Martian Dawn

Part 3, Chapter 1: El Aguila Ha Aterrizado (The Eagle Has Landed)

Never in Martian history had more than four people landed on the surface in a single day. On this day in early May 2055, late Spring of Martian Year 54, 88 people were to land, eight at a time, approximately one lander per hour until they were all on the ground. Theoretically, all the protocols and technologies were in place. After all, eleven missions had already successfully landed astronauts on the surface. The limitation was manpower and fuel and time. Everything had to go right, repeatedly, to keep up the schedule. New protocols had been written to reduce the chance of error. The colonists had drilled until they were confident they would work. Extensive notes and even videos were exchanged with the Aguila, to make sure that both parties were entirely on the same page. In all respects, the Aguila cooperated with the colonists. They provided specifications and corrected misunderstandings, but otherwise allowed the colonists to take the lead on planning. They had only one request: they wanted to meet Dawn Heinke as soon as possible.

The first lander came down on schedule at 6AM local time. The buggy, with its pressurized trailer in tow, was already on the Planitia--well back from the landing site, but near enough to watch it. The team consisted of one driver, one airlock tech, and two people--Dawn and Jerry--inside the trailer to greet the debarking visitors. Dawn watched from the windows of the buggy as the lander settled into a cloud of dust and fire.

"Yes!" Dawn breathed.

Jerry chuckled. "Never gets old."

The radio crackled and an unfamiliar voice spoke. "Lander One on the ground. All propulsion systems powered off. All crew safe and healthy. We are ready for docking with ground transport."

The radio crackled again and the driver of the buggy, Magda, spoke. "Ground transport on the way, ETA: three minutes."

Magda disengaged the brake, and hit the accelerator. The buggy rolled carefully toward the probe and pulled up sideways, within three meters of the probe, with the airlock on the trailer facing the airlock on the probe. The pressure suited airlock tech jumped down, released the clamps on the causeway, lowered the wheels and pulled it to the airlock on the lander. That was the easy part. Sealing it to the lander was more complicated, as the gaskets and clamps had to align perfectly.

The radio crackled. "Johan, what is holdup?"

"There's no holdup. It's going as well as it ever does."

"Well we just fall behind schedule, so..."

"Seal in place. Pressurize causeway."

Jerry picked up the mic and hit the TALK button. "Roger; pressurizing now." Dawn hit the button on the panel beside the airlock. Pressurized air hissed from the tanks into the causeway. The light on the panel turned green, indicating full pressure. They watched the readouts on the panel for thirty seconds before Jerry thumbed the mic again. "Stable pressure in the causeway. Opening airlock."

Dawn pulled the inner door into the buggy and swung it aside. The outer door swung down and formed a stable floor.

"Ground transport airlock open. Causeway is equalized with trailer," Jerry announced into the radio.

"Acknowledged. Opening lander airlock now," came the reply.

A series of bumps and hisses carried through the atmosphere of the causeway, and then the outer airlock door of the lander swung slowly down and engaged loosely with that of the trailer. A slight breeze blew toward the trailer from the lander, carrying a metallic scent. A tunnel now connected the two of them together. Jerry and Dawn gazed down the tunnel at a pressure-suited astronaut. When he saw they were not wearing helmets, he reached up to unlock his helmet, revealing an attractive Latin face with a salt-and-pepper crew cut.

Jerry chuckled. "Not quite confident, huh?"

The man at the other end smiled, ruefully. "You have been practicing this maneuver in situ. Our drills were all simulated. I am sure you understand."

"I do," Jerry replied. "Believe me, I get it. But here we all are, and you can take your helmets off for now. The ride to Terra Aurora will be almost an hour, and we'll be pressurized all the way into the dome, so you can even take your pressure suits off on the way."

Dawn greeted the passengers as they came one by one over the threshold of the trailer. Jerry ushered them to their seats and showed them how to engage the suit clamps over the backs of the seats, so that they could shrug out of the top of the suit.

The entire transfer took less than a minute.

The man to whom they first spoke sealed the airlock doors on the lander and walked across the causeway. As he entered, he held his hand out to Dawn. "I am the pilot. I am called Beto."

"Beto, I'm Dawn." She took his hand and smiled. "Pleased to meet you."

"And I am very pleased to meet you," Beto said enthusiastically. He clasped her hand between both of his and seemed intent on holding onto her hand indefinitely. After a few moments of uncertainty, Dawn pulled back gently, and he let go. She stepped into the airlock and pulled the outer door up and latched it tightly shut. She turned to step back into the cab, and became aware that all the passengers were now watching her and whispering in rapid fire Spanish.

"¡Ella es La Princesa!"

"¡La Princesa, no! ¿De veras?"

Dawn's face flushed. La Princesa was easy enough to translate. She turned her back to them and sealed the inner airlock and pushed the button that would suck all the air from the causeway back into the tanks. The light on the panel turned yellow. She thumbed the mic. "Airlock sealed. Depressurizing."

"Roger that," Johan replied from outside. "Let me know when."

The causeway collapsed loosely as the air was drawn out. The light turned red, indicating Martian surface pressure in the causeway. "Causeway depressurized, Johan. Ready to disengage."

"Disengage, aye."

She turned to the window, still not ready to face the passengers. She watched Johan release the clamps from the lander, struggling with the last one before it abruptly sprang loose. He pushed the causeway back up against the trailer, and clamped it into place. He then climbed aboard the back of the trailer and clamped himself into place. He banged twice on the hull.

The radio crackled again. "Ready to roll," Johan said. Magda acknowledged by clicking twice on the squelch and then they were in motion.

With a deep breath, Dawn turned to face the newcomers. Her opening remarks were carefully rehearsed. "Bienvenidos a Mars," she said, shakily. "Yo me llamo Dawn. Es un placer a conocerles."

("Welcome to Marte. I am called Dawn. It is a pleasure to meet you.")