Joyce laughed. "Oh let him up. I've punished him enough," Mario's sister in-law Betsy waved. Wanda nodded.
Reluctantly Mario let go. Luigi stood up straight and looked at his brother aggrieved rubbing his sore scalp. "Owe! It was just a little one!" He held his fingers up measuring about an inch apart.
"Luigi..." Mario growled.
"Okay okay, a big one Mario." Luigi's fingers spread. His smile broke out.
Mario turned to Betsy. "Can I hit him?" he demanded. Luigi started to back away.
"You’re his brother. Since when did you ever ask for permission?" Betsy responded with a laugh as Luigi raised his hands up and tried to duck behind her. "Be my guest," she said airily. Luigi backed away and then sprang out of the airlock.
"That's all I needed to hear," Mario replied running after him.
"Betttssy!" Luigi wailed as they ran off.
"We'll never get any peace now." Wanda chuckled. “Don't wake the baby!” she called.
"Will those two ever grow up?" Joyce asked shaking her head.
"No," both women answered together then looked at each other laughing.
Joyce laughed. "So I take it the Mario brothers are back in force. Mars will never be the same," she smiled.
Betsy laughed. "Yeah, well we'll call them to heel in a minute," Wanda replied. Joyce's smile turned into a puckish grin.
"Yeah, it is kinda fun doing that." Betsy chuckled. "Oh boysss!"
...*...*...*...*...
"Should have called it a south American bus," Luigi grimaced ruefully. "Fish, chickens, rabbits, and goats." He shook his head. "You have no idea the caterwauling they made!"
Betsy grimaced. "Try cleaning up after them in zero G!" she sighed. "We lost a couple rabbits and chickens; we think they had heart attacks."
Mario nodded. "To be expected I guess." He was glad they had spares and had a container of embryos. The animals they currently had would serve as host mothers.
Luigi sighed. "The question now is do you have room for them all. And us!" He waved.
"Well, let me just show you the vault. Wanda calls it the warren." Mario grinned and led them through the hab through the next and down a tunnel to an airlock. "We managed to create a tunnel to this airlock last year, so we don't have to suit up anymore." Wanda smiled. She had made peace with her husband's construction a while ago.
Mario opened the door. "Oh sorry." He reared back as Joyce came through from the other side. "Excuse me, coming through," Joyce called. Wanda chuckled.
"We still need to expand." Mario waved her forward. "Ladies first." He smiled. She curtsied. Betsy did as well and followed. They walked down the narrow brick corridor to the next door.
"Another airlock door?" Bruce asked.
Mario nodded. "We scavenged a lot from that MAV." Wanda and Betty had already entered.
"Luigi!" Betty called.
Mario grinned. "I guess she is impressed." Mario waved for his brother to enter.
Luigi entered and gasped. "I saw the vid feed, but my word!" He looked around.
"This is actually our first vault." Mario waved to the ceiling above. "Thanks to you we made the plastic and metal flooring." He pointed to the spiral stairs.
"That leads up to the labs above." He pointed to an arch. “That leads to the living area." He turned and waved the Treadwell’s and others in. "Follow Luigi folks." He pointed to his brother. Luigi stopped in the arch and nodded.
"Kitchenette and bathroom from the MAV, nice recycling." Luigi observed with a nod as he entered. Mario managed to shoulder his way through the tour group to catch up.
"The kitchenette is tiny; we used the microwave from the MAV, the convection oven, as well as the storage cabinets. We built the island out of brick. The counter is made of stones embedded in mortar and topped with resin. Something Wanda did and she can tell you more about that later.” He smiled. “The first fish pond is over there." He waved to the waterfall.
Mrs. Treadwell went over and looked. "Nice." She looked at her husband.
He chuckled. "We left our snorkeling gear at home remember?" he teased. She smiled.
"Upstairs is the bedrooms and another bath." Mario pointed to another spiral staircase. "There is also an opening to the gallery. Let me show you that." He led the way up the stairs. "There are three bedrooms and the nursery on this floor down the hallway. They are pretty Spartan and small, but we are working on expanding the base." He opened a door. "OOPS!" He closed the door fast. "Sorry you two!" He called, blushing.
Luigi saw that he was blushing furiously and laughed. "Caught them?" He chuckled.
Mario sighed, eyes closed. "Yeah. Sergei and Tess.”
Luigi's eyes went wide, and then he nodded. He waved them on. "Piotr is asleep here in the nursery. Bath is here. We used all native materials for this one; the tiles are ceramic with a glaze of glass. As you can see the walk in shower has a glass block wall. We are considering using them in the next vault series we are building nearby." He pointed out the toilet and sink. "These two were the hardest things I have ever made," Mario sighed in remembered frustration. Luigi chuckled. "Okay, out here is the hall, we want to have carpet, but that is another project for another day. Down the hall we have the opening to the Gallery." Mario pointed to the arch. On the other side they could see blue and white.
As they entered the arch the Treadwell’s gasped. "Yeah. Not bad. I didn't know I married an artist of this caliber," Mario sighed in contentment. Her mural was striking. "Wanda used different rocks to create the different pigments for the paint. It is actually resin, treated before we applied it." He pointed to the painted blue sky ceiling above. "Not bad huh?" The Treadwell’s smiled holding hands. They could hear water burbling below. "Stairs are over here." Mario led them over to a brick stair. "The railing is from the MAV recycling program," he explained. Each MAV that left the planet left a ground stage behind they then eagerly scavenged for parts. Hell, the last one they'd started scavenging the lower section before the team had left! He led them down the stairs to the next floor. "This is where we can sit and look out, have activities, the usual." He waved to a pair of panels.
"Ping pong table?" Luigi asked. He picked up a ball and paddle.
Mario chuckled and nodded. "Reprap paddle, ball, and net." He waved to a brick table. "Picnic area." Some of the others were leaning over the railing looking down. He smiled. "I see some of you have seen the garden below. Come on, let’s go look." He waved them to a set of stairs leading down.
On the lowest level Mrs. Treadwell stopped and admired the small trees growing. "We have some flowers too," Wanda said. She came over and handed each lady a flower. They smiled and nodded politely.
"Not quite a Hawaiian lea, but not bad," Mr. Treadwell teased.
"On this end we have the second fish pond. It is actually a double pond, one stacked above the other," Wanda pointed it out. "Sergei can explain it to you, he is... occupied."
Luigi chuckled. "Yes we know." He looked over to Mario who was looking away.
Wanda followed the look then shook her head. "Yes, it can get difficult finding places and times to be alone," she sighed. "But as we add space, we can get some alone time more often." She waved to the painting. "You like it?" Mario smiled hugging her to his side. She wrapped her arm around him.
"I love it," Luigi smiled. On the wall was a painting of children playing outside in the sun. It was a beautiful image, blending Earth and Mars together.
"We copied it from an image some children sent us. Had to blow it up." Mario smiled.
"Color values aren't quite right, but I did my best," Wanda replied.
"It is perfect hon," Mario said. Luigi and Betty nodded. They looked over to see the Treadwell’s admiring the painting. Mr. Treadwell took the flower and put it in his wife's hair above her right ear.
"Hmm good idea," Luigi said. He copied the Treadwell's. Betsy blushed.
...*...*...*...*...
"I'm proud of you big bro, you did good." Luigi patted his brother on his
back.
Mario chuckled. "We had a lot of help." He smiled down at his wife.
"What did we miss?" Tess asked from above. Mario looked up to see Sergei and Tess coming down the stairs.
"Just the inside tour, you can fill them in on the fish and the other vaults," Mario replied. Tess smiled as she carried little Piotr.
"My word!" Mrs. Treadwell admired her. "How old is he now? Two months?" she asked.
Tess smiled. "About three months,” she said softly.
"Well, I am looking forward to seeing him crawl. So much life! You've filled this barren with so much life!" Mrs. Treadwell patted her arm, and then hugged her. "You positively glow my dear!"
Sergei looked smug and proud. "Da that she does." He hugged his wife's shoulders then kissed her cheek. "I want to explain..."
She smiled in amusement to her husband. "Go," Tess said, giving permission.
He chuckled. "I'll be back." She blew him a kiss as he came over to the Mario brothers.
"Is so good to see you again Luigi," Sergei said as he shook Luigi's hand. Luigi pulled the Russian into a bear hug. They slapped each other's backs and laughed.
"I see you've been busy with the fish. Wait till you see what else we brought you." Luigi responded.
"More fish?" Sergei looked at him in excitement as they parted.
"Oh, that and more," Betsy replied as she hugged him.
"Chickens, rabbits, shrimp, goats, kelp, all sorts of things."
Sergei's eyes were round. "All dis?" He waved.
"I guess we better get onto that other vault then!" Mario replied with a tired laugh.
Wanda chuckled. "See what you started?"
He smiled. "I wouldn't have it any other way," he replied, totally content. She grinned.
The next morning they were finishing breakfast when Mario tossed his cloth napkin on the plate. "Oh I'm stuffed!" He rubbed his belly. "So what else did you bring? Nothing for me I take it?" Mario teased Luigi.
Luigi chuckled. "Weeell as a matter of fact..." He pulled out a plush likeness of Mario.
"You’re kidding," Mario glared. "No Coronas?"
Luigi chuckled. "I knew I was forgetting something," he smiled at Mario's growl of disgust. "I did manage this though." He held up a memory stick.
"What is it?" Mario asked.
"Oh, only all the games and movie's you've missed while you've been here...including the latest Mario game, and latest version of Mario Kart."
Mario's smile widened into a grin. "Come on!" He raced out of the room with Luigi fast on his heels.
"Boys," Wanda chuckled in despair. "Guess that leaves you and I to clean up..."
She looked to Betsy. "As usual," Betsy laughed.
...*...*...*...*...
"You miss Snowball?" Mario asked Betsy softly. The SSTO with crew two had landed and they were waiting for the latest load. While they waited Betsy caught them up on some of the gossip and events they missed.
Betsy sighed. "I had to put her down a year ago. Cancer."
Mario patted her arm. "It's hard losing a loved one." He looked over to Luigi who nodded. "Speaking of pets though...did you get them?" Luigi feigned surprise then nodded with a smile as his brother's face started to fall.
"Of course I did!" He held up a box. "No guarantees on delivery though," he cautioned. He carried the box over to Wanda.
"For me?" she asked surprised. Mario and Luigi smiled.
"Open it. It is for you and all of us actually."
She opened the box and looked inside. Her face came up shining with tears. "Oh Mario...!" she said softly as she reverently took the bowl out. Three golden koi fish swam in circles.
"They are pretty small now, but they will grow," Luigi smiled.
"And Japanese fish too?" She reached in and pulled out four cylinders. Each had a purple fish with long fins. "They're beautiful." She admired the fish. "Just beautiful," she whispered and set them on the table in front of her. Mario grinned. She got up and hugged him, then Luigi.
"Hey, keep your mitts off my hubby," Betsy teased with a mock growl. Wanda hugged her too.
...*...*...*...*...
"Well, we are completely self sufficient as far as food, air, water, fuel, and shelter are concerned. At least until the electronics wear out." Luigi nodded to the rows of greenhouses. "Glad you put the plastic sheet maker to good use," Luigi observed. Mario smiled.
"You still have to wear a skin suit to get into it, and trust me; the airlock portion is a pain!" he sighed and shook his head. "Like wrestling with a blanket." He shook his head. "But anyway, we can improve it now that our industry is picking up. I was thinking about a duracrete form."
Luigi rubbed his chin. "Have to reinforce it with rebar otherwise the constant changes in pressure would breech it."
Mario nodded. "Rebar isn't a big problem now, since we have our industry online we're using magnets to sort out iron particles. We have some pretty good steel now, though we can only make small quantities," he replied. Luigi grinned.
...*...*...*...*...
"Yeah! Wahoo! I bet Latisha is going to eat crow because she missed this!" Joyce crowed as the SSTO rocketed down the runway and leapt off the ramp and into the sky. "Go baby go!" She smiled triumphant. "Looking good base, all gauges are green." She smiled as she pulled the yoke back. "Nice handling, better than the simulator," she observed. She felt her cheeks burn, she knew she was grinning so hard she was going to feel it later. Toshi was chuckling beside her. She throttled up.
"Throttling up to one hundred percent now. Pitch is at eighty seven percent." They felt the craft climb through the dust and grime.
"Beautiful, just beautiful," Toshi murmured.
"You betcha hon." Joyce chuckled. "Okay folks, looks like we have a winner. We'll be docking with the station in three hours."
She looked over to her husband and reached for his hand. He held it for a moment then nodded. "Worth every damn joke about the flying brick," she said. He chuckled once more.
"This place is amazing," Joyce called over the communication channel after they arrived at the station.
Luigi chuckled. "You can thank Bigelow industries. They put it together. We just shipped it out here."
Joyce looked around. "I'm surprised it is still whole, I would have thought some of the debris from the asteroid would have punctured it by now." She ran her hands along the Kevlar walls.
"Nope." Luigi shook his head. "We checked when we were up there, she's good to go. Just needs a fill up and she will remain on station for a couple more years," Luigi hinted.
"Okay okay, I'm going. No time to play tourist," Joyce grumbled as she dodged her husband as he floated by with a package. "Food, fuel, I wish we could expand this place." She grabbed a box and pushed it out into the airlock with her finger.
Toshi chuckled. "One thing at a time, one thing at a time."
"There are orbital hotels on Earth now... or at least above it," Luigi said into the link.
"We heard a little about that. So Bigelow, Space X, Rocketplane Kistler, and the others finally got their collective acts together?" Joyce asked.
Luigi chuckled. "They were still working on expanding the first hotel when we left. There is even a casino about to be launched, and the Chinese and Japanese are getting into the act. Now that they have the space planes working we can get people to orbit and to a station easier and cheaper. Once there, it is a ferry ride to the Cycler ships," Luigi sighed. "If we can keep things moving."
Joyce smiled. "Well, things are looking good on this end finally."
...*...*...*...*...
“This is Hudson. Countdown to burn in three...two....one... Ignition!” the metallic voice said. The Plasma drive kicked to life lifting the craft out of orbit to return to Earth.
“God speed Hudson, we hope to see you soon,” Joyce said softly then cut the channel.
“Regrets?” Toshi asked rubbing her shoulders. It had taken them a week to unload the Hudson and then service and refuel it. She was going bac
k empty; everyone who wanted to stay was here.
She patted his hand. “Not on your life,” she smiled.
...*...*...*...*...
Mario smiled to the Treadwell’s. "We've been going a bit slower with the second set of vaults. There are five, an industrial complex, workshops, labs, barn, and atrium. Each is the size of the gallery vault." He waved in the direction of the vaults. "We've upgraded to a cinder block sized brick, they are a little harder to make, but they take up a lot more space," Mario waved. He didn't bother to explain that he now used the forklift to move pallets of bricks between the fabricator, the kilns, and the job sites. No way was he going to tote them on a plate anymore, his back couldn't take it.
He missed having Tess on the line. Tess was champing at the bit to get outside, trapped inside or in a P suit. Sergei tried to fill in but he was only good for grunt work. Which, right now was fine; there was a lot of grunt work.
"Now that we produce our own plastics, we can recycle waste plastic into the mix to give the blocks additional tensile strength. The duracrete works well; we've gotten about half way through the first vault. It is slow going I admit, we've been a bit distracted, and the weather hasn't helped any," Mario sighed. "The industrial equipment you folks brought along should make things easier. We've been saving our waste iron slag and other metals, now we can feed them into the smelter and start producing steel. With steel we can create rebar to aide in the construction." Mario waved to the structure.
"That should help with any problems with Mars quakes or other unforeseen problems," Mr. Treadwell nodded.
"Yes, we've had some concerns in that regard." Mario looked at his wife nearby showing Luigi a rock formation. "The other major hurdle has been the doors, these doors will be larger than the garage doors, and will allow us to move large pieces of equipment in and out of the vaults when needed," Mario said and pointed to the openings. "Until we got your equipment, we were stalled on that front. Tess, Toshi, Joyce, Sergei, and I were about to refocus on the labs, barn, and atrium." He nodded to Tess who waved inside her old fashioned pressure suit.
First Steps (Founding of the Federation) Page 36
