It was just after midnight. Some of the multitudes gathered around JSC had gone home, but most had stayed.
There had been a press conference, explaining the basic facts of the situation. The launch had had several problems, but none fatal to the mission. Phoenix was now an immense distance from Hermes, but that might still be corrected. The Sparkle Drive was being repaired, partly by mending the overstrained batteries, partly by switching the Drive over to a backup computer. Once the Drive was fully operational, the crews and NASA would re-evaluate the situation and decide between another attempt at a Hermes rendezvous or using the Sparkle Drive for a straight shot to Earth.
That had been hours before. Most of the intervening time had been taken up waiting on the Sparkle Drive interface app to be uploaded fresh to Phoenix for a new installation. The original install file had been on Starlight’s laptop, which still refused to work properly due to the keyboard error.
The Phoenix crew had put that time to good use, repairing the damaged batteries, topping off the smaller batteries on the salvaged magic thrusters, and eating a meal. They had also exchanged messages with Hermes, celebrating the fact that, without intending to, the Phoenix crew had become the first known beings from either universe to travel through space faster than light.
In the meantime, Mission Control remained full- mostly. The prime controller team had gone off-shift, replaced at the consoles by the night watch. The morning team, for the most part, had gone to the cots in the meeting rooms below the observation area to get some nap time, but few of them stayed out of the room for more than two hours at a time. This included none of the Trajectory team, who had been engaged in one argument after another over the benefits and drawbacks of another Hermes rendezvous attempt versus the Direct Earth Abort option… all directly over Rich Purnell’s head, as he kept working non-stop on trajectories and flight programs for both options, saying not a word unless directly asked.
And in the observation room, no one had left. The trash cans now overflowed with empty takeout boxes and bags. The vice president was still there, as was the Chinese ambassador, as was the entire Congressional delegation, and all the rest, including Teddy Sanders, Venkat Kapoor, and Annie Montrose.
“When the fuck are they going to make a decision?” Annie asked. “For that matter, why aren’t you two down there making the decision for them?”
“This isn’t a question of planning or policy anymore,” Teddy said. “This is crisis management. Operations. Go or no go. That makes it the flight director’s decision. Ever since Chris Kraft, the rule has been, on all operational decisions the flight director is God.”
“Right,” Venkat said. “It’s out of our hands now.”
Below, Mitch Henderson stood at his position, having retained command after his team had gone off-shift. Brendan Hutch, whose team was officially on duty, had joined the discussions at the Trajectory consoles. Both appeared in full control of the situation, barely showing the hours of waiting and alertness. The only indication of how much time had passed came from the row of paper coffee cups that now lined two-thirds of the cupola surrounding the flight director’s station.
“Flight, Tracking.”
Although there had been a lot of discussion on the floor, the headset circuit had been silent for almost a full hour, except for a press officer summarizing the situation every ten minutes for the benefit of press and VIPs. This call-out caught the attention of everyone in the room, silencing the argument at Trajectory and causing the VIPs to sit up and come alert.
“Go, Tracking,” Mitch said.
“We’re receiving a signal on 110.1 megahertz,” the Tracking officer said. “It’s coming from an object in very low Earth orbit, closer than the SpaceX station. We’re trying to get a visual on it now.”
“What’s the signal?” Mitch said.
“110.1?” Venkat gasped from the observation area. “It's them! That's the prearranged arrival signal!”
“Morse code,” the Tracking officer said. “It’s repeating. The back room is decoding it…” The tracking officer held his headset tighter to his ear, listening to the message from his subordinates elsewhere in the building. “Message is: C-S-P H-R-M-Y, R-S-Q, and the code for ‘stand by.’”
“Roger, Tracking. Get someone to acknowledge the message on the same frequency.”
“I’ll try, but it keeps- wait a minute. We’ve got a satellite with a camera pointed at the object. Put feed 31 on screen.”
“Do it,” Mitch said.
A moment later the main screen in the control room showed an image of the other side of the Earth, with a large object vaguely like three enormous cylinders linked side by side, flanked by enormous solar arrays, flying over some ocean or other below.
“That’s not one of ours,” Teddy said. “It looks bigger than the SpaceX station. Almost as big as ours.”
“Of course,” Venkat said, almost giggling, bouncing in his seat.
“We’re getting a voice message now over the same frequency,” Tracking said. “Patching it in.”
The room was treated to garbled sounds which, if you were of a certain frame of mind, sounded like a half-Welsh, half-Dutch woman clearing her sinuses.
Then another voice made the same sounds- a voice the room recognized. That voice then said, in English, “Mission Control…” There was a brief burst of the other language, which sounded like some variant of ‘oh my god’. “Mission Control, this is Phoenix, relayed through Changeling Space Program spaceship Harmony. Their message reads: ‘Stand by- we are coming.’ Message ends.”
An instant later, the mysterious spaceship on the Mission Control screen vanished, leaving nothing but the unobstructed view of the eastern Pacific Ocean.
TRANSCRIPT – AUDIO FROM MAV PHOENIX, MAY 22, 2037 07:32 CDT
CHERRY BERRY: NASA, this is Phoenix. Harmony has arrived at our position and is proceeding with recovery efforts.
MARK WATNEY: Je-zus Christ! Look at the size of that thing! It’s as big as Hermes! Bigger! Let me get a video link on it… there! I hope you're getting this! Look at it! It looks like someone lifted two Saturn V rockets to orbit and tied them to a space station! I think that’s exactly what they’ve done! Look at the engine bells there! And what’s that sticking out of the middle section?
CHERRY: (unintelligible pony sounds) Message from Harmony. “To Phoenix crew: brace and prepare for grappling.” Grappling? Since when could we do that? (unintelligible pony sounds)
WATNEY: That’s what that thing is! It’s a claw! Like the arcade game! They’re going to take us in tow!
CHERRY: (unintelligible pony sounds) New message, um… “Harmony to NASA. We cannot stay long. Power drains quickly. We will return your ship and your astronaut as soon as we can. We will be back. Phoenix, stand by for grapple.”
WATNEY: Huh! Well. I guess we’re not going to Earth after all. Sorry, everyone on Hermes, but we’ll have to wait a bit longer for that reunion.
(sound of thumps, slight creaking)
CHERRY: (long string of unintelligible pony sounds) Grapple confirmed. Phoenix to Hermes and Earth, thanks for all your help, Mark will be-
END OF TRANSMISSION
“… thanks for all your help, Mark will be back as soon as we can manage it. Phoenix out.”
“They can’t hear you,” Dragonfly said. “We’re not there anymore.”
Cherry blinked. “What?”
“We’re already home.” The changeling grinned, already looking more like herself than she had in months. “We’re home!” In a flash of green flame, she took on the appearance of Beth Johanssen. “Can’t you feel it?” Another flash of flame, and there were two Mark Watneys in the capsule. “We’re HOME!”
“Look at the batteries!” Starlight said, pointing to the readouts. Before, four had been completely drained during the repair process, and the others had been around eighty percent full. Now all eight showed 100%, with the needles vibrating slightly at the top of the range.
And in Cherry’s headset, the voice of Twilight Sparkle said, in her native tongue, “Phoenix, this is Concordia. Prepare for EVA transfer to this ship. We’re sending out three spacewalkers to assist with the crew transfer. What is your condition?”
“We’re home,” Cherry whispered in English. Tears began running down her face. “We’re finally home.” She leaned over and hugged Spitfire, who hugged her right back, tears also running down the pegasus’s face. Fireball was next, hugging the two ponies tightly, with Starlight joining a moment later and Dragonfly, shifted back to her natural form, joining last. Finally, the hand of Mark Watney snaked through the mass hug to rest on Cherry’s shoulder, squeezing tightly.
“We’re home,” she repeated, and then in Equestrian, “Thank you, Celestia, we’re home.”
YES! THEY MADE IT!
I had a feeling Equestria was going to rescue them. And all I can say to that is (unintelligible pony sounds) (unintelligible pony sounds) (long string of unintelligible pony sounds).
9225196
Then my initial gut feeling about who was speaking was right. Mark and "whoever". (Azeazezar thought Starlight said one of Mark's lines.)
We're in the final stretches.
Well done getting us this far.
After so many times they nearly died, they're finally home.
Spitfire: (quietly marks a fourth tally mark in the "Flying Feats Spitfire has done before Rainbow Dash" list)
☑ - Martian Fire Tornado
☑ - Faster Than Light
☑ - Interplanetary Spaceship Piracy
☑ - Interdimensional Kidnapping
Wow. We're on the falling action slope. End in sight.
It'll be weird not having a daily Maretian chapter to look forward to, once things wrap up.
Aaahhhh, this was awesome and heartwarming.
Btw
Extra "."
OH MY WORD THAT WAS GREAT! I WAS ACTUALLY HALF RIGHT!!! I mean I thought it was implausible when I half-jokingly suggested Equestria would swoop to the rescue because I was only thinking of them tracking the rocket boosters, but now it makes a LOT more sense if they were able to track that PLUS the absolutely mind-boggling power of the Sparkle Drive going over the speed of light! YESSSS! I love that Equestria got to be of some service, it really does feel like a bit of balance after they've been forced to stay out of most of the game. Maybe they can go back and get Hermes, too, that'd be nice for them.
I find it fascinating that they can instantly teleport to vastly different portions of space just by popping back and forth between their and Earth's dimension; the bouy showing up at Earth and the ship at Mars indicates this. It probably takes a LOT more power to jump dimensions than to use normal Sparkle Drive power, but either way, I'd guess that this would end up being the method they adopt overall, at least for larger transports.
This has been such a fascinating story! I can't wait to read the epilogue chapters, good luck with those! And thanks for sharing!
Well, you did your best, but I think we can all agree it was an unqualified failure.
You lose, Mars!
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There is still a few hostages on Mars. So he hasn't lost yet.
(unintelligible excited horse noises)
I've enjoyed this, great job on it.
I'm glad to see it finished, but also sad to see it stop. Granted only a little sad, after all its gonna be completed.
well, that's quite the spin on the story. were Twi and Chryssy able to finally locate them when the booster spell activated? cause that would have been a lot of magic being used all at once, which should have lit up their magic radar, so to speak.
can't wait to read the next few chapters. I've been reading this since the beginning, eagerly waiting for each new update.
And here I was predicting a Hermes rendezvous before being saved by the Equestrians. I was so looking forward to both crews meeting for the first time.
Can't say I like this much. Feels like a lot of the work Earth did just got invalidated. Risking the Hermes for another round? Don't matter. Getting the Phoenix space worthy for a week? Don't matter. All the thousands of man hours NASA put into all of this? Don't matter. Equestria just gets to swoop in and take it all.
Makes it feel like Earth did all the work but Equestria gets to run away with the honour.
I'm probably exaggerating a fair bit because emotions are running high, but still.
Still a decent enough resolution, just not to my tastes.
9225267 Who? Trees?
yay
Deus Ex Machine.
Well at least something went right. Hopefully they can all visit Earth next chapter.
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The cave and Sojourner.
The trees seemed happy to stay.
9225250
Add "4D flight"
"Hay, Mark, I hope you enjoy the oatcakes and hay noodles with stewed tomatoes."
"But... but..."
"Oh, there IS fish available. But you'll have to go to a pegasus/gryphon only restaurant. Do you like anchovies?"
I hope mark gets to atleast land in equestria so he gets that notch in his belt. Also so he has to suffer through the insanity of a CSP launch when he goes home.
Okay, so the last chapter messed me up a little more than I care to admit. Granted, I read it when I was in less than a great place mentally, oh well. And when I get in a situation like this (brain has latched on an unfinished story and is anxious about it), I make up an ending. And my 3AM brain was going “I really want the Equestrians to rescue them, but there’s no way.”
It was beautiful. It was glorious. Cherry’s(?) initial translation has just the right amount of awe and relief and I about cried.
Looking forward to the epilogues. Thanks for this ride; it was a ton of fun and I’ve enjoyed the updates. Bravo, good sir.
9225236
You know I can recognize "bucking" in Equestrian?
Thank you for this wonderful read and story.
Omfg...
KEEP LYRA AWAY FROM MARK AT ALL COST
I can't say I'm really happy with this ending, I'm glad everyone got out of it okay and what not, but with everything you'd set up pony side it sounded/seemed like it was more or less impossible for them to find the crew at this point without another super magic beam and they weren't going to try random testing due to close encounter with horrors beyond understanding. So them just suddenly showing up and being, "You is rescued lol." seems super cheap and unearned (unless this is a crew from a different Equestria that decided to do a blind jump or something). It also really feels like kill stealing as NASA and the crew had done so much, risked their lives, and were basically right at the finish line about to save the crew when Equestria Dues-ex-machinas in and swipes the rescue.
So while it might have been what you originally planned, I think it might have been an idea that should have been changed or scrapped like so many other ideas you mentioned above. Equestria had already done plenty with their water/air donations.
9225284
Sojourner was specifically left behind in a dust storm, at magic liftoff ground zero. Poor thing.
Thought I'd spell that out in case it wasn't obvious.
9225275
I figure it was the FTL activation of the Sparkle Drive that lit them up.
9225326
A super magic beam like a full power sparkle drive jump?
So Mark is the first human to visit Equestria, that is unless you are sending him back before he gets to land on the planet.
Wait, but there is a sequel already...
Yes, I made that joke. Again.
Shit.
This chapter was like...
Read the title: "WHAT"
Read the decoded Morse: "WHAT"
Read the part about pons coming for the resque: "WHAT"
#twilightexmachina
Love ya, Kris.
Also, this.
I feel a little bad for the Hermes crew :p
They spend over a year (I believe?) going to rescue a lost crew member, then when they finally get there they both turn out to be unnecessary and he gets back home before they do (unless the Ponies go tow Hermes back too).
That said, how insane is Harmony's acceleration that it could match velocities with the Phoenix (whose velocity would be absolutely nothing like Earth's) fast enough that Mark could only get a short message across?
Sorry too busy dancing...
media.giphy.com/media/kWqTfdz5RJBRe/giphy.gif
WOOOOOOOOOOOOO! So, Mark is the first human to go beyond lightspeed, and makr first contact, AND travel to a new, inhabitable planet...
Damn, it's finally over. Been on this story for ten months, and it's been a damn ride.
Honestly half expected Equestria to swoop in like they did, especially after the Sparkle Drive got kicked on. If that didn't get the Agencies on Equestria enough magic to beacon to that universe, the brief 1B cycles per second definitely did.
Ha! I thought it would end that way. Xd
Thou I was kinda hoping for our astronauts to see earth.
Now we just need to all work together to convince Georg to write a light hearted sequel to Kris' masterpiece.
Huh, not sure how I feel about rescue being due to “LOL! Pony magic hax lol” and not due to good old fashion human ingenuity.
9225343 Put it this way: Mark wasn't kidding about Concordia looking like two Saturns were put in orbit, intact, and tied to a smallish space station. Concordia's design ethos is, "Let's brute force a solution using parts we have on hand!"
Of course, in this case that brute force was likely for braking. Earth's orbital velocity around the sun is MUCH higher than Mars's, so even taking into account Phoenix's Mars escape velocity it's not likely to be faster than something teleported directly from LEO.
9225326 The ponies got two giant magic beams to work from: the liftoff boosters and the Sparkle Drive going FTL. If one or both hadn't worked, then nothing short of turning the entire Earth into a magic battery and setting it off would have worked.
If it worked for Star Trek and Robert Forwards Dragons Egg, then its a perfectly acceptable method here.
Both sides have spent effective millions man years getting them back alive.
Concordias Mauler Banks are still draining so very quickly in Earth universe, yet refill almost instantly in Equus universe? I still think those two pseudorandom crystal mineral samples from Russia will be the link between magic and electricity, at least in this story realms. Once Twilight and Starlight etc can analyse them and work out actual efficient transformational crystaline matrices. I mean, 50% conversion rate efficincy? Anyone for pulse fusion reactor to magic?
Did Concordia remember to leave a spare suit behind to at least retain a targetable link back to Earth, or are those dimentional coordinates stored in readable and reuseable form now?
There is a method with a seperate lifesupport comms trick. Once the system is full of water both sides, close the valves so the water stops flowing, but the pipes are full. You now have a solid mechanical connection equivalent from one crytal to another, so talk on a thin diaphram on one end, the sound travels through the water, displacing a little amount through the crystals, to deform the diaphram on the other side by the same small but audible amount, as long as the flow is bidirectional or has current flow to displacement transducers?
fun little oopsie:
Transforming into a human twice probably wasn't very healthy for Dragonfly's space suit. Better encase herself in goop before those spacewalkers arrive.
I am worried about Starlights grey goo crystals in a high magic environment.
9225393
It's less about the difference in velocities than that those velocities are pointed in completely different directions. The amount of acceleration required for the Harmony to match velocities must have been insane. Probably something like 40-50 kilometers per second.
9225385
It was foreshadowed a lot with the previous Large Magical Events being *almost* enough for Equestria to get a bead on them.
Great, Mark's stuck in Equestria.