First... Ch1.2

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The Major went over her checklist again. Everything was in order. All indicators were green. All comms were green. Commo was setup. Data was being sent back to Argos and MOOS 1. All eyes, it would appear, were on her team now. Atmo checked green. No storms. Initial sensor checks confirmed satellite imagery. The ground was hard enough to support their weight. This is it then. Time to go outside.

 

“Listen up, team!” Her team of highly skilled, highly motivated professionals stopped what they were doing looked to their team commander. “This is it. Time to go outside. Let’s play it by the numbers. Everyone to your positions. Stand by your gear. Let’s take a walk outside.” There were the muffled sounds of gloved hands clapping and several thumbs-up as the Major made her way to the rear of the compartment and into the hold. Looking around to ensure everyone was in their place and clear of the compartment, “Hermes, secure the hold.”

The pressure door slowly slid into place. She could hear the clamps locking and the air in the hold being sucked out.  The Major turned to the ramp at the rear of the hold area. Mars. The first human step on Mars, she thought.

 

“Hermes to ME1-6.”

 

“ME1-6 Hermes. Copy. Open it up.”

 

“Hermes ME1-6. Stand-by for Martian air.”

 

It began with a hissing sound as the clamps to the exterior ramp released. The hissing continued as the pressure in the hold slowly normalized with the Martian atmosphere. A thin line of light formed around the edges of the ramp. The light grew until she realized she was looking at the Martian sky. The ramp descended slowly opening up more and more of Mars to view. There were no other noises. No voice chatter. Everyone in the hold was mesmerized by the spectacle in front of them. Mars. The ramp came to a stop. The hiss of pressure release was heard as the ramp settled into place. Mars.

 

“Ready vids. This one is for posterity.”

 

The Commo replied back, “We have you, Major. You are green for entry into Mars.”

 

The Major swallowed. Mars. Taking a deep breath she strode forward. The gravity was lighter than Earth but not as light as Lunar One. A slight adjustment to gate was all that was needed. She stood at the entrance to the hold at the top of the ramp, the Martian horizon silhouetted around her. She stepped forward. Walking slowly and confidently to the end of the ramp, the Major looked down to the reddish sand just beyond the ramp.

 

“Hermes 1 Argos.” She knew they were listening to their chatter. “Another small step for Man. Another giant leap for Mankind.”

 

The Major stepped onto the sand in front of her. Bringing her other foot off of the ramp and onto the sand, she stared at her feet. Major Jane Booker Tomlinson was the first human from Earth to ever set foot on another planet. She grinned and took another step.

 

The Mars Expedition team had set up their base of operations around the Hermes. In ever increasing arcs, they explored the immediate area around the Hermes. Weather monitoring stations were deployed. Soil samples were taken and were being analyzed. Rock and core samples were being taken and hermetically packaged for further analysis in Earth-side laboratories. The mostly CO2 atmosphere was deadly. The high iron content of the dust that covered everything played havoc on comms. The electro-magnetics were all over the spectrum. There was not a detectable magnetic pole. They relied upon the GPS satellites in orbit over them. It was time to venture beyond their base.

The Major took command of Rover Alpha. There were three other Rovers. She had almost gotten used to the crunch of the sand under her boots. Sound traveled differently in the Martian atmosphere. She sat behind the steering controls and throttled up. The sand and loose rocks crunched under the wheels of the Rover.

By the numbers, she thought. Their first excursions were to be short distance along predetermined compass points. These exploration trips were to continue until they met the halfway mark on their oxygen supply then they were to “bingo for air.” She would let them know to make next gen rovers with their own air supply for longer ground reconnaissance, she thought. The Rover bounced along over the terrain in the light gravity of the atmosphere.

Except for the extreme danger of their situation, the excursions had become almost routine. Rover Alpha was on its third compass point when it picked up a low power reading just beyond bingo. The Major stopped the Rover and scanned the horizon. There were no visuals of anything other than more rocks and sand. She adjusted the scanners to better pinpoint the origin of the signal. The electromagnetic distortion was still too great.

 

“ME1-6 Hermes. Are  you copying what I have here?”

 

“Hermes ME1-6,” the Commo replied. “We are.” The excitement in the officer’s voice was readily detectable. “What do you think you have, Major?”

 

“ME1-6 Hermes. Dunno, but I will need more air to get closer to it. Confirm with Argos they are receiving this. Get someone working on getting me set up with more air. ME1-6 out.”

 

She marked the location with a beacon and turned the Rover back to Hermes. She will need more air. She had to see what it was. Proceed cautiously, she reminded herself. The Major willed herself not to day dream about the possibilities as the Rover bounced and jostled its way back to Hermes. She put her mind to the problem of more air. She had to get there.

It was several hours later and many conferences with Argos and MOOS1. They were told they had to sit tight while the engineers worked out the problem. The Major played it by the numbers. There was a lot of speculation by the Hermes ground team. Speculation was just that. Guessing. She needed hard facts not just theory, educated guessing. She had her Rover teams continue their sweeps along their assigned compass points. She even went back out along her other assigned points. She did not have the spare manpower to work the problem of additional air. There was only so much time they had on the ground. There was only so much air, food, and water. They would have to work their current assignments before the team was bingo on supplies and had to lift off for Argos in station above them holding geo-stable orbit.

While the engineers worked out the problem, the Major did too. The compass point excursions had become mundane. Drive to bingo air, turn around, re-supply, rest, take the next point and go. Her mind kept working the problem around confirming the data collection as she chased her assigned compass points. Moving the Hermes would be too expensive on fuel and platform. Whatever is out there might get disturbed by the insertion of Hermes in closer proximity. And, there would be the question of a stable platform for Hermes. What was the terrain like in that area? Would it support Hermes? Evac and rescue of a multi-ton ship and crew would take too long for the crew. They could run out of supplies, heat, and air long before MOOS1 could get a rescue team to them. What to do? She asked herself again.

She found herself lost in thought. Steering the Rover had become almost automatic. The terrain variations were minimal. The readouts on the screens never varied. Mars appeared to be very boring around their base of operations. True there were other very exciting features around Mars but the first expedition, it was decided, should be “safe” and for data collection. Hmmph, she mentally shrugged to herself. They were doing that. She looked down at her readings. O2 green. Distance 100km. Temperature normal. GPS normal. Comm links green. Sensor data moving. Rover power supply green. Everything was progressing fine. She pushed on. Her mind wandered back to her other problem. How does she get to the low power source she detected? She continued to play several scenarios through her head. None of them seemed to work. The static and comm link sounded in her head.

 

“Hermes ME1-6. You are bingo plus 10. Do you copy?”

 

The Major looked down at her panels and O2 levels. Yes she was.

 

“ME1-6 Hermes. Roger. Copy that.”

 

“Hermes ME1-6. What is your status? You need to get your butt back here QT.”

 

“ME1-6 Hermes. I am green on everything but O2. Set rescue teams to receive me. I am on the way to you QT.”

 

“Hermes ME1-6. Copy. What happened, Major?”

 

Lost in thought, she chided herself.

 

“ME1-6 Hermes. Saving air. Call you when I am closer. ME1-6 out.”

 

The Major looked down at her panels. She had gone 200km beyond bingo. This was going to be a long ride back. She turned the Rover around and locked on Hermes signal. She checked the emergency beacon on the Rover. It was green. She checked her personal beacon. It showed green. At least they will be able to find me, she thought. She put her focus on the horizon in front of her and began to relax. If nothing scary happened to make her heart and respiration rate go up, she should be able to get really close to Hermes before she asphyxiated. She began to take her body into the semi-sleep she was trained to do as a starjockey lander.

Her mind wandered in semi-sleep as she maintained the hyper-relaxed state. The bounce and crunch kept her awake, just barely. Her eyes drifted from the controls to the horizon to the readings. She was AOK as long as she maintained rest. She lost track of time. Her thoughts wandered back and forth from her hometown of Bixby to the unknown power source to the rocky terrain in front of her to the chewing she would receive back on MOOS1 to the real possibility of suffocating to her time at the academy to her training missions to the landing to her first steps on Mars to her childhood visits to the Moon to the control panels and readouts. The horizon was constant and did not change. The bounce and crunch over rocks and sand continued. She looked at her O2. She was still yellow. Good.

Time had become a routine of putting down the thoughts of CO2 poisoning as she suffocated, watching the panels and Hermes signal beacon, managing the controls at the Rover’s best speed, and focusing on staying semi-asleep-relaxed. An alarm was sounding. The Major scanned the panels. She had just gone red. O2 was dangerously low. She turned off the alarm.

 

“Hermes ME1-6. Your O2 just alarmed. What is your status?”

 

“ME1-6 Hermes. I am AOK. I’d rather not talk about it right now. I am beyond bingo air and on my way to you.”

 

“Hermes ME1-6. Copy. We show you just over horizon. Can you make it?”

 

“ME1-6 Hermes. I will.”

 

The Major saw the dark speck on the red horizon. Hermes! She had to fight the urge to be excited. Her eyelids were slits. Her breathing shallow and slow. A gaze at her panels indicated everything green except for breathable air. She was nearing 0 percent. Fear tried to well up. She fought it. Her heart rate was increasing. She exhaled slowly. She held her breath and counted. Thirty. Forty-five, Sixty. She inhaled deeply. Thirty, Forty-five, Sixty. She exhaled slowly then inhaled. Thirty, Forty-five, Sixty. She exhaled slowly then inhaled. She knew if she kept this up she would black out soon. She had very little air left. She reached up with her right hand and clicked on her personal beacon. She could see dust clouds along the horizon. Thirty, Forty-five, Sixty. She glanced down at her panels. Hermes was 0 in front of her. Thirty, Forty-five, Sixty. She was beginning to get lightheaded. Thirty, Forty-five, Sixty. She wondered if she was actually seeing the Rovers approaching her. Someone was saying something over the comm link. Something about stopping. There was someone on her Rover removing her hands from the controls. Thirty, Forty-five, Sixty. She wasn’t bouncing anymore. There was a hiss. She lost all of her air now, she thought. And, I almost made it too. Sorry, Janey. She felt a sting in her arm.

The Major opened her eyes. She looked around. She was on the Hermes. She was still in her pressure suit.

 

“She’s awake, Doc.”

 

“Copy that. Keep her mixture rich and make sure she eats.”

 

A helmeted face came into view as she tried to sit up.

 

“Not so fast, Major. Your head is going to hurt for a bit and you will be a little woozy. Just relax and eat something. Okay?”

 

“Yeah, head thrumming.” She connected the fluid and food tubes to her pressure suit and began taking in nourishment.

 

“What happened out there, Major? You went way off the grid.”

 

What did happen out there? She thought. She couldn’t tell them she was daydreaming and lost track of distance. She wouldn’t lie. So, what happened? What could she tell them?

 

“You did a 1000km turn around. That far exceeds your bingo for air.”

 

“Yeah.” Her head still hurt but the food and water were helping.

 

“I think I found away to get to the power source without too much additional engineering.”

 

The medic just stared at his patient. She doesn’t let up, he thought to himself.

Reviews

[SM Davis]

"I think I found away to get to the power source without too much additional engineering."
I think you want to say "a way"?

This is fantastic. It's got to be very difficult for her being a woman in a predominantly male world. I agree with TL in that you've got her handling the pressure very nicely. There is a nice balance of information and tension.

Again, off to the next chapter...:-)

[TL Boehm]

Nicely believable the way she handles the pressure. Yes, WE know its dangerous and I am on the edge while reading but the Major remains cool under pressure. How adaptable we are to get used to dancing on the razors edge. Well done.

[Dave "Doc" Rogers]

Okay, First is back. A big 'thank you' to those that gave this a read/review previously. Now to get back on track with the story.

Cheers!
Doc.