Blue Sky of Mars

by Christopher R Wills

  He carefully tilted the controls backwards and applied the thrust to take the Methuselah over the top of the hoverbus then he applied full thrust to accelerate into space away from the Moon hoping no serious damage had been caused in their escape.

  They were not followed from the Moon. They had escaped from the Moon. Good start, but Jethro was concerned about the reception they might get when they reached Mars. He hadn’t yet told his team of their mission, only that if they succeeded, they would get a full reprieve. He would ensure that Raja was included in that.

  When they were safely in space away from the Moon and heading for Mars. He gathered the team and first he thanked them for their support. Then he told them of their mission.

  “So all we have to do is find this Polar Research Base and rescue the scientists and take them back to Earth.”

  “Yes. That’s about it,” replied Jethro. “Anything else?”

  “There is one problem, sir,” said Brains.

  Only one?

  “Yes Brains.”

  “We won’t be able to take the scientists back to Earth. If you recall the reason, we landed it on the Moon was because the Methuselah is damaged and won’t survive entry into Earth’s atmosphere.”

  Shit, she’s right. I forgot about that.

  “Thanks Brains. It’s a problem we must solve when we get to the Research Base.”

  The flight to Mars was uneventful and allowed the crew time to check the damage. Most of it was unrepairable with the resources they had on board which meant a rough landing was coming up, but Gunny could repair two guns on the craft which gave them four usable guns for defense.

  They were heading for a Polar Research Base on the Ice Cap at the South Pole of Mars, which is not quite at the South Pole but very close to it.

  Brains explained the base to the crew.

  “The Research Base has a large central dome of around fifty meters diameter with four spider legs of about fifty meters long. Each leg is a semi-cylinder with a central passageway and offices, laboratories and sleeping areas each side of the passageway and a smaller dome at the end.”

  “What’s in the central dome?” Gunny asked.

  “Recreation and eating areas and a small theater for meetings, etc.”

  “What about vehicle storage?” asked Jethro.

  “There is one larger dome of around thirty meters in diameter for vehicle and equipment storage but that will not fit the Methuselah inside it.”

  “That means we will have to land outside the base. Gunny do we have Arctic gear?”

  “No sir. Nothing like that on board.”

  “Go on then Brains. What’s the outside temperature?”

  “Mars South Pole is just coming into winter and the outside temperature is minus one hundred and twenty-five degrees Celsius.”

  “Jeez that’s cold,” said Peck.

  “Too cold for our gear,” said Brains.

  “How long does winter last?” asked Gunny.

  “Six months.”

  “I don’t suppose these scientists could have chosen Hawaii for their Research Base?” said Fraser.

  “The clue’s in the name. Polar Research Base Mars,” said Walker. “But I agree Hawaii would have been better.”

  More problems. How to get from the craft into the base without freezing to death.

  “Thanks Brains. Gunny? Can you, Brains and Peck see if you can rig up some gear that will get two of us from the craft into the Research Base without freezing to death?”

  “How far will that be?”

  “Depends how close I can get this crate to the base,” replied Jethro.

  “What about the Jet Packs?” asked Walker.

  “They won’t work at those temperatures,” replied Brains.

  Jethro entered a polar orbit to get down as quickly as possible. He hoped he could do it without the aliens seeing him, but he was wrong.

  Almost as soon as he entered the orbit, he saw three dots on the monitor.

  Aliens.

  He pressed the Action Stations button.

  As the lights were flashing, and the Klaxon was fading, Jethro gave his orders. “Three craft closing in fast on the starboard bow. Shoot to kill.”

  I can’t take evasive action or I’ll tear this heap apart.

  Jethro heard the firing of his guns but he didn’t see the dots on his monitor waver in their quest to close in on him. He felt a blast hit the Methuselah but the craft appeared to still respond to his flying. He couldn’t afford to take any more chances. Another couple of hits and their mission was over and they would be dead. There was only one thing for it.

  He had meant to take the Methuselah around a whole orbit before he headed down for landing to approach from a gentle angle but with three craft firing at him they wouldn’t last an orbit; he had to take her down now, which meant a steep descent and possibly a rough landing. He told Brains.

  “But sir the landing area we picked is tiny and if you miss it the craft will smash to pieces.”

  Brains was right. So smashed to pieces or blown to pieces?

  Bang!

  They were hit again this time much harder than last time and Jethro immediately felt a loss of control of the craft but he got it back.

  “Two degrees to port sir, two degrees to port.”

  I know that Brains, what do you think I’m trying to do?

  Jethro pulled on the rudder but the craft wasn’t responding. He eased off the port thruster to give himself more thrust on the starboard side.

  “One more degree to port, sir.” Brains shouted above the shaking cacophony of the Methuselah.

  Jethro was having difficulty holding on to the steering as it was juddering so much.

  “Ease her up. Ease her up sir.”

  What do you think I’m trying to bloody well do?

  Jethro pulled back slightly. Normally he would pull right back to a hover then ease the craft down but he knew he didn’t have full control of the thrusters to land softly vertically so it would have to be a variation between a controlled landing and a crash landing.

  “You’re on target sir, on target.”

  Jethro could see the base on the screen so he feathered a degree to starboard then reduced thrust without letting the thrusters turn off completely so forward momentum and Mars gravitational pull was all that was moving the craft in the direction he wanted it to go.

  The altitude indicator was dropping rapidly. Jethro remembered the Brains had warned him it might not be accurate because of the strange type of snow on Mars. There was water-ice snow, but most of the snow was frozen carbon dioxide snow or dry-ice as used in theaters for smoke effects.

  One thousand meters, nine hundred, eight hundred, seven hundred, six hundred, five hundred, four hundred. Engage vertical thrust…

  Bang.

  They were down.

  Jethro didn’t wait. “Gunny? Enemy sitrep?”

  “We lost them, sir.”

  “Lost them?”

  “When we started descending, they turned away as if they didn’t want to follow us down.”

  “Look at the data. Give Brains details of what height that was.”

  Jethro checked all stations and apart from the damage they had received during the firefight there appeared to be nothing extra from the crash landing. However, it was unlikely that the craft would be in a fit state to take off again without maintenance and repair. From the monitor, it looked as though they were about two hundred meters from the base.

  Jethro and Walker kitted up to make the initial journey to the Research Base. They had homemade snowshoes created by Peck from aluminum mesh. Brains warned them not to touch the snow because it was dry-ice and could burn their skin even through their gloves because of the cold temperatures. They took guns because they didn’t know what they would encounter at the Research Base.

  Jethro could barely see in front of himself as a snowstorm was blowing, so he set a bearing on his communicator and a distance of two hundred meters. Once they had cov
ered that distance on that bearing, they should have reached the Research Base.

  It was tough going over the snow even with the snowshoes and by the time they had reached one hundred meters Jethro was sweating heavily under his gear which was very dangerous. If the sweat got exposed to the air, it would freeze instantly and Jethro’s body temperature would drop, which could kill him quickly.

  He indicated to Walker to stop. They rested standing up for a few minutes then moved on again before the cold penetrated their suits. After another fifty meters, they rested again. Jethro was worried because he could still see no sign of the Research Base and he wasn’t convinced they could both make it back to the ship if they had to return.

  Ten meters to go and at last Jethro thought he could see something and after a few more steps he confirmed it was the Research Base because he could see lights. He indicated to Walker to get his gun ready, but Walker didn’t respond. Jethro went up close and saw that Walker was in a bad way. He had to get him into the base and out of the cold.

  He took Walker’s arm and helped him to the side of one of the Research Base’s buildings. There was a door, but there was a keypad, presumably to open the door.

  Damn.

  Jethro pressed a few random keys but as expected nothing happened. He knocked but realized there would be an airlock the other side preventing any sound from getting through. In fact, it was likely that all the walls of the Research Base were soundproofed given the noise the storm was making, or it would drive the inhabitants mad.

  How the hell can I attract their attention?

  Walker was now slumped against the wall in the lee of the wind but he was suffering. He slowly raised his arm and pointed at something. Jethro looked at where he was pointing. It was a satellite dish on the ground in between two legs of the building.

  As they approached Mars and whilst in orbit and as they descended to land and after they crash landed Jethro had tried to contact the Research Base but he could not and he also could not detect a signal from the Research Base yet somehow the Research Base must have got a signal to Earth to warn them of their predicament. It was the storm preventing communication.

  Jethro went to the satellite dish and took out his communicator and tuned it to the emergency frequency and placed it on the focal point of the dish. Then he switched his suit mouthpiece to transmit.

  “Mayday, mayday, mayday. Mars Research Base. Can you open the door Charlie three? Mayday, mayday, mayday.”

  Jethro repeated the message a couple more times then returned to see how Walker was bearing up. He was in a bad way. He had fallen to the ground and was not moving. Jethro could see through the visor that his eyes were barely open. He pulled him up and propped him against the hut in a way he hoped he wouldn’t fall. He returned to the satellite dish and repeated his message three more times. If this didn’t work, he would use his gun to blast the airlock open.

  He went back to Walker. There was no sign of life coming from the research station, so he raised his gun to blast the security lock. Just as he was about to fire, the airlock door opened and a human in full arctic gear stood there with hands high in the air.

  Jethro lowered his gun and pointed at Walker. Between the two of them they got Walker into the airlock and after it had shut and the air replaced the other side of the airlock door opened to reveal a dressing room with full arctic gear hanging from pegs on the walls both sides. Jethro removed his headgear and helmet.

  “Hi Sub-Lieutenant Jethro Tull with the Earth Space Marines reporting for duty. Get this man medical aid and then take me to the senior military commander of this base.”

  The welcoming committee was disrobing to reveal a young woman in her twenties. She went to a wall communication station and said, “Medical needed to Charlie Three immediately.” then she turned back to Jethro.

  “Where are you from?”

  “I’m from Earth.”

  Jethro could see the relief on her face. “Thank God.” She couldn’t say any more as her eyes watered.

  Before Jethro had time to quiz her any more a door slid open and a young man and an older woman rushed in. They immediately saw Walker and rushed over to help him. They took his headgear off and gave him some oxygen. Jethro later learned that there were drugs with the oxygen. Whatever they were, the effect was almost instantaneous. Jethro saw Walker move his arms and then flex his fingers.

  The woman told the young man. “Take him to sick bay and put him to sleep for six hours.”

  “Yes ma’am.”

  She turned to Jethro. “Hello, Jethro.”

  How the hell do you know my name?

  Jethro looked at her and recognized a friendly face. “Hello Doctor Vesuvia Aguilar.”

  “I expect you’re wondering why I’m here?”

  “Yes Ma’am but first my team are on a ship about two hundred meters north of here and they don’t have Arctic suits. Can you arrange for them to be picked up? And I’d like to see the senior military officer of this base.”

  “How many in your team?”

  “Six, and one of them is at least seven feet tall and at least as wide.”

  “Only six?”

  “Yes, why?”

  “I’ll explain.” She turned to the communicator and sent a party out to get the rest of Jethro’s team. “Come with me.”

  Jethro followed her deeper into the base until they came to an office.

  “Drink?”

  “I’d love tea if you have it. Twining’s black and green mix, milk no sugar.”

  “You English and your tea.” She smiled as she punched the buttons on the drinks dispenser.

  “We built an empire on it.”

  “And lost it because of the taxes you placed on tea.”

  Jethro could see the black tar in her cup and could smell the almost overpowering coffee.

  “I believe you want to see the senior military commander of this base?”

  “Yes please,” answered Jethro.

  “Apart from one Space Marine; I think his name is Chang. You’re it.”

  chapter 16

  Jethro waited outside the Research Base Administrator’s office whilst Doc was inside. He couldn’t hear what was being said, but it was a long time before he was admitted.

  It was a lifeless and spotless office with not one item out of place and as Jethro entered, he immediately saw the Administrator straightening everything on her desk which seemed a never-ending task because once she moved one thing all the others needed to be moved again to line up.

  “Good morning. I’m Sub-Lieutenant Jethro Tull.”

  The Administrator was reading a document on her desk.

  “And why are you here Sub-Lieutenant Tull?”

  “I’ve been sent to evacuate you and your staff and scientists back to Earth.”

  She didn’t even look up at him. “Out of the question. You’ve wasted your trip.”

  “But Ma’am. Are you aware that Mars is being invaded by aliens?”

  “Yes I am aware of that. But they won’t come here or they would be here already.”

  Jethro was about to launch into a tirade but he saw Doc shaking her head so he bit his tongue.

  “Are you aware of the important scientific work that we are doing in this Research Base?”

  Jethro wasn’t aware and he told her.

  “I won’t waste my time or your time trying to explain it to you as you are only a soldier and we have no use for soldiers here. Now please leave me alone to get on with my work.”

  Jethro looked at Doc and saw her shake her head again.

  Jethro saluted her. “Yes ma’am.” He turned smartly to his right and marched out of the room, making as much noise with his boots as he could.

  Doc followed him out and shut the door behind her. “Jethro. Don’t say a word.”

  “I wasn’t going to say anything, but I was thinking it.”

  They returned to Doc’s office.

  “What important scientific work are you doing here?”

/>   “Are you sure you want to hear it?”

  “You’d better explain it to me in baby talk otherwise I might not understand it.” Jethro was still seething inside.

  “Sit down and let me explain. We are looking at the time-date stamp of the ice here at the South Pole because it might show that there was once life on Mars.”

  “How do they do that?”

  “Have you heard of Dendrochronology?”

  “No.”

  “It’s looking at tree ring patterns. The outer bark represents the year the tree was cut down and inner rings represent the bark from previous years. By counting the rings we can tell the year each ring represents, and by measuring the thickness of that ring we can determine whether that was a dry year or a wet year.”

  “Sorry Doc. Yes, I have heard of that. But there are no trees on Mars.”

  Doc ordered a tea for Jethro from her drinks machine. “No. But the ice is laid down each winter in layers, the thickness of which, depends on the weather and if you drill out a column of ice, you can see layers representing each year. It tells us something about the weather that year. Also, you can see what chemicals are in the ice for that year, which might tell you other stuff about what was happening on Mars.”

  “Doesn’t sound like life shattering science to me.” Jethro was calming down

  “Your girl, Brains, will tell you that science is all about speculate to illuminate. You don’t always know what value there is when you do an experiment or the research but occasionally you find gold without looking for it.”

  “So what are we going to do about the Administrator?” Jethro sipped the tea, it was good.

  Doc didn’t answer. “Jethro? Can I ask you a question?”

  “Go on.”

  “What’s that mark around your neck? It looks serious.”

  “It is serious.” Jethro thought about it but couldn’t come up with a reasonable sounding lie so he told the truth, leaving nothing out.

  “That’s outrageous.” Doc slammed her coffee cup down on her desk spilling some contents.

  Jethro agreed but he said nothing and he felt good that he had told somebody.

  “You seem blase about nearly being executed,” said Doc whilst wiping the coffee from her desk.

  “I can’t change the past.” Jethro was resigned to events. “If we can’t defeat the aliens, we’ll all be dead anyway. Tell me about Uruk.”