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The ship shakes.

We all fall down.

16

MAREK

“The first human beings to land on Mars should not come back to Earth. They should be the beginning of a build-up of a colony/settlement, I call it a ‘permanence’.”

— Buzz Aldrin, Astronaut

* * *

10

Years from now, this will be a moment adults describe to their children with great pride.

9

It feels as though we are all frozen in time, each of us holding our collective breath.

8

I have prepared for this moment for so long. I am ready. Ready to land. To start anew. Most of all, I am ready to say goodbye to the selfish way of living that made this trip necessary at all.

7

I am certainly ready to be done with the Buddy Fischers of the world.

To embrace the Azaleas.

6

I reach for her hand on instinct. In this moment, I need to touch her. I must share this with her and her alone. Even if we must be in a crowd, this touch locks out everyone but us. This touch binds us in time and place to the moment we descend onto Mars.

Together.

5

I always held great hope for this mission. With her near, that hope is exponential.

4

The Martian landscape comes into view, though the most expansive terraforming is still out of sight, on the other side of Arsia Mons—the massive volcano rising over our new home.

3

The passengers have no idea the magnitude of change they are about to experience.

2

Once the ship steadies in the new atmosphere, Elspeth will pilot us over craters and mountains until we can finally lay eyes on the fruits of my labors.

1

Oh no.

* * *