Mark couldn't help smiling, thinking back to when he and Johanssen had worked together with NASA to catalogue the language and other information he'd been able to glean. They'd gotten tired of the awkward-sounding Language of Oaiea's People, so Beth had shortened it to Loop, which had stuck. Mark's similarly-derived nickname for Planet of Oaiea's People had not gone over nearly so well. He rubbed his shoulder, remembering where Beth had slugged him.

Sundance seemed like an odd name for a planet, but it certainly had to be an improvement over that. The first of the two characters was Sun, which consisted of a circle containing two superimposed triangles that formed a six-pointed star. There were six smaller circles, one to represent each of the six planets in the solar system, set around it. The second symbol was the verb Dance, and it showed a square set with smaller, angled, concentric squares, giving the suggestion of motion.

Moving day, he thought to himself. Mark had been ordered to pack up his belongings and report to the medbay. All of his stuff easily fit into a sealed container the size of a small suitcase; his laptop and cellphone, his wallet and keys. So utterly useless to him here, but he still kept them in his pocket, out of habit. There was his house key to his parents house in Chicago, keys to his apartment and Sophia's, the key to the new house they'd bought. Car keys, plus the several unidentifiable keys that had been orbiting his keychain since college and maybe before that. His Hermès jacket, a gift from Sophia on their first Christmas together. The Stormbreaker crew apparently found the idea of wearing an article of clothing made from animal hide to be very in keeping with the caveman they had expected Mark to be.

He'd been wearing a pair of jeans and a button-down on the night they'd grabbed him, and although they were quite shabby now from use, they were clean, and they were human, so he decided to wear them, in honor of being the first human to set foot on Sundance. Sunwalk? It had a nice sound to it. He'd have to get a "1" tattoo, along with the Sundance characters, when he got home.

The only other clothing available to him was the Stormbreaker-issue flight suits, and while they had made an attempt to alter some of them to fit him, they were uncomfortable and he didn't think he looked very good in them. Jeans felt infinitely better, even if they did have frayed hems and threadbare knees.

The one item of alien clothing that he had fully embraced without any qualms at all was their socks. They were wonderful socks, stretchy and soft, whisper thin and warm. Sundance socks were going to be a hit on Earth, someday. His bulky cotton Earth socks were bundled in the bottom of his storage container, practically forgotten.

He'd managed to do a good job of keeping himself in shape, this time, too. Beck would be proud. He'd done t'ai chi daily, from the first day, and worked himself up to an hour of isometric exercise as his ankle healed. Whatever awaited him on the surface, at least he was in his top physical condition. And when he got home, well... Martinez had better watch out, because Mark was going to give him a run for his money when it came to Rick's beloved boxing.

Mark's feet started to feel light as the centripetal gravity slowed, indicating that it was time to meet Dr. A in the medbay. He headed up the ladder to the tween-deck, storage container in hand.

The doctor had some bad news for him.

The deceleration sequence will begin shortly, so I will be using this, he gestured to the white device that they had frozen him with before, and you will remain here in medbay until after we land.

"Oh, hell no!" Mark burst out. Not again.

"Would you prefer your bones in a liquefied state?" He smirked.

"Oh. Well, okay. I guess you talked me into it." He grinned back. Dr. A was an asshole, but he wasn't really so bad.


Arecibo, Puerto Rico

"What would you say the odds are that this is going to work?" Venkat asked.

"No idea," Beth replied, shortly. "It's the proverbial shot in the dark." Literally and figuratively, she thought.

Venkat frowned.

"This is a lot of funding for a shot in the dark."

Beth pretended to rustle in her purse with one hand, eyes never leaving the screen. "Oh hell, I'm sorry. I'm all out of fucks to give," she deadpanned, as Venkat rolled his eyes.

"Pretty sure we can move this through Appropriations," Venkat mused, "But if this works." He trailed off. It could change everything.

"Then congress is going to write this project a blank check?"

"Something like that. Okay, well, I don't want to be in your way while you're trying to work."

Beth nodded.

"Good luck."

She took a sip of her coffee. "Thanks. Did I mention that I got the idea from my two-year old?"

Venkat started to ask, thought better of it, and shook his head.


Hermes - Ares 4

"The delay has gotten so much shorter!" Marissa grinned at Rick. "I'm counting the days!"

Rick smiled at her. "You look good."

Rick looked tired and grim. "We miss you."

David waved. "Hi, Daddy."

"You're getting so big, buddy. Looks you've grown an inch since last week. How was your soccer game?"

David frowned. "We lost."

"Blame it on the rest of the team," Rick joked, "That's what I like to do."

"Daddy is kidding." Marissa gave Rick the stinkeye, while David laughed.

"Go on, give that kid a hug from Dad," Rick told Marissa.

Marissa pounced on David and gave him a bear hug, squeezing him so tight that he squeaked.

"I can't breathe!" David emerged, giggling. "Love you, Dad."

"Love you too, buddy. See you in a few weeks."

David waved again, and went offscreen.

"You doing okay? You look tired." Marissa asked.

Rick hestitated for a minute, and then said, "Just want to get home to you. It's been a long drive. What's going on?"

"Have you emailed with any of the Ares 3 crew, lately?"

He shook his head. "No, I was thinking though, that I'd like to see them all when I get back. Do you think you could set something up?"

"Johanssen is out of the country," Marissa tried to think, "And I don't know if she'll be back by then. Beck is in single-dad mode these days. It's very adorable." She grinned at Rick. "But I think I can get everyone else." She frowned, then, thinking of Mark.

"What about Sophia, any chance?"

"I don't even know how to get in touch with her. I could try the White House, but I think she's been trying to keeping a low profile. I don't know if she'd want to come back to DC and get everyone talking."

"The longer she waits, the bigger the story's going to be," Rick rolled his eyes and smirked.

Marissa gave him a look. "It's good to see you smile. Get some rest."

"You too. Prepare your body, mamacita-rica," He favored her with his smarmiest grin.

"Oh my God. Three weeks. You're so on."

"That's what I'm sayin'."

x x x