Secret of The Red Planet

by Chris Hawley

CHAPTER SEVEN

  SIMILARIA

  The four of us set off across the desert. The three girls chatted and laughed among themselves as we sped along, each in our own bubble. I didn’t understand a word of what they were saying. I guessed it was a Martian dialect. Strange! I wonder what other Earth languages they speak. I’ll add that question to my long list of questions.

  After some time Michu turned to me and smiled. ‘It’s not much further now. We are nearly there. Are you tired? You must be hungry too.’

  ‘Not tired at all,’ I said. ‘But I must admit I feel a bit hungry, and thirsty.’ I realised that, in my excitement I had left home without even a thought about breakfast. And here I was, millions of kilometers from home and not a bite to eat.

  ‘Don’t worry, lunch is waiting for us,’ said Michu.

  I wondered what Martians eat for lunch. Soup? Salad? Cheese and pickles? This thought made my tummy rumble and my mouth water.

  The girls were laughing. ‘Those are Earth foods,’ said Sofu disdainfully. ‘You will soon see,’

  I had better learn to control my thoughts. Martians know exactly what you are thinking!

  After another few minutes we reached the crest of a hill. We stopped to look down.

  ‘There is home,’ said Michu, pointing down into the valley.

  I strained my eyes. ‘Where? I can’t see anything but red soil and rocks.’

  ‘Come on, Bill!’

  Finally we reached the floor of the valley. A short ride brought us to the foot of a huge, grey-brown cliff face, where we paused, our bubbles almost touching. Michu appeared to concentrate hard for half a minute. Then as if by magic a doorway appeared in the cliff face and a large bubble filled the whole space. The girls beckoned me forward and I followed them. My heart was beating against my ribs with excitement. Where was I being led?

  The next moment I found myself inside a small chamber, enclosed by grey rock on three sides while the fourth side consisted of a black hole, Michu approached the dark space and called to me to follow her. Then she slid forward into the opening and the next moment she had disappeared downwards into the blackness. I stepped back in surprise but Sofu, who was just behind me, gave me the slightest nudge and I found myself falling into nothingness. But it was a gentle experience with the friendly bubble enveloping me. After what seemed like a few moments, during which I lost all sense of time and space, I suddenly found myself in an enormous cavern. It must have been more than a hundred metres high. It was decorated with thousands of crystals, which reflected soft lighting of different colours, blues, purples, oranges and greens. It was so incredibly beautiful, it completely took my breath away. I stood for some moments, just peering up into the heights, unable to speak.

  A moment later Anamaru was standing beside me. ‘Do you like our home?’ she asked.

  ‘It’s fantastic! It’s amazing!’

  ‘It’s all natural,’ she said, proudly.

  ‘Really? And how many people live here?

  ‘Ninety nine.’ She paused. ‘You will make it one hundred.’

  ‘And how many people live on Mars, altogether?’ I asked.

  ‘Around a hundred thousand,’ added Sofu, who had come to join us.

  ‘Is that all? On Earth there are more than six billion.’

  ‘Something like that, I have heard,’ she said.

  ‘Yes, but look what a disaster your planet is,’ said Michu. ‘Most of your people live in poverty. You are destroying your forests that give you rain and supply your oxygen. You are polluting your rivers and your seas. Your famous United Nations keeps saying that everyone on Earth will soon have access to clean drinking water and this disease and that disease will be eradicated. The truth is, more and more viruses are emerging and in a hundred years, if you go on the way you have been going, water will be as precious as gold. At the rate at which you are destroying your ozone layer and pumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, you will soon poison yourselves into extinction.

  ‘Unless you do something about it very, very soon,’ put in Anamaru.

  ‘Of course we are doing what we can to help you,’ said Michu.

  I looked at her in surprise. ‘How are you helping?’

  ‘Just now there are about five hundred Martians living on Earth. They are working with your environmentalists to counteract the damage being done. Of course you don’t know they are Martians. They look just like you; they just have a lot more understanding of environmental matters than your people.’

  ‘Do you think they will succeed in averting disaster?’ I asked.

  ‘That is for your people to decide, Bill. But do you know what?

  ‘What?’ I asked.

  ‘Your mission will be to help them,’ said Michu. You will become a scientist one day and you will work on saving the environment. That is why you have come to Mars.’

  ‘Come to Mars for that?’ I said in astonishment.

  ‘Yes. You have come here to learn from us and to get inspiration. We have managed to live in harmony with our environment for thousands of years. We understand very clearly that we are an integral part of our environment and our survival depends on preserving it. Our use of natural resources is very carefully controlled. We also control our population because we know that Mars cannot support too many people. There is much for you to learn from us.’

  ‘I see,’ I said. ‘Martians living on Earth! That’s really cool!’

  We all laughed.

  ‘Anamaru and I have other duties,’ explained Sofu. ‘So we’ll leave you. We’ll see you at lunch.’ The two girls walked off, leaving Michu and me alone.

  I realised for the first time since entering the cavern that I no longer had the bubble. I had not noticed when it left me. I was surprised to feel neither cold nor hot and I could breathe perfectly.

  ‘This cavern is controlled for temperature, pressure and air content,’ explained Michu. ‘You may find going up and down more tiring because you are not used to the mixture of gases in the air. There is very slightly less oxygen than you are used to. We have had thousands of years to adapt. Tell me if you have any discomfort. Now, follow me. First you must wash and then eat.’

  Michu led the way along a steeply descending pathway deeper into the cavern. I stared up at the beauty of the roof as we walked. After a few minutes we came to a wall of rock, in which there was a rough opening. Passing through, we came across a small pool on the left-hand side of the path. It was about twenty metres long and fifteen metres wide. It looked quite deep and was lined entirely with rock. Soft blue and green lights shone from under the water, giving it a magical look. The ceiling was lower here, about thirty metres high. Like the roof of the cavern, it was a mass of crystals, which sparkled in the soft lights. It felt warmer here than in the main cavern.

  ‘Bathe in there; you will find the water agreeably warm.’ Michu said brightly. ‘Take your time, there is really no hurry,’ I looked round for further instructions but Michu had already gone.

  I bent down and touched the water. It was warm. I studied my reflection in the crystal clear liquid. Is that really you or am I dreaming? I asked my reflection. The rippling face just looked back at me but said nothing. I looked round to see that no-one was watching then I quickly took off my clothes and slipped gently into the pool. Not only was the water warm but it was softer than any water I had ever felt. I swam around slowly, relaxing every part of my body. Then I lay on my back and floated easily, without having to move a muscle. The beauty of the ceiling above me lulled me into a half sleep. If there is a heaven, this is it, I thought.