electronic copy of his fabricated birth certificate. Every detail had been changed so Wolfe and Halley became the parents that had always been missing from his records.
They both realised, that Celestial had given them one of the best gift a close friend could. He had assimilated the boy into the human race and given a new identity to their adopted son. For now the much-loved member of their family was out of danger from Gonzalo or other MSE personnel.
Wolfe retrieved the disk from the monitor and said, ‘we need to keep this safe, in case anything happens to his online file with personnel. Where is the best place to hide it?’ He looked at Halley. ‘Will it be secure in the safe?’
‘In normal circumstances I would say yes, however after my experiences today at the lab with Gozalo's personal guards snooping around. It is debatable, they tried to get into the secure areas without permission from headquarters.’
Wolfe’s shoulders slumped and he leant against the wall with his left arm outstretched. ‘It needs to be safe but at the same time accessible.’ He looked around the room for some access place to slip the disk. Then he saw ROBO dog sitting in the corner, his indicator light flickering on and off as he slept and recharged his batteries.
‘The robotic dog,’ Wolfe beamed. ‘He’s perfect! He and Mars have been inseparable lately going everywhere together, and he is always going to be a part of the family.’ He motioned at the artificial life form in the corner of the room. Suddenly ROBO had sensed he could be of some help, powered up and slid down the front of the armchair to make his way over to the head of the house. Wolfe bent down to pat him, and reached behind his ear to press a button. The dog sat down like an obedient canine and waited for instructions. Wolfe quickly placed the disk into the dog’s memory bank and then rebooted man’s best electronic friend.
Wolfe waited for the dog’s senses to come back online and then made a fuss of him before sending him to bed in the corner of the living room. ‘Now the disk is hidden with the dog’s programs we can relax about anyone finding his original data.’
She whispered to Wolfe. ‘Any uncertainty about Mars’s future has now been put to rest - the boy's identity can be thoroughly hidden.’ Both parents fell asleep in one another’s arms dreaming for the first time about life back on Earth.
The next day the Magellan's quarters became a hive of activity, as the day seemed to be running away from both Wolfe and Halley’s best-made preparations. Wolfe had managed to sneak out of bed at four o’clock to start his scheduling for the crew chiefs. He would need to brief them in the maintenance bay shortly, so he made notes against procedures and then gathered his paperwork together. He was already under pressure on managing the project and would need to be at the bays briefing room at six thirty and needed to set off shortly.
Just then the doorbell rang and Halley answered the door. It was Ariel Galieo and her daughter Volitaire, who had come for the day to look after Mars and Capella. The Galieo's were also a scientific family based on the station, they too had a child of Mars’s age and the two of them enjoyed each other’s company. Volitaire was a little girl compared to Mars; she had brown hair and brown/green eyes. ‘Mars’, she shouted. ‘Can we play with the dog?’ The two of them ran off to find him asleep on the armchair in the corner of the living room; he soon became a boisterous bundle of fun.
Ariel made herself a cup of coffee and leant against the cabinets in the living area. She was a beautiful woman with long dark hair and brown green eyes, she was quite tall and slim at nearly six foot, and was accomplished at athletics, tennis and volleyball, playing in the stations makeshift league competitions.
Wolfe made his way for the cabins doorway, kissed his wife on the cheek and shouted, goodbye to Ariel and the children. They ignored him and continued screaming and shouting in the living quarters.
‘The children will be fine; we’ll find things to do. You get off to work, but do not be too late, I have a home to go back to as well you know,’ Ariel joked, making a point.
So the Magellan's began their day, which would shape the end to a fully populated Maverick, by the end of the day the first staff from the administrative offices of IGE would be embarking on their departure to Earth at 19:00 hrs that evening.
Wolfe quickly made his way over to his offices in the maintenance bay, he was running a little late and the crew chiefs were waiting impatiently for his arrival. Unlike the chain of command at officer level, the protocol at pit level was a gritty one built on years of respect. The maintenance Asto-Technicians were hard men who relied on one another for safety and support to get the job done, they had built a mutual trust stronger than any hierarchy. A lot of these men had lost close friends early in their careers, when the facilities they built had teething troubles and needed to be adapted on the spot to the rigors of the outside element of space. Their ultimate goal to outsiders seemed mercenary as they amassed wealth quickly through hard work. The majority of them would retire rich and at an early age compared to most on earth, but there was the physical and emotional price they paid from numerous accidents. They all remembered the friends they left behind on cold dark planets a long way from home.
As they gathered around the Maintenance Chiefs operations desk they stood, grasping their mugs of coffee eating their first sandwiches of the day. All looked scruffy compared to Wolfe, their uniforms were used and soiled with the vigour’s of their trade.
All the Crew Chiefs knew Wolfe well and were on a first name basis, their motto. ‘Where there’s muck there’s money.’ Would provide them with a good lifestyle when they returned to earth to buy their dream ranch or home at a place of their choosing set amongst communities from a richer society, in areas of the world that were relatively unaffected by global warming. The time was fast approaching when these proud men would be able to retire with their heads held high. But first of all they would have to look out for one another on one last project, in the confines of the service tubes of the space station. They would need to make a giant monster sleep, working towards a shutdown by the end of the week. They were the men that made sure whatever was asked of them was completed, they were the people everyone relied on to get the job done, and they would do it!
Wolfe entered a noisy briefing room and asked for their attention as he inserted a disk into the main monitor console, it flickered to life, an initial schedule displayed in front of them. He waited for everyone to turn and face him. ‘Here gentlemen are the breakdown to this weeks workload. As you will see the station will be locked down in various sections according to the personnel leaving on particular days. As an example we have the IGE offices and their personnel’s area within the living quarters, which will be locked down by the close of play today.’
He turned to face the screen, and pointed with his right hand. ‘Looking at the list we can consider today's workload as being straightforward, because it consists mainly of office sections and a substantial part of the living quarters.’ He looked back toward them. ‘This people, is bread and butter stuff with limited need to replace filters and battery systems. The main emphasis is to seal off level after level, to shut down life support in assigned areas. Our ultimate goal is to lock down life support everywhere, apart from the main terminal and the ECO zone itself. This will become self sufficient indefinitely to continue its own life cycle.’
Wolfe browsed the screen again. ‘Today I want to see a combined coordinated effort from all crews to work and support one another.’ He looked at the familiar face of Rusty a highly experienced hand and announced that he would be the overall project foreman.
For the next two hours Both Rusty and Wolfe talked through the danger involved in the days activities. At the end of the session all the pit crews had been assigned work details of their precise piece of the jigsaw. All the Crew Chiefs collected working maps of the targeted areas; they contained information about parts to be shut down or replaced, along the main ducting to each level. They eventually made there way to the bays, to assemble their men and gather the necessary equipment
needed for the tasks ahead. Wolfe watched them leave until only Rusty remained and then he patched himself through to the control tower. I want to request a radio frequency, with call signs and a chain of command to five crew chiefs. Wolfe gave his authorisation to the officers in the communication hub and signed off. ‘Rusty you are now in control of the crew’s responsibilities. Patch in the crew chiefs on the chain of command and then get cracking.’
Wolfe also offered a few words of warning about his alarming discovery. ‘Rusty, keep a look out for any signs of detonators, if you come across anything suspicious then report it to me immediately. If you need anything get in touch fast. do not take any chances, I want everyone going home by the end of the week.’ Wolfe shuck Rusty’s hand and then made his way out of the maintenance bays to the control tower, he looked at his watch it was 8:20 am, he was late for his meeting with Gonzalo!
It was 8:30 exactly when he entered the heart of the station, the command centre; he walked into the control room and was immediately given a glaring stare by Gonzalo. Wolfe sat down in silence and faced his superior. The new commander looked clean shaven and smartly dressed in