Welcome Aboard Air Marineris
Chapter Seventeen: Honest Labor

It didn’t work out very well, though. Linus would not relent. I had offered my resignation, and he was going to take it. It was stupid. He had no alternative to our team. He certainly couldn’t do the job himself. As near as I could determine from his extensive CV – it ran to hundreds of pages – he had never run a project himself in all the years he had been an engineer. He had always been an academic consultant, and he had excelled in the political element of it.

In every profession, there are those who like the work, and would rather do that, and ones who like the power that the preferment of politics provides. All the working professionals are happy to leave that to them, but there are consequences. People like Linus were the consequence.

Working as a member of large committees had limited the display of his incompetence throughout his career. Notwithstanding what should have been a learning experience, he had ignored the implications of his lack of skill. It seemed he had reached the point where he was desperate for an individual success. He wanted to prove he was something he was not. It is sad to have ambition that outreaches one’s abilities. To paraphrase Bee, you had to know the man before you could understand his plan. Who knew what favors he had had to bestow to obtain his post? I could think of no other reason why he was making these useless suggestions about a project that had been settled on the foundation of proven experience. They were positively harmful. They were impeding us and promised further trouble.

Bee always saw the other side with just a bit too much understanding. He would have been sorry for the guy. And maybe that sympathy would have slowed him down a bit. I didn’t have that problem. To be disappointed in life was no justification for taking chances with the lives of others. Somewhere in his education, he had been taught the same lessons that I had, and he had ignored those lessons in his own self-interest. That deprived him of the right to sympathy.

Yet I was convinced that I had to hang in, rather than bow out. Somehow, I would replace a way to complete the line the way it should be done. I hoped I could do it without humiliating him, but that was not within my power alone. He couldn’t get rid of us entirely; he needed us for the construction work. He lusted after the power and prestige he would get from this major project, and we were an essential part of the equation. It was his ego that pushed him to prove he could do it cheaper and faster.

It wasn’t long until Linus took his opportunity. After all, when I refused his order to use the lighter rail we could not manufacture, he did not accept that we were unable to make his fancy sculpture. He thought we were just unwilling. My refusal amounted to insubordination, which he could not abide. There was no point in trying to change his mind. That was not going to work on a man who would not take no for an answer.

It was very bad politics to complain to my staff, and Dini, dear Dini, would not be available until we met after work. There was no Bee to complain to. With no elder brother to sooth me, I could only cry the blues to Klara. So, I did.

Klara was feeling extra sympathetic that day. She knew how important Marineris was to me, and how distressed I was that I had to offer myself up for sacrifice. She had many other things to do, but she cleared her schedule and saw me. Since it was a personal matter, we saw one another in the cafeteria. The Brier and Rose is west of the Marineris Quonsets, so we sat at there, looking at the valley screen showing our construction. I loved the false heat of the setting sun. I never cared that it was fake, that the real sun was wan and weak, that it didn’t really have warming rays. I had never experienced the real thing, so the counterfeit was good enough for me. Klara wilted as well in those calming rays, and we both puddled in our chairs and complained about our problems. It didn’t help with our troubles, but it was good for the soul.

“We’re just going to wait, girl. Linus may be the project manager now, but that may be a good thing. You know he’s not up to it. You can count on him to make stupid mistakes. Look at his track record. Since they appointed him, there has been a tension, as there has been with Solomon and me. Neither your minder nor mine is up to the task, and they both know it. This may be a gift to both of us and get rid of the nonsense. I think you have made the right decision.”

“Thanks for that. I didn’t see any other way either. I am not going to build something I know will fail and hurt people. I guess I don’t know enough about human nature, because obviously Linus can. We are going to keep Mars Mining working because we are going to need the minerals to keep the line going. It’s going to be a long haul. At seventy-five kilometers per month, our present rate, it’s going to take years. Lots of time to fix things. None of those extra people is here, so we’re stuck with what we have. Just us.”

“I think you can feel confident that they are not going to give you any more money to build your line with these fancy rails. Linus will never convince them to pay to make fancy ones when the simple ones will work. They’ve probably tapped themselves out with the money they’ve already agreed to spend. They don’t have much more. Economics is on your side. You say you always liked going into the field yourself. Just make sure they can’t blame us for substandard fabrication. Exactly to design specs. That’s going to put all the blame on design. The layout tools you have will ensure that, Mo. You concerned you won’t have enough to do? Just stay cool, girl. This guy is going to blow it.”

We had some of her private aquavit on that. I put pepper into it. Lots of it, so it stung. Two glasses. We both got up a little unsteadily. Neither of us were drinkers, but sometimes, the glow helps a bit.

Linus send me a text several hours later. He didn’t even tell me to my face. Another indication that he liked to slag people rather than chew them out.

“My esteemed colleague Miss Chapita, I accept your offer of resignation with some reluctance. I also accept the resignations of your colleagues. Please arrange to vacate your offices forthwith and provide a surrogate to transmit my orders to the staff of the Valles Marineris project. Professor Doctor Linus Weltmann, Supervising Engineer, Valles Marineris Train Project.”

Laying aside the attempts at sarcasm dripping from every word, I marveled at his obtuse oversight. Was he aware that he would deep six the entire project if he actually got rid of us? If he were, he had lost all perspective. He needed the minerals that Mars Mining supplied desperately. He couldn’t expect to ship that much material to Mars. And he needed us to operate it. No matter how much he wanted us gone. The same went for our work for Marineris.

I didn’t have the same taste for sarcastic backstabbing that he did, so I just used the magic radio.

“Linus, I need to talk to you. You may have gotten the wrong impression from our conversation.”

I set up my terminal to record for me and copy through to my personal directory. All transmissions are recorded by default, but I would not necessarily have access to those recordings. They are the property of the owner, Starward Industries. I needed to prove what I had said, this time, notwithstanding the limitations of available records.

I went back to work. I had a lot to do. We had to ensure that we were doing as much fabrication as possible. Our resources were very limited at that time, and we were in constant danger of running out of components. We were tolerably well stocked with pylons and concrete, but, owing to Linus interruptions, we were very short of rails. Jigging and rejigging the production lines had slowed us down considerably. Our mill was automated, but it still needed the image loaded up and checked out before it would change the output.

And you still needed a trial run to ensure that the rails met spec. It all took precious hours that we could not use to make our production rails. In the final analysis, ironically, it didn’t make much difference that we had put down tools in protest, because we would have run out of rails within a few days anyway. What a waste! And our quitting wasn’t helping anything. We were just treading water.

“Miss Chapita, I am here. I was in a meeting. I cannot be available to you always.”

“Linus. You got me wrong when we last spoke. I offered my resignation as site engineer of Marineris. Same for my colleagues. None of us offered a general resignation from Starward. We still work for Mars Mining and Mars Metals. They are not within your jurisdiction. We are still making lots of money for them, and they like that. These offices are leased to those two companies. We had supplied the facilities gratis to the Marineris project. We figured to straighten the bookkeeping out later, but now that you insist, you are the one who would need to get out. We all work for Starward, and even though you don’t have their interests at heart, I do. They are my client, and they deserve my honest efforts.

“I should add too, that we still work for Marineris, just not as executive personnel. We are still tractor jockeys, and we are booked on as that. We didn’t quit from that. I told you that. You shouldn’t really want us to do that, even if you could do it. Which you can’t. Look at our labor code. We can file a grievance and stay in our jobs until it is litigated. Little secret. There is no grievance committee yet. It would need to be appointed and confirmed. That would take time. Think about it Linus, we are the only pros you have. We won’t do it as you want, but we will still do it. Starward wants this project. That’s why they hired us in the first place. Let us work for them!”

He was stuck and he knew it. This confab would not make him look good. Us offering to work, and him refusing.

“All right, Monica. I agree, but with those stipulations you stated, you must follow my directions. We will use your rail design and your components. There is one change I must make. You know I have thought from the beginning that you have over specified this project. A good engineer tries to meet the client’s requirements as economically as possible. My rail design was better, but I acknowledge that the skill levels available to you are not sufficient to be able to produce it. As well, I have reconsidered the concrete specs and I agree to use the crushed aggregate you suggested.

“But we have done further stress simulations using your figures, and we have concluded that the rails only need pylons at either end. The natural flexibility of the rails and the secure attachment at either end preclude the necessity for the middle pylon. We can save one-third of the placements without any cost in durability. That saves a lot of money and materials on the total eight thousand kilometers we need to lay. I am even allowing for the extra two lines of pylons for the passenger track you will eventually construct. It will also speed the construction a considerable amount. It will save almost a year in the construction schedule. Please alter the plans to take my instructions into execution and continue as soon as possible. No point in going back to revamp what you have completed. Too many pylons won’t hurt.”

“Linus, please don’t make us do this. I’ve tried fewer pylons. I agree they are expensive. But at four hundred and fifty kilometers per hour, with the cargo we expect to carry, the stresses are large enough to require more stiffness. Even the three was minimum. There is a thicker atmosphere at the bottom of the Valles, but the real difference in turbulence is the ram air effect of our speed at cruising. The roadbed we construct on the valley floor is a bit uneven too, so adding that to the turbulence and the chaotic flow along the airbag causes considerable low frequency vibration. That’s what the stiffness given by the third pylon suppresses at minimal expense. Don’t depend too much on the quality of the welds at the ends. I know we’re able to make them strong here, but you can’t depend on the rails to supply the necessary stiffness. They are designed to bend to relieve the residual stress. They can’t bend too much, though, or you will get fatigue cracking. Everything works together and we have found it is durable as we have built it.”

“Monica, I have expertise and resources not available to you. You need to remember that the airships carry their own load. They do not stress the rails at all. And the atmosphere, wherever it is on Mars, is so tenuous you can discount it. We have considered everything you have mentioned, and we have come to this conclusion. Please follow my orders as you have agreed to do.”

“Very well. I will still file a copy of this conversation with Starward. This is the wrong way to go. We will have failure with the first run, but you can depend on us to build it to spec. We will start right away.

Better minds than mine have concluded that I can be wrong. He asked me to trust him. I did not. That’s an unmistakable tell. I had set one rail section just like he said at Borealis, and I had seen the stress cracks. Before we had welded that rail in, we had bolted it temporarily to let us run over it and then take it out. I didn’t like doing things I didn’t need to either. We had to rejig that piece and make very expensive pylons from it. I didn’t report that because I was a bit embarrassed. The results were so bad I thought that people would think worse of me if I even conceived of such a preposterous thing. Apparently the thought was not embarrassing to some. So, we had to lie in wait.

When I had a chance to discuss it with Lou and Chantelle, they didn’t like it either.

“Is he entirely crazy? You remember we tested all that stuff. Even one pylon in the middle. Nothing worked but the three we finally agreed on. Did you tell him?”

“I told him I had run tests on rails with fewer pylons. It was the obvious way to speed construction time and reduce costs. I told him it didn’t work, and I told him why. He said they knew better on Earth. I think that people down there who had never had any experience with this intuitively think that if there is no weight, there is no stress. Remember, airships haven’t been used for over a hundred years. There is no contemporary expertise but ours. Unfortunately, the people with such experience are a woman engineer and two technologists. That is not enough. They don’t believe us. They know better.”

“So, what do we do, Mo?”

Chantelle looked genuinely distressed, not usual for her. She was taking this very seriously. I decided to relieve her.

“There’s nothing much we can do for the moment. We tried our best to warn them, and they ignored us. After all, it’s their money. We will do our jobs and make sure the installation is according to plan. When the worst happens, the first thing they will do is try to blame us. We didn’t make it right, they will say. I don’t want that to be a possible argument. Chantelle, change the plan and log it. Indicate on the notes that this is a revised plan and was made on the direct order of Linus. Send a text to Linus that this is being done in compliance with his order this day. Eliminate the central pylon on the overlay. We will start it today. I think we will still run out of rails, but we will save on pylons.”

Lou responded. “That’s all we do? Just stand by and wait for disaster to strike? Some plan!”

“No. Unfortunately, this is going to cost time and money. That can’t be helped. Starward, through their designated manager, insists on it. We will need to have a sufficient length of line to run a convincing test on it at projected service speeds. We couldn’t do it now. And we also need enough length to make it a convincing test of a significant span of track. They could always argue local terrain or some defective materials. I figure it’s going to take at least one hundred klicks for that. That gives us plenty of time at our present track laying speed. That will speed up considerably when we get additional recruits, but that will do no more than triple our speed. We still need to lay the track end to end. Production acceleration must be gradual to avoid discomfort and cargo displacement. We need to test it under typical conditions, or they will not accept the results.

“When we do that, we are going to do a lot of damage, people. I will run it by Klara, but they are going to be very mad at us on Earth. There is no avoiding it. I can’t do less than my brother. He wouldn’t put me at risk. That’s why he killed Khloe, remember her? And he almost died for it. No-one will step on one of those trains the way they are. We will replace some way to fix them. It’s years to completion. Remember that you are just following orders. Just before we do it, I will issue written orders. It will be my hand at the controls and no one else’s. If they bust anyone, it will be me alone. I am OK with that.”

“One of us can do it, Mo. Me, not Chantelle. She’s more important. And so are you, Mo. We need you for this project.”

“No. I won’t consider it.”

I really would have, though. I was desperately afraid of losing the job. One I needed to do. But I feared my mother more. She would be watching, in my head. And I had Dini and Bee. Love, but no forgiveness, there. I hadn’t disappointed my mother yet on such things. Not to mention my other family. I wasn’t going to start then.

And I had to tell Klara, of course. Planning a wreckage in her colony was certainly a legitimate subject of interest to her. And, as a friend, she was entitled to know.

I called Klara and she picked up right away. She had been doing that lately, and I appreciated it. I never called when I didn’t need her.

“Hey girlfriend, how about letting your hair down? I could use a friend.”

“I’m sitting here with Solomon. Yeah, I could use a break too. I’ll meet you there. I’m off, Solomon. See you later.”

She kept the mike open for a minute.

“Klara when you meet with the head of your major project, it must be business. Meet here with me.”

“No way, Solomon. She’s also my friend, and it’s girl talk. We want to talk gossip and hairdo’s. It’s personal, none of your business.”

“You said friend. Are you gay?”

“The subject has never come up. I don’t have time. Are you lovers with all your friends?”

There was no answer. The mike stayed open, but all I could hear was someone clearing his throat. Solomon taking offense, probably. He was a very traditional gentleman. Isn’t it interesting they presume about women what they try not to imagine for themselves.