The day began in a crater crash. That same day ended in the concave depression of a new crater, one that Tracy would call home for the night. He felt easier with a natural wall all around him, and a barrier to block his firelight in case anyone out there was still on his trail.

Warped firelight flickered, mirrored in steeder's chrome hide. The steeder plopped down on its side, tucking its legs underneath it's body like any real horse would. Strange. But then again, Slim had said a real horse brain had been uploaded into the thing. Tracy wondered how Ford did not have some sort of animal right's activist lawsuit. Now that he thought about it, he could have sworn they did, back when the Mustang steeder models were first introduced.

He patted the equine bot. "You did good today, ole' boy."

The man-made orbs in the Mustang head somehow captured all of the life of a real horse. Tracy wondered what horses thought about. What did this bot horse think of him? Probably had a better opinion of Tracy than his wife did. He sighed at the thought of her. It was a sigh thick with guilt, heavy with burden.

A notification pinged, interrupting his thoughts. Bonding level increased 47% . Tracy allowed himself a small smile. Then got to work.

He set his tent, flung out his bed roll, all while the small fire sparked to life. He silently thanked the Tharsians for their contributions to his cause. They might hate him now, but they had no idea how many lives their small actions could potentially impact. And save. Hopefully.

His fingers twitched, but not for his guns. As nice as the trigger pull was on his twin revolvers, Tracy missed the string pull of his acoustic guitar. Ever since the installation of the smartarm, his playing sounded with much more twang, the metal strings responding to his metal fingers. But he'd grown accustomed to the sound, and his hands felt empty now that he wasn't defending himself.

A low rumbling from his stomach broke his train of thought.

Before leaving Earth, they'd issued him an IV backpack which patched directly into him via the shoulder of his smartarm. He'd depleted most of it on his long trek into town after the crash, but had been able to replenish it in Tharsis. While keeping his thirst in check, it did nothing to sate his hunger.

Tracy placed his flesh hand on the cool metal surface of the steeder. A panel slid open, revealing the storage compartment. He pulled his satchel out and peeled open a can of spam.

"Yeah. I'm eating spam. So what?"

If the mechanical horse could blink, he would have. He didn't care. Tracy continued on as if he did care.

He propped up his campfire spit, two Y-shaped poles and a cross pole on which he hung a small pot. The fire was just hot enough to cook the spam. Soon the steam rising up hit his nostrils. His mouth watered. He ate in silence, staring up at the stars.

Mars was quieter at night. Quieter than anything he'd ever experienced on Earth. The stars twinkled like a choir of soft lights. So many stars. Of course that was due to the thinner atmosphere. The first astronauts that ever set foot on the red planet saw millions more stars. Tracy bet he still saw most of them though. What with the atmosphere only semi-terraformed. The horse gazed at the fire, unimpressed with Trace the Ace or the heavenly host above.

After he finished, Tracy licked his fingers, savoring the sodium laden experimental meat. He considered putting the respirator on again, but he shook his chin.

"Better to get acclimated to the sparse climate," he said to the horse.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

He lay down on his back with his head near the fire and outside of the tent. Instead of feeling empty, the black of space above seemed thick as shimmering black tar. The stars made him feel small, reminding him he was alone.

"Hina. I reckon she's staring up at the stars right now too."

Really, he had no way of knowing. He wasn't aware of the exact time difference between Earth and Mars, and he had not even had time to check in with Hina and tell her he'd made it safe and sound. Partially because he didn't have time to, and partially because it wasn't true. He'd made it sound, just barely. But safe?

"Nothing safe about what we did today, eh boy?"

The horse snorted, pushing the flames sideways.

"You need a name."

Tracy pondered a name, or tried to. It was hard to take his mind off of Hina. "She's going to kill me when I get back."

The horse was silent.

"If she knew I'd run into an old buddy who fetched his men on me, I'd get a verbal lickin' for sure."

Leroux. Tracy could not believe his friend was in deep enough to send the deputies after him. "That coward. Didn't even come to finish me off himself. You weren't inside, horse. You didn't see. Not a speck of dust on his boots. Pristine. Clean enough for those brown-nosing deputies to lick. We sure showed them. We make a good team."

He stared at the midnight blue sky, arms folded under his head. He said a prayer, thanking the Maker of planets that he had not bitten the bullet today. Leroux really did not want him going after Roy. Why? How had his friend fallen so far from upholding the law? How could he break his oath like that? Mars changed him. Royce changed him. Roy was like that. Mars had no magnetic poles. Somehow Roy had taken that role upon himself, becoming the magnetic center for all the inhabitants of Mars. Tracy shook his chin, baffled. Roy twisted people, warped them so they turned on each other, like Leroux. Tracy scowled and spit to the side.

"I'm coming for you Roy Rothspalt. So help me God." He patted Judge and Jury, his trusty revolvers.

The dark of the night sky reminded him of how he almost took a long fall into the dark depths of the planet.

"You pulled me out of the frying pan today. Saved my bacon. How's about we call you Chasm?"

Chasm knickered, accepting the name.

"Hina would scold me. Have me fleeing like a dog with my tail between my legs if she knew I almost died for something as silly as my hat."

Chasm starred.

"You don't believe me. Well you don't know Hina. Let me tell you..."

The horse stared into the fire, either totally engrossed in what Tracy told him, or absolutely ignoring the retelling of the events that led Tracy to Mars in the first place. The red planet's two moons rose high overhead, eager Phobos leading the charge, while sluggish Deimos trailed behind. Phobos almost completed her course before Tracy finished his story. He never really finished it either. It just slowed down, until the words didn't have the strength to leave his lips. Instead they echoed inside his head, into the night, into his dreams.