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In the early hours of the morning, the Venorian ship arrives, and with it, the four humans that have been living on Ven. As required by protocol, I’m there to greet them as they arrive. Troy Summers walks out first and grins at me. “Ambassador Garcia,” he says, coming towards me.
I shake his hand in welcome. “Call me Melinda. How are you Troy?”
“I’m good, thanks.”
I turn to say hello to the others—Shay Smith, Diego Sanchez and Dimitri Woods. “Welcome back to Mars. I’m sure you’ll want to catch up on your sleep and get your land legs back before we have our debrief. How about we meet at eleven for brunch together in my office?”
“That sounds good,” smiles Shay.
Eleven o’clock on the dot, they’re trooping into my office where a table has been set for our brunch. “Come in. Can I offer you anything to drink?” I ask them politely.
Once drinks are sorted and we’re all seated, I begin the debrief. “So firstly, how is Martha?”
Troy is first to speak up. “She’s doing great and is very happy in her unconventional menage with all her hunky Venorian males. Last I heard, she had plans to set up a school for Venorians and humans to be educated alongside each other.”
“I like that idea. Tell me, what was Ven really like?”
Shay gets a dreamy look on her face. “It was paradise. Perfect weather, beautiful landscapes, gorgeous sexy people, great food. I wish I could go back there already.”
“Add to that,” says Dimitri, “a highly evolved, sex positive society where there is equality between the sexes like I’ve never seen before.”
“Oh wow, you’re really selling it to me.”
“And that’s not all,” adds Troy. “The technology they have is out of this world. I’ve got hundreds of technical drawings to share with our people back on Earth. I’m pretty sure the information there will make significant improvements to our own technology across the board.”
“We’re very excited to see what you have, Troy. I can tell you all without a doubt that you have greatly impressed us with the work you’ve done on Ven. We’re so proud of you.”
“Thank you,” murmurs Diego. “That means a lot.”
“Tell me about the day of the Saraxian attack.”
“Well, that was one scary bunch of people,” says Dimitri. “We were all gathered in the palace with Martha when it happened…”
They all brief me in greater detail about the Saraxian attack on Ven with the boral crystals and how this induced a mass episode of unconsciousness among the Venorian population. As they talk, Luis records the proceedings, which he’ll then send me as a written draft. Brunch over, I let them go spend leisure time on the colony before we reconvene. At 18:00 tonight, we will departing on our journey back to Earth.
Chapter 3
Melinda
I pause my hike to admire the panoramic view before me. Grassy alpine meadows and scrubby pine trees cover the land as far as the eye can see. I breathe in the crisp mountain air and drink in the view. I’ve missed this.
Living on Mars the last three years has been exciting and great for my career, but there were some downsides. I spent my days confined to the artificial space of our indoor city, with no access to the arid landscape outside. It was fine while I was there, but now I’m back on Earth, I realize just how much I’ve missed being outside, surrounded by the bounty of nature. It makes me wonder how much longer I’m willing to continue with that existence. Over the next four weeks of leave, I need to work out my next move.
Wyatt halts beside me. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”
I take a deep inhale of the fresh mountain air. “It is. I was just thinking how much I miss this when I’m living in an artificially constructed city with no access to the open air.”
I walk a little further to find a flat rock to sit on and take off my backpack, pulling out my bottle of water. Wyatt digs into his pack and passes me an energy bar. He sits next to me as we both take satisfying gulps of water and eat our snack.
Finally, Wyatt resumes the thread of our earlier conversation. “It doesn’t sound like you want to continue on Mars even if they decide to renew your term there.”
“No, I don’t think I could do another three years of that life.”
“So, what next?”
“I’ve thought about seeking alternative employment on Earth, perhaps doing some lecturing at universities, but I don’t like that idea either. I haven’t worked this hard to get to where I am only to give it all up.”
