Excerpt from Roanoke, The Lost Martian Colony

Chapter One

Space Delusions

    Joshua Dare had been briefed, but not prepared for the way the vacuum of space could drive you crazy. Day and night meant nothing as the Elizabeth II hurled towards Mars with it’s experimental magnetic propulsion engine, in the second generation of course, which in theory was supposed to reduce the travel time down to about five months. But there wasn’t a whole lot to do aboard a spacecraft hurtling towards Mars. As he floated down the hallway, his mind conflated present and past, jumbling them up as wildly as his hair looked now in the weightlessness.

    He was walking down the hall in the jail to meet, his daughter, watching the submarine drone plunge the depths of the oil rig where he inspected the construction as site-supervisor, walking up the walk to his home, a large bouquet of flowers in his hand to surprise his wife. He was sitting at the table across from Hailey as she begged him to take this mission, getting the hefty bonus for completing the job ahead of schedule,the flowers scattered on the floor as he interrupted the man murdering his wife. He could hear Hailey “Take it, go! I don’t want to see you die.”

    “But I won’t ever get to see you again.” He objected.

    The tears streamed down her teenage face. “You killed my mother. I’m better off without you.”

    Anger and shame flooded through his body as he crashed into the wall. It didn’t hurt, there was only so fast you could go when you weren’t paying attention in space. He looked the fool.

    “Hey man, djou going to be in la la land all day?” Fernando Espinoza asked in his mock Mexican accent. ‘Nado had been raised in the middle of Iowa, but his parents had given him his ethnic name to keep him grounded. Joshua wondered what ‘Nado had done to get banished to this crew, led by a confessed murder.

    “I’ll be there until I remember each and every detail of how I killed the man who murdered my wife.” Joshua barked at the men. The sniggering stopped, apparently being a cold blooded killer was the worst thing you could do, or perhaps it was the crisp upper class British accent.

    “Back away man.” Quinn said, calming Nado down.

    Joshua turned away from the pale Latino and the even paler blond to float into the mess hall.

    Ella White flipped her lunch like an expert, not above taking the practical, if disgusting rations and embellishing her moves.  She gave him a wary smile, but did not speak.

He nodded his head in her direction in a noncommittal way hoping it wouldn’t encourage her. Lately towards him she’d been all smiles and politeness. It put him on edge. He wished she could have her crush on anyone else but him. Perhaps if he said something mean to her, she’d get the point. “You always act like an idiot with your food?”

She rolled her eyes at him. “Yeah, it keeps things interesting. Are you always an ass to women, or is it just me?”

“Oh, it’s just you darling.”

She let her smile do the talking, and it clearly said ‘Hey, I can trade barbs with you all night, or for the next three months, or whatever the heck it was until they landed.’ But out loud all she said was “It’s good to know you’re setting the appropriate example for the crew. I’m going to bed, make sure I’m not disturbed.”

Joshua nodded. “How long?”

“Wake me up in six hours.” She drifted out the door. “I’ll get the radio transmissions after that.”