Forty-First Entry

March 10^th, 2037

1726

Dear Space Diary.

Hanging on for dear life to the edge of the tube. I’m not going to be able to hold on much longer. Given the strength of the wind that’s sucking me into the tube, I’m guessing there’s an extremely powerful fan at the end of this, and I’ve no intention of confirming that theory.

That probably means my ship isn’t go to fare that well either. Hmm.

1727

Fingers are slipping. I’m about to let go.

This is going to hurt. I’m closing my eyes.

CLANG

That was unexpected. What was that?

Oh. It’s the Zubrin. It’s been sucked into the tube as well. It’s quite a long ship, though, so it’s jammed itself on the mouth of the tube. It’s only a metre away from me.

As is the door.

...Damn it! I can’t reach it. No matter how hard I stretch I can’t quite reach the handle. I don’t want to stretch any further, I might lose my grip on the tube. And that’s tough enough as it is, with all these rocks flying past me.

Hmm. Rocks.

1728

Missed it.

1729

Missed again!

1730

Caught one! Ok, I now have a rock. Goody. Now, have to aim this right...

Hit! Right on the button! Maybe I should turn pro when I get back to Earth.

Pro... rock throwing at door buttons. Is that a real competition? Probably not.

1732

Ok, inside the Zubrin, door closed and locked.

So instead of hanging onto the mouth of an alien death tube, I’m now inside a space ship that’s hanging on to the mouth of an alien death tube.

On the bright side, at least there’s air conditioning.

Also a toilet. Back in a minute.

1737

And back.

In the cockpit now. Wondering if I can get the engines working on this thing. Seems pretty unlikely though. They’re very old. What’s more, the fuel’s probably run out. Fusion power didn’t generate enough electricity to run engines back when the Zubrin was launched, so there’s not much chance it would get all the way out here (however it managed that) without using up it’s supplies.

Hang on, there’s a message from NASA here.

<INCOMING TRANSMISSION>

__

SOME THOUGHTS ON YOUR PREDICAMENT. THE ZUBRIN WAS EQUIPPED WITH SEVERAL SMALL WARHEADS (NON NUCLEAR) AS A PRECAUTIONARY MEASURE. THEY MIGHT BE USEFUL SHOULD YOU FIND YOURSELF IN A TIGHT SPOT.

__

<END TRANSMISSION>

Missiles? What were you expecting to find on Mars, guys?

1740

Still, it’s a thought. The ship isn’t going to hang here indefinitely.

1742

Found it. Weapons systems. Hmm. Only three warheads. Don’t really want to waste them. Or, indeed, make anyone angry.

Seems to be functional though.

1746

The ship is giving way...

1747

Just wrenched itself free. We’re going up the tube. Metal surrounds me on all sides.

Out of options. Fire Missile One.

1800

Man that was a big explosion. The entire tube has been severed.

And it’s falling towards me...