Feliz Navidad on Mars

by Hector Cuello

Chucho—“Chuy” Rodriguez—asked his watch for the date. “Today is Mars Year 60, Sol 36. On Earth, this is December 24th, 2095,” it chimed back.

He was a medic in the Mars 1st Texas Expeditionary Space Force, assigned to Fort Alamo Base on the north side of Mars. He got out of his bunk, went to the mess, and ate breakfast. He saw his pilot, Luis, talking to other soldiers near a Charlie Brown–looking Christmas tree.

He prepared for the day’s assignment: patrol the area north of what the troops called the Alien Ant Farm, one of the underground cities where the Martians lived. He didn’t use that term, since he felt it was racist; it reminded him of the gringos calling his neighborhood “Little Mexico” back in Brownsville. Their orders were to recon while avoiding contact with hostiles, but if contact was made, to terminate with extreme prejudice.

The patrol consisted of Chuy, Luis the pilot, and Hexx, an AI synthetic. Chuy and Luis had gone through training together back at Ft. Bush outside of Brownsville, Texas. Luis had had a similar border childhood before his family moved to Chicago, where he attended Lewis University to study Flight Technology before joining the Space Force.

Chuy thought back to when he was still on Earth, remembering that his family would cross the International Bridge to Matamoros, Mexico, and enjoy the holiday with family, eating tamales, pozole, and menudo.

Hexx had been assembled at the Blind River facility in Ontario, Canada—one of the most advanced AI synth models ever developed. Unknown to the military, as the Hexx models learned more, they had started to become more sentient. They also had sensors that could pick up signals and had developed a sort of telepathy, allowing them to communicate with each other without speaking or using normal communication channels.

They boarded the all-terrain assault vehicle and headed out. Luis called it “the Beast.” He took a small silver star ornament and hung it on the overhead monitor.

“I’m going to use both sonar and radar,” Luis said. “There’s a hellacious dust storm whipping up.”

They input the course and left the base. They traveled for about an hour. As usual, it got pretty boring—just routine.

Hexx sat next to Luis as he piloted the craft. Chuy lay down on a back bench and relaxed, thinking about how his family was celebrating. He’d been away for three years now. I wonder if they forgot about me already.

The only sound was from the noisy engines struggling in the sandy soil and the equipment getting bounced around by the heavy winds.

Suddenly, Hexx sat up straight. “Wait, wait. I’m getting something here.”

It was a signal the others didn’t hear.

“What?” Luis asked. “The radio is silent, nothing there. Are you glitching?”

“Not glitching. It’s there. It’s telepathic. It’s a Martian signal. I think the Martians are communicating with me.”

“Let’s go on alert,” said Luis.

“Wait,” said Hexx. “It’s some kind of a distress call. I detect entities but no weapons.”

Luis gripped the controls. “We have to report. We have our orders.” He prepared the energy cannon.

Chuy pointed out, “I think it applies only to hostiles. Hexx, please confirm—no weapons.”

Hexx answered, “Confirmed, Chuy.”

“What are they saying?” Chuy asked.

“The message is, ‘Help, we need help,’” Hexx replied.

Luis shook his head. “Anyway, how do you know what they’re saying? They don’t speak English.”

“No, but my Chomsky language module has been able to translate their language. It is similar to ancient Sumerian.”

“How do you know it’s a distress call?” Luis pressed. “Just because they say it—it could be a trap.”

“I can’t say,” Hexx responded, “but my sensors detect unarmed civilians. Non-combatants.”

“What more can you detect?” Chuy asked.

“A male and a female. Odd, but I also read another entity. It’s in the Second Stage of Labor, also known as the pushing stage.”

“You mean it’s pregnant and ready to pop?” Luis asked.

“In your lingo—yes,” said Hexx.

Chuy processed this. “So we have two non-combatants, one ready to give birth. Hexx, please double-check and confirm.”

“Yes, confirmed.”

“I’m a medic,” Chuy stated firmly, “and we’re Earthmen. We don’t abandon anyone in need.”

“Yeah, but we’re in the middle of a sandstorm,” Luis countered. “How do we find them?”

Suddenly, the radio cracked. “Hey guys, base here. Don’t stay out too long; we have a service at midnight in the mess hall.”

Chuy grabbed the mic and answered before Luis. “Yeah, got it. Roger and out.”

“I can locate them within a meter,” Hexx said.

Luis peered out through the storm. “Okay, looks like there’s a hill with an alcove over to the right. The rest of the terrain seems flat, so unless they’re underground, they may be there.”

“I believe the proper term is a ‘cove,’” said Hexx.

Luis sounded a little agitated. “Okay, man. You know I hate to be corrected.”

“I’m aware, Luis,” Hexx replied.

Luis positioned the Beast near the cove, and Hexx—who did not need an air breather or environmental suit—went out the airlock and approached the cove. Hexx kept the channel open as they walked.

“Okay, I can see figures huddling in there. Lots of dust—I don’t think they can see me. I will try to contact them.” Hexx paused, then transmitted, “Attention. I come in peace. I represent the Earth Federation. I offer my help.”

The response came: “Yes, we need aid. We were on our way to our home city when we were caught in this storm. My mate is in need of medical aid. We are citizens of the planet which you call Mars. We are not a threat to you.”

Hexx responded, “Can I approach?”

“Yes.”

“Can I enter?”

“Yes. Do we have a choice?”

“Yes, you do. We can leave if you like.”

“No, we need aid.”

He entered, and they observed him.

“You are not human?”

“No, I am a synthetic being.”

Hexx evaluated their condition as best as he could with his sensors. “Can I inquire—is your mate with child?”

“Yes. How can you tell?”

“We have advanced sensors. Can we move to our vehicle? We can render aid there. Do not be afraid. I have two human companions, but do not fear. I guarantee your safety.”

“We will accept your offer.”

“Okay, let’s proceed.”

He guided them the meter or so to the Beast. They entered the airlock.

“Hey, can they breathe our atmosphere?” Luis asked over the comms.

“It seems they can survive in ours, but we can’t survive in theirs,” Hexx reported.

“Okay, that’s the first time I’ve heard that,” said Luis.

“That’s actually good intel,” Chuy noted.

“Maybe let’s interrogate them?” Luis suggested.

“No, they’re non-combatants. Remember the Intergalactic Convention?” Chuy chided.

Hexx passed them into the back area where Chuy had been lying earlier. Chuy got his med-bag. “Okay, let me do my thing.” He took out his med-scan unit and did an exam. “First thing I note: their physiology is not human, but pretty close. Their skin is rougher, more wrinkled, leathery, and weather-beaten.”

“Is it reptilian?” Luis asked.

“No, I don’t think so,” said Chuy, studying the readout. “Their lungs are a bit larger than ours. Hearts have six chambers to our four. They have heavy eyelids, maybe because of the dust storms. So they’re built for this atmosphere.”

Hexx, who had been translating, added, “Yes, it appears they’ve evolved differently than humans.”
The male seemed to react negatively to the reptilian comment. “Can I probe?” Hexx asked.

“Yes, go ahead,” said Chuy.

Hexx asked the male to elaborate. “He says they have been invaded by several species, which they defeated, but the reptilians were the most vicious of all.”

Suddenly, the female started moaning. She said something through Hexx. “She says that it’s coming.”

“Crap, do we need to boil water?” Luis asked.

“No,” laughed Chuy. “That’s what you call an old wives’ tale. We have sanitized gauze and towels here. I can tell it has an umbilical cord, which I can easily cut through.”

The female began to push, and in about ten seconds, they could see the head crowning. Chuy instructed Hexx to tell the female to push more, and suddenly the baby came out so quickly that Chuy almost dropped it.

Luis laughed. “I told you they would pop out!”

Chuy checked the infant over. “I don’t think an Apgar test is going to work, but it seems to be breathing okay, and skin looks like the parents. I’d say it’s a healthy baby… actually, I don’t know how to tell the sex on these guys.”

Hexx translated, and the answer came back. “It’s a male, whose genitalia don’t descend for a month—some kind of defense mechanism.”

“Okay, then. Congratulations,” Chuy said.

Luis looked and commented, “He’s actually a cute little buckaroo.”

The Martian male stood up and communicated something to Hexx.

“He says he has received a signal. A search party is within five kilometers of here. He asks if we can release them back at the cove to avoid a conflict—they may think they were kidnapped.”

“Yes, okay,” said Chuy. “We don’t need that.”

As they prepared to leave, Chuy offered a couple of blankets. They were declined.

“He says, ‘Sorry, that may be misinterpreted,’” Hexx translated.

“Yes, I understand,” said Chuy.

As they got to the door, the male turned to Chuy and mouthed something.

“What did he just say?” Chuy asked.

“He says, ‘Thank you. You helped my family.’”

Chuy mouthed back, You are welcome.

He could swear that the male smiled.

Hexx escorted them back and returned.

As they settled in, Luis set a course back to the base—it was near midnight, and he wanted to make the service in the mess hall. As the storm subsided, Chuy looked out the front viewport window and asked Luis, “Do you see that? That’s Earth. That’s our home.”

They looked at the small, pea-sized blue dot suspended in a field of stars.

Hexx confirmed, “Yes. That is correct, Chuy.”

The radio cracked. “Hey guys, just so you know, it just became December 25th back on Earth. Merry Christmas. Get back soon.”

Chuy smiled and answered back, “¡Que Dios nos bendiga a todos! Feliz Navidad. Over and out. Take us back to base, Luis.”

Luis reached up and touched the star ornament. “Right. Hope they saved us some hot chocolate.”

Hexx added, “With marshmallows—you like marshmallows, right, Luis?