AND YET MORE:

“I haven’t done anything with them, Mel. All I did was leave them behind on board the alien shipwreck with enough provisions and water to last them a week or more as per their request. I guess they wanted to stay and play with the electronic alien toys for a while, so I left them to it and flew back here. They’ve got the ship’s power systems up and running on its primary power, so the ship is pressurized with breathable air and Dick is confident that there is no breach of the hull’s integrity. Plus they have their space suits if needed, so I saw no imminent danger. After due consideration and careful weighing up of the pros and cons of leaving them there, the pros won…so I left them there. If they get into any trouble, they can radio us and we can be there within an hour to rescue them or laugh and point at them, whichever tickles your fancy at the time.”

“Yeah, I’ll bet you weighed the pros and cons in great depth as you packed their bags, their provisions, and their water and threw it all onto the Martian surface from the top of the cargo ramp before sealing it off and blasting off.” Mel replied,

“It wasn’t like that. I didn’t have to pack their bags because they hadn’t had a chance to unpack them. Anyway, I personally loaded their bags and provisions into the buggy, drove over, and unloaded them into the airlock of the shipwreck before I tootled off back to the ship and blasted off.

Nick interjected, “Fair enough. I guess they’ll radio us when they want to be picked up and taxied back to the city, and we might even bother to go get them! Meanwhile, we can fill our days in their absence by doing useful things around here while we await their return with baited breath.”

“Here, here, sir. I will raise my mug to that!” said I.

“Fair enough and fair thee well,” said Nick.

He raised his mug and slurped the remainder of the contents from it before adding,

“Now piss off and do some useful things.”

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