Mark Anson - Below Mercury

‘So, you guys know each other, huh?’ Abrams observed.

‘Sorry Peter, this is Rick Bergman, from the Space Mines Inspectorate – Peter Abrams, from the SAIB.’

‘Good to meet you,’ Bergman said, extending a hand to Abrams. ‘You’re right, Matt and I go back a long way. We met on Mars on our first space assignment – working for PMI, would you believe. Matt stayed with PMI, but I ended up working for the Mines Inspectorate. Did you know PMI tried to keep me off this team?’

Abrams inclined his head fractionally.

‘I don’t think they’ve forgotten some of my inspection reports, have they, Matt?’

‘Er, no. That one on the operating procedures at Elysium caused quite a few heads to roll.’

‘Oh yes, I remember that,’ Abrams said with interest. ‘So you wrote the report, did you? I’m not surprised PMI didn’t want you along. You must have some powerful friends at the Inspectorate.’

‘I don’t know about that,’ Bergman laughed, ‘I just didn’t move quickly enough when they were looking for volunteers.’ He glanced across the room, and dropped his voice slightly. ‘Is that our captain?’ He nodded towards Clare, who was talking with Elliott.

Clare was aware that she was being scrutinised, and she turned her body slightly to ignore it. She focused instead on Wilson answering a question from Elliott about stasis on deep space journeys, and why they wouldn’t be needing it on this mission. She listened at first, but as Elliott delved into more and more detail, her mind wandered.

She wondered how Wilson would perform once they were out there. This was going to be his first deep space mission out of training. She had been hoping to get someone more experienced, but Wilson was the best of the three who were available for this mission, so she had circled his name, and Helligan had endorsed the choice.

It was a good mission from Wilson’s point of view, she thought. He would log flight hours as a copilot on a space tug, a chance that he normally wouldn’t get for a few more years, and he’d be on full space pay like she was. No wonder he was so keen.

Her thoughts wandered on to Matt; she could hear his voice behind her as he talked with the others. Matt had too much personal involvement with the original accident for her liking, but he was the only one of them that had been to the mine before. That kind of knowledge counted highly on Clare’s score sheet for mission success; if he could keep it together, he would be a very useful guide to have.

She checked herself; she was already thinking about the mission as if it mattered to her. This is just some bone that I’ve been tossed, she reminded herself harshly. Don’t get involved. Just do your job, get them there and back safely, keep to the mission plan, avoid any screw-ups.

Over Elliott’s shoulder, Clare saw a heavily built figure with silver eagle rank insignias on the epaulettes of his jacket enter the room. She came back to reality and stood smartly to attention, followed a moment later by Wilson.

Colonel Helligan nodded brusquely at Clare and Wilson, walked up to the front of the room, and rapped on the nearest desk for attention.

‘Please be seated. I’d like to get this briefing started.’ He waited as they came forward and sat down behind the desks, before continuing.

‘My name is Colonel Helligan; I am Group Commander of the Fourth Spacelift Group here at Andersen Base. I am in charge of the preparation, training and execution of this mission.’

Helligan’s eyes probed the six faces looking up at him.

‘While you’re here, in this training facility and on this base, you’ll follow my orders, and the orders of my staff. I know all of you have been into space before, but this is a demanding mission, to an unforgiving place, and all of you need to be fully prepared. It is essential that you listen, digest, and learn everything you’ll be taught here. Do I make myself clear?’

There were two prompt Yes Sirs from Clare and Wilson, and a murmuring assent from the others. Abrams just stared back at Helligan. Helligan looked annoyed, and looked down at his briefing notes. When he looked up again, the back of his neck had gone a faint red colour.

‘Right. Introductions. I guess you’ve already met by now, but for the record, this is Captain Foster, who will be your mission commander, and First Lieutenant Wilson, who will be the copilot and second in command. Captain Foster will be in charge at all times when you are on board. Her first duty is to ensure your safe return, and she has absolute command on board.’ Helligan’s gaze swept over Abrams, Elliott, Bergman and Matt in turn, emphasising his point.

‘Now, you gentlemen will be passengers on the voyage, but each of you will have daily work duties to perform. Captain Foster will assign your duties while on board, and you will complete these to the best of your ability, or forfeit certain privileges. You’re going to be in space for over three months, and it’s essential that discipline is maintained. The mission commander has legal powers to remove privileges, restrain, or even sedate you, if in her view any of you become a hazard to the ship or to the success of the mission. Your space pay allowances from your employers will be paid through the Astronautics Corps, and I remind you that we have powers to make deductions from this pay for any breaches of discipline.

‘There’s no turning round once you’re in the transfer orbit; the only way back here is by going to Mercury and returning, so it’s no good having second thoughts once you’re on your way.’

Matt had heard this sort of blunt warning before. There had never been an actual mutiny on a spaceflight before, but it had come close on more than one occasion. Long flight times, and the boredom and isolation of deep space, could cause apparently trivial issues to blow up out of all proportion. There were many similarities with the long ocean voyages of past centuries, and the captain’s word literally had to be law.

‘Mr Abrams, as the representative of the SAIB, is in overall charge of the mission once you are safely delivered to Mercury and your equipment offloaded. The initial mine entry will be led by Mr Bergman, representing the Space Mines Inspectorate, and once he has conducted a thorough safety assessment, Mr Abrams will take over and lead the investigation to a conclusion.

‘In a change to your briefing notes, Mr Bergman is now also representing the interests of the Space Graves Commission. As you will be entering a designated space grave, there are some formalities and procedures that need to be observed while you are in the mine, as well as the exit and sealing procedures.’

Helligan continued to cover the roles of each member of the mission team. He left Matt until last, ensuring that Matt was in no doubt as to where he came in the perceived order of importance.

An hour later, in the first break of the day, Matt found himself facing Clare, who had come up to speak to him.

‘You’ve been to Mercury – to Erebus Mine – several times before.’ She made it sound faintly like an accusation.

‘Yes. I did three trips over about six years, including the last one just before the accident.’ He sipped his coffee.

‘What do you remember of the approach and landing? I’ve studied the charts, and I’ll be starting landings in the simulator next week, but it would help to know what it’s like from someone who’s been there.’

‘Oh, sure.’ Matt gathered his thoughts, and tried to remember. ‘Well, you can’t usually see much from the crew shuttles, but there was one time I was sitting right behind the copilot, and I had a pretty good view. The Sun was lighting up all the craters from the side as we got closer. It looked very dramatic, kind of scary.