The fiery red colors streaked across the sky, dancing before my eyes.  Even through my protective Zairco heat suit I could smell the potent Iron dust from the rocky surface.  I sat on the hard, glowing ground, feeling the brisk wind slip through the tear in my suit.  I would have to get that fixed before my mother sees it.  And yet, the hypnotizing view held me captive for 20 more minutes as I admired its astounding beauty.  To all of the other pioneer explorers, the colors of the sunset were a blaring warning to fly back to the protection of our developing civilization.  I took a few more minutes to appreciate the breathtaking scene, then I took the small button out of my pocket.  I pressed it and it telescoped into my hoverboard.   I hopped on and expertly flew down the volcano and back to our growing civilization.  I entered the Zairco suit company building, where I met my friend Zain.  He volunteered there, and helped design the material for the suits.

"Vara!  Thank goodness you're back.  And just in time, too.  The sun has set!" he worriedly stated.

"And that's the best part!" I replied.  He knew I loved to sit and admire the sunset on Olympus Mons, the tallest volcano in the solar system, about three times the size of Mount Everest. 

I pulled him aside and showed him the tear in my suit.

He gasped, "You were out there with a dysfunctional suit?"

"Oh, please.  You sound like my mother!" I said, hiding the frosty red rash on my arm.  "I just need it to be fixed."

"How about a new one?"  He walked over to a machine that finalized minute details on a crimson suit.  Once it stopped, he grabbed the suit off of the conveyor belt and held it up to me.

"Thanks, Zain!  The newest model!  I won't rip this one, I promise!" I joked.

"You better not," he agreed.

I slipped on the new suit and flew towards the protected area that my family stayed in during the nights.  I passed the hydroponics center where rows of luscious green plants grew out of plexiglass automatic watering systems.  The fresh fruits and vegetables prospered with the prime sunlight shining through the glass roof, and the additional fluorescent lighting when necessary.  I decided to stop by and take the time to pick the fresh food, so I flew inside and surveyed the plants.
I found the tomatoes and tried to pick ones in prime condition, but there were fewer options than usual.  They looked a little dry and were starting to droop.  I moved on to the dark, leafy lettuce plants, which had an abnormal tinge of yellow.  They, too, were beginning to wilt.  I picked some of the decent produce and stored it in my invisible and weightless sack.  Then I glided around to the mechanical room to check the timers for the watering system.  They were set correctly to run for 15 minutes, twice a day.  I decided to lift the lid on the water storage bin, and found nothing inside.

I tossed my hoverboard out the door and jumped on it, flying through the trenches where water resided, thousands of years ago.  I passed my original destination, now trying to reach my father, who worked with the hydrogen fuel that powered our hoverboards, mechanical technology, and exploration rovers.  Most importantly, the hydrogen fuel melted the ice caps and created water for our civilization.  If anyone would know what happened to the water in the hydroponics center, it would be my dad.

"Vara Sharck reporting for duty!" I shouted as I reached his station.

"You're late," he teased.

"There's no water in the hydroponics center.  The plants are dying," I reported.

"I know," he sighed.  "We found out this morning and have been on it all day.  We just can't get enough water out of these ice caps."

"But there are so many of them!" I argued, pointing around the area.

He shook his head, "We try to use the hydrogen fuel to melt the ice caps, but each one only gives a little bit of usable water.  The rest either evaporates due to the thin atmosphere, or remains as chunky bits of ice because of the freezing temperature.  I'm going to keep trying with the hydrogen fuel, and I want you and Zain to start an ice cap exploration group that leaves in the mornings and returns before sunset."

"Yes sir!" I promised, excited to embark on an exploration mission.

The next morning I woke up before sunrise.  Zain and I were going to get a headstart.  Our civilization was depending on us to find water, and I was not ready to fail because of a stupid rule about the sun's protection.

We set off on our hoverboards with our weightless sacks filled.  Zain had his Exaid glasses ready to take images of the locations of the ice caps we would find.

First we went to Olympus Mons and allowed ourselves to take a quick minute and admire the sunrise.  Then we set off again, towards unexplored territory.   The ground was just as rocky red, with specks of dark yellow, brown, and green.  Dust blew off of the surface and kicked up in our faces.  We kept going, looking for ice caps on the dry land.

We flew down into an enormous canyon and found a few ice caps at the bottom.  Zain snapped a picture and sent it to my father so that he would have the location.  We continued on past the canyons and around sand dunes.  Specks of dust danced around our faces, clinging to our helmets and hindering our vision.  I spotted something shining in the distance and we flew to it.  The sun reflected off of a glimmering silver metal that was sitting on a sand dune.  I kicked the dirt around it and discovered that it was bigger that I had thought.  The giant hunk of new, shiny metal was half buried in the sand dune, and as we dusted off some dirt, the word EXPLORER 47 became visible.

“What is it?” I asked.

“No idea,” Zaine replied as he snapped another picture.  “Come on.  Let’s keep going, he suggested. 

I soared after him, but I couldn’t help leaving with a feeling of curiosity, yet discomfort.

We found more ice caps along the edge of a dry river bank, along with a square of space suit material.

Zain picked it up and inspected it.  “It’s not as soft as the material we use at Zairco, but it is very insulating and most likely effective.”  He put it in his bag and we continued on.

The sun was beating down from directly above us reminding us of our thirst, despite the frosty cold climate.  We flew over some volcanoes and the dust blew around us, caking our suits like powdered sugar.  We found another large group of ice caps.  It looked as if someone had already attempted to melt them, yet we knew that our explorers have not ventured this far.  Zain took a picture, but we left the area knowing that it was probably useless.

As we continued to explore the unknown territory, the sun was starting to set.  The darker it got, my concern grew.  We decided to keep going forward, finding more ice caps along the way.  As Zain was taking a picture, I heard the scuffle of footsteps behind me.  I turned sharply, scanning the horizon to find the source of the noise.  I couldn't see anything unusual, but inside me, the feelings of suspicion and uncertainty crawled around like a centipede.  I didn’t want Zain to panic, so I decided not to tell him, and move on.

Eventually, the sun was fully out of sight, and the deep colors of the sky grew dark.  I could see the moons shimmering clearly for the first time, without looking through a smudged window.  My communication piece beeped twice and shut down, meaning it no longer had signal.  I knew that our parents were undoubtedly worried, and Zain must have been thinking the same thing.

“Vara?” he said shakily.  “Maybe we should head back.  It’s getting a little dark, and I think we found plenty of ice caps.”

Yeah, and plenty of other weird stuff.  I thought to myself.

“Okay.  Good idea,” I replied as confidently as I could.

I led the way back to our civilization through sand dunes, volcanoes, canyons, craters, trenches, and windy sand storms.  We made it back to a heating center and took a moment to relax after the long day.  Zain took off his Exaid glasses and projected the pictures on to the table.  We had found plenty of ice caps to restore the Hydroponics center, leaving us with feelings of satisfaction and pride.  But on the last picture where I had heard footsteps, a shadowy figure lurked behind the corner of the ice cap.