John Adams High School - Clipper Yearbook (Ozone Park, NY)

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gfglf 0 Wa., ROBERT FIURENZA FIVE MINUTES. boomed the voice over the ship's intercom, five min- utes. That's it, fellow travelers, said General Mondon. In five minutes we shall be the first human beings to com- plete a space voyage. Four minutes, four minutes, the voice of the pilot echoed. Everyone in his place. This expedition with four men and two women was going to succeed where others had failed. Three minutes. Fasten your safety belts please, echoed through the ship. We all had strapped ourselves down and were braced for the contact. Breathlessly we waited. It was almost beyond comprehension. I was to be one of the first humans to land on Mars. Suddenly the roar of the motors died away and we sped down faster and faster. The ground rushed toward us. The ship jerked sideways and I could feel a tremendous pressure prac- tically crushing me. A sharp pain shot through my head and chest as if I had been slugged. and then, darkness. Come on lack, let's go. The tug- ging of my arm stopped and I tried to get up. My head was splitting and it hurt just to open my eyes. Frank Parris, our technician. was standing next to me. I.et's go lack, he re- 16 peated. I unstrapped myself and got up. Oh brother, I wasn't used to car- rying two heads. Frank, I inquired, did the landing go well? His hesita- tion caused me to fear the worst. The tail fixture is busted but Mondon thinks it can be repaired. Come on, Iackie. Mondon's signalling for us. Mondon was already up front. Linda lordan and Mona Phillips w-ere sitting across from him. and Tex, our pilot. was standing nearby. How're you feeling. kid? You were really knocked around when your strap cracked. Slowly I replied, I'm okay, Sir, just shaken up. Good, the General stated. Now we can get down to business. The vegetation outside indi- cates the presence of oxygen, so we don't need this equipment. We all know our jobs. Stick together, and we'll be all right. Tex. you stay aboard and check the condition of the tail and fuel pumps. We started out into the decompres- sion chamber. Mondon was first out- side. Linda and Frank followed. Mona and I were last. It was true. there was oxygen on Mars. We started into the vegetation with its amazing assort- ment of colors. There were wild flowers galore and the trees rose to majestic heights. It was breath-taking and Linda wasn't missing anything with her camera. The unique jungle was now thinning out and we could see ahead of us a range of mountains. It was unbeliev- able. We might as well have been on earth. Everything was the same. or so it seemed. We wandered into a clearing and we took a break. Mona remarked, General, have you noticed there hasn't been any sign of animal life? Everything else seems normal but still no life.

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Yes, I've noticed that Linda hasn't had a chance to film any animal life, but I'm keeping this rifle within arm's reach at all times. Thinking about the General's re- marks, I lit a cigarette and started to discard the match. Suddenly I noticed movement in the bushes to the right. I leaped up and warned, Look alive, there's something in those bushes. What followed was startling. Out of those bushes rose a group of men taller than imagination would allow us to believe. Linda, always a cool- minded girl, whipped her camera into place and started taking movies. Mon- don, rifle in hand, stood between us and those mons2ers. Back to the ship, he threw back over his shoul- der, never daring to take his eyes off our intruders. I grabbed Mona's arm and Frank tried to pull Linda away. Come on you crazy :lool, he yelled, as he ierked her away. The camera slipped out of Linda's hands and fell with a thud to the ground. We all started to run back in the direction of the ship. Mondon raced behind us, stopping momentarily to scoop up the fallen camera. The undergrowth seemed to go on forever. After what seemed like hours of torture, the ship loomed ahead. Tex, as instructed, was inspecting the condition of the fuel pumps. He looked up as we rushed towards him. Into the ship, Mona screamed. We started up the ladder, one at a time, Linda, Mona, Frank, Tex, myself, and lastly Mondon. I reached dovsm and pulled him up through the trap door. The General, exhausted, fell to the floor as Tex and Frank slapped the bolts into place, securely locking the door closed. Tex, gasped the General, can we hold them off? Tex, unaware of what we had seen, looked at us question- ingly and asked them? Quickly Frank described what we had seen and Tex, now thoroughly confused, ran into the forward passageway and re- turned shortly with rifles for all. They're coming, screamed Linda. Each with a rifle, we raced to the port- holes, opened them, and leveled our rifles in the direction of the jungle. The giants came down the trail, one by one. and approached the ship. Mondon cried, Now, and we all opened fire, the bullets bounced harmlessly off those impossible crea- tures. They reached the side of the ship and started to push against it. The ship, as if a toy, went tumbling over. I was thrown across the floor and slammed against the radio. Stunned, I heard moans, yet I was unable to reply. Smoke, thick and heavy, was seep- ing through the floor as I finally gained my senses. The fuel pumps had ex- plod-ed and the ship was on fire. I struggled to my feet and looked around. Mondon was crumbled into a comer and Linda was lying near him . I staggered to a porthole and saw the giants, like big children, run- ning away from the fire, afraid. Tex, stunned and beaten, got up and came towards me. lack, let's get out of here, he screamed frantically. He stumbled to the door and tried it. It was jammed. Now, fully recovered, he ran from porthole to porthole try- ing to find an escape route. Suddenly, he stopped, looked at me, then slumped to the floor and began to cry. This was it, Tex knew it, and so did I. The smoke engulfed everything now and the flames licked through the floor. We were warned this might happen and we had taken that chance. I gasped for air. My head was spinning. The end, why fight? Iust rest. 17