting.
It went right over his head. "Oh huh?" He picked up a box and hefted it, then carried it to the nearest rover.
First Steps (Founding of the Federation) Page 26
