The Great Dig

On Mars

Asher was woken with the sounds of a far off siren and the sounds of large machinery moving. He slowly opened his eyes and took in his surroundings. There was a needle connected to a long tube in his arm. He looked at it questioningly, wondering, slowly remembering where he was. He was on the shuttle to Mars. I’m at Mars he corrected himself mentally. He took the needle out of his arm and began to open the door when an attendant came over. “Take it easy sir, you haven’t used any of your muscles in a couple of months, so they’re not going to be completely stable.”

“How long did the trip take?” asked Asher. He took a quick look around his box and saw that people down the hall were also getting out of their boxes and finding their legs once again.

“The trip was shorter than we expected it to be,” the attendant said cheerily. “We were only out for two and a half months, not a whole lot shorter, but shorter.” She helped him get out of his box. Asher took one step and nearly fell over. “Oops! Careful there, sir. You and the rest of the crew will be going through semi-intensive physical therapy to rebuild your former muscle mass. Some weight loss is unstoppable, but with the therapy, it will all come back.” Asher took a look down and noticed that he was indeed thinner, but not by a whole lot. He finally regained his legs and went through the halls following the arrows towards the exit of the ship, connecting up with several of the other members of the crew as they made a mass exodus of the ship.

Once they exited, they were directed to separate stations around the outside of the pad. He went to the A-J section of the pad and was directed to his quarters. “From there you will be given you’re schedule. On it, you will see your therapy schedule and your briefing times. You will also be given classes to learn how to operate all of the new machinery. Does this sound okay to you Mr. Blake?”

“Huh? Oh yeah, sure.” He had been looking at his surroundings. He and the rest of the personnel and crew were inside a giant plastiglass dome that housed all of the buildings and surrounding areas. They must not have figured out a way to make the air breathable yet he thought, mystified at the way the whole construction was so large. He took his sheet and followed the directions, passing by several bland buildings with numbers on the sides. He found his building and entered to find that someone else was also living there. “Hey,” said Asher cordially. “My name’s Asher. How ‘bout yours?”

“I’m Jacob, but you can call me Jake.” Jake was a skinny yet strong man, barely out of his twenties, with a young face and icy blue eyes. He had dirty blonde hair that stayed close to his head and he stood level with Asher. “I guess we’ll be roomies for the rest of the dig. You cool with that?”

“I don’t have a problem with it now, but only time will tell,” replied Asher. Jake laughed at this and grabbed his duffel and started to unload it. Asher grabbed his and did the same, placing and organizing things. Once he finished, he left the room and went to go look around the housing unit. It was much like his apartment, a bit larger and cozier but much the same. There was a small living room to one side and a kitchen to the other side. In the living room there was a couch and a television. Jake came out and connected a game system up to the television and checked to make sure that the power system worked. He fiddled with the system while Asher went to look at the kitchen.

The kitchen was much larger than his back at home. It had a counter that connected to a full size stove and oven. There was a microwave in the corner and then the counter elbowed, which gave a place to put things so you could work on them. The opposite side held the refrigerator. It was a large refrigerator hybrid with a freezer in the bottom. He opened the cupboards and took a quick peek inside; nothing. Not a speck of food.  Jake saw him looking and said,”Aint that a bitch. I heard that for this first night they’re going to give, like, a mass meal so that we can all get orientated at the same time.  I guess they’re gonna fill everything while we’re out. Personally I think it’s all a bit conspicuous but what do I know.”