“The antenna?” Rachel asked in disbelief. “All these problems and you guys think it’s the antenna?”
“It’s the only thing that makes any sense.” Daniel replied. He knew his solution sounded simple considering the problems they had been having but Daniel had often found the most simple solutions were usually the right ones. They hadn’t received anything usable since arriving on Mars and the only thing left to check was the antenna. “A small adjustment that’s all we need to do, one small adjustment.”
“How sure are you?” Rachel asked. “Could you do the job yourself?”
“What? Me?” Daniel was in disbelief. “Go outside.”
“You’ll have to at some point, why not now.”
“Has he been trained?” Cot asked, concerned at where this conversation was leading. “Does he know how to work the suit.”
“I had a few theory classes back on the Island but not much else.” Daniel said trying to sound more confident then he actually was.
“Did you do any buoyancy training?” Cot asked, noting Daniel blank look on his face. “Did you go into a swimming pool with weights tied around you?”
“No.” Daniel replied.
“This is going to take time to train him up, maybe it will be quicker to get a maintenance team up to speed on the equipment, they did set it all up for us after all.”
“Including setting up the fault.” Rachel said snidely. “It will take Daniel just as long to get used to the suit as it would to get the maintenance team up to speed on the antenna.”
“I can do this.” Daniel said, realising this might be his one opportunity to walk on Mars.
“Fine then I go out there with him.” Cot suggested as an order. “Just in case.”
“Agreed.” Rachel said.
“Look kid this is going to be tough, we’re not going out for a walk in some park. One mistake could kill us both so you’re going to want to pay attention.” Cot spoke sternly hoping his words would land with Daniel. They did.
Over the following week Daniel and Cot worked on preparing for going outside. Daniel studied hard, hoping to prove himself to Cot. He didn’t know why this was important to him, but he knew that it was. Now they were standing together, suited in their white space suits waiting for the airlock to de-pressurise. Daniel took in a deep breath.
“Ready for this?” Cot asked Daniel.
“Not sure that I am.” Daniel replied, fumbling for the radio buttons on his arm as he spoke.
“Don’t worry, everyone feels a bit like that the first time they go outside.” Cot looked over at his young colleague. “Just keep it under control and pay attention to what you’re doing.”
“Ok.” Daniel replied, trying to take in the advice.
“If all else fails remember what my old Captain used to say.”
“What’s that?”
“Breath.” Cot spoke just as the airlock door opened. At first Daniel winced, expecting the bright sun light to burst through the airlock door, the first sunlight he had seen in months. The sun light did fill the airlock where the pair were stand but it wasn’t the bright sunlight that he was used to seeing on Earth. This was a duller glare, one that seemed to come from a different sun. Daniel had to remind himself that it wasn’t the sun that was different it was the planet. Cot took the first steeps out of the airlock, trying to mind his head as he did so. He walked out onto the surface before turning to face the airlock, where Daniel was still waiting inside. “What are you waiting for?” Cot asked over the radio.
“I don’t know, I just feel I should say something.”
“Well you can’t say one small step, that’s already taken.”
“This is the first time I’ve ever walked on a different planet. Surely I should say something.”
“Just get out here will you.” Cot waved his arm in Daniel’s direction.
“As mankind leaves one planet we journey into new adventures.” Daniel spoke in a slow deliberately slow way. Cot shook his head.
“Oh look there’s Darrell.” Cot pointed to another human fixing some other piece of equipment in the distance. “Hey Darrell, see you later.” Cot waved enthusiastically. “That was Darrell.”
“You had to spoil it for me didn’t you?” Daniel asked as he walked towards where Cot was already standing.
“Shall we get started. The aerial is over there.” Cot pointed towards the large wire antenna which towered over the white small structure of the US base. The two men walked across the Martian surface, kicking small rocks with their feet as they did so. It took Daniel a few steps to get used to the lower gravity without the confines of the base walls. He soon realised how effortlessly he could move over the surface of the planet. After a few minutes the two men reached the foot of the antenna.
“It seems bigger now we are faced with it.” Daniel said over the radio.
“I know what you mean.” Cot replied.
“Am I the only one disappointed we don’t have jet packs?”
“What?” Cot asked confused by the comment.
“I’m on an alien fighting, part of a super-secret project spying on an alien race. I should have a jet pack right now right?”
“I suppose.” Cot shrugged his shoulders through the baggy space suit. “What’s your point?”
“Life’s disappointing sometimes I guess.” Daniel pointed towards the antenna. “Shall we start climbing.”
“You first.” Cot replied. Daniel moved over towards the antenna.
“A ladder, that’s spacey.”
“Just get climbing.” Cot motioned towards the ladder that ran all the way up the large antenna frame. Daniel started to make his way up the ladder. At first it seemed to him that the runs on the ladder were too far spaced. It didn’t take many steps for him to realise that this was a ladder designed to be used on Mars where the thinness of the atmosphere and the lower gravity meant it was quite comfortable to use. Daniel started to climb higher and higher, he looked down and noticed that Cot was right behind him. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed the read outs on his arm display start to flicker randomly.
“Interference.” Daniel said over the radio whilst trying to point at the readouts and yet still hold onto the ladder.
“You said you thought it might happen.” Cot replied over the radio. “Let me try the control room.” Cot said before pressing a few other buttons on his arm. “US Control, Expedition team.” Cot waited a few moments. “Rachel are you there?” Cot press a button on his arm again. “Looks like we are on our own. Short range radio seems ok. Let’s keep moving.” The two men continued to climb until they reached the top of the ladder. There was a small platform which meant they could stand side by side as they worked.
“There’s the error, simple really.”
“What is it?” Cot asked.
“A small alignment error really, it means the data transmissions coming through this thing aren’t calibrated correctly. Simple to fix, a few minutes and we’ll be done.”
“Get going will you, I’m not that great with heights.”
“Yet you volunteered for this mission?”
“Someone has to keep an eye on you.”
“Rachel could have done it.”
“Yeah, Rachel.”
“What do you mean?”
“Let’s just say I’m not sure I would have trusted her out here with you.”
“What are you saying?”
“It’s not in me to bad mouth my superior. But that stuff back on the island never sat well with me.”
“What stuff?”
“Pitting you and Lomax against each other. Sure she wants the best for her team but
telling Lomax that his fitness wouldn’t matter, then firing him when he wasn’t mission ready, that was just cruel.”
“What are you talking about?”
“She chose you over Lomax, she sabotaged any chance he had of coming here, didn’t you know that?”
“No.”
“Look kid, all I’m saying is be careful, she’s up to something and it involves you. I think it might be useful if I teach you how to fire a gun.” Cot’s words resonated inside of Daniel’s helmet. They hang around like a wasp stuck inside. Daniel continued with the work in silence. It didn’t take him long to finish. The two men descended the ladder and made their way inside, a job well done. Yet they never spoke again about Cot’s words of warning from on top of the ladder.