First Steps (Founding of the Federation) (45 page)

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“Well
ladies and gentlemen; the Marsnauts have done it again. We have just
received word that Russian cosmonaut Contessa Reshenkov is pregnant.”
The news anchor sat back and looked at her co-anchor. “This
opens a whole can of worms doesn't it Miguel?”

The
male anchor nodded. “Indeed it does. For one thing, they cannot
return home to Earth. They have nine months and two days until the
MAV is due to launch, and if they decided to return, it would kill
the child.” He looked over to a panel of talking heads. “Doctor
Jenkins can you comment about the condition of the pregnancy or of
the child when it is born?” he asked.

The
Doctor nodded. “Why certainly. Although I haven't seen her
medical reports, I believe the cosmonaut is six weeks pregnant and
still in her first trimester,” he said and then paused.

The
female anchor picked up her cue. “So she can have an abortion?”
she asked.

The
Doctor nodded. “It is within the realm of possibility, however
from her actions that does not seem to be her intention,” he
said and then smiled.

“We
can all be relieved that the first pregnancy on another world will
not be murdered in cold blood,” the female anchor said piously
and then nodded.

Miguel
nodded as well. “Ahem, anyway, the problem is that pregnancy on
another world comes with its own inherent risks.” The Doctor
tried to get them off the abortion track.

“Such
as?” Miguel asked.

“Such
as deficiencies in her diet. We know that the Mars astronauts and
cosmonauts diets are heavily regulated and carefully structured to
meet their dietary needs. However, all that goes out the window when
a woman is pregnant. She will need things that they may not be able
to supply. Calcium for bone generation for one...”

The
female Doctor sighed. “Yes and that aggravates another problem.
Sorry to step on your toes Bill.” She held up a hand and he
nodded.

Miguel
nodded. “Right, ladies and gentlemen Doctor Lisa Suebert, OB
GYN at John Hopkins. Thank you for being with us tonight Doctor.”
He nodded to her. “You were saying that there is another
problem?” he prompted.

“Yes,
the fetus is developing in a non Earth environment. There is no
telling what radiation or chemicals the mother is exposed too. Also
the lower gravity quotient is a factor. The baby could be born with
lower bone density and less muscle mass, preventing it from ever
leaving the planet.” She shook her head.

The
anchors gasped. “So their stuck there? The child could be a
mutant?”

The
Doctors sighed. “That is a distinct possibility...”

Mario
growled and shut the feed off. “Damn idiots. Who needs them,”
he muttered as he left the room.

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

"I
and everyone who has been watching the program have concluded I have
enough rope to hang myself with," Luigi said and then chuckled.
"Senator, I know after the scandal with the vaults and the
asteroid, and the latest debacle with the breach that I am persona
non grata in DC. I know this." Luigi rested his hand on his
chest. "I never intended to make friends, only to get a job done
as fast as I could. I am sorry if that offended some people."
The senators watched stone faced.

"Now
we are embarking on a new journey, a new phase in our civilization.
In three days God willing, I and the other eleven astronauts will be
heading to space, and to Mars." He smiled at them and the
cameras. "We have come a long way in a short time. Six years ago
when we launched Commander Bower's first team it took one hundred
eighty days to get to Mars. Now we have the Columbus trio, and they
can get us there in fifty days. Next year when the Drake launches it
will be cut down to thirty five. Ladies and gentlemen time marches
on," Luigi smiled.

"That's
a nice speech son, but are you telling us you’re going to stay
on Mars?" Senator Byrd leaned forward eagerly.

"If
it is humanely possible to do so yes sir, my wife and I would like to
emigrate," he replied simply.

Senator
Friday looked at him as if he had grown a second head. "For
heaven sake why?" she asked stunned.

He
chuckled. "For the adventure of a life time ma'am. We will be
building a new world with our bare hands." He held his hands up
so they could see. "Sure it will be tough, but with your support
we will turn Mars into a new home for humanity." The observers
began to murmur behind him.

"Settle
down people, settle down," Senator Byrd called. "We'll need
to talk about this for a while." Byrd cautioned Luigi.

"Yes
sir, but as long as you are done with me by midnight, I have a flight
to catch," he said simply but firmly. Byrd glared but several
people chuckled.

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

Luigi
climbed into the space plane and followed the stewardess to his seat.
"So, we get peanuts on this flight?" He joked. She looked
back at him with a small smile but rolled her eyes. "What too
cliché?" he asked smiling back.

"A
little," she replied as she motioned for them to sit. He climbed
into the window seat then Betsy sat down next to him. Carefully they
began to strap in. "Don't forget the submarine strap." The
stewardess cautioned.

Luigi
grimaced and connected it to the belt. "I feel like a baby in a
car seat." He grumped.

"Think
of it as sitting in the passenger seat of a formula one car," a
voice behind him said. He craned his neck to see a balding man behind
him.

"Doctor
McGee? That you? Who let you on our flight?" Luigi chuckled
raising his hand over his shoulder. McGee shook it.

"Just
heading up to the Bigelow station resort with my wife," McGee
smiled.

"Hello!"
a chipper female voice replied.

"Hello,"
Betsy called back.

"I
didn't get a chance to thank you for the shell and help you've been
providing for the STTO and the hopper," Luigi said.

McGee
chuckled. "Don't think anything of it. If it can fly on Mars, I
want to see it."

Luigi
chuckled. "Well, we didn't have room for it on this flight, it's
going out with Benny on the Columbus, but I can't wait to get a
chance to use it," he said and then grinned. My how things had
changed. Space planes were now becoming common place. The crew of the
latest Mars mission didn't even rate a private flight; they flew up
coach like everyone else. They had caught the last flight because of
his delay in Washington.

"Joyce
Longfeather is pestering us almost daily to send it. She even tried
to get us to strap it on the outside of the Hudson," Betsy said
with a laugh.

McGee
and his wife chuckled. "Yeah, that's a pilot for you." They
could hear the smile in his voice. "We've put in for a shot to
Mars you know."

Luigi
looked up in surprise. "You did?"

Betsy
was equally startled. "Yes, but since we're old fogies, I doubt
we'll get in. We may have to fly commercial." McGee laughed.

"Well,
if you can get to Mars, I will get Joyce and Mario to give you as
much stick time in your hopper as you want," Luigi promised.

"It's
a deal," McGee replied. They shook hands once more as the
stewardess helped the Treadwell’s buckle in. "We're the
last," Bruce said with a smile. "This is going to be fun."
He gripped his wife's hand.

She
smiled at the Irons. "I can't wait to get to Mars! So much to
explore!" She gushed.

McGee
chuckled. "Just leave some for the rest of us," he teased.

Bruce
looked over his shoulder. "Well then, get your fanny out there
and check things out!" he teased right back.

Luigi
chuckled. "Watch it, I just might!" McGee laughed back.

"See
that you do, see that you do." Bruce nodded.

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

"The
first three ferry craft, tugs really, the Nina, Pinta, and Santa
Maria are out doing other jobs or lost. Nina and Pinta were lost when
Luigi redirected that asteroid to miss Earth and hit us instead,”
Mario sighed. “Santa Maria is running cargo to the moon base
and the gas giant platform," Mario scowled.

"Some
morons insisted on reviving that idiotic moon base idea, so we are
competing with them for resources now," he sighed in
frustration, running his hands through his thinning hair. "Luigi
is coming out on the Hudson, the first of the second generation
plasma tugs," he reported and then grinned. "The Columbus
and Drake are being held up on the ground by a funding issue. From
what Luigi told me it is pure cussedness and political intrigue."

Wanda
sighed. "At least he got the SSTO off the ground. That should be
arriving in a month, and the cargo Landers right along the same
time." They had already processed the two cargo landers that had
come with team two.

Mario
nodded. “Actually sixty days, and sixty two days. Cargo landers
will get here first." He smiled at his wife. Tess was quite
beautiful, and very very pregnant now.

"We
cannot wait to get our hands on the gear from the cargo lander; with
it we can finally finish the vaults and begin expanding things,"
Sergei grinned. They had already started on another set of vaults
near the first set. Unfortunately they had to use a different area
because the first set were now occupied. If they had dug them out it
would have been a problem.

"I
like plastic sheet maker, is great for making greenhouses!" Tess
waved to the pair of greenhouses outside. "No more small tiny
garden!"

Mario
nodded. "And don't forget we can make entire domes as well,"
he said. Joyce smiled at that.

Toshi
looked up. "That is right we can!" He looked at his new
wife.

"At
home in a dome?" She smiled back at him. "That sounds nice.
I always wanted a view of the stars." They smiled at each other.
Wanda watched, dripping envy.

Mario
chuckled. "What are you envious about? You have me remember?"
he whispered to her.

She
smiled. "Yeah, that's right." She hugged him.

"And
don't you forget it," he growled gruffly.

 ...*...*...*...*...

Mario
surveyed the site and nodded. "Looks good. Damn, almost
perfect." He knelt and picked up a handful of regolith, then let
it filter through his hands. "Not much there, it's pretty hard."
He looked up to Wanda who nodded. "Okay, so need to bring the
trenching gear, spare life support, one of the reactors, solar cells,
crap the brick extruder...” He shook his head. "Damn,
going to be a bitch to haul all that out here then back," he
sighed.

"We'll
need a fuel system and tankage to go with it," Joyce reminded
him. She was eager to get her hands on that SSTO.

"Great."
Mario shook his head.

"Well,
put it this way, it is only twenty three kilometers from base, so
getting it here shouldn't be too hard. A lot easier than running back
and forth with loads of bricks," Joyce replied. He sighed
noisily at that idea.

"Don't
forget, we want a dome too," Toshi smiled.

"Yeah,
I know. I don't know how to do that. I have an idea, but we'll have
to wait until Luigi makes an appearance to try it," Mario
replied as he waved.

He
pulled out a tablet computer. It was one of the few computers that
could function in the native environment. "Okay, so here is the
runway in, runway out, ski ramp is here." He looked up and
pointed. “So taxiway is over here that makes ground control
over here, with hangars and workshops next door,” he said as
waved in the indicated direction.

"Right."
Joyce held up a bundle of stakes. "Toshi and I will work on
marking out ground control. Why don't you and Wanda work on the
runway?" Joyce suggested. Mario looked over to Wanda who nodded.

"Right.
Let's get started then." He went over to the back of the rover
and pulled out another bundle of stakes and a mallet. "You have
the survey equipment?"

Wanda
smiled and hefted the tripod. "Of course."

He
chuckled. "For a minute there I thought you were giving me the
strong silent treatment," he teased.

"No,
I was admiring the view. This is more your project then mine."

Mario
chuckled. "Yeah, well, not exactly. More Joyce, Toshi's and
Luigi's." He waved to Joyce and Toshi as Toshi set up the survey
equipment and Joyce laid out plumb lines.

"She's
pretty excited isn't she?" Wanda asked quietly.

He
chuckled. "Yeah think? Come on; let’s get busy before she
finds more for us to do," Mario replied.

"You
know I heard that right?" Joyce asked. Wanda giggled as she
caught Mario's hand.

 ...*...*...*...*...

“Okay,
I gotta admit, this is a lot easier than building with brick,”
Mario said. He shook his head as he watched the building inflate.
“ILC Dover does good work. First the greenhouses now this?
We've got a ground control building, Hab, greenhouse, airlock...Wait
airlock? A balloon airlock?” Mario turned and looked over to
Joyce.

“It
has multiple layers,” she explained, surprised he hadn't taken
the time to look over the plans. She smiled as she spread her hands.
“It self assembles on site too. Once we add air it will expand
the outer skin and assemble its inner core. We're adding some plastic
struts inside that will act as tent poles to keep it rigid too.”
She hefted a bundle of plastic rods.

“Okay...”
He shook his head. “They did that with the hangar too? Isn't
anyone a tad concerned about pressurizing the thing with the door?”
He waved to the massive balloon Toshi was examining.

“It's
temporary. We'll have to make something stronger and longer lasting
down the road,” Joyce explained with a shrug. “It has
truss spars we have to put together. Bit like playing with over sized
tinker toys,” she explained. Mario grunted as they got down to
work.

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