Mars Awakening - Chapter 8

Please find below Chapter 8 of the book: Mars Awakening. If you are just starting Mars Awakening, then here is the link to Chapter 1

Adrian made his way to the garden module. Well, actually, three modules, modules 22 to 24, were just for gardening. They were bursting, almost from floor to ceiling, with racking and lots of other tools. Interestingly, they all had plastic ends; maybe they didn’t want anyone putting a shovel through the protective barrier.

Adrian was not sure why he was on Mars; it was certainly not his choice. He tried not to think about it too much, or he would just have another panic attack. He’d had a couple of panic attacks so far, and they hadn’t helped much. He had slowly calmed down, and he felt comforted by the amount of space available on the train. One thinks of going to Mars in a small spaceship, living under a dome, as terrifying. His current predicament was quite different. There were what appeared to be twenty-five large shipping containers, all lined and protected from the atmosphere in a sealed tunnel.

Apparently, according to the AI September, even the sealed tunnel was sufficient to hold an atmosphere. So, although their space wasn’t huge, it also took a few minutes to walk from one end to another. Everything being in a long line was necessary, given the tunnel, but it was not what Adrian expected.

These three modules were just for plants. An obvious key ingredient that was lacking was soil. Adrian looked around and found some large bags of soil, and he collected five of them. He would have said about one hundred kilograms of soil on Earth. Here, he could probably pick up all five. It was not much to begin a garden. He needed to stretch it out and see what he could grow. Could he get Martian soil, and if so, what would it grow? he wondered.

Mars was always so red in the movies. He was no chemist, but he wondered if the iron content would cause him any problems. He had been an active gardener before awakening here, having watched shows about London underground gardens, where enthusiasts converted old train tunnels into what they called vertical farms. A highly efficient process, with no wasted space, the food growing on racks, from the ground to the ceiling.

What he found here in these modules felt the same: high-density food production to feed the crew. It wasn’t exactly the type of gardening he liked. He preferred the challenge of growing beautiful fruits and vegetables, not to mention beautiful flower gardens. Growing food for a crew of twenty would be a challenge, but it would also be fun. He could also win all the Martian vegetable competitions, given he would be the only entrant. And so, he now became a full-time interplanetary gardener, and he didn’t see any reason to venture outside. Ever!

One strange feature of this module was a simple tap. He checked it and found it dispensed cold water. He wondered how much water it held, but there was no apparent way to find out. He imagined that this would be an incredibly precious resource on Mars. Probably worth more than everything else, yet it was just so easily available to him here. Water came in through pipes, as if it were part of the normal town water supply. The walls in the garden modules were a type of laminate, sloping ever so slightly to the far left-hand corner. There was a drain there; he assumed it was to ensure collection and re-use of any spillage during the watering.

He looked around the room. He had no idea where to start. He thought he would try talking to the AI September.

“September, can you hear me?”

“Of course, Adrian. I can hear you anywhere on this train.”

“Why do you call it a train? It is in a tunnel and seems like it’s stationary.”

“Someone named it a train, and therefore I call it a train.”

“Very well. Ummmmm, what do I do in here?”

“This is Module 23-Garden, where food is grown.”

“Any suggestions on where to start?” Adrian asked.

September’s reply was blunt, “No.”

Adrian knew his first task. The commander had pulled him aside and was clear about what he wanted. First, he had to catalogue everything within the modules. This meant he had to verify that everything on September’s items list was here, and it was all the commander asked him to do today. The commander, he thought, was taking it easy on him, trying to win him over. He was unsure of what to think of the commander. He had never been a military man and calling someone commander was uncomfortable.

He seemed like a rather nice guy, listening to him when Adrian described his gardens and asking good questions. He particularly enjoyed that the commander could refer to plants by their real names. During their first conversation, he asked September to show a photo of the new species Adrian mentioned, and he just seemed to glance at these and could hold a full conversation on the matter. To be honest, Adrian had done most of the talking. However, it was rare for him to have such a knowledgeable companion to talk with.

Adrian decided he would gladly let Commander Chase lead, and he felt at home assisting in the garden. Wanting to get the cataloguing out of the way so that he could start to develop a plan. He wanted to attend the morning meeting tomorrow with at least an outline. The task sounded easy but wasn’t as simple as it looked. What to grow first? Where to start? How to lay it out? Also, what if he got it wrong? What if nothing grew? Is there even anything to grow? Maybe he should get back to his task of cataloguing. His stomach hurt; would that ever-present worry ever leave?

He found what he called a seed bank, a fridge filled with a vast amount of clearly marked seeds and far more. There were planting materials he thought were practical: wheat, rice, potato. Then, there were also impractical plants such as lemons, peaches, even strawberries. These would be nice to grow, but they would take up large amounts of the available room, and it would be a long time until they provided valuable fruits and not in large quantities. Adrian could control the climate to provide optimal conditions, and the lights could remain on 24/7. That would speed up the growth, providing the plants with greenhouse conditions. He wondered if there were any marijuana seeds, for medical purposes, of course!

Modules 22 through 24 were for gardens and, as such, they had a considerable amount of racking that could be set up. Sam set these up and a few others following his bet with Chase. The racks held tubs of varying depth, either ten centimetres or thirty centimetres deep, depending on what you wanted to grow. Adrian wasn’t great at math, but he estimated that with 24/7 lighting and if he could use all the three modules, they could grow more than enough food to feed the entire crew. He was sure he could develop a balanced diet. They did have significant space.

He initially thought of planting a range of vegetables and fruits, a few of each, helping them along with highly focused care. At this stage, he only had five bags of soil. Although it was enough to start a seed crop. He could only think of one other spot that they could gather soil, that being in a very dark tunnel that held no air. He prayed he was not involved in collecting the soil, his stomach started hurting again.  He emptied a one-kilogram bag into a tray and poured some water on it. Hopefully, this would kick off the bacteria and prepare the soil. He began to shape a plan on how to feed the crew. For a well-balanced diet, they would need a bit of everything.

As he continued working on establishing what he should plant, he found some Petri dishes that were part of the seed bank and labelled as carp, tilapia, salmon, and catfish. He considered them, and next to them were planting materials for seaweed and waterborne algae. Growing a fish farm was his first thought. These are the types of fish usually grown in a fish farm. He looked around for a fish tank and didn’t see one. He did a thorough examination of modules 22 and 24, but he found nothing like a fish tank, excluding the thirty-centimetre tub, which would be far too small.

Adrian continued to module 25, the last one in the train. It was strange. It appeared empty, yet you had to enter through a smaller-than-normal doorway which was right near the edge of the module. He saw a basis for a small pool about 30 centimetres deep. In fact, he was walking in that pool since he had to move from the right-hand side, where there sat what appeared to be a wall cut out. As he stared around the room, it suddenly clicked.

Adrian asked September, “Could you please request Sam to come to module 25 when he’s available? Tell him it’s no rush. Whenever he has a moment.”

“I am notifying Sam. He is currently in module 2. He is on his way and has indicated he is coming immediately.”

“Thank you, September. I’m grateful for your assistance.”

“You are most welcome, Adrian.”

After about five minutes, Sam arrived. It took him a while to walk the length of the train. Sam also had a few tag-alongs, strange how that always seemed to happen. Whenever someone used September to page someone else, that person seemed to attract a crowd. Adrian outlined his finding to Sam, his suspicions about module 25, and asked for some assistance. 

Thank you for taking the time to read Chapter 7, my aim is to keep posting one chapter per week. The full book can be purchased as an Ebook or paper back through Amazon: Link