Chapter One

Off the Track

T minus 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, ignition!

Bright Orange flames roared under the body of the Jupiter-X rocket, shaking every part of its nose. I looked through the window and saw the Earth shrink to a tiny blue orb as I recalled the morning that started this entire adventure, just an ordinary Saturday.

That morning, I was so excited I jumped out of bed right away. My friends and I could hardly wait for the rocket launch. Melvin, short (are you saying that Melvin’s short?), gripped his school notebook was was , which he used all day, filled with chemistry and engineering sketches and complicated equations. Adrian paced around, carefully checking each item on his handwritten “Mars to-do list”，making sure he didn’t forget anything.

“What are you waiting for? Let’s go get to the launch pad before the rocket launches without us! We’re going to become one of the first children on Mars!” I yelled as we grabbed our devices and rushed to the DASA base.

“Actually, we’re going to be THE first children on Mars, Iapetus.”Melvin corrected.

We entered the huge, important-looking building. The rocket launch managers greeted us and invited us outside. There stood the Jupiter-X rocket, with huge boosters, black and white grids, and “DASA” written in big, bold, orange letters on the rocket. Suddenly, a countdown started. We had no choice but to quickly run into the inner parameters of the Jupiter-X rocket. When the countdown ended, we were ready.

The rocket trembled and thundered as it soared across the sky. The cabin filled with the scent of hot metal and the sharp tang of liquid Hydrogen and Oxygen, as it and shuddered with a “Bumbabumbabumba” sound. After about a minute, we passed the Kármán line. The rocket had to dock with the hyperspeed spacecraft. From there, we could immediately get to Mars. We flew past geostationary orbit, past the moon’s orbit, and kept going, all the way to the edge of Earth’s sphere of influence.

The sky quickly turned from light blue to dark. As we neared the hyperspeed spacecraft, the rocket suddenly sounded with an alarm as our On-Ship AI voice announced “sshhhshsh…hull integrity… critical…mmmmt…evac…evac—zzzrrrt.”

We had zero seconds to dodge an abandoned spacecraft titled “Sepulcher”, causing the entire ship to go off course. My friends and I quickly grabbed the controls and worked together to steer the rocket back toward the hyperspeed spacecraft. Parts of the satellite were ejected as debris, and some nearly broke the viewport and sucked the air out of our ship. My hands trembled on the cold controls as we attempted to stabilize our spinning craft and guide it safely to the docking port. Just when we docked successfully, the whole ship shook violently. Warning alarms blared, and red lights blinked across the control panel.

“We did it!” Adrian exclaimed.

Melvin checked the status screen. “The docking seal is clinging, but the main rocket boosters have been drained of power, Iapetus,” he reported. I grabbed the emergency backup manual and flipped to the hyperspeed activation instructions.

“We need to start the backup system to stay in orbit,” I said, pressing the big red button on the control panel. The disabled boosters were replaced with the backup ones. They ignited, correcting our trajectory.

“That was too close,” Adrian said as Melvin read the status console. “We’re still on course for Mars, but we’ve gotten a 14% power drain from the satellite collision,” he reported.

Suddenly, the spacecraft let out a loud “fwiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiissssssssssshhhhhhhhh,” and we immediately reached the surface of Mars. As the airlock hissed open, we stepped on the Red Planet’s rocky surface.

“Mars,” Melvin breathed. The salmon-red landscape seemed to be endless. Olympus Mons stood up in front of us, as if it pierced through the Martian clouds. Adrian took off his backpack and tried to find our oxygen tanks.

“Don’t forget the radiation shields!” I reminded him. The ground shook slightly as a dust devil passed by.

“Looks like we’re not alone,” Adrian said, looked toward nodding to the dome-shaped structures shining in the dim light—our new home for the next 3 years. He nodded, “Looks like we’re not alone.”