My Life on Mars

Prologue: This is Where it Starts

Tulsa's P.O.V

At this point in my life there's a grand total of three people I actually care about. Not too long ago, that number used to be only one. And his name is Gardener. It's been a whole year since we waved goodbye to each other, I would be staying on Earth and he would be going back to Mars. When that spaceship took off I thought that my world would just crash and burn around me. In a way I was right, my life would never be the same after that day. But in some ways, in the important ones, nothing would change. 

Part of that change came in the form of Kendra, leader of the training program that will send astronauts to Mars. As you might have guessed, she's the second of those three people. Not only does she lead the program, she doubles as my place to crash. All in all I guess that makes her pretty cool. It doesn't mean I trust her though, I've taught myself to keep people like her at arms length. 

For those of you keeping track either on your fingers or in your head, we're down to one person now. So far I've only known Nathaniel, or as I refer to him, Gardener's dad for about a grand total of three hours. He's the head of the Genesis project and managed to save Gardeners life. Twice. One of those times he even took us up into space, even though it would most likely kill him. The guy is ballistic, but I guess he can be useful. 

An exasperated sigh breaks my train of thought. "Tulsa, I gave you a NASA account so that you wouldn't hack into the mainframe. Now that security has been breached do you have any idea how long it will take to fix the system? I swear, sometimes your tech abilities do more harm than good!" 

"Whoops, won't happen again boss, ok? Just got distracted, that's all." Almost all the cadets around the room let out a quick chuckle. My hacking skills may be funny to them now but if they anger me, even the littlest bit, they might be my next target. Today just hasn't been a good day for me, I'll be glad when it's over. 

Gardener's P.O.V

I still enjoy pretending I'm on Earth. Everything is so much brighter and more full of color. Here on Mars things just seem dull by comparison. My father tells me I should stop moping when I think nobody is looking. He thinks I need counseling but he's wrong, I just need Tulsa. Only problem is, she's stuck on Earth. 

Even though I talk to her every night, probably long past any reasonable hour for her, it's not the same as seeing her in person. I just want to hold her and stroke her hair and tell her everything will be ok. There's no way for me to guarantee that but it would make me feel better knowing I've said it. It would make me feel better to be able to keep her safe. 

Someone calls my name and breaks me out of my thoughts about Tulsa. It takes only a second to recognize the voice of my father on the other side of the door. "Open." I say quietly, and the door slides from the wall with a familiar hissing sound. Nathaniel walks in and sits down next to me, seeming to be thinking about what to say. After a while, he takes a deep breath and starts to talk.

"Gardener, this must be very hard, being back on Mars that is. I've noticed you in here a lot, even when you have work to do. That's not to say that I'm judging though, I just want you to know that I've noticed. Tulsa must be very important to you, more important than I'd thought. We've all made mistakes Gardener, myself included. All I'm asking is that you let me in so I can help you." 

That speech sounded a lot like the one he tried to give back on Earth before I left with Tulsa in her plane. Only now there was no escape, no chance to leave on an adventure, I was stuck right here. Problem is, nothing Nathaniel could do would help anyway. Right now I just needed Tulsa, and I could almost sense that she needed me too. Just then a call comes in from Tulsa and seeming to understand, my dad quietly walks away leaving me alone with my computer screen and the millions of miles that separated me and Tulsa.