EXT. SPACE - MARS
"Darcie and I are gonna die up here..." Mark said.
Darcie frowned at him. "That's dramatic."
INT. HAB - DAY
Mark and Darcie 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."
Darcie nodded. "Like Mark, I refuse to turn it around."
INT. HAB - NIGHT
Mark sat at his work station, checking a map of Mars while he made calculations. Darcie was sitting nearby, analyzing something.
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 Darcie'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, Darcie 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.
Darcie looked around and pointed to a short distance away.
INT. HAB - NIGHT
Mark spoke directly to camera. "But here's the rub. Darcie 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 swear." He glanced at Darcie, then back to the camera. "And yeah, problem C is if Darcie 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."
Darcie had a small smirk. "We can do it. I think."
"Keep positive, Darcie."
"I am. Are you?"
"Hell yeah."
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 Darcie 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 Darcie. "Okay, so... success? Darcie 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 Darcie 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."
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...
