Mission Mars Read Free

turn to blush. He’d taken one look at me and assumed I was a child. I vowed to cut my hair in a more daring style the first chance I got. Nothing much I could do about measuring a mere one hundred and sixty centimeters and massing slightly under forty-eight kilos. I certainly wasn’t going to admit that I’d only just turned eighteen.
    â€œThey’re around somewhere.” My tone could’ve frozen Lake Michigan in midsummer.
    â€œSorry, it’s just you’re so—”
    â€œSmall?” I almost regretted my response when I saw him flinch.
    â€œI was going to say petite, but I guess you get that a lot.”
    He looked so mortified, I just couldn’t stay mad at him. Besides, I wanted to see him smile again. “Today’s my eighteenth.”
    Whatever he saw in my face must have reassured him, because his smile returned. “If there’s room for one more at the party, I’d love to help you celebrate.”

    The meeting dragged through a score of introductions and boring minutia related to scheduling: meals, work and training shifts, educational modules for those of us still in school. We all perked up when Captain Larkin stepped to the podium. He was shorter than I’d expected: well under a hundred and ninety centimeters. Rather than remaining behind the metal stand, he walked to the middle of the semicircle and allowed his gaze to wander over the crowd as he spoke.
    Like everyone else, I gave him my undivided attention. This was the man who controlled our lives for the next year—longer if the colony was not prepared for self-governance when we arrived on Mars. My parents considered us lucky to be under his command. Not only was he reputed to be the best, he was bringing along his own kids whose lives were as much at risk as ours.
    â€œThe three colonies scheduled for the first wave will enter lockdown at 1600 hours tomorrow,” he said. “The next launch window for Mars is four months away. The minimum time necessary to achieve transfer to our ship is twenty-one days. Any breach of lockdown will trigger an automatic reset with a two-week penalty.” He paused a few seconds to let us all do the math. “If we miss this window, we’ll be bumped to the end of the line and won’t be eligible for launch until the spring of 2054. And that is not an option.”
    As we all had worked hard to be among the first colonists scheduled for transport, nobody liked the idea of waiting four more years for our next opportunity.
    â€œOnce the airlock is sealed, it will not be breached until the ninety-day period has ended. Not for any reason.”
    Whispers echoed around the room. The man who’d been introduced earlier as Chief of Med-Surg rose. “We were told the lockdown was a trial period … to insure we are all compatible as a group.”
    â€œIf this colony intends to be among the first wave, the time for trials has passed,” the captain answered.
    â€œShouldn’t that be a decision we make together?”
    â€œThis isn’t a democracy, Doctor.” Captain Larkin advanced a couple of steps. “You’re on my ship, Doctor Samuels. Until the colony is fully established on Mars and elects its first Board of Governors, the decisions to make are mine, and mine alone.” The doctor sank into his seat and Larkin continued.
    â€œYou have the next twenty-four hours to make your decision. Do not allow a false sense of responsibility to guide your choice. For every position filled by someone inside this room, there are at least three people waiting on the outside for the chance to join this colony. Each of them passed the same rigorous training each of you experienced and is every bit as qualified as each of you. Don’t put your fellow colonists at risk by staying if you are not prepared to abide by my rules.”
    Three people on the second row stood in unison at his gesture. “Med-Psych will be available