They marched towards Colony 6 in the night, their only guidance being the bright blue teather.

...except for the swedes. Their suits had night vision.

Langenburg and Schirra kept silent as the swedes seemed to be arguing about something, but neither of them knew exactly why. All that could be heard through the desert was the soft  hum of the wind.

Morris broke the ice. "So where do you think that second pod went?"

"Second pod?" Asked Schirra. "Oh, yeah, the second signal. I think its a glitch. Many glitches happen with beacons upon planetary re-entry."

"You sure? I mean, if there WAS a second pod, they would have probably died in the sandstorm." Responded Langenburg. "That is two deaths on our hands, and don't even get me started if it was a lander."

A chill went down Schirra's spine. A lander would have been six people, and if it had landed in the wrong place, six dead people. Six very, very dead people.

"If it wasnt a glitch, at least we got two." Shrugged Schirra. "Two is better than mission lost."

"I guess...say, speaking of which..."

Morris turned around. "Ey swedes, what exactly is your mission?"

The one with the blue plaque "Edvin P." stopped bickering to the other one to face Langenburg.

"We don't have a mission, we are reserves." He said calmly.

The other faced Schirra. "Thats correct. As far as i'm concerned, Exo or the U.N. or whoever threw us in this dump thought you needed more men." He then turned to Morris. "What exactly IS your mission, Commander?"

"We mine." He said simply, turning away. They kept marching quietly.