Of Mars And Men

Part 2 - Blastoff

Astronaut James Trueheart walked boldly along the walkway that led to the entrance of the rocket. As he walked he thought about what he would say as he first set foot on the surface of Mars. He knew it would have to be something catchy yet thought-provoking. While he hadn't yet cemented what the gist of his statement would be, he was absolutely positive that it would put Neil Armstrong to shame.

A few paces behind him waddled his flight partner, Lucy the chicken. Lucy was actually the second chicken replacement after Anne the chicken had tragically walked off the edge of the launch platform and tumbled to the ground far below.

The two dauntless astronauts climbed aboard the rocket and prepared themselves for the launch. Due to monumental technological breakthroughs of the previous decade, the flight to Mars would take only about two weeks. Most of the piloting functions were fully automated, so Trueheart didn't have too many duties to perform during the flight portion of the mission. He didn't anticipate the need to do much more than maintain contact with ground control and assure them that everything was okay. He had brought a book by some fellow named George Steinbeck to read during the downtimes of the flight.

He also had adequate food supplies for himself. There was some sort of honey and berries concoction for Lucy because astronaut chickens apparently needed a special diet to deal with the rigors of space flight. Trueheart had caught a whiff of the concoction prior to the flight and found it rather pleasing. When he ventured to taste it, he discovered it was far superior to the dried out crap that was to be his cuisine for the next month or so. Shortly before the launch, when no one was watching, he emptied about half of Lucy's food supply into a thermos with his name on it. He had failed to read the ingredients on the tube for Lucy's food which stated that the third ingredient in the concoction was processed hippopotamus dung.

Nonetheless, James Trueheart felt adequately prepared for the trip ahead. He settled down into his chair as the countdown commenced. Lucy was strapped down in the seat next to him with her wings folded underneath her. Her beak was clenched tightly and she stared at Trueheart intently, looking about as ready for liftoff as a chicken was capable. As he felt the shuttle violently rattle around him, he took a deep breath of his native atmosphere and contemplated the fact that he wouldn't set foot on the face of the Earth for at least a month. He hoped his wife and kids would be all right during his absence. He didn't have much time to dwell on that thought because ground control was already radioing him to see if everything was okay.