4

Quirinus

Clara pointed across the patio. “There’s Vanessa! I was hoping we’d run into her. Let’s go sit with her!”

“Okay,” agreed Helmut. He was a bit irritated by Clara; she preferred to hang around Aurorae and show off her new engagement ring than go up to the Dacha. But he liked Vanessa.

They went into the cafeteria and got lunch. Feeling gallant, Helmut swiped his credit card for both meals; $227.36. He felt slight relief, since two lunches at Dawes would have run closer to $300. He followed Clara, who hurried over to the table where Vanessa was slowly feeding her son, Maaka.

“Hey, how are both of you!” exclaimed Vanessa as she saw Clara, then Helmut. She stood and embraced Clara, who held out her hand with the engagement ring. “Wow, a diamond! Congratulations to both of you!”

“Thank you,” said Clara.

“When’s the wedding?”

“We don’t know, yet,” replied Helmut, figuring he had better get into the conversation now or remain silent for a long time. “It’s almost conjunction and communications with Earth take a long time. If we wait another year, though, we can get married close to opposition, then we can have parties on two worlds.”

“That makes sense,” said Clara. “Everyone’s postponing things until opposition; it’ll be a busy time! Sit down. It’s good to see you both. Where have you been?”

“Central highlands,” replied Clara. “After the Meridiani Trail was finished, the expedition widened the Cassini-Dawes Trail, then we stayed at Cassini a month doing construction, then spent part of a month doing exploration south of Dawes and clearing some new trails there.”

“And now we’re heading back to Meridiani,” added Helmut. “Did you hear? There’ll be two outposts there.”

“Yes, I just heard this morning on Mars This Sol. Are they starting them already?”

Clara nodded. “Next week. It forced a change in our plans, too; we flew here on the regular monthly sunwing flight and planned to return on the semimonthly cargo run, but that run has been moved up by three days to carry cargo to the site of Meridiani Outpost. So we’re going back sooner than planned.”

“That’s too bad. I hope we get some time to visit; where are you staying?”

“Up at the Dacha,” replied Helmut. “This is a little vacation; a sort of pre-honeymoon celebration.”

“Very nice,” replied Vanessa, though she seemed a bit uneasy about that. “When did you decide to get married?”

“Two sols ago,” replied Clara. “But we’ve been getting to know each other for nine months; pretty much since I arrived.”

“And I’ve decided to pursue my doctorate,” added Helmut. “I doubt I’ll be getting another asteroid mission for a few years, so we plan to settle down and finish our educations. I’ve already emailed an application to Mariner Institute of Technology.”

“Oh, good! And the timing should work out. The fall semester starts in a month or so.”

“How are things here?”

“At Aurorae? Fine. Have you gone into Dakota yet? They’ve got it inflated and it’s already fully operational as an agricultural biome. The air’s thin, though, you’ll have to walk around it slowly. You probably haven’t been in Shenandoah either, come to think of it. It’s inflated to standard pressure and is all agricultural as well, except for an area for bioarchive.”

“Two new biomes?” said Helmut, surprised.

Vanessa nodded. “And Oregon will inflate in September. The new system is much faster. Of course, it helps to have fifty people working full time on construction and fabrication. There are plans to expand that department, too.”

“We heard about the Caravel Project,” agreed Helmut.

“How old is Maaka?” asked Clara, pointing to Vanessa’s son.

“Nine months! He’s got five teeth and is beginning to crawl, and he’s trying to say ‘mama.’ And he’s sleeping through the night, thank God.”

“Where’s John?”

“Hellas. There’s an expedition at the Ice Chimneys; they’re drilling about ten kilometers south of the chimneys at a spot where there’s a small, isolated fumerole. The goal is to determine whether there’s terrestrial biota there, and if so how deeply it has penetrated, and whether there’s any evidence of Martian life, current or recent past, in the rocks there. Also, they want to assess the geothermal resources there.”

“Power?” asked Helmut.

Vanessa nodded. “So far, there’s no evidence of Martian life at the fumerole, though the terrestrial species we’ve found at the Ice Chimneys are in the ground there as well. There’s a huge body of hot rock underground, but it’s pretty dry. However, there’s abundant water about fifty kilometers to the west, so water could be injected down one well and steam recovered up another.”

“How much electricity?” asked Clara.

“Potentially, tens of thousands of kilowatts. If that proves true we’ll have to make some difficult decisions: do we leave the hot rock alone as a biological reserve for the feral terrestrial biota; do we set up a small outpost there specializing in energy intensive processes, like aluminum refining; or do we export the power as microwaves beamed to Phobos and relayed elsewhere, or as methane and oxygen or as silane trucked robotically to Dawes and Aurorae.”

“Those are difficult issues,” said Helmut.

“The expedition is finished in October, and the report will be final then. So we have a few months of peace before the arguing begins.” Vanessa fed another spoon of puréed peas to Maaka.

“I suppose we could leave the matter to the Commission,” suggested Helmut.

Vanessa shook her head. “This is too hot and involves too many interests. The Mars Council and Mars Assembly will have to be involved. If we want to create a biological reserve—a ‘national park’—I suspect the Commission, Assembly, and Council would all have to agree.”

“Do you wish you were at Hellas now?” asked Clara.

Vanessa looked up. “I haven’t dwelled on that question much, since someone has to take care of Maaka, and John’s expertise as a geochemist is more relevant than mine as an eobiologist.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” replied Clara. “It seems to me that a mobilhab is big enough for a baby, don’t you think?”

“Big enough? I suppose; I haven’t thought about it. The problem isn’t space; it’s radiation and safety.”

“I know. But what is the safety issue, really? Depressurization? And why can’t the radiation problem be reduced?”

“Depressurization is a serious issue. Remember, we’ve already had one death from ranger depressurization, and several close calls.”

“Those were with rangers, though, not mobilhabs.”

“True. Mobilhabs are safer with their redundant door latches and their multiple airtight sections. But there’s still the radiation problem.”

“Why can’t we increase the shielding, even for a part of the mobilhab? A baby doesn’t need much space.”

Vanessa shrugged. “I don’t know. That’s an interesting idea. If children could go along on expeditions, it would be easier for everyone. No, for the parents; their crying would drive everyone else crazy.”

Clara looked around and saw Alexandra seated at a table nearby. She pointed; Vanessa nodded. “Hey Alexandra,” she said, and she beckoned the construction and design expert to come over. Alexandra had finished eating and was enjoying a coffee with Yevgeny—who was holding Boris—and the Vickers, with whom they had always been close friends. Alexandra rose and walked over.

“Here are some people I haven’t seen a while,” she said to Clara and Helmut. “Welcome back. Where have you all been?”

“Meridiani, Dawes, Cassini, and now back to Meridiani,” replied Clara. “And I see you had your baby, and you kept him.”

“Yes; Boris. He’s now ten weeks old, and a joy. Thank God he’s a pretty easy baby and that Yevgeny has arisen to do the lion’s share of the nurturing! So it’s worked out really well.”

“I’m so happy for you.”

“Thank you. I’m happy, too.”

“Say, I have a question for you. Why can’t mobilhabs be made child-safe? Safe enough for expeditions, that is.”

“Child safe. . .” Alexandra thought a moment, then shrugged. “There are two obstacles, I suppose; financial and emotional.”

“Emotional?” asked Helmut, surprised.

“Sure. People think it’s unsafe, and they’d continue to think so even if we could make it safe. There are cultural obstacles, too; not only do people assume kids can’t go out on expeditions, but the exploration culture has been developed based on that assumption.”

“What are the financial obstacles?” asked Clara.

“Well, it’d need a design review. Pressurization issues would have to be considered, a safe refuge in an emergency should be designed, radiation shielding would have to be added—”

“We have a refuge; the bathrooms,” noted Clara.

“Yes, and maybe it would be enough; the design review task force would have to examine that. We have new software for designing radiation shielding which we’re using on the caravel. About a tonne of hydrogen-impregnated polyethylene in the right places would be needed. We also have several water and methane tanks that could be moved to produce an area of the mobilhab that is heavily shielded.”

“So, it’s possible?” asked Clara.

Alexandra shrugged. “I think so. The caravel will have several extremely low radiation zones for solar flares and they could also serve as sleeping areas for children; we’ve been designing on the assumption that someone could get pregnant on a long flight and that a very low radiation zone would be needed for the pregnant woman. The future Columbus flights will last four and a half months, so we won’t have to worry about births during them, but if caravels are used for asteroid or Jupiter missions, it’s a possible concern.”

“Alexandra, what should we do about this idea,” asked Vanessa. “I think it’s a good one. Fourteen years ago, Will and Ethel broke taboos and got married here, then they had children a few years later. But the family zone here is still pretty small. We’re not exploring Mars in cramped little rangers any more; mobilhabs are pretty large and safe. Why can’t they be made safe enough for an occasional child?”

“I doubt expeditions could handle more than an occasional child! They’d be noisy in cramped spaces and a distraction.”

“Maybe we could use distractions of that sort on our expeditions,” said Vanessa.

“Let’s bring the matter to Will. We could start with Roger, since he’s in charge of exploration, but eventually Will has to decide.”

“How do we prepare something?” asked Clara.

“I’ll look at the mobilhab design; I could use a distraction right now,” replied Alexandra. “I can assign a team to consider the matter and generate a report. It’ll take a month or so.”

-------------------------------------

The cameras on the Tharsis were all focused on the Apollonaris as it made its final approach to Quirinus. The Tharsis had just touched down on the asteroid; the second shuttle was just seconds behind.

“Five meters,” reported Daichi. “Four. Three. Two. One. Touchdown.”

On the screen in Mars Control they watched the shuttle’s five legs settle into the asteroid’s regolith. The shock absorbers absorbed the shuttle’s downward motion, then converted it into an upward bounce. The reaction control system fired to keep the shuttle from rising back into the sky.

“We’re on Quirinus.”

Everyone in Mars Control—four people—cheered and applauded. “We copy, Apollonaris. Congratulations,” said Rostam Khan, their cap com. “The image is great. It’s good to have two vehicles down, safe and sound.”

“We’re all glad to be here,” added Commander Hutan Hijazi, from the Tharsis, after a pause. “Let’s get our propulsion systems shut down so we can EVA.”

The two pilots oversaw the automated checkout and shutdown while the geologists—Kurt Hollingworth in the Tharsis and Andrea Shelton in the Apollonaris—began to suit up. Rustam, Roger, and Érico audited the procedure, since they were twenty seconds away by the speed of light and could do little to intervene. In Houston another team was watching as well, but with a round trip time of forty minutes, they could not effectively help at all.

Will watched and waited, making himself available if any serious decisions had to be made. A few minutes into the wait before the teams went outside, his videophone line rang. It was Bruce Curry. He opened the connection.

“Good sol, Bruce.”

“Good sol, Will. Say, what’s this that I read about you not moving any of the oases on the Meridiani Trail? We need the oasis at El Dorado; otherwise we can’t start gold recovery. I’ve got a team in a mobilhab and a conestoga almost ready to go. The sooner we start, the sooner all of us start making money.”

Will was shocked by the call. “Bruce, half of Earth is watching the Quirinus expedition and you’re calling me about this?”

“Will, half of Earth has gone to the bathroom or the fridge while the team suits up. I was reading e-mails while waiting and came across a memo from you on ThisSol.com.”

“Well, read the memo again. It says we aren’t moving oases because we’re adding new ones at the outpost sites. We’ve got the items to make two more oases and adding new ones is faster than moving old ones. Besides, the Meridiani Trail will now be a lifeline connecting four outposts; the safer we can make it, the better. We’ll shift the maintenance responsibility to the two new outposts, which adds to their personnel slightly. Once the new outposts are set up, we figure Adam Haddad won’t have to drive the supply caravans any more; they can be completely robotic.”

“Really? I apologize for skimming the announcement. When will you have the outposts set up?”

“Your team should be ready to work in two weeks. We’ll start on the oasis then, which will provide enough infrastructure on a temporary basis. We won’t have biomes for months; we’ll have to make them first. We’ll probably give you a B-60 or even a B-75. Nice and big. But I’ve got to get back to the landing, Bruce. Talk later. Bye.” And he hung up without waiting for a reply.

The pilots were finished with the landing sequence and were suiting up as well. It made Will a bit guilty for hanging up on Curry; there was nothing for anyone to do but wait. The cameras on the two shuttles panned around the landing area at least. It was a typical asteroidal surface, with scattered craters, lone boulders, and a mantling of fine-grained, loose material. The one thing about the scene that was distinctive was the color: the carbonaceous chondrite was black, but the nickel-iron mixed in with it was clearly metallic. Some boulders were clearly derived from one part of Quirinus and others from the other.

Finally, an hour after landing, the airlock of the Tharsis opened. Dr. Hutan Hijazi stepped out slowly, in full view of the cameras on the Apollonaris. Will and the others in Mars Control felt pride when Hutan’s Mars flag became visible. Hutan took three very slow, ginger steps on the surface of Quirinus; one could not speak of walking in a thousandth of a terrestrial gee. “Humanity steps onto another world,” he exclaimed, which was more or less what several explorers had said when they made their first steps.

Kurt Hollingworth was just seconds behind him. Then the cameras were switched to the airlock of the Apollonaris, where Daichi stood. He stepped out as well, speaking in Japanese, followed by Andrea. “I dedicate this expedition to my baby, Marie,” she noted. Marie, living in Aurorae with her father, was just two years old.

The four of them slowly jetted toward a flat spot a hundred meters from each shuttle and between the two vehicles. All of them had experience exploring Phobos and Deimos; they didn’t fall or tumble the way Will and his colleagues had on their first visit to Phobos fifteen years earlier. They landed successfully and gathered together in full view of the cameras on both vehicles.

Hutan pushed the flagpole into Quirinus’s sandy ground. “We hereby claim Quirinus and all its mineral and property rights for the Mars Commission and the people of Mars,” he solemnly announced. “Our month of exploration will seek to explore Quirinus both for scientific and economic reasons. Our mission is purely peaceful and for the benefit of all humanity.”

“Well done, Hutan,” said Will quietly, with a smile.

“Sounds like he got in all the fine print,” replied Érico. “But are we generating controversy.”

“I’ll be receiving calls from reporters in about forty minutes,” agreed Will, glancing at his watch. “I’ve set aside the afternoon for them. But our lawyers have said this is perfectly legal. A nation can claim nearby islands whether they’re ‘offshore’ or not. No one can lay claim to every island in the Pacific by landing on one, and no one can expect every island in the Pacific to belong to a single future nation when the first few are being settled. That’s true of the asteroid belt, too. It’s a series of vast archipelagos. Some will be ours; most won’t.”

“And we’ll mine Quirinus?” asked Érico.

“Once it’s economically practical, yes. It’s one of the best, it’s one of the closest to Mars, and it now belongs to Mars.”

-------------------------------------

Clara and Helmut spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening hanging out at the Patio, showing off the engagement ring with its big diamond and catching up with friends. Just before sunset they headed up to the Dacha, where they enjoyed the Jacuzzi in their room.

The next morning they sat by the pool and called everyone on Earth to let them know about the engagement. Brian Stark was the first to call back.

“Congratulations, kids! What good news. I was there when the two of you began to get to know each other, so I’m glad to hear the result. We’re aerobraking into Earth orbit in two days, as you’ve probably heard, and I’ll be sure to make a trip to Houston in a week or two to visit with both of your parents and assure them it’s a good match! I’ll also volunteer to carry wedding presents back to Mars; it’s beginning to look like I’ll be on Columbus 9, believe it or not! I’ll have to tell you the details some other time. This is confidential information, so don’t mention it to anyone else. You may want to shift your wedding a month or two, so that the terrestrial gifts are there. But if I’m not actually present, I’ll be there in spirit. Best wishes to both of you. Take care of yourselves; of each other. Bye.”

“How sweet of him!” said Clara. “I wonder whether we should reconsider the date. The time delay won’t be that much more when Columbus 9 arrives.”

“Brian’s a good guy. It’ll be nice to have him back.”

“God, he’s spending a lot of time flying through space. What a pain.”

“Yeah. He was a United States Navy nuclear engineer and was always a bit mysterious. I suspect the U.S. government will ask him to come back as part of their nuclear team.”

“If there is a nuclear team; the idea’s pretty controversial.” She pointed to the screen. “Your dad’s replied now! Let’s listen.”

Helmut nodded and pushed a button. His father’s face appeared.

“Well, congratulations to you both! Clara, welcome to the family. I’m thrilled for the two of you. I’ll be sure to be in Houston at the time of the wedding so that we can plan a big celebration there as well as one on Mars. I’m sorry we can’t attend in person, but at least you’ve chosen a date close to opposition when the time delay is minimized. Of course, I had always hoped Helmut would settle on Earth, not on Mars, but these things are unpredictable. Mars is a very exciting place to be right now; more exciting than the moon, I think, even though we’re now recovering from the slump in tourism. I wish we had used our equipment for some expeditions to Earth-crossing asteroids when we had slack demand, but money was tight, the Board vetoed the idea, and we didn’t push hard enough. I’ll have to push the matter harder now; we’re losing some of our best people to Mars! And maybe if there are some expeditions going out from the moon both of you will come back, raise a family here, and have your adventures near grandpa!

“Anyway, don’t forget us; we miss you. Let’s keep in touch, especially when the time delays are less. Let’s plan an entire day/sol together next time the weekends coincide. Bye.”

“Your dad’s thrilled,” said Clara. “That’s nice. He’s sweet.”

“And he really wants us to come back. Your parents feel that way too, I’m sure.”

“Oh, yes. Wait till they reply to our announcement.”

“I feel guilty about staying here, now.”

“Well, don’t! I don’t want an affluent life in a rich Houston suburb with two kids and a husband somewhere else in the solar system. I want to explore with you and preferably with the kids as much as possible.”

“That may not be so possible, Clara.”

“Will and Ethel changed things in spite of opposition from the Mars Commanders, one of whom was your dad. We can make some changes, too.”

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