Page 11 of Hidden
Bastian's been talking about his projects, but I've missed most of it, being stuck in my head again. I need to stop thinking so much. To stop analysing everything. Stop doubting myself. I used to be a strong woman. I was chosen for this mission because I was confident in my own abilities. Now, I'm only a shadow of that old Louise, the one who arrived here on Mars.
"... and what's your plan, Louise?" Jonas suddenly asks me.
It takes me a moment to remember.
"I'm going to take the rover and check the surroundings of the station, see if everything is still in order. The solar panels to the west could do with some cleaning, most likely. We're still getting enough energy from them, but better safe than sorry."
I pause for a moment, then an idea hits me.
"Anybody want to join me?"
Six hands get raised and I laugh in delight. They all want to be with me.
I grin. "There's only space for four in the rover. You'll have to fight it out amongst yourselves."
"I didn't get to go last time," Han complains immediately. "Neither did Jim and Will."
"You three it is," I nod, not giving the others the chance to argue. "Let's go for a drive."
***
THE SOLAR PANELS TURNout to be largely free from dust. Sometimes, the winds don't disturb the sand as much and actually clean the roof of the station - and the solar panels, apparently. After we've made sure that everything is in order, I drive us further away from home, towards the mountains far in the distance. I've never been there and likely never will be. They're too far away, and with Earth not sending us further supplies, we’ll not get a new, better rover anytime soon. We did have a second one at the beginning until it was left outside during a sandstorm... well, it was ruined after that.
“Where to now? Want me to give you a tour of the area or do you need to be back at the station?” I ask my three passengers. They’ve been asking me questions about how to drive out here. Of course they learned how to on Earth, but it’s different once you’re actually on Mars, with the lesser gravity and the thick, alien sand.
“The others talked about that stone,” Han suggests. “The spire?”
“The Pinnacle. Yes, that’s in the opposite direction but why not. Get comfortable, it’s going to take about an hour to get there.”
“Nothing better than a bit of Mars sightseeing,” Will quips. “We’ve not seen much of our new home yet.”
“No, we were busy sleeping,” Han chuckles, before he shoots me a cautious glance. He probably wants to see how I react. Is that the doctor or the friend?
I smile, even though it hurts inside. Everything is a constant reminder of our past. At least Toby isn’t with us today; seeing his arm still gives me flashbacks and bouts of anxiety. The others got through it all unscathed, but I didn’t. I’ve healed a lot, but I’m not quite right yet.
I drive us towards the Pinnacle, swerving around mini craters and sand dunes. The rover has only just been fixed, I don’t want to risk it. And if something happened to it, we’d have to walk back to the station. There’s spare oxygen in the rover for emergencies like that, but still, I’d rather avoid that.
“Are we there yet?” Will asks playfully ten minutes into the drive. Jim, who’s sitting next to him on the back bench, elbows him just as playfully. Will shrieks.
“It was a justified question!” he moans. “Everything here looks the same.”
“You won’t be able to miss the Pinnacle, don’t worry,” I tell him with a smile.
Will and Bastian are the two clowns of the station, the ones who always tackle everything with a smile. Of course they can be serious, but I like their cheery, light-hearted manner. For grown men, they behave a lot like boys sometimes.
“Do you think aliens built it?” Jim asks suddenly, throwing me off a little.
“Wouldn’t that be fun,” Will laughs before I can answer. “Aliens building an antenna on Mars to communicate with their homeworld. Or is Mars their home? Real Martians?”
I chuckle. “It would be a nice story to tell people on Earth... if we could actually talk to them. Hey guys, we found the Martians you’ve been talking about for centuries.”
“What do you think they’d look like?” Han asks. “Green and slimy?”
“The scientist in me knows they’d be tiny, microbes perhaps, otherwise we’d have detected them long ago,” I say. “But it’s fun imagining them like they look in the films. Shall we give them some tentacles? Several arms, perhaps?”
“A third eye,” Han suggests. “And several rows of teeth.”
“Stop it,” Jim complains. “I’m going to have nightmares tonight.”
