Life on Mars // Chris Beck

VII. Sols 70-79

EXT. SPACE - MARS

"Melina and I are gonna die up here..." Mark said.

Melina saluted. "Goodbye, fellow citizens of Earth."

INT. HAB - DAY

Mark and Melina stared directly into camera as the former said, "...if I have to listen to any more goddamn disco music." Vicki Sue Robinson's Turn the Beat Around was playing on the computer.

Melina nodded and groaned.

Mark glanced at her before looking back at the camera. "Jesus, Commander Lewis, you couldn't have packed anything from this century? I'm not turning the beat around. I refuse to."

Melina frowned at the camera. "I'll give the beat turn a 360 instead of a 180."

INT. HAB - NIGHT

Mark and Melina sat at his work station, checking a map of Mars while he made calculations.

Sol 70

Mark said, "It's time to start thinking long term. The next NASA mission is Ares 4. It's supposed to land at the Schiaparelli Crater, 3,200 km away." He traced a route from his and Melina's position to the crater. "NASA presupplies each mission years in
advance, so the MAV is already there, synthesizing fuel. In four years when the Hermes returns, Melina and I'll have to launch from there. Which means we gotta get to the crater."

EXT. HAB - DAY

Mark ripped the large battery out of Rover 1 and dragged it over to Rover 2. He stared at it, wondering where he was going to put it.

Melina looked around and pointed to a short distance away.

INT. HAB - NIGHT

Mark spoke directly to camera. "But here's the rub. Melina and I've got two rovers designed to go a max distance of 35 kilometers before they need to be recharged at the Hab. That's problem A. Problem B is it'll take her and me... roughly fifty days to make the journey. So we have to be able to live for fifty days. Inside a rover with marginal life support the size of a small van. Luckily she's small." He glanced at Melina, then back to the camera."And yeah, problem C is if Melina and I don't figure out how to make contact with NASA in the first place, none of this matters anyway. So... yes, in the face of overwhelming odds, she and I are left with only one option: We're gonna have to science the shit out of this."

Melina grinned. "And between a botanist and a chemist, I think we can do it."

Rubberband Man by The Spinners played.

EXT. HAB - DAY

Mark attached the battery to Rover 2 with a makeshift harness.

EXT. HAB - DUSK

Mark and Melina sat behind the wheel of their wagon train. They took it for a test drive. It wasn't pretty, but the spare battery held; as did the solar cells.

INT. ROVER - NIGHT

Mark spoke to the camera. His teeth were chattering. He had his arms around a shivering Melina. "Okay, so... success? Melina and I've doubled our battery life by scavenging Rover 1. But. If we use the heater, it'll eat up half our battery power every day. If we don't use the heater, we will be slowly killed by the laws of thermodynamics." He and Melina tried to stop shaking. "She and I'd like to solve this problem, but unfortunately my brain is frozen and I think hers might be too."

Mark and Melina drove back toward the Hab.

EXT. MARS - DAY

Mark and Melina drove the Rover across Acidalia Planitia. In the distance, a green flag was planted at the top of a hill.