Bruce Ng came to the front desk of JPL. "I was told there was a package for me?"

The kid behind the desk handed him the large envelope; and Bruce opened it on the spot... to find a copy of TV Guide. "What?"

"Sorry, but they weren't going to let me past the security door." A woman's voice said.

Bruce turned and found a woman with a notebook in one hand, and a backpack over her shoulder. "Who are you?"

"Mara Barnes, Washington Post." The woman said. "I just need to ask you one thing."

Bruce's face changed. "All questions regarding active missions, or NASA procedure should be routed to the Press Office. I'm very sorry, Miss Barnes-"

"Mrs. And this isn't about NASA, exactly."

"Even so, the fact that you had to get me out here under false pretences-"

"I would have come to your house, but you never leave the lab, from what I hear."

"No comment." Bruce turned to head back past the secure doors.

"Rich Purnell is a Steely Eyed Missile Man." Barnes called after him.

Bruce froze, mid-step. He stayed in place for several seconds, before he turned and came back to face Barnes. "You feel like a cup of coffee, Mrs Barnes?"

"You read my mind." Barnes said with a Cheshire smile. "I'm buying. And we'd better walk and talk, because I have to get on a plane back to Houston in two hours."

There was no such thing as private space on the ISS. Mindy had learned quickly that privacy was done by mutual agreement to not hear a thing. So the Station crew was very pointedly not noticing as Mindy was walked through the Ares side of the Investigation of Mark's Accident.

"When we found out Mark was alive, Commander Lewis had us go over our equipment again." Vogel reported. "We ran our suits through every test we could think of. All of the tolerances and components were at the standards NASA sent us. We declared it a one-in-a-million accident."

"So did we." Mindy said quietly. "But just so you know, those 'NASA standards' were taken from the contractors that actually built the gear... and they may be falsified."

There was a dead silence, which quickly grew electric. Mindy saw the looks going back and forth, and knew they'd thought about the same thing.

"Mindy, are you telling me someone made the suits with cheap parts and shoddy workmanship?" Mark said darkly. "So that when my suit took a hit, the monitors went offline, so y'all thought I was dead and launched without me."

"I was... approached by a journalist who wanted to know if we were digging." Mindy asked. "More than that, I cannot say yet."

"Because you don't know, or because you were asked to keep quiet?" Beck asked. "Actually, don't answer that."

The atmosphere had changed in the Station. A moment later, Watney let loose a quiet torrent of truly profane judgement regarding corporations, their moral standing, and the general appeal of their mothers.

"You finished?" Lewis asked Watney politely.

"For now." Watney cooled a bit.

"Good." Lewis said shortly. "Johanssen, Martinez; go over the equipment again. Don't compare to the specs, do the math yourself. Save as many suits as you can for our return to Earth. NASA will want to take them apart." She turned to Watney. "You. Go chill the hell out. Remember, they went to the effort of mailing your penpal into orbit, specifically so that you don't lose your cool when the really insulting part begins."

"So, start talking. And we're off the record until I say otherwise." Bruce told her as he stirred his coffee.

"This interview is what we call 'deep background'." Barnes told him. "I need you to educate me about something for a story I'm working on. Nothing will be attributed to you, off the record or not."

"How'd you find out about Rich Purnell?"

"Doesn't matter. I wanted to get you out of JPL, and telling you the rumors were the only way."

Rumors. So that's not the story she's on. Bruce simultaneously relaxed and tensed. "So... what is this really about?"

Barnes handed him a page, which looked like it had been shredded and taped together. "Tell me about this memo."

Bruce read it, his eyes going hard. "I didn't write it. Or receive it."

"Or get a copy of it, I'm sure. It's an internal memo from Pioneer Aviation." Barnes nodded. "But NASA farmed out construction on a lot of the mission components to many private companies, including Pioneer. JPL, and your team in particular, were responsible for putting the jigsaw together when all those parts were done. I'm betting you know where the memo came from."

"I'd never seen it before until you handed it to me just now." Bruce said plainly.

"I believe you. But look again. The only thing on that memo that's not reassembled? The name of whoever sent it. That tells me that whoever wrote it was the one who sent it to me." Barnes looked hard at him. "I'm betting if they went to the trouble of writing a memo, someone must have spoken to you first. Even if only hinting at it."

Bruce shook his head. "Everyone at that level signs a billion Non-Disclosure Forms. They aren't invalidated for anything. They'd never talk to anyone"

"Which is probably why it was sent to me anonymously." Barnes nodded, eyes on him. "I'm betting a name popped into your head the second you saw what this memo was about."

Bruce hesitated, which was confirmation enough. "I can't prove anything... Off the record?"

"Deep background." She confirmed.

"There was a guy I worked with at Pioneer, when we were putting the HAB together. He said he wanted to meet with me, and then the meeting got cancelled at the last minute. I found out later that he'd taken another job, for a rival company. It didn't affect our schedules, and everything went on without missing a beat, so I didn't think anything of it. A lot of the top engineers change firms for lucrative contracts."

"You remember this guy's name?" Barnes had her notepad ready.

"Mallone, I think."

"Annie was able to get some of the questions in advance." Mindy said, handing Watney her tablet, open to the relevant text. "Of course, the press isn't obligated to share their full question list with us, but we can pretty much guess what they're driving towards with the 'background' questions."

Watney looked them over. "All the personal stuff I can figure out. If there's one thing I learned from living alone so long it's this: Be honest with yourself."

"How about with everyone?" Lewis countered. "If a 'nice' journalist can make you cry on camera, it's a Pulitzer. They've promised to give you a 'discreet interval', given what you've been through; but it's going to be the biggest Press Conference since Moses came down the mountain."

"The interviews I can handle. I've been rehearsing that since I got in the damn rover. It's the Committee I'm worried about. NASA's at stake."

Mindy tapped at her tablet. "You want to start there?"

"You have those questions too?"

"No, but we know who's asking them. Senator Adler from Texas is heading the Committee. He's been making the rounds on all the prime time shows. From the rhetoric, we can probably guess how they'll be ruling."

"Senator Adler." Lewis repeated. "What do we know about him?"

"He's a major shareholder in an aeronautics firm called Pioneer Aviation." Mindy reported, keeping the rest of her knowledge on that to herself. "They got a bunch of the orders from NASA for some of your equipment."

"He was able to get his company a contract from the Government, and now he's going to lead the charge on investigating us?" Lewis countered. "Is that even legal?"

"No, but you're pretty popular with public opinion, so it's not like he has to fight for the job." Mindy commented. In her head, she translated the bit she didn't say. If anyone looks too closely at his company, he's screwed; so if he leads the charge, he can keep the focus on blaming astronauts.

Aloud, she gave them the mission plan. "The interview is all about getting the press on side." Mindy explained. "We get the Press to side with you, the cameras will do your job for you, Senator Adler and the other attention-whores will follow for the good of their re-elect."

"You've been talking to Annie Montrose." Mark quipped. "What's the most important question, do you think?"

"The cost of your rescue came to just over a quarter billion dollars." Mindy said promptly.

Mark waited for a moment. "What was the question?"

"Does it matter?" Mindy asked. "Quarter of a billion dollars. All they have to do is say that number, over and over."

Mark's mouth became a thin line. "What do they expect me to say? That they should have let me die?"

"Actually, they expect you to say that it's the cost of life in Space. " Mindy told him honestly. "And their answer will be-"

"If that's how it is in space, then let's not go to space." Lewis put in, low horror in her voice. She was horrified, but not surprised at all. "They'll use that price tag to end the Program."

"To end all of NASA, really." Mindy nodded. "Annie Montrose took me aside and basically told me the stakes." She gave him a sarcastic look. "No pressure, right?"

"Senator Adler." Annie said for the fourth time, like she had a foul taste in her mouth. "How can he possibly get away with this?"

"The 'conflict of interest' argument isn't what it used to be." Mitch sighed. "Pass me that box, will you?"

Annie nearly threw it at him. "How can you be leaving at a time like this?!"

"It was the deal. Teddy doesn't make a fuss about Elrond, and I hand in my resignation when they're home. May as well be packed."

"What did the wife say?"

"That it's about bloody time I came home at night." Mitch started filling the new box with assorted items from his office. "But you didn't come in here to bitch about the government, or about my early retirement."

"I can get Adler off our backs." Annie told him.

"Teddy said no."

"Heard that before."

"Annie."

"Let me take the memo public." Annie pressed. "I can blow Adler out of the water. Maybe the hearings too."

"It's too soon." Mitch told her. "You release that memo now, and they'll just pick someone else."

"That's what we want." Annie snapped, fed up. "Adler will cover for himself by attacking Watney and Lewis, and he'll have no problem taking us all down with him. Mindy is under orders not to share the memo with anyone, but she knows that the Press is asking about the Bio-Monitors in their suits. She can tell them about Barnes' questions. They'll test their suits again; and if the results say what we both think it will-"

"Annie, we don't have the moral high ground." Mitch reminded her quietly.

"Elrond is going to come out, sooner or later." Annie snapped. "Get that through your head right now." She lowered her voice too. "I told Mindy."

"About Elrond?"

"She needs to know, if she's getting ambushed by reporters."

Mitch set his jaw. "You shouldn't have done that without our permission."

"Like you said, Mitch. We don't have the moral high ground here." Annie swept out.

"I saw the pictures." Mark countered. "The huge crowds gathering to see if I made it… You telling me that they'll respond to that by shutting us down?"

"No, but they'll slash our budget by two-thirds." Mindy shook her head. "And they'll have a great excuse. It'll even be true. We spent ten years worth of cash on this rescue, s-Mark."

"How do we fight that?" Mark demanded.

Mindy pulled up her notes. "NASA's entire annual budget is Seventeen Billion Dollars. American Casino's turn over more than half a trillion dollars annually. The United States Public spends almost thirty billion per year on ordering Pizza."

"Wonder what the deep-dish cost, given how far you had to deliver it." Lewis commented.

Mindy smirked and kept going. "Gillette spent 750 Million on Research and Development for the Mach 3 Razor in 1998, and that's already long obsolete. The American Taxpayer spends almost a full billion per year on NFL Stadiums, and they're privately owned companies. NASA is public access. After the war in Afghanistan wound down, the US Military spent Seven Billion Dollars blowing up surplus munitions. Every year, the US Mint runs a deficit of almost a hundred million dollars by making pennies; because it costs more to produce them than they're worth."

"Is any of that going to help?" Mark asked painfully. "If you ask a person if my miserable butt is worth a quarter billion, they'd say 'maybe'. You tell them they could make it all back by each skipping a Pizza; how many of them would change their answer?"

"Well, let's talk about you, then." Mindy tapped at her device. "The full Ares Missions were meant to cover a full ten years. Ares IV had a mission plan to leave a small team behind, and they would run tong-term experiments, as well as test equipment options on permanent habitation, until pickup by Ares V. Plus, the Ares III samples were meant to be observed under long term conditions. That's a trip the Ares IV crew doesn't have to make. NASA's been trying to figure out long-range transportation, which they managed to pull off with Mark's Rover." Mindy gestured. "So you personally ticked off more than three quarters of the checklists for the entire Ares Program."

"So what you're saying is, an argument could be made that I saved money." Mark mused, and there was no mistaking the note of hope in his voice.

"Which will give them all the more reason to cancel the rest of the list." Lewis cut that off. "I know you hate owing people, Watney. But this one you can't pay back."

"I wouldn't be so sure." Mindy flipped through more notes. "To make a Martian Landing happen, we developed air and water recycling technology. Admittedly, these things existed before Ares, but to take it to another planet, it had to be reliable, idiot-proof, and fit into a cubicle. That tech works on earth too, so going to Mars makes it possible to supply clean drinking water to any one of a billion people in small dwellings. There's at least a dozen new patents of solar charging heavy Rover-sized vehicles. Communications tech had to be upgraded for Ares I, let alone Ares III. Weather Prediction Models have improved by at least thirty percent, and hurricane season is coming. To say nothing of billions of dollars spent on Research and Development; employing about ten percent of the United States for over five years."

"More than half those reasons were valid after Apollo. It took a whole two generations after that to get to Mars." Lewis pointed out.

Back in Houston, Mara Barnes had gotten off her plane and sat down at one of the many airport restaurants to eat something before heading home. By the time she had reached for a menu, Annie Montrose was sitting across from her. "Well, this is a surprise." Barnes said lightly, even a little impressed. "How did you know I'd be here?"

"It was hard work." Annie nodded. "I had to call your assistant and ask him where you were; and then he told me."

"Impressive." Barnes deadpanned. "I thought the Company Line was: 'No Comment on Procedure'."

"Who says I want to talk about NASA procedures?" Annie countered. "Did you order?"

"You aren't here for food." Barnes pushed a menu over anyway. "Does NASA even know you're talking to me?"

"They specifically told me not to, in fact." Annie glanced around. Sure enough, there was nobody that either of them knew. "Close your notebook. For the next five minutes, we're off the record."

Barnes did so. "Wait. Are you feeding me info, or are you here to ask what I know?"

"If I asked, would you tell me?"

"Probably tell my Editor first."

Annie bared her teeth. "My job would be so much easier if the reporters all worked for me."

"No doubt. So, 'off the record', what do you want to tell me?"

"Thought I might interest you in a 'credible rumor'." Annie leaned forward. "Has anyone asked why Senator Adler, of all people, is trying to get put in charge of the hearings?"

"Senator Adler is running for Re-elect soon."

"So's half the House and Senate. Why does he get to run the table?"

"If you're trying to remind me that he's got a financial stake in the Ares Missions, I already know that." Barnes reminded her.

"It's been almost two months since you ambushed Mindy asking about the Bio-Monitors. I'm guessing you've got a lot more since then. So why has nobody said something?"

Barnes snorted. "Can you remember the last time a public scandal affected a politician? I mean, at all? Financial, sexual, legal... It makes them look bad, but they all look bad over something. So much so that it doesn't stop anyone anymore."

Annie stared. "You're saying that if he was caught breaking ethics rules, the standards of the world are so low that... You're literally telling me that corruption is of no interest?"

"Not to my Editor. The public doesn't care, beyond a social media poll. The IRS will get involved, and the lawyers will get rich, and he may even face charges. But it won't stop him taking NASA down with him; unless it's something big. And I mean really big." Barnes picked up her notepad. "Why? Do you have smoking-gun proof of serious corruption?"

Annie hesitated. "No."

"I'll look into it later, then. Now, back on the record for a moment, what does Lord of the Rings have to do with Mars?"

Annie froze. "What?"

Barnes flipped her notebook open. "My Editor is screaming, because word is that CNN is going public with a story about something called 'Project Elrond'. I had to ask my teenage kid what that meant. Either you found Space Orcs, or it's a codeword for something."

"Yyyyeah." Annie stood up swiftly. "We don't comment on NASA procedures."

"Commander Lewis, this is going to take you too." Mindy put in. "When the Resupply launch failed, Doctor Watney went back to finishing the mission. They're going to ask y-"

"Mark Watney is not a soldier, but when facing his own death; and learning that the combined IQ and Engineering skill of all NASA had failed; Mark Watney responded by completing the Mission." Lewis said promptly. "After months of starvation rations, he did the work of five astronauts, finishing all the work that our full Ares III Mission would have done; had we not launched early. Watney is to be commended for understanding that the person is less important than the Cause; which is, in this case, the need for Humanity to escape the confines of Earth forever."

Mark's eyebrows had migrated to his hairline. "Rehearse that much?"

"Far too much." Lewis agreed.

Mark's face faltered. Mindy understood. Lewis had been preparing that speech since Mark had been declared dead.

Fortunately, Commander Hunter interrupted at that moment. "Mindy? NASA has a call for you, from your mom."

"My mom?" Mindy blinked, pushing her way over to the screen. "She can't figure out her Tivo, but she can call me on the Space Station?"

"You're upside down." Her mother said brightly.

"No, mom. You are." Mindy shot back.

"From this angle, I can see your nose hairs." Her mother returned. "It's not an attractive side to you."

Mindy rotated in front of the camera. "You win."

"How is it?" Her mother asked eagerly. "How's the view?"

"Out of this world." Mindy deadpanned.

"Oh, lovely. How long did it take you to think that one up?"

"Longer than I would have liked." Mindy admitted. "You see the launch?"

"We had everyone over. You know how Mrs Swinton is always bragging about her son being a medical intern, 'which is practically a doctor'? Well today, nothing. Not a peep out of her. It was the first time I enjoyed having her in my house."

"Glad to be of service." Mindy commented dryly.

Mindy's tablet buzzed. "I'm with your mom on this one, Mindy. What's the point of suddenly being awesome if you can't make your closest friends want to die?"

Mindy spun as best she could while floating. "Are you eavesdropping on my private calls?"

"I figured I was due." Watney quipped from the other end of the room. "You've read and decoded more of my correspondence than anyone else."

"Is that him?!" Mindy's mother shrilled excitedly. "I wanna see!"

Mindy did a quick calculation of which would be worse. Having Watney in the call, or telling her mother 'no'. It didn't take long, and she waved him over.

Watney drifted past the camera in a slow, horizontal glide. "As much as I'd love to keep teasing, private comms are the only nod to human dignity you get in space; and the only thin veneer of privacy we pretend matters. I shouldn't have been listening. Heaven knows I've gotten more 'personal privacy' than anyone else up here."

"Trust me, I'm not offended." Mindy's mother said eagerly. "I heard you weren't tipped off she'd be there."

"It was a very nice surprise." Mark reported dutifully.

"You know, Mindy is single." The older woman put in.

Mindy turned bright pink. Watney didn't even hesitate. "So am I. Though, your daughter tells me that could change the second I get down to the surface."

Mindy winced. "Ohno, don't encourage her-"

"The surface? My daughter saw you first!" Mrs Park hooted. "Literally! Twice! You've been named The Solar System's Most Eligible Bachelor. People Magazine made that title up just for you!"

"Why did you not tell me this?" Mark demanded of Mindy with a grin.

"And what is the point of having a co-ed space station if you can't experiment with Zero Gra-"

"Good god, mom!" Mindy flushed, cutting her off. "I know it's a personal call, but come on!"

"I want grandchildren! You've been spending your nights at NASA for three years, surrounded by geeks who are too intimidated to do anything but stare mooningly at posters of Johanssen."

Mark burst into hysterical laughter, so strong that he did a backward double somersault. "Hey, if this thing with Mindy doesn't work out, you want to be my mom?"

"Is that my only option?" The older woman said saucily.

"I'm telling dad you said that, and I'm hanging up now." Mindy said promptly.

"Waitwaitwait! There's a reason I'm calling! Someone named Mitch told me to give you a message. He said that since this was a personal call; he couldn't do it. Or something like that."

Mindy twitched. The whole point of sending her was that conversations between the ISS and Mission Control were public record. "What's the message?"

Mrs Park checked a post-it note she had with her. "It says 'Elrond goes public in the morning'."

"Elrond?" Mark repeated as Mindy turned pale. "Like Lord of the Rings?"

The Ares Crew assembled. The ISS Crew stayed in the laboratory module, promising to play some music loud enough that they wouldn't be able to hear anything. It was the only way Mindy could brief the crew. The sound of Gloria Gaynor echoed quietly from the other compartment as the Hermes crew assembled.

"Okay, here it is." Mindy told them. "Word leaked, about the Rich Purnell Maneuver."

"What do you mean? How could it possibly be a secret?" Mark blinked.

Mindy and Lewis traded a look. Finally, the Commander sighed. "The Trajectory isn't a secret, Mark… What is a secret is that we weren't told about it, officially. In fact, it was hidden in a personal email to Vogel; and we had to… hijack the ship to make it happen."

"What?!" Mark was stunned.

Mindy took over. "Teddy said no. He ruled that it was too risky to keep five astronauts in the sky for a year longer than needed."

"I hacked the hardware, so NASA couldn't override us." Beth added. "They had to resupply us or have five dead astronauts in a long, slow loop around the Solar System."

"You guys mutinied." Mark blurted.

"I wasn't told until after you guys made it back; but it's not a surprise." Mindy put in. "Mitch has been saying his goodbyes."

"Mitch was fired?"

"Resigned. Or will, once you land." Mindy bit her lip. "He didn't even hesitate to make that trade, guys. There were only four or five people in the room when Elrond happened. It's not he could get away with it..."

"How bad is it going to get, now that word's out?" Vogel asked quietly.

"You guys mutinied." Mark said again.

"We took a vote. It was unanimous." Beck said shortly.

"Which means nothing. Hermes wasn't a democracy." Lewis said immediately. "Look, guys… We never planned to go back to Mars."

"You guys mutinied." Mark repeated.

"Mark, give us the room." Lewis said quickly. "You're the only one that wasn't in that vote. Go pretend you're not eavesdropping like the rest of the ISS team."

Mark did so, leaving Mindy and the rest of the crew.

"The job just got harder." Mindy said quietly. "You guys will have to face a few hearings of your own, if they can't head it off before you land." She lowered her voice further. "Annie tells me that some of the major players in government are setting up to take centre stage. Half of them want to throw you a parade and make sure all the cameras see you shaking their hands. The other half want to feed you to sharks, and have all the cameras see them do it. Annie gave me the party line, if that makes sense. I'll walk you through it."

"Me first." Lewis said quickly. "We'll go back to the ship; talk about it there."

"That's out of quarantine."

"Mindy, we've been in that thing for years. If I'm going to catch something…"

Mindy surrendered instantly, still struggling with the fact that these famous, larger-than-life space travellers knew her name. "Yes, Ma'am."

The two of them went into the airlock between the ISS and The Hermes. As soon as the door closed, Lewis turned to her.

The Commander was silent a moment. "I'm the one that put him on the Mission, you know." She said finally.

"Watney?"

"Mark was one of the candidates being trained with us in the early stage. There was a long list to get on board. The original Botanist bowed out early in the prep stage. There were two candidates for replacement; I requested Mark, specifically. He never knew."

"Why?"

"I'm Navy." Lewis said, as though that explained everything. "Women on Submarines is a relatively new thing, for an institution that talks a lot about 'centuries of proud tradition'. When you're in a tin can under half a mile of water, and you can't step outside for a breath of fresh air, military discipline is a tricky line to walk. Things get said, people get hot under the collar… Submariners know how fast a ship can get crowded. I requested Mark, because he was very good at defusing tension." She scowled a bit. "I also made the choice to leave him behind. Tension wasn't even the right word, before or after they told us."

"First thing Mark said to us was 'Not Dead'. Second thing was 'Not Their Fault'." Mindy put in. "We both know he was talking about you more than anyone else."

"I know. But…" Lewis rubbed her eyes. "It's not going to be hard to make the case that I led a mutiny for selfish reasons. A Commanding Officer doesn't get to act irresponsibly with their people because of personal guilt. Especially in the military; let alone in Space."

"I thought the crew voted."

"Unanimously. But I could have reminded them that Hermes wasn't a democracy and told them to follow their damn orders. I voted to do the opposite." Lewis sighed. "But that's not the point either. My career ends with Mars. It always would have. I knew that going in."

"So what's the worst that can happen?"

"A dishonorable discharge means no benefits, no pension. Instead of becoming the poster child for Women Commanders, I become the embodiment of all the 'over-emotional woman' cliches that the Talk Radio bastards love to trot out every time the subject comes up. To say nothing of the fact that an investigation means it all comes out. Elrond is just the start. We had to sabotage the ship in a few places to keep them from overriding us from Mission Control. Beth and Chris will become public knowledge before they're ready, and god only knows what that'll do to their relationship. A scandal in the Program would set NASA back twenty years. Mitch is gone already, he might even face charges. Maybe Teddy too. The Navy will be dragged into it too, just for giving me a commission." Lewis suddenly looked ancient. "This whole mission will make a great movie one day; but it was a massive mission failure, on international news. Someone's going to lose their head for it. And the only way for the politicians to save themselves will be to sacrifice a name people will recognize. Who do you think they'll pick?"

The answer was obvious, and they all knew it.

Sure enough, less than an hour later, Admiral Holloway, of the top Naval Brass, released a statement. Up on the Station, they all saw it.

"While we cannot dispute the results of the actions of the Ares III Commander and Crew; we nevertheless take very seriously the question of deliberate disobedience of orders. The need for discipline, and respect for the chain of command, especially in a mission critical environment, cannot be questioned.

"We are aware of the extraordinary circumstances under which this decision was made; and the courage displayed in extending the mission to bring the whole crew home. We must consider all our options, as we prepare for Commander Lewis' debriefing."

"They mentioned me by name." Lewis said, eyes on the screen. "Bad sign."

"If they were going to wave it off, they would have said so. The bit about 'extraordinary circumstances' was just covering themselves." Martinez jerked a thumb at Admiral Holloway on the screen, and glanced at Mark. "What can you expect from a Navy Man?"

"Navy Man." Mark agreed sagely, and Lewis flipped them off. "Just teasing, boss. Look, obviously we're not going to let them get within lynching-distance of you. We'll fight this, and we'll win."

"I don't think that'll be up to you, Mark."

"Are you kidding? After the things we've done for the last three years, you think the lawyers are the ones that'll beat us?" Mark insisted. "The IRS maybe, but the lawyers? I'd rather go down swinging."

"The price tag made it a hard sell already. How do you think you're going to save me too? NASA can salvage themselves by sacrificing me." Lewis argued. "Guys, if it finishes my career, so be it. I just don't want the rest of you dragged through the same muck that they'll bury me in."

And Mindy suddenly realized that Mark was looking at her expectantly. "What?"

"You've been in the room all this time, Mindy. What's the next move?"

"They sent me home before 'Elrond' was decided, Sir- Mark. I don't know how what to do."

"No, but I bet you know who does." Mark gambled.

Mindy bit her lip. "Let me make a call."

"Mindy, this isn't a privileged conversation." Bruce Ng reminded her before they even said hello.

"I know." Mindy said. "You can imagine the discussion up here, about the news."

"I can." Bruce was unreadable.

"Mark asked me who else was in the room when Elrond was decided… And it occurred to me that maybe the room was quite a bit bigger than the Committee might expect? I mean, to pull it off, it would have to be, right?"

Long silence.

"Ah." Bruce finally made the connection. "Good idea. And given that NASA is a civilian, public access company, it might be an idea to share out the credit where credit's due. All of it. Let me call Mitch and Annie. I'll get back to you."

Bruce disconnected, and Mindy turned to Commander Lewis. "He won't get back to me." She reported promptly. "The JPL team is routing everything through NASA's Press Office anyway. Nobody talks to engineers when they want a scandal."

"I'm still not sure how this is supposed to work." Vogel put in, the rest of the crew gathered with him up the other end of the room.

"Bruce Ng's Uncle is part of the Chinese Space Program." Lewis explained. "Pretty high up the chain, too. Their family connection was the backchannel that they used when they offered us the Tiayang Shen."

"Bruce's uncle called us, and said they had a rocket that could make it to Mars for a resupply." Mindy took up the explanation. "Once Teddy knew about that, he could officially ask for it. The Chinese Government wasn't going to volunteer that information. It was going to be a solar probe. Elrond co-opted the probe into resupplying you."

"The laws about international cooperation in Space are… vague." Lewis added. "There was a cooperation deal, but it was repealed by the US in the 20-Teens; and nobody bothered to rewrite anything new. It's technically illegal for the US and China to collaborate on a mission. To save Mark, NASA hammered out a deal with China's Space Program."

"And to save face, both Governments had to pretend it was their idea. By the time anyone asked, The Rich Purnell Maneuver had happened, and NASA had to jump on board with you guys." Mindy sighed. "Subtle, ain't we?"

"What was the deal with China?" Martinez asked. "We got the probe. What did they get?"

"A Tychonaut on Ares IV." Mindy explained, and a small, hopeful smile was shared across each astronaut in the room.

"Well, China won't forget that in a hurry." Martinez said to Lewis.

"No, indeed." Lewis agreed, sending Mindy a grateful look. "In fact, Mark? Add it to the list for your defense. NASA's been trying to lobby Congress to change that 'international cooperation' law back. Teddy and Bruce hammered out a deal in ten minutes. How much money did that save in congressional gridlock and international negotiating?"

"Think it'll work?" Johanssen asked awkwardly. "I mean, they are politicians."

"Next statement we hear from the ground will decide it." Lewis said blandly. "If they've decided to 'look at the relevant information more closely' then it means they've changed their minds."

But the next statement wasn't from Congress, or from NASA. It was from the Chinese Government.

"The future of Mankind's expansion into space goes far beyond the heroism or mistakes of any one man. China's best engineers and scientists were proud to put forward their best work to help save Mark Watney, and we look forward to continuing the exploration of the stars with our close economic and scientific partners at NASA." CNN reported the statement.

"Translation: You're not shutting down the program until we get our Martian Tychonaut." Mark said promptly.

"At this point, shutting down the Ares Missions will be a major international incident, and given how much the US and Chinese Economy depend on each other, they can't afford that." Lewis looked happier than Mindy had seen her since docking. "Then it's over. NASA is safe. Ares will go on."

"It's not over." Martinez said swiftly. "What about you?"

Lewis didn't answer right away, which was fine, because Mark jumped in. "Let me make a call."

The others pretended they weren't watching from just off-camera when Mitch's face filled the screen. "Mark, I saw the news. I'm sure you're hopping mad about Commander Lewis, but just remember we don't have Personal and Confidential Status."

"So everything we say to each other is a matter of public record?" Mark made sure.

"Yup."

"Good." Mark said with scary calm.

"Oh boy." Mitch murmured under his breath. A sentiment shared by all those watching on the Station.

"I don't know who makes the decision, but make sure they know that a Court Martial will be... how shall I put this? A Bad Idea. Not just because she didn't do anything wrong, and she didn't. And not just because she saved my life, and she did. But also because I've just learned how high the bidding is getting for the first interview with me. I don't even need the megaphone. I've also got the highest social media presence in history. The Kardashian kids are hoping I'll re-post them. There's an old saying, that you never pick a war of words with anyone who buys ink by the barrel. Remind the Navy Brass that they have no idea how big a barrel I have at my disposal." Mark paused. "Which sounds dirty, but I meant it to be threatening; so shaddup."

"I'll tell them, Mark." Mitch promised.

"And whoever's reading the transcripts of this conversation tomorrow?" Mark was still spooky polite. "Be advised that anyone who tries to throw freshly produced, homemade 'fecal matter' at the Commander had better be ready to have me throwing it back at them, and then some. It was not the crew's fault. If I had actually starved to death up there, my last words would have been 'not their fault'. I'm back at Earth now; and I'll stick with my crew. Anyone who wants to pick a fight with them, there's nowhere they can hide from what I'll bring to the party. Nowhere on Two Planets."

"I understand, Mark." Mitch promised again.

Mark covered the camera and mic a moment. "Is it enough?"

"Mitch had to explain to the Vice President what some of your more… adventurous adjectives meant." Mindy told him. "Let him off the hook, before he faints."

Mark almost smiled at her and released the camera. "Mitch? Thank you for your polite attention."

He disconnected with a flourish.

Mitch let out a hard breath.

"I'm amazed we got away that lightly." Annie was suddenly at his elbow. "Mindy was right."

"About?"

"About China." Annie reported. "There's a lot of trade wrapped up in international politics right now. All those requests for information from Government offices? Suddenly 'not a priority'."

"So that protects NASA, what about the crew specifically?"

"I don't know. The Hearing will have to go ahead. We marooned an Astronaut, after all. There's going to be an investigation. Even Watney's star power can't fight that. The minute Senator Adler gets on camera, with Lewis and Watney in his sights, he's already got what he wanted. And if he can't take the credit for shutting all of NASA down; then he'll have to make very sure his victory over the crew is loud and attention-grabbing."

Mitch was silent a long moment, thinking. "Pioneer Aviation has contracts with NASA, but has billions more tied up in building airlines for China. Adler can't afford to piss them off, or he loses a fortune."

Annie brightened. The first genuine smile he'd ever seen from her. "Interesting development on that. That memo came from somewhere. Whoever sent it to Mindy sent a copy to the Press, too. Bruce called me when the story about Elrond broke. Mara Barnes came to him the other day. She knows about the memo."

Mitch spun to look at her. "Why didn't he call us sooner?"

"Bruce's uncle is exposed." Annie excused. "He offered the Tiayang Shen without his government's permission. If China decided not to 'cooperate' with Elrond, Bruce would never hear from his uncle again. He decided to keep his mouth shut when a reporter ambushed him; and I don't blame him. But that's another thing that's safe now that China's decided to back the Ares Missions."

"And China would be pretty outraged to find out one of their intentional contractors had a history of putting big, expensive missions at risk with their cost-cutting measures." Mitch grinned. "In front of a global audience. With lives counting on them..."

Annie nodded. "If we leak it, it'll hurt Adler. If it comes from the Press; it'll sink him completely."

"So, what? We hope that The Post decides to run that memo, and wait for nature to take its course?" Mitch scoffed. "How long will that take?"

"Not so long." Annie said primly. "Remember: I'm part of nature."

AN: Next chapter will be the ending. Read and Review!