The Imagination Latibule: The Martian - The Lonely Planet

Chapter 1

Not a day went by where your mind wasn't blown that you were on Mars. The Red Planet. It wasn't so long ago that humans stared longingly at the moon, wondering if they'd ever reach it. Now, almost 66 years to the day since Neil Armstrong made history, you and your team - the Ares III crew - were the first group of people sent on a manned mission to Mars.

Specifically, you were traversing the channels of Acidalia Planitia, a plain between the Tharsis volcanic province and Arabia Terra, within the Mare Acidalium quadrangle. But that was all technical terminology that you didn't have to worry about. You were the medic. It didn't matter where you were, as long as you were able to keep your team safe whilst being there. 

Speaking of your team, of which there were six other members, you were all currently headed back to your base, the Ares 3 Hab Site. 

"All right, team. Stay in sight of each other. Let's make NASA proud," your mission commander Lewis said as you slowly walked along. You were at the back of the group, watching them all closely, and paused by the side of your colleague and the teams Botanist, Mark Watney. You knelt down next to him as he carried out an EVA experiment, chipping away at the rock, and you watched curiously. When he was done and had the rock sample bagged up he held it out for you to see. 

"In grid section fourteen twenty-eight, the particles appear predominantly coarse, but as we move to twenty-nine, the particles are much finer, and should be ideal for chem analysis," he said excitedly. 

"Here that everyone?" You winced as the voice of your Pilot, Rick Martinez, came over the radio, much louder than you'd expected. "Mark just discovered dirt. Alert the media." 

"What's your job today Martinez?" you called back. "Confirming the MAV is still upright?" He was on the launch pad, inspecting what was known as the MAV, the Mars Ascent Vehicle. Mark laughed alongside the others as you heard Martinez huff.

"Visual inspection of equipment is imperative to mission success." He fell silent and you watched as he stared at the MAV thoughtfully. "The MAV is still upright." Telling you all what was plainly obvious, you shook your head at his sarcasm and followed Mark as he headed for the next set of rock samples.

"Watney, you keep leaving your channel open," Lewis said, watching as a specimen drill tunnelled bore holes into the ground. "Which leads to Martinez responding, which leads to us listening, which leads to me being annoyed."

"Martinez, Commander Lewis would like you please shut your smart mouth," Mark said and you chuckled.

"Speaking for the smart people of the world, we would prefer you use a different adjective to describe Martinez' mouth," the fifth member of your team, Beck said over comms. He was the secondary surgeon, back in the Hab and more than happy to rile up both Mark and Martinez for a laugh.

"Did Beck just insult me?" Martinez scoffed.

"Happy to turn their radios off from here, Commander," your mission sysop Beth Johanssen called, also inside the Hab. She'd done it before and she'd do it again. "Just say the word."

"Johanssen, constant communication is the hallmark of a --" Mark started.

"--Shut 'em off," Lewis cried and with a click, Mark and Martinez' radios went silent. Mark threw his hands in the air with great comical offense, and you laughed as you saw Martinez give every known inhabitant of Mars the finger. 

Alex Vogel, the chemist of your group, thought it finally the time to get some work done. "How many samples do we need, Commander?" he asked as he paused the drill. 

"Seven," Lewis answered. "One hundred grams each. Drill at least thirty centimetres down." 

"Um... Commander?" Johanssen said, suddenly sounding tense. You instantly felt a panic pooling in the bottom of your stomach. When something went wrong, however small, Mars amplified it by a thousand. "You should come inside," Johanssen called. You're gonna want to see this. 

"What is it?" Lewis asked.

"We got a mission update. Storm warning." 

"Oh," Lewis said, breathing a sigh of relief, and her casualness calmed yourself and the others. "I saw the warning in the morning briefing. We'll be inside long before it hits."

"They've upgraded their estimate," Johanssen said. "The storm's gonna be worse." You looked into the sky, and across to the distant mountain. A storm darkened the horizon, and you shivered as you felt a strong wind whip up dust around your feet.

"Everyone into the Hab, now," Lewis commanded, and there was no messing around as you all marched towards it. You and Mark were last in, well, Mark was. He let you in first, locking the door tightly, and you all stood nervously in the decompression chamber, waiting to be able to take your helmets off. When you did, you met Lewis, Johanssen and Beck, all staring at the monitors.

"Oh, this is not good news," you mumbled, a familiar fear building again. Beck slung his arm over your shoulder supportively; he knew how anxious you were about this type of thing.

"...twelve-hundred kilometres in diameter, bearing 24.41 degrees," Lewis read.

"That's tracking right towards us," Johanssen said. 

"based on current escalation, estimate a force of..." Lewis trailed off as the number flashed on screen. "Eighty-six hundred Newtons."

"What's the Abort Force?" Mark asked.

"Seventy-five hundred," Beck told him, and you all looked at Martinez, who for once was looking deadly serious as he rubbed his hands through his hair. 

"Anything above that and the MAV could tip."  

"Begin abort procedures," Lewis said, and although Everyone tried to hide their crushing disappointment, it was obvious that no one wanted to leave. You'd only just got to the planet, and with a four year journey home ahead of you, it seemed like a completely wasted opportunity

"Maybe it won't be as bad as they say," Martinez said.

"They're estimating with a margin of error," Vogel agreed, which made you anxious. "We can wait it out." You didn't want to leave, but also didn't want to die in some storm on a planet where no one would find your body. You glanced at Mark but he too agreed.

"Let's wait it out." 

All eyes fell on Lewis. She stared at wall, racking her brains for the best idea. She was responsible for everyone, and making the wrong call could end in the worst case scenario.

"Commander?" you asked.

"Fuck," she answered, grabbing her helmet. "Prep for emergency departure." 

It became a mad scramble to grab everything that you could possibly need from the Hab before the storm hit. The noise of the rolling thunder was louder, even from a distance, than anything you'd ever heard, and you jumped out of your skin as it shook the Hab.

"You alright y/n?" Beck asked and you nodded, taking a med kit from him. "We'll be fine, don't worry." 

"I know," you said unsurely, and he patted your back as you all walked into the airlock, double and triple checking your suits before the compression lock lifted, and you were exposed to the outside elements. 

The high winds slammed into you as you struggled to stay on your feet, fighting with all your might against the punishing storm. 

"Visibility is almost zero," Lewis said over crackling comms. "If you get lost, home in on my suit's telemetry. The wind's gonna be rougher away from the Hab, so be ready." 

Sand continued to slam you as you fought for each inching step forward, and you watched fearfully as the MAV began to tilt. If it fell, you'd all be stuck on Mars.  

"Hey," Mark called. "Maybe we could shore up the MAV. Make tipping less likely."

"How?"

"We could use cables from the solar farm as guy lines." He paused to catch his breath, and unwilling to leave any man behind, you stopped with him. "The rovers could be anchors. The trick would be getting around the--" 

--bang. 

You didn't see the antenna coming, and neither did Mark. Before you knew what was happening, you were lifted off your feet, and thrown into the storm. You hit something solid, and you were out cold.