Letters From Doom

July 18, 2140
Dear Mom and Dad,

Greetings from Mars Colony 2!

I never imagined that straight out of boot camp I’d land this job. I mean, some guys from my original unit are still peacekeeping in the Middle East back on Earth. Not me, I set my sights high and now here I am, part of the Mars security team!

They must have been impressed with my record, because, as you know, I was hired on the spot. They didn’t even ask me any questions. I just walked in and BAM, “You’re hired.” No background check, no drug screening, nothing.

The job is not without its faults though. It’s just some little things that bug me.

Because of defects in the power grid, the lights are constantly going out. Every few hours or so everything will just go dark. It’s getting to be quite a pain. Just now, for example, just as I finished writing “…part of the Mars security team,” The lights went out. I even heard some screaming down the hall. Probably some of the scientists playing grab-ass in the dark.

This might not be so annoying if I were given the standard issue night vision goggles that EVERYONE on Earth has. Mom, even you have a set of these goggles. Unfortunately not. The only thing I got as part of the standard equipment is a dinky little flashlight. I mean, it runs on “D” batteries, for crying out loud. Do they even make “D” batteries any more?

The other standard equipment is pathetic too. All I got is civilian issue armor and a tiny little X-35 pistol. Dad, you know guns, and I’m sure you know what a spectacular piece of crap the X-35 is. I couldn’t put down a cat with this thing without emptying two clips.

On the bright side, ammo and bigger weapons are strewn about everywhere. I really don’t know why they leave high impact firearms just laying around, but they do. They don’t seem to belong to anyone, they’re not even locked. Just the other day I sat down in the cafeteria and accidentally kicked over a rocket launcher that someone had left under the table.

Overall, things are fine and mostly uneventful. I need to get going now, so I’ll talk to you guys later! Give Sparky my love.

-Jon