April 18
Tamara floated in front of the window and watched the cable approach from above. If she craned her neck she could trace the cable all the way up to its moorings, a floating barge in the only equatorial lake on Mars. The end of the cable approached like the head of a snake. Magnetic locks grasped the ship, instantly changing its hyperbolic trajectory into a circular orbit. Gravity jumped from 0 to 0.37 and Tamara fell to the floor with a thud.
"Captain Mills warned you about that." chuckled John, after he was sure she was all right. He was sitting on a chair at the kitchen table, but the abrupt change caught him off guard as well. He felt dizzy, and he leaned forward on the table, telling his heart to beat a little harder against the downward pull.
"We've got capture." announced Captain Mills through the tv screen. "We'll be descending the cable for the next two hours. Remember, you're going to experience a few more minutes of zero gravity at the midpoint, but once we're on the ground it's Martian gravity from here on out. Please remain in your staterooms. We'll process you one at a time, starting at the bottom and going up. If you're at the top, it may take the better part of a day. Sorry about that, but the Martian authorities don't take any chances. The process will go faster for everyone if you take as little as possible. Remember, you can always buy new. And don't waste your time with electronics, or anything else that can't stand up to 280 degrees. Take your clothes and your favorite stuffed animal, and that's about it. Well that's all for now. Hope you had a nice trip, and enjoy your stay on Mars."
"We're going to have to leave most of this stuff behind." declared Maggie as she looked around the room. "a lot of these things won't survive the sterilizer."
"How about my bear?" Asked Mark, holding it out for his mother to see. She took it and examined it.
"The sterilizer maintains an oxygen free environment, so the material won't burn, but I'm not sure about the eyes and nose. They're plastic, and they might melt."
"Give it a whirl." said John. "If they melt, that's no worse than if we'd left him here in the stateroom."
"And what about the buttons on our clothes?" asked Maggie.
"They picked a temperature that most plastics can with stand." replied John. "I think our clothes will be all right." He turned back to Mark. "Put your bear in the pile on my bed."
They sorted their possessions and ate one last snack. The two hours went by quickly, and soon the ship was locked in place just above the barge. Tamara stared out the window in amazement. The sea and the sky were a beautiful deep blue, like Earth, but somehow less menacing. The sun was smaller, cooler, gentler. She couldn't wait to run out and feel its quiet rays against her skin. She wanted to swim in the sea for hours.
"It will be three or four hours before they get to us." estimated John. "What would you like to do to pass the time?" The kids decided on a game of Scrabble. Maggie had to bow out, since Beth demanded her full attention.
As they started the second game one of the porters knocked on the door, and without waiting for an invitation, he strolled in. "What are you taking?" he asked.
Maggie pointed to the pile on the bed. He flipped through the clothes, glancing quickly at each item. Finally he picked up Mark's bear and examined the face. He pulled a probe out of his pocket and pressed a button. A few seconds later it beeped, indicating the appropriate temperature. He held the end of the probe gently against the bear's nose, and it started to melt. "Yeah, I thought that plastic was kinda soft." He put the cap on the probe and placed it back in his pocket. "Sorry, the bear will have to stay." He tossed it onto the second bed. "Everything else looks ok. Hey! How about the stuff you're wearing? You leavin' it behind?"
"Oh skat." exclaimed Maggie. "I forgot. Come on kids, take your clothes off and put them on the bed." They did as directed, and soon the Farsees stood completely naked while the underpaid porter went about his business. Yes, he was distracted by Maggie's beauty, but he pretended not to notice. He wasn't suppose to notice. He placed all the clothes in a bag and sealed it with a tag. A perforated edge allowed the tag to tear neatly in two. "Here's your claim check." he announced, handing the half-tag to Maggie. "You can claim your possessions at room 137 once you have disembarked. You'll need your claimcheck, so don't lose it. You don't want to walk around Mars naked, trying to buy new clothes with money that you don't have." He took one last long look at Maggie, then left, bag in hand.
A few minutes later Dr. Jarvis opened the door and motioned them out. "You're next." he announced. They crowded into the elevator and descended past the lower staterooms, past the now-empty fuel tanks, past the engines, and down into the barge. The doctor, who was packing heat, waved them into an examining room and closed the door. "Each of you is going to have an xmri scan, designed to search for foreign objects. You haven't declared any implants, so there should be no delay. Mr. Farsee, you're first."
John stepped into a large metal booth and closed the door. A screen on the wall flickered to life, displaying the bones and muscles of John's feet. The image scrolled up, showing calves and then thighs. The detail was impressive; even Mark was riveted to the screen. Loops and loops of intestines rolled by, with lumps representing food in various stages of digestion. Next the heart could be seen beating in real time, adjoined veins and arteries pulsing with each beat. Lungs and ribs moved gently in and out with each breath. The vocal chords slid by, and then the brain, a magnificent 3 pound enigma.
"And if you found something unexpected?" asked Maggie.
"You'd sit in a holding tank, until we can figure out what it is. Sometimes a kid swallows a marble or something, no big deal. But if you're trying to smuggle something across, well, you don't want to go there. It isn't pretty." The door opened and John stepped out. "You're next Mrs. Farsee."
Maggie stepped in and closed the door. The scan moved up her legs and into her abdomen, when Dr. Jarvis suddenly pressed the pause button. A rapid flutter could be seen in the center of the screen. He moved his joystick about to look at it from all angles. "Well we don't see this very often." he commented. "That's the heart, about 160 beats per minute. See it there? I'd say she's almost two months along."
"Honey," shouted John, "you're pregnant!"
"I am?" asked a muffled voice from behind the door.
At this point Tamara could not contain herself. She danced around the room and sang a song of joy. "I'm going to have a little baby sister! And I'm going to take care of her, just like Beth."
"Well young lady," cautioned the doctor, "there's no way to know if it's a boy or a girl." He resumed his scan, scrolling past intestines, stomach, heart, lungs, throat, and brain.
Tamara, Mark, and Beth were scanned in turn, and all was in order. "You can go to room 137 to claim your clothes." He opened the door and waved them out.
John led the way, hesitantly. Nobody seemed interested in providing any guidance or direction. He looked up and down the hall and decided to turn right, only because he spotted some naked people in the distance. No doubt they were Earth passengers like himself. They walked past room 119, 121, 123, and so on until they reached 137. John turned inside and saw several naked people standing at a counter. A woman handed two gentlemen a bundle and said, "Next." The Farsees took their place at the end of the line. "I hope you have the claim check." mumbled John.
"It's right here." said Maggie, holding the ticket up for all to see.
The line moved quickly, and soon Maggie was handing her ticket to the woman behind the desk. She darted back into a small room and emerged with their possessions. John took the bag, which was still hot, as though it had come out of a dryer set on high. He walked to an unoccupied corner of the room, opened the bag, and fished out some clothes for his family. Maggie dressed Beth in her one and only outfit, then handed the baby to Tamara as she dressed herself. Soon they were ready to go, but where?
"What do we do now?" asked Mark.
"Follow those people." suggested Maggie, pointing to a clothed family that was passing through a far door. They slowly made their way towards the door, then stepped through into a large waiting room with brown carpeting and orange chairs. A display was visible on the far wall. "Please wait, the next ferry will arrive in 1 hour and 17 minutes." John realized this elevator was located on the surface of a relatively small lake, just a few dozen miles across. There was no need for a supersonic flight to shore. A leisurely boatride would do. He was lost in thought, picturing the boiling equatorial waters that he left behind, when a man touched him on the sleeve.
"Pardon me, are you John Farsee?" The stranger was dressed in a suit and tie, and carried a picture of John in his hand. He looked like a government official, and indeed he was.
"Yes." said John in surprise.
"Fine. Fine. I hope you had a pleasant trip."
"We did." replied John, waiting for the other shoe to drop. Was he going to be extradited back to Earth on charges of murder?
"A Mr. Bruder told us you were coming, and sent us a video feed from the last energy conference in Siberia." He paused, but John did not respond. "Seems you're quite the expert in controlled fusion power, and we really need people like you here on Mars. Now you understand you're free to do anything you like. You can run a restaurant if you wish, but we hope you will work for us in the power industry. I have a job lined up for you, with a good salary. And I've taken the liberty of contacting a realter, so you can get settled into your new home as quickly as possible. Would you like to come with me?"
John was stunned, and couldn't say a thing. He remained mute for almost a full minute.
"That would be fine." said Maggie, rejoicing in their good fortune. She scooped Beth up in her arms and called to her children. They followed the stranger out of the waiting area and began their new lives.