Interstellar → Chris Beck

P R O L O G U E

2032
Johnson Space Center
Houston, Texas

A WAVE OF comfortable silence loomed in the air of the conference room. Mitch Henderson sat in his seat at the head of the table, while five of the seven persons he had called in were scattered throughout the seats of the table. The only two people left to make an appearance were the Watney siblings—Mark and Maia. They were several minutes late, and Mitch knew that to be because of Mark. Something Mitch had grown to learn about Maia in the few years that he had known her, was that she was a very punctual person. Mark, however, had his days, and because the two siblings were so attached to each other, Mitch was sure he was the reason for their late arrival.

About three minutes later, the door to the conference room opened. Maia entered the room first, followed by a laughing Mark. The six at the table looked to them, though Maia didn't pay them much mind at first. Her attention was solely on Mitch.

"Sorry we're late, Mitch," Maia spoke to the Hermes Flight Director. "Mark doesn't seem to know how a car functions."

"It wasn't that bad," Mark defended himself.

"The asshole hit two birds and ran over the curb. He almost ran into a trashcan, too," Maia remarked as she crossed her arms over her chest.

Mitch let out a deep chuckle and shook his head; he knew there was a reason the both of them had been chosen to be a part of the Ares mission. "It's alright. Have a seat."

Maia nodded and quickly followed his instructions, running over to take the seat beside a blue-eyed man. He smiled at her, which she returned, and turned his attention back to Mitch. Maia's gaze drifted across the table, where a very familiar face sat. Her eyes brightened immediately the moment she met eyes with her good friend, Beth Johanssen. Johanssen delivered a smile and an overly-excited wave to Maia before looking to Mitch, who was now standing at the head of the table.

"I assume you're wondering why you're all here," Mitch spoke, his voice deep and his accent prominent.

"Does this have anything to do with the Ares mission?" the man beside Maia questioned.

Mitch nodded. "Yes, it does, Dr. Beck."

Maia glanced back at her brother with a raised eyebrow. He seemed just as puzzled as she did to learn that the man Maia sat beside—the man who looked to be in his early thirties—was a doctor, though he was also impressed.

"Perfect one for you," Mark mouthed to Maia, a snide smirk on his face.

Maia shot him a dirty look and shook her head. "I don't even know the man," she mouthed back.

Mark simply chuckled and sat back in his seat, while Maia rolled her eyes at him and turned her attention back to Mitch.

"As you all know, the next Ares mission will be the Ares 3, which is set to launch in 2035," Mitch told the small group. "And I, along with Teddy Sanders and Vincent Kapoor, have chosen you seven to be the mission crew members. We admired your work for NASA so much that we couldn't not choose you."

"We will be getting paid for this, right?" Mark asked.

Maia snickered and looked down at her hands.

"Yes, yes you will," Mitch chuckled.

"I do have a question," the redhead at the front of the room spoke.

Mitch nodded in her direction, placing the palm of his hands onto the table. "Go ahead."

"Aren't sibling crew members against policy?"

"This is exactly why we chose you to be the Commander," Mitch breathed out. "And not anymore; they've changed their policy specifically for this reason. Both Mark and Maia possess phenomenal skills that are beneficial to the Ares mission, and Vincent was keen on having them both on Ares 3."

Maia and Mark then high-fived each other, earning a few chuckles from the few in the room.

"Fear our Watney power," Mark exclaimed.

"They also possess phenomenal people skills, which is exactly what we need," Mitch said as he grabbed a stack of folders from the cabinet by the door. "In these folders is everything you'll need to know about your mission occupations, as well as what NASA will expect from you individually while on the Red Planet."

"Why does mine say co-sysop?" Johanssen questioned the flight director when she received her folder. "Who's my other sysop?"

"Who do you think?" Maia scoffed as she looked over the details of her job description.

"You and Maia will be the system operators of the Hermes, though you're a reactor tech while she's a system engineer," Mitch informed the petite girl. "Melissa Lewis here will be the mission Commander, Rick Martinez will be the pilot, Alex Vogel will serve as the chemist, Mark Watney is the botanist, and Chris Beck is your flight surgeon and EVA specialist."

Maia leaned forward in her seat and tapped Chris on the shoulder. He turned to face her, his blue eyes friendly and inviting as he looked at her; Maia's eyes very quite narrowed as she attempted to figure out exactly how the hell this man could be a doctor.

"How old are you?" she asked.

"I'm thirty-three," he answered nicely.

Maia's eyes widened slightly and she sat back in her seat. "Jesus Christ, I would've thought you were younger than me."

"He doesn't look like that much of a baby, Maia," Mark snorted, his attention on the contents of his folder.

"I never said he did," Maia remarked. "All I'm saying is that most doctors look crusty and old, unless you're McSteamy or McDreamy, but that's old television so it doesn't matter. This is real life, and I'm just trying to work out how it's possible."

"How what's possible?" Chris asked her with a soft chuckle.

"That you're a doctor and you look the way you do."

Chris opened his mouth to respond, but wasn't given the chance to before Mark chimed in with, "That's her way of saying you're hot, dude."

"You don't look too bad yourself, Watney," Chris said to her with a small smirk on his face.

Maia only shook her head in response and looked back down at her portfolio.

"I think I'm gonna start my job off by saying that if anyone hits on anyone, you're off the mission," Commander Lewis warned the group. "This goes for absolutely everyone."

"That's a shame," Mark sighed, turning to look at Maia. "I guess this is where our relationship ends. I'm sorry that it has to be this way, Maia, but let's face it—you were never really my type anyway."

"You're so stupid," Maia scoffed.

Their fellow crew members laughed, as did Mitch.

"You lot have fun getting acquainted with one another," Mitch told the crew. "You've got a long five years ahead of you."

Little did the crew know just how long those five years would actually turn out to be.

_____

THE CHAPTERS IN THIS BOOK WILL VARY IN LENGTH; SOME WILL BE LONGER, WHILE SOME WILL BE SHORTER. THIS BOOK IS ALSO NOT JUST BASED OFF OF 'THE MARTIAN' MOVIE, BUT IT IS ALSO BASED OFF OF THE BOOK ITSELF. IF YOU'VE READ THE BOOK, YOU'LL NOTICE THAT IN THE FIRST FEW CHAPTERS AS WELL AS FUTURE CHAPTERS.