The Oceans of Mars

by Tiffany Weems

  Patricia shrugged. “Or I could ride it out in my room, alone.”

  “Suit yourself. I want to be there when they announce the real planet we’re landing on instead of the one everybody thinks we’re landing on.”

  “I don’t think that it’s going to go over as well as you think. And the only reason you know about it is because John told you.” Patricia smirked. “I wouldn’t be surprised if half the ship already knows.”

  Patricia waved goodbye and dragged her feet as she went back up to the first level. She had just disembarked from the elevator when John’s voice met her ears. He was talking to someone, but she couldn’t hear anyone responding. She rounded the bend to find him alone. “Hey,” she said. “Who were you talking to?”

  John shrugged. “No one. I was headed to the control room now.”

  “That’s where I’m headed to fill in the captain.”

  “Why don’t you head back down to the gathering room? I can talk to him for you.”

  Patricia smiled. “I can still tell you’re irritated. Maybe you should take a few deep breaths before you talk to me again.” Patricia reached out and grabbed his hand, holding it firmly in her own. “That being said, I will gladly let you talk to him for me. Just try not to piss him off too much.” She didn’t leave his side though, walking him all the way to the control room.

  “Thanks,” he said. “I’ll see you later.”

  Patricia bade John goodbye at the door, knowing she wasn’t allowed in the control room. She walked away. Then, when she was only steps away from the elevator, the whole ship lurched. There was a crunch sound that echoed through the hall with a flicker of all the lights. Patricia felt her stomach do a summersault. Something had gone wrong.

  She turned back, without a second thought. The moment she reached the room and poked her head around the corner, she could see immediately what had gone wrong. The net was closed. And they had hit it. The ship was damaged, their opening was closed, and the entire crew was about to be exposed before they had anticipated. They were screwed.

  19

  A Bubble of Safety

  Patricia stayed just outside the doorway, watching as the officers panicked. Well, all, it appeared, except for the Captain. He remained where he was, firmly planted to his seat, staring out the window.

  There were at least three people busily inputting data into the computer while two were on coms. The screen never changed though. They were still staring at a net where a gap had occurred minutes before. Their entrance. Their only entrance. What could they do?

  John and Troubalene turned toward Patricia at the same time and both nearly sprinted over to her.

  “You shouldn’t be here,” Troubalene said shoving Patricia away from the door frame and out of sight of the control room. She then turned to John. “Go check the sequences to see if Lance’s encryptions still stand. If we’re visible now, we need to know immediately.”

  John gave a curt nod and moved down to the computer room. Patricia, however, remained planted where she was.

  Then, Troubalene, with a frustrated scratch of her head, stormed through the hall to the room with all the monitors. Patricia, without a second thought, followed her. There was a single tech seated in front of the wall of surveillance and Patricia was sure it was the same man from before. He must have been a thousand years old judging by how shaky and decrepit he looked. At least. Before him he had images of the control room, the gathering room, the recreational room, and hallway views on every level. It appeared that the gathering room was the fullest. That’s where people were going to wait for the good news, that they had made the journey safe and sound, that they were about to begin anew on a planet that wasn’t where they were born and that mankind,once again, had a Plan B. Patricia could tell that even they were slightly panicked by the tremor they had felt.

  There were a few individuals completely oblivious to reality within the recreation room. There were even some enjoying the virtual reality tubes, living in a fantasy world that wasn’t about to land in some strange world already inhabited.

  Troubalene leaned down over the panel. “I need outside views.”

  “Yes ma’am,” he mumbled. “Which angle would you like?”

  “Give me all port side cameras.”

  The old tech nodded and inputted a few things. Then the displays changed to nine different angles from the port side of the ship. Only about three showed the net.

  Troubalene pointed to the three. “Those are our focus. Bring them up and run footage from the last thirty minutes in triple time please.”

  “What are you looking for?” Patricia asked.

  Troublene turned around with a scowl. “You shouldn’t be in here either.”

  “Yeah, well, where would you like me to be?”

  “In the gathering space with the others.”

  Patricia scoffed. “That’s not happening. They have no idea what’s going on. I do. So whether you like it or not, I’m staying on this level where I can keep an eye on the situation as it unfolds. And I ask again, what are you looking for?”

  Troubalene turned back around without an answer.

  Together, the three watched the three images for anything to change. All Patricia saw was the gap getting closer and closer and closer until it had disappeared. It was too late for the ship to maneuver away, causing them to crash right into it. The images froze after the crash.

  “That was thirty minutes, ma’am,” the tech said.

  Troubalene took a minute. “This one. Make this one our focus. Same cycle, same speed up.”

  The tech immediately blew up the middle image so that the entire wall was filled with it. Patricia watched closely, trying to see what they were supposed to be looking for. The opening was a bit clearer in the larger image. She could make out something beyond, almost like a floating building. There appeared to be dots zooming past. The net blocked out everything. Allowing nothing to be seen. As she watched, something much larger than the dots, but far smaller than the ship, moved past at an incredible speed, right through the gap. That was what they were looking for, she knew it the moment she saw it.

  “That was Lance, right?” Patricia asked.

  Troubalene gave a small nod.

  The image kept going until the net closed at the last second.

  “That was definitely him. I thought I’d seen something before, but I couldn’t be positive,” Troubalene said. She turned around with a sullen face. “Either he was able to reset the net from the other side or he had set this to happen the entire time. He planned for it to close the moment we got close.”

  “Either way, we’re screwed. There’s no way the other encryptions are set correctly anymore.”

  “Which is precisely what I sent your husband to check on.”

  “What if they can see us?”

  Troubalene shrugged. “They’ll make contact,if they can, before trying to kill us, I’m sure.”

  “And if they try to kill us?” Patricia knew that Troubalene wasn’t going to answer that. She was also pretty sure there were weapons on board somewhere. But the ship wasn’t a fighter. It wouldn’t be able to maneuver and if their technology really surpassed that of Mars, then it wouldn’t take long for the ship to be destroyed. They would all die and their trip would have been for naught. The last survivor out in space would be Lance and that couldn’t be allowed. “So, how long do you think it will take John?”

  Troubalene smiled. “Have you met your husband?”

  They left the room together and headed to find John who was still fervishly working on the encryptions.

  Patricia snuck up behind him. “Well?” she asked.

  “Almost done. If you could wait by the wall, that would be great.”

  Patricia sighed and turned around to wait against the back wall where Troubalene had stayed when they’d entered the room. “At least he’s almost done.”

  Troubalene sighed. “Hopefully the captain has turned us back for the time being.”

  “He didn
’t seem too upset by what happened.”

  “Do you have any idea what pressure he’s under?” Troubalene’s voice was harsh when she spoke. “He’s in charge of the entire ship and its crew. Every life is in his hands. When someone dies he’ll spend days in a funk. Now we’re so close, he’s almost completed the one thing he set out to do and something else has gone wrong. Not to mention he no longer has his wife to talk to. He’s alone. When we hit that barrier I saw the look in his eyes, the utter disappointment. You didn’t see that. You couldn’t have seen that. And if you had you wouldn’t have questioned his demeanor in the matter.”

  Patricia looked straight forward. Just willing John to finish so she wouldn’t have to speak again.

  “I really think the two of you need to sit in a room together for a day and talk. You might find you have more in common than you think or that you at least might be able to get along.”

  Finally John stood up, placing his hands on top of his head.

  “Well, what’s the verdict?” Troubalene asked as he turned to face them.

  Patricia could tell by the look in his eyes. “They can see us,” she said.

  “Yes. They can see us again. That barrier is closed and there’s nothing I can do about it and they’re coming.”

  “How can you tell that?”

  “They’ve started entering our system. I tried to throw them off, but…” He shrugged.

  Troubalene ran from the room.

  Patricia closed her eyes a minute. “If this does go to shit, just know that I don’t think it was a mistake that we tried.”

  John rolled his eyes and walked with Patricia right behind him to the control room.

  Troubalene was in deep conversation with the captain when they arrived. “John’s here. He’ll tell you,” she said the moment they rounded the corner.

  Patricia stood back, outside in the hallway trying to look as inconspicuous as she could. John joined the captain and the first mate. They were speaking too quietly for her to hear anything. Attention had been drawn away from them anyway. The screen was showing activity. Activity that she was sure wasn’t good news. The net wasn’t breaking by any means, but somehow ships, lots of ships were flying through right for them. They were, in fact, smaller than the one that Patricia and the crew had called home for so long, but that was what made them better. The ships were obviously designed to fight.

  From what she could make out, there were three different types. The first type were a bit bigger than the other two and moved a bit more sluggishly, it appeared. But these were also the ones with the most armored look. They were heavily guarded with lots of external weaponry attached to the almost egg like shaped vessel, it’s two ends on either side coming to a point.

  The second type was small and very quick. It zipped about in zig-zag motions around the other two types of ships. It was a perfect sphere with absolutely no discernible weapons attached. There appeared to be the most of this variety.

  The last type was shaped like a diamond with a single hole no bigger than a few inches in diameter on each of the vertices. She could just make out an imperfection on one of the crafts’ sides. From what she could tell, it must have had wings that collapsed inward and the craft hadn’t been able to fold it all the way. She wondered if the other two had collapsible wings as well.

  The crafts flew right for their ship, only slowing down when they were within a few hundred feet.

  The new navigator stood up slowly. “Excuse me, sir,” he said in a shaky voice.

  Patricia saw that the captain was still talking to the other two. None of them had noticed the planets inhabitants coming.

  Captain Creighton straightened himself up. “Do not panic. Everyone remain in their seats and await my orders.” He turned to Troubalene and John. “Take your places.”

  Both of them did so without hesitation.

  The room was silent as they waited. The screen showed the thousands of crafts that they could see extended out before them. There were probably more surrounding the ship. And while those in the gathering room celebrated their accomplished journey, Patricia held her breath waiting for the whole thing to end on a colossal scale. But there were no shots fired. No weapons were charged up. The longer they sat in a complete stalemate, the more Patricia wondered if they weren’t going to die. Maybe it was going to end well.

  Then the screen flickered. The net and the ships faded away and were replaced with a new image of a…well, Patricia assumed ,of a man. It appeared to have masculine features anyway. A square jaw, sharp edges around the face and there was something about his eyes that screamed male. He was a dark tan color with bright yellow eyes. He didn’t have ears, from what she could see, nor did he have hair. But really, overall, he almost looked human. His clothes were sharply pressed and well form fitted with very little protective elements.

  Patricia had to lean against the wall to keep standing. She felt the tension in the room go from fear to shock. Then fear again when the being spoke.

  Its voice sounded harsh, but that was all Patricia could discern as she understood absolutely none of it.

  Captain Creighton spoke above the silence. “We are unable to understand you.” He pointed to his mouth and shook his head.

  Would that come across to another species from a different world?

  The being seemed to understand a bit of it. He spoke again in the same language to a more feminine looking being behind him. She made an odd gesture with her hand, half her fingers curled inward the other half curling outward; then she moved out of the view again. When she returned minutes later, she held out a device which the first being then clipped onto his jaw and which covered his mouth.

  “Is that better?” he asked.

  Patricia was happy she was still holding onto the wall.

  “I can understand you now,” the captain said. “Can you understand me?”

  The being tilted his head sideways. “Of course. It’s a universal translator. Haven’t you ever used one before?”

  The room was silent.

  “Where are you from?”

  Captain Creighton sat forward slightly in his chair as he spoke. “We come from Mars, a planet about sixteen light years away from here.”

  “And have you ever come in contact with another species in the universe.”

  “No. You’re the first.”

  “That is good.” The alien leaned forward. “I am Kekter leader of the Ango sector and commander of my forces. We are the first deployed in any attack and generally the best line of defense. You have stumbled into restricted space and therefore should turn around.”

  “We can’t do that,” the captain said with a strong solid tone.

  Patricia bit her lip.

  “Why are you here?”

  “A probe sent into space many years ago was returned to us with someone from your planet inside. There was a message, a distress call from what we could tell. You are at war and we can help you.”

  “We are at war, but we do not need your help.” Kekter leaned his head from side to side. “You should go before you cause any further damage.”

  Captain Creighton stood up. “We have come a long way. We abandoned our original destination of a planet that was viable for our species to live to come here instead. We are seeking a place to live, a place to stay for many years to come, in hopes that we will be able to create a second chance for mankind. Is there a chance that you would allow us to live on your planet with you? There is much we can offer each other as species, as friends, and as co-existents of the universe.”

  Patricia almost applauded. That was about as solid an argument as they were ever going to make. She knew the ship didn’t have enough energy left to make it to the original planned planet. They would die if Kekter refused.

  Kekter seemed to be thinking. He made a motion and the woman alien came back on screen. He whispered something that only she could hear and then she was gone once more. “We have heard your plea. Give us some time to confer with the other leaders
on the planet.”

  “How much time?” the captain asked.

  Kekter tilted his head the other direction. “We will contact you when we are ready.”

  Then the screen went dark. The captain sank into his chair, slumped down so that Patricia could only see the top of his head.

  “What do we do?” one of the officers seated at the front control panel asked.

  “We wait,” Troubalene said.

  “And if they say no?”

  “Then we fight.”

  “No,” the captain said with a shake of his head. “We cannot fight. We wouldn’t win and I’ll be damned if we came all this way just to be killed by those little tyrants.”

  “Then what are we going to do if they say no?” Troubalene asked with far more attitude than Patricia had ever heard her use before.

  “We get creative.” The chair spun sideways until the captain was facing John. “You need to find a way to redo what Lance had done. If you can’t, it’s not likely we’re getting out of this.”

  That was the nicest Patricia had ever heard the captain speak when he said anything to John. She looked at him, confused.

  Patricia stepped sideways out of the doorway and waited for John. Troubalene was with him.

  “You should have gone back down to the gathering room. That’s where you belong.”

  Patricia laughed. “When have I ever done what I’m supposed to?” She took a deep breath, dropping the smile. “That was some serious shit in there. I think the captain handled it well.”

  Troubalene nodded. “I’m glad you feel that way. If anyone can convince them to allow us a plot of land, it should be him. No real guarantees, though. I couldn’t read any of the alien’s expressions. I don’t trust him.”

  “You don’t have to trust him. None of us do. But we have to at least pretend like we trust them. Until we have a better understanding of their numbers and their militarization status.”

  Troubalene smiled. “I knew I liked you. So John, are you going to be able to return the codes to what Lance did?”