Dedrick took another sip of wine and finished his glass.
“So, looks like things are going just as planned with the program. I can’t wait to start the next phase of the training.” He vaguely looked at the podium where Lars was standing earlier.
“Yes, so it would seem,” she replied without much enthusiasm.
In all truthfulness, she was more interested in the two of them than the boss’ speech.
A moment of silence passed…
Leaning close to his ear, whispered, “You want to go to the pool?”
“The pool?” he whispered back in surprise, as he turned to her.
“Yes. Come, I'll show you,” she said smiling, as she grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the exit.
The music was still resonating through the hallway when they reached the indoor pool area. The door squeaked and reverberated as they entered the large tiled room. The pool was almost exactly in the center of it. The water was barely moving, its almost perfectly flat surface reflecting occasional rays of light from the neon lights above as the steam rose from the warm water. The only hint of color was coming from the red overhead exit signs above the four doors around the perimeter.
“You're sure we're allowed in here this late?” asked Dedrick.
“No, we're not. That's what's exciting!” she replied with a mischievous look in her eyes.
She began undressing as she faced the pool, turning her back to him. Her skirt fell to the tiled floor, followed by her top, underwear, and bra. Without hesitation, she plunged, head first, in the water below. Dedrick stayed still for several seconds, watching her body move through the ripples. She turned around, facing him while maintaining her floatation by waving her arms and legs in the water.
“Are you coming?”
He suddenly felt his member get aroused as he started to take his clothes off. He dove in, reappearing after a few laps underwater right next to Vera who was now standing in a section of the pool only one and a half meters deep. She slowly walked to him and brought herself right against him. As he felt her beautiful, sexy body press against his briefs, he tried in vain to keep his erection under control while she slowly wrapped her arms around his neck. As he watched her lips get closer to his, her beautiful sparkling blue eyes entranced him, and they kissed passionately. He grabbed her hair and the back of her head in his hands, and her body started to slowly pulse against his. In the distance, the crowd screamed in unison as the AC/DC song “Shook Me All Night Long” echoed through the complex.
The journey had begun, and it was off to a great start.
Team One
The first six years of the Mars First program had gone on without hardly any incidents. The very first year had been the most exciting and the easiest in many ways. Aside from the centrifugal accident of Petrea Stonovich, one of the women candidates, during which the subject had had a mild heart attack, forcing Mars First to remove her permanently from the program, most of the twenty-six applicants picked by the committee had proved up to the training expectations. Of course, there were a few resignations from uncertain candidates who, realizing the true magnitude and demands of the mission after the real training had started, had chosen to leave Mars First of their own accord. The company had expected that much and a smaller group of applicants had also been selected as replacement for such situations. Overall, the program was a success and on schedule.
By 2020, the Mars First engineering team was now comprised of some of the best on the planet. After the explosion of interest in the reality show, “Mars First Now,” Lars’ company had created to finance the whole endeavor, the company had acquired some well-deserved recognition in the media as well as the scientific community, and the entire planet was watching. By that summer, the eight members comprising team one and two were in a race to be the first team to land on Mars. Their lives were broadcasted almost twenty-four, seven in twenty-nine countries around the globe. Most of the world’s news was keeping up with the daring project as well. The decision to give the future astronauts a few hours of privacy at night had been reached after the psychiatric advisory board had made it absolutely mandatory. The candidates were left alone from 2100 hours to 0600 hours, military time, every night, unless a special situation prevented it. The rest of the time, a small crew of two, a cameraman and a sound technician, followed them around from their bedroom, to the cafeteria, to the test labs, and especially to the simulation facilities where most of their physical conditioning and training took place.
Occasionally, a TV host was added in the mix to help explain the technical and scientific mumbo-jumbo related to the tests and training of the astronauts, but had otherwise been deemed unnecessary. Most people understood well enough what was happening and were much less interested in the technical aspect of the program than they were in the human interactions and conflicts that occasionally took place between the participants. But those were few and far between and most days were about the clockwork regiment of the tasks at hand. Of course, if something went wrong during an exercise, the media never missed to inflame the incident for good drama effect. For the applicants, being watched constantly presented its own challenges. Privacy was often non-existent, but the fortunate selectees were quick to remind anyone who asked that the discomfort of being watched by millions all the time was a small price to pay for a chance at becoming the first man or woman to set foot on another world.
For Liu Xing, a twenty-six-year-old physics teacher from South Korea, science and discovery was everything. She was a member of crew number two. A fierce rival of Dedrick’s team, her group had high hopes to be the first to go to Mars. Liu, however, secretly hoped her team would not get their wish. She, for one, preferred to land on Mars after someone else had made it there safely, already tested the unknowns of the six-month trip and spent even more time on the red planet itself. It was true that the risks were enormous, and although being the first to land on Mars guaranteed a place in the history books, she figured being on the next flight would probably make history just as well. Either way, she preferred getting there alive.
For now, the public was showing a preference for crew one. Each crew was comprised of four individuals, from four different countries. Two women and two men had been the preferred arrangement from the get go. Lars had insisted on it and to his pleasant surprise, most of the administration and board members had agreed, for the very same reasons he had presented. One, of course, was the non-discrimination of genders. He had quickly argued that this was the 21st century and an evenly mixed team was best. He had also explained that the four astronauts should come from different regions of the world, and preferably be of different ethnicities. Age discrimination, racial profiling, and religious favoritism would have to be avoided as well. In short, diversity in background and personality of those selected was essential to the success and global appeal of the project.
By the end of 2021, Team One, comprised of thirty-year-old Russian candidate Dedrick Sokolov as commander and mission leader, thirty-one-year-old French candidate François Menardais as mission engineer, twenty-eight-year-old Guatemalan candidate Sabrina Lazano as chief biochemist and science officer, and thirty-eight-year-old American candidate Vera Via as medical officer, had become a favorite. The public votes had placed them in the lead to be the first team to reach Mars. This was of course not unrelated to the recent news of Dedrick and Vera’s romantic involvement, which had immediately become a subject of great interest to many. The two candidates had somehow managed to keep their romance private the first few years, but the public had finally caught on regardless, and since the Mars First Corporation had not opposed it, they had finally made it official.
It had also been decided early on that the first four to go to Mars would be voted by the public. Of course, that was what everyone had been told. The final decision would still be made by the Mars First project team leaders. The general voting would be considered of course, and it was obvious telling the audience they had full power in the final selection
making would generate more interest in the project. The voting system had become so popular by the end of 2018, that it had barely made a dent in the number of votes when the company had announced the decision to charge a small “fee” for every vote made. It had certainly paid off. Mars First had raised over $700 million during the past eight months alone.
No one was complaining. It was a win-win situation. Dedrick and his team were more than happy as well, and as it was, their crew had a few advantages over team two. François’ French accent and bad boy image had managed to charm more votes than any of the candidates. Vera was close behind. Her physical attributes and social skills had a lot to do with it, and she was certainly not shy in front of the camera. Dedrick was a favorite among the scientific community for his logical thinking, self-discipline, and natural leader abilities. Sabrina was in a league all her own. Although she came last in the official reports, the Latin community around the world was more supportive than any other demographic group, and had it not been for the fact that some of the voting countries had been temporarily suspended from the list for senseless political reasons and unwarranted foreign tensions, her votes would have tallied higher than any of them.
All in all, 2021 was going extremely well for the four and the grand endeavor was well on its way.
The next couple of years had only showed great promises for the astronauts. Ladli O’Connor, the Medical officer on Team Two, had become the first woman in history to withstand 9.4 G-s during a centrifugal exercise before passing out. The thirty-five-year-old Irish woman, it was true, was more athletic than most of her male colleagues. A body builder in her early teens, she was physically fit; a trait her team’s mission engineer, Tendai Nyandoro, found particularly attractive. The Zimbabwe man was known to love a good challenge, and there again, Tendai had met “courtship resistance,” as he often called it.
In Ladli’s defense, her past had a lot to do with it. Ladli’s early childhood had not been easy. After losing her parents and three siblings in a house fire at the age of ten, Ladli had found herself in an orphanage. The tragedy of losing her entire family had made her stop talking. She had eventually been placed in a foster home a year later. From day one, that arrangement had been challenging for the quiet girl. Both parents were verbally abusive and treated her like an inconvenience, a situation that had only worsened over the years. Her foster dad in particular had been an “abusive bastard and an evil monster,” as she had often mentioned in therapy. After Miss Richards, her school counselor, had learned from Ladli herself that both her parents were abusing her sexually, she had been removed from that terrible environment at the age of fourteen and forced to attend mandatory therapy sessions after school. The following two years of therapy had helped the child regain her speech and cope with her past to some degree. Unfortunately, as luck would have it, her second foster family had turned out to be just as difficult to deal with for the teenager. Her new mother was overbearing and pampering while her husband was an absolute control freak, and the dysfunctional nature of her second foster home had given Ladli ample reasons to leave as soon as she had been legally able to. The string of bad relationships that had followed until her recruiting by Mars First had given the Irish woman even more reasons to be guarded.
Those were all important facts that Tendai would learn much later. Regardless, the two had eventually become involved.
Practice makes perfect
Jumping off his bucket seat, Dedrick plunged forward and grabbed François' right arm, stopping him in his tracks. "What do you think you're doing?"
“What? I'm opening the cabin door, like I'm supposed to?" replied François.
"I would not do that if I were you." Dedrick was pointing at a bright red light slowly pulsing to the left of the door.
François immediately removed his hand from the handle, but it was too late.
All at once, the simulator’s four alarms suddenly trumpeted in unison, and all the lights in the room came on, full bright.
Dedrick, shaking his head, let out a heavy sigh.
Behind one of the glass panels surrounding the room, Dr. Arnold’s silhouette was starting to emerge, as the computerized black tint was quickly fading away. The lab director was leaning forward, both hands on the console in front of him for support and staring, with pure rage in his eyes. Putting his hand back in his pocket and turning slowly towards him, François simply said with a tone of mild indifference, "Sorry". Then, glancing at Dedrick with a smirk on his face, the culprit gave his colleague a wink and exited the room.
Everyone stood there without a word, watching him disappear down the corridor, a cameraman on his tail. Dedrick didn't move for a few seconds, stoic and silent, while the cleaning crew hastily entered the pod to reset everything.
“Seriously?” he thought to himself.
A few minutes later, the Russian astronaut, crossing a doorway that looked more like a submarine hatch than it did a door, entered a small red and white room, his every movements followed by two cameras secured to the ceiling.
François was lounging on a small couch in front of a round table adorned by a basket of fruits.
"So, what is it exactly that's wrong with you again? Because there's definitely something wrong with you, my friend!" Dedrick's tone conveyed an equal part of serious irritation and one of absolute amazement.
"I just don't understand why you do it. I don't even understand what it is you're trying to do. If it's to have us both fired, then you're doing a fine job! What do you think the guys back at headquarters are gonna say? We only have one job to do, ONE! Now Dr. Arnold is going to have a field day with this latest stunt of yours and one more reason to try and replace us. What were you thinking?"
“I don’t know. I was just distracted I guess…”
“How can you be distracted during a test? You know they are watching us and evaluating everything. Trust me, all they’re thinking now is one distraction like that on Mars and we’re all dead in seconds.”
“Yeah, I know. I’m just tired of these simulations.”
“Come on, François! You know how important this is for all of us. Can’t you take at least one thing seriously, once in your life?” Dedrick was losing patience.
The two were now engaged in a serious back and forth conversation, as they often did, with Dedrick pacing around the egg-shaped room, babbling to no end, and at times almost shouting in frustration while François, lounged in a reclined position against the soft cushion of his seat, eyes closed and smiling, was enjoying some grapes from the fruit display in front of him.
"I really don't see what the big deal is," he finally said to the Russian.
“What? Are you for real? We barely got out of Dr. Arnold's office alive after you pulled that 'Karaoke' stunt last week, and you don't see what the big deal is?"
It wasn't so much what François had done or was saying that infuriated him, it was the way he always seemed to rejoice in those moments that drove Dedrick mad.
The Russian commander grabbed a fork from the counter nearby, and still talking, started poking around at a couple of apples on the table in front of François.
The Frenchman, his eyes still closed and not noticing his friend had moved so close to him, was just about to grab a few grapes when he felt the fork brush his fingers.
"Hey! No need to get violent, Mr.!" he said teasingly. “What happened? You didn't get lucky last night?”
Dedrick was about to say something back when a feminine voice behind them said, "You two sound like an old couple!"
Both immediately shifted their attention to the doorway where their team’s biochemist was standing, holding a tea cup in her left hand. Pale vapors of smoke could be seen rising against the poorly lit corridor behind her.
Sabrina was a little over one and a half meters tall, slightly overweight for her height but still sexy. Sporting long dark hair resting evenly on her shoulders, and eyes of a bluish tint, she had a Latin complexion, and as François liked to say, a nice rack. Dedrick
preferred to mention that “she had a smile that could melt any heart.”
And although, in her red and white outdoor PLS suit, the feminine curves of her body were not readily apparent, the feminine scent of her perfume and the way her hips swayed when she walked both confirmed without doubt that she was all woman.
She started walking towards Dedrick.
"Hey Sabrina, come on in, love. Grab a drink from the cooler, and come join me."
“Stop calling me love, François. You are going to get me in trouble." She was holding her index up and pointing in his direction in a reprimanding gesture.
François, his legs crossed under the table and both arms up behind his head, simply reclined even further back in his seat, a big smile on his face.
“How could he ever be mad at her,” he thought to himself. She was so cute and sexy when she was mad like that, and that Spanish accent, "I love that Spanish accent of yours, Sabrina Cherie," he thought.
"Plus, I already have a drink, if you didn't notice, Mr. Columbo," she continued, raising her cup. She then walked to the other side of the room, put her coffee down on the table, and sat next to Dedrick.
The three were now quiet. Dedrick, looking out the only small window in the room, far into the darkness of the desert outside, was thinking about his dog, Rita, who he had been forced to leave behind with his brother back home when he had received his acceptance into the Mars First project six years earlier. He truly missed her. For a moment, he imagined Rita in a space suit and smiled to himself.
Sabrina was slowly stirring her coffee while trying to decide if she should add another cube of sugar in it or not, when François suddenly bolted out of his seat.
"OK, you really want to know what my problem is? I'm tired of doing the same thing every day! Yeah, that's what my problem is, and you know perfectly well what I'm talking about. How many times have we done this simulation? How many times do they want us to get it right? We know it so well, we couldn't screw it up even if we tried! No, I'm telling you man, I think they're just buying time, that's what they're doing. Stalling while the ‘big guys’ fuck it up with their stupid politics and their budget concerns! I'm telling you, Dedrick, we’re ready. I’m ready! I just want to go!"
Kahnu (The Guardians of Tomorrow Book 1) Page 3
