"Another one?" Rick asked from behind Beck as the doctor sat at his laptop, an email from Mark was on the screen with multiple attachments.
"Yeah," he said. "These are recordings he made on his trip to get Pathfinder. He wants me to try and turn them into a short video or series of videos. I'm not sure what's in them or if they're fit for uploading to the socials, but if he recorded the trip at all the geologists will want the footage, so I'm going to watch them and see."
"How many recordings? Or how long are they in total?"
Chris shook his head, "I don't know how long. I do know there are ten or eleven videos. He didn't record every day and most of the files are fairly small, so short recordings I'd guess. I'm worried he'll be on camera in these though."
"Would that be such a bad thing?" Rick asked. "Didn't he go get the lander ages ago? Someone asked him when he retrieved it, right?"
"Yeah, I think it was around three months after we left, something like that."
"So shouldn't he have still been in pretty decent shape? Even if he were rationing, it probably wasn't too much, and he built a freaking farm in the Hab. That's a lot of damn digging, really good exercise. So, he shouldn't have lost too much weight by then."
"Good point," Chris responded.
"So let's check 'em out," Rick said, pulling up a chair next to Chris and sitting down.
"You sure you want to?"
"Why not? Someone has to and why should it just be you?" Martinez asked.
Beck shrugged. "I don't know. He sent them to me and I don't even know why. He could have sent them to Annie or someone else in the media."
"Maybe he thinks you need something to do since Beth's in California so much."
"Martinez?" Chris said, a warning in his voice.
"What?"
"Shut up and watch or take a hike."
"I can't watch until you hit play."
"Fine." Beck tapped the touchpad to start the video. "Now shut up."
"I'm recording this for posterity, you know, just in case something goes horribly wrong on this trip and I die," Mark says from offscreen. "I don't know how anyone will get the recording or when, but someday, someone will. They're going to be shocked as hell when they do."
The camera is pointing straight ahead out of the rover's windshield. The landscape is reddish-orange and fairly smooth other than the noticeable rover tire tracks where he has recently driven.
"I just left the Hab and my potato farm. Yeah, I'm growing potatoes. Maybe I'll tell you about that later. For now, let me fill you in on where I'm going. See, I've decided I have to try and get in contact with NASA somehow and I had this crazy idea on how to do that. I'm headed to Pathfinder. It's not that far away, well by Earth standards, that is. Things are different here on Mars. It's going to take me over a week to get there and at least another week to get back. Back home, with highways, when I can drive faster than 25 kilometers per hour, I could drive that distance in hours. A lot of hours depending on traffic, the number of stops I make, and construction. Oh, construction, you know every damn time I go home and I drive instead of fly I swear I'll never drive again. At least one state always has highway construction going and it's a safe bet that it'll be Missouri or Illinois, or you know for extra fun: both."
Mark laughs ruefully. "Anyway, I could make it in about ten hours. So it would be a two-day trip at most if I stop for the night, or just don't feel like driving straight through. Instead here on Mars with absolutely zero traffic, and unless one of the Earth-driven rovers has made it to this area in the last three months, it's gonna take me two weeks. Even if by some bizarre coincidence one of those rovers is in my path, I can go around it pretty easily. I can't be that lucky though. See if a rover were in my path, I could stop in front of it and wait. They take pictures frequently. I'd still have to get Pathfinder or would I?"
"No, there aren't any other rovers in this area. They're all over Mars. We've made a mess of this planet but none of them are close enough… Enough, Pathfinder, I'm going to get Pathfinder and I'm not looking forward to living in this oversized car for two weeks. I'll be keeping my normal logs, but I'll also be recording throughout the trip. Nothing else much to say right now so I'll say bye."
"Is that even worth posting online?" Rick asked. "He's just rambling."
Chris shrugged. "I don't know, maybe if we include it with some of the others. I'm not surprised he's rambling. He's probably talking just to hear his own voice. It's not bad, but yeah, not much to it. We have to see what else he recorded before we decide what to do."
"Then play the next one!"
"That was the plan," Chris said drolly, shaking his head.
When the video starts, Mark is on screen looking at the camera. His hair is mussed and his face shows a strong five o'clock shadow, but his eyes are bright.
"I'm out of sight of the Hab. It's not like I haven't been before. I had to be to get the RTG and for practice runs, but every other time I returned before the day was done. This time, I'm not. The batteries have run low so I'm stopped for the night, well the day, and the night actually since I stopped when it was still light out, so still daytime. I can only drive for four hours and then it's time to charge. I am going to get so bored. It's not like there's much I can do. It's too bad I couldn't find a way to bring some of my potato plants along with me so I could talk to them, but I need the space for… um, sleeping actually. I don't have much space with everything I brought along. I have to have food, water, a box to serve as a toilet, no, a port-a-potty in the rover. That was probably TMI, sorry. I have my EVA suit and an extra. There's other stuff I grabbed too, but I'm not going to list it all, that would be boring. You would think the trip itself would be boring and yeah, there are times when I start to feel a bit of 'highway hypnosis.' Huh need a new name for that, maybe 'Space stupor' or 'Martian malaise,' or not. Overall though, everything I'm seeing has never been seen by human eyes before and I'm trying to make sure I'm going in the right direction based on images taken from space that aren't clear and detailed. Guess that's it, for now, time to watch some crappy tv. Yay seventies crap, thanks, Lewis."
"He looks pretty good," Chris commented.
"Told you," Rick gloated.
Chris glared at his friend. "If you want to keep watching with me, shut up."
Martinez laughed but refrained from actually speaking.
The camera is again looking out the windshield, Disco music plays softly in the background.
"I've been on the road for four days now. It's all pretty repetitive: drive for a few hours, switch batteries, drive a few more, set up the solar panels, and find some way to occupy my time. I have been taking samples at each stop marking the approximate distance from the Hab and Acidalia Planitia. I can analyze them when I get back and add the results to my records. If NASA is watching or manages to catch the signal from Pathfinder when I get it back, provided I can get it working, I can share the analysis with them. It gives me something to do. The rocks aren't unique at first sight here. At least none I've seen yet. I don't walk too far from the rover when I'm looking. Still, I'll take them back because chem analysis may show a difference. It's worth having the information even if this doesn't work and no one comes back to Acidalia Planitia for a hundred years. Not that it matters because I'll find a way to get to Schiaparelli with any and all information that I collect over the next four years and surprise the hell out of the Ares IV crew. I have no idea how I'll get there or if they'll even arrive on schedule, but I can always wait for them. No way will NASA waste the MAV they've already sent. If it weren't for the fact that there's no place to live at the site, I'd go just to use the MAV to talk to NASA. Still, it's always an option. In the meantime, I'll keep collecting rocks and dirt, although I didn't bring a core sampler. I should have thought of that. Sorry, Lewis."
Rick sat practically bouncing in his chair.
Chris sighed, "Oh go ahead."
"You said not to talk."
"I didn't say that."
"Ok then-" Rick started and Chris groaned. "Lewis and the other geologists are gonna be ecstatic about this."
"I hate to admit it, but you're right," Chris admitted. "Don't go getting a big head though."
"He was planning on driving across Mars," Rick marveled. "He's crazy, and yeah I get he didn't know if he'd have any other options but damn that's just… I don't even know what to say."
"I don't either," Chris replied with a shake of his head. "So should we continue?"
"Yeah."
The light has changed from the last recording.
"Sol umm 79 I think. Yeah, that's what it is. The rover is starting to smell bad and I'm wondering if I'll be able to get Pathfinder working. Yes, I'm a mechanical engineer, but what if I can't figure out what's wrong with it? It won't change anything. I can't contact anyone now but it's hard to have hope and then have things not work out. Harder here than back home. Honestly, there's no guarantee that anyone will be listening, observing, or watching for a signal even if I do get it working. Yeah, that's not depressing at all, the thought of having spent all this time to go and get the thing, get it working, and then have no one notice. I can't think about that, gotta try and stay positive."
"It's not like Mark to doubt his abilities," Rick commented.
"He'd been alone for a while by this point," Beck pointed out.
"You think the isolation was getting to him?"
"I think it's possible."
"He did better than any of us with that testing though."
"He did," the doctor acknowledged, "but this is a much longer time. Ten days versus essentially two months at that point. I'd be shocked if he weren't showing some adverse reaction to the isolation."
"Think he's gotten worse since then?"
"He may have."
"But we're talking to him again," Rick protested.
"Which has made a difference I'm sure, but it's still not the same as being with someone or having a conversation where the response is immediate. Everything we send, every communication takes at least twenty-four minutes round trip."
"And there's nothing we can do about that." It was a statement, not a question.
"Unfortunately no, but we can keep sending him emails, maybe recordings of our own to help him feel better. Something that he can watch even when we're out of contact because of planetary rotation."
"So, let's make him a video," Martinez suggested.
Chris nodded, "As soon as we get done watching these we'll get everyone together."
"You start the next one and I'll message everyone," Rick instructed his friend while he pulled out his phone and began tapping away at the screen.
"Okay."
Once again Mark is on screen talking directly to the camera. His face is looking scruffier than the last time he was on screen with a beard which he keeps scratching as he speaks.
"This trip is giving me way too much time to think. This rover may be much larger than the moon 'dune buggy' style rovers but it's still a tiny space to live in for an extended period of time. On one hand, I'm glad I'm alone because it would be crazy crowded with more than just me in here. On the other, I'd kill for someone to talk to other than myself. I am completely alone here. It's not like I didn't know that, but it felt different when I was in the Hab than it does out here, and I can't explain why. I should be almost there, to Carl Sagan Memorial Station. One more day at most, then I have to find Pathfinder, get it on the rover, turn around and go home. I'm so looking forward to being confined to my huge Hab again. It'll take days, maybe even weeks, before I can't stand being in there anymore. The more I drive though, the more I think I'm going to go crazy when I make the drive to Schiaparelli. That's going to take much longer than two weeks. It'll be months at least. Yeah, can't think any more about that right now or I'll go even crazier."
"Any comments?" Chris asked.
"I'm still trying to process him planning on driving to Schiaparelli. He keeps bringing it up. I know I said it before but I just can't believe that's what he was planning to do."
"Yeah, me too, but I'm sure he saw no other way without contact from us. He had to be there and hope they could find a way to get back to Hermes with him even without a seat to sit in. Next?"
The pilot just nodded.
Now the screen shows the surface but not through the windshield.
"We're here. We made it. According to my calculations and the site of Twin Peaks there in the distance, we're in the right place. Now let's just hope that the lander isn't buried in the sand. Going to go see, but I guess if anyone is watching this, you've figured that out already. I'm not sure if I should just walk or shuffle my feet. Shuffling is harder to do because of the low gravity. I'm afraid I'm going to step on the rover or the lander. Sojourner might break; it's pretty small. I don't need it, but you never know what NASA might be able to use it for if I can get the big guy working. Speaking of, the lander should be okay. It had to survive a bounced landing after all. Still, I don't want to accidentally break any of it. I might break a part that is crucial to getting communication and I don't want to have wasted this trip."
The whole time Mark is talking he is also walking, slowly bounding toward Twin Peaks. Suddenly a hand comes up and points.
"There it is! That little spike sticking up has to be it."
He lopes a little faster until he's right next to where the half-buried rover sits.
"I have to dig it out as carefully as I can. I could use my hands, but I'm going to start with a small sample shovel. I'll go get it, make a log entry, and then come back."
The picture changes suddenly and Mark is digging with the sample shovel starting about a meter away from the lander moving the sand as far away from it as he can so it doesn't slide back in. As he gets closer to the lander he drops down and his hands suddenly fill the screen digging sand away from the lander. This continues for some time, with Mark moving around the lander and continuing to dig. Finally, the lander is exposed and the camera focuses on it, heavy breathing can be heard.
"Ok, now to find Sojourner. In a minute anyway. I need to catch my breath first. This is so much cooler than I thought it would be. I'm the first human to set eyes on this since it was packed into its capsule for launch. This must be how Pete Conrad and Al Bean felt when they got to Surveyor 3. I may not be the first human to come in contact with a lander sent to another interplanetary body, but I am the first one to do it with a lander on Mars. I'm glad I have my camera on. It'll be good if I can send the video back to JPL so they can analyze the effect all the years here have had on Pathfinder. Well, looking around, it suddenly seems darker so I think I'll wait on finding Soju and just head to the rover for the night. Tomorrow I'll cut off the balloons, get Pathfinder up on the roof, and look for the little rover."
"Are we going to watch all of them? There's still a bunch more right?"
Chris nodded. "I am, but you don't have to."
Martinez looked at his watch and then responded. "May as well. The others won't be available for a bit."
"Are Beth and Alex even here? I thought they were still in Pasadena."
"Hmm, want to see little Miss Bethany?"
"Martinez, I'm warning you."
"What?"
"Keep bugging me, and I'm telling your wife you won't leave me alone."
"Low blow man," Rick scowled then suddenly grinned. "I'll just get her in on it. She loves a love story."
"Shit, I've created a monster."
"Yep, now on with the viewing," Rick said and opened the next file himself.
Mark appears on-screen looking tired sitting in the driver's seat of the rover with piles of things behind him.
"It's done. The lander is on the roof, and the little rover is here with me, and I'm exhausted. While I was at it I went ahead and put the solar panels back in their saddlebags. I'm ready to start driving. I could start now but I'd run out of power in the dark and have to try and set up the panels that way or wait until morning. May as well just spend one more night here at good old Carl Sagan Memorial station. I'm not even going to read or watch any tv tonight. I'm just going to sleep and it will probably be the best night of sleep I've had this entire trip. These seats aren't exactly sleeping-comfortable, even the bench seat with the clothes for a pillow. Good night."
The two men exchanged glances but said nothing just started the next recording.
The camera is on the move.
"I'm taking a walk. I can't just sit in the rover anymore. I have to get out and walk around. I'd rather be able to do that without this damned suit, but the trade-off is sitting in the rover that smells like a men's room, bored out of my mind. At least out here, the smell is less. It never totally goes away. The suit is in the rover with me so it takes on the smell. After I walk a bit though, it fades. I'm still adjusting to the thought that I'm the only one to ever walk everywhere I've walked on this trip. I wonder how often the satellites take images of this area, if ever? If they did, they'd certainly know I was alive. I mean, I hope they already do but still… think about it. Some random person working in SatCon suddenly gets images of footprints randomly on Mars. Of course, they'd have to take images within hours or maybe a few days, otherwise, the wind would wipe them away. I'm just rambling now. This is what happens when you have no one to talk to. You start talking to yourself and babbling to boot. Well, I'll get Pathfinder fixed, and then we'll see. I've wandered enough, gotta stop using up the CO2 filters. Talk to you later, whoever you are watching this, whenever you're watching this."
"Hey buddy," Rick said quietly.
"We're watching now," Chris added in a near whisper. "Sorry, it wasn't sooner."
They sat a moment longer not talking just thinking about their friend.
Once again the image on screen is out of the windshield as the rover drives.
"I'm back in Lewis Valley. On the way here, I hit this valley with a rise at the west end. I've already driven back down that rise and into the valley. Anyway, I named it after my fearless commander. Hey, I'm the king of Mars. I can name things whatever I want. Besides, she deserves to have something named after her. If the Navy is smart they'll name a carrier for her. Anyway, it's a nice smooth flat place to drive, which is awesome for driving but also boring as hell. Just wanted to get that on record so someone can make it official."
"Lewis is gonna love that," Rick crowed.
Chris shook his head. "Are you kidding? She's going to be seriously embarrassed."
"And when she gets over it, she'll love it."
"I don't know about that."
"We'll see. Wanna make it a bet?" challenged Martinez.
"Oh hell no! I know better than that. My luck isn't that good."
"Then let's get on with the video clips man."
Mark appears on the screen looking even scruffier than the previous time he had been in the video. His face had smears of dirt and his beard had grown further.
"Another day, more driving, I got a blip from the Hab today. I have to be a hundred kilometers away, but I got a blip. It made me smile. I'm getting close to home. My home away from home that is. I have Pathfinder, Sojourner, and a bunch of samples to test. That should keep me busy for a few days at least. Then hopefully, I'll be spending time 'talking' to Earth. Not sure how that's going to work, but I'll come up with something."
"Ok, the solar cells are loaded up and I'm ready to go. Hopefully, the next time I unload them I'll be back at the Hab. I should be according to my calculations, but you never know. I could be wrong. Still, I'm consistently getting the Hab signal so I know I'm close. I never thought I'd be so glad to be going back inside. A shower, I need a shower and a shave. My face is itchy. I wish there was a way to air out the rover. It reeks in here now, and I'm worried the smell has been absorbed into the fabric. I don't plan on using it anytime soon, but if this smell lingers like I think it might, I'll go out of my mind any time I do have to use it."
It's quiet for a bit as the rover moves.
"Not sure what else to say. I started all of this as another way to keep a record of the trip and…well… to be honest as a way to keep my sanity and have someone to talk to, even when I'm not talking to anyone. And now I'm repeating myself…I think. I'd keep this going until I get to the Hab, but that might be an hour or more. Time to close out my vacation video."
Mark laughs.
"Wouldn't this be a great return to school writing assignment: My trip to Pathfinder two weeks in a rover on Mars. I'm seriously getting giddy at the thought of being near home. I better end this before I get too giggly. I don't need that on record for Martinez to hear and harass me over. Yeah, I'm turning this off now."
"What was that?" Rick asked. "Why was he so giggly? He's never been like that before. He laughs a lot, but I swear I've never actually heard him giggle. It's not right. It's unnerving."
"It was probably stress and exhaustion. If he wasn't sleeping well, and it sounds like he wasn't, then it makes sense. Add in the stress and…well it's a good thing he wasn't more out of character. How much longer do we have before everyone's here?"
The pilot looked at his watch, "Thirty minutes, give or take."
Beck nodded, "Ok, get outta my hair until they're all here, and let me figure out what to do with these."
"That's easy. Make a copy for Shields, then send them to Annie and her social media gurus, and maybe one or two of them to his parents."
"May as well send them all. Grace has made it abundantly clear she doesn't want to be kept in the dark about anything, and these will all be posted. They may get edited a bit but they'll be posted and she'll ask to see the uncut versions."
"Guess it's a good thing Sanders isn't in charge anymore," Rick commented. "He'd never have let you share these with them. You'd be kissing your job goodbye."
"Thankfully Melody is truly more worried about people other than herself. She also understands that sometimes NASA has to take a public relations hit to recover in the long run. Now seriously, go away and let me get this done."
"Okay, okay. I'm going," Martinez responded, then muttered, "pajero."
"Escuché eso, idiota."
"Mierda!"
Both men laughed as Rick left the room.
Beck was setting up a camera on a tripod when his crewmates began to walk into the room.
"Tripod?" Beth asked.
"Yeah, what else would we do?" he replied.
"I thought you'd have the camera and just film each one of us kinda casually."
"Like when Mark did the goodbye video on Hermes?"
She nodded.
"We could do it that way I guess. I just thought we'd all sit in front of the camera and talk to him."
"I don't know," Beth said, scrunching her face. "That feels too much like when we did his memorial one."
"I hadn't thought of that."
"We can just ask everyone else what they think," she suggested.
He nodded.
She asked the others as they came in. Rick said they should do handheld; Alex didn't care either way. Finally, it was up to the commander.
"Lewis," Beth said as the woman walked in. "We have a question." She explained the situation with the video.
Lewis thought for a bit then replied, "Why don't we sit and talk to him for a bit then show him this new office and all the ideas we've had to help him out? Then if some of the other astronauts come in they can say something too."
The four members of her crew looked at each other and nodded. Then began to shuffle around until they were settled in front of the camera in two rows. Lewis sat between Rick and Alex in the back with Chris and Beth in the front.
Chris stood up, pressed a button on the camera, and said, "Ok go." Then he sat back down.
For a second no one said anything, then everyone seemed to speak at once, and it suddenly got quiet again.
"Beth, you go first," Melissa suggested.
"Hey Mark," Johanssen called out. "I'm not sure what to say. We've talked more than anyone else since I keep doing Capcom duty. It's been really good to see those videos and to hear your voice, not just, you know, read what you wrote." She stopped and pulled out the necklace from under her collar and held it up. "I'm wearing your present. It did make me cry and I might have to kick your butt for that one when you get home, but thank you."
"She bawled man," Martinez put in. "You would have loved it. I tried to get her to pay up on the bet to me, but since she's a bratty little sister she wouldn't do it. Since you're not dead I'll never get her to make me breakfast now."
"Martinez, don't be a jerk," Beck said. "It's good to hear from you buddy. This is weird. I don't know what to say either. I thought I'd had this great idea and now we're sitting here stuck."
"This is worse than his memorial video," Beth commented.
Melissa shook her head and chuckled. "They haven't changed at all as you can see. Everyone's their normal crazy selves."
"Well we are now," Rick added. "I mean we were all sad and stuff before and then when we found out you were alive and everybody was excited. Then we were all pissed at Sanders. Now we're just us."
Both Beck and Johanssen turned around and glared at the pilot. Lewis shook her head. Alex leaned back reached behind the commander and smacked Martinez on the back of his head
"That was for Mark because I know it's what he would do," the German laughed and so did everyone else.
"We're sitting in the 'rescue Mark' office," Lewis said. "You'd remember it as Classroom 2. All of Ares' crews pop in and out of this office during the week and just about every other astronaut and AsCan has been in here too."
Chris moved to take the camera from the tripod. Holding it up he focused it on various things in the room.
"The whiteboards in here are covered in all our crazy ideas to save you. I'm not going to read them to you but I'll leave the camera here for a bit so you can read them yourself. Keep in mind Lewis told us we could entertain all suggestions, even the crazy ones. Hey! Why are the iodine pills still on that list? I erased it weeks ago. They won't do anything, and since we know that they don't need to be on the list anymore."
"Someone must have rewritten it," Marinez answered.
"Thank Captain Obvious," Beck snarked.
"That's Lieutenant Colonel Obvious," Lewis put in with a wink.
"Wait, did the commander just insult me?"
Beth giggled. "Sounded like it to me."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Lewis replied, the picture of innocence. "I merely corrected Beck on your rank."
Rick jumped in front of the camera. "Man, what the hell did you do? You came back from the dead and suddenly even Lewis is a comic."
Alex again bopped the pilot on the back of the head, this time with a small stack of papers he'd picked up from the desk next to him.
"I don't get it," Beth said.
"Captain in the Air Force is a lower rank than Lieutenant Colonel, but in the Navy," Rick half sneered at Lewis, "Captain is a higher rank. The new rear admiral over there was just trying to remind me she's a higher rank like I'd forget."
"You're just mad that the president promoted both of us."
"I did the flying," Rick grumbled quietly but laughed.
Vogel scrunched up his face. "I don't understand. Did you all receive a promotion?"
"Nope," Beth shook her head, "only the military personnel."
"It's a reinstitution of something the presidents did back in the first Moon landing days, maybe before, I'm not sure. After the mission was over, the president would promote the astronauts, and whatever branch they were in recognized the promotion as he was Commander in Chief," Lewis explained.
"Martinez is just salty that he's still a rank below Lewis," Beck put in.
"I am not, she's been in longer than I have," Rick snapped then grimaced. "I mean she deserves it for her years of service. I mean-"
"Rick, stop, just stop," Chris begged as Vogel smacked the pilot on the head for the third time.
"What's going on here? You threes having a party without the rest of us?" Tod Hammond said from the doorway.
"Making a video for Mark," Chris responded.
Tod walked into the room and sat in front of the camera. "Watney, you owe me a beer. No one is going to remember I was the first person to step foot on Mars. All they're going to remember now is you living there. So, you owe me at least a beer for usurping my place in history."
"Wait, you're talking to Mark?" Kayla practically ran into the room. "Hey, Mark," she said and waved when Beck turned the camera on her. "Long time no see, well duh," she laughed.
"Alannah," Lewis called when she saw the woman walk by the door.
"What's up?" the Ares IV commander asked as she peeked into the room and then ducked back out to the side. "No cameras, I just spent 8 hours in the damn MDV simulator. It's hot as hell in there and I haven't had a chance to get to the showers yet."
"It's for Watney," Hammond told her.
"Really?"
"Yes," he replied.
"You'd better be telling me the truth Hammond or I'm hiding your favorite coffee mug," she threatened in a playful voice.
"What is with the coffee obsession around here?" Kayla asked.
Rick shook his head, "Just because you have no taste and don't drink it doesn't mean the rest of us are crazy. It is for Mark by the way."
"Yeah, like I'm gonna believe you," Alannah intoned.
"Either it is, or they lied to me too,"' Kayla reassured her.
"Oh fine, but I look like crap."
Chris swung the camera to face the door.
Alannah stepped into the room. Her hair is a bit wild in a bun on top of her head with bits escaping everywhere and her clothes are filled with wrinkles.
"Hi, Watney. Remember me? We met a time or two. I'll be seeing you in a few years. Guess we'll get to know each other better in the time we spend together on the surface and Hermes traveling back here to Earth. As we get closer, my crew will probably start sending you messages to start plan-"
"What the fuck?" Annie interrupted. "The press hound me enough trying to get pictures and videos of you all. You resist, and now I find you recording each other. I give up. I quit. This is just… yep I'm done."
The collected astronauts exchanged glances and burst into uproarious laughter. Alex stopped first, caught his breath, and explained what they were doing to Annie.
"Ah-ha!" she shouted.
"Uh oh," Beth muttered.
Annie stepped around Alannah and leaned into the camera. "Listen here Watney. You'd damn well better get back to answering those questions I've sent you or I'll personally fly to JPL and take the coffee out of your probe."
"Coffee again," Kayla muttered, "I just don't understand you, people."
"We have to stop recording, or this will be too big a file to send," Beck informed the others. "Everyone say bye."
A chorus of goodbyes rang out
Log entry Sol 407
I just got done laughing so hard that I cried. My abs hurt from laughing so hard. I miss my crew so much and the others too. Alannah made a good point. I should try to get to know any members of her crew I don't already know. It's a good thing Kayla and I didn't date long, her aversion to coffee might have been a deal-breaker. Then again, that means any and all coffee would be mine. Hmm, maybe I should see if she wants to go out again when I get back.
I don't know if I've seen Lewis that relaxed since the very beginning of our crew training sessions. I'm going to watch that again. I have to look at the lists of ideas on the board. Might have to screenshot them to look at them closer. Beck didn't stay on them long. Not sure I wanted to know that iodine tabs won't help with any radiation exposure I've had but nothing I can do about it so…
To my crew, all of you,
I miss you guys. Thanks for sending that video. You all are crazy and it was so good to see your faces again, even if it was just on a screen. A few things, next time someone else has to control the camera. Sorry Beck, love ya buddy, but you nearly made me nauseous. Martinez, dude good to see you still don't think before speaking. Don't pass that trait on to David. Poor kid has enough to deal with, with you for a father. Lewis, Lewis, Lewis, I'm so proud of you, that little shot at Martinez was sly and so good because none of us expected it. Johanssen good to see you, little sis. Vogel, my man, next time find a newspaper, if they still exist, roll it up, and hit Marinez on the nose with it. Please, just for me. Someone has to get pictures of that by the way. Tell Annie I'm not answering any more stupid ass questions ever. On second thought no don't. I wouldn't want to get you in trouble and I don't want to lose my coffee. "Talk to you soon."
Mark
I've watched that video at least five times already, and I've started just playing it while I'm working on other things. I'm not sure that's smart because it's like pretending they're here with me again but I need it right now.
Ares IV crew,
HI! I think I've met all of you. Looks like we'll be spending lots of time together here in a few years so I wanted to write and say THANK YOU! Thank you for all you're doing to rescue me. I know you have your own botanist so I'll do my best to stay out of the way. I can do any and all menial chores you need to be done so that you all can do your jobs. I can cook all the food, and do all the cleaning. I can maintain the Hab and the solar farm. By that time I'll probably be tired of doing science stuff anyway, ;) Seriously, I'm not going to want to sit around and do nothing since you're making room for me to come home with you so anything you want to assign me to do I'll do it. It'll be nice to have company again and be in a brand new Hab with brand new equipment that I won't have to fix every few months. Looking forward to getting to know you all!
Mark Watney