Blue Sky of Mars

by Christopher R Wills

  Finally, Jethro reached the top of the shaft. He unloaded Raja and took the spare Jet Pack from Walker. They couldn’t see Gunny or Peck around but reasoned they couldn’t be far. Jethro told Raja and Walker to get into some buildings close by as Raja might need the protection from radiation for the tear in his suit, even though they had affected a repair. Jethro went back down the shaft until he reached Brains and Fraser. He insisted they both take the Jet Packs and that he would continue climbing until one of them returned with the spare Jet Pack.

  But neither of them returned with the spare Jet Pack and Jethro continued climbing. Maybe the fuel was too low in the Jet Packs to risk another trip? Jethro was close to the top of the shaft, perhaps only a hundred meters to go, but he could see no activity around the hole. He stopped and listened, but he could hear nothing. Maybe they had found the spacecraft that was supposed to have been left for them and were prepping it for take-off.

  Jethro felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up and a chill run down his back. Things were not right.

  chapter 13

  Jethro knew there was something wrong on the surface but he was fifty meters down in the old mine shaft and it appeared as if his only route to the surface was up and through the hole ahead of him. He wasn’t happy with that because it could make him a target, an easy target.

  There must be another way out of the mine shaft.

  Jethro didn’t want to switch on his head torch because he didn’t want to give away how close he was to the top of the shaft and he was saving the battery. Also, his night vision was at its peak and he didn’t want to ruin that.

  He looked hard at the side of the shaft for something, anything, that might give him hope but he could see nothing. There was only one thing for it, he had to use his hands or some tool to feel if there was another way out of the shaft without going through target central.

  Jethro had no idea at what height another exit might be, so he started where he was and leaned out from the elevator structure to push a hand against the shaft walls. In places he couldn’t reach the sides of the shaft which was unsatisfactory because if there was a way out, he might miss it. He pulled a metal bar from the sides of the shaft to use as a prod. This was better, faster and safer but he was careful to make as little noise as possible. He worked his way up prodding the shaft walls as he moved, stopping to listen out for sounds from above at regular intervals.

  He got to within maybe five meters from the top when he heard a sound. It was talking and Jethro didn’t recognize the voices.

  “He must get here soon. Fuck’s sake. How long does it take to climb a bloody mine shaft?”

  “Patience. The shaft is three miles deep. The last two had Jet Packs. No idea where they got them from. They’re not talking.”

  “Glad that big bastard was injured already otherwise we’d have had to kill him. No way was I going to overpower him.”

  “The Governor insisted we take them all alive, except this one. Apparently, he’s a slippery sod, and the Governor wants him killed trying to escape.”

  “Where the fuck is he then?”

  “Why don’t you pop your head over the top and give him a shout?”

  “You’re fucking joking.”

  “Stop your whining then.”

  Jethro was almost within touching distance of the top. If he stepped up one more cross member, his head could be above the surface. But then he noticed something. The elevator structure continued above the surface but when Jethro looked carefully, he could see a very fine mesh across the top of the hole and there was more mesh around the bits of structure he could see above the surface.

  Whoever was at the top of the shaft had put some netting across the top. It was barely visible because it was so fine but if he had climbed up, he would have got tangled up in the fine mesh netting and he wouldn’t have had a chance. They would have killed him instantly.

  The conversation tailed off as Jethro eased his way down the shaft. He kept checking where he was by looking up and estimating how big the hole was until he reasoned he was almost at the point he had started. Now he would work his way downward to look for a tunnel out. He had no choice. He couldn’t go to the top and leap out of the hole shooting as the net would trap him. It would be more like the closing scene of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid than a scene from a John Wayne movie.

  There was another problem. At some stage there would be another Jet Pack or two coming up from below. The only advantage Jethro had was the black. It was night on the far side of the Moon and it would continue to be dark for a few more days.

  He prodded and lowered himself, prodded and lowered himself and again he listened out at intervals and then he heard something coming from below him. There were more Jet Packs coming up from the chamber at the bottom. The bodies Jethro had left may have delayed them but now they would be primed for anything.

  Shit.

  Worse. They seemed to have a powerful light source with them. There was probably two Jet Packs up front with guns and a couple more behind with powerful spotlights. Jethro doubted he could take on four at the same time. Prod and lower, prod and lower. Wait…

  The metal bar went through into the wall. Jethro prodded again and sure enough, there seemed to be some kind of recess in the shaft wall. Jethro reached his arm out as long as he could and the metal pole went into the wall its full length so that Jethro’s hand could touch dirt. This must be a tunnel.

  But the Jet Packs were getting closer. Jethro wondered whether to fire a few shots down towards the powerful light source that was dancing around in the shaft and rapidly approaching him. But he wanted the element of surprise when he reached the surface. He had no idea how many were up there but to overpower his team including Gunny, there must be quite a few, Gunny would not give up that easily.

  It was a moment for desperate measures. He didn’t have time to carefully dig the hole through. He prodded around to make sure the hole was big enough and it appeared to be so. The light source had reached a couple of metres below him and if he delayed any longer, they would see him so he had no choice. He dived through into the wall of the shaft pushing the metal beam ahead of him and he found himself in a tunnel covered in soil and small rocks.

  Without pausing to take stock of where he was, he turned to face the shaft and started piling up rocks and soil to close off as much of the hole as he could. Then he stopped and sat with his gun in hand ready for a firefight which he knew he would win initially, but it would give away his position. He might win the battle he would lose the war. He saw the light pass his entrance tunnel in the wall shaft which was not fully closed off but it didn’t stop and then he heard the jet roar and saw two Jet Packs pass. Shortly after two more came past with powerful light sources attached to the top of their Jet Packs. Then they stopped.

  “Did you hear that?”

  “What?”

  “I thought I heard something.”

  “It was nothing. Moon ghosts.”

  Laughing.

  The Jet Packs continued up the shaft.

  Jethro turned towards his tunnel or whatever it was and switched his head torch on. It would only take the Jet Packs a few minutes to get to the top and once they assessed the situation, they would be back down looking for Jethro. Was it too much to hope that the Jet Packs were unaware of the fine mesh across the top of the hole? Military planning is not always perfect. Jethro smiled at the idea.

  He could see from his head torch that he was in a tunnel. Before he followed the tunnel, he shored up the hole he had come through as best he could to slow down the possibility of pursuit. Because he wasn’t sure of what lay ahead, he dimmed the light on his torch to the minimum he could afford whilst safely traveling through the tunnel. He also stopped often to listen, but each time he heard nothing.

  Jethro walked possibly half a kilometer through the tunnel gently rising all the time until he came to some steps carved out of the stone bedrock going up to the surface where he encountered a metal trapdoor, poss
ibly aluminum. He switched the torch off and crept up close to the trapdoor. He could hear signs of life through the other side. Talking.

  “The boss wants us at the hole.”

  “Who will guard these?”

  “They’re not going anywhere. Don’t worry about them.”

  The voices trailed off.

  Jethro looked at the trapdoor. He tried to push it up with his free hand keeping the gun pointing at where the trapdoor might open, but no luck; it was locked or something heavy was placed on top of it. He doubted he could shoot through it without making too much noise. He didn’t want to attract the enemy’s attention until he had a better idea of their strength. He examined the door frame. It was metal too but it looked as though it was resting on the ground rather than being fixed to the ground.

  Jethro knew he had to move fast. He could hear no sounds at all now so it was possible the guards or whoever he had heard already were gone, but for how long? Also, there was the possibility of danger following him up the tunnel.

  He climbed the steps until he was bent double beneath the trapdoor. Then he arranged himself into a squatting position with his shoulders beneath and touching the trapdoor. Making sure his gun was off safety in case he rapidly needed to use it he took the strain of the trapdoor and attempted to stand up from his squat position doing all the work with his quadriceps.

  At first nothing happened, so he relaxed and took a couple of deep breaths then he tried again. This time there was movement. He relaxed his legs one more time and took more deep breaths. This was the last-time he would attempt this stupid idea. If he failed, he would look for another stupid idea like digging a hole through the rock beside the door with his tiny knife.

  Jethro took the strain and squatted up. The door and frame moved so Jethro put more effort in and the movement was greater.

  “Hey. The bloody floor beneath me is moving.”

  Jethro heard the comment.

  Was that Gunny?

  “Is that you Gunny?”

  “Yes sir.”

  “Well, get your fat arse out of my way so I can get out of this tunnel below you.”

  Jethro heard a movement along the floor above him.

  “Clear now, sir.”

  Jethro squatted up again. It was much easier this time, and he could stand up and throw the door and its frame aside. He quickly scanned the room. It was almost pitch black, but he could make out the shapes of his team. Gunny, Raja, Brains, Peck, Jones and Walker were all there, but there were no guards at the moment.

  Jethro set his gun to low power and freed them as they all had their hands cuffed behind their back and were shackled together by a chain.

  “Weapons?”

  “None sir.”

  Jethro passed his gun to Gunny. “You take this. The rest of you hide those chains and lie down as if nothing has happened.” He could hear the guards returning.

  He gave Walker his knife. “Walker to the right of the door. Gunny don’t fire unless you have to. Jethro hid to the left of the door.”

  There were two guards, and neither were expecting trouble. Jethro broke the neck of the one on his side with a swift movement and Walker slit the throat of the other before he reacted. They quickly pulled the guards out of site of the doorway and took their two assault guns and two handguns from them, also a couple of knives and head torches and one powerful hand torch and shared them around. Now the odds were better.

  One thing troubled Jethro. He looked through all the doors and windows of the building they were in and couldn’t see anywhere that might hide a spacecraft.

  He asked the team. “Anybody seen a spacecraft around here?”

  A voice said, “We haven’t seen one apart from the Moon hovercar over there.”

  Fuck. We must find the spacecraft if there is one.

  Jethro weighed up the options. Take the hovercar, fly to Moonbase and steal a spacecraft, or search the buildings of the old mine, increasing the possibility of getting discovered, to see if there is a spacecraft hidden somewhere for them.

  Jethro didn’t want to kill any more guards so his priority was to see if a spacecraft had been delivered to get him and his team to Mars, as promised. He detailed his plan to the team.

  Jethro led the team out of a back door of the hut they were in. He told the team the torches were not to be used except as a last resort. It would only be a matter of minutes before his escape from the shaft and subsequently his team’s escape from the hut was discovered.

  They had an advantage that because it was night-time on the far side of the Moon so there was almost complete blackout apart from starlight. This meant they could only see silhouettes of the old mine buildings and the horizon by the contrast between black and black with stars.

  The only light came from the hover-car pointing its headlamps towards the top of the old mineshaft and the head torches of the guards.

  The old mine comprised a central dome building with spider legs extending outward from the center. Up close they could see that this part of the mine was derelict with broke windows and open airlocks. There was no room for a spacecraft to hide in that building so they skirted around it, tripping and falling over rocks and stifling curses and cries of pain.

  They headed for a large outlying building that was set apart from the old mine. On their way they passed the old style dome power packs suggesting the main mine building and possibly even the mine shaft and the building Jethro’s team were held prisoner, would have been once enclosed by a dome. That would have been when the mine opened when it was mined by pioneers before the prison took over.

  Apparently, the mine area was a bit like the wild west when it had opened, with speculators traveling from Earth to mine on the far side of the Moon for the riches the minerals provided. But like the wild west, there were many deaths and eventually the Earth Government took control and built the prison to supply labor for the mines.

  The outlying building would not have been within the dome because it was so large that it might originally have been a spacecraft hangar. It was easy to get in as the door had long been ripped off, probably for recycling on Moonbase or somewhere.

  Jethro sanctioned the use of torches in the hangar because the walls and roof cut out the tiny amount of starlight, making it almost pitch black inside.

  A spacecraft.

  Finally, a bit of good luck.

  “It’s the Methuselah.”

  Maybe not so good luck.

  “That will not get us off the Moon, sir,” said Gunny.

  And other less printable comments from others in the team.

  “Stop moaning. Brains see if you can get it started. Go. The rest of you. Secure the hangar.”

  Jethro knew they weren’t going to be given a brand new spacecraft and in a way the Methuselah was ideal because if it got to the hangar it must still fly and who would miss it?

  Jethro heard a noise. It wasn’t coming from the Methuselah. The guards had discovered their escape.

  chapter 14

  Ted: “So Alice. Have you watched the film Kraken yet?”

  Alice: “No, Ted, and I have no intention of going to watch it. Give me a Romcom any day. What did you think of it Ted?”

  Ted: “It probably won’t trouble the Oscar judges, but it was exciting. I enjoy that sort of film.”

  Alice: “Did Mrs Ted watch it with you?”

  Ted: “Yes we went to that new reality-cinema. This time it was in a car park on the beach.”

  Alice: “So how does that work, Ted?”

  Ted: “Well Alice, the screen is portable so it can be erected anywhere. Because this film is about the ocean, they put the screen up in a car park next to the Pacific Ocean. So we watched it with the sound of the ocean behind us.”

  Alice: “That sounds like fun. If it’s the right film.”

  Ted: “You’re right there, Alice. Mrs Ted didn’t like the fact that the ocean was behind us and she kept looking over her shoulder during the film. And she wasn’t very happy when the
Kraken in the film took down the cruise ship.”

  Alice: “Aren’t you going on a cruise later this year?”

  Ted: “Yes Alice. But as I told Mrs Ted, it’s not real; it’s only a film.”

  Alice: “Thanks, Ted. Back to reality. That was the World News for today. Remember people, unlike other news channels we deal in facts. We don’t make this up.”

  chapter 15

  The engines of the Methuselah spluttered to life.

  “Everybody. In the craft. Now.”

  Jethro was last in. He took up his place in the co-pilot’s chair.

  Must get a captain’s chair installed if I’m going to keep flying this old heap.

  “Gunny, get the guns working and only fire if necessary. Everyone strap yourselves in. Brains report?”

  “Sir. She appears as we left it. Operational but damaged in parts although that shouldn’t prevent us from getting to Mars.”

  “Thanks Brains.”

  But it might prevent us from getting off the Moon.

  Jethro remembered that one or more of the stability thrusters weren’t working when they crash landed in the crater.

  He got the Methuselah off the ground but it was wobbling around, like trying to hold a tray of full beer glasses whilst standing on a hammock in a storm. He gunned the forward thrusters to get the craft out of the hangar which would bring them in full view of the guards, and in the lights of the hoverbus which were now directed at the front of the hangar.

  As soon as Jethro got the nose out of the hangar they were fired at. But the Methuselah was mostly armoured except where it was damaged so it could withstand the fire from the guns the guards possessed. Then Jethro saw the gun on top of the hoverbus turn towards them. That gun would be a different matter as it was much more powerful than the personal weapons of the guards and could do the Methuselah some serious damage.

  Jethro heard some firing and saw the lights on the hoverbus go out.

  Well done Gunny.