Trouble on the Red Planet; Aumrill
The Incorrigible

The date was June 23, 2034 6:20 A.M. somewhere in the United States. Richard Serling paced up and down in his cell at a maximum security prison. He was waiting for the return of the guards to be escorted to the Copernicus Penal Colony on the Moon, where he would serve the remainder of his twenty five year sentence.

Richard was an Archaeologist working on a Martian expedition. He and a crew of men were working for a company called Sramtech. Their mission was to study a region of Mars that has rock formations that appeared architectural.

Sramtech home office had been receiving coded messages from one of the crew reporting that someone was stealing evidence of archaeological discoveries. The identity of the dispatcher remains unknown. He escaped Mars by using a utility shuttle to get him to the mother ship Fitzgerald orbiting Mars. Soon after returning to Earth Richard was charged with murder and sabotage.

Four guards entered his cell and directed him to an awaiting car. The car drove onto a highway. An hour later they were admitted into a spaceport. Minutes after entering the gate, a forklift moving out of control over turned and spilled hazardous material out on the roadway. The transport vehicle veered out of control rolling onto its side. The guards were rendered unconscious and Richard was slightly dazed but awake.

The moment he was free he snatched a particle beam weapon and ducked between two buildings. In the confusion of emergency vehicle sirens and duty officers shouting orders.

Richard made his way to an office bearing the name of David Lambert. Richard burst through the door and confronted a man he referred to as Dave.

Richard whispered, out of breath, “Dave! I really need your help right now.” He was desperate.

Dave, was startled, “Richard, you idiot, half the state will be looking for you. The reports are all over the television.” He was frantic.

Richard argued. “Now, Dave, you know I was framed and you are my only hope. The only way I can prove my innocence is to get back to Mars.” And he was still winded.

David Lambert was still in shaken at the appearance of his friend but could think of no other way out for Richard. He knew this was the best of times to make it happen. “Fortunately, we are preparing for the next Mars mission and I go up the Shackelton to deliver workers and equipment almost daily. Sometimes I help with maintenance. I am scheduled to go up this afternoon, but for the sake of time we will be leaving right away. I have an old work uniform you can wear to get passed security.”

Richard changed into the coveralls and the two men walked out the launch field where they were stopped at the airstrip gate.

“This man is going up with me to patch up a problem on the Shackelton,” Dave characteristically told the guard.

The guard at the gate wrote something on his clipboard and then allowed them to go by. The two men soon boarded the shuttle and Dave radioed the flight procedure.

“This is shuttle 218 requesting the go-ahead to take off.” Dave gave the prompt.

“You are clear on airstrip 18. Have a good flight Dave,” a radio voice said.

Understood, thank you, this is shuttle 218, signing off.”

A few minutes later, the shuttle approached the spaceship Shackelton.

“Shuttle 218, this is the space station. Do you read, over,” another radio voice said:

Dave gave Richard an eye gesture, which told him he had this situation under control

“This is Program Director Matthews. You’re a little early for work aren’t you, Dave?” A second radio voice said.

Dave was beside himself with panic and he was staggered speechless.

The radio sounded again. “David Lambert, you are ordered to reply!”

There was momentary silence while Dave hesitated. “Yeah, uhm, this is shuttle 218, the Shackelton reported an airflow problem. My technician and I are here to repair the problem,” he said shakily.

Program Director Matthews, a woman in her late fifty’s was at a complete loss. “An Airflow problem… I do not know of any airflow problem. Standby, I’ll get back to you.” She said with uncertainty. P. D. Matthews switched the panel. “This is P. D. Matthews, come in Shackelton.”

A radio voice answered. “This is Donna Silver on the Shackelton, go ahead Ms. Matthews.” The woman’s voice said.

“Donna did you or Julia report an airflow problem to ground maintenance without notifying me?” Matthews asked with an air of concern.

“No. Everything is functioning normally Ms. Matthews, otherwise I would have informed you.”

P. D. Matthews’ face became a deep red. “I see,” she said and then she turned back to the monitor in time to see the shuttle bay doors of the spaceship Shackelton closing. “Damn,” she uttered under her breath.

Meanwhile, on the Shackelton, Richard and Dave entered the control room. Richard aimed the particle-beam weapon at two women standing at the control panel.

“Alright, you two, get away from the control panel!” Richard shouted.

The two women obeyed, Dave programmed the navigational commands then after a quick jolt, and a roar the ship was in motion.

The voice of P. D. Matthews boomed over the radio: “What in the hell is going on over there?” Her voice bellowed.

Dave turned to see the two women, who were apparently shaken. “Okay, Richard I programmed the directives you gave me. What do you want to do next?”

A woman with a rich German accent Julia Ganswind shouted: “Security agents will be on the alert from here to ground control, and there’s no possible way you can get away with this!”

“I’ve already gotten away with it,” he responded.

“What makes you so sure security agents are not going to be all over you in just a few hours?” Julia Ganswind was frantic.

“Think again,” he told her. “The only thing fast enough to catch us is the back-up ship, the Shackelton B, and it will not be equipped to travel for another week so I suggest we relax because we will be traveling for some time. It will take us just about three weeks to get to Mars.”

“My God he’s right, once the ship is in motion, it’s dedicated,” Donna Silver vociferated.

Richard Serling handed his weapon to the young German woman.

“That’s why I’m renaming this ship The Incorrigible,” he told them. “Ladies, I recommend that you calm down. We will be traveling for about three weeks.”

Julia’s eyes widened. “The power cell of this weapon has been removed!”

“Of course,” he agreed, “those things are dangerous otherwise. If anyone needs me I will be in Stateroom 15-A. That’s my lucky number.”

The two women looked at each other in disbelief.

The German woman radioed a message. “This is Julia Ganswind on

the spaceship Shackelton. We have been hijacked and are in route to Mars, repeat, we are in route to Mars!”

The face of the Program Director appeared on the monitor. ”Serling, that damned lunatic put him on the COM, I want to talk to him!” Her voice bellowed.

Julia replied, “Mr. Serling has retired to his quarters for the evening and said he won’t be disturbed for several hours.”

P. D. Matthews bellowed, again. “Quarters, what quarters, he hasn’t been assigned quarters?”

“He’s assigned himself to stateroom 15-A and He says that it’s his ’lucky number.”

“Well, get in there and get his ass to the COM, ‘lucky number’ my ass!” P. D. Matthews said furiously.

Julia replied, apologetically, “I can’t, Ms. Matthews.”

“What do you mean, you can’t?” Matthews continued her tone.

“I mean I can’t. He has locked the door and turned the COM off. He will be incommunicado until he decides to come forward,” she pleaded.

Well, (hesitation), Matthews’ tone was calmer, “well, tell him to call me when he decides to talk.”

“No one would like to see this thing turned around more than I would, Ms. Matthews.

I mean we weren’t scheduled to leave for another week,” Julia’s voice was shaky.

“It’s understood, Julia. Just keep things in order until the backup ship gets to you. Matthews out.”

Donna put per hand on Julia’s shoulder and she checked the navigational settings on the control panel then said to her, “Julia, this Serling character, whatever his game is, he’s certainly done his homework. If we try to turn around or try to alter our course in any way there is no guarantee we could get back safely. The curve he’s put us on will get us to Mars in almost three weeks,” she explained. “We don’t have much of a choice; the course is set, unless we take a chance on getting stranded. Besides, I don’t believe they intend to harm us,” she assured.

“What makes you so sure they won’t harm us? I mean they are a couple of lunatics,” Julia said nervously.

“They may be lunatics, but they do have us where they want us. This Serling guy must believe there is something on Mars that will prove his innocence.”

“Innocent men don’t take innocent people hostage,” she argued.

“That’s true enough but he does have us in a position to cooperate with him. We should just relax until the backup ship gets to us.”

The two women went about their routine chores and it was some hours later when the two men reappeared and it was a short time after that Donna called for a meeting in the conference chamber.

“I’m sorry to put you guys through this, but getting to Mars is the only way I can prove my innocence. With your help perhaps we can decipher the coded messages. They may shed some light on this mystery,” Richard apologized.

“Mr. Serling, I’ve heard of you, and I’ve done a background check. Before going to Mars, you had no criminal record. You were an exceptional student at the academy, and you had a reputation for honesty,” Donna said.

Dave felt compelled to speak. “I’ve known Richard since the academy. Aside from being ambitious, he is brighter than most, and he’s a garden variety person. I’d trust him with my life,” “I’ve heard of you as well and I don’t trust you,” Julia argued.

Richard interjected, “someone was sending coded messages to the space station about the sabotage and there must be a record of them on the ship computers.”

“Okay, we’re going to check into that Mr. Serling but you need to know that I’m in charge of this ship and I take my orders from P. D. Matthews.”

“Since we are being held against our will I can’t see any reason to help him,” Julia interrupted then she turned to Richard, “By the way, P. D. Matthews wants to talk to you. She is verdampt, pissed off!” She said angrily.

“I suppose I should call her,” Richard said.

Donna spoke to Julia. “I suppose you could stay in your quarters for this trip, but I really think you should help. With your understanding of language you could. . .” She said before Julia interrupted.

“I suppose you’re right, but I don’t trust them.”

“I’ll make a note in the log that you are uncomfortable with the situation, and that it’s understandable.”

Richard Serling engaged the COM and radioed the Program Director. The red-face of P. D. Matthews appeared on the screen.

She bellowed, “Richard Serling, you lunatic. What do you think you are doing hijacking the Shackelton? And David Lambert, why are you going along with this hare brained scheme?”

“You know me, Ms. Matthews, anything for a pleasure cruise,” he said sardonically.

“I’ll deal with you later,” she roared.

Dave’s face turned white and then he dropped back into a chair.

“Now, Ms. Matthews, do you really believe I am capable of the crimes to which I am accused?” Richard pleaded.

Matthews responded, “I’m getting a pretty good idea of what you’re capable of.”

Richard’s head dropped. “The crew is working on the coded messages in the hope they may explain my actions.”

“You know, you’ve got my ass in a sling. If this stratagem of yours doesn’t work out I’m going to make sure you rot in that Copernicus facility, Matthews out.”

“Justifiably, Ms. Matthews is no happy camper.” Richard said to Dave,

Richard turned to the improvised crew. “I presume it’s time to go to work.”

Julia protested. “I do not want to work on this I am the communications officer not a counselor,” she said angrily.

Dave confronted Julia, “you know it’s a long way to Mars. This will help take up your time on the trip.”

Donna interrupted. “Listen Mr. Lambert, you are a guest on this ship, an uninvited guest. If you have any suggestions for Ms. Ganswind you’ll have to speak to me first if you don’t understand that then get back on the COM with Ms, Matthews and she’ll explain it to you.”

“So, I guess you’re in charge?” Richard said questioning her authority.

“It wasn’t intended that way but I am the ranking officer on board thanks to you and my name is Donna Silver. You may call me Donna or Ms. Silver I don’t respond to hey lady.”

“How do you suppose to handle this situation Donna?”

“We are going to examine your evidence that is until we complete the departure you have put us on. A tribunal will decide from that point on. That’s if you behave yourself on this trip.”

“Are you just going to trust those two after they hijacked the ship?” Julia said.

“Trust has nothing to do with it; it’s just that we are in a position to cooperate until we are able to get support.”

Julia gritted her teeth in resistance. “I just really feel uneasy about this.”

“I don’t like this any more than you. I understand why you are uncomfortable, but they are not carrying weapons. He disarmed the weapon he used to scare us, besides we have three weeks, let us make the best of it.”

Julia sighed. “Okay, Donna, where do we begin?”

“Well, Julia, let’s get on the computer and start with the coded messages.”

Julia took a seat in the control room and began working the keyboard.

Dave let out a frustrated sigh. “This is tougher than I thought. Whoever put his code together must have been a genius. It just looks like claptrap to me,” he admitted.

“No, he was not a genius but he was clever. The claptrap you are referring to is German and Latin,” Julia responded

Dave was surprised, “so, you speak German?”

Julia gave a momentary look of disbelief. “I am German, so of course. I am also fluent in English and Latin. If you look through the text you will replace Latin phrases. With the exception of how the author wrote it, it is a routine report. It explains how found artifacts soon disappeared,” she reported.

Richard rushed to where Julia was sitting and looked over her shoulder. “Yes, we were three weeks into the expedition when we unearthed a metal object; this object looked like a piece of an ancient tool.” he explained enthusiastically.

“Yes and strange orders were given not to report the replaceings,” Julia agreed.

“My co-workers and I were disturbed by Project Director Young’s reaction to the replaces. Continue working Julia. I believe this will lead somewhere.”

Julia gave a momentary glare and then continued working.

“Say, do you think you can teach me something about deciphering this code?” Dave said.

“Please, do not disturb me while I am working.”

Richard whispered to Dave, “I think she can work better alone. Follow me; I want to show you something.”

The two men disappeared though the automatic doors of the chamber.

Julia looked over to Donna, “those two are making me awfully nervous, and they have to be crazy.”

“Desperate yes crazy no everything they’ve done so far is logical.”

Julia’s was thunderstruck. “I do not believe you are taking his side on this. Are you falling for him or something?” She was frantic

“No I’m not falling for him but he is kind of cute.”

“Oh, that’s just great! This is truly a classic case, a kidnapped falling for the kidnapper.” Julia was disgusted.

“Just keep working Julia, we have a job to do,” Donna appeared annoyed.

The days passed and Julia completed most of the cipher. The improvised crew gathered around the conference table as Julia handed them a volume of text. “This is a portion of the coded text.” It appears that throughout the expedition artifacts were either destroyed or merely disappeared,” she explained.

Richard rushed over to where she was seated. “That is how it happened but it seems we know little more that what I’ve already told you.”

Donna interrupted, “okay, let’s say that we believe you but for the sake of argument we still don’t know who sent the messages. For all we know it could have been you, Richard.”

Julia interjected, “there is something that is puzzling me. The recipients of this report claimed that they couldn’t decipher the text but at least one of them should have recognized the German or even the Latin? There is more here than we know and Shramtech should be investigated

Donna agreed.

Later, just before retiring to her quarters Donna stopped Richard in the corridor. “There is something I want to discuss with you.”

Richard turned his head toward her with the look of surprise.

“What is it that you want to know?”

“Well, I want to believe you but aside from reading the reports I only know a little about you. If you could tell me about your history it could put me more at ease.”

“There isn’t that much to tell really I’ve led a pretty boring life.”

“Try me, we may be surprised.”

Richard thought for a moment. “Well, I grew up in a small town in Oregon just outside of Portland. My parents were both school teachers but had little else in common. My father drank a little when he was home which gave cause to my mother’s endless arguing.”

“That’s not so unusual,” she assured him. “So, what about you, you must have had relationships of your own?”

“Not as many as you’d think. After my parents divorced when I was fourteen I went back and forth between them. I rarely dated because I was so focused on my studies. There was a girl in my senior year that talked about marriage but when I told her about my plans of going to the academy and going into the space program, we split. She just couldn’t settle with a person who would be off in space most of the time. She married a biology teacher, and I was destined for space-travel.”

“No regrets I suppose?”

“No regrets except for the more recent events.”

“So why did you choose Mars? There is much more in the space industry than Mars.”

“Well, it’s like this, most people believe that human history on Earth is lineal with no outside influences with the exception of religion. I’ve always held the belief that Earth has had alien visitors throughout history. My studies strongly suggested that and the more recent discoveries on Mars suggested that even further. Now what we found on Mars pretty much brings it to a conclusion.”

They continued down the corridor until they disappeared through an automatic door, which had an inscription plaque that said Stateroom 15-A and the door closed behind them.

It was about a half an hour or so later Julia noticed the light outside Donna’s stateroom was unlit. Which meant it was unoccupied.

Dave who was walking from the opposite direction approached Julia. “Now that you’ve found that you can trust me do you think we could get to know each other?”

“The fact is, Dave, I don’t trust you and for more than one reason. The Shackelton’s library has an abundance of movies that could occupy your time,” she insisted. She then walked into her room and the automatic door closed behind her.

Several hours later the crew met in the control room. Richard was drinking his coffee when Dave confronted him.

“Richard where have you been? I’ve been trying to replace you. I need to talk to you about something,” he snapped.

“What are you going on about?” Richard snapped back.

“I risked my career for you and you ignore me. The least you could do is offered to play a game of chess,” he said angrily.

“Gentlemen, please! Will you continue your conversation in private, we have a job to do,” Donna said loudly.

Donna radioed P. D. Matthews. “This is the Shackelton calling P. D. Matthews, P. D. Matthews, please come in.

“This is P. D. Matthews, go ahead Donna.”

“Julia has decoded the text and she will forward the deciphered texted to you soon. In the meantime it will be helpful if you can get some information on the Sramtech Corporation. You will understand when you get Julia’s report.”

“I’ll get on that right away. Keep up the good work, Donna.”

“Thank you Ms. Matthews. This is the Shackelton signing off.”

Some days later Richard radioed P. D Matthews. “This is the Incorrigible calling P. D. Matthews.”

P. D. Matthews’ face appeared on the monitor. “Okay, ′Mister Incorrigible’, what do you want?” She responded, coldly.

“I just want to inform you that we will be in Mars orbit in just a few hours.”

“Okay, ′Mister Incorrigible’, I have some information that I’ll share with you later.”

“This is the ’Incorrigible’ signing off.”

“Incorrigible indeed.”

P. D. Matthews face faded from the screen. Richard turned back to the screen as if he expected the face to reappear. A few hours later Donna spoke to Richard in the control room.

“Okay, Mr. Incorrigible now that you’ve gotten us to Mars what do you intend to show us?”

Richard pointed through the view port at Mars. “Do you see those pyramidal formations?”

“Hmmm, yes, I’ve seen photos of that region taken from orbit. Is that where you intend to touch down?”

“Yes, I’ll be taking you to an excavation site near there.”

Richard picked up some baggage that was at his feet and then left the chamber.

Donna turned to Julia. “Okay, Julia let’s get the shuttle ready.”

Julia sighed, “Are we really going through with this? I can’t believe that you trust him enough to go along with this,” Julia was dubious.

“As I told you before trust has nothing to do with it. It will be a week before the backup ship gets to us and P. D. Matthews is anxious to see this to the end as well.”

The shuttle landed in the area known as Cydonia. Julia Ganswind was astonished when she stepped off the shuttle. .

“This is incredible! I’ve heard of this place but I thought it was a myth. Those formations really do look artificial. No wonder such an effort was made to explore this region,” she said with excitement.

“You should see the discovery we made just before the real trouble started. P. D. Young was acting most peculiar after this discovery.” Then he led the group to a crude sturdy structure abut a cliff face. He walked through an ordinary door and the group followed. He pointed to an excavated area near the cliff. There was a partially exposed skeleton, stained red by the soil around it.

We discovered this skeleton three months into the expedition,” Richard told them. Prior to this discovery, we were unearthing artifacts daily. It’s just as Julia decoded from the messages they were also disappearing daily,” he continued. “John Pierce, the communications officer must have been sending the coded messages. Mr. Young must have found out about the dispatch, and killed Mr. Pierce,” then he took them further still into the facility.

“Bob Weir and I were both suspicious of Young from that moment on. The next to be killed was Neil Gilmore and then it was Tom Adams. Gilmore was killed in his quarters and later Adams was killed in the lab.”

Richard continued walking around the facility revealing the bodies where they laid. He took them to the body of Colin Young and explained that P. D. Young had cornered him here.

“Young hit me in the hip with a particle beam blast that punctured my pressure suit. The self-repairing mechanism kept it from decompressing. I then picked up a rock and threw it, breaking the faceplate of Young’s helmet. He has been lying there ever since.” He pointed to a specific suited figure sitting leaning against the cliff wall. Then he led the group to the quarters of John Pierce. Pierce was still lying on the bed where he had been placed.

Julia went immediately to the computer and switched it on. “The coded messages originated from this terminal,” she announced. “Apparently, Mr. Pierce was making an entry when the assailant entered the room. He was describing the skeleton when he was attacked. The last entry simply says, C. Jung,” Julia reported.

“Go ahead and forward the remaining files to P. D Matthews, Julia,” Donna directed.

Then she turned to Richard and Dave. “Gentlemen will you carry the body of Mr. Pierce to the shuttle?”

The two men transferred the body onto a gurney and carried it out of the room.

Later, the makeshift crew met in the quarters of Neil Gilmore. “Gilmore was the second in charge of the expedition and I witnessed several arguments with Gilmore and Young involving the metallic tool piece. Gilmore told him there was no-way the object could have been of natural origin. Mr. Young must have come here directly after killing Pierce.” Gilmore’s body was still on the floor where it was originally found and Donna looked up from a kneeling position. “Gentlemen you know what to do,” she suggested. The two men loaded the body onto a gurney and then carried it out of the room.

Richard then led them to the body of Tom Adams. He was still at his desk slumped over where he was working.

“I remember how Adams tried to explain to Young the significance of the skeletal replace. I believe Young came here after killing Gilmore. Bob and I walked into the lab and found the body where it is now. After talking it over we decided it was time to leave and possibly maroon Young here.” Richard went on explaining. “Bob was getting the shuttle ready while I went to retrieve the skeleton to take it back to Earth for further study. I gathered my tools and made my way to the place where it was buried. P. D. Young had walked in before I could get started. He fired his weapon and I threw the rock. I forgot about the skeleton and made my way back to the shuttle. I found Bob’s body there. I placed the body behind those rocks to protect it from the shuttle blast, and that’s my story,” he concluded.

“Now we’ve done all we can. Now, let’s get some rest and get ready for the backup ship,” Donna suggested.

A few days passed and then finally the roar of shuttle engines cracked the silent air. Richard and Dave were the first to meet the shuttle. Richard was stunned when he saw P. D. Mathews stepping out of the shuttle. “What are you doing here? I thought you were

back at the space station.” Richard said, nervously.

“Surprise I thought I’d kick your Asses in person. That lunatic stunt you pulled got my Ass in a sling and I’m going to kick your asses back to Earth without using a spaceship.”

“The mission is off schedule, the authorities are screaming from one end of the organization to the next, and I am here to head the tribunal. Mr. Incorrigible we’re going to do this right,” she said coldly. She engaged the COM button on her wrist and said: “You know what to do; we’re right outside the shuttle.”

Shortly two security guards seized Richard and Dave and escorted them to a detainment chamber and later P. D. Matthews met Donna in the Lab area.

“What do you think about all this, Donna?”

“I believe that Mr. Incorrigible is telling the truth. A lot has happened here, it’s all in my report. I still don’t understand why P. D. Young sabotaged the mission and killed those people.”

“The Investigation that Julia suggested revealed that he was part of a highly secretive organization called, ’The Infinity Group’. They are connected to the age-old secret society called ’The Illuminatus’. It seems that the group holds so-called sacred knowledge on the origins of the Human Race. It also seems that they get pretty darned insecure when anything contradicts their beliefs.” Matthews reported.

Donna’s eyes widened. “Still, that doesn’t explain the murder and sabotage.”

“The fact that there’s intelligence doesn’t mean that rationality follows. It’s just as Julia said there’s more here than we know.” Matthews explained. She engaged the COM button on her right glove, “Security. P. D. Matthews here,” she spoke into the mouthpiece.

The radio sounded, “This is security, go ahead Ms. Matthews.”

“You may release the detainees. I will be available should they have questions.”

“Right away Ms. Matthews,” the radio voice said.

“Donna, we will hold the tribunal in the morning,”

The next morning a group of weary space travelers gathered for the tribunal.

P. D. Matthews raised and pounded her gavel. “We are gathered here to determine the innocence or guilt of Richard Serling and David Lambert” Matthews announced.

“Julia Ganswind, will you approach the front of the hearing . . .”

“For the sake of the record, Ms. Ganswind, will you state your position in the investigation?” P. D. Matthews opened.

“I was to decipher coded messages that were later determined to have been written by Communications Officer John Pierce.”

“And, what were the replaceings of the investigation?”

“It appears that early on in the expedition a metallic remnant of an ancient Martian tool was unearthed. Shortly after the discovery of this artifact, it disappeared and an unwarranted order was given not to report the replaceing. This was consistent throughout the expedition until a human skeleton was discovered.” (She pointed to a display case

containing the skeleton.) “This was in the conclusion of the dispatched report.”

“Shortly after our arrival on Mars I discovered messages that were never dispatched. The remaining messages proclaimed Project Director Colin Young as Murderer and Saboteur,” Julia told the court.

P. D. Matthews raised and pounded her gavel again and said, “I replace the defendant Richard Serling not guilty of the crimes committed at the R. C. Hoagland Archaeological Expedition. However, still remaining are the charges of Hijacking and Kidnapping. Will the defendants Richard Serling and David Lambert approach the front of the hearing?” Matthews continued.

“Richard Serling, how do you account for your actions?” Matthews interrogated.

“Well, Ms Matthews at the time I had no other recourse.”

P. D. Matthews leaned forward. “Listen carefully Mr. Serling, no-one, absolutely, no one steals a spaceship that’s under my command. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Ms Matthews.” Richard said, slowly.

“I’m going to give you a choice Mr. Serling, either you will spend the next five years in the Copernicus facility, or you can go to work for me? Which do you choose?” She asked sincerely.

“I’d be happy to work for you Ms. Matthews. What job do you have in mind?” He agreed.

“I need someone to screen the personnel for the next Mars Mission,” she told him.

“Okay, David Lambert, how would you like to go to work for me?”

“I already work for you Ms Matthews,” he said nervously.

P. D. Matthews leaned forward once again. “Listen carefully, Mr. Lambert, you won’t be if you pull another stunt like this one. Am I understood?” She said sternly.

“Yes Ms. Matthews,” he answered.

P. D. Matthews pounded her gavel again; and said, “I consider this matter concluded.”

Later Donna met with Julia. “Well, Julia it’s been one heck of a trip, hasn’t it?”

“You mean it has been one Hell of a trip.”

“Yes, you’re it has been one Hell of a trip. Well, do you plan to be with the next mission?”

“Of course Donna where else in this macrocosm could I replace another job like this? So, what are you plans for the near future?”

“I think I’m going to be busy training the new Personnel Manager.”

Julia grimaced.