Cold Zero I

Exiting the tunnel ended up with Future going into unfortunate course towards one of the outer planets in Gaian system. Only thanks to captain's and first officer's quick wits, they ultimately avoided getting pulled into the planets atmosphere and crashing on its surface, though it did not mean there was no damage.

Two modules sustained too big of a damage in contact with outer layer of the atmosphere, rendering maneuvering engines inoperable. Due to that, the ship lost its balance and stable flight was not possible. Knowing that maneuverability went below the minimum, captain made a decision to turn off all the engines and put the ship into controlled drift on the planet's orbit. In other words, Future had to stay on a set position like satellites on Earth's orbit, and using supporting engines designed for docking to put the ship on stable course should there be issue with staying on position.

Decision was immediately accepted by professor Mathias Kaller, with colonel Ryan McRae being visibly agitated around that time. Following all the conversations John had with the two until now, he started paying more attention to their reactions. He know they are fighting over the influence within the crew, with Marlow being one of the targets, and only God knows who else was on their list, therefore major himself was also keeping an eye on them. Recently, he also started gathering all the information about the two highest ranking people within the expedition's staff.

Kaller usually did not stay this calm in face of all the delays and issues they were encountering. However, the way he reacted this time was much calmer than normally, and the decision was made in a matter of minutes, all of that when McRae looked worried. It looked as if both men swapped their characters.

John knew a lot about the decisions both project chief and military chief were making, but none seemed to be a direct cause of the situation they were currently in. No matter how he looked at it, they went by the book, so the most likely reason was a calculation error.

When it came to the accidents in the past, Marlow was involved for most of the time, and professor consulted with him on several occasions, but it was not the case with the recent event. To some extent, major felt relieved, but on the other hand, there was a bit of insecurity. Mathias seemed to really want John on his side, and Marlow's transfer might have been connected to this idea, just like Ryan mentioned. Still, not involving him in the investigation could mean it was no longer the case.

Nevertheless, major was staying alert as his gut was telling him that something is in the air. Crewmates were anxious for a reason too. As if repair works were not enough to be occupied, John simply could not free himself from the thoughts about potential power struggle. Obviously, he got to know Mathias Kaller and Ryan McRae, who seemed to have their respective supporters, but it could not be ruled out there were others aside from them. Soon, there could be a really unpleasant headhunting.

On several occasions now, Marlow could not fight all these thoughts to such an extent that he nearly talked about them openly with his acquaintances, though each time he managed to hold back. And it was for the best. Knowing how many various groups were back on Earth, including government and corporation ones, he could never be sure what kind of connections others had. Of course, he considered several people in the crew to be trustworthy, but in the end, because of how different groups would often compete against each other, they could still end up on different sides of the front. This was not a simple matter since competition was not only about market prices or buy outs, but also involved a dirty side involving murders and military conflicts.

Obviously, if this turned out to be the case, there was hardly something he could do to avoid a conflict. It was meant to happen, sooner or later. However, if he had a choice he would definitely preferred to keep the things as they were now, having a relatively peaceful days. To work and reach the goal, without raising any conflicts - that was his current target.

That is why his current work helped a lot. It was thanks to work he had it easier to handle his worries. It was not possible to keep these hidden deep inside all the time, but when he was in the hangar, all that mattered were components, cables, electronics in general and many other mechanisms cooperating for machines to be operational. To be perfectly honest, this line of work suited him better than overseeing the engines. He definitely preferred to fix the equipment and program the machines over supervising - by performing these duties he felt much more fulfilled than by working on engine works. Maybe because supervising did not make him involved directly in actual tinkering? Looking for causes of errors required more thinking and invention, in his opinion at least.

Currently, the main workforce was focused on repairs in drive systems of the two damaged modules. For works to be possible, they had to create an appropriate environment around the destroyed elements in a way allowing an easy access for the technicians. In order to do that, a frame had to be built, attached to the outer layers of the modules, which required the usage of Savages and automatons in later phases.

Should Marlow further work in the engine room, he would be surely delegated to works pertaining to repair of the drives, but right now, his main job was to prepare work equipment, including adjustment of Savages to be operable in vacuum. Of course, in most cases, coating repairs were being done with the usage of F-suits and automatons, but the scale of damage in this situation required heavier equipment.

- Luckily, none of ours was there this time - Martin started the topic during work on one of the Savages - Have you heard we lost several more people from the technical team?

John shook his head. He was surprised this kind of information reached him only now.

- You're the first person to tell me that - he relied to his colleagues, while tinkering with one of the arms - It's weird this kind of info is not spreading much.

Johnson wrestled with the cockpit, which he was caulking. He shouted a couple of courses before continuing:

- Contrary to previous situations it indeed looks like an accident, so people may treat this differently. That's what I think though, but it sounds unusual. Those people who died must have had some friends among the crew. Higher-ups should have informed them, organize funerals at least...

Marlow immediately started thinking about the two most important people on the deck. Maybe it was information control?

- Do you know how many died? - he asked Martin.

Mechanic shrugged.

- Well, we are in technical group here, so everyone had contacts in various parts of the ship, like our guys from engine room. I know as much as I heard from those who had friends around the damaged parts. There were six casualties at least, and many more wounded ones, but their lives are not in danger with current technology.

John nodded. Nowadays, damage to the body that did not cause an excessive bleeding, long-term cessation of heartbeat or brain death were fully curable, though the word might not have been well put. Current medicine not only manages to treat wounds, but also allows to recreate lost body parts, including both internal organs and limbs. All that was needed to make it possible were adequate equipment and a doctor, who knew how to operate it. And of course, materials to create the organs. In practice, if one did not die immediately, and take some damage, they had a high chance of survival. And that was not all - even with a shortage of natural cells, there was a possibility of using artificial parts, which were the first choice for many, even if they had an option of getting an organic replacement.

But why the artificial parts instead of using organic ones? Answer was simple - mechanical parts, often referred to as "cybers" were more durable and allowed improvement in comparison to biological body parts. It meant that person could not only return to their proper shape, but also improve their original properties, though calibration might have taken a long time.

Still, it was not something capable of helping the dead, and in case of the older people there was also the case of body accepting the organ, despite being made out of their own cells. Therefore, raking into account that Martin knew about several people only from the limited number of colleagues, it could meant there were actually several dozens of casualties.

- If I were superstitious, I would've said there's some kind of curse on this expedition - Marlow said to Johnson, while doing stretches - There's been way too many accidents so far.

Johnson did not reply immediately, tinkering for a bit longer before several loud hits could be heard, and he emerged from the cockpit, looking at Marlow.

- For a moment, I thought I was hearing things. John Marlow believing in magic would have been interesting though - a wide smile could be seen on Martin's face as he said that - I agree there was quite a number of such situations so far, but calling it a curse would have sounded like a stretch even for someone believing such things.

John sighed.

- I may be calling myself a scientist, but even I know there are things you cannot explain with science. Well, I hope it's for now at least. It's about the amount of weird things happening around. It might have been just a figure of speech I have used, but truth be told it sounds awakward. If it's not the curse, you know what it may mean.

For the first time in a long time, Martin's face tensed up and appeared serious.

- Apologies for the earlier reaction - he said, walking onto platform of one of the lifts to stand closer to John - Between us, for quite some time I've been thinking these situations are too frequent to be a pure coincidence - Marlow was looking at him with curiosity - No matter how crazy it may sound, you may be right, John. Back in the dock, someone tinkered with systems. On Mars, it might have not been this obvious. Since the very first accident I keep thinking someone high up is pulling on the strings and affecting the expedition, though I don't know what's their aim. You get to talk to both Kaller and McRae, don't you know something more?

That sure escalated quickly. Martin was not the type of person to dwell on serious matters, preferring to appear as an easy-going guy, focusing on himself and people closest to him. Even after the accident in the dock, he still stuck together to the same people, and even continued with the mission, though he could not be blamed if he decided to leave. Maybe it was because of John's words, of which fact he was not proud, but Martin, who always tried to keep his and others spirits high, started talking about topics he would have never touched before.

Marlow did not know why he even started that, and had no idea what was the best thing to say. Johnson was even well aware of his relationship with the two most important men in the crew. But John did not want to get his closest friend on the ship get involved in anything that could turned out bad at some point. Besides, he could never be so sure whom specific person would support, if anyhow linked to "major powers". What if his friend got connections to any group that could end up being on opposite side to John? Would sharing the information be the proper course of action here?

In the end, he decided to not go much into details.

- You know what kind of world we live in - he started speaking - Wherever important things are happening, there are always those who want to make a profit, or otherwise get something from it for themselves. That new planet gives a lot of possibilities to the whole humanity, it's a potential new place for everyone to live in. Moreover, what may be even more important, it's rich in natural resources. I wouldn't be surprised if various organizations wanted to make a profit out of this expedition.

Martin was lost in thought for a moment, doing his work, before talking again:

- It looks like we think alike, though I hoped you'd know a bit more. I prefer to know the facts, no matter if good or bad. It's the worst kind of feeling when something's going wrong, but you don't know the reason. Back in the dock, I felt powerless. It turns out you never know who to trust.

The last part made John feel bad. His colleague seemed to trust him enough to talk about the kind of topic he would usually did not bring up, but here Marlow was rather careful and not necessarily honest. Still, changing the approach he decided on was not an option.

- I'm sorry you didn't hear anything new from me. Though I can tell you that the way you thing is not wrong. Be careful around people, don't trust everyone like you do trust me. If there's a chance various groups came here with different agendas than official expedition goals, they may both recruit and eliminate those inconvenient ones.

Johnson's face tensed up again.

- You sure you didn't hear anything? The way you spoke right now was a bit scary, as if something was indeed happening. One could even think those people who died were actually eliminated because they knew something.

Marlow nearly did a facepalm. He did not think this through before he attempted to warn Johnson. No wonder Martin reacted like that, and his prediction might have been actually pretty precise.

- That, I don't know - he started clumsily - These are only my assumptions, nothing more. I have no way of knowing what those two could have known after all. It could have been about putting someone else in their spot, I'm not sure. I don't want to make anyone start some stupid panic. What I want is to complete this mission in one piece, and keep my friends safe.

Yet again, he got a bit too chaotic instead of quickly ending the topic, and got a feeling he only added fuel to the fire. However, Johnson seemed to get his point.

- Ok, I understand, I won't pry into this more. I trust your opinion.

Marlow was not sure how to react, but was relieved they could put a stop to this topic. Hopefully, what Johnson understood was somehow close to John's message at least.

- Thanks. By the way, how's it going on your end?

Obviously, he was asking about the status of work they were doing.

- Sealing all the key spots will take me about one more hour. What about you?

- Half an hour for this arm, and an hour for the another, so we should finish around the same time.

- So how about we go for a drink after work?

- I doubt we have anything better to do today, right?

- Well, you could always have a date with that... I believe she is an archeologist?

John could not deny that recently he was meeting with Keira regularly, but it did not mean he had intention of doing that every day.

- You may be surprised, but she also has her own work to do - he informed the colleague.

They have talked about this several times already. Marlow was initially wondering if these frequent questions coming from Johnson concerning miss Evergate had anything to do with what happened betweem John and Jessica, who was Martin's sister. However, he quickly understood it was not the case and his companion did not have any problems with it, even encouraging John to spend more time with Keira. It might have been because Marting himself had left his girlfriend back on Earth, but still had some alone time with several women from the crew occasionally.

Marlow even asked Johnson couple of times if he did not feel bad about his girlfriend, but Martin straightforwardly told him that his girlfriend is understanding, and before leaving Earth they have both made several rules concerning that matter, and - as long as he followed these - his girlfriend would not mind.

- Ok, so we are set then - Martin started smiling again, after John agreed to have a drink - I'll let others know.

That part Johnson did not ask Marlow about, and John sometimes preferred to enjoy a drink in a smaller group. Still, it was already too late to complain, so he just went along.

***

The sole preparations for proceeding with repairs took about six weeks, while the works were expected to take about six months. The number six could be considered an unlucky number by Future's crew.

Repair works required a large amount of resources, but the time was the biggest issue. Original plan estimated they will reach their goal around the beginning of summer, 2296. However, with all the delays and current repairs, it was hardly likely for them to make it before the end of 2296.

Original information provided to participants of the expedition was that it was supposed to take about five years, but overall delay obviously meant it will take much longer. While it was not a problem for settlers and security members, who were supposed to stay on the planet's surface to begin the colonization effort, those who were to return back to Earth were a different matter. Overall mood among those returning was not looking good even more because of the recent information about the stay on the surface being extended from one to two years. To put it simply, the length of the mission could easily grow to seven years, so two years longer than planned.

John did not know if it was truth. However, if it was really the case, he belonged to affected group. Whatever he thought, everyone's contract included the short entry about the extension of the mission due to "unforseen circumstances", therefore there was no point in complaining since he agreed to the terms. He was obviously annoyed by the situation, but he could see this information actually improved the performance. It seemed like people started working faster in order to save time - too bad they showed some actions could be performed much faster only now. Besides, Marlow worried the haste may result in work being done incorrectly.

Unfortunately, his worries were on point. During repairs, number of accidents was way too big, and most of them were related to the rush and people ignoring procedures. Most commonly, such situations ended up with small wounds, which could be treated fast, but there were - yet again - cases of people dying in the process.

- You know what? You might have been right about the curse, John - after the most recent accident, Marting talked to him with a grim smile.

- This time I'd call it carelessness though - Marlow stated - It's a good thing we are proceeding at a good pace. This means we can depart sooner. Hopefully, it's going to be better on the New Gaia.

- What I'm missing the most is having an actual ground under my feet. You don't even know how much I miss that, to feel the soil - Johnson pointed at his magnetic shoes - Curses or not, I doubt we can find anyone among the crew who is not fed up with all this metal and working in vacuum. Man, why did I even started thinking of this. Now I want to take of these shoes and feel the grass with my feet even more.

- I'd rather think twice before doing that if I were you - Rashid, who was in the group they were sitting in at the canteen, jumped in - Remember, it's not Earth. Sure, there's a counterpart of the grass on the New Gaia, but we don't have enough data to be sure that it's safe to walk on it barefoot.

Hearing that, Martin rolled his eyes in a weird way, and shook his head.

- Easy, Rash, I didn't mean it literally, it was more like a metaphore - he explained before their botanist started his well-known logorrhea - No one here is going to run on this planet barefoot - he looked at the people sitting around - Not me at least.

- What do you insinuate? - Marta asked reproachfully - Maybe I'm a blonde, but these kind of jokes are not fashionable anymore.

She planned to continue the topic, but Jeanne - who was sitting next to him - took her under the shoulder.

- Chill out a bit, Marti - she said - I know you had your own share of trouble with superiors, but don't attack your friends because of that.

Marta nodded and took a sip of juice.

- So administration doesn't have it easy too? - it was something Martin did not expect.

- There's a lot off tension all around - Sveta joined in - He are also working in hangar right now, so you well know what's happening.

Glitter, whom everyone started calling that because of those who knew the original meaning of her name and came up with this nick, worked as mechanic specialized in heavy equipment. Since she was stationed in different part of hangar, on the far end from the place where John and Martin had their spot, they did not have many chances to talk at work. Still, both men often heard other mechanics talked about her. Such a pretty, delicate blonde girl was doing one of the heaviest jobs on the ship.

- And not so long ago you were saying you have it easy - Liu pointed out - Something happened?

Sveta shrugged.

- What should I say? For most of the time, they weren't using any heavy equipment, so I had mainly maintenance to take care about, and - let's be fair, it's not an exhausting work - when she was saying that, John and Martin looked at each other: they could not agree in that regard - but once bigger stuff became needed, it all has started. There was even a moment when I had to sit couple of days in a row working on the kids. At some point, they had to take me to medical section where I got stuck for several hours.

Others were shooking their heads in disbelief.

- But you aware the contract does not force you to do overtime? - Thorsten was first to mention that - I get that everyone is working to avoid delays now, but c'mon...

Glitter waved her hand.

- C'mon, it's not about such a stupid thing - she stated, smiling slightly - It's just I'd have to leave it to others, who could fuck things up.

Jo first did a facepalm, then she caught Sveta and started rubbing her hair.

- Start trusting others! Don't think everything hear is the same as in Russia! - she even raised her voice when speaking - You don't have to do all that stuff by yourself!

Svetlana pouted.

- And what if someone else makes a mistake? The equipment will break up again, maybe worse, get back to us and we'll end up with even more work. Repairs are already close to finish, and all machines will return to us after that, at the same time. You know how much work it will be? Sorry, but I prefer to have it all done sooner than later. I can rest after repairs are done.

Jo and others decided to drop the topic. There was no point in continuing when Glitter became like that, though she was swearing less than they would have expected. Still, they continued to talk about work and causes of the problems they were encountering recently.

John strangely felt it might have been a result of him mentioning the topic to Martin some time ago. He brought up all of these curses stuff, because of an old saying his parents had tendency of using in situations concerning misfortunes which kept happening one after another. It was not like there was an actual curse, but more like someone was affected by a really bad luck.

Regardless of that, talks about curses and some quasi-metaphysics became popular among the crew. Obviously, there was no strong basis about something like curses actually existing, since there was no scientific explanation, but it did not stop people from coming up with new ideas, of which many were really weird. Fortunately, his colleagues were actually logical.

- No matter if it's due to construction errors, sabotage, or some supernatural intervention, what is important now is that we are currently stuck and need to take care of this mountain of junk - he summed up the talk in a few sentences at some point - I get what you are saying but, first of all, we should focus on leaving this place. Even if the ship doesn't make it, we still have a good chance of surviving on the New Gaia.

This was supposed to cut the topic focused on finding conspiracy theories, and it worked in that regard. However, mentioning that ship may not be capable of returning caused a huge uproar.

- Couldn't you leave the remarks about ship's state out of it? - Martin whispered to him - You've got the point, but you didn't have to stomp on their hopes.

- Why are you such a pessimist? - asked Jeanne, laughing at his words - I saw the damage, and it's not something we cannot repair.

Under her smiling, it was hard to read anything else. On the other hand, she was among people operating the repair machines and indeed could have a close look at damaged elements of the ship, though it did not mean she was not lying to calm down her colleagues.

When Jo noticed John looking at her, she glared at him, making him feel a shiver going down his spine - at the same time, he saw anxiety in her eyes.

- You don't need to take me so seriously. It's always better to prepare for the worst case scenario - Marlow started explained - It's just we simply need to be careful, always precise, always vigilant.

- Exactly - a familiar voice confirmed.

John was not sure how much this man heard, but the person who entered was none other than colonel McRae. He did not sit on any of free spots, but kept standing and talking instead:

- No one said there will be no problems on the way, and everything will go easily. It's the biggest such mission, much more complex than original colonization effort on Mars. We went through many accidents and malfunctions, even did a very first manned jump between the star system, which was supposed to be the worst part of the flight. The next time you feel anxious, think about beautiful landscapes of the New Gaia, and the clear air you are going to breathe when we get there. It may not be a trip, but you can still enjoy something many would die for. Moreover, this expedition will surely go down in history. Just fulfill your duties and we will surely reach our goal.

Looking at others, Marlow was not really sure if this speech really had a chance to improve the morale. However, no one protested or argued with colonel.

During this short moment, John felt a light impulse from his PEC and instinctively turned on the interface. He received one, and a really short message coming from Ryan McRae: "In future, I suggest you avoid this kind of topics among the staff. We have enough problems without the scared crew."

In casual conversations, the man seemed calm and unmoved, but his message showed it was only a mask. Both colonel McRae, military chief, and Mathias Kaller, project chief, appeared distanced to most people when interacting with them, but they were always capable of being decisive and not allowing others to undermine their authority. Still, John noticed that even such people had their concerns. After all, Ryan did not order him to not say lies, but to avoid such topics, meaning the anxieties were not unjustifiable.

Whatever was said and done, they had no control over some things. Space ship is a machine made of a humongous number of elements, therefore there was no way to precisely monitor every, even the smallest detail. Everything was making it obvious that the only thing they could do now was making the ship operational again, and as soon as possible.

Sure, they still had supply of food and water on board, and a limited possibility of growing plat to produce food, though it did not mean such situation was comfortable. Sole living in artificial conditions put a lot of strain on humans, both physically and mentally. They already had cases of people going into isolation, and there was also a gossip about suicides. In the end, time was not on their side.

Marlow decided to follow McRae's instruction, and started moving conversations to other topics from then on. He was inquiring about work results in different groups. Despite being in less important position right now (in his personal opinion), John thought it was the only way for him to contribute to speeding up the repairs. Aside from that, he disregarded a portion of Ryan's warnings by contaction Mathias.

Project chief was a bit reserved in relation to Marlow's suggestion, but in the end agreed to some of his ideas, giving John a certain amount of freedom to act independently. This way, major could not only work more on repairs, but also received wider permissions. He was no longer limited to work at the hangar, and gained access to damaged zones.