It has been a couple of days since the Mahia team landed. You and your team of engineers are working closely with them to get everything set up. So far there have been no other altercations. You are going through a checklist with the second in command. You are impressed at the speed of the build.
"Kelsey, our teams should be able to finish the main habitat area in three hours," She remarks.
"Thank you, Jenna," You remark as you check it off the list. You are surprised that Lilly is letting you help.
"Kelsey, we need your help," Roman calls out. You excuse yourself thirty seconds later you have made it to Roman who is trying to help one of the Mahia engineers. They are struggling to get one of the many seals into place. You quickly get the seal into place with a little trick that you learnt.
"Thank you, Kelsey," The Mahia engineer remarks. He is clearly annoyed that he didn't think about the trick. Another thirty seconds later you have made it back to Jenna. You get the feeling that something will go wrong with this build but you decide to ignore it because there won't be much that you can do. The comms system in your helmet crackles to life.
"Armstrong base, to Kelsey," it's Lilly.
"Yes, Lilly?" You know she will want a progress report.
"How is Colombo base going?" You are right about the progress report.
"Everything is going smoothly so far," you keep the news short because you know that Jenna will grow impatient if she doesn't have your help.
"Thank you Kels," Lilly responds. The transmission ends and you get back to the checklist. It is impressive that the two teams are getting along despite the issues of mining on Mars.
"I'm going to see if anyone else needs help," You say as you make your way to the construction site. You have decided that it would be good for you to get your hands dirty. One of your engineers gestures for you. You join him.
"What can I do for you, Scotty?"
"I need help making sure that these bolts are tightened well enough," Scotty responds. You carefully take the tool from him and you try your best to tighten the bolt. There is a lot of resistance which means he has tightened enough. You repeat the process for the others and he has done a good job.
"You are all done," You respond. Three hours later everything for the main habitat is completed and you are double-checking everything from the Mahia control room. It is a bit of a downgrade from the control room back at the Armstrong base. You input some things into the computer. You hear the hum of the life support systems come to life. You give it a couple of seconds before taking your helmet off. Your thoughts wander to the merits of mining on Mars but you don't have long to think.
"Armstrong base to Colombo base. Do you receive me?" Lilly asks as a picture of her and Richard comes up on the centre screen.
"We read you loud and clear," Jenna responds.
"Everything is good to go in the base," You add.
"Ok well since that's the case I want the team back as soon as possible because we are expecting another storm," Lilly gives you your orders. You quickly gather your team.
"Kelsey before you leave I want to say thank you on behalf of the Mahia team," Richard remarks. You can tell that he is being sincere.
"Don't worry about it," You respond as Jenna ends the transmission. You know that you may not agree with mining on Mars but you know that the two teams are in this together. A minute later you have made it back to the rover. Roman is worried about something. It is clearly bothering him because he looks torn between helping and going against what he believes in or risking the team's life.
"Hey, Kesley do you mind if I stay with the Mahia team to make sure they don't have any issues during the storm?" He remarks. You can tell that it is painful for him to ask.
"do what you have to, but Ivan is going to be mad," You reply. It will be interesting to see what Ivan will do when you tell him.
"I'll see you in a couple of weeks," Roman remarks. Five minutes later you are halfway back to Armstrong base. You can see the storm coming. Hopefully Roman can help get the base ready. You have faith that he will. You get the nav charts up on the screen just in case the storm hits before you make it to the Armstrong base.
"Fifi Rover are you on your way?" The comms system crackles to life with Lilly's voice. You can tell that she is worried about you hence why she ditched the normal comms protocol.
"Yes we are on our way but Roman has elected to stay behind and help the Mahia team with any of the problems caused by the storm," You give her a small report. She ends the chat there. Another five minutes later you have made it back to the base and you are looking for Ivan so you can tell him that Roman stayed behind. You find him and he is pretty worked up.
"Hey, Kelsey did Roman give you a reason why he wanted to help?"
"Yes, he knew that the Mahia team would need help to weather out this storm and believe me it caught me by surprise as well," You try to calm him down. Thankfully it works because you don't want another fight on your hands. Three minutes later you are getting a snack to eat. You are joined by Lilly.
"So how did the build go?" Lilly asks.
"It was fast," You respond. You can tell that she is worried about Roman.
"Schatzi, Roman will be fine," You try to reassure her. You are surprised that it worked. It has been a couple of days since the storm hit. You are monitoring things from the control room. It is boring right now because everything is holding. Your thoughts wander to the Colombo base and how they are faring against the storm. Hopefully, the dust hasn't got into their systems.
"Kelsey you look bored," Jay snaps you out of your thoughts. You are about to answer but the comms chime sounds. It's Roman. You press a few buttons on the monitor that you have been watching.
"What can I do for you Roman?" You say as you try to get the footage. Something has gone wrong at the Colombo base but you can't be sure what.
"The dust has clogged the generators which have cut power to the life support systems," He informs you. Why couldn't the storm wait for you to finish the complete set of storm-proofing? You gesture for Jay to find Lilly and Richard. You are impressed that some of the Mahia team stayed. It does make sense.
"Roman I'm afraid that there is not much you can do until the storm lets up," You are annoyed that there is not much you can do. At least you let him stay because you know he can think of something that they can do. Lilly and Richard enter the control room.
"Roman how bad is it?" Richard asks. He is clearly concerned about his team.
"The good thing is that we have enough oxygen to last three days but the bad thing is there is no way for it to get from the starship," Jenna explains. The audio gets a bit distorted. It soon cuts out. You try your best to get the audio back but despite your best efforts you can't. The storm is blocking communications.
YOU ARE READING
Constellations
Fanfiction"I am so sorry Neil" "It will be alright Lily," he responds. Lily Collins yearned to follow in her father Micheal Collins' footsteps but there was one problem. She was stuck serving coffee to people at NASA. One fateful day she ends up spilling cof...
