First Steps (Founding of the Federation) (29 page)

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

The
clink of glass on glass made the commander and Wanda look up in
surprise. Li and Mario had come in holding a bottle of wine and
glasses for each of them. "Here." Wanda got up and
re-leaved her husband of the wine bottle. She knew how he was around
glass.

"So
you were saying that your husband had to be talked into joining?"
The commander leaned back and watched as they set eh glasses down.
"How you managed to get stem glasses..." He shook his head
and held up his hands. "Never mind, I don't want to know."
He chuckled as Wanda tugged at the cork.

Mario
grinned. "Help you with that dear?"

She
grunted. "I got it." She wrestled with it then handed it to
him exasperated. He smiled and pulled his multi tool out of his
pocket. He flipped the corkscrew out. She groaned. "Sure, do it
the
easy
way," she accused him. He grinned at her as he
screwed it in. "Yeah, this reject from a video game had to be
sweet talked into joining." She leaned over and smiled sweetly
to her husband who snorted.

"Wait,
didn't you tell me you were the Mars fan?" Mrs. Han sat back
with her legs crossed.

He
chuckled. "Yeah, come to think of it, you’re right,"
Wanda replied thoughtfully. Wanda turned a glare onto him. "So
all that convincing was for nothing?" she asked heatedly. His
grin widened. The cork popped and he stood straight.

"Oh,
I wouldn't say for nothing," he said waggling his eyebrows. He
leered at her until she blushed and took the bottle from him.

Carefully
she poured each of them a glass. When they each had a glass the
commander held his glass high. "To our one year anniversary and
the people who made it possible." They each murmured then took a
sip.

"To
our countries for working together to make it so," Li saluted
with his glass.

Mario
smiled and nodded. "To the future," he added.

The
next morning they did their usual morning routine then settled into
the galley for a late breakfast.

"What
happened to your trench? I noticed you filled it in. Did you get
tired of playing in the dirt?" Wanda asked taking a sip of her
coffee.

Tess
looked up. "Nyet we finished the vaults. Is done for now."
She nodded to Mario who was pouring a cup.

"Vaults?"
Wanda demanded, now curious. She turned to him with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah."
He stirred in cream and sugar.

"You
know that stuff is bad for you?" she teased.

He
saluted her with the cup. "Well, if you stuck around more I
wouldn't have to rely on sugar to get all my sweetness."

She
dimpled a little and let out a gurgled laugh. "Cute smart guy."

He
smiled. "Well I try." took a sip.

"Try
harder next time," Tess groaned getting up. "I am going to
do the chores. We need to get the rovers turned around so they can go
out tomorrow." She waved as she left.

Mario
smiled. "Alone at last." He set his cup down and put one
hand on either side of her.

"Morning
folks!" Commander Bower came in.

"Hold
that thought boyo," Wanda chuckled. She hugged him then escaped
his grasp. He sighed noisily in exasperation giving the commander a
disgusted look.

“What?
Something I said?” the commander asked.

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

"Awe
crap. Storm coming in," Mario sighed, checking the weather read
out. Mission control had warned them of a possible storm.

"Storm?"
the commander asked looking up.

"Yeah,
dust storm. Mission control has been watching it. It has clouded over
the southern hemisphere, but a finger is heading up to us."

Wanda
looked over his shoulder. "Bad blow?" Wanda asked frowning.
She'd expected more storms but so far they had been lucky. Apparently
their luck was about to end.

He
shrugged. "Well, Mission control is concerned. They are
grounding us until it passes," he explained.

She
sighed, now thoroughly annoyed. "Great." She ran her hand
through her hair. "There goes the schedule," she muttered.

Mario
shrugged. "Well, since we can't do that... I can work on a few
projects around the base," he smiled.

The
commander sighed. "Might as well, we aren't going out in that if
we are grounded."

Wanda
frowned. "Almost as if you planned this," she grumped to
Mario.

He
chuckled. "Dear I am good, but influencing the weather? Bit
beyond even me with present tools." He waved to the Hab. She
gave him the eye. He smiled. "Honest injun dear," he held
one hand over his heart.

She
smiled. "Okay I'll let you off the hook this
one
time."

He
sighed in mock relief. "Thank you dear, you are a treasure."

Tess
chuckled. "So, we spray the interior of the vaults?" He
nodded to her.

"Vaults?
Those things you've been making?" Wanda demanded.

Tess
smile turned into a Cheshire grin. "Is more than one. Have three
now." She held up three fingers. “Plus airlock.”

Wanda
looked over to her husband. "My you have been busy."

He
chuckled. "Well you were all complaining about space so Tess,
the commander, the Hans, and I decided to do something about it..."
He waved to the porthole.

She
went over and sat down on the bench looking out. "I can't see
much."

He
chuckled. "Well, you can see it later if I can pry you from the
lab long enough."

She
smiled. "And here I thought you were going to make a pass at
me."

He
smiled. "Later dear." He waggled his eyebrows at her.

"In
that tiny room?" she demanded. He smile turned into a grin of
pure mischief. "Ohhh no." She held up her hands. "Hold
it Casanova. No way."

He
chuckled. "We'll see," he teased. She dimpled. They'd had
fun in quite a few broom closets over the past couple of years she
remembered.

"Let
us go see the vault yes?" Tess asked as she stood.

"Good
idea. I've only seen it from the outside so far," the commander
grunted.

"Well,
it's not my fault you insist on playing taxi driver for the egg
heads," Mario teased. His wife pinched him. "Owe! Sorry
geesh," he rubbed the now sore bit of flesh.

She
smiled. "You'll pay for that," she replied.

"I
thought I just did. Send me the bill, I think I can pay it later..."
He leered as he followed Tess and the commander out.

"You
two need a room," the commander joked.

"I
thought that was what we were working on?" Mario chuckled as he
pulled his skin suit out of his locker. The commander chuckled as
well.

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

The
Commander admired the view as he looked out at the orange red sky.
“Damn, it's like Sydney in September of oh nine.” He
shook his head.

“Bet
you didn't expect to wake up to an orange haze did you?” Wanda
laughed. “It's the iron in the dust, bet we will be seeing this
for days or weeks,” she sighed.

“Well,
if it is going to be like this I think I will check out the vaults
your husband and Tess have been working on. Last time I checked they
were only had the walls built.” The Commander shook his head.
“It's amazing what they accomplished,” he said. He
smiled.

Wanda
shrugged. “That's Mario for you. Always building. I'll be in
the lab if you need me.” She waved and left.

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

"Wow!"
The commander ran his flash light up to the top of the vault ceiling
six meters over his head. "You did all this?" He whistled
as he shined the light around. "What are those bricks sticking
out half way out?" He held the light onto one of the bricks.

"Supports
for the next floor." Tess responded as she hefted the sprayer.
"A little help here?" she asked plaintively.

Mario
took the other end of the compressor. "Got it." He helped
her move it to the center of the room.

"You’re
going to spray resin on the inside?" The commander asked. "Why?"
He looked over to Mario.

"To
seal it. We already did the outside before we buried it," Mario
answered.

"Oh."
He watched as Tess and Mario ran hoses and power lines out.

"All
set, I'll show the commander the other vaults and be back in a
minute," Mario said. Tess waved as she began to spray. A thick
grayish goop came out of the nozzle. She made some adjustments and it
turned into a fine mist. Carefully she started spraying the nearest
wall. She worked from the top down. "Looks good. We may have to
adjust the viscosity," Mario muttered.

"This
way. The first chamber is a living room that connects to the small
test chamber we passed through which can be used as an airlock. Above
can be space for the scientists." They entered the next vault.
“Here is space for more labs and a kitchen. He pointed to one
corner. "We salvaged the kitchenette from the MAV and put its
equipment there."

The
commander looked it over. "Okay." He looked up. "Bedrooms
above? How do you plan on getting to them?"

Mario
smiled. "Well we can make a ladder, or a brick staircase, but I
would prefer a spiral staircase," he sighed. "That is
something we haven't planned very well yet. I can get some material
from the MAV, A ladder or steps and such, but I am not sure how high
we can go with it." He waved to the next vault.

"The
openings are arcs; we can plug them if necessary like this with an
airlock door."

The
commander admired the airlock door they had managed to hang. "It
works?" the Commander asked.

Mario
swung the door back and forth. "Yes, but we can't test the seal
until we finish spraying and running the life support." He waved
to the next room. “This vault is the gallery atrium. We did
things a bit differently in here."

The
commander looked around. Half the room was covered in arches
supporting brick braces connecting to the wall. "It seems,
bigger for some reason. Deeper?" he asked as they looked around.
"It shouldn't with these here right? What am I missing?" he
asked.

Mario
nodded. "Oh it's bigger, twice as big as the first two. Three
floors, four times longer and twice as wide." Mario waved to the
exterior wall. "Remaking the arch properly was a royal pain. We
have the technique down so it will be easier if we make another down
the road."

He
sighed. "Can't really, we are out of nylon." He shrugged.
"We don't have the fiberglass or glass making gear that is
coming in the next flight. I can adapt the plastic though if we
really want more bricks. Personally I am heartily sick of the damn
things." He turned a nearby light stand on and pointed it up.
"See each floor steps back a bit. We can create an open space to
help ease the eyes and fill with plants." He smiled as the
commander bobbed in agreement.

He
traced one hand along the bricks. "Too bad you didn't have the
glass maker; we could make glass blocks and put them into the wall
instead of the porthole windows," the commander responded.
"Right about here. Or light pipes into the ceiling." He
pointed upward.

Mario
nodded. "Yeah, but Luigi was worried about stress on the frame,
so he left that out of the initial plans."

The
commander looked over to him suddenly alert. "This was planned?
All of it?" he asked.

Mario
smiled. "All and more. We've been planning all sorts of things
like this as contingency ideas." He chuckled. "Check your
handbook, it's in there."

The
commander grimaced. "That thing. Couple thousand pages of techno
speak."

Mario
chuckled slapping him on the shoulder pauldron. "I know the
feeling. Come on, let’s go check on Tess."

The
commander followed him back to the first vault. They stopped and
admired her work. "You know, this isn't right. We should at
least be able to admire her work with a beer or two," The
commander joked.

"Keep
it up, I can always spray you two," Tess grunted.

Mario
chuckled. "Here, let me take a turn at it."

She
shut the sprayer off and handed it over to him. "Good, is
heavy," she replied sighing in relief. He chuckled.

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

It
took them nearly four hours to finish spraying the vaults. When they
were finished they were sweaty and tired, but full of elation. Tess
turned the heater coils on to help cure the resin before they left.

"What
did you do about the bathroom?" The commander asked Mario. Mario
smiled as they sat down in the living room of hab two.

"What
bathroom?" Wanda asked.

"The
one in the vaults. Or lack thereof if these two forgot it," The
commander answered.

Mario
acted surprised. "Didn't we put a bathroom in?"

Tess
smiled. "I seem to remember relocating the head next to the
kitchen. In fact, you did." She saluted him with the glass.

He
smiled. "That's right we did." He turned to the commander.
Wanda sat on his arm rest. He wrapped his arm around her then
chuckled. "Commander we followed the blueprints. I can show them
to you and the crew if you want." He waved his glass to the
computer nearby.

The
commander put up a stopping hand. "Later, this is a holiday
after all," he said. Which was true. Mario sighed.

Wanda
smiled down at him. "Yes dear, Party now, play later."

He
chuckled. "Promises promises." She giggled herself when he
squeezed her to his side.

"We
should have the first life support pieces in as soon as the sealant
dries." He looked over to Tess who was swirling her glass.

"As
to that, I am not sure when it will be. There is something wrong with
the mix; it is taking longer to dry than expected," Tess sighed
and took a sip. "It may be because it is dark and cold. I am not
sure." She shrugged.

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

Mario
grunted as they dragged the piece in through the vault lock and
across the floor. "Next time, we should use the crane," he
grunted.