"Is everything done?"

"Of course! You've asked that already many times."

The ponytail swayed as the woman turned her head around to stare at the man positioned in front of the computer, she didn't even try to hide her disappointed look, "Are you sure? Have you checked everything twice? Or no, three times? Is there not even the smallest chance you've missed something?"

The man just grinned back at her before letting a small snigger escape, "Yes, yes! Or no! Of course I've checked everything more than once! I've checked all the data at least ten times already since you've asked me. Just take a breath and try to calm down."

Piper snorted back at him before glaring some more, "That comment was completely unnecessary. I'm calm."

Jerry just rolled his eyes at the computer screen while snickering, "Yeah... yeah... Of course."

The stare just intensified by the comment, but since the reason to her annoyance had no intension in acknowledge her irritation she turned her eyes towards the window once more. She stood like that for a while, just looking outside out on the complete emptiness of space, or well, there were stars. Endless numbers of stars staring back at her, sending a comforting feeling through her body. Because even though they were trapped here, in the middle of nowhere - if there was one point in time this statement actually was correct it must be now. Because they were in the middle of space, there was nothing here, no neighbors, no stores, no internet, no trees. Just nothing but endless darkness surrounded them, well that and the big red planet.

After the long paus she suddenly started to nod slowly, as if she had decided to agree with what he had said earlier, "Alright. If you're sure that everything is done then let's start. Call Brewer over."

"Sure."

As the tangents were being pressed down she walked over there, glancing over Jerry's shoulder to check if he did what he's been asked to do. At the same time she had a chance to look over the data for herself, not that she even had the time to check everything before the door glide open and a very grumpy looking man entered, "You called?"

"Yes," she turned towards him as she spoke, positioning herself so she would look as tall as possible, a position of power. Even though it didn't matter much since he looked like a giant next to her. "Are everyone settled down now?"

"If they've found their sleeping cabinets? Yes, they have. I think most of them are done unpacking the things they brought as well. At least it seemed like that when I checked on them."

"Good," Piper nodded slowly to herself once more as she thought over what to do next even though she already knew that. "Leighton, turn on the speakers. I have an announcement for everyone."

"Oh, it's time?"

"Yes."

To the answer Jerry started grinning once more as he turned towards the computer once more, activating the space stations communication system. As he did so Piper walked over to her work space and picked up the small earpiece, "Is it on?"

Jerry was about to fall over by sniggering as he tried to get out a simple, "Y-Yes!"

"Oh... Oh. Uhm... Hi everyone, I hope you've find your sleeping space and been able to adapt to this new environment. But at the moment I need you to stop whatever it is you're doing and gather here in the control room."

*Clank* *Clank* *Clank*

The sound of metal hitting metal could be heard echoing trough the otherwise silent chamber.

"just one more swing." a male voice muttered under his breath before a final hit was applied to the unfinished product. Silence fell over the area, yet it didn't take long for other sounds to fill the room again. In fact, it was the sound of someone searching through a case of tools which could now clearly be distinguished. "Here it is." the man softly spoke.

Sounds patterns like these had been vibrating through the chamber for more than 30 minutes now. It always went somewhat like this: First you could hear someone working on some sort of project clearly made of metal judging from the metallic sound it made every time it was hit by one of the working man's tools. Secondly, the man would mutter something under his breath signifying that he is almost finished using his current tool. Thirdly, the sound of him searching through a case filled with all kinds of tools before finally finishing the pattern by him softly saying that he found the next tool he wants to use and going back to the first step again.

If you wouldn't know any better you would think that this room the man had been working in was some kind of working station and while you might not entirely be wrong, in reality, it was nothing other than the man's bedroom which he had only recently, and by recently I really do mean recently, started to live in. To clarify, about an hour ago a space ship made out of the 'newest most powerful and over the top piece of technology of its kind' finally, after two years which seemed like they took forever, docked at the spaceship orbiting the planet Mars.

You see, a few years ago a team of the 'most gifted and brightest' scientists had been put together to come and study this forever known red giant planet called Mars which is yet still so unknown to mankind. If Jon remembered his early briefings right they were supposed to stay here for about half a year before quickly packing up and returning home again. 4 and a half year would this little experiment last to hopefully make a scientific breakthrough regarding the known, unknown, space!

Oh, Who is Jon you ask? Jon is just a nobody. He is however one of the lucky few to be selected for this journey, filling up the role of a Biomechanical Roboticist. Once they arrived at this station almost every employee had been ordered to go find themselves a chamber and to start settling in. They are supposed to live on this station for the next half year after all, And Jon did just that. After quickly finding himself a room, without even unpacking first, Jon had continued working on one of his little projects. An automatic repair drone, or that's what it's supposed to become anyways. As for now, it's just a bunch of old pieces of metal and junk craftily constructed against each other so it wouldn't fall apart right away. It can't do anything fancy yet, heck it can't even move yet! But who knows what this little guy could do in the future. One can only guess.

But then, as Jon was working diligently, he was suddenly interrupted by a visible spark coming from his mechanical right arm followed by a dreadful pain. "ARG! FUCK!" He shouted as he threw the wrench, which he was currently working with on his drone, across the room. It didn't happen often, his mechanical limbs malfunctioning that is. But when it did it hurt like hell. Jon cursed himself since this was probably the result of him not maintaining his limbs well enough lately. The last few weeks before arriving at the space station were quite hectic after all which led to him barely finding the time to do his ordinary limb maintenance. Yet he should have seen this coming and should have made the time, it is his job after all, and because he didn't he was now feeling the consequences.

Quickly he grabbed a screwdriver and started working on his right arm. His right hand being his dominant one, it was never easy to do this. To be successful at the job he was doing he had to be extremely precise which is why he had to focus at least two times harder than usual when working with his non-dominant left hand. And then we aren't taking the pain he is currently feeling into account yet. But Jon was a professional and he slowly started screwing things off and on again, repairing all kind of little elements in the process. After a while, the pain was also slowly starting to lessen which helped him to concentrate even more. At the pace he was working it would surely only take a few more minutes, followed by a +-15 min testing experiment to see if everything was still working as it was supposed to work. Jon quickly wanted to finish his work when suddenly...

"Is it on?" A female voice could be heard across the station.

You didn't have to be a genius to figure out who was going to talk. Not only was it clearly a familiar voice but there also only one female who could possibly make a system wide announcement at this time right after settling in. The captain, Piper. And this could only mean one thing.

"Oh... Oh. Uhm... Hi everyone, I hope you've find your sleeping space and been able to adapt to this new environment. But at the moment I need you to stop whatever it is you're doing and gather here in the control room." Just like Jon had feared

Jon cursed his own luck. It was only to be expected that he had the bad luck to have to lay down his work right after he had a malfunctioning limb. Stopping now wouldn't necessarily do any lasting damages but it would still hurt like hell. No, he wasn't going to stop now, Piper just had to understand that while it may be rude, he was going to continue his work while going to and being in the control room. He quickly packed a few tools into a bag which he tossed over his shoulders so he could easily carry it around and started walking to the control room.

A few minutes past before he reached the control room. With his screwdriver still working on his arm, he silently entered the room. A quick glance across his surrounding told him that he was probably one of the first to arrive. Jon threw the bag over his shoulder and placed it on a nearby desk before he took a seat, taking a few other tools out of the bag once he sat down. He probably wasn't supposed to take a seat but right now Jon had other things to worry about, like this annoying pain for one. Finally, he threw a glance at Piper, showing his arm in the progress.

"You have to excuse me for my rudeness but I can't quite put my work down yet." Jon calmly spoke. "Anyways, you called?

"Hmm, no. This won't do."

With a mocking tone and a sigh that did little to elevate her irritation, Matilda hadn't hesitated for one moment to shoot down her assigned room.

"This won't do at all."

Another sigh, followed by a slow headshake.

White. Nothing but sanitized, boring, medical ward white. Nothing to draw the eye except the odd porthole (or was that just reserved for non-space faring ships?) peering into the vast emptiness that was space, and plain desk accompanied by, what she could only describe as; A chair eager to cause back pains.

"It's depressing."

Nevermind that she had to share the restroom on top of everything else. And with a mental note that she'd talk to the commander about this at a more appropriate time, Matilda began unpacking her personal belongings in an attempt to leave these mild annoyances behind for the time being. Which, Matilda being as she was, was easier said than done.

Just then, with a hum and a creak, the comm buzzed and the crew's commander spoke -- with an alarming lack of confidence -- asking everyone to gather. Probably for briefing, but that wasn't Matilda's business. If anything, it'd give her an excuse to talk to Piper about certain reservations. And without further delay, the woman made for the control room; dropping her initial intent to take stock of the research wing.

"Piper," Matilda nodded with the casual air that came with familiarity, or maybe she had never addressed her superiors by title. The commander never seemed to be bothered. Concerning Matilda at least.

"And mister Wolff," She dully noted the biomechanic nonchalantly fixing his arm, in the control room no less. "having trouble discerning priorities I see." Her eyes narrowed, briefly, before returning to the commander.

"Keep this brief, I was hoping to inspect the laboratory for any discrepancies."

“Is it on?”

Though he would have appreciated the simple humour in turning on the microphone early, Quentin didn’t even hear that first part. He was intently focused on checking the air lock latches that held the vessel that had carried the bolstering crew to the Skylab. Now that they had arrived on mars, the last thing even a joker would want was for their vehicle to be the cause of a huge depressurization event. As the main pilot of the entry, he was the first aboard their transport, and the last to leave.

Thankfully, he had triple-checked the last latch in time to hear the continuation of the announcement. Pied Piper sending the first orders, eh? He smirked. This station must be a lot larger than it appeared from the cockpit if it’s sheer size warranted an intercom system. The longer he merely existed within the station, the more the size seemed to truly dawn on him.

The older man hadn’t even dropped off his small case of personal items and change of clothes. Thankfully, he already had trained to efficiently navigate the Sky Lab. He knew that the dormitories were on the way to Central. Quentin quickly dropped the case off in an empty dorm. The door held a plaque engraved with “Q. FISHER”. Once he had tossed the case inside, he briskly walked to the chute that led to the central hatch. With a hop, the old man leaped straight up the tube, toward the centre between spinning compartments, where there was no sensation of gravity. From the central tube, Quentin grabbed and pulled lightly on each of the many handholds that littered the zero-gee sections of the Skylab.

Hopefully he’ll be getting to ground soon. While Quentin is experienced with the sciences as all astronauts are by-nature, he does have a soft spot for soft earth… well, not Earth anymore. Mars was rocky, and sandy, and dry, and cold. Ungodly cold. with little atmosphere to speak of, the red planet waiting below was beautiful, yet terrifying.

Quentin couldn’t wait for the day humanity would eventually terraform the planet. He had a few ideas on how to solve the atmosphere problem, but it would be incredibly expensive… Cost was such a huge aspect in these sorts of things. Plus, most everyone else had already thought of them even back when NASA was created.

“Howdy, kids,” Quentin’s gravelly voice emitted as he floated down another shaft into the artificial gravity of the command centre. “Caprain, Ma’am,” he saluted after standing up, as he had always done back in his air force days. “Fisher reporting, our entry vessel is snug as a bug in a rug.”

People weren't moving fast enough, she gave them an order. They should be running over here! No... She couldn't expect that much of them, she knew that. It was perhaps a bit early still, maybe they should have run some more test and controlled the data before doing this. But there was no point in regrets now, it was done and... Someone entered.

Piper glanced over her own shoulder towards the door to see who it was, Jon. He didn't seem that interested though, seeing how he didn't even look up from whatever it was that he was doing with his own arm at the moment did create a wrinkle between Piper's eyebrows. The lips even curved in annoyance but the facial expression disappeared as fast as it had appeared once he apologized.

"Anyways, you called?"

"Yes, I have an announcement to make to everyone, so you have to wait here until everyone arrive. It's important, so..." Just as Piper was about to finish her sentence the doors slid open once more, revealing Matilda on the other side. And she just nonchalantly walked inside, talking about being busy. Did anyone actually want to hear what she had to say? At the moment it felt like everyone just thought she was just bothering them when they were working. It didn't lighten her mood at all.

"Well, I was about to tell Wolff that I have an important announcement to make so the fact that you want to inspect the laboratory have to wait. And you have to wait for everyone else as well. At the moment all other priorities have to wait." Finally people started to drop in, most of them not making any sort of fuss about having more important things to do at the moment like some others. But Piper made sure to give Jerry a harsh look when he left his post when one of the female members entered, Rana was her name, Piper just didn't know that much about her since she withdrew from the rest of the crew. She never said much but at the moment she looked bothered by Jerry's approach. "You have work to do Leighton, get back to the computer."

While he walked back to his chair one more annoying character showed up, or well it was probably just her mood talking rubbish. So even though Quentin brought good news, news that made her breath out if just a little bit, she couldn't voice the praise without hissing, "Great! At least something is going as planned today!"

People continued to enter the control room, soon everyone was inside. There was Helen and Andreev who entered shortly after Quentin, after them Pete showed his ugly mug. But then the worst of them all showed up, Kevin. Piper didn't have any patient for the man at all. She would actually be happy if he just stayed far away from her today. She wouldn't care if he missed the announcement. But here he was. Showing of his teeth’s in a large grin, "Hello! Captain you look adorable like always!"

The moment his hand approached her face she waved it away, glaring at him, "King, keep your filthy hands to yourself. And stop bothering me, back away."

Kevin just laughed and raised his hands while he backed away, "Sure! I'm not here to start any fuzz, I'm just being friendly." The only answer he got from Piper was that she snorted at him before directing her attention towards the door once more.

Kevin continued to walk around the room, greeting people, "Jon, my man! What are you doing? Fixing your arm? Quentin, you're looking fine today! So are you Helen!"

In the end he ended up beside Matilda with the same huge smirk decorating his face, the confident bastard even stretched out his arm to place it around her shoulders, "Matilda, my queen, you're looking stunning like always! You and me after this, what do you say? You can't say no, like come one, it's me."

While normally people were setting up their belongings in a satisfactory way in their room, Eric was handling his own room in a different way. For one thing, there were three people in his room and everything was messy. Fortunately everyone was still clothed and the mess was more of the mechanical sort.

The room was small, white, and surprisingly tidy. What clothes he had was packed in the closet, and the books he had brought were stored neatly on the shelf. Small trinkets were kept in a box that was tucked underneath his bed, and the bed was empty except for the twenty-four year old man sprawled on the covers, humming what sounded suspiciously like an off-tune version of Eminem as he flipped through a book with planets on the cover.

The floor was, unlike the rest of the room, covered in a clear plastic tarp. Tools were scattered all over it, and seated on the tarp was another young man with similar features to the man on the bed, bent over a metallic leg belonging to a brown-haired man with a grimace on his face, although whether it was from the music or from the messing around with his prosthetic leg was difficult to guess.

"Dude, you done?" Eric asked, looking back down at his leg. Dressed in an olive-green jacket that had been pulled over a black shirt and loose brown shorts, Eric would have looked a bit as if he were posing with one leg outstretched and one pulled loosely up against his chest, leaning back against the side of his bed as he drummed his fingers lightly against the floor in accompaniment to Akira's off-tuned humming - if it weren't for the tools surrounding him and Makoto bent over his leg. "It's been over half an hour. Also, Chocolate."

Some of the joints in his right leg had been a bit creaky lately, squeaking whenever he bent his right leg or taking a few seconds to respond to his movement. Probably a bad joint connection or something. While Eric would normally deal with it himself in the form of percussive maintenance, it hadn't worked this time and so Eric had sought Makoto - and by extension Akira - out. And thus the slumber party in Eric's room had taken place.

It seemed to be coming to an end now. "I told you, not long now." Makoto muttered, not looking up from where he was staring at. Inwardly, Eric marvelled over how fast his leg had gone back to normal - only five minutes ago it had looked like a mess of wires and metal. Fingers trailing over the smooth metal with practiced motions, Makoto grabbed a screwdriver and continued to work. "I just need to screw everything back together. E... Eels. Akira?"

"Shark!" Akira replied breezily, not looking up from the book he was reading. He flipped the page, beginning on a new chapter as he continued "Shark's are edible - shark fin soup. Right Eric?"

"Yeah." Eric answered dully, closing his eyes. "Endangered though, so a lot of people are using faux shark fin. Honey - Ow fuck!" Eric winced as a familiar current ran through him, causing him to jolt and bang his back against the bed as he bit his lip to stop more pained exclamations from escaping. While Eric's prosthetics weren't too bad (shabby and old but well-used and well maintained), it definitely wasn't one of the top-of-the-line models that made reconnecting a synch. "Dammit, Makoto, warn me next time!"

"Ah, sorry! I forgot." Makoto apologised. Akira snickered, but gave Eric a pat on the shoulder as he scowled up at Akira, waiting for the tingling to fade. Straightening up with a stretch that popped the bones in his back and arms, Makoto gave Eric an apologetic smile. "Um. Some of the wires were loose; I tightened them up. I also did some maintenance. Should be alright now. Test it out?"

"Sure." Standing up, Eric did a few test stretches. "Hey, it worked!" No more squeaking sounds, and the response time was faster too. He shot a grin at Makoto, who was busy packing away his tools. "Thanks man. Also-"

He was interrupted by the speaker. Piper's voice filled the room, asking them all to meet in the central room.

"We've got a report to catch." Akira finished for him. Closing the book with a snap, he rolled off the bed, landing lightly on his feet with a grin. "C'mon, lets go! Race ya!" He grinned mischievously at the two, eyes twinkling. "First one to win gets Eric's onion soup, yeah?"

"Oh, onion soup?" Makoto asked hopefully, finishing his clean-up. Placing the rolled up tarp into his bag, he slipped it into the pouch at his side, straightening up. "i like onion soup. You're definitely not beating me in this one."

"Oh, so I'm making the prize? So glad to know that I have no say in this," Eric grumbled, slipping on his shoes. There was no heat to it, however, and there was a faint grin on his face as he asked his question, already knowing the answer. "So what does that mean if I win?"

"That you don't have to make the soup, of course!" Akira laughed, slapping Eric on the back as he made his way past him. The shorter man whirled around to smile at them, walking backwards. Eric's eyes narrowed. He had just enough time to notice that Akira had one hand on the door before the grin turned sly and Akira said "But that doesn't matter because I'm gonna win anyway!" and ran off, door banging open as the younger Kawasaki charged down the hall.

Two voices yelled after him, interrupting the peal of laughter. "Like hell you will!"

-------------

Fortunately for Eric, he made it to the control room first. Thank goodness for the maintenance - it helped that he could push both legs longer than normal thanks to them being, well, fake and not at risk of lactic acid. Unfortunately Akira had whined about losing, but one small cuff on the shoulder and a few shared jokes later and they split up, Makoto heading to his own buddies with a private smile on his face while Akira bounced towards the other pilots, chattering excitedly.

Eric, meanwhile, stuck to the back of the room. Folding his arms across his chest, he gave a few small waves or nods whenever someone he recognised entered, although he refrained from conversation. Waiting patiently, he leant against the wall, waiting to find out the purpose of why they were all called there.

It was another boring morning for Iskander during this space journey. If you are in the space, it isn't easy to distinguish a day from a night because the space ship is lit by the Sun all the time. The passangers have to use special clocks to regulate their lifestyle. Iskander also has been using such device because he wants to be alwasy on time. He has suspected that in the nearest time he will have to meet with the commander, as he was doing it previously. But he didn't know that this time will be a little different.

As always, he got up early and has started to prepare for the meeting. His room was quite big but it was arranged in a minimalist manner. White walls and a metalic floor was an ideal background for silver furniture. The furniture of course wasn't made of wood but of artificail materials and it was stuck or screwed to the floor. The bed was attached to the wall and works as a camp bed, it was easily folded and hidden in a special bay in the wall. Near the bed, a desk was placed with a small lamp and modern computer on its surface.

Iskander has put his diary into the drawer of his desk and generaly has cleaned his room. In this book he has not only entries about his every day work but also malicious opinions about the rest of the crew. They have been traveling for almost two years, so he has had enought time to get to know everyone very well. If it landed in someone else's hands, it could create a real earth quake on the plane. So it was kept in a secret.

Iskander was preparing a cup of coffee when he heard Piper speaking through the speakers. He was surprised that the commander wants to meet with the crew earlier than previously. "Has something bad happened?" Iskander thought. He has left his room feverishly and went towards the place of the meeting holding a cup of coffee in his hand. He stopped suddenly near the intersection of two corridors, one of them led to the control room, because someone flew almost before his nose. He flinched and looked at his coffee, and thought "I need to tell Piper that she should hold her pets* in a cage. They could spill coffee on my silk shirt!"

"Good morning! Have I missed something?" Iskander said when he walked into the control room.

* A friendly way of talking to someone.

Ever the flammable type, the commander.

"I can wait." A cold, harsh tone. "However, I'd be more comfortable knowing what resources I have at my disposal as soon as possible." The woman eyed her superior carefully, probably sizing her up. It was hard to tell when Piper was angry at you, or just in general frustrated with the current affairs. Matilda figured the latter. Usually was, anyway.

That said, she held off on mentioning that maybe it'd have been more efficient to notify everyone via comm. Having to wait on everyone felt a bit wasteful, even if the crew slowly flooded into the control room. One by one, too, which was odd (well, there were Helen and the meek russian lad).

And that's when he came in...

There was a look of relief. Then irritation as the good doctor sauntered in with a grin that couldn't be more telling if it tried, and Matilda was one of the few who had managed to pick up on the subtleties (if there were any with Kevin) when Kevin wasn't carrying his business-sense. This was one of those moments, and, like always, she could feel the dread kick in when he waltzed over to her -- the intent as clear as the smug grin on his face.

"Matilda, my queen,"

So it began. She brushed the hand away and flashed the man a frosty glare out of sheer reflex. Wouldn't be the first time he tried, and it was always met with the same response.

"No." Her stare lingered for a good few seconds. A subtle challenge, perhaps, daring him to continue.

"I've work to attend to after," She paused, turning away from the man. "as do you, no doubt."

And for a moment, Matilda eyed the commander expectantly. She didn't want to wait much longer, especially with the doctor on the prowl.

His advances apparently wasn't welcomed today, too bad. But Kevin wasn't expecting anything else anyway, so he wasn't that surprised. He just shrugged it off with a smile and nodded his head in agreement, "Yeah, I guess I can entertain myself with work instead. It's not as fun, but well, you can't have it all. But you know, you're always welcome in case you change your mind. I'm not withdrawing the invitation."

By then everyone had gathered, at least it seemed like that to Piper. She was sure that she hadn't missed anyone even though people had made her lose her focus for short amounts of time. But the room was filled with people, moving around in anticipation or irritation. It could be anyone of them. Since people seemed to be bothered by her calling them over.

Yes, everyone was here. She was one hundred percent sure. So after one last glance over the familiar faces she clapped her hands together to get everyone attention, "Silence."

Once those who had been speaking with one another had quieted down she let her eyes sweep over their faces once more before speaking up, "I know most of you wonder why I've gathered you all here. I know that some of you have better things to do and once I am done you can return to your other duties. But this is important and it's not bad news. It's really good news actually. I know that this is something that will cheer you all up." She did try to put on a smile for them all, but it only seemed forced and unnatural. "So... Leighton and myself are proud to announce to you all that all the data checks out. Tomorrow morning some of you will be the first humans to walk on Mars. Isn't that worth taking a break in your work to hear?"

From the background you could hear someone clear his throat to gather everyone's attention, "So who's the lucky ones? I assume I'm one of them. If not there must been some mistake."

"No, you're not landing on Mars this time Ackner. We need people to set up the facility down there before people start their researches." The man was clearly offended by Piper's statement, his behavior couldn't be described as anything but childish. A grown up man started to murmur to himself about how he had to live with so much stupidity around himself, it looked pathetic. "The ones going down there are Fisher, Farran, Liu, Wolff and [some other names]. If anyone have any objects voice them now, and give me a real good reason to why you don't agree with me."

Quentin pounded fists with Kevin with a huge friendly grin. “Kevin my boy, you’re just the spitting image of some celebrity or another.” He laughed. “Though I am concerned what’s taking the rest of the crew so long. I had to rush here from the airlock after dropping my gear off.”

He nodded a greeting to Eric, who had entered the room inconspicuously and remained close to the back of the room. The old man stood at-attention and energetic, contrasting sharply with the tired to straight-up apathetic lot that had entered the control room. His large eyes would’ve twinkled if there were any light reflecting off from Mars into the control room. As it was, the control room was pointing to the side, relative to the planet. The only lighting was the flat low-power lighting that came standard on all spacecraft.

The news was delivered. Apparently everything has been set up and checked perfectly. Fisher would pilot the entry vehicle to bring the team down to the surface, where they would set up the base using the supplies that had already been delivered years ago from previous missions. The only things the team needed to bring were flight suits, EVA suits, and whatever equipment they needed to bring to the surface.

Fisher’s equipment was Rovers and assorted mining equipment. Though he was educated as well in engineering as any astronaut, he was not a savant science specialist like most everyone around. The old man was more like a jack of all trades, where his only shining quality was his damn good piloting skills.

“Understood, Ma’am. I’ll get the MDV prepped.” Fisher began to head to the door, ready to perform his particular duties. However, he did pause near the doorframe in case there was any more news to announce.

Stubborn as a mule, that one. She kept a practiced pokerface, attention on the commander's announcement as she seemed fed up waiting for anyone who was still missing from the roster. And the King? Well, Matilda figured he'd understood the message until such a time came where he felt to dare another attempt to court his Queen. He always did. Not unlike clockwork, in fact. She could only hope that wouldn't be for quite some time indeed.

And with the distraction off on his own little tangent, the commander spoke with the fraud-confidence she always displayed in the face of her crew. Her forced smile reflected that, Matilda thought. Reflective of her own behaviour when she tried relaying the good news and failing just as badly at it, and for a moment the woman felt relieved it wasn't her standing in the spotlight. 'This is why you use the comm, dear.', a condescending thought at best.

As for the message, Matilda felt... pleased, if only slight. Her work wouldn't be relevant for quite a while, but given that the first few readings checked out without so much as a fault was enough reason to give credit where it was due. And so, after mentally chastising Ackner's little tirade (that man had no tact, seriously) Matilda gave the parties responsible for the data a respectful nod.

"If that's all, I'll return to my duties."

Even if she wouldn't be with the ground team on their first take-off, it wouldn't hurt to come prepared when that day came. A good scientist always is, and so she left the control room; waving some of her fellow crew goodbye (and give some others another stern glaring) as she inched passed Quentin who hung clumsily before the doorway.

"Excuse me," She commented passingly.

After Piper told Jon that he had to wait until everyone else arrived he silently continued working on his arm. It didn't take that long before familiar faces filled the room, though. Some more energetic than others and some more annoyed by the fact that they had to stop doing what they were doing just to get to this room. There was even someone who made a snarky remark directed to him fixing his arm but Jon had just answered that by faintly smiling into her general direction before continuing where he left off. Whenever someone new entered the room, they swiftly greeted everyone before taking a seat or a spot to stand and wait for the announcement. And then finally the announcement followed.

It was nice to have some good news for a change, and this particular piece of good news Piper had been preparing everyone for surely didn't disappoint. The fact that the data checked out meant that there was at least one less thing to worry about. It also meant that the first people would be able to start their mission on Mars and were able to maybe even make a landing on the planet. This thought was confirmed when Pete Ackner, a scientist on this mission specialised in geology, spoke up. He basically demanded to be one of the first to go make the landing but Piper quickly shot the proposal down, which caused him to mumble things to himself in quite a childish manner. Not that Jon cared, though. Pete was supposed to be an adult for christ sake. He should just have to learn and deal with it, he guessed.

"The ones going down there are Fisher, Farran, Liu, Wolff and [some other names]. If anyone have any objects voice them now, and give me a real good reason to why you don't agree with me." Piper concluded her announcement.

Jon simply nodded. Being one of the first people to set foot on Mars was surely a huge honor. After all, they would be the people to write history. Yet, to Jon at least, it didn't feel like such a huge accomplishment. He couldn't really put his finger on it why he felt that way but he still did. This didn't mean that he was going to do a bad job, however. Jon took his work very seriously, and luckily he did because there certainly was a lot more work to follow now that the first landing was a fact.

A few moments after the announcement Jon finished fixing up his arm. It had taken him a little longer than expected but he was happy that it was in a good condition once again. After a few little tests, he would immediately start prepping for the mission he had received. But first, he had a question.

"When will we be leaving captain?" Jon curiously asked the captain to make sure how much time he had to prepare for the mission before he was supposed to be sent off to the ground.

"So do you, Helen."


She winked at Kevin. "I always look good, babe," she said, but by then he had turned his focus towards Matilda. She smiled, shaking her head. Kevin seemed to have a knack for turning his attentions where they weren't wanted. Sometimes she wasn't sure whether he did it on purpose or not.


Soon people settled, and Piper was finally allowed to make her announcement. At first Helen hadn't thought much about what the subject of the meeting would be, having for the most part assumed that Piper wanted to get some of the ground rules down. After the actual words had been spoken, however, she felt a grin growing across her face. It faltered momentarily when Ackner butted in, but the next piece of information put it right back.


She was going to Mars.


Of course this shouldn't have come as a huge surprise given their mission, but Helen allowed herself a squeak of excitement all the same. She was a woman focuses on the now, and for the past two years she had let her work be her calling. A small part of her had been excited about where they were headed of course, but she hadn't considered what that meant until very recently. Consciously, not until the words came out of Piper's mouth.

"Awesome," she said. She felt as though she ought to say more, but the moment soon passed, and Jon posed the only other question she could think of. She was satisfied with that, however, glancing to see Matilda leaving out the corner of her eye. One day she would find out what that woman's deal was, but given that she hadn't managed it so far, it was very possible she needed some kind of psychology degree before she could understand.

For now, she turned back to the captain and listened for further instructions.

Oh great, just as she had finished her announcement people started leaving right away. Well, those who wasn’t allowed to go down to the surface left anyway. The other ones was kind enough to stay, at least for a little while. Like Fisher, he seemed eager to leave the room as well. But she could understand why, he had important things to do now.

"When will we be leaving captain?"

There it was, the reason why she wanted those who were about to travel to stay right here, and the reason she wanted them to gather in here. Because how was she supposed to answer questions and have a discussion with them if they weren’t here with her? No, and this way she had everyone’s attention as well. So no one could miss the information.

Once again she tried to use her facial muscles to form a smile, she needed to seem friendly and approachable at least some times, “You will be leaving tomorrow, or well, fifteen hours from now. Nine o’clock. So I want every one of you to be finished at least half an hour before that. You need to prep all your things and be ready to just take them with you down to the surface. And don’t forget to rest so you’re alert tomorrow!” Was there anything more she needed to say? No, she couldn’t think of anything. She probably covered it all. It felt like that anyway. “Is there anything else you need to know? If not, you are all free to leave.”

Even if this didn’t concern him Kevin had still stayed behind to listen to what else that could been added, he was happy for every one of them. It was probably exciting news, well Helen sure was happy anyway. He couldn’t help but smile at her reaction. It sure was fun to see someone who displayed what they truly felt. But Matilda was right in what she had said earlier, he needed to head over to his part of the space station. There was probably much to be done there, like unpacking. How exciting! This would be fun, the time of the century, something he would remember on his death bed. Surely.

But before that he needed to do something else, so he headed over to Helen and lightly bumped his elbow against her arm, “How great is this?! I’m so happy for you, too bad I’m not allowed to join you. I would like to, but I will probably never head down to the surface, why would I? There is nothing I could do to help,” It wasn’t meant to sound like he was sad, but somehow it did. He could hear it himself as he said it, so he finished it all with a laugh and added, “Just picture me down there! There is too many things that are more exciting than working down there, like getting lost on Mars. Who else in the world would be able to boast about having such a bad sense of direction that they got lost on a whole other planet? No one! That would be awesome. Such a great way to start a conversation.”

"Alright, I guess that was all the questions then. In that case I will get back to my other duties and so should you," Piper gave those who were left a small nod before walking past Fisher and the others as she passed through the door. Yes, there were other things she needed to do. Like making a round to inspect that everyone was settled down and happy with what they had been provided. If something was missing, which it shouldn't because no one had complained? But well, you never knew. Perhaps they had been expecting something more and what they got wasn't reaching those expectations?

Now when she thought about it she should probably get a notebook to be able to write down complaints. There could be a chance that some equipment could been stacked in the wrong place, there's always a chance. You never know before you check it yourself. She should probably check if everything on the station works as it should as well, it had been empty for a while. Yes, she should notify the computer guys about that. And she probably need Perry here as well to have another set of eyes so she wouldn't miss anything. While they were working they could probably go over some of assignments they had as well, plan ahead. Yeah, that sounded like a good idea.

But firstly something to write down notes on. Good thing she knew where to find it, and the rest of the evening passed by as it should. Well, she almost forgot about dinner but thankfully she did bring Perry with her and he reminded her of how important it was to actually eat. But other than that they checked most things on the station, doors lock mechanism and some alarms, lights in rooms where no one was and other stuff like that. Everything seemed to work like it should and Piper was pleased.

And so far no one had complained about anything, she hadn't been able to ask everyone yet because well time went by fast. And as the hours went on she had to put the notepad down in the end and say goodbye to Perry because both of them were tired by now. So once in between the sheets it didn't take long before she passed out by exhaustion.

The time passed peacefully, at least inside her cabin. She had no idea that somewhere inside the station people was arguing, and not in polite manners. No people or at least one was screaming at the other one. But early in the morning when her alarm went off she was greeted with silence once she left her room. First thing to be done was exercising, as all other days. It was extremely important.

Once that was done she was ready to make herself presentable. By then she was ready to meet and greet everyone that was supposed to leave them for the time being. She was actually rather excited to send them off, yes, this would be a great day. She was looking forward to it.

Once everyone had gathered around her, some more eager to get started and others not so much. There were people that didn't even seem to be awake at the time, but Piper wasn't that surprised, most of the time the crew decided their own working pace and what time of the day they preferred to work at. So some of them wasn't really used to getting up this early, but it still was a big surprise to see Rana yawning.

"Alright, have a nice trip everyone, I'm looking forward to hearing about your progress once you return here," She nodded at them as they entered the pod, but as Fisher was about to pass her she stretched out her arm to stop him, "I'm counting on you to look after the others, I hope you won't let me down."

Once she had been able to tell him that last thing she removed her hand so he could pass through and everyone could leave. She was a bit envious of them but at the same time, she had an entire space station to explore. And there were a lot to do anyway, but next time maybe, yeah maybe she would be able to join them down there. That would be nice.

Down on the planet people were working on their separate parts once they had landed and been given instructions. Rana was one of them, even though she was tired and yawning most of the time. But she was careful to not mess anything up, she was sure she was able to do that anyway. Or... well, she wasn't really sure. But she hoped. And she tried to be careful. Once or twice she glanced towards the other ones working on their own, some were talking and some were not.

At times like this she dreamt of how it would be to be friends with them, they seed nice. Most of them. How nice it would be if she would be able to just walk up to them and talk, well, it wasn't that easy. Most of the time it felt like her tongue became paralyzed and just lied there inside the mouth. No movement at all. But there was someone she was able to talk to without such problems, and she was approaching her at the moment. Even though they were friends she still got nervous in her present.

"Hi pumpkin, why the gloomy face? I thought you were looking forward to this," the radio sparked a little as Diana talked but Rana could still hear the concerned tone in her voice.

"W-What do you mean?" Of course Rana knew what she meant but she still pretended not to because she didn't feel like talking about it.

"That pretty face of yours wears a expression that doesn't suit it, just tell me what has happened."

"It's really nothing special I promise... It's just that people are a bit overwhelming at the moment..."

That concerned look got even more noticeable, "You mean the thing that happened yesterday?"

"Yeah... it was just very... stressing... Well, it's just everything actually. Everything feels stressing right now. I just hope its gets better."

"I hope so too pumpkin," Diana patted her shoulder softly, "Once we're done here and return you and me are going to have a girls night and just talk and enjoy each other's company, yes?"

Rana only nodded as an answer to that, it sounded great and awful at the same time. Talking was hard. But she hoped that she would feel better afterwards.

In the control room, the day before they went to the planet's surface, Helen was brought out of her thoughts when Kevin seemed to materialise out of nowhere. To be fair, she was dimly aware that he'd been there the whole time, but her mind had for some reason been occupied.

“How great is this?! I’m so happy for you, too bad I’m not allowed to join you. I would like to, but I will probably never head down to the surface, why would I? There is nothing I could do to help.”

"Don't say that, dude." She grinned at him. "If nothing else you could've kept me company."

She noted his laugh, but it sounded almost as sad as the words he were saying. She could imagine why– it had to be quite a blow to be so close to undiscovered territory, and only get to look at it from a distance. Though they'd only known each other for the extent of the mission, she found herself wishing that Kevin would soon be joining them on the surface, so they could experience it together.

“Just picture me down there! There is too many things that are more exciting than working down there, like getting lost on Mars. Who else in the world would be able to boast about having such a bad sense of direction that they got lost on a whole other planet? No one! That would be awesome. Such a great way to start a conversation.”

"Amazing," she answered with a half-smile. "I can imagine it. 'Have I told you about that time I was among the first group of people on Mars, and got completely lost?' I bet Piper would have ordered the crew to leave you behind. I imagine expending resources on lost crewmembers would be a bit of a stretch."

Helen gave a laugh, shaking her head. "Nah, that's mean of me. I should give her more credit than that."

Before she could say anything more than that, however, Piper's voice rang out and she realised she'd probably chatted through the rest of her debriefing.

"Alright, I guess that was all the questions then. In that case I will get back to my other duties and so should you."

She watched the captain leave, shaking her head slightly. After that, she quickly sought out any information she might have missed from the other crewmembers, before spending most of the evening in the common area with a glass of whisky and a boardgame.

It wasn't hard to tell that it was Helen's first time in space. It might not have been incredibly obvious on their way to the space station– mostly because the travel had been mildly uncomfortable at best and there wasn't a lot to be excited about. In the pod on her way to Mars, however, she was quite clearly excited, and internally wondered how the hell she was meant to focus on her work when there was an entire planet out there for her to explore.

Arriving, she was immediately reminded of the Amargosa desert, sans the minor vegetation. Long stretches of rocks and sand lay out before them, the edges of the horizon bathed in a kind of fog that had to be a trick of the light, or the distance. All in all, she was definitely impressed, but had an inkling that further investigation would lead to more of the same. Rocks and sand, and mountains. It seemed stupid to call a whole different world boring, but then perhaps that was why she was an engineer and not a geologist or Indiana–Fucking–Jones. Space Indiana Jones.

Despite the somewhat monotone nature of their surroundings, however, it seemed that most people were content in experiencing it on their own. They went about the work they'd come there to do, each person internalising their thoughts to the point where the ever-social Helen was reaching a breaking point. She didn't want to be a bother, but on the other hand she wanted to vocalise what was happening. She noticed Rana and Diana having a conversation, and wondered briefly if she ought to join them.

Diana probably wouldn't mind, but Helen wasn't completely unable to read the room and she knew Rana might sometimes be intimidated by Helen's more... extroverted personality. She looked up towards the horizon, finishing the last of what she was working on. "Sod it," she said.

Moments later she was making her way over to the two other women, trademark grin plastered on her face. "Hey girls," she said. "What's up? Are we enjoying the new view?

Oh no... Oh noes... Rana could see it in the corner of her eye, a disaster waiting to happen. Or well, at least it felt like something like that. Her heart started beating faster, was that sweat dripping down her neck? No probably not, or maybe, but the feeling was exaggerated. Extremely exaggerated because she was nervous. She was so nervous that she could feel her hands starting shaking. Even though she probably made it worse she tried to focus her attention on the work in front of her, but she mostly made a mess.

Diana could see how Helen's sudden entrance made a huge impact on Rana, it wasn't such a big surprise though. Rana usually behaved in such fashion whenever anyone tried to approach her. It was the same way when Diana tried to befriend her, it took time. But persistence wins in the end. But there was something else, Diana knew a secret. Or a fun fact maybe? Yeah, it was a bit fun. Diana knew that Rana had a crush on Helen. Even though Rana herself had brushed it off as only admiration since she was so good at what she did. The whole crush thing was not something Rana had told her herself, it was something Diana had figured out by herself. Sometimes it was a bit too obvious.

"Hey girls," Oh noes, she's talking, Rana's heart was beating even faster now, "What's up? Are we enjoying the new view?"

Diana buffed at Rana in an attempt to make her answer the question but it only made Rana press her lips even tighter together, "Oh yes, it's beautiful! So different from what you're used to. It's fun to have something else to do as well, being locked inside a metal cage for two years was dreadful. I'm so happy to be outside again. Or is this even counted as being outside?"

The question was directed at Helen but she had no time to actually answer it out there because right after they were told to gather around the pod since they were supposed to return to the space station once more. Diana flashed a disappointed smile, "Well, I'm guessing we're going back to our new fancy metal cage once more."

While the other two were friendly towards each other Rana just followed them silently, glancing now and then at them. In her mind she really tried to convince herself to open her mouth, trying to plan out something to say. Something nice? Or something funny? Something else? How did you talk to others?! The more she thought about it the less she could think of, she got even more stressed by it. And annoyed at herself. At times like these she really could understand why people couldn't stand her present, she was so boring. So useless. Yeah and much, much more. The thoughts continued to occupy her mind as they travelled back.

When they had safely return to the space station and the doors glide open so they would be able to exit they were greeted by a stern looking Piper like always but also others who was interested in the results, this time she didn't even try to give them a smile. She just looked them bluntly in their eyes as she spoke, "How did it go?"

Kevin just sounded like an echo as he asked the same question with huge shining eyes like a kid, "Yeah! How did it go? Was it totally awesome?!"

Matilda never was an advocate for field work, let alone on a planet she'd never set foot on, but when she felt some envy for those who did get to go onto an expedition she realised that maybe she was somewhat excited about getting out there and explore a whole new world. A barren, oxygen-deprived world... Though choices.

So, the rest of the evening/afternoon (hard to tell from space) the woman had managed to pass the time by doing her personal rounds and check ups on the lab, before taking herself and her dinner to her private chambers where she made preparations for the next day and then going off to bed.

And the morning after? Well, Matilda'd argue against sleeping on space beds on a regular basis, and she had the muscle aches and back-pain to back such claims up in future court. The result an earlier morning than usual, which was a good opportunity to wash and dress up before anybody else could peck her for a chat.

The rest of the day were taken as it came; mostly exploring every nook and cranny of the station that she hadn't picked up on the day before, a quick chat with Jerry about future schedules (she was curious about when it'd be her turn to pick Mars apart, of course) and trying to find Piper who, like always, had managed to evade the public eye until the group came back from their first excursion.

And Matilda was just in time to see the pod dock onto the station, so of course she made sure to drop in...

Andreev

Perhaps not surprisingly, there wasn't much for the microbiologist to do until the samples started coming in. Andreev had spent the last two years familiarising himself with the available research– most of which was still available at the touch of a screen in his lab. He hadn't been too disappointed that he hadn't been among the first to land on Mars. He'd get down there soon enough, and until they finished the initial work he'd only be in the way. Thus, he had spent the remainder of the previous evening deep in a daydream about what his first time on Mars would be like, and time had simply passed.

He started the day by nigh obsessively cleaning his lab. By the time he finished with all the equipment, it was well past lunchtime. He acquired a quick snack from the canteen, and returned to his research notes. When the time came to greet the returning crew, he made his way down to the docking area with a few others. The crew barely had time to set foot inside before the questions came:

"How did it go?"

"Yeah! How did it go? Was it totally awesome?!"

Andreev put his hands in his pockets, looking out at the returned. Some seemed indifferent, others were still clearly overcome with the excitement. He nodded to a few of them, deciding not to speak up in fear of attracting attention away from the captain's question. He and Piper already had a strained relationship, he didn't need to go making it worse.

Helen

"Oh yes, it's beautiful! So different from what you're used to. It's fun to have something else to do as well, being locked inside a metal cage for two years was dreadful. I'm so happy to be outside again. Or is this even counted as being outside?"

She smiled warmly at the two other women, not surprised by Rana's silence. She'd known people like Rana before, and didn't take it personally– once she began to feel more comfortable in Helen's presence, she thought, the woman would probably speak up more. Until then, Helen would just have to continue being her charming self.

Besides, she thought as she turned to offer Diana an answer, it was endearing. Cute, even. Unfortunately, at that time they were told to return to the upstairs, thus the conversation had to be cut short.

"Well, I'm guessing we're going back to our new fancy metal cage once more."

"All in the name of adventure," Helen replied as they made their way towards the pod. "Though I for one am definitely planning to run naked through Hyde Park once this is over. After four and a half years I'll be lucky if I don't develop severe claustrophobia."

She grinned, winking at them both. "You're both invited, of course."

With that she returned to her seat in the pod, wishing not for the first time that she had a pack of cigarettes to keep her company for the ride. However, the trip back seemed somehow shorter than the trip down, as they were in the docking area before she knew it. She let most of the crew leave first, taking a moment to brace herself for the annoying procedure of getting the damn space suit off, but already heart Piper's voice somewhere outside.

"How did it go?"

Helen shook her head, wondering where on Earth the woman had derived such awful social skills. She stepped outside with the rest of the crew, catching an excited Kevin by Piper's side, and grinning at him.

"Yeah! How did it go? Was it totally awesome?!"

"We colonised half the planet and fought a space alien," she said. "Unfortunately it was too powerful and in return for our lives we promised it could marry Piper. It also works to create an alliance between humans and space aliens, which is pretty neat."

She laughed at her own joke and shook her head. "Nah, it was good. Lot of rocks.

"We colonised half the planet and fought a space alien. Unfortunately it was too powerful and in return for our lives we promised it could marry Piper. It also works to create an alliance between humans and space aliens, which is pretty neat."

At least someone was laughing. Even though he probably was laughing a little too much and a bit too loud, Kevin laughed so much that even he received a harsh glare from Piper. It wasn't that surprised that she wasn't finding the joke even a little amusing. She didn't even smile at it. If anything, her usual frown got even more apparent.

"Nah, it was good. Lot of rocks."

"Cool, you got to tell me everything! I want to know all you have to offer about the trip! Tell me more about the alien, that part was the best."

"That has to wait for later," Who would tell her what had happened without joking it away? And who wouldn't mind to stay behind to tell so she could do the official report. Well, there was only one she could think of. "Diana, I trust you will tell me about the progress without unnecessary details. Please tell me about how everything went down there and how the facility looks at the moment. Everyone else are free to go so you can get out of the spacesuits and spend the evening together."

Once everyone had left Piper turned her attention towards Diana, she could understand that the poor woman probably was not feeling like talking to her at the moment. Yeah, she was probably warm and uncomfortable inside that suit. In the back of her mind Piper knew that she was being uncooperative at the moment. But at the same time, she wanted to know if she would be able to send down other's so they could start actually working. And she wanted to send the report back to earth so she could take the evening off as well. She wanted to get back to her quarter and well... relax or something. Read her favorite book again.

"Alright tell me about how it went, you don’t have to be detailed, I can ask the other ones once they've changed. I just want a quick overlook." And yes, Piper did get her description in the end. Once Diana was done she rushed away as well. It didn't bother Piper, she was used to being alone. So she just simply walked out of the docking area and made her way to the control room so she could start typing up that report.

Some time had passed since the last encounter with the crew inside Skylab 014 Genesis, nothing spectacular had happened since then. The ground station had been set up properly and people had even traveled down there for research finally. Piper was pleased. Everything was going according to plan. Well, almost everything. At the moment, she was sitting in front of her computer and having some extremely annoying troubles with it.

She had tried to contact Earth at least ten times but there was no connection to be found. She couldn't even send a typed message back to them to boast about their success. It was so annoying, after another failed attempt she just gave up. She let out an irritated sigh and leaned her forehead against her palms. As she did so the doors glided open and someone else entered the control room.

"What are you doing? Sleeping?" Jerry smiled at her, not in a friendly or flirtatious way. It was more like a smile you made when you found yourself funny and was just waiting for the others to laugh as well. But Piper did not laugh. She just glared at him.

"We're having problems. I can't create a connection with earth, there is something wrong."

"What? Really?" Suddenly Jerry was intrigued, or terrified, Piper couldn't read his expressions, "Let me take a look."

Piper stood up to let Jerry sit down on the chair, because well... she had no clue what to do. And she hoped that Jerry if anyone would be able to fix their problem. If he wasn't able to do it... she had no clue what to do if that was the case. She would have to consult someone. Perry probably. Or someone else. But Jerry would be able to fix it! She was sure of it.

"I'm leaving it to you, I'm sure you will be able to fix it. If not, let me know, we need to fix this issue fast. We can't let the others know and worry for nothing." Jerry just nodded as an answer to her statements, too focused on the problems at hand to waste any more time talking with her.

Since he was so concentrated Piper decided that it was probably for the best to leave him alone. If it was her who was busy working she would want to be left alone as well. So she walked out of the control room but the doors had just closed behind her as another problem appeared before her. Or well, another human being. A stressed one at that. Piper knew that something was wrong when she saw Diana rushing up to her but she couldn't keep from sighing, because she was already stressed and tired from the connection failure.

"Commander! P-Piper! Some-some-", Diana was breathing heavily, so heavily that Piper couldn't hear what she was trying to say once she had stopped in front of her.

"What? Talk properly."

Diana took a couple of deep breathes and collected herself, "Rana is missing."