A Butterscotch Sky Ch. 03

Of course, I'd let my own tongue slip in recent weeks, but my or Cedric's foul words never seemed to offend any of the crew, at least that I knew of, but I used the opportunity as a distraction.

"Cedric! Decorum!" I barked because I was finding it difficult to not allow my face to telegraph my uncertainty or doubt. I needed cover. Commander Sabratova seemed to sense it.

"Commander Emerson, please join me aft for a moment," Alyonka suggested, dismissing the password-protected message on the display.

"No!" Cedric argued. "With all due respect, don't exclude us from the discussion. We are all in jeopardy, and six minds are stronger than one or two!"

I thrust up my right hand, my palm facing him with only my forefinger extended. "Mind your bearing, Specialist Hamilton," I commanded.

I followed Aly through the hatch to the ship's cramped storage bay.

"Take a deep breath, Sean," she calmly said once the hatch was closed.

"Good god, Aly! How do you expect me to figure this out? We are in the midd⁠—"

"I do not expect it. I am still lead in this phase of mission, da ? It is why we learn and practice crew resource management philosophy. We must rely on skills and insights of every member of this crew. That is how. You and I are commanding. We must demonstrate confidence. I am as concerned with new information as you, but we must keep emotions in our pants."

I don't know if it was her intent, but her choice of words almost made me chuckle. I symbolically plucked my chest and head with my fingers, then put my hand in a trouser pocket.

"There. Done. Now, what do we do first?" I asked.

"We discuss as a team," she said, opening the hatch.

"Well?" Specialist Hamilton urged, seeing us emerge.

Aly subtly nodded at me to begin.

"You all read only the last part of the message. There was more. The analysts at Central have discovered the refueling systems at all three nodes have been destroyed. There's a much larger debris field at Node One which they suspect is the remnants of Return Four."

Alyonka asked Irenka, "Are the fuel systems connected in any way an accident or malfunction at one could damage other two?"

"A cascade failure?" Simi added.

Aly nodded.

"Not possible," Irenka began. "This is why they are independent. It would be more efficient to have one larger system that distributes fuel to all points, but too much risk of a single point of failure. Also, such a large system would be difficult to deploy and make distribution lines to other points."

"Pleiades Alpha status?" Shizuka asked.

Alyonka answered, "Unknown, but the ship is not present and there is no debris."

"The base?" Shizuka continued.

"The report says it appears to be intact," Aly said, paging back a few paragraphs.

Everyone was silent for several moments, considering the information.

Yes, the prior news was somewhat startling, but failed to compare with the implication of the next. Aly dropped the first bomb. "The solar arrays have been positioned to a geometry consistent for current Martian season."

"That means⁠—" Cedric said with his eyes widened.

"There is or recently was someone down there. Yeah. They must be repositioned locally. It is possible, I suppose, that a remotely controlled automaton could have moved them, or they were moved manually but pointed into the future solar plane, but there is no way to know. We have enough fuel to land, but not enough to return to Earth, and, as already said, the fueling systems on the surface were destroyed," I summarized.

The console near which we floated beeped again.

Imagery to follow , read the simple three-word message.

The data link had slowed to barely a fifth of the bandwidth it would normally carry due to increasing solar electromagnetic interference. It'd automatically switch to using the Venusian relay soon.

Ten seconds elapsed until the image was fully received. Aly opened the file.

"Well, hello there," Simi said.

"Whose are⁠—" Cedric and Irenka then overlapped with "⁠—those ?"

I'm pretty sure all six of us were staring at the screen with wide eyes, seeing enormous parachutes soiled with red dust.

Simi reached out and drew a tool across one of the chutes. "This one is approximately sixty meters in diameter, and there are three of them," he commented. "The payload must be very heavy."

Aly tapped a few icons on the screen to bring up some metadata. "This is six kilometers south of Node Two."

Beep.

"Oh, hell. How many of them are there?" Cedric asked as another set of chutes appeared in the next photograph.

"Eleven kilometers east of Node Two."

Shizuka lassoed a small portion of the image.

"Did someone have a long walk?" I hypothesized, noting what caught Ayani-san's attention. There was a capsule tucked under the edge of one chute, and its outward-swinging hatch had trapped the parachute's material above it. It was obvious to me that it was a manned craft. Not one unmanned deployment to Mars in public history encapsulated or deployed payload inside a capsule of the sort we examined.

"Alyonka, would you magnify the hatch?" I suggested, hoping to see any of the interior configuration.

Her fingers danced on the display.

"Fuck me !" Cedric gasped. "That's a body !"

None of us could disagree with his observation. There was most definitely a booted foot and lower leg extending from the hatch which was visible in the image.

"Commander Sabratova, can you please make a request to Central Mission?" Cedric requested. "Ask them to send non-oblique ten thousand square meter images of this coordinate …"

He stopped talking as he examined the metadata, "with …" he tapped some more "… twenty percent edge overlap along a vector to central base?"

"No need to ask them," Shizuka spoke. "Now we know range areas where points of interest are, we can scan imagery from Hyper-D database without their help and associated delays."

"That wasn't part of the training we were given. You can do that?"

"Hai . I study more than they tell us to read," Specialist Ayani wryly replied.

Beep.

Yet another image was dispatched which displayed a third triple-parachuted capsule.

"How many could those capsules carry?" I asked.

"I'm thinking three," Cedric answered.

"That does not bode well. If you're correct, it means it's possible nine individuals have landed on the surface, and onl⁠—"

"Only six could have departed," Aly said, completing my thought.

Shizuka beckoned us to the opposite side of the ring toward the Hyper-D console. She tapped on a high-altitude perspective image of the area Cedric had spoken of earlier, overlaid a digital geo-referenced coordinate grid, then entered a query on the command line. A few moments later, the first of the images appeared.

Cedric quickly paged through them until something caught his eye, then he slowed until we saw what made all twelve of our collective eyebrows arch.

"Another body," Irenka was the first to say, seeing what was an unmistakably dead astronaut approximately two thirds of the distance between the capsule and the base.

"This is proof the capsule held three individuals," Shizuka concluded.

"We've only seen two," Simi said.

"Yes. But who removed and took the suit's helmet?"

I studied the image closely. I assumed the engineers who designed the suits would have been fools to not ensure the helmet's seal couldn't be disengaged in unbalanced atmospheric pressure, which meant that suit had to have been vented for its helmet to be removed. The helmet was nowhere to be seen, implying someone else had taken it some distance away from the individual who was face down in the dirt, and most certainly deceased.

"Keep going," I suggested.

He flipped through a number of additional images. Nothing else seemed out of sorts compared to what we already knew.

The opposite console beeped once again.

Primary comm will be via Venus relay with effect sol 7 to sol 23. CM ceasing image transfer as it has been noted you have accessed same locally.

Fuel is primary urgency and we are assessing options with all available personnel.

ORDERS:

Intercept S1/S2 in orbit. EVA authorized to transfer excess fuel to O1.

Verify fuel sufficiency after completion of EVA and advise viability to land then return to low Mars orbit at later time.

"They've gone insane," I whispered to Aly as both of us continued reading the order.

Land at point between nodes one/two. Program follows.

On landing, restore base data link if able. Determine origin of other spacecraft if able. Message ends.

Aly began typing a response on the onscreen keyboard:

We note probable human remains in second craft image and also between craft and base. We believe nine individuals possible. If so, one more individual from second craft, location not known.

"It's going to be a while before anyone responds," I said, starting a timer on my chronometer to mark the earliest possible response of about one Earth hour.

"What was all of that about?" Simi asked when we returned to where they were still scouring images.

"We have been ordered to … randevu ?" Aly spoke, looking at me.

I nodded.

Aly continued, "We are to randevu with supply one and two to offload as much fuel from them for Orion One to assure landing and return to low orbit is possible."

"And, if we can't? Or there's not enough?" Irenka asked.

"We will cross bridges we come to."

Cedric morbidly and nervously chuckled. "Or eight people on Earth will be turning keys."

"Let's work through it one step at a time and try not to get ahead of ourselves," I said.

"Without Martian surface radar, we will have to locate S1 and S2 somehow," Shizuka added.

Aly silently nodded.

"I'll pull up the orbital predictions. It's as good a place to start as any," I said and began the task.

What I examined was nothing more than a mathematical model of where the two resupply ships were expected to be relative to our orbit. It was fairly raw without any assistance from surface radar to triangulate and affirm perfect fixes, but it was all we had. I figured if we could get within two thousand kilometers of either one, shipboard radar would find it, allow the two craft to link up digitally, and adjust as needed to intercept.

It required an hour for me to calculate and Simi to verify my proposed orbital deviation. Commander Sabratova attended to the improving but still raw wound on Simi's leg as we worked. Everyone else multitasked to prepare for more maneuvering.

Once everything and everyone was secure, the program executed. Nearly three minutes of rumbling and groaning commenced as the ship re-vectored to a new orbit.

"Estimate time to intercept?" Aly asked.

"Six hours. The five of you should go strap into your slings and get some rest. I'll keep the first watch."

"Da . It has been a long night."

"Commander Sabratova, with your permission, I'll stand watch with Commander Emerson and keep him awake." Simi said.

"Very well," she said and nodded.

She and the other three returned to the crew compartment we'd been rousted from five hours earlier. We'd only been asleep for maybe an hour or two when the bell rang. Goodbye, circadian rhythm, hello, "jet" lag.

"Friend to friend, Sean, not commander to subordinate, okay?" Simi probed.

I nodded. "Sure."

"How are you and Alyonka?" He asked as he anchored himself into a seat.

"I doubt we're much better than the four of you."

"I understand, but that is not what I meant. You and Alyonka. Alyonka and you. You two⁠—"

"I know what you're getting at, but … to be honest? I don't know. Somehow, she and I connected at a very personal level after Pleiades concluded, but now she's back to the same woman we worked with during the mission."

"Of course she is, my friend. And you have returned to that same man."

"What the⁠—"

"Shh, Sean. Keep your voice down. That hatch is thin."

"What the hell are you saying?" I said sotto voce .

"You are taking the testicle-crushing suppressors, and she is taking the female formulation as well. It has affected you both, yes?"

"Sim⁠—"

"Sean, we all are. Shizuka and I agreed to it, and I am almost certain Cedric and Iren⁠—"

"Whoa, what?!"

"Don't be a fool, Sean."

"You mean …"

"Yes. She and I are sworn to each other.

"Do not dismiss Commander Sabratova, Sean. I have read many papers on the use of the drugs. We are all in a nadir. The research I have read suggests thoughts of love are preceded by physical attraction. And when attraction is absent, the in-love feeling is also absent. I have also read other papers that disagree with physical before psychological attraction. I believe the medicine we take removes any form of true reality. Shizuka and I are⁠—"

"Oh, hell, Simi! When did that happen? What about you and Irenka?" I interrupted. "And I thought Cedric and Shizuka had paired off."

"Irenka and I interacted only at a physical level months and months ago. Shizuka and I came to know how we connected very differently. Yes … yes. Differently. I am in love with her. I am like you. At this time, I do not have any physical desire for her, but I do know I am in love with her."

"So … when are you going to marry?" I asked.

"Formal marriage is an ancient concept. Shizuka and I agree we already are in a union."

"Congratulations, then?"

"Tack ," he answered in Swedish with a genuine smile and a handshake.

"You think Cedric and Irenka are …" I began.

"Considering how many bondings were formed during our program plus Ursa and Persephone, it would not be a surprise. Neither has said, but I suspect they are close, too. Irenka is teaching him Czech. It is a very challenging language, but he is working diligently. I think he wants to impress her."

I sat idly for several moments, considering the news. I was about to mention to Simi what Alyonka had suggested to me the night of our reunion back at Central, but the beep at the console stopped me.

CM concurs with your observations. Fourth capsule three kilometers west of Node 1. Analysts continue study of imagery.

"Twelve people?" Simi asked.

I nodded. "Minus two presumed dead."

"Are you going to advise Alyonka?"

"I'm not going to wake her for this news. It can wait."

Simi chuckled. "You know, this might sound crazy, but if these people are North Korean, I am impressed."

"Why?"

"They teach their children that everything from the moon landings a hundred years ago until now are western propagandist lies, insisting only they have the intelligence to do such things."

"What did they think, then, when China sent their own satellites and unmanned rovers to the moon and here to Mars?"

"I believe they do not want to bite the hand that feeds them. North Korea imports ninety percent of their resources from China."

"Well, either way, their scientists obviously know better now."

"Took them long enough. How many men and women lost their lives trying to put a person in orbit?"

"Close to a thousand, if I recall. Most of them perished in that explosion in 2031 which wiped out their entire launch facility and a nearby village."

"Add to those the ones that were publicly executed afterward for embarrassing the supreme leader ," Simi scoffed.

"Let's change the subject. This is getting depressing," I said, unsnapping my tether.

I nudged myself a few meters away and pulled a pouch of pineapple pomegranate juice blend from the stores. Simi held his hands in a catch position after it'd been hydrated, so I floated it his direction and withdrew another.

"They went from that to this," he said, pointing out the portal. "Who knows what else they are hiding up their sleeves."

"That's what I don't want to think about. And I wonder if they know we're here."

"Not likely. No radio signals from the surface have been detected by our receivers, so no radar. You kept Orion in an attitude so our own radar's emissions wouldn't arrive at the surface. Unless they observe us visually during the night, we're invisible."

"If there's someone down there, though, they'll certainly see us land."

Simi shrugged. "Not much we can do to avoid that unless we plan on walking a few hundred kilometers."

I thought about his observation for a few moments, then asked, "Assume there are people at the hab. How long would it take them to reach the landing site at the midpoint between nodes one and two?"

Simi mumbled as he tapped on the computer display. "Midpoint … ten kilometers … angle node to base and ship … uh … half radian … tangent of B dividing A gives … It's less than six kilometers distant," he concluded.

"How much less?" I asked.

"If we land exactly on the spot, it is five point seven kilometers between the base and the landing site."

"Acoustic decibel level?"

He tapped again.

"Density of atmosphere … five point seven kilometers … Approximately sixty-three decibels. Unlike the launches of our return modules, it is remotely possible someone in the habitat at the base may hear us land, but certainly probable they will note the seismic effects if they are watching the monitors."

"Yeah. My question is how long until someone could meet us?"

"Six meters per second maximum for the EV we left behind … so … a little more than fifteen standard minutes."

"Sounds sane," I agreed. "Topography?"

He scrolled the map. "There's a hillock of thirty meters nearby."

I laughed. "How do you, a Swede, know the word hillock ?"

He shrugged.

"Let's set the landing point behind it. It could be necessary for cover."

"Cover from what?"

"Bang bang," I answered, mimicking the act of pulling a trigger.

"You don't think⁠—"

"Who knows, Simi, who knows."

"Sean, have you trained in tactical defense?"

"No," I scoffed. "Have you?"

He shook his head. "Irenka seems like she could kick some ass if she was treated unkindly. She is ex-military."

Simi and I spent another two hours studying additional images. We found nothing which could aid us further, and the personal conversation between us held fast in the back of my mind.

Sol 7, Mission Time: 07:03

"Commander Emerson?" whispered a man behind me.

"Hello," I responded just as quietly.

"You look exhausted. Give me a situation report, then get some sleep," Cedric requested.

"Radar is tracking S2 and the computers have synchronized with it. We will intercept it in two standard hours. Central found a fourth lander, more information to follow at some point. All shipboard systems nominal. Orion is maneuvering S2 using its RCS thrusters, so we won't constantly get knocked around by our own."

"Understood," Specialist Hamilton responded as Irenka jostled Simi's shoulders.

"Jag är vaken ! I am awake!" Simi grunted in his startle, though I knew he'd been asleep for an hour.

"Where is Commander Sabratova?" I asked.

"Still in her sling where she needs to be," Cedric replied.

"Simi, go to bed," Irenka said to him.

"Nej, " was his response.

I shrugged at Irenka and Cedric because I didn't care whether Simi slept in his sling in crew rest or if he remained in the seat he was tethered to. As quietly as I could, I entered crew rest and closed the hatch. Lightly grasping a handhold, I floated motionlessly as my eyes adjusted to the very dim lighting.