SOL 135; HAB INTERIOR
Liv blew out a breath as she finished the last layer of resin on airlock three. She had just finished the last airlock check, doing repairs as needed. The day had been quiet, just a few check ins from NASA. NASA was in the works of trying to send them a supply probe that would feed them through to Ares IV. They said they would try to have it out in the next month or so, taking in the six or seven months of travel time to reach them.
What could possibly go wrong?
Everything was sure to go alright.
JPL; Launch failed, we're working on another way to get you supplies.
Liv came back to the HAB, frown on her face, tears threatening to spill from her eyes.
"It failed, something about loss of signal and reports of pieces of it. We're fucked Mark, absolutely fucked."
"Hey, it's okay. They're smart, someone will figure something out." He spoke as he grabbed her and pulled her into a tight hug. How would they make it? That supply probe was their only hope.
What would they do now?
EARTH: NASA HEADQUATERS
The male glanced at the screen, shocked clear on his face. He rubbed at his face, hitting the button to run the calculations again. The numbers came back the same each time he tested it. His numbers were right.
He had to let someone know about this.
He had a way to save Watney and Brooks.
MARS; HAB
"Wouldn't it be amazing if the Hermes and the crew could come back for us?" Watney said from his bunk. Liv let out a scoff.
"How would that work? NASA would never let them do that."
"I mean it would be a better option then trying the probe again."
"You aren't wrong."
What if they could?
EARTH: VINCENT KAPOOR'S OFFICE
The door slammed open, pulling Vincent away from his phone, he arched a brow at the person in his doorway.
"You should hang up the phone." The man spoke, breathing slightly labored.
"Who the hell are you?"
"My name is Rich Purnell and I work in astrodynamics and you should hang up the phone right now."
Muttering an apology to the secretary on the phone, Vincent hung up and turned his attention to Rich who placed a stack of papers into his hands.
"I know how to save them."
CONFERENCE ROOM
The clicking of heels stopped as Annie walked into the conference room, confusion on her face.
"What the hell is "Project Elrond?" She spoke, as she placed the papers on the desk, as the door shut behind her.
Vincent held his hands up in defense. "Listen, I had to think of something that wouldn't stand out."
"Elrond though? That's the best?"
"Because it's a secret meeting, that's why, isn't it?" Mitch asked, leaning back into his chair.
"How do you know that? Why does "Elrond" mean "secret meeting?" Annie asked, as she paced slightly.
"The Council of Elrond. From Lord of the Rings. It's the meeting where they decide to destroy the One Ring." Bruce spoke as he entered the room, making sure it shut behind him.
"I am so done with you all."
"If we're calling something Project Elrond, I would like my codename to be "Glorfindel." Teddy spoke as the door opened as he entered.
"Oh my god I hate every one of you." Annie spoke as she took her seat.
"Teddy doesn't even know what this is about?" Mitch asked.
"Tell them exactly what you told me." Vincent told Rich, who straightened up.
"I can get the Hermes back to Mars by Sol 561."
Silence.
"What?"
"How?"
Both Teddy and Mitch asked.
Rich glanced around, spotting the cup with a stapler next to it. He grabbed it, pulling himself to his feet.
"Okay so let's pretend this stapler is the Hermes. And you are... I'm sorry, what's your name again?" He asked.
Teddy fixed his tie, "Teddy, I'm the director of NASA." Something similar to annoyance in his voice.
"Okay, Teddy, you're Earth. And right now the Hermes is heading towards you and is about to start its month-long deceleration to intercept. But, instead, I'm proposing," He moves with the stapler around the man, stopping to speak again, "We start accelerating immediately, to preserve velocity and gain even more. We don't intercept Earth at all, but we come close enough to use a gravity assist to adjust course. While we're doing that,"
Paused long enough to grab one of the many pens that Teddy kept in the pocket of his suit.
"We resupply the Hermes."
"With The Taiyeng Shen." Vincent filled in, starting to see where the idea was headed.
"Pick up whatever provisions we need and then we're accelerating towards Mars." He makes the stapler go over to Annie. "You're Mars. And we're going too fast at this point to fall into orbit, so it's a flyby." he said as he made the stapler 'fly' around her.
"What good is a flyby if we can't get Watney and Brooks off the surface?" Bruce spoke up, tapping his fingers on the table.
"They would have to intercept using the MAV." Vincent spoke up.
He grabbed his pen, blasting it off of Annie's shoulder. Rich catches it, and points everything back towards Teddy.
"And we head back home. I've done the math, believe me. It checks out."
The room went quiet, no one saying a word. It was Teddy who fully grasped everything first, and he locked eyes with Vincent.
"Rich?"
"Yes sir?"
"Get out." Rich knew not to question the man so after grabbing what he brought with him, he made his way from the room.
"Is he right?"
"I believe so."
"And we'll need to use the Taiyeng Shen?"
"Yeah."
Annie spoke up, "What am I missing? Why is that important?"
"Because only one can be done." Vincent told her.
"We can either send them enough food to last until Ares 4, or we can send Hermes back to get them right now." Teddy sat at a chair, letting out a long breath.
Vincent nodded, clearing his throat before talking. "Both plans require the Taiyang Shen, so we have to choose."
"What about the Hermes crew? We'd be asking them to add 533 days to their mission." Annie
asked, shaking her head slightly. But she knew that the crew would do it in a heartbeat.
"The crew wouldn't hesitate. Not even for a second. That's why Vincent called the meeting. He wants us to decide instead."
Another pause.
"It's a matter of life and death, need to make this decision." Vincent let out a sign, running his hands over his face.
"She's the Mission Commander. Life and death decisions are her damn job." Was the response that he got.
"The thing is," Teddy spoke, "Can the Hermes function for 533 days beyond the scheduled mission end?"
"It should. It was made to do all five Ares missions. It's only halfway through it's lifespan. No reason for it to not make it." Vincent said as he pulled the stack of papers closer to him, trying to find the right page.
"But," Annie sat down finally, tiredness showing on her face. "If something went wrong." She trailed off.
"Then we would lose not only the crew but the Ares program as well."
Another break of silence.
"So we either have a high chance of killing two people, or a low chance of killing six people. How do we make that decision?" Bruce asked the room.
"We don't. Teddy does" Vincent said.
All the eyes shifted to the man in question. A few moments of thinking, he spoke up.
"We still have the chance to bring five astronauts home safe and sound. I'm not risking their lives."
"We need to let them make that decision though," Mitch said, shock in his voice.
"No, we go with option one." Teddy spoke, voice firm.
"You're a goddamn coward," Mitch said before he pushed back his chair and left the room.