<div class="floatleft">(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/6/6b/Lt_Laura_Alicia_Hicks.jpg)</div><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Major Laura Hicks (MSF)</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>The Surface of Mars</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td> Ms Van Acker among others</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td> Welcoming Ms. Van Acker and keeping things moving.</td></tr></tbody></table><br/><hr/><br/><br/>Laura gave the blonde haired detective a rare, warm smile and returned the salute with one of her own. Military decorum had to be maintained and they were outdoors. It seemed a little silly to her to salute in a helmet large enough to make good caldren, but training made her do it out of habit. "Welcome to Mars Ms. Van Acher. We're happy to have you with us." The older woman had, of course, seen her file as well as accessed her police records and Laura liked a person with the spunk and grit to tough it out. "I'll debrief you on what to expect after you've had a chance for some actual chow. Things will be a little different here, but it'll improve as you get use to it."<br/><br/>She glanced back to the shuttle and the rapidly moving cargo containers, "If you would give us a hand with this mess, we can get inside before the sand gets too dense to get you lost between here and the hanger... the reports that it's a minor one... winds speeds are just 100 KPH but it's enough to get a good man lost before he's taken 10 steps."<br/><br/>Laura switched frequencies and accessed the command net, "Colonel, any word on how long we have before this thing hits?"