Chapter 1: Devon
Mear -1, Day 299
Thunberg dome, Devon Island colony, Mars
Leaning over the balcony railing, I breathed in the scents of life on Mars: delicate apple blossoms, grassy bamboo, loam, and compost.
The buildings were clustered together at the centre of the dome. From here, I could see clear across the open space. Thunberg was the third of our four domes. We'd opened it a few months ago – and it was already awash with green. The seeds and saplings we'd brought from Earth had flourished.
We should have been building the fifth dome now – but our plans had been thrown into disarray three weeks ago.
Somehow I missed the sound of Brian's door. ‘Hey, kiddo.' Kiddo... He was two years younger than I was – but he seemed older than his twenty-seven years. Earth years. ‘Bet you're grateful I ain't the one cooking tonight, hey?' He didn't touch my arm as he spoke, though I could see he wanted to. Brian was a huggy kind of person.
It wasn't so much that I didn't want to be touched at all – more that I wanted to decide who could touch me and when. Most people didn't understand that.
I turned to face him. Best (and only) botanist on Mars – like our very own Mark Watney. We were about the same height, though he was a stockier build. His skin had an olivey complexion to my fair, freckled tones. ‘You're a good cook, Brian.'
‘And you're a terrible liar,' he said with a shrug. He headed down the stairs.
It wasn't a lie, I thought but didn't say. At the bottom, we turned onto the pathway leading west towards Sacagawea, the first dome we'd built. The centre of the path had turned a muddy brown from months of being trod on, but the edges – where they met the rich reddish-black soil – retained their crisp whiteness.
All eight members of the advance crew ate our meals together in Saca's lounge: an open-plan community kitchen-living-dining space. The corresponding areas in the other three domes wouldn't be opened until the rest of the colonists arrived twelve months from now. Social living was a feature of our life on Mars – now and later. I'd been surprised to find I enjoyed it – I could have privacy when I needed it, but our set-up encouraged me to be more social than I otherwise would.
Brian touched some leaves as we passed. I tried to remember the plant's name – I was sure he'd told me. Big variegated leaves. Diefenbaker?
At the airlock, I cranked the handle to open the door. Once we were inside, Brian pulled it shut behind us. Because the pressure in both domes was the same, we didn't have to wait for it to equalise. I opened the door to Saca dome as soon as the other one was closed.
As we stepped outside, I inhaled the different smells and felt the reduction in humidity. The plants had changed, too – hence the slightly altered odours. Brian had been teaching me about which plants liked which conditions, although he'd laughed when I'd pointed out they lacked the mental capacity to like or dislike anything.
Three minutes after we left home, Brian pushed open the door to Saca's lounge. He called out, ‘Hey, Lis, is that your loogie-shookem I smell? Love that stuff!'
‘Luskinikn, Bri. And yes, it is,' our team leader replied. She was sitting on the floor where the awful sofa had been, her phone held up in front of her. Her grey T-shirt was neat – almost as if she had ironed it. I looked down at my own clothes: a well-worn long-sleeved top over dinosaur-printed leggings. The quick breads she made – her grandfather's recipe – were delicious. ‘And Sun's making soup – mushroom and corn.'
‘C'mon, Devon, let's get the table set,' Brian said, nudging my side.
* * *
After we'd finished eating we stayed at the table. ‘Today's meeting will be brief,' Lisa said, her hands wrapped around her mug of herbal tea. ‘Thornback, you're— Sorry! Devon, you're with me in the morning.' Sixteen months after leaving Earth – including more than six on Mars – we'd finally persuaded her to call us by our first names, but her years of military training made it hard for her to adapt.
‘The two of us will clean the solar array. Ife and Paxton, you'll be outside-outside doing the weekly inspection. Everyone else will be in the gardens. We've got to start producing as much food as—' She ran a hand over her long black plait. ‘Sorry, you all know that. I shouldn't keep repeating it.'
A few years ago, scientists had calculated a high risk of an extinction-level event on Earth. In response, a group of countries, businesses, and ultra-wealthy individuals – not that we had any idea who they were – created plans for a colony on Mars.
The ships carrying the other 152 colonists and all the supplies from Earth we were ever going to get had launched five days earlier – six months ahead of schedule amidst a deadly pandemic. Lisa took a deep breath. ‘I do have some good news: it looks like Chris Ngata is going to pull through.'
The haste meant that some people arrived at the launch site in Cornwall just hours before takeoff. Those who couldn't quarantine ahead of time had been isolated in spacesuits – the reasons for which had become obvious when two people began experiencing symptoms.
Chris survived. The other woman hadn't. None of us knew Chris – a reserve colonist – but with at least half the people on Earth gone, anyone who survived felt like a win.
Once the four ships arrived, our little colony would be independent and self-sufficient – alone against the universe. So to speak.
* * *
The daily meeting lasted only a few minutes. We had work to be getting on with – although tonight's project was a break from the monotony. And the benefits would be almost immediate.
While two of the team cleaned up, Lisa, Brian, and I popped out to my workshop next to the community space.
‘Hey,' said Leah when we returned to the lounge, our arms laden with big cushions. ‘What do you folks think?'
Lisa set her bundle down. ‘About what?'
Paxton and Sun walked in, carrying stacks of plastic and wood.
‘We need a new word for outside,' Ife said.
Brian carefully balanced all the cushions on the dining table. ‘What's wrong with outside?'
Ife pressed the button to start the dishwasher. ‘I mean an option beyond inside and outside. When you leave a building, you're outside – but you're still in the dome. We need something that means outside the buildings and outside the dome.'
Lisa moved to the living room area and gave the upended coffee table and stacked armchairs a shove, maximising the open space. A rolled up rug stood in the corner. ‘Yes! I keep saying outside-outside, but that's not really sustainable, is it?' She took a few slabs of wood from Paxton's arms and began arranging them on the floor.
Brian and I gathered all the pot plants and moved them to the kitchen counter to protect them.
Leah joined Lisa on the floor and helped sort through the pieces. ‘Hmm… What about al fresco?'
Habi arrived just then. ‘Hope you haven't got the party started without me.' She raised her bag of tools high before setting it on the ground. ‘Though, I'm not sure how you could've.'
Lisa held up a hand. ‘Oh, good, you're back. Could you pass me the cordless screwdriver, please?' She balanced a screw between her lips and turned back to Leah. ‘Choo obvush,' she said.
‘I like the idea of looking to another language, though,' said Ife. ‘It should reflect the multicultural nature of the colony. Who's got the remote? Can someone call up the video with the assembly instructions, please?'
Setting the last of the plants down, I said, ‘I'm on it.' I found the remote and clicked a few buttons. A person appeared on the screen on the room's exterior wall. We paused our conversation as we worked on assembling the pieces according to his instructions. The video was one we'd found on the internet archive we'd brought with us.
The man talked us through the process of assembling the sofa's frame from the pieces we'd created.
‘What kind of bastard,' I demanded for the whatevereth time, ‘sent us up here with ten of the most godawful, literal-pain-in-the-arse-and-everything-else sofas ever devised?'
Brian and Sun upended the new sofa frame and set about tightening the bolts. Without turning around, Brian said, ‘Probably the same sumbitch that decided coffee was a luxury we couldn't afford very much of. Lucky for all y'all, I got a plan up my sleeve.'
Ife scowled. ‘Don't forget – we've still got eight more of those bad boys in storage, waiting to be assembled.'
Lisa was sitting cross-legged on the floor, shoving one of the cushions we'd brought into one of the covers Paxton made. ‘Nope, no way. Executive decision. Those bastards will be used as salvage. They'll be repurposed into something that will benefit the colony.'
I shook my head as I stretched the fabric cover over the arm of the new sofa. ‘Seriously, who designed them? Who approved them?'
Habi grunted as she pulled the cover over the last corner of the frame. ‘I don't know – I thought the original sofas were pretty. Very sleek.'
I snorted. ‘Sleek, yeah… Just like the ones they had at my dad's office in Canary Wharf. Designed for appearance. No thought spared for functionality.'
Leah pulled the zip shut on one of the new cushions and tossed it onto the frame. ‘I don't get it. Why would they go to all the trouble of ensuring we have everything we need for sur— No, not just survival. They considered every aspect of life and how to make it as good as possible for us – and then they were just like, "Here. Have a sofa that feels like a stack of breeze blocks covered in static electricity." Why?'
Paxton stopped what she was doing, tears streaming down her face. ‘The Earth is in turmoil – millions of people dying every day. And all we care about is a sofa and our own comfort. Sitting up here in our carefully controlled, plague-free bubble.' She slammed her fists down onto the striped surface of a sofa cushion. ‘We ought to be doing something!'
Habi climbed over a pile of cushions and put her arms around Paxton.
Lisa leaned back, putting her weight onto her hands. ‘We are doing something. We came to Mars – we chose to come here – because we knew this was a possibility. We can't do anything for the people on Earth. It's just…'
She shook her head. ‘But what we can do – what we are doing – is preparing this world for the ones who made a lucky escape. Those people need us. They need food and water and air – and yes, sofas. And we've got our work cut out for us. They'll be arriving six months ahead of schedule. We're going to have to work harder than any of us have ever done. And for a few minutes at the end of each day, we're going to need somewhere comfortable to sit and relax.'
Lisa reached out a hand and touched Paxton's knee. ‘Okay?'
Paxton gave a small nod and looked away.
We all sat in awkward silence.
After a few minutes, Paxton sniffed and began rearranging cushions around herself. ‘So, back to our earlier conversation about outside-outside… How about ngoài trời?’
My auditory processing was terrible. Brian's eyes flitted back and forth. Leah held up her phone. ‘Sorry, could you repeat that for my hearing aid app?'
Paxton smiled. ‘Ngoài trời.’
Brian opened his mouth, closed it, then tried again. ‘Why choi? Now, I always said Australian was a beautiful language.' Paxton rolled still-glistening eyes at him.
Leah looked down at her phone. She frowned. ‘Okay, my app tells me the spelling and that it's Vietnamese. It says it means "open air". I'm still not sure I'm getting the pronunciation. Nway tree?’ Paxton had been raised in Australia, but her family was Vietnamese.
I tried. ‘Wah tsee?’
Lisa chuckled as she arranged the last of the cushions on the new sofa. ‘Pax, you're being cruel – trying to get people who didn't grow up speaking tonal languages to leap into the deep end.' Lisa's first language was English, but her father had taught her Cantonese from childhood.
Paxton threw up her hands in defence. ‘Not hardly. If I wanted to be mean, I'd try to get them all saying bà ba béo bán bánh bèo bên bờ. But, yeah, I'm not sure I want to listen to your garbled attempts to manage two simple words.'
‘No, I like it.' Ife shrugged. ‘Pax, what time do you want to go—' She was laughing so hard, she had to pause to breathe. ‘When do you want to go wah tree tomorrow? Can I vote we don't get started until about eight?'
Paxton stuck her tongue out at her. ‘Forget I said anything. Who's got another suggestion? Bri, how about Spanish? Got anything good for us?'
‘Well now.' Brian pinched his lips together. By this point everyone had the giggles. ‘Bajo las estrellas does have a certain ring to it.' He wiped tears from his eyes. ‘But no, my vote still goes with wai chee.’
Paxton let out an exasperated breath. ‘I give up. I can't listen to you people butcher the language of my foremothers anymore. I'm going to bed. You coming, Sun?'
Sun looked serious. ‘I was thinking I might take a walk ngah tsu first.' Our doctor's first language was Cantonese, another tonal language. Surely she should have been capable of pronouncing the words – if she'd wanted to. She cracked a grin.
I couldn't help myself, fanning my face with my hand, desperate to quell the giggles. ‘Sun, don't forget we agreed no one is allowed to go wang chung alone.'
Paxton clenched her fingers to her thumbs, forming little circles in front of her chest. ‘Ngoài trời. Ngoài trời. What is so diff—' She doubled over laughing. When she finally looked up, tears were streaming down her face. ‘I love you losers. But I really am going to bed.' She and Sun walked to the door. She turned back to face us, still chuckling. ‘Good night, you dags.'
Everyone wailed with uncontrollable laughter even after they'd departed. One by one, the others left until only Lisa, Brian, and I remained – sitting on the floor, gazing up at our handiwork.
At length, I said, ‘Oh, bollocks. We didn't even get a pic of us all piled onto the sofa we made.'
Lisa waved the idea away. ‘Meh. It's after midnight. We'll do it in the morning.'
Brian rubbed his hands together. ‘Well, come on. We're gonna try it out, ain't we?'
Lisa hauled herself to her feet with grace and ease. ‘Definitely.'
I climbed up – with considerably less decorum than Lisa had.
We walked over to our creation and turned our backs on it. ‘Right,' Lisa declared. ‘Three, two, one.' We all fell backwards into the sofa we'd created together.
I leaned back into its perfect blend of squishiness and support with a sigh. ‘This is the comfiest sofa ever.'
Brian chuckled. ‘Not that you're one to break your arm patting yourself on the back, naturally.' He had a campy, absurd saying for every occasion.
‘What?' Did he think I was bragging? ‘It was a group project. All I did was…'
Lisa stretched her arm the length of the sofa. ‘True, but you made the cushions.' Although she was careful not to touch me, I was aware of her closeness.
Brian pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. ‘It ain't the beautiful lines you're singing the praises of, now is it, kiddo? Nor the way the colours work together. It ain't even the quality of the craftsmanship.' He moved his hands as he spoke, making big gestures that reinforced each phrase.
‘We're only teasing you, Devon,' Lisa said. ‘And it is a helluva comfy couch.'
* * *
Saca dome, Devon Island colony, Mars
The next morning, I looked through the windscreen at the icy light of the sun against a blue sky. A blue sky – how weird was that? It wouldn't last long; it would return to its usual dull salmony colour once the sun was above the horizon.
Once the airlock door was fully open, I slid the gearstick into drive and inched the rover down the ramp.
‘I love this time of day – don't you?'
Lisa's voice reminded me I wasn't alone. I didn't mind her; she was a good person and an ideal leader. But for a moment I'd forgotten she was there.
‘My favourite part is when we come out a few minutes earlier and we see the Earth rise before the sun does,' I replied.
I heard her take a sip of the tea she had in her travel mug. We'd driven the route between the colony and the solar farm often enough that the way was relatively smooth. ‘Mmm, yeah. That is good. Would you like me to rejig the duty roster so we're out in time to see that?'
Good boss. ‘Thanks, I'd appreciate that. I didn't want to ask, because people don't like getting up early.'
‘Not a prob. I'm an early bird, too. I'll switch it so when the two of us are on solar duty, we leave base ten minutes before dawn.'
I turned the vehicle northwards, away from the rising sun and the crater wall.
‘Where we're going, we don't need roads.' Crap, I didn't mean to say that out loud. Sometimes I couldn't help myself. Certain words and phrases just popped out of my mouth before I could stop them. A bit of autistic echolalia.
I hoped Lisa didn't think I was losing my grip on reality. I glanced over, but she just chuckled. I'd gone off the rails on the trip to Mars and I didn't want anyone to ever look at me the way they did when I wasn't okay.
‘Livid,' I said.
Lisa sniffed. ‘What?'
I lifted one hand off the steering wheel and pointed outwards. ‘The colour, I mean. The sky. It comes from the Latin word lividus, meaning a dull leaden-blue colour.'
Lisa clicked her tongue. ‘Really? I didn't know livid could refer to a colour, but if you told me it did, I'd have guessed it was a sort of angry purple. Like a livid bruise.'
She leaned forwards in the passenger seat to get a better look at the sky. ‘On Earth, the sky appears blue because blue light bounces off air molecules. At sunrise and sunset, the light has further to travel within the atmosphere, so it scatters more. Volcanic ash, dust from fires, and contaminants make for those fiery sunsets we used to take for granted.'
Small talk scared the pants off me. I normally hated these two-person drives – much as I adored spending the day doing manual labour under the open sky. People felt compelled to fill the silence with meaningless jibber-jabber. But this was the kind of chat I could get behind. Even though she was cool by conventional standards, Lisa was still a proper geek.
‘Here, it's the other way around,' I replied, stating the obvious. But isn't that all small talk ever is – just repeating things everyone already knows? ‘The way sunlight scatters depends on what's in the atmosphere. Some particles only interact with specific wavelengths, which determine the colours we see.'
Twenty minutes after we left, I stopped the rover at the edge of the solar farm. The sky had melted back to its usual colour as we drove. I turned the engine off. Time to get to work.
* * *
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