Yves Giraud - Kahnu

“Hola, Sabrina!”

“Hola, Chasma! Dormir bien?”

“Si. Y usted.”

“Si, gracias! Desea ver las flores?”

“Si, por favor.”

Walking through a path between rows of vegetable trays, they soon arrived at the spot where the tomato plants were grown. One plant in particular looked fuller and healthier than all others. There were even more flowers on it than the day before. Chasma loved looking at them, but she loved smelling them even more. Sabrina took Chasma in her arms and raised her up to help her sit on the table, right next to the plant beds, just as she did every morning. The young child leaned over to smell the closest flower to her.

“Ooooo! This one smells good, Sabrina!”

“Yes, it’s a nice one; and big too!”

“It’s my favorite!”

“Do you want it?”

“Oh, can I? Please, can I?” the girl asked all excited.

In truth, Sabrina had already planned to give her a flower from the batch that morning, for a good reason. Today was Chasma’s birthday. In a few hours, the members of the small Martian station would gather in greenhouse II to celebrate her turning five.

A few minutes later, holding her beautiful flower in one hand and her doll, Sylvia, in the other, she burst into her parent’s pod.

“Mommy, Mommy! Look!”

“Well, what do we have here? That’s a beautiful flower, Chasma. Did Sabrina give it to you?”

“Yes, she said it was because it’s my birthday today, Mommy. I’m five now, you know?”

“Yes, you are. You’re a big girl, now.”

Vera was kneeling in front of her daughter, adjusting the bow in her long blond hair when, coming back from a routine maintenance check, Dedrick entered the room.

Both turned.

“Hey!” he said, happily surprised to see them both there.

“Hi Daddy. Did you see my flower?”

“Very nice, Chasma. Where did you get such a gorgeous flower?” Of course, he knew where it came from.

“Sabrina gave it to me for my birthday. I’m five now.”

“Oh yeah, that’s right. I almost forgot,” he replied with a teasing smile.

When the small group, that now counted eight members, had first settled on Mars, each section of their habitat had been designed for a very specific function and usage by the Mars First engineers and architects. But after the loss of communication with Earth, the group had eventually taken advantage of their newfound freedom, and after relocating some resources, made four of their six pods their new living quarters. Dedrick, Vera, and Chasma, now slept together in pod 3, François and Sabrina were in pod 1, Ladli and Tendai occupied pod 2 and Liu had pod 4 all to herself. The new arrangements seemed to please everyone.

Although the compound counted three more pods, Greenhouse II had become the place of choice for occasional group meetings and special events. The largest of the three by a good meter, it was also the most centralized location in the small outpost. And if that had not been a good enough reason, the astronaut’s craving for some well-deserved entertainment had been satisfied when François had pointed out that it was the only greenhouse with its own home theatre. A luxury the Frenchman had managed to setup a few months back.

Today was one of those special occasions. They had all gathered to discuss the possibility of taking Chasma with them on tomorrow’s excursion. Not that Dedrick and Vera would have needed their teammates’ approval, but they had all agreed years ago to share any decision that could affect the rest of the colony, and in such a small community, pretty much everything did. Although Chasma had been allowed to venture outside many times before, they had never taken her to the “Gate” before. Vera had never been very enthusiastic about letting her daughter go down the cliff side in one of the baskets. She was very protective of Chasma, understandably so considering the countless dangers of the hostile red world. Most of her resistance usually began by pointing out the fact that they had only one suit for her. If anything happened to it, she would never be able to go out on foot again. They knew she was right about that, of course, but as François had argued, what was the point of having it if she wasn’t going to allow the child to use it?

Dedrick was looking at Sabrina and her Frenchman. The Guatemalan girl was seated on his lap, her arms around his neck. He had his around her waist.

“Personally, I think the more she knows and experiences, the better. Plus, she’s gonna have to go out there, eventually. Why not now?” said François looking at Vera.

“She’s been asking a lot about the alien place lately. We can’t keep her away from it forever. I think it would be fair to let her come, if that’s what she wants,” added Sabrina.

“I don’t know… She’s so young and going down that ravine can be very dangerous. There is no margin for error out there. You all know that. Najib knew that.”

She paused, realizing she didn’t need to mention his name. She glanced at Liu Xing with a caring smile and turned her attention back to the rest of the group.

“I mean, I know I promised we would take her with us this time but…”

“Love, I understand how you feel. We all care about her, you know that. Chasma has proved how disciplined and attentive to details she can be, countless times. She knows the routine as well as any of us, by now. She’s a smart girl, I know she’ll be careful, and you know she’s not easy to scare.”

“That’s the part that worries me.”

“That’s also a quality that can save her life someday.”

“I would prefer it if she never had to. Sending her hanging above a precipice is not my idea of an ideal birthday present for our daughter, Dedrick. She’s only five, for crying out loud!” she almost cried.

“Come on, Hun, you know how much Chasma wants to go.”

“I… I know, you’re right, I’m over reacting.”

She took another look around the room. No one would ever care for Chasma more than this small group of people, and Vera knew it.

“I know how much you all care about Chasma and only want the best for her, and I love you all for it. Sometimes, my fear of losing her overcomes my sense of adventure and freedom; that same drive that brought us all here on Mars, in the first place. I want Chasma to experience life and its wonders to the fullest, even if our world is a giant desert. And I realize you are right, she deserves to see as much of it as we do. It’s also her world.”

She paused a moment and then, looking at Dedrick, she added, “You’re right, I guess it’s time. Let’s take her with us tomorrow.”

“Well, that settles it, then,” finalized Dedrick.

The day was November 21, 2039. All eight of them had left the station in ARC 1 and 3, leaving no one behind. This was a first. Leaving the base unattended had always been a big no-no, especially after the incident with Tendai a few years earlier. Since then, there was always at least one crew member, besides Chasma, who stayed behind to hold the fort, and in most instances two. Since the crash of MF3 had happened on the same day Chasma was born, the team usually commemorated the astronauts’ deaths a day earlier. The young girl had never been with them for that. It was time for her to go visit the MF3 memorial. They called the site “Key Largo,” and for some reason, she had never wondered why until now.

“Mommy, what’s Key Largo?’”

“Well, Key Largo is an island in Florida, one of the states in the US, and—”

“I know about Florida, Mom,” cut her off Chasma, somewhat offended her mother thought she didn’t.

“Yes, you do. That’s right. Anyway, the people we’re going to visit really liked that island and that’s where they spent their last vacation together before coming to Mars. So, we decided to call the place where they rest now, Key Largo, in their honor.”