❝Where we have strong emotions, we're liable to fool ourselves.❞ - Carl Sagan.

Bronwyn sat on her bunk, Beck's personal box beside her as she sadly searched through its contents. Watney traipsed through the HAB, succumbing to Commander Lewis' Vicki Sue Robinson album as he swooned to his slowly germinating potatoes, adamant any day they'd see green shoots sprouting out.

Bronwyn smiled softly as 'Turn The Beat Around' blasted through the HAB, Watney instantaneously groaning as the track came on before her attention was drawn to a picture. Fumbling with it in her fingers, she flipped it over to reveal a screen cap of Sol 2, the video diary Beck had set up for Watney's enjoyment. It was of her.

She smiled sadly, her heart heavy with Beck's absence. For all she knew, he believed she was dead and nothing pained her more than how he must have felt. She sighed, placing the photo back in the box before rubbing her face in her hands.

"No, I refuse," Watney murmured as the song blared on, causing Bronwyn to glance up, "I will not turn the beat around." She rolled her eyes as he reached for the remote, switching the song off as he drew out an exasperated huff, "what a crap taste in music."

"You know she'd string you across the head if she ever heard you say that and that's something I'd enjoy watching," Bronwyn countered as Watney shrugged and retorted, "you seem a little bitter since your plan was destroyed by the laws of thermodynamics, coincidence?- I think not," he smirked, enjoying antagonising her.

"Well actually," she breathed, placing the lid of his box back on, "I've got a bit of an insane solution," she glanced to Watney who furrowed his eyebrows.

"Define insane."

"Insane as in, locking myself in a rover with a plutonium ball that is even more dangerous than a nuclear bomb," Bronwyn replied as Watney instantly dropped to the chair behind him in exasperation, Bronwyn slowly smiling as his face contorted from disbelief to sudden realisation.

"Wait, that could actually work-"

"Well obviously, I'm not on a suicide mission."

Watney contorted his face, "well it did seem that you were willing to dig up the radioisotope thermoelectric generator which we'd marked with a flag signifying death, just for fun," he replied as she shook her head, laughing to herself.

"Yes, Watney, the RTG."

Watney ruffled his hair in his hands as he drew in a deep breath, leaning back into his chair as she glanced at Bronwyn, "we've still got one more problem in the path, establishing communication with NASA," he sighed as Bronwyn brought her knees to her chest, slightly frowning as the two silently racked their minds for a solution.

"Problem in the path," Bronwyn quietly muttered, furrowing her eyebrows as she and Watney suddenly simultaneously looked at each other in acknowledgement, "-Pathfinder."

☇

Days had passed and Watney and Bronwyn had set out to find Pathfinder, Watney claiming the glory of realising they needed to find it as Bronwyn rolled her eyes, sitting awkwardly as she shared the one seat with him with the RTG claiming most of the room for itself.

In a sudden jolt, Bronwyn had suddenly collapsed off of the small edge Watney had kindly left her and slipped onto the floor, her head throbbing as she slowly opened her eyes, the RTG inches from her face as Watney cackled.

"Prick," Bronwyn grumbled, pulling herself to kneel behind Watney, holding onto the chair frame for support as she gazed out of the front window, Watney chuckling as he pressed a button to play music.

"So this was the least disco song I could find," he murmured to the camera as Bronwyn frowned in confusion before suddenly Hot Stuff began to blare through the rover, Bronwyn resting her forehead against the chair with a groan as Watney began to swivel his shoulders.

The music chortled on as Watney danced, his down to Earth -- or Mars -- attitude gleaming through as usual before a beep sounded on Bronwyn's arm, causing her to look down at her display system with a sudden gush of excitement.

"Watney, stop the Rover!" She squealed in excitement, hitting his chair repeatedly as he flinched repeatedly, holding up his hands to escape her as she reached for her helmet, "we're here!" she exclaimed in excitement upon arriving at her idols memorial station; Carl Sagan.

☇

"They're still going in a straight line," Mindy, who was assigned and promoted to track the Rover's sudden off course EVA, stated as Venkat frowned.

"I see, well they're sure as Hell not going to ARES 4," he mumbled, staring at their path, "unless they've gone around some natural obstacle."

"But there's nothing for them to go around," Mindy objected as she furrowed her eyebrows, "it's Acidalia Planitia," she added.

Venkat slowly nodded, his attention on the imagery on the screen before his expression suddenly contorted, "no way- no way," he rushed out his words, scrummaging on the desk for post-it notes and a pen as Mindy looked at him in confusion as he asked, "give me their location and the location of the HAB."

Mindy looked closer to her screen, "they're currently at 28.9 degrees north and 29.6 degrees west-" moving her mouse, she clicked the imagery off and brought up another file, "and the HAB is 31.2 degrees north and 28.5 degrees west- why, what do you see?"

"Come with me."

"Where are we going?" Mindy stammered as she jolted out of her chair, following Venkat through a lobby as he stared at the post-it note in contemplation.

"SatCon break room," he replied, Mindy jolting in her step to keep up with his quick pace, "you guys still have that map of Mars on your wall?"

Mindy nodded, "but it's just a poster from the gift shop, I've got high quality digital maps on my computer-" she quickly spurred out as they rounded a corner, entering the SatCon break room.

"I can't draw on those," he rejected before pointing to the framed map on the wall with longitudinal and lateral lines, "but I can draw on that," he added as he took it off the wall, a technician protesting as Venkat shrugged him off, "I'll buy you a new one," before placing it on the table.

Mindy stood awkwardly, watching as he slid his finger across the map and drew an X. In the exact same fashion, he slid his finger to a coordinate and drew another X before demanding, "I need a ruler."

Mindy shifted on the spot, not seeing a ruler as Venkat glanced to the technician sitting on a table opposite, quickly reaching for his notebook as he objected, "hey!" before connecting the X's, dropping the pen in exasperation.

"Sneaky bastards," he exasperated, "yup, that's where they're going," he laughed, in disbelief and amazement as Mindy looked to him in confusion.

"Sorry, where?"

"Pathfinder."

☇

YO, in celebration of Bronwyn's and my home nation about to compete against Portugal in the Euro's, making history.

I'm so excited, cOME ON WALES!