"You can't just leave me here, what if something happens? What if they suddenly need assistance?"

"Most of them are sleeping anyways, it's the middle of the night and I'll only be gone for 10, maybe 15 minutes, you will be fine. They don't have any scheduled contact with NASA until 10 am."

"My dad is gonna freak out.." Nova said with uncertainty lacing into her voice.

"I really truly have to go," Mindy said, "you know this isn't my job either, but there is a huge meeting and they barely man this station so I had to do it. You'll be fine, promise. If something happens - which I assure you it's not going to, you just press this button." She pointed to a black and white button. "Though they won't hear your reply for around 12 minutes because of the delay... so it wouldn't really matter if you wait until I am back. Unless of course if it is a distress signal. Try finding someone or if it is an emergency press this button and people will come running. Though there won't be much for anyone to do. They might use the chat link though. Just reply unless there is something you feel you need help with."

"Well that's... reassuring." Nova rolled her eyes at her friend. "Fine... just try to hurry back, will you?"

*

15 minutes ticked by and no sign of Mindy.

Nova sighed partly out of irritation and partly out of boredom, her chin resting on the back of her hand as she watched the unmoving screen in front of her.

*

Another five minutes passed by and when a sudden "ping," went off she was so surprised that she yelped and fell off her chair. Crawling around she got to her knees and then glanced over the desktop her eyes widened at the message ticking in on the screen.

[23.22] HRM: Hello! Is anyone awake? I am bored. Watney.

Oh God... Nova thought. HRM - meaning the Hermes spacecraft. Watney - Mark Watney, astronaut, botanist and environmental engineer. She looked pleadingly over at the door. Hoping that Mindy would just come through the door right at that moment.

Looking at the blinking cursor she chewed at her bottom lip; her fingers hovering over the keyboard.

[23.31] JSC: Hello Mark. I am awake indeed, how are you doing up there? N. Henderson.

She was biting her nails for the next couple of minutes, her eyes fixating on the blinking cursor, all of the boredom she had felt earlier having disappeared.

[23.39] HRM: N. Henderson? I thought your name was Mitch? I am alright, well except being bored out of my mind. Is it possible to actually die of boredom?

Nova chuckled, she felt like she partially knew some of the crew as her father had told her about each and every one of them several times.

[23.47] JSC: Good catch! I am actually his daughter, Nova.

I don't think it is possible to actually die of boredom. Unless you are one of those that end up doing something utterly stupid because you are bored. I strongly advise against it. You are in Space after all. It will end badly in 99.9% of the cases.

That is only a bet of course. I have never, nor will I ever, be in space. But something will go wrong. Most likely. At least that is what my father says. N. Henderson.

Again she found herself waiting for a reply, tapping her foot against the floor impatiently.

[23.51] HRM: Nova, your dad really loves space doesn't he? What is your middle-name? Galaxia? Venus? Milky-Way? Star? I do stupid things at times, but I try to avoid it while up here. Lewis would have my head. Your dad would too, probably. M. Watney.

[00.02] JSC: Would you believe me if I told you he tried to convince my mother of using the first one? Nova chuckled as she wrote. After three months he persuaded her to Astra instead. Which is better but not by much in my opinion. What is Space like? N. Henderson.

[00.15] HRM: Nova Astra Henderson. I'll say it again - your father REALLY loves space. It is nice to make your acquaintance! Space is spacious. There isn't really that much more to say about it. It is kind of self-explanatory. M. Watney.

[00.23] JSC: Hilarious. N. Henderson. Nova snorted, eyes rolling towards the ceiling.

[00.30] HRM: My sincerest apologies miss Henderson. Space is... big. Definitely big. Terrifying, beautiful and incredible all at the same time. I love it up here. You have your fears of course, a lot of things can go wrong, but I think that is also part of the thrill. How long have you been working for NASA? M. Watney

Nova scratched the back of her neck, her eyes glancing up at the large board on the wall showing the time and realizing that Mindy had been away for over an hour and a half by now. Part of her worried slightly, but she figured this would be frowned upon at most, and so far they had been done no harm. At least as far as she knew.

[00.42] JSC: It sounds amazing. I haven't worked for NASA a single day actually. N. Henderson.

[00.56] HRM: That either means you started today or you don't work there at all. If it is the last one I have so many questions. M. Watney.

[01.10] JSC: I only came here to hand something off to my father and then my friend had to run out of the room for a moment. Apparently she isn't supposed to man this station either, but there is a meeting of some sort. "10 minutes" she told me. It has now been two hours. N. Henderson.

[01.23] HRM: I am glad! My nightwatch became a lot less boring because of this.

[01.36] JSC: No worries, I am just left alone... sitting here... alone. She should have been back ages ago. But I am glad I have kept you entertained.

[01.49] HRM: Who is this? I just took over Watney's shift. He told me to have fun. I admit I am a bit confused. Beck.

Nova's eyes widened for the umpteenth time, her fingers stilling on the keyboard as she realized Watney had left her without saying anything to her or to his crewmate - Dr. Christopher Beck.

[02.03] JSC: Oh. Sorry. Long story short, I am Mitch Henderson's daughter, Nova. I am not supposed to be here, because this is not my job. NASA does in fact not sign my paycheck at all. But I was being a nice friend and said I could watch the computers for ten minutes because I was promised nothing would happen. Surprise, surprise. Something happened. The computer pinged and your crewmate started talking to me. Oh, and did I say she told me it would be 10 minutes? It has been hours, Dr. Beck. HOURS.

Nova felt the need to breathe after the long rant, despite having typed it out on a keyboard. Then her eyes scanned over the long message she had written and she groaned at the way her message sounded in her head. Childlike and rushed.

So she did the only thing a competent young woman could do. She wrote a new message.

[02.05] JSC: I am so sorry. I must be more tired than I thought, you did not deserve that rant. But hey, I am not used to talking to astronauts and I guess I am a bit fired up. Hope you have a nice night.

Fifty million kilometres away Chris Beck chuckled slightly at the message that popped up on his screen, starting his reply before a second message came in, making him laugh once more. Still chuckling to himself he composed his message, pressing send; he continued with his other duties while he waited for a new ping.

[02.18] HRM: I admit I laughed. However I am sorry about your predicament, though luckily for you this (as most other nights) is really, really calm. I hope your friend finds her way back to you soon, so that you can be on your way. No need to be so formal, Beck is fine.

[02.32] JSC: Hello, Beck is fine.

[02.33] JSC: Sorry. Horrible joke and totally inappropriate. Please delete that from your memory.

[02.45] HRM: Don't think I will be able to delete that from my memory. New entertainment is hard to come by here in outer Space.

Beck frowned to himself when no reply came through after 20 minutes, had she left? Had her friend come back? Or maybe she had fallen asleep. It was after all 3 am.

[03.21] HRM: Nova? Are you there?

15 minutes went by before a reply ticked in, but Beck's eyes widened slightly at the message that appeared on his screen.

[03.36] JSC: Ms. Henderson has retired for the night. I am sorry for the inconvenience this has caused and urge you to return to your duties. M. Henderson.

[03.42] HRM: Copy that. Beck.

Sighing to himself he returned to the mundane forms that had to be filled, He had enjoyed the chat with Nova, and hoped she had not gotten into trouble.

* * *

"What the hell were you thinking?"

Nova watched her fuming father with unimpressed and tired eyes. He was waving his arms around now, his angry eyes shifting between her and Mindy who was looking like she was just about ready to sink into the floor.

"DAD!" She exclaimed after a while, her body rising from the chair just as she gave off a large yawn. "Mindy fell asleep. It was not her fault that Venkat needed to talk to her and that there was no one else in the room. It was the middle of the night. Nothing happened except for me talking to two of the six astronauts. It was harmless. A couple of laughs, but that's it. I am sure they still did their job admirably."

"You were practically flirting with Beck!" It was rare she got to see her father's face turn this shade of pink, so she kind of cherished it though she was starting to get pretty upset herself. She could also feel Mindy's stare on the side of her face and refused to look at her friend.

"I was tired! I didn't mean for it to be flirty, it was a joke. A joke for which I apologized before he even had the chance to reply. Blooming hell dad, you'd think I had committed treason or that I had asked him to sex it up. I didn't. I made a play on the sentence that he himself wrote. Now, will you let us go so that we can go on to that damned hotel and get some sleep? We have a full spa day tomorrow and I'll be damned if I sleep through all of the greatness."

"Just go..." Mitch Henderson said, and Nova looked at him for a couple of moments before walking out the door, her shoulders slumped. She rarely fought with her father, and though she knew they probably would make up quickly it still felt wrong to walk out when they had just been fighting. Turning on her heels she told Mindy to hold on for a second as she rushed back into the room, her arms wrapping around his waist in a tight hug. "Sorry if I disappointed you dad," she whispered. Then she left the room again, her shoulders at least feeling somewhat lighter.

___________________

JPL - Jet Propulson Labratory

RVR - Rover

HRM - Hermes

JSC - Johnson Space Center

Trying out something new, as I am stuck on everything else.. Tell me what you think! :)

- Thale