From: Brandon Devlin
\nSubject: JotD
\nDate: Pisces 34, 0031 20:13
\nTo: Tyler Cody<\/p>\n
(CLT): 4 min 47.30 sec<\/p>\n
Hey Ty,<\/p>\n
How’s life treatin’ you these days? Better, I hope. Better than up here, anyway. I’m sure you saw the news flash the other day.<\/p>\n
But hey, don’t believe everything you see and hear on the tube. That asteroid wasn’t much bigger than a semi. I saw a video of the broadcast and if I hadn’t been here in the flesh, I’d think we were goners, too. It did take us a smidgen longer to repair than I thought it might (most of three days), but we came up with a workaround that’ll knock your socks off. And, we got Carl his first spacewalk out of the way in the process. The kid aced his mission and is now a veteran and certified space cadet. How about that?<\/p>\n
Tom and I talked him through a procedure of stripping insulation from the outer hull. This will allow us to super heat a little water on one side of the ship to produce steam and chill it on the other, so it condenses back. We built a damn good steam-powered electric generator on the hydroponics deck. It’s really a combination system drawing on solar and geothermal energy. It’s cranking out almost as much power as both of the solar panels, before the accident. Sometimes, the old ways are just as good as the new. Only, let’s not go back to the paddle wheel boats or steam engine cars. Ha, ha (We are leaving the panels attached, JIC).<\/p>\n
I’d like to keep this gadget operating once we’re on the surface of Mars, but we’ll be experiencing day-night cycles, along with possessing a planetary atmosphere, so it won’t work properly. Well, that’s why we brought along the RTG.<\/p>\n
Hey, and specking of electricity, you heard about Ben Franklin and his kite, didn’t you? Well the way I heard it, Ben was out in the back yard one day with a kite and he couldn’t get it off the ground. His wife hollered out the kitchen window, “Ben, what the heck are you doin’ out there?” He said, “I’m tryin’ to get this here kite up in the air, but it won’t go.” She said, “Well, you idiot, what you need is some tail.” Ben shouted back, “I told you that this morning and you told me to go fly a kite.” Ba DUM bum<\/p>\n
Catch you later,
\nBrandon<\/p>\n
< \u2261 \u2642 \u2261 ><\/p>\n
\nFrom: Brandon Devlin
\nSubject: Resting Up
\nDate: Pisces 34, 0031 20:40
\nTo: Emma Devlin<\/p>\n
(CLT): 4 min 47.34 sec<\/p>\n
My Darling M,<\/p>\n
It’s startling how much alike some of us are on the ship. Ty and Claire were so deeply in love with one another. Just like Tom and Penny, and you and I. I don’t know if I could ever cope with losing you in such a violent way, or in any way come to think of it. Just the thought of being without my wife and soul mate makes me feel short of breath, as if the air has been knocked out of my lungs. But, Ty is starting to come around and crawl out of that black hole called grief. It’s been a long slow process for him.<\/p>\n
After Penny’s death, I think Tom would have lost it too, if it hadn’t been for Ty. The two of them have been going through a sort of one-on-one ‘group counseling’ via their email exchanges. He and Ty have both started opening up to each other, at least. So that shows they are trying to accept what has happened and move forward.<\/p>\n
You know it’s really hard being someone’s closest friend when you are literally millions of miles away. It’s so frustrating! We’ve always been close, our line of work and the possibility of death from so many ways creates a bond. Words can’t always describe just what it is we want to say. Well, I guess I’d better change the subject now or I’m the one that’s gonna be needing counseling.<\/p>\n
So, Laura is having a boy. That’s super. I can just see Nathan bouncing around with excitement. I hope they don’t name him something like Nathan Montgomery II, though I suppose there are worse names. Wouldn’t it be hilarious if they named him after me? Brandon Montgomery, that has a nice ring to it. LOL
\n
\nIs Sarah looking forward to having a little brother or have they not told her, yet? What is she now, 3 or 4? I never can remember. She’s always been a little sweetheart, like her mother and aunt (meaning you). I wonder if the baby will take after his mom or dad? I remember Nathan telling me about the jokes he used to play on people. He was quite a little terror when he was younger. This ought to be interesting.<\/p>\n
Now let’s focus on the next part of your letter. You say you want to dance all night. That’s ok by me. Let’s start with that waltz, then set our selves on fire with a tango, and finish up pulsating to that hard rock by rocking hard. Thrusting together, rocking and a rolling to our own beat is exactly what I dream of every night. But, instead of a lullaby, I want us to drift off in exhaustion after the fireworks (John Phillip Sousa, eat your heart out). You see, I was thinking more like staying in bed for a week. I can’t wait to get you home alone, and then I’m gonna turn you every way but loose. You might not want to be wearing an expensive negligee, because it’ll be in the way and I may shred it with my teeth. With these calluses I’m building up on my hands after reading your letters, my hands might be a little rough. I’m afraid I might cause bruises, though you know I’d never intentionally hurt you. It’s just that it’s been so long and I may hold on a bit too hard. ROFL<\/p>\n
Loving and missing you more than I can say (in print at least). When I come home, I’ll let my hands and lips do the talking.<\/p>\n
I’ll write more, later.
\nSomething just came up I need to deal with. Hee hee
\nBrandon<\/p>\n
< \u2261 \u2642 \u2261 ><\/p>\n
\nFrom: Emma Devlin
\nSubject: Fireworks
\nDate: October 19, 2018 6:45 p.m.
\nTo: Brandon Devlin<\/p>\n
(CLT): 5 min 10.37 sec<\/p>\n
My Love,<\/p>\n
I must say that you really know how to be subtle (ha, ha). When I know you’re coming home I’ll put in for two weeks of annual leave. One week to spend in bed with you and another week to recover. You might want to do the same. You know I tend to nibble a bit when excited, and teeth marks take a while to fade. And, you like it when I use my imagination\u2026 my imagination has been working overtime, dreaming of our (next) first night together.<\/p>\n
I may wear that negligee anyway as the thought of you removing it makes me shiver with anticipation. I know just the one. There’s a surprise for you. I’ve always wanted to have photos taken, for you, by one of those places that do glamour shots, with women in beautiful outfits and suggestive poses. Take a look at the attached calendar page. I’ll be sending you one each month until you are home. I love the romantic outfits and there’s not much on beneath, in some nothing at all.<\/p>\n
Imagine where your hands and lips could be exploring (sometimes that’s all I can think about). Now, for the December photo, visualize what we could be doing together on a rug in front of a roaring fire, and it won’t be roasting marshmallows. That one will come to you soon and you’ll see what I mean.<\/p>\n
There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you. Do people at Mission Support read our letters and see the pictures I’ve sent? I hope not. They would think I am a sex addict when it comes to you. On second thought, what if they do. They’ll see how much in love we are and how much we miss each other (and, it might give someone a hard on, tee hee).<\/p>\n
All my love,
\nYour M
\nHOLLAND<\/p>\n
< \u2261 \u2642 \u2261 ><\/p>\n
(Dr. Willis laughed quietly to herself and blushed slightly at their passionate exchanges. The love shared between these two always touched a chord in her heart, and left her a little envious. This is one exchange where Commander Lewis would have no reason to be copied.)<\/p>\n
*<\/p>\n
In the big corner office, Commander Lewis was situated behind his desk, tipped back in his chair, and perusing the daily reports. He brought his chair back into position with a thump when the familiar ‘DING’ sounded, indicating a new message had just hit his inbox. Glancing over at the screen and seeing the message was from JPL, he decided it was worth interrupting his labors.<\/p>\n
From: Rick Battles, JPL Mars Tracking
\nSubject: Mars Quake
\nDate: October 30, 2018 10:23 a.m.
\nTo: Commander Morgan Lewis, Mission Support<\/p>\n
(CLT): no delay<\/p>\n
Commander Lewis,<\/p>\n
Good morning, Morgan. I just received an alert from one of our team members monitoring the FP1. Last night, they recorded what appeared to be 6-7 minor tremors at the Avernus Colles landing site. The vibrations were minute, just 0.1 to 0.3 or so intensity, but the duration was a minute or more for each. None of the other rovers, still transmitting anywhere on the planet, recorded anything at all, so it was a rather odd occurrence. The operations tech that reported it said it was almost like a 600-pound woodpecker had been pecking at the outside of the vehicle. Very strange.<\/p>\n
All of the other displays are reading ‘Systems: A-OK’. The fuel processor is functioning within normal parameters. I just thought you should be aware of a possible malfunction. We’ll keep an eye on it and let you know if it occurs again.<\/p>\n
R. Battles, JPL<\/p>\n
< \u2261 \u2642 \u2261 ><\/p>\n
As he finished reading, Commander Lewis frowned. The communication from Rick was rather casual and not really what one might call a proper report, within the prescribed format. Checking to see that his office door was closed, he reached down to his bottom drawer, pulled out the bottle and poured two fingers of scotch into his glass. As he downed the scotch with one hand, he stabbed the delete button with the other, transporting the message to the netherworld. Then he poured another drink as he resumed analyzing his mountain of reports, as if the message had never arrived.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
From: Brandon Devlin Subject: JotD Date: Pisces 34, 0031 20:13 To: Tyler Cody (CLT): 4 min 47.30 sec Hey Ty, How’s life treatin’ you these days? Better, I hope. Better than up here, anyway. I’m sure you saw the news flash the other day. But hey, don’t believe everything you see and hear on the tube. That asteroid wasn’t much …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":187,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chapter"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.emailfrommars.com\/outbound\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.emailfrommars.com\/outbound\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.emailfrommars.com\/outbound\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.emailfrommars.com\/outbound\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.emailfrommars.com\/outbound\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/www.emailfrommars.com\/outbound\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":298,"href":"http:\/\/www.emailfrommars.com\/outbound\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39\/revisions\/298"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.emailfrommars.com\/outbound\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/187"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.emailfrommars.com\/outbound\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.emailfrommars.com\/outbound\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.emailfrommars.com\/outbound\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}