Mars Nation 3

by Brandon Q Morris

  Silence fell for a moment, followed by a loud, metallic clang.

  “Sorry, the hatch swung down our way, but everything’s fine.”

  “Alright, recovery team. Proceed.”

  “We... shit. We’ve found them. They’re all dead. Six people in four beds. It looks like four men and two women, although they all look very similar.”

  What did the man mean by similar? Did all Asians look alike to him?

  “We can see it from the camera footage,” the voice from the bridge said. “The crew is extremely dehydrated, completely desiccated.”

  “This is... awful,” the man from the recovery team said. “Sorry, Nigel had to go back. He was about to be sick. There’s only the two of us here now.”

  “We don’t detect an imminent threat. At least, the six crew members don’t represent one, so keep going. However, we need to make one request of you.”

  “I can already guess what that is.”

  “Yes, you have to bring one of the corpses with you. We need to run an autopsy on them. Or wait, it will be enough if you transport one into the rover. We’ll send a forensics team out to you. Until we know more about what happened, we shouldn’t bring the bodies into the base.”

  “Got it. What a disaster. I’m under quarantine now, too, right? My wife’s birthday is the day after tomorrow.”

  “Yes, Sam, sorry about that. But as long as the cause of death is uncertain, you will have to stay outside the base. Don’t worry, though, the life support system probably failed, and they all simply suffocated. From the video footage, it doesn’t look like there are any signs of sickness.”

  “That’s comforting.”

  “I’m sorry about that, but Mars City’s safety comes first. Could you now take one of the corpses over to the rover?”

  “Sure... We’ll get on that now. Any preference? Man or woman?”

  “Doesn’t matter. Whatever looks the easiest for you.”

  “José thinks he could carry all six of them since they’re so light. The dehydration combined with Mars’s gravity—”

  “No, one will suffice.”

  “Copy that, bridge. José is carrying one of the women. We’re now leaving this ‘hospitable’ place.”

  Theo visualized the six bodies. They were probably wearing thin uniforms. But why were there six people in four beds? That wasn’t how things had been at the time of launch. What tragedy had occurred?

  “Recovery team to bridge. We have reached the rover and are now disconnecting the airlock tube.”

  “Proceed, Rover 1.”

  Theo watched as the airlock tube twitched. It looked funny, as if someone had stuck their finger onto an ice-cold spot and couldn’t pull it free. What’s going on?

  “Um, Rover 1 to bridge, the tube doesn’t want to cooperate.”

  “Doesn’t want to?”

  “The computer isn’t responding. It simply won’t detach. It’s almost as if the ship doesn’t want to give it back.”

  “Stay calm. Have you tried from the other side?”

  “But then we’d lose the tube.”

  “Nonsense. It would just remain attached. Rover 2 could recover it.”

  “Of course. Sorry. We’ll manually disconnect it from inside. Do we need our suits for that?”

  “No, you can operate the clamps mechanically from inside. It would be unfortunate if you first had to exit the rover to do that.”

  “Sorry, I should have thought of that.”

  “No problem, Sam. You’ve just discovered six corpses. That would rattle anyone.”

  The tube slid down the outer wall of the enclosed rover and landed on the ground. Theo drove closer and waved at the security guard. They would load the tube onto their vehicle. At least some good would come from him being there.

  “Rover 1 to bridge, we have a small problem.”

  Theo heard someone coughing in the background.

  “What’s wrong, Rover 1?”

  “The oxygen level in the cabin is sinking rapidly. There must be a leak somewhere.”

  “Immediately into your suits!”

  “I... we... Nigel is completely undressed. He’s vomited everywhere and is very woozy. He... It all went too fast for him.”

  “Sam, leave Nigel. You have to seal your own suit. That is the most important thing. Bridge to Rover 2, can you help them?”

  Theo leapt out of his seat and ran over to the other rover, the guard at his heels. But the cabin was sealed. They couldn’t access it from the outside since there was no airlock. If they opened the hatch, all the air would rush out of the rover.

  “Rover 2 to bridge, there’s nothing we can do,” Theo shouted into his radio. The guard placed a hand on his shoulder.

  “Sam,” a voice cried from the bridge. “What’s going on? How are you doing?”

  “I... made it. I’m wearing my suit, but Nigel didn’t make it. I tried to do CPR with his mask but he didn’t show any response.”

  “And José?”

  “José? I don’t know. He’s leaning against the wall. José? José? Say something, please!”

  “His suit isn’t showing any values. Is he wearing it?”

  “Yes, he has it on.”

  “Then he’s dead.”

  “Shit! What did this?”

  “We don’t know, Sam, but we will find out.”

  The enclosed rover slowly started moving. The electrical cord that connected it to the Chinese ship popped out of the connector box. The rover dragged the plug behind it.

  “Rover 2 to bridge, do you see that? Rover 1 is departing. It is heading toward Mars City. Did you do that?”

  “No, we had nothing to do with it. Sam, did you start up the rover? We understand that you want to get home, but we can’t let you inside with the body on board, at least not until the cause of death has been determined.”

  “No, bridge. I didn’t do it. The rover is moving entirely on its own.”

  Sol 341, Promethei Planum

  The rover’s engine screeched. It sounded like a howl of pain. Ewa stopped the vehicle instantly. Friday was right. Just this morning, he had advised attaching the snow chains to the tires. This would slow their rate of progress, but it would certainly beat getting stuck in the ice.

  The plateau across which they were driving reminded Ewa of an ice desert, but it had nothing in common with the snowy world of the Arctic on Earth. Underneath the rover, the ice wasn’t anything like the water ice they knew, instead it was dry ice. The layer was three to four meters thick, according to the radar. Ewa was glad that it wasn’t thicker, as must be the case in deep winter. Their drive at this point was not as dangerous. On Earth, cracks in the ice presented the most significant risk, but here the rover itself could prove to be a problem, primarily whenever the outside temperatures wavered around the point when the dry ice might suddenly vaporize, sublimate.

  The major danger was tied to the energy given off by the rover, which could cause the solid ice layer underneath them to disappear. Worst case scenario, they would sink to the actual surface level in a matter of mere minutes. It wouldn’t be impossible for them to get out of the ice hole, but the length of time this would require would depend on the depth of their fall. The ice layer wasn’t universally treacherous since in spots it was stabilized by impurities formed by dust and much more stable water ice, which first melted around zero degrees. But they would eventually reach a point after which it would be best for them not to stop until they reached their destination.

  Ewa closed her eyes and listened. Was the rover already sliding downward, slipping into a hole? Nothing happened. The vehicle seemed to be sitting on a safe spot. She got ready to leave the rover.

  The snow chains were stored in a compartment below the toolbox. NASA had apparently thought of everything. Or had they made an expedition to one of the poles as part of their research program? How would Mike respond if she asked about that? The Age of Innocence, during which the four NASA astronauts had viewed themselves as temporary visitor
s on a new world, was long over. Ewa unscrewed the storage compartment cover. It was secured at several spots. Exactly two chains were lying in the compartment. They looked just like the ones made to put on car tires, only much larger to fit the significantly bigger tires on the rover. They were intended for use on just the front tires. Enclosed in plastic, the mounting instructions were fastened to the side wall of the compartment. Ewa studied them. The mounting really was similar to the procedure for cars. She recalled a drive she had once taken from San Francisco, over the mountains. She had been by herself in a self-driving car when the computer’s voice had asked for her assistance. She had hesitated at first because she was too lightly clothed for the outside chill. But if she hadn’t agreed, the car would have been forced to turn around. So she had agreed to the request, while the computer had explained what to do through the open passenger window.

  Ewa first stretched the chains out in front of the vehicle. This surface, on which no human had ever walked, felt strange. She stepped down firmly with her boot. The material felt brittle, though also porous. It called to mind a sponge. She then drove the rover over the chains, to the middle of their length, and fastened the chains around the top of the tires.

  A few tiny clumps of snow were stuck to the wheel. They seemed to have been pressed together by the tire tread. Ewa shined her flashlight on them. The clumps dissolved into the air as if they had never been there. It was crazy. Things here were never as they seemed. She needed to stay alert. The higher she went, the more surprises the terrain would have for her.

  Sol 341, Mars City

  “Bridge to Rover 2, you have to stop your colleagues.”

  “Understood,” Theo replied.

  “Hold on tight, buddy,” he said into his helmet radio. He should have asked the guard’s name a long time ago. In emergencies, it was always good to be able to communicate quickly.

  The distance between them and the enclosed rover was about a hundred meters. He could easily overtake them. But after that?

  Thanks to its construction, the other vehicle was at least three times as heavy. His open rover was comprised almost exclusively of its chassis, while the other one was hauling an entire life support system around with it. What happened in those old action flicks? Did the motorcycles ever manage to stop the semis? Their roles were reversed! He should be the one running away from the other rover.

  Theo sped up and quickly caught up to the other vehicle. Should he try to ram their opponent? Obviously, the collision would end badly for his rover. He shouldn’t jump the gun on this. There was enough time.

  “Bridge to Rover 2, do not get too close to Mars City. We can’t run the risk of contaminating the settlement.”

  The people at the base were getting on his nerves. They should tell him how he could get the heavy rover to come to a stop! Why should he risk his life for this? The vehicle couldn’t present that much of a danger. Horror films were the only places in which infections killed off people lightning fast and then lurked in wait for new victims. Maybe he should just act as if he were earnestly trying to do what they were asking. He could graze Rover 1 over and over again at a flat angle. His vehicle would definitely be able to handle that.

  “Bridge to Rover 2, if your vehicles cross the city’s protection boundary, we will deploy antitank missiles.”

  They had brought military-grade weapons to Mars? That couldn’t be true! Transporting them up into space alone was a violation of the UN Convention. Or was this a bluff? Theo knew the impact of missiles like that. He instantly let up on the gas. He would have to create enough distance between them and the other rover if he wanted to survive this.

  “Bridge to Rover 2, I was speaking in the plural. If you don’t fulfill your task, you will also become a target.”

  The guard in the back seat tightened his grip on Theo’s shoulder.

  “Yeah, buddy, I understood,” Theo said. “They’re serious about this. Do you want to get out?”

  “My name’s Pierre,” the man said with a slight accent.

  “Canadian?”

  “Yes, exactly. If I get out now, that would be the end for me, so keep trying to run the other rover down.”

  “All right, Pierre. I’ll think of something, and we’ll both come through this.”

  “Thanks. My wife would appreciate it.”

  So would Rebecca, Theo thought. He accelerated until he again drew even with the other vehicle. How could you stop something that was significantly heavier than you yourself were? Could a horse make an elephant tip over? He studied the other vehicle. It was staying close to the ground. While his own vehicle seemed to get airborne with every little bump in the ground, their opponent seemed to be stuck to the surface.

  But the other rover also appeared to have a weakness—its weight distribution. Most of its mass was concentrated in the cab which was situated about three meters above the chassis. Of course, the enclosed rover had short legs, but it still might be possible to destabilize it. All Theo needed was for its center of gravity to lift off the surface.

  He thought through the conditions. He didn’t know the precise weight distribution situation, but he did know where the heavy life support tanks were sitting and where the batteries and fuel cells were mounted. The chassis and cab were replaceable, so all the heavy components were located at least one and a half meters above the surface. If he could manage to get the enclosed rover into a 30-degree slope, he might succeed in his effort. But what would happen to Sam, who was probably the only survivor from the recovery team?

  “Rover 2 to bridge, what is going on with Sam on Rover 1? Can he do anything?”

  “Sam is no longer responding. There seems to be some problem with the com system. You are the only ones who can rescue him at this point.”

  Thanks a lot, Theo thought. If he could knock the rover over, its only living occupant would be put in danger. He was supposed to put three human lives at risk just because some idiot on the bridge was having a panic attack over a couple of dead bodies? Theo shook his head. If he refused to do this, he would place those three lives—his own included—in even greater danger.

  He glanced over at the navigational monitor and pulled up the map. A relatively fresh crater, no more than a few thousand years old, was located about a kilometer away. Its walls weren’t eroded yet. It wasn’t located directly on the route to Mars City, but perhaps he could force the other rover to make a little detour. Who was sitting at the steering wheel at this point? If it was Sam, he would probably figure out his intentions and swerve to the other side. It didn’t matter though. He would have to try.

  “Hold tight, Pierre,” he said. He then wrenched the steering bar hard. The curve was so tight that the one side of the rover momentarily left the ground. Nonetheless, he managed to cut right in front of the other rover, causing it to steer off to the left—toward the crater. Theo then dropped back a short distance from his opponent to check out their new course. Ha! It had worked. The heavy rover wasn’t trying to return to the old route, but was heading straight toward Mars City from its new position. As a result, Theo now had a chance to implement his plan.

  He repeated the maneuver. Success again! Then once more. The crater was practically located in their path now. Why hadn’t the driver in the enclosed rover noticed what he was doing? Was Sam not acquainted with the vehicle’s schematics, or had he simply overlooked the crater? He hoped this would continue. Theo checked the map. There were only two other craters along the route to Mars City, but both of them seemed too large for his plan. He needed steep crater walls that hadn’t yet been seriously chewed on by the teeth of time.

  “Hold on tight, Pierre,” he again warned the guard. It was time for his last maneuver. He floored it, passed the other rover, and cut it off with an audacious jerk of the steering handle. Shit. The nose of Rover 1 nailed their vehicle in the side.

  Pierre screamed.

  Theo didn’t turn around. The other rover must have shattered Pierre’s leg, but he couldn’t focus on t
hat right now. The heavy rover shoved them through the Mars dust, churning up a lot of dirt in the process. The visibility dropped rapidly. He had to get their vehicle safely out of the way! He attempted to do this with a couple of sharp turns of the handle. Whenever he wrenched it to the right, the man behind him groaned over the helmet radio. I’m sorry, Pierre, but otherwise you’ll die, Theo thought. He yanked the handle to the left, pressed the accelerator, and they were finally free. That was damned close! he thought.

  “I... need a doctor,” Pierre groaned.

  “I know, but I have to save our lives first,” Theo said.

  He wiped the dust from his visor, then roughly cleaned the screen. The crater was right in front of them. The maneuver had probably cost Pierre his leg, but the maneuver hadn’t been in vain. The heavy rover was still heading straight toward Mars City—but it would now have to cross the crater to do that. This was their chance. Theo drove his vehicle along the edge of the crater. The distance might be greater along here, but he was still faster.

  The critical moment was now upon them. Would the enclosed rover choose to make a detour in order to avoid crossing the crater? No, and from a navigational perspective, this would be a logical decision, since the rover’s chassis could easily handle the slope. On the other hand, they would have to hurry if they wanted to chase down their opponent. Theo ducked. It was an instinctive movement, though he wouldn’t reduce the wind resistance by doing that. They absolutely had to be the first ones to reach the crater’s exit point.

  “Head’s up!” he warned Pierre.

  The heavy rover was completely inside the crater. He couldn’t see it at the moment, but a flashing light on the monitor indicated its location. Theo steered right for the spot where the other rover would have to start its climb out of the crater. He estimated that the crater wall at that point had a slope of almost 40 degrees, and it should be covered in gravel, which would reduce the traction that the rover’s wheels could achieve. It would come down to the right moment.