The future is now. Technology has finally progressed to the point humankind can begin the colonization of Mars. Governments, corporations, and rich individuals are all sponsoring groups to tackle the task of surviving and thriving in a harsh and foreign atmosphere. It’s a test of creativity, intelligence, and social skills; of genetic engineering, breakthrough inventions, and resource conservation. The winners earn the right to incorporate their own little corner of Mars. It’s a fool’s adventure. It’s an impossible dream. It’s a risk that may cost everything, including lives. But adventures and dreams and risks are where these stories begin.

Janet L. Cannon has been a technology instructor for both children and adults for Cape Girardeau Public Schools for the past eleven years. She enjoys teaching students of all ages various skills from world drumming to origami to crochet to duct tape crafts as well as learning new ones herself. She edits the middle school newsletter, the Missouri Writers’ Guild newsletter, and writes for and helps edit the local runners’ guild newsletter. She is active in the Southeast chapter of the writers’ guild serving as an officer for the past three years. Her publishing credits include a technical manual, short stories, flash fiction stories, and Twiter fiction. Her Master’s is in English with an emphasis in technology integration.