Martian Operations Agency Training Facility, Somewhere in the South Pacific, Earth
Daniel couldn’t believe where he was. Ten. He had been strapped into his seat for over an hour and yet he still couldn’t believe it. He was lying in a real-life rocket, ready to be blasted off to Mars. Somehow everything seemed real all of a sudden in a way that it just hadn’t until now. Nine. He was sitting in a rocket, a real-life rocket that would soon propel him into the sky. This was as far from home as he could ever have imagined being, yet he was about to go a lot further. Eight. Daniel thought back to home, back to his family after all he had no real way of knowing if his sister was receiving the medical treatment he had been promised. He suddenly realised that he would probably never know for sure if this sacrifice was worth it. Seven. Sacrifice seemed like such a weird way of describing the adventure he was about to participate in, one which most people could only dream of. But Daniel knew that it was a sacrifice as well as a dream. Six. So much of a normal life wouldn’t be open to him now, his own family, a career that he had always wanted, his own house a nice car were all things that he would miss out on. Daniel thought about the dream house he had always wanted, the nice wife, two kids a dog that would tramps mud into the kitchen. Five. The it dawned on Daniel that there were not materiel things he was going to miss out on too, some painful ones. Although this would be the most amazing thing he could hope to accomplish there would huge part of the human experience that he will now miss out on. Four. Daniel would never see his sister again. He would never be told when his parents died. Three. Mars’ atmosphere was a lot different to Earth’s, Daniel will never feel the warmth of the sun’s rays on his face. He wouldn’t hear birds singing again or feel rain on his skin or any of the things he had always considered soppy sentimentalism designed only for use in bad country music. Two. Suddenly all of that stuff seemed important to Daniel, it seemed like it mattered more than anything he had ever wanted in his entire life. But now it was too late. One. Now was not the time to morn what he’ll miss out on but to celebrate this great adventure. A Great adventure that suddenly he wasn’t sure if he wanted to be a part of. Zero.
Daniels’ chair juddered and shook. His brain rattled inside his head. He felt his heart, lungs, stomach and guts sink inside his chest. Then he was hit by the wall of sound coming up from the engines, it filled his ears. The whole cabin where Daniel was strapped in started to shake and shudder. He tried to move his head, struggling against the forces of nature acting on him, to see Rachel sitting by his side. She was smiling although he eyes had a tinge of fear in them.
“We are on our way.” She screamed at the top of her voice, barely audible over the sounds of the engines. She kept on smiling. Daniel was convinced his ears were about to bleed, that his eyes were about to burst out of his skull and his chest was going to collapse. Suddenly and without warning it stopped. Daniel felt a sudden jolt. The cabin filled with light. Then Daniel noticed how dark it was outside. “Escape tower.” Rachel yelled, despite the noise of the engines have subsided. Daniel was able to force his head to turn so he could see out of the window. The Earth was below him, it looked just like it always did in movies. He tried to look out to space to see which Zeppelin class ship they were going to dock with. “Can you make it out?” Rachel asked
“Just.” Daniel replied. “I think it’s the Pinta.” Daniel kept looking out the window as they approached the much larger craft. He looked on as they slowly floated towards it’s ducking hatch. He listened intently as the loud clanking sounds of the docking clamps filled the cabin. One of the officers closest to the hatch unbuckled himself and then floated towards the hatch way. He slowly worked the mechanism and the door opened.
“It’s safe to unfasten everyone.” The officer spoke out. “Just float on up. Once inside the main crew area grab hold of something before they switch the gravity back on.” He then floated inside. Daniel went to unbuckle himself before Rachel reached out and stopped him.
“Not yet.” Rachel ordered. “We go last.” She added. It was several minutes before everyone had left the cabin. “Now we can go.” Rachel commanded. She quickly unfastened herself and then floated out of her seat, twisting herself round as she did so. “Follow me.” Rachel floated towards the back of the cabin, away from the main hatch. Daniel quickly unbuckled himself before following her. The two then slowly floated down towards the back of the craft eventually reaching a locked door. “We have to get the equipment out.” Rachel said as she undid the fastenings which kept the door shut tightly.” The door opened to reveal the large boxes of equipment they had helped stow there only hours before. Daniel dreaded having to move them again, remembering the heavy weight of each box. As Rachel passed the first one to him he suddenly remembered where he was. He gently pushed the box towards the main hatchway and it floated unaided towards the opening. Daniel spotted a technician floating in the hatchway, ready to receive the box. The three worked together in silence, moving the equipment out.
Several hours later and the Pinta had left Earth’s orbit on its way to Mars. Daniel was standing by a window, trying to make sense of the images flashing before his eyes. He had never seen anything move in the way that the stars seemed to be moving in front of him. Rachel walked up to him.
“Quite a view hey.” Rachel said, before turning her back on the window, the image making her dizzy.
“This is incredible.” Daniel said. “But why must everything be so secret, would it be such a bad thing if the people of Earth knew about this?”
“Some think so.” Rachel replied before adding. “But not everyone.”
“I can’t thank you enough for all this.”
“You are the one that earned it.” Rachel smiled. “There’s been a change of plans, we aren’t going down to the surface with everyone else. We are going to go down in our own pod directly to the US base. It’s better for security.”
“Sounds good.”
“Plus with all the equipment and everything it’s just going to be easier to get down there straight away. Only make one trip.”
“Ok.” Daniel nodded in agreement. “The sooner we can get started the better I guess.”
“Exactly.” Rachel said. “Are you still thinking about your sister?” Rachel asked.
“I’m always thinking about her.”
“Look don’t say anything but I might be able to get information about her whilst we are on Mars. I can’t promise but if I manage to hear anything I’ll tell you.”
“Thanks.” Daniel smiled, realising that Rachel was going to be a good friend to him on Mars.