Andy seems instantly at home behind the wheel of our explorer buggy. Driving is one of those lost skills that humans have, for the most part at least, left by the wayside. We think nothing of jumping into a cab or getting on a bus, but then similarly think nothing of leaving the navigation and safety to the AI network.

Frankly, this is because it works and has worked almost perfectly for hundreds of years. While there are still accidents – that’s why they are called accidents – there are few serious injuries and planetwide fatalities are barely into double digits annually. We simply don’t need to learn to drive anymore.

Andy apparently comes from a long line of kart racers and he was happy to have a go when he was growing up. Our buggies are bigger and slower – karts were capable of well over 150kph Andy tells me – but the principles are obviously the same. A quick description of the controls is all he needs.

I had to have a whole week of lessons when I started on the program, but Andy is apparently more than competent. He has no problem throwing the buggy around with apparent abandon. He’s quicker, smoother and more alert as a driver than I could ever be. I don’t need much time to conclude that he’ll be an asset to the mission once we get down on the surface. I thought I was going to be driving myself.

“Can I assume that you were a good kart driver?” I ask when we return to the garage and give the vehicle back to the maintenance team.

“I guess,” Andy tells me with a hint of embarrassment. It’s the first time he’s shown any timidity or reticence and I’m intrigued.

“That’s clearly a yes, but why the reservation?”

“I was a runner up in the European Karting Championships, two years in a row.”

“Wait, what?”

“I started driving a kart when I was nine. By the time I got into my teens it was clear that I was good at it. I had a lot of fun, but it wasn’t any more than that for me. My dad kept pushing me to keep racing and that’s where I ended up. It’s no big deal.”

“You’re joking, right. Of course it’s a big deal. You were one of the best.”

“I suppose. I did it for Dad. He’d been pretty good, but never made it to the European level. We didn’t have much else in common at the time and it made him happy to take me to races and watch me win. I’m not sure my heart was in it at the end and we did fall out over my decision to concentrate on tertiary study.” Andy falls quiet, deep in thought.

“I’m sorry. I know what it is like to disappoint your parents. I didn’t do what my dad wanted me to do and we both have to live with the consequences of that.”

“Don’t worry, Peter. It’s all water under the bridge now. I came to terms with my choices some time ago. This is just a bit too much of a reminder of what things were like in a simpler time.”

“I’m sure your dad is still proud of your achievements, though.”

“Yes, he is. We get on a little better now, but it was… difficult for a few years there. He and my mum splitting up somewhere along the line didn’t help.”

“Still is for me, so you’re doing better than you think. Anyway, you are happy to drive when we land, aren’t you?”

“Yes. I actually do miss it. It’ll be fun.”

“Well, I hate to spoil your plans, but it will, in fact, be boring and hard work. I want you to drive me most of the time. We can cover much more ground zoologically if I don’t have to concentrate more on the driving than the wildlife.”

“Of course. That sounds like hard work, but I can manage that.” Andy tells me with a smile.

“Excellent. Over the next day or so, I want you to take our course on Mesh deployment. As we drive around, we need to place Mesh transceivers in suitable locations to build up our localised communications capabilities. It’s not difficult to do, but you’ll need to understand the principles and general requirements for a working Mesh to be built correctly.”

“Okay. Communications and linguistics aren’t so far apart. I think I can manage that as well. They did say the job was varied when they were asking me to join.”

“Sorry again. We all end up doing multiple disciplines on a mission like this. I know we can send as many experts through the gateway as we want, but a team that gets much bigger than about thirty just gets too much from a management and administration point of view when the manager also has a day-job. Double duty is kind of inevitable, I’m afraid.”

“No, Peter, it’s all good. I really don’t expect to need to do any talking in alien tongues.”

“About that. I firmly believe that your skills won’t be needed, but I actually hope that they will find an outlet on Verus.”

“You’d like to meet sentient aliens?”

“Sure, who wouldn’t. We’ve not seen any sign of civilisation on Verus so far, but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t a pre-industrial society down there somewhere.”

“Well, I see where you’re coming from. I assume that we have a set of protocols? You know, if we are going to make contact?”

“Oh, shit, I forgot all about that. Yes, we do. Axios will give you the details. Don’t expect too much from the protocol, though. I’m pretty sure it’s rudimentary at best. That’s another thing you’ll need to be up-to-speed on before we land. Sorry.”

“For the man in charge, you say ‘sorry’ a lot!”

“Sorry…” Andy’s grin at this is infectious and causes me to raise a brow.

“Now it’s my turn, Peter. That ‘sorry trap’ is one of the oldest in the human repertoire. It’s one that all linguists are taught about for some weird reason. I’m the one who is sorry now. I’ll send you a couple of twentieth century entertainment references if you’re interested.”

“Well, I’m genuinely sorry for being a bit disorganised. We just didn’t expect to be adding team members at short notice and there’s no plan in place. That really is on my shoulders, I’m the boss and the buck really does stop with me for this one.”

“In that case, apology accepted. I’d better get off to a terminal and get to work.” Andy turns and heads in the direction of his apartment.

“Be at the gateway by ten on Thursday if you still want to try the landing with us,” I call after him.

He waves an acknowledgement and calls back over his shoulder, “I’ll be there.”

I find myself staring as he walks away, seeing something in the way that he walks and the movement of his body that makes me want to keep watching. He really is very athletic in build and, for some odd reason, a small part of me is curious to see what he looks like without a shirt on.

I shake my head at my own foolishness after a few moments and head of to my office to get back to work.