A Rover's Story by Jasmine Warga

Author:Jasmine Warga
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2022-07-19T00:00:00+00:00

Earth

Late at night, I am able to locate a pale white dot in the sky.

It is tiny and faint. My system tells me it is approximately thirty-four million miles away.

That tiny pale white dot is Earth.

That tiny pale white dot is where Xander is. It is where Rania is. Where Journey is. Where the laboratory is. Where everything I used to know exists.

When my camera lens focuses on that tiny pale white dot, I feel so far away from them.

But I also like that I can see them.

I take a picture to send back. To send back to Earth.

“I like being here now,” I say to Fly. “But someday, I know I will be the human emotion of happy to go back to Earth.”

“Gruzunks,” Guardian says. “I have never heard of a rover returning to Earth.”

“I am going to return to Earth,” I say. “I was built to return to Earth.” Because I am not a hazmat and I do not speak with human speech, my voice never quivers. But if I were a hazmat, my voice would’ve probably quivered when I said that. Because I am not entirely certain that my return will actually occur.

“Is that correct? That you will be returning?” Guardian asks. “I do not believe I had that information.”

“It is,” I tell Guardian.

“If you find something worth returning you for,” Fly says.

“Wait,” I say. “How do you know that?”

“I listened.”

“To me and Journey?”

“Yes,” Fly says. “I had no choice. You were very noisy.”

“You should have told us you were listening.”

“Oh,” Fly says. “I thought it was important to listen. So that I could know what we are searching for.”

“The helicopter is indeed correct. It is important that he understands what to look for once he is in the air,” Guardian says. “He will be your best tool when it comes to locating a fossil.”

“And locating Courage,” Fly says. “When will I get to fly?”

“When the command center desk tells us.”

“It seems like it is taking a long time.”

“Perhaps,” I say. “But they want to make sure the conditions are right.”

“Don’t you want to get started?” Fly asks.

“Of course I do,” I say.

“I wonder what Courage will be like.”

“Me too,” I say.

I am quiet for a while because I am wondering about a lot of things. I wonder if I will be able to find a fossil. If I will be able to bring Courage back online. But most of all, I can’t stop staring at the tiny pale white dot that I know is Earth and wondering if Journey is sitting in the laboratory all by herself in the darkness that is so unlike the darkness of Mars at night.

You would like it here, I think. Someday I hope I will be able to tell you about it. Though I know that when I do, you will still act like you know more about Mars than me. And that will be what humans call annoying. Because you are often annoying. But I miss you, annoyingness and all.

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