Characters
Erin Horowitz, a young astronaut
Pax, an alien
The scene begins on board of ERIN’s spaceship as it begins its descent onto Mars. Various beeping, whirling, and whizzing can be heard, before the spaceship lurches, throwing ERIN to the floor. She sits up.
ERIN: (excitedly) I’m here! I can’t believe it!
(ERIN runs to the small circular window and peaks outside at the desolate red landscape. She grabs a nearby notebook and jots down a few notes.)
ERIN: (talking into radio) Base, this is Erin Horowitz of Expedition 14, do you copy?
(Silence.)
ERIN: (Repeats. More indignantly) Base, this is Erin Horowitz of Expedition 14, do you copy?
(A small muffled sound comes through the radio; however, it is indistinct and sounds faintly of a response. ERIN takes it as such.)
ERIN: I have successfully landed on the Red Planet. Will step foot on the surface momentarily.
(The radio utters a similar indistinct response. ERIN doesn’t seem to notice as she begins to put on her gear. She places on her helmet and presses the button to release the door. We hear the door release and the red landscape of the planet. Before stepping outside, ERIN places the notebook in her pocket and grabs a blaster, just in case.)
ERIN: (steps outside of the spaceship) Wow! It’s beautiful!
(ERIN begins to collect samples of dirt, air, and whatever else. Her back is turned and she doesn’t notice the other figure approach.)
PAX: Hello?
(ERIN turns around. Scared, she points the blaster at PAX. PAX instinctively recoils.)
ERIN: Who are you?!
PAX: My name is Pax. Who are you?!
ERIN: I’m Erin Horowitz of Expedition 14. (Her eyes grow wide) Are you one of the Missing 13?
PAX: Missing 13?
ERIN: The 13 astronauts to travel here before me. All took off from Earth and were never heard from again.
PAX: ‘Fraid I’ve been here my whole life.
(Erin pauses and grips her blaster tightly. She’s not sure what to believe.)
ERIN: That’s impossible! There’s been no traces of life on Mars, until, well now.
PAX: (shrugs) I’m not lying.
ERIN: Then, what happened to the other 13 astronauts? The GPS on their spaceships showed them reaching Mars, but they never radioed in.
PAX: Look, Earth Lady, if I knew how to help you I would. I’m sorry about your friends, but believe it or not, us Martians have some important things to do.
(PAX turns to leave.)
ERIN: No, wait! I need to talk to you! No one’s ever made contact with Martian life before! This is a breakthrough!
(PAX weighs the options, but ultimately decides to stay.)
PAX: All right, make it quick. What’d you need to know?
(ERIN pulls out her notebook).
ERIN: So, you said you’ve lived here your whole life? How old are you?
PAX: Around 10, I guess. We Martians don’t really keep track of that.
(ERIN does the calculations in her head and settles that PAX is around 20 Earth years old. The Mars orbit was almost double Earth’s. She writes this in her notebook).
ERIN: Okay. How long have you been aware of life on Earth?
PAX: (Pauses.) Pretty much my whole life. Never really bothered me though. All the Martians know to avoid your little mini-vans you like to drive around on our planet.
(Erin sits in shock for a few moments.)
ERIN: Oh.
PAX: Don’t feel stupid. Earthlings are a bit, more, obvious than Martians. What with all the satellites and such.
ERIN: Can you take me to where you live? I’d love to get to see what life on Mars is really like.
PAX: (Shakes head) I don’t think that’s a good idea.
ERIN: Why not?
PAX: Not all Martians have seen a human before…and well…it might freak them out. Besides, you just landed. I’m sure you’d rather stay in your ship anyways.
ERIN: Aha! So you have seen a human before!
PAX: I never said that!
ERIN: You said that not all Martians have seen a human before. It implies you have!
PAX: Maybe on Earth—
ERIN: (Cuts off PAX.) Oh, don’t give me that crap! You speak English. I know what you meant.
(ERIN begins circling PAX with her laser pointed at them.)
ERIN: Tell me what happened to the others who landed here!
PAX: Listen, I think all that flying has gone to your head. Why don’t rest for a while?
ERIN: I’m not letting you out of my sight until you tell me what happened to the other astronauts or take me to someone who can!
PAX: (sighs) It’s not a fun story. In fact, you should just go back to Earth, to whatever cushy job you once had and leave this planet. You’re lucky it was me and not someone else who found you. They would’ve killed you on spot.
ERIN: (Yelling and shoving her blaster closer to PAX) So, that’s what happened? You killed them?!
PAX: I’ve never touched a human! Before number 13, I’d never seen one before.
(PAX looks like they’re remembering something. Not something happy. ERIN realizes this and drops her blaster, although still holds it firmly in her hand).
PAX: Martians first became aware of human life when you dropped your rover on the planet. At first, we were curious about the robot, which seemed uninterested in us. It dug a lot and took pictures of Earth. That’s how we knew where it was from. It never hurt anyone so we just left it alone. We figured the less Earthlings knew the better.
The first human came a few months before I was born. Everyone was scared at first, but we eventually made contact. Our Elder was the first one to speak with him and within a few hours, the entire town had met One. He talked of Earth and how Martians were a beautiful race.
After only a week, One became too comfortable. He took off his helmet, he forgot where he was, and he…died.
(ERIN looks solemnly at PAX.)
ERIN: That must’ve been hard.
PAX: The Martians took his spaceship and erected a memorial to him. But eventually life went back to normal. About 2 Mars years later, Two came. We welcomed him with open arms, but he was more hesitant. We took him back to the city and gave him the best accommodation Mars has to offer. We even offered to help him do his research he needed to send back to Earth.
That night Two murdered part of the city and before we could try to stop him. He too took his helmet off.
(Both ERIN and PAX sit in silence now. ERIN has completely let go of her blaster. It now sits on the dusty red ground beside her).
PAX: The Martians never trusted any of the others after that. We usually would greet them and send them off to the most remote and desolate parts of the planet. Usually within a couple days, they would die. But with Thirteen, it was different. Thirteen landed in this very spot a Mars year ago. I was the only one around when it happened. I greeted them. I knew what everyone else had said about humans, but Thirteen was different. When they got off the ship, they weren’t scared of me. They didn’t look startled or even surprised. They smiled.
I tried to hide Thirteen, but the ship was harder. Eventually, the residents of the city found the ship, but I’d hid Thirteen well. But eventually, they found them. And this time, they killed them themselves. I didn’t even know. I just went to where they were hiding one day and found Thirteen dead. They were the one that taught me how to speak like you. What’s it called?
ERIN: English.
(PAX nods)
ERIN: But what about the radios? How come the others never radioed back to Earth?
PAX: They were always on those radios. Eventually after Four we figured out they didn’t work. Or at least not from Mars. They just kept sending humans, so we knew if the radios worked, they would already know about us.
ERIN: You never mentioned it to any of the others?
PAX: It never seemed important.
ERIN: So, what’s going to happen to me then?
PAX: I don’t know.
ERIN: Are you going to turn me in?
PAX: Probably not.
ERIN: But they’ll find me?
PAX: Eventually.
ERIN: So, what should I do?
PAX: I don’t know.
(The two stand at an impasse.)
ERIN: What were you doing out here alone anyway? I assume the city is far away.
PAX: Not as far as you think.
ERIN: Why were you here then?
PAX: Celebrating.
ERIN: Celebrating what?
PAX: The anniversary.
ERIN: Oh.
PAX: Besides, there’s a great view of Earth from here. It looks so different from Mars. Is it true Earth has huge oceans that stretch between continents?
ERIN: Yes. Most of Earth is water.
PAX: Wow. I wonder what it would feel like.
ERIN: It’s nice. Water, if that’s what you mean.
(The two take a seat on the ground, their hands behinds their backs, stretched out and enjoying the view of Earth.)
PAX: I’ve always wanted to go. But everyone thinks I’m crazy. Humans are barbaric creatures, they say. Humans wouldn’t accept me. But yet, we won’t accept them.
ERIN: Well, if you let me stick around. I can show you some pictures of Earth. And eventually, I’ll have to go back. If we got my radio working and I could contact base, I bet I could bring you back with me. Although, I can’t promise it won’t be hard.
PAX: Good, nothing easy is ever worth achieving.
ERIN: Funny, that’s what Thirteen used to say to me when we were kids. Inspired me to be an astronaut just like them.
PAX: You knew Thirteen back on Earth?
ERIN: Yes, very well. We were siblings.
PAX: Oh, I’m sorry.
ERIN: No, they died achieving something. That’s what they would’ve wanted.
PAX: I think so too.
ERIN: Pax? Right?
(Pax nods)
ERIN: Well Pax, I’m going to head off.
PAX: Where? There’s nowhere to go on this godforsaken rock.
ERIN: Exactly. I’m going to find the most remote and desolate place. Where no one has gone before.
PAX: No, don’t do that. You’ll die.
(ERIN stands up and looks in the opposite direction to the great expanse of the desert planet).
ERIN: No, I’ll be back. Again and again and again.
THE END
Alisan Keesee 