Mission Interupted

At the start of any big journey, there's always bound to be some anxiety. But despite his anxiety, Drake was also excited. This was going to be the greatest adventure of his life. 

When Major Drake MacMillan's shuttle would finally reach its top speed, he would be traveling at 39,600 kilometers per hour. There was nothing to do until then when thrusters would be deactivated, and his shuttle would be on the drift unt Mars. To pass the time he decided he would try to watch the Earth speed away from his shuttle and unitl he could no longer see it.

And what a view it was! The videos and pictures could do it no justice. Seeing the Earth from space with his own eyes stirred Drake's emotions. Mix in with that the thought of never returning and never seeing family and friends again, Drake could not help but tear up. No longer would he see his brother and sister in person, nor his nieces and nephews.

"Pioneer. Pioneer, do you copy?" A voice crackled over the radio. Drake thumbed the control on his chair's arm to activate his radio.

"Houston, I hear you," he chuckled to himself. "Sorry. I was just admiring the view."

"Roger that Pioneer," Control paused for a moment before continuing. "Sit rep please, Pioneer."

Houston already knew everything that Pioneer was sending back to them, but the exercise served to confirm the accuracy of the equipment. Drake took his time relaying information about battery strength, fuel level, oxygen level, hull heat etc.

Suddenly, while checking the shuttles proximity sensors, an object appeared and seemed to be heading straight for him.

"What's that?" Drake asked reflexively. He flipped through Pioneer's exterior cameras. The object, whatever it was, might be too far to see but it was worth a try.

"Come again Pioneer? Repeat your last."

On one of the cameras mounted to the belly of the shuttle, Drake could see light reflected back to him.

"Houston, bring up camera two. What am I looking at?".

"Hold, Pioneer," Control said as they reviewed the image. Drake was beginning to sweat as the object grew larger on his video screen.

"Houston, can you confirm; Pioneer appears to be on collision course with an unknown object."

"Hold, Pioneer," came the reply.

"Houston, I need some instructions. Am I to begin evasive maneuvers? Is it debris? A rock? Houston, please confirm."

Drake grabbed the controls but kept the autopilot running. He wanted to be prepared to maneuver if Control felt it necessary. But maneuvering had its concerns. If he maneuvered off his current path, he could miss target Mars altogether. Pioneer may not have enough fuel to get back on track.

The object continued to get larger as Drake watched the video. He could see contours to the shape and it was reflecting light from some sort of metal alloy.

"Contact," he said almost indecernably. 

"Repeat last, Pioneer."

"Houston, we have contact. It's designed. Intelligence. Hello… contact… peace" Drake was in shock and was beginning to ramble.

"Pioneer, you must take evasive maneuvers. You are on a collision course. Object is under controlled flight and is on a collision course with you. Evade!"

Drake snapped out of his shock and took over manual control. He gently fired a maneuvering thruster on the belly of the shuttle and Pioneer began to drift out of the collision path. But it wasn't enough.

On the screen of camera 2 he could see the silvery hull approaching quickly. It remained on its trajectory and in an instant there was a loud crash as Pioneer's main rocket collided with the unknown object.

—

"Pionee…….. oneer…. Do… read…"

Drake's head hurt. He opened his eyes. There was a klaxon ringing and a red light flashing somewhere in Pioneer's cockpit. 

He brought up his controls and could see that he was spinning bow over stern. He could see the Earth come into view then speed away as his uncontrolled spin continued.

"Pioneer, do you read?" the radio crackled.

"Pioneer to Houston, I'm here," Drake coughed into the radio. "Damage report."

"Standby," while Control assessed what was left of the shuttle, Drake started doing a check of his own. First he dismissed the warnings the demanded his attention and soon the klaxon ceased. As did the flashing red light.

Continuing his system check, Drake noticed that the object must have made contact with the fuel tank because fuel level was 'zero'. Batteries however still showed full strength, so at least he had maneuvering thrusters. But without any fuel, it would be impossible to land on Mars.

"Houston, Pioneer has lost it's primary drive. Thrusters intact. Batteries full. Do you copy?"

"Confirmed, Pioneer. Standby for instructions."

While he waited, Drake started to assess the damage to Pioneer's exterior by using the hull cameras. On most of the cameras he could see a lot of debris and a cloud of fuel.

Suddenly on camera 2 he saw it. The object. It was belly to belly with Pioneer, rotating in tandem with Pioneer.

"Camera two! Camera two! Houston, do you copy?" Drake frantically thumbed the radio control.

As he watched, a hatch opened in the smooth silvery surface of the unknown object. A long tube began to extend from the opening and approached the hull of Pioneer.

"Houston! It's docking! They're docking with me."

Despite his frantic pleas, Control did not appear to be able to respond. He checked his radio control and confirmed that it was in the transmitting position. Possibly the unknown object was blocking his radio transmissions. 

From inside the shuttle he could hear something like knocking coming from the underside of the shuttle. Drake unbuckled himself from his chair and started drifting aft towards the shuttles hatch and towards the unknown object.

He passed the hatch on his way to the tool room and found a short steel pipe from the building supplies. Drake then returned to the hatch and waited.

Then the shuttle confirmed access saying, "Welcome Major MacMillan." The shuttle had recognized an authorized key card access: his key card.

"Impossible…," Drake murmured and watched helplessly as the hatch opened.

The intruder was humanoid and wore a very tired looking version of his flight suit. Drake realized it was his flight suit after he recognized the faded Pioneer patch on the shoulder.

The mirrored visor hid the face of the visitor, but Drake's suspicions were about to be confirmed.

The visitor reached up to their helmet and removed it. Drake floated in the spinning shuttle looking at himself as if in a mirror. Except the self looking back at him had aged maybe 10 years.

"Hello Drake," the visitor said. "Mars is fun, but just wait until you've time traveled."