Nunn marched up a few steps onto the stage, and across to his reserved seat. There were no names on the dark chairs, which probably meant that Milton was still playing his little "surprise" games. It didn’t matter, anyway, he would meet his crew members soon.

He looked out into the small crowd, and allowed himself a small smile. He realised just how important he was. How his name would be in history books! Milton was stating some of his recent positions and a brief history of his life.

"Squadron leader Ryan Nunn will not only be the pilot, but he shall be the first man, ever, to set foot on Mars!"

Another smile from Ryan.

"As we are pushed for time, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to push along? Next is our 2IC, sorry, an old military man sometimes uses military words?second in command of the Ares 1 mission, and also our navigator and geographical scientist? may I introduce Flight Lieutenant Victoria Watson!"

Ryan eyes bulged and he coughed.

Flight Lieutenant Watson marched through the door with a rather large smile on her face. She tried to hide it but could not. As she made it to her chair, next to Ryan’s, she gave him a smiling glance. He looked a bit older to what she remembered, but she could easily have picked him out in a crowd

"Flight Lieutenant Watson," the Air Chief Marshall continued, "enrolled in the RAF to do a law degree. She was trained as a navigator at the same. After completing her law degree, she continued the navigation studies and became a very experienced navigator. After some time, it became clear to the Flight Lieutenant that she needed an edge over the other navigators to progress, and this is when she enrolled in a geographical science course. This helped with her navigational skills, and she very quickly advanced.

Flight Lieutenant Watson has become one of the RAF’s best navigators in recent years and will definitely become an integral part of the Ares 1 crew. She will also play the part of the geographical scientist upon reaching Mars. By plotting the areas around our colony, and finding the correct site for the colony, the Flight Lieutenant will be able to supply information to other such colonising groups as well as providing vital information about the availability of water and the chemical properties of the planet."

Vicky blushed. She was astounded at the way the Air Chief Marshall portrayed her part in the mission, surely she wasn’t as important to the mission as he said?or maybe she was.

Once again the Air Chief Marshall prepared to speak.

"Next up is our engineer for the mission. After studying engineering in England, he became an expert in extreme conditions and construction in those environments. Ladies and Gentlemen I give you Anthony Pino!"

Shock pasted over Ryan and Vicky. They were not expecting this one. This really was turning out to be quite interesting. They could only guess who was next.

"Being enrolled in the BSE under the rank of Flight Sergeant, he will be in charge of the engineering on board the Phoenix as well as being the chief engineer in the colony. Flight Sergeant Pino has worked on numerous projects such as the new scientist centre at the South Pole for scientific research. His expertise in the field of extreme weather construction will come into valuable use in this colony."

Anthony walked in slowly, and walked up to his seat. He sat and looked around the presentation room with a shy look on his face. He turned and smiled at Ryan and Vicky and then resumed staring at the floor. He was an average sized man, of Spanish origin, with a drooping black goatee beard.

The Air Chief Marshall lowered his gaze and removed his reading glasses. "Now, I must be frank with you. These people are suffering from shock right now! They all have known one another at one time or another. This is the first time they have seen one another for a number of years in some cases?quot; He replaced his glasses and prepared to move on.

"Next on our list is our logistics officer. After joining the RN, he become one of our best logistics officers as well as completing a brief electrical engineering course. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Warrant Officer Paul Robinson."

Paul stood up and marched through the door into the conference room. As he walked up to Anthony, Paul turned an looked at the Air Chief Marshall. He gave him a smile, letting him know that he had guessed who else was coming next.

"Warrant Officer Robinson will be in charge of supplies, mechanical parts, etcetera, and electrical engineering. His designing knowledge was also taken into account when we chose him. He has recently created the "Robinson Re-breather", a technologically advanced re-breather for submarine use, giving a twenty percent greater oxygen yield. We are actually using an updated version of this on board and so the inventor will definitely be of use in testing it." There was a brief applause from the audience.

Vicky looked across and noticed that Paul seemed to have shaped up a bit. He always said he would if he was joining the navy, but she would never have guessed. He had also had a decent hair cut, that was a long time coming?#060;/P>

Paul was a rather tall Englishman, with brown hair and round glasses. He had always been known for his uncanny ability to eat constantly, and his love for Cup-a-soup. But now, he was smartly dressed, fit looking and clean-shaven. It was quite a change, but then, people do change, and it had been quite a while. Vicky then started to worry. What if everyone else had changed? What if they were so different that they would be like strangers? But she then realised what she was worried about. The pain in her stomach was from the thought that maybe she had changed a lot as well, and that she would not be treated the same. Her answer came as she noticed Ryan was smiling at her. Some things never changed?#060;/P>

"Only a few more now." Milton said as if sensing the suspense and uneasiness in the crowd. "Next is our on board physician. This is very important due to the possibility of accidents and sickness in space travel. Also, our physician doubles as a chemical scientist, which allows us to take full advantage of our personnel. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you, and I think this is right, Lillian Gabra Fam!"

Paul let out a stifled laugh. It had been a common joke amongst them when they had been at school to joke that Lillian would never be able to become a medical practitioner as she could not even bring herself to dissect a sheep’s heart in biology lessens!

Air Chief Marshall Milton Continued as Lillian Gabra Fam walked in.

"Miss Gabra Fam will be enrolled under the rank as Flight Sergeant and will be this planets first interplanetary doctor! Quite an achievement!"

Lillian was very small and was of petite build. She had shoulder length black hair which curled at the tips and brown eyes. She sat next to Paul which caused him to start laughing again. It had been another joke with Lillian about her small size. At one time Ryan had nearly got her in a locker!

"Now for our next scientist." Milton said, " Our biological scientist had started her tertiary education in politics. She soon realised that it wasn’t what she needed to do with her life and so fell back on her biology. Becoming an expert in the effects of gravity on plant life. Obviously we need someone to test our own edible plant life in our colony. This would benefit us and, Ladies and Gentlemen, Samantha Seller."

Paul and Lillian’s eyes both turned to Ryan who was chuckling. It soon stopped when Samantha walked through her door. She was of average height and, to everyone’s shock, quite slim. She had long black hair, brown doe eyes and cappuccino coloured skin.

When they had all known her, Sam had been rather a lot larger, but since then she had discovered the wonderful exercise known as Tai Bo! Vicky had to playfully poke Ryan so that he would close his gaping mouth.

"Miss Seller will be enrolled under the rank of Corporal, Corporal Seller is in charge of the food production, waste management and biological experiments."

Sam sat next to Lillian and she winked at Paul’s smile.

"Next, to move on, second last is our computing engineer and veterinary scientist. After becoming a computer systems manager he went to university in Australia. There he studied computer science before transferring to veterinary science. After these years at university, he joined a scientific research company into genetically coding parts of the canine genome. At this time he also joined the Australian Army Reserve. And has served in the green beret commando unit. Once again I will introduce the next member of our Ares 1 crew. Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Pilot Officer Ross Blake!"

Another round of applause as Ross entered from his room. He was average height, slight build and had dark brown, short hair. He was wearing glasses and he now had a goatee. Giving the audience the impression of being timid, he sat and avoided eye contact with any member of the crew.

He had been working at home when the BSE workers had come to talk to him. His dog had growled, warning of unknown people approaching and he had been waiting for them.

"Lastly, our communications officer and log keeper. A log of the events and actions of the crew on this mission is very important for future missions. Our log keeper is Miss Irina Janakievska! I’ve been practising that one for quite some time!" Brief laughter as Rini walked into the room and sat down next to Ross.

"She worked as a lawyer, specialising in international law, but wrote documentary material for a couple of cases she had worked on and decided that she would incorporate that into her daily job. By following the pattern for the selection, we found Miss Janakievska to be a perfect choice. I thank you all for your time."

Air Chief Marshall Milton stepped down from the podium and took his seat. His place was taken by two star general. This man was very solidly built, broad shoulders and a thick neck. He had an overhanging brow, but with all of his caveman like attributes, he still had excellent posture.