The Mars Experience

Chapter 9: Hugo

Athena barges in, her honey-colored hair twinkling from the sun of the open window in my room. Not even bothering to say hello, she begins speaking rapidly to the point where it's hard to understand what she's saying. "Calm down," I laugh, stopping her mid-sentence.

She takes a deep breath. "Sorry," she resumes, "Donna agreed to help me and said to come to you for a plan. Here's all I know: I need to find an environment resembling Mars for a chance that I don't die, and I will slowly be dying in the next two or three weeks. My mom packed a bag full of food and some other stuff, I haven't had a chance to check it yet, but I'm guessing it will help."

"Well, you're pretty lucky Donna gave you the all-clear so soon. This type of trip takes days to plan, many people need to be present. Not to mention, getting permission to leave on such short notice is basically impossible, especially not with supervision. We'll have to sneak out on top of planning the entire trip. If Donna didn't come, Brianna probably wouldn't either and, well, you'd die with only Jedrek, Conner, Emma, and me." She chuckles, but I don't know how to react. "Well, we should head downstairs to the computers."

I begin my research. The rest all sit patiently and chat, because they know I can handle it. Of course, I always handle it. If I have anything to show for my presence in the world, it's my academics. I may not have the greatest looks or personality, but I could go pro in looking stuff up.

Brianna strolls over to me. "What's up, bud?" she says casually. I can tell she doesn't want an answer, but I have one.

I hesitate at first. "According to some websites I looked at, Pico de Orizaba Pueblo, Mexico is one of the few places that resemble Mars on Earth, and it's the closest one to Yuma. She got lucky. It's strategic. She can make it there. I'm having trouble finding a map, though."

I pull her farther away from the crowd. "But... this doesn't add up, if it's killing her then she should die whether she is on Mars or not. Also, don't you think it's just a little too convenient?" I look over to Athena, giggling with Conner and Donna who are making large hand gestures. Next to them, Emma and Jedrek are lost in their own conversation. I lower my voice, "Now I'm the one who doesn't trust her."

Her face scrunches as she raises her eyebrows and shakes her head. "I don't know what to tell you. Everybody's already down for the trip, excited even. Just the idea that a mom would poison her own kid is already weird to me." She flicks her hair back and forth.

"I don't know... I trust her," she continues. "Why would she be lying? We must have been our last option judging on how she used to treat us."

I open my mouth to argue, but Brianna puts a finger to her lip in an attempt to hush me. "Maybe she is lying, but if you tell them this was a setup, they'll believe you. We won't convince them again. And if it wasn't a scheme, her blood will be on our hands."

She walks off, again her hand carelessly itching her hair, a mix of hazel and black, back and forth. Her argument is valid.

I pace to the group and interrupt their chatter. "Athena, put on Donna's hoodie and use the hood to cover your head. I just need to ask you some questions about... you know..." I request more awkwardly than needed. Donna hands over the hoodie to her, who keeps her head down while moving towards me. As soon as we leave the table, Donna already starts up another conversation.

She blinks innocently. If this is a scheme, I'm the only one she hasn't smitten enough to be completely unaffected by the fact her "mom's plan" is ridiculous. If her mom would not resist killing her own daughter, then why would she confess then? Would she not confess if Athena hadn't confronted her?

"I was just wondering..." I begin, realizing I probably should've come up with a question beforehand. Vague enough so I'm not a prime target for a potential psycho, but explicit enough so that she knows I'm skeptical. "The vaccines and pills had poison that would, theoretically, slowly be killing you, correct?"

"As far as I know, yeah."

"Then why would it change if you were in a place resembling Mars or not?"

"I don't know."

I begin to be less doubtful of her. If anything, she sounds genuine. "And how much time do you have left?"

"I should be leaving on the spaceship next week and getting to Mars one week after that. By then, I should already be gone."

"It will take us about 24 days to get to Pico de Orizaba by foot, without including time for rest, which means if we leave tomorrow and remain at a steady pace, we should be able to get there in time."

"So, tomorrow after breakfast?"

"Dawn after dinner." I walk over with Athena to tell the others about the plan, the thoughts spinning in my head making me numb to everything else.