Chapter 10

Xi Pegasi
Colony Site One
June 10, 2057

“They’re early.”

Hollis lowered his binoculars and looked down at Maria. “I’m sorry?”

“The shuttle is early.” She put her hand on the rover’s side for balance. Her leg fracture was setting nicely, but the leg still hurt if she walked on it too much. “They’ll be here in about fifteen minutes.”

Hollis nodded and looked out over the airport. He had surveyed the area for the best landing site, and it had taken ten days to cut the temporary landing strip and lay the prefabricated surface. It would only last six months under regular use, but the parallel runway would be operating by then. He and his team were due to leave for the next survey site in two days. Roger Evans and his team had left the previous day after two more aircraft had been dropped to them.

Six aircraft were on-planet now, and their newly delivered fuel production facility was operating around the clock to produce the hydrogen fuel they needed. Wells’ factories were operating at full capacity to produce the aircraft, helicopters, and tools the colonists would need. They had brought construction equipment and mining equipment with them, along with ground vehicles, support equipment, and housing. This equipment was optimized for the harsh Martian environment, but it was adequate for their immediate needs. Some new tools were sorely needed; chainsaws, weapons, and ammunition topped the list. The shuttles would be very busy delivering the equipment to this colony site, and the two others, when they were finally established.

The distant sonic boom interrupted Hollis’ thoughts. He raised his binoculars and soon spotted the approaching shuttle. Their approach speed was slower than usual, Hollis noted as it drew closer. The landing flaps were fully extended, and the craft’s glide angle was greater than for the airdrops. It passed over the approach lights, and the nose lifted further as the pilot flared. A puff of blue smoke blew back from the main tires, and the screech reached Hollis’ ears a second later. He lowered his binoculars and clambered down to greet the first arrivals with the rest of his team.

“This is really good,” Sijay leaned back in her chair and propped her feet on the makeshift table as she inspected the icy drink in her hand.

“We call them sapphire lemons. It’s very close to a lemon, but it’s bright blue on the outside. Calla Burbokis made up the first batch for us, and we’ve been hooked ever since.” Maria sipped her own drink appreciatively.

“Are you staying here?” Hollis asked.

Sijay shook her head. “I can’t. I got kidnapped to fly this first shuttle landing; Manuel’s people insisted that I fly it.” She grinned. “Not that I fought them, you understand. This place is just wonderful!”

“Too bad we can’t stay, but we have nine sites left to look at. Roger’s team just landed, and we’re leaving in two days.” Hollis pointed with his glass. “The food should be ready in a few minutes, and yes, you have to eat. The shuttle won’t be ready for a couple of hours, since we are using a rover as a fuel truck.”

Sijay laughed. “Then I’d better eat first.”

“I heard that Keith’s group left this morning,” Maria said. “What else is in the works?”

“Devin discussed this with the department heads before Keith left.” Sijay fished in her flight suit, and pulled out her datapad. The five others seated under the sun shelter sat up straight and fell silent. “We are still trying to explore and see what resources are available. We have identified this site for its minerals and the river to transport them, the big moon’s methane ice craters, and the asteroid belt as worthwhile sources. We have now solved the problem of transporting people and equipment to the surface and retrieving them again. And, the survey teams can now reach their objectives without the shuttles’ help.”

“Our next objective is to establish permanent settlements here and at two other locations groundside. We will also establish permanent outposts on the big moon, in the asteroid belt, and, of course, in planetary orbit. Wells Station will be smaller than the original plan envisioned for quite some time, but it will still become much larger than it is now. The settlements and outposts will be given enough manufacturing facilities and other assets to become self-sustaining. The shuttles will provide regularly scheduled air service to everyone except the asteroid belt outpost.”

“The overriding issue we face is procreation.” Sijay smiled at the group. “The original plan had called for more people to follow us, as you know. We couples were supposed to create a more stable colony, not populate one. Unfortunately, we will need to populate it. We’ve sent two sats out to take station on the wormhole’s location, and they report seeing nothing so far. Until we establish contact, we are on our own.”

She took a drink of her lemonade. “Sorry, it’s more humid here, and I’m not used to it. As I was saying, we are it, for a very long time. The mission planners had envisioned limiting the use of automation to increase the need for labor. We must expand our individual productivity as much as possible to build the infrastructure we need to have a decent standard of living. We will have entire factories with only a handful of workers operating them. The shuttles will fly with a single pilot, and the spacecraft will have as few crewmembers as they safely can.”

“Once everyone is settled in, they will be encouraged to start families. We are even considering using artificial wombs to help increase the birth rate and lower the risks associated with pregnancy. I know that this is against company policy, but we must grow to survive. Natural pregnancies are inadvisable for any woman stationed off planet due to radiation hazards and microgravity conditions, and some women here may opt to not carry their child.”

Sijay put her datapad aside. “I know you probably have a lot of questions, but we need to take care of the business at hand first.” She held up her hand. “Not that I won’t talk to you, but a place to live has to come first.”

Hollis cleared his throat. “I don’t know about artificial births, but the rest sounds fine to me.”

“Everyone who left for the asteroid belt donated ova and sperm.” Sijay sat up in her chair. “We will bring the facility here as soon as you can receive it. The station receives less radiation than open space, but I would feel better if the kids-to-be were here.”

“Are you saying we should have extra children artificially?” Maria asked carefully.

Sijay shook her head. “No, we aren’t suggesting that. We are saying that it is one method of rapidly increasing our population. We can fix a lot of prenatal problems whether the child is in a natural environment or an artificial one, so that isn’t a factor.”

“We will need to care for these kids,” Tony Blevins spoke up. “We can’t just pop a bunch of people out, and then let them grow up just any old way.”

“We don’t want that, either.” Sijay faced him squarely. “But, we must accelerate our birth rate. Our population is barely large enough to provide a decent gene pool as it is. We have the economic and technical base to provide for ourselves ten times over. I’m not saying we should all have dozens of kids, but I am saying that every couple should consider having at least five children. Even more would help, but at least five.”