One Way To Mars

Chapter 21

Foreman had been relieved tounburden himself to Mitchum. They agreed not to say anything to theothers until Mitchum thought things through. He made one thing clearto Foreman, however. The Moonstruck was an unarmed vessel. It was adrilling operation, not a battle ship, plain and simple. Shouldanyone with a battle ship decide to invade Mars, their chance ofsurvival was close to zero. Mitchum decided on two courses of action.To continue with the drilling and to try to establish contact withEarth, hopefully to arrange some protection, as soon as possible.

Foreman was agreeable to allthat, but said he wouldn't be comfortable keeping things secret toolong. He felt the others should be prepared, so that they could atleast go down fighting. Mitchum said to give it one full day oftrying to reach Earth, then either way, the others would be told.

Mitchum took Foreman back to thebase, then set off to join the others at the driller. In the base,Monkley was carrying the clean laundry to the bedrooms. Foreman gavehim a hand making the beds.

'It's official, pal. It wasmurder. Mitchum agrees with me.'

'Oooh!'

'Exactly.'

With the beds made up, they wentto the communications room and Monkley turned on the radio beforeForeman had even sat down.

'Show off. Right. Here we goagain. This is Foreman. Andrew Foreman. I am calling Earth from Mars.Anyone there?' He waited a few minutes and repeated. He keptrepeating for the next three hours. Several of Monkley's coffee'slater, all he had heard was static. 'Not looking good, pal. But Itell you something for nothing. If some son of a bitch is coming hereto finish me off, I'm not going quietly.'

Even as he said it, the wordsechoed in his mind like an empty promise, which without weapons ofany kind, it undoubtedly was. The sight of the silent radio depressedhim, and he had to get out of there.

When the crew returned fromanother hard day drilling, their mood seemed subdued. Foremanwondered if Mitchum had changed his mind and told them. He wouldn'thave blamed him if he had. It was going to happen soon, anyway. Theteam were generally quiet during the evening meal.

'Everything okay, you guys?'Foreman asked, with a questioning look at Mitchum.

'Just been a tough day,' Mitchumassured him. 'We lost a drill tip.'

'These things happen,' snappedDebbie Warner. 'I can't be responsible for the unexpected lump ofiron.'

'I never said you could, Debbie,'said Mitchum.

'I know you're thinking it,though.'

'I'm disappointed, that's all.'

'You'll have more than one tipthough, surely?' said Foreman.

'Yes,' said Mitchum. 'That's notthe issue. The cost of one of those tips is well...let's just say alot. The trouble is, the tip actually jammed and snapped off. Thatmeans, once we attach a new tip, we have to start a new bore hole. Ifwe use the same hole, we hit the diamond tip lodged in the hole, welose another tip. The only alternative is to start all over again inanother spot. Which means everything we have done up until now, was awaste of time.'

'I see. But you couldn't haveknown about the iron lump, Debbie.'

Debbie shrugged. 'On Earth, weknow what we are dealing with. Hardly any surprises. Mars is still anunknown entity. Our equipment only tells us what's down there up to acertain depth, and the amount of iron in the dirt tends to mask thesignals, especially at any depth. Basically, we are drilling blind.'

'These things happen,' saidForeman, trying to be positive. It didn't have much affect on thecrew. 'Just a suggestion. Have tomorrow off. Rest up a day and tackleit fresh.'

Mitchum laughed. 'Spoken like atrue veterinarian. Sorry, Andy. But have you any idea about timeclauses and penalties? For every day we are behind schedule, we losebonus money. Too much delay and we make nothing. The Moonstruckbelongs to the I S F, but we are contractors. The money looks verygood on paper, but they have us over a barrel if we don't deliver.'

'I know what you said aboutinsurance, Mike, but I'm more than willing to getstuck in with you ifI can be of use.'

Mitchum shook his head and sippedthe wine. 'We couldn't possibly risk it, Andy. Thanks all the same.If anything happened to you, I'd lose my licence, and I'd never workin the industry again. Thanks anyway.'

Susan got up. Even her beauty wasfaded by the weariness she felt. 'I'm too shattered to even shower.I'll be on my own tonight, Andy.'

'I understand,' said Foreman,trying to keep the disappointment out of his voice.

With all the available beds takenup, and Susan sleeping in Foreman's room alone, Foreman had no choicebut to utilise the sickbay bed. He lay awake in the dark sickbay,missing Susan's warm body next to his. His mood was as dark as theroom, and his mind filled with the danger they were in. That Mitchumhad continued his operation after learning of the imminent dangerfrom an unknown enemy, concerned about bonuses from a federation thatcould possibly have been destroyed, was a testimony to his work ethicand faith that they would live to claim their well deserved rewards.If they were going to be fighting for their lives, unarmed andprobably outnumbered, he could think of no team of people he wouldrather face death with. With that sombre thought running through hishead, he fell into a fitful and unsatisfying sleep.