"Listen, Mona." "This banana paste is meant for your survival only." "Besides, I just gave you some." "'Mac, gonna break your heart 'when you have to eject your buddy in a capsule.'" "I'm not." "We'll make our remaining orbits and start back." " Mona stays with us." " 'You're the skipper, Colonel.'" "We've got enough animal data, haven't we, Mona?" "'Steve and Diane sent that one to you.'" " What do you think?" " I'm thinking." "Look at that." "Whoo!" "Mars is burning up." "Boy, I'm glad Mona doesn't have to go down into that fire swamp." "Yeah." "Hey, what will I fix for dinner?" "How about some turkey with mashed potatoes, gravy added?" "I like mine in paste form." "You know, in a tube." "I think the diner can fix it that way." "There's always beefsteak and French fried onions also in a squeeze tube." "We had that for breakfast, you know." "'Unidentified flying mass." "Dead ahead.'" "Meteor." "Massive." "Collision course." "Distance interval, 28 seconds." " Fire main retros." " Firing main retros." "Which way?" " Fire upper retros." " Firing upper retros." "We're in a descending orbit." "'Decaying fast, my friend.'" "Mars' gravity is taking over, pulling us down." "Calling NASA." "Calling NASA." "Colonel Dan McReady, commanding Mars Gravity Probe 1." "Forced out of orbital velocity to avoid collision with planetoid and into tighter orbit of Mars." "The gravity of the planet is pulling us toward it." "Gotta blast back into orbital velocity." " 'Use all our fuel.'" " That problem we can lick later." "'Gravity pull has risen to 9.30.'" "I see." "Well, blast again, delta velocity." "Delta "V" okay." "That's our fuel." "'NASA Earth Satellite to Mars Gravity Probe 1." "'Do not dissemble space vehicle 'until all other procedures have been tried.'" "Prepare to eject." "Emergency procedure." "Ready, Mac." "So long and good luck." "Okay, Kit." "I'll see you when we join up." " 'Blast off when you're ready.'" " I'm ready." "So long." "Be seeing you." "Hello, Mac." "How do you read me?" "Over." "Come on, old buddy." "This is Kit." "How do you read me?" "Over." "Hey!" "Hey!" "This is Commander Christopher Draper, the Navy of the United States of America, planet Earth." "Former co-pilot Mars Gravity Probe 1." "On our third orbit of this planet, we took evasive action to avoid collision with a meteor and were forced into dangerous gravitational pull of Mars." "We were forced to abandon ship." "As of now, the vehicle frame is still orbiting Mars." "Seems to have established gravitational balance." "We ejected capsule without incident." "Colonel Dan McReady ejecting after I did." "I'll set out to look for him tomorrow." "From all indications, he should be on the other side of a high range of rocky peaks to the west." "Now, my two most difficult problems are air and water." "I have, with what's left in my tank and one reserve cylinder, enough oxygen for, oh, about 60 hours, depending, of course, on how much I exert myself." "My first discovery was that the air on Mars is far too thin to support human life." "As to water, by severe rationing, I can get by for about 15 days." "Course, once my air gives out, water won't matter." "First positive survival point I found a yellow rock." "It's as burnable as some of our poorer grades of coal." "Heat's uneven, but it should make the Martian nights endurable." "I feel a little bit like Columbus, set down in a strange new land, full of new wonders, new discoveries." "It's a challenge, all right." "A challenge to my training." "Sometimes challenges can get mighty big." "But I'm gonna stay alive, believe me." "That's for the morale officer." "Well, I've licked the heat and shelter problem." "Breathing, that's a different story." "Moving about, exerting myself, I've found that I can breathe the air of Mars for about, oh, 12 to 15 minutes, before I need to take air from my tank for a booster." "Lying down, asleep, inactive," "I can get by for an hour before taking a booster." "In this way, with some discomfort, I can conserve my oxygen supply." "At the most optimistic appraisal, ...I have 50 or so hours of life left." "God willing." "The problem is sleeping." "If I don't wake up in time to renew my air supply, it's hearts and flowers." "I've got to make some kind of alarm device, safeguard myself." "Tomorrow, and morning's only a couple of hours away," "I'm gonna rejoin Mac." "Good old Mac." "I bet he's got these problems licked." "Mac!" "Mac!" "Mac!" "Hey, Mac!" "Mac!" "Hey, Mac!" "Hey, Mac!" "Mac!" "Mac?" "'Now our song." "To Dan, from Elinor, with love.'" "Mona!" "Come on now." "Let's not start a war." "Well, obviously, you don't need that." "Boy... do I need these." "Here." "Let's open up those sleeves, huh?" "That a little more comfortable, huh?" "That's all there is, baby." "Here." "Here." "Take the rest of it." "Take the rest of it." "Yeah." "That's it." "Mine too." "No more rationing." "You'll have a full belly." "Won't be for long." "This is signature..." "Mars Gravity Probe 1." "Colonel Dan McReady dead." "M-M-Me too soon." "No more oxygen." "Over and out." "Thank you." "Well, you can scratch signature." "I've found an answer that's saved my life temporarily." "These yellow stones that burn like coal." "I've been wondering about this a lot." "Where do they get the oxygen to burn?" "It must be similar to solid rocket fuel with its own built-in oxygen." "Heat and flame release it and it's breathable." "I've gotta find some way to store it." "As far as life on this planet," "I've seen no sign of any other living thing anywhere." "Yet." "Hi, baby." "Oh, yeah." "What have you got there, huh?" "Come here." "That's it." "Are you thirsty?" "There you go." "There you go." "What's the matter?" "You wouldn't drink last night either." "Programme "A"." "Descend." "Veer left!" "Veer right!" "'Mona the monkey spends most of her days off somewhere." "'Where she goes I have no idea." "'Thank God she doesn't seem to need or want water." "'I've offered it to her every day." "'I'm on strict rationing myself and even then I'll be out of water in a few days." "'Well, I've now been on Mars for two weeks." "'I've tried on several occasions 'to talk down the wreck of our space vehicle, the Elinor M." "'I can't break it out of Mars' gravity grip." "'It answers electronically, but the jets don't fire." "'No fuel left." "So there it is." "'A supermarket that flies through my sky." "'And it might as well be in East Overshoe.'" "You can say that again, brother." "What's your pleasure?" "I think we'll make the early show." "Just keep your elbows off the table." "Here you are." "Have some of that." "Are you hungry?" "Good." "You like that?" "That's right." "That's right." "All right." "Once more." "Huh?" "Don't eat too much." "You know we're on iron rations." "Want some?" "Here." "Ouch!" "You're almost human at that!" "Biting the hand that feeds you!" "'Instructional videotape number six.'" "Good old Woodward." "You used to be about as interesting as a common brick." "Now, Professor, I'm glad to have you aboard." "'This second phase of survival, finding water, 'will deal with locating water on another planet." "'Since no one has landed on another planet...'" "Oh, is that so?" "'...we have to proceed with hypothetical knowledge from our studies on Earth.'" "I can give you a tip from here on Mars." "'Water is where you find it." "'Like gold." "'The thing is to know where to find it." "'And you must make sure it's potable." "'Don't drink seawater.'" " No seas here." " 'Seawater's too salty." "So's urine." "'Rain and snow 'become groundwater and sink in under the ground.'" "No rain." "No snow." "'On some dry, desert planets, 'it may be possible to crush rocks 'and extract latent water from them.'" "Good night, Professor." "Thanks for the heart-to-heart." "No." "No!" "Mona, get away from that water can." "Mmm." "Well, I've found out one thing." "You're not like a camel." "You get thirsty too, huh?" "How about a nice, salty biscuit?" "Would you like that?" "No, that's..." "No." "Too blah, too blah." "Let's put a little turkey paste on it." "That's right." "Oh, and some salt." "Yeah." "Some salt." "There." "I'm not trying to be cruel, you understand, but you know something very important to our survival." "Mona..." "Mona?" "Mona?" "Thank you, Mona." "What are you eating?" "Not bad." "Could use a little paprika." "Mmm." "Not bad at all." "If you just had four words..." "Just four that you understood." "'Yes", "no", "come", "go"." "That's all." "Then we could talk to each other." "Four months and three days." "Not bad, eh, Mona?" "Baby, this is manna from heaven." "You can eat it, you weave it and you wear it." "Man's best friend, except for his monkey." "Let's spend a day at the beach." "Ah." "You know what we're gonna do, baby?" "We're gonna explore this new world of ours." "Scientists tell us there are canals up here." "Like to see those, huh?" "And those green areas they spotted from Earth." "How about that?" "Then there's the polar ice cap." "What's the matter?" "No scientific curiosity?" "How about a little music?" "Oh, oh." "Oh, oh." "How about that?" "How about that?" "Hey, Mona!" "Hey, Mona!" "Hey, Mona!" "Hey, Mona!" "Okay." "Talk to me." "(ECHOES) Okay." "Talk to me." "Say something!" "(ECHOES) Say something!" "I mean, say something back!" "(ECHOES) I mean, say something back!" "Mr Echo, go to hell!" "(ECHOES) Mr Echo, go to hell!" "Go to hell." "Go to hell." "Go to hell." "Let's go all out tonight, Mona." "Poi sausage cooked for a change." "Maybe it'll taste better than it looks." "Tonight we eat." "Baby, you never ate like this in the jungle." "Get some of those good sausages in there." "Mona, I hope I haven't given myself ptomaine." "It's eight months to the nearest hospital." "Who's there?" "Who is it?" "Who's there?" "Mac!" "You've come to see me!" "Well, come on in." "Oh, this is great!" "Really great!" "Oh, boy, have I got a lot to tell you!" "Listen, Mac, I have just been aching for someone to talk to." "Buddy, you're gonna be pretty proud of me." "Listen, Mac, I found how to breathe here." "With rocks, Mac!" "Heated rocks!" "Would you believe it?" "Wait till the guys in Survival hear that one, huh?" "And I've got water and a place to live!" "And heat to keep warm with, Mac." "Oh, and I've got food." "Martian food, Mac!" "I bet I've almost done as well as you have, you old pro." "Well, come on, Mac." "What about it?" "Listen, aren't you even gonna talk to me?" "Mac, what's bugging you?" "For God's sake, say hello to me!" "What are you sore about?" "Oh, Mac, you can't act this way." "Mac, I haven't heard a human voice in four months." "Four, Mac." "I haven't heard your voice." "Mac, say anything to me, please!" "For God's sake, talk to me!" "Say anything!" "Oh, God, please!" "Talk to me!" "Say anything!" "Please!" "Please!" "God, say anything, Mac!" "By God!" "Mac?" "All right, here's another note for you boys in Survival, for you geniuses in Human Factors." "A guy can lick the problems of heat, water, shelter, food." "I know." "I've done it." "And here's the hairiest problem of all - isolation, being alone." "Boy, here's where he'll crack." "Here's where he'll go under." "I know, I know, I had great training, including two months in the isolation chamber." "But when I was in that chamber, I knew I was coming out." "I knew I'd be with people again." "But up here on Mars, you gotta face the reality of being alone forever." "'It is now three weeks since I found the skeleton by the black mesas." "'I had to conclude it was murder 'because there was a large, neat hole in the forehead of the skull." "'The back of the skull was fused and charred.'" "Because of this, I have concealed or destroyed any outward sign that anyone is living..." "Ho!" "Mona!" "That's an interplanetary vehicle!" "Oh, Mona, they've come to get us!" "Well, come on." "If they're after you, let's get out of here." "Have a chair, stranger." "Come on." "Sit." "Sit down." "Come on." "Mona, shut up!" "First visitor we've ever had and you act like a gorilla!" "Don't let my furry little monster bother you." "Come on." "Sit down." "Well, sit." "What do I say to a guy like you?" "How do you communicate?" "Thought transfer?" "Electronic signals?" "Maybe you've even got a spoken language." "Where do you come from and how are you like us?" "And how are you different?" "How do you breathe without a booster?" "Well, I prayed for a companion, and I finally got one." "And he can't even make a sound." "You're an escaped slave." "Come here." "Come here." "Come on." "No, no." "Not this." "Me." "I'm the boss." "And remember that." "You get out of line just one iota and I'll bring your enemies back into this cave." "Here." "Have a little of this." "Last night occurred the most important event since I landed on Mars 147 days ago." "An interplanetary space vehicle made a landing, like no space vehicle I've ever seen on Earth." "From what I see from my videotape, it was manned by some animated beings, obviously from some planet other than Mars." "They're here, apparently, on an ore-gathering expedition." "They mine electronically by remote control." "They also use slaves and they handle them electronically." "One of them escaped." "He's with me." "And I'm trying to establish communication with him." "He's pretty much like an Earth being, except he's completely mute." "And, for all I know, deaf." "As a companion, Cosmos, Mona's better." "A-okay, baby?" "Time to turn in." "I'll give you the guest room." "Come on." "Come on." "Good night." "Listen, mister." "You're gonna be welcome around here only as long as you leave things alone." "I don't know whether you were fooling around or whether you've got any ideas." "Either way, it can be dangerous." "Don't touch." "Understand?" "Hands off!" "No, thanks." "I'll stick to air." "Oh." "I got rid of 'em, huh?" "I got the power." "Is that it?" "Okay, okay, that's enough." "Come on." "I'm not supernatural." "Come on, Joe, or whatever your name is." "Um..." "Friday." "That's it." "With apologies to Robinson Crusoe." "On your feet, Friday." "My God!" "I thought you were a mute!" "Uh-huh." "If you can make sounds like that, you can make English sounds." "You're gonna learn English if I have to sit on your chest for two months." "Friday, say "stone"." ""Stone", Friday." "Stone." "No, no, no, no." "Stone!" "Listen, retarded, I don't know what you're trying to tell me, but we're not budging from this spot till you learn some words." "A-okay?" "No, idiot!" "Stone!" "A-okay." "Stone." "Friday, will you take that..." "Friday?" "Friday!" "Friday!" "Friday!" "What are you after here?" "They've gone." "They took off, huh?" "Your friends were expendable." "Nice guys." "They had no air pills?" "It wouldn't have mattered much, the way they blasted them." "Ahmateklat." "Ahmateklat." "That's okay, Friday." "Welcome aboard." "Look out!" "Thank you." "A-Ahmateklat." "Ahmateklat." "'"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." "'"He maketh me to lie down in green pastures." "'"He leadeth me beside the still waters." "'"He restoreth my soul." "'"He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His namesake." "'"Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil."'" "Friday talk." "Huh." "Friday talk." "A-okay?" "Yeah, A-okay." "But don't just copy me." "Not copy you." "No." "You tell me something." "Tell me what's inside you." "Tell me... for instance, where do you live?" "What planet?" "Where's your home?" "Home?" " Home." " No, no, no." "Home." "Weetawin." "We call that group of stars Orion." "Osatanango." "You come from the centre star in the belt of Orion." "We call that Alnilam, which I'm sure is very interesting to you." "I come from over there." "Just around the corner from you." "Now, come on." "Keep the conversation going." " Enemy." " Yeah?" "Come back." "When?" " Soon." " How soon?" "60 suns." "60 suns." "That's two months." "They're overdue." "Listen, they can find you with these?" " Enemy find Friday?" " Enemy come." "We've gotta figure out some way of getting these things off." "'For the survival record, I've been taking Friday's oxygen pills." "'Chemically, of course, I have no way of analysing them." "'As to how they work, I've noticed that I inhale and exhale 'and use the thin Martian atmosphere." "'But I don't need it." "'Somehow these pills bypass the lungs and produce oxygen right in the blood.'" "Enemy!" "Enemy!" "Get the gear together!" "This way good." "A-okay." "Yes, Friday?" "What is it?" "This Quiquay Tanango." " You call Mars." " Yes, Mars." "Those look like the canals of Mars." "You mean these are part of the canals of Mars?" "I get it." "Some kind of earthquake or volcano opened up these fissures?" "And the crust above sagged?" " And those are the canals above us?" " Canals." "They must go on for hundreds of miles." "They'll be our underground highway." "Our bomb shelter." "And somewhere we'll come out again and make a new home." "What's been done before can be done again." "Well, they know where we are." "But they can't get at us." "I'll get this damn thing off as soon as I can." "Water gone." "We'll have to go up to the surface." "The polar ice cap." "Water." "Much water." "You go." "Friday stay." " Why?" " Enemy." "We're sticking together, buddy." " "Buddy"?" " Yeah." "Slang for "brother"." "Come on." "Water." "Water." "Gotta find water." "If we don't find water pretty soon..." "Put Mona down." "She can walk to the ice cap as well as we can." "Come on, Mona." "Rest here." "Not long... reach ice cap." "Not too far to the snow now, baby." "Rest." "Rest here." "When's the last time you took an oxygen pill?" "Give me those." "I thought you said we had 12 left." "You've been holding out on yourself." "Saving them for me." "No wonder you're weak." "Here." "Here!" "I'll take charge of these." "Bring Mona." "Water!" "Friday, water!" "Not too much." "Cold." "Yeah, you're right." "I tell you, Mona, she know." "Yeah, you bet she does." "Oh, thank God for water." "God?" "God." "Yeah." "Supreme Being." "Uh, Father of the universe." "Big Father." "Big Father!" "Kaihechipek." "We say kaihechipek." "Order." "Kaihechipek." "Order." "God." "Good." "Yeah." "That's right." "Divine order." "Good." "Mona, keep warm." "Looks like the only way out of here is up." "Dig, Friday." "Dig!" "Mona sick." "Need fire." "She cold." "We'll all freeze if we don't get a shelter built." "Our bodies will keep us warm, just like the Eskimos." "Come on!" "Keep digging!" "How long have you had that thing on?" " 62 years." " What?" " How old are you, anyway?" " 78." "Look out!" " Forget it." " Friday, no." "God not forget." "Quick." "Get that equipment out of the water." "Mona." "Where Mona?" "Here they come again." "Not enemy." "Different." "'Space Rescue Group 3 to Earth Satellite." "One more fact to report." "'The meteor that struck Mars is melting the polar ice cap.'" "Not enemy." "Talk like you!" "Like me!" "Like me, Friday!" "Uh... this is Commander Christopher Draper of the United States Navy." "'My God!" "A voice from Mars!" "'" "Hey!" "Hey!" "Hey, yahoo!" "Whoo!"