This is the fifth blog where I will be sharing chapters from my next book. Read the previous chapters here.

My second book in the Outbound series follows Virgil since his adventures in book one, Outbound: Islands In The Void. I will be releasing parts of my next science-fiction novel in draft form hoping to get some feedback from interested readers. You are always welcome to offer comments at: richard@richardandersonauthor.com. 

Two hours later Virgil arrived at the broad plane of the rift and climbed down a slope into what was once a wash. The wash was much smoother than the regolith he had hiked across. The ground along this plane was darker than others he had crossed. He correctly assumed that he was in an area that had been detoxified. His pace picked up as he headed to the north. There was a cone-shaped rise in the middle of this plane that had likely once been a volcano, now extinct. It would take him until late afternoon, but he decided to move toward it. By early evening he stood at its feet.

As he surveyed his surroundings, he saw an oasis built into the base of a nearby support column and walked toward it. Soon a quick tour showed the oasis to be clean and efficient with a few tables and chairs, a kitchen, a bathroom, and a locker room with showers. There were two reclining chairs. As he walked back to the kitchen a video panel turned on showing a food inventory. He stopped and scrolled through the selections.

The fresh food categories were empty, as was the frozen section. He touched a selection labeled ‘Emergency Reserves’ and a door in the wall slid back displaying a series of thirty large tubes filled with food paste. He pulled one off and read the label, “‘Beef’ Bourguignon with potatoes, mushrooms, pearl onions in burgundy wine sauce.’” These apparently had been designed to consume out on the surface. There were instructions on how to attach the tube to the lock on his faceplate and squeeze it through the straw directly into his mouth. Likewise, there were water bladders that could attach to the faceplate to flush food from the feeding tube and offer hydration.

Virgil decided on an early dinner to give him time to study the information he had been provided and to plan for the next day. Though it was more cumbersome, he also wanted to try using the ‘through helmet feeding tube’. The ‘Beef’ Bourguignon followed by a water chaser was his choice.

“They’ve got the flavor down. The texture and of course the presentation both need work. What do you think Ofelia?”

“I agree, but I get a stronger sense of the flavors. I don’t feel the texture.”

“Exactly, there is none.”

After he had eaten Virgil settled down to begin reading some of the spec sheets. He had not come to the Phoebus Rail construction site yet and decided that would be his goal for the next day. By his estimation, the construction end was nearly eight kilometers away. It would take him most of the day to get there as he would be crossing some rough and steep regolith. It had been a long day, so he did not read for very long. He finished his bathroom rituals and took a shower, then with fresh undergarments put his surface suit back on. At the push of a button, his recliner flattened out and inflated slightly. 

“This is surprisingly comfortable Ofelia. I could do without the helmet, however.”

“Keep the helmet and induction cap on! And plug your suit in. We want a full charge for tomorrow.”

“Yes ma’am.” Virgil left the visor open, found a connection on the recliner, plugged in, and promptly fell asleep. The morning seemed to come a few minutes later. He awakened to the smell of coffee and sat up on his recliner. A steaming cup of coffee on a small robot cart was positioned by his side. He picked up the cup, blew on it, and took a sip.

“Did you know the kitchen has some nice automatic capabilities? I found this small robot with nothing to do. I entered its software and added to it. Now it can perform quite sophisticated tasks. It can automatically prepare a wide variety of meals. Some would be classified as gourmet.” 

“You are so helpful when all we have are tubes of food paste. However, this coffee is great.”

“Thank the robot… Perhaps it could smash the paste flat and make pancakes?” Ofelia said in his mind “I found some crackers you could add salt to the poached flounder paste and pretend it was salmon pâté. I did see a paste labeled cream cheese in one of the tubes. Now all we need is some caviar. Even Lumpfish will do.”

“Ofelia, you’re trying too hard. You’re not funny.”

“Perhaps, but you’re acting like you should have room service. This is a camping trip. You need to make certain accommodations. Be grateful you don’t have to dig a latrine.”

Virgil sorted through the emergency food selection and chose a tube of bran muffin paste and another of steak and eggs. He extruded each onto a separate plate forming the bran muffin shape as best he could. The best he could do with the steak and eggs was an amorphous brown mess. He poured another cup of coffee, selected some utensils, and enjoyed his breakfast as best he could.

“I’ll be dammed if I’ll suck any more of that paste from a tube. At least I can pretend to be civilized.”

“Just the same I think you should stuff some of those tubes and water bladders in the pockets of your surface suit. You don’t know what other oasis stations will be lacking,” Ofelia said.