Yves Giraud - Kahnu

“Shoot! That means the greenhouses won’t survive either,” said Ladli looking at him.

“You’re right, we need to think about that as well. See if you can transfer some of the plants and vegetables to portable containers. And water! Damn it! What do we do about water?”

Everyone in the room started to realize the true magnitude of their predicament. Even Dedrick, who had always seemed calm and in control when faced with difficult situations in the past, was now struggling to not let his emotions take over him. They all felt the weight of the Martian world on them. Unless the aliens could help them, the station was dying, and they would die with it. And unless they were able to transfer the water recycling system to the Kahnus’ cave, moving there would not help either. It all seemed pointless. Sabrina started crying. Her head in her hands, she let out a wailing, “I don’t wanna die!” and doubled up on her cries, sobbing and hyperventilating.

“No one is going to die,” said Dedrick firmly. Realizing he might have scared Chasma, he turned to look at his daughter. To his surprise, she did not appear the least affected by the situation. Vera, on the other hand, looked like she was about to cry as well. Tears began rolling down her face.

“No one is going to die!” repeated Dedrick. “We didn’t fly a hundred million kilometers through space and managed to survive on Mars by ourselves for the past fifteen years, to give up now. We’ve accomplished too much, been through too many challenges. We’ve discovered more than anyone had ever hoped we would and proven we can do the impossible; survive on another world. I’m not willing to just give up like that! I’m telling you, we’re going to figure this out. We have to! The more I think about it, the more I’m convinced the aliens can help us. After all, they owe us for getting them out of those pods, don’t they?”

He wasn’t truly convinced of that himself, but his words had the wanted effect. The colonists seemed to perk up from their sad demeanor. Maybe all was not lost after all. “François, I think you need to stay here and work on fixing that leak as best you can. Tendai, you can help him. Vera, take Ladli and Sabrina with you, and start packing everything you think is essential. The things we just talked about. Use your best judgment.”

Gathering around the table, they began organizing themselves, and were soon off to their individual chores. All except Liu, who seemed completely disconnected from the situation, staring at her feet.

“OK, so one of you should come with me,” continued Dedrick looking at her.

He had noticed how distraught she looked earlier, and thought going to see the aliens with him might distract her. He needed someone anyway. No one was supposed to leave the station alone, for obvious safety reasons. Plus, she had an interesting connection with Jorh. She did not respond, seemingly lost in thoughts. He could see the glaze in her eyes. The memory came back from years earlier, when she had plunged into a deep depression after the death of Najib, the man she loved.

“I wanna go, Daddy!” offered Chasma with excitement.

“You better stay with Mommy, sweetie. She needs you to help her pack. I promise to take you next time.”

“But that’s what you said last time,” replied Chasma frowning.

“I know, baby. Next time. I promise.”

“Fine,” she said, crossing her arms on her chest, and tapping her foot on the floor. She then turned her back to him. Vera grabbed her hand.

“Come Chasma, Daddy has something very important to do. You and I are going to pack our clothes together. You wanna help me?”

Still frowning, Chasma replied loudly, “I don’t care!”

“Come on, it’ll be fun.” They then walked to the pod three tunnel. Vera lifted Chasma into the corridor and followed in. Dedrick turned his attention back to Liu still looking at the floor. He approached her and held his hand out.

“Liu, you want to come? Come on Liu, I need you for this. Jorh likes talking to you and I know you enjoy it too. Liu…?”

She slowly raised her head and gave him a weak smile. The tears were still rolling down her face…

“Come on. It’s gonna be OK. I promise.” He slowly helped her up to her feet, and both headed for the suit room.

Liu was standing a few steps back behind Dedrick who was in a mental conversation with the tall beings.

“ We cannot survive long if we don’t manage to repair this damage. Our air supply depends on it. ”

Jorh, seated in his hovering chair, had been listening attentively. He spoke, “ We know about your situation. We heard your distress. I wish we could help you repair your home my friend, but your technology is incompatible with ours. I can sense your fear; for yourself and those you love. From what I can tell, it is unlikely that your habitat will survive this malfunction for long. However, it does not have to be the end of your journey. We agree your best bet is to move here. We heard your conversation with your people. We had already planned to offer you to move to our ship before you got here. As you know, it offers enough room for all. Gather what you need, and we will gladly provide your people shelter .”

“ That would be most appreciated, Jorh.” Dedrick was slightly surprised, not having expected the alien to offer them refuge so easily, but he was certainly glad.

“ Yes. You are the last surviving descendants of your species, just like we are of ours. We ought to help each other .”

The reassuring deep, soft tone of Jorh’s mental voice brought peace and warmth to Dedrick. He felt a genuine sense of safety around the aliens. This was their best option.

Liu slowly approached and lowered her head in reverence toward Jorh.

“ Thank you, Jorh-San ! You are most generous .” She crossed her hands on her heart and took a bow. Holding one of his large fingers below her chin, he raised her head to look into her eyes.

“ You are welcome, Liu-San !”

Then, slowly rising, he walked majestically toward one of the pods, and passing his hand over a panel, stood still as the pod opened, and Mahhzee slowly emerged from the foggy fumes escaping the regenerating pod. She approached the two humans. Standing next to her, they looked more like small children than adults. Blinking at Dedrick and Liu with her large purple eyes, Mahhzee addressed them telepathically, “ Bring your friends and family here. They are no longer safe in your habitat. We will adjust our rooms to accommodate your needs. Go now, while you still can .”

Her smooth mental voice was like honey to Dedrick. He was once again mesmerized by the alien. His mind drifted off for an instant.

“Are you ready, Dedrick? We should go.”

“Yes, of course…”

Two hours later, the eight Martian colonists were busy packing all they could into the three rovers and their respective trailers, which they had only rarely used since their arrival on Mars. They had wasted no time debating how long the station had before it became unsafe. As soon as Dedrick and Liu had returned, the transferring of supplies had begun. They had estimated it would take at least two trips to get the bare essentials. More importantly, they were going to need to transfer some of the greenhouse’s content to the cave. They knew they could only transport a portion of the plants and vegetables, but François had an idea. He believed he could modify the trailers, originally designed to transport the landing pods, into one big towing platform, that would allow them to relocate at least one greenhouse to the cave.

“We better hurry, then. We have no idea how long we have before the whole habitat gets affected,” said Dedrick.