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(Page 3 of 14) Visit to Victoria by Stuart Atkinson
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Anyway, one day! For now, this is little more than a small art gallery. Some of Faye's work is in there - if I tell you it's very good you'll think I'm biased. But it is.. :-)
Got the picture? Good. :-) I have to get into my suit now. More later.
>> Journal Entry 005/BV1/015
Standing out on the plain now, dad. Wish you were here with me... Above us, the sky is a warm caramel colour, and the Sun is a golden button slowly sliding down the western sky... A perfect day in Meridiani.
A few minutes ago we all pulled on our suits and helmets and bundled out of the airlock and onto the rocky ground. The Sun was still a good couple of hours away from setting, so there was more than enough light for us to see by, but it was still low enough to cast long, long shadows behind us as we unloaded our equipment from the rover; Ben awkwardly manhandled his cleaning rig out of its stowage bay, while Andrea, efficient as ever, unpacked her electronics package with a minimum of fuss and effort. Faye's cameras were all stowed away in a compartment to the rover's rear, and she took them out slowly, checking each one in turn before hanging it around her neck like a precious, jewelled amulet. As usual she carefully handed me the portable satellite broadcasting rig which she uses to beam real-time pictures back to Base, and I hoisted the oversized umbrella over my shoulder just as carefully.
It was then that Faye told Andrea that she needed to go to the VC to place a new work there. Ben and I froze on the spot, expecting timekeeping-obsessed Andrea to explode. But to our surprise she told Faye it was okay, as long as she hurried. Gesturing for me to follow her, Faye stepped out of the rover's ebony shadow and loped off in the direction of the VC. I followed, being careful not to let the satellite gear bounce on my shoulder. When we got to the VC and stepped inside, Faye scanned the walls for a free spot, found one, and reached into her thigh pouch. She pulled out what I thought was the sketch she'd showed me earlier, the one of the two of us, and carefully slotted it into the clear plastic mount set into the wall. It looked great there, and I was so proud to be up on 'her' wall, with her, that I thought I was going to burst! But I felt a little sad too, because I'd really wanted to be able to see that picture more often. "Don't worry," she whispered, as if reading my thoughts, "this is only a copy... the original is back in the rover, for you to keep..." That's Faye for you. Told you, I love her to bits.
We really have to get moving now, I'll record more at the rover itself.
>> Journal Entry 005/BV1/016
I'm recording this while things are quiet... I'm right by the rover now, dad, hunched over trying to look busy... if I get caught I'll be in trouble, so I hope you appreciate the risk I'm taking for you!
Where was I? Oh yes. Well, Faye and I emerged from the VC to find the others already heading off up the climb towards the crater's edge, twin white blobs bounding away towards the raised horizon, so we set off after them in pursuit, taking our own giant kangaroo hops across the stony ground and towards the lip of Victoria.
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