<div class="floatleft">(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/f/fa/Mars_test.jpg)</div><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Lt Colonel Louise Cotter</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>Outside</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td>Whoever accompanied her out onto the surface</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td>Watching the shuttle land</td></tr></tbody></table><br/><hr/><br/>It was only a short wait, after I came out of the hangar (http://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=148833.msg7038208#msg7038208), and I spotted the speck in the distance, banking left and right to bleed off its forward momentum. "Shit it's low!" I commented. Maybe they had come in low to avoid the building weather? But they would have to go back up again through that... Under power, of course, on take off. Mars' lower escape velocity was much easier to achieve for a craft lifting from a standard runway.<br/><br/>The shuttle touched down one third the way along the runway as prescribed, deployed its chutes, and taxied over to the base, stopping exactly on the hard stand. The ramps dropped and I walked forward, watching as the first suited figures emerged from the craft. "Welcome to Mars", I called out over open frequency, the little green light on my helmet lighting up (like in one of those video games that were popular a century ago) to indicate I was talking. The word "Cotter" was stencilled across the top of my helmet above the face plate, across my left breast, and across mty back-pack. Hopefully they all knew the base commander's name...<br/><br/>"Welcome home!" I added.