“Yes,” Sarah said. “We have to give him time. There’s a chance he’ll come back to us.”
“And how high is that?” Ewa asked.
“In this case, the statistics can’t help us much. This is an individual fate, and I have to be clear about this... we don’t know.”
“Can’t Earth help us?”
“They have their own problems, Ewa. It seems there were widespread power outages across the US yesterday. They passed along the data to the experts, but the experts seem to be as perplexed as we are. If Andy were down on Earth, we could examine him more closely and figure out in which areas of his brain there is still some activity, but even that wouldn’t get us any closer to answering the question about his future.”
“And what about the past? How did this happen?” Ewa asked.
Their conversation was being transmitted to the Endeavour where most of the MfE expedition crew members were temporarily staying. The NASA team wouldn’t need the ship any time soon—before their next flight, they would have to produce enough methane to use as fuel.
Mike turned toward the camera. “Theo and I examined Andy’s equipment closely,” he explained. “Although the suit is as old-fashioned as they come, it’s in excellent condition. This means that Andy’s collapse had nothing to do with a physical defect in the connectors.”
Mike hesitated, waiting on the prompt that was bound to come.
“But?” Ewa delivered the nudge he was waiting for.
“But, through a software error. The problem was linked to the gauge on the oxygen tank. We tested it and discovered that the tank shows that it’s full, even though it’s only at one-quarter capacity. You know what it would mean if someone set off for a short walk thinking he had an hour’s worth of air in his tank. Andy was very fortunate he didn’t get any farther away from the airlock. He must’ve pulled himself back inside with his last bit of strength.”
“If he made it, why is he in this condition?” Ewa asked.
“We wondered that, too,” replied Mike. “If the suit ran out of oxygen he should’ve suffocated, whether he was in the airlock or not. It would be like pulling a plastic bag over your head. However, in the last second, Andy managed to yank out the plug connecting the oxygen tank to his suit. That could’ve happened when he entered the airlock. I imagine he hauled himself for the final meters on all fours. The disconnected hose is what saved his life. Enough breathable air from the airlock flowed through the hose and into his helmet to keep him from suffocating.”
Mike wasn’t sure if Andy would count himself lucky. A happy ending seemed quite unlikely at this point.
“He was fortunate in his misfortune,” Gabriella chimed in.
“Then you weren’t really listening,” Theo shot back, his voice furious. “Excuse me, but Mike hasn’t gone into full detail. This software error was only linked to Andy’s suit. Before our departure, all our suits were updated with the same software. That doesn’t mean that this software was flawless, but any error we’ve found should be present in all the other suits. Or...”
“Or?” Ewa asked.
“Or we’re talking about a targeted attack. I’ll find out who’s responsible for this, and I swear I’ll make whoever it is pay,” Theo said.
With that, he spun around and left the room.
“Sharon has the floor,” Mike said in his capacity as commander of the NASA base.
“Thank you. We need to discuss the future,” Sharon said. She was speaking to a small group right around her and to the eleven on the Endeavour, who were watching via the camera. “I’m mainly concerned about how our cohabitation will function, and about your—and our—plans for the coming weeks.”
Of course, this wasn’t the first time they were having a conversation like this. Mike had spent the entire day thinking about nothing else, despite the fact he really wished he could take a nap. But now they needed to agree on an official solution.
“First of all, I would like to thank NASA and its partners in all of our names for your hospitality and assistance,” Ewa began. “Without you, we would have been finished. The goal of the Mars for Everyone Initiative has always been to establish an independent settlement here on this planet. I’m deliberately not calling it a colony, since it isn’t meant to ever function like that. We don’t have a comprehensive plan and strategy, but as far as I can see, there is no reason for us to abandon this goal. However, we will need sporadic assistance, especially since our machinery is now lost to us. This is why it seems reasonable for us to change our minds about the original intended site for our settlement. Instead of utilizing the one on the other side of the planet, how would it be if we selected one relatively close to your base, perhaps a little farther to the north, closer to the giant ice reservoir?”
“We will support you with our equipment. Mission Control has already granted us permission to do that,” Sarah said.
Mike knew this wasn’t true, but the four of them had agreed to ignore this part of their instructions. “This means we won’t be able to continue expanding our base as we had planned,” he said. “However, we would like to at least complete our greenhouse. That will require an additional eight days of machinery usage,”
Their own fresh vegetables! Mike couldn’t wait. With the specially cultivated, fast-growing varieties, they should be able to enjoy their first meal in about five weeks.
“In the meantime, we will continue to enjoy the Endeavour’s hospitality,” Ewa replied. “Besides that, it would be helpful if we could borrow the open two-person Rover to make some recon trips up north.”
“That would be fine,” Sharon answered.
Mike was amazed at how easily everything was going. That was the advantage of not needing to take political expediencies into consideration.
“What are your plans for the patient?” Sharon asked.
“I think he’ll receive the best care at the base,” Ewa said. “But I would understand if you might consider him a burden, which is why I would be fine with leaving him here under Gabriella’s supervision. We will be located very nearby, so we wouldn’t have to do without her medical abilities for too long.”
“That sounds reasonable,” Sharon replied. “Is there anything else we need to clarify?”
“I can’t think of anything,” Ewa said.
“It’s all sweetness and light?” Mike asked. “Is there really nothing that we might potentially argue about? Low-key conversations like this make me concerned that perhaps something hasn’t been expressed fully.”
“I’m sorry, Mike, but I really can’t think of any problems,” Ewa said. “At the same time, I’m sure some will pop up, and we’ll discuss them when they do.”
Mike shrugged. He couldn’t help feeling like everything felt much too harmonious. There was no way that nineteen people could live together without any conflicts arising. Well, he needed to take Andy out of the equation. Make that eighteen, who would have to struggle against jealousy, grudges, depression, and homesickness. None of this had been mentioned, but perhaps that was due to the nature of official meetings like this. He vowed to keep a close eye on the Endeavour to make sure that everything was alright. The fact that he would run into Ewa there simply amounted to an additional motivation. Mike wondered if perhaps the lack of conflict was because the two crews possessed very different perspectives. One crew wanted to stay here forever, while the other one planned to stay as guests for another few months and then return home.
Sol 9, MfE expedition
Theo was sitting behind the large round steering wheel of the open Rover the NASA crew had lent them. With its large, solid rubber balloon tires attached to its four axles—two of which were on the drive module—the vehicle looked like someone had hitched three ATVs together. This construction made the vehicle a good candidate for off-road travel while maximizing its load-bearing capacity. And thanks to its modular design, the three sections had been easy to transport through space in the Endeavour’s hold.
“Recon team to Comma
nder, ready to depart,” Theo announced into his helmet microphone.
“Copy. Have a good trip,” Ewa said.
The Endeavour was roomier than the old Dragon landing module, but there were now fourteen people on board a ship that had been built for four residents. Fourteen people had to share two restrooms and one shower. They were rotating the use of the four tiny cabins. Each person was supposed to be able to enjoy the luxury of a little privacy, even if only for one night at a time.
Ewa had turned down the crew’s offer of reserving one of the cabins for her personal use as Commander. This had wrought a positive effect on the crew’s morale, and Ewa was now working on activity schedules for the entire team so that nobody would get too bored. They wouldn’t be able to construct their own accommodations until the NASA crew lent them the equipment they would need. This was why the most critical task at the moment was the selection of an optimal building site. It needed to provide the greatest number of resources, including mineral-rich soil, as well as water and sunlight, and moderate-enough temperatures.
Initially Ellen was supposed to accompany Theo on the Rover expedition, but then Rebecca had asked to go along. She had recovered surprisingly fast after her suspected food poisoning. Theo was glad to have a chance to get to know the South African better. She hadn’t been there for the mission briefing, so he needed to fill her in on a few matters.
“Let’s drive a few kilometers first,” he said, “at least until the base is out of sight.”
“Works for me,” Rebecca said from her seat behind him, similar to a motorcycle, rather than side by side.
The eight-wheeled vehicle set off slowly. Theo deliberately took it easy at the outset. This was his first time to drive a Rover, so he needed to start by getting a feel for how it operated. Since each axle was propelled separately, the vehicle had to be more steerable than it seemed at first glance.
They were heading north. Like on Earth, Mars’s sun rose in the east and set in the west. The reddish surface seemed to stretch in front of them forever.
“It looks like we’ll be driving for the next three weeks,” Theo declared.
“Oh, it’s just an illusion,” Rebecca said. “Mars’s small radius means the horizon is much closer than you’d think. I’d guess it’s only about three kilometers away. We won’t even be able to see the Endeavour in another fifteen minutes.”
“Are you a geologist?” he asked.
“I’m actually an architect. For the MfE expedition, I studied up on geology. But I also spent six months working on a survey team.”
Theo was surprised at how little he knew about his colleague. After all, they had spent six months together in very close quarters. Obviously, it had taken the catastrophe to shift the team’s dynamics. Before that, they had mostly been in their own cocoons.
He glanced back. The Endeavour really was gone from view.
Like its enclosed equivalent, a methane fuel cell powered the open Rover. The vehicle came to a stop, and Theo climbed out. His thigh muscles were aching. He saw that Rebecca was also stretching her legs.
“Yours hurt, too?” he asked with a laugh.
“The spacesuit isn’t exactly good for driving or being the passenger,” she replied. “I hope we’ll get used to it.”
Theo caught sight of an almost cube-like, one-meter-high boulder. “That would make a good table,” he said.
“If you can whip up some coffee and cake, we could have a picnic,” Rebecca quipped.
“Unfortunately, we can’t take off our helmets. We’d have to suck everything up through a drinking tube.”
“Maybe next century,” Rebecca said, “if our terra-forming efforts are a success.”
Bracing his arms against the stone, Theo boosted himself up and sat on top of the rock. Rebecca followed suit. They stared toward the Southeast as the sun approached its zenith.
“Do you believe in it?” he asked.
“In what? Oh, the terra-forming? I don’t know. It is the ultimate goal, right? A second Earth. That’s why I joined MfE.”
“But as a geologist, it must be obvious—”
“—that Mars doesn’t have enough mass to maintain an atmosphere like Earth’s? Yes, that’s true. I also think we aren’t in any position to envision our future. Maybe we won’t transform the entire planet, but we’ll end up adapting ourselves to better exist here.”
“You mean like the Inuit who dress warmly to survive in the Arctic?”
“More than that. I mean our actual biology. Perhaps our skin will eventually function like a pressurized suit.”
“We’d still have to carry breathable air around,” Theo said.
“I’d prefer that to having to live permanently in underground caves, as some have suggested.”
“I couldn’t live without the sky,” Theo conceded. He looked up and saw several delicate feathery clouds drift northward. They were made up of frozen steam. “See that? There’s the water we’re looking for,” he said.
“Then we should just follow the clouds,” Rebecca replied, jumping nimbly down from the boulder.
It was time to speed up the drive a little.
“Hang tight!” warned Theo as he pushed the throttle forward.
This Rover weighed much less than its enclosed variation, which meant it could be driven faster without negatively impacting the fuel usage. And, the area in front of them looked level. They quickly realized that there were all sorts of little humps and dips in the surface. It took all of Theo’s skill to avoid the more massive boulders which a giant had obviously scattered across the surface like grains of salt.
It was a wild and crazy drive. The Rover sprang up into the air in Mars’s low gravity, like a bouncy rubber ball, landing over and over again on its eight wheels with a thud. They were kicking up a stream of dust behind them. Theo imagined that if someone could see them from afar, they would look like one of those giant sandworms that had plowed through the desert in the science fiction novel Dune. But here it was the reality.
“I’m... afraid I... won’t make... it much longer!” Rebecca squeezed out the sentence in rhythmic blocks as they jolted up and down. “But... it’s fun!”
“Tell me... when that happens... You can just... stand up... and jump lightly... up and down,” Theo said. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Rebecca changing her position.
“That’s... better,” she said.
Of course, she was right. After about thirty minutes, Theo could feel the toll being taken on his thigh muscles. It wasn’t easy to keep them loose. By sundown, in about nine hours, they would have covered around two hundred kilometers. However, he wouldn’t make it that long at this tempo. He eased the throttle back slightly. At only twenty kilometers per hour, the Rover’s leaps were no longer quite so high that bruising could only be avoided by standing up. He sat back down. His rear end would definitely be hurting by evening, but that was the future. This was now.
“I wish I could take off my helmet and let my hair wave in the air,” Rebecca said, after resuming her seat as well.
“I’m afraid nothing much would happen in this thin atmosphere,” Theo declared.
“Oh yeah,” Rebecca replied, slapping her hand against her helmet. “You’re right again. We’d have to be going one hundred to see anything happen.”
“Just barely,” Theo said. “But it’s nice to imagine racing across the Mars landscape wearing sunglasses against the dust.”
“Would it be enough to just wear a breathing mask?”
“Definitely—during the day, when it’s warm enough,” Theo said. “The story that our eyes would pop out is utter nonsense either way.”
“It may be hard to believe, but my mother actually told me old wives’ tales like that. She didn’t know much about the world, but she worked hard and made it possible for me to go to college and, later, grad school.”
“Passed on?” asked Theo.
“Yes, my mother and my brother were killed in a car accident,” Rebecca explained softly. �
�That’s why I’m here. We were a happy family before that happened.”
“And your father?”
Rebecca didn’t answer immediately. Theo regretted having asked. Rebecca had flown to Mars without any prospect of returning. It should have occurred to him that things might not be all that great with her father.
“My father...,” she finally said after Theo had stopped expecting a reply. “My father was the one at the wheel. Someone cut him off. My father wasn’t responsible for the crash, but he blames himself for having switched off the autopilot so that he could practice his driving skills. After the accident, the system diagnosis determined that the autopilot had noticed the approaching vehicle one second before he did. It might’ve been enough to avoid the collision.”
“That is hard,” Theo said. “And obviously no one can ever be the same after something like that.”
“Sadly true. It destroyed my father, who turned to alcohol to forget.”
“And you couldn’t watch anymore.”
“I tried over and over again to get him to break the cycle, but I eventually realized that he was pulling me down with him. That was when I applied for the initiative.”
“You didn’t put this on the application, did you?” During the tedious selection process, the psychologists had diligently weeded out anyone who wasn’t completely mentally stable, anyone who carried any major baggage.
“Of course not,” Rebecca said. “I made up a beautiful story for them. You’re the only person here—or there—who knows the truth.”
Theo was touched. He couldn’t recall anyone ever telling him such a personal life story. What had he done to cultivate Rebecca’s trust? He was just doing his job.
“You could tell me about our destination,” Rebecca said, clearly ready for a new topic. “I wasn’t at the briefing.”
“Right. The most crucial resource for our settlement is water.”
“Sure.”
“There’s a lot of frozen water up at the North Pole, but it’s too cold for us there. According to some theories, there’s stable ice located less than one meter beneath the surface as far down as the 40th parallel. On Earth, this is located on about the same latitude as Ankara, Peking, or Philadelphia. We want to find this ice. We won’t need to dig, since we’ve brought along a GPR.”
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