Chapter 27
Giavani scooped another load of red dirt and spread it on the ground.
'Not so much of it, this time,' he said.
'I think we've emptied the pocket,' said Warner. 'Not a bad haul, though.'
'Do you think its a common element here on Mars?'
Warner shrugged. 'Hard to say. It was pure chance we found this on our last visit. I'd say Marilium here is like gold on Earth.'
'Maybe we can come back and find more one day.'
'How many fortunes can you spend in one lifetime?'
'You don't know my wife.'
Together they collected the Marilium and filled the fifth container.
'This should do it,' said Warner. 'Flooding the market would be counter productive, anyway. You might as well add these to the collection. I'll go and see Mitchum.'
Giavani picked up the containers, and took them to the Moonstruck, then he secured them to the hull with the others. He stepped back and smiled. One containers worth each. Worth...millions. Even his wife would struggle to spend it all.
* * *
'How's it going, Mike?'
'Good. Just a couple more connections, then job done. How about you?'
'Five containers filled. Giavani's taken the last to the ship. I think that's the last of it.'
'It was a useful little pocket. I'm thinking of buying a little Pacific island where I can lie on the beach at night and stare at the stars, and thank God I'm not spending half my life in a stinking space suit.'
'You don't fool me, Mike Mitchum. Out of all of us, you'll miss space travel the most.'
'Yeah. Then I'll sip another Martini and get over it. Grab hold of this pipe.'
Warner picked up one end of the Luxotral pipe and they carried it to Joe Hancock who was fitting a valve to the length of pipe in the new bore hole.
'Finished, Joe?'
'One more turn should do it. There. Now we just need to lower the pipes back in the water and the natural pressure should be enough to get a flow going. Once the air is out of the system, we can close off the valve, make the final connection, open the valve again and bingo.'
'Okay. Debbie. When Joe gives the signal, you operate the crane and lower the pipes.'
Debbie stood by the crane, ready to lower the pipes. Joe waved and she moved the slide control that lowered the crane head. At a slow and steady rate, the pipes were lowered into the water reservoir and a fountain of acidic water spurted out of the top. She kept lowering until Hancock waved to tell her it was at exactly the right height above the ground for the final pipe to be fitted. Avoiding the water gushing out of the elbow with the new valve on the end, Hancock turned the valve off, stopping the flow. Then he and Mitchum got the final pipe fitted in place.
'Now we can seal around the bore hole,' said Hancock.
Next to the bore hole was the sealer. Roughly the size of a human, the pressurised container of fast setting sealer was ready to inject the expanding resin into the gap between the pipe and the bore hole. This was to keep the pressure in the reservoir, to force the water along the pipes. Mitchum and Hancock wheeled the sealer in position and Mitchum held the nozzle probe in place as Hancock turned the sealer on. Hancock joined Mitchum to manoeuvre the nozzle all the way around the gap, fighting the back pressure. They didn't stop until the sealer was empty.
Mitchum high five'd Hancock. 'Okay. Gear away. All done.'
All the equipment was stowed away in the borer. Now, there was only one more thing to worry about.