forbidden - chris beck

Chapter 2

The crew safely made it to Hermes. It  took them to and from Mars, and it functioned on all Ares missions.

All supplies and fuel were sent pre mission so as we boarded it it was just hours of system checks and safety procedures, as well as having to report everything to NASA along the way.

Each crew member had their specialty. Watney botanist, Lewis the Commander, Vogel the chemist, Johanssen the computer expert, Beck the flight surgeon and me the biologist. I have to admit, I probably had one of the least risky and interesting jobs. I practically would collect the samples
we collected on Mars and use them for extensive research into the planet. As well as that I could do pretty much the basics of working Hermes.

So we all contributed knowledge and the basic know how on how to survive as long as we could in space, as well as having our personal areas of expertise. Together, we were a pretty cool team.

~

"Vogel, update on the exterior." Commander Lewis spoke.

Vogel, who was taking a space walk on the outer edge of Hermes with Watney responded, "Ja. Everything seems in check Commander, we've over-looked everything twice. All is fine."

"Good, you and Watney come back in now." She spoke as she looked over the numbers that Johanssen was running on her computer.

"Martinez, flight details intact?" She turned her head to look at the pilot in his chair.

"All good, Commander." He nodded without looking away from his controls.

She glanced over at Beck who was carefully sorting all the rations we got, as well as storing away the fuel and emergency supplies that were sent before we were on the mission.

I tucked a loose stand of my brown hair behind my ear as I ticked off various boxes on a sheet, certifying the all the electrical components on board, making sure nothing looked like it could cause an explosion.

"Collins, update?" Lewis came to stand next to me, keeping a watchful eye over my shoulder as she examined the sheet in my hand.

"There doesn't seem to be any problems, Commander." I gave her a reassuring smile and continued to take notes on the light bulb I was checking.

"Excellent, everything seems to be in order." She clapped her hands together and helped Beck put the remainder do the supplies away. I admired her leadership very much. I know people at NASA had doubts with her, but I couldn't have asked for a better commander.

The airlock made a swift open as both Watney and Vogel made their way back in. Vogel pressed the button on the side panel to seal the airlock closed again. They both took off their helmets and took a deep breath.

"Man," Watney ran a hand through his hair. "I don't think I'll ever get tried of that view out there."

"It is beautiful." Vogel nodded in agreement as they made their way to the store room to put their EVA suits away.

After almost six hours of maintenance checks, everyone's individual tasks were coming to an end, including mine.

I watched as they slowly got up one by one. Johanssen was more then ready to stop working, she had been looking at the same computer screen all day, but hey, she was used to it. She kicked her chair and glided toward her bunk, jumping off and climbing into it.

I put my sheets in the folder on Martinez' desk at the front of the ship. He turned to look at me as he too was finishing up his work. "Long day huh?"

He noticed my long sighs and occasional yawn. "Yeah, but at least we have something to do to keep us busy." I said with a small smile as we both walked to our bunk areas.

On the way, I noticed Lewis dismissing herself as Beck put away the last box of meals in the storage room. My eyes averted to his muscular back which looked so well defined in his black NASA t-shirt. Once I realise I was blatantly staring, I shook my head and continued to walk, thankful that no one noticed.

I sat on the edge of my bunk room. It was nothing to brag about, just a bed against the wall next to all the others.

We were allowed to bring a box of personal belongings in which to keep ourselves entertained or to keep us from going insane. I bought my iPod, laptop, as many books as I was permitted to bring and a flash drive full of a bunch of my favourite movies and TV series.

I had indeed been a long day and although I was immensely excited about being in space and all around these friendly people, alone time sounded perfect right now and I think the rest of the crew agreed.

I removed my hair from a ponytail and let it fall down to my waist. After changing into a tank top and shorts, all  provided from NASA, I grabbed a packet of peanuts from a little side compartment by my bed and I sat in the bed, reading one of the books I brought.

I lasted about 20 minutes before I drifted to sleep, thinking about what I would get up to on this tiny little ship with these six people I briefly knew, for almost 120 days before we got to Mars.

Let's hope I survive this.