Addendum To "The Martian Chronicles"

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Month One of Solar Year One: Progression Year after year, they sought to bring Mars back to its former glory. Terran mistakes were dealt with, as the new Martians worked to cleanse Mars of these unsightly impurities.

The first to change was the relative time difference between Mars and Earth. A few quick calculations proved that Martian and Terran days were different in length, as were weeks, months, years, hours, minutes, and seconds. The Martian Winter Solstice was proclaimed to be Solar Day One of Solar Year One, which, unfortunately, would arrive in a few Solar Days.

Next, it was decided that the Terran settlements should be destroyed, to purge themselves of the last influences. The families set into the cities one by one, setting the buildings on fire, until ash was all that littered the grounds. These lands were left to themselves, and few ever set foot on another Terran settlement again.

Martian cities were studied in the hope of discovering more about their past, but nothing was ever touched, except for the ground on which they walked. These lands were taken care of greatly, and viewed with much awe and wonder.

The streams and dead canals became rivers, gushing forth water to the sandy wastes of many continents. Native florae, once dead, bloomed again, and drove off the Terran agriculture. Faunae came out of hiding after rocket travel diminished, and became rampant throughout the countryside, eventually taking up residence near the abandoned Martian cities.

And Mars became a planet of Martians once again.

Month Four of Solar Year 42: The Follower "Hey, would you take a look at this?" He cupped the receiver to his ear. "That sounds like a radio signal." "Yeah, only it's so weak, we can't make out the sound. Or the source." He mused at this. "Think it could be from Earth?" The man at the radio stared at him. "Wait. Earth was destroyed in the Last War. You don't suppose anyone's survived that, do you?" Tim sat on the warm sand, watching the stars float by in the night sky as a cool breeze rolled by.

"Dad? Shouldn't you be out working at the garden tonight?" Tim turned around to see his son leaning against the doorframe with a smirk on his face. "Well?" he asked.

Tim sat back down on the sand and closed his eyes. "Something's not right, Peter." Peter stood up and began walking toward his father. "But what about the communities? What are you going to say to them?" Tim fell backwards and lay down. "You heard about that signal we got a few days back, right?" Peter nodded silently and sat down next to his father.

"Well, some of us got to thinking, and we decided that it couldn't have come from Mars; the signal would just be too strong." "So? You think someone snuck on Phobos or Deimos?" "No, I think it's much more serious than that. And, until we finally come to a conclusion on who's sending the message, where it's coming from, and where it's going, we're all going to be taking it easy. I think almost everyone's been on defense of some kind." Peter nodded slowly, thinking about what his father had said, then stopped. "What do you mean, 'where it's coming from'?" Tim sat up and stared at him. "Didn't anyone tell you? The signal's getting stronger."