Rebecca’s boss joined him, but after casting a quick glance at the image on the screen, she went and fetched Gabriella.
“Can you describe your symptoms to me?” the doctor asked.
“Stomachache, nausea, vomiting, weakness, tremors,” Rebecca counted off, though she had to cover her mouth for the last half of the list.
“How long has it been like this?”
“It started right after you left. I thought maybe I’d eaten something that didn’t agree with me and that a little time in the bathroom would take care of it.”
“Considering what I’m seeing, I don’t think that’s the case.”
“It comes in waves. Napping helps a little, but I feel so weak.”
“It could be food poisoning, but it’s also possible that we brought something with us from Earth. I’ll need to take a closer look at you.”
“The most important thing is that it’s not a Martian illness. Otherwise, my stomach might explode so an alien could creep out. Or I might turn into a zombie.”
Mike was glad her sense of humor seemed to be intact.
“You’ve watched too many movies. Some viruses are tough and can lie dormant for months. But it might also be something we’ve caught from the animals. We were in pretty close contact with them,” Gabriella said.
“Shouldn’t I have been the first one to get sick then?” Ewa asked. “I’m the one who spent the most time with the animals.”
“Your immune system might be stronger. Or maybe the virus remained asymptomatic in your case, despite the fact you were taking care of them. I can only speculate about that.”
“And what is your medical advice?” Ewa asked.
“To the patient, rest and lots of liquids. To you and Mike, we can’t leave her in the module. If Rebecca loses consciousness, she’ll need someone to take care of her and get her circulation back up.”
“Lose consciousness? I feel weak,” Rebecca said, “but it doesn’t seem that serious. Can’t I just take something?”
“I can’t suggest treatment by just guessing. To determine what you have, I need to examine you, and run stool and blood analyses.”
“In other words, we need to go back for her?” Mike asked.
He glanced at the map. It was fifty-three kilometers back to the module. “It’ll take three and a half hours,” he said.
“Yes, that’s what I would recommend,” Gabriella said. “It’s up to you to decide what to do with this advice.”
“One more question,” Mike replied. “Isn’t there a chance that we’ll bring the illness onto the Rover?”
“I can’t rule that out as a possibility, but we can try to prevent contagion through hygiene. And anyone who’s really worried can wear a spacesuit.”
Everyone will love that, Mike thought. Who wouldn’t want to wear their suit for the whole way back?
“So, it looks like we’ll have to replace Rebecca in the module. I need a new volunteer,” Ewa said, turning to the others.
Nobody spoke up. When the silence started to turn uncomfortable, Andy’s finger rose into the air.
“Fine, I’ll do it,” he said, “but only under one condition.”
“What’s that?”
“Mike makes a copy of his film library for me.”
Ewa looked over at Mike. She seemed relieved by Andy’s volunteerism.
Mike’s mind whirled. If Andy leaves, his screen goes with him. And he would be left here with nothing on which to watch his films. Of course, he could offer to keep Andy company. But no, no way. He would have to forego the comforts of the base for even longer if he did that. That was out of the question.
“Sure,” he said, “but you have to swear you won’t spoil any of them for me.”
Theo and Gabriella assisted Rebecca from the module to the Rover as Mike watched. The patient had wrapped her arms around her assistants, but she was walking on her own two legs. The rest of the crew waited for them inside the Rover. Like before, all were wearing their spacesuits. After the external door slid shut, Mike realized that he hadn’t told Andy goodbye—and that the air now smelled considerably better after being completely swapped out. There were pros and cons to everything.
Space was cleared for Rebecca at the back of the Rover. Theo helped with that, but to be safe, he kept his suit on. Gabriella, on the other hand, exhibited the typical doctor behavior, the kind that caused non-medical people to believe doctors were magically immune to infections.
“It’s all a matter of hygiene,” Gabriella declared. “These wipes here could kill anything that might infect me. I just have to be a little extra careful.”
Mike smiled apologetically. She must have noticed his gaze. There was nothing for him to do back here, so he moved up to the front seats where it was even tighter than it had been before. He checked the fuel gauge and was glad he hadn’t chosen to drive faster on his way out to the module. If he had, they would now be close to running out of methanol. Thanks to thinking ahead, he still had a hundred kilometers’ worth of fuel in reserve. They were set. What could go wrong?
It was just unfortunate that now he couldn’t even watch films on the mini-screen built into the front console. What was the best way to kill the next few hours? At least Gabriella, the loudest snorer, was no longer an issue to contend with since she was occupied with the patient. With nothing better to do, he decided to check on them, carefully moving across the floor and climbing over the sleepers.
“Have you figured anything out?” he asked Gabriella.
“Rebecca is stable. I think she’ll be in the clear in about three days, but it’s a good thing we went back. I just gave her IV fluids, so she’ll hopefully get a little of her strength back.”
“And the cause?”
“I haven’t completed all the tests yet. I brought a test set along,” she said, pointing at a shiny silver, cube-like case. “I bought that for the trip with my own money. It contains twenty reusable tests that react to various kinds of proteins.”
“What can you learn from knowing which proteins Rebecca has in her bloodstream?”
“I’m not just testing her blood, but also her stool. See, here are two samples. Would you like to stick them in the test containers?”
Gabrielle held out two small tubes which were closed on the ends with metal fasteners. “The outsides are sterile,” she said.
“Thanks, but I don’t want to intrude on your work.”
“Your call. The final results will be drawn from the cumulative results of all the tests. If I know that her blood contains proteins A and B but not C and D, while her stool has E and F but not G in it, then hopefully I can make a conclusive diagnosis. After that, the only other question will be the cause.”
“‘Hopefully?’”
“Our options are limited. I will only be able to distinguish the more common germs. However, the odds are relatively slim that Rebecca picked up some kind of rare virus.”
“But what about the viruses and bacteria on Mars? Extraterrestrial life forms?”
“Don’t you start, too. You know, the general consensus is that, if these exist, they only do so in fossilized form. They used probes to search for so long...”
“But they still sent us after them. Doesn’t that make you wonder?”
“It would be exciting to excavate Martian fossils, wouldn’t it? That would enlighten us a lot about the evolution of life on Earth.”
“And if there’s still life on Mars?”
“Then it wouldn’t be in any position to infect Rebecca. Her organism would be as alien to Martian germs as yours would be. What do you think would be the most alien aspect of life down here, Mike?”
“The women,” he replied. “The women.”
“Good morning, folks!” Andy seemed especially cheerful on the screen.
“Where is your good mood coming from?” Mike asked. “I hope it’s not catching. One sick person on board is enough for me.”
“I slept better last night than I have in ages. Just me and
a few friendly animals. Look, Petey would like to wish you all a good morning.”
Andy lifted a goat up for the camera and waved his front hoof.
“That isn’t even Petey. That’s Eliza,” Ewa said, suddenly appearing beside the screen. “Can’t you tell the difference?”
“What do you think I am? A biologist? It doesn’t matter. I just wanted to tell you that I’m about to take a short morning constitutional. My old bones need to adjust to the gravity here.”
“Old bones? You were born in 2006! According to your personnel file, that makes you thirty-six.”
“Almost thirty-seven,” he said. “What else do you know about me?”
“I know everything,” Ewa replied. “For example, I know that your real name is Andrej and that you were born in Georgia.”
“That doesn’t count as a major secret. You could dig that up online.”
“I don’t want to compromise you with the other things I know.”
“That’s awfully nice of you, Ewa. But you should know that if there was anything in my electronic MfE file that I didn’t like, I would’ve deleted it a long time ago.”
“Good to know. So the only things I know about you are what you wanted the organization to know?”
“You know a lot more about me than that,” Andy replied. “We’ve spent the past six months in a flying shoebox. You even know what my farts smell like, and that isn’t in any file anywhere.”
“I’ve suppressed that,” Ewa shot back.
“In that case, I’m going to head on out. The weather looks nicer today than it did yesterday.”
“Be careful,” Ewa said. “All outside recons are supposed to be done in pairs. But unfortunately Petey doesn’t have a spacesuit. Please don’t move beyond sight range of the module.”
“Aye-aye, captain.” Andy cut the link.
Mike stared out the Rover’s porthole. The veil of dust really did seem thinner today. You could almost describe it as a sunny day. That would make the solar-powered batteries happy. He turned around in search of Gabriella. His eyes fell on Ellen, who was in the corner busy with the urine bottle. He quickly turned away. And, there stood the doctor.
“How’s our patient doing?” Mike asked.
“She slept a lot and is drinking well. However, she can’t keep any food down. She instantly vomits even the dry crackers I’ve been giving her. I suspect this won’t improve before tomorrow.”
“Have you figured out what caused this?”
“Everything looks like a norovirus infection, but the tests aren’t indicating that virus. Three of the typical markers are missing.”
“And if it’s a mutated variety? The viruses on board the ships have been subjected to the ionizing radiation of space, just like all of us.”
“Theoretically possible, yes. But the mutation would have to distinguish itself in three different markers and still cause the same illness. That seems unlikely to me.”
“Do you have any other suspicions?”
“Yes, I’m wondering about a poison. There are several that manifest similar symptoms. Nausea and vomiting are quite typical. But my test set wasn’t made to test for toxins, just germs.”
“You think that someone poisoned Rebecca?” The MfE commander had joined them.
“I think that Rebecca consumed a poison. I can’t say if it was administered to her or if she took it herself.”
“Why would she poison herself?” Ewa asked.
“I’m sure she didn’t mean to. Maybe it was an accident. Some foods can be toxic under certain circumstances, like cucumbers and zucchini, for instance. If one of those or something similar spoiled in our supplies and she ate one of them, then that could explain what happened.”
“You don’t sound all that convinced, Gabriella,” Mike said.
“I’m not. I’m surprised at Rebecca’s serious reaction. The concentration of those kinds of toxins is usually so low that people rarely ingest enough to be life-threatening.”
“The cooking or the freeze-drying process might have increased the concentration,” Ewa suggested.
“That’s possible. If she dumped a bag of zucchini powder into her tea, perhaps mistakenly... We’ll have to ask her once she wakes up.”
“We will,” Ewa said.
Forty-four kilometers to go. Sarah had just radioed in from the base to inform him that the Endeavour had landed. There were congratulations all around. However, they wanted to wait to disembark until the Rover could be used for the transfer—that would be the more comfortable option.
“Before I forget... your mother responded,” Sarah said at the end of their conversation.
“Oh, that’s... good,” Mike replied.
“Come on, a little more enthusiasm! This is the woman who breastfed you and changed your diapers. I wouldn’t have done it.”
“You’re right. Please forward the message to me.”
“It’s on its way.”
Three minutes later, the data package was in his inbox. It contained a video and a text file, so he started with the video. In it, his mother described what she was up to these days and how she had been so glad to receive his message. Yes, Mama, I know that already, he thought, before feeling a pang of guilt for his impatience.
“As for the problem you described to me, the animals for which there aren’t any spacesuits... I didn’t know you’d even taken animals along. They never mention that in all the reports they’re constantly featuring about you.”
That’s because they belong to the MfE folks, Mike thought.
“Anyway, I’ve been thinking about this, and I think I have a solution. On Sundays, there’s a crime series I always watch on TV. Two weeks ago, I watched an episode in which a woman was murdered when the killer wrapped plastic wrap around her face. This struck me because we use various foils and wraps so often. Did you know that bananas won’t ripen so fast if you wrap their stems in plastic wrap? You can even roast a goose breast in aluminum foil or poach an egg in plastic wrap. Anyway, when you work with plastic wrap, you quickly notice what all it can withstand, even though it is so thin and transparent. This was why I was thinking that maybe you could wrap the animals in lots and lots of plastic wrap! You would need to leave a balloon or some kind of sack filled with oxygen around their heads so they wouldn’t suffocate. I’m sure this won’t be comfortable for them, but dying is even less comfortable. What do you think? Please write again soon. Love you!”
With that, the video ended. The accompanying text file included instructions on what all you could do with plastic wrap. Mike considered this idea. The tip about the wrap wasn’t all that wacky. If they transported the animals to the Rover as the last thing, the poor things would only need to stick it out in the wrap for ten minutes max.
He called Ewa over and explained the potential solution to her. “Do you think the animals would let us do it?”
“I’m sure they’ll fight us, but before we kill them, I’d like to try to transport them safely. Tell your mother ‘thank you’ for us! She might’ve just ensured the survival of the first human colony on Mars.”
“She’ll appreciate knowing that,” Mike said, feeling slightly proud of his Mama.
“The only question is if we have enough plastic wrap in the module. If not, we’ll need to bring some over from the base.”
“I’ll ask Andy to check.” Mike opened a connection to the module via the console. The call went through, and the Rover’s sender and the module’s receiver established a stable connection.
However, there was no answer.
“Andy, please come in,” Mike spoke into the microphone. Maybe he was relieving himself, or he was standing in the airlock and couldn’t hear anything. “Andy, please come in... Andy, please come in.”
Ewa noticed that something was off. It was pointless, but she tried it anyway: “Andy, come in.”
No response.
“Andy, this isn’t a joke.” Ewa’s stern voice reflected her increasing anxiety. “If you can hear us, plea
se respond immediately.”
Mike increased the volume, but the only thing they heard was the crackle of static electricity.
Sol 8, MfE landing module
Petey looked around. He couldn’t see the daylight, of course, but his stomach told him that the night was over. Usually one of the Two Legs came along about now. It was almost always the same one who refilled the food dispenser. Petey touched the lever with his nose, hoping some food would fall out, but nothing happened. He nudged Eliza, who was acting like she was sleeping. She made a little noise. Hadn’t she noticed that something wasn’t right here? Petey tried the dispenser again. The Two Legs never filled it up more than halfway. Why not all the way? If he had filled it up, Petey would have something to eat right now. Or maybe not, since he probably would have stuffed himself full yesterday. The Two Legs knew what they were doing.
His stomach rumbled again. He pressed up against the wire that the Two Legs had set on top of them. It was very efficient. For a long time, Petey had thought that the cage was just meant to pen them in, but a while back something heavy had fallen from the sky. It had landed directly on the cage, right where Eliza had been standing. Without this barrier, she would now be dead.
It wasn’t like they couldn’t leave the area they’d been assigned. Is that what the Two Legs thought? Petey had tested that some time ago. He had put his front hooves on a small box sitting on the floor and had pushed his head against the top of the cage. He then stood up on his back legs. The wire wasn’t as light has it had been, but it wasn’t too much for him to handle. He lifted the frame and moved it until the side panel rested on the box. He could now get in and out of the enclosure whenever he liked.
Petey glanced at Eliza again. He bleated softly, but she didn’t respond. Well, he would go off on his own then. The space he found himself in, beyond the wire, didn’t look any different than it had from inside the cage. The solution to the mystery of the missing Two Legs wasn’t in here. But he had seen where the Two Legs came from. There was a round opening in the ceiling. That must be where the Two Legs lived. Petey stood under the hole and tried to push himself upward, but nothing happened. A few days ago, that would’ve been enough to make him float straight up. But he could also try it the old way. Petey took a running start and jumped. The effect was amazing. He never would have thought he could jump that high! Was he really that strong?
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