Defying Mars (The Saving Mars Series) - By Cidney Swanson Page 0,4
keep the decorative plant alive once they got back to Mars. She suspected he was going short on his own water ration to hydrate the exotic bloom at present. His lips looked a lot worse than hers felt.
He cleared his throat. “Sure, kid, I can tell you what you want to hear. Anything’s possible, ain’t it? But you ain’t gonna get permission on this one, so why torment yourself with possibles and impossibles?”
“But I have to get permission!” Jess stood, placing her hands on her hips.
Crusty shrugged. “They might send out a rescue next annum.”
Her heart beat faster at the unwelcome thought and she felt her face flushing with anger. “My brother was sentenced to re-bodying inside a geriatric body with limbs missing!” she said. “He can’t wait two Earth-years. He could be dead by then.”
“Hmmph,” grunted the mechanic, his eyes fixed upon the orchid.
“What do you mean, hmmph?” demanded Jess. “You know I’m right. Ares, Crusty, we’re their only hope. You’re talking about waiting an entire Mars orbit—an annum—and I’m telling you they’ll be dead by then. Pavel said the conditions in the mines—” Jessamyn stopped, unable to continue without wasting water. Like a good Marsian, she held back her tears.
“Listen, kid. My vote is we make the attempt,” said Crusty. “I’ll be volunteering to go myself. Those good folks don’t deserve to be stuck on a planet of filthy body-swappers.”
Jessamyn swallowed, eyes upon the rations table before her. “And you see I’m right, don’t you? That they can’t wait? If we let another twenty-four months go past before we return for them, who knows what will happen?”
“Jess, the rescue only works if the ship can get you there. I been workin’ on a list of everything that needs repair.” He shook his head. “It’s a long list. Even if I start today. Some stuff I can’t do ‘til we’re planet-side. And that ain’t your biggest obstacle. Not by a long shot.”
“So what is, then?”
“It’s you, kid. You’re what, less than ten annums old?”
“I’m almost nine,” Jess said, defensively. “That’s seventeen in Terran years. I’m an adult.”
Crusty laughed. “Kid, I’d put my life in your hands, no questions asked, but ain’t no one back home gonna see you as an adult. They take one look at you without so much as your First Wrinkle and they’ll see a hotheaded teenager. You think they’re gonna let you risk Mars’s last space-worthy ship?” He shook his head.
Jess felt herself flushing again. “I’m a Mars Raider. Hades and Aphrodite! If anyone’s qualified to make a recommendation, it’s me.”
“Sorry kid. Just tellin’ you how I see it.”
“Well, you’re wrong!” With that, Jessamyn stormed out of the rations room.
She’d expected to find an ally in Crusty. But if he wasn’t with her on this, what chance did she stand, really? How could she hope to persuade Mei Lo and the rest of MCC?
I’ll find a way, she thought. There’s got to be a way.
She paced up and down the narrow hall linking the forward and aft portions of the ship, passing the observation deck repeatedly. Once a place of calm and wonder, it was now a location she studiously avoided. Crusty had made a point of bringing her there after their launch to let her know he’d repaired the ugly scar which had caused the oxygen leak on their outbound journey. She’d thanked him but hadn’t returned after that first visit. The ache for her brother’s presence crescendoed in the silent room such that she saw neither stars, nor beauty, but only loss.
Turning one last time, she came to rest before her quarters and pounded the hatch opening. It was time to compose a letter to the Secretary General, pleading her case.
It took her some time to find the perfect words, but when she’d finished, Jessamyn felt as though she’d shed a great burden. Mei Lo trusted Jessamyn’s judgment. The Secretary would surely see the sense in returning to reclaim one of Mars’s brightest minds. Jess felt a small smile forming. She felt ebullient.
In fact, she felt magnanimous. She shouldn’t have shouted at Crusty. Shouldn’t have stormed out of the room. She owed him an apology.
It took her some time to locate the mechanic. Suiting up and venturing below decks, she found him fussing with fuel lines.
“I don’t mean to interrupt your work,” she said on their comm channel. “But I wanted to say I’m sorry I shouted at you. I want to apologize for my behavior. It was … childish.”