Escape From Mars
Escape From Mars, featuring Jimi the kid from Mars. Chapter 1, act 1.
Journal entry: 3rd Araru, 23195 CME (Current Martian Era).
"Couldn't sleep all night. Could barely eat breakfast. My stomach is all flutterbugs. I'm too nervous about today's tournament.
I stayed up late practicing my Antipossible Flips. But I've never done one in front of anyone.
Why did I put it in my set? I'm having 2nd thoughts about it. Is it too late to take it out?
But it's my last chance this year. And I failed at everything else. I better not mess up. Again."
***
It was mid-morning. The first day of the school-week (a Monday by our reckoning). In the first week of the Martian month "Araru". We might call it May. In the year we call 4,997,991 BCE. A clear rainless morning. Though Mons Olympus was acting up again. And the customary weather alerts went out about it. Causing concerns for scattered ash-snow showers later in the day. And there were just a few weeks left in the school year...
***
The Cydonia Middle School hallways were bustling with the usual morning chatter. Rowdy Martian students swapping parleys of their weekend shenanigans. Filing one by one into their respective classrooms. Only a few minutes till the 3rd period bells would ring.
(Most quite human looking, aside from slightly bigger eyes, weirder ears, and other personal quirks.)
A lone student took a right turn down the West hall. Over his right shoulder, he slung a tristrap backpack, emblemed with a crab symbol, and his name "CHUKI". And tucked halfway into his left back pocket, a slingshot.
Chuki wove his way through the crowd, strolling past a long row of students foraging through their lockers. At the hall's end, he crossed paths with a boy wearing a "GO CRABS" hoody, and gave him a fist-bump.
The "GO CRABS" kid joined up with a couple others waiting for him in the corner, and the three of them together ducked into a nearby classroom.
Meanwhile, Chuki himself took another right turn at the corner, and continued the long stretch down the back hallway, past the last lingering stragglers, and a few random teachers. All the way to the last classroom on his left.
A teacher stood watch there by the door. Chuki took a hard left, and dipped into the open doorway. The teacher gave him a soft pat on the back as he passed by. Then followed him in.
The sign above the door read: "Grade 8, Interplanetary Biology, Mr. Scranjo"
***
The classroom was bustling with rambunctious 8th graders. The air filled with their random babel as they took their seats around different lab tables.
Six rectangular lab tables altogether, each seating four students. Scranjo's desk sat against the front wall. Assorted shelves lined the walls, stacked with peculiar specimens.
Chuki took another sharp right after entering, and passed by a row of shelves stacked with vivariums and aquariums. Each containing assorted specimens, quite weird looking in their own ways.
The first vivarium on his right held a big speckled crab-like thing. It looked almost a foot wide, with triple-dactyl chelae (claws). Chuki knocked on its vivarium as he passed. The crab clucked, and swiped a claw at Chuki, hitting the glass. But Chuki ignored it.
The 2nd vivarium Chuki passed contained a creature resembling a large butterfly, with four pink and black wings, and a wingspan over a foot wide. It slowly flapped its floppy wings.
Chuki lunged with his teeth open, and feigned a chomp at it. The butterfly bore its own fangs, and snarled back. Then its color changed to transparent, becoming almost invisible. As its body assumed the coloring of its background surroundings, in a type of camouflage.
But as soon as Chuki was gone, its old coloring returned, and it became visible again.
When Chuki reached the back corner of the classroom, he turned left. There he passed behind a boy and girl standing by another vivarium.
The boy and girl stood there looking into it. It was filled with big purply leaves, and a creature resembling a huge snail.
With a shell over a foot high. And with only one antenna (ocellus), with a big googly eye on the tip. And an oddly shaped shell, with spiral rainbow stripes. and what appeared to be extra openings on both sides, currently closed.
From within the vivarium, the snail's single eye watched the boy and girl, as the girl dangled a purply leaf. It nipped hungrily at it.
The boy then reached into the vivarium, and pet the top of the snail's shell. It purred softly, and its stripes spiraled through all spectral colors, as it munched away.
But it stopped chewing, and withdrew into its shell, once it noticed a man's belt buckle come up behind the boy and girl. And up behind them strolled Scranjo, as he swat the petting boy's hand.
"Don't pet the snail," Scranjo chided.
Scranjo pointed up at the sign posted on the wall above the vivarium, which read in bold letters: "DON'T PET THE SNAIL".
"Aw." The boy and girl both turned and went to their seats.
***
Once Chuki reached the center back lab table, he took off his backpack, and hung it on the back of his chair.
Already seated there were two other boys and a girl. The boy to Chuki's left wore a t-shirt with "BOSS VINI" on it. Chuki pulled the slingshot from his back pocket, and tossed it onto the table. Then he gave Vini a fist-bump, and took a seat. Vini picked up the slingshot, and checked it out.
At the next table over, a boy with a bandaid on his forehead took a seat. It was Jimi.
Jimi took a seat at his assigned lab table, in the back left corner. His three fellow lab-tablers were already seated and ready for Scranjo's lesson. He set his backpack on the floor, and pulled out his Thrum (Martian smartphone). He noticed some new Q-texts. They were from his mother.
{The real Martian name for his phone is a "Thrum". But for the purposes of our story, we'll just call it his phone or smartphone. (A glossary can be found at the end of this work.)}
Jimi hunched over so to not text too obviously. He swiped and tapped on them.
Incoming text from:
Mom: "Jimi are you okay? The nurse told me you had an accident."
Jimi felt the tiny bandaid covering the huge welt on his forehead.
He texted back: "I'm okay. Just fell off my gyroboard." Then waited for Mom's reply.
Mom: "Are you hurt?"
Jimi: "No. Just bumped my head."
Mom: "Okay. I packed your lunch and gave you change for some Marzdrinx. Please don't blow it on hologram games."
Jimi: "I won't."
Mom: "I also charged your quantum bank. And stuck in your hoody in case it snows. Mons Olympus is acting up today. Don't forget to pick up your sister after school."
Jimi: "I won't."
***
The 3rd-period bell rang, signaling the start of class. Class was now in session. Student jabber dwindled, as Scranjo pulled the door out from its wall slot, slid it shut, and twisted its latch locked. He began his morning lesson.
"Okay class, remember, the Cerean tardifrog is the only surviving life form from Phaeton, the planet which used to orbit between Mars and Jupiter."
Sundry students turned to view the slimy green specimens situated on trays in the center of each of their respective lab tables, as Scranjo continued.
"Phaeton exploded over a billion years ago, leaving millions of tiny asteroids behind."
Scranjo strolled between the tables as he spoke. Some of the students at the front center table seemed giddily intrigued by their specimen. It lay there on its back, its eight legs poking up. A boy poked curiously at it with his finger, and it made a squeaky sound. Another boy and girl chuckled. While another girl looked away, mildly repulsed.
Scranjo strolled up behind the curious boy, continuing.
"The Cerean tardifrog's skin contains a natural protection. A sleep-inducing toxin, which puts all would be predators to sleep..."
The boy poked the tardifrog's stomach again. As it squeaked, Scranjo turned and sternly swatted the boy on the back of his head.
"Ow!" the boy cried.
"...and should NOT be touched with bare hands. So put your lab gloves on first... Tobi," Scranjo scolded.
A boy with thick goggle glasses at the next table raised his hand. "Where did we find them?"
"Inside Phaeton's former moon Ceres, Kevi," Scranjo explained.
An orangey-haired girl raised her hand. "Did people from Phaeton really build the pyramids?"
"We don't know that for sure, Suzi," Scranjo answered back. "That's just a theory. And that's a question you should really ask your Interplanetary History teacher about."
***
Jimi tried to pay attention to the ongoing discussion, and scribble some notes, while finishing his covert chat with Mom. He huddled over his Thrum as he texted. He knew Scranjo didn't like texting during class.
Luckily, Scranjo had his back turned to Jimi, and didn't notice. But neither did Scranjo notice the stealthy fumblings at the next table over, right behind Jimi.
"Splat!" A tardifrog suddenly hit the back of Jimi's head. Jimi's eyes blinked with dumb surprise.
The tardifrog just stuck there for a second. Then slowly slid down the back of Jimi's neck, and onto his left shoulder. Jimi turned his head to see what it was. His shocked face became a scowl.
Lori, the girl seated to Jimi's left, watched with disgust. "Ew, it smells."
Jimi turned around to see from where the projectile tardifrog flew. The specimen tray on the table behind him was empty. Vini, Chuki, and Marki just sat there, grinning back obliviously. And Vini had his lab gloves on, and was still holding the slingshot.
Scranjo turned to see. Vini tried to hide the slingshot under the table. Assorted giggles broke out around the classroom. But Scranjo said nothing. He walked over and yanked the slingshot from Vini.
"That's mine," Chuki mumbled timidly.
"Bad move Vini," Scranjo grumbled. "That will be another detention for you."
"But he was Thrumming during class," Vini protested.
"That's no excuse," Scranjo retorted.
Scranjo walked up to Jimi. Jimi sat there frozen, with the tardifrog still on his shoulder, afraid to touch it. He looked up pleadingly at Scranjo.
"Didn't I tell you to stay off your Thrum during class, Jimi?" Scranjo asked.
"Sorry," replied Jimi. "It was my mom."
Scranjo pulled his lab gloves on tighter, and carefully lifted the tardifrog off Jimi's shoulder. He held it up to inspect it for damage.
Then Scranjo carried the tardifrog back to its original table, and plopped it onto its specimen tray. The girl there mumbled "yuck".
Scranjo turned back to Jimi. "Jimi, go hurry up and wash off in the lavatory. And be careful not to touch any of the slime with your bare hands."
***
Jimi obligingly folded up his Thrum three ways, stuck it back into his backpack, slung that over his shoulder, and headed for the door.
"Cool bandaid," yapped someone as Jimi passed by.
"Thanks," mumbled Jimi. More random snickers echoed from the class.
"And hurry straight back," Scranjo added. "You're still getting graded for today's lesson."
Jimi turned the door handle, and started sliding the door open. But before he could walk out, the intercom above the door cackled with static.
Then the emergency alert sounded. Jimi froze there immobile, staring up at it. As did Scranjo, and everyone else in class.
After the beeping subsided, a woman's urgent voice spoke.
"Attention all students, teachers, and staff. This is a code red emergency alert. A dangerous asteroid storm is incoming. Everyone must report to the shuttles for transit to the evacuation site."
There was a brief pause, then the voice added, "Immediately!"
Gasps and shrieks erupted from the whole class. Along with murmured exclamations like "oh no!" and "asteroids?".
Scranjo's anxiously pulled his lab gloves off, as his expression grew more worried.
"Okay class, you know the drill. Get your backpacks and line up at the door, alphabetically."
A random student asked, "where are we going?"
"To the city pyramid," Scranjo answered grimly.
"Zmathel H'kazron?" someone whispered.
Jimi watched the intercom above the door, until the voice faded. On the wall above the intercom, was a map of the solar system. All eleven planets aligned, so nice and orderly.
Jimi stared up at the map, still holding the door handle. Should I go wash up first?, he wondered. He turned to Scranjo, unsure of what to do.
"You too Jimi," ordered Scranjo. "Get back in here, and get in line with the rest."