Conception
Pain. Searing, unbelievable pain.
She couldn't breathe, and elephant was sitting on her chest and every breath was a struggle.
Roberta's voice penetrated it all, and she opened her eyes.
"Annie, Annie please, oh god, Annie!" Roberta hovered over her, tears dripping from her face.
"Move, Roberta." Roberta's face was replaced by Chris's.
"What the fuck, Chris?" she choked out.
"You've been shot."
Shot? She thought. What the fuck? How…
"I'm going to plug the hole, and it's going to hurt"
What, wait I…
Agony, blinding agony, and she screamed. Then Mindy.
"The ambulance is almost here, Annie."
Well, that's good, cause this fucking hurts.
"Hang on, Chris has got you."
Mark appeared, barking orders. Take charge guy you got there, Min. She was gently slid onto a harder surface, and suddenly she and Chris were floating through the grand gallery. Then darkness took her.
Voices.
"Gunshot, massive blood loss, St. John, NOW!"
Wow, Chris, the ER training is right there, isn't it? Thanks.
They were moving faster now, and she could hear a siren. Darkness.
More voices. "Prep room three. Hang two O neg," a commanding voice said, and she opened her eyes. Lights were passing over her as she sped down a hall. A face behind a surgical mask appeared.
"Welcome to St. John, Ms. Montrose, I'm Doctor Carl Thompson, and we're headed to surgery to get that bullet out of you and plug up some holes."
"Thank you," she whispered.
"Don't talk," Doctor. Thompson said. "Keep that pressure on, Doctor Beck."
Darkness.
(*)
James Myer's world was pain, nothing but pain, a red fog, and a soft voice.
"Is zat all you know?" the voice said in that red fog.
"Yes, yes, everything," he wept. "Please, God, make it stop."
"Zere, you see Ezan? Zere is no need for prolonged brutality. Chemistry, physiology, and psychology, zat is all zat is needed. A little Strychnine, a bit of sodium pentozal, a dash of ecstasy, and a sharp implement in a sensitive spot."
"Yeah, but where's the fun in that?"
A musical giggle preceded the voice saying, "Shall I grant him release now, Ezan?"
"No," the rough male voice said. "Keep him alive, we'll deal with the rest."
"As you wish," the feminine voice said. A soft hand stroked James's face. "Strychnine is very painful, non?" He felt a prick on his arm. "Tannic acid, zee antidote? It is worse."
"tu me fais peur , mon amour," another man's voice said.
The feminine voice laughed liltingly.
(*)
"Welcome back to Today on NBC," Stefani Germanotta said. "Our guest this morning is astronaut Mark Watney." She turned and the director took the two shot. Mark sat on the couch next to Ms. Germanotta dressed in a button down shirt, khakis, and his NASA logoed ARES 3 jacket. "Good morning, Mark."
"Morning, Steff."
"Well, let's start with the dramatic events of Saturday night. What can you tell us about that night?"
Mark looked at Miss Germanotta and nodded grimly. "Min and I were enjoying our deserts when it came time for Annie's speech. A man, James Myer, came up from the back of the gallery and pulled a printed plastic gun from his pocket. Luckily a guest of the French ambassador's noticed it, and she threw a plate at his head."
"Who was she?" Miss Germanotta asked. The video is strangely blurry of that incident.
"She wishes to remain anonymous," Mark said. "But Annie has had the pleasure of thanking her."
"It was an incredible throw," Miss Germanotta said shaking her head. "Amazing aim."
Mark smirked. "Yes, they looked at the video. The gun was deflected before he fired. Annie was very lucky our friend was there. Myer's bullet would have killed her."
"What happened next?"
"Min and I went to Annie while a man from the CIA, that happened to be there, took custody of Myer," Mark told her.
"Who was he?" Miss Germanotta asked curiously.
"Again, he wishes, for obvious reasons, to remain anonymous."
Miss Germanotta nodded. "I understand. And then?"
"We got there just as Chris, Doctor Christopher Beck, my best friend, compressed the bleeding artery that was pumping Annie's blood all over the floor. She um… complained, sort of ineloquently." Mark said, and took a drink of his water. "Min told her the ambulance was on its way, and I though she should be out in the lobby when it got there, so I called the Ares team to me. We made a litter from a table, and we carried Annie and Chris to the lobby."
Miss Germanotta nodded. "Yes, Director Sanders spoke about that at the press conference, let's take a look."
The scene changed to the NASA press room, with Teddy Sanders standing at the podium. "And I'd like to say a word about our Ares astronauts. You know we choose these people with the greatest of care. We choose them for their physical abilities, their character, and their mental toughness, but the one thing that we are constantly surprised by is their heroism. Led by Mark Watney and Doctor Christopher Beck, our Ares astronauts acted swiftly and decisively, and they saved Annie's life. I will be forever in their debt." He wiped a tear from his eye, and the scene changed back to Mark and Miss Germanotta.
She cleared her throat to cover the burst of emotion. "High praise coming from your boss," she commented.
Mark shrugged. "We were just doing what we do," he said stoically
"I understand that James Myer was in very poor condition when your CIA friend handed him over to the Houston Police," she said.
"He was alive," Mark said with no sympathy. "He was lucky."
"Lucky?" Miss Germanotta said with raised eyebrows.
"Yeah," Mark said. "If one of us had got there first his odds of survival would have been very low. We love Annie, she's one of us." He shook his head. "He wouldn't have survived."
"Oookay," Miss Germanotta said slowly. "Speaking of Ms. Montrose, can you tell us how she's doing?"
Mark smiled. "Making her doctor's life hell." He chuckled. "They're having real trouble keeping her off the phone. Roberta, Annie's wife, keeps having to steal the phones back that Annie steals from the nurses. She's not supposed to be talking."
"I've met Ms. Montrose on several occasions," Miss Germanotta said with a grin. "I understand your difficulty."
Mark smiled. "Well, until she's back on her feet, I'm filling in for her." he turned to the camera with the red light. "So, Annie, sit down and shut up!"
Eighteen hundred miles away in Houston, Annie, from her hospital bed said, "Fuck you, asshole," at the TV screen in a hoarse voice, and Roberta laughed.
"What do you know about Myer's motives?" Miss Germanotta asked.
"He calls himself a 'Warrior of Heaven'," Mark said. "Apparently he's part of a group of science denialists that insist the Earth is flat, we never went to the Moon or Mars, The Space Docks are satanic devices we have defiled Heaven with, and that NASA and every other space agency around the world are filled with… devil worshipers or something idiotic like that."
"He sounds insane," Miss Germanotta commented.
"Obviously, and unfortunately he's not alone," Mark said, and he turned to the camera again. "I have a message for his friends." His visage grew stern, and in a low, deadly voice he said, "You failed, and you will always fail. Superstition and fables are the refuge of small minds. Be faithful if that's what you want, I am. But understand, we are unlocking the secrets of God's universe. The Pope thinks that's our whole purpose here in Earth, and we will continue. Your ideology is doomed, and when it's gone we'll all say good riddance. The Earth revolves around the sun. The Moon revolves around the Earth, and you are Luddite idiots who refuse to accept the truth. You got a problem with that, come at me, I'm ready. As my wife would say, 'let's dance'."
Miss Germanotta took a few startled breaths and turned to the camera. "Okay, well, um, thank you, Mark. We'll be right back with Grammy winner Tony Alcott."
(*)
"Are you out of your goddamned mind?" Teddy yelled.
"Don't think so," Mark said calmly as he sat in a chair in Teddy's office.
"Jesus, Mark. You basically dared them to take a shot at you!"
Mark nodded. "That's the plan." He smiled and looked at the Director. "Think it worked?"
Teddy looked back at him like he had six heads. "What?"
Mark chuckled. "Don't worry, Teddy, I'll be perfectly safe."
"How?" he asked angrily.
"Those people at the celebration that took Myer down? They're friends of ours," Mark said. "They're on it, and they're very good."
Teddy sat behind his desk. "You're sure they can take care of this?"
Mark laughed. "One CIA, one SVR, and three Interpol special forces. They're up to the job," he said. "And if they need help they have an MSS agent, and an MI5 agent at their call." At Teddy's stunned look he said, "Min and I have made some friends."
"I'll say," Teddy muttered. "What are they going to do?" he asked.
Mark smiled grimly and snorted. "You don't want to know, I don't want to know. This is serious, Teddy," Mark said. "Myer got to live by the skin of his teeth. I doubt the rest will be that lucky."
"Why are they doing this?" Teddy asked in wonder.
Mark smiled. "Let's just say Min and I are well liked."
(*)
"He challenged us! That servant of evil has dared us to come for him!" The heavy man with the beard said.
"And so we shall in due time," the dark haired woman at the head of the table said calmly. "James failed badly, but that doesn't mean we always will. They must be on their guard constantly, and we only need to have an opening once. Our time will come, soon."
"Where will we strike?" the older grey haired woman asked.
"We will take the fight to his home," the dark haired woman said. "Find it."
(*)
"Zey are fools," Janice said, leaning over her lead hackers shoulder.
"They're worse than that," he said. "Took me ten seconds to breach their firewall. Idiots."
"You have zier locations?"
"A few minutes, goading them into searching for the Watney's address was a brilliant plan, Miss Perrin." Andrew Gardner replied.
"Mark's idea. Let me know when you have all zee locations, Andrew."
"Yes, miss Perrin."
(*)
Mark tossed his travel bag on the chair in the bedroom and started to strip. The flight from New York to Houston had been packed and noisy. The University of Texas marching band was returning from a football game on the same plane. Luckily, though he was immediately recognized, they choose to just smile and nod. Still, it had been a long flight, and the meeting with Teddy hadn't helped his stress.
He let the hot water flow over his back and moaned as the tension drained away. There was a rustling outside the stall, and the door to the shower opened. Mindy stepped in with him and wrapped him in a hug.
"Welcome home," she said and kissed him. "How's Steff?"
"She's good, says hello."
"She and David still coming in January?" Mindy asked as she scrubbed his back with her fingernails, one of Mark's favorite things.
"Yeah, They're looking forward to it," he said. "Steff says we're the only people on Earth that don't bow and scrape for her."
"Eh," Mindy said. "She sold millions of albums and filled stadiums with fans, you spent close to two years on Mars. It balances."
"I love you." He said, crushing her in a hug.
"Copy that."
"Jan called," he said. "They took the bait."
Mark was temporarily taken aback by the look on his wife's face. "Good," she said low and rough. "I hope they make them suffer as much and Annie has."
"Oh, they will," Mark said with a small foreboding laugh. "How is Annie?"
"Getting better every day," Mindy said in a relieved voice. "Chris says the danger of a pulmonary embolism has passed, and she should make a full recovery. The plastic surgery team at St. John has a plan for the scar," she chuckled. "But Annie is thinking tattoo."
"Oh yeah?"
Mindy laughed. "Yeah, she's thinks, 'Bullet Proof Bitch' with the wound as one of the O's would be cool."
Mark chortled. "Yeah, Teddy'd love that."
"The press corps would eat it up," Mindy said with a smile.
"Yeah they would," Mark said and hugged her. "They should just throw Myer in the press pit and walk away."
"He'll get what's coming to him." Mindy said confidently.
"Yeah," he said and sighed, "It's good to be home."
She traced her hand down his chest. "It's good to have you home," she said, and then grinned seductively. "It's hard to work on this procreation project without you."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
"Well, let's get to it."
(*)
Later that night, as they slept, changes took place. A small single cell made its way toward its goal. Chemical reactions softened the barrier between it and its other half. The cell struggled forward, then suddenly the barrier parted, and it joined with its destiny.
The interloper's cell wall disintegrated, disgorging its precious cargo of DNA. Bonds were sought and formed, and in seconds the entire new and complete cell shuddered. A barrier of new chemicals formed around it, preventing any further interlopers from entering, and the new cell drifted into a soft cradle of tissue. Bonds were formed, and the cell began the process of division.
tu me fais peur , mon amour you frighten me, my love