The Ruins of Mars: Waking Titan (The Ruins of Mars Trilogy)

by Dylan James Quarles

“But I thought the men had a procedure. I thought this couldn’t happen.”

  “They did,” sighed Kubba, a shadow passing behind her eyes. “I signed off on each one before we left for the Moon. I was totally thorough. I don’t understand it myself.”

  Her elbows resting on her knees, Liu cradled her head in her hands.

  “Forgive me but that is of very little consolation at this point, Liz. Does anyone else know?”

  Standing, Kubba moved across the room to a cabinet with clear glass doors that was full of bottles and vials.

  “Only myself and Braun.”

  “Does the captain know yet?”

  Her hand on the lock of medicine cabinet, Kubba hesitated then ignored the question.

  “I’m going to give you a shot of Propalamine. It’s a rather powerful drug we usually use for extended sleep in space travel. With the dose I’m giving you, you will sleep for several days, maybe four or five, during which time, your system will effectively go into hibernation and the production of hormones will stop. This will end the pregnancy.”

  Looking up sharply, Liu drew the back of her hand across her teary eyes.

  “But,” she said and then trailed off.

  “But what?” fired Kubba, her back to Liu. “The entire reason the men had that procedure at all was to prevent just this kind of thing. If you allow this to continue, you will come to term either during or just before the trip home, and I’m sure you already know that a newborn child cannot survive in zero gravity. There is no path forward that does not involve the termination of the pregnancy.”

  Flinching, Liu cast her eyes down at the floor and drew in a deep breath.

  “I need time. I need to speak with Harrison.”

  “No,” said Kubba. “I mean, I wouldn’t. In fact, as Chief Psychiatrist, I think it’s a pretty bad idea.”

  “You do?” questioned Liu with a shake of her head, “Why?”

  “The test shows that you’re already five weeks along. Finding out now is bad enough for you, but involving him is only going to pull another person down into this mess and possibly upset the delicate balance of crew morale. Harrison is very popular and his projects keep people looking forward. He plays an important role in our team. And not just as an archaeologist, mind you. We’re already on the edge out here, Liu. The crew can’t take much more in the way of stress. I’m sorry that I can’t spare you from the emotional wounds this pregnancy will inflict but together we can spare everyone else. As both Chief Medical Officer and Crew Psychiatrist, I’m afraid we need to take care of this now”

  “Take care of it,” repeated Liu sourly. “Is that your way of issuing me an order, Lizzy?”

  Leaning her back against the cabinet of medications, Kubba gazed down at the woman before her in the plastic chair. Normally so spry and full of ambition, Liu now looked like a teenage girl: confused, conflicted and guilty. Wanting to capitalize on this fact, Kubba changed tactics.

  “Darling,” she smiled sadly. “Unless you want to stay behind and spend the rest of your life in this Dome, on this planet, you must do what I recommend. I know it’s a hard pill to swallow but I’m only looking out for your best interest. I’m afraid I can’t let this continue. ”

  Liu ran a hand through her black hair then rose to her feet.

  “Thank you, Elizabeth,” she said thinly. “But despite what you recommend, I’m going to take a little time to work this out in my head.”

  With eyes that smoldered, Kubba watched Liu walk towards the door and fought the insane urge to pounce on her like a panther on a wounded animal.

  In the doorway, Liu hesitated then spoke over her shoulder.

  “You speak of crew morale and upsetting balances, but what I really think you’re saying is that you’re scared for yourself.”

  Catching a flash of something primal dance across the young Chinese woman’s pretty face, Kubba smiled and reassessed her prey.

  “In fact,” continued Liu, “I bet if I walk out this door, there won’t be a damn thing you can do to stop me.”

  “That’s not really something you want to put to the test, dear,” Kubba whispered.

  Chapter Seven

  Biding time—Sol 66

  On her way out of Elizabeth Kubba’s infirmary, Xao-Xing Liu felt a white hot rage she had not experienced for many years.

  Take care of it, she seethed silently. She’s only saying that because her damn procedure didn’t work. Why else wouldn’t she have told the captain? She’s just covering her own ass. She doesn’t understand. How could she?

  Approaching the stairs to the upper level of the Base and to Harrison’s office, Liu stopped with her foot on the first step. Something Kubba had said was echoing around inside her head, reverberating off the stress and anger until her logical mind was frazzled and tired.

  Five weeks, Kubba had told her. It was five weeks old.

  “Oh, Harrison,” she whispered.

  How is he going to react to this?

  Sitting down on the stairs, Liu saw Harrison’s face in her mind. He was smiling like always, yet there was a pain in his eyes, the pain of guilt. Forcing the image away, she tried to focus on the situation in a rational frame of context. On the surface, she knew that she must abort the thing inside of her. There could be no return trip home if she tried to keep it, and there was no way it could survive the zero G if they induced an early labor. Living on Mars and staying in the Dome for the rest of her life probably wasn’t an option, and there might even be serious legal and political repercussions if the baby were born at all.

  Liu made a pained face. She didn’t want to think of the thing inside of her as a baby. It wasn’t. Not yet. Biting her lip, she pushed up on unsteady legs and resumed climbing the stairs.

  He’s going to blame himself, said a voice inside her head. No matter how you break it to him, he’ll blame himself and then he won’t be able to look at you the same way again. Not ever.

  As she crested the last stair to the Dome’s upper level, Liu looked down the narrow hallway that divided Harrison’s lab from Viviana’s. Above the door, a red light blinked steadily—signifying that he was either in a closed meeting or did not want to be disturbed. Feeling a rush of relief both surprising and terrifying, Liu turned and darted back down the stairs.

  We’ll talk tonight, she told herself. Yes, it is better that way. I don’t want to bother him now. He’s very busy.

  As Liu rushed through the Dome towards her quarters, Harrison was in the midst of a conference call with Captain Vodevski and James Floyd, who was only able to contribute in short recorded statements due to the distance between the Earth and Mars.

  “Listen,” said Harrison, pointing to a Holo-image of the praying statue. “Braun says he can see where this statue was joined with the rock of the wall. It looks like it’s been welded or fused with heat. In any event, that is where the entrance into the next section of tunnel is. We need to cut her away.”

  With a nod, Tatyana gathered loose strands of red hair and bound them tightly back into a ponytail.

  “I agree, but the Consortium of Universities is concerned that letting you do the cutting could damage the statue.”

  Rolling his eyes, Harrison fell silent and leaned back in his chair sullenly.

  “Let’s just wait and see what Dr. Floyd says,” he muttered. “But for the record, I could do this no problem.”

  As the timecode in the bottom corner of the screen ran down, counting off the minutes until James would receive the latest batch of transmissions, Harrison fidgeted anxiously.

  “This is a waste of time,” he griped, standing up suddenly to pace around his office.

  “I know, but it’s procedure,” replied Tatyana.

  Doing his best to hide the sour look that passed over his face, Harrison turned his attention to the new 3D imaging of the Statue Chamber as seen through Braun’s eyes. Detailed beyond his wildest dreams, the image seemed to writhe and sway as it constantly refreshed itself between bursts of light. If he h
ad possessed such a desire, Harrison could have counted the individual grains of sand on the cave floor as they danced in the glow of one trillion frames per second.

  Manipulating the image, he swung the view around to the figure of the praying woman. Then with a flick of his right wrist, he caused the angle to zoom in on where her back seemed to grow from the cave walls. Though faint to the point of near-invisibility, Harrison could just make out the unmistakable smoothness of a bead where the statue had been welded to the rock. Practically surgical, the joint was no wider than a sheet of paper and completely even the whole way around.

  “It’s too good,” he mumbled. “It’s machine good.”

  “I agree,” responded Braun from the air above him.

  “A machine to undo a machine’s work,” said the young archaeologist slyly. “Fair enough.”

  Sitting down in front of the communications screen again, Harrison rubbed hands together and put on a practiced smile.

  “How about this, Captain?” he said to the screen. “I’ll let Braun do the cutting.”

  Mulling the idea over, Tatyana furrowed her brow.

  “How will he do it?”

  “The cutting laser should be more than strong enough, and if you allow Liu and William to assist me, I’m sure we can modify one of the Rover’s hydraulic arms to use the tool. After it’s free, we can rig up a winch system with silica grappling anchors to pull the statue out of the way.”

  “I see no major fundamental problems in this plan,” interjected Braun. “Withholding for unknowns, that is.”

  Tatyana flicked her eyes to the corner of her screen and the timecode then dipped her chin.

  “Alright, I think it’s a fair trade. Assemble your team and report back at 1400 hours with the schematics for the Rover modifications and the winch. I will stay on the line to bring Dr. Floyd up to speed.”

  Saluting, Harrison signed off and stood up.

  “You know what?” he announced to the room. “Things are really starting to get interesting around here.”

  “I agree,” replied Braun.

  Voice of the gods

  After witnessing the arrival of an alien fleet, Remus and Romulus were bordering on feelings they had not been equipped to comprehend. For countless eons, they had drifted the planes of ancient Mars like entitled guests. They had sampled the sights and smells of an evolving civilization and they had relished in the experience. But now, the Travelers had arrived and with them came the winds of change. Though the skies above the Martian Lake City were clear and blue, Remus and Romulus could see a shift in the texture of existence. Their arrival, their parade of might and metal, had changed everything.

  Drifting quickly back to the sound of voices, Remus and Romulus talked feverishly. As they neared the Temple Stones, from the city they heard the voice of a young Martian boy named Kaab. Eerily loud and slightly metallic, the usually squeaky voice of the little boy boomed as if enhanced by a hidden sound system.

  Coming out from between the last row of ships, Remus gasped despite himself as he saw the boy Kaab, dangling a meter above the ground, a Traveler firmly gripping Kaab’s little head in his palm.

  “Gather!” echoed Kaab’s voice with unnatural tenor. “Do not fear.”

  Ushering the growing crowd forward, Olo seemed to have forgotten that his body was old and frail. He danced from foot to foot, a wide smile splitting the deeply set wrinkles of his plume-colored face. Still kneeling on the ground, head bowed, Teo, Chieftess of the first Martian city, was silent and calm. Bringing her pale blue eyes up, she wove her fists together in front of her face and rested them against her forehead. Noticing this, her son Ze did the same and soon several others in the crowd had followed suit.

  “There is no need for that,” said the expressionless face of Kaab. “Please, greet us as your friends, your teachers.”

  Spinning to face the Traveler who held Kaab, Olo put his hands up and called above the murmur of voices.

  “Teachers?”

  “Yes.”

  Olo wavered on his fragile legs and licked his lips.

  ”Teacher,” he said. “I know the meaning of this. I once had a teacher, a Wise Man named Eyo.”

  “We know,” replied the Traveler through Kaab.

  “Eyo,” continued Olo. “taught me many things, which I have taught to Teo. But, Great Spirits, there were many things that Eyo did not know. May I ask you?”

  “Ask,” the boy said.

  Gathering himself up, Olo seemed to grow a few centimeters until he stood as straight as he could manage.

  “Are we your only children?”

  A hush ran out across the Martian people as Olo’s words reached the waiting ears of everyone in attendance.

  “No,” answered Kaab, the Traveler behind him moving his two lower eyes over the falling faces of the crowd. “You are the children of your world.”

  “But what of our history? Did you not create us from the dust of the land as Eyo said?”

  “No, the history of your creation is far too complex for us to have played a hand in it. We are simply the teachers who wish only to unite and advance your world. We did not create it.”

  Rising from her knees, Teo looked into the face of the Traveler.

  “I am Teo, Chieftess of the Peoples of the Great Lakes. You say that you wish to unite us. Do you mean that there are more? Out there?”

  She gestured past the fleet of black ships, to the east.

  Fixing both of its lower eyes on Teo, the Traveler cocked its head to the side.

  “Of course,” answered Kaab robotically. “There are many more. Across the oceans and throughout the lands. We will bring them to you. We will show you how to build a better world—together.”

  Chapter Eight

  Dinner—Sol 66

  On the night of the 66th sol on Mars, the crew of Ilia Base sat down to a bouquet of freshly cooked vegetables. Sautéed green onions with baked eggplant and a spinach and carrot salad were but a few of the bright colors that decorated the table.

  Though the food was delicious and the general mood upbeat, Liu found that she could not eat. Next to her, Harrison had his head bent low as William described to him, several possible winch arrangements for the upcoming mission to the caves.

  Liu had been notified of her inclusion in the mission that afternoon by way of a transmission from Captain Vodevski. In a moment of reckless abandon, she had almost told the captain of her pregnancy, but as she opened her mouth to speak, the fear of possible repercussions staved the words in her throat. Knowing full well the eagerness her own government had for turning the personal political, she had bitten her tongue and instead simply accepted her role in the mission with a nod.

  Alone in her lab, she had enjoyed the busywork that came with the project: drafting the Rover modifications in a few hours without needing to apply much conscious effort. Using the existing Rover schematics, she had identified the best way to extend the range of movement on a pincer arm and allow for it to operate the laser cutter. For nearly three hours, she had been too engrossed with her job to think about anything else. It had easily been the best three hours of the last two days.

  Now, however, with Harrison beside her at the table, Liu felt as though she might be sick. His face was so animated and boyish as he chatted with the other members of the crew that Liu couldn’t imagine robbing him of that with her terrible news. He truly was unaware that anything might be wrong. Worse yet, she saw that Kubba had been right about him. He was popular. Even now as he rattled off theories about the Martian cave builders, the others hung on every word he said as if the sound of his voice were sweeter and smoother than honey. To Liu’s ears, it really was like honey and she yearned to go on in that moment forever—just listening to Harrison talk so she would never have to.

  Feeling eyes on her, Liu pulled her gaze off Harrison and caught Kubba watching her from across the table. With fiery grit, she stared back at the cinnamon-skinned doctor until Harrison tapped her arm.

&nbs
p; “What?” she said, reluctantly moving her eyes away from Kubba.

  “I was just saying that your Rover mods look great. How long do you think they will take to fabricate?”

  “Oh, not long,” she replied, distractedly. “If I start early enough tomorrow, I can be ready to go the day after that.”

  “Are you sure that’s really a smart idea?” asked Kubba, one eyebrow twitching at Liu.

  “Why wouldn’t it be?” said Harrison. “The sooner, the better.”

  “That is often the case, isn’t it?” Kubba grinned. “The sooner, the better.”

  Standing up from the table, Liu looked around at everyone, their surprise at her sudden movement written on their faces.

  “I’m not feeling that well,” she announced. “I’m going to go lie down.”

  Bending, she kissed Harrison on the cheek.

  “Stay and enjoy your dinner,” she whispered in his ear.

  “You want me to come with you?” he said with some concern.

  As her eyes flicked to Kubba and then back to Harrison, Liu shook her head.

  “No, you don’t need to do that. Just stay and...I’ll be fine.”

  Gently squeezing her hand, the young Egyptian looked into her eyes, a pondering expression on his face. Unable to penetrate her veil of half-truths and false calm, he shrugged and gave her hand another squeeze.

  “Sure. Alright,” he shrugged. “I’ll see you later then.”

  With a plastic smile, Liu nodded once then turned and walked out of the dining room.

  Following the Chinese astronaut with her eyes as she strode through the doorway, Kubba fought back a wave of nausea. The longer Liu waited to take the shot, the longer she was at risk. Though she knew she should just come clean on her mistake, she still didn’t even understand how it had happened. For that matter, she wasn’t even sure it was her mistake at all. She had personally cleared Harrison. The procedure had worked, and yet here she was, trying to stick a needle into Liu’s arm so she could kill her baby. It was insanity and she knew it, but she would not allow herself to end up like Crisp.