Passage to Mars Page #4

of managing the dust.

This intense heat, they

project in a parallel beam

against any object they choose,

by means of a polished

parabolic mirror

of unknown composition..

That is my conjecture

of the origin of the heat ray.

Not even filming.

Just hold on to it.

It makes you not wanna be

in prison, huh?

Oh, yeah.

Aside from the fact

that you might be some, you know

six foot eight, you know, guy

285 pound guy's boy toy.

What would be worse?

This weather sucks.

"Cables have been

received from English, French

"and German scientific bodies

offering assistance.

"Astronomers report

continued gas outbursts

at regular intervals

on the planet Mars."

8:
00 a.m.

The Okarian is holding up well.

She's a real trooper.

Our electrical system,

not so much.

We have a dying alternator.

It's not fixable.

From here on, no more

recharging of anything.

We'll push on for now,

but I must resist

that mindless urge

to keep going no matter what.

What they call "Go fever."

Too many before us

have died from it.

For the first time, I'm thinking

we might not make it to Devon

before the ice breaks up.

But for now, I won't share

these thoughts with the crew.

We'll have to go through

that, that pass over there

and then make it wider.

5 p.m.

As we make our way

deeper into the Arctic

the feeling of roving on Mars

grows stronger.

How far on Mars,

how deep into the planet

will our search for water

and life take us?

Where should we look first?

I keep thinking

about the giant scar

across Mars' surface.

Its origin is still a mystery.

It was once lined with

glaciers and contained lakes.

All long gone.

Whatever surface water Mars

might have had has vanished.

But some mornings,

her canyons fill with fog.

How do you get fog

without water?

Will we make our first contact

with another life form

beneath the Martian fog?

Keep right. Keep right.

Yeah, yeah.

The Arctic is tough.

We lack sleep.

Our faces and hands

are drying and wrinkled.

Midnight with the stars

and you

Midnight and a rendezvous

Your eyes..

We wash and scrub

with hard snow.

We melt fresh snow

for drinking water.

Yeah, boiling water.

We move sideways

to take up as little room

in the rover as possible.

I sleep on the floor.

- What is it, Jesse?

- Uh, cheeseburger?

No, it's Tang.

The Mars rovers

will be just as cramped

but you won't be able

to step outside for fresh air.

- Jesse, you're going outside?

- Uh, yes, I am.

More snow?

We're now like family members.

All these different guys

get along very well

despite the fatigue

and confined space.

Each one feels responsible

for the other.

We wouldn't have it

in any other way.

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