i caught a whiff of your barbecue. after that i was helpless.
something like that. it's his night, deb. i didn't want to spoil it.
that was never gonna happen. i was always teamed with maggie, and we were mostly chalkboard jockies. you know? systems. payloads.
sure, i made a little noise. but putting the first footprints on mars? nah. that's for guys who.  . wrote their ph.d. thesis on how to colonize the place. and guys who.  . read too much science fiction as a kid and still wear little flash gordon rocketships around their necks.
god, she would've loved to see you two clowns. just one more time.
i'm okay. really. thanks.
that's all over now.
i know that, luke. you don't have to say it.  mars is yours now. go get it.
yeah. you too.
sits at the center console, wearing a headset. he's now the mars one capcom , and his manner is brisk, efficient, all-business. a technician leans in for instructions.
tell geology and hydrology we need to scramble on this. full-court press.
who is surrounded by a knot of technicians, to whom he is giving quiet, precise instructions. they hover, then depart, like so many eager bees.
ah, we're all pretty stoked about that formation you spotted, mars one. the folks in the geology and hydrology back rooms are going over your images and comparing them to every photomap they've got.
medical wants me to remind you that you're three days late on your blood tests. i know they're a bore, but you've got to get them done, or else.  or else i don't know what. just do them, okay?
i think that's about it for business. but on a personal note, be advised that, ah, none of you can sing worth a damn.
honestly, luke, if you guys don't have anything better to do with your time, i can make some suggestions to mission medical. there are worse things than blood tests.
oh, and i talked to debra. she and bobby are doing fine. said to tell you, they're, ah, they're on their "third time through the book, page -- -- page 125." they send their love and say take care of yourself. same from us here, buddy. till next time, then. end of transmission.
at the same moment we lost the data stream, they picked up an intense burst of energy from mars.
catastrophic.
good thinking, woody. that's just what we tried next.
the resupply module checked out fine. no instrument failures, no change in status. orbit holding steady. but there was something else. the remo's computer contained an uplink message -- a very faint, highly distorted transmission from mars one base camp.
yes.
even if luke was in great shape, he couldn't get home. that energy pulse would've fried the erv's computers.
right, but meanwhile, we've gotta be working up a mission plan.
yes. we can design the mission to have a free return capability. it's a long trip, but if you don't land it's the best option.
but we can go earlier and get there faster if we reconfigure the payload for extra fuel. we've modelled that, ray. i've modelled it.
the ship can take it.
i know the protocols for a mars recovery mission better than anybody, because i helped design them. and i'm saying these guys can do it.
you'll have it by 0600.
let's get to work.
what's that?
used to be.
now what is it?
i'm gonna get an update on sima. it should be just about close enough to start capturing some surface images.
hey, skip.
dust storm. southern hemisphere, coming from the east.  big fella, too.
yup. could get a little hairy just about landing time.
when does sima do her fly-by?
my money's on luke.
lies on his cot in his own cubicle, with the door closed. the lower hab has artificial gravity and mcconnell can move normally. hands behind his head, he stares at his bureau.
shifts his eyes. the clock on his bulkhead reads "0546."
who has now arrived, is also watching the dancing couple. a twinge of sadness crosses his features. but when his eyes meet phil's, he shakes off the feeling and manages a smile: aren't they something?
it's sima.
we know luke survived for at least a few hours. question is, are there any signs of recent activity?
graves.
what's wrong?
that was no quake.
yeah. i'm good to go.
after all these years.  can you believe it? tomorrow we'll be standing on mars.
it's never been out of my mind.
she knew, woody. she was the only one of us that ever thought there might be something down there.
range 6783 and closing. 35 minutes till mars orbital capture.
tie main bus to systems.
select h2. o2 hpu and fuel cells for open.
transfer protocol data from eva station.
breach hits in the hull!
stares at a gauge that confirms what's happening.
still outgassing in the lower hab! there must be another hole down there, even bigger.
we'll lose all control. we won't be able to fire the engines to capture mars orbit.
floats up to them, checking on phil's work at the computer.
no time. phil, can you keep the nav computers on-line?
i'll do it from below.
has that ever been tested?
do it.
just one goddamn second. come on, c'mon.
mcconnell!
hang on!
is also jarred by the firing of the thrusters. the rotation slows until the hab is still. zero-g. mcconnell floats. he and terri can hear the terrifying sound of air whistling out into space through the breach hole.
i've got a better idea. stay there!
i'm workin' on it!
shake out the liquid.
shake it out near the hull!
woody, the breech is in sector four! sector four, copy that?
negative, negative. woody, get back inside. we've gotta start the checklist for orbital insertion.
how's his hand?
go.
let's go to mars.
shut down engines!
manual separation! blow the bolts!
where's the remo?
where is it?!
damn it, how close?!
we don't have time! figure it out! now!
not the ship. just us. we have to go
there's no other choice! phil, how close?!
how we doin' on fuel, woody?
what do you think?
use the tether.
we'll only have one, maybe two shots before she's out of reach.
you'll be going too fast.
at what velocity?
at what velocity?
i'm gonna use the gun to slow you.
it's too fast, woody.
woody, what's your status?
as soon as we get hooked up, i'll come get you.
negative on the transmission?
i am.
woody, you hang tight. we'll get into the remo, fire her up, drop her into a lower orbit and come scoop you up.
then we'll have to get her moving faster.
look out!
brakes!
okay, let's get inside! phil, start dumping the cargo, or there won't be room for us.
dump the cargo. hang on, woody!
terri, no!
is reaching to activate his own jets, when
goddammit, terri, it won't work!
get inside. dump the cargo, then start the systems. now.
he's right, terri.  it's no use.
come back, terri.
he's gone.
please, terri.  we need you.
stares at these, thinking hard, remembering. he's holding a palm-sized computer, already wired into this panel. he begins tapping the keys, but then stops himself. reconsiders. he turns, looking back at
knows he has to occupy them. speaks softly.
phil? hey, phil?
we're going in blind. we'll deploy the chutes by laptop. i need to get on the data bus, put in a software patch, and try to soften this tin can's landing. i could use your help with the patch.
that's great. good job. hey, terri, i was wondering. think maybe we could rig some kind of seatbelts out of those cargo straps?
studies both of their faces intently. knows that he can't push them too hard, too fast. they're moving like robots, but at least they're moving.
better?
terri, let's see if that oxygen still is operational. phil, you better check out the erv. i'll take the hab. if you find luke's --
just keep in touch.
i'm at the main airlock door.
entering hab.
reaches into a bucket, touches the water. his glove comes up before his wondering eyes, dripping. grasping the implication, he looks down at his forearm instrument pad.
punches in more numbers, and gets the readout:
slowly reaches up, unsealing the neck ring of his helmet. he hesitates, then lifts it off. takes a deep, quenching lungful of pure air. holds it in. lets it slowly out. for a moment he doesn't trust his own voice. then speaks softly towards his helmet.
i'm in the greenhouse. you better.  you better come see this for yourselves.
luke, it's me! jim mcconnell!
luke, it's jim!
your wife is debra! your son is bobby! you were reading treasure island with him!
don't hurt him!
he didn't make it luke.
luke, what happened here?
what came?
luke, we still don't understand.
or maybe his whole crew died and he's been marooned alone on mars. let's give him time to adjust.
that kind.
has it been blowing like this for a while? we saw a big storm from space. but micker said it was turning south.
this -- whatever it was -- this force. you say it came directly out of the top of the mountain?
what did you mean by its "secret?" what secret?
who's "they"?
what about the sound? that signal you heard before the explosion?
mathematical?
x-y-z coordinates.
but that dna looks human.
yeah, but it's close. damn close.
when he finally speaks, never takes his eyes off the screen. we can read in them the almost overwhelming grip this mystery has on his imagination.
it's been a long day. let's get a couple hours sleep, then tackle this thing when we're fresher. phil, your first priority will be to get the motherboards over to the erv. concentrate on getting communications up first. soon as we've got the juice, we'll send a packet to micker, tell them luke's ok, and that.  everything else that's happened. the rest of us will take an inventory of supplies, see where we stand. okay?
how do you feel?
look at that. phil's idea of absolute essentials.
it's not a signature.
that noise from the face.  it's not a signature. it's a test.
it's asking us for the right answer. it wants us to put in the missing pair of chromosomes.
to prove that we're human.
which it interpreted as a wrong answer.  yes! it's like a, a security alarm. when it gets an incorrect response, it defends itself.
i don't know. but we've got to find out. can you work this the other way? figure out which tones would be equivalent to the missing chromosomes? then dub them into your recording of the signal?
what about the radar gun? will it accept that input? can we transmit a completed signal back to the face?
terri, if we leave here without getting some answers, they all died in vain.
what are we here for, if not to take chances?
this means we're not alone. it means we're on the brink of the greatest discovery in mankind's history. but we've still got to prove it. who knows when someone else will get back here? or if they ever will? you know what congress is like. they'll say it's too dangerous, too much loss of life, let's go back to unmanned flights. we could be the last explorers to come here for decades. we're it, guys. we're it.
how close do we need to get?
check for radiation.
luke, the four-man rover. does it still work?
how long before it hits?
how bad?
phil, how much longer to prep the erv?
then there's still time for us to get out there and back.
stay here. continue the repair. if something goes wrong, you get out of here before that storm hits.
if we're not back in forty-five minutes, i want you to prep and launch. that's 1950 hours.
it's not a suggestion, it's an order. you understand?
you understand what?
let's go.
phil, do you read me?
we're at the face. we're gonna need a few minutes here. same deadline, launch at 1950. with or without us. do you copy?
i'm not sure of anything anymore. but i didn't come a hundred million miles just to turn back in the last ten feet.
surface seems firm and level.
don't move! keep this orientation.
phil? phil, can you still hear me?
i don't think so.
no. that was air going into my suit, not out. look at your own suits -- they're not rigid anymore. we've got pressure in here.
we're millions of miles from earth and we're inside a gigantic white face. what's impossible?
is that what i think it is?
is in wondrous awe, his whole face radiant with joy. it's the first time we've ever seen him utterly without sadness or reserve. staring at the martian, he understands.
they're us. we're them.
that's what she means.
looks back at her, nods his understanding. for the first time she seems to smile. benevolence, reassurance. then as abruptly as she first appeared, she fades away. vanishes.
we are in a ship. this is a ship. and the countdown has already started.
i'm not coming with you.
that's where i'm going. don't you see? that's what all this is for. you were right terri. this is an invitation. to follow them. to follow them home.
i have to go. this is the mission now. to find out who we are. isn't that why we came here? like maggie said, "to stand on a new world and look beyond it to the next one."
you know, when you think about it -- i wasn't even supposed to be here -- all the accidents, everything that got us to this point, it's just.  it's just.  i just know it's right.
i'm okay. i know what i'm doing. but you're running out of time. you've gotta get back to the erv and get off this planet. now please go.
my pleasure.
he's here, terri. we wouldn't have made it without him.
yeah?
always do.
looks down at what terri gave him.
grips this tightly as he looks up.
fights against a stab of claustrophobia. is he being imprisoned? or somehow protected? either way, he's virtually immobilized. in this tight space in his bulky suit, he can't even move his arms. only his head and neck can still shift.
looks down again.
cranes his neck, staring up. can he wedge himself higher, can he somehow climb to safety?
squeezes his eyes shut, holding his breath. not so much fighting this anymore as simply floating in place, waiting for his inevitable death.
smiles back.