Colony Mars Ultimate Edition

by Gerald M. Kilby

  Gizmo moved closer and examined it. “It does seem very incomplete.”

  “From my analysis there should be areas for food production, accommodation, operation, processing and a whole bunch of other stuff. But this is minimal.”

  “They obviously were not too interested in updating the data.”

  “Or they were trying to hide its true nature.” She sighed and looked at Gizmo.

  “Did you move the body?”

  “Yes, he is now lying beside himself in the mausoleum.”

  “You’re assuming that they are the same person, Gizmo.”

  “I never assume, Jann.”

  “Well, if you’re correct—and let’s face it, you always are—then that would mean only one thing. That this guy must be a clone.”

  “A genetically identical human?” said Gizmo.

  “Yes.”

  “Interesting.”

  “What’s even more interesting, Gizmo, is there are probably a lot more.”

  3

  In Search Of Answers

  Jann sat in a battered armchair in the common room of Colony One. It was the first time she had done so in over a year. The table before her was laid out with dishes and utensils, as well as an ample array of food, all extracted from deep-freeze storage. She had not eaten like this in a very long time, she’d given up on such formal niceties. But, like a ship’s captain of old on the far side of the world, taking tea from a fine china tea set, she felt she needed to reconnect with civilized behavior, lest she forget forever.

  But it brought with it painful memories of friends long dead, of Paolio, Nills, Lu and Kevin. She raised her cup of colony cider. “Here’s to you all,” she said, in the memory of all those that she had lost.

  Gizmo entered. “Is the food to your liking, Jann?”

  “It feels weird, eating off a plate.”

  “Sorry, but I would not know.”

  Jann smiled at the quirky robot. “The food’s fine, Gizmo. But it would be nice to share it with some friends.”

  “Well, if it is any consolation, I do enjoy your company.”

  She laughed. “Thank you, Gizmo. I know I can be difficult. It hasn’t been easy for me… this last while.”

  “That is okay, you are only human after all.”

  Jann cocked an eyebrow at it. “Coming from a robot I’m not sure how to take that.”

  “Consider it a compliment.”

  “All right. I will.” She raised her glass to Gizmo and nodded, then sat back. “Tell me, Gizmo, what are my chances of returning to Earth?” It was the same question she had asked of it a hundred times before. Whenever any new message came in from mission control, or when she gained some new insight into the bacteria, she asked this very same question of Gizmo, hoping that this new snippet of data would prompt a different response. It never did. Its reply was always the same. ‘None,’ it would say. She understood that in Gizmo's lexicon, this meant anything with less than a 0.01% probability. But this time its response was different.

  “Slim. Approximate probability of 2.7%.”

  Jann nearly choked on her drink. “Slim? How come? What’s changed?”

  “Quite a lot, Jann. Consider this: you can return to Earth anytime you want, your launch craft is still functioning and the new fuel tanks are ready. The only thing that is preventing you is the need to convince the ISA that you are no longer a biohazard. And the only way you can do that is to find a way to kill it.”

  “Well, since the research lab is destroyed I have no way to do that. The medlab equipment is not up to the mark for that kind of analysis. Anyway, you know all this, Gizmo.”

  “True, but what is different, is you may find something in Colony Two. It would seem from our visitor that this is still viable for human life support. And judging by his genetic makeup it would be reasonable to suggest that they have, or had, significant research facilities there.”

  “I don’t know, Gizmo. Even if I was willing to take the risk of exploring it I have no way to get there and back again. An EVA suit just doesn’t have the resources.”

  “You could take the exploration rover.”

  Jann sat back in her seat and rubbed a hand across her skull. “The rover. I had completely forgotten about that.”

  Towards the end of the first year of Jann’s isolation in Colony One she was running out of projects to keep her mind focused. The tanks had been built and her efforts at gaining further insight into the malignant bacteria were growing ever more frustrating, hampered as she was by the lack of adequate equipment. This, coupled with the increasingly vague communication from Earth as to a date for the next mission, had prompted Jann to finally explore the derelict sectors of the great colony. It was, after all, the initial mission brief. So since she was going to be stuck here for a while, she might as well get on with it. She also considered that she might find something useful: another lab, or some scientific equipment that she could use.

  It was during one of these excursions that she came across the old Colony One exploration rover. It was parked up inside a small derelict workshop dome on the western side of the facility, accessible only by EVA. It was one of two such vehicles, the other, it was assumed, was over in the mining outpost. The rover was non-operational, and had been for five or more years. Jann thought about trying to get it working again, but as time moved on, and her sense of abandonment and isolation increased, her excursions outside became fewer and fewer. By the early part of her second year she had given up on EVA altogether. So, as the colony tightened its grip on her psyche, she retreated into the biodome and spent more and more of her time with the garden: researching it, tending it, becoming one with it. By the close of the second year, not only did she not EVA, she seldom even left the biodome.

  “But it’s not operational, it hasn’t been for a very long time, Gizmo.”

  “It could be made to function again.”

  Jann rubbed her hand across the top of her skull again, slowly this time. “I don’t know.”

  “What do you not know?”

  Jann sighed. “Even if we do get it working, I’m not sure I want to risk trying to go out there. It’s been a long time… for me.”

  “Yes, it would be an uncertain venture with a high probability of death.”

  “Thanks, Gizmo, That’s very comforting.”

  “My pleasure, I am here to assist.”

  “The other big question is: what would I find when, and if, I get there?”

  “Unfortunately, I do not have access to sufficient data to give you any useful analysis. However, if Thomas Boateng made it here that would suggest there is life support. So there is a high probability of other life within its confines.”

  “But if there is, then why have we not heard from them before now?”

  “I would suggest a few obvious scenarios: they had no way to communicate or exit the mine. In essence, they were trapped.”

  “Maybe, but if there are survivors over there the next question is, are they friendly?”

  “One would assume that they would be glad of rescue.”

  “You really think so?”

  “It is merely one of many possibilities. They may equally have descended into a barbarous cohort of violent animals who eat their young.”

  Jann sighed. “So what you’re saying, Gizmo, is you really don’t know.”

  “Too many possible outcomes to predict with any accuracy. The only way you will know for sure is to go there and see. In the meantime I suggest your best course of action would be to revitalize the exploration rover so you have transport should you decide to investigate Colony Two.”

  Jann thought for a moment, then stood up. “Okay, I suppose there wouldn’t be any harm in taking a look at this rover again.”

  “Very little.”

  “All right, let’s check it out and see if it can be salvaged. Then we can decide.”

  The garage workshop, where the rover was housed, was on the far side of the Colony One site. There was no internal route
to it, as the derelict areas had been sealed off a long time ago. Venturing into any of these sectors could be dangerous; they were structurally unsound. So the safest way to get there was to EVA. Jann checked her suit for power and resources as Gizmo waited patiently in the airlock. Being a robot it had no need for life support, it could go anywhere, limited only by the range of its power cell. Jann donned her helmet. It felt strange, now that she had very short hair. It had a roomier feel to it, more like wearing a dome than a helmet. She locked it in place and pressurized the suit. All biometric readings were clear, ready to go.

  They worked their way around the perimeter of the facility until they finally reached the workshop. It was a small domed structure with its roof still intact. Along the exterior wall a large airlock protruded, big enough to fit a small truck. They brought a small remote power pack with them and Gizmo set about fiddling with the door’s control panel. After a few minutes it had reduced it to a gaping hole of sprouting wires. “Okay, here goes,” it said as the door slowly rose up from the ground and slid into the roof. Jann was surprised by how much it looked and worked like a standard garage door. Then again, it was probably a very good design to begin with. The airlock was empty, save for another door at the far end. They moved inside and a short while later Gizmo got it open. They finally entered into the large workshop, and parked in the middle of the space was a six-wheeled, pressurized exploration rover. Jann rubbed her gloved hand along its side. “Well, looks like it’s still here.”

  Over the course of the next few weeks Jann and Gizmo worked to restore power and life support to the maintenance workshop. But Jann still had to EVA to get access to it. They simply did not have the resources to rebuild the damaged structures linking it through to the main facility. All this activity was building up a new routine in Jann’s life and imbuing it with a new sense of purpose, and as the sols passed, she felt herself becoming more and more reconnected with reality.

  The rover itself was powered by a methane internal combustion engine, the same fuel used for the MAV. It was old school, but made a lot of sense as the fuel could be manufactured easily on Mars. This also gave the machine a great deal of power. It was built to be a tough exploration vehicle with a range of over two hundred kilometers and a fully loaded top speed of sixty-five kilometers per hour. It could also accommodate six crew for a full thirty hours.

  It took them another few weeks to get it to a point where they were ready to try and start it up. Jann sat in the driver’s seat and surveyed the controls. It had a pretty basic joystick mechanism. The instrument panel was well laid out and clearly defined. It had obviously been designed so that even an idiot could drive it. That suited her just fine. She hit the power on switch. The instrument panel flickered into life, alerts flashed and data started to scroll down the main screen. Gizmo examined it. “Okay, looks like the main systems are operational. Time to see if it will start.”

  Jann pushed the start button and the rover engine burst into life. She looked over at Gizmo and gave the little droid a thumbs up. She let it run for a minute or two before killing the engine. Gizmo scanned the data readouts on the main screen. “You have fuel for approximately one hundred and eighty kilometers and oxygen for eight hours, twenty-seven minutes.” It tilted its head at Jann. “I would say you are good to go, although I would advocate taking it for a test drive, first.”

  Jann sat back in the driver’s seat. “So now I have a decision to make.”

  “Looks that way.”

  “Okay, let’s get back. Nothing more we can do here this sol. I need to think.”

  It took Jann just one night of sleeping in her tree, staring at the stars, to finally make up her mind. To remain in Colony One was a route to insanity, of that she was certain. She was not Nills—she was not that mentally tough. The three years Jann had spent here had already eroded her sense of reality. She had only been brought back from the brink by this new sense of purpose. So she needed to go, not simply because she might find some answers, but because she would find none by staying here.

  After several more sols of tests the rover was finally ready for the journey. It was agreed that Gizmo would stay behind and maintain the colony. Not that the little robot wouldn’t be useful to her on this trip, but she was worried that some critical system might fail in her absence and there would be no one here to deal with it. The last thing she needed would be to return only to find her primary life support had succumbed to some catastrophe. She was confident there was nothing Gizmo couldn’t handle in her absence.

  Jann had made her decision and the moment had come. She clambered on board the exploration rover and, after a last systems check, she signaled for Gizmo to open the airlock. She started up the machine and waved at the little droid as the rover rumbled out of Colony One, and onto the barren planet’s surface.

  “Good luck.” Gizmo’s voice resonated from the cabin speaker.

  “Thanks,” she replied as she pushed the throttle forward. The rover responded, picking up speed.

  “For what it is worth, Jann, your probability of returning to Earth just increased to 7.3%.”

  4

  Colony Two

  The mining outpost was thirty-five kilometers northeast of her, so at a gentle twenty kph she would be there in less than two hours. That gave her plenty of time to investigate and still be able to make the return journey. She passed the solar array field and the old supply lander, and moved on towards the vast expanse of the central crater basin. It reminded her of her first days on the planet, when she went for a walk, testing out one of the small utility rovers they had brought with them. Back then she had felt a strong urge to just keep walking before Lu Chan called her back. Now, that same desire surged within her—to head out into the emptiness and just keep going. Maybe it was the years spent cooped up in Colony One or maybe it was something more primal. Either way, it was exhilarating. Jann opened up the throttle a little more and the rover replied, giving her a new sense of speed and purpose as it accelerated. She hit forty-five kph before she calmed down and let caution prevail. It was not a good plan to push it to breaking point and be stranded out here. She eased back and settled into a safe and steady twenty kph. It was Sunday driving, Martian style.

  After an hour or so she began to make out the top of the crater rim on the far side of the basin. It grew in size and clarity as she moved closer. She checked her range and location on the main screen. Another thirty minutes and she would be there. According to the maps and diagrams she had studied back in the colony, the main mine entrance should be located at the base of a tall overhang in the cliff wall. This would make it hard to find without the aid of an accurate chart. Since there was no GPS or magnetic north on Mars, her calculations were done the old fashioned way, by simple trigonometry.

  But she wasn’t planning on using the main entrance. If one colonist was still alive then there could be others. She didn’t want to announce her arrival before checking the place out first, and that meant finding other possible ways in. These were smaller airlocks, dotted farther up the crater rim, and could be accessed on foot. They were installed as escape routes for miners should there be a collapse at the main entrance. She would try one of these first. Hopefully sneak in and do some clandestine reconnaissance.

  The crater rim rose up before her. Jann scanned the horizon looking for a natural valley carved out of the cliff. That should be where the main entrance was located. But it was hard to make out in the haze. She had to find it quickly and not spend too much time driving along the base of the cliff. She was pretty sure she was on the right course when eventually she spotted the dip in the crater rim. She aimed for it and stepped on the gas. The rover obliged.

  It still took her quite a while to find it. The main entrance was so well concealed she was only three hundred meters away when she spotted it. She slammed on the brakes and came to a skidding halt. Jann waited for the dust to settle before utilizing the onboard camera to scan along the base of the crater’s rim. When she found the ent
rance she zoomed in.

  It consisted of one large airlock and two smaller ones. There was nothing out of the ordinary about them other than they were well hidden. She looked at it for a while, half expecting it to open and empty out a cohort of stormtroopers. But it was still and silent—and just a little ominous. Jann started up the rover again and moved off towards the cover of a large rock formation. She parked out of sight of the entrance and switched off the engine.

  “Okay, old girl, this is it. Time to focus.”

  She snapped on her helmet, checked her biometrics and made her way through the airlock at the back of the rover, out onto the surface. The sun was high in the sky and she dimmed her visor to counter the glare. According to the charts, about half a kilometer left of the main entrance there should be a path of sorts, leading up the side of the crater rim for about a hundred meters to a wide ledge; the location of an emergency airlock.

  She moved slowly, all the time endeavoring to stay behind whatever cover she could find. But after a few hundred meters the rock formation came to an end and she had no option but to cross to the base in full view. As she worked her way west the cliff face become less sheer and started to slope outward. The ground underfoot also became more rugged and broken as she picked her way between boulders and rocks that had crumbled down the side of the rim over the eons.

  Then she saw them. At first she wasn’t sure, but as she came closer there was no doubt. She was looking at a trail of footprints coming down the side of the crater and heading off in to the central wasteland. They were crisp and clean, clearly made recently. The colonist, she thought. This is where he came out. She followed the line of footprints back up the slope. There were places where she lost them over rocky terrain but managed to pick them up again as she progressed upwards. She was high above the level of the crater basin when she saw the entrance. Jann expected to see an airlock but instead it was a low tunnel carved out of the rock, the trail of footprints leading into it. She kept moving, ever upward, towards the tunnel.