Have you ever watched the sci-fi series Firefly? Everyone in the show speaks English and Chinese. I was watching it one day with the subtitles turned on and when two characters argued in Chinese, the subtitle stated "Speaks Alien Language." I wonder if the person responsible for typing out those subtitles, ever found out about their mistake?
Chapter 17
Bad News for Some
Most people would sing, hum or whistle a bright and happy tune when doing housework; this was a good way to help keep their minds off the dull tasks they were forced to perform. Luis Dias however hummed a tune that was deep and full of passion as he fished out the sock his eldest daughter had left behind a sofa cushion. With time on his hands Luis had made what he felt was the deal of a life time with his daughters. He would take over the girls morning chores and in return, they would not come home until dinner time.
Luis noted the time was 11:27am.
Just over half an hour to go and April would walk through the door to find a spotless habitat, a salad vinaigrette with croutons waiting on the table and a man with the aroma of coconut in his hair. With his right hand on his stomach and his left hand to the side, Luis swung his hips as he danced into the next room to deposit the offensive sock in a laundry hamper. He then stepped back into the main living area and scanned the room, looking for anything April may find offensively out of place.
"Maybe a quick vacuum" he mumbled.
But before Luis could take one step towards the cleaning closet, the front door opened and April stepped in ready to tear her husband's head off and use it as a football.
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?" April cried out in anger.
"I um... cleaned up and made you a..."
"I don't care about all that" April fumed as she stomped towards the condemned man.
"Really? I thought you'd be pleased."
"How can I be happy about a clean house when everywhere I go, people are congratulating me?"
"Uh oh" Luis stomach turned upside down.
"Do you know why everyone is congratulating me?" April feigned sweetness.
"I think I've got a pretty good idea" Luis admitted.
Apparently half the base believes I'm having another baby, and they are doing their level best to make sure the other half knows before LUNCH TIME!"
"Well you see dear..."
"Luis; what were you thinking?"
"I was thinking how nice it would be to have another..."
"So you made an application to be included in the next round of planned population increase."
"Yes I did."
"WITHOUT TELLING ME?"
"I thought it would be a nice surprise; just like this delicious repast I have prepared for you" Luis gestured to the dining table.
April sat heavily on the couch and buried her head in her hands.
"I can't believe you did this" she sighed.
"But sweetness, we have often discussed having another child; and you said..."
"I know what I said Luis, but I also remember saying not until you've retired from space duties. I wanted you to be home for the next child."
"But that's just it my flower, I will be here. I got the call early this morning; my next trip to Earth has been cancelled and it is possible there will be no more in the foreseeable future."
The Pink-Headed Fruit Dove of Frustration clocked off for the day and went home just as the Storm Petrel of Mild Surprise started work for the afternoon.
"What?" April gasped "Why?"
"Apparently the supply launches are done; finished" Luis informed her.
"Completely?"
"So Commander Sage tells me. Where are you going?"
To Luis's surprise, his wife stood and exited their home before the words were even out of his mouth.
"She never even smelled my hair" he lamented.
As April hurried off to who knows where, another man on Mars was also in trouble because of his actions, but with many more important people.
"I have just come from a meeting with the Deep Council and needless to say, none of them are very happy with you and neither am I" Olive Roux snorted.
"Oh come on" Neville Sage huffed "After fifteen years I had no warning Adisa was going to try and contact Mars Base and all things considered, I think I made the right decision."
"The Mars Deep Council and I disagree most strongly with your assessment. The first message from Professor Adisa since we sealed them all underground? You should have woken me or told them to wait for a later contact, not given made up orders as if they were your subordinates. I know it's been a long time but you know what Adisa is like."
"I thought it would be better if they just stay where they were" Sage insisted "Less chance of them finding out anything."
"What could they find? We covered our tracks completely and it's not as if they could do anything about it even if they did discover the truth."
"You're forgetting the ship" Sage sneered.
"I'm not forgetting anything; that ship is on the bottom of the ocean."
"If the EFA had sunk that ship, they would have reported it."
"Not necessarily" Roux tried to convince herself "It could have been done by one of the lower factions."
"Who would have reported it to their leaders, who in turn would have reported it to the members of the Earth Deep Council; I'm telling you, that ship could be anywhere.
"Listen Sage, I know I can't be sure about the ship, but I am sure about Professor Linton Adisa. If you, as a member of the military, tell him to stay put, he will see it as an infringement on his authority and what's more, it will pique his suspicions."
"Don't worry about it" Sage waved Olive off with a sleazy grin "I made sure to massage his ego well enough."
"I know what you said, I read the transcript and that's why I'm worried. Linton would have seen right through your butt kissing. I'm gonna have to try and make contact with him. I just hope you haven't pushed him too far because if you have, he won't necessarily believe anything I tell him."
"I'll still think we've got nothing to worry about. They've completely exhausted the materials they need and nobody has been manufacturing rocket parts since we left, so no one on Earth is going anywhere."
"You sound very confident for someone who has no idea what's been happening on Earth for fifteen years" Olive shook her head.
"To be frank, I'm surprised the ol' planet still has anyone living on it at all; I thought Sholf-4 would have wiped it out long ago" Sage shrugged "You know and I know; it's only a matter of time until they are all dead anyway."
Roux's disgust with Sage was plain to see as her face turned red with rage.
"I don't want to hear you talking like that ever again. Everybody on this planet has family they had to leave behind and..."
"Well it's not my fault if they're so naive..." Sage interrupted.
"BE QUIET!" Roux screamed. "As I was saying, if anyone hears you belittling the lives of their loved ones, you'll spend the next five years in sanitation; do I make myself clear?"
"You don't have the power to..." Sage started but was interrupted by a disembodied voice.
"Maybe she doesn't Commander, but we do."
The voice was electronically disguised but Sage knew it was a member of the Deep Council.
"You have been warned" the voice continued "and you are forbidden from making contact with anyone off world, including the MTV."
Sage opened his mouth intending to argue his point, but soon thought better of it.
"Yes sir" he relented sarcastically "then with your permission."
And without waiting for permission to be acknowledged, Sage rose and left the room.
"I would like to apologise for not keeping Sage in line" Olive stated.
"We in the Deep Council are aware of how difficult he can be" the voice on the speaker declared "And no one could have foreseen such an unexpected communiqué from Professor Adisa after all these years."
"Thank you sir, but as you know it was I who recommended Sage for the Mars base."
"And he has been a great asset Premier. We just hope he continues to be so; for his own sake."
Sport was never easy at the best of times; fun yes, but not easy. Sport for the children of Mars though, brought with it a whole new dimension of possibilities and pain. The 1/3 gravity meant the wearing of weighted clothing to give a person's muscles a proper workout, but the same could not be done with sporting equipment. To triple the weight of a tennis racquet would increase its mass to such a degree, a player would overbalance when swinging it; and the ball would become nothing less than a projectile weapon. One can just imagine what injuries would result from a game of dodge ball.
"Time out please" Abigail Dias requested.
The communicator in her arm band briefly vibrated to catch her attention but the low frequency buzz indicated to her the message was official and important.
"You'll get no complaints from me" Holly Duncan declared as she collapsed on the court.
"Think fast!" Saffron cried out as she hurled the red ball at Holly.
"Hey; we're on a time out" the seated girl complained as she deflected the spherical projectile of pain.
"Yeah but I just love to see the look of panic on your face" Saffron grinned.
"Have you ever wondered what it would have been like to play this game on Earth?" Sudhi Mandal put forward as he joined the two girls "The ball would be so heavy."
"You should hear my Dad; he goes off on a rant every time I say something is too heavy" Holly whined.
"Mine too; 'Living on Mars is making you weak son' he's always saying." Sudhi put on a deep voice and tried to sound like his father.
"You were born on Earth Sarah" Saffron noted "Was it really so difficult?"
"I was only fourteen months old when I left!" the games umpire protested "How should I know what Earth was like?"
The short conversation came to an abrupt end when Abigail returned with a stunned look on her face.
"I'm not going" she declared.
"Good; then we can finish the game" Sudhi tactlessly noted.
"What are you talking about Abi?" Saffron could see her older sister was upset.
"I'm not going to Earth; all that training, all that effort, all for nothing."
"Well technically speaking, you were never really going to Earth, only into L5 orbit while your father..."
"Shut up Sudhi" Sarah demanded "Can't you see she upset."
Abigail tried not to cry as Sarah hugged her tight. The young lady had certainly put a superhuman effort into qualifying to be an Astronaut Pilot Trainee.
"Why would they do this to you Abi?" Holly huffed "You jumped through every hoop they demanded of you; they can't just change their minds and kick you out now!"
"The flight's been cancelled because there are no more supplies to pick up."
This new information stunned the small group into a brief silence.
"So this is it" Sarah sighed "We're finally on our own."
"Does this mean..." Holly had difficulty getting her words out "...everyone on Earth is... dead?"
"I doubt it Holly" Sarah comforted the young girl with a brave smile "There could be hundreds of reasons why this has happened; we just have to find out which one it is."
It was difficult for the five friends to put their feelings into words. They had often talked about how great it would be if they could go to the home of their ancestors. To walk outside without a pressure suit, to swim in an ocean; just like the people they had seen in the entertainment recordings.
The possibility had always felt very unlikely, but now it seemed completely impossible.
Today I saw a post on Facebook that made me cry a little. It was a close up picture of four fuzzy kitty paws with these words written underneath.
No amount of time can erase the memory of a good cat.
Still missing you Moon =^..^=