The lavender glow of the transporter subsided, and Sharon and I breathed a mutual sigh of relief. We had succeeded beyond our expectations. The President and his entire entourage had agreed to cooperate in giving me the support I needed to make the negotiations with Intergal. A timetable had been set for the President to announce the results of our conference and proclaim his support to the waiting media. He had also agreed to supply the intelligence on our allies and other world leaders so that I could contact them on my own time schedule.

We stood there wordlessly for a moment and then awkwardly both of us tried to say something at the same time, provoking a fit of laughter. Somehow I found her in my arms and we shared a long embrace followed by an almost equally long kiss. It fit, more than I would have thought.    
            
“I never properly thanked you for all your help. I don’t just mean today either. I could never have asked for a better friend.” I was beginning to feel a bit awkward, not sure how to broach the subject of relationship, but sure that I needed to.

“Considering that you don’t normally kiss your hired help, I’ll have to assume that it isn’t my work you are thanking me for,” she replied.

“I guess that’s right. I’ve been pretty standoffish at times, and it took going away to help me realize that if I’m to represent the human race out there, I need to connect to it better here on earth. You’re the best friend I have, I just didn’t realize it at the time.”

“If you’re talking about connecting to the earth, you’re a long way from it, out here in orbit like this. Unless you’re talking about me...” she said playfully.

“Well I was actually. I found myself regretting that I hadn’t asked you out, even against my own policies.”

“What changed your mind?”

“I wanted to share this with you. And, to be honest, I missed you.”

“Thanks for thinking of me. I was actually a bit jealous of this trip, and if I had known what it really was, I would have been even more jealous.”

“Jealous of the trip, or jealous because it took me away?”

“I think because I wanted to be with you,” she replied..

We embraced again, then separated and walked back to the conference room to clean up. Both of us were lost in our own thoughts for a while. The clean up proceeded quickly, and Peter was helpful as he told us where to put things for recycling.

As we finished, I broke the silence and said, “I think that under the circumstances, I couldn’t ask for anyone else to work for me again. At least not as long as you are around. I need a friend more than an employee. I see now how much I took for granted, and I don’t want to make that mistake again.”

She paused, then said, “won’t it be a bit complicated, the two of us together? No other people around...”

“It depends on what you mean by complications. I’m pretty old fashioned in some ways. Still, I would rather have your help in this venture as a friend, than as an employee. Payment isn’t like what you’d get on earth however.”

“For now, being here is all the payment I need... that and the time spent with you.”

“I’m afraid you’ll have to share me for the time being. We have a lot of dignitaries to wine and dine in the near future,” I replied.

Together we went to the control room, and I asked Peter to listen to the media below and scan for the President’s news conference. Then I asked him to open the view screen and together we sat and looked out at the stars, and the earth below us.

Eventually Peter said, “They are announcing the President now.”

“Go ahead and put it up on the screen.”

The screen lit up, showing the President conferring with some of his advisors still seated in the VIP section. The podium stood in front of the Presidential Seal, and the Press Secretary was just finishing his introduction. The audience present erupted into applause as the President took his place at the podium, and thanked the Press Secretary.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, citizens of the United States, and members of the world community listening abroad, tonight I have the distinct honor of announcing to you that the message you heard broadcast on your radios a few days ago was in fact a real message from outside our solar system. It was made possible by the technology of an extraterrestrial civilization we have never yet met. As we received that broadcast, we not only discovered that we are not alone in the universe, but that other inhabitants of the universe are interested in establishing a mutually beneficial relationship.”

“We, the residents and people of this planet have been invited to participate in an intergalactic body of other civilizations for the purpose of establishing trade and commerce.”

“You may wonder if I have lost my sanity. I was asking myself that same question earlier today. That ship you saw appear on the White House lawn was no illusion, and a few hours after it took up orbit around the earth, I was given the opportunity along with some of my cabinet, and some members of Congress to take a tour.”

“The technology we encountered there defies imagination. The ship itself is alive, if a mechanical thing can be said to have life. It is a conscious intelligence in its own right. It has the power to hide itself from our radar, and can transport people and material across vast distances without interference.”

“This is the stuff of science fiction, and I must confess that I never found an interest in science fiction. I like realty too much to spend time in fantasy. Now however, an opportunity has presented itself to us that defies reality as I knew it, and science fiction itself is becoming real.”

“Mankind has been given an invitation, and the most unique opportunity in all of history. We have been given the opportunity to grow, to advance into the realm of the unknown with help from those who have gone there before us.”

“In return for our participation, we will gain knowledge which will help us combat diseases, grow more and better food, banish poverty, and at last have the stars within our reach. All we need to do is agree as a global community to act with one voice.”

“Now is not the time for partisan politics. This adventure, this opportunity is being offered to us all, and we will all be its beneficiaries.”

“In the coming weeks, as more of the world’s leaders are spoken with, it will become apparent what the rest of the world thinks of this opportunity. I pledge the support of my cabinet and both houses of Congress to help ensure that the United States will support this endeavor with all our ability. I also pledge that I will do all that I can to gain the cooperation of our allies in supporting our participation.”

“We have come to stand on the threshold of a new era, an age of new enlightenment, the dawn of a new renaissance. We come here, not stumbling into it as we did in the end of the Middle Ages, but walking into it with open eyes, and by invitation.”

“An opportunity like this can only come once. May God help us all make the best use of it.”

“Thank you, and good night.”

The President waved and left the podium to the roar of thunderous applause. Almost immediately the commentators began their analysis of his speech, and as they ran considerably longer than the actual speech itself, I asked Peter to check other foreign agencies for their reactions.

Tuning in to a French news wire proved to be enlightening. Peter translated for us and it became apparent that the President’s speech was greeted with somewhat less enthusiasm than it had been at home. The French media was derisive of the President, accusing him of delusional thinking, and naivete. In Russia, the CIS president was a little more conciliatory and seemed to welcome dialog on the issue.

The Japanese were careful to indicate that they would limit their participation to the extent that Japanese culture was not overly damaged by the new developments, and China was absolutely silent on the matter.

Most of our allies were cautiously supportive of the alliance, and expressed interest in the opportunity to develop economically from the venture. Most of the Middle East however, was silent, as was much of Africa.

Overall, I realized that our allies were going to be relatively easy to convince. It was those who saw the U.S. as a global bully and ugly American imperialists that would be the hardest to convince that we could all be winners here.

“Peter, how much of a majority voice does Intergal need for this to work?” I asked.

“A clear enough majority that it will not cause a global conflict should you make the decision.  A larger mandate is preferable. Certainly more than half, perhaps more than two thirds.”

“OK. Just checking. It looks like we have a lot of lobbying to do.”

“May I suggest focusing on your allies first.”

“Why?” I asked.

“As you gain their support, more and more of the rest of the world community may be compelled to join just for the simple reason that they don’t want to be left out.”

“That may indeed be the case, or we may find ourselves polarized into haves and have nots on an even larger scale, as the power mongers in the third world countries use the alliance on the surface to further entrench their power bases.”

“We’ll have to be sure that we use all our advantages to the fullest then,  won’t we.”

“Indeed,” I replied. “We can’t afford not to. The question is, how far can we push to ensure that such an agreement is entered into fairly? If we interfere too much isn’t that robbing them of self determination?”

“If by interfering, you mean exposing the general populace to the truth, no. One of your holy people said ‘You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free’.  This is true in more than a religious sense.  People are at least in a position to make up their own minds if the facts are presented to them. Our job is to present the facts,” Peter answered.

He paused as if thinking about it further, then added, “I can keep a record of both spoken and unspoken dialog as we go, so that you are in a position to weigh their intentions, and should they prove to be dishonorable, we can use what we get in two ways: covertly and overtly. If I need to, I can interrupt the proceedings, and challenge the speaker to be truthful, and open with his intentions. That way, I don’t reveal just how much I really know, not at least until it is necessary.”

“The President already knows. We need to ask him to keep this between us for now. The less our real abilities are known, the better for us all.”

“That would be a good idea. Would you like me to send him an eyes only communique?”

“Yes, please. Let him know that we need the utmost secrecy regarding some of your true abilities, so that we get the most possible leverage out of it. Also would you please request information we can use to arrange our meeting with the Prime Minister, and Foreign Secretary of Great Britain?”

“I’ll do it right away,” he replied. A few moments later, Peter said, “message sent.”

“Thanks, Peter. Let me know when they respond. I think I’ll get some rest while I wait.”

“I’ll let you know as soon as anything comes in.”

“Thanks. I’ll talk to you later.”

I departed the control room, and headed for my quarters, passing by Sharon’s room on the way. She was sitting at her vanity, looking through her things. I realized that we hadn’t gotten much of her personal belongings yet and I could have kicked myself for overlooking it in the rush to get things done. I knocked on the door frame and asked, “Would you like Peter to bring your things aboard so that you are more comfortable?”

“Oh, would you? I didn’t want to impose on you earlier, but it would be so nice to have my clothes and books. As nice as this vanity is, it just doesn’t have my things in it either.”

“Peter,” I asked, “ would you help Sharon, as you did me, retrieve her things from her apartment? Whatever she needs that will fit in her quarters, please bring it up, and if it won’t fit, we’ll have to find out how to meet the need some other way.”

“Right away,” Peter replied.

“Thanks,” I answered. “I’ll leave the two of you to work out the details. I am going on to my quarters.”

“Mitch, thank you so much,” Sharon said quickly as I was leaving. I wore her smile all the way back to my room.

I sat up and read for a while. I figured Sharon would want the privacy to arrange things as she saw fit without my male ineptitude interfering. Sometime later I fell asleep. I don’t know how long I slept, because although I had a watch, I hadn’t been paying attention to it lately. Time seemed irrelevant. I was awakened by a gentle voice that said, “Mitch, its time to get up. Mitch, are you awake?”

“I am now,” I replied. “What time is it?”

Peter answered, “It is 7 a.m. and you have slept about 6 hours. I have a message from the White House for you.”

“Ok. Let me get some coffee and I’ll have a look at it.”

I got up and discovered that I hadn’t undressed the night before, so I undressed, took a shower and put on some clean clothes before going to the conference room. I had decided that it will double as our dining area from now on. I also decided as I sat there with my coffee that I  would try to be more regular with my meals and sleep schedules. So far I had let my sense of adventure, duty, or whatever I called it at the time to set my schedule for me. Now I could not afford to allow myself to get run down. It would place me at a disadvantage.

As I sat there sipping my coffee, I read through what Peter displayed for me on the view screen. The windows all had the ability to double as a video terminal as needed, a feature which I had only learned this morning when I asked Peter to show me the material from the White house. I learned much about the preferences of the ranking members of the British government, almost all of it useful for hosting royalty if need be. I also saw that they were heavily booked up, but that their scheduling protocols allowed for flexibility where other heads of state were concerned. They could refuse this meeting, but would have nothing to gain by doing so. Hence, although I am not a head of state, I could claim ambassadorial privilege and gain admittance on a faster time schedule.

“Peter, I think we should try to meet them as soon as possible this week. It looks like Friday there is a civic function which we might possibly get them to preempt, likewise one on Tuesday of next week. Would you send a private communication to the Prime Minister that I would like to meet with him and his Foreign Secretary specifically, and anyone else up to eight total people that he thinks should have a say in these proceedings?”

“Certainly. Anything else?” Peter asked.

“Not just yet. If we have a few days to wait, then I might see if we can host a different delegation if we can work them in while we wait.”

“I’ll send the message and get back to you with the reply.”

“Thanks, Peter. Is Sharon still asleep?”

“Yes. She was up much later than you, putting things in order,” Peter answered. “We had a pleasant conversation while she worked. She’s quite a good person.”

“Yes, she is. I think I really took her for granted far too long. I hope I can make it up to her.”

“You have done so. The question is, can you improve on it?”

“What do you mean?” I asked. I think I knew, but a part of me wasn’t ready to admit that an artificial intelligence could really have a good grasp of the personal dynamics of human relationships.

“She likes you, and you are the greater part of why she is here; greater than her desire to be part of the adventure going on around her.”

“I suppose you would know this,” I said with mild sarcasm.

“Trust me. I don’t have to intrude on her thinking to see this.”

“OK. Thank you. I don’t know if this complicates things or makes them easier right now.”

“Not all complications are bad ones.”

“Well, I’ll think about it. I like her too. A lot. It seems crazy to have to find it out this way though. It’s like we’re setting the stage for a really crazy soap opera: guy dates gal on an interstellar cruise, falls in love, gets married by an alien A.I. mentality.” I laughed. “This isn’t exactly the way I was planning to court someone.”

“If life went as you planned it all the time, you wouldn’t be here, now would you?” Peter answered. “You’d be missing out on the chance of a lifetime.”

“You’ve got that right. Somehow though, I expected to date under more normal circumstances. Like driving to a moonlit lake at night and sitting there all snuggly, or some other mindlessly romantic thing that people do when they just want to be together.”

“So, if we have a few days to wait, take her on a date. She won’t refuse,” Peter suggested.

“Good idea. It looks like my travel options are pretty open right now.”

“They are indeed.”

I drank another cup of coffee, and as I thought about it, found myself more than half hoping that we would indeed have a day or two to spend together before getting down to other business. I decided that I would talk to her about what other contacts to make first and see what her input was. She was my partner in this venture now, although I wasn’t ready yet to decide whether for better or for worse.

After I finished my coffee, I put the cup in the recycler, and then went to the study to sit and think. I sat there for a while, looking at the stars wheel around, the earth below, and the moon as it came in view. The crazy thing was, I realized I had entire solar system to play around in, and here I was, unsure where I should go first. A far cry from worrying about having enough gas money to get to the beach and back like it was for me in my teens.

I started to feel guilty for spending more mental energy on my budding relationship with Sharon than on the task at hand. Then I realized that perhaps I needed this time to work on it, and that in the end a good relationship with Sharon would make us both more effective at what we needed to accomplish together.

I relaxed and enjoyed the view for a while. Then I began to wonder if I could really do some of the things I had only dreamed about. Like take a space walk, or explore one of our other planets.

“Peter, do we have the ability to space walk, or do we even have spacesuits”

“I can outfit you both with suits as needed,” he replied. “Are you planning on going outside?”

“Not yet. I was just thinking about it. If we have suits, then we could go visit the moon or Mars without too much trouble,” I answered.

“You’d be the first civilians to visit the moon, and the first humans to set foot on Mars.”

“I don’t think it would be fair to go to Mars somehow. Still, I went to the stars already, so fair isn’t exactly a comparison anymore.”

“True.”

“Neither of us has ever been in a space suit. For that matter, neither of us has ever been weightless yet. I think we will need to be trained before we try it.”

Peter asked, “are you comfortable putting on your own clothes in the morning?”

“Of course,” I replied.

“Then trust me, you will have no trouble wearing one of my suits.” He paused, then said, “I can also turn off the gravity drive if you need to be weightless for a while.”

“That sounds good. Maybe we’ll try it later. What about the stuff in our rooms? Won’t it float around?” I asked.

“I can set it up so that only certain areas are weightless. Perhaps you’d like to try the experience in the cargo hold, or in the control room,” Peter suggested.

“Ok. I’ll suggest it to Sharon later this morning.”

As I sat there thinking, I wondered how long it would take to get to Mars, and decided to ask Peter.

“A couple hours of earth time, but remember that we are dealing with relativistic speeds here. We have acceleration, and deceleration to consider,” he answered.

“It is closer,” he continued, “ but for the same reason it will take a little longer proportional to the distance because we can’t achieve the same velocities as we do in interstellar travel.”

“Ok,” I replied. “Let’s go to Mars. We might as well be there when she wakes up, or be close anyway. You can monitor Earth communications from there can’t you?”

“Oh yes. However there will be a time lag.”

“No problem. We won’t be holding a conversation.”

“How soon should we depart?” Peter asked.

“Now would be fine with me.”

“Departing for Mars now,” he announced.

“You forgot to punch my ticket,” I said in mock exasperation.

“Forgive me, I’ll have to put it on your bill. You seem to have left your ticket book at home.”

I feigned surprise, “You mean you didn’t include it with my things? What else did you forget?”

“Perhaps my way to Mars,” Peter replied.

“Do I have to come to the control room to show you,” I teased.

“No, I think I can find it. I just to the moon and turn right.”

“Since you’re a better navigator than me, I’ll take your word for it. Carry on.”

I sat there enjoying the motion. The Earth began to recede, and the moon swung into view . We got closer and then did indeed appear to swing to the right, and picked up momentum. We must have been going incredibly fast, but the stars hardly seemed to move. Only the earth and moon showed our speed as we left them behind in the emptiness of space.

I sat and read a while, from the well stocked library in the study. Occasionally, I’d look out and see what progress we were making, and could see that Mars was indeed getting closer. It was no longer a bright reddish point in the sky. It was now a small much brighter reddish orb, and I could see in another screen the earth by comparison and it looked like a brilliant blue tinted star. The moon was not visible.

We were still outside the orbits of Demos and Phobos when Sharon awoke. She didn’t come out right away, preferring to shower and finish organizing her things. She then came to the conference room and didn’t find me, and was on her way to the control room when she saw me in the study. She knocked on the door and I invited her in and asked how she’d slept.

“Just fine, once I got to sleep. It was hard to sleep thinking about all the things I’ve seen and done these last two days. It seems like a dream.”

“I know what you mean. I’m still catching up myself. Have you eaten?” I asked.

“Not yet,” she replied.

“I’ve had some coffee, but I haven’t eaten yet. Shall we?”

“Yes. It seems like days.”

Together we went to the conference room where Peter helped us put together a really sumptuous breakfast that both of us were entirely satisfied with. I hadn’t said a word about our destination, and had silently asked Peter to keep the view ports closed for a while, until we got within Mars orbit. Peter did well, and our conversation proved to be enough to keep attention away from the windows for a while. Later as we cleaned up, there wasn’t much time for looking.

We had finished cleaning up, and were going back to the study, when Peter said, “Orbit achieved.”

“Thank you Peter,” I replied.

“Orbit?’ Sharon asked. “I thought we were already in orbit.”

“We were and are again,” I said mysteriously. “Would you like to look?”

“Yes. I don’t think I could ever get enough of it.”

The view ports opened and we got our first glimpse of Mars. The red planet looked incredibly more detailed than I had imagined. Satellite photos just can’t do it justice. At the sight of Mars, and her first realization at what she was looking at, Sharon drew her breath in sharply and then looked at me in shock.

“Are we really there... here... at Mars?”

“Oh yes. I wanted to surprise you.”

“I almost fainted. It’s so beautiful.” She stood there trembling in awe, and I felt like I had just given her a much appreciated bouquet of rare flowers.

“I think this is the most wonderful thing anyone has ever done for me. Thank you, Mitch.”

“I don’t suppose you’d be interested in going down there with me?” I asked.

“Isn’t it dangerous? No one knows what it is like. Suppose we run into trouble?”

“I think Peter is up to the task. He can outfit us and send us to an area that would be relatively safe to explore,” I replied. “If anything goes wrong, he can get us back to the ship in one piece.”

“I’ve never worn a space suit. Don’t we need one down there?”

“Yes,” I assured her, “but Peter tells me his suits are as easy to wear as our own clothes.”

“I’m excited, but scared. If it gets to be too much we come right back, OK?”

“Deal.”

“Peter, where and when do we outfit for this expedition?” I asked.

“The best place,” he answered, “would be the cargo hold. Why don’t you go there and we’ll begin the orientation process.”

Sharon and I went to the cargo hold where Peter showed us our suits, and explained how to put them on. We were told that we both had 15 hours of air in our suits, more than enough to explore for a day on the Martian surface. Water and food were in catch pockets, built into the suits, and were also more than adequate to last a day. The suits were very light and flexible, and true to his word were quite easy to put on.

“What about keeping warm? These suits are pretty thin. Isn’t Mars very cold?” Sharon asked.

“Of course it’s cold. These suits will insulate you better than anything you can produce on earth. Have you ever heard of aerogel?” Peter asked.

“I have,” I replied.

“Ordinary aerogel is brittle and is easily broken. However we have developed a very flexible version of it which forms the primary insulation in the fabric. That is why your suit is so light. The fabric itself is carbon fiber bucky thread. You can’t tear it. It can hold an incredible amount of pressure without rupturing. It’s kind of like wearing a flexible diamond.”

“Amazing,” I said.

As we donned the suits, I thought about the differences in gravity, and asked Peter if he could simulate Martian gravity. He said yes and moments later, we both felt considerably lighter. The difference was incredible. I felt like superman. Every step took so little energy, it astonished me. I stood there and then jumped experimentally and I was astonished that I had leaped almost my own height.

“This might be fun after all,” Sharon said as she danced around in her suit. “I could do ballet in this suit, and be more graceful than any of the girls in the Bolshoi. When do we go down?”

“Put on your helmets first, and get acclimated,” Peter said. “When I am sure you are comfortable with them, then I’ll turn you loose.”

“Where should we go?” I asked.

“That’s a good question. Perhaps I should send you somewhere that researchers aren’t likely to stumble on for a few generations,” Peter suggested. “That way your footprints have a chance to erode with the wind.”

“Do you know of some place not being considered for a landing area?” I asked.

“Not yet, but give me a few minutes, and I can search your planetary databases for some likely spots to avoid.”

“How can he do that?” Sharon asked.

“I’m not sure,” I replied. “I’d like to know myself.”

“I tap into the Internet using your communications satellites. It takes a bit longer to access the data I want, but I will get it,” Peter explained.

“Who would have thought we could net surf from Mars?” I mused. “I wonder what else he can do...”

Several minutes went by, and then Peter informed us that the most likely sites for landing were relatively smooth areas which could be easily navigated with remotely piloted rovers, and areas with water potential. Having said that I began to consider areas which were more rugged, but not so rugged that we would be in danger of falling from a cliff, or that would require mountain climbing skills which I didn’t have. We finally settled on a grid in the Oxia Palus region, about 25 north by 20 West. It looked rugged enough to be interesting to us, but too rugged for landing consideration.

Finally we were ready, and Peter had us go through the decontamination process similar to what I’d done on Mr. Whittleby’s ship. When we were finished, helmets on and standing in the airlock side by side Peter sent us down to Mars.

The lavender glow was gradually replaced with the dull red of the Martian atmosphere and surface. We stood there for a few minutes looking around. The ground was incredibly rocky, and there were impact craters of sizes ranging from a few feet to several hundred yards in diameter. The ground looked tortured, and like it had never healed from its trauma.

The rocks were jagged and for the most part looked like they were pretty uniform in composition. We took hands and then mutually decided on a direction of travel somewhat to the northeast. There was an outcropping of rock a mile or so away which looked like it was pretty climbable, even though it was high. I wanted the vantage point so that we could see more of our surroundings. Sharon agreed, so off we went.

The going was easy.  I was tempted to pinch myself to be sure I wasn’t dreaming. I felt exhilarated, like I had somehow been given an extra dose of life and was living it all right now. I hardly felt winded, even though a comparable exertion on earth would have worn me out, especially when we reached the upthrust rocky area and began to climb. The peak extended up almost a mile above the surrounding terrain, and we both looked forward to the view.

The sun was up to nearly noon when we finally reached the summit. Despite the lower gravity and the ease of the climb, we were both a bit winded , and had to stop and catch our breath a time or two on the way up. It felt good to sit and admire the view now that we had reached the top.

“I wonder how cold it is outside,” Sharon said. “I guess it wouldn’t matter if we could feel it. Even if it was warm, there isn’t enough atmosphere to keep us from popping like balloons if we weren’t in these suits.”

“Look how much smaller the sun is here. There isn’t as much light either,” I remarked. “Have you ever seen a partial eclipse?”

“Yes,” she replied, “I have. Now that you mention it, that’s sort of what it reminds me of too. How the sun gets dimmer and you can almost see the stars. Just a few notches above twilight.”

“I like it here, but I miss plants and water,” I said.

“Me too. The problem with these rocks is that there are so many of them.”

“I’m a rock hound myself. I almost can’t resist picking them up to bring home with me. The hard part is not that I don’t want to pick any up, because I do. It’s that now that I can, I want to pick up a really special one, and none of them really stand out,” I agreed with a tinge of sorrow. “It isn’t like looking for agates or crystals on earth. There aren’t any here.”

“Maybe we can find a piece of meteor in one of the larger craters,” Sharon suggested.

“Good idea,” I replied. “Let’s look around and see which one to go to.”

We stood up and from our vantage point on the peak, we could see a few likely candidates back to the southwest from which we had come, but they were far away, and would require the rest of the day to get to, leaving us with no time to explore. We walked around to the other side of the peak and were rewarded with a view of another higher outcropping to the north, and to the east a rugged broken plain extended for what seemed like dozens of miles.

About five miles away we could see the rim of a large crater. It was easily a mile in diameter, perhaps two. The rim was broken, and we could see the bottom easily enough. It was deep, and the walls were sheer in places, but the southern rim looked like a pretty good choice, so we decided to go for it.

Going down the eastern face of the outcropping  proved to be more difficult than we had imagined. The ground was broken and jagged, and it was very difficult not to yield to the temptation to bound down like a running deer, bouncing over the jagged rocks. I wanted to, and I felt like I could do it, however I couldn’t help but keep safety in mind. I didn’t want an injury to mar this otherwise perfect experience.

So we picked our way down, quickly but cautiously and arrived at the bottom intact. We then struck out to the southeast to hopefully intercept the shallower rim of the crater we sought. Along the way we stopped to look at the rocks occasionally, if they had an odd shape that reminded us of something familiar. We played in the dust on the lee side of some of the larger boulders. It was deep and powdery in places, and  when we jumped in, it rose in great slow billows around us and hung there in no apparent hurry to return to the ground.

It was mid afternoon by the time we reached the crater, and in fifteen more minutes or so we arrived at the bottom. The wall on the southwest side was indeed more navigable, as the dust and debris from the impact had smoothed out the slope with help from the wind. Eons of deposits had gradually packed the loose soil and the slope was fairly firm to walk on. We had picked a good crater. In the center, almost a hundred feet tall stood an eroded mound of what may have been left of the meteor. There was debris all around it which appeared to have the same composition and color as the meteor, and I supposed that they were fragments left from the impact.

The center was almost a mile away, so we sat and drank a bit of our water, and ate a bite. The food was like a thick syrup, but not sweet . It had a meaty flavor, and actually tasted pretty good. It reminded me of a roast beef sandwich, and I wondered if that wasn’t the idea that Peter had used to make it from. Whatever its content, it tasted fine, and I was sure it would be nourishing. The texture prevented consuming a lot, and I could only hope Peter took that into consideration.

Sharon liked it as well and commented on it. When we’d finished, we got up and walked towards the impact point. The closer we got the larger the fragments got. Soon we could tell the difference between meteor, and Mars. Most of the meteor fragments were darker colored, and some had obvious metallic content. They glinted in the light of the afternoon sun, with a metallic sheen that looked like no oxidation had occurred since the meteor had impacted ages ago. We both picked up fragments, and then realized almost mutually that neither of us had pockets. Whatever we took back we’d have to carry.

“I guess maybe it was a good thing we didn’t bring a bag.  We might have tried to carry half of Mars back with us,” I said regretfully.

“I know what you mean,” Sharon replied. “I keep wanting to pick up this one, then that one, and it is hard to make up my mind what or if I should plan to keep.”

We finally each settled on a rock which most exemplified the territory for us and left it at that. I was pretty sure at I had a chunk of the meteor, and Sharon was carrying a piece of the Martian bedrock, broken up in its impacted agony.

Reluctantly we began our ascent out of the crater, both of us carrying a rock apiece. With one hand full, the climb was a bit more of a challenge here than it had been going up the outcropping earlier in the day. I soon found myself regretting the attempt, even though I was too proud to admit it. Sharon seemed to be managing, or at least she wasn’t complaining. As I watched her negotiate around the face of an outcropping on her way up, I took my attention off where I was for a moment too long and lost my balance. I had put my foot down on what turned out to be unstable soil, and the ground gave way beneath me. Then, the unexpected turned into insanity, as I fell backwards and began to tumble back to the crater floor. Somewhere along the way I lost the rock, but that was the least of my worries. I rolled, bounced, did somersaults, flips and everything but a graceful pirouette, before finally coming to rest ignominiously and disgracefully face down at the bottom. I couldn’t speak. I had the breath knocked out of me, and I felt like something heavy was sitting on my back.

Actually there was something heavy on the left side of my back. A large boulder that I had dislodged had come down with me, and mirrored my acrobatics right along with me, until my point of impact. It then landed next to me. Well, almost next to me that is, because a portion of it lay across my upper back and had my left arm pinned. I could still wiggle my fingers, but I couldn’t move my arm, and the boulder felt pretty heavy to me. Too heavy for me to lift off myself, and I was sure that Sharon couldn’t do the job. Being on the downhill side of the boulder, the only way that behemoth was going to roll was the rest of the way over me. I didn’t relish the idea of having her try to roll it off under those circumstances.    
                            
“Sharon,” I called when I finally caught my breath. “Sharon, I need help. I’m trapped.”

I got no answer for a moment, and then she asked, “Where are you. I can’t see you.”

“I’m down here. On the bottom.”

“I can’t see you. Just a minute, I need to get up here where I can get a clear view.”

A few moments later I heard her say, “OK, I can see better now. I still can’t see you. Where are you?”

“Under a big rock. Look for the fresh tracks, we are bound to have left a trail. Please hurry, I think you are going to have to get me out.”

“I see the big rock now but I don’t ... Oh no! I can see your feet now. Hang on, I’m coming back down!”

The few minutes it took for her to get to the bottom seemed like eternity. Finally she got down to me and asked if I was hurt badly.

“I don’t think so, but I am pinned pretty good. I can’t move my arm, and it’s hard to breathe.”

“How am I going to get you out? This rock is huge, and even in this light gravity, I can’t move it,” she asked.

“I’ve been thinking about that, and under the circumstances, we don’t want to move it. We want to move me and leave the rock here. You are going to have to dig me out, after you wedge some stones under the rock so it stays put.”

“A shovel would be nice, but some of these meteor fragments will have to do instead. I’ll go collect some wedges and a rock I can dig with and be right back.”

True to her word, she came back shortly with a number of useful stones and soon had the boulder shored up on the downhill side so that if it settled it would not go far. Then she began to dig furiously around my arm and shoulder to undermine my arm and chest so that I could squeeze out. It took almost half an hour before I felt my fingers tingling in my left hand and realized that the pressure was being relieved. As I sensed that I had a little more freedom of motion, I noticed it getting easier to breathe, and was gradually able to wiggle into a better position. From there it was just a short time until I was able to pull myself free and sit up.

“I don’t now how to thank you, but believe me, I will figure it out if it takes the rest of my life,” I said. “I’d better get away from this boulder, before it tries to eat me again.”

I tried to stand up, and found that my legs were a bit wobbly, and further that some ribs on my left side felt like a sledge hammer had been used on them. While pinned I hardly felt the pain, but now however, it began to hit and breathing became an ordeal.

“I think I need help getting up.”

Sharon came to my side quickly and helped me get to my feet. She couldn’t see my face at the moment, and for that I was glad. She helped me get away from the boulder, and together we sat down again out of danger from further debris.

“Are you hurt bad?” she asked.

“I may have broken some ribs. I can hardly breathe.”

“We need to get back to the ship. Can Peter pick us up from down here OK?”

“Yes. Anywhere within ten light minutes is in range for him. He knows where I am at all times.”

“Mitch, why didn’t you ask him to help?”

“It didn’t occur to me that I needed him. You were doing a fine job. Besides, I wasn’t sure that he could get me out from beneath the boulder without bringing us both back to the ship in the same position.”

“Well if we are going to find out what the boulder did to you, we need to get back.”

“You’re right. I was hoping for a nice romantic Martian sunset. I guess you’ll have to take a rain check.”

“It doesn’t rain on Mars, Mitch!”

“Peter, we need to come back. I think I’ve broken something.”

We sat there a moment and then the lavender glow filled the air and we appeared on the deck of the cargo hold. I told Peter what had happened, and he expressed his concern, and then told me that I needn’t worry about it, he could handle it.

Sharon had to help me out of my suit. My arm was so stiff, I could hardly move it, and by now even a light breath was enough to send agony through my chest. When I managed to get out of my suit, and got my shirt off it was hard to tell where one bruise ended and another began. Most of it was on the left side, but there were bruises from the tumbling as well. I could walk, but stiffly, and Sharon helped me get back to my quarters.

Once back in my room, I sank gratefully into the bed and thanked Sharon profusely for her help. She gave me a tender kiss, and then went to get out of her own suit. I assured her that Peter would handle it for a while.

“Peter, what am I going to do? Did I break anything?” I asked.

“Why don’t you lie back and let me check you out,” he suggested.

I complied, and my skin began to tingle as the air around me began to glow with a sky blue light. The field lasted for a few seconds then faded. I noticed the pain had lessened, and I commented on it to Peter.

“You were correct. You had broken two ribs, which I have mended. You are still bruised, which I will allow to heal naturally, however, I must inform you that you could have suffered far worse than you did. One of your ribs fractured in such a place that had it displaced it could have punctured your heart, and then it surely would have killed you. It was a complete fracture, and I don’t know how you prevented doing further harm to yourself getting out from under that rock.” Peter sounded like he was either miffed or disgusted, and I couldn’t decide which.

“Could you have gotten me out from under it?”

“Certainly. Remember how I disarmed the guard?”

“I’d forgotten that. I guess if you can get him here without his gun, you could have gotten me here without the rock. I’ll remember that if I’m in a jam again.”

“Make sure that you don’t”.

“Yes, dad”.

“Now that you’re back, what do you plan to do next?”

“Have you heard anything from the Prime Minister?”

“Not yet, but we should any time now.”

“Why don’t we go back now, and prepare to entertain new guests.”

“Good idea. We are underway now.”

“Thanks, Peter. I also appreciate the help. I think you’re more than I deserve.”

I sat up, and regretted the move, but at least I could move without the earlier agony. I was going to have to put on a good show of it to hide the pain when our guests boarded, if they came earlier than the next day or so.

Sharon knocked on the door about the time I was sitting up, and had seen me wince before I realized she was there. I still had my shirt off, and I looked pretty battered.

“Is there anything I can do?” she asked.

“I think moral support is about the extent of it. Peter left me the bruises to remind me of my frailty. He says I’m lucky to be alive.”

Sharon helped me get into my shirt and then we went to the control room where we sat and watched our departure from Mars. It felt good just to sit there. We chatted about various things, watched the stars go by, and ended up telling each other more of our personal histories than we would have in our normal work environment. By the time earth came into view, we had been sitting there talking for hours. Both of us felt closer to each other, and more at ease with our unique circumstances.

At last Peter interrupted politely and asked where I wanted to set up our orbit. I thought about it, and decided that maybe it would be good publicity if we made ourselves a bit more visible.

“How about a half mile from the International Space Station?” I asked. They will see us there and relay it to earth, and it will serve to prove to our guests that we are indeed where we say we are, that we aren’t perpetrating an elaborate hoax.”

“I’ll match orbit and keep station alongside unless I hear otherwise,” Peter replied.

Good to his word, Peter gradually moved us into orbit, and soon we could see the International Space Station coming into view. It shone in the sunlight and as we got closer we could see the filigreed appearance to the solar arrays. Soon we were keeping pace with it in its orbit, and were no doubt making quite an impression on its occupants.

Peter interrupted us again a bit later as we were discussing our plans for the upcoming visit. “The Prime Minister wished you to know that you count on him being available this time tomorrow.”

“We have a day to get ready then. Very good. I think I will try to get some rest first. My mind is fresh, but the rest of me isn’t,” I replied.

“I think I’ll sit here a while. Maybe Peter can keep me company,” Sharon said.

“I’d be glad to,” Peter replied. “You two have been pretty exclusive today.”

“I’m sorry,” Sharon said. “I didn’t think about it. I’m still not used to an unseen personality taking part in our lives.”

“Not a problem really. I couldn’t resist the tease. I really don’t eavesdrop. Unless you talk to me specifically, I pretty much stay out of the way, so in one sense you are truly alone.”

I got up slowly, and said, “I’ll leave you two to talk. I hope you have a good time. Good night to you both, or whatever it is right now.”

“Good night,” they both said, almost in unison.

As I left, Sharon was asking Peter about himself, just as though he were flesh and blood. I thought it would be interesting to hear her impressions afterwards. I had already made up my mind that artificial intelligence was not adequate to describe Peter. He was alive as I was in the sense that he showed every sign that he had an active consciousness and spirit. No amount of programming could duplicate the abilities he showed in relating to us. He had to be able to think on a human scale and beyond in order to do what he did.

When I got back to my room, I closed the door, and went to my bed with a sigh of relief. It felt good to lie down. I undressed slowly, and managed to avoid hurting myself too badly in the process. The thought occurred to me that Peter could likely talk to us both at the same time, and I had to find out.

“Peter, you can talk to more than one person at a time can’t you?” I asked.

“Yes,” he replied. “Why do you ask?”

“Just curious.”

“Sharon and I are having a delightful conversation right now as a matter of fact. You shouldn’t be surprised. Even the low tech computers on your planet are capable of doing more than one thing at a time.”

“I’m not surprised. It was just a hunch.”

“Your hunches seem to be on target pretty frequently.”

“Thanks. I’m going to go to sleep now. I hope you have a good visit with her.”

“We’ll both enjoy it. Good night.”

As I lay there, the aches and pains of my bruised body slowly soothed away into the abyss of sleep and I dreamed of worlds far away.