The Solar Sea

by David Lee Summers

  Jefferson took the lander down over Utopia Planitia, a great plain in the Northern Martian hemisphere. Traveling eastward, the shuttle crossed from night to day and the sky turned a dull red around them. Below, they could see miles and miles of rust-red sand. There were few mountains, and individual rocks were still too far away to be distinguished. Lisa caught sight of the sun looking far too small on the horizon.

  "That's where the Viking 2 Lander touched down one hundred years ago,” explained Dr. Nagamine pointing toward the ground.

  As the sky brightened from a dull red to a soft pink, Jefferson continued to lower the shuttle's altitude as they crossed over the Amazonis Planitia. They were able to make out more surface details.

  "Except for the color, it almost looks like White Sands National Monument, back in New Mexico,” said Neb O'Connell.

  Myra grinned. “If there were some cactus, it might even look like Arizona."

  "Like I said.” Nagamine snorted. “Lifeless.” Then he turned in his chair and faced the others, a broad grin forming. “But that's the mystery, isn't it? Why does Earth have life but this planet is barren?” He reached into the equipment rack, pulled out a camera, and took snapshots of the surface below.

  The land rose beneath the shuttle as though it were coming up to meet them. The slope was so gentle that Vanda Berko first thought they were coming in for a landing. However, she noticed Jefferson was pulling back on the stick, causing the shuttle to lift slightly. At the same time, he slowed the thrusters. Low over the ground by this time, they came to a place where the land just dropped away. Below, a few gauzy white clouds barely concealed land that looked like great waves frozen in time. As they continued on, Neb noticed the waves of rock formed concentric circles that were miles in diameter. It was as though someone had thrown a rock into the middle of a still pond and it had frozen instantly, preserving the ripples for eternity.

  At last, the shuttle came to another wall of rock. Flying beyond it, Jefferson sought a place to land. He found a smooth area and set the shuttle down. As soon as he killed the engines, he turned around and smiled. “Welcome to Mars, my friends, make sure your suit heaters are on. It's brisk out there, even for Mars, only forty below zero.” With that, he unbuckled his harness, retrieved his helmet, latched it, and made sure the oxygen and heating units functioned properly. He watched as the others did the same.

  Once he was sure they were ready, Jefferson opened the hatch and stepped down the stairs toward the Martian surface. He stopped on the last step, his right foot hovering a few inches from the Martian soil. “I feel like I should say something momentous.” He thought for a moment, then looked at the others. “Because it's there.” With that, Jonathan Jefferson stepped down onto the Martian surface.

  The others followed him down the stairs.

  "Because it's where?” asked Myra. “I know we talked about Sir Edmund Hillary and how different Olympus Mons would be from Everest, but I still thought it would be more ... well ... dramatic."

  Dr. Nagamine took Myra's gauntleted hand and helped her balance as she stepped onto the soft red soil. She looked into his helmet and saw he was beaming. “I've dreamed of coming here since I was a boy. I even designed a space probe to come here, but could never get it funded. They said the landing system was too complicated."

  Myra looked out over the terrain that gently sloped upward toward the cliff they had flown over. Turning around to face the other side of the shuttle, she saw the land gently sloped away. “Why? I see now how gentle the slope is. It doesn't seem like it would be difficult to land a probe here. The captain made it look easy."

  "The landing is much easier for a human pilot who can adjust for variables than it would be for a robotic probe.” Nagamine pointed downhill. “Slight as the incline is if a probe tumbled on landing, it could keep going for some distance, causing much damage.” He led Myra uphill, toward the top of the cliff. “And there are other hazards.... “Together they looked over the cliff and saw the great concentric circles of jagged rock below them. “Landing down there would be a problem."

  "Welcome to Mount Olympus,” said Jefferson as he joined them.

  Myra looked first one direction, then the other, following the cliff with her gaze as far as she was able. She could tell it gently curved around, as though it might form a great circle. She looked across the way and tried to see the first cliff they passed, but it was too far away. “Is this really a caldera? I've never seen anything like it!"

  "Yes,” said Nagamine. “All of that down there used to be molten lava.” He pointed to the giant pond ripple frozen in time.

  "We're at 69,844 feet above the surface of Mars,” said Jefferson. “What I wouldn't give to actually have time to climb this mountain."

  Myra turned and walked a short distance back toward the shuttle. She looked at the gentle downslope beyond. “Well, it doesn't look like it would be a very rigorous climb. Just a long walk."

  "A long walk, indeed.” Dr. Nagamine followed her gaze. “From here to the base of the mountain would be like walking from Dallas, Texas to New Orleans, Louisiana."

  * * * *

  Neb O'Connell and Lisa Henry walked along the edge of the caldera. Both of them took photographs and measured the atmosphere. Sunlight glinted off something small, embedded in the ground. Neb stopped short. His eyes narrowed and he stepped over to it. “Give me a hand."

  Lisa held out her hand, helping Neb bend low. He dug something out of the sand and stood up, showing it to Lisa. It was a polished, silver disk, about the size of a half-dollar.

  "Is that writing?” asked Lisa.

  Neb held the disk up and examined it carefully. “I believe it may be, but it's not any language I recognize.” He toggled his suit radio, so he broadcast to the entire landing party. “I think we might have found something."

  The two walked back toward the landing site. Dr. Nagamine had collected rock samples to take back for examination. Vanda helped Myra set up a small telescope to take photos down in the caldera. Jefferson walked along the caldera's rim, in the opposite direction of Neb and Lisa, but started back as soon as he heard the broadcast message.

  The entire group had converged around Neb and his find when Jefferson returned. Myra looked up at him. “Did either of the Ares missions ever come up here to Olympus Mons?"

  "No, we landed in the south,” explained Jefferson, “near the lowest point on Mars, in Hellas Planitia. Ares I landed over in Chryse Planitia, between the Viking I and Mars Pathfinder sites. They actually found the remains of Viking."

  Myra passed the metal disk to Jefferson. “Any idea what this could be? We've certainly been sending enough junk up here to Mars. Do you suppose this came from a probe?"

  Jefferson took the disk and flipped it over a couple of times. “It looks like a token or a coin, nothing really practical to be on a probe. Certainly nothing I recognize from an American probe.” He handed the disk to Vanda Berko. “Does this look Russian or Soviet to you?"

  Vanda—who had grown up and went to university in Russia before immigrating to the United States to work for Quinn Corp—took a closer look at the disk. She shook her head. “The writing's not Cyrillic or any other Eastern alphabet that I'm aware of. Doesn't even look like any runes I've seen.” She passed the disk back to Myra.

  "What do you think?” asked Jefferson looking at Myra. “Was that created by intelligent life?"

  "I think so,” she said. “The bigger question is whether the intelligent life that made this came from Earth or someplace else.” She looked at Lisa. “Where did you find this?"

  Lisa and Neb led the rest of the landing party to the place where they had found the disk. Myra took a photograph of the area, then knelt down and examined it. After a moment, she carefully dug into the rust-colored soil. Finally, she shook her head. “I don't think there are any others."

  Vanda Berko looked around. “I don't see any signs that a craft has been here,” she said. “At least not in the recent past."

  "Well,
the weather up here can be rather rough at times,” commented Jefferson off-handedly.

  "I think it may get rough here sooner than we'd like,” said Dr. Nagamine, looking out across the caldera.

  Dark storm clouds had built up in the northwest. Ahead of the clouds, red dust billowed from the ground, kicked up by high winds. A bolt of lightning crackled.

  Jefferson looked at the watch mounted in his gauntlet. “We need to get moving soon, anyway. I think we'll have to solve the mystery of that coin when we get back to the ship. Let's gather up the gear and get back aboard the shuttle. If we lift within fifteen minutes, we'll still have time for a little more sightseeing."

  Myra quickly stashed the coin in one of the pockets of her suit, then followed the others back to the shuttle. As they gathered their gear, the wind blew, lifting the fine red dust from the ground, making it difficult to see. Once everything was aboard, Jefferson ascended the steps. He nearly toppled over as a gust of wind lifted one side of the shuttle off the ground.

  The storm was moving dangerously fast. Inside the shuttle, he fell into his chair. Without removing his helmet, he started the launch sequence and buckled his harness. With just a quick check to make sure the others were ready, he fired the thrusters and lifted the shuttle, fighting the joystick to keep the ship steady in the turbulent air ahead of the storm. The crew of the shuttle was jostled violently from side to side. Neb cried out when his head struck the window. Vanda did a quick check to make sure he was fine, then checked the window.

  Jefferson turned the shuttle, so they were flying southeast, away from the storm. After a few minutes, the air settled down and flight smoothed out. The ground below the shuttle fell away as they left Olympus Mons behind. Continuing on their course, two mountains, almost as impressive as the one they just left, rose on either side. “That would be Pavonis to the south,” said Dr. Nagamine. “And that would be Ascraeus to the north."

  The shuttle continued over the plains for a few minutes more. Jefferson lowered the shuttle's altitude, so it was only about a thousand feet above the ground, then slowed the shuttle. Without warning, the ground fell away. Jefferson turned the shuttle to follow the cliff they just passed over. Without thinking about it, Myra unbuckled her harness and stood up, peering out of the shuttle's window. “I think I see another cliff, way over there.” She pointed. Then she looked down as best she could. “Where are we? I think I may see a bottom down there."

  "Valles Marineris,” said Nagamine. “The Valley of the Mariners. The Grand Canyon of Earth would fit into one of this canyon's tributaries."

  "I'll say.” Myra whistled long and low. She turned and looked out the other side where the canyon wall was more visible. “Look at the rock layers over there! That must be billions of years of geological history."

  "She's got a point,” said Nagamine. “We should turn on the wing cameras and get some video."

  "Be my guest,” said Jefferson. “Dr. Lee. Please sit down and put on your harness. I'm going to take us a little lower into the canyon."

  As Myra sat down in her seat, Jefferson pushed the joystick forward and plunged the shuttle downward. Enormous buttes jutted up from the canyon floor. The canyon wall, like that of Earth's Grand Canyon, was painted in many different shades, from the red of the surface to light yellow to black.

  "Is that green rock over there or some kind of vegetation?” asked Dr. Nagamine, pointing.

  "Fog bank,” said Jefferson, but not in response to the astronomer's question. Ahead of the shuttle, fog filled the canyon from wall to wall. Jefferson pulled back on the joystick and rose above the fog, flying over the lip of the canyon. Below them, the white water vapor billowed and made shapes like fairy castles.

  "It's like the palace of Deja Thoris from the Mars books of Edgar Rice Burroughs,” said Neb O'Connell.

  "Indeed it is,” mused the captain. With a look at the control panel's clock, he sighed. “I'm afraid the party's over. We need to get back to Aristarchus if we don't want to be stranded here."

  "Like being marooned on a desert island.” Lisa sighed. “Sounds kind of romantic."

  "It would be at that,” said Jefferson. “At least until tomorrow when the emergency rations ran out.” With that, the captain pulled the joystick back, taking the shuttle skyward.

  [Back to Table of Contents]

  Chapter 14

  Making Discoveries

  Back aboard the Aristarchus, Myra Lee's lack of sleep the night before caught up with her. Exhausted, she pulled off the space suit and placed it carefully in its locker, then pulled on her uniform coveralls. She started to walk toward her quarters when she remembered the strange coin she'd brought back from Mars. She retrieved it from the spacesuit and put it in the pocket of her coveralls. Stepping out of the women's locker room, she saw the too-happy, too-awake faces of Jonathan Jefferson and Dr. Nagamine, both already in their coveralls.

  "Congratulations, Dr. Lee,” said Nagamine. “I think that was quite a successful landing, even if it was too brief."

  Myra yawned and shook both the captain's hand and Nagamine's.

  "Care for some dinner, Dr. Lee?” asked Jefferson. He moved from one foot to the other, even though the dark circles forming under his eyes betrayed how tired he was.

  Myra shook her head. “Not right now.” She rubbed her eyes. “I'm afraid I need to go get some sleep."

  "Yes, do,” said the captain. “What are your plans for that coin Neb and Lisa found?"

  "First thing we need to figure out is where it came from.” She yawned again and then muttered an apology.

  Jefferson waved the apology aside. “I'd like to show it to Pilot and Captain Freeman—Daryl LaRue for that matter. Between them, they have some experience with different coins and, for that matter, different spaceship components. Maybe one of them might recognize it."

  "Be my guest.” Myra handed Jefferson the coin, then trudged off to her quarters.

  * * * *

  In command and control, Pilot sat at his console, checking and rechecking calculations. He looked up at Natalie Freeman and smiled. “Everything looks good. We're on course for Jupiter. I think we even gained a little more speed than I'd originally estimated. At this point, I'd say we should be at the asteroid belt in about a month and a half, and to Jupiter in just over a year."

  Natalie Freeman looked over to the astrosciences station where no one was currently on duty. “Let's set up extra watches on the external sensors. I want to make sure someone's on duty there twenty-four hours a day until we get through the asteroids."

  "We have automated alarms,” protested Pilot.

  "Automated alarms are no substitute for someone watching the sensors who can take immediate action if we run into something unexpected.” Freeman wore a worried frown. As she stepped back to the central console, Captain Jefferson strode onto the deck. “Well, well, well, don't we look proud of ourselves,” she teased.

  Pilot reached out and shook Jefferson's hand. “Well done, Captain! I'm looking forward to seeing the video from your foray. It sounds like quite a success."

  "Indeed.” Jefferson clapped his hands together. “We even found a bit of a mystery.” He reached into his pocket and retrieved the coin and handed it to Pilot. “What do you make of this?"

  Pilot narrowed his eyes and looked at the coin. “I've never seen anything like it. The writing isn't at all familiar.” Then he held it up to the light. Rainbow patterns appeared along the surface of the coin. “If I didn't know better, I'd say it looks like a data disk of some kind."

  "You mean like a CD or a DVD?” Freeman inclined her head and stepped up for a closer look.

  Pilot handed her the coin. “Exactly."

  She held it up and looked at it. “What about this writing? It looks like it's on both sides. Wouldn't a data disk only have writing on the top?"

  Pilot shrugged. “Not necessarily. It would depend on a lot of things, like the type of reader and whether the writing is actually transparent at the light frequencies that
are needed to read the data."

  "That assumes this is a data disk at all,” said Jefferson.

  "Where did you find it?” asked Pilot.

  Jefferson told them how Neb had found the disk buried in the sand on Olympus Mons.

  "No Earth spacecraft that I know have ever tried a landing up there,” said Pilot. “At least until your landing this morning."

  Freeman took another look at the disk and the writing on its surface. A little shiver ran up her spine at the mere possibility the disk came from anywhere but Earth. She handed it back to Pilot. “Well, if it is a data disk, maybe the thing to do is try to read it. Maybe it'll have some answers about where it came from."

  "If it's from Earth, that should be pretty easy. If not.... “Pilot's voice caught in his throat. He held the disk up in the light again. “Reading this may be easier said than done."

  "Nothing ventured, nothing gained,” said Jefferson with a wink.

  * * * *

  Two days after returning from Mars, Lisa entered her quarters and logged into her email. Most of the mail was junk, but she smiled when she saw that she had a video from her little sister Mika. Lisa tapped the control on her keyboard and Mika appeared life-size and smiling on the wall of her room. The image was so realistic that Lisa thought she could almost walk right into her sister's bedroom and pick up one of the stuffed animals.

  "Hey, big sister,” said Mika, “we just saw some of the pictures you guys sent back from Mars. Wow!” She paused and shook her head. “Imagine that! My big sister on Mars. I am so jealous!"

  Lisa smiled to herself. Indeed it seemed strange to think about. Mika was always the one who climbed over things and dug in the dirt while Lisa played quietly with dolls or read. Of course, Lisa often pretended her dolls were pirates on the high seas or explorers of some kind. She returned her attention to the message.

  "So, what's this that Mom tells me? She says you have a boyfriend!” Lisa felt color rise to her cheeks. “When you send a message back, you have to tell me all about him ... or better yet, send a picture.