Karen stood in front of the mirror in her hotel room considering which shoes to wear, heels or not. She hated dressing up, always had, but also knew that she had to put on her best for appearances. Had to be photogenic, because as ghoulish as it seemed there would be photographers at the memorial service. Had to be a good NASA representative, especially as she would be seated with the Watneys.
Today wouldn't be easy but she did expect it to be less heart-wrenching than the private family service Grace and Timothy had invited her to. There would once again be multiple stories told about Mark but none quite so personal as those from his parents and aunts and uncles. The only saving grace had been that his grandparents had all preceded him in death. That would have been even harder.
Today would be work-related stories, maybe a few more friendly than others, but nothing super personal. Speaking herself was going to be a challenge and she wasn't looking forward to it.
Sighing, she slipped on the flats, a safer bet at Arlington than heels that would sink into the grass. Grabbing her purse and slinging it over her shoulder, she took one last look in the mirror, flattened a few flyaway hairs, and headed out the door.
The ride to the national cemetery in the limousine with the Watneys was silent. They might have spoken to one another or to Karen if the director hadn't been in the car with them.
Teddy got out of the car first when they arrived and waited for the others to exit. Grace waved him on and said they'd catch up. He nodded and walked away.
"I wish we didn't have to do this," she said.
"I know," her husband replied, "but we want what Mark would have wanted, for the program to continue so we have to be here and put on a good show."
"It is a show," Karen acknowledged, "but there are people here who knew Mark from work that need this as a real chance to say goodbye and share their memories, as hard as that is for you."
"We know," Timothy said. "It will be hard to hear the stories but it will be good too. We only ever heard his side of things, his stories. It will be good to hear the stories of others."
They were walking to the memorial site when Grace suddenly pulled up short.
"What the hell is she doing here?" she hissed.
"Who?" Tim asked.
"Her," she pointed. "That bitch has no damned right to be here today."
Karen looked in the direction Grace had pointed and couldn't stop herself from growling. Tasha, Mark's ex-wife. The one he'd caught cheating on him when he'd come home from a conference.
"We'll get rid of her," Karen said as she motioned to her former commander and began walking towards him.
He met her halfway, "What do you need?"
She explained the situation and knew that Tasha would be gone quickly and quietly when she saw his face.
"Get the Watneys to their seats then meet me back here," he said, then turned and began scanning the crowd.
She went back to Mark's parents. "She'll be gone very soon. Let's go find your chairs."
"I want to see her gone," Grace insisted.
Timothy took her hand. "You know if Karen says they'll get rid of her, they will."
"I know you want to see her thrown out and humiliated but for Mark's sake, it's better if you pretend you never saw her and ignore her. She's here because she wants the attention. We'll get rid of her quietly and no one will ever notice."
"That will hit her hard," Tim pointed out. "You know how much she loves being the center of attention. Come on honey, we can do this. We'll just walk by, heads held high, looking straight ahead."
Grace gritted her teeth. "Fine, but she'd better go quietly or I won't be held responsible for what I do."
"Understood ma'am," said a voice behind them.
"Commander Hammond," Timothy acknowledged the man and held out a hand.
Tod took it and shook it. "I'm so sorry for your loss sir. You too ma'am. We'll get her out of here. You go on ahead."
Timothy turned, placed his wife's hand in the crook of his elbow, and led her down the aisle to their seats. They sat down and looked straight ahead to the dais.
"So how do we do this and keep her from making a scene?" Karen asked.
"Just follow me," Tod replied.
"Ok then, after you." She gestured to the woman in question.
Tod walked over to Tasha and leaned over. Karen hung back just a bit but stayed close enough to hear him speak.
"Ma'am," he began and Karen had to bite back a growl. "We're asking everyone to come and sign a special memorial book. Your seat will be saved. Will you please come with me?" He stood up and held out his arm for her to take.
Tasha looked around and considered. Flattered at being escorted by such a man, oh she knew who he was, she stood regally, in her mind at least.
"Lead the way, sir," she said in her best Southern belle voice.
Karen rolled her eyes but followed behind.
They walked to the Welcome Center at the entrance to the cemetery. Once inside they encountered a wall of people down either side of the building leading to the door on the opposite side.
Tod dropped his arm and moved away, stepping back next to Karen to block the door.
"What's this?" Tasha asked, looking around.
"This is your path back out to the parking lot," Tod said. "You were not invited to attend and you aren't wanted."
"Who the hell do you think you are? I'm going back in."
"No, you're not," Karen said.
"I'm a widow! I deserve to be there."
"To be a widow you have to be married to the person when they die so unless you married the guy you were cheating on Mark with and he died you are no widow you don't belong here."
"I'm not leaving!" Tasha insisted. "You'll have to drag me out."
"That's fine," Tod replied. "You see we can all stand here until the memorial is done and everyone is gone. You're not leaving this room and if you try to go past one of us we'll press charges."
Her face lit up.
"Don't think that means you get to make a scene because we can certainly wait to have you arrested."
"Today is not about you in any way shape or form and will not be about you no matter how much you want it to be," Marissa Martinez said. "You may as well leave."
"I'm not going anywhere!"
"Fine," said Robert, Commander Melissa Lewis's husband. "Then neither are we."
Tod turned to Karen and said, "Go ahead and go sit with the Watneys. It'll be obvious if you're not there."
"It won't be any less obvious if his crew members' families are missing," she pointed out.
He leaned over and lowered his voice. "If she continues to be a pain, we'll shift her into the small room on the side and leave her there until everyone is gone. That way everyone else can go out. We can have a park security guard at the door."
"I'd watch that, she might try charging you with kidnapping if you lock her in."
"It's possible, but I also don't want to drag her out kicking and screaming in front of the press. We can wait until the memorial has started and escort her to her car if that's better."
"It's probably for the best. I'll go fill in the Watneys. Has anyone told Annie or Sanders?"
"I don't know."
"Ok, I'll grab someone to do that too."
Karen stepped back. Tod shifted over in front of her and she ducked out the door heading first to find Annie or her assistant and then on to the Watneys who she assured that Tasha would not be a problem anymore today.
Teddy Sanders stood at the dais simply waiting for everyone's attention. As large as the crowd was, it didn't take long for them to get quiet. In reverence of the location, they'd been whispering, to begin with. Sanders cleared his throat and began to speak, "Our nation was blessed to have Mark serving in our space program. His loss will be deeply felt, but the men and women of NASA will soldier forth, onward and upward, unbroken in the mission of their agency. In doing so, they honor the legacy Mark leaves behind, and they ensure his sacrifice will not be in vain. Though they can not be with us here today in person, the crew of Ares 3 is here in spirit and they have sent a message to share."
Everyone's attention was directed to a large projection screen. The remaining five members of the crew appeared onscreen. Vogel, Beck, and Johanssen sat in the front, while Lewis and Martinez stood behind them.
"Mark was a wonderful crew member," Vogel began, "He made me welcome from the very first day we met. He always greeted everyone with a smile and often with a joke, a bad joke, but a joke."
There was light quiet laughter from the astronauts in the crowd.
"I will miss him and his bad jokes."
Beck sat up a bit straighter and took a deep breath. "Mark was one of my best friends. I had hoped to make friends when I joined the astronaut corps but wasn't sure I would. I've never been great at making friends, but Mark was friends with everyone. He could make even the most socially awkward of us feel at ease. He kept inviting me out with him and Martinez wherever they were going. I didn't want to be a third wheel in their friendship but he was so insistent, then he began to invite me out to do things just the two of us. Those jokes of his that Alex mentioned, the jokes and the bad puns, they were so bad but I couldn't help but laugh. I'm not sure what else to say other than a bright part of my life has gone dark."
Beth Johansson bit her lip and clenched her hands in her lap. "Mark was the big brother I never had and always wanted. He did all the things I've always heard big brothers do. He teased me mercilessly sometimes and others he was my shoulder to cry on. He looked out for me. He-" her voice cracked and she wiped tears from her eyes. "I'm not sure how I'm going to do without him but I know he wouldn't want me to be sad forever. 'Beth' he'd say, 'stop moping and go out and live, live for me too. So that's what I intend to do."
"Mark was one of the best friends I've ever had. He was like a brother. Ask our parents and they'll tell you the same after seeing us together just one time. Mark was so excited to be going to Mars. The idea of any space mission had him nearly jumping for joy, but going to Mars and possibly growing plants in the soil there was ridiculously exciting for him. If you got him started talking about it you'd better settle in and make yourself comfortable because it wasn't going to stop anytime soon," Martinez grinned. "Beck and I used that to our advantage at least a few times when we all went out together. Get Mark talking about plants and Martian soil and he'd forget to drink so he'd end up as the designated driver."
Beck shook his head and closed his eyes. It was clear he had no idea that Rick was going to bring this up and while he was embarrassed there was also a slight smile on his face.
"Like Beth and Chris, he teased me endlessly, guess that's my job now. That and continuing to tell everyone our favorite jokes."
Lewis waited a moment before she spoke. "Mark Watney was one of the finest astronauts I've worked with. He was the morale booster on our crew. Losing him has been a huge blow, but we all keep moving on, taking turns taking his part in everything we do. We will keep doing our work. We will not stop. We will miss him every day but we will continue to explore space as he would want us to do. We will honor his memory by completing his experiments and supporting the following Ares crews. Personally, I believe each of us will do more to reach out to others. We will tell those ridiculous jokes he loved so much, and we will be there for one another. Mark will be missed but he will also be remembered by us and by everyone who has ever met him."
Karen took a deep breath, knowing she was up next. She stood slowly and walked to the dais. Her whole speech was a blur. She didn't remember any of what she had said. When she sat down again beside Grace Watney she got a hug and a tissue stuffed into her hand. It was at that point that she realized she was crying. The rest of the speeches just went in one ear and out the other. She could hardly listen. This was much tougher than she had thought it would be, especially trying to remain professional for the cameras. She held Grace's hand and bit the inside of her cheek to get through.
As the memorial ended and everyone began to leave, they stopped by the Watneys to speak to them. Karen excused herself telling them she'd be back to escort them to their car in a few minutes. She slipped to the back to find Tod.
"Did you get rid of her or is she still in there?"
"She's gone. I think Marissa finally convinced her. Well, Marissa and Helena."
"Yeah I wouldn't want to cross Marissa Martinez, and Helena is a teacher, she's perfected shutting down poor behaviors."
"Yeah, together they're terrifying. Robert walked her to her car and then he made sure the security watched to see that she left and didn't come back."
"She probably went straight to some tabloid to sell her sob story about the weeping widow not being allowed into the funeral or the memorial."
"Did she try to get into the family funeral?" Tod asked.
"Not that I know of but it wasn't advertised like this, it was simply spread word of mouth among Grace and Tim's family and friends. They kept it small and as private as possible on purpose. So I'm sure she'll claim she was left out and should have been notified."
"Well, nothing we can do about that."
Karen shook her head, "Yeah can't shut down the damned tabloids."
"Annie says to ignore them."
Her eyes went wide, "Annie? Annie 'gotta always put the best face on things for the agency' Montrose? That Annie? Are you sure you heard right? Was she feeling okay? That doesn't sound like her at all."
"No, it was her. She said we'd just wait and see what happens. Ignore it, the more attention we give her the more she'll talk."
"Ok, well I'm gonna go talk to Dr. Shields. She might need to stop into Montrose's office."
"Before you do that," Tod said, with a mischievous look. "I should tell you she also said if it got too bad we would release the divorce papers and set up interviews with the guy she cheated on Mark with. He didn't know she was married and was pissed enough to dump her. It's why she fought so hard to get Mark to stay. Annie's already contacted him and let Tasha know back when she tried to capitalize on his being chosen for this mission. It was Mark's idea then so she thinks he'd support it now."
"Not that she cares if he would. Yeah, that sounds more like the Annie we all know, love, and fear. Back then she just wanted to play up the single astronaut angle with him like she did with Beck so I'm not surprised at all she was ready to play dirtier than Tasha. Makes you wonder why the bitch ever thought she'd get away with being here today."
Tod shrugged, "Probably thought if nothing else we'd drag her out and make a big scene."
"I'm going to get Tim and Grace back to the hotel. I'll see you. Thanks."
He shook his head, "No thanks, necessary you know that."
"Still the Watneys will probably want to send you all thank yous."
"If it makes them feel better ok but you know it's not the way we work."
"Yeah, see you."