Chapter 1
July 2030
Natalie York sat in her wheelchair, it's metal bars burned her skin in the hot Texas sun. She smiled and looked up at her son, Ben, who looked at her with concern, asking if she was felt alright.
“A-OK” she replied and they both laughed.
She was a special guest of the company, a trophy to show off to the press. The first human on Mars. Last survivor of the Ares mission some 44 years earlier. Her crew mates had long since passed away, one claimed by the cancer that claims such a disproportionate amount of astronaut lives and the other lost during a Lunar EVA. Radiation had proved to be a bigger threat in the long term to space travelers, but with these new Mars Transports and their shielding, it was no longer a concern, or so the experts claimed.
The Ares mission had proved to be a one-off flight to Mars. Flags and Footprints, just like Apollo. York had tried to build support for years for a return to Mars, but the best she ever got was an outpost on the moon. The colony, Shackleton City, that was founded in it's place now held a population of 125 and would keep expanding. It had been a triumph for NASA and the world, as it became an international base for research. Research that York could now admit, paved the way for this return to Mars, and in a much more permanent manner. NASA and it's international partners had learned how to live, and unfortunately, die on other worlds. Because of this new partnership between NASA and the private space corporations they would have decades of experience to support the new outpost on Mars.
Despite her fame, York's life had not been easy. While initially excited about the massive amounts of data and samples returned and the knowledge it provided, the months later had been depressing. She tried, so very, very hard to drum up support for a new mission, one she had hoped to be on, but it never happened. She took solace in drinking and the recovery had not been easy. After three further space flights, she resigned from NASA and becoming a geology professor at the University of Illinois. She had spent the next 15 years teaching and once again campaigning for a return to Mars. Selling “Get Your Ass Back To Mars” t-shirts on the internet, speeches at high schools, colleges and civics club, even a GI Joe in her likeness, it had all been worth it.
Worth it to see the massive Artemis rocket on the launch pad on the Texas coast ready to launch the first crew to return to Mars since she and her crew left in 1986. A totally reusable vehicle, built by a private company, that was first funded by an internet millionaire, it had already delivered a small base to Mars, with supplies to last a full year. NASA had designed the base, commercial companies launched it. The future had arrived. And at 82 years old, York had lived to see it.
November 6, 1986: Pacific Ocean
The ocean waves slapped up against the outside of Discovery. Seawater sometimes splashed the window in spacecraft. The small capsule rocked in the sea as Natalie York looked out her window at blue sky for the first time in over 20 months. She tried to lift her head to look out the window directly, but she felt like an elephant was sitting on it. No, make that three elephants. The force of Earth's gravity was back, and she was feeling it now. After so much time in weightlessness in the Mission Module, it was hoped that the rigorous exercising the crew did would help them recover faster. It was a bit easier to recover when they reached Mars, but her muscles still ached after her first Mars walk. By the end of the 24 days on the surface, she felt like she was born on Mars, and never wanted to leave. Actually, she had, in a way, always felt like she belonged on Mars. Her now world famous “I'm Home” quote was truer than most people believed.
“You OK, Nat?” Gershon asked her.
What a question. How could she answer that. Their mission was a huge success, she had walked on Mars, fulfilled the dream of her life and now returned to what would surely be a heroes welcome at the age of 38. A major power failure on the return journey had caused major concerns for the crew. Two of the Ares's solar panels failed, forcing the crew to curtail power usage. Experiments on the Martian samples stopped and no more hot showers. They were forced to open panels to re-wire the spacecraft in flight, and were able to make sure they would have enough power to fire the J-2M engine and enter Earth orbit. They avoided a direct re-entry that would have required them to leave many of their hard earned samples behind. Now, all of the samples from Mars would be retrieved by another crew launching on a Saturn 1B.
After all of this, the question arose in her mind “Now what?'' and it scared her.
So she answered the way she always did. She lied.
“Yep, Ralph, just great.”
He looked at her from his couch, concern showing on his face for his friend.
“OK, if you say so.”
York's train of thought was interrupted by a thumping on the hatch. An US Navy frogman had dropped from a SH-60 Seahawk helicopter and was knocking on their hatch to see if they were alright. The first human being they had seen since they left Earth 20 months earlier.
Phil Stone manage to lift an arm and give him a thumbs up.
“We're home, guys. Welcome to Earth.” he said.
“Guys?” York said, while Gershon could not control his laughing.
“Yep, Natalie. From now on, you are not only one of the guys, you are at the top of the pyramid. They will really say you have the right stuff” Gershon joked while laughing.
York smiled. Her indignation simply no longer worked with these two. They had long ago grown immune to her, and she hoped that never changed. She had flown to Mars and back with Stone and Gershon. She never wanted to loose their friendship and camaraderie.
Well, I won't have to worry about that, we still have a lot of time to spend with each other.
They heard a few more thumps on the outside of their capsule. Frogmen were climbing it, attaching tow cables to the top and a flotation collar around the base. The cable was from the US Navy amphibious assault ship USS Belleau Wood. They would be towed inside the ship, where they could be isolated and removed on stretchers, since their bodies would be too weak to walk out on their own.
But before that began, the hatch opened briefly and a package containing 3 Biological Isolation Garments were tossed inside. They would have to manage to get out of their flight-suits and into the garments before their spacecraft could be opened and they disembarked. Not an easy task inside the bobbing ship, that was rapidly rising in temperature.
Unstrapping from her seat, York dropped down to the bottom on the capsule and began removing her flight coveralls. They had not worn their heavy space suits for splashdown, which made this task much simpler. The plan was for her to change first while the guys waited above, then they would switch, a needless attempt to maintain her privacy. She had long ago given up that in the almost two year flight.
By the time all three had managed to get into their BIGs, the tow cables had been attached to Discovery and the Navy personnel on board the Wood had begun to pull them into the landing dock. Gravity was not kind to them. The change of garments had worn them out. The three of them collapsed onto their couches and the rocking of the spacecraft in the waves did not agree with Natalie's inner ears. She felt the nausea creeping up and removed her mask and grabbed a plain white bag from the storage pouch next to her couch. She quickly filled it with the contents of her stomach as she retched.
After she finished, she sealed the bag and dropped it to the floor of the cabin.
“I wonder if they will want to analyze that?' she joked.
“I think they will have enough stuff to look at, Nat.” Ralph replied, feeling a little green himself.
In a few minutes, they felt the capsule bump into the loading ramp of the Belleau Wood. Sailors scrambled outside the Discovery, making sure she was sliding onto the rollers that would place her onto the specially designed support frame that would secure her for the return to San Diego. Once the tiny gumdrop shaped capsule was secure, they heard the crew begin to open the hatch, for the first time since March 1985, Discovery's hatch was about to fully open.
Light from the outside streamed into their tiny ship as hatch cracked open, then it swung wide, and they were greeted by the masked face of Joe Muldoon. He reached in and grabbed each of their gloved hands, shaking them vigorously.
“Welcome home, Martians!” he exclaimed. “So glad to see you guys again!”
“Glad to be home.” Phil Stone replied.
“You said it, Phil!” Ralph chimed in. “I need a beer!”
“How 'bout you Nat? Glad to be home?” Muldoon asked.
“Yeah, I guess. Home.....” she sighed as she replied. For some reason, she felt like she would never feel at home now.