Yves Giraud - Kahnu

François and Sabrina reached ARC 3, just as Tendai was starting to lose consciousness.

“ Stay with me buddy, hang in there just a bit longer ,” François thought to himself, while heading back for the main hatch, the other rover in tow. ARC 1’s backup suit was in its compartment, but there was no way to get it to Tendai without entering the vehicle, which would have exposed him to the outside air and killed him.

“Vera! Tendai is out cold. Get the defibrillator and oxygen ready. We’re on our way. Meet us at the main hatch! Hurry!”

A minute and a half passed before François and Sabrina, their precious cargo in tow, reached the station. Already suited up, the Frenchman jumped out of his vehicle and rushed to the other rover. Accessing the external command panel, he deployed the rover’s cab extension and connected it to the station’s door. He then rushed to the next hatch and stormed inside the station, Sabrina right behind him. Inside, Vera was impatiently waiting behind the other hatch for the air in the pressurizing compartment of ARC3 to get back to normal.

The warning lights finally turned green, the hatch opened, and Vera rushed into the rover.

François, racing through the pod tunnels was already on her heels.

“François, give me the oxygen feed, quick!” yelled Vera as he approached.

“Here!”

Oxygen bottle in hand, she leaned over the unconscious man.

“Tendai! Tendai!” But the dark-skinned Zimbabwean wasn’t responding. She quickly placed the oxygen mask on his face.

“How is he? Any response? Did you check his breathing?” asked François standing behind her.

“No, there’s no pulse… Come on Tendai, come on! Guys, the defibrillator, now!”

Sabrina squeezed by François, the EBP machine rolling behind her, and extended the two pads to Vera.

“Remove his shirt, François. Hurry!” Vera grabbed the pads from Sabrina. François obliged immediately. She briefly brushed the two pads together, placed them on Tendai’s bare chest, and yelled: “Clear!” François barely had time to step out of the way. Sabrina pressed the switch, and Tendai’s body jerked up and back violently. Vera leaned down and placed an ear on his torso.

“Nothing. OK. What’s my charge?”

“Almost there…” replied Sabrina looking at the machine’s gauges… “OK, green!”

“Clear!”

Sabrina pushed the button again, causing Tendai’s body to convulse once more.

“Still nothing. Shit!”

Vera let go of the pads. They swung back on each side of the EBP and dangled at the end of their accordion cords. She climbed on top of Tendai and began performing mouth to mouth, adding several hands-crossed pressures on his chest every so often. Finally, Tendai’s lungs welcomed the forced air and soon, the man was opening his eyes.

“Tendai! Are you OK? Look at me. Look at me! Do you know where you are?”

He seemed a bit disoriented at first, staring silently at Vera for several seconds. Then, he began to smile, looking around at each one of them.

“Well, that was close. You had us seriously worried, you know?”

He smiled weakly at François and managed a soft “Sorry”.

Vera’s back slowly slid down the wall behind her. She sat there, shaking. She tried not to cry, fighting the overwhelming sense of fear. They had almost lost a member of their small group.

“Vera, you’re OK?”

“I’m fine, Sabrina, I’m fine. Just a bit tired,” she replied with an unconvincing smile.

The whole group soon regrouped, and the three helped Tendai into greenhouse II, where he could lay down and get some well-deserved O 2from the plants. Dedrick’s rover and its passengers arrived half an hour later to find Tendai seated at a table, surrounded by Vera, Sabrina, and François, all laughing loudly, a glass of Olympus Mons in hand.

The worst had been avoided. But the lesson had been learned. After that incident, only one rover was allowed to leave the camp at any time, and all three ARCs were checked every morning and evening, and their backup suits had to be in the vehicles at all times. The breakdown was eventually attributed to a simple relay malfunction. A small short in it had caused the battery to drain overnight. Why the computers had not registered the malfunction was another mystery altogether…

After another incident, a few weeks later involving one of the rovers left outside, it had not taken long for Lars to request that a garage be added to the station. Luckily, since the successful landing of MF1 and its crew back in 2025, funding requests for the project had become much easier, and in 2028, a supply ship had delivered the kit-style garage, for the colonists to assemble.

It was a particularly beautiful day. Dedrick and Vera had taken a trip to their favorite spot for some alone time. Bathed in the crimson light of a beautiful sunset over the Laguna plateau, the Russian had finally proposed, and the emotional woman had said yes.

The news had created some “disturbance in the Force,” as François had put it. Dedrick had vaguely mentioned the possibility of proposing the previous evening after a few too many drinks, but the Frenchman had attributed it to the Olympus Mons taking and dismissed the comment altogether. Needless to say, he was quite surprised when his Russian friend had made it official. What had made things bad for François was Sabrina’s envious reaction to the news. The next few weeks had been all about how wonderful marriage was, and how she hoped she would get asked too, someday. Her not-so-subliminal hints had been difficult for the Frenchman to ignore.

Regardless, Dedrick and Vera had finally tied the knot in May 2030, in front of the whole world watching from Earth. Ladli had been more than happy to be the bridesmaid for the second time, and Sabrina and Liu had helped decorate the small Martian outpost as best they could. Since Vera did not have a wedding dress, the two women had managed to fashion one out of several white and pink cloths, normally used to cover plants in the greenhouses. Regardless of the unusual look of her dress, Vera was radiant and couldn’t have been more thrilled. The forty-seven-year-old medical officer had become the first woman ever to get married on another world, and she loved it. Dedrick had asked François to be his best man, a role the Frenchman had been a bit reluctant to accept at first, considering his interest in weddings, left alone participate. But truth be told, he was touched nonetheless, and eventually agreed. Performing the ceremony had been entrusted to Najib. Commander of MF2 and team two leader, the Indian man had promised to do a great job. The occasion had also been a wonderful excuse to throw a party. Life on Mars could get quite monotonous at times. The need for some occasional play time was understandable.

“Vera Via, do you take this man to be your husband?”

“Yes, I do.”

Dedrick Sokolov, do you take this woman to be your wife?

“I do.”

“With the power given to me, I pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.” A small explosion of applause and yells by their colleagues filled the greenhouse. Tendai reached down the bag he was holding and pulled out a full fist of confetti which he threw high across the room. Countless small pieces of colored paper came flying down everywhere, while the newlyweds walked the center of the room. Ladli moved to the control panel and pressed play. The song “On Mars”, written and recorded by François a few days earlier for the occasion, came on. As the music echoed through the station, Dedrick and Vera started to dance. The dark ballade wouldn’t have been Vera’s first choice for their first dance, but Dedrick had convinced her it would mean the world to François. She had eventually given in.