Eightieth Entry

March 15^th, 2037

1845

Dear Space Diary.

I’m starting to feel bad about kicking Mary out of the spaceship.

Also, her banging on the glass is giving me a headache.

It’s good to be back in my old ship though. Don’t get me wrong, the extra room in the Zubrin was nice, but in the end -

THUMP

- In the end –

THUMP

- The important thing is –

THUMP THUMP THUMP

Mary, stop it!

“No!”

Fine. Engaging engines. You might want to back off a bit.

“You’re bluffing. There’s no way you would… ARRRGH!”

That got her attention. She’s retreated to a safe distance.

I was going to head back to the city first, but I’ve changed my mind. I’ve been here long enough. I’m tired, and I’m going home. NASA can send me coordinates on the way.

I’ve given the homing beacon NASA wanted me to place on the Zubrin to Mary. And by give, I mean I’ve thrown it at her. She can plant that on the Zubrin, switch it on, and then the rescue ship will home right in on her. Easy. No trouble. She’s alright. She’s perfectly alright. Perfectly alright, marooned and alone on an alien planet with a toxic atmosphere.

Shut up, conscience.

I left her with the spacesuit, ok? It’s got air filters, food, and hygiene systems built in. She may be marooned, but at least she’s marooned in comfort and style.

Well, maybe style, anyway. Those suits are quite fashionable.

Engines warming up. Will be ready to launch as soon as I press the launch button.

Now, where was I? Oh yes. In the end, the important thing –

CLONK

Knock it off, Mary! She’s throwing rocks at the ship now.

“You can’t leave me here!”

I can and will. You stole my ship; I’m only taking it back. Besides, it’ll only take you a few hours to walk back to the city. The sooner you plant that homing beacon, the quicker the rescue ship finds you when it gets here. I’d get started if I were you. Just my advice.

“You think I give a -”

Fortunately I didn’t hear the rest of that. The engines are really whirring now, the smoke and noise is incredible. I was worried that the crash might have damaged the engines, but it’s working perfectly.

1850

Ok, let’s go home, Mr Rock.

TEN

NINE

EIGHT

SEVEN

SIX

FIVE

FOUR

THREE

TWO

ONE

BLAST OFF

FWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMPPH

Lift off! We’re going! We’re going home!

FWOOO-  FFT

That doesn’t sound good.

FFT

FFT

CRUNCH

1852

On the bright side, the engines are working. That’s fortunate.

What’s less fortunate is that May’s little escapade burned up almost all the remaining fuel in my ship.

There’s the FTL drive. That still has plenty of fuel. Unlimited. Get me into space and zoom.

But normal fuel? Gone. And I can’t take off without it.

1853

Also, the ship landed sideways. On the door. Trapping me inside.

1854

Also, Mary is laughing at me.