Sandstorm

“Who knows when the Fourth World War ended?” asked Ana from the front of the cube-shaped classroom. Her keen eyes searched her audience, but she wore a gentle smile.

The class stirred quietly in their metal seats.

“Who cares about Earth anyway?” said Gerd. Some of the others laughed.

“Let's not be rude about Earthlings,” Ana scolded. “Our ancestors came from there. The answer is that the war ended fifty-two years ago, in the year 131, or 2270 in Earth years. That was also when Mars City reached its peak population.”

An alarm blared out.

“Right, class. Sandstorm alert. Make your way to the main hall. No running! Dunn, you wait.”

The pupils filed out in order, except for one, who sat awkwardly at the back of the class.

“Come on, Dunn, let's go,” said Ana, after gathering her things. “Let's hope this storm is a local one.”

“Yes, mother,” the boy muttered. He dawdled with his head down, dragging his lanky legs. Ana had to take his hand and pull him along.

They followed the others through the long corridors of the underground city. Dunn stopped briefly by one of the few windows to look at the cave walls.

“Come on,” she urged. “The rocks will still be there when you get back.”

“I want to see outside. We haven't gone outside for a while.”

“We can have a look outside when the sandstorm is over. Now is not the time.”

The hall was the largest chamber in the sector. Unlike the other rooms, which were composed of prebuilt titanium blocks, the hall had been hand-built by the Martians. It was painted in natural tones of green that evoked a temperate Earth landscape.

The corridor lights flickered before they reached the hall. The bright bulbs in the ceiling faded out, leaving Ana and her son in complete darkness for a few seconds. The lights came on again but dimmer.

Through the door, hundreds of people had already gathered. Ana looked for her husband but she couldn't see him. She suspected he would have taken shelter in the mine.

“Please remain calm,” said one of the guards. “All power in this sector outside of the hall has been switched to reserve power and will be disconnected shortly.”

Ana found herself next to her friend Milos, whose husband also worked in the mines. Milos dressed immaculately, with lavish makeup that gave her a shiny complexion.

“Hello,” said Ana. “I haven't seen you in a while.” They sat down together on the hard floor.

“Hello Ana, and how is Dunn doing?” Milos leaned over to talk to the boy. “How old are you now?”

“Six,” said Dunn. “Or eleven in Earth years, but we don't use those any more.”

Milos smiled. “No, we don't.” She turned to Ana. “Have you heard from Calton?”

“Nothing.”

“I haven't heard from Zanny either. I'm sure they'll be safe. The ice mines have better shelters than we do.”

“So I've heard.” Dunn hovered by Ana's side. “Dunn,” she said. “Would you like to go and play with the other children?” With a quiet nod he ran off to join his classmates.

“He's been acting strange lately,” said Ana.

“You know I'm not the right person to ask about that,” laughed Milos. “I'm hopeless with children.”

“Oh, it's probably nothing,” said Ana. “How have you been?”

“Staying calm. I've been meditating a lot. It helps in times of crisis.” She lifted her hands as if to demonstrate.

“So I've heard. I can't believe this is the second sandstorm this year.”

“Whatever happens, it is beyond our control,” Milos said. “You shouldn't worry about such things.”

“I'm a worrier by nature. I don't know how you can be so calm about it. We're due another supply drop from Earth next week. If that gets disrupted, it could be disastrous.”

“If that happens, then we will have to cope as always.”

“What if it's a long storm like in 167? Thousands died of starvation and suffocation. Such an awful way to go.”

Milos breathed deeply and looked back at Ana sadly. “This place is already our death. I've come to accept that. You should too.”

___________

The sandstorm was not a local one, but planet-wide. By the third day in the hall, the smell became hard to bear. The air filters were pumping in oxygen and removing carbon dioxide, but the odour would not disperse. There was a constant queue for the single toilet in the hall, and many people sounded sick.

A guard gave Ana and Dunn a food packet each, as they did every morning. It was up to each individual what they did with their packet. Most ate theirs at once, as if in fear of having it stolen.

Ana ate half of hers and gave a piece to her son, who gobbled up his own packet and the extra in minutes. He was getting tall, thought Ana. He might reach eight feet tall soon.

At the other side of the hall a fight broke out. A guard pulled out his gun and separated the two men. One of them was still angry and demanded he be given another ration of food. He eventually calmed down when a few others donated a small part of their own packages to help.

It never used to be like this, thought Ana. When she was young, going to the hall during a sandstorm had more of a community atmosphere. They would sing songs, or some of the elders would tell stories. That never happened now. The closest they got was when they showed a film or a broadcast on the big screen.

She watched Dunn for a minute. He seemed to be enjoying himself with the other children, they were busy talking.

“Ana,” came a voice from nearby. She turned round and barely recognised an old friend of her father's. His craggy face looked familiar, but worn and weary with the strain of many years.

“Hello Jorn,” she said, hoping she remembered the name right. “Are you well?”

“Well enough,” he said. “I've had bad news from the doctor.”

“I'm sorry to hear that. What is it?”

“The usual - cancer. I should have at least another year left so plenty of time to say my goodbyes. I made it to thirty, that's good for Martian years. To be honest, I'll be glad to leave this place. It's becoming hard to tolerate.”

“Surely it's not that bad.”

“It is. I'm not the only one dying. The city is dying. How many are we now? Forty thousand? Earth have abandoned us.” He spat out the words.

“They have not,” said Ana. She had noticed attitudes towards Earth had changed over the years too. There were always people who would joke about how Earthlings were short and fat, but in a light-hearted way. Now when anyone mentioned Earth there was often an undertone of hatred and bitterness.

“When was the last time any new settlers arrived?” said Jorn. “They're not coming back. You know that. They don't even visit any more. Have you ever wondered why that is? They visit their Moon base, but not here. They don't even mention us in their broadcasts.

”I don't blame them,” he continued. “They've seen how bad life is for us up here, and they've decided not to repeat the experiment. We do everything we can to stay alive, but it's not enough. We're not self-sufficient, we never have been. We're a doomed offshoot waiting to die.”

“Shh!” Ana said. She could sense the awkward silence that had grown around them. Faces were staring.

She wondered how many others thought the same way. Such negativity was alien to her. She usually avoided people who talked like that, but in the hall there was no escape.

Jorn seemed insulted at being shushed and he said no more.

___________

The following day, the temperature became noticeably colder. Ana heard that the batteries had run out and the power supply had switched to using the backup hydrogen generators.

Scarves, hats and blankets were distributed to everyone in the hall and they huddled together to keep warm. Despite that, one old woman died of hypothermia during the night. Her body was placed in a storage cupboard to be disposed of once the sandstorm was over.

That was the first day they heard from their leader. His mousy face appeared on the big screen.

“Citizens of Mars,” he said. “My sympathies go out to you all during this difficult time. The storm is predicted to last another three days at least. I have promised extra food rations for all tomorrow.

“But let me remind you that insubordination will not be tolerated. A pair of terrorists were caught in sector 8 attempting to sabotage our fuel supply. The two have been executed by exposure.

“Glory to Mars! Remember, on the red planet we are all born free.”

There was some half-hearted applause at the speech. Afterwards, an old film from Earth was shown. Ana wasn't really paying attention but it featured hills and mountains and a lot of singing. It seemed to cheer up some others around her.

When the film finished, Dunn asked. “What is it like on Earth? Can people really go outside without a suit there?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Can we visit there?”

“No. There are no rockets. Even if we went, the gravity would crush us. At most we could visit for a day or two. We couldn't stay any longer.”

“So why did people move here?”

Ana was about to reply that the motivations had been greed and a lack of foresight of the challenges of settling on a harsh alien world, but that seemed too cynical for her. Yet she couldn't think of a better answer without outright lying.

“Go to sleep, Dunn. It's bedtime.”

___________

After eight days the sandstorm ended. Ana and the others had to remain in the hall an extra day until the sector could be warmed up and supplied with oxygen again.

Their leader gave another speech to them before they left.

“Citizens of Mars,” he said. “We have survived another storm, as we shall survive many more. We shall replenish our stores and replant our crops. We shall succeed. Remember, on Mars we are all born free.”

Five days later, Ana and Dunn put on their spacesuits and took a walk in the open air. The sky was cloudless and pink.

They passed a great field of solar panels, many coated with sand. A pair of robots were polishing them.

Ahead lay long rows of glass houses growing crops, also largely covered in dust. Beyond those stood tall cliffs that marked the edge of the plain under which they spent their whole lives.

“On Earth the plants can grow out in the open, can't they?” said Dunn.

“Yes.”

“I'd like to see Earth myself one day.”

“I hope you get to go there. What would you like to visit when you're there?”

“Not to visit. I mean I'd like to move there.”

“But you'd die if you stayed there. The gravity is too strong for us.”

“I know.” Dunn had a faraway look in his eye. “I just want to go there. It's where we belong. It's where we should be. Every time I see it on the screens I wonder, why aren't we there? Why are we stuck up here? I want to go home.”

“You know what,” said Ana. “I think I'd come with you.”