As I did a quick proof read of this chapter (having not looked at it for many months), I could not help but think I must have been in a weird mood when I wrote this one. Bits of it sound like a 2nd rate sitcom and I even put myself in it. Oh well; nothing wrong with an author going loopy occasionally.

Chapter 9

Green on the Red

Mars Base One was a complex of impressive size, although it did not appear so from the surface. To the average astronaut it looked precisely as it should, covering an area in excess of one hundred hectares with habitats covered in the local regolith for protection, several surface rovers standing by, numerous robotic machines going about their business and four spaceships sitting on launch pads at the extreme edges of the base. The true bulk of the base was well hidden underground and stretched away from the visible base many kilometres.

The site for the base was chosen for many reasons but the most important was its vicinity to a long dormant Martian Volcano. Many kilometres of huge lava tubes had been sealed and repurposed as underground farms for the new Martian population. Other tunnels branching off from the farms lead to homes, hospitals, storage areas and workshops making a base that resembled an iceberg with only its tiny tip visible above the surface.

Down in one of the former lava tubes, bathed in filtered and reflected sunlight, nine year old Saffron Dias and her friends took careful note of soil composition and air quality. The information they recorded was part of the academic program, but the young people preferred to think of their task as work; it gave them a feeling of accomplishment. After all, the readings they took were used as a part of the official MB1 health monitoring program. Saffron's mother had been one of the biologists who developed and perfected the systems used on the Martian farm many years ago back on Earth. A similar underground farming system existed in the railgun complex in West Sumatra. The two production facilities had obvious differences but also many similarities such as; both had a Sarah occasionally working in them. The Earth Sarah of course was Blues guardian but the one on Mars was named Sarah Winter, she was only sixteen and did not have a doctorate in physics... yet.

Saffron Dias entered the measurements she had just been given into her computer tablet and pressed 'enter'.

"Hey Saffy, isn't Abigail supposed to be here helping us?" Holly Duncan asked.

"Oh my glorious big sister has more time allocated in the SEV simulator" Saffron declared venomously.

"That was my time she took" Sudhi Mandal huffed.

"She didn't take your time Sudhi!" Sarah Winter did her best to be the voice of reason "The schedule was reassessed because of a pressing need; you'll get your turn."

"I didn't hear Abigail complain; I want to join the astronaut corps too you know."

"Your only ten years old Sudhi, you'll get your chance soon" Sarah grinned.

"And just think about it; if she gets chosen, you'll have one less student taking up valuably simulator time" Holly nodded.

"I don't know what's so great about going into space anyway" Saffron declared "Cramped smelly space ship, prepacked food, it sounds like a recipe for a horrible life."

"Jealous much?" Sarah accused.

"Too much" Saffron surprisingly admitted.

After another fifteen minutes of data gathering, the four friends finished up their work and headed back down to the lower central habitat section of the base. The small group walked quietly until Sudhi broke the silence.

"Are we back in the growth rooms tomorrow morning?"

"Heck no, tomorrow should be a lot more interesting" Sarah noted "We're going up to a heat collector site to inspect one of the solar towers."

Holly and Sudhi were very excited to hear the news but not Saffron because she hated pressure suits; they took too long to put on, too long to take off, were difficult to move in and you should never ask her about the smell.

"What are you looking so glum about?" Sarah asked when she noticed her young friend pouting.

"I hate pressure suits" Saffron replied "They take too long to put on, too long to take off, it's hard to move inside one and don't ask me about the smell."

What do you know; I was right!

"Who was that?"Holly asked in surprise.

"Just the author" Sarah informed them "he can be a real self centred jerk sometimes."

Soon after Holly and Sudhi reached their respective homes, Sarah dropped off Saffron but not before having one last attempt at cheering her up.

"Cheer up and I'll let you have a go driving the rover tomorrow" she offered.

"I'll think about it but I make no promises" Saffron replied sullenly as she opened her front door and disappeared inside.

"Hey Saffy; how'd the work go today?" Saffron's sister Abigail smiled when she saw her younger sibling.

"How come you never turned up?" Saffron sneered without giving any greeting first "You should have finished your test over two hours ago."

"I did, but I had to get changed out of my pressure suit and..."

"Oh don't talk to me about pressure suits" Saffron interrupted.

"If you say so" Abigail shrugged and went back to setting the dinner table.

"Wait a minute; what's going on here Abi?"

Saffron was starting to get suspicious because of what her senses were telling her. Her home was surprisingly clean, uncluttered and mouth-wateringly aromatic. Although those colonists responsible for culinary sustenance did their very best to provide a large variety of tastes and textures of food, there was a limit to what could be done with the ingredients available to them. Quite a reasonable number of spices and flavoursome herbs were being grown but not yet all were available for consumption and there was only so much that could be done with processed cricket protein.

"If you're wondering what that wonderful smell is, apparently it's called honey chicken" Abigail informed her sister.

"Chicken; we've got chicken? How did we get chicken; and honey?"

"Mom put in a request for a special meal to share with Dad before he goes off world again."

"But he's not leaving for weeks" Saffron declared.

"Why wait till the last minute? Abigail shrugged.

"So are you telling me Mom cooked this honey chicken thingy?"

"Oh heavens no; she got it sent over from the kitchens."

Things still did not seem quite right to Saffron but she tried to put her suspicions behind her because she was really looking forward to tonight's dinner. Her attempt to be more casual about the situation only lasted as long as it took for her mother to enter the room.

"Oh good, you're back at last" April Dias declared when she saw her youngest daughter "You've got ten minutes to get cleaned up; and put on something nice while you're at it."

"Is there someone special coming to dinner or something else I'm unaware of? Why do I have to get changed just to eat?"

"Nine and a half minutes; now move or you'll be having cricket burgers."

"I think I'll wear my chartreuse blouse" Saffron decided as she departed the room.

With Luis Dias finally home and April satisfied with Saffron's efforts, the special meal could begin at last. The aroma was far too enticing to resist and the family of four all used the barest minimum of table manners as they filled their plates and began to eat. Abigail and Saffron had only ever tasted real chicken once before but it had not been prepared like this one. The small succulent pieces had been covered in a light batter, deep fried and then coated with a honey sauce and sesame seeds. The meal was served with a selection of stir fried vegetables, without a single Watney potato in the entire mix. Conversation during initial consumption was mainly restricted to the expressing of opinions about the quality of the meal and the chef who had done such an excellent job in its preparation, but this all changed when April posed a simple question.

"So, did anybody do anything interesting today?"

"Ah finally; now I know what this special dinner is about" Saffron realised at last.

"What do you mean dear?" her mother feigned innocence.

"We get this great dinner supposedly because Dad is going off world in a week or two, but then Mom asks the loaded question giving Abi the opportunity to tell us of how she's gotten a high score in the MTV simulator for her practical test. Meaning Dad has to honour his promise and take her on the next supply run to Earth as a qualified trainee pilot; Q.E.D."

A brief moment of silence was broken when Abigail looked at her father while pointing to her sister.

"Err... what she said... yeah!"

"You mean I'm right?" the youngest Dias gasped.

There seems to be a spate of these occurrences today.

"Shut up you" Saffron snapped at the author.

Sorry.

"Absolutely you're right sis" Abigail smiled excitedly "You are looking at the Official Trainee Co-pilot on the next Earth Transfer Supply Mission."

"Did you really get over Ninety Five percent in the simulator today?" Luis asked his daughter.

"NINETY NINE POINT SIX; HA!"

"Oh I hate you so much right now" Saffron declared but could not hide her smile.

"That's amazing my precious; how did you manage it?" Luis grinned like a Cheshire Cat.

"She cheated" Saffron stated bluntly.

"I did not!" Abigail declared adamantly.

"Well... Dad used to let you fly the SEV Tug simulator when you were only eight and that's kind of like cheating."

"If you keep talking like that" Luis noted "You're going to get both your sister and your father in big trouble."

"Yeah, so keep your trap shut" Abigail warned "and besides, all I did was sit in the observer's seat and watch Dad fly the ship while he and his co-pilot explained to me what they were doing; so it was like I started training a few years early."

"I'll bet all that extra sim-time Dad got you in the last few months didn't hurt either: Sudhi wasn't very happy about it either."

"He'll be happy enough when he finds out I won't need the simulator anymore."

As the girls argued back and forth to their hearts content, Luis noticed his wife smiling through a tear.

"Are you alright my dearest?" he asked sincerely.

"Of course I'm not alright you flying fool; I never was happy about that deal you made with my baby and now she's going off world where anything could happen."

"But you and I both agreed..." Luis began.

"I know I agreed" April snapped back "but that doesn't mean I was happy about the whole thing."

"I'll be alright Mom and besides; Saffy's the baby of the family, not me" Abigail insisted.

"You better not say I'm the baby to anyone outside" Saffron warned "or I'll start a rumour saying you did a Kobayashi Maru on the simulator control systems."

"I did not cheat!" Abigail declared adamantly again.

A fluffy little chapter. I must have been listening to the song Fuwa Fuwa Time while writing it. I shouldn't have said that; now I've got a craving for tea and cake.