[ WP ] The death penalty has been replaced by a one way trip to Mars .

There's a place where they send the worst of the worst. They've stopped sticking needles in people's arms and decided to send them to a work camp on Mars. Only the worst offenders, people who would have been sentenced to death, get sent there. Prisoners up there work towards making the planet a habitable place. I'm not sure how, but, it's what I'll be doing until I drop. Once you're there, there's no contact. You can never see your wife, kids, friends, anyone ever again. You get put in a ship, sent hurdling through space, and thrown in a cell on an endless field of red. And that's where I'm headed now. 
 
 I made a mistake, got hooked on heroin. I lost my job, and quickly ran out of cash because of it. I tried to rob a liquor store, but the old Korean man behind the counter pulled a gun on me. I fired first. They caught me pretty quick, mostly because I was too busy vomiting in the back alley behind the store to run. As soon as they pulled up to me, I confessed, and got thrown in a cell. People call it the “ Bowie Sentence ”. Life on Mars. Clever. 
 
 So, not long after the trial, I was handcuffed and led to the ship. The guards told me it was going to be a few weeks before we got there, where I'd be put in another cell, and be told where to start working. It's been two weeks, and I've got one more. The accommodations are n't horrible, all things considered. In the morning I'm led by two men to breakfast and a shower. I stare at a steel wall until lunch, and again until dinner. It's just me, two guards, and a pilot on this ship. It's better than getting raped in a prison on Earth, waiting for the day they decide to tell me the day I'll be put down. 
 
 Five days later, and I can see Mars through the window. We're coming in on it now. I'm straining my eyes looking for the camp, but I ca n't make it out. I guess we're still too far out. The guards are ribbing me about how hard the rest of my life is going to be. They've been getting more and more abusive the closer we get, and I know I'm a murderer, but I do n't think it's right. I'm going to tell the warden when we get there. They ca n't treat people like this. 
 
 I wake up on the seventh day, and I still ca n't see the camp. I'm wondering if we're going to circle around the planet. I ask a guard, and he tells me not to worry about it. They tell me to go to the shuttle, and prepare to shoot towards the surface. I did n't know they were n't coming with me. I sit down and strap in. The pilot's face appears on the screen in front of me. “ You do n't have to do anything. The shuttle is automated. It's programmed to take you right to the gate. ” He disappears. 
 
 A countdown hits zero. I detach from the main ship. I have a huge window in front of me, so I can see where I'm going. I still do n't see the camp. I'm coming closer and closer to the surface. I start to see steel shapes in the sand. Shuttles. Just like mine. I'm coming closer, but not slowing down. The other shuttles are covered in dust, and sticking out of the ground. I'm gaining speed. I close my eyes. I embrace the red planet.
