2 months later
Earth
"We have to tell the crew," Mitch said in a stern, affirmative voice that showed how behind this decision he was. It was as if nothing else mattered, and the only thing he was going to fight for was that telling the crew about Mark Watney being discovered alive was something the crew deserved. At the very least, they had to know that he was there, he was surviving. But Venkat Kapoor did not agree, and the idea was shut down quicker than the press showed up at the door step when the images of the rover and Hab were released with the statement that Mark was alive. The world was blowing up about this, and the NASA employees who dealt with emails to the Hermes were already scanning through every email to ensure that nothing slipped to the crew.
Mitch had already brought this up numerous times, at least three times a day, but each time was shot down. His temper was getting to him, and he knew that it wouldn't get him anywhere with Kapoor. As he paced the room, being told the answer was 'no' again, he tried to think of some way to reason with Kapoor. Then the idea struck him, and his eyes widened, "You don't want to tell the crew because you're scared that it will distract them, that they might be at risk because of how distraught they would be if they found out they left Mark Watney alive on Mars?"
"Yes," Venkat replied.
"If I can talk to Dr. Alice Blake and get her opinion on what the crew can or cannot handle, then will you be convinced?"
Venkat pondered this. "One psychologist who is mixed in the middle of it can hardly make a decision for the entire crew."
"You're making an entire decision for the crew, Vincent," Mitch argued. "They handled Mark's alleged death, they maneuvered the MAV to the Hermes, they got the Hermes on course to Earth, they have kept up on their assignments. If they could handle his death, they can handle discovering he is alive."
"Alive for now; we all know there is too big of a chance that he is still going to die on Mars. We're pulling every string and putting everything into getting him back alive, but the chances are too narrow. That's worse for the crew; knowing he is alive, feeling like they left him, and there is almost nothing that can be done. Until there is more hope, I don't want anyone aboard the Hermes to know."
"Dr. Blake should know. Just let me talk to her, let me tell her-"
"And if she decides to tell the crew?"
"She won't. She's like a daughter to me, I can trust her. That's why we sent her there, to handle things like this, to take the weight upon her shoulders and carry it for the crew. If I tell her, she can relay back to a panel of psychologists what she believes is best for the crew. Please, Venkat."
He frowned. "I'll think about it."
Hermes
"Blake," Lewis's voice came over the headsets and Alice was floating through the halls after helping Vogel with something. Everyone had adjusted as well as possible to the fact Mark was dead; even though it was hard to walk past his room and see it empty, or to all be having dinner together without him cracking jokes to lighten the mood after a long work day. Every single crew member had overcome the grief and pain of losing him, but that was what humans did. After some time, the human mind goes back to the way it was. Of course, there would always be a part of them missing without Mark there with them, but there was nothing that could be done at this point.
"Yes, Commander?" Alice gripped onto a ladder rung and climbed up until she was in almost normal gravity and could walk again. She paused at the top of the ladder to await what Lewis had to say.
"NASA just sent in a request to speak with you."
"I'll get it with the email dump tonight." Alice was busy.
"It's a video chat. They requested it be you, only you, no interruptions."
"Oh." Alice wondered what they would want to talk to her face to face about, but knew that it had to be something serious. They hadn't addressed the crew in a video chat since shortly after Mark had died, since then everything was simply assignments, tasks, and they relied on Alice to talk about how the crew was actually doing. As she made her way to the station where everyone tended to work, their individual stations all in one spot, she tried to rack her brain for what it could be.
As she walked by the bio lab, Beck was just stepping out, and nearly ran into Alice, who was walking quite fast. Startling one another, they ended up laughing lightly at the encounter. He asked her, "Where are you headed in such a rush?
She shrugged. "NASA wants to talk to me."
"Someone probably just wants to nitpick."
"They would have sent that in an email; I think it is something serious."
"Well, you can always talk to me if it's something horrible." Then he muttered, "I think we've seen the worst of things, though."
Alice placed her hand on his arm, just around the curve of his bicep. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah." He sighed; the two had taken on Mark's assignments. Alice hadn't meant to ask Beck, because he appeared to be taking his death harder than the rest of the crew, but he had actually offered a few days after Lewis mentioned Alice could split the work load. It helped to take a lot off of her plate, though she had to keep a keen eye out to make sure it wasn't putting too much pressure on Beck. The two had been too busy to spend much time together, but Alice preferred it that way. It was hard enough to curb her feelings for him on a good day, with the death of a crew member still heavy in their hearts, it made her think that something else just as horrible could happen, and she could miss her chance. But that was a negative way of thinking, and she had to keep a professional head.
She was alone when she arrived at her station. She sat down in her chair, tucking her legs underneath her and booting up her computer. Getting through the boring booting up process made her nibble at her fingernails, but then it finally was up and running and she accepted the video call from NASA that was waiting for her. The screen came up, slightly blurry and lagging, but less than usual as they were closer to Earth now. Mitch looked forlorn when he appeared on the screen, and Alice felt bad for him. She hadn't thought much about the people at NASA who would be fighting off the press, dealing with telling Mark's parents, among other things. It was all two months ago, but just as it was still affecting the crew, it was still affecting NASA.
"Dr. Blake," Mitch said politely.
"Mitch," she smiled, "formalities aren't normally your style."
"Unfortunately, as of late, they have been."
"Press has been that bad on you, has it?" She wasn't surprised.
He pressed his lips together in a tight line, stress marks forming upon his face that hadn't been there two months ago. She didn't like seeing him this way, but there was nothing she could do. She was not his psychologist, but that didn't mean she couldn't show she cared. He looked up at her, ignoring her question. "Look, I know this has been hard on you, but I have been put in a position I'm not comfortable with. There is something I need to tell you, complete discretion, no one can know."
"You mean, you want to tell me something that I am not allowed to tell the crew?" Her heart began to thump hard in her chest, trying to figure out what it could possibly be. "No."
"Alice... Please... I can't explain how it will be helpful, but it will."
"And put me in a compromised position?" She shook her head. "Mitch, secrets and NASA don't work, I'm aboard this ship for four more months and you want me to keep a secret?"
"You wouldn't have to keep it long, most likely."
"Most likely..." She rolled her eyes, but wished she hadn't. It was childish. "So, it's a secret that I can't tell the crew, but maybe I can later. What good does this do? Is it about Mark? Are you sending a mission to retrieve his body... or?"
"I need your word; if I tell you, I cannot have it leaked to the crew."
"Why me? Why not Lewis?"
"Because you're going to determine whether or not the crew is okay to hear it," he told her. "And not right away, either. I'm breaking some rules here, I've been given a crack of leeway and I need your cooperation to carry through with it."
She took a deep breath, wondering how she was going to keep secrets from the crew. She was good at keeping secrets; she knew every single crew members ins and outs, and didn't tell a soul about them. That was her job; complete discretion. But it worried her that this was coming from Mitch, she had no idea what might be coming her way, but she didn't suspect it was going to be something good. "Okay, you have my word."
Mitch looked half relieved, half nervous. "Mark Watney is alive."
So, just to clear some things up for those of you who didn't read the book, Venkat Kapoor is the guy in the movie named "Vincent Kapoor". No idea why they changed his name.