Chapter Text
November 13, 2035
Teddy Sanders stood outside the home of Mr. and Mrs. Watney. NASA had received the worst news since the Columbia disaster. Two astronauts left on Mars, one of whom died. The other stranded until some sort of rescue plan could be devised. A task left up to the engineers and scientists of NASA. The Administrator’s current job was to inform Mark Watney’s parents of his passing. Something that needed done before the story broke on the news. Teddy pulled the lapels of his jacket closer to his neck. The cold wind bit at his skin as he waited for an answer.
On the flight he had thought of a million different ways to convey the news. None of them seemed to do justice for the loss he was about to relay. There had been the choice to send out the contact that Mark had chosen for this task. Every astronaut picked someone to be the barer of bad news. But this was different. This situation was going to be the biggest news story for the coming weeks.
Just as Teddy was going to knock again, the door opened. An older woman answered, Mark’s mother. Teddy couldn’t even manage a friendly smile. “Hello,” He started. “I’m Teddy Sanders, the Director of NASA. Do you have some time to spare, Mrs. Watney?” He asked. Mrs. Watney’s features fell. She immediately had a bad feeling about this visit. She invited Sanders in and called down to the basement for her husband. They all settled in the living room; the tension in the air was palpable. Teddy did his best to form the right way to say the words on mind.
“Did something happen to Mark?” Mr. Watney finally asked, the silence driving him insane.
Teddy sighed, he started at the beginning. “There was a sandstorm on Mars. One with more force than the mission parameters allowed for. The crew was ordered to evacuate. This meant that everyone had to go out into the storm. The wind was threatening to cause their ship home to tip, so everyone was on a tight schedule to get there.” Teddy sighed. “During the traverse to the MAV the communications array broke free in the torrent. The debris from that hit Mark.” The more he went on, the more tears appeared in Mrs. Watney’s eyes. “He was carried off. When he was hit his decompression alarm went off and his bio-signs went flat. The crew attempted to search for him but with the ship reaching its tipping point a choice had to be made.” This was more difficult than he had been expecting.
The Watney’s were holding each other’s hands as they listened to the Director. “Commander Lewis stayed behind to search longer.” Teddy continued on. “The rest of the crew was forced to launch under Lewis’ order. She had to save what she could of her crew. After the crew was back on Hermes, they contacted NASA. The ship’s flight surgeon, Dr. Chris Beck, declared that Mark had been killed in the storm.” Mark’s mother let out a loud sob. “Based on the fact that his pulse and blood pressure were zero. Also due to the fact that his decompression alarm sounded. A situation that would be fatal all its own.” Teddy pressed on, letting the couple know how and why that choice was made.
Sanders went quiet. The only sound was that of Mrs. Watney crying into her husband’s shoulder.
Sol 7
Lewis had gotten up extra early that morning. She hadn’t slept the previous night. Her brain was attempting to figure out how to survive this mess. She let Mark sleep in, there was no real reason to wake him. And he needed his rest. It didn’t take him long to pass out last night. Lewis figured the pain medication was a helpful sleep aid. She found herself standing in the kitchen area. There was enough food to last three hundred days, four hundred with rationing. Between the two of them the supply would last two hundred days. That gave them two hundred days to be rescued. Sooner would be preferred. With Hermes still in orbit it allowed for a greater chance of rescue. The only question was how would they get to the space ship?
The answer wasn’t a difficult one to come to. The Ares 4 MAV at Schiaparelli. The only problem was that it lacked the fuel to launch and was also about 3,200 kilometers away. Lewis knew that there would be hundreds of people working on solving this problem. The only thing she had to worry about was staying alive until a rescue could be executed. Also, figuring out how to tell Hermes that Mark is still alive.
Mark blinked awake. There was a moment of confusion as the pain in his abdomen flooded his senses. From there it didn’t take long to remember being stranded on Mars with the Commander. Taking caution, he sat up. He had fallen asleep in Martinez’s cot. Not wanting to climb the ladder to his, despite it being just one space above the pilot’s. With his hand pressed over his side, Mark placed his feet on the ground. Wincing slightly as the stitches pulled against the injury. Watney pulled his shirt up to look at the bandage. The center had a patch of dried blood no larger than an inch. The suturing held throughout the night. But he would still need to change the bandage to prevent infection.
Finally standing from the cot, Mark realized that Lewis wasn’t in the personal quarters. That didn’t surprise him. Especially when he realized how late of an hour it was. It was after ten in the morning. On a normal mission day, the crew roused and started work before eight. This however, was the farthest from a normal mission day. Mark didn’t bother changing his clothes. He had passed out in sweats and they would do for the day. Unless he had to do an EVA. After a few minutes he left the crew’s quarters and made his way through the Hab. He found Lewis in the kitchen.
“Morning.” Mark said as he entered the space. He leaned against the doorway. Lewis looked over.
“How are you feeling?” The Commander asked.
Watney shrugged. “Like shit.” He answered truthfully. “But in the grand scheme of things, not that bad.” He said as he took a seat on one of the stools. Hiding a wince as he had lift himself into the seat. “How about you?”
“I’m fine.” Lewis answered. She nodded absently, her mind elsewhere.
Mark eyed her. He hadn’t meant her physical state but he didn’t want to press her. “Did you sleep at all?”
“Not really.” She said as she took the open spot across from Mark. “Spent most of the night thinking about our situation.”
Mark nodded. “Yeah, it is an interesting one. Heard anything from Hermes?” He asked.
Lewis shook her head. “No, the communications network is completely offline.” Watney stared at the bank of computers. “Even if we could receive a message somehow, the dish is gone. We couldn’t talk back.”
“Have you tried an EVA suit?” Mark questioned, his eyes shifting to the six available surface EVA suits in the Hab. “They can still receive a signal.” He offered, his gaze coming back to Lewis. The Commander watched Watney for a moment. “I’m almost certain that the rest of the crew is aware of the same problems we face. Lack of communication being the first one. They have the advantage of having Johanssen at their disposal. You and I both know that she probably has been awake all night trying to make contact with us.” Mark paused. “Or, well, at least with you.” He corrected. As the crew was still unaware that Mark was alive.
Lewis stood from her spot and dragged an EVA suit over to the table, placing it on the surface. She took out the headpiece and slipped it in her ear. There was a constant static. “There is some interference.” Lewis said as she listened.
“Or it is Hermes. What could be interfering with the channel?” Mark asked as he poked at the suit in front of him.
After a moment, Lewis’ eyes went wide. “Oh my god!” She exclaimed. “It’s Martinez, I can hear Martinez.”
“What is he saying?” Mark asked standing up quickly. He regretted the motion but he ignored the pain.
Lewis listened. “Johanssen changed the frequency of Hermes to broadcast on the EVA and rover channels.”
Mark smiled. “I knew that nerd would be able to figure it out.”
“It is taking a lot of power but the can talk to us as needed.” She listened longer. “NASA knows that I am still down here so a rescue plan is underway. They want me to use Morse code to talk back. NASA will use satellites to image the surface and relay the message back to Hermes.”
“Sounds like a good plan. At least we will be able to talk to people. Let’s go get started on the first message.”
“You mean I’ll go do the first message.” Lewis corrected. “You need to take it easy, Mark.”
Watney gave the Commander a flat expression. “Commander. It is a small hole in my side. And besides, if I had been stranded alone I would have had to do all the work to survive by myself. Going and moving rocks around isn’t that big of deal. Also, there is a lot more we need to do. The solar cells need cleaned off. We should see if we can at least maybe find the communications dish. As well as check the integrity of the Hab and other equipment." He said, even though Mark figured that Lewis had come to these same conclusions as him. "So, even if I’m not the one to spell out a message with rocks, there is plenty to still be done.” Mark could tell that the Commander was hesitant in allowing him to do any strenuous labor.
“Fine, but don’t push yourself to hard.” She folded. He was right, they had a long list of work to complete. And knowing Mark, he wouldn’t want to just sit around while she did it all. “I’ll take care of the message, you start going over the systems and check out the Hab. Then we will take care of the solar cells together once I finish up.” Mark nodded. It was a fair trade off. They both went to prepare to have an EVA.
Mission Day: 132
NASA had taken several pictures of the Ares 3 site. They received the message they were expecting. Lewis informed them of status and was injury free. However, it was the last part of the Morse code that caught everyone off guard. The Ares 3 crew stared at the message.
-- .- .-. -.- / .. ... / .- .-.. .. ...- . .-.-.-
Mark is alive.
Not much was said. Everyone realized what this meant. The time to execute the rescue operation was cut in half. Rations on Mars would only last two hundred days. The crew also started rationing their own food supply. They wouldn’t have access to more food until they reached Earth. They had to make sure their food lasted as long as possible. At most an extra two hundred days.
“Well shit.” Martinez finally said. Everyone looked to the pilot. With Lewis absent from the ship, Martinez was now in charge. It didn’t take long for everyone to understand how big of a deal Mark being alive was. If Lewis had made it to the MAV, Watney would have been left behind. Alive. Alone. Stranded on Mars. Everyone was quiet. The message went on, a quick summary of how he lived. But the Morse code prevented detail and they had more questions.
They put them aside, everyone had a lot of work to get done. They needed to save both of their crew members.