Entry for May 10

Shinvi parked in orbit around Mars and made the lookout panel transparent; the rust-colored surface was clearly visible through the thin atmosphere.

"Is that it?" Ronsi asked, peering down from behind the frame that ran around the edge of the panel.

"No. The blue one is the one with the creepy crawlies. I pointed it out, don't you remember?"

"Oh."

"We'll get a rock for your collection from this one and then we'll go on in and get one from the blue one, okay?"

"Are you sure there's no creepy crawlies on this one?" she asked, "We could go down there and look."

Shrivi snorted through his trunk. "No, no need to look. And besides, the ship won't let us leave. You know that."

"Why not?"

"Well, it's the price we pay for visiting. We can't be spreading our germs and stuff. We might hurt the balance down there somehow." He manipulated controls on his panel. "There! I got you a nice big rock. Want to see it?"

Ronsi skipped over to the control console and by stretching her eyestalk all the way up, she could see the monitor. "That's ugly," she said. "I don't want a red one."

"Honey, all the rocks on this planet are red. I'll keep it, maybe you'll like it better when we get home."

"Maybe." She didn't sound convinced.

Shrivi opaqued the panel and flipped the ship over. "Come on, let's go to the blue one. How about if I get you one of the clever creepy crawlies? They stand on two legs, can you imagine that?"

"Two legs?" she said. "That's weird!"

"Oh, they are weird, and so smart. The cage has to be made special or they can get out!"

"Yeah, okay. Maybe the creepy crawlie will like the red rock."