Secret of The Red Planet

by Chris Hawley

CHAPTER FOUR

  RESCUE

  As soon as I had recovered from the initial thrill of liftoff, I looked out of one of the small portholes in the side of the spacecraft. I had time to focus on the little garden shed, the small back garden and the house in which I had been born and brought up. But within seconds these objects were like toys. The streets of our neighbourhood criss-crossed below me. The few vehicles making up the early morning traffic filed along like matchbox toys and I could have picked up ten of them in each hand. Soon the small town that I knew so well was just a patch of brown and gray in a sea of green. Some clouds passed me by, little fluffy summer clouds. The sun was a ball of orange in the early morning sky.

  Up and up we went, Silver Streak and I. A bout of fear crept into me, like the onset of a dose of flu, but I shook it off and an undercurrent of intense excitement took its place.

  The horizon took on a curved effect and looking down I could make out the coastline of England, the channel and France over to the right. To the left of me, the Atlantic Ocean lay in darkness. Still higher we rose. Above me, the sky became darker. We were leaving the atmosphere behind. The horizon was more rounded now. I could see the whole of Europe, just like the photographs taken from space that our teacher had put up on the walls of the classrooms. Dawn had not reached the coast of Portugal or the extreme West of Ireland, but as I looked North, I could just see the polar ice cap, pure white. I knew that in July at the pole the sun didn’t set and it was light all night.

  All of a sudden I realised that I was cold, very cold, in spite of the two sweaters and anorak that I had on. And I was short of breath, dangerously so. But Silver Streak continued on its upward journey, the engine rattling away behind me. It was then that it happened, or should I say, everything happened at once. I began to doubt the ability of my faithful craft to make it to Mars. For the first time since that science lesson, it occurred to me that the teacher may have been right after all. Maybe I was unprepared. I hadn’t even had one lesson on how to fly to the planets, let alone the years of training that our teacher said we needed. Perhaps the materials I had chosen were not ideal for the task. Kitchen foil is thin, I had to admit. Was it possible that I had made a miscalculation in the choice of engine and the amount of fuel needed? Lawnmower motors were designed for cutting grass, not for propelling crazy boys into space. And which way was it to Mars? Was it up, down or sideways? Our Earth is spinning and one moment Mars is on one side of the Earth and the next moment it is on the other. All these thoughts ran through my mind. And in the middle of this jumble of thoughts, the engine spluttered and died. What was to become of me now?

  At that same moment a curious thing happened. Through the porthole I saw approaching an enormous bubble, reflecting all the colours of the rainbow, just like a great soap bubble of the kind children like to blow. As Silver Streak began to falter, the bubble wrapped itself around us, so that we were entirely enclosed. And do you know what? From that moment, it was as if we were floating on a cushion of air. I no longer felt cold and I began to breathe normally. Where did this bubble come from? I did not understand it but I was grateful to be rescued in the nick of time.

  I looked up at the sky again. It was completely black. The stars were incredibly clear, and there were what seemed millions of them. I could make out the planet Jupiter, larger and more distinct than the stars, the sun shining on one side of it. Mars was nowhere to be seen but I knew it was out there somewhere. The sun was a fiery ball but it did not shine like it does on Earth. I knew that it was because there was no atmosphere to reflect the light rays.

  I began to feel light headed and I was surprised to find how easy it was to lift my arms and legs. Weightlessness! I loosened my seat belt and as I did so I floated out of the seat. I was careful to hold onto the belt, but I let myself float around, first up to the roof of Silver Streak and then, with the slightest push with my hand, upside down. This is fun! But don’t overdo it, I told myself. Soon I was back in my seat.

  Looking back, I could now see the Earth as a distinct ball, blue and brown and white. The yellowish-brown of the land stood in sharp contrast to the blue of the ocean and patches of white cloud spread out around the globe. It was the most beautiful sight that I had ever seen in my life. That is the home of the human race, I thought and how fortunate we are to have such a wonderful world! I understood why astronauts become emotional when they view the Earth from space. Was there another planet like it in all the Universe? At that moment I shed a few tears, tears of joy mixed with tears of homesickness. Would I ever see it again? Of course I would. Where had these fears come from? I had been rescued by a bubble, how and why, I had no idea. This was an adventure like no schoolboy has ever had.

  We were moving away from Earth very fast now. As I watched we seemed to fly faster and faster and the planet Earth became smaller and smaller. What was propelling us? The engine was dead. What strange force was taking us further and further away from home? And where was the bubble taking me? To Mars, surely. Whatever it was and whatever the force behind it, I had complete confidence in it. There was no question; it was looking after me.

  I relaxed and settled down to enjoy the ride, confident now that I was in safe hands. Time passed. I scanned the heavens, trying to identify some of the brighter stars.

  It was then I saw Mars for the first time. The red planet! And red it certainly was. Way off to the side, Jupiter appeared as a misty ball. I could hardly contain my excitement as I looked spellbound at the two planets. And as I watched, Mars grew gradually larger and larger. We were heading straight for it, the bubble, Silver Streak and I.

  One edge of Mars was in shadow, so that the planet seemed to have its edge trimmed off. We were approaching it at an angle, heading towards the dark side. But before we reached the line between night and day, we dropped quickly down.

  Just as I was thinking that we were going to crash at great speed into the surface of Mars, I could feel us slowing down. I glanced back over my shoulder and was amazed to see how small the planet Earth looked, just a tiny ball. We must have been travelling very fast indeed. I had always believed it takes months to reach the red planet. We must have taken no more than a few hours. I tried unsuccessfully to work out in my head how fast we had been going. But now, there was no time to practice mental arithmetic. We were approaching the ground.

  The landscape was carved up by ravines and there were a few small craters dotted around. The soil was red, with patches of browner colours. There was no sign of any life, just a great expanse of bare ground. It struck me as being very inhospitable, not a bit like the soft green of the English countryside. I will admit that I felt a bit homesick. Bill, stop it, I told myself. You are having the most fantastic adventure that anyone has ever had. Enjoy it!

  The bubble was certainly in control. It brought us very slowly down, no parachute, nothing. Our landing was so soft, I hardly felt a thing. We were down on the ground. Now what? I sat for some moments, wondering whether I should get out of the spaceship or just sit tight and wait for the first Martians to appear, as I was sure they would. I decided to stay where I was. After all, the temperature and atmosphere inside the bubble was perfectly comfortable; outside I was not so sure. I had read that it was much colder than on Earth. The sun was low down on the horizon. Was it rising or setting? After a while I decided it was morning. The sun, softer than on Earth, was rising higher in the sky.

  I had not been waiting more than fifteen minutes when I saw three bubbles approaching, seeming to float along the ground. They were smaller than the one that still enclosed Silver Streak. They had suddenly appeared from nowhere. How strange! Two of them stopped about a hundred metres from me, while the third bubble came up to our big bubble. I could make out a figure inside. At that moment I was afraid. My heart thumped hard. What was it like? Was it aggressive? What was it going to do to me? I was about to find out. The bubble appeared to merge with the one enclosing my spacecraft and the figure stepped inside.

  I was about to
meet my first Martian!