Hello Fam :)

So, since I am not an expert in the Martian language, I have adopted the language Romanian. Why? Because my recent crush is from Romania and he is so very cute. :P

Happy Reading...

Aryaman and Zain, who were prepared for unexpected things, balanced themselves out. Manik was close to Arya and held on to him for support. Cabir and Nandini were standing beside each other and the unexpected crash resulted in them banging their heads on to each other. Once things came to normal, Manik and Aryaman rushed towards them and separated them. After making sure they were fine, Aryaman glared at Zain.

Arya: Aren't you supposed to put the speed to a minimum?

Zain: I did. Trust me.

Arya: And what, pray, tell the reason for this crash?

Zain: Let me go check Carl once again. He might have done something.

Arya: He is a machine. Use your brain for once.

Zain: I never considered him as a machine. He was my friend always.

Arya: If there wasn't the gravity issue here, I would have thrown you outside long back. You are not going near Carl for the rest of our journey. Stay here and make sure they are fine.

He turns towards the trio.

Arya: It's okay. It's normal. Actually we are entering into the Mars orbit and hence the result. We are habituated to the speed but you are not and that's the reason why you have lost your balance.

Nandu: Manik, defend us. I am habituated to speed too.

Manik: Nandini, racing a car and a spaceship are two entirely different things.

Nandu(smiled sheepishly): Oh.

Arya(chuckled): I will go and adjust the speed for our landing. Meanwhile, Zain, are there enough liquid packets?

Cabir: No need to offer anything for formality's sake. I know you don't have wine. Bechare bache ki aashayein badha rahe hai.

Arya: Cabir, no. We don't have wine and I was talking about water. Zain?

Zain: There's enough for their stay.

Arya: Good. Keep it handy. Give them if it's necessary.

He leaves.

Nandu: Zain, why did he become so serious suddenly?

Zain: Because I messed it up again. I am nervous around new people and he asked me to check the speed just after I met you guys and hence I forgot. He gave me a page full of instructions. How am I supposed to remember everything?

Cabir: Poor baby.

Zain: Exactly.

Nandu: Don't worry. We will become friends and you need not be nervous around us.

Zain: Really? So Friends?

He puts his hand forward but Nandu looks at his hand skeptically.

Zain: What? Is there any problem?

Nandu: Actually, I need to get permission from my boyfriend. Otherwise, he will scold me. Just a minute.

Aryaman who joins them back watches her amusedly standing beside Manik.

Nandu: Boyfriend, can I be friends with Zain?

Manik(sarcastically): Of course, Nandini.

She grins at him and rushes towards Zain ignoring Manik's glare towards her.

Manik: She's behaving as if she listens to every word of mine.

Arya: Damn, I missed her so much.

Manik: Of course, now you want to take sides with your sweet innocent sister.

Arya: I would never make the mistake of calling her innocent, Manik.

The mad glint in his eyes betrayed the seriousness in his voice

A few hours later, while they entered the orbit of Mars, this time Aryaman made double sure the safety belts were on and speed was 'humane'. The red rocky planet was rotating around its own axis innocently but the craters on the planet told a different story about survival, a warrior as the flaming red just added to its beauty.

There was a moment of blankness and the two Martians settled into their seats as they punched some buttons to land their spaceship on their home. Once the motion stopped, Aryaman put Carl on a hibernation mode and asked Zain to follow him.

They went to meet their Earth counterparts who had their eyes closed. Judging by their posture, Aryaman guessed they didn't even feel the spaceship stopping or any of Carl's announcements. He shook them lightly, careful not to startle them and when they opened their eyes, he grinned.

Aryaman: Welcome to Mars, my friends.

Zain gave a customary bow, his grin intact. While Manik took his time to adjust the surroundings, Nandini and Cabir jumped to see the red planet through the window. They both glanced at each other before launching at Aryaman. Nandini threw a very fierce glare in his direction.

Nandu: You betrayed us.

Cabir: After all this trust, how could you do that to us?

Nandu: I never expected you would do that to your little sister.

Zain: How could you, Arya? You have disappointed me.

Aryaman looked at his fellow Martian.

Aryaman: Zain, what do you even know about what they are talking about?

Zain(shrugging): I don't know. She is my new friend. I am just building my friendship here.

Manik(muttered): I see why Nandu said they would get along just fine.

Aryaman chuckled and threw an arm each around Nandu and Cabir.

Arya: What sin did I commit to break your heart?

Nandu: You said, we are going to your home. But here we are. Amidst the rocky mountains and dust.

Cabir: Forget about a civilization, there isn't even a restaurant here.

Manik(rolled his eyes): Cabir, civilization builds the restaurants, not the other way round.

Nandu: Whatever, Manik. What are we going to do here? Build sandcastles?

Zain: Hey, I haven't ever built one. Could you teach me some? There is plenty of sand here.

Nandu: We will build a Burj Khalifa out of all the sand.

Zain: What is Burj Khalifa?

Cabir: You don't even know what a Burj Khalifa is?

Nandini slapped Cabir on his arm.

Nandu: He is not from Earth, Cabir. How could you mock our new friend for this?

She turned to Zain.

Nandu: Burj Khalifa is one of the tallest buildings in the world. Manik wanted to take me there sometime.

Cabir(pouted): Manik, why don't you ever want to take anywhere.

Manik ignored him and pulled Nandini beside him.

Manik: Let's talk about our original topic so that we wouldn't be standing inside a spaceship our whole trip?

Nandini frowned which turned into a glare towards Aryaman.

Nandu: Yeah, betrayal.

Arya: Nandu, I didn't betray you. How could I do that to my baby sister? Remember, when I told you about Mars, I said we have an underground civilization to avoid getting discovered by any extraterrestrial beings and also to protect ourselves from a cosmic collision.

Cabir: Wow. You speak so rich.

Nandini ignored him.

Nandu: Are we going underground now?

Zain(grinned): In a minute, yes. We will have our vehicle to get us there.

Cabir: What vehicle do you guys use?

Nandu: Opposite of Spaceship?

Cabir: Like what? Ground bike maybe?

Manik: Cabir, what the hell?

Cabir: Opposite of Space - ground, and ship is bike. Or you can insert a cycle or car.

Zain: tu es un genie, Cabir.

Cabir: Same to you.

Nandu: Do you know French?

Cabir: No but this way we could share his words between both of us. Even if he calls me hot or stupid.

Aryaman rolled his eyes.

Arya: Guys, give me a break to explain, please. Cabir, he called you a genius and not hot or stupid. And Zain, no.

Manik: Cabir isn't a genius. He just proved himself stupid.

Arya: I share your sentiment, Manik. Okay, so the vehicle we were talking about is a kind of a car or a flying car. We call it Autoturisme. We leave our spaceships here and the tech team takes them for servicing. They replace it with new parts if it's required. Meanwhile, the Autoturisme dives inside the ground and takes us to our home.

Manik: What about flying cars?

Arya: We avoid the ground for pedestrians and use air instead. Traveling on roads isn't as smooth as that on the Earth. Mars is a rocky surface and constructing roads here isn't feasible. So this works for us.

Nandu: It's cool. But how do they know we are here? Are they tracking us and violating our privacy?

Zain: No, I sent them a message and they will be here in a minute. Allons a la Maison. (Let's go home)

There might be another update and an announcement today. :P