“Four,” Chuck said.
“Three,” Morris said.
“No, it’s four,” Chuck corrected.
“He said backup systems,” Morris insisted. “That means not including the primary system.”
“Oh right. Three.”
“So four systems total, then,” Venkat said. “Explain how we lost all four.”
“Well,” Chuck said, “The primary ran through the big satellite dish. It blew away in the storm. The rest of the backups were in the MAV.”
“Yup,” Morris agreed. “The MAV is, like, a communicating machine. It can talk to Earth, Hermes, even satellites around Mars if it has to. And it has three independent systems to make sure nothing short of a meteor strike can stop communication.”
“Problem is,” Chuck said, “Commander Lewis and the rest of them took the MAV when they left.”
“So four independent communications systems became one. And that one broke,” Morris finished.
Venkat pinched the bridge of his nose. “How could we overlook this?”
Chuck shrugged. “Never occurred to us. We never thought someone would be on Mars without an MAV.”
“I mean, come on!” Morris said. “What are the odds?”
Chuck turned to him. “One in three, based on empirical data. That’s pretty bad if you think about it.”
THIS WAS going to be rough and Annie knew it. Not only did she have to deliver the biggest mea culpa in NASA’s history, every second of it would be remembered forever. Every movement of her arms, intonation of her voice, and expression on her face would be seen by millions of people over and over again. Not just in the immediate press cycle, but for decades to come. Every documentary made about Watney’s situation would have this clip.
She was confident that none of that concern showed on her face as she took to the podium.
“Thank you all for coming on such short notice,” she said to the assembled reporters. “We have an important announcement to make. If you could all take your seats.”
“What this about, Annie?” Bryan Hess from NBC asked. “Something happen with Hermes?”
“Please take your seats,” Annie repeated.
The reporters milled about and argued over seats for a brief time, then finally settled down.
“This is a short but very important announcement,” Annie said. “I won’t be taking any questions at this time, but we will have a full press conference with Q&A in about an hour. We have recently reviewed satellite imagery from Mars and have confirmed that astronaut Mark Watney is, currently, still alive.”
After one full second of utter silence, the room exploded with noise.
A WEEK after the stunning announcement, it was still the top story on every news network in the world.
“I’m getting sick of daily press conferences,” Venkat whispered to Annie.
“I’m getting sick of hourly press conferences,” Annie whispered back.
The two stood with countless other NASA managers and executives bunched up on the small stage in the press room. They faced a pit of hungry reporters, all desperate for any scrap of new information.
“Sorry I’m late,” Teddy said, entering from the side door. He pulled some flash cards from his pocket, squared them in his hands, then cleared his throat.
“In the nine days since announcing Mark Watney’s survival, we’ve received a massive show of support from all sectors. We’re using this shamelessly every way we can.”
A small chuckle cascaded through the room.
“Yesterday, at our request, the entire SETI network focused on Mars. Just in case Watney was sending a weak radio signal. Turns out he wasn’t, but it shows the level of commitment everyone has toward helping us.
“The public is engaged, and we will do our best to keep everyone informed. I’ve recently learned CNN will be dedicating a half-hour segment every weekday to reporting on just this issue. We will assign several members of our media relations team to that program, so the public can get the latest information as fast as possible.
“We have adjusted the orbits of three satellites to get more view time on the Ares 3 site and hope to catch an image of Mark outside soon. If we can see him outside, we will be able to draw conclusions on his physical health based on stance and activities.
“The questions are many: How long can he last? How much food does he have? Can Ares 4 rescue him? How will we talk to him? The answers to these questions are not what we want to hear.
“I can’t promise we’ll succeed in rescuing him, but I can promise this: The entire focus of NASA will be to bring Mark Watney home. This will be our overriding and singular obsession until he is either back on Earth or confirmed dead on Mars.”
“NICE SPEECH,” Venkat said as he entered Teddy’s office.
“Meant every word of it,” Teddy said.
“Oh, I know.”
“What can I do for you, Venk?”
“I’ve got an idea. Well, JPL has an idea. I’m the messenger.”
“I like ideas,” Teddy said, gesturing to a seat.
Venkat sat down.
“We can rescue him with Ares 4. It’s very risky. We ran the idea by the Ares 4 crew. Not only are they willing to do it, but now they’re really pushing hard for it.”
“Naturally,” Teddy said. “Astronauts are inherently insane. And really noble. What’s the idea?”
“Well,” Venkat began, “it’s in the rough stages, but JPL thinks the MDV can be misused to save him.”
“Ares 4 hasn’t even launched yet. Why misuse an MDV? Why not make something better?”
“We don’t have time to make a custom craft. Actually, he can’t even survive till Ares 4 gets there, but that’s a different problem.”
“So tell me about the MDV.”
“JPL strips it down, loses some weight, and adds some fuel tanks. Ares 4’s crew lands at the Ares 3 site, very efficiently. Then, with a full burn, and I mean a full burn, they can lift off again. It can’t get back to orbit, but it can go to the Ares 4 site on a lateral trajectory that’s, well, really scary. Then they have an MAV.”
“How are they losing weight?” Teddy asked. “Don’t they already have it as light as it can be?”
“By removing safety and emergency equipment.”
“Wonderful,” Teddy said. “So we’d be risking the lives of six more people.”
“Yup,” Venkat said. “It would be safer to leave the Ares 4 crew in Hermes and only send the pilot down with the MDV. But that would mean giving up the mission, and they’d rather risk death.”
“They’re astronauts,” Teddy said.
“They’re astronauts,” Venkat confirmed.
“Well. That’s a ludicrous idea and I’ll never okay it.”
“We’ll work on it some more,” Venkat said. “Try to make it safer.”
“Do that. Any idea how to keep him alive for four years?”
“Nope.”
“Work on that, too.”
“Will do,” Venkat said.
Teddy swiveled his chair and looked out the window to the sky beyond. Night was edging in. “What must it be like?” he pondered. “He’s stuck out there. He thinks he’s totally alone and that we all gave up on him. What kind of effect does that have on a man’s psychology?”
He turned back to Venkat. “I wonder what he’s thinking right now.”
How come Aquaman can control whales? They’re mammals! Makes no sense.
CHAPTER 7