Twice the moss dimmed and brightened during our trek back to the village. And twice we stopped to curl around a blue fire and sleep. Our long hikes were mostly spent in silence, with frequent exchanging of glances. Often, I’d catching Erotan staring at me, but it didn’t feel strange or creepy, in fact, it never seemed to bother me at all.

Erotan seemed to enjoy watching me because he did it a lot, and to be honest, I enjoyed watching him. He observed me while I bathed, while I ate, and while I drank. His dark eyes seemingly never left me. I didn’t ask why because I already knew what his answer would be: “I’m a warrior. It is my duty to protect.”

But I knew there was more to it than just that. Standing guard was different than looking longingly. It was in the body language, the facial expression. He wasn’t cold and closed off, but open and interested. These social signals were present even in this alien culture.

I never invited his curiosity or approached him with what I believed to be desire. My mind was focused on getting to the village and returning to the surface. My thoughts were consumed by PENUS — the organization, not the organ.

I wondered what was happening on earth since this Martian tunnel system had swallowed me whole. Were they preparing to send a rescue party? Did they even know I was alive? I was certain that the three of us had been presumed dead since our vitals weren’t being reported back to base. Would they be able to find me should they send another team here?

A weird whistling trickle struck my ears. “You hear that?”

Erotan halted and lifted his head high. His ear angled out to the world. “Yes, it’s the river.”

“River?” It made sense for there to be an underground river. Something had to be supplying the lagoon that we had stayed by during our first ‘overnight’ camp day.

“At the heart of our village there is a waterfall, and this waterfall turns into a large river that swims alongside these tunnels. Are you only just now hearing the river?” he asked in a somewhat demeaning tone.

Why hadn’t I considered that his hearing was different from mine? I knew that his black eyes allowed him to soak in more light and see better in the tunnels. It wouldn’t be too far-fetched that his hearing was more advanced and had been adapted and attuned to the sounds of underground living.

“Will I be welcomed in your village?”

“Of course. Especially since you’ll be walking in with me. You have nothing to be afraid of.” He glanced at me, offering me a kind smile. “As I said before, I’ll protect you.”

It wasn’t long before we reached the entrance to his village. The tunnel narrowed, allowing only two people to walk side-by-side before opening wide to a vast expansive area.

I gasped as I craned my head to look up to the top. The cavern was huge, easily as high as a skyscraper and at least a mile or two in length. Just as Erotan had said, there was an enormous waterfall cascading down from the high ceiling into a huge pond that was surrounded by lavender, emerald, and turquoise colored plants. The water glowed a cool blue, illuminated by the ever-present moss and the glowing coral. Hundreds of large white butterflies fluttered across the water surface. They, too, glowed like lamps of light in the darkness.

The whole scene looked magical. It was straight out of a fairytale.

The village teemed with life, and I didn’t know where to look. There were more beings like Erotan, only less bulky and muscular, walking around, going about their usual business.

“This is the market,” Erotan explained. He was standing closer, protectively watching over me. Having his strong body so close was helping me breathe a little easier.

Dozens of stalls were set up with the Subcotan selling their wares in the busy market. Ceramic pots, spices, clothing, weapons. I didn’t want to blink as I took it all in. The sounds, the sights. The delicious smell of barbecue cooking hit my nose, making my stomach growl and my mouth water. There must’ve been at least five hundred Subcotan walking around the area, trading, bartering and laughing.

A small Subcotan child caught my eye as she ran after one of the glowing butterflies, hopping over cave rocks and mowing through lavender bushes in order to capture her prize. I watched as the pair dashed in a zigzag pattern around the beautiful pond. They neared us until finally, the butterfly landed right on my shoulder. Its wings slowly rose and lowered a couple times. It was as though I could see it panting, trying to catch its breath.

My heart swelled as the beautiful creature glowed into a gorgeous white. It was incredible. This place was incredible and I was so moved that tears welled in my eyes.

The girl rushed up to me without even glancing at my face. She snatched the butterfly from my shoulder and shoved it into her mouth. Her jaw worked with ease, chewing and crunching the insect into a paste.

The child was small but strong. I glanced at her thick gray biceps and swallowed hard. She could definitely beat me in an arm wrestling match.

When she finally spotted me, her whole body froze. Her wide black eyes slowly traveled up my body until we were staring into each other’s eyes. “Hello,” I said with an awkward wave. A white butterfly wing was hanging out of her stunned mouth and I was doing everything to stop myself from gagging.

Without uttering a single word, the girl shrieked. Tears spilled from her eyes and she sprinted away from us — terrified.

Erotan let out a deep belly laugh that rolled out into the open chamber, warm and light. The joy on his face made me smile, and it wasn’t long before I was laughing alongside him.

“Let’s keep moving,” he said.

The village was less of a village and more of a city. Staircases wound their way along the walls and bridged out to enormous stalactites and stalagmites. Caves were dug into these towering structures, which Erotan explained were people’s homes.

The Subcotan started to notice me as we walked through the village and all of their staring, unsure eyes made me uneasy. I was thankful to have Erotan by my side, especially when he draped a protective arm over my shoulder and warned the braver Subcotan who approached to back off.

Eventually, we arrived in an area with more and more of the residential caves. They were dug into the rock walls and into the enormous stalagmites that peppered the area.

I glanced back over my shoulder and saw that we had an entourage following us. Dozens of men, women, and children were following us through the winding streets, keeping a respectable distance, but watching curiously.

I watched as Subcotans went about their daily lives. I glanced into each illuminated cave that we passed, peeking into the Subcotan’s everyday lives. The homes along the cave walls were a bit more guarded, given the steep angle.

“That is my home,” Erotan said, pointing to a cave that looked to be on the third or fourth level. At least I counted about three or four staircases to reach the entrance. There didn’t seem to be any doors on any of the caves.

“It’s beautiful,” I replied, but I wasn’t just talking about his home. I was also speaking about the entire town. It was a large oasis inside a dusty barren planet, illuminated by dazzling flora. The relaxing sound of the waterfall tumbling down filled the space, but it wasn’t loud enough to drown out the laughter and chatter of the excited Subcotan around me.

Erotan wrapped his hand around my arm, stopping me immediately. His eyes were glued to a single female Subcotan who was holding a little gray baby in her cave. “Wait outside. Don’t move.”

He took a deep breath and ducked into the cave, walking with heavy steps toward the woman. When he neared her, he dropped onto one dark gray knee and presented the sword that he had picked up from the skeleton that we had found consumed by the Alaki days ago.

Her hand clasped to her mouth and she let out a deep wailing cry. She fell forward onto her knees, sobbing. He gently laid the sword at her feet and leaned forward, wrapping his big arms around her and giving her a warm hug. Milky tears fell from her eyes and dribbled down his back.

It was heartbreaking to see them share in this pain, but also so human-like: empathy, compassion, love – all things we have believed to be only within the human capacity to feel. I was beginning to see that the view of humans being singular and unique was very ignorant and conceited.

This species had been birthed below the surface of Mars and had been able to create a wonderful civilization. And here I was, standing in the middle of it all.

I had spent so much time desperately trying to get back to the base on the surface, but maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if I spent some time here, learning about these people. Plus, I couldn’t find the ship by myself. And even if PENUS sent out a rescue party the first day that our vitals were cut off, it’s not as though they were going to be in camp within the week. It would take them eleven months to land and find me — probably closer to a year and a half if I was being realistic.

That was a long time to live on a stranded base by myself, surrounded by centipede monsters and dead coworkers.

I didn’t mind staying in this beautiful oasis, surrounded by a loving community in the meantime. What’s the worst that could happen?