Robert slowly boarded the waiting transport, bandaged fingers struggling to grasp the worn hand railing as he struggled up the metal steps. Like everything else on this world, they were covered with a fine layer of red dust. In the air above he could see waves of it skittering through the air, filtering down through cracks in the doors above. Doors that tried unsuccessfully to keep the landscape from intruding into this stale world below.

Upon entering the conditioned air of the transport he was surprised to find it completely devoid of other passengers. Confused, he awkwardly turned to examine the tarmac, but no other transports filled the empty space. In the cockpit ahead, he suspiciously eyed the pilots just finishing their pre-flight check. With a smile, one motioned him to take a seat. Any seat.

The door slid shut behind him as he painfully slid into a window seat. Outside, he could see porters hefting the sealed coffin into the transport’s underbelly.

Robert never wanted to set foot on Mars again.