Colony Mars Ultimate Edition

by Gerald M. Kilby

  “It is a MASS rover. Should I try to contact it?”

  “No, wait, let’s think this through first. Is it coming from where we abandoned the rover?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, it’s way too soon for Dr. Malbec to have mounted a rescue. So I think we need to consider that this situation is not good. It could be that whoever is out to kill me was following us, making sure the job was done. So now that they’ve found our rover empty, they’re going to the only place we could be, here in this way station.”

  Mia realized she was effectively trapped, with no escape. She had no weapons, and in her current weakened state she would not be able to defend herself from a direct assault. What’s more, there could be several people in the approaching rover, all hell bent on her destruction. Think, she said to herself.

  It was also entirely possible that this was a genuine mission. Then Mia would be in a very awkward position, waiting for them to show themselves to be a threat. And when that happened, it would be too late.

  “Gizmo, can you disable comms here? Not permanently, but for a few hours?”

  “Yes, I think I can rig something to do that, a simple battery relay switch on the main antennae should do it. Once the battery drained it would flip back on.”

  “Okay, let’s get to it. Follow me and I’ll explain the plan.”

  Gizmo had estimated around ten minutes before the rover arrived, so Mia didn’t have much time. They moved out of the common area and into a short tunnel with airlocks spaced out on either side. This was where the visiting rovers could connect, but they could also be used as standard airlocks for venturing outside on to the surface. Mia quickly got into a spare EVA suit. Each way station had at least two of these, fully resourced. She booted it up and checked the heads-up display for alerts. When she was sure everything was okay, she took a deep breath, flipped her visor down, and entered the airlock.

  As she waited for the volume to equalize with the outside atmosphere, she wondered if she was doing the right thing. She had assumed that whoever was driving the rover would head straight for the nearest airlock and dock. But if they were being cautious, they might drive around the way station first, check it out to make sure there were no surprises waiting. If that was the case then she would be spotted—there was no place to hide out here, no place to run.

  The outer door opened and Gizmo wasted no time in speeding off across the surface to the antennae, to temporarily disable it. Then it would make its way back inside the way station while Mia waited outside. It would tuck itself into a corner of the docking tunnel, out of the way, and power itself down to make it look like it was in sleep mode. To the untrained eye it would look like any other G2 unit—parked out of the way, waiting to be assigned some tasks, or simply just non-functioning, waiting for repair. Either way, Mia was hoping it would go unnoticed. Then again, she was hoping for a lot of elements to go her way if this crazy plan of hers was going to work.

  Fortunately the base of the antennae array could not be seen from the direction the rover was approaching. But Gizmo still had to finish the hack and then make it back inside before the MASS rover docked. Mia resisted the temptation to move out and around the side of the docking tunnel to see how close it was, just in case she was seen. It frustrated her because she couldn’t hear it coming either, all she heard, inside the EVA suit, was the sound of her own breathing.

  The droid was taking an eternity. What the hell is keeping it? She slowed her breathing and tried to calm down, and reminded herself that Gizmo was smart beyond belief, so it had probably calculated all the possible parameters, trajectories and vectors. Mia tried hard to convince herself that the robot had it all worked out to the last picosecond.

  She was beginning to tire. Her body was still weak from her near-fatal dash across the surface. She sat down, resting her back against the outer skin of the docking tunnel, and forced herself to slow her heart rate. That was when she felt a subtle vibration. Standing up again and placing both hands on the docking tunnel wall, she could feel the vibration in the building. The rover was very close now. Then there was a thump. Shit, it’s docked. She turned around to see where Gizmo was, and saw it disappear into the airlock—the little droid was cutting it very tight.

  On the one hand Mia breathed a sigh of relief that whoever was driving the MASS rover had not decided to do a quick scout of the area, but on the other hand she wondered if Gizmo had left itself with enough time. It needed to be in position before the airlock opened and disgorged its occupants into the way station.

  She could feel the thump and whirr of the airlock motors as they ran through their sequences by keeping her hands pressed against the docking tunnel skin. Finally, after a few fretful moments, it went quiet. She stepped back. Has Gizmo done it? Mia turned and walked to the very end of the docking tunnel, turned the corner, and very tentatively peered around to see the nose of the rover. She waited.

  She could see it rock slightly as something heavy moved inside it, then Gizmo appeared at the controls. The little robot had done it. The rover started up, detached itself from the dock and moved out towards Mia. She came out of her hiding place and waved to Gizmo. It responded by giving a kind of thumbs up gesture.

  Mia ran to the rear airlock as the rover came past. The outer door was already open and she clambered inside. As soon as the door closed she felt the rover pick up speed, away from way station 29. She exited the airlock, removed her helmet and gloves, and sat in the cockpit seat beside Gizmo.

  “Well done.” She slapped the robot on the back and instantly regretted it, as pain shot up her arm.

  “Thank you, but it was elementary. And, if I may say, it was an excellent plan, Mia.”

  “I don’t believe it, am I getting a compliment?”

  “Credit where credit is due, is that not the common saying in these circumstances?”

  Mia rubbed the pain out of her wrist as she slumped back into the co-pilot seat. “So how many were there?”

  “Just one, see here.” Gizmo played a video feed on the rover’s main screen. It was shaky at first then steadied to show a view down the length of the docking tunnel. From the right hand side a figure entered, tall, hard to tell what age. He held a small plasma weapon. He stopped, looking up and down the tunnel before resting his eyes on Gizmo. Mia recognized him. It was the guy from the canteen, the one who set her up. On screen, he had moved in closer to inspect the G2 unit, then turned back to go down the tunnel and into the way station. The video went shaky again as Gizmo made for the airlock.

  So who the hell is he? Mia wondered. “Gizmo, can you interrogate the rover’s log and see where it’s been?”

  The video was replaced by a long scrolling list. Mia moved the screen closer to her and began to tap on some of the entries to bring up more detail. The rover departed from MASS HQ around the same time as she and Gizmo had absconded from courier central, and it had taken the same route. It had been following them.

  Mia moved the screen out of the way. “Well, that just confirms what we already know.”

  She glanced around the rover. Even though it was a MASS vehicle it was exactly the same as all the others. They were all made here on Mars, in the factories in the Industrial Sector, as a joint venture between the colony and AsterX. There was nothing to distinguish this one from any of the others. Except for one thing.

  “Gizmo, if this rover left from MASS HQ then their systems will have no problem accepting it back at the main dock.”

  “That is correct. It is tagged for their systems, so it has access to all MASS installations.”

  “Okay, then. Let’s head for MASS HQ.”

  “Very well. What is your plan?”

  “How long before the comms come back on at the way station?”

  “I calculate three hours and thirty-nine minutes.”

  “And how long before we get to MASS HQ?”

  “Approximately three hours.”

  “That should be enough for us to get in there and do a bit o
f snooping.”

  “What are we looking for?”

  “Assuming Jay Eriksen was killed to keep him quiet, either he knew too much or stumbled upon something he shouldn’t have, then knowing where he had been in the time leading up to his death would give us some clues as to what’s going on. One thing’s for sure, MASS are involved in it somehow.”

  They drove in silence for what seemed like an eternity to Mia. Eventually she saw the landscape changing as the rim of Jezero Crater began to grow on the horizon.

  “We will shortly be within range to make direct comms contact with Dr. Malbec,” said Gizmo.

  A few minutes later an encrypted inbound comms connection flickered onto the monitor, and Dr. Jann Malbec’s head and shoulders materialized on screen.

  “Mia, what the hell are you doing? Chasing down your ex-boyfriend is not part of the plan.” Her voice was surprisingly calm and measured.

  “I know, I’m sorry about that, but I was set up. Those bastards knew how to get to me, how to get me somewhere they could get rid of me. They sabotaged the rover and except for Gizmo they would have succeeded in doing the same thing to me as they did to Jay Eriksen.”

  “Yeah, I told you Gizmo’s a useful friend to have in a jam. So where are you now?” said Jann.

  “Long story short, we stole a rover from the guy who’s trying kill me. He’s stuck at way station 29. We’re heading back to Jezero.”

  “Look Mia, your crazy stunt has hit the headlines here. I’ve just been hauled over the coals for it. What’s more, your cover is blown, and the council are out to find you and Gizmo. You’ve been deemed a threat to the colony.”

  “That’s bullshit. Can’t they see what’s going on?”

  “No, they can’t, or won’t—that’s the problem. It’s been the problem all along, that’s why I wanted someone like you to investigate.”

  Mia rubbed her forehead. “I’m sorry, Jann. I’ll be straight with you, I took this job so I could track down my ex and get my stuff back. I didn’t really believe you about the Eriksen guy. I thought you were just being… well, paranoid.”

  “Welcome to the club, everybody else seems to have the same opinion of me.”

  “Well not anymore, surely they must see there’s a major threat imminent?”

  “Mia, you must understand my power to influence is fast being eroded, and your stunt didn’t help that. Each time I make the case I look more and more deranged in their eyes. As it stands at the moment, all citizens are being called back to Jezero City for the celebrations later today, so everyone’s energy has been focused on that. I’m fast running out of options here.”

  There was a silence as Mia contemplated just how much she had screwed up. “Look, someone just tried to kill me. The fundamental question is why? What do they not want us to find out? Whatever it is, it’s got to do with Jay Eriksen, so we’re going back to the MASS HQ to take a closer look at that rover. Gizmo also thinks he can hack their database and find out where Jay was in the sols before the accident.”

  “You won’t find anything in the database,” said Jann.

  Mia was a little taken aback by this response. “How do you know that?”

  “It seems my entreaties to the council have not completely fallen on deaf ears. I have managed to gain one, quite surprising, ally. None other than Evon Dent, the MASS operations director. It would appear he has suspicions similar to mine.”

  Mia think about this. “The MASS director?” was all that she could muster as a reply.

  “His own investigations are being blocked. By whom and for what reason, he doesn’t know. But he has managed to ascertain there are several sols missing from Jay Eriksen’s records.”

  “Well if he’s mister big over at MASS why doesn’t he just stroll right on in and demand answers?”

  “You don’t understand that people like myself and Evon are like great big container ships at sea. Everybody can see us coming for miles and it takes us forever to maneuver, we’re anything but agile and stealthy. Him walking in and knocking heads would do nothing but alert the threat and drive it completely underground.”

  “There must be something we can do. Are these rovers tracked in any way, I mean do they have a black box or something like on an airplane?”

  “You’re correct, they do. And that is exactly what Evon suggested looking for. But we don’t know where it is, or how to get it.”

  “Well, most likely it’s still with the remains of the rover in MASS HQ, and fortunately we happen to be driving in a stolen MASS rover. Maybe I can find a way to sneak in again.” Mia paused for a moment as a plan was beginning to form in her mind. “Jann, all citizens are being called back to Jezero City, what about the MASS guys, and the contractors?”

  “Those who can will also come over here for the celebrations. Others are going up to their space station to watch the terraforming event from orbit.”

  “Can you get Evon Dent to issue a directive to clear everyone out of HQ?”

  “Yes, I think that’s possible. I mean it’s going to happen later today anyway.”

  “Good, do that. Gizmo and I will find a way in and get that black box. Then, maybe we can get some answers.”

  18

  Droid Down

  Mia had taken over driving the rover. She reckoned she had to learn sometime, but in reality it was simply to break the boredom of the return journey. She still had her EVA suit on but had removed the helmet and gloves. She couldn’t wait to get out of it, but for the moment she thought it prudent to keep herself wrapped up in it—just in case.

  As they approached the Industrial Sector, she was happy to see that the normal sol-to-sol traffic was greatly diminished. Citizens had been making their way to Jezero City for the celebrations, and the population of the outlying facilities had thinned out. Those that were not citizens, the contractors and tourists, were not obliged to be at the main city, but most who could had elected to head over and join in the festivities. Of course some of those lucky enough to work for the Mars Alliance Scientific Survey could disembark from the planet up to their orbiting space station where they could watch the event unfold in real time. As Mia and Gizmo moved further into the crater, she could see the liftoff of one of these transports. Hopefully Jann had managed to get most of the staff at the MASS HQ cleared out by now. All this movement of people left the crater feeling oddly empty. This suited Mia, as she was less likely to be stopped and boarded by the Colony authorities that wanted to find her and the rogue robot, Gizmo.

  As they approached the leading edge of the Industrial Sector, Mia turned right off the main road and headed for the MASS facility. She could see its domed roof rising up as they got closer. The long curving rover dock was completely devoid of vehicles. The place must be deserted, she thought. Good.

  “Gizmo, can you take the controls and bring us in?”

  “Certainly. Anywhere in particular?”

  “I don’t suppose it matters.”

  Gizmo reversed the rover up to the first available bay and docked. Then followed the usual humming of motors and clunking of gears as the rover connected up to the main facility. There was a momentary flicker as power was transferred from the rover to the central systems.

  Mia hesitated for a fraction of a second as she considered getting out of the bulky EVA suit before entering the facility. But leaving it on had its advantages, even without the helmet and gloves. It offered some protection from attack, although it made her less agile. On balance, she decided to leave it on.

  The rear rover airlock opened up to an empty space, much to Mia’s relief. It seemed everyone had taken up the opportunity to clock off early and enjoy the festivities. So far so good. They slowly made their way through the facility to where the remains of Jay Eriksen’s rover were located. As far as Mia could tell nothing had changed. Everything was pretty much as she and Gizmo had last seen it. They split up and started searching.

  Like a black box in an airplane, it was not in fact black, but bright yellow, so in t
heory it should be easy to spot. But after a few minutes of searching, both the interior of the rover shell and all the components arrayed on the workbenches, they couldn’t find it. This came as no surprise to Mia. She had pretty much regarded this plan as only a few notches above futile, considering the first thing anyone would do would be to hide the evidence of the rover’s journey history.

  Mia turned around when she heard the door to the maintenance area open. The facility was not completely empty, there was someone else here. Her first thought was to hide, but she was too late. Standing right in front of her was the same guy she had met in the airlock entrance on her first sortie to the MASS HQ. She stood still for a moment deciding what to do, then she waved and said, “Hi.”

  He did a double take and Mia could almost see the wheels in his brain turning, trying to figure out what to do, or say.

  “How come you’re not over at Jezero City enjoying the party?” she ventured.

  “Eh… someone’s got to stay here,” he managed hesitantly by way of reply.

  “Say, you didn’t happen to see a bright yellow box about so big lying around here somewhere?” Mia did a box shape with her hands.

  “Eh… well, yeah. There’s one in the control room over there. It’s kinda hard to miss.”

  “Gee, thanks. I’ll make sure to mention you to Evon Dent when I meet him later. You’ve been a great help.” Mia started off toward the control room. Well that was easy, she thought.

  “Wait a minute, who are you anyway? There’s not supposed to be any people in here.”

  Then again maybe not. She turned back and walked toward him.

  “Look, you’re a nice guy, but I’m in a bit of a hurry, so please don’t take this personally.” She punched him square in the face. He dropped.

  “Gizmo?”

  The little robot whizzed in beside her and scanned the prostrate form on the floor. “I see you have been busy.”

  “Find me some zip-ties or something to tie this guy up with.”