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  He smiled encouragingly at the Kings as they entered the flight deck. "All good below I understand."

  Nicola nodded and said, "Yes, no problems as far as we can see. What's the news from Endeavour?"

  "Still silence. It's likely the storm fried their comms, but we really don't know for sure. I'll give a crew update after Ground Control have responded." Anders was clinging to a thin hope that Ground Control could contact Endeavour directly. The prolonged silence was ominous though.

  Chapter 8

  Georgia came around and opened her eyes to see a worried expression on the face of Doctor Betts. Looking around she saw she was back in the refuge with the rest of the crew. She found it hard to focus and there was a constant buzzing in her ears. Her head wanted to explode.

  Captain Winter was trying to speak to her, although his voice sounded very distant. "Georgia, thank goodness you're okay. What were you thinking?"

  She blinked twice, trying hard to concentrate and gather her thoughts. "I'm not sure I thought it through, sir. I just reacted to save the mission."

  "We'll see if you did that. Thank you for retracting the array before the flare hit, but it wasn't worth the huge personal risk. Doctor Betts says you were hit by a massive dose of radiation from cosmic particles. I've told her to watch you closely for the next seventy-two hours."

  Megan looked extremely worried and was more sympathetic. "You were exposed for only a few seconds before the captain pulled you to safety. How are you feeling?"

  "Light-headed and nauseous, but I'll live."

  "You had us worried there. You were out cold for a couple of minutes. I'll prescribe you painkillers and anti-radiation tablets. I'll also need to take some blood and you must rest. No excuses."

  "Sorry, doctor," interrupted Captain Winter, "but I'll need Georgia back on the flight deck with Mancuso and the chief to effect repairs. This flare is likely to have knocked out many of our systems. I will need all the expertise I can to get everything back online."

  Megan protested. "You can see she's in no fit state. Can't you give her an hour at least?"

  Georgia pulled herself upright, concentrating hard on not throwing up. "I'll be fine, Meg. Let me help the captain for as long as I can. Then I promise to take some rest and you can carry out all the tests you want to."

  The doctor wasn't happy but knew when she was outnumbered. "I'll be watching you closely, Georgia. I know what you're like."

  "And I know what I'm capable of doing," Georgia replied defiantly. "No one else knows the computer systems like I do."

  An hour later, the radiation levels had dropped to a safe enough level for the crew to exit the refuge. Captain Winter directed Georgia to work with Mancuso to prioritize the communications equipment. The communications array itself had been saved by Georgia's actions. The problem was with the fried circuitry on the flight deck, but that was easier to diagnose and replace.

  Once the captain had left to help the chief in engineering, Mancuso said, "I'm sorry, Georgia. I should have retracted the array. I don't know how I forgot."

  "You didn't. The controls were offline. As a safety precaution, I turned them off when I carried out the EVA to replace the LCS the other day. You weren't to know. It's my mistake."

  "That was still a ballsy thing you did. Bat shit crazy but you did a great job."

  "Thanks, Joe. Now you must excuse me." Georgia made a dash for the crew toilet as a wave of nausea came over her, just closing the door behind her before she was violently sick.

  ***

  Winter left Mancuso and Georgia on the flight deck and floated down to engineering to assist the chief to determine the level of damage and what repairs were essential prior to even considering a landing. The flare could not have happened at a worse time, he thought. There would be a lot of worried people on Eden and on Earth waiting desperately to hear that they were safe.

  He hoped that Georgia wouldn't suffer any side effects from the radiation exposure. He had pulled her into the refuge within seconds of the solar flare striking. And although the chief had just informed him of the strength of the flare, he had done all that he could to protect her. If Georgia was affected, then he knew he would feel guilty for a very long time.

  ***

  Georgia returned from the toilet looking pale and weak but determined to help Mancuso. After two hours of testing and replacing components, they repaired the communications equipment. But the effort had taken it out of Georgia, and she put up no resistance when Captain Winter suggested she should return to her cabin to rest. Once in bed, she took the pills given to her by Megan, slipped on her headphones to listen to her favorite rock compilation, dimmed the lights, and fell into a deep sleep.

  Back on the flight deck, Winter was more relaxed. Repairs of the main systems were nearly complete, and the chief had advised him that all systems would be functional within twenty-four hours. He had a mixed sense of pride and relief that Endeavour and its crew were standing up to all the challenges. Mancuso was looking at him expectantly, awaiting his next instructions.

  "Okay, Joe. Before I contact Ground Control, let's see how Eden faired."

  Mancuso pressed a button on his console. "Endeavour to Eden. This is Mancuso. Comm check."

  Following the standard delay, they heard the excited voice of Commander Anders. "Great to hear you, Joe. You've been off air for a while and had us worried. What's your status?"

  "Commander, it's Winter. We took a hit, but systems are coming back online. Nothing that the chief can't fix. How's Eden?"

  "Everything is green here. We caught the edge of the solar flare so had it easier than you. There's some people waiting to hear from you back at Control."

  Winter nodded, sure that General Stockton and Kristen would be concerned about their fate. Although he always tried to reassure his wife before any mission, she'd always remind him he wasn't indestructible. "That's my next call, Lars. I knew you'd be worried about me too. As far as I'm concerned, we're still a go for landing."

  "Nice to have you back, sir. I'll inform the Eden crew there's no need for a search party."

  "Okay, Lars. Time for me to speak to the general. Endeavour out."

  Winter would have much rather spoken with Kristen first. She was strong but would still be frantic until he spoke with her. But protocol dictated that he up-date the general as a priority. The best he could do was keep his report as concise as possible.

  Chapter 9

  The following day, and unable to keep any food down, Georgia was strapped to the bed in the medical bay attached to an infusion drip with Doctor Betts for company. Each of the crew dropped in at different points to check on her progress but didn't stay for long. Georgia was not in the mood for visitors and it hadn't taken long for any of the crew to get the hint.

  The doctor and the captain were the only ones she had time for. To pass the time, she had watched three romantic movies from Megan's personal collection. They weren't really her type of film, but they had kept Megan from talking for several hours, which was enough for Georgia.

  She had been asleep for maybe half an hour when she woke to see that Captain Winter had replaced Megan. "Back with us?" he said as he saw her eyes flicker open. "Doctor Betts has gone for her evening meal so you have me to talk to."

  He gave her his warmest fatherly smile, and it was impossible for Georgia to argue. "Anything interesting to talk about?" she asked.

  "I thought you'd like to know about Aquarius."

  Georgia sat forward, looking eager to find out. "Was I right?"

  "Yes, you were. The anomalous energy spikes stopped shortly after the solar flare. The guidance systems have self-corrected the course and now Aquarius is back on its optimal trajectory. There has to be a connection, but I don't know what it can be."

  "I can't help with that either but at least it proved me right. What do Ground Control want to do?"

  Captain Winter absently scratched his head. "They're as perplexed as me. Even more so because they detected a similar
energy spike on Endeavour about three hours after Aquarius recovered. It lasted for only a couple of minutes and it didn't affect any of our systems."

  "Perhaps some kind of natural phenomena that we've not previously encountered?" Georgia suggested.

  "Possible, but the pattern of the spikes is too regular. Something to watch out for, I guess. Maybe a mystery for Doctor Redmayne to look into."

  "Agreed. As long as you don't expect me to work with him. He's not the easiest person to get on with."

  "That's rich coming from you," snorted the captain.

  "True, but I'm the best at what I do," laughed Georgia, feeling better already.

  Chapter 10

  Captain Winter sat in his command chair on the flight deck, pondering what the next few hours might hold for all of them. Mars was now a little over a day away. Within two hours, the supply ships, Challenger, Intrepid and Aquarius, would land on the surface. It would be the first true test of the new systems introduced since the failure of Expedition One, six years earlier. Despite the rigorous testing, re-testing and training, there was still a huge element of danger with what was being attempted. And there was no option for failure this time. Further loss of life was not an acceptable outcome after the six astronauts already lost.

  Assuming the supply ships all landed safely and without incident, there would be a go/no go decision to make. Winter was grateful that the final decision was not his alone. He trusted that Ground Control would make the right decision based on the available data, rather than pressure from the investors who had pumped trillions of dollars into the program. Those companies expected a return on the investments, but they wouldn't want bad publicity.

  He knew there was a huge worldwide interest in their mission. The stakes were enormous; not merely financial but also reputational. Now that the lunar colony was firmly established, Mars was the next big frontier for humanity. It was an honor to be leading the advance party that would establish a permanent Martian base. And, if successful, Mars would be the perfect stepping-stone for mankind to explore the solar system and ultimately the galaxy.

  The tragic failure of Expedition One had been a shock at the time. He had known all the astronauts on that flight and flown with three of them on missions to the ISS. They had been good men and women. The best. He didn't want the world to mourn his mission as well.

  It was only because of the public enquiry to understand what had gone so catastrophically wrong, that the extent of the industry's greed and arrogance had been revealed. Quality had been compromised because of budget, time constraints and national pride. It was reminiscent of the Cold War of the 1960s between the former USSR and the USA. Only this time, it was the egos of billionaire businessmen as well as politicians that had caused Enterprise to crash, resulting in the deaths of its crew.

  NASA's Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel had been particularly scathing in their findings and made many thousands of recommendations to be applied to any future missions.

  Although it was widely accepted that travel to Mars would never be entirely risk-free, measures were implemented to mitigate the dangers as much as was reasonably possible.

  And so, wholesale changes were made to the management of the program. The spacecraft were redesigned and upgraded to allow for more system redundancy and safety features. Increased emphasis was placed on crew wellbeing, both mental and physical, to help them cope with the stresses of a long-duration mission. The mission profile had been completely re-written and Expedition Two's crew rigorously selected and trained. Although these changes had led to years of delay, they reassured Captain Winter that Endeavour and its sister ships were far more capable for this challenge.

  And yet, because they were the first, there was still a huge element of trust in the engineers and scientists back on Earth. If further lives were lost it would be a massive setback for America's Mars ambitions. The joint Mars mission between China and Russia was breathing down their necks, only a week behind them. There was no doubt in Winter's mind that the Chinese and Russians wanted to be the first to step on Mars and were hoping for another American failure. He would do his damnedest to make sure that didn't happen.

  For the hundredth time, he studied the map of the landing zone pinned to his wall. He already knew the area like the back of his hand but was constantly drawn back to it. The site within the crater known as Hellas Planitia had been carefully selected many years before as a result of detailed analysis by robotic landers. It was the lowest point on the Mars surface, with a depth of almost four miles below the standard ground level, the result of an enormous asteroid crashing into the planet some four billion years in the past.

  Being such a low elevation had a range of benefits for the mission. Firstly, the increased amount of atmosphere to travel through would allow the ships to slow down prior to a controlled landing. Secondly, the Mars atmospheric pressure was at its greatest, although it was still far too thin to sustain life. But it was sufficient to allow for water to flow without boiling away. Thirdly—and most importantly—a vast reservoir of subsurface water had been detected. They would use this to create rocket propellant for the return journey, as well as water to sustain the colonists.

  ***

  The Expedition Two crews on both Endeavour and Eden, along with most of the population on Earth, watched and held their collective breaths as the three supply ships entered Mars' upper atmosphere for their final approach and landing. The Endeavour crew were gathered in silence watching a video transmission from Challenger on the large monitor in the galley. They could see the Martian surface hurtling past, close enough for Winter to identify certain geographical features. He watched in awe as the image changed from day to night, the Martian surface fading from brown to black in less than a minute.

  A smaller screen showed the direct feed from an orbiting satellite that was tracking the rockets from ten thousand miles' altitude. Despite the distance, the feed clearly showed the supply ships glowing bright against the Martian night as super-heated gases enveloped them. As expected, telemetry from Challenger was interrupted because of the ionized gas. It was an anxious wait for confirmation that the landing had been successful. Winter couldn't take his eyes away from the seconds ticking by on the digital clock. Time almost stopped. He whispered a silent prayer for a positive outcome.

  Exactly on cue, the signal from Challenger was received that it had touched down, quickly followed by Intrepid and then Aquarius. Winter released the breath he'd been holding, and a cheer rang through the ship from the crew. Several seconds later, video images arrived from Challenger showing that the supply ships had made pinpoint landings at their designated landing zones.

  Despite his elation, Winter felt sick in the pit of his stomach. They had come too far to turn back, but the safe landing of the supply ships made it almost inevitable that by this time tomorrow he would be standing on Mars—or smeared across its surface. I guess I should be more careful about what I wish for, he thought ruefully to himself. For now, though, it was a time for celebration with his brave crew.

  ***

  Following the successful landings of the supply ships, it was clear in Captain Winter's mind that the decision to continue the mission would be a mere formality. The telemetry and flight profiles of the ships needed to be analyzed in detail to ensure that they had followed flight parameters but from the information he had seen, nothing jumped out as being unusual. However, it took nine hours for Ground Control to make their decision, with General Stockton detailing the instructions via a video message.

  After he'd viewed it in his quarters, Winter sighed wearily, switched off the monitor and gathered the crew in the galley to update them. "Ground Control has been analyzing the telemetry and confirmed that all systems operated well within safe flight parameters. I've just received orders from General Stockton." He paused for dramatic effect, looking at the five eager faces waiting to hear the news. Once he had everyone's attention he loudly exclaimed, "It's a go for landing!"

  A loud cheer e
choed around the small galley as the crew's relief at the news was expressed. "This is finally it, ladies and gentlemen," Winter continued, once everyone had hugged each other and the room was quiet again. "You have all sacrificed a great deal, trained hard and traveled an awful long way but we're going to Mars." He could see the excitement and intensity in everyone's face. He knew that, once the euphoria of the moment wore off, they would get their game faces on and prepare for the greatest moment in their lives.

  "I also have a personal video message from the US President to share." Winter turned on the large monitor to show an image of the presidential seal, before switching to a view of the President sitting at his desk in the Oval Office. The President, knowing his message would be shared publicly, had put on his best reassuring smile, used so many times in his addresses to the nation.

  "Captain Winter and the crews of Endeavour and Eden, it's an honor to speak with you from the Oval Office. Within a matter of hours, you will have achieved the greatest triumph for mankind. I do not need to tell you that the entire world is watching with anticipation. Not since the Moon landings of the 1960s and '70s has man dared to reach further out into space.

  "As a child growing up in Texas, I watched the moon landings with my folks. I remember a huge sense of pride at what America had achieved. For too long, talk of human settlements on the Moon and Mars never became a reality. I, along with many Americans, have been left frustrated at the lack of imagination and foresight shown by successive administrations. Ultimately, it took fifty-five years from Neil Armstrong landing on the moon to the first permanent lunar settlement. And finally, ten years later, mankind stands on the brink of colonizing a new planet and extending our reach into the universe. I sense we're starting to make small but consistent steps.