New Zealand launched a rocket this week. So happy to see them moving forward and so disappointed to have a government who still refuse to move beyond the 1950s (sigh). I even thought of a great name for an Australian space agency (if we ever get one); it should be called the Australian Space Technology Research Association (A.S.T.R.O.).

The only down side to this name is many people may think the agency was named after the Jetsons dog.

Chapter 46

Out of the Fire and into the Frying Pan

In the early days of the Mars Evacuation Project, the engineers in charge of putting the plan into immediate action were always on the lookout for any shortcut they could use to keep themselves on schedule. To this end they would use as many 'off the shelf' components for their various machines as they could get away with. One of these components was a complete Orion Capsule, re-purposed as the Control Deck of the Mars Transfer Vehicle. It was the perfect choice with its high quality life support and control systems, and the only modification needed was the removal of the heat shield and fitting of an airtight hatch.

The hatch was necessary for the crew to gain access to the main body of the forward section and the heat shield would not be needed as the MTV had two separate Evacuation Pods; i.e. the strong and reliable Soyuz MS. Under normal circumstances, the two sections of the MTV could not be separated unless the hatches on both sides were sealed and locked but Commander Sages re-wiring modification fooled the system; to say it was unsafe would be the understatement of the century.

"QUICKLY ABIGAIL; OUT OF MY WAY" Luis Dias tried to manoeuvre himself from the pilot's seat.

Abigail could see her father would never be able to make it out of his seat in time so she kicked out in an upside down arc towards the back of the capsule. Unfortunately the hatch was of a double hinge design, meaning it could not simply be slammed shut but must be fitted into the doorframe straight and true. So Abigail knew she would only have one shot at getting it closed properly before the capsule completely decompressed; if the hatch jammed, they were both dead.

As soon as she reached the hatch Abigail pushed the outer edge with her left hand, turning it parallel to the rear of the capsule. She then slammed her right hand in the centre of the door just as the seal between the ship's sections gave way. With nothing to brace herself against, Abigail shot backwards until the velocity of the escaping air caught her and changed her direction once more. The hatch of course was caught in the same air rush and it slammed into the frame with such force, the entire capsule shook violently. In the split second the capsule was open, seventy percent of the air pressure escaped but it only took five seconds for the automated life support systems to bring back full pressure.

Luis Dias flew over his daughter to the closed hatch and grabbed the locking bar, twisting it a quarter turn to the right. With the door secured at last, he turned his attention to Abigail only to find her holding her right hand close to her chest as small drops of blood floated around her; Luis move quickly and with purpose as he drifted forward again. He switched on the air purge system to raise the capsule pressure a little; a special filter cover opened and began to draw the air back in taking any small floating object with it; including Abigail's blood. The sudden loss of pressure had played havoc with the both of them but the youngest one had suffered the most, having been caught up in the shockwave. There was bleeding from her nose, ears and even the corner of her eyes, as well as a badly sprained right wrist. Luis had also suffered some ill effects but was fortunate to come through their ordeal with only a bloody nose.

"Keep your eyes shut" Luis spoke softly as he tended his daughter injuries.

"It stings" she replied "and my ears won't stop ringing."

"I know Honey; I can hear it too. Your eyes will be fine but I want you to rest them until the stinging goes away, so I'm going to wrap this bandage over them."

"What happened Dad?" she asked as the tears started to well up in her eyes "Did Commander Sage really just try to kill us?"

Luis drew in a deep breath; he did not want to admit the truth but there was no way to sugar coat it.

"I'm afraid so my sweet; I don't think he expected us to find that ship."

"But it wasn't our fault" she replied "so why would he do such a thing?"

"At the moment I can only guess; but I have a few ideas as to why."

The capsule fell quiet for a moment as both members of the Dias family considered their future; or the lack of one.

"Dad..." Abigail said at last.

"Yes Abby?"

"We can't get out of this; can we?" she noted "We're going to die here."

"I'm not sure" Luis tried to think of something hopeful to say.

"We haven't got a heat shield, or parachutes either so going to Earth is out and I doubt Sage will let us re-dock with the Command Section again."

"I'm sure we'll think of something" Luis said, not wanting take away any hope Abigail may still have.

A desperate silence filled the capsule again and it was Abigail who broke it once more.

"Dad... you said HG could be alive; is there any way we could find out before we..." she could not bring herself to say the word die.

"Maybe..." Luis thought "I could try and contact the West Sumatran Railgun Complex; since that is where the ship is; they should know."

New ideas began to fill Luis's head.

"If the ship wasn't destroyed... I wonder if Professor Adisa is alive as well?"

Luis helped his daughter forward and placed her in the pilot's seat before he slipped into the left chair and put his headset in place, carefully positioning the microphone.

"Mars Transfer Vehicle calling Railgun Sumatra; Railgun Sumatra this is Luis Dias, over."

There was a minor commotion in the base when the urgent call went out.

"EMERGENCY EMERGENCY; DOCTOR SPENCER TO THE COMMS ROOM. BLUE DIAS TO THE COMMS ROOM. EMERGENCY" speakers bleared throughout the complex.

The tone in the announcer's voice put the whole base on edge and it only took a few seconds for people to start speculating about possible disasters. Sarah was working in her office so it did not take her long to spring to her feet and head for the door. Blue on the other hand had to deal with his trainees first.

"Okay then" he interrupted himself "It sounds like something rather horrid has struck the proverbial pitched rotating blades; so I'll end todays class a little early and I'll see you back here in three days... I assume."

As Blue ran off, everyone looked to Calla for some semblance of normality.

"Err... you're all dismissed" she shrugged before following Blue through the door with all speed.

He was only five hundred meters from the comms room and as he rounded the last corner, he could see Sarah ahead of him.

"Hurry up Blue" she called back as she allowed him to catch up.

The burst of extra speed Blue put on was wasted though, for when they both reached the door Peter Moke held up his hand to stop them.

"Just give Sarah a minute before you go in" he said to Blue.

Sarah Spencer looked a little confused but decided not to waste more time arguing about it; so she hurried through the door to discover what the problem was.

"Why did you call me if...?" Blue started.

"Sorry Blue but I think it's best if Sarah is briefed first" Peter noted "She is the boss after all."

Blue was about to agree, though somewhat reluctantly, when Calla caught up and the door reopened; without a word spoken, Sarah beckoned them in. What awaited him was something Blue had almost given up hope on.

"Luis Dias to Sumatra Base; please come in Sumatra Base."

"Is... is that... my Dad?" he asked.

Sarah did not answer him but simply donned her headset and pressed a button on the console.

"Sumatra Railgun to Luis Dias; we are receiving you."

"Oh thank God" Luis replied "Is Professor Adisa with you at present?"

"Negative; this is Doctor Spencer speaking."

"SARAH SPENCER? April gave you the baby. What happened to him? Is he alive?" the frantic father asked.

Sarah flicked a switch in front of her and motioned for Blue to approach.

"I've put you on an open comm line" she said "Go ahead; speak to your father."

"Err... hi Dad" he said nervously.

"Oh my God; is it really you Henry?"

Blue looked at Sarah in shock and did not know how to answer the voice on the radio.

"Yes he is the child born to you and April, but we did not know his name so well gave the nickname Blue" Sarah responded.

"Blue? I suppose you would like to know, your mother and I named you Henry Gerwin Dias. Henry was after my father and Gerwin was after your mother's grandfather, but we would often call you HG when we talked about you."

"Did... did you know I was here?" Blue asked.

"We both thought you were killed when the ship you were born on was destroyed, but when we saw that same ship on the shore near the Railgun Base, I knew we had to try and find out if you were alive. I must admit I am surprised to have found you so easily but before I go on, there is someone else here who would like to say hello."

"Mom?" Blues voice was almost a whisper.

"No but you're close" a feminine voice declared "I'm Abigail; your sister."

"I... have a sister?"

Blue found he could not hold himself up any longer and he sat down on the spot; he didn't have a chair behind him so the floor just had to do for now.

"Actually you have two but Saffy, I mean Saffron, is back on Mars with Mom... and she's pregnant too."

"My sister is pregnant? Blue gasped.

"No she's only nine years old going on ten; Mom's pregnant so we're going to have another sibling soon" Abigail corrected.

Calla knelt down and placed her hand on Blues shoulder; the news had come so thick and fast it was plain to see he was quickly becoming overwhelmed.

"H-How long before you have to go back?" he asked, hoping there would be time to talk some more with his new found family.

Much to everyones surprise, all communication ceased for over a minute until Blue could wait no longer.

"Dad... Abigail... are you still there?"

"Sorry son; I needed some time to think" Luis answered "When I called, I never imagined we would end up talking directly to you and... I'm afraid I have some very bad news."

Sarah and Calla both helped Blue to his feet as one of the comms officers rolled a chair to him. Everyone in the room found themselves leaning forward in anticipation of what Luis would reveal next.

"Abigail and I will not be returning to Mars as... unfortunately... we are stranded in orbit."

Blue and Sarah stared at each other, wondering what could have happened to put Blue's family in such a position.

"Can't you come back to Earth?" he asked.

"I'm afraid not son; we are in an old Orion capsule with no heat shield and no parachutes. When our life support runs out... I have to say... that will be it for us."

A veil of gloom fell over the room; the surprise and elation everyone had felt upon hearing from Luis and Abigail had turned into resignation of utter defeat. Blue rose from his chair and turned towards the door; he did not leave but instead paced glacially slowly away from the desk; nobody spoke until Peter approached Blue.

"I'm so sorry my brother" he tried to comfort the young man who just held up a hand for silence.

Peter glanced at Sarah but she just shrugged her shoulders. Another half minute later, Blue suddenly snapped back into existence and rush back to the desk.

"How much time do you have on life support?" he asked with urgency.

"Two days... three at the most" Luis answered "Plenty of time for me to tell you all about your family."

"Tell me all about it when you get here" Blue responded "I'm coming to get you."

So glad to get this chapter out at last (it was first written about 3 months ago) because I've been trying to get to this point ever since I came up with the first story outline.