Puzzled, Sally asked, “Tom, two things. What makes you think it is a caldera and not an impact crater, and two, the EVA Prep is on this deck, so where are you wandering off to?”
He paused with one foot on the ladder and turned back toward Sally. “You don’t think this was a volcano?”
“Well, I’ll agree there isn’t much of an impact rim, but I suspect these stones are not native to Mars. Wind erosion could take down a lot of rim, I suppose. I’ve been thinking about it since you brought in the samples and I just don’t see this as a volcano. More likely, these are carbonados from somewhere else, brought in on either a meteor or comet,” Sally told him, seriously.
“Interesting,” Tom replied. “So, meteor or comet, you say? Which do you think is the more likely of the two?”
“I think a sounding will tell us that… and where are you going now, if not to the EVA Prep-room?” She asked once more.
“Oh, I just wanted to grab a quick sandwich before heading out. You hungry?”
“Sure, I’ll buy,” Sally smiled broadly and lightly tossed to him the diamond she had been previously examining.
Tom laughed out loud, pleased with their friendly bantering, “In that case, I’ll have filet mignon smothered in lobster.” Oddly, he felt a little like a teenager, going out on a first date. Holding hands with Sally was a nice start. Too bad there was no movie feature in a darkened theatre. He shook his head at himself, amused with his thoughts.
Brandon was reading data from a laptop at the table in the common area, just outside of the galley, a raw carrot in his hand while he munched. Tom and Sally arrived on the top steps of the Jefferson ladder, laughing together at what appeared to be an inside joke. “And what are you two so giddy about?” he quizzed his crewmates through the open hatch.