Interstellar → Chris Beck

S O L 1 8 6

AS USUAL, MAIA sat quietly at her workstation trying to finish up the day's work. It had, of course, taken her longer than it should have to finish up her work, as her mind continued to drift to her brother. It was only several weeks ago that she and the rest of the crew had sat down to have a chat with Mitch about everything that had taken place with Mark over the last few months. He answered every single one of their questions, just as he had promised to do in the video he had sent them regarding Mark's status. It was a very long day for the crew and Mitch as well, but they hadn't gotten so much more information out of it than they originally anticipated. They believed that to be because of Mitch. He seemed to be the only NASA employee that actually cared about the feelings of the Ares III crew. It was the reason Maia adored him so much.

The conversation the crew had Mitch had answered majority of Maia's questions. Mark was okay and he was healthy, that much she was thrilled about, but what she wasn't thrilled about was the fact that he would be forced to wait several years before he was able to return home. The crew had been told that they were launching the Iris probe filled with food supplies and other necessities needed for Mark to survive throughout the duration of that time period, and although Maia was grateful that NASA was going to such great lengths just to save her brother, she just couldn't help but think something was going to go wrong.

It would be at least five years until the Ares IV would land on Mars, which meant that it would likely be another six years until Maia saw her brother again. Of course, she was not at all thrilled about the fact that she would be separated from her brother for over half a decade, but what she truly worried about was Mark's state of mind throughout it all. Mark was one of the most laid back people there was, but there was a side to him not many knew about. Mitch had told the crew he was okay and healthy both mentally and physically, and Maia didn't doubt that for a single second, but she would certainly doubt it if she were to receive the same news within the next three years.

Mark was a people person, which meant that he was at his best when around people. He was also one to make the best of any situation, no matter how dire it was. Maia knew both of these to be true, as she had spent the last thirty years of her life with him, but she also knew that when the time came, it wouldn't be so easy for Mark to uphold those particular traits, at least not at the same time. She knew that if he was alone for a certain amount of time, he wouldn't be able to find it in him to find the postitivity needed to get through the situation. Maia feared that if he was subject to such an intense loneliness at such a prolonged period of time, he would begin to deteriorate mentally, and that was the last thing she wanted for her older brother. She figured it would be much simpler just to turn around and go get him herself just to prevent that from happening.

With a sigh of relief, Maia finally stood up from her workstation. She had just finished yet another one of what would be Mark's experiments, and she was more than thrilled about it. She hated that it now took so long for her to finish, and she hated that it took so long for her to finish because of Mark.

As Maia made a move to head back to her room, Johanssen's voice sounded overhead.

"Maia?" Johanssen sounded slightly distressed, something of which Maia wasn't sure why.

"Yeah?" Maia responded rather quietly. She was tired and wanted nothing more than to get to her room and get to sleep. She had been up all night with Beck watching movies and talking, which only allowed her a maximum of four hours of sleep.

"Think you could come down to the rec-room for a bit?" Johanssen asked her. "There's something I need to tell you."

"Sure."

Instead of waiting on a response from Johanssen, Maia simply left the room. She allowed the lack of gravity to carry her body throughout the enormous ship and to the rec-room. She climbed down the ladder and hopped to the rec-room floor. As she turned around, she was met with slight surprise. Every last one of the crew members were in the rec-room, and it appeared almost as if they were waiting on her. It was strange, nonetheless.