Authorial Magazine - Manila Edition

But at the moment, Nathan had more
immediate things to think about.
After being hoisted aboard the ship,
Nathan found that he had difficulty
walking. Even though Mars had
lower gravity, their muscles had grown
weaker as a result of living for weeks
in a zero gravity environment.
In spite of the difficulties, Nathan
remained on deck until all of the
capsules were retrieved, and the ships
began to make for land. Others on
the crew showered and ate, but what
they ate was a mystery to Nathan. He
decided to put off eating Martian
food for a while, just in case it didn’t
agree with his stomach.
As they traveled, he observed the crew,
and they also observed him and the
other Earthmen. They were generally
reserved, but not all of them were as
stoic as Kor-Neev. On two occasions
he actually saw crewmen laughing.
But what interested him most was
the shoreline.
Once the shoreline came into view, he
saw the largest and most impressive
cityscape he had ever seen. It made
New York City look like a small
country town by comparison. The
city seemed to stretch as far as the
eye could see in either direction. Once
he reached the shoreline, he saw just
how immense the buildings were. He
now understood why Kor-Neev was so
unimpressed by Earth’s architecture.
After he disembarked from the ship,
he found himself in a naval yard full of
what appeared to be military vessels.
He and the others were herded into
the Martian version of cars, which
were more aerodynamic and sleek
than any cars back on Earth, and
clearly more advanced technologically.
As they drove through the city he
got a better look at the buildings.
They were composed of metal, stone,
and glass, but all were polished and
shining. They came in varying shades
of gray and black, and towered to
monstrous heights. The architecture
was definitely more advanced than
anything back on Earth, but Nathan
could not help but wonder if the lesser
gravity was also a factor in being able
to build such tall buildings.
The people they passed on the
sidewalks all appeared to be the same
race. Most of them wore black or
gray, but there were a few who wore
different colors in dark tones. Some
of the streets were lined with trees,
and there were also parks, but the
trees were all alien in shape. They
had black trunks and red leaves, and
the grass was orange in color.
Everything was clean and well
ordered. The Krenth even had traffic
lights, but in their case, red meant
go, purple meant caution, and blue
meant stop.
Eventually, they were taken to a
large building surfaced with what
appeared to be polished black stone,
like marble, and led inside. The lobby
was massive, with large black columns
ascending thirty feet overhead to an
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