A BIT MORE FROM THE PAGES OF REACH FOR MARS:

I was in the cargo hold of the Albatross when the radio call came through. I raced through the ship, leaped up the stairs to the flight deck three at a time (a difficult maneuver on a narrow spiral staircase), and dropped into my chair while grabbing the mike and keying the transmit button. “This is the Albatross returning your call; please repeat your message. Over.”

I sat there holding the mike and waiting impatiently for a reply. I hadn’t been able to make out any of the words spoken when the message had first come through, as I was too far away in the cargo hold. Actually, I couldn’t honestly say that my ears hadn’t been deceiving me when I heard it, as it was so faint. Even though I was hoping for a reply, I jumped when the radio squawked and a voice filled the flight deck.

“This is Vladimir Lenin on board the International Space Station in orbit around the Earth. It is wonderful to hear another human voice again. What is your position in space? Over.”

“Vladimir, my name is Drew Hunt aboard the USS Albatross. We landed on Mars two and a half months ago. I am glad to hear your voice also. Can you tell me what the status is on Earth? Have you been able to make any contact with them? Over.”

The reply was surprisingly soon in coming.

“I’m afraid not! We have sent many messages to Flight Control, but the only radio transmission we have received is yours. The clouds started to dissipate slowly twenty days ago, and based on what we can see down there there it is extremely unlikely that anything could have survived. It is all charcoal. Over.”

I was disappointed. I had hoped against any logical arguments that some people on Earth had at least survived, although that would have been, literally, hell on earth for them. I then wondered why radio exchanges between us and the ISS took such a short time. I checked the nav computer and found that we were actually a lot closer to Earth than we had been when we landed on Mars. I actually physically slapped my forehead in true old Hollywood comedy style at that point. I had forgotten, or more to the point, had not bothered to think about it much lately (as planetary orbital paths and speeds had ceased to become a priority after we touched down on Mars) that the Earth was closing on us from behind as it followed its faster orbital path around the sun. This gave me an idea.