Sometimes I get a little frustrated when working on an adventurous chapter with lots of action, but then have to get a chapter ready to publish that is simple character development. Not this time though; I had a lot of fun messing with Calla here (bwa ha ha).

Chapter 43

In a Spin

Sleeping on the MTV was quite comfortable for Abigail Dias but it still wasn't perfect. The artificial gravity afforded by the spinning habitat wheel was much better than the nauseating feel of microgravity but if she had her way, the rotation would be a little slower to match the gravity of Mars. It was a traditional safety requirement though, for every trip to have the rate of spin needed to give the ship the gravity of the destination planet. A few more weeks of travelling through space followed by the planetary survey and then she'd feel the relaxing gravity of Mars once again. At least she didn't have to wear her weighted clothing for now.

Abigail knew she should really be getting to sleep, but she held in her hand one of the most sought after luxuries a person could have while living in space; a letter from home. Maybe face to face contact would be permitted someday soon, if the survey shows there is no further risk from the Earth First Alliance, but notes on a tablet computer were very welcome and better than nothing. This letter was from her friend Sarah Winter; just seeing the name printed on the screen already made Abigail feel a little homesick, but the feeling intensified as she started to read.

Hello Abi my old friend,
it's good to write to you again.

We've been having the most incredible time here at the Second Colony Site. The third Automated Supply Train arrived from Base One earlier this afternoon and we've been busy unloading everything into our first sealed underground cavern. The Martian atmosphere has not been replaced inside yet so we were still wearing pressure suits; if you listen carefully, you could probably hear Saffy complaining about it, even though you are halfway to Earth.

Your Mom says it will only be a few more days before the cavern has a good mix of nitrogen and oxygen at an Earth like air pressure, and then we can start setting up the first plant growth units here. Do you remember the childish feud Professor Topolski was having with Sierra Corbin? Well they have finally seen eye to eye on something. When your Mom said she wanted to stay in one of the surface habitats to direct construction, everyone insisted she and Saffy should be the first to move underground for the sake of the baby. One of my jobs has been to keep a close eye on the whole team's radiation exposure and I'm happy to say no one has received anything higher than a normal dose, but I agree Mrs. Dias should play it safe and go underground first; she is angry with all of us.

We lost one of the pods from Earth a few days ago when in a million to one chance occurrence, two out of the eight landing retro rockets failed. Before you tell me it has happened before, this time both rockets were on the same side of the landing pod meaning the computer was forced to shut down both the rockets on the opposite side to stop the Lander spinning out of control. So the pod still set down where it should have, but it came down really hard meaning most of the contents were destroyed although we did salvage a little bit.

Hope you and your Dad are both well, and I look forward to your eventual return.
Stay safe; with love from Sarah.

Abigail placed the tablet in the compartment over her head and turned off the light. She felt pleased to have gotten the information from home, but it still made a little sad as well.

While both members of the Dias family rested in the Habitat ring, Commander Sage was involved in a little bit of unnecessary maintenance in the module behind the flight deck. He silently removed a small panel marked Emergency Release next to the MTV Inner Hatch and cut two wires. These wires routed a signal from the Flight Deck Hatch and informed the ships systems when the hatch was closed and locked. After Sage had connected the cut wires together, he replaced the panel and floated onto the Flight Deck. Being a modified Orion Capsule, the Flight Deck had its own internal Life Support as well as emergency oxygen supplies and it was these systems the Commander accessed next.

Sage floated into the navigator's seat and brought up the Orion Internal Systems on the screen. He knew there was no way to override the warning alert if the oxygen tanks were emptied, so he only lowered the tank pressures by ninety percent. He actually hoped he would not need to take advantage of his preparations, but he felt sure the Deep Council would be very pleased to know he was ready to act if anything should go wrong when the MTV reached Earth.

Back on the aforementioned planet, Calla Linwood found the Centrifuge machine to be very impressive to behold.

"So what does it do?" she asked Blue.

"You'll notice the main arm is counterweighted on the opposite side. The pilot candidate, or as I like to say 'the victim', is strapped into the seat at the end of the arm and spun around so their body can experience the same gravitational forces it would have to endure during a space launch" he replied.

"How strong are these gravitational forces and should I be worried?" Calla half smiled.

"Just standing here, you are currently experiencing one whole measure or as it is called, 1G. The centrifuge will take you up to about 5G; which means it will feel like you're five times heavier than you really are."

"And how dangerous is it to feel five times heavier?"

"Not very" Blue shrugged "Most people pass out before 10G but a guy on a rocket sled once went to 46G, but only for a fraction of a second. He was pretty badly injured so I think prolonged exposure to those kind of forces would kill you but don't worry; the machine can't go anywhere near that fast."

"Well... let's give this thing a go before I change my mind and run screaming from the room like my brother probably would" Calla declared.

"Okay then; take a seat" Blue offered.

The five point harness seat belt felt weird enough, but it was the sensors that really surprised Calla. There were pulse monitors attached to her wrist and neck, as well as a blood pressure band wrapped around her upper arm.

"If you look up, you will see Doctor Vieira in the control room. He'll be monitoring your vitals and will stop the machine if he thinks you've gone too far. There's a camera on the arm and speakers in the headrest so I'll be able to see you and we can talk to each other. It is very important for you to tell us what is happening at all times. If you feel a slight headache, tell us. If you get tunnel vision, tell us. If you feel dizzy..."

"Tell you; I get the idea" Calla said.

"The controls are simple" Blue explained "Just hold onto this joystick when you are ready to go and I'll take you up to 2G. Try it out for a while and if you want to go faster, just press your thumb on the red button; holding the button down will slowly speed up the machine. When you feel the increased pressure, release the button to hold the current speed and then press it again if you want to go faster. If you let go of the joystick altogether, the machine will come to a stop. There's a read out next to the camera so you can see how many G's you're pulling."

"So I slowly build up speed till I reach 5G and then hold for... how long?"

"No need to go to 5G today" Blue explained "If you can keep hold of the joystick at 3G for two minutes, you'd be in the top twenty percent of all first timers."

"How long did you go on your first try?" Calla asked.

"I'm not sure; but I know I did well" Blue smiled "We can look it up afterwards if you like."

"You bet I like" she nodded "Now let's get this party started."

Blue suspected it would not be in his best interests to delay Calla any longer, so he exited the room and closed the safety door.

"Okay I've got a green light on the override" Blue noted into his headset "Is she set to go Doc?"

"Pulse is a little elevated, but not excessively; you are cleared to proceed" Quill Vieira replied.

"Proceeding" Blue acknowledged as he brought the motor online.

The Southern Lapwing of Nervous Anticipation aggravated the butterflies in Calla stomach as she watched the readout in front of her count up from 1.1 to 1.3. By the time the centrifuge reached 2.0 she was beginning to get used to the sensation of spinning and the slight pressure on her body, so she decided to go a little higher.

"How are you feeling my dear?" Doctor Vieira's voice came through the speaker.

"No problems so far" Calla replied as she pressed the red button.

"Please be aware of your vision and your equilibrium" the doctor informed her.

"My equal-what?"

"Just let me know if you get dizzy or feel light headed."

The display showed Calla passing 3G but instead of holding, she decided to push on to 3.5G. Calla suspected Blue had told her to only go as high as 3G so he could hold the record for a first time run on the centrifuge and she was determined to beat him.

"Any changes yet?" Quill checked a minute later.

"I still feel okay but things do look a little fuzzy on the edges" she replied.

"Not surprising since your blood pressure has dropped a little, but you're still at a healthy level."

Calla pressed the button again and went a little faster. After sitting on 4.1G for another minute, she pressed her thumb firmly on the button again.

"You're going a bit fast" Blue broke through "I think you'd better hold it there for now."

"I'm okay" she insisted not wanting to admit she was feeling very light headed "and you do want me to give everyone a good idea on what to expect, don't you?"

"Maybe so but you've got enough to tell them already" Blue replied "I'm shutting you down."

Calla glanced up at the display to see she had reached 4.6G before the machine began to slow down. It took another minute and a half to slow to a stop and Calla was surprised to find the dizziness she felt did not stop with it. Blue hurried into the room as soon as the machine slowed to a crawl and looked into her eyes.

"The machine may have stopped already but it will take a few minutes for your head to follow suit" he smiled.

"I bet I beat your record" Calla slurred.

"What record?" Blue asked.

"For first time on a centipede" she grinned.

"A centipede? Yes I think you've got that record."

"Don't undo the straps yet Blue" Doctor Vieira called down from the monitoring room.

"Why not?" Calla asked Blue.

"The Doc just wants to be sure you have time to get you equilibrium back before you try to stand up."

"Oh I'm fine, stop fussing" Calla declared as she hit the quick release button on the seat restraint and immediately fell on top of Blue... again.

"Oh wow... I feel weird" She complained as she rolled on to her back.

"Just lay still and take a few long deep breaths" Blue ordered as he got up onto his knees.

"I thought I told you not to undo the straps" Quill barked as he entered the room.

"Not guilty Your Honour" Blue protested.

Doctor Vieira knelt down next to Blue and placed two fingers on Calla's neck.

"Pulse is strong" he said "are you feeling nauseous?"

"Only a little" Calla admitted.

"I heard what you said about bettering Blues record for first time on the centrifuge" the doctor admitted "so I checked the computer."

"And?" Calla asked excitedly.

"Congratulations; not only did you beat his record, you annihilated it."

"Wow... how fast did Blue go?"

"1.3G for two minutes" Doctor Vieira smiled.

"You're kidding me" Blue was shocked "I must have gone faster than 1.3G."

"No, I double checked because I thought it was odd too" Quill grinned "But I wouldn't worry if I were you; after all, you were just three years old at the time."

"Three years old?" Calla eyes could only have opened wider if she had been a cartoon.

"The centrifuge was the closest thing we had to a carnival ride" Quill shrugged "So Sarah took him on it for fun when he was little."

"Suddenly I don't feel so bad anymore" Blue grinned.

"Suddenly I feel very silly for trying so hard to beat a three year old" Calla sighed.

Saffron Dias frowned as considered the broken fingernail on her right hand. Classroom lessons and theory may be dull and boring compared to hands on experience, but assisting with the repair of the hydraulic system on a construction robot was tough on a nine year olds fingers. A small icon blinked on the computer behind her; Saffron had tried to call Holly Duncan back at the main base but she had not yet been successful, so leaving an open line request was the best option for contact. Timing was not on her side though because just as Saffron began file the rough edge of her broken nail, the icon turned from grey to white and began to beep.

"About time you picked up" Saffron complained "I've been waiting hours for you to get home."

"Then why does the timer say eight minutes?" Holly smirked.

"It felt like hours" Saffron replied "Life here is all rushed work followed by mind numbing boredom."

"Sounds like someone is missing her big sister" Holly's smirk was raised to a much higher level.

"Don't be silly Hol; no way do I miss ol' butt face" Saffron sneered.

"Maybe not when you're busy, but she was always there for you during the mind numbing boredom."

"To be honest, it was Abby who always cheered me up when I missed Dad" Saffron admitted "But I think it's Mom who feels it the most; I'm just glad they'll be back before she has the baby."

"And you won't be the baby any more" Holly laughed.

"You're the youngest in your family too" Saffron protested.

"Maybe so, but I'm still three and a half years older than you Tiny. So what has had you so busy when you're not dying of boredom?"

"Practical stuff mainly" Saffron replied "Professor Topolski even has Sarah teaching most of our in class stuff; we call her Miss Winter just to annoy her."

"I heard your Mom is coming back here on the next supply run to choose the next group of colonists for Base Two" Holly revealed "I hope you're coming too."

"She said I should, but I want to stay here" Saffron insisted. "Who would want to spend another week crawling across the surface of Mars?"

"You make it sound like you'll be doing the trip on your hands and knees" Holly laughed again.

"At least that would be something different. I've sent you the latest progress report for your next class presentation; you'll find it in your inbox file" Saffron informed her friend.

"Just think Saffy, when you get back I'll be able to present you to the class. Beware the dreaded Martian Dias; scourge of the western wastelands. Don't get your fingers too close, 'cause she bites."

"And you'll be the first one I nibble on" Saffron snorted and pressed the disconnect button.

This week I thought I would try and find out something interesting about my home state of South Australia to tell you all about, and one of the first things I discovered is that it is home to the world's largest cattle station. I thought this was a good choice because last time I wrote about cows and sharks (we have lots of those here too). At roughly 24,000 square kilometres, Anna Creek Station (or Ranch to those in other countries) is larger than Israel or Belgium, and eight times the size of the largest ranch in the United States.

So I have to admit it's true when people say Australia is a load of bull (cow too), but I think New Zealand has us beaten on the number of sheep... and possibly Orcs as well (bad Lord of the Rings joke; tee hee).