OUTPOST-Chapter Ten, onward to Mars

CHAPTER TEN
OUTPOST
By Julian Phillips
From the story by Tom Luong /Tom Luong Films
Dec. 11, 2009


“There’s no goodness in me equal to all the badness of the world. But deep space---what could go wrong?”
-US Mars-Program spaceship transport pilot Guy Reisling, 2076

Like a dream of globes, or gigantic stones, or spinning tops in the hands of a child-deity, formed from infinity, yet round and lovely, spheres--the first solar planetary object, the second, and then third through ninth, and beyond, had been dancing delightedly for so long, few could truly remember their origins. In fact, no one could. But it was long ago, for sure, and the furnaces of creation, the formation of matter and energy, and Guy Reisling’s ancestors, somewhere in his blood-stream and DNA, silent yet eternal---those burn-bins yet lingered in the rear-view mirror of himself and mankind, ever-curious, super-chimps, as one philosopher said, like ants on our glorious Earth, home forever.
And there away on Mars, after long years of hard work and learning, the US had, at one point now past, established the Mars-base, under discussion in their meetings. Why do we do these things, mankind might have mused, taken whole? What’s the use? Who cares for Mars? It’s dry and boring and empty and barren, only rocks, no good air, cold and hot both, in extremes, without a single tree. For every single person on Earth, there was no question---thanks, but no thanks, I like it here. Even the Earth’s bitterly poor had a handful, otherwise not long to live, and adventures of their own, humble. Yet the few, the proud, the US Mars program space-flight workers, and the other Earth space-explorers, really numbering only a few thousand people, but a tiny fraction of humanity---where few had gone, few would ever go, and among them who did, most learned not to ask themselves why, for their own self-respect.
Dinner on Mars, at the so-called Snikta-Ridge Volcanic Basin US Mars base, was a family-type affair, and tended with the perpetual concept of keeping spirits up and overcoming exhausted workers and depression or other off-world emotional troubles---same as at home on Earth, just without the view. Much like any demanding service that trained and skilled people would undertake, such as military, the food was prepared with the very best quality available, for this reason. On one evening, Earth date then at January 23, 2076, in the food-court within the safety of the base itself, the meal for about 20 or 30 people, was---once again---completely vegetarian. The main reason was that for the base to be self-sustaining, they needed to raise their own food, difficult on Mars to be sure. But it was essential---they would all die if the shipments of goods that Guy Reisling and others were responsible for, failed for some reason, for a significant period. Rice was the most successful. It grew easily in shallow water, was acclimated to heat-changes, high in carbohydrates, and also preserved well. They had many other types of crops, carefully tended in long, very large hot-houses---beans, corn, organic melons, onions, carrots, and so on. The plants also produced free ambient oxygen, exchanging C02 for 02, for photo-synthesis. But the chefs were stocked with wonderful spices and ingredients, and the meals were truly quite good, with many variations. Once or twice a year the Earth-transports brought in a supply of familiar meat-products, too.
The crews ate in shifts, around the clock. The base was occupied by about 230 people at this time. The number at the base changed, but not by much, as Earth-bound passengers departed, no more than five or six at a time, and others arrived. Thus, there at the dinner-table, on that day, the Communications Tech-Support Karen Tutturro, now, at last, found herself enjoying her first meal on the new planet---and she was filled with wonder, and joy, though cautious, at everything she was learning about this new world.
“Do we always eat here, or is there another dining area?” Karen asked her guide, whose name was Juno, a Belgian-German base security man, whose real job---since they were never under any actual threat, or hostility, other than that of Mother Nature---was mostly to maintain the ebb-and-flow of civic and family life there at the base, which was complex enough that minor disputes could be disruptive and needed to be dealt with. But that was rare.
“There is another one, three corridors down, and then a third as well,” Juno said. Each one will feed 150 people at a time. But there is no need. They work in shifts. The second food hall is smaller, and the other one about this size. How was the transport voyage? How is Earth these days? I haven’t been home in six months.”
Karen laughed. “Well, it’s still there,” she said. She continued eating. The dish was rice-rissotto, with pickles and nuts, and veggies, and a soy-based fruit-type nutrition drink, with other items as treats. “The transport was fine, but demanding. You know. I liked everything, except the bedding was too rough, or---just not very comfortable.”
“That was your first time, then?” Juno asked her.
“Yes. I’m a Mars virgin.”
“You’ll get used to it. Take nothing for granted. It’s still dangerous, even today. A few miles beyond these walls---certain death.” He just smiled. “Even for Mars virgins, it’s cold outside.”
The dinner-hall was an echo of pleasant voices. People laughed or chatted. Mars-TV, as they jokingly called the in-house communication system, played popular entertainments on a screen-surface. The most popular were nature-documentaries from Earth, but also many others, agreed on by committee.
“My job is working on the Inter-planet communications,” Karen said. “I was sent because there were troubles in the system that made failure possible, which might cause troubles or mix-ups in essential services.”
“Yes, I know,” Juno said. “It was more than a year ago. There was a needful communication series regarding a research inquiry program, and complex data. But they messed up somehow. It was a geological survey, with samples, too. But it failed badly. They panicked. And now here you are.”
“In the words of Ringo Starr, I’m glad to be here or anywhere,” Karen replied. “I’ll get to work tomorrow, today I rest from the voyage. It took the ship more than 60 days from Earth. I’ll have my hands full. It’s a complex system.”
After a while, they left the cafeteria, and entered the rest of the Mars-base complex, as Juno would guide her around for the next couple of hours, to view the ‘tour’ that new-comers enjoyed. The various halls of the facility were arched, large enough for small motorized carts, and went on for even miles, taken together, though only a total of about four miles in all. Karen seemed to take charisma with Juno, and they laughed a bit, and became friends, as everyone at the base was encouraged to be.
The Mars-base planners wanted to create and fabricate a long-term facility that would serve several main purposes: to host the science-and-research team, the pilots and crews, and equipment-computers-machines; and also for work involved in the hot-houses and with growing plants, processing chemicals and oxygen-water, recycling, process-generation; and also of course for purposes such as housing, offices, astronomy, and operations. Beyond the main walls, were modest launch-pads, and a series of ramps and short drives leading to the eight main gates; there were also observation equipment-stations, raw-materials containers, and ladders or steps that could access the upper decks, windows, pads, observations stations, and then the roof.
The entire layout looked very patch-work and military, like a puzzle of squares and shapes, and various components, small roads and containers. The actual Snikta-Ridge Volcanic Basin had been chosen by the base designers because of the geology structure of the rocky region. The ridge was a solid 100 miles long, North to West on the planet surface, in the upper-equatorial area, and included the unique aspect of containing an underground ice-flow, or H20-pack of frozen moisture, perhaps millions of years old. There was some frozen ‘dry-ice’ on the surface as well. This incredible find meant the base could be self-sustaining within only a few years of completed construction, which was about 2064.
Karen and Juno turned a corner deep inside the base, about two corridors over from where they had eaten their rice-rissotto. They moved into an area with a room full of computers and tech-gear, mostly for communications with Earth. An Asian man, named Boji-Than, met her by appointment. This was the Mars-Base Commander, far more a man of science than a soldier. He was taught-looking and slender, keen-eyed, fast-talking and very wise about all things related to the base.
Juno, the escort, dismissed himself. Boji-Than took Karen’s hand, and she smiled gratefully. “We have much to discuss, I’m so glad you’re here,” Boji said. “Come with me.”
“Pleased to meet you,” she said.
Karen knew a good deal about the type of gear and tech they used to communicate back-and-forth with Earth. The system was essential for their survival. Her unique area was in microwave and basic radio, directional and power-supply, as well as antenna-array, and data-compression, and similar. Of course she had studied many years, with special education and knowledge. Likewise, Bojji-Than was completely appraised to these tasks.
They move through the equipment and he showed her various monitoring-screens and simple ways to appraise the system’s functionality. “It was no one’s fault, the way it broke down,” he said. “We were in the middle of a research project, mostly a geo-survey. None of the information was very important, which is typical here on Mars. It was a six-month project just to send the findings back to Earth, which were on-going.”
Karen gazed at one of the monitors, a computer that measured the flow of signals from one point to another, their receipt and content-stability. “You see?” Bojji-Than said. “The origins and transport-flow are fine, apparently. But when you reach this point—“
He pointed at one of the sections on the screen. This icon indicated a certain collection of computers and processors, that routed pre-compressed signal data to their final output via an antenna-array. “It’s blocked, and we don’t know why,” he said. “I’ve been working on it personally for weeks. By the time you were called up, it was a mess. I can tell you more, but that’s the outline.”
So, they talked more, mostly tech-stuff about the system she would be working on and various specifications. After half-an-hour, they settled down in an office in the same area.
“What are your feelings about the news from last year’s Spring Up-Date at Vandenberg?” Karen asked Bojji-Than. “About the meteor and the Russians?”
Bojji-Than relaxed a bit, and folded his arms. “Of course we heard all about it. As base-commander, it is very significant. We’ll have to adjust to whatever the Earth planners decide. My feeling is the situation could become a disaster, if the Russian-Ukrainian-Islamic forces in their space-program do indeed arrive. This base has no defenses for that sort of thing. No one ever dreamed we would need them. I am not a military person. So, we’ll see. Hopefully things will resolve without a problem.”
“The end of the world was never a problem before,” Karen joked.
“Only a few times,” Bojji said. “If something has a beginning, it has an end.”
“Let’s hope not,” Karen said. “It is home, after all.”
“For me, too,” Bojji-Than said. “I have not been back in almost a year.”
They continued to chat, and Karen was able to tell Bojji-Than about some more mundane aspects of life-on-Earth---new films, sporting events, new car models, things in the news, celebrities. This cemented their friendship somewhat. The work before them was demanding, and would take a lot of time. The mid-point processor that had broken down was complicated and highly-technical. Karen had brought a good deal of the back-up tools and analytical equipment she needed. After a while she was guided to her quarters and other new friends she would meet, while getting to know her new world.
“Just like Earth,” she said to herself, as she was finally alone. “Nice planet.”


---Julian Phillips
Oct. 28, 2009
2,051-words