LOG ENTRY: SOL 195 (May 24, 2036)
Another day, another bunch of holes. 145 this time (I’m getting better.) I’m half-way done. This is getting really old.
But at least I have encouraging messages from Venkat to cheer me on!
[17:12] Watney: 145 holes today. 357 total.
[17:31] JPL: We thought you’d have more done by now.
Dick.
Anyway, I’m still bored at night. I guess that’s a good thing. Nothing’s wrong with the Hab, there’s a plan to save me, and the physical labor is making me sleep wonderfully.
I miss tending the potatoes. The Hab isn’t the same without them.
There’s still soil everywhere. No point in lugging it back outside. Lacking anything better to do, I ran some tests on it. Amazingly, some of the bacteria survived. The population is strong and growing. That’s pretty impressive, when you consider it was exposed to near-vacuum and sub-arctic temperatures for over 24 hours.
My guess is pockets of ice formed around some of the bacteria, leaving a bubble of survivable pressure inside, and the cold wasn’t quite enough to kill them. With hundreds of millions of bacteria, it only takes one survivor to stave off extinction.
Life is amazingly tenacious. They don’t want to die anymore than I do.
Leave a Reply