The Space Speculation: Book 2 ~Painful Past~

Chapter 34: Hiding Out on Mars

I awoke a couple hours later. Sitting up, I rubbed my head and peeked out the window.

All I saw (other than the stars and planets) was a strange red surface and a large castle. Most normal humans would suspect it was only a big boring house, but to us aliens, it was one of the most beautiful castles in the Milky Way. Not the largest--Chad's castle was the biggest in our solar system--but definitely the most beautiful.

I immediately knew where I was: Mars. My eyes bulged as an idea came to my head. I would hide here!

Mars was known throughout the galaxy for taking in servants; families who have no homes, or just single aliens who needed a place to live. Or, I thought with a grin, Aliens who are being hunted down by evil Neptunian Ex-Kings!

I hesitated before pressing the button that would open the exit hatch and looked down at my black pants, yellow sweatshirt, and blue sneakers. If nothing else, those alone would give me away. Not to mention my body shape and tightly pulled back ponytail.

They would know right away that I was a human in comparison to their short, orange-colored bodies and two-foot-high red pointy ears. I took a deep breath.

I hadn't changed into an alien in at least a decade or two, and I certainly hadn't changed into Martian form since my elementary school field trip to Mars when I was a girl. I can do this, I thought with determination. I closed my eyes and counted to eight, the image of Lance (the King of Mars when I was young) in my mind.

With my eyes still closed, I found the open button and pushed it, carefully stepping outside and blindly wandering about, arms outstretched, searching for the castle. I had already counted to eight; I just wanted to get to the castle before I opened my eyes to see if it had worked.

Finally, I realized I wasn't going to get anywhere with my eyes closed. Right before I opened my eyes, I heard a Martian servant shout at me.

"Hey! What are you doing out here?" I slowly opened my eyes, afraid that I was still a human.

"You're supposed to be inside, helping with Lord Vance's dinner! And what's with your outfit?" he shoved some old, tattered servant's clothing in my arms and pointed towards the castle. I breathed a sigh of relief. I was a Martian!

I nodded to the servant and went around the corner of the castle, entering through a small metal side door.

Once inside the castle, I gasped at the many long hallways and the tens of rooms lining them. Suddenly, I heard voices. An unusually handsome Martian (royalty, I guessed) and a servant girl hurried along the narrow passageways, the male chattering instructions to the girl, who was nodding a hundred times a second and jotting things down on a notepad.

The Martian Prince stopped in his tracks when he saw me and scowled.

"Valery!" The maid snapped to attention.

"Take this maid to the changing room. What's your name, even?" He directed the last part towards me.

I quickly tried to remember a name that starts with a V.

"V-Vanessa!" I sputtered, that being the first name to pop into my head. He scowled again.

"Well, Vanessa, go with Victoria and change into your servant's clothing." He nodded towards the bunch of cloth in my arms.

I nodded and lowered my head, then followed the maid (whose name was apparently Victoria) down the never-ending hall and through a door at the end.

I stepped into a changing room and quickly put on the scratchy material, leaving my sweatshirt and pants folded up on the counter.

Victoria headed down the passageway, stopping once to beckon me to follow her. We walked in silence until we arrived at a large door with delicious aromas wafting through the cracks. I guessed it was the kitchen.

It was, and immediately I was set to work chopping feltas and roasting spyns. The cook wasn't in a good mood, and, since I was the new girl, she especially didn't like me. I sighed. Was this going to be my life for a while? Or, I gulped, forever?

I promised myself that I would escape as soon as I had the chance; but what if that chance didn't come? I calmed down and focused my attention on the large dicing knife I was using to chop some blue feltas.

Life dragged on and on. Mars became my home. My job was at first in the kitchens, but then I got promoted to the dining room. I soon learned the King's name was Vance, son of Lance. He was engaged to a snobby, spoiled Martian named Vivien.

Vance was extremely handsome. I wouldn't blame any girl for falling for him; although I thought he wouldn't propose to this particular Martian. She was super annoying and a spoiled brat.

I'm not surprised that her servant quit after the first week. I did my best to ignore her constant outbursts and high-pitched whine, but every once in a while I would excuse myself to the servant's quarters and scream about her stupid salad fork that I put in the regular fork place and in return got a shrieking lecture about where to put salad forks.

I tried to endure it well, and apparently, I succeeded, because soon after her previous servant quit, I was promoted to her maid. It was hard, but easier than clearing and setting a hundred-and-fifty-foot-long dinner table in five minutes. I stayed Vivien's maid for a week or two, then (because I had a good attitude?) Vance changed room-servants and I was promoted once again. I never saw Vance unless I was late cleaning his room and he came in before I was done. When that happened, he was very ticked.

"I thought I told you to clean QUICKLY!" he would roar.

I would drop my head and nod respectfully. He would then thrust his finger towards the door and I would shuffle hurriedly out into the hallway.

That happened rarely, as I was careful to clean fast and thoroughly. Although I got on his nerves, Vance still allowed me to be the cleaner of his room without sending me away to work in the kitchen again.

I shuddered at the thought of the cook screaming at me one more time about rare steak when she asked for medium rare. I was glad I landed on Mars, because they don't ask questions; they are just glad to have more servants.

I worked hard, but it was better than Calvin hunting me down and shipping me off to Neptune, where Chad would happily torture me to death. I was on Mars for a while. I tried to escape, but every time Vance wasn't watching me, Vivien would come prancing around the corner, spot me about to escape, and yell at me to go clean "her Vancie's mirrors".

It was all I could do to not give her a lecture on how to treat your elders and send her to her room, but I had to remind myself that while I was on Mars, I was her maid. I was to wait on her, obey her orders, and be respectful to the soon-to-be Queen of Mars.

Ugh.

After being on Mars for a month or two, I made a couple of friends. Victoria (who was about thirty in Earth years), whom I had seen first, and Vincent, a servant boy about as old as my Billy. 

Vincent worked as a mechanic, so he had access to all the spaceships and shuttles on Mars. I had to remember that when I escaped.

Vincent was a sweet boy. I wished with all my heart that Billy could be here with me so that they could be best friends. I stopped myself. 

No, I didn't want Bill to be there with me. That would mean he would be a slave too, and I wouldn't allow him to be a servant yet again.

Victoria was promoted to Vivien's maid not long after I started cleaning Vance's room. We got to talk for a couple minutes when we ran into each other in the laundry room. She became my best friend and I told her all about my previous life. 

I had never told anyone everything about myself before, but I trusted Victoria. It felt good to just take a deep breath and relate everything that had happened to me. 

Victoria was very understanding and we had a lot to talk about every time we saw each other. Vincent, Victoria, and I spent a lot of time talking at night in the servant's quarters. They both promised me that they would do whatever they could to help me if Chad or Calvin came looking for me.

I had been on Mars for seven months when something happened that I would never expect.

This section was written by Melina