by Chris Hawley
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
BAD NEWS
My sixth day on Mars started with a bathe and breakfast as usual. I was getting to like the mushrooms we had every morning. I had tried several of the fruits grown at the farm and most of them rated well against any of the fruits at home. But when I began to conjure up in my mind some of my favourite foods, like scrambled eggs on toast or steak and kidney pie, I decided there was not much in the Universe to beat them. Then I thought it was better to wait until I had tasted all the foods in the Universe before I made such a rash judgment. Rabbits will say that carrots are the tops when it comes to eating but they don’t give other exotic foods a chance. But rabbits are pretty dumb animals so maybe we can’t blame them.
I was happy to see Michu that morning. She looked a little down though, not the usual winning smile. She came up to me and we greeted each other.
‘I have been with the elders and they have told me to invite you to a meeting with them this afternoon, in one of the chambers off the Grand Hall, Chamber 13. I will take you there. I will not be attending the meeting; you will be there alone.’
‘What did they tell you that has made you sad, Michu,’ I asked.
‘Nothing, Bill. It’s nothing really. Well, your meeting is not until the afternoon. Perhaps you want to go to the library again and see something of interest on the Uninet.’
‘That would be really cool,’ I said.
We reached the library to find Sofu, Anamaru, Manu, Diana and a few other young Martians sitting in a circle, with an older person, who was obviously conducting a class of some kind. Michu apologised for the interruption, saying she had forgotten about the class. The teacher said they were about to finish, so Michu and I went to the far side of the library and sat waiting for the end of the lesson.
‘Sorry about that,’ she said, as we sat down on two cushions.
‘You’re not your normal self today, Michu,’ I said with concern, looking into her face. She looked away, not wanting our eyes to meet.