Last Flight For Craggy (14 page)

'Heat shield
retracted. Freighter pilot Rocky Ramshorn requesting permission to
land.'

'Permission
granted, pilot Ramshorn,' came the reply.

Rocky took the
freighter to a slow cruising speed, for the final leg of the
journey. He glanced briefly at Amethyst at his left hand side and
smiled, hoping he portrayed a confident persona. Then he
obliterated everything from his mind to concentrate on the job in
hand.

Amethyst wanted
to say something encouraging and supportive as he brought the new
freighter with the line of ten pods in from the final orbit. He
needed to be totally focused as he lined up the ship on the
concrete pad and the pods on the cradle.

Cragg had seen
the lad control the ship using the mysterious coloured sensors,
with subtle hand movements, totally in command and understanding
the ship as a complete entity, an extension of himself. It had only
been four months since he had tried to master the same type of
controls on the ship, and avoided crashing it into Westmont by the
skin of his teeth.

For all his
tender years, Rocky was a natural freighter pilot and Dillow would
undoubtedly be signing off his tickets, giving him Freighter
Captain first class status. These young people gave him a glimmer
of hope for the future of their species. He would ride along on
their coattails for as long as they'd let him.

Freighter
Captain first class Fawn Dillow had been in a reflective mood for
most of the trip, the realisation that Earth was beyond, and
probably not even worth saving, was a bitter pill to swallow. West
and East had come out in all out war now, and Moon and Mars no
longer took an active interest in their inevitable self
destruction.

It was too late
to bring Earth back from the brink, as sad as that fact was. It was
up to a few thousand Moon and Mars dwellers to turn hostile
environments into homes to raise future generations. The glow of
young love between Rocky and Amethyst gave her hope for the
future.

'Are you okay,
Rocky?'

'Just making
sure the positioning is right, Dillow. Setting her down now.'

Cragg and
Dillow held their breaths, but showed nothing but a calm and
confident exterior. There wasn't even the slightest feeling of
touching down.

'Good job,
Rocky,' said Cragg, fitting his helmet. 'Dillow, Bouquet, I'd like
us to check how the pods unlock. I know they're the new design, but
they've hardly had much use. Rocky, listen out for my
instructions.'

Cragg led the
others through the airlock. 'Excited, Amethyst? First time on
Mars?'

'I can't
believe I'm here.'

'Careful as you
step down,' said Dillow. 'The sand can be surprisingly deep in
places.'

Cragg said, 'If
I disappear, don't jump on my head.' He led the way outside.
'Scotty?'

From high up
out of sight came a voice. 'Rosy.'

'Thank God. A
woman in charge. Nice to meet you, Rosy. I'm Cragg, but you can
call me Craggy.''

'I've heard
about you.'

'It isn't true.
I never did it.'

'Did what?'

'Whatever I was
accused of doing.'

'Rosy. Fawn
Dillow here. Do what I do with Craggy and ignore him. Are you ready
to unload the pods?'

'When you
are.'

'Rocky. Unlock
the pods.'

'All pods
unlocked,' said Rocky.

Cragg said,
'Rocky. We are going to take a quick look to confirm all the locks
have opened before the grabber takes them off. If you could put the
luggage in the airlock in the meantime, that will be helpful.'

'Got that,
Craggy.'

Cragg, Dillow
and Amethyst climbed the steps to the catwalk that ran along the
cradle.

Dillow said,
'Amethyst. See how the locks have fully swung over? That's what we
want. Never completely rely on the ships instrumentation. I found
that out the hard way.'

A quick walk
along the catwalk told them all the pod locks had disengaged
completely. They walked back along the catwalk and down the
steps.

Dillow said,
'Rocky. All good here. Complete the shutdown procedure and join
us.'

Four minutes
later, Rocky opened the airlock and walked down the ramp.

Cragg said,
'You have one more thing to do. The grabber operator is up there in
that cab. Her name is Rosy. Say hi and give her the okay to unload
the pods.'

'Rosy? Rocky
Ramshorn here. All pod locks are disengaged and okay to unload,
please.'

'Please? You
didn't get that from Old Craggy. Okay. I'll meet up with you all
later.'

A buggy was
ploughing up dust as it sped towards them. The driver pulled up a
few metres from them and flipped his black visor off his
helmet.

'Frosty. Nice
to see you again,' said Cragg.

Todd Frost
said, 'From what I heard, it's a wonder you're here at all. A close
call, I gather.'

'Not one to be
repeated in a hurry. You already know Captain Fawn Dillow. And this
young man is going to be an ace pilot in no time at all. Rocky
Ramshorn. And this delightful young lady is Amethyst Bouquet.'

'Nice to meet
all of you. Put the luggage in the back and jump on.'

With the
luggage loaded, Frost drove them to Base Three passing the pod
carrier on their way. The huge airlock door opened and Frost parked
up. They all grabbed the luggage as the outer door closed, and then
they went through the inner door.

'Wow!' said
Amethyst at her first sight of the Base Three interior.
'Fizzing.'

'Fizzing,'
agreed Rocky.

Frosty said,
'Glad our place is fizzy. Time for a beer?'

Rocky and
Amethyst looked at Cragg and Dillow.

'We can drink
beer?' asked Rocky, unsure.

'Yeah,' said
Cragg. 'Just don't mention it on Moon or they'll have me shot for
leading teenagers astray.'

'In
moderation,' said Dillow with a warning waggle of her pointy
finger.

'They'll shoot
me in moderation?' said Cragg.

'Behave,
you.'

'Got swimming
costumes for a soak in the pool?' Frosty asked.

'I wondered why
Dillow told us to pack those,' said Amethyst.

'You two have
rooms next to each other. Two seven one and two, just along there.
Drop your gear in there, put your togs on and come get a beer in
the communal lounge over there.'

'Thanks.'

Frosty watched
the teenagers walking along the central path, pointing at the
sights, especially the jungle.

'Why have I
suddenly aged twenty years?' said Frosty.

'They have that
effect on all us oldies,' said Cragg. 'You mentioned a beer?'

Frosty said,
'Plenty in the lounge. Why don't you two freshen up and help
yourself. I have some work to do, but I have half an hour or so, so
I'll see you in there.'

In the lounge,
beers were handed out and Dillow and Cragg helped themselves to a
feed of fish from the food trays resting in the steaming vats then
added some fresh greens.

'Nothing like
home cooked food,' said Dillow.

'And this is
nothing like home cooked food,' quipped Frosty. 'That was quite an
adventure you guys had.'

'A bit hairy,'
admitted Cragg. 'I'll not be flying a ship again, I know that
much.'

'We have some
good young pilots coming through, so we'll be fine,' said
Frosty.

Cragg said,
'I'll still be involved with the training program, so that will
keep me on my toes.'

'Good for you,
Craggy,' said Frosty. 'It'd be a shame to lose all that hard won
experience. It looks like the Earth is at it again.'

'Why they are
so determined to kill themselves off defies logic,' said Dillow.
'Here's the rest of us, battling every day just to survive.'

'It's almost
like they're a different species,' added Craggy, swilling the beer
around in his mouth hoping his taste buds would survive the
experience. 'Hello you two. All set for a dip?'

'Can't wait,'
said Rocky.

Frosty raided
the fridge for two beers and handed them to the youngsters. 'Here
you go. It takes some getting used to. If you go out the door
there, take a right, you'll see a path heading into the jungle.
That leads to the pool. Have fun.' As the teenagers walked off,
Frosty said, 'They make a charming couple.'

'Don't they
just,' agreed Dillow.

'Ah. Here's
Commander Potts and his wife. I have to get going, so have a chat
with them.'

Potts and his
wife saw them and joined them as Frost went about his business.
'Hello, Craggy. Captain Dillow. I don't think you met my wife
Marcia last time you were here.'

Marcia was in
her late seventies, and still looked very attractive. 'Hello,
Craggy. Hello, Captain.'

'Fawn.'

'A lovely name.
Care to join us?'

They sat
together as they ate their meals. Marcia made them feel at home and
her easy manner had Dillow feeling like they were long time
friends.

Marcia said,
'You two were very brave, what you did.'

Cragg said,
'Young Rocky was a star, as well. No way could I have brought that
ship home.'

'An amazing
effort all round,' said Potts.

Marcia said,
'With the hostilities hotting up on Earth, we're getting a lot more
enquiries from Moon, from people wanting to come to live here.'

'Understandable,' said Cragg. 'It makes us all sad to look at the
Earth, knowing it's being killed off and us not being able to do
anything about it.'

Dillow asked,
'Will you be able to take many in?'

'We'd love to
do that,' said Potts. 'But we are at almost full capacity as it
is.'

Dillow said,
'But I thought the intention always was to develop Mars to take
many more people.'

'It is,' said
Potts. 'In good time. But we need to have accommodation and enough
food for everyone.'

Cragg said,
'Moon was really a trading post between Earth and Mars. With the
Earth gone soon, Moon becomes redundant.'

Marcia said,
'True, Craggy, but it isn't that we don't want Moon dwellers, we
just have to solve the practical issues first.'

Potts admitted,
'Not a five minute job.'

Marcia said,
'Forgive me, but I have a committee meeting to attend. If it isn't
one thing, it's another. I'll see you both before you go.'

* * *

Although the
“jungle” was a well-tended, diverse and vital part of the
ecosystem, it had also been developed to have a natural feel to it,
and neither Rocky or Amethyst had experienced anything like it, to
walk along the safe paths, foliage brushing their skin. Amethyst
was startled by an insect that flew in front of her.

'That's a bee,'
said Rocky.

'Are they
dangerous?'

'Just don't
annoy them. They pollinate all the plants and provide honey.'

'Honey?'

'I haven't had
any, but I heard it's amazing.'

They reached
the clearing where the wallowing pool was. It looked like it had
been fed from a spring for thousands of years, not a man made pool
for relaxing in. It wasn't difficult to imagine a wildebeest or
even a tiger come out of the undergrowth to drink. Towels were
dropped by the side and they slipped into the body temperature
water. They were pleased to have it all to themselves, but that
didn't last long. Others came and wallowed for a while, chatting in
the usual friendly Mars way before taking off again.

'This is nice,'
said Rocky, sipping the strange brew.

'Wouldn't it be
fizzing to live here?'

'I was
wondering about that myself. Can't say I like the idea of Moon
after seeing this place.'

'It wouldn't
hurt to ask if there's anyway we could come here permanently.'

'We'll sound
them out when we get the chance.'

On one of the
moments they were alone, Rocky was trying hard to keep his gaze at
eye level, even though he was rubbing bare shoulders with a
beautiful girl in a bikini that didn't leave much to the
imagination. He wasn't listening much to what she was saying, but
he was watching her full lips, wondering what it would be like to
kiss them. He was about to risk moving in to find out when another
couple turned up and slipped into the pool.

'I'm famished,'
said Amethyst, after saying hi.

'Me too. come
on.'

In the lounge
which also served as the eating area, Rocky and Amethyst saw Cragg
had joined Misty at a quiet side table, and it was obvious they
didn't want to be disturbed. Mars Commander Potts was talking to
Dillow. Helping themselves to a meal, they heard Dillow say, 'Come
and join us.'

'Thanks,' said
Amethyst.

'Rocky
Ramshorn, Amethyst Bouquet, this is Mars Commander Potts.'

'Nice to meet
you,' said Potts. 'Enjoying your stay on Mars?'

'Loving it,'
said Amethyst. 'I love the jungle. Nothing like it on Moon.'

'It is very
special,' said Potts. 'You did a remarkable job on that ship, by
the way. Craggy was saying what a fine pilot you'll be.'

'It's what I
always wanted to be,' said Rocky.

'He scored a
ninety two point average in the simulator,' said Amethyst, proudly.
'I've another term to go before I can take my tickets.' It was a
fairly blatant sales pitch.

'Very
impressive,' said Potts. He shared a look with Dillow, suspecting
what was coming next.

'Actually,'
said Rocky, 'We were kinda wondering if there were any places
coming up here.'

Potts said, 'As
a matter of fact, Fawn and I were discussing that before you
arrived. Not you two specifically, just in general. We would love
to take everyone if we could, but where would we house them and how
would we feed them?'

'Can't you just
build more bases?' asked Rocky. 'Grow more food?'