In The Beginning Man Created
*NB quote
Next July we collide with Mars.
Cole Porter
"Garret fire the rockets on my mark," I told him as I studied the converging vector lines on my screen.
"Will do, boss," he said taking his hand away from the firing button to scratch his groin. "God these suits chaff."
"Keep your mind on the job," I said without taking my eyes of my monitor.
Garret moved his finger back over the firing button. "This is useless. Once I�ve input the codes they fire automatically. You don�t need me here to push the button. Don�t need you either for that matter. Let�s go have a coffee bulb and let the computer do it."
I quickly glanced at him and was relieved to see his finger still poised over the button. "We're the failsafe. If the rockets aren�t fired at the right time the rocks trajectory will be screwed."
"Wish I could," he sighed wistfully.
"What?"
"Be screwed."
It was my turn to sigh. We�d been in the ship for nine months and he was still trying. "Get your mind out of the gutter. We�re on. Three...two...one...mark."
Garret jabbed his finger down on the button as the ion engines flared into life. "Visual confirmation, rockets one through five all active," he informed me.
I kept my eyes on the monitor watching as the asteroid began to change trajectory. "Looks to be on course," I told him, "Three seconds to backwash."
I cinched my harness tighter. The ships shields flared into orange sparks as they deflected the worst of the ion storm. The flight deck was drowned in static and buffeted by what the shields didn�t deflect. I grabbed the flight joystick and started the ship moving out of the wake of the asteroid.
"Ride �em cowboy," Garret yelled as the ship lurched through a thick ion pocket.
The noise and jolting died to nothing as we left asteroid fifty-twos trail. I set the co-ordinates for our next asteroid and let the computer take over the piloting. Turning to Garret I asked, "Do you have to act like that every time,"
"I can't help it I love getting my rocks off," he said, a huge grin on his face.
"And you can stop saying that as well. It wasn�t funny the first time and it hasn�t improved with age."
"Ya just got no sense of humour," he said slapping the release buckle on his harness. "I�m off to bed. You want to join me."
I just stared at him. He never gave up.
"Like I said," he muttered as he drifted from the flight deck, "No sense of humour."
"Hey Garret," I said floating into the workshop where he was setting the timers for asteroid fifty-three, "We just got a beam from Earth Control."
"Say anything interesting," he mumbled around the screwdriver clenched in his teeth.
"Oh not really," I replied nonchalantly, "Our first rock arrived and Olympus Mons is no more."
Garret spun around the screwdriver flying free, "Your kidding."
I shook my head grinning broadly.
"Way to go. Is that good shooting or what." he cried, "Over 200 million klicks and I�m bang on target." He flung himself across the room and grabbed me, "Give us a kiss and we�ll retire for an early night."
"Would you stop that. I promised myself I wouldn't have sex on this tour" I said pushing him away from me.
"C�mon. Why not? Our psyche profiles are matched. That�s why we�re out here together. We were made for each other."
"You know as well as I that the psyche profiles only say we won�t kill each other before the end of the tour. They�re not a match making device. Besides our ETA is thirty minutes and your meant to have the timers ready by then."
"Yeah. Yeah. Quit nagging me like we�re married," he replied.
Garret glided onto the flight deck and in contravention of physics slumped into his seat. "All done," he said.
"Mmm," I said without turning from the calculations I was making.
"I said, All done," he repeated.
"That�s nice," I said turning to face him, "Now if you�ll shutup and let me think I might be able to say the same shortly." I turned back to my calculations.
Ten minutes later I tapped the return key and stretched my back, "God I hate this job."
Garret closed the file of the novel he was reading. "We all set?" he asked.
"Yep," I checked the ships timer, "In twenty two minutes those little beasties of yours will fire. Then ten months later the Argyre Planitia gets a whopping great big hole."
"So...What shall we do til then," Garret said looking at me and raising an eyebrow.
"Well I�m going to sit here and twiddle my thumbs and I think you should go and have a cold shower."
Shrugging his shoulders he turned back to his monitor and reopened his novel.
I saw a movement out the corner of my eye that shouldn�t have been there. I turned towards the viewport for a better look. "Christ there�s someone out there," I said.
Garret looked up from his monitor, "What, there can�t be. We�re in the middle of the asteroid belt, not LEO."
"Don�t tell me, tell them. They�re over by rocket six," I said pointing through the viewport.
"What the hell are they doing," Garret said leaning forward and squinting to get a better look.
I turned back to my console and activated the forward camera. Tweaking the joystick I zoomed in on the spacesuited figure. "They�re doing something to the rocket."
"I won�t have people tampering with my rockets," Garret said flicking himself out of his seat.
"What are you doing?" I said trying to follow him, but forgetting I had already fastened my seat harness.
"I�m going to stop them," he replied as he glided through the hatch into the aft of the ship
"Garret get back here. We don�t have time for this," I called as I fumbled with the harness release. He either didn�t hear me or ignored me. When I finally got down to the hold he was already cycling through the lock. There was nothing I could do now except go back to the flight deck and make sure nothing went wrong with the launch.
I was slipping into my seat as Garret jetted past the viewport. He did a slow spin as he passed and waved at me when he was facing the viewport. Even using the thruster at maximum it would take him ten minutes to reach the asteroid.
I turned my attention back to the monitor to try and work out what the person was doing to the rocket. As the figure moved around to the far side of the rocket I glimpsed the iridescent red logo on the front of the suit. MPS. Mars Preservation Society. "A Preserver," I whispered. Hurriedly switching on the mike I called Garret, "Be careful, the guys a nutter. He�s a Preserver."
"I hear ya," Garret replied, "The loon must be trying to throw one of the rockets off alignment so our rock will miss Mars."
"I don�t know what it is with these anti-progress Luddites. What�s the point in keeping Mars like it is. It�s a useless rock. Terraforming is the only way to go."
"Your preaching to the converted, my friend. It�s the guy on our rock you should be talking too."
He was right. I turned the radio to multiply frequency transmission. "Hey you. Stop messing with the rocket, that�s government property. We�re duly authorised members of the Ministry of Mars Reformation. What your doing is treason." I had no idea if this was true, but it sounded good. I don�t know if the person heard me. They gave no indication that they had. I set the message on a continuous loop and had the transmitter cycle through all radio frequencies broadcasting it.
I watched the monitor closely as Garret neared the asteroid. He was making his approach towards the persons back. I looked at the timer. The rockets would fire in six minutes. Garret had wasted a lot of time trying to approach the figure without being seen.
I stopped the looped message, "Garret you've got six minutes left. Grab them and get out of the asteroids way. I'll pick you up after the launch."
The person at the rocket straightened as I spoke. They had been listening after all. I tired to warn Garret, but my warning came to late he had already reached the person and grabbed them by the shoulder. I watched as the figure spun raising his hand, a plasma cutter clutched in it. They tried to bring it down onto Garrets faceplate.
Garret looked like an overweight slob but his reflexes were sharp and the fat hid surprisingly strong muscles. He caught the persons wrist as it moved towards him. Their struggles pushed them away from the asteroid.
"Watch your position," I told Garret as the struggling bodies drifted towards a rocket exhaust. I checked the timer one minute left. A glance at my monitor showed all the vector lines on screen and moving together.
The two combatants drifted in front of the rocket exhaust.
"Garret get out. Your in the exhaust blast." I yelled into the mike as a glance at my monitor showed the vector lines converging rapidly.
I slid across into Garrets seat to see if I could stop the automatic firing trigger. All commands I entered were rejected by the computer. It detected nothing wrong with the rockets and refused to abort the firing.
"Garret the exhaust," I screamed as the vector lines merged. He heard me this time as his helmet turned to look towards the asteroid. The rockets all fired on cue. The struggling figures were silhouetted in the exhaust for a moment before the ion blast vaporised them.
I stared at the screen unable to comprehend that it had actually happened. I was jolted back to awareness when the ship shook and the shields flared as the exhaust blast reached me. Moving like an automaton I piloted the ship out of the asteroids wake and set the co-ordinates for the next scheduled rock.
The routine motions brought me back to full awareness. If the Preservers had the resources to send one man out here then they could probably send another. I had to let Earth Control know what had happened or future tours could be endangered.
I sat down at the beam transmitter. "Alpha-Tango-One-Six to Earth Control. Emergency, level one. Preservers tried to interfere with launch of asteroid fifty-three. Garret," my throat closed up, chocking me. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before continuing, "Garret has been killed. Camera files attached. What do you instruct." I switched off the transmitter and checked the time. Seventeen forty-three. I had at least thirty six minutes to wait for a reply.
The incoming signal bell sounded causing me to jump. I�d been seeking solace from my grief in maintenance work on my EVA suit that I hadn�t noticed the time disappear. I checked my watch. Nineteen twenty-two. Time really had slipped away. I wondered what had taken Earth Control so long to respond to my message as I moved toward the flight deck.
Slipping into my seat I started the message playing. A mans face, whom I didn�t recognise, appeared on the screen. I thought this odd. I�d expected to see John. As Flight Personnel Coordinator he seemed the most likely person to be called in, in this sort of situation. The unknown person stated to speak.
"Cost of aborting the tour is prohibitive. Analysis believes it is possible to complete the tour with only one operator. Complete the rest of the scheduled tour. A full inquiry into the incident will be held on returning to Earth."
I laughed. Those bastards. They were trying to distance themselves from any involvement. They didn�t even have the guts to mention our names or what happened in their reply. I was just an operator and Garrets death was just an incident.
Flicking off the monitor I pulled myself out of the seat. Even though my body was weightless it felt like a ton. I expect by the time I return to Earth the whole �incident� will be my fault. I pushed myself towards the flight deck hatch I had to finish the maintenance on my EVA suit.
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