An Orbit Away: My Life on Mars by Rucker Stacy

Author:Rucker, Stacy [Rucker, Stacy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sunzeri Books
Published: 2016-02-21T23:00:00+00:00

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The next day I requested a conference with Lesonan. He was the only mission representative on the ground that I really had a chance to get to know. I had once had a heart to heart with him, and he had understood. If he had understood where I was coming from as the arrogant, insecure man that I was, I hoped that he would understand where I was coming from as a slightly less arrogant and insecure man who actually had a case for indignation.

For once, this wasn’t about me. It was about Ora. It was about the mission. It was about protecting the rapport we had all built with one another. There was so little to protect at that point, but whatever mutual respect we had left among us was the only thing keeping the entire mission from falling apart. We couldn’t have outsiders compromising our work and our relationships with one another. If our delicate balance was disrupted, I knew that it would be difficult to come back from. After all, what was there of hope and inspiration up there to help us bounce back? For me, forgiveness always came easier after being in nature. If Jenny and I had an argument, and we occasionally did, I would go out into a field or a forest and just let my eyes absorb the beautiful scene before me. I didn’t know it then, but it energized me.

It wasn’t until I didn’t have those things that I realized what they meant to me and how they contributed to my life on a day to day basis. I didn’t live in a forest or out in the open country, but even on my little suburban street, there was plenty of beauty provided by nature. Longing to see a dewy flower or wander through an oaken forest made me feel almost like an impostor. And really, it’s what I was, a guy who once made a living doing payroll at a software company, trying to be a poet. But the past didn’t matter. Perhaps I wasn’t sentimental on Earth, but on Mars, I was Ralph Waldo Emerson. This was my new reality. I was reminded of a song that I hadn’t given much notice to on Earth, but continually came to mind as I reflected on these things on Mars.

A sunset is only beautiful if your heart loves the colors. The spectrum only pales when the eyes refuse to see. Let the colors burst and change you from within. Love the sunset, love the day, let yourself just be.

It was too late for me to let the colors of the world change my soul. I appreciated the beauty of them only after I could have them no longer.

I heard an unfamiliar voice over the mic.

“Mr. Billingsly, your call with Mr. Lesonan is about to begin.”

“Thank you,” I said.

“Henry. It’s Dan. Is everything okay?” he asked.

“For the most part,” I said.

I decided to get right to the point. He knew as much about what was happening between the four of us as the rest of Earth.

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