Oh, why not?

Mars Needs Swimmin’

By Roberta X.

“A genuinely wild river doesn’t need improving.” One of my old boyfriends used to say that any time the notion of managed wilderness came up. He thought it made him sound deep. I thought it made him sound like a jerk and for that – and a thousand and one other tics, habits and sappy utterances – I left him and concentrated on finishing my doctorate.*

This led directly to my being here, now, at the bottom of what, if you look at in the right way, is one of the genuinely wildest rivers anywhere in the Solar System. Valles Marineris. It definitely needed improvement: water. Though maybe not just now. I finished my instrument check – you’d think we could get reliable telemetry equipment by now but nobody Earthside really understands about the dust and the Lunar manufacturers were priced way out of my employer’s budget – and turned to go.

That was my first mistake. I bumped a rock with my toe, another larger one shifted as it came out from under and, third-of-a-gee slo-mo notwithstanding, my right ankle was trapped before I could move away.

I have plenty of time was my first thought after "Dammit!" At least, I was pretty sure I did.

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* Just kiddin', Turk!