INT. ROVER - ARES 4 MAV SITE - DAY
Sol 538
Mark and Darcie stared at the camera with a look that said, 'Oh Jesus, these JPL guys are gonna get me killed.'
Mark said in a distraught tone, "Mackenzie and I know what they're doing. Mackenzie and I know what they're doing. They keep repeating "accelerate faster than any man in the history of space travel" like this is a good thing, like this'll distract us from how insane their plan is. Oh really? Darcie and I get to be the fastest man and woman in the history of space travel? You're launching us into space in a convertible. No no, it's worse, because we don't have any controls. You're launching us into space in a tin can. And, by the way, physicists don't even use words like "fast" when describing acceleration, so they're only doing it in hopes she and I won't raise any objections because we like the way "fastest man and woman in the history of space travel" sounds. Well, you know what?" He thought about it and glanced to Darcie who nodded. "Wedolikeit. Wedolikethewayit sounds. Okay, fine. Let's do this."
Waterloo by ABBA began to play.
EXT. MAV - DAY
Mark and Darcie stood at the base of the MAV. They both held a large wrench in their hands, almost like a weapon.
Mark and Darcie stared up at the MAV with a gleam in their eyes.
"My my at Waterloo Napoleon did surrender..."
INT. MAV - DAY
Mark and Darcie tore the acceleration chairs out of the cockpit.
EXT. MAV - DAY
One after another, the acceleration chairs hit the dirt in a pile.
INT. MAV - DAY
Mark and Darcie tore out the control panels. They were having fun.
EXT. MAV - DAY
The controls hit the dirt. The pile was growing.
INT. HERMES FLIGHT DECK - SPACE
Martinez ran through a flight simulation at his station. It wasn't going well. "Collision with Terrain" blinked in angry red letters on his screen.
"And... you killed them," Johanssen said.
Lewis shrugged. "Try it again."
Martinez rebooted the simulator.
INT. MAV COCKPIT - DAY
Mark and Darcie waited in the airlock with a mess of stripped equipment.
EXT. MAV - DAY
The outside of the MAV looked like the set of Sanford and Son. Mark and Darcie wrenched one of the MAV's hull panels free.
EXT. MAV - DAY
The nose airlock broke free, and tumbled down.
EXT. MAV - DUSK
Mark and Darcie were sitting on a hill slope, surveying their handiwork.
The MAV had been transformed. The whole front had been torn off and Hab canvas covered it. Equipment littered the area all around. They'd created a junkyard on Mars.
"Finally facing my Waterloo..."
Mark and Darcie sat, exhausted. Darcie closed her eyes and let out a deep sigh.
EXT. HERMES - SPACE
The Hermes halted rotation as it approached Mars.
Sol 560
YOU ARE READING
Space Odyssey
Science FictionDarcie is chosen for and sent on a mission, alongside others, for, what feels to her, as a once in a lifetime opportunity. While she and her husband don't want to leave their young son behind, they know he's in good hands. But when the mission goe...
