by Bob Lee
Charles got that creepy feeling again, especially after Grant’s story about the Martian sand sharks, but he shook it off. He knelt down and started to reach down through the sand to see if he could feel anything. Slowly he started wiggling his hand in the loose soil as he pushed. “Up to my wrist, and still nothing,” he muttered. “C’mon, meteorite, where are you?”
“CHUCK!”
Charles jumped up. The radio had startled him. “Hey, don’t yell like that, Commander. I almost jumped out of my skin!”
“Well, what’s taking so long?” came back through his suit radio. “I’ve got the rover towed over to the MMTV and need a hand getting it up on the trailer and locked down properly.”
Charles decided that, if there was a large meteorite here, then it was probably too deep to reach by hand. They would need to return with more equipment. He brushed off the dust on his arm. “Okay, Grant,” Charles radioed back. “There’s nothing in here but some nondescript rocks and sand anyway. Mission Control might have been mistaken. I think we’ll need to return eventually with some digging equipment, so I’ll be there in a few seconds.” Charles turned around and loped back the way he had come. He resisted the urge to look back over his shoulder.
Soon the two astronauts had finished securing the rover, and were driving back to the Star-Kissed habitat.
“I did find one unusual rock,” Charles explained. “It glinted, and when I got to it, it fell apart.”
“You mean, it fell apart when you scooped it up, right?”
“No, it did that before I touched it.”
“Well, that’s interesting. See, this is why NASA has kept telling the public that we need people on Mars exploring. Automated rovers might have taken years, if ever, to find something like you just did. Let’s hope your little rock leads to some big discovery. We could use some luck in that department.”
“Amen to that, Grant,” Charles said with a nod. “I can’t wait to get back to examine our find with Brad.”
# # #
Spit waited two complete days. The vibrations had indicated the departure of the aliens, but it was cautious, very cautious.
“Additional electro-biosynths would be too small to handle this threat if it returned,” it thought. The probe cycled through its defense plans to the final section. The largest weapon listed was a hunter-killer. “However, if I use one of these, I could definitely be discovered.” It was conflicted. It had two prime directives that had to be satisfied before it could deploy its main payload. Spit could not guarantee both mission directives of non-discovery as well as self-protection.
As it turned to its emergency protocols, there was really only one option. “I will need a Master,” it decided. “First, I must expand the micro-factory.” The probe released ten picograms of anti-matter to the task. It then sent the command to the three remaining hoppers to redistribute along the rim of the crater to cover all approaches, and settled down to wait. As soon as the larger factory was created in approximately thirty of the planet’s days, the programming would cause a release of a large portion of the reserve anti-matter to initiate the next step—a ‘Nest.’
CHAPTER 12
One month later…
Paul sat at his computer in his tiny basement apartment, poring over the latest Mars videos and photos that he had downloaded from the NASA information site. Since NASA was still a government agency, it always released all of its images to the public, and Paul checked its servers every day. He then used his software to zoom and pan across the various pictures, hoping to become famous.
“NASA, since its inception, has been hiding evidence of life on Mars,” he muttered to himself. “And ever since they flubbed by publishing the pictures of the ‘Face on Mars’ and the pyramids of Cydonia, they’ve been editing their photos to remove all evidence. But Paul will catch them this time; yes he will! Instant celebrity time for Paul, yessiree!”
Paul had read all of the classic literature on space conspiracies, and had watched all the videos documenting NASA’s deceptions. Around his apartment, he had famous photos which depicted proof of Martians that other people had discovered. On one wall he had a giant picture of the ‘Mermaid on Mars’ and on another the ‘hamster’ that had been discovered in one of the Curiosity rover’s Mars photos. Next to his computer, Paul had propped up his pride and joy that he had won in an online auction—Richard Hoagland’s book The Monuments of Mars: A City on the Edge of Forever, autographed by Hoagland himself.
“Everyone knows the government hides this information from us, but sometimes they slip up, and I’m the one to catch them,” he nodded to himself. “Boy, maybe if I find something that solves this latest mystery, they’ll put me on the show ‘Aliens Among Us Redux’ and I can finally afford to get out of this dump!”
He excitedly pulled up the last video from the Mars rover. The press had been all over this story, of how the astronauts on Mars were stumped as to what could have caused their precious machine to fall apart. There was wild speculation in the various online communities, but nothing had yet to be established. But now the images had been released by NASA, and Paul was sure that today was his day to discover something.
He slowly parsed the rover video one frame at a time, and zoomed in on various portions. It was tedious work, but Paul was determined. He slowly examined each frame, one at a time.
Then, at frame forty-two, he quickly sat up. “Wait, what’s that?” he exclaimed. The significance of the frame number was not lost upon him. He leaned closer to his computer. “There, off to the right, a tiny light!” He zoomed in on that section of the frame. “Darn, the light’s overpowering the image. All I can see is one bright spot on a lump!”
But now Paul knew where to focus his search. He quickly moved backwards and forwards through the frames, focusing on that same spot in each image. “Yes, there’s definitely something there. If only the image was clearer!” A few seconds later, he hit his head with his palm. “Oh, stupid me! Let me check the last panoramic still image taken by the rover. I know I saw a large close-up of this area in one of the still photos. The spot is just at the top of that ridge, next to an anvil-shaped rock.”
Paul quickly scanned through the still images until he reached the one he was looking for. He spotted the small anvil-shaped rock, and zoomed in.
“Oh…My…God! Look at that!” he yelled, jumping up out of his chair. “I did it; I did it!”
Sure enough, there, centered on his monitor, was a shape. It looked like a small squat Cyclops frog, with a crest on its head. Its one eye glittered in the middle of its misshapen crown.
Paul quickly sent the image to the various online conspiracy communities, as well as to every major news outlet, and was careful to include a reference to frame forty-two of the video. He knew that fans of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy would go nuts over that. When he was done, he gave a big fist pump. “Yes, this is definitely my day. Take THAT, you NASA creeps. Your legion of photo editors missed this one!”
Paul leaned back with a contented sigh. He expected the calls to start at any moment. And then, the riches. “Eat your heart out, Erich von Daniken! And you too, Gorgio and Bill Birnes. I’ll be more famous than all of you combined!”
CHAPTER 13
Charles leaned over to whisper to Brad, who was sitting next to him at the Mars habitat’s dining table. “Why do you think Grant called this emergency meeting?” he whispered to him.
“I don’t know. Perhaps it’s in response to all the data we sent back to Mission Control about the strange rock you discovered a few weeks ago. Maybe they have some new information for us. I still can’t believe I found that perfectly round piece of glass in the shape of a lens in the middle of all that dust you collected. Meteor impacts can form glass, but something so perfectly shaped? The odds are probably one in a few quadrillion, I would hazard.”
“Did you ever figure out why there was no rock in the container, only dust? It was definitely a rock that I pushed in there.”
�
�No, I didn’t. In addition to the lens, I also found one straight thread of pure copper, like you would find in electronics, but nothing else. Did you find any biological evidence when you examined the contents?”
“Everything I ran came up ambiguous. The proper elements were there for life, such as carbon, nitrogen and oxygen, and even a few drops of pure water. But then there were some metallic results too, in concentrations which you would never find in something alive.”
“And Serge told me that the odds were astronomical of those multiple failures on the rover occurring naturally. We really do have a puzzle here.”
Just then, Grant walked in carrying a monitor. “I called you all here since I received this message from Earth a few minutes ago, and I wanted us to see this together. I think the guys there have finally lost it. You’ll have to see it to believe it.” He placed the monitor on the table. It had a paused image of Brick Shinefield from Mission Control, but he had some weird disguise on. His head was partially bald with a very high forehead, and he was sporting a small mustache as well as an old 20th century style headset and microphone. Next to him on the table was a name card with the word EECOM on it. Grant pushed the upper corner of the screen, and the video started.
“Star-Kissed habitat, this is Mission Control. I want to start by apologizing for the craziness that will follow in this video message, but given the circumstances here, I thought it would be appropriate. The media have been contacting us constantly asking for updated information and for interviews with all of you. We’ve denied these requests for now, but, well, let me run a little skit for you. Sandra here will help me out.”
The video panned out slightly, and a young lady could be seen sitting next to Brick. Brick started speaking.
“The rover indicated a quadruple failure. That can't happen. It's gotta be instrumentation.”
“It can’t be instrumentation. They’ve got proof of a hard failure,” the young lady replied.
“Then I’ll have to get back to you on that. From my chair here, that is the only option.”
“No, there’s one other. It has to be aliens! Just look at this!”
Charles gave a puzzled look to Sergey. “Serge, did you decide aliens caused the rover to fail?”
“No, that is pure nonsense,” Sergey replied.
“Hush, guys. There’s more, and you’ll miss it,” said Grant.
Brick was talking once more. “Um, Colonel, you better take a look at this on the radar.” The video cut to a giant image of what looked like a dust covered frog with one eye and a crest. Brick continued. “It looks like a giant…”
“Brick!” Sandra exclaimed. “I told you not to go there with your dumb movie references! Now quit fooling around and let them know about this,” Sandra stated.
The video then showed a close up of Brick. “Tsk. She’s such a spoilsport,” he said, rolling his eyes and shaking his head. “You have thirty seconds to figure out what craziness I’m channeling today,” The video paused.
The astronauts all looked at each other. They had no idea what Brick was doing.
“Time’s up! I was pretending to be the actor who played EECOM Sy Liebergott in the movie Apollo 13, and then a radar operator in one of the Austin Powers movies. I did this to get you in the proper frame of mind for the astounding things I’m about to tell you,” Brick said.
“Yesterday morning, a fellow released to the media a close-up image of a rock sitting on the crater rim near where the rover had its mishap.” The monitor redisplayed the image of the otherworldly cycloptic frog. “We all laughed at that, and put it in the same category as some of the other alien images that people purport to find in our various photos. There’s been a huge surge of purchases of wind-up frog toys here, and people have been putting them on our desks all over the place.” Brick held up a small green frog toy and wiggled it a few times.
“But then, an hour ago, our image specialists went back through the rover’s video, and pieced together various frames, taking out those where there was no action. Watch this,” he said, and the video cut to the Martian landscape. Brad’s voice could be heard over the video. “Look at the ground, going from the crater rim towards the rover.”
As the video progressed, Charles could see small movement in the sand. There was a slight shifting in the ground about two thirds of the way to the crater. Then as the frames jumped, he could see another shifting closer to the rover, and then another even closer still. The last frame showed two small indentations on either side of the rover.
The scene shifted back to Brick’s face. “We thought at first that this was just a trick of the lighting, or perhaps a dust devil shifting the sand. But given the astronomical odds of the multiple failures on the rover, the data you sent back on the strange rock that Chuck discovered, and the weird frog image and the moving tracks, this is something unprecedented. The consensus here is that you may have found some sort of subterranean life. We understand that Sergey has finished repairing the rover. We want you to send the rover back out, but this time to also monitor it from a safe distance within the MMTV so that you can witness any activities first hand. We also have some ideas on how to improvise hardening of the rover treads and protecting the rover from electrical surges, and have sent the plans to Sergey.”
Brick continued. “We sent this message encrypted. All further communications on this subject from your side should likewise be encrypted, as we cannot afford to let this information out into the public. As you can imagine, it’s been a ‘goat rodeo’ here already with that frog-like image being released, and we can’t have additional wild speculation. It’s up to you to find hard evidence before we go public with any discovery. Good luck. Mission Control, out.”
CHAPTER 14
Platinum One Jeff Chiswick sat in Brother Jacobs’ cabin, which was located at the opposite end of the habitat modules from his own. It was as ornately decorated as the one to which he was assigned. “Well, I’m fairly sure,” Jeff said. “She’s got all of the symptoms: nausea, a slight bulge in her abdomen, and I’ve noticed lately that her face has been very red, almost glowing. Yes, I’m pretty sure that she’s pregnant.”
“Excellent,” Brother Jacobs nodded. “It is all according to plan. You have done well, Jeff. We will be famous for having the first child born on another planet. It will mean more money for our accounts back on Earth, and new recruits who can join us at a later time. A newborn child will also attract the Great Consciousness. I have seen it. This calls for a little celebration.”
Brother Jacobs rose, and walked over to the covered wall panels. He pushed on one of them, and after it popped open he withdrew a small bottle that contained a dark yellow liquid. “I have been saving this for the right moment, and I believe the time has come,” he said as he opened the bottle and poured two glasses. He handed one to Jeff, and then held his glass up. “Cardhu 12 Year Old Whisky. I do not sanction alcohol among our members, as you know, but you and I deserve this.”
They clinked glasses, and downed the whiskey. “Ah, I almost regret the no alcohol rule,” Brother Jacobs sighed. “Another?”
“Yes, please,” Jeff nodded. “To your foresight and leadership,” he said, clinking glasses with Brother Jacobs once more.
“A status report now, Jeff. Your team has connected the electrical cables to all of the cabins, correct?”
“Yes, sir. Everyone now has power, and we have closed all of the ceiling panels. As you instructed, we have omitted attaching any of the fiber optic cables that transmit television and radio signals. Only our two rooms have those as well as e-mail and communications systems.”
“Good. The Called must receive information only from us at all times. Have you been careful not to allow your wife and children access to the screen in your cabin?”
“I lock the display to an outside camera image whenever they are in the room,” Jeff replied. “They aren’t even aware that they can get news from Earth on it.” As the alcohol worked its way to his brain, Jeff became more agitated.
He got up and paced back and forth. “They are such a pain, sometimes. I have to chase them all out if I want to watch the news. It’s their entire fault that I lose my temper sometimes. I’ve only been able to watch small bits here and there.”
“Ah, my friend, then you have probably missed this. I recorded a newscast a few hours ago. Let me play it for you.”
The large screen on the wall of the cabin lit up, showing a young woman holding a microphone in front of a chubby bespectacled man, who was talking. “That’s right!” the fellow said. “It’s a small alien creature on Mars. I’ve filed a lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act for NASA to release all information related to it. They have been hiding evidence from us for years, and it’s time for them to come clean.”
“What about reports that this is simply an illusion, or a manipulated image for publicity?” the pretty woman asked.
“No, it’s NOT!” the fellow yelled. “Anyone can go look; I’ve published on my information site everything everyone needs in order to see for themselves. And while there, people should make sure to click the donate button so that I can continue the good fight.” The man then grabbed the microphone from the lady and shouted into it. “We’re tired of you NASA! The truth has to come out now. Your friends, the Greys, had better do something quick. From the looks of this creature, it’s a Reptilian. They’re the worst of the aliens! No one is safe!” He reached over and grabbed the young reporter’s arm. “Show them, miss. Show the world the photo. We need to get ready now!”
The reporter managed to retrieve her microphone and shake off the fellow’s grip, and the camera zoomed in on her face. “And here now is the purported alien image.” The scene cut to a giant image of a frog-like crested creature. Its one eye gleamed. The camera then returned to the reporter. “NASA spokespeople have assured us that it not unusual for images to resemble creatures or other objects. In a released statement, they said, ‘We understand the excitement that discovery of alien life on another planet can generate, and the search for life on Mars is a primary mission objective. The astronauts located at the Mars base have been informed, and are working hard to gather further evidence. We ask the public not to overreact until further information can be obtained.’ Repeated calls for interviews with NASA officials have so far been ignored. This is Rebecca Storm, signing off for News Channel 84.”
