Mark and Mindy
Mindy looked up at the mission status board and stretched her back. Several loud cracks issued from it and she smiled. I'll make it up to you Venkat's voice said in her head. He had. The glowing blue letters in the Lucite panel above her console said FLIGHT CONTROL. Brendan was control command, but Mindy was his second, and she was on track to do control for the expanded Aries Six mission two years away.
10 light minutes away the Ares Five crew were at Schiaparelli crater. The treasure that was "The Watney Collection" had been lusted after for almost seven years. Mark had collected specimens every time he stopped on his trek across Mars. He had carefully collected and bagged them, photographed their original location, set out the Morse code message to NASA detailing the number of the sample, and left them in saddle bags of the rover. It was a priceless boon for science.
Mindy chuckled to herself. After Mark had been rescued there was the inevitable round of debate about the cost of his rescue. The geology team at NASA had immunized the whole organization with a statement of undeniable math. In simple dollar per hour of science terms, Mark Watney had been the bargain of the millennia. The total bill for his rescue had amounted to three billion dollars, divided by the time he spent at Mars totaled around two hundred thousand an hour. Cheaper than any other mission in history.
And it had completely changed the direction of Mars exploration, or as it had been renamed, The Mars Colonization Project.
The giant display above Mission control showed the Ares Four/Five site from a dozen different perspectives. Currently taikonaut Nie Yaping was helping Vladimir Stotiefski set up the green houses. The automated glass plant, which had been sent well ahead of the mission, had dutifully made from the Martian sand the almost five hundred two foot by four foot by ten inch thick glass panels that would make up each of the greenhouses. Yaping and Vlad where half way through assembling the titanium framework for the second greenhouse. Commander Smith and his second, Jane Commendams were laying the last panels in the roof of greenhouse one. Schiaparelli crater would be mankind's first home on another world.
They had visited, now they would stay, because Mark had proved they could.
Mindy smiled and rubbed her belly bump. No one had been more surprised than Mindy when Mark had sought her out after his whirlwind "Thanks for Saving my Sorry Ass" world tour. He had suddenly appeared in front of her console at Mission Control, smiled that beguiling sideways grin, and said, "Hey, Mindy, I'm Mark Watney. I feel like we already know each other from the months email on the way back from Mars, but, dinner?"
She had handed her headset to Guy and left with Mark without a word. She didn't return to work for three days.
That had been six and a half years ago, and she hadn't spent more than two days without seeing him since. He had fallen for the mousy, poorly dressed, but undeniably pretty woman in just a few days. She had been in love with him for almost a year. The fact that women threw themselves at Mark didn't bother her because he was just so noble. It embarrassed him. His humility in the face of his fame was an incredibly attractive part of his character, and she rewarded him frequently for it.
Her computer made the sound of an arrow followed by a voice saying, "Message for you, sir."
(Watney,Ma)Hey there, how's our little astronaut today?
(Wateny, Mi)Making me hungry and sick at the same time! Look what you did to me!)
(Watney,Ma) LOL, Didn't hear you complaining, in fact what I heard was…
(Wateny, Mi) Finish that sentence and you'll never hear it again.
(Watney,Ma)God I love you.
(Wateny, Mi)Copy that.
(Watney,Ma)Putting together dinner. Jambalaya okay?
(Wateny, Mi)Sure. Greenhouses are coming along well.
(Watney,Ma) Cool, they need me to come micromanage the assembly? ;)
(Watney,Mi) Ha, ha. Are you ever going to forgive exobotany?
(Watney,Ma) Hmmm, nope.
(Watney,Mi) Five crew says thanks for the Welcome to Mars spud feast. They were apparently still very tasty.
(Watney,Ma)Awesome! Tell them my compliments.
(Watney,Mi)Will do. Love you. See you at eight.
(Watney,Ma) Love you, and give Venkat hell for me today."
Mindy smiled and closed the chat session. "Capcom, prepare a message for the crew. Tell them Mark Watney says 'You're welcome'."
A soft round of laughter percolated through the control room.