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The Maretian

by Kris Overstreet

Chapter 260: Sol 508

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AMICITAS FLIGHT THREE – MISSION DAY 518
ARES III SOL 508

It stood twenty-seven meters tall, towering over the low sand dunes that surrounded it. It rested level on a sandstone surface scoured clean by the wind and fire of its landing thrusters. Its once-gleaming surface had been scratched and dulled slightly by a year and a half on the Martian surface, but it still shone brightly enough in the late morning sun to be a beacon for any eyes present to see it.

As a vehicle much more scarred and battered by weather and circumstance than the rocket ever would be pulled up next to it and stopped, six pairs of eyes saw, and stared.

Mark Watney’s heart sang at the sight of the Ares IV MAV. Early on in his sojourn on the red planet, he hadn’t dared to plan beyond immediate survival. With the cave farm producing and communications to Earth restored, he had begun to plan for, if not believe in, eventual escape. Now, after almost sixty sols of driving and five hundred sols of being marooned, here stood proof, undeniable proof, that whatever else happened, he would not die on Mars. He wanted to hug the ship. He wanted to dance around it and whoop for joy. And, as soon as he could suit up and cycle through the rover airlock, he would.

Cherry Berry looked at the ship and compared it to Amicitas as it had been before the crash. The MAV looked short and squat compared to most of the rockets she’d flown for the Changeling Space Program. But unlike those ships, cobbled together using off-the-shelf mass-produced components, this ship had been built specifically for a single task. Like Amicitas, its lines flowed together elegantly, beauty and functionality in one gleaming monument to the superior engineering skill of humans. She hoped to make herself worthy of flying it.

Starlight Glimmer planned what she would have to do to help make the MAV ready for their escape plan. The docking collar linking the landing stage and the first ascent stage had to go- NASA wanted one of the first stage engines gone. They also wanted the backup maneuvering thrusters and their fuel tanks removed and the old Amicitas thruster blocks installed; that would require hours of levitation- no, wait, there were rungs and handholds all around the capsule, so perhaps Mark could rig a belaying harness from one of those to hold him up while he worked. Inside her mind she calculated how much of the remaining mana battery charge would be needed, and how much would be left for the health of the crew. She tried not to think about the weak link in that calculation: herself.

Dragonfly stared at the rocket with tired eyes, much more tired than she wanted to admit. Being relieved from scout duty hadn’t offset the loss of magic feeding time. She thought she understood Bilbo’s complaint about feeling “stretched, like butter spread over too much bread”. The metal tower meant many days of hard work, work she didn’t feel up to in the least. And yet, despite that, she smiled as she looked at the MAV. In a few weeks she would get one more chance to dance with the Pale Horse on her own terms.

Dread filled Fireball as he looked at the rocket. He’d never been an enthusiastic astronaut. Each time he’d gone up, it had only been because riding the rocket would be less annoying than the consequences of not riding the rocket. On three occasions, that judgment had proved incorrect in the extreme- crashing into a mountain, getting stranded in orbit, getting stranded in another universe. But as much as he hated it, he’d ride again, because even death in space seemed less annoying than a slow death by starvation, suffocation or cold on the surface of this stupid planet.

Spitfire smiled confidently as she looked at the rocket. When Amicitas had launched a year and a half before, she’d been an old rookie, chosen less for her skills and more to fill a political role. In the time since she’d proved herself again and again, fulfilling her role as medic, as copilot, as an experienced advisor… and, yes, as a pegasus. Sure, she’d come within an inch of death several times, but that hadn’t been anything new to her. Now she knew that, when this rocket went up, she’d ride along not as a rookie, but as a veteran… and as an equal.

Together they suited up, went outside, celebrated the end of their long journey across Mars, and then, one at a time, they followed Mark up the boarding ladder, into the airlock, and into the ship. Individual thoughts and concerns were swept aside by one common thought: at long last, they were going home.


[10:41] HOUSTON: Congratulations from all of us here at Mission Control! Well done! What’s your status?

[10:57] MAV: Thanks! Watney, Berry, Glimmer, Fireball all healthy. Dragonfly weak from reduced magic intake, special exertions to maintain suits. Spitfire recovering well from consequences of her flight, feathers growing back in, daily PT to regain strength. Rover systems running well. Pony suits worn and patched, but operational. I have my EVA suit and Martinez’s, plus three salvaged radios for use by the ponies. Currently thirteen magic batteries plus fifteen booster batteries at full charge plus eight more generating charge. Current plan is to connect MAV to rover power system, charge life support using pony air, and then do a full diagnostic on MAV systems before beginning modifications.

[11:12] HOUSTON: Good to hear. We show all go for a Sol 551 launch and rendezvous with Hermes. Procedures for MAV modifications are in the MAV computer and can be read through wireless network. We also want to discuss a procedure to take water from alien life support and electrolyze it for hydrogen to run through the MAV fuel plant. Without an atmospheric regulator we need some way to separate molecular oxygen from molecular hydrogen after electrolysis. Can Starlight do this?

[11:27] MAV: Starlight here. In theory I can do it, but it consumes magic. How important is this?

[11:43] HOUSTON: The MAV fuel plant is supplied with enough hydrogen to make sufficient fuel to fill the tanks to about 90% of capacity. We leave that margin to allow for varying levels of hydrogen escaping the vessel during the trip from Earth to Mars. With extra hydrogen we can fill at least half that remaining capacity. Gaining 5% to 10% more fuel provides more thrust and an extra safety margin when things go wrong.

[11:58] MAV: Okay. Send me the procedure, and I’ll work out a way to separate the oxygen and hydrogen.

[12:13] HOUSTON: Dragonfly, we’d also like to talk to you about preparing Rover 2 and Sojourner for its extended mission. How’s Sojourner holding up?

[12:27] MAV: Sojourner’s just fine and eager to look at more rocks!

[12:41] HOUSTON: Good to hear. Okay, we’re scheduling the rest of today and tomorrow as diagnostics and preparation. Cherry, we want you to begin simulations on Sol 510. Martinez will review your performance after each run. We’ll try to schedule sims around modification procedures, but use your best judgment. If there’s nothing else, we’ll return the MAV to retrieving your data dumps and sending you your backlogged emails.

[12:53] HERMES: We also now have the bandwidth to send you some new music. Maybe now you can stop moaning about how terrible disco is.

[12:57] MAV: Bless you. God, yes, send it, send me ANYTHING other than disco. I might even learn to like contrasynth.

Author's Notes:

Slow morning, so here's the chapter after all.

And with this, the Maretian adventure enters its final phase.

Next Chapter: Sol 509 Estimated time remaining: 3 Hours, 56 Minutes
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