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  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Cover

  Title Page

  Map of Mars

  Main Inhabitants of Mars

  Introduction

  Chapter 1: STUCK ON MARS

  Chapter 2: JOURNEY TOWARD A NEW LIFE

  Chapter 3: HOMEWARD BOUND

  Chapter 4: THE SHACK

  Chapter 5: UNEXPECTED GUESTS

  Chapter 6: VISITING THE NEIGHBORS

  Chapter 7: MELTDOWN

  Chapter 8: AN UNUSUAL NEW FRIEND

  Chapter 9: NIGHTMARE PROJECT

  Chapter 10: MARTIAN DANGER

  Chapter 11: HOME SWEET HOME

  About the Author

  About the Illustrator

  What Do You Think?

  Glossary

  Mars Terms

  Copyright

  Back Cover

  MAIN INHABITANTS

  Belle Song

  Twelve-year-old Belle can be headstrong and stubborn. Her curiosity and sense of adventure often get her into trouble. Still, she has a good heart and is passionate about fairness. She is fiercely loyal to her friends.

  Yun and Zara Song

  Belle’s parents sometimes seem really strict. But Yun has a great sense of humor, which Belle both loves and is embarrassed by. Zara has a generous heart, which has taught Belle not to judge others too quickly.

  Melody

  Melody is an old model 3X Personal Home Helper android. She was given to Belle by her grandmother before she passed away. Melody is Belle’s best friend and protector, and enjoys telling bad jokes to seem more human.

  Lucas Walker

  Lucas is Belle’s neighbor and classmate. He is part Sulux and part human. Meeting new people is not easy for him. But once he knows someone, his adventurous side emerges. He is full of ideas, which sometimes gets him and his friends into trouble.

  Ta’al

  Ta’al and her family are Nabian, an ancient alien race from another star system. Born and raised on Mars, Ta’al is intelligent and curious. She enjoys exploring and adventure, and quickly becomes Belle’s closest friend on Mars.

  It is the year 2335. Life on Earth is very difficult. Natural resources like trees, water, and oil are nearly gone. Many animal species have become extinct, and air pollution is causing widespread disease. More than 50 years ago, intelligent robots rose up to overthrow their human creators. After the Robot Rebellion ended, people were terrified of advanced technology. Many Terrans, those who are from Earth, chose to avoid robots and returned to a more basic lifestyle. But a few families still use less advanced robots as companions for their children.

  Many people moved to the Moon to begin a new life on Lunar Colony. But it is overcrowded and has limited resources. Other families chose to move to Mars instead. With the help of two alien races — the Sulux and the Nabians — the red planet was transformed to support life nearly 200 years ago.

  Hoping to find a better life, Yun and Zara Song and their daughter, Belle, have cashed in their savings and moved to Mars. But as soon as they arrive, they learn that their new jobs with the Belt Asteroid Mining Corporation, or BAMCorp, have been eliminated by the company.

  What will the Songs do now? They can't return to Earth, where nothing but hardship awaits them. Their only option is to find a way to build a new life on…

  REDWORLD

  Chapter 1

  STUCK ON MARS

  “So we came all the way to this planet for nothing?”

  Belle couldn’t believe their bad luck. The Song family had sold all of their belongings and flown to Mars to start a new life. Her parents had been so excited about their new jobs with BAMCorp… and now those jobs were gone.

  “Made redundant.” Whatever that meant. Those were the actual words used by the company’s representative.

  “What do we do now?” Belle’s mom, Zara, pressed her hands to her temples in frustration.

  “BAMCorp gave us a week’s stay in a hotel here in Utopia. They’ll pay for the return trip too. Bah!” Her dad, Yun, exhaled loudly. “Some comfort that is!”

  “I believe you are using sarcasm,” Melody, Belle’s android companion and best friend, chimed in. “Would a joke help to make you feel better?”

  Belle nudged her. Melody often said the wrong thing at the wrong time in her quest to be more human. Secretly, Belle was happy that they’d be heading back to Earth. She never wanted to move in the first place.

  “Let’s go to the hotel, then,” Belle said. She was careful not to sound too cheerful.

  Zara sighed. She pulled her long hair back into a ponytail and put on her brave smile.

  “The hotel can wait,” she said. “On the way here, I saw a lively marketplace. Why don’t we do some exploring first?”

  Outside the corporation’s big, black gates, the Song family was attacked by dust. Red, hot dust. Belle sneezed uncontrollably. Melody’s white body became a dusty rust color in a matter of seconds.

  The red dust was everywhere. People kicked it into the air as they walked. Transports created giant dust clouds with their wheels. Low flying shuttles whipped up even more. There was so much dust that the sky looked brown and rusty. And there wasn’t a single tree to be seen. This was why Earth people rarely moved to Mars.

  “Isabelle Song! Keep up,” Zara called. “We don’t want to lose you in this crowd.”

  “Coming.” Belle rolled her eyes. She hated when her parents used her full name.

  The market was crowded. Row upon row of makeshift stalls were crammed together. The fabric roofs flapped in the breeze as vendors shouted to people passing by.

  “Finest meal worm flour this side of Mars!”

  “Most tender meat you’ll ever taste!”

  “Scarves of all colors — buy two, get one free!”

  People filled the alleys, making bargains and shouting at each other. Melody shuffled along next to Belle. Zara stopped at one stall and bought scarves for herself and Belle to wrap around their heads. Melody got one too. Belle tied it around her android’s neck joint to help keep the dust out.

  “You look just like a Martian girl,” Zara said. But Belle didn’t want to be a Martian girl. She was Terran and couldn’t wait to head back to Earth.

  The scarf did help Belle to breathe better though. She relaxed enough to enjoy checking out the merchants’ stalls.

  She was struck by all the smells — roasted meats mixed with flowery perfumes. It made her stomach grumble and her nose tickle at the same time. Walking through the alleys, she was drawn to a store that sold antique books.

  “Journals… these are rare back on Earth,” Zara said, picking up a soft, brown, leather-bound book. On the front cover was an engraved image of the first human ship ever to land on Mars. “No one writes on paper anymore.”

  “It is not real paper, Zara,” Melody corrected. “Even on Earth, there are not enough trees left to make the original product. This is 3D-printed, imitation paper.”

  Zara smiled at the android. Belle thought the journal was fantastic, especially the spaceship on the cover.

  “Can I use my allowance credits to buy this?” she asked.

  “Do you know what a journal is?”

  Belle laughed. “Of course I do. I record log entries through Melody all the time.”

  “It’s quite different using paper and pen. Writing and drawing on paper is an ancient art form,” Zara said. “But if you promise to give writing a try, you may purchase it.”

  Belle bargained the price down until the seller’s face turned a bright red. She eve
n got him to throw in a pencil for free. After she pressed her finger to his datapad to pay, she realized that they had lost sight of her dad. Melody extended her neck to stretch her head up about a meter higher in the air. This was one android ability that Belle sometimes wished she had. It was very useful for finding people and things. Everything Melody could see was projected onto the screen on her torso, so Belle could search for her dad too. Within seconds, they located him.

  Melody led Belle and her mom past several vendor stands, squeezing past clusters of people until they reached the middle of the market. Yun was leaning up against a stall, talking to a woman who was wrapped up in so many scarves that all Belle could see were her eyes.

  Yun greeted his family with a huge grin. It was the first time Belle had seen him smile since they’d landed on Mars.

  “I’ve found the solution to our problems,” he said, spreading his arms open wide. “We’re going to be farmers!”

  It took several seconds for the news to sink in. Belle had just been looking forward to going back to Earth and telling her friends about her vacation on the red planet. This was a whole different story.

  “That’s wonderful!” Zara said. “Farming’s been in my family for generations. Up until my parents’ time, that is, when they moved to the city.”

  So mom is excited too? Belle thought worriedly.

  “Farms are located on the other side of Mars,” Yun explained. “There’s a lot of land to be had. The possibilities are endless.”

  “The region is called Olympia, after the big volcano,” the woman at the stall said. “Locals call it the Wild West.”

  “It’ll be an adventure,” Yun said. “It’s just the thing we Songs need.”

  Belle looked at her dad, then at her mom. Zara was looking at Yun like he was her hero. Melody was busy scanning the woman in the scarves. Nobody could see how ridiculous this idea was.

  Nobody but Belle.

  Earth Date: March 13, 2335

  Mars Day 1, summer

  We’re going to be farmers?

  Let me tell you a secret. No one in the Song family can even keep a cactus alive for more than a week. On Earth, we lived in a city apartment on the 25th floor! Dad has never even mowed a lawn. Mom is allergic to cats! We don’t know the first thing about growing crops or taking care of animals.

  How are we going to survive here as farmers?

  Chapter 2

  JOURNEY TOWARD A NEW LIFE

  “Three tickets to Darwin!” Yun waved the tickets in the air, as he walked into their hotel room the next morning.

  “Darwin?” Belle said, stretching out in her comfy bed. “I thought Tharsis City was the capital of the Olympia region.”

  “Darwin is the second largest city in Olympia,” Yun pointed to the small map printed on the back of the ticket. “They say it’s about half the size of the capital. And it’s in the south, where we’re headed.”

  “We’ll stop in Darwin to pick up supplies,” Zara added. “Then we head out to Sun City, where our farm is.”

  “That’s too many cities to keep track of,” Belle grumbled. The geography of Mars was so confusing.

  Her dad laughed. “We’re new here. By the end of summer, it’ll all be as familiar as home.”

  Belle’s heart sank. Mars would never be home. She half-hoped this crazy plan would fail so they could head back to Earth. That would be embarrassing, but it was better than starving to death in the middle of nowhere.

  “The transport departs in one hour,” Melody’s joints squeaked from all the dust that coated her legs.

  They checked out of the BAMCorp hotel and made their way through the market to the other side of town. Belle hiked her pack higher up on her back and followed her parents. It took a lot of effort to get used to the lower gravity on Mars. Each footstep took her higher off the ground than she wanted, so she had to adjust her pace.

  The heat added to Belle’s grumpiness. Her scarves were glued to her face with sweat. When she’d finally peeled the last scarf off, she was standing in the middle of the noisy Utopia Transit Station.

  Belle gaped at the cavernous building. Giant pillars held up the corrugated roof. Shuttles of all sizes lined up on one side of the station like huge hibernating animals. On the other side were the land vehicles — some resembled regular Earth buses, and others looked like flying boats.

  “Those are hover buses,” Melody explained. “They are faster and more comfortable than the wheeled ones.”

  “Come on.” Yun jogged toward what looked like a gigantic life raft crossed with a catamaran. It had windows all along its sides, and three pairs of propellers attached to engines on top. Smaller land transports rumbled onto the craft and disappeared into its midsection, while people lined up to enter through one of two ramps. “That’s our shuttle.”

  Belle and Melody were the last passengers to climb the ramp. As Belle stepped into the main cabin, she was hit by the stench of sweaty bodies. She quickly re-wrapped her soggy scarves over her mouth and nose, and then squeezed onto the last available bench with her parents.

  “Androids belong in the next compartment.” A man in uniform pointed at Melody. “Strap yourself to a wall port.”

  As the shuttle ramp clanked and wheezed itself closed, the engines began to rumble. The air around Belle grew warm and stale. She felt dizzy.

  “I think I’m going to be sick,” she said.

  A large woman who sat at the end of their row looked alarmed. “First time on a shuttle?”

  Belle nodded.

  The woman slapped her thighs and snorted. Belle could smell her onion breath all the way down the bench. It made her gag. The woman rose out of her seat.

  “Sit down!” yelled the uniformed man.

  “Keep yer britches on!” she yelled back. “I’m trying to prevent an incident here.”

  The woman scooted past three other passengers, and signaled to Belle’s family to stand up. Was she kicking them off the flight?

  Belle opened her mouth to protest, but then the woman waved the Songs over toward her seat by the window. She also ordered everyone else on their bench to scoot over in the other direction.

  “Can’t have this young one up-chucking on us all, can we?” she said with a grin. One of her teeth was black, which made her look like she had a gap in her mouth. “Come along, newbies. The view will make yer forget the sickness.”

  Zara thanked the woman so many times that Belle felt embarrassed for her mom.

  Sitting by the open window did help the dizziness. As the shuttle rose into the air, a gentle breeze fanned her warm face. It lulled her into a much needed nap.

  Hours later, Belle was awoken by her dad nudging her.

  “Look, Belle. You’ve got the best view of the land below.”

  The shuttle had long left the Utopian plains behind. They were now flying low over the outer lands. Yun leaned over her, craning to see out the window.

  “That’s the three Terras below.”

  “The three terrors?” Belle asked.

  He laughed. “No, Terras. It’s the way people once referred to regions on Mars. These days they’re known by their modern names — Araba, Saba, and Meridian.”

  “I’ve never heard those names.” Belle had studied maps of Mars on the flight from Earth. She had a good memory for names. But these were unfamiliar.

  “That’s probably because no one can live in these three regions,” Yun said. “If you look carefully, you might spot the remains of old terraforming machines. No one knows why terraforming didn’t work here.”

  The red planet had been transformed about two hundred years earlier. Before the terraforming machines did their work, Mars didn’t have enough air or water to support human life.

  Belle stared at the dry reddish brown land below her. “It’s nothing but desert.”

  “You can’t s
ee it, but right now we’re flying over an underground river that starts in the mountains and ends at Lake Hellan. It’s actually the deepest crater on Mars.”

  “Cool! But how do farmers grow anything here?”

  “There!” Yun pointed ahead. “That’s how!”

  It was as if someone had drawn a line in the ground. Suddenly the red dusty land transformed into spaces of brilliant greens and blues. Even the sky seemed to change color, and there were clouds.

  Belle gasped so loudly that several other passengers chuckled. Below her was a completely different planet.

  “You see that big river?” Yun said. “The underground one rises to meet it. That’s the Marine Valley River. Several smaller rivers join it at different points to the west.”

  “It’s beautiful,” Belle said. “And so blue!”

  “Yes, but it’s also very salty water,” Zara added. “That’s why you’ll see huge buildings alongside the rivers. We can’t drink salt water, so those desalination plants purify it for us.”

  Yun then pointed to three large mountains in the distance. “Those are extinct volcanoes,” he said. “Terraforming changed them into water reservoirs to hold the planet’s most precious resource — purified water. And those giant buildings are the desalination plants.”

  “There’s a bigger mountain even farther out,” Zara said. “Can you see it?”

  Belle squinted through the low clouds. She could only make out a large shadow looming behind the three closer volcanoes.

  “That’s Mount Olympus,” Yun said. “It’s the biggest volcano, not just on Mars, but in the entire Solar System.”

  “I guess that’s why they named this part of Mars Olympia, huh, Dad?”

  “You’re absolutely right, Belle.”

  A loud voice crackled through the shuttle speakers, announcing that they were about to land in Darwin. The shuttle bumped and jostled as it descended through the windy layers of air. Finally, it dropped onto the landing pad with a sharp thud. Every passenger let out a loud sigh.