Chapter 1: The Calm Before the Storm

Cosima Niehaus had known that she wanted to be an astronaut since she was a small girl. The stories about the Apollo missions had captivated her. To float in the endless, inky blackness of space, high above your home planet, had seemed impossibly freeing.

Her parents, English professors both, had found her obsession a curious oddity in their otherwise art loving home. They had brought her up to find the beauty in a cleverly crafted turn of phrase. Though they may have not have understood her passion, they had supported it. While their awe for the human race came from examining it's works of art, Cosima's came from examining it's incredible works of science.

Cosima knew that it wouldn't be easy. When her dream had first sparked to life, manned space flight had been all but dead. She figured that, best case scenario, she would get to explore the cosmos through the use of robot intermediaries. Which, to her mind, had still seemed pretty damned cool. With that in mind, Cosima had focused on robotics and communications technology. Both would be critical to any future exploration and Cosima wanted in.

Now, Cosima looked out at the horizon, arms spread wide.

Not even in her wildest dreams had she ever dreamed that she would be part of the first wave of people to set boots on an alien planet. Yet here she was, on the frontier of the next phase of human exploration. Part of a team tasked with setting up the groundwork for establishing the first colony on Mars.

"Mars. The Red Planet. Desert world."

"Cosima, we talked about this. No more Dune soliloquies."

Cosima dropped her arms and turned to grin at Scott. Though the sun wasn't as intense here, she still had to squint at the reflection off of Scott's visor. "Don't tell me you haven't done the same thing."

"Once. Not every time we leave the hab."

Cosima shook her head. "I can't help it. Dude! We're on Mars! Mars!"

Scott laughed. "Yeah. We have been for over a week now."

"I don't think I'll ever get over it," Cosima admitted, turning to look back out over the landscape. Objectively, it wasn't that exciting to look at, but Cosima could have easily spent all day taking it in.

"Well, we're going to be here for a couple of months, so I'm sure the novelty will wear off at some point."

"Not gonna happen. I could be here for a year and it would still be as mind blowing to me. Mars!"

"Dr. Niehaus, could I please remind you that you are on the public com channel? If you and Dr. Smith feel the need to continue your riveting conversation, please take it to a private band. As the communications officer, I'm sure you'll be able to figure that out." The annoyed voice of mission commander Beth Childs crackled over the in helmet speaker.

Cosima grimaced, rolling her eyes at Scott. "Yes, ma'am. Sorry ma'am."

"What's your progress on clearing and locking down the solar array?"

"Almost done."

"Hurry if you can. Reports on this storm keep shifting and I would rather err on the side of caution."

"Understood."

Cosima fiddled with the com control on her wrist and established a closed link with Scott's suit. "That woman hates me," Cosima complained.

"She doesn't hate you," Scott insisted, clapping a hand on her shoulder. "She just has a specific way of getting things done, and you hate authority."

"I don't hate authority. I just think she needs to relax a little bit." Cosima spread her arms out. "We're on Mars!"

Scott shook his head. "You're hopeless. Did you ever stop to think that the reason she can't relax is because we're on Mars? She's mission commander. Anything that goes wrong is ultimately going to come to rest on her shoulders. It's a lot of responsibility."

"You make a good point, which is why I am content to focus on the science." Cosima waved her hand at the small solar farm they were currently standing in the middle of. "Though if they had told me that my job was going to consist of dusting, I may have changed my mind." Which was a total lie. They could have assigned her to cleaning the toilet and Cosima still would have jumped at the chance to join this mission. They were part of history.

"Don't think of it as dusting. Think of it as mission critical power supply maintenance."

Cosima swiped her hand over the nearest solar panel, brushing the thin layer of red soil to the ground. "Oh, yeah. So critical a trained monkey could do it," Cosima griped good naturedly. Honestly, she didn't mind. The work needed to be done, and keeping the communication system up and functioning wouldn't be enough to keep her busy all day.

"Well, that is your nickname around the hab, so it's fitting."

Cosima shoved Scott in the shoulder, almost sending him toppling to the ground. She grabbed him at the last second, helping him to remain upright. The last thing she wanted to have to do was write up an accident report and it explain it to Cmdr. Childs.

"Jerk." Cosima motioned toward the solar panel. "Grab a cover and help me lock this thing down."

They had been tracking a massive sandstorm coming from the western side of the planet for the last several days. The latest reports put the storm at 4500N which was below the evacuation threshold, but still strong enough to be of concern.

They were only a week into their planned two month stay and Cmdr. Childs didn't want to take any chances. She had ordered all essential equipment locked down to hopefully minimize any storm damage. They had a limited supply of replacement materials but the Commander figured it was better to go into low power mode for a few hours than to have to dig into their limited reserves.

Cosima didn't mind. She was happy to take any excuse to get out of the hab for a few hours and put boots down on the Martian soil.

Cosima stood, hands on hips, contemplating the assortment of choices before her. Though assortment may not be the best word for it.

"Can't decide between the dehydrated chicken or dehydrated beef? May I suggest the dehydrated spaghetti? It still tastes like cardboard but at least it has a splash of color to break the monotony."

Cosima turned her head to grin at Felix. He held a special place in her heart because she was pretty sure he was the only other person that annoyed Beth more than she did.

"And what's the appropriate wine pairing for such a delicacy?"

"I hear that the recycled hydrogen dioxide with a vitamin C tablet is." Felix pinched his fingers together, and kissed them with a flourish.

Cosima laughed, shaking her head. "I guess it'll have to do." Cosima grabbed the small foil pack and a cup of hot water from the nearby dispenser. As much as Cosima loved being on Mars, the same could not be said for the food. NASA claimed it was the top of the line as far as dehydrated food was concerned, but Cosima had her doubts.

Cosima sat down across from Felix, tearing into her pack and dumping in the 8 oz of hot water needed to rehydrated the meal.

"You and Scotty get everything buttoned down?" Felix asked.

Cosima nodded. "Done and dusted."

"That's good. Wouldn't want Cmdr. Childs riding your ass. Again." Felix smirked at her. "Though maybe you would enjoy that."

Cosima choked on the bite of spaghetti she had just taken. "So not my type." Cosima took a sip of water, washing the pasty taste of the spaghetti out of her mouth.

"Ah, yes, how can I forget. Still pining after the unobtainable?"

"I'm not pining," Cosima protested. "I'm totally anti-pine."

Felix looked at her skeptically. "If this is you not pining, I shudder to think what the real thing looks like."

"Whatevs. Are you still drooling after Paul?"

Felix waved his hand dismissively. "That's completely different. That's just me enjoying the view."

Cosima snorted. "Right. Why can't that be all that I'm doing?"

"Because you're a lesbian, darling. Your kind always lets their feelings get involved."

"Hey guys," Scott greeted, sitting down next to Cosima with a tray of his own. "What are we talking about?"

"Just Cosima's unrequited love for a certain French botanist."

"Who? Delphine?"

Cosima backhanded him on the arm. "Jesus, dude, keep your voice down. You have no chill, man," Cosima whined, darting her head around to make sure Delphine was not in the vicinity. It was bad enough she couldn't shake her small crush on the gorgeous French doctor. The last thing she needed was the whole hab to know about it.

Felix snickered. "Yes. The fair Dr. Cormier." Felix gave Cosima a pointed glance. "See, even dear, clueless Scott has noticed your hopeless infatuation."

"Hey," Scott protested. He took a bite of his lunch, darting his glance toward Cosima. "It is totally obvious though."

Cosima sighed in aggravation. "Thanks, buddy."

Scott shrugged. "I'm a scientist, Cosima. We observe." Incident report be damned. Next time she was letting him hit the deck.

"Oh, speak of the stunning devil," Felix said with a teasing grin. He tilted his head to one side. "One of these days I'm going to find out how she manages to look windswept even in an enclosed environment." Felix patted his hair absently. "And how she manages to avoid the helmet head that so plagues the rest of us. It simply isn't fair."

Cosima rolled her eyes, refusing to look behind her even if she wanted to. "Yes, please, if you ever find out, do tell."

Felix cut his eyes back to Cosima. "If you weren't such a chicken you could talk to her yourself."

Cosima crossed her arms defensively. "I talk to her."

Felix looked at Cosima flatly. "Cosima, you were locked on a spaceship with her for 5 months and I don't think I ever saw you speak more than twenty words to her."

"She was always busy. I didn't want to bug her." In truth, Cosima found herself more than a little tongue tied around the beautiful French scientist. Something which never failed to annoy the normally confident Cosima. She had stopped being tongue tied around women shortly after she hit puberty.

"Is someone jealous?" Felix teased.

"Jealous? Why on Earth would I be jealous?"

"Because she would rather spend her time locked away talking to dusty old Dr. Leekie instead of cavorting with you?" Felix surmised.

Cosima snorted. "Dr. Leekie is head of botany, and a bit of a control freak. She's just dedicated to her job. It's admirable."

"Actually, I heard that," Scott leaned in, lowering his voice so as not to be overheard, "her and Leekie were having an affair."

"Delphine and Leekie?" Cosima asked loudly, forgetting her earlier admonishment to Scott to keep his voice down. "Who told you that? Felix?"

Felix held up his hands, a protestation of his innocence. "I could only dream to have started such a salacious rumor." Felix leaned in. "Do tell us more, Scott."

"Please don't," Cosima begged. Cosima could accept that she didn't have a chance with Delphine, but the thought of her with someone like Creepy Leekie sent a shudder of distaste through her.

"Rachel told me," Scott answered, taking another bite.

Felix sat back, clearly surprised. "Rachel? As in Rachel Duncan?" Felix cut his gaze to the far side of the room where Rachel sat, alone, back ramrod straight eating her own lunch with mechanical determination. "Who would have thought the resident ice queen would have all the hot goss. I have clearly underestimated her." Felix gave her a look that was almost...admiring. "How did you hear this?"

Cosima thought Felix looked a little miffed at being scooped on the latest gossip. NASA had deemed his paints too bulky to bring along in his personal effects, so Felix had adopted gathering gossip as his new hobby. He insisted that it kept him from going space happy. Cosima wasn't so sure it was working.

Scott shrugged. "I've been teaching her to play Agricola."

"You and Rachel playing board games?" Felix laughed. "Now I've heard everything." Felix shook his head in disbelief.

Cosima shook her head. "I don't buy it."

"I confess, I find it rather hard to believe myself. Rachel playing board games?" Felix shook his head. "I just can't picture it."

"Not that," Cosima protested. "Delphine and," she lowered her voice to a whisper, "Leekie."

Felix patted her hand sympathetically. "Denial is the first stage."

Cosima pulled her hand away, and sent him an annoyed glance. "I'm not in denial."

Felix raised his eyebrows. "Of course you're not, darling."

Everyone was gathered in the communications center of the hab, looking at the screen in concern. The storm was bad. Really bad. The hab had been designed to withstand a Martian storm of moderate intensity. It could take a direct hit from a cat-5 hurricane and keep on ticking. The storm front currently barreling towards them had everyone concerned.

"What's the current estimate on storm force?" Beth asked, tersely.

Rachel's fingers flew over the keys. "8500 Newtons," she replied, her expression impassive.

"And the mission abort threshold?"

"6000 Newtons." Rachel's reply was immediate. She was in charge of monitoring the weather and that number would have been seared into her memory.

Cosima saw Beth bite her lip. It was the first time she had ever seen the normally unflappable Commander looking anything but totally confident.

"Maybe we can ride it out," Paul suggested, arms crossed over his chest. "You know NASA would have played it safe with the numbers. There's bound to be a margin of error."

Cosima glanced at Delphine, who was chewing her lip nervously. She gave her a reassuring smile, and Delphine smiled briefly in return. Cosima felt her heart speed up in response. Or maybe it was just the threat of impending death.

Beth shook her head. "We can't risk it." Beth glanced around at everyone else in the room. "Prepare for immediate emergency evac." Beth looked at Paul. "This storm is moving fast, and hard. I don't think we're going to be ready to go before it reaches us. I need you to run a guide wire from the hab to the MAV. The last thing we need is to be wandering around blind."

"Commander, I really think-"

"This isn't a discussion, Sgt. Dierden. It's an order." Beth turned her back on Paul, confident he would do as he was told. "I need the rest of you to shut down all essential systems and lock this place down." Beth turned to Cosima. "Cosima, send a mission update to NASA command. In case anything happens during evac I want them to know what's going on."

Cosima nodded, not waiting for a formal dismissal. There wasn't the time for formalities. Even using emergency evacuation procedures they would be cutting it awfully close. And that was assuming that the storm behaved as it was supposed to. For all their advancements in science, weather prediction still seemed like a guessing game half the time.

Cosima sat down at the communications console and typed out a brief status report. If all things went according to plan, they would be able to send a more detailed report once they reached the Leda. After she hit send, she let out a sigh.

She had dreamed all of her life about this, and now, because of a chance of weather, it was all being cut short. One week. Cosima shook her head.

"Fucking, Mars."

AN: So, this was really just an excuse to combine two things that I love. Sci-fi about Mars, and Cophine. Bonus, I won't have to figure out how to juggle multiple characters since this is basically just a glorified stuck in a turbo lift/elevator fic.

The rough draft on this is ALMOST completely done (my impatience finally got the best of me), but I anticipate being able to update this weeklyish.

As always, I would love to know what y'all think of it. Good, bad, or otherwise.