The thing about Mars is that it is deceptive.
It looks just enough like Earth that you could imagine it was home. One of those deserts in Australia or Arizona or up a mountain beyond the tree line. Hell, it was cold enough…except the treeline was 211 million kilometres away.
John tripped and fell again, his fist automatically clenching that bit tighter over the tape on his uniform. The knife had cut through electronics and he now had some nasty burns, mostly from the cold, but the sparks had been both a blessing and a curse.
A curse due to the short circuit that had also managed to take out his comms along with his gravity support. Eos had been loud in his ear before she had been cut off.
The one advantage was that the warmth had kept his wound protected for that split second before he could slam his hand over the breach and save himself from dying.
Being thrown from a moving vehicle after that had not been fun.
Who knew scientists could be so precious regarding their discoveries?
Alan had to know something was wrong. He had no doubt Eos was yelling at him at this very moment. Three would be here any moment.
Maybe he should just sit down and wait.
He stopped walking.
But no. In space you had yourself. You made things happen. And while Mars was a planet, he was technically still in space and be damned if he was going to sit on his ass and not do his best to save himself.
Scott would have frowned at him at this point, no doubt. Sometimes doing nothing was the best thing to do.
But John knew where the colony was and he was going to walk in that direction.
He could meet Three on the way.
And besides, he was angry. He needed to walk it off and calm himself down before he aggravated himself into bleeding to death.
Perhaps it was a sign of exactly how far gone he already was because that train of thought made more sense than he suspected it should.
He was bleeding. He should stay still.
He couldn't.
So, he was walking.
So much for being the sensible Tracy.
Virgil was going to be unhappy.
He didn't like an unhappy Virgil. It was almost as bad as an unhappy Gordon. Unhappy Gordon was just sacrilege.
Gordon had to be happy.
Unless he was being a brat, in which case, he deserved everything he got.
John sighed and sat down abruptly.
Who was he kidding?
He needed to stay still. Virgil's eyebrows were going to eat him alive otherwise.
But Virgil wasn't here.
John closed his eyes. He wasn't thinking straight and that was not a good thing. If there was one thing he could rely on, it was his brain. If that wasn't working, he was royally screwed.
C'mon, Alan, come save me again.
His little brother had made a career of doing just that. You would think John would be the one saving Alan, after all, he was the more experienced astronaut.
But no.
It was always Alan saving John.
And it was always some other person, some external agency, that wanted to put an end to John's quiet life.
And people wondered why he didn't like to leave his space station.
Okay, there was Eos, but that had been a misunderstanding. This was a blatant murder attempt and really, he felt he should be angrier.
If he had the energy.
And that was something he was losing.
He had enough brain function to know he was bleeding, definitely into his suit, probably internally as well. Knives were ultimately unforgiving in that department.
The scientists probably thought he was dead. How the hell they were planning to explain a Tracy death was beyond him. Scott wouldn't take a flimsy answer. Hell, Alan was onsite…
Alan was at the colony.
Was Alan in danger?
The thought startled him. What if this was a colony conspiracy? What if they thought Tracy Industries was attempting to take them over, steal their discoveries and their thunder?
But Uncle Lee was here. Uncle Lee would never stand for that.
But then Uncle Lee had nearly died here one time before. Virgil and Alan had saved him that time. What if this call out was a trap? What if this was the opportunity to kill off two Tracys and a Taylor in one accident?
"Eos, I need a probability…"
But, of course, she didn't answer. He was alone. In the desert on Mars.
Dying.
He needed to find his brother. He needed to keep him safe.
He needed to move.
So, he took a step.
Another.
One foot after the other.
-o-o-o-