Gravity // Chris Beck

07. Sols 70-79

EXT. SPACE - MARS

"Teagan and I are gonna die up here..." Mark said.

"Oh, that's hopeful," Teagan muttered.

INT. HAB - DAY

Mark and Teagan stared directly into camera as the former said, "...if I have to listen to any more goddamn disco music." Vicki Sue Robinson's Turn the Beat Around was playing on the computer.

"Oh. I thought you were talking about something else."

Mark glanced at her before looking back at the camera. "Jesus, Commander Lewis, you couldn't have
packed anything from this century? I'm not turning the beat around. I refuse to."

Teagan nodded. "I refuse to as well. The beat sucks. I don't want anything better."

INT. HAB - NIGHT

Mark sat at his work station, checking a map of Mars while he made calculations. Teagan was sitting nearby writing in a journal.

Sol 70

Mark said, "It's time to start thinking long term. The next NASA mission is Ares 4. It's supposed to land at the Schiaparelli Crater, 3,200 km away." He traced a route from his and Teagan's position to the crater. "NASA presupplies each mission years in
advance, so the MAV is already there, synthesizing fuel. In four years when the Hermes returns, Teagan and I'll have to launch from there. Which means we gotta get to the crater.

EXT. HAB - DAY

Mark ripped the large battery out of Rover 1 and dragged it over to Rover 2. He stared at it, wondering where he was going to put it.

Teagan looked around and pointed to a short distance away.

INT. HAB - NIGHT

Mark spoke directly to camera. "But here's the rub. Teagan and I've got two rovers designed to go a max distance of 35 kilometers before they need to be recharged at the Hab. That's problem A. Problem B is it'll take her and me... roughly fifty days to make the journey. So we have to be able to live for fifty days. Inside a rover with marginal life support the size of a small van. Luckily she's small. Beck, I'm sorry." He glanced at Teagan, then back to the camera."And yeah, problem C is if Teagan and I don't figure out how to make contact with NASA in the first place, none of this matters anyway. So... yes, in the face of overwhelming odds, she and I are left with only one option: We're gonna have to science the shit out of this."

"Oh good," Teagan muttered. "More science. My brain better understands people. Not the periodic table."

Rubberband Man by The Spinners played.

EXT. HAB - DAY

Mark attached the battery to Rover 2 with a makeshift harness.

EXT. HAB - DUSK

Mark and Teagan sat behind the wheel of their wagon train. They took it for a test drive. It wasn't pretty, but the spare battery held; as did the solar cells.

INT. ROVER - NIGHT

Mark spoke to the camera. His teeth were chattering. He had his arms around a shivering Teagan. "Okay, so... success? Teagan and I've doubled our battery life by scavenging Rover 1. But. If we use the heater, it'll eat up half our battery power every day. If we don't use the heater, we will be slowly killed by the laws of thermodynamics." He and Teagan tried to stop shaking. "She and I'd like to solve this problem, but unfortunately my brain is frozen and I think hers might be too."

Mark and Teagan drove back towards the Hab.

EXT. MARS - DAY

Mark and Teagan drove the Rover across Acidalia Planitia. In the distance, a green flag was planted at the top of a hill.