“I’m sorry,” Jamie said in a low voice. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”
Joanna swallowed hard, the hint of tears in her eyes. “One moment… I will be all right…”
Jamie said, “I just wanted to thank you for helping me to get here. I’m very grateful to you.”
Her face still pale, she replied, “It was necessary to remove Professor Hoffman. He would have been impossible.”
“I’m very glad to be here,” Jamie repeated. “For whatever part in this you played, muchas gracias.”
She smiled, faintly, and replied in Portuguese, “Por que?”
Then she turned away from him and went to stand beside Ilona Malater, tall and regal-looking even in plain beige coveralls. The scientists attached their feet to the loops on the floor with the clumsy care of newcomers. The Russian cosmonaut and American astronaut, both dressed in tan slacks and pullovers, hovered effortlessly before them.
The four scientists-geologist, microbiologist, biochemist, and physician-finally got themselves settled in the foot restraints and focused their attention on the astronaut and cosmonaut who would be their team commanders.
“I am Mikhail Andreivitch Vosnesensky,” the cosmonaut introduced himself. “I am command pilot of the first landing team.” He spoke English perfectly, without any trace of an accent, in a heavy voice almost in a bass register.
He looked to Jamie like Hollywood’s version of a Russian. Short, thick torso and heavy limbs, dark reddish-brown hair, beefy face with skin so fair it was almost pink. He reminded Jamie more of a stubby character actor than a hotshot rocket jockey. I’ll have to check his biography in the mission records, Jamie said to himself. While Vosnesensky’s eyes were the clear bright blue of a summer sky, innocent, almost childlike, the expression on his chunky face was dour and brooding.
“And I’m T. Peter Connors,” said the black American astronaut, with a good-natured grin. “My official position is pilot, safety officer, and second-in-command.”
Connors’s smile was charming, but his red-rimmed eyes looked somehow sad, wary. Not more than a centimeter taller than the Russian, Connors was much slimmer, sleeker. It made him look almost lanky compared to Vosnesensky. Like a racing thoroughbred standing beside a plow horse. His voice was not as deep as the Russian’s, but richer, more resonant, like a singer’s.
“I want to make one thing clear at the outset,” Vosnesensky told the four scientists, almost growling. “I am not here to be your friend. I will be in command of your group from the instant we enter the Mars 1 spacecraft here in Earth orbit until the instant we leave it, once safely back here in Earth orbit. Especially during the time we are on the surface of Mars my responsibility will be to see that all mission objectives are met and no one is hurt. I will expect my orders to be carried out without delay and without argument. Mars is not a university campus. We will maintain military discipline at all times. Is that clear?”
“Quite clear,” answered Tony Reed.
“Any questions?”
No one spoke. No one even moved as they stood anchored to the floor by the foot restraints.
“Good,” said Vosnesensky.
Connors added, “If you have any problems, we can always talk them over. We’ll be in transit for more than nine months. That’s the time to go over the mission plan in as much detail as we can and hash over any changes you want to make.”
So they’re going to be good cop and bad cop, Jamie thought. I wonder if they’ve planned that out or if it’s just their natural dispositions?
The four scientists glanced uneasily at each other. Vosnesensky motioned to Connors and the two pilots glided off, heading toward the hatch.
“Well,” said Reed once they were out of earshot, “it looks as if we got rid of Hoffman only to get the Russian version of a drill sergeant.”
3
Jamie was surprised at how difficult it was for him to make the mental transition. His body became accustomed to zero gravity in a couple of days. But he still had a hard time convincing himself that he was really going to Mars, actually part of the first team.
It did not help when all the Mars mission members began sneezing and coughing and blaming it on him.