Name: Patricia S.
ProgramYear: 2004
Submit Date: Jul 4, 2004
Review Date:

For my final project, I have written a short story about what Mars was like back when it had water. A Brand New World I’ve always been the odd one out. In kindergarten, I was the one in the corner playing something akin to Star Trek with dolls. In third grade, while the rest of my class ‘ooh’ed and ‘aah’ed over our class pet, I was at the science table trying to figure out photosynthesis’ part in the growth of a seed in a potato. While my classmates played kickball in sixth grade, my mind was engaged otherwise. I’d experiment dropping rocks from different heights, pushing the swings with heavier or lighter weights, and sliding down the slide with sand as an added element. I was unaware at the time, but I was playing with the laws of physics. At first, my parents found it endearing when while my brother and sister were singing and messing around for the camera, I could be seen in the background kneeling in front of the garden examining the leaves and bugs. Soon, though, the sentiment became concern when I was still lost in my world of math and science at age sixteen. But by then, it was too late. Every day after school I’d walk straight to my room. My sister nicknamed it “the Lair”, and though I could never say it to her face, she was right. I could never understand my classmates’ immaturity or their intense dislike for learning. Escape to my room was the only way to quench my anger. It sounds absurd, I know, but ignorance is my one true pet peeve. My lair truly is my home. The walls are a dark lavender, for I’ve found that this color relaxes me most and allows me to concentrate. Against the back wall is my bed, twin-sized and otherwise unadorned except for the dark lavender comforter and white pillow. I gave up stuffed animals in kindergarten, the same year I gave up my faith in humanity. My desk is nondescript. Upon hearing ‘vanity‘, most conjure up an image of a desk with make-up spread about it. My vanity is devoid of cosmetics as it only rubs off in the morning. I tend to put my head in my hands when deep in thought. Only sometimes, to humor my friends, do I wear black eye shadow. It amuses me to be called a ‘freak’ or ‘goth weirdo’ because I know it’s a conclusion drawn from a lack of understanding. But, I digress. The dark and forebodingness of my room keeps my family out of it, a thing of which I am forever grateful. Now I am seventeen. I have been working on a project that only my best friend Markus knows about it its entirety. Markus lives in Trondheim, Norway, but he knows me better than any of my classmates. The project is one of my more brilliant ones….okay, it is my best yet. Time traveling is something that has been talked of for ages. But indeed, it would surprise the world that a time machine has actually been invented. Those in the science underground, as it were, cleverly disguised this advance in technology by writing science fiction about it. No one expects what is right in front of their faces. It was by accident that I stumbled upon this knowledge, but it changed my life forever. Once I was welcomed into the Organization for Advancers of Technology (OAT) when I was fifteen, I began work on my own creation. Membership in OAT is a difficult thing to obtain. But when I was in, I had unlimited access to the drawings, dissertations, even musings of famous scientists that had never been revealed in the mundane world. A good thing too, as it would no doubt fuel the paranoia of those who strongly believe the government is out to get them. Again I digress. I created my own time machine from spare parts from the local junkyard in order to see just how well such a thing could work. After a few trips to King Arthur’s court, the Coliseum, and the site of Kennedy’s assassination (it wasn’t Lee Harvey Oswald, by the way, but that’s another story), I was convinced of the time machine’s reliability. But I wasn’t satisfied to do only what others had done before me. Mars has always fascinated me. Since I was young, I’ve wondered if it was possible to live there. When I was thirteen, it was because I wanted a place where I wouldn’t be condemned for being different. Maybe a place where the earth could start over. With our long history, certainly humanity would flourish and make better decisions regarding everything from politics to the environment. Maybe there wouldn’t be any wars or fighting or poverty. But now, at my wise old age of seventeen, I see that as a fool’s dream. Mars may be a different planet, but people are the same. I decided that we could use Mars to improve this Earth. There has to be different minerals and elements that could aid in curing illnesses and other things we’ve never thought of. If only….if only there was some way to live there. What can be found on Mars could very well solve many important issues, but I curse every time I remember the red planet’s horrible environment. Menacing dust storms, intensely frigid temperatures, poor soil, and gravity one-third of our own. But the biggest problem is perhaps the lack of water. There are traces of such a phenomenon according to the rovers recently sent to Mars, but running water has yet to be found. However, with water, everything would change. Terraforming Mars would be an option. This brings me to my new invention. I’m so convinced that Mars is the answer that I have now enabled my time machine to bring me to not only the past but another planet in the past. It has taken me a year to get all the calculations precise, but now it’s ready. Markus, also a member of OAT, has helped me along the way. And though I have traveled many times alone to different parts of the world in past eras, I must admit a certain amount of fear going by myself to Mars circa 3200 BC. That is why Markus has graciously offered to come with me. Glancing back at my invention, I know it is time to try it out. I log on the internet and sign on to MSN. Tricia says: hey, you ready? Markus says: I have to finish some homework first Tricia says: dude, you know this is a *time* machine? I’ll just send you back to now when we’re done Markus says: yeah I know, I was just kidding Tricia says: when should I get there? Markus says: come about….20 minutes ago. My brother has been in my room for the past like 10 minutes Tricia says: all right, be there in a sec…er….20 minutes ago :p I arrived at Markus’ house in Trondheim, and from there we only had a few minutes to get everything ready before his brother came in the room. “Are you sure about this, Tish?” Markus asked. I didn’t begrudge him, we were about to do something no one’s ever done before. “Not really, but that’s the fun of it, right? Seriously though, I put in enough fuel to take us back at warp speed in case anything goes wrong. I also have some oxygen masks and protective suits.” Markus eyed me suspiciously. “How did you get those?” “I’d tell ya, but then--” “Yeah I know, you’d have to kill me. Crazy American.” I flashed him a brief smirk, and we sat down in the machine. We were gone as Keith, Markus’ brother, walked in. “Markus,” he began. “Do you --why are you so sweaty?” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I had set the dial for five hundred million years in the past, hoping that would be sufficient. Deciding to go with my best guess of where water might have been, we landed at the general area of the Meridiani Planum. It has been speculated that the Meridiani Planum was once a salty sea, so it seemed the logical and ideal place to check out first. The rover Opportunity has detected an iron sulfate mineral known as jarosite. From their knowledge of rocks on earth, scientists say rocks with as much salt as this Mars rock either formed in water, or had a long exposure to water after they were formed. The scientists say these rocks could have formed in an acidic lake or even a hot springs. Markus and I were a bit hesitant to embark into this unknown land, but we braved it in the name of science. We stepped out of the time machine but remained in our protective suits and polarized sunglasses/goggles. With our oxygen tanks and bulky apparatuses, we were true pioneers. No one could have prepared us for what we saw next. Mars, that small, red, uninhabitable planet in the unreachable distance was now in front of us. And she was breathtaking. When my eyes finally sought out the Meridiani Planum, the nerd inside of me wanted to do the chicken dance. In fact, my arms had already formed flaps when Markus glanced over at me. I quickly lowered my arms, but it was too late. “The chicken dance again, ja?” Markus quipped. But I could tell he was just as excited. We shared a brief moment of silence reveling in our geekdom until we both rushed to the shore of our beloved Mars ocean. “Rushing” is somewhat of a debatable verb for what we did; it was more of an eager waddle. Markus fell down five times, while I totaled only two. When we finally reached the shore, Markus and I knew without a doubt that it was indeed a “salty sea”. We took samples of the limited flora and rocks around the edge. Some I recognized as gray hematite, though it was sure to tell a different story after being plucked from ocean water instead of nowadays’ dusty plain. A quick inventory on our oxygen level told Markus and me that our time was two-thirds gone. Exhilarating as the Meridiani Planum was, we needed to use our remaining oxygen to explore a bit more. Mars seemed to be a different place entirely. Albeit there was still rocky terrain, but it was interrupted by rivulets of water streaming from the huge ocean. I surveyed the setting with interest, noting how Mars might be close to inhabitable simply by treating the salt water of the Meridiani Planum. I could see trees and grass dotting the landscape, and maybe a few roads and houses. I looked up. Yes, and clouds would complete the picture. Who knows, maybe my childish dream could come true: a place for Earth and its people to start anew. Markus’ voice broke my pleasant musings. “Tish, I’ve found something interesting. The results on the tests I’ve done say the atmosphere is 11.3% oxygen.” This certainly was news. In our present time, the oxygen level composes only .15% of Mars’ atmosphere. We could definitely work with these conditions. I looked again at my oxygen level. “Le crap Markus, we’re going to have to hurry back, we’re almost out of oxygen!” We dashed off again in another mad waddle to the time machine. I felt horrid that I could not find more oxygen; the supplies I had borrowed from OAT was all I am going to get for awhile. And yet, I knew how excited my colleagues would be with my new-found knowledge. “It is so hot in this suit. I’m drenched!” “Yeah yeah yeah, quit complaining. Soon enough you’ll be back in your Norwegian igloo.” With this exchange, we buckled in the time machine with no time to spare. I took one last look upon the beautiful scene before my eyes. If only we had more time. I dropped Markus off back in his room and hit the gas as his brother opened the door. Back in my room, I had much to think about. What happened to the water? What happened to the atmosphere? When had the event taken place, or was it an evolution? These questions and more I speculated on while on my bed staring at the wall. Markus was the sample-taker for this trip, so all I could do was torture myself by analyzing the situation while he ran tests. I longed to return to Mars, but one look at my time machine was enough to tell me that it would be out of order until I fixed it up a bit. Seems traveling five hundred million years in the past and to another planet was too much for it to handle. But then the magnitude of what I had just discovered hit me. A permanent grinned attached itself to my face as I realized what Mars might mean to us now. I rolled off the side of my bed and trudged to my laptop where I began my report on my findings on Mars. Ah yes, the heads of OAT would be surprised indeed.