The Red Planet

Chapter 2

I woke up to Andrew shaking me awake.

"Quinn, wake up. We're here." He said.

I could see Mars out of the front window. I could see the dusty, red surface, and I could also see that people were waiting outside for us. I stood up and Ajah led me and Andrew out of the ship. When we left the ship there were men in hazmat suits waiting for us. Andrew and I both looked at each other confused. We stood there for a little while until one of the men in a hazmat suit spoke.

"This protocol is for when humans arrive on Mars. We don't need anyone spreading any sickness, so you'll have to be quarantined for a maximum of three days before your trial?"

"Trial?" Andrew said. "What did we do wrong?"

"You technically broke into my ship." Ajah said.

"How is it breaking in if 1. Your ship landed in my backyard and 2. The door to the ship was open?"

"All of that will be investigated during your trial." The man in the hazmat suit said.

Andrew looked at me and then back at the man.

"That's gonna be a quick trial." He mumbled under his breath.

"We'll see about that." Ajah said.

The men escorted us to a quarantine zone that looked more like a jail cell. Thankfully Andrew and I were put into the same cell.

"Since you guys are guilty until your trial, you will be spending your quarantine in a cell. There's a toilet, two beds, and you'll receive three meals a day. There'll be guards watching you 24/7 so don't try anything stupid. You'll be held here until your trial and if you're found guilty, you'll be forced to stay on Mars. However, if you're found innocent, we will arrange a pod to send you two home. In the meantime, enjoy your cell."

After the guy in the hazmat suit finally left, Andrew and I were left alone.

I groaned. "Why did I do this? I just want to go home. I don't want to be tried as guilty and stay on Mars for the rest of my life. What about my dad? He's going to be all alone. Ugh, this is a disaster."

I put my head in my hands.

"We'll be fine. Ajah will probably be the one getting in trouble, not us. If she hadn't landed in my backyard and left the door open, we probably wouldn't be in this situation."

"Well, we can't fully blame her, right? Maybe she couldn't find anywhere else to land or maybe she had a lot on her mind so she forgot to close the door." I said.

"That's something I've always admired about you, Quinn. You always try to see the good in people."

"I'm just saying, maybe it wasn't her fault."

We waited in our cells for what felt like a long while before our dinner came. The meal they gave us definitely wasn't from Earth though. It was a thick soup-like dish that looked like it had chicken in it (though I doubted that's what it was). The soup was made with an unknown type of meat and several vegetables, all mixed in a thick broth. I remember it smelled fantastic and it was certainly as delicious as it smelled. My taste buds were tingling with excitement. It tasted like it was made with a blend of herbs and spices that I had never encountered before. When we finished, we licked our bowls clean. We both could have gone for seconds but there are no seconds in jail.

We played rock paper scissors to pass the time, but eventually, we got bored. We even tried different variants of the game, but nothing was working. We tried to think of other activities, but nothing came to mind. After trying different methods to kill our boredom we gave up and just laid out on the floor. While we were lying on the floor, we heard footsteps approaching. Both Andrew and I sat up. There was a red-skinned girl with Bantu knots approaching our cell. She was about to pass our cell when she backtracked and looked at us curiously. I expected that she would quickly glance at us and then keep walking, but instead, she sat down right in front of our cell. Andrew and I looked at each other, and he shrugged before turning back to the girl.

"Hi," Andrew said, a friendly smile on his face.

"Hi, I'm Xena. What's your name?" Xena said, returning his smile.

The way she introduced herself reminded me of how kids would introduce themselves in elementary school (not in a bad way though).

"I'm Andrew," he said, pointing to himself.

Then he pointed to me. "And this is Quinn."

"When did you guys get here? We usually know about new human arrivals."

"We got here a while ago. I don't even know how much time has passed."

"You guys must be a special case then. You're probably experiencing space lag. You'll get used to it the longer you're here. What are you guys here for?" Xena asked.

"We snuck onto a spaceship that landed in my backyard."

She raised her eyebrows. "How'd you manage that?"

"The door was open and it was empty." He said.

"Oh," Xena said, sounding disappointed. "I thought you guys broke into the ship and then snuck in."

"Yeah, no. I would have preferred we did that too. It would have been a much cooler story."

Andrew and Xena talked for a good while, taking turns exchanging questions. I didn't really say much. When I'm around people I don't know too well I usually just keep quiet.

Andrew's the total opposite of me. Human interaction (and apparently alien interaction) comes easy for him. Andrew can strike up a conversation with anyone regardless of how long he's known them.

Xena was in the middle of telling him about life on Mars when someone called her name.

"Xena! I was wondering where you were. Get away from those prisoners!" They said.

"Coming!" She yelled. Xena turned to us and said, "I'll try and come visit tomorrow."

Andrew smiled and nodded. "I look forward to it."

She smiled and ran over to whoever had called her.

He looked at me and said, "She seems nice."

"Yeah."

"The next time she comes to visit, you should try talking with her. I know how you are around new people but just give it a try."

I nodded.

Who knows? I might enjoy it.