Welcome Aboard Air Marineris

I took him to the elevator to our offices on top. He stood against the opposite wall of the cabin so we could talk. There were seats that came down from the walls because the four-kilometer ride took a while. At twenty-five meters per second, the fastest practical speed, the ride took about three minutes. In order to maintain a high average pace, to make the long run tolerable, the acceleration and deceleration were gradual. That made seats a welcome addition to the experience. As we sat, I took another look at Bee. I hadn’t seen him for this duration for three weeks, and the small differences were more obvious when he was at rest. He was the same Bee, but he was finer, somehow. He had lost a little more of the fleshy camouflage that obscures us throughout much of our lives, and, along with the acceptance of circumstance that age brings, leaves us more naked to observation as we grow older. I thought that he wore it well, but I am prejudiced.

He marveled with me. He hadn’t seen the new displayscreen they had installed on the exterior side wall. It amazed me every time I rode up. They had hung flyeyes all the way down, and they coordinated the scenes with the location of the elevator on its vertical journey. The four klicks, with its view across the Valles, was spectacular. You took a virtual rocket ride every time you went up or down, complete with physical sensations. It silenced us until I had reached my little office.

There, the magic radio sat on the cabinet, but I had come to ignore it. I didn’t care anymore. We had only one secret to keep from them, and I hadn’t told it to Bee, so, he couldn’t reveal anything they didn’t know. I like it that way. I didn’t like to sneak, and I still don’t.

“So, what about my foundry manager? Did you get that fem friend of Jan’s at Moon Tools?”

“Yes, he called her and actually spoke to her, apparently. I doubt that the time delay allowed the conversation to be very spontaneous, but it certainly made an impression on her. She is getting a bit tired of the Moon’s long nights. She is enthusiastic about coming here and doing great things. At least that is what I told her. Better to maintain the illusion until she’s stuck here. She was very interested in learning about Jan. I don’t know what their history is, but I am never above taking advantage of personal connection. She’s winding up now, and she just needs to wait until they find a replacement. At her wages, I don’t think that will be a problem. Why they worry about such things up here, where there’s nothing to spend it on, is beyond me. I guess it’s an ego thing.”

“Not entirely, my benighted brother. You have never been a female engineer. Spend a few days in my world and then say symbols have no importance. She probably worked all her life at jobs where she felt devalued, and then she hits the jackpot because no-one else wants the job. Those idiots don’t know what we can do here. We all get to do incredible things. The money is just a measure. It’s points in the game, vindication. With all our male colleagues back on Earth doing big projects with big fees, tell me that’s not significant.

“There is another important event that has occurred in the time you have been away. Our supervisor on Earth, Linus Weltmann, has pulled rank on us and assumed control of the Marineris project. He is the chief engineer now. He gives me orders over that little radio you see perched on my cabinet. It has the default image hovering over it now, but sometimes Linus comes up and talks to me in real time. It’s quite neat, and we could probably find more helpful work for it, but not now. I have fended off a few suggested economies we have already proven impractical, but he insists on one that he guarantees will save us money and time. He wants us to eliminate the centre pylon and only use one at either end of the rail.”

“But we did that…”

“We both know that. I tried to tell them. But they say it was under different conditions, and that they have simulations proving it will work this time. They ordered me to construct the line with the two. I said no and submitted my resignation. I thought experience would tell, but it didn’t. So, all of us are working as laborers on the project. I didn’t want to quit that too. They only have us here, of course. I don’t want to stop the project any more than they do. So, we are doing it their way. I still believe it will fail, and we will need to remediate. Now you are back on the team, and you will labor as well. Lucky boy, we have already signed you on. You already know you can’t necessarily do things the way you want if you work for someone else.”

“Yeah, I should have gone into the space business on my own.”

“Well, you haven’t changed your line of patter, have you? Still half nonsense, brother.

“Have you got me fired from any of my other jobs? Do I still work for Mars Metals and Mars Tools? Am I unemployed now?”

“No, you still work for them, and you’ve also got the laboring job. How could I ever fire you for incompetence? You’re a perfectly competent brother. Just be patient, Bee. It will all work out. You are not going to need to kill any more people.”

“That’s a bad joke, Mo. That’s one thing I never thought to hear you make fun of. You were right beside me when quite a few people died. Even those two I did. It’s something else I have never forgotten. I still dream of all those faces.”

“It was not a joke, Bee. You know I just don’t share your sensitivity about those deaths. Those people needed killing. Sometimes there is no other way. If it’s their choice, and they don’t offer you one, I don’t agree that you need feel guilty about it. I know that you don’t feel the same way. I just wanted to assure you we weren’t working towards disaster. I know people will ride on that line. But we will stress test it long before anyone steps on the train. That kind of accident will never happen. Believe me.”

“Any other surprises? Maybe you’re nominating an alternate sister?”

“I don’t want to overtax you, Bee. You have trouble keeping up with one sister. The other changes will be tolerable, you can be sure. Procedural only.

“I tried to convince them about the third pylon, but they wouldn’t listen. The usual claptrap. They said a lot, but they wouldn’t listen to me. Actually, it’s worse at the bottom of the Valles. Twice the air pressure, not that you would notice.

“It’s enough difference, though, that we are thinking of releasing more gas someday. Enough so that we may be able to walk outside down here, cutting the radiation to bearable levels. Imagine! Enough of fantasy. More pressure means that the vibration effects will be worse than our tests, not better. They are using our heavy-duty rails, though. That may avoid disaster. And they are using our concrete formula, not that obscene mix with the perchlorate.Not likely we will be lucky, but it is possible. We will be doing it to spec, and our workmanship has improved. Our welds are better, and we are grinding more precisely now. All we can do is work and hope.

“I am glad that you’re back, brother. I’ve missed your steady presence. Dini is wonderful, but she can go ballistic when she’s not rivetted by her work. While it’s stimulating, it’s not a recipe for calm demeanor. You, on the other hand, can be depended upon to remain boring, almost comatose. In your absence, I held that note as long as I could. We must wait and watch. Our time will come.”

“So, you’ve told me what we can’t do. Tell me what we can do, Mo. You have missed the calm and I have missed the excitement. After my anxiety proved pointless, everything went so smoothly I could spend time napping. I told you we got your manager, and one other is considering our offer. All the goodies you asked me to buy are coming, paid for with the credits you made available.

“My family was probably never in danger, but they are out of Earth’s jurisdiction now. And they are happy in a good place. They are in a place where things are happening. They are not coming here, but that’s all right. And I met some wonderful people down there. I am surer than I was that we can help one another. Not against someone, but with them. So, what now?”

“The work still needs to be done. Chantelle came up with a helpful suggestion while you were away. The sort of thing a newbie sees that experienced people overlook. She asked why it took two of us for one operation, like that old joke. We had one person to dig the hole for the pylon and hold it in position while a second operator poured the concrete. She suggested that we put on a second left manipulator to allow us to pour the concrete in the hole while still holding the post in position. It’s also safer because you don’t need to worry about another machine in close proximity. It’s not expensive to put in the arm, and the control circuits have the capacity. Lefties like you will take to it quickly. You’ve been coping with a right-handed world all your life too, haven’t you? Lou, who’s also left-handed, took to it easily. I’m having a harder time, but I’ll get used to it. It has sped up our work.

“We have reached fifteen rails a day. It’s faster leaving out the central pylon, of course, but we’ll pay later. With you we should be able to add another five rails a day, minimum. We are getting slightly faster each day as we warm to our task. With twenty rails a day, we will do one hundred and forty a week if we don’t rest. We are supposed to be getting another dozen people at the end of the month. Then we will fly ahead in comparison. But it will still take us a long time. Even at several dozen klicks per week, four thousand klicks will still take us a long time. And we have to do the other line. Still, we need to start someplace.”