The new crew was Staci Ingram, Field Producer for RP Productions, doubling as a medical technician; Bob Duprey, Production Assistant and psychologist; and Bill Mackenzie, biologist and utility technician. After aerobraking, the ship initiated a rocket burn that put it on a landing trajectory. Inside it, with suits buttoned up, the trio appeared indistinguishable, like three peas in a pod.
They felt the kick of the rocket burn, and the ship vibrating. Then came the subtle and pervasive tug of gravity as they plummeted toward the surface. The heat-shield system was field tested each time a ship landed. Once again, it did its trick, so howling-hot that radio contact with Kira Kwan was lost for the better part of a minute, drowned out by plasma emissions from wispy-thin, heated atmosphere around hot metal. When the surface was near and their velocity had slowed, the shield was jettisoned a safe distance, where it would be recovered and eventually recycled into something useful.
As soon as the newcomers knew they were down safely, Staci informed Kira. “That was some ride! We’re go to disembark as soon as the dust clears out.”
“Good to hear that, Staci. Welcome to the show. The rover is waiting. Climb on down and get aboard when you’re ready. It’s programmed. Just get in and press start.”
Their ship had settled onto a relatively flat portion of Ophir Planum, about three kilometers east of the encampment and some forty-five kilometers north of Coprates Chasma, which lay at the eastern end of Valles Marineris, the mind-boggling gouge in the Martian terrain that dwarfed the Grand Canyon. Later, they would unload cargo, lay the fuselage down, and tractor that to the encampment for transformation into a domicile. Meanwhile, new arrivals would double up with the cast from season one.
The rover took the new trio past the Candle, then five hundred meters further to the V- shaped encampment, now comprised of two rocket fuselages laid on their sides, each about half as long as a football field, and partly covered with heaped up dirt. Nearby were globular tanks of various sizes, containing useful substances like compressed hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and Martian atmosphere. The camp’s most precious substance, water, was a jewel they kept inside, close at hand in a tank protected from freezing. Beyond the encampment to the west lay a low escarpment. That rested near the unseen edge of a graben, a sunken trench resulting from faults shifting when volcanic activity on the planet was more prominent. The graben snaked south for many kilometers to a point where it joined the incredible vastness of Valles Marineris. On the south side of the encampment was a field of solar panels, deployed in an area of more than a thousand square meters.
When the season-two arrivals walked inside from the airlock, they were greeted with clapping, hooting, and fist pumps. Old hands helped new ones take off their suits, and soon they were all embracing. Siggy caught Bill Mackenzie's eye. Bill gave him a big grin. “Here I am, Lieutenant, turned up again like a bad penny.” Bill saluted. “Reporting for duty, sir.”
“Knock it off, Sergeant - or should I say ex-sergeant? You always were a wise ass. We should have drummed you out of the unit instead of waiting for you to resign.”
Bill maintained the grin. “Okay, ex-lieutenant. So, I can call you Siggy now?”
Siegfried matched Bill’s grin and extended a hand. “Only on days that end in y.”
Bill shook his hand firmly, and the two embraced. “Thanks for talking me into this gig, Siggy.”
He pointed at Bill. “I promise you’ll regret it before we’re through with you.” He gestured to a crude sofa in one corner of the room and addressed all the newcomers. “Park your posteriors and relax awhile. Bill, you’re a key man in fulfilling all our challenges this season. After you recover from the ride, we can catch you up with what’s gone down so far.”
“Thanks, I look forward to that.”
Kira held up a couple of brown bottles. “Bob Duprey wisely unpacked and grabbed the drinks before you left the ship. How about a beer, folks? I think you earned it. We’re supposed to film a celebration with these, but we can refill them with water and get the camera out later.” A cheer went up from the newbies.