Donald of Mars Episode 56-60

A story on building a new colony on Mars and what it will take to live there

Chapter 56 Prince Albert

Donald paused and tilted his head while reaching for another strawberry seedling for this section of his vegetable garden.

Was that mewing he heard?

“You down there Donald,” he heard Li’s voice saying from upstairs.

Then he heard mewing again.

“Down here,” he called up.

“Is it safe to close this air lock door? I have a visitor I don’t want going out there?”

The mewing got louder.

He called up the steps, “It should be. I already have half the plants that are the minimum requirement of a small apartment, not counting my large fish tank with hornwort in it. If not, my alarm will let us open it before there is any serious trouble.” He reached for another seedling. Three more and his strawberries were in, though it would be weeks before they were making a significant addition to his air processing.

The mewing got louder. Li was on the steps. From the sounds it was making, that was one unhappy kitten.

“So, who do you have there?” he asked, adding another seedling to his line of them.

She set the bright orange plastic carry cage down. “This is Prince Albert. Conceived in a test tube on Earth, then sent here. Prince Albert in a can, was someone’s joke. I want to talk to you about him while Miray is still working.”