"Finally, we're coming up on the solar conjunction," Mindy informed the team in the conference room. "A reminder that this is the two-week period during which the sun is between Earth's and Mars' orbits and will cause a communications blackout. The last solar conjunction occurred before Ares III launched. The missions are planned purposely to avoid that communications blackout and take advantage of the Hohmann Transfer Window allowing us to get to Mars faster, shortening the overall trip. We need to be sure we have communicated everything to Mark that he might possibly need to know before we hit that window. We have two weeks left before the loss of communication. I need to know any pressing concerns that you have so that we can create a prioritized list. Please get them to me by the end of the day. Thank you."
Annie hung back as the room emptied.
"Whatcha need?" Mindy asked the other woman.
"Is there really nothing we can do to communicate with him for two weeks?" The public relations director asked. "You know I'm going to get questions about why we haven't created a plan for this yet. I need to be able to answer completely."
"Studies have been conducted to locate LaGrange points…" Mindy began.
"Those are like satellite parking places in space, right? We put a satellite there, it doesn't move, it simply stays in place?"
Mindy nodded. "Yes, they're stable points between the objects in space. Stable, as in the gravitational pull on the satellite from the objects it's placed between, is even. Ideally, we want those communication satellites placed before an actual Mars colony. Obviously, we don't have them yet and never thought we'd need them until we were prepping for a colony. It was discussed for the Ares missions and dismissed as unnecessary."
"Which is why all of the missions have been scheduled appropriately," Annie said.
"Yes, we know where to place the satellites at the L4 and L5 Lagrange points…"
"So, why haven't we done it yet?" Annie wanted to know. "We had to have known this would be an issue once we realized Mark was alive."
"Solar conjunction was probably the furthest thing from anyone's mind when I first interpreted those images," Mindy replied.
"And how long did it take to get to the point where we're finally thinking about it?"
"Too long to launch a satellite to the right place to be useful," Mindy answered. "The plans are in place and the satellite is being launched according to the calendar Venkat keeps. We'll be able to test it during the next solar conjunction."
"How?"
"We'll send commands to Ares V MAV to have it respond."
Annie thought for a second. "Taylor will land that MAV from Hermes before the IV crew goes to the surface right, just like Martinez landed the IV MAV before III went to the surface?"
"Yes, and if Clever is still operating then we'll send commands to it as well."
"Clever is the most recent Mars rover?"
Mindy nodded. "And it's not even that recent, at this point it's been on Mars for five years."
"So what do I tell the press when they ask?"
"You don't need me to come up with a statement. You can do that all on your own now that you have all of the information," Mindy pointed out, "so you're asking just to avoid going into the briefing."
"Caught me," Annie agreed with a tired smile.
"You need a vacation."
"I just took one."
"Annie, that was two years ago. There won't be anything to report during the conjunction, well for Mars and Mark anyway. You should take that time, let one of your assistant press secretaries handle the briefings, and at least take a long weekend somewhere," Mindy suggested.
"You gonna take your own advice?"
"Why?"
"Because Ms. Park, I can't even tell you when you last took a vacation."
"I don't know that I ever have," Mindy said.
Annie sighed. "Then we're both just wasting our allotted time."
"I'll take time if you will."
"What are we, twelve?"
Mindy laughed. "Sometimes I feel like I'm a million years old and other days like I'm going to be redirected to the closest student tour in the building."
"You do look like you belong in high school or college most days, but working here can also make you feel really old. It's the stress," Annie said.
Mindy nodded. "And that's why we both need a vacation. So go to your office and book one."
"How about I book two?"
"Two vacations?" Mindy asked, confused.
"No, two tickets. Let's get out of this place together and go somewhere tropical. We can lounge on the beach and drink lots of frozen drinks with little umbrellas in them, maybe flirt with the cabana boys."
"You want to go on vacation with me?" Mindy was stunned.
"It would be more fun than going alone," Annie replied. "What do you say? I know a great all-inclusive resort in the Virgin Islands."
"OK, count me in, just let me know when."
"I will," Annie assured her. "Now, go get back to work. I have to tell the press about the damned solar conjunction."
~~~~~
Log entry Sol 961
So I'm going to lose contact with NASA and Earth again. They promise me it will only be for two weeks. A lot can happen in two weeks though. Hopefully, those two weeks will pass without incident. I haven't been keeping up with my logs. I've been asked to log faithfully every sol during those two weeks. It's not like I'll have anyone to talk to other than Soju, and check on my plants, so I guess I'll log. They're bound to be really boring logs though. I have nothing to talk about.
Log entry Sol 964
This is it, the last day for two weeks that I'll have contact with anyone. I can do this. It's not a big deal. I've done it before. I was without contact with anyone for over a year before they realized I was alive. Then there were the months between killing Pathfinder and arriving at Valles Marineris. This should be easy. So why am I feeling apprehensive? I should be looking forward to peace and quiet. No more dinging of the computer throughout the day at random times. No more NASA nannies looking over my shoulder, telling me what to do, how to do it, and when I should do it. Two weeks of doing what I want without anyone nagging me. I feel better now. I'm going to look at it as a vacation. I'm going to enjoy the peace and quiet.
Log entry Sol 965
I've been utterly lazy the entire day. I've done nothing but lay around and watch shows and movies I've seen a million times already.
Okay, I'm lying. I've actually been working on the list of science objectives NASA sent me before the conjunction started. I haven't watched a single TV show or movie. I have listened to music, but I've been working.
I did think about doing nothing, but I have decided what I'm going to do is try to finish everything I have to do as quickly as possible. That way at the end of the two weeks I can do nothing. I do deserve a break after all. It's not a real vacation unless I manage to take a few days to do nothing. I'm determined to do just that.
Log entry Sol 966
Not much to report today. I did some geochemistry experiments and that's about it. They did take me the whole day. No site has ever been so well explored. Not even any of the rover landing sites, they moved those little bots on pretty fast. Well, as fast as the rovers could go. I didn't even get Acidalia Planitia as well sampled and examined as Valles Marineris.
Log entry Sol 967
I'm starting to miss the ding of the computer telling me I have a message. It was different when I was first left here. I didn't get messages then either, but no one knew I was alive. I wasn't used to having the ding. I was used to people being here; that's a different thing though. When I lost contact from frying Pathfinder at least I could leave them messages and I knew they could take pictures with the satellites. I knew they were still watching me. This is so odd. It's like the beginning again because I have no contact and no one is watching me, but they know I'm alive. I'm just separated from them.
It makes me think of Michael Collins. He's the member of the Apollo 11 crew no one ever remembers. Everyone knows the names Armstrong and Aldrin, the two men who landed on the moon. There are a few people who know Collins's name, but nowhere near as many as know the other two. He was the first man to be completely cut off from mankind completely alone.
John Young on Apollo 10 did orbit the moon in the command module alone so he did lose contact with Earth, but he wasn't completely cut off. Tom Stafford and Gene Cernan orbited the moon in the lunar module. The two craft were apart for just under eight hours. They both orbited the entire time so while they may have briefly lost contact due to their orbits not being identical, it was nothing like on later Apollo missions.
Michael Collins mentions in his book Carrying the Fire that when he was on the back side of the moon it occurred to him that the entirety of humanity was on the other side. Buzz and Neil were on the surface of the moon but they were in constant contact with Earth. Michael on the other hand was periodically out of contact for over forty-five minutes every hour and a half. For half the time the other two were on the moon, ten of the twenty hours, Collins was out of contact with everyone in known existence. That time alone lengthened throughout the Apollo missions until Ron Evans, command module pilot of the final moon mission, spent thirty-seven and a half hours alone.
Now, I'm here on Mars on the opposite side of the sun from all of known humanity, all known life. There has to be life elsewhere in the universe we just haven't found it yet. Let's be honest, we may never find it. There are just too many galaxies and planets out there.
It's a strange thing to be this alone. NASA is going to have to do something before the colonies are landed here. We can't have that many people out of contact for that long. What if something goes wrong? I'm one person. It would suck if something happened, and I'm being exceedingly careful. I nearly moved into the MDV for the two weeks of the conjunction. I didn't want to risk an airlock detaching again when I can't communicate, or worse a sudden decompression when I'm not in my suit. After thinking it over I decided I didn't want to limit myself to that small space if I didn't have to.
Of course, now I'm thinking it over again. No, I'm not doing it. I'm staying put. It's not worth the loss of freedom of movement. Besides I'd still have to come into the Hab to check on my plants. I could stay suited up for that though. No… it's not a good idea.
Log entry Sol 968
I'm not moving into the MDV. I refuse to be that paranoid, but I did suit up and go out to check it out. I went in and turned on all the systems, then I ran diagnostics to be sure the life support is functioning. It's all good. If I need to move in, I can. I probably should be checking it regularly just to be on the safe side. The last thing I'd want to do is have to live in the rover again, or worse make the drive back to Acidalia Planitia. I'm not sure I could get all of the food and things in the rover. I could add another one to my "wagon train"; I'm not sure that's a good idea. Driving with one rover and one trailer was hard enough, driving with more than one trailer seems like a recipe for trouble. Ten more sols and then I'm in contact with Earth again and can get advice from NASA should something go wrong. I just need to make it ten more days. That's not that long at all. It'll pass in no time, I'm sure.
Log entry Sol 969
Once again not much to report. I've been doing the science I'm supposed to do and planning for contingencies like what if communications don't work when the solar conjunction ends, or what if this Hab blows, or what if I have to go back to Acidalia Planitia, over to Schiaparelli, or to Ares II. I can't remember where they landed, but it'll come back to me, probably in the middle of the night. Anyway, I've been thinking about all of the possibilities and how to handle them. The Hab here decompressing is simple enough. I've already talked about the plan. I'll move into the MDV until I can fix the Hab or decide where to go. If communications don't work, that's tougher. I can leave Morse code messages with rocks again, but I'll have no way of knowing if they're receiving them. I suppose if I get desperate enough I can pack up and head to Ares II, still don't remember where that is right now. I can't even look it up because the computers here won't have that information.
Wait, maybe they would. They might have had that information transferred to them since we reestablished comms. That or it should be on my laptop that I brought with me. I'm feeling too lazy to look it up right now though.
Still, if I have to pack up and go…well, anywhere, I'm working on that plan. I'll keep the modified Ares III rover. I will not make a wagon train of more than two rovers. I will empty everything out of one of the two Ares I rovers as they are in better shape even though they're older. Then I'll take all four batteries. I'll have to figure out a way to get more solar cells loaded up or at least replace my old scratched-up ones with the Ares I cells.
All in all, I have a basic plan that I really, really, really don't want to have to use.
Log entry Sol 970
Did more science today… that's about it. I know NASA wants more out of these logs. I simply don't have anything else to say.
Log entry Sol 971
Tosol, see what I did there? OK, in case you didn't, I replaced today with tosol because you know I'm living on sol time. Yeah, that was dumb I know. My defense is I'm stuck talking to myself. I'm not even leaving those old Morse code messages. I do talk to Soju, but of course, he doesn't talk back. That's a good thing. If he started talking back I'd know I was losing it. There was a while before NASA figured out I was alive that I was worried I'd gone around the bend. There are still times I think I'm not myself, and that my brain won't ever fully recover from this. I worry about what the Ares IV crew will think of me when they get here. They have a doctor on board though, and I'm sure Dr. Shields will have warned them of any possible psychological side effects I might be suffering so they can be on the lookout for them. I wish she'd tell me. When we're in contact again, I'll ask.
The quiet has been nice for the most part. I do miss some of my crew's ridiculous emails and the daily updates from Mindy. She's a pretty cool human, most certainly one of the first people I'm taking out for a beer if they ever let me out of quarantine. I have a long list of people to take out for a beer. I'll be doing that for years, as long as I can stay healthy enough to do it. I may have to let them drink the beer and get something nonalcoholic for myself, and that's an utterly depressing idea.
I've been thinking more and more about quarantine as well. I've been alone for literally years, on the Earth calendar anyway. I haven't come in contact with any germs that aren't my own in all that time. Will I need to wear a bio-garment or some sort of mask when Ares IV comes? We will spend ten months together on Hermes so there I probably won't have to. If they pick me up and take me to Schiaparelli with them though… One more thing to add to the list to ask NASA. That list keeps getting longer and longer.
