Morning of Finals

They began the day at Professor Kain's classroom to pick up their final grade. They were aware they had 65% because they turned it in four weeks ago.

They tried a few improvements, but held off, knowing Ansh was in trouble, and that they did not have enough time to test new changes properly. Also, Cole hacked into Ansh's viewer and saw his design. They understood why Ansh and Sai were stuck, because they had jammed pieces together not caring about their relationship to each other or future improvements.

She sat in the front seat waiting for the class to finish. Professor Kain had written in red marker on his whiteboard at the front of the room. "Good Luck Students!"

She mentally prepared for Professor Petrov's final, going over the steps in her brain. Professor Petrov's test would last another eight hours. The weather would be cool and cloudy in the morning and changing to hot and sunny later. Summer was a month away, and the temperature was rising.

She massaged the tendons on her sore leg. Then she rubbed her stiff knee and muscles. She was still in agony. The medicine was weak and did little to relieve her discomfort.

The high-pitched bell rang, signaling the end of his class.

He announced, "Students, your time is up. Please return your exams and best of luck to you, no matter where your future leads."

A few students rushed to turn in their exams.

"What will happen, if I get 100%?" A young female student questioned.

"Any student that gets over 50% will be placed ahead of the non-membrane students."

"I don't think that's fair." She stated.

"Well, I made this clear in the Class Syllabus and I repeated it many times throughout the year."

"I dis..."

Professor Kain held up his hand in front of her and said, "Anybody that understands the difficulties of the membrane accomplishment, will agree. There will be no more discussion unless you want me to take points off your grade."

Her face flushed red, and then she stormed away.

"Ansh and Sai please see me. I completed your final entry testing."
Hope waited with Cole because they wanted to see their final score.

"Nice work!" Professor Kain held up their film and said, "66%"

"What?" Cole threw his hands in the air and shouted, "There's no way! This guy's stupid to the tenth degree." He pointed directly at Ansh and got in his face.

"Settle down, Cole," Professor Kain pleaded, "Do not do anything that you will regret."

"This is total ...," he stopped and pleaded his case with Hope with his eyes.

She forced Cole into the hallway.

"This is B.S!" He whispered, angrily.

"Woah. Calm down. We will deal with that after Petrov's exam."

He pondered what she said for a few moments until he gave up. "Fine." They rushed through the school to the farm outside.

Hope stated on the way, "That's impossible. I want to see it."

"Me too."

They headed outside through Professor Petrov's classroom.

She bounced on her leg to get blood moving.

"Are you still stiff?"

"Very."

She put pressure on her bad leg and the pain shot through her entire body. She grinned and said, "We can beat 'em."

"We haven't since you returned." Cole added. "Although, thanks to me, you took your father's advice and rested over the weekend."

"We'll see if it helps."

"You spent two straight weeks on your still injured leg, so I think it will help."

They walked to the center of the farm where Professor Petrov loomed over the students that surrounded her in a circle. The weather prediction was holding out it was cool and cloudy. Although they prepared for every possible situation.

Professor Petrov shouted, "Students, you know the rules. Same as planting. Now harvesting. Eight hours and four plants with a minimum of one hundred rows each...beginning now." She pressed a stopwatch and held it in the air.

Hope and Cole did the same thing on their viewers.

They started with Kale and she bent down on her knees and pulled some leaves from her first plant. She tried this last week and her leg locked up. Cole had to pull her off the ground. They thought it would be best for Cole to start next to her, in case she needed help again.

She worked on the ground, crawling to each plant. She placed her weight on her non-injured leg. She moved slowly to test her body and conserve their energy for the end. After about thirty minutes she had to stand to move to the next row.

"Cole." She yelled to get his attention. He observed her from the end of the row.

She nervously raised herself. A little stiffness, but everything moved like it did before.

She gave him a thumbs up. Cole got to his feet and closed his full bag then ran to get more, one for him and one for her.

"We're gonna win." He whispered.

"Yes. We will."

Ansh's group started with the lead and kept it for the first hour.

Cole and Hope met in the middle and went through the same steps, drink water, a light snack, and loosen up legs.

Then they began their second stage, wheat.

By hour two they were even with Ansh and Sai.

At the two-and-a-half-hour mark, Hope tripped on a rock and caught herself using her bad leg. The pain throbbed throughout her body. She wailed and fell to the ground.

Cole rushed to her and said, "Did you twist it?"

She nodded and restrained more screams.

"Take deep breaths, everything will be fine." He massaged her leg.

She breathed in three deep ones. It did not relieve the pain, but it cleared her mind.

"Remember that this pain is temporary and us going to Mars is permanent."

She nodded. His words sparked the motivation she needed to keep going.

"Wait, drink this," he handed her his bottle of water. They took turns drinking.

"We can use this as our water break and skip the next one."

"That's a good plan," she stated.

"Ready?" Cole asked.

"Yes." she said and jumped to her feet. She continued with maximum effort to catch them. They had dropped behind again while she was down.

They caught them at the top of the fourth hour which was also when they began their last group corn. They would harvest that until the end. They also took their scheduled lunch break.

The sun pushed the clouds out of the way and the heat shot up. They hastily changed into their sun clothes and applied sun protection. They had practiced this repeatedly, so they did it fast.

Hope said, 'We need to press now. Remember we not only need to win; we need to win by fifty rows."

"Don't worry, I'm ready. They're looking tired, too." She watched Ansh in anguish, he grabbed his side and sat down during this break.

Sai grabbed lunch and a change of clothes for Ansh.

"Surprise! Look who's eating lunch at the same time and changing their clothes because they steal everything we do!" Cole yelled that at the top of his lungs and lost his breath.

Cole and Hope always stood during their breaks.

"Let's do it."

Cole nodded, and they did. They pressed and took the lead.

After the fifth hour they were up by ten rows.

The sixth hour they led by twenty-five.

The seventh hour Ansh and Sai struggled and moved slower.

At the end of the seventh hour, they had a forty-row lead.

At their last break, Hope reminded him, "We need over fifty to beat them."

"I'm ready. Let's go."

Her body ached, but mentally she felt confident.

They ran back to their corn rows and her bad leg stiffened on the way over. It was only one hundred yards away. She put more weight on her other leg to compensate, but it was not enough. Her calf tightened completely, forcing her to the ground and the pain in her calf was unbearable. She fell to the ground and grabbed her lower leg.

Cole ran over to her and saw her tightened calf. He sat down in front of her and placed one hand on her leg and another caressed her face. He reassured "We've done this before, just relax and everything will be fine."

He massaged her calf muscle and worked her foot back and forth.

They were losing time. She screamed from the pain and punched the ground, forming a dirt cloud. Her sweat dripped into her eyes and lips. She tasted the salty tears.

Then the same quickness it appeared; the tightness vanished.

"OK. I'm fine."

She got to her feet and he helped her hobble back. She embraced him and said, "Thanks Cole, let's win."

They rushed at their fastest pace in the sun for the next hour. They were properly acclimated and rested.

"Two minutes remaining." Bellowed Petrov.

They had a 48 row-lead. Then added one more.

"One minute, remaining."

They had a 49 row-lead.

Ansh's group stopped harvesting, and dropped to the ground from exhaustion, while Hope and Cole raced around the corner and started row fifty when Professor Petrov shouted, "Time is up."

She pressed the button on her timer and continued, "Stop where you."

"Dammit!" Cole kicked the ground sending more dirt in the air. "We were so close!"

Hope hobbled over to Cole and hugged him, mainly for support.

Professor Petrov stomped through their section, using her click counter to add up their score. She counted all their rows then halted. "That can't be. There's no way. I must've made a mistake."

She went through and re-counted their rows.

Professor Petrov, uncharacteristically, chuckled and beamed at them. She said through her still thick Russian accent, "This is truly impressive. No team in the world, has ever done this many during their final."

"I've never seen her smile before," said Cole whispered, jokingly.

"You broke the record by twenty rows." She roared.

Hope asked, "You're sure?"

"Yes. I've never seen ..." she paused and stared at them. "We need more smart and strong people, like you two on Mars. You have proven to have a lot of strength, prochnost." She slapped them on their backs, nearly knocking them over.

"Is that why you called us names and were mean to us every day?" Cole asked.

She snickered. "Yes. It worked." She paused, choosing the correct English words. "We use different teaching method in Russia." She winked at Cole. "Dr. Bettencourt was right about you. You two are special."

Hope said, dejectedly, "Thank you. But we had to win because Ansh passed us in the Professor Kain's class."

Professor Petrov sighed and then pointed at us, "Ansh did not have enough time to prepare another trial. Ask Kain to see his final entry."

"Why?"

"That is all I can say."

They stared at her,

"Do it now!" she said, insisting.

"OK. We will."