Trouble on the Red Planet; Aumrill

It must have been ten days later when Donna, Wanjiku, and Dana Wilson were in the control room. Donna was on the public address microphone and looking into the work station monitors.

“Listen up!” she said. “The gauges have all registered full. We have a green light and activation will begin.”

“Work crews One, Two, and Three, activate your heating units.”

And down below, in the Biocontainment field Robert Wilson activated his work station, then signaled to Work Station Two. The second work station was activated and the technician signaled Work Station Three and it was activated in turn.

Donna called out: “The first three work stations are now activated.”

Four, Five, and Six; activate your stations.”

The stations were activated in kind and in only three hours Donna called out:

“Now, Seven-hundred-twenty, Seven-hundred-twenty-one, and Seven-hundred-twenty-two, activate your work stations and the work stations were activated in their sequence and it was then Donna announced: “All work stations are operating steadily. All crews will report to their monitor stations in the lab.”

The different crews equaling two- hundred-forty eight men and women left their workstations from around the frozen lake in their carts to the southwest end of the crater.

Robert Wilson was sitting at his monitor station two hours later when he reported: “The air temperature in the southwest area has risen from minus one-hundred-eighty degrees Fahrenheit to minus one-hundred-seventy-five degrees Fahrenheit. Frank Sutton reported, “The northwest area has risen to minus one-hundred-seventy-three degrees Fahrenheit.” Donna announced, “Okay, we can all take a break for a few hours. The temperature in the field should rise steadily from now on. Work crews will be posted for around the clock monitoring. The schedules will be sent out at the end of the day. Thank you for your hard work and dedication. We have accomplished the first part of the fourth phase of the project.” Applause rang out over the monitor room.

Later in the lounge Donna was sitting with the Wilson’s. “Robert and Dana,” she said. “How would you like to take the first eight hour shift in the morning starting at eight a.m.?”

“Sure, that would be fine,” Robert said and Dana nodded. “The area should get progressively warmer as time goes on,” Robert suggested. “In the first four hours of operation the temperature went up five to seven degrees. By this time tomorrow it should rise that mush every two hours and in a few dews we’ll be watching it rise steadily by the hour.”

“That’s the theory,” Donna agreed

At eight a.m. Bob read the gauges. The temperature had now risen to minus one-hundred-thirty-five degrees in the south and to minus one-hundred-twenty-six degrees in the north. Still not much variation in the increase in temperature but at least it was steadily rising. At ten a.m. he was still at his post and the temperature had risen another five degrees and just as soon as he logged it his computer terminal indicated that he had an audio/visual message on his e-mail.

“Hmmm, I wonder who that could be?” he mumbled to himself. A familiar face flashed on the screen. Dana walked over and handed him a cup of coffee. “Guess who sent me a message?” asked Bob.

“Who?” Dana asked.

“It’s Brad.”

“Really, is Neptune flirting with Uranus again?”

“Don’t know.” He engaged the playback.

Brad’s image said, “Bob, I hope this message is reaching you at a favorable time. I just want to inform you that my colleagues and I have not been able, under any scenario, to recreate your experiment. There is something significant about the ‘nodes’ that we have yet to determine. Contact me at your earliest convenience and we will discuss this further . . . Out.”

“Well, I think I’m married to a celebrity,” Dana said and kissed him on the ear.

“But, I don’t think that was all good news. It’s too bad there is an eight minute lapse in communications between here and Earth or it would be easier to discuss this back and forth.”

“So, what are you going to do?”

“Well, for one thing I’ll have to let him know that the Biocontainment field has been activated and we probably won’t be able to recreate the experiment here either. I’m going to think about this and get back in contact with him this evening when we are off shift.”

“For once in your life you’re thinking ahead,” she praised him and then changed the subject. “I heard you practicing your guitar last night and you were really sounding good.”

“Well, now that we got the project moving forward again it’s really got me inspired and now that we’re working shifts I’ll have more time to work on it.”

She ran her fingers through his hair and said, “I know what’ll inspire you more.”

“Hmmm, well, there goes the time.” She slapped him on the shoulder and about that time Donna walked in.

“I saw from your report that there have been no significant changes in the field except for the anticipated rise in temperature. I was going to suggest that you could watch a movie on the computer or play music to keep from getting bored.”

“We’re fine,” Dana assured her. “We can always keep that in mind for future reference though.”

“Yeah, sure,” Bob agreed. “I got an interesting video-mail from Brad that I thought I’d share with you later.

“Of course,” she agreed, “get back with me later on that. I’m going back to my office to finish my files.” She left the room and the couple resumed their routine.

At 4 p.m. Frank Sutton appeared for his shift and Bob gave him the briefing. “Well, Frank we have monitors running in all four sectors and all crews are reporting that the north temperature and the south temperature showing almost the same at minus one-hundred-twenty degrees Fahrenheit in the north and minus one-hundred-twenty-five in the south.”

“Hmmm, it looks as though it’s starting to escalate. So, how are the heating units holding up, any problems?”

“There were just the anticipated adjustments, the eastern and the northwestern units were off a few notches, and were adjusted but we may want to watch them closely.”

“Nothing out of the out of the ordinary I see,” said Frank going over the computer reports. “There’s plenty of coffee I’m sure?”

“And Donna has authorized the kitchen help to bring snacks to us from time to time. And we can watch movies or listen to music if we get bored. “Okay, Bob and Dana you guys are on your own.”

The couple exited the monitor room and made their way to the dining area. They met Donna at a table and Bob let her watch the video-mail, from Brad Perry. “You might want to mention to him that we’re operational now,” Donna told him. “We’ll have to let him know if anything comes crawling out of the crevasses down there.”

“Just waiting for winter to changed summer at this point,” commented Bob.

“I’ll settle for early spring,” Dana added.

“The temperatures are rising steadily,” Donna assured them. “I n about a week it’ll be like walking barefoot in the park.”

“You’re optimistic, aren’t you?” suggested Bob.

“You’re not expecting daisies, are you, Donna?” Dana added.

“You guys! I was just talking lightly, but we won’t need thermal gear before too long.”

“I’m looking forward to that,” said Dana.

“Me too,” Bob concurred.

’I’m thinking I should bring my guitar up to the lab tomorrow,” Bob suggested.

“I don’t see any reason why you shouldn’t,” Donna agreed. “Just don’t forget to pay attention to the crews down in the ‘containment field’. The equipment on the ground is our biggest concern right now.”

“Yes, I’m sure the drone of the heating units is quite nauseating, especially while the temperature rises. Come to think of that, we should probably rotate their breaks more often until the temperature stabilizes. The symphony of sounds from units can be quite obnoxious.”

“Really,” Donna said. She looked over to a group talking at a table near them and she motioned to them. “Jeffery could you and your friends come over here for a moment.”

The one known as Jeffery, a man in his early twenties was the first to get up and the other two followed. “What can we do for you Donna?” asked Jeffery.

“I’m just curious,” she began. “Are the heating units making peculiar noises?”

“Peculiar?” he thought for a moment. “They make some unpleasant sounds, but from what I understand that it’s to be expected.”

“Can you describe them?”

“Well, not accurately. They can sing out like a dying cow or a tuba out of tune,” said Jeffery. “They can also put out some really shrill sounds too,” another worker volunteered a comment.

“I was unaware that that the units made any noise at all,” said Donna a bit surprised.”

“Well, the type three elements produce an abundance of heat for their size and project it out over a large area. The expansion and contraction of the molecules is expeditious,” explained Bob.

“Well?” Donna inquired. “Jeffery, could you accompany Bob and me down in the ‘containment field’ to show me what these noises are.”

Jeffery shrugged. “I don’t see a reason why I shouldn’t.” He turned to his friends and said, “I’ll meet you guys in the rec room after we’re done.”

“Okay, see you later,” one of them said and they walked out of the room.

Donna, Bob, and Jeffery made their way down to the ‘containment field’ and they boarded a cart. Donna drove to the nearest heating units, staying some distance away to avoid a blast of heat. There was a vibration hum that changed to a wee, wee, and wee, sound that changed to a bellow, and changed again to a sustained whine.

“That’s like the ‘fingernails on a black board’,” Donna remarked.

“Yes, and it gets worse,” Jeffery added.

“Would it help if we rotated you guys between here and the lab?” Donna asked.

“That would make it more bearable,” Jeffery agreed.

“I’ll have a rotation schedule ready in the morning,” Donna assured him.

“Now, that’s interesting,” Bob said curiously.

“What’s that Bob?” asked Donna.

“It looks like a fog rolling off the ice dome.”

“Oh, yes it does don’t it? Let’s take a closer look,” she insisted. The three boarded the cart and Donna drove toward the ice dome. She drove until the fog rolled up over the windshield of the open air cart. She stopped the cart and stepped off. She stood quiet for a moment and then the men stood next to her. The fog was rolling off the ice in soft wisps and settled onto the ground in sort of a pool. “The temperature must be approaching zero degrees Fahrenheit,” she said.

“I’ll bet that it hasn’t been this warm in these latitudes for several millennia,” Bob remarked.

Donna immediately engaged the communication devise in her hood. “Frank, do you hear me?”

“I hear you loud and clear Donna. What do you need?”

“Frank, come out to the observation deck and now look out toward the ice dome. What do you see?”

There was a moment of silence then Frank’s voice, over the radio said, “It looks like a fog coming from the ice dome.”

“Now, Frank, go to the video monitors and make sure the cameras are on and make sure they’re picking this up and recording.”

There was another brief spell of silence then Frank’s voice came over the radio again. “They’re picking it up and recording.”

“Excellent!” said Donna. “Now, Frank, could you operate the cameras remotely and get the best shots you can of this? The news people on Earth are going to love this.”

“I’m on it Donna.”

“Oh, and Frank?” she asked, what was the last temperature reading?”

“There is a variation of minus thirty-five degrees Fahrenheit and a minus thirty degrees and getting increasingly colder approaching the ice dome.”

“Frank, you’ve earned a bonus. What can we do for you?”

“Well, you can have the cook send up some more of those chicken sandwiches.”

“They’re coming right up, Donna out.” They boarded the cart and headed back to the facility.

Back in the dining area Donna and Frank rejoined Dana at the table while Jeffery proceeded to the rec room.

“What took you guys so long? I was about to send out a search party,” Dana said, sarcastically.

“Oh, Dana,” Donna said, as she took out her portable computer pad. ” I want for you to take a look at something.”

“What do you have there? Well, ah, that looks like fog rolling off the ice dome”

“Yes, well I believe we may have a few more surprises in store for us as this project progresses,” Donna said.

“I wouldn’t doubt it,” agreed Dana. “Look at the way the fog just rolls down into the hollow area and pools up. The ice dome is starting to release humidity.”

“While you girls gloat over the discovery I’m going to play my guitar,” Bob told them.

“See you later Bob,” they said and continued looking at the screen.

The next morning Bob received the morning report from his co-worker and he started his routine with Dana. The fog had thickened in the morning hours as the temperature continued to rise. Dana noted that the temperature was eight degrees Fahrenheit.

“Well!” said Bob. “Let’s dig out the Parkas and long-johns, it’s going to be a cold one,” he sang as he strummed his guitar.

“You really need practice, you’re a little off key.”

Bob chose another song, one he was more familiar with and it was a slow moving ballad. His smooth voice rolled out with the music.

“Now that’s much better. That’s the ‘Bob’ I fell in love with.” She kissed him and then she sat down and closed her eyes while Bob played and sang a few more songs. Bob put his guitar down and Dana brought them both a cup of coffee. She sat down and then looked toward the observation window. She almost spilled her coffee. “Bob, look,” she said, “the fog is covering the window.”

They walked onto the observation deck. The visibility was almost zero. Bob and Dana just looked at each other with raised eyebrows. Bob walked back to check the gauges. The temperature had risen to twenty-five degrees. Bob called Donna on his portable communication devise. “Donna, where are you right now?”

“I’m in my office writing up the new schedules. What is it, Bob?”

“When you’re done, you might want to come up here and see the fog. It’s up to the observation window.”

“Actually, I’m almost done; I’ll be up there in a few minutes.

Donna stood on the observation deck and looked through the insulated glass. “You’re right, of course and the visibility is almost zero,” she said. She switched on the communication device on a panel in front of her. “Jeffrey, this is Donna. How are things down there?”

“Oh, hi Donna, yes; it’s getting tough see through the fog but we can manage. We see can see the overhead lights and can tell direction with them.”

“Very well, Jeffery just standby. Now, Donald, how are things on the north-end?”

Donald was the north-end foreman, a young Irishman with a rich accent. “Things here are much the same as the south-end, Donna. The fog is disrupting visibility but we are managing.”

Donna announced, “Okay, all crews listen up: Make a thorough inspection of all electrical contacts for condensation. File reports on the conditions and then starting on the far north-end all crews will begin to retreat, cautiously, to the facility. That is all. We will have a meeting in the lounge this evening.” Donna closed her announcement then turned to the Wilson’s. “What is the current temp reading?” she asked.

“Twenty-eight degrees Fahrenheit and rising,” Dana answered, immediately.

“Well, the sweet smell of success comes with a few surprises,” Donna told them. “And you guys didn’t hear this until the meeting, but the report from Earth is: “The Jonathon Swift is Mars bound with a few, Senators, Congressmen, and Governors aboard.”

“So, we are important now?” said Bob.

“(We) have always been important,” Donna assured, “(they) are just now realizing it.”