The rover proceeded lazily at a steady twenty-five kilometres-per-hour, as it crossed the monotony of Lunae Planum. After travelling for four hours in a row, in complete and utter silence, Hassan felt wrapped by a sense of drowsiness. His eyelids were becoming heavy. A sudden jerk woke him from his lethargy.
He turned to look at the woman beside him, as if he was ensuring she was still there, still alive. Since they had left, she hadn’t spoken a single word. She had kept on staring at the horizon with an expression of content contemplation.
Hassan shifted his gaze to follow hers. He had never ventured into that sector of the planum before. Although at first sight the desert might seem all the same, the more he’d watched it day by day, the more he’d learnt to notice the slight differences, to recognise the white rocks emerging from the reddish terrain. The light of the sun, already high in the sky, made them shine with a rude beauty. That place, so desolate, held a dark appeal in his soul. He missed Earth, but at the same time, he realised that Mars was becoming a part of him.
Another look at Anna, who hadn’t moved from her position. His sleepiness was back and the glare from the salmon-coloured sky was just worsening it. He reached out to grab a bottle of water and sipped it; he needed much more than that to stay awake.
He turned on the augmented reality on the top of the windshield and he recalled the enlarged picture of the environmental bacterium, whose cytoplasm was adorned with tiny, azure spots. In vain, he was looking for a plausible explanation for that phenomenon.
“I want to show you something.” The first words from Anna since their departure.
The woman moved her hand on the control panel and another picture appeared beside the first. It looked similar, except that the structure containing the crystals was rod-shaped and featured a less sharp outline.
“What’s this?”
“It’s a magnification of a regolith sample taken from the crack. I was studying this one under the microscope before Robert broke the other vial. It may be a fossil bacterium; what d’you think?”
Determining if that image in front of them was really a fossil bacterium was not easy, because what remained of the original microorganism was no more than a trace in the rock. No biological matter remained that would confirm those kind of theories, just inorganic substances, which might be the result of the presence of life in the remote past. There was no certainty, just suppositions. In the past century, there was a debate about the finding of what was believed to be fossil nanobacteria on the HAL 84001 meteorite coming from Mars, which had been found in Antarctica. The enthusiasm had driven several scientists and even the then-president of the United States, Bill Clinton, to state they had found a proof of extraterrestrial life. However, subsequent studies had highlighted that the structures seen at electronic microscope levels were due to normal chemical, non-biological phenomena.
“At first I thought the beryllium crystal formations were the result of a subsequent mineralisation,” Anna explained. “But now, by comparing them with the picture of the environmental bacterium, I’m not that certain.”
“Living Earth bacterium and what is presumed to be fossil Martian bacterium, both accumulating microcrystals.” Hassan swallowed another sip of water to clear his head. “Why would two microorganisms separated by hundreds of millions of years and kilometres, generated by completely distinct evolution processes, have the same reaction to an external element?”
Anna shook her head. “Indeed, it doesn’t make much sense. Besides, they are different in shape, size. The odds that they have the same chemical affinity are zero. I would understand it, if it was a simpler element.”
“Unless the crystal is just a vehicle for something else we don’t see,” Hassan commented. He didn’t share her ambition to find life on Mars at all. He wasn’t sure if it would be a good thing.
“Perhaps we’ll learn more from today’s samples.” Anna pointed at the change in the terrain being outlined in front of them. The augmented reality reported a distance of little more than five hundred metres to the location she had visited with Robert two days earlier. “We are almost there.”
The previous tracks of the rover were still there. They were driving on them. Those marks had somehow crystallised and would remain for a very long time. The strong winds hadn’t been able to lift enough dust to cover all of them.
“But I don’t kid myself. There’s a lot of work to do, we are too few and our equipment is insufficient. The arrival of the new Isis will bring some improvement, but to get some definite answers we need much more. For instance, the ESA’s exobiology laboratory in Paris.”
Hassan was parking the rover on the edge of the dry riverbed as he listened to her.
“It’ll be nice to go back there.”
At that statement, he braked abruptly and turned to her.
Anna chuckled to herself. “This time I might even learn some French.” Then her face darkened.
“Do you want to get on the return spacecraft?” He couldn’t conceal his disbelief.
“Yes,” she replied, determined. She moved to the back of the vehicle to wear her suit.
He started doing the same. “Why? Are you already sick and tired of Mars?” He feared her answer.
“I’m sick and tired, but not of Mars.” She didn’t so much as spare him a glance and went back to her seat. “Ready?”
“Ready,” he said in a huff.
“I’m activating the depressurisation.”
He heard a puff, then the air started to go out. The process lasted for a few seconds.
“Depressurisation completed,” the on-board computer announced.
Closing his gloved hand in a tight fist, Hassan hit the opening button and the hatchback rose. He jumped down and took out the corer. He would’ve been faster if she had helped him, but Anna was intent on reviewing the data from the previous sortie.
He slammed the hatchback, making the whole rover vibrate.
She let a sigh escape her lips. Finally alone, at least for a few minutes. By moving her fingers, she enlarged the image on the windshield. It indicated the exact location of the previous sampling on a photo provided by one of the orbiters, an observation satellite orbiting in a dynamic way compared to the planet’s rotation. She followed the crack on the ground for most of its length, looking for a spot wide enough for the sampler to collect some material from deep down.
All of a sudden, there was a slight disturbance in the augmented reality and the yellow LED of the radio came on, as if there was an incoming transmission. But she could not hear anything. Anna raised the volume of the loudspeaker, with no result. Then she turned on the transceiver.
“This is Rover Two. Station Alpha, are you calling us?”
Dead silence. She couldn’t even hear the usual background static. The LED was still on, as if somebody was transmitting a message with no sound.
“Hassan?”
She looked around, but couldn’t see him. He must have descended into the riverbed, out of her sight.
“Computer, show me the incoming transmission on the screen.”
A window materialised, and a diagram representing high frequency sound waves appeared; they exceeded the human audibility threshold. That was why she couldn’t hear anything.
Seized by a flash of inspiration, she turned on the connection to the Mars Positioning System, the small experimental satellite network extending for most of Lunae Planum southward up to the edge of Valles Marineris. Although it was a wide mesh network, it was very useful to locate a rover’s position, thanks to its transponder, and had an accuracy of about one and half kilometres. That was more than enough given that, in the rust-coloured unchanging nothingness, those metal vehicles were easily discernable from huge distances and the horizon was beyond three kilometres, in the flat terrain.
With the help of the on-board computer, she tried to reconfigure the system, to see whether she might be able to use it to identify the origin of the transmission. Since the atmosphere was so rarefied, radio waves on Mars passed through it with a certain ease and reached the nearest satellites without any problem, even when the transmission power wasn’t high. The precision in the identification of the source, however, wouldn’t be comparable to that of transponders, but it was worth trying.
“Come on, come on.”
The LED had started blinking rhythmically. The transmission was going on and off, as if it was following a pattern.
A bump on the windshield gave her a start.
“So, are you going to sit there all comfy or are you going to get out and give me a hand?” Hassan’s voice resounded clear inside her helmet. Then the yellow LED went out, and she could hear the classic background noise.
“Shit.”
“Is that supposed to be your answer?”
“I’m coming, one moment!” she shouted, gesturing with her hand.
“Transmission located,” the computer’s unstressed voice sentenced. A map appeared on the screen, within it a series of concentric circles outlined an area covering part of Ophir Planum and extending into the canyon. Each one of them indicated a different probability that the signal source was included in it.
Almost feeling hypnotised, she lingered on the image for some seconds more.
Bent over and precariously balanced, with her arm inserted in the crack, she checked on the augmented reality the sampling manoeuvre of the device she was holding. The ground was being shaken by rhythmic vibrations caused by the activation of the corer. About ten metres from her, it was driving a one-metre pipe into the Martian regolith. Her fingers hurt and she was afraid the sampler might slip at any moment. It was tied to her suit with a safety lanyard, but there was a risk she would damage it and the spare one was many hours journey away at Station Alpha.
From her position she couldn’t see the rover, parked higher on the edge of the dry riverbed, and if she turned her back on Hassan, who was operating the corer, she had the overwhelming sensation of being alone in the desert, surrounded by boundless spaces cluttered with dust and rocks. The very thought of it terrified her, while at the same time made her feel in accord with the inhospitable environment.
She would’ve given anything to push herself further. Who knew what caused that radio transmission? Was it really coming from Valles Marineris? To her regret, she realised she hadn’t recorded it. If she could have analysed it with the station computer, perhaps she would’ve found something more about its origin. She would’ve liked to talk to someone about it straight away, but she wasn’t certain she would be believed. They would blame the solar wind or something else. Yet the MPS had located it somewhere near the canyons. Or perhaps inside them. What was down there? She resolved to check it out. Maybe it was an automatic message from some old apparatus sent by NASA or the Chinese space agency, from who knew how long earlier. Perhaps it was still working and sending out environmental data. The scientist inside her was looking for a plausible explanation for what she had seen and not heard.
A gust of wind lifted a little vortex before her eyes. For a moment, she thought she could see an azure reflection in the tiny particles lifted by the disturbance. Then the sunlight grew faint and the weak warmth on her face faded with it. A shadow stretched in front of her. Turning her head, she saw Hassan beside her. The discharge of adrenaline made her slip on a side, and a second later she found herself sitting on the ground. She had to apply all her self-control to avoid losing her grip on the sampler. Confused, she shifted her gaze to the corer, which had finally quietened, and then again to the man, who seemed to be ignoring her completely. He had done that on purpose, to frighten her; she had no doubt.
A beep informed her that the sampling was complete. She raised her arm, which had grown numb, she extracted the sample vial, and inserted it into the collection box that was positioned by the edge of the crack. Then she bent sideways to drag herself on her knees.
He hadn’t even tried to help her. He had done nothing but walk around her.
“I’m done with the corer. How far have you got with it?” While speaking, he kept his head facing straight ahead, as if he was scrutinising an imprecise point at the horizon. He surely was checking the data coming from the apparatus, in his helmet’s augmented reality. He gestured, as if he was dragging something. The corer motor could be heard in the distance as it started moving towards them. Peeping out from the small bay located on its back were four pipes with thin but very resistant walls. Inside each of them there was a core containing a record of the ground’s layering.
Without replying to him, Anna closed the box. Her action was clear: she was done, too. She looked at the riverbed, which stretched into the distance. She was considering whether or not to proceed further, to collect more samples where the crack was even wider.
She stood up, but while doing so she suffered a slight dizziness. She had remained too long in that uncomfortable position. As she had risen to her feet too quickly, her blood pressure had dropped. The Martian landscape became brighter, enhancing the wild beauty of the place. The edges of the ancient torrent showed deep grooves, sign of a runoff that had occurred in the remote past. They reflected an intense light, which seemed even stronger, as it hit her dilated pupils. She almost thought she could see the water, hear its sound. Enchanted, Anna smiled. Her ears were buzzing, her eyes hurt. She tried to place a hand on her head, but it bumped against her helmet. She was staggering. Reluctantly, she leaned against Hassan’s arm. Finally, he turned to look at her. The sunlight reflected on his visor, preventing her from seeing his face. He might have been anybody in a suit and helmet; there was nothing familiar about him. That was more disquieting than the immense, lethal desert where they were. But that sense of the unknown did not frighten Anna; rather it let surface a distant emotion, the one she’d felt many years earlier when watching science fiction films at the movies. The difference now was that she was seeing for real.
“Everything alright?” She heard Hassan’s voice resounding in her earphones.
“Wouldn’t you like to see what’s beyond the horizon?”
A sound similar to a grunt reached Anna’s ears.
“I have the feeling I’ve been here all my life, but at the same time I don’t know Mars at all. I’d like to see Valles Marineris.”
He remained silent. Better, she could pretend he was someone else, an unknown being without a face.
Now that she was standing, Anna could catch sight of the front of the rover. Who knew what the distance to the canyons from their position was? They were further south, in the opposite direction of Station Alpha.
“We aren’t here for tourism.”
Anna snorted. Obviously, he wouldn’t understand.
“But we’re explorers,” she stated, resolute. “We should be able to venture further afield. We linger on a tiny area, while maybe a bit up ahead there is something wonderful waiting for us.”
“Like a kilometre-deep cliff: really wonderful.”
“You are so devoid of …” She stopped, searching the right word. “Poetic sensitivity.”
He laughed in his irritating way.
“I’m talking seriously. We could take the rover and go there.”
“It’d take almost a day and then we wouldn’t have enough air for the return journey.” He said so in a superior tone. It was evident he wasn’t taking her seriously.
“The air would be enough if I went alone,” she challenged him.
Silence.
Now she was a little sorry she couldn’t see his expression. It would’ve been amusing, as she wasn’t joking at all.
“The crack widens a lot over there; it’ll be at least one metre.” He had changed the subject. “Who knows how deep it may be?”
What was he getting at?
Anna felt a sense of oppression in the middle of her chest, like a bad presentiment. She felt overrun by a sudden agitation as she recalled the one beside her wasn’t an ordinary astronaut. It was Hassan.
“If you fell in there, I couldn’t do anything to save you.”
Her heart accelerated. Her breath failed her. Robert had accused the man of trying to kill him outside Station Alpha, not twenty-four hours earlier. And now she was over one hundred kilometres from their base, alone with him.
“Nobody could blame me for your death.”
Anna backed off. The helmet without a face, lit by the sun, was scrutinising her. She stepped back and looked at the rover. She could get there in a few seconds, but she had to climb on that steep terrain.
When she turned again to Hassan, she found he was just a single step away. Without further hesitation, she whirled and ran. Her movements were awkward in the suit, she risked slipping any moment. It’d be sufficient for her to reach the rover and lock the doors. Then she would be safe.
She scrambled up the slope, using her hands and feet. When she arrived at the top the vehicle, her salvation, was a few paces from her. With a last effort, she projected herself forward and extended her arms to reach the side door. As she touched it with her fingers, she was pushed from behind with some strength. Her helmet bumped against the metal. Her head turned in an abrupt movement which, together with her oxygen’s debit due to the run, disoriented her. She turned, at the same time placing her arms in front of her for defence, and waited.
But nothing happened.
Breathless, she lowered her hands and found herself face to face with Hassan. She could see him well now. His expression was furious.
“What’s the fucking matter with you?!” he inveighed against her. “You might have fallen, ripped your suit apart.”
She watched him, incredulous. Was it possible he was joking earlier?
“What the fuck are you thinking of?” He was really angry. “Why are you scared of me?” he shouted, pronouncing each word distinctly.
Anna didn’t know what to say. For a moment the surprised expression of her father appeared to her. She was sticking the paper cutter in his abdomen, their faces one in front of the other; his eyes staring at her. It had been the only time in her life she had touched him. She had previously erased all memory of the moment in which she had assaulted him. She just remembered seizing the paper cutter. Then there was blood on her gloves, whilst he was lying on his back on the floor. But now that image rose from the ranks, springing before her eyes by force.
She broke out in a cold sweat and started shivering.
“Anna?” The sound of Hassan’s voice fell on deaf ears. His menacing expression had transformed to one of worry.
“Rover Two, Station Alpha here, do you read me?” Michelle’s words reached her earphones at an unusually high volume, and it shook her to her senses.
She pushed him with both hands, making him back off a pace. “You’re a psychopath,” she hissed.
He let an amused smile escape.
“Hassan, please, answer.” There was anguish in Michelle’s voice. “I need you.”
His face changed in a jiffy, clouded. And he hastened to activate the transceiver. “What’s happening? Is Dennis okay?”
Dennis?
“No, he had a respiratory crisis …” A sigh was heard through the earphones. “I believed he was about to die.”
“Michelle, calm down, explain to me what happened.” Hassan tried to sound reassuring and professional. In a brief moment he had returned to being a physician, a role with which Anna had had little to do.
“I don’t know. I found him seated on the floor. He was struggling to breath; he couldn’t talk to me. I’ve administered him oxygen, in the infirmary. He is there now. He says he feels a weight on his chest. He coughed up blood.”
“Give him some Xantolyn and continue with the oxygen. We’ll be there as soon as possible.”
Ten minutes later, they were in the rover travelling towards Station Alpha. They had loaded all the equipment and left.
“What’s wrong with Dennis?”
Hassan kept on driving and seemed not to have heard her question. The fact he wasn’t surprised about the sudden illness of the commander didn’t escape Anna. Something was happening which she wasn’t aware of.
“I’ve asked a question,” she insisted.
“He’s got cancer.”
Her blood froze at the news.
“What kind of cancer?” It was difficult for her to restrain herself from asking what was closer to her heart. She had at least to inquire about the details. “Lung cancer?”
“Liver. Six months ago, I removed a small tumorous mass, and since then he’s been undergoing chemotherapy. I did the latest check five days ago, and it hadn’t metastasised.” He shook his head. “I don’t understand.”
But Anna’s mind had stopped at the beginning of his statement. “You operated on Dennis six months ago?” she interrupted him, disbelieving.
“Exactly.” He said it as if it was obvious, as if it happened every day.
“Have you informed Houston?” Perhaps that was the right moment to ask.
Hassan emitted a sarcastic cry. “For a split second I thought you were really worried about Dennis. But instead you’re just afraid of the repercussions on the launch of the Isis 2.”
She did nothing but make a face and wait.
“No, we decided to keep it secret for avoiding consequences on the mission. It was his first thought, too.”
It made sense. If those at Johnson Space Center had known about Dennis’s illness for six months, Isis 2 would be already dead and gone. Public opinion would’ve have been scathing about it. Everybody knew that the colonisers would die on Mars, but not so soon.
“You haven’t answered my question.”
It took a moment for Anna to get the sudden change of subject. “Which question?”
“You know what I mean.”
“You remind me of my father.”
Her reply puzzled him, but it hushed him just for a few seconds.
“Your father, you mean the man who scarpered when your mother was expecting you?” Tact wasn’t perhaps one of his virtues, but Anna was sure he did it on purpose. “I didn’t know you were in touch.”
“We’re not.”
“And so, I remind you of him. Do we look alike?”
“Not at all, but it’s the same. You’re all alike.”
Again that cry.
“You? Have you looked at yourself in the mirror lately, Miss Sweden?”
“I have nothing to do with you all!” she shouted.
“You’re ridiculous, do you know?” His icy tone could barely conceal his rage. “Instead of coming here to Mars and dumping your frustrations on others, you’d have been better off clarifying things with your father, once for all.”
‘I’ve done it,’ she thought; it wasn’t what she said. “I’ve killed him.” Those words exited her mouth as if they had a will of their own. She regretted her statement a split second after pronouncing it, but she also felt relieved. It was the first time she revealed it to anyone. It was the first time she’d admitted it even to herself.
The rover jerked. It was the only perceivable reaction from Hassan. Or maybe it had been just a stone on the ground. Difficult to say with any certainty.
“I met him some days before the launch and I stuck a paper cutter into his stomach.”
She stole a glance at him to gauge the effect of that news. He was motionless, his eyes fixed ahead, as if he was deciding what to do about it.
Anna felt powerful. For a moment, she savoured again the pleasure she had felt in stabbing her father. Even though the thought of what she had done had tormented her since, she’d never felt guilty. That despicable man had deserved her hatred, and even his own death. She prided herself on having killed him, and she really believed it, for at least five seconds.
“I’ll remember to stay clear of you, when you’re holding sharp objects.”
His comment bewildered her. She’d expected a contemptuous reply. She had deluded herself she might be the one to frighten him for once.
“Why did you do it?”
“He deserved it.”
“I mean the triggering reason. You don’t plan to kill someone with a paper cutter.”
A slight shiver ran along Anna’s back. Hassan’s tone was the same he’d used earlier, when they were in the dry riverbed. He seemed even too much of an expert on the subject. However, he wasn’t so scary now. It was as if he understood.
“Jealousy, I guess. I’d seen a photograph with his children … dunno, I just lost my head.”
“And so you thought it better to deprive your siblings of their father as well,” he said, with evident disgust.
Her siblings. She hadn’t thought about them that way. They were abstract characters in a picture, the children of the worst of men. Nothing more. Only now she realised they were her own siblings.
“I must admit it, little Anna,” Hassan commented. “You are far worse than I thought. The people at NASA really did have a lot of fun.”
“What d’you mean …?”
“What? Didn’t you understand?” He giggled.
What was he talking about?
“The government was pressuring them to send humans on Mars as soon as possible. It was unacceptable that already thirty years had passed.” He sighed, creating a pause for effect, surely on purpose. “So they hurried up a little. They chose the best competences, turning a blind eye to certain flaws. Dennis had become a thorny guy at Houston. He was too young to be forced into retirement and they couldn’t surely remove him from the assignment; he was after all a global hero, after his missions on the lunar base. Then there was Robert’s issues with drug and alcohol, Liang’s obsessive manias, your craziness. Michelle was the only one without any problems; she left with us just to follow her husband.” He started tapping the steering wheel to the rhythm of a non-existent music. “In the end you were a bit like the guinea pigs in an experiment. Expendable. If everything went well, you’d be paving the way for the real colonisers, starting from the Isis 2. On the other hand, if you fucked up the mission, as with the Hera, the human loss wouldn’t have been so serious.”
“How you can say something like that? You’re really a bastard.”
Hassan raised an eyebrow. He had already retorted to that insult. She was certain he wouldn’t repeat himself. Too easy.
“They made it clear to me, when Liang opted out and they asked me to take his place. The whole recruiting process was fake. They’d already chosen their guinea pigs. I should’ve been on the Isis 2, if all had gone well with the first mission. I’d been already recruited for the second mission a long time ago.”
Dazed by that revelation, Anna collapsed in her seat. She had always known she had screwed up her training. She hadn’t even understood how she had passed the psychological tests. The truth was she hadn’t passed them at all. Her issues had been considered of little importance, because they needed a competent exobiologist, who at the same time was expendable. She had wondered why on earth Dennis had proposed her in person to participate in the recruiting. She found it impossible to believe he had done the same with everybody. He must have known as well, but he must have been aware that it would be the only way for him to get to Mars.
“And, if you knew, why did you accept?”
He stopped tapping the steering wheel and cast a smart glance at her.
“Because I was sure there would’ve never been an Isis 2, but I wanted to come to Mars.”
Her eyes were red as if she’d been crying for hours; she looked upset. When she saw them entering the infirmary, she brightened up. She ignored Anna and rushed to hug Hassan, who reciprocated the gesture with affection.
“Thank God you’re here.”
Anna and Robert looked at them, speechless. They hadn’t met since the day before, but in that moment they understood each other with a signal, as they had always done. That reassured her. At least they were still friends. And, now more than ever, she felt she needed at least one friend.
Dennis was laid on a bed, with an IV in his right arm and the oxygen administration device on his face. And he was awake and alert. He didn’t seem at all disturbed by seeing his wife rushing into another man’s arms.
Hassan moved away from Michelle and walked closer to him.
“Commander,” he said, tongue in cheek. “How do you feel?”
“I’ve had better days.” Dennis cracked a smile, which was soon broken by a coughing fit.
“Now we shall try to put you back in order, okay?” The physician turned to look at the rest of the crewmates, one by one.
Robert couldn’t stay still. He kept on moving his arms, now to scratch his cheeks, then to tidy his hair, his gaze fixed on an imprecise point on the opposite wall.
Michelle appeared exhausted, unstable on her legs. She was ghostly. Tears had started rolling down her face again.
“Rob, please,” Hassan said. “Take her to the meeting room and make her lie down.”
“No, I wanna stay,” she protested weakly.
“Listen to me.” His tone was gentle, persuasive. “Get some rest. You can’t all stay here. Anna will help me.”
Hearing her name, Anna posed a questioning look to him.
“I need you to assist me during the pleural drainage.” It wasn’t a request, but anyway she was the only one actually able to do that right now. She was aware of that.
She emitted a sigh and nodded.
Ten minutes later, they were alone with Dennis who, out of the three of them, seemed to be in the best mood.
“I’ve administered a local anaesthetic. You won’t feel a thing.”
The commander raised a thumb and smiled at Hassan.
The pleural fluid started going through the cannula and dripping into the sack. The reddish colour confirmed their fears. There was blood in it. The sight of it made Anna flinch, and she tried to look elsewhere. She felt her anguish increase. She swallowed and resolved to concentrate on what she was doing, but her mind wandered. She found herself imaging Dennis’s sensations, as he tried to inhale air into his lungs, but couldn’t. Without realising it, she had started hyperventilating.
The touch of Hassan’s hand on her arm forced her out of her thoughts. His grave look induced her to regain control.
After the drainage, the respiratory rhythm and the partial pressure of oxygen in his blood shown by the display improved remarkably. The patient was now calmer.
Without saying a word, Hassan took a medical scanner and passed it over the commander’s chest, letting an image appear on the main screen of the infirmary.
“How the fuck is it possible?” he murmured, incredulous.
Two evident dark masses, with a diameter of a couple of centimetres, were on the right and left lung respectively. A third one was on the cardiac wall. When he extended the analysis to the rest of the body, other masses showed on the liver and the intestines, while most of the lymph nodes turned out to be swollen.
It was obvious he would never last until the launch of the Isis 2.
That was the first thought crossing Anna’s mind again. As she turned her gaze to Dennis and saw he was smiling at her, trustful, she couldn’t help but feel shame.
The increase in aggressiveness in less than a week was something inexplicable. In the room beside the one where Dennis was resting, Hassan was comparing the new scans with the previous ones.
“Something must have happened,” he commented under his breath. “Here in the station. Perhaps a problem with the building’s shielding. Dennis’s immune system was the most compromised, therefore he would be the first to show the symptoms.”
“You saying we’ll all get cancer?!” Robert exclaimed a bit too loudly.
“Rob,” Anna reproached him, signalling with her head toward Michelle. It wasn’t the moment to express such kind of comments, not in front of her.
“I want you to suspend all activity; tomorrow we’ll check the radiation levels in each room. And I want to see you all.”
“I see you’re already getting accustomed with your new role of commander,” Robert commented again, but now Anna elbowed him. All he did then was to push her forcefully away.
“How long before he dies?” Michelle’s quiet, resigned tone brought the silence again.
Hassan just shook his head.
Not long.
“Christ, we’ll all die on this fucking planet!” Robert appeared out of control again.
“Stop it now,” Anna shouted. She was sick and tired of listening to him.
“He’s not mad at us,” Hassan stepped in, with sarcasm. “He’s just missing the oxycodone he didn’t succeed in finding in the medicine closet this morning. Am I right, Brother?”
The other man kicked the wall, making the two women start. Then he went out, without adding another word.
“I’m going to see him,” Michelle murmured, referring to her husband, and walked to the opposite door.
“It’ll be a mess, as soon as the guys in Houston know,” Anna commented, after the other woman left the room. “They’ll wonder why you didn’t disclose it.”
“I’ll claim doctor-patient confidentiality,” Hassan replied, as he resumed looking at the scans. He didn’t appear troubled about it. “Dennis is the only non-irreplaceable crew member. They’ll say we four can go on until the next launch window.”
The thought that she might have to spend at least another thousand days on Mars worried Anna; especially now that she had entertained the idea of returning to Earth. Most probably, they would send the return spacecraft, but with orders to use it only to send back samples. Station Alpha wouldn’t part with her, if no other exobiologist arrived to take her place.
“We could always finish off an irreplaceable member.” He was speaking again with that icy, inexpressive tone. He turned to look her in the eye. “That way they’ll be forced to send a new crew. Or they’ll have to declare that the mission failed and bring all us back.”
“Only you could come out with such a petty thing …” As she commented, Anna marvelled as she realised she had actually come to the same terrible conclusion. A surge of hatred against Hassan invaded her. That man, just like her father, always succeeded in letting her darker side emerge, and that disquieted her through and through.
He sneered, as if he could read her mind.
Feeling humiliated, Anna opted once more for escape.
“You can’t be serious,” Michelle complained, devoid of any energy. She was sat beside her husband’s bed in the infirmary. She was holding his hand. Her eyes were swollen. She’d been weeping again and it was now evident she was forcing herself to appear calm in front of him, but she was not succeeding.
Dennis, instead, was tranquil, as if what was happening to him wasn’t his business anymore. In a sense it was so. There wasn’t anything more to do. Struggling was useless. He was dying. Although Hassan had carefully avoided using the word, its heavy meaning had been more than obvious between the lines of what he had said concerning his health condition. What really grieved him was what he was supposed to expect in the coming days.
“I won’t get better, you know.”
Michelle nodded hesitantly. She kept on playing with her wedding ring, making it rotate with her thumb.
“But I can’t complain,” Dennis continued. “I’ve had an incredible life. And now I’m on Mars … on Mars! I never would have believed it could happen.”
He paused, to judge his wife’s reaction; she was listening to him, but keeping her eyes down all the time. Perhaps she was doing so to avoid crying again.
“And I’m living all this with you, the woman I love with all my heart. I couldn’t have desired more.”
Michelle raised a smile and finally looked at his face again.
“We still have so much to do here …” she said, but then stopped.
“I know. And I know you will all make out just fine.” A coughing fit made Dennis’s voice fail. His wife resumed weeping.
“No, please.” He sat up with difficulty, so he could reach out and touch her face. “You must be strong.” Their gazes met.
“I’ve got everything in my life. I wished I had more time, but time is something we can’t control. I’m sorry to leave you, but at least I know you won’t be alone.”
She placed her hands on his.
“This is the last favour I ask you,” he whispered.