A little later they saw a figure come out of West Wing and outside. It paused for a moment, and then hurried in their direction. It was Silas.
“Sorry I’m late,” he panted.
“It’s all right,” Brooks said.
“Yeah,” Momj said, “I was just teaching Brooks how to handle these Sand Buggies.”
Silas went over to the third buggy and got on. “Hey! These are a lot like ATVs back home on Earth! Except for the enormous wheels…” The wheels were a bit taller then Momj, who was a slender 7 footer.
“Need any lessons?” Momj inquired.
“Nah, I think I can handle it. Before Sylvana discovered me, I helped run a farm. We used ATVs all the time.” Silas looked off into the distance.
“Well,” Brooks said, “let’s get going!” And so, they moved out.
After some time, they rolled into town. People looked up, and stared at Momj. Brooks and Silas were also stared at, but not as much as Momj. “He’s back!” they whispered. “Are those his friends?” they wondered. “Why is he here?” they speculated.
Momj pulled up to the buggy garage. “Hey mister!” he called to the guy at the window. “Take care of our buggies for us, ‘kay?”
“Y-yes! I’ll get right on it!” the man replied quickly. He called inside for his coworkers. They hurried outside to get the buggies. With awed glances at Momj and curious ones as Brooks and Silas, they walked the buggies inside.
“C’mon,” Momj told his friends. “Let’s go to the Arcade!” And so, they set off down the road.
Passing a souvenir shop something caught Momj’s eye. “Hey guys,” he said, “wait for me here, ‘kay?” They nodded, and he ducked inside.
People passing by at first thought Silas and Brooks were tourists. They were short and stocky as compared to the tall and slender Martians. But then they would notice the pool of water collecting around Brook’s feet, or the sudden blooming of a potted plant that Silas was looking at. It was then they concluded the two young men were Momj’s Friends, and therefore Not To Be Messed With.
Momj came back out about five minutes later, wearing a pair of cheap shades. “Like ‘em?” he asked.
“You wanted those, why?” Brooks asked.
“Effect, effect, effect, my good Brooks! I want to look cool as I waltz into that arcade… I am sort of legendary here…” Momj had an enormous grin on his face.
“Fine!” Silas sighed. “Let’s go…” And so they walked down the single street to the arcade.
Coming to the arcade, they stopped outside the door. Momj turned to the others and asked, “Everyone know what they’re playing?”
“Pac Man!” Silas said quickly, touching his nose, which was the symbol for, “I call it!”
“Racing!” Brooks cried, also touching his nose.
“Pinball…” Momj said softly, a wicked twinkle in his eye, hand coming up to pinch his nose. Then, giving himself a shake, he turned toward the twin swinging doors. He centered himself for a moment, and then burst through the doors.
“Hey!” he called. “Is the pinball machine free?”
Immediately, there was a shocked silence, then a murmur. The man who ran the arcade quickly ran up, and said, “Welcome, sir! Here to break your record?”
“Hopefully,” Momj remarked, taking off his new shades.
“Oh, I have no doubt you will!” the man replied. “Who are your friends?”
“Well,” Momj said, “this is Silas, his element is plant, and that’s Brooks, he’s water.”
“I see, I see!” the manager said, giving them quick half-bows. “Do you have any tokens?”
“Uhhh…” they chorused.
“Guess not? Never fear, I’ll get you some.” He hurried over to the change machine and put in some money. Coming back, he gave them each a large bag of vouchers. “These should do!” he told them. They thanked him, and walked over to the pinball machine, racing game, and Pac Man table, respectively. People gave them awed glances as they walked by.
Momj walked up to the pinball machine and noticed that it was an Old Mars theme. He felt nostalgia fill his heart. He closed his eyes and remembered what it was like when Mars was a desert planet, with gnarled trees around small water sources, small, seasonal rivers, and torrential spring rains followed by an explosion of life. A place where even buggy roads weren’t permanent and where a sandstorm announcement sent everyone scuttling.
Momj opened his eyes and smiled. He was going to do so awesome on this; it would be talked about for years! He walked up to it and put in a token, then began to play.
As Momj played, he gathered a crowd of onlookers. Brooks and Silas did too, but theirs weren’t as big as Momj’s. People were amazed at their pure skill at their games. Momj racked up points like nobody’s business, Silas went for an hour and a half without a single mistake, and Brooks was in first place and snagging shortcuts left and right.
After a time, the owner went around to each of them and said, “We’re closing now, sir.” With a groan, they each dragged themselves away from their arcade machines. The proprietor carefully recorded their scores, took their extra tokens, and shooed them out.
Outside, Momj stretched. “Man,” he said, “that was a great run!”
“Yeah,” Silas agreed, arching his back, “they’ll be talking about this for a year and a day!”
“Or maybe even more,” Brooks said with a twinkle in his eye.
“Well,” Momj remarked with a sigh, “let’s get back.” And so they headed back to the buggy garage.