The King of Mars

At first, I was worried that the going would be too slow with company. This was, after all, a first for me, and even though Rina would stop once in a while to examine particular landmarks every once in a while, she had absolutely no problem keeping up with me. In fact, I had the feeling that if she knew exactly where she was going, I would be the one trying to keep up with her. She was surprisingly talkative as well and was constantly asking me questions.

“So, why is Mars red anyway?” She asked, returning from an observation to keep pace at my side.

“It’s an abundance of ferrous oxide in the soil,” I was happy to explain.

“You mean it’s actually red just because of rust?” She sounded disappointed.

“Yep,” I said, “didn’t you learn this in school?”

“Yeah, I didn’t really pay so much attention to Martian science,” she told me. “I sort of feel like it’s a waste of time learning about it. I mean, it’s not like we’re going to actually be able to live on the surface one day.”

“Well that’s pessimistic,” I teased. “And not entirely true. Studies have shown that there used to be liquid water across the planet, similar to Earth. I know that the official consensus is that there never was life here, but I’m not always so sure.”

“What do you mean?” Rina asked, curiosity peaking in her voice.

“You know that Mars has the biggest volcano in the solar system?” I said. “It also has a numerous series of canal like geographical features, suggesting that there were once rivers. The most famous of course being the Valles Marineris, which I think used to be a sea millions and millions of years ago.”

“So, what do you think happened?”

“There’s no way to tell,” I sighed. “We can only bounce theories back and forth. It doesn’t make sense to me that this planet would be dead like this. It’s thought that the planets formed at relatively the same time and in the beginning Mars was most likely very similar to Earth. Unlike Earth, however, this planet is slightly smaller. Unable to hold onto its atmosphere, the warmth slipped away, leaving us with what you see here. But my theory is, in order to maintain liquid water for a long enough time to carve out those riverbeds; Mars must have had a thicker atmosphere for a much longer time than the experts believe. I think that something must have happened here.”

“Hmmm, okay, like what?”

“That’s the part I don’t know,” I admitted. “Maybe there was some sort of cataclysmic asteroid strike that sent a portion of Mars’ mass out into space. But we don’t have an impact site of the magnitude to explain that. Another theory of mine is that, and it’s definitely a stretch, Mars had another, larger moon that helped keep the atmosphere in check somehow. Sort of like a tidal effect, but obviously there is no way whatsoever to prove that one.”

Rina nodded as if imagining the thought of an ancient satellite falling out of orbit and into the inky depths of outer space. “I really like the way that you explain things.”

“Um, what do you mean?”

“Just the way you speak all intelligently. It’s kinda cute, y’know?”

I was glad that she couldn’t see my face because I was definitely blushing. “Thanks, I think you’re cute too.”

“Trust me, I know, everyone does,” she said. It didn’t sound like arrogance in her voice, more like distance. “But I can’t help feel like everyone only sucks up to me because of my father’s influence.”

“Not gonna lie, that’s probably part of it,” I shrugged. “But it’s definitely not all of it.”

“That’s really sweet, Aleks,” I could almost feel her smiling, making me blush more. “I appreciate the honesty on top of it all. You know what I appreciate more though?”

“Huh?”

“The fact that my father has no influence on you.”

“Oh,” I said, disheartened. “So you’re only doing this to make daddy mad?”

“No! Of course not!” Rina raised her hands, immediately defensive. “I mean, come one, who in their right mind wouldn’t want to walk around out here? It’s beautiful!”

“Yeah?” I quickened my pace to walk out ahead of her. “I thought it was just rust.” How could I be so stupid, this girl wasn’t interested in me, only in pissing off her father. I didn’t even care so much about that, I just hated the feeling of being used. She must have sensed my annoyance because after that, Rina was silent, letting me walk further ahead having already proven who was the more physically fit one.

The tone stayed like that for painfully long as our footsteps crunched over the rocky soil. I started to regret bristling up against her. Stupid, Aleks, you’re so fucking stupid. So, glancing back to check if she was still even there, I decided to ask about the only thing that came to mind. “So, those strikes, how did you get them?”

“Do you actually care?” Ouch.

“Yeah,” I answered, completely honest. “It seems harsh that the old man would be so close to giving his own daughter a death sentence.”

“Well, contrary to popular belief, I do not get any special treatment,” Rina told me. “And just like there are things that people don’t know about you, there are things that people don’t know about me.”

“So in other words you’re not going to tell me?”

“You know that there are ways to get around without being noticed, right?” Rina asked. I looked at her and even though she couldn’t see me, she could obviously tell that I had no idea what she was talking about. “The vents, jeez, I’d have figured that someone like you would have been on top of that one!”

“The thought occurred to me once or twice, but I was told doing that is really dangerous.”

“Ha!” Rina laughed. “That’s coming from the kid who hacks into the most guarded facility known to man. You know what they’d do to you if they found out about that?”

“Yeah, I have a couple ideas,” I muttered. “Anyway, you got caught climbing around in the vents and got a strike for it? That’s still pretty harsh.”

“That’s not the whole reason,” Rina explained. “It’s not just because of what I was doing. I may or may not have been spying on my dad’s meeting with the President and his Cabinet. Anyway, I overheard a bunch of mumbo jumbo I couldn’t really understand, just about Lab O and “specimens.”” Her fingers quoted in the air. “They were also talking about radio contact with Earth, Aleks. There are still people there!”

“What??” This came as a huge shock. “But they said that the war killed everything, that the radiation-”

“Come on, Aleks,” Rina interrupted. “You didn’t strike me as the type of person to believe everything that they tell you without question.”

“It just doesn’t make sense,” I grumbled. Half because of the news of survivors and half because I was disappointed that I wasn’t as cool as Rina thought I was. “Why would they tell everyone that surviving on Earth is impossible?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Rina sounded like she was starting to get annoyed with me now. “It’s all about control. You think it would be so easy to control a population like this if they knew there was another choice?”

“You’re right,” I admitted. “That’s just messed up. Our whole lives they’ve been lying to us.”

“Yeah it’s fucked up actually,” Rina agreed. “Anyways, the heat turned on and I couldn’t just shimmy my way out of there or they’d hear me. Well, they heard me anyway when the metal started to burn. Immediately they pulled me out and the look on my dad’s face…” She trailed off. “Well, it wasn’t my proudest moment. The President himself demanded that I get expulsed right away but my dad talked him out of that. Instead I just took one strike and swore on my mother’s grave to never tell anyone, sorry about this, mom.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”

“It’s alright, she’s in a better place.” Rina said, but I could still hear the sadness that she tried to conceal. “She caught the Blisters a couple years ago and got sent right to quarantine. I didn’t even get to say goodbye.”

“Damn, that’s terrible.” Infectious diseases are handled immediately and very severely, which makes sense living in an isolated environment. One slip up and the whole population could die from something as simple as diarrhea. Though, when someone does fall ill, they are promptly sent to quarantine until the disease passes, most cases aren’t a death sentence, those that succumb to the Blisters are never heard from again. At first it was only one or two cases a year. That number has steadily been rising, much to the discomfort of everyone in the Hex. Not wanting to lie by saying something along the lines of “Who knows, maybe she’s still alive!” I knew in my heart that it wouldn’t be true, I’m sure she did as well. Instead, I opted to turn around and face the silently grieving girl. “You’re strong, though, I can already tell. I won’t pretend to know how it feels to lose someone like that, but you don’t have to go through it alone anymore.” I hoped that it didn’t sound as corny as it felt to say it.

Apparently it worked, because when I opened my arms in an offer to hug, Rina practically threw herself into them. She didn’t cry, but the emotion was there, seeping through the suit like an aura of grief. It could have been forever, it could have been two seconds. I didn’t care, as long as she was in my arms. I only hoped that I could truly make her feel even a little bit better. “Thanks, Aleks.”

“Anytime.” The hug unfortunately broke off so I decided to continue our trek rather than stand there awkwardly regaining my composure. It was also a fact that we had to keep moving if we were going to make it to our destination. “So, what did the other strike come from?”

“Well, I snuck into communications and attempted to radio someone on Earth,” Rina told me, I felt like she was glad to change the subject, even if it was to something as morbid as her pending death sentence. “Obviously, I got caught before I managed that one.”

“You’re crazy,” I laughed. “Well, don’t worry,” I assured her, “we aren’t gonna get caught.”

“I know,” she giggled, back to normal. “I believe in you, after all, you made it back home naked without getting cited.” Now that’s the Rina I know and love.

“That was really uncalled for, by the way.” If I could’ve stuck my tongue out at her, I would have. “And I wasn’t naked, thank you very much.”

“Shame.” I blushed again, curse my confounded virginity!

“It’d serve you right if I stole your clothes this time,” I tossed back at her. “And I’ll make sure to take your underwear.”

“Okay, that’s weird.”

“Sorry,” I said, looking at the ground. Great, the awkward meter reached a new high just now.

“I’m only kidding!” Rina laughed, amused at my embarrassment. “Go ahead, take my panties, I have nothing to hide.”

“Well, in that case…” Not knowing how else I should respond to that one, I walked ahead, Rina following behind.

A little while later, she broke the silence and asked, “So, where exactly are we going again?”

“Well, we’ve been walking for a couple of hours now, so you should see pretty soon,” I calculated, pulling out my iDot to check the time and the topographical map of the surface. “Just be patient.”

“I’m warning you now,” Rina said, “patience is not one of my strong points.”

I tsk tsk-ed, “Come on, now. Patience is a virtue.”

“Do I seem like a particularly virtuous girl to you?”

“That sounds like a trick question so I respectfully decline to answer.”

“How diplomatic of you.”

“Oh, shit,” looking at the little computer, I realized that we were much closer than I realized.

“Is something wrong??”

“Come on!” I took off at a slow jog so I didn’t burn too much oxygen, Rina easily matched the pace. In a short while, we were standing at the edge of a colossal canyon. The rift fell gigantically down under our feet. Standing at the edge was giving me a severe case of vertigo as I watched the sand trickle down to the canyon floor that was literally miles below. This was the sight I was trying to see this whole time; every goal of every walk was a step closer to where I stood today. The final push was finally given to me by the beautiful girl that stood, just as awestruck, to my side.

“This is the Valles Marineris, the one I was talking about,” I told her. “One of the most extreme features of any planet in the solar system, it can reach four miles in depth and is long enough to span across the continental United States back on Earth.” I looked around, drinking the sight in. The only hints that gave away the valley was the far side that sat just below the horizon and the edge of the cliff that expanded laterally as far as the eye could see in an uneven, rocky line. It was truly colossal, whole Hexes could fit inside just the part that Rina and eye were staring at now.

“It’s incredible,” she breathed.

I turned my head to the side to look at her, “So you’re impressed then?”

“Yeah, it’s huge.” Insert perverted joke here. “You could say I’m impressed.” Daring to be a little bold, my hand sneaked its way towards hers and when I felt them bump together, my fingers stealthily found their way in between hers. She didn’t protest. In fact, once my digits were in position, she squeezed her palm against mine as if to let me know that everything was okay, that this is exactly where she wants to be and she’d rather be here with no one else.

Extremely satisfied, I returned my head to its starting position, trying to burn the scenery of the valley into my mental scrapbook forever. The faraway sun was high in the sky, but it was starting to make its descent to the horizon. A gust of wind weakly blew towards us, just strong enough to send a cascade of glittering, red-orange dust over the edge of the opposite side. We watched the streams of sand dance and glide their way to the valley floor, where hills and boulders and myriads of smaller stones cast their shadows in the unique, once in a lifetime display for the present moment. There must have been some residual, million year old water, left behind soaked into the crust as permafrost, cause clouds of shimmering particles rose up to meet the sand as the wind flowed down and into the valley. They intermingled as the wind sang. I swore I could hear the air change tones as it flowed over every single boulder. It was truly beautiful, everything I ever hoped for and more, seeing as I got to witness it for the first time with a goddess holding my hand. I felt like my entire existence led up to this very moment, and god, I was not disappointed.

However, something strange caught my eye. As I scanned the bottom of the valley, I couldn’t help but notice a number of decently sized boulders arranged into a circle. Could it have been coincidence? Sure, but something deep inside told me that even that was ludicrous. No kind of erosion would ever cause boulders of that size to rest in such a near perfect circle. So, what did that mean? Maybe there was life here once upon a time. Maybe I was the first person to notice the last remaining evidence of a long dead race of people. Of one thing I was certain, even if those rocks were arranged there by someone, they were long gone. More likely, what I was seeing was evidence of my own people’s arrival on planet Mars. Either way, it didn’t matter. I pushed these thoughts aside for later, I didn’t want to ruin this moment. Rina and I watched the rust and the ice intermingle in all of its glittering glory for a while longer in silence before I noticed that the sun was dipping ever closer to the horizon. “Hey, it’s time to go.”

“Okay,” Rina answered reluctantly, turning to face me. To my surprise, her other hand found my other hand and her remaining fingers wove between my other set. “Thank you for this, Aleks. It was really wonderful.”

“Yeah,” I said, my black visor unwavering as I touched it to hers. “You’re telling me. Thank you for coming.” It was almost as if they were glued together, it was so difficult to disengage my hands from hers. “Sorry, but we really have to go. Plus, I can’t wait to watch you change again.” I almost laughed out loud, this person didn’t sound like me at all. My confidence must have been boosted by the serenity of the surroundings. Or maybe I felt like such small things no longer mattered.