Continued at Last! 4328-3

“No, no it isn’t” he sighed as he turned back to gaze out the window, “…it’s nothing like I imagined.”

Minutes later the train pulled into a sad excuse for a train station and slowed to a stop. On the right side of the train, to the west, there was a large 2 or 3 story building. It was made of a heavy steel metal and covered in grime from top to bottom. The doors of the train shrieked as they slid open, letting in a fresh blast of stale air, if there could even be such a thing. Martin shook his head in frustration and pulled himself slowly out of his seat. He couldn’t stand at his full height inside the train, as it was obviously built for practicality rather than comfort.

Once outside the car, he stood up and tilted his head sharply to the left until it let out a series of cracks. The other men stepped out behind him and invited him onward to the building. Martin sighed again and followed them into what appeared to be a cave in the building that lead to a couple of large double doors. The walls lining the “cave” blasted them with cool air, lightening Martins spirits and giving him a burst of extra energy and maybe even enthusiasm. Then he remembered where he was and why, and the enthusiasm quickly disappeared back into despair.

The large double doors ground open and let the group of men inside the structure. There was another set of double doors about 30 feet in front of them still, and Martin walked up to it and gazed through the clean glass panels and was pleasantly surprised by the interior of the building. Unlike the outdoors, which were hot, sweaty, dirty, uncomfortable, and smelling of week old garlic breath, the inside was almost perfectly clean, almost like a 5 star hotel on his home planet billions of miles away. The walls were white with clean metallic molding and chair rails. There was a carpet which was a deep blue color and remarkably clean. This all came as a surprise to him, as he had expected a mining facility to be absolutely filthy. He couldn’t keep his curiosity to himself. “Why… or how is it kept so clean in here?” he asked one of the men. The man pointed him to a door to the right of them.

“This is where we are going. Got to get cleaned up you know.”

Martin took a step back from the second set of doors, “Oh,” he said, trying to hide his embarrassment, “I was wondering why they didn’t open for me.”

“Well we got to get cleaned up that’s why.” the man explained again even though he had already said that.

On the wall to their right were two less welcoming doors, one labeled “Sanitizing Facilities Entrance” the other read simply, “Exit.” It entered into his mind to go through the door labeled “Exit” but his better judgment kicked in too soon. Instead, he followed the men through the proper door and into the sanitization area. Although he had been perfectly clean when he had arrived on the shuttle, he warmly welcomed the idea of a nice shower; being out in the heat and humidity of Earth had made him feel rather scummy. Unfortunately, his expectations for a nice hot shower were short lived: instead of a shower stall, he was greeted with hoses that sprayed out a sanitation foam. It smelled rather putrid, but at least it made him clean?