First Steps (Founding of the Federation) (55 page)

"Wait,
how are you in contact with NASA and the FBI?" Joyce asked.

"We
bounced a signal to the ISS and Australian back up dish," Toshi
replied absently.

"Oh.
Good to know we have a back up," Joyce replied.

“It's
going to take us weeks to clean and sort this mess out. Toshi is
going to check each back up stick too.” Mario grimaced. “It
set us back by a couple months at least,” he sighed. Joyce
nodded as Toshi groaned.

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

"This
is SSTO two come in base," a familiar voice said over the net
months later.

Mario
grinned as he recognized the voice. "Good to hear from you SSTO
two, glad to see you. You’re doing good; winds are four kph
coming out of the west. Weather is clear and bright, with minimum
dust. Bring her down."

Benny
chuckled. "Will do base." The craft made its final turn and
lined up with the runway.

"Nice
turn, you’re a little high and fast... Okay, watch your stall
angle...” Joyce cautioned over the net. Mario shook his head.
The wheels hit the ground and the craft began to roll out. After a
moment the nose wheel came down, a little hard.

"Ouch,"
Luigi winced.

Mario
sighed. "Down safe and sound, that's what matters," he
said. He watched as the craft rolled out. Joyce was already following
in a rover.

Benny
grinned as he stepped off the SSTO. "My has Mars changed. I
didn't expect this." He waved to the reception committee at the
bottom of the ramp.

Mario
chuckled. "Get down hear you old fart."

Benny
waved to his wife to precede him. "Fine how do you do. We had to
wait until the fourth flight to get here and now this," Benny
grumped.

Mario
chuckled. “How are you Sue, Benny treating you okay?"

Sue
smiled. "As well as to be expected. I heard I have a few
patients to check out?"

Benny
sighed. "Let's just settle in first. I think it would be a
little awkward to do exams in these suits dear." He grinned as
she turned to him with a glare. He put his hands up in surrender. "I
give up!"

She
sighed. "I can't take him anywhere."

Wanda
giggled. "Same story for any husband. Years of work and they are
still not quiet fully domesticated."

Mario
hugged her to his side. "And you like it that way admit it,"
he teased. She chuckled.

Luigi
smiled at Benny as they shook hands. "Good to see you Benny,
glad you finally made it."

Benny
chuckled. "You're fault, I seem to recall you were the one
issuing invites remember?" he joked. Mario chuckled.

"How's
Nick?" Mario asked.

"Nick?
Oh he's in politics now. Just made it to Senator," Benny sighed.
"He made the jump but it was a close thing. Doctor Zubrin is
trying to hang on, but he's having a hard time. The first gas giant
mission is about to return, hopefully it will end his uphill battle
for a while," he reported. Mario nodded.

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

"This
is little Piotr," Tess said proudly, introducing the oldest Mars
child to the new arrivals. Tess held up the toddler to Sue. Sue and
the other ladies cooed in appreciation.

"He
is getting big!" Sue smiled.

"He
is twenty five months old now," Sergei came up behind his wife
and caressed her cheek. "Is hard to keep up with him sometimes."
The boy was squirming to get down. He had Reprap shoes on and clothes
made out of clothing scraps.

Sue
chuckled. "Yeah, I can imagine." She smiled down at the
boy.

He
was holding a miniature rover. "Where did you get that?"
she asked. He looked at her then shied away. Sergei chuckled.

"We
don't have many people so he is shy," Tess cautioned.

Sue
chuckled. "Yeah, I don't see many people stopping in for tea and
crumpets," she joked. Wanda chuckled. "What is he playing
with, did someone bring that?" Sue asked.

"Oh,
no, we made him that," Wanda replied. Sue looked at it.

"Can
I see it?" she asked. He shook his head.

Wanda
chuckled. "Here." She held up another toy. It was a rattle.
"Plastic." She shook it. It rattled.

Sue
nodded. "How ingenious!"

Wanda
smiled. "It's all Mario's fault. He stowed away a Reprap, and we
can use it to make parts and things," she explained. Sue nodded.

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

"This
has been a momentous two years, filled with loss and new life,"
Bruce Treadwell shook hands with each of them. They were outside next
to SSTO two. Bruce smiled when he hugged Tess and Betsy. "You
two have wonderful children. You’re filling this desert world
with life once more."

Mary
Treadwell hugged them as well, and then held their hands. "We
are so proud to be a part of this, a part of the history of Mars,"
she said.

Mario
smiled. "We have something for you to commemorate your journey
here." Luigi held up a plaque. The planet and likeness of each
of them was at the top, with First to Olympus Mons and first to
Valles Marineris. On the bottom there was the date.

Bruce
admired it. "We'll treasure it," he said huskily, taking
it.

"We
made four, one of each of you, one for Sadnire's family, and another
we are putting up in the vaults. That way our children will always
remember you," Luigi replied as Betsy handed another plaque to
Mary Treadwell. She hugged her once more.

"I
love your new suit." Mary smiled holding her by the shoulders to
look her over.

Betsy
smiled. "Yes, it's nice. I'm glad they managed to guesstimate
the changes, it would be terrible to be trapped inside like Tess
was." She looked over to Tess who nodded. Both of them had gen 3
suits on, something that had come in with Benny.

"Last
call for ponduke Earth, boarding now..." Joyce called over the
net. Everyone chuckled.

"It
seems she's a bit anxious to get into the air," Bruce laughed.

"Yeah,
that's the pilot in her. Greta and Brian are already aboard. We're
going to rattle like peas in an over sized pod on the way back,"
Bruce said. Out of the twelve that had come only four were returning.

Luigi
chuckled. "Yes, but because of you, and the pioneers the price
is down. Who knows, you might be able to come out again and visit,"
Luigi replied shaking Bruce's hand.

Bruce
dragged him into a bear hug. "You keep fighting, keep exploring.
We'll do our best on our end," Bruce said softly thumping his
back. Luigi nodded.

Mary
hugged Wanda. "Don't give up dear; god will bless you in time."

Wanda
sniffled a little and then hugged her back. "I hope so,"
she replied softly. Bruce released Luigi, hugged Mario then climbed
the ladder. Mary hugged each of them then started following her
husband. At the door she turned and blew a kiss. "Good luck all
of you pioneers," Bruce said. Mario smiled and waved with the
rest. The ladder retracted and the door closed.

The
party trekked back to the waiting rover as the SSTO started to taxi
away. "They are right; it has been a wild ride," Mario
sighed.

Wanda
snaked her hand into his. "It's not over yet," she replied.
He chuckled.

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

"Doc,
I was hoping you could help me out. Tess had her baby, and now I was
hoping..."

Sue
looked Wanda over and sighed. "I can check, but I am pretty sure
it isn't on your end dear."

Wanda
nodded looking tired. "You mean it may be due to Mario's
exposure," she said, fighting her fear. She'd had so long to
dwell on it but it still bothered her.

"Infertility
or mutations are a side effect of intense radiation exposure you
know. Along with a higher risk of cancer." Sue cautioned leaning
against the counter. "That being said, neither one of you have
had a high rem count, maybe twenty percent above normal on Earth, but
we see that with people who live next to a coal plant. Give it time.”
She smiled as Wanda digested that advice then nodded. “I'd like
to thank you for the facilities." She patted the counter.

"No
problem. It is a bit Spartan but we're working on it," Wanda
smiled. The little medical clinic was quite modern, with a portable
X-ray machine, MRI, and other gear. It even had a small specialty
room that could double as a surgical suite or birthing room.

"Okay,
let's just have you get up and we'll take a look shall we?" Sue
started snapping on her gloves. Wanda sighed and climbed onto the
examination table.

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

"Fiberglass?"
Benny and Julia looked the piece over.

"Yes,
that and small pieces of glass and the blocks are about all the glass
works are up to right now. Nothing optical quality of course,"
Mario grimaced.

"How
far along are you with the Hopper?" Julia asked.

"Not
as far as we would like. Getting a decent structure is turning out to
be a sticking point. I've overhauled the engines, those look good,"
Luigi said. Luigi waved to the nearby shed. "The problem is we
have tried carbon fiber and fiberglass, but neither work out for the
main supporting elements. We just don't have the tech here to build
from scratch. We need an industrial grade autoclave, and we don't
have the tools to make one. The resin we are using is flaking in the
Martian atmosphere as well; it shortens the planned lifespan of
things significantly."

Mario
sighed, clearly frustrated. “I'm glad you have the hopper
prototype, it's going to be a pain getting it down and unloaded
though,” Mario groaned. A lot of the cargo was still on the
station waiting to be transferred. It seemed Bob had stuffed the
Ferry with everything he could get away with. "We need a larger
workspace too. Working in these gloves or the enclosed garage is for
the birds." He waved to the garage.

"You
enclosed a garage?" Benny asked.

Mario
nodded. “Two of them. But they leak around the doors. We also
have a door to the industrial vault, but that place is pretty crowded
with equipment, we don't have much room," he sighed. “The
enclosed garage helps though when we need to tear a rover down. They
need maintenance more and more. We have to constantly nurse them."

Luigi
nodded. "Well, they've taken quiet a beating over the years,"
he said and smiled. "I bet they've traveled over ten thousand
kilometers each."

Mario
chuckled. "Yeah."

"Well,
we're carrying parts for them, but a lot of what we have is
electronics. It seems Doc Zubrin isn't too sure about too many follow
up flights so he sent as much as he could," Benny warned.

Luigi
looked relieved. "Glad to hear that. We've kept as much as we
could going, the people that have left have left their suits behind,
but anything out in on the surface gets a daily dose of exposure to
the elements and radiation...." he sighed running his hand
through his hair.

"Yeah
and just wear and tear. Electronics wear out over time after constant
use," Mario sighed as well.

"Well,
we have a new electronics Reprap, the latest thing actually."

Mario
perked up at that. "I built one that can make resistors,
inductors, and capacitors, but you’re talking the Mark nine?"
he asked, grinning and rubbing his hands in anticipation.

Benny
nodded. "Yes, the latest thing. Adrian sent it along. It can
make printed circuit boards, and primitive chips."

Luigi
grinned and patted his brother on the shoulder. "Glad you got
into the Reprap culture bro, it's certainly paid off."

Benny
nodded. "Yes it has."

Julia
chuckled. "I want to see if I can make a ham radio with it."

Mario
chuckled. "Well, we can supply you with a lot of the base
elements no problem. Our industrial plant is still limited, but we
get a whole cornucopia of stuff out now."

Luigi
nodded. "That was the plan." He turned to Benny.

"We
have an electronics expert with us too. Two of them, Robotics and
electronics." Benny smiled.

"Good.
They can play with the broken bits; see if anything is worth
salvaging." Mario smiled sitting back.

Wanda
looked at the craft dubiously then turned to Mario. "No, I am
not going to fly it," he said before she could say anything. He
didn't even look up. "You know full well Joyce is taking the
stick."

She
frowned. "Okay, you’re creeping me out a little. Stop
that," she growled. He looked up with a grin.

"It's
not my fault you’re predictable sometimes," he teased. She
glowered at him, crossing her arms in front of her. He chuckled.

"So
what is this thing anyway? I recognize the thrusters, those are from
the MAV first stages right?" she asked.

Mario
nodded. "Bingo. We took those engines, brought in a pair of fuel
tanks and the hull Benny brought. It even has electronics and
directions so all we had to do is put it together," Mario
explained and smiled.

Tess
looked up. "Is sweet little craft. Could reach orbit maybe?"
She looked over to Joyce.

Joyce
shook her head. "Doesn't have the fuel range for up and back.
Fuel tanks are too small. No, ballistic flights, up, coast, and then
down." She shrugged.

"Coast,
you mean fall," Wanda asked looking nervous. No, she was
definitely
not
getting in this thing.

"He
brought nylon parachutes too for emergencies," Tess teased.

"Don't
expect me on that thing," Wanda said shaking her head. Mario
chuckled. "Or you either if you know what's good for you bub."

He
looked up. "It's safe, or at least as safe as we can make it!"
He gave her a hurt look. She shook her head.

"No!"

He
sighed. "I'm waiting for the awe but honey..." Joyce stage
whispered to Tess.

Tess
chuckled. "I go, is no big deal."

Joyce
shook her head. "First test flight is all me, I am only risking
my own neck not a mom's," she said firmly. Tess looked guilty.
"Hey I'm an engineer too remember? Anything happens I will fix
it, or die trying," Joyce joked.