It has been a couple of days since the press event. You are getting ready to greet your Russian counterpart. You get the feeling that the delays were caused by the fact that the Russians want to do their own press stuff. It's a pity that he will be going up in the Soyuz, not the crew dragon. Thankfully you don't have to wait long. You are greeted by Evgeni Suraev. He seems to be happy about being at the Johnson space center.

"Sorry about the delay I just had to deal with the press," Evgeni remarks.

"Tell me about it. Anyway how was the flight?" You decide to make small talk as you head towards the space station mock up.

"Long and boring," Evgeni replies. A feeling that you understand. You are soon greeted by the others. They are happy about the new addition to the training crew.

"Welcome Evgeni," Oliver offers his hand for a shake.

"Thank you Oli. Hopefully you don't mind me calling you Oli," Evgeni responds as he takes Oliver up on his offer.

"I don't mind," Oliver responds. After a quick conversation with Evgeni the team is greeted by one of the system experts. She starts to run you through the emergency procedures.

"And last but not least for you Evgeni you will be doing the same but for the Soyuz," She wraps up her explanation. It is a good thing that you know all of this from the previous mission. You all head to the mock up of the Destiny module. You all get to work on practicing various tasks. Your attention is soon ripped away from the laptop you are using by an ammonia alarm. You grab the nearest mask and you place it over your head. You get to work on helping the others.

"Thank you Kelly," Meko remarks. You all head to the respective parts of the space station. After a few rounds of the various drills you are ready to get something to eat. You are joined by the rest of the year-long mission team. Evgeni takes the seat next to you and Meko and Matthias sit opposite to you.

"Thank you for your help Kelly," Meko remarks.

"Don't worry about it. I'm always happy to help," You respond. You get the feeling that the year is going to be interesting. Your thoughts are interrupted by a roar of laughter from Evgeni.

"Look Matthias I am kidding ok. Your way makes more sense," Evgeni is clearly enjoying messing with Matthias. At least you know everyone will get along. The thought makes you giggle. After thirty minutes of conversation you are getting ready for the AGOS training with Oliver and Evgeni. It doesn't take them long to get the harness on you. You are careful with manoeuvring around the set up. Oliver soon gets to work on passing you the tools as if it were an actual spacewalk. At least you have some previous spacewalk experience. It doesn't take you long to do the task.

"Hey Evgeni can you double check the job for me please?" You ask.

"Sure thing," Evgeni remarks as he starts to check on your work. He tries his best to get the screw out but it isn't enough. He gives you a thoughtful nod.

"So what is the verdict?" You prompt Evgeni.

"You're all good to move onto the next task," Evgeni confirms. You push yourself towards the other side where the next task is. Again thanks to your experience you are able to get the task done quickly. This time Oliver checks it and he is impressed at how quickly you were able to do the task.

"Oliver are you ready to trade places with me?" You ask as you make your way back to the middle of the AGOS trainer.

"Sure," He responds. It doesn't take long for him to get ready however he is a little wobbly.

"Sorry I was only helping Meko the other day," Oliver is flushed with embarrassment. You understand where he is coming from after all you had similar experiences on your first try. You quickly steady him. He nods as you pass him the drill that you were using. He gets to work on the job. He is a little slower than you because he has to focus on steading himself. The good thing is he has you and Evgeni to help you. He soon finishes. Evgeni double checks everything for him.

"For a first timer you did well Oli," Evgeni responds. After twenty minutes of AGOS practice You are getting yourself ready for some more space station systems training. You are doing it by yourself because the others are doing other tasks around the Johnson space center. You start humming whilst you get some of the equipment ready. It doesn't take you long to get started on one of the emergency procedures. After a long three hours of various training you are ready to go home. You meet the others in the car park.

"Hey Kelly would you like to join us at Shep's?" Oliver asks. You know he is talking about the local bar.

"I'll meet you there," You respond. Ten minutes later you have arrived at the bar and you are greeted by Evgeni who seems happy. He takes you to the table where the others are sitting. You take the spare spot between Matthias and Oliver.

"So Kelly I was wondering what your thoughts on the year long mission are," Oliver asks. You get the feeling that he has asked the others as well.

"Oli can you save the mission chat till later?" Evgeni cuts in.

"No because I want to know," Oliver retorts.

"Well for Evgeni's sake I'll keep it short," You jump in because you know that Evgeni is right about the mission talk

"I feel like it will be fun but at the same time it's going to be chaos. Now we can talk about something else," It doesn't take long for the conversation to become more casual. Evgeni and Oliver soon find themselves having the age old debate of Neil Armstrong or Yuri Gagarin. You decide to eavesdrop on the conversation just in case you get pulled into it.

"I am telling you that it was the moon landings that gave us the technology to sustain the ISS," Oliver is dead set on his opinion.

"But Yuri proved that space launches were possible and as well JFK would never of needed to give the we are going to the moon speech if NASA got the first man into space," Evgeni delivers the final blow. After thirty minutes of socialising you are read to head home. At least you know that the crew will get along.