First Steps (Founding of the Federation) (30 page)

"How?"
Tess panted, shifting her grip. The deck spar was more bulky then
heavy, but since they had bundles two together, it was difficult to
move.

"Drop
them in before we seal the roof."

She
grunted. "Might work. It was a pain in the ass getting the arch
support out though."

He
grunted remembering that thing dangling and how he'd cringed when it
had swung about in the light breeze. He'd been terrified the cable
would snap and drop it on the vault wrecking everything thing.
Fortunately it had all worked out in the end. "Yeah, that it
was." The stopped at the last notch in the wall.

"This
would be so much easier if we did it in atmosphere," The
commander complained as he looked around.

"Yeah,
but then we would have to depressurize every time we came in and out
of the lock with loads," Tess sighed.

"Just
a few more loads, then we can start putting things up. I don't want
to fill this place with Oh two until we are done welding, that way we
don't have to worry about a flare out," Mario replied. The
commander froze and then patted the spar.

"Good
point. I forgot about that. An oxygen rich atmosphere is no place to
be welding," The Commander chuckled. He was glad Mario was
thinking about safety.

Mario
smiled. "We'll make you a dedicated engineer yet!" Tess and
the commander chuckled.

"Well
I do have a masters like you two you know," the commander
grumped as they untied the bundle.

"Yeah,
but I bet that was an afterthought. You were more interested in
flying weren't you?" Mario asked.

"Yeah.
You got me there. My courses were more aerospace related." The
commander waved to the vault.

"This
is more general and construction engineering," Mario replied.

Tess
coiled her cable. "Da. It is. Nice to do though, much better
than reading book."

Mario
followed the two of them out. "We have just enough material for
the floors for all three vaults. Only one set of stairs and no
interior walls though," he sighed as they exited the lock then
turned away from the sun.

"We
wanted to grow bamboo in the greenhouse, but it grows so fast it
would have punctured the plastic," he sighed. "Besides, in
that tiny cylinder we wouldn't have made enough to be useful."
They climbed into the open rover and moved off.

"Li
and Wanda are due back in a couple days?" Tess asked. The two
geologists had taken off the moment the weather had cleared
yesterday.

"Yes.
She called in and all they wanted to talk about were salt formations
and pyroclastic formations," Mario replied with a grimace. "Mrs.
Han took the line and they were chattering like crazy." He
steered around a weather station.

"Maybe
we should move that to another location. Out of the way," Tess
commented.

Mario
grunted. "Yeah. Tell that to the egg heads on Earth. They want
it there so they can get accurate weather readings," he sighed.
"Just have to deal with it." He pulled up to the wrecked
MAV. It was a skeleton of its former self, most of usable parts had
been scavenged. "Okay, let’s get to work." They piled
out and set to it with a will.

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

"Nice
sentiment Mario, Tess, Commander, but honestly, we can't use this."
Wanda looked around the open space. She'd finally taken an interest
in what they had been doing when she and Li had returned. Apparently
Li had told her a little about it on the trip back.

"Why?"
Tess asked surprised.

"Well
first off, cross contamination. You used native materials here, and
we can't be sure of contamination." Wanda ran her hands over the
plastic covered bricks.

"Wanda,
you know for a fact that you can't say that is true." Mario
walked over to her hands on his hips. He crossed his arms. "I
happen to know you complain about the fines and dust in the lab. That
means your contaminated everywhere." She looked over to him. "It
doesn't matter anyway, if you find life in the dust or in a rock so
what?"

She
stared at him. "It matters to the scientific community,"
she said heatedly.

He
sighed and shook his head. "That isn't the real reason is it?
Spit it out," he replied watching her.

She
looked around uncomfortably. "I don't like it. Living in a brick
house waiting for the ceiling to cave in!" She waved to the
ceiling.

"Yeah?
Good radiation shielding," he replied as he waved to it as well.
"No more concerns about getting fried by the sun."

She
grimaced. "Okay, you have me there, but I... I mean ..."
She waved helplessly. "It's a half ass building Mario!"

He
glared. "What do you mean half ass?" His voice dropped into
a subterranean growl.

"Well
look!" She pointed to the life support system. "You’re
using parts from a wrecked ship!" She pointed out.

He
sighed. "The air is fine in here."

He
reached up and started to remove his helmet. "What? What are you
doing??" She tried to stop him but he twisted away. With a hiss
his helmet seal was breached. He lifted it off his head.

"Wow
cold." His breath clouded in front of him. "Damnnn VVvvery
cold." He looked around, keeping his teeth from chattering with
physical effort.

"You’re
turning a little blue Mario." Tess observed looking concerned.

"Jjjust
the ccold." He looked over to the heater. "Obviously nnnot
ennnnough." He looked it over. His breath clouded the area
around his head.

"You
made your point. Put your helmet on before you freeze to death."
Wanda growled. He put the helmet back on and sealed it. He inhaled
for a few moments.

"Better."
He looked over to her.

"Not
the fault of the machinery, we just installed the second heater coil
this morning. It takes time to warm this place," he said. He
waved to the large enclosure. "Once it is heated the brick will
help retain the heat easily. Here, let us show you the rest of the
place." He waved to the open arch door.

She
sighed. "Okay, lead on."

He
shook his head. "Ladies first."

He
bowed and waved to Tess who smiled and curtsied. "Why thank
you." He watched her walk by.

"At
least someone appreciates what I do," he growled softly. Wanda
caught that rebuke and bit her lip.

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

"We're
almost finished the atrium. I'd like you all to come in and take a
look," Mario said at breakfast.

Tess
nodded. "Da is important for future." She gave Wanda a
challenging look. Wanda shivered. She still didn't like the thing.

"Please
Honey, it's worth it."

She
sighed. "All right." After chores the entire group suited
up and trooped out to the airlock, then into the atrium. Wanda
refused to take her helmet off.

"We
have one last thing to do here." Mario pointed to six bricks and
a plastic bucket. Tess was mixing mortar. "We're each going to
place a brick, and sign our name in the duracrete for posterity."
Mario held up a plastic tube.

The
commander smiled. "And I see you set up cameras to document
this. Smart," he replied.

Mario
nodded. "The honor of the first brick goes to you commander."
He held out the brick to the commander.

The
commander fumbled it, and then set it in the indicated place. Tess
troweled mortar on top of the brick, then in front of it. Mario
handed him the stylus. The commander signed his name and dated it
with a flourish. "There. Who's next?" He looked over to the
Hans. Li had a brick already and was buttering it with mortar. He
held it out to his wife with a bow. She smiled and took the brick
with a returning bow.

"We
are honored to make this place a home for all mankind," Li said
softly.

One
by one they each took their turns placing a brick and signing their
name. When they were finished Mario nodded to them. "Thank you
ladies and gentlemen this completes this portion of Mario's traveling
circus. You can return to your usual lives now," he said
solemnly as a dismissal. Tess chuckled at that as they filed out.

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

"So
why did you do this?" Wanda asked him quietly as they walked
back to the hab complex.

"Well
didn't I promise you a castle on Mars?" he asked, looking at
her.

She
looked over to him then away. She felt her eyes itch and sparkle.
"Yeah, I seem to remember something about that," she said
softly.

He
chuckled. "Well, here's the beginning. Surprise." He smiled
at her as he sat down next to her. He took her hand and she rested
her helmet on his shoulder.

"Thanks,"
she sighed quietly fighting the tears. They watched the sun set in
all its glorious beauty.

Wanda
smiled for the camera. "I am going to cook a three course meal
with the ingredients we have here on hand." She waved to the
kitchen. Mario came in and watched. Tess was holding the camera. "But
first we're going to take a quick tour of our greenhouse so you can
see what we have to work with..." The girls left and the
commander came in.

"Food
network?" Mario asked, looking over to the Commander.

The
commander nodded. "Simulcast on Discovery, Science and Planet
Green channels," the commander replied. The mainstream media had
gotten sick of them but the Discovery network still had specials and
the occasional report.

Mario
chuckled. "Well, the ladies are the photogenic ones, glad they
are enjoying the spotlight,” he said as they left.

Busted:

"Benny
can you take a look at this, something is hinky," Julia said.
She pointed to the camera feeds.

"What
about it?" Benny asked, leaning over her shoulder.

"Well,
I did a comparison, and we are only getting a two hundred fifty
degree arch around the base. This area is not covered." She
pulled up an aerial map and used her stylus to draw out the indicated
area. She'd also noticed the wrecked MAV was being stripped.

"For
some reason the cameras are either not working or pointed in
different directions. Two of them are pointed to that blasted
billboard," she said in disgust.

Benny
nodded. "Hmm, why are you concerned?" he asked.

She
looked up at him. "Well the crew has been spending a lot of time
in that area lately. I just picked up on it two days ago. Mario keeps
coming in and out of the area with loads of material from the MAV."
She waved her hands. "According to the schedule he is supposed
to be doing maintenance. His logs say it is getting done..."

Benny
frowned getting suspicious. "Can you pull up one of the MAV
cameras?" She looked down then began to type. "Try MAV
two," he suggested. She did. "No, the angles are no good,"
he said after a moment. He watched as she tapped MAV three. "Okay,
it is pretty far out. Hmmm, Wait, what is that?" He pointed to
an area on the image. "Go in tighter," he ordered. She put
a karat over the indicated area then zoomed in. The image pixilated
out, then in, slowly building and smoothing into a clear image of a
series of mounds. "What the devil are they up to now?"
Benny asked. Julia stared. "Not a word. To anyone," he
finally said. He held a hand on her shoulder as she hunched.

"Let
me check with higher. See if they know anything," he said
looking around to make sure no one else noticed their recent
activity. She nodded, and then pointed.

"Benny,
there isn't just one, there are... two or three cells. Roman vaults?"
Julia asked quietly.

Benny
stood up straight, crossed his arms and rubbed his chin. "That
sneak. Both of them, they didn't tell me. Didn't say a word," he
murmured. "I oughta rat on them just out of spite." Julia
looked up alarmed. "Oh don't worry; I'll keep it in the family,"
he growled. "Still, would have been nice to have been in on it."
He waved. "Log it and let’s move on." She nodded.

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

“Aren't
you going to wash your hands?” Senator Branth grimaced as he
stopped on his way out of the wash room.

“Oh
hell, I was just going to shake hands with Republicans, they'll get
dirty anyway,” he joked as he walked back to the sink. Senator
Kimbley chuckled as he adjusted his tie.

“I
heard that,” a voice called from the stall, making them turn.
The toilet flushed and after a moment the door opened and Senator
Roth stepped out.

Branth
chuckled. “Senator, nice to see you here. It's always
surprising to me who you meet in a rest room.” Branth smiled at
the Republican Senator's mirror image. The Senator scowled as he
stepped up to an empty sink and turned the water on.

“Never
mind that malarky; I know you don't mean it. We have more important
things to discuss.” Branth looked at Kimbley with a raised
eyebrow.

Kimbley
nodded. “Word going around is Mario Irons isn't coming back,”
Kimbley filled in. “How long are we supposed to support him and
the others who stay with billion dollar hand outs?” Roth
snarled as he washed his hands.

“That
depends Bob, do you want his brother out of your hair and mine?”
Branth asked.

“What
do you mean by that?” The Republican looked up at the
reflection, and then turned to them. He flicked his hands to get most
of the water off, and then caught a towel Senator Kimbley handed to
him.

“Well,
if we cut off funding before the next mission, that means Luigi Irons
will stay. If he does, he will most likely turn his energy to
politics,” Branth explained. Roth paused.

“Playing
with the big boys?” he asked softly.

“He's
been playing in our circles for over five years now Bob. Some are
trying to get him to give up going to Mars and set up a run for the
Presidency like Obama and Kennedy did,” Kimbley replied.