First Steps (Founding of the Federation) (44 page)

"Either
way, it is done now. We undertook a check prior to the accident, and
are more thorough now. We will continue in our vigilance." He
paused in thought. "I believe one of America's founders stated
that the price of freedom is ever vigilance. Now I am not sure if I
have the correct and full quotation, but for those of us living in
space, that means that the price for
life
is ever vigilance,"
he smiled politely and spread his hands.

"Thank
you for your interest in Mars, have a good evening." He nodded
and hit the stop and send buttons. "There glad that's over
with." He looked over to see his wife leaning against the door
jam with her arms crossed. "I feel like I put my foot in my
mouth, and I'm just digging it in deeper and deeper," he sighed
as he unclipped the body mike.

"Liar
liar, you know that Doc Waldecker is foaming at the mouth to get at
the camera again, to detail how you assaulted her," Wanda said.

He
shook his head. "Don't remind me. She can do it all she wants on
her own time...that is on Earth," he said firmly and then
grimaced.

She
smiled and nodded. "My sentiments exactly." He chuckled.

"No
one messes with your man but you?" he teased.

"You
better believe it," she growled as they left.

...*...*...*...*...

Wanda
pulled the load of laundry out and then tossed it onto the couch.

Joyce
came in. “I heard your having your monthly. You have my
sympathy.” She shook her head and picked up a coverall.

"That's
not it exactly," Wanda said, sounding worried. She folded a
towel and bit her lip.

Joyce
folded a coverall and looked at her. "What is the problem?"

Wanda
sighed. "Well you know they gave us a five year implant right?"

Joyce
nodded then her eyes widened as it hit home. "And you've been
here over five years! I'm surprised you haven't popped up pregnant by
now!"

Wanda
looked down biting her lip. Joyce looked at her. Her shoulders shook
a little. "Do you want to have a baby Wanda?" she finally
softly asked.

Wanda
began to sob, hand over her face. "Yes, no, I don't know,"
she sighed, clearly upset and unsure. Joyce went over and held her.
"It's just that, ever since that radiation scare, I'm not so
sure. Mario hasn't said anything, but he must be worried," she
frowned and then sighed. "We aren't trying honest, but something
must have affected him. It has been over a year and nothing has
happened," she said.

"Do
you think he is shooting blanks?" Joyce asked as she separated
from Wanda. She held her forearms and looked into the woman's eyes.

Wanda
looked away and bit her lip. Mario had a lot more exposure to
radiation after the two incidents. "Maybe. God I hope not. Not
that a little Mario wouldn't be a total disaster here!" Wanda
sniffled and used the towel she had just folded to wipe her eyes.

"Yeah,
I could just see the little tyke tearing apart everything in sight,"
Joyce joked with a laugh.

Wanda
chuckled. "Yeah. I want to have Mario's baby, I really do. I
just don't know anymore," she sighed.

Joyce
patted her arm. "Give it time. We can look into it if you two
want too, or we can look into preventive measures." She smiled.
"Think his machine can make rubbers?"

Wanda
laughed. "Oh god. That's all we need to get back to Earth.
Martians use machine to make sex objects."

Joyce
laughed. "I guess asking for a vibrator is out then," she
teased. Wanda dissolved into a hysterical laughing fit.

...*...*...*...*...

Mario
grimaced as he tossed the latest plastic piece into the recycle bin.
“Warping again?” Tess asked.

Mario
nodded. “Yeah. You're zip ties are here.” He handed her a
bundle.

“Thanks.
With these we can clean up some of the wiring and seal more bags. The
machine Luigi sent is godsend.” She sat down on a stool.

“Something
on your mind?” Mario looked up from the computer screen to her.

“Da.
I was wondering... could you marry Sergei and I?” she asked
blushing furiously. He googled at her until she giggled. “Should
close mouth,” she teased.

He
recovered and shook his head. “Um, shouldn't that be Joyce's
thing?” he asked.

Joyce
stuck her head in. “What's my thing? Mario I was wondering if
you could do me and Toshi a favor...” she started and then
blushed.

Mario
threw his hands up. “You two too?” He looked over to the
two women who looked at each other.

“Wanna
do it all in one go?” Joyce asked Tess softly. “I know we
all want the spotlight in our wedding...” She shrugged.

Tess
smiled. “Double wedding is good,” she replied with a nod.
She grinned at Mario. “As long as men don't pass out...”
Mario chuckled.

...*...*...*...*...

"As
the remaining commander of Hab two and this Mars Base do you Toshi
take this woman Joyce as your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to
hold, in sickness and in health, till death do you part?" he
asked, looking directly at Toshi.

Toshi
smiled. "I do."

Mario
smiled and looked over to Joyce who was in her coverall, but holding
a bouquet of greenhouse flowers. “And do you Joyce take
Toshi...."

Mario
walked through the steps of the marriage contract on automatic. He
was a bit dazed. When it was over and the others were celebrating
Wanda latched onto him and kissed him. "Want to renew our vows
here?" he teased.

Her
eyebrows flew up. Slowly she smiled. "Maybe later. I think the
newlyweds need their spotlight," she said, looking over her
shoulder to them. Mario chuckled. The cameras had been set up to
catch the double wedding from all angles. From what Luigi reported
the major news agencies were having a meltdown. Lifetime channel and
Ion certainly were. The first wedding on another world was turning
every female, especially teenage females into swooning messes of goo.
He sighed.

"Penny
for your thoughts?" she murmured.

"If
you can find a penny around here," he chuckled. "Besides it
would be a waste of money dear, you already own me lock stock and
barrel head."

She
looked up into his eyes dimpling. "Yeah that's right I do,"
she said with a grin in her voice. She smiled up at him possessively.

He
chuckled. "And now you don't have to be jealous of Tess
anymore."

She
rested her face against his shoulder. "Was I
that
obvious?"

He
chuckled. "A little, not that I wasn't flattered at all the
attention," he joked. She growled. "Now now..." He
stroked her hair and rocked her.

"You’re
a horrible dancer you know that?" she giggled.

"You
should know, I believe you told me that at our wedding remember?"
he said. He smiled as he looked over to Sergei and Tess slow dancing.
There wasn't a lot of room to do it in the Hab but they were doing it
anyway. They should have held this in the vaults. "Well, it is
going to be interesting," he sighed.

...*...*...*...*...

“You
didn't!” Wanda waved as the two couples drove off. Behind each
rover strings of cans were bouncing around. A just married sign was
taped to the rear. She laughed. The Waldecker's looked on and then
sniffed in disdain. She shook her head and then sighed. They were
apparently upset about being upstaged.

“Some
people just have to steal the spotlight,” she heard Doctor
Waldecker comment acidly. She turned but the two were already
re-entering the airlock.

“Two
nights out. Not much of a honeymoon, but the best we can do,”
Mario said as he wrapped his arm around her waist.

“Better
than we got. A week at Devon Island in a smelly hab is for the
birds,” she sighed.

He
smiled. “Well, we don't have many beach resorts, but I think we
can do something eventually...”

She
smiled and patted his arm. “Maybe someday dear,” she
answered as she moved off to the airlock.

"That
is so cool. Honey, I didn't think you had it in you," Wanda
watched the waterfall. Sergei had insisted and he was glad now he'd
gone along with it.

"It
was Sergei's idea, he looked up the Reprap and found out someone had
made a water pump for an aquarium. Works really well too." He
nodded to the water. "Aerates the water and keeps it moving
nicely."

She
ran her hand through the water. The fish came to inspect her fingers
then moved off. "I love it. I just wish the fish were more
colorful!" she said.

He
chuckled. "I'll see if we can get you a goldfish of your very
own."

She
smiled at him. "I had one as a kid, Goldie," she said. He
chuckled. "I am not sure about eating them though," she
said. She looked down and shook her hand off. Droplets plopped back
into the water. Fish came to the surface to investigate. "They
think I am feeding them?" she asked looking over to the expert.

Sergei
came over and nodded. "Yes, always hungry they are. Is good they
eat waste." Most of their waste was now dehydrated, microwaved
to kill bacteria, then formed into pellets and then cut up into fish
food flakes.

Mario
grimaced. "You didn't have to tell us that," he sighed.

"Still
it is good to finally get rid of the poop patties we've been
collecting," Wanda smiled. They had been running out of room.
Some of course had been used for the greenhouses but not all. "The
greenhouse couldn't keep up with it all." She nodded. "And
I don't care how much they want it; I am not going to analyze another
stool sample for the medico's back on Earth," she growled and
then shuddered. Technically it wasn't her job anymore it was the good
French Doctor's job. "I only analyze poop if it is fossilized,"
she said firmly. Mario and Sergei chuckled.

...*...*...*...*...

"The
vault has the highest protection against radiation?" Tess asked.
Mario nodded. "Is good right?" she asked with a hint of
anxiety and concern in her voice. She looked over to Sergei who
nodded.

"What's
up?" Joyce asked.

"We
wish to move in vault," Tess said. She cradled her abdomen
looking down. Sergei smiled lovingly at her. The girls were the first
to get it, they gaped at her.

"You’re
kidding?" Rising excitement and concern was in their voices.

"What?"
Toshi and Mario asked looking back and forth between girls.

"Men,
they can't figure out anything even if you draw them a map,"
Joyce sighed in exasperation.

"She's
pregnant you dope!" Wanda told Mario before he could object.

His
jaw dropped. "Oh." All sorts of things started to run
through his head, none of them good.

Wanda
giggled. "Well that's a new pose, I wonder if he will freeze
like that?" she teased.

His
mouth closed slowly. He stared at Tess. "You’re sure?"

She
nodded. "I know is scary for child on another planet, is big
risk, and can never go back, but is done," Tess said. She smiled
up at Sergei. "I wouldn't have it any other way anyway."
She patted his cheek. He chuckled.

"Da,
me too," he answered softly eyes shining.

"Well,
this calls for a celebration." Mario shook his head.

"So
what's with you wanting to know about the vault?" Joyce asked.

"We're
moving in there," Sergei answered.

"Must
for baby. Safest place," Tess said firmly. She gave Wanda a
look. "Is safest, once warm will stay warm. Is no problem with
radiation." She nodded to Mario who nodded back. "We make
sure, put three meters of soil on top. Will protect." She
smiled.

"You
realize Tess your grounded until the baby is born right?" Mario
asked gently.

Tess
scowled. "I can do work, is no big deal."

Mario
sighed shaking his head. "It's not that Tess, Yes radiation is a
concern."

He
looked over to Joyce. "It's your suit," the commander said
gently, catching on. Tess blinked at her. "You're going to get
fat remember? Too fat to wear your suit." Tess frowned then her
eyes went wide as she finally caught on.

"Boyshamoy!
I totally forgot!" She slapped her forehead then looked around.

"See,
we're not being chauvinistic," Mario murmured.

She
gave him a look then sighed. "What about later? After baby
comes?" Tess demanded. Joyce nodded.

"We're
concerned about your hips and breast changes, but if they aren't too
far away from your current form, then you should be okay. Worse case
you will be stuck in the pressure suits."

Tess
frowned. "Is not good, they..." She waved helplessly.

"They
suck we know," Joyce sighed. "Best we can do. We can't
exactly whistle one up, and we don't dare modify your old suit, and
Yung Li's old one...” she shook her head. “We might
permanently damage it." Joyce held up her hands. "Let's
worry about making sure you stay healthy and happy during your
pregnancy. Let the future sort itself out." Joyce got up and
left.

Sergei
hugged his wife. "Will be okay," he murmured softly to her,
nuzzling her hair.

Mario
patted her arm she clutched at it for a moment then let go. "We
have a lot to do inside anyway. We need to finish the vault
interiors. Sergei, Joyce, and I can work on the next set while you
handle some of that and the interior chores." Mario tried to
comfort her. She sighed and nodded.

He
shook his head. "Think of it as getting ready for the baby.
You’re going to want to decorate the room, make the materials
for the baby, toys, blankets, bottles, and crib..." Tess looked
up, suddenly interested. He smiled. "I have a ton of stuff you
can look through, and you can contact the Thingyverse people to see
if they have anything on file too."

She
nodded. "Maybe, maybe is not going to be so bad," she
replied. Sergei rubbed her shoulders. She patted his hands.

"I'll
just give you two some alone time. Enjoy it, once this little one
comes, you’re not going to have much time at all." Mario
chuckled. He sighed as he left.