CHAPTER 17 – NEW TECHNOLOGY
08:03 (GMT)
Thursday, August 9, 2074
Olympus Mons Spaceport
Mars
‘’What a ship! It is splendid!’’
Viktor Ponichnikov, standing beside his wife, nodded his head in agreement while also admiring the big but sleek, arrow point-shaped space shuttle through the armored glass window of the arrival lounge.
‘’Indeed! This thermonuclear fusion rocket propulsion system sure beats our old nuclear rocket engines by a wide margin in terms of performance. To be able to approach and land vertically simply on engine power, without gliding parachute, is a huge step forward.’’
‘’God, what I would do to pilot such a ship! And for its parent ship to be able to make the trip to Mars in only seventeen days…’’ said Denise Wattling, who still loved piloting at the age of seventy. ‘’These new thermonuclear propulsion ships should greatly increase the flow of passengers and equipment we receive from Earth. Those 438 new immigrants who are about to disembark will certainly do us a lot of good in terms of population growth. After thirty years on Mars, we just barely passed the 6,000 people mark. If we want to become self-sufficient one day, we will need a lot more people on this planet, along with the corresponding installations and industries.’’
‘’True, but we are on the right path for that, thanks to the continued support that we got from Earth. With the costs and time of trips between Earth and Mars falling down significantly thanks to those new fusion ships, that should entice the authorities on Earth to continue delivering their support to us.’’
‘’I certainly hope so, Viktor. I certainly hope so.’’ replied softly Denise. She couldn’t help then mentally hope that she would live long enough to see the moment when her Mars colony would be declared self-sufficient. However, she doubted that very much: there were still many decades of hard work ahead before that cherished goal could be achieved.
14:36 (GMT)
Wednesday, October 01, 2081
Orbital space terminal ‘ARES STATION’
Low Mars equatorial orbit
‘’Ares Station, from H.S.S. STEPHEN HAWKING: Docking maneuver now completed.’’
That short radio message, coming out of an overhead speaker, was greeted by a concert of cheers from the technicians and space controllers manning the Ares Station space terminal: the H.S.S. STEPHEN HAWKING was the first ship to officially dock at the newly completed giant orbital structure. The commander of Ares Station, Jiang Min, activated his microphone to answer himself the visiting spaceship.
‘’H.S.S. STEPHEN HAWKING, from Ares Station, you are authorized to start disembarking your passengers and cargo.’’
Min, a 68 year-old aerospace engineer who had been part of the original crew of the H.S.S. FRIENDSHIP during its historical first trip to Mars, then took off his radio headset and put it on top of the nearby chief space controller’s station, where a hook kept it from floating up and away.
‘’I am going to go meet the ship’s captain via the arrival hall, Steve.’’
‘’Understood, Min!’’ replied the chief controller, Steve Parsons. Min then walked out of the space terminal’s control room, which was in zero gravity condition, using the magnetized soles of his boots to walk normally, albeit in a slow, cautious way.
Taking an elevator cabin to go down to the level of the passengers’ arrival hall, some180 meters below the control center of the station, Min then followed for seventy meters a communications tube closed at both ends by safety airlocks, finally entering the large arrival hall, with its reception counters and information booths. There were no customs control booths or luggage inspection tables to be found there, as the space terminal, like all Human installations on and around Mars, was legally considered international territory under United Nations protection. That was however partially compensated security-wise by the fact that all cargo and passengers embarking on or around Earth on a Mars-bound ship were searched and told not to carry any weapons, drugs, animals, insects or plants on or with them. One constant worry of Martian officials was the possible accidental importation on Mars of parasites, insects or vermin that could then swiftly multiply and spread through the hydroponic gardens on the planet, with possibly disastrous consequences. Any illegal importation of weapons, like firearms and combat blades, was also severely looked upon. With the few public security officers now working in the various Mars communities having only non-lethal weapons like tasers and riot batons, that point was of crucial importance in order to prevent the emergence of violent crime in Martian communities. Thankfully, Mars had mostly managed up to now to avoid crime in its midst, the only registered trouble up to now having been rare cases of drunken brawling and even rarer cases of domestic or sexual abuse. Since all essential needs were provided for free to its citizens by the Martian Administration and since there were few luxury items to be found around the planet, theft was as well mostly unheard of on Mars. There was also the fact that each new immigrant that came to Mars did so to fill a specific job advertised by the administration, thus saw all his or her needs provided from the time of departure from Earth. With all the available resources needing to be tightly managed to avoid waste, Mars was no place for free-loading immigrants with no employable skills or desire to work. As for tourists, they were still a rarity but, hopefully, that aspect of Mars’ economy would eventually grow to the point of profitability in the years to come.
Min watched for a moment as a steady stream of passengers was coming out of the telescopic communications tube linking the STEPHEN HAWKING and the main access airlock of the arrival hall. Those 1,340 new immigrants would indeed be most welcomed additions to the Martian workforce, bringing with them a wide variety of skills, some of which had been absent until now on Mars. Min knew that there was at least one qualified, experienced jeweler and his family aboard the ship who, as such, would be the first jeweler to work on Mars, to satisfy a demand for locally-produced jewelry that used the gold, silver, platinum and gems mined on the planet. He couldn’t help smile in amusement when an overenthusiastic young woman just off the ship whooped up with joy and jumped up in excitement, only to find herself floating up in the zero-gravity environment of the arrival hall, her arms flapping around in panic while she screamed for help. This was not the first time that such a thing happened and a couple of space terminal employees were standing ready with long poles equipped with hooks for just such an eventuality. The shaken young woman was soon presented with the end of a pole, which she frantically grabbed, to be then pulled down back to the floor of the hall, where her magnetized soles secured her back to the ground. Once the bulk of the passengers had disembarked, Min walked to the access airlock and entered it, then walked down the communications tube of the STEPHEN HAWKING. A ship’s officer greeted him inside the passengers transit hall of the ship, which had a much lower ceiling that the space station’s arrival hall.
‘’Welcome on the H.S.S. STEPHEN HAWKING, sir! What may we do for you?’’
‘’I am Jiang Min, Commander of Ares Station. I would like to speak with your captain, if he is not too busy.’’
‘’Certainly, sir! Follow me, please.’’
Leaving a crewmember in charge of the transit hall, the female officer led Min to one of the elevator cabins situated in one corner of the wide compartment. The two of them then rode up for some forty meters parallel to the centerline axis of the ship before their cabin stopped and its doors opened. The H.S.S. STEPHEN HAWKING was the first ship of a new class, with many more similar ships to follow, all using the tremendous power and efficiency of the new thermonuclear fusion rocket technology. Of generally ogival shape, with an overall length of 330 meters and a maximum width of 205 meters, the STEPHEN HAWKING was much more massive and voluminous than the 38 year-old H.S.S. FRIENDSHIP, which was still used to haul cargo and passengers between Earth and Mars. However, in contrast to the FRIENDSHIP, the STEPHEN HAWKING was much less dependent on the relative orbital positions of Earth and Mars, thanks to its powerful new engines, and could make the trip at the time of its choosing, thus greatly increasing the frequency of the trips between the two planets.
Once out of the elevator cabin, the ship’s officer led Min to an airtight steel door and opened it, letting him enter what clearly appeared to be the bridge of the ship. No less than fifteen men and women were present and working on the bridge as Min was led to one graying woman sitting in a centrally-located command chair. The escorting officer then presented Min to the woman in the chair.
‘’Captain, this is Mister Jiang Min, Commander of the Ares Station. Mister Jiang, this is Captain Natalia Voronej, the master of the STEPHEN HAWKING.’’
The tough-looking blonde in her fifties sitting in the chair smiled to Min and extended a hand for a shake.
‘’Happy to meet you, Mister Jiang. Your space terminal is certainly an impressive feat of space engineering.’’
‘’And your ship is a truly splendid one, Captain Voronej.’’ replied Min. ‘’I came to review with you what we are going to exchange in cargo and passengers. I believe that you have brought with you two fusion-powered planetary shuttles that are going to be assigned to my space terminal, along with their flight crews and maintenance teams.’’
‘’That is correct, Mister Jiang. On top of that, we brought 1,340 new immigrants, along with 6,580 metric tons of various cargo and supplies. Thanks to your space terminal, we will be able to depart for Earth as soon as all that is transferred on your station, instead of having to wait for shuttles to haul that down to Mars piece by piece. And what do you have for us in exchange, so that I don’t travel with empty holds?’’
‘’Oh, I have plenty of valuable stuff for you, Captain, along with 93 passengers, Martian citizens who want to take some vacation time on Earth.’’
Min then took out of a pocket an electronic data pad and consulted it for a few seconds before speaking again.
‘’You will be loading up some 670 metric tons of Martian pink salt, 1,133 metric tons of molybdenum metal products, 5.6 metric tons of pure platinum, 3.8 metric tons of palladium metal, 2,080 kilos of iridium, 11.6 metric tons of dysprosium, 712 kilos of scandium and 961 kilos of thulium, plus 329 kilos of uncut peridot semi-precious gems. The quantities I quoted for the rare earth elements may seem negligible, but their value on the Earth’s metal commodities market total over 226 million dollars. Add to that the value of the platinum and molybdenum and you have a cargo of metals worth nearly half a billion dollars.’’
‘’Wow!’’ said Voronej, truly impressed. ‘’It thus seems that Mars is starting to pay its way in terms of economic balance, Mister Jiang.’’
‘’Right you are, Captain, and this is only the start. Up to now, Mars is proving to be a mother lode in terms of mineral deposits, with some of the deposits found to date being of metals that are rare on Earth or whose supply is nearly exhausted, like rare earth metals. And we have only explored and prospected a tiny fraction of Mars surface to date. The latest discovery dates back from only two weeks ago, when an incredibly rich vein of diamonds deposits was found inside one of the old lava tubes of Pavonis Mons, in the Tharsis Montes volcanic chain, near Olympus Mons. Exploitation of that vein is due to commence in about a month and it should become a major source of high quality diamonds, both for Mars and for Earth. I…’’
A communications technician on duty on the bridge suddenly interrupted Min, looking at his captain with a shocked expression.
‘’I’m sorry to interrupt like this, Captain, but the Mars Internet is now broadcasting a planet-wide urgent announcement.’’
‘’Very well, Mister Dominguez. Put it on the main viewing screen.’’
‘’Yes, Captain!’’
With Min also looking with some anxiety at the large viewing screen of the bridge, the technician quickly made the picture of a news presenter appear, with the overhead picture of some kind of crash site shown on split screen mode.
‘’…The flying rover was on its way to the Capri Chasma region, at the eastern end of the Valles Marineris, when it apparently suffered a catastrophic engine or flight control failure and crashed on the ground, killing all of its seven occupants. Rescue teams are now at the site of the crash and have confirmed that there are no survivors. We now know that the Chief Administrator of Mars, Denise Wattling, was at the commands of the rover when it crashed and is part of the casualties. For the benefit of the newer citizens of Mars, let us remind the viewers that Denise Wattling, now dead at the age of 77, was in command of the first ever Human team to set foot on Mars, some 37 years ago, and was also the commander of the first Human base on Mars.’’
Tears filled Min’s eyes as he looked at the file picture of Denise Wattling being shown on the screen, wearing her space suit with its visor up and smiling to the camera. He had to search quickly for a chair and sat in it, crushed by infinite sorrow and crying shamelessly.