Red Desert - Point of No Return by Rita Carla Francesca Monticelli Page A

that first stage of our
mission. But actually, they reduced our chances of extending the
area of the planet we could explore. For people like us, with an
average age of thirty-five, who had to spend the rest of their
lives on Mars and who had nothing else with which to occupy their
time, it was a huge limitation.
    It’s true that Mars’s
diameter is about half of the Earth’s, but the lack of oceans makes
the explorable surface comparable to the sum of all lands above sea
level of our planet. Hence plenty of places to visit, and even if
at first sight they may seem monotonous with all that dark red,
they hide countless wonders. And we chose to be the first
colonisers of this new world to observe them in person.
    In over one thousand
days in the Lunae Planum, we scoured most of the area surrounding
the station within a radius of a little more than three hundred
kilometres. It’s quite impractical to go any further with a vehicle
that can hardly reach twenty-five kilometres per hour, but most of
time travels much slower, especially considering that each sortie
requires at least two persons, for safety reasons. Since there
wasn’t any particular hurry, NASA provided us with the minimum
equipment needed to carry out a series of scientific
investigations, which requires long periods of time and has brought
rather inconclusive results. Beside the geological studies, our
main mission is to find proof of a past life on the planet, though
I’m referring to very simple forms, like bacteria, which would
demonstrate that Earth isn’t unique in the solar system in this
context.
    In the first nine
hundred and ninety-five days we were not lucky; we hoped to receive
new material from NASA in order to perform more accurate studies
and maybe push ourselves a bit further. Actually it should have
already arrived three hundred days ago, but a series of technical,
and most of all political, problems delayed its launch. Now we are
waiting for a new launch window, which occurs approximately every
two of Earth’s years, corresponding to one Martian year. This
setback hasn’t had a good impact on the group’s mood, already
affected by the prolonged forced cohabitation. However, we couldn’t
imagine what happened next.
    I am able to switch
off that annoying alarm, at last. I have a bigger margin, thanks to
my suit’s endurance, which is about ten hours. This gives me a
certain degree of self-confidence, at least for now. I still have
the means to go back, so for the next four hours I’m just going to
enjoy the journey.
    I’m postponing the
inevitable. I have no intention of going back.
    The landscape over the
past day has been too repetitive, a single, immense, red desert of
stones and dust, but I can make out some changes in the horizon
now. I smile at the sight. According to the on-board navigator I’m
reaching Ophir Chasma, the first one of a group of formations that
constitutes Valles Marineris, the most complex canyon in the solar
system.
    If a person on Earth
must see the Grand Canyon at least once in a lifetime, a person on
Mars cannot miss Valles Marineris!
    I’ve read so much
about this place since I was a child and it was one of the main
reasons why I decided to be part of this mission. I can’t die on
this isolated planet without seeing it first. And if I had stayed
at the station, I would no doubt have died. At least this way, if
it has to happen, I will be the one to decide when. In thirty-five
hours, if the suit’s reservoir is full.
    Since I left I had no
time to check it. The rover had been prepared for a sortie before,
which was postponed indefinitely. I counted on that, when I
abandoned the station, but I was in such a hurry that I only
thought of bringing some food and water. I put the suit on and went
out without thinking about it too much. I didn’t want to risk
changing my mind.
     
     
    Since the deaths of
Dennis and Michelle, while Robert spent almost all his time in an
altered state of mind, only I and Doctor