THE ANXIETY IN the rec-room seemed to be at an all-time high. The day of the launch was growing closer and closer, and although the Ares 3 crew was ecstatic to finally get their beloved Mark back, preparations were still in order to make sure that was going to happen. There was no room for a mistake, especially not during a situation as critical as the one they were currently in. It was the reason Commander Lewis had decided to sit down with the crew. Reviewing the mission and everyone's roles during the mission was quite an important aspect of the mission itself.
"Beck, Vogel, I want you both in Airlock 2 with the outer door open before the MAV even launches," Commander Lewis spoke to the two men.
"Okay," Vogel replied.
"Martinez flies the MAV, Johanssen and Maia sysop the ascent. Once we hit intercept, it's Beck's job to go get Mark," Commander Lewis informed the remaining Ares 3 crew members.
Maia nodded from her seat. "We're ready."
And she was more than ready. Maia had been waiting far too long to get her brother back. She felt it was time for a reunion. Her only hope was that there was nothing that could potentially take that reunion away from her.
Commander Lewis's voice removed Maia from her thoughts and she looked over to see her attention on Vogel. "What's the intercept plan?"
Vogel shifted the attention to Beck, who spoke immediately. "We finished attaching the tethers into one long line. It's 214 meters long. And I'll have the MMU, so moving around should be easy."
"How fast a relative velocity can you handle?"
Beck thought for a second before answering. "I can grab the MAV at 5 meters per second; 10 is like jumping onto a moving train, so any more than that and I might miss."
The mere thought of Beck missing unsettled Maia, but she managed to keep herself composed.
"Well, we may have some leeway," Commander Lewis replied and grabbed the salt and pepper shakers, using the two objects as a sort of simulation. "The launch takes twelve minutes, and it'll be 52 minutes before intercept. Once Mark's engine shuts off, we'll know our intercept point and velocity. Vogel, you're Beck's backup—everything goes well, you pull them on board with the tether. If anything goes wrong, you go out after him."
"Yep."
"Okay," Commander Lewis chimed. "Let's go get our boy."
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SHORT CHAPTER, BUT IT'S ONLY A FILLER
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Interstellar → Chris Beck
Fanfiction❝Love is the one thing that we're capable of perceiving that transcends dimensions of time and space.❞ . . .in which two astronauts discover their love for one another amongst the stars. Highest ranking: #1 in fanfiction as of 5/26/18 DISCLAIMER: I...
