One Way To Mars

Chapter 7

Foreman cleared a section of thejungle, on the side of the main pool, away from most of the othertrees. With the spade, he dug a shallow grave. From a locker, he hadfound a spare space suit, one of a dozen. He lay the suit in thegrave, a helmet representing the head. Then he covered it up with thesoil. To mark the grave, he planted a small seedling, an apple, hethought, where the headstone would be. Monkley watched from adistance, as Foreman laboured away. Words were needed.

'Right. Okay. Now, maybe there'sa god listening. Maybe even theGod. If so, you'll know I'm something of an agnostic. Nothingpersonal, you understand. I mean. You got your work cut out, right?You made one heck of a Universe to take care of. But, I figure Igotta say a few words. Commander Ashley Phillips, Science Officer,Elizabeth Mauler and Captain Donna Sanders were good people, youknow? Yeah. Sure you do. They didn't deserve to come all the way outhere just to...Well, it's true. Shouldn't have happened. And likethat kid what's his name. Farley. Just a kid. A wannabe astronaut. Aspace cadet. I mean, what's that all about? He didn't deserveto...Maybe he made it. I hope he made it. The world needs kids likeFarley. Look. I'm not blaming you. Shit. The ship was man made. Thewar or whatever the hell is going on is man made.' He wiped tearsaway. 'Right. For a start, I wanna say thanks for sparing me andMonkley. We don't deserve special treatment. At least I don't.Monkley is such a great creature. At least here he can be more like aproper chimp. I guess that's about all I gotta say. You got myfriends off the ship, now. Look after them. Thanks.'

He stood and stared at the grave,his heart heavy, his future in the lap of the God he had just reachedout to. Monkley walked over to him and took Foreman's hand, and thenjumped up into his arms. Together they stared in silentcontemplation. In some small way, ghosts had been laid to rest.