I'm at 10 months of their training. 30 more to go XD I'll probably skip around some more. A fragment of the fifth chapter.
The funny thing is, my one way ticket to Earth has been changed. By sheer luck, they just happened to be working on a mars program, getting into it 8 years after I got to the plannet. It was now a round trip.
“Alright- does everybody have their flight suits secured?” McKinney asked, and got a mixed answer of got its, yesses, yeps, and one affirmative. I think that was Glaskowsky.
“Okay. So, here is the drill- you will be lowered twenty feet down, expected to swim to the surface, then do 150 yards. got it?” Another mix of got its, yesses, yeps, and one affermative, except less excited. Quinn rolled his eyes, muttering something to me, but I didn’t hear it. I think it was for the best.
It had been a couple months since we stopped our isolation drill, which lasted a month and a half. We still couldn’t leave the area within a fifteen mile radius (unless there was an emergency) easing us into homesickness. I had been through that. We had already lost two people off our team, getting off that early would mean they probably weren't going the next round in ten years either. I didn’t know them so well though, not too much of a loss for me personally. But now, we had our physical/emergency training. I was not meant for this gravity, so it took quite a toll on me. Well, that was my excuse. Quinn and Hari were in the same boat- no excuse for them.
“Now, get onto the platform- it’ll take us down. It’s filled with air now, but it’ll be released along with us.” To be honest, getting into an elevator that released you in the water along with thirteen other people in funny uniforms, all swimming up to one place, did not seem like it was going to be a gas. I didn’t really enjoy getting kicked in the face. We all got in the thing just the same, waiting until it lowered.
“On the count of three, we all go up. One, two...” He looked around in anticipation. “Three.” We all frantically swam up, then proceding to the laps. I really didn’t like laps. Got boring, to me at least. Soon it was over, I climbed out of the pool (it was hard to do with the flight suit), and Glaskowsky helped me out. Darell was waiting on the bench, had finished a while ago. Quinn got out soon after I did, and we still had to wait for Hari and a couple of others.
“Man, I think I’ve lost twenty pounds since last thursday.” Quinn leaned back on the bench, exausted.
“Dosn’t look it.” Darell laughed, and he raised his eyebrows.
“Well, it was an exageration, thanks.”
“I’ve gained some, probably muscle. About seven pounds and six ounces in the last few months.” I shrugged, and the others looked over.
“You count the ounces?” Darel asked, like this was something intriguingly strange.
“Yeah, I count the ounces. Why not count the ounces?”
“I dunno. I couldn’t give you an exact number if I tried.” She laughed, pushing her wet hair out of her face. Hari got to the edge of the pool, and I helped him out.
“Thanks.” He said, sitting down on the bench.
“Now what about you?” Darell asked him.
“What?”
“Oh- she’s asking you if you count the ounces.” I sat down on the other side of him. “Do you or don’t you?”
“What ounces?” He asked, “Am I missing something?”
“No, no. I think Donatello’s the only one here who does.”
“Ounces are more precice. I like precision.” I rolled my eyes, twisting a lock of hair around my finger. “Aww, the chlorine is ruining my hair again.”
“Taking out the dye?”
“It’s not dyed.”
“For some reason, I don’t belive you.” Quinn laughed, loudly as always. I was careful not to- the chlorine would always hurt my throat. “At least it matches the flight suits.”
“Yeah, it does, dosn’t it?”
“Listen up- After you all get out of your flight suits, you can go back home. Just remember- Tomorrow we’re going on a field trip of some sort- going to the desert to camp out a few days with simulated living quarters that we’d have on mars. We’re also going to study some geology. At the end, all of us in the program- including the other four teams- will be meeting back at the Newberry-Tharer center for a celebration- The first supplies and structures for our stay will be landing on Mars.” McKinney said, getting an applause from the thirteen of us. That sounded pretty far out.
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