#firstonmars

"First on Mars," a hard science-fiction novel about the first manned mission to Mars in 2031, is taking pre-orders.

What’s the deal? Inkshares is like a kickstarter for books. First on Mars will be open for pre-orders until midnight August 31st 2016. If it reaches the goal of 250 orders, it will be polished and published by Inkshares.

Extras: (you can only get these if you pre-order)

An ebook and updates from the author.

A chance to win a copy of “The Martian” (whichever you prefer: book, DVD, or - Bluray extended edition).

A signed paperback and mission patch if ordering a physical copy.

Support the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention to the tune of at least $250 ($1 / order)

The author’s gratitude forever.

“With a three dimensional world and compelling characters, First on Mars draws reader in with its narrative structure. […] Add in a mystery to keep the pages turning and this book is sure to delight!” – STEPHEN CARIGNAN

“I've been craving optimistic near-future pro-science scifi, especially regarding space exploration.  […] So yeah, sign me up!” – JOANNA LYNN BROSIUS CHAPLIN

“A brilliant start to this story, and I cannot wait to read the rest […] so let's get this funded!” – MICHAEL HAASE

“I love this book!” – JOY A LAM

“I love it. Such a great opening, with clear, concise writing” - BRYN HAGAN

“First on Mars begins with a bang, and doesn't let up.” - ALEXANDER ZERO

There are only 28 days left in the campaign!

Please pre-order First on Mars to help bring this book to life!

bit.ly/FirstonMars

Hello all!

News

Great news! I was just interviewed by the fantastic Nell Walton. Check it out! You might learn something new about me, or (more importantly) about the book.

Reviews

In case you missed it, First on Mars now has seven great reviews. Here are some highlights:

“I love it. [...]You leave us hanging, desperate to find out more - who would have thought our only hope is Earth - it leaves us so many unanswered questions. Great job.” - Bryn Hagan, author of “The Bully Book”

“With a three dimensional world and compelling characters, First on Mars draws reader in with it's narrative structure. [...] this book is sure to delight!- Stephen Carignan, author of “The Sleeping Man”

“...It's accurate, honest and a darn good read.” - Kendra Namednil, author of “Borehole Bazaar”

If you haven’t pre-ordered. What are you waiting for? If you have... order another?

Writing

Readers may have noticed Chapter 1 appear in their Inbox. This is because I finally felt it was in pretty good shape – not complete mind you, but at least readable. I plan on sending each chapter after it hits this imaginary benchmark. After completing the draft in this way, I will send it to my beta readers.

Remember, it still needs to get to 100 orders so I can post the next full chapter (in which a lot of crazy stuff happens). So tell your friends. Don’t forget you can get a $10 credit for referring people with a link (through Inkshares, twitter, facebook, or email), using the buttons on the book page.

Author Spotlight

The next morning they all woke up feeling refreshed but sore. The extra almost forty minutes of sleep helped. Phoebe and Kara were the first up. They headed over to the greenhouses with the 3D printers to start printing the solar collectors. Phoebe was excited to finally serve her real purpose of the mission and was telling Kara all about the details of exoplanet botany.

“This site in Hellas was chosen due to its proximity to a water-ice glacier, caves, and gypsum deposits. The robotic sample-return missions of the 2020s already mapped it out. Gypsum can be used as fertilizer and water has obvious uses.” Kara nodded. She already knew all of this, but didn’t want to interrupt Phoebe’s train of thought.

“We can extract most of the nutrients we need from our waste products, but of course there will be some loss. No process is one hundred percent effective. Hydroponics would be the most efficient, but if we could use the soil, that would be amazing.”

...

Mission Log M41-487, Commander Kurt Campos

We successfully set up the initial base and green-houses yesterday. Morale is high. We had a celebratory feast last night, eating one of our few remaining dehydrated meals. Everything seems to be going well.

Just as expected, the Martian dust is covering everything. So far there hasn’t been any contamination in the rover. The Z-22 suits are working brilliantly. We haven’t entered the new habitat yet. I want to make sure the airlocks are functioning smoothly first.

Today we plan to start treating some soil with the perchlorate scrubber. Of course the hydroponics will be easier, but the Mission Director specified that growing in Martian dirt would be more appreciated by the public.

Well, back to work. Kurt signing off.

Kurt called on Anesh to help set up the perchlorate scrubber. They lifted it out of the supply module and set it down. It looked almost too large to lift.

“Shit,” Anesh blurted out.

“What is it?” asked Kurt.

“Someone… Aditya Jalali. He screwed with it.”

“How do you know?”

“See here?” he pointed, “It’s got a big dent in it.”

“Are you sure it couldn’t be landing damage?” asked Kurt.

Anesh paused for a moment. “You know what. You’re right. Sorry. It’s from the landing. He couldn’t have got to it.”

“Well, crap. Let’s try it out at least.”

Anesh tried to turn it on. It made a buzzing noise for a few seconds and then stopped. He tried again. Same thing.

“Damn. It’s broken,” said Anesh. “We’ll have to go on without it.”

“Get Norbite to take a look at. Maybe we can fix it,” Kurt suggested.

“Alright. I hope nothing else broke.”

“Me too…”

Norbite looked at the perchlorate scrubber, but it wasn’t salvageable. “The membranes are almost all broken. Without completely intact membranes, it just won’t work.”

After some discussion with NASA, they decided to send up another scrubber. With some effort, they figured out they could get one there in about six months. Meanwhile they would have their scientists look into every possible alternative.

M41-511

The diggers had made several mounds of dirt categorized by primary compound: calcium, sodium, gypsum, and metal ores - aluminum, iron, magnesium and a small pile of titanium.

Norbite and Anesh used the 3D printers to print crude bricks to make ovens for pyrometallurgy to derive metals from the ores.

Rin, Phoebe, and Kurt set up the greenhouses for hydroponics to grow quinoa, dwarf wheat, lettuces, a variety of beans, and other plants.

Kara and Akshara meanwhile worked with one of the diggers to start processing water from the glacier nearby. Water would be extremely important for their survival as well as a source of fuel for the return trip after being split into hydrogen and oxygen. The diggers carved out cubes of ice and carted them back towards the settlement.

Phoebe also took some time to explore the surrounding area, taking samples, and checking for signs of life. None of the robot missions up to this point had found anything promising, but they could not do as much as a scientist on the ground. So far her tests all turned out negative.

M41-527

The Chinese probe landed in Acidalia Planitia in the northern hemisphere. It was about five thousand kilometers away from the crew, near the north polar ice cap.

The Phoenix 5 crew huddled around the news feed from Earth. The news anchor was describing the announcement made by the Chinese president, “The Huǒxīng zēngzhǎng, or Mars Growth, successfully landed today on the northern hemisphere of Mars. He says this marks a great day in history for China. The lander is equipped with about four hundred tiny biospheres which will spread out in a circle around the lander. Each biosphere will separate about 120 kilometers from the rest. In this way they expect to lay claim to the land almost one thousand kilometers away from the lander in all directions. He then went on to suggest that human missions are not too far off-” the news feed ended.

There were gasps from the crew. Kurt flashed a look of surprise, grinned, and then huffed as if stifling a laugh. Anesh remarked, “Can they do that?”

“Apparently they just did,” answered Akshara.

Phoebe asked, “Isn’t the offset distance from the treaty one hundred kilometers? Aren’t they leaving gaps?”

Norbite replied, “No. There’s plenty of overlap actually. The treaty states that a country lays claim to one hundred kilometers around each plant growth on Mars. So imagine a bubble one hundred kilometers in radius around each biosphere.”

“Yes, it’s quite ingenious actually,” added Rin.

“If it works,” said Kara. Rin nodded.

M41-530

By this time the base was fully formed. It all looked a bit like a child’s toy from far away. Above ground the only things visible were the cone-shaped rover, the two cylindrical greenhouses, the triangular solar panels, and the cube-shaped nuclear reactor, all connected by fat cables.

Phoebe was leading the rest of the crew on a tour of the greenhouse, telling them which plant was which and how it all worked. The plants were beginning to show large green sprouts. The air hummed from the sound of air circulators and hydroponic systems. Phoebe was smiling and gesturing happily throughout the greenhouse.

“Most of the light comes from these LEDs, but some of it is piped in through fiber optic cables from solar collectors on the roof. These are the soybeans; these are black beans; and these are green beans. They need to be harvested as soon as they mature. On the other side we have a variety of lettuce and kale. Make sure to pluck them when they are nice and green and before they get too big.”

She walked to the other side and said, “Over here we have the dwarf wheat, grasses, and quinoa. I’m having some trouble with the wheat as you can probably tell.” She looked around at everyone and then said, “Any questions?”

Rin asked, “What’s in the other greenhouse?”

“It’s the same exact thing. It’s meant to be a backup in case anything should go wrong.”

The automated landing procedure worked flawlessly. They touched down on the rocky surface.

Kurt called out for the post landing check, “Is everyone okay? Rin?” He called each crew member by name and they responded, “Okay.”

Kurt addressed everyone, “We’ve touched down about 1 kilometer north of the robots.”

Phoebe asked, “That far?”

“Considering we’ve traveled hundreds of millions of kilometers to get here from earth this landing was amazingly precise,” Kurt replied.

Akshara added, “Rigel probably would have put us closer, but we might have run into the robots. Right Rigel?”

“That is correct. My instructions were to keep at least 800 meters from the robot landing site for safety,” Rigel responded.

Kara exclaimed, “It feels so light here! I can’t wait to get out and jump around!”

Norbite agreed, “Me too.”

“Let’s do this. Switching on comms,” said Kurt, unbuckling his seatbelt and getting up. He switched on the uplink to NASA command, “This is commander Kurt, we’ve successfully landed on Mars.”

Kurt exited first, followed by Kara.

Kurt had thought a long time about what to say at this moment. He said, “We claim this land in peace for our country and for humanity. One small step for a few, one giant leap for all of humanity.”

Kara added, “Today marks a huge step forward for science. Our gratitude goes to the hundreds of people working for NASA back home to make this mission a success and to the American people. Thank you.”

Rin came out next and said, “Humanity is growing up. We are but standing on the shoulders of giants and leaping into the cosmos!”

Anesh spoke, “We boldly go into the final frontier! To humanity’s future!”

Akshara next, “It’s beautiful! We did it!”

Then as Norbite stepped out he said, “I can’t say that it’s a small step. This time it’s a giant leap for men, women, and mankind. Thank you NASA and thank you to my companions for taking this journey with me.”

Lastly, Phoebe came out and said, “I can’t add more than that. I just hope that our mission inspires everyone back home. This is all for you. We’re all in it together.”

One by one they started jumping. The low gravity gave the sensation of feeling hollow, like a doll. Kara jumped and twirled, laughing hysterically. The laughing was contagious. Norbite, Phoebe, Rin, and Anesh started skipping around, trying out their new found ability. They could easily jump one meter up. Kurt was not jumping.

After a few minutes Kurt interrupted, “All right crew. Let’s get going. There will be plenty of time to jump around later. This base won’t build itself. Well, you know what I mean.”

Akshara chuckled. Most of the base’s construction would be automated.

Norbite gave the command and Rigel jettisoned the landing gear and the covers over the wheel bays. The crew installed the wheels on both sides of the craft, now converted into a Mars rover. They then got back in the rover through the airlock, one at a time, and buckled back in.

“Okay, let’s go. Take us to the landing beacon, Rigel,” Kurt commanded. The crew jerked in their seats as Rigel accelerated forward.

There was a reason they called this the red planet. Almost everything was different shades of red. Dark red rocks, light red regolith, dull red sky. Looks can be deceiving. The rocks and soils were actually quite diverse. The most plentiful metals on Mars are magnesium and aluminum, followed by nickel and zinc. Calcium, sulfur, silicon, sodium, and iron are also available in decent quantities. Almost everything is bonded to oxygen in one way or another - oxygenated. Rusted. Thus the red.

The crew exited the rover one at a time through the airlock. An automated conveyor brought over each suit, hooking it to the suit airlock, a crew member climbed into the suit, and then the airlock closed. This prevented any potential contamination of the rover from Mars dust. The dust alone could be harmful if breathed and the perchlorates present on Mars are toxic to humans even in small quantities.

The base was to be named “Hellas 1,” the first human outpost on Mars. The base was to consist of a 128 square meters living chamber, located ten meters underground, about 15 by 8.5 meters, and two cylindrical greenhouses above ground, ten meters in diameter each.

The team split up into three groups: Norbite and Kurt inflated the living chamber, Phoebe and Kara inflated the greenhouses, and the rest worked on setting up the solar panels and nuclear reactor.

They worked for hours, only breaking to eat, drink, or relieve themselves. During this time, Rigel acted as their base. It had a fuel-cell and built-in solar panels for this purpose. When the sun set over the horizon Rigel turned on the lights and each crew member flipped on their head-lamps. The sunset was much darker than on Earth, blue, and cast such long shadows, it gave an eerie feeling of other worldliness.

After the robots had signaled a non-eventful landing on the surface, Akshara activated them and directed them to start digging.

The main workhorse robots were the three DiGRs - Digging Gorilla Robots. They were affectionately called diggers. As the name suggests they resembled gorillas with short legs and long arms and were quite good at digging. They would be responsible for digging the underground caves where the living quarters would be inflated and mining for various minerals. The caves would provide some shielding from radiation and meteorites and temperature stabilization. For state-of-the-art robots they were not very intelligent but they were robust. They required some supervision to keep them from getting stuck when they encountered something they could not classify.

Akshara and the rest of the team watched through video feeds as the robots did their work. A large cloud of dust was forming around the robots so they could not see very far. All they could see in visible light was dust and rocks flying away from the drills. The best view was the radar from the camera drone above the scene.

Being further away from the sun, the Mars year is longer, about 687 Earth days. However, the Mars day, called Sol, is 24 hours, 39 minutes, and 35 seconds. So a Mars year is 668.6 sols. Mars is also tilted on its axis, much like Earth, and so experiences seasons. The orbit of Mars is far more elliptical however, so some seasons are much longer than others. To avoid confusion, some scientists refer to Martian time using a 360 degree scale with respect to the orbit of Mars, called Ls (ell-sub-es). On this calendar it was currently Ls 265, almost the middle of summer in the southern hemisphere.

Another commonly used system denotes the year number relative to Mars Year 1 (MY1) beginning with the northern Spring equinox of April 11, 1955. By this measure it was MY41 and 486 sols, or MY41-486.

After the robots had dug a large enough cavern, the crew got suited up and ready to go. Although there was very little chance of a hull-breach, NASA did not take any chances. Everyone was in fully pressurized suits.

The landing module, Rigel, separated from the ship. It was equipped with heat shield, descent rockets, and a multiple stage parachute nose-cone.

Most of the landing sequence was automated. All they had to do was wait and withstand the forces that buffeted the landing craft.

First they hit the very top of the atmosphere. At this speed, the air molecules collided with the heat-shield, becoming plasma and blasting away (ablating) the molecules of the shield. Rigel tilted its nose up and down to control its descent into the atmosphere. Too fast and they would disintegrate. Too slow and they would miss their landing target. The crew were jostled in their gravity bucket seats. The blasting sound from the atmosphere gradually increased along with the temperature. Red hot plasma streaked by the windows of the craft.

After Rigel had slowed enough, it activated the supersonic drag parachute. The crew were slammed into their chairs at around 3 g. Kara started to pray silently with her eyes shut. After they slowed down enough to launch the subsonic parachute, it was launched. This brought a bit less deceleration with only 2 g of force. The heat shield made a loud pop as it was jettisoned. They were well into the atmosphere now and approaching Hellas Planitia.

Day 201

Anesh, Kurt, and Kara were sitting around the dining table. Akshara came in having just finished watching the news feed from Earth.

“Did you hear the news?” asked Akshara, her lips forming a thin line.

“No. What?” replied Anesh.

“Cape Canaveral has been hit bad by Hurricane Charley.”

“Crap. How bad is it?”

“The VAB was destroyed and they’re saying the launch pad is badly damaged. Much of the surrounding land is underwater. The death count is in the hundreds and still rising.”

“They should be able to fix it in the next two years,” Kurt postulated, looking confident.

“Yes, that’s true,” replied Akshara. She still looked concerned. Kara frowned with the knowing look you would expect from a doctor that just received some bad news about a patient. “It’s going to set them back though.”

Day 221

By now the distance of the ship from Earth meant that it took about 13 minutes for messages to travel across the void at the speed of light. This made back and forth communication a slow process. The crew were more isolated now than they had ever been before.

They had not been able to talk with their families back on Earth for seven months, except for short one-way videos or text messages. This hurt Phoebe the most out of all the crew. She knew beforehand that she would miss her children but she did not know how bad it would feel. Frequently she would cry herself to sleep thinking about all of the events she was going to miss in her children’s lives: birthdays, home-coming dances, recitals, plays, first kisses.

The only sound was the constant whirring of the air circulatory system as Phoebe laid awake in her sleep sack. Thoughts were circling in her head. She asked herself silently, “Why did I do this? What was I thinking?”. “For science, for my country, and for all people,” she reminded herself. It did not make the pain go away.

Day 252: November 9, 2031

The torus stopped and the ion rockets fired, capturing the Phoenix 5 in orbit around Mars.

“Today we land on Mars. I can’t believe it,” Anesh declared, gazing at the screen.

They looked out the windows and saw the dusty red planet below. Just below them was Hellas Planitia, the giant crater where they would be landing. It was a dull red color and almost impossible to fathom. It was much bigger than any canyon on Earth stretching 2,300 kilometers wide and 7 kilometers deep. The entire continental United States could fit inside.

Kurt called for a meeting in the central room.

“This is it, gang. The day we’ve been training and preparing for,” Kurt bellowed.

“You know the plan. We send down the robots and supplies first and make sure they land. Then we go down in the Lander using the robot beacon as a target. We’ll try to get as close as possible without hitting anything. Then we make sure everyone is okay.”

“Once everyone is checked out we confirm the landing with Houston. Got it?”

Everyone replied, “Aye.” or in Akshara’s case, “Yes.”

Their heads were swimming with excitement despite the years of training. Nothing can prepare you for the actual reality of landing on another planet. Being the first humans ever to do so.

They sent the robot lander to the surface. It included the bulk of cargo they would need to set up a base on Mars and survive for two years: machines, seeds, raw nutrients, biomass (their waste), 3D printers, printer feed, some food, water, and the robots. Not having humans aboard, it could undergo a more turbulent landing which saved on fuel.

They all watched their respective live feeds from the lander with baited breath as it descended to the planet below. The mission depended on this landing being successful. All they could do is watch.

“Rigel, describe to us what’s happening to the lander and simulcast to central command,” Kurt commanded the computer.

“Yes, sir.”

The lander floated away from the ship and down into the Martian atmosphere for what seemed like an eternity.

“The lander is now 127 kilometers above the surface and moving at about 5.8 kilometers per second.”

“The lander is now 113 kilometers above the surface and moving at 5.7 kilometers per second.”

“Altitude 100 kilometers and 5.6 km/s”

“The heat shield is starting to heat up. Altitude 86 kilometers and 5.5 km/s”

“Altitude 74 km and 5.4 km/s”

“Heat shield temperature estimated at about 2100 Celsius. 58 km and 5.3 km/s”

“45 km and 5.1 km/s. Temperature at 3532 Celsius. Critical temperature at 7700.”

“He means it blows up at 7700,” Anesh specified. Everyone else shushed him, “Shhh!”

Rigel was silent for some time; then, “Starting peak deceleration. 23 km and 4.2 km/s… 5634 Celsius, 22 km, and 3.8 km/s... 7201 Celsius, 20 km, and 3.4 km/s… 7356 Celsius, 18 km, and 2.7 km/s… 16 km… 14 km… ”

“Deploying parachute… Parachute successfully deployed and rapidly slowing lander. Altitude now 12 km and speed is 0.57 km/s.” The sigh of relief was audible from the crew.

“11 km and 0.39 km/s. Preparing to drop heat shield. Heat shield successfully dropped.”

“9.8 km and 0.13 km/s.”

One minute past in silence while the lander descended towards the surface.

“3.1 km and 87 meters per second. Radar system now detecting the surface.”

“1.3 km and 79 m/s. Firing retro rockets. 1 km altitude and 60 m/s speed.”

“700 km and 55 m/s… 400 km and 45 m/s… 200 km, 33 m/s… 100 km, 28 m/s… Deploying airbags…”

The crew collectively held their breath.

“The lander is signalling. It has landed.”

Day 16

The trip to Mars would take about eight months. Meanwhile the crew had various jobs to do, but mostly they just had to wait. They spent some of their time catching up on news from Earth, playing games, talking, or writing to their friends and family back home.

The crew slept in shifts so that there was always at least three people awake at a time in case anything went wrong. However, they typically came together at least once a day as a group to mingle and eat in the dining room.

One such time, as they were milling around, Phoebe asked, “Is anyone else getting tired of this soylent stuff?”

Rin replied, “I don’t mind it. Besides, we might as well get used to it. It’s half of the calories on board the ship.”

“It was integral to keep the weight of the ship down. The less weight they had to spend on food, the more they could use for supplies, so we should be grateful for it,” added Anesh.

“Well, it’s just hard to be grateful for something so bland,” said Phoebe.

“Did you try adding sriracha?” asked Norbite.

“Eww, gross. No thanks,” replied Phoebe with a look of disgust. “Nevermind. It’s fine. I’ll get used to it. I’m looking forward to growing some real food in about eight months, though.”

Day 30: April 1, 2031

Just before dinner, Anesh brought up a new development from Earth, “Did you guys see this? There have been reports that the Chinese are planning to launch their own Mars growth mission. Instead of a manned mission it seems to be only an automated probe.”

“Are you sure it’s not just some kind of April fools joke?” asked Norbite.

“No, it’s not. I checked,” replied Anesh.

Phoebe had also seen the story, “Yes, it’s true. Do you know where they plan to send it?”

“They wouldn’t want to get too close to us, surely.” Kurt said, sounding a bit concerned.

Anesh braced himself as if having felt a brief chill. “Has NASA contacted us about this?”

Kurt responded, “No. They probably wouldn’t say anything official until the rumors have been confirmed.”

Day 41

Kurt called a group meeting in the dining area. He looked serious. Addressing the whole crew he announced, “Listen up everybody. I have some news. The Chinese launched their Mars probe. They say it’s going to land in the northern hemisphere so we shouldn’t have anything to worry about. I just wanted to let everyone know.”

“What is it like?” asked Phoebe.

“Apparently it’s a simple lander with a biosphere contained inside. Upon landing it will orient itself and activate several seeds embedded in a self-contained hydroponic system,” Kurt replied.

“So they’re going for a land grab,” noted Rin.

“Exactly.”

Akshara added, “Isn’t that what we’re doing?”

Day 42

While the crew were milling around the dining area, Kara brought up a question she had on her mind, “Can we give the ship computer a name? It’s so weird calling it ship all the time.”

“How about Hal?” joked Norbite.

“I wouldn’t mind calling it computer, like in Star Trek,” suggested Anesh.

“No really. Something else,” Kara said flatly.

Kurt suggested, “How about Rigel since that’s the module its located in?”

“Yeah, that sounds good,” replied Phoebe. After some discussion, they all agreed, Rigel would be the computer’s name. Akshara programmed it in.

Day 55

After doing his routine check of the nuclear reactor, Anesh cornered Norbite in the science lab. “Do you believe what NASA said about Jalali? That it was the life-x?”

Norbite replied, “Why would they lie about that?”

“I don’t know, to cover up their own incompetence? They spent so much time and energy to make sure we all have the best personalities for this mission, and then that happens. It looks pretty bad.”

“Hmmm. I hadn’t really thought about it. I guess it’s possible.”

“We’re you completely truthful in your evaluations? I know I wasn’t,” said Anesh, smirking.

“Look. There’s no way to completely predict what people will do in certain situations. So, yes, maybe they screwed up, but can you blame them? I think it was just a fluke. Or maybe it was the some malfunction of the life-x. Who knows?”

“Yeah. I guess you’re right.”

“Meanwhile we just need to look out for eachother.”

After a brief pause, Anesh replied, “True.”

Day 63

By this time everyone was beginning to feel the invisible hand of biology moving them to couple. A kind word or eye contact that lasted a heart-beat too long carried with it a weight that wouldn’t otherwise be there were they not trapped in a tiny, spinning apartment complex in space. If two people of opposite sex went missing for a period of time the others grew suspicious.

It went unspoken that NASA had planned for this outcome. Each of the men on board had been required to get a vasectomy long before launch. An unplanned pregnancy would have been much too disastrous to leave any room for error. Pills require to be taken. They could be forgotten.

Kurt called a meeting at the behest of the mission director. He was not excited to be doing this. “Okay folks. It’s time to address the elephant in the room. Everyone here, with the exception of Phoebe, is single back home. Let’s be adult about this. However, if there’s going to be coupling it needs to be above board, completely consensual, and no drama. That means if you want to establish a sexual relationship or a break-up - yes, even a break-up - you need to notify me as commander and the director O'Donnell. Okay? We’re all stuck together for at least thirty months. We don’t need any bad feelings harbored between ex-lovers. Got it?” Everyone nodded in agreement. “Okay then. Dismissed.”

Day 65

Akshara floated over to the nuclear reactor monitoring station, where Anesh could usually be found. “Which is better Star Trek or Star Wars?” she asked point blank.

Without hesitation he responded with a grin, “Star Trek, of course.”

“Good enough for me,” she said and kissed him square on the mouth. His eye bulged with surprise for a moment, but he then returned the kiss wholeheartedly.

Within the next two weeks, everyone had notified Kurt and the mission director of their relationship status: Norbite and Kara, Anesh and Akshara, and Kurt and Rin were all officially couples.

Day 101

Norbite had developed a bad cough and went to see Kara for medication. After some examination, Kara diagnosed him with a minor case of bronchitis. She gave him some medicine and said, “Take this. You should feel better in about 24 hours. If not, come back and see me.”

“Do you think we’re here for a reason?” he asked.

“What? Yes. We’re going to Mars to search for life and establish a colony for America,” she replied.

“No. I mean… Do you believe in a higher power?” Norbite asked quizzically.

“I’m sorry, you know I can’t answer that. According to directive 42 we are not to discuss religious or political matters,” she said robotically.

“Look. We’re going to be stuck together for a long time, so we might as well get to know each other,” replied Norbite with a smile. “Come on, what are they going to do? Fire us?” he conjoled.

Kara sighed. “Okay, fine. I was raised Catholic, but I don’t really believe in it all. I like to think we’re here for a reason, yes. Otherwise it all seems kind of meaningless; doesn’t it?”

“Well. I think we all have to make our own reasons,” he replied. “If there is a god, I think he/she/they/it is kind of unknowable...” he trailed off.

“How were you raised?”

“I was raised agnostic, but I was exposed to all kinds of religions. Nothing really stuck.”

“Where do we go when we die then? Do we just disappear?”

“I don’t know. I try not to think about it, but I figure once you die, all your problems are over.”

“Unless you’re going to hell,” Kara said with a smirk.

Day 150

“Isn’t it interesting how the trip to Mars takes about eight months?” Norbite asked to no one in particular in the dining area.

“What about it?” replied Rin.

“Well, it’s kind of symbolic. It takes about as long as pregnancy. It’s like we’re gestating. To be born again on a new planet.”

“You’re weird, Norbite,” said Anesh.

“Thanks,” Norbite said sarcastically.

“Actually, gestation normally takes 40 weeks, which is more than nine months,” added Kara.

“So, we’re like premi’s then?” joked Rin.

“Or hippos. They only take eight months,” said Phoebe, smiling.

“That’s us. The Hippo Seven. I like it,” suggested Kurt, laughing.

Day 185

Kara called Norbite into the science lab near the cargo bay. She was floating next to one of the experiments she was in charge of - a group of a dozen mice.

“The mice are dying,” she declared.

“What’s wrong?” asked Norbite.

“They’re getting cancer. I think it’s from the radiation.”

“Well, we already know that radiation causes cancer. Why aren’t they shielded?”

“That’s the problem. They are,” she replied with tension in her voice.

“Have you told NASA?” he asked calmly.

“Yes, they don’t want me to tell anyone else. They don’t want us to be alarmed. I just had to tell someone.” She took a deep breath. “They said we shouldn’t be affected since we all have the life-x bacterians. It should repair enough of our DNA to counteract the radiation.”

“Well, that’s good. What about the mice?” he asked.

“I’m going to see if I can start IVF, in vitro fertilization, on them to improve their chances of survival going forward. I could pick the healthiest mice to reproduce.”

“Okay. Will that help?”