Frank and Tina had barricaded themselves inside the base module on Martian soil for more than six months now.

In the beginning, terror had worn them out and brought them down. They had lost all of their travel companions in less than twenty-four hours since a human being first set foot on the red planet.

The situation had precipitated quite beyond any of the worst hypotheses and scenarios discussed before the departure of the mission. They had barely had time to send their last confusing and alarming message to Earth, but they had no way of knowing for certain if this had somehow been received and received.

In fact, they hadn't even been able to finish it, because suddenly all the instruments had stopped working and, by that time, 198 days had already passed.

In spite of all kinds of attempts, all their efforts to restore communications in some way both with Discovery, which was parked in orbit above their heads, and with Earth had been completely useless.

In the early days they tried compulsively, incessantly, to communicate with Earth.

With the passing of the days, then the weeks, then the months, they had diluted the attempts, up to the routine of one attempt per day, now done more out of duty than in the real hope of receiving an answer.

Certainly the command of the mission, even if their message never arrived, for the very fact that the silence from Mars had lasted for so long, he was well aware that there had been problems, big problems.

Their hope was that the message had arrived and at home there was full awareness of the seriousness of the situation and the need for a rescue mission.

But it was only hope.

Of course, as there were only two left, they had everything they needed to survive for many years alone on Mars, but how long would the Martians' belief that no humans survived?

After a few weeks, in fact, Frank and Tina had calmed down, the fact that after so long no one had come to kill them, as had happened to all their mission companions, could only mean that the Martians had given up the "cleaning" and they wouldn't have ventured to the base module.
They could have done it right away, if they hadn't, evidently they didn't think it necessary.

This had convinced them, even in self isolation they had not in fact in those long six months never set foot outside the form, so as not to take unnecessary risks.
Their concern was about the timing of a possible rescue and the Martians' reaction to a new human invasion.
They were almost certain that a rescue mission would leave Earth.

Sooner or later...

To build the Discovery it had taken almost three years of work on the space station, so they had put their hearts in peace by planning to have to remain closed inside the module for at least three years.

At best, of course, that is, if the construction of a second spaceship had immediately started from Earth.
Perhaps the times could be reduced by building a smaller one, but certainly two years was the minimum, considering that in this second hypothesis the ship's design had to be completely revised from top to bottom.

Alone, on an unknown and dangerous planet, without the possibility of communicating with anyone, nor of going out on patrol, with an enormous amount of time to suffocate. Their big problem was boredom, they had two main roads ahead: hating or loving each other.
In the six months spent together they had gone through both, those months were equivalent to at least six years of life, given the absolute exclusivity of their relationship.

They hadn't gone crazy yet, no, but on some occasions they had felt the desire to kill themselves, to kill, to end it in any way.
They had passed all those tests together, but they weren't so sure they could pass all those that would surely find themselves living again in the years to come.

"Tina, I can't take it in here anymore"
"What would you like to do Frank, let's go get killed?"
"It's not a bad idea, I decided to get ready and go out there; I want to ask those bastards why they killed all our comrades"
"Frank, I will tell you without endangering both of us. We both know it because, we have discussed it a thousand times, I know that Bertrand didn't do it on purpose, but we were the first to kill four of them, not you should never forget it."

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