Til the Stars Turn Blue // Chris Beck

VII. Sols 70-79

EXT. SPACE - MARS

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

"Oh, that's ever so hopeful," Mackenzie muttered.

INT. HAB - DAY

Mark and Mackenzie 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.

"Oh. I thought you were talking about something else."

Mark glanced at her with a frown 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."

Mackenzie nodded. "The beat really, really sucks. I refuse to even try to turn it around."

INT. HAB - NIGHT

Mark sat at his work station, checking a map of Mars while he made calculations. Mackenzie was sitting nearby writing in her journal.

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 Mackenzie'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, Mackenzie 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.

Mackenzie looked around and pointed to a short distance away.

INT. HAB - NIGHT

Mark spoke directly to camera. "But here's the rub. Mackenzie 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. Beck, I'm sorry. I won't do anything to your wife. I promise." He glanced at Mackenzie, then back to the camera. "And yeah, problem C is if Mackenzie 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."

"Oh good," Mackenzie muttered. "More science. I'm better at understanding people. Not the radioactive isotopes or the periodic table."

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 Mackenzie 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 Mackenzie. "Okay, so... success? Mackenzie 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 Mackenzie 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."