Lu and Paolio were close, they had a relaxed way with other. Jann had considered it would be difficult for a relationship to survive the rigours of space travel. But they made it look easy. A part of her envied them. Paolio fussed and fiddled with the machine and a few minutes later Lu emerged from the huddle with a dainty little espresso. “Come on guys, time for the brief.” She brought her coffee with her.
The six ISA crew gathered around a large display table in the operations area of the HAB and waited for Lu to start the session. She tapped an icon and a map of the Jezero Crater radiated out across the table surface. She tapped again and the map rendered itself in three dimensions. It gave the illusion of hovering above the surface of the table. She rotated it.
“This is us here.” Lu pointed to a red marker overlaid on a 3D rendering of the HAB. She zoomed in. “Over here is the lander and that’s our fuel processing plant.”
“Okay, let’s see Colony One,” said Commander Decker. The map zoomed out and they could now see most of the western side of the crater.
“That’s Colony One, about two kilometres west, near the crater’s edge.” She rotated the map and zoomed in on the site. A wire frame 3D model ballooned out from the display table. “I can overlay this with our latest orbiter imagery to give a better idea of what we can expect.”
The Colony One site slowly rendered itself in photo-quality detail. It was a sizable facility comprising of a large bio-dome where the colonists had grown most of the food that sustained them. Radiating around this were a number of smaller domes and around these were dotted a series of interconnected modules, arranged like petals on a flower. These were the landers that each batch of six colonists arrived in.
“As you can see the roof of this dome here has caved in, and the same with this one. We have major sand ingress here and here. Also several of these modules are damaged or missing completely.” They looked at the model as it slowly rotated. It was more detailed than anything they had seen before.
“How can modules just disappear, could they have blown away?” said Jann.
“Impossible, the atmosphere is too thin for even the most vicious sandstorm to do that. The only explanation is they moved them or maybe they dismantled them for some other purpose,” said Lu.
“These long humps in the sand are more grow areas, right?”
“One is. The other is soil processing for water reclamation and resource extraction — and it looks like that has also collapsed.” Lu zoomed out from the main structure to take in more of the surrounding area.
“Over here, on the edge of the site is the main solar array field — looks about eighty percent intact. Here, up on the crater’s edge is the plutonium reactor. We need to be very careful of this, in case it’s fractured. The power cables run down along here and across here.
“I presume that is the last supply ship,” said Decker.
“Yes, still exactly where it landed, untouched for over three years.”
In the months after contact was lost with Colony One, an unmanned ship was sent packed with emergency supplies, in the vain hope that some of the colonists might be still alive. It was still there where it landed, gathering dust — literally.
“I count six bodies, but none near the reactor or along the cable routes.”
“I wonder why they are all scattered around like that.” Paolio waved a hand around the 3D map.
“If they went out during the sandstorm there would have been very poor visibility. They probably got disorientated. A bit like Malbec did when we arrived here," said the commander with a laugh. Jann said nothing.
“Lu can you zoom in a bit more on this body here,” said Paolio. The map model ballooned out and picked up on the prostrate form of a dead colonist. It lay flat on its back.
“I could be mistaken, but he, or she, looks to be missing an arm.”
“Well the image at this detail is poor so it could just be a build up of sand around the body obscuring the arm.” Lu leaned to examine the image.
“I don’t think so,” said Paolio.
“Why?”
“Because… I think that’s it over there.” He pointed to an arm shaped smudge a few metres from the body.”
The others looked at the forlorn figure with a mixture of fascination and horror.
“Well, we’ll find out for sure soon enough.” Commander Decker reached over and shut off the map model. “Okay listen up. I want all system checks done on all the equipment as soon as possible. Once everything is nominal we can proceed to the site. You all know what to do, this is what we trained for so lets get to it.” He clapped his hands together.
“And Malbec…”
“Yes commander?”
“I need you to stay sharp. I know you haven’t had a lot of training but I still want you focused.”
“Yes. Of course commander.”
***
“Why does he give me such a hard time?” Jann and Lu were in full EVA suits, outside on the planet surface, running diagnostic tests on the two utility rovers.
“He just wants to keep on top of the mission. Take my advice, don’t take it personally.” Lu disengaged the rover locking mechanisms to wake them up.
“Maybe you’re right.”
“I am right. You try too hard, Jann. No one’s expecting you to be perfect at everything. Just keep the head down, stay focused and you’ll be fine.”
“I wish I had your confidence.”
Lu stopped and looked over at her. “Believe me underneath this elegant, swan-like, exterior there’s a lot of paddling going on,” she laughed.
“Okay, I get it, head down, stay focused.”
“Exactly… and chill out.”
“And chill out,” she nodded her head at Lu with a smile.
“That’s the important bit.”
That said, Jann was finding it difficult to concentrate on the task in hand. In fact, both of them would get distracted, stop and look around at the Martian landscape. It was the first time that Jann really had a chance to stop and truly look at her surroundings. The trip from the lander to the HAB had been one of sheer terror, not a time for sightseeing.
“It's incredible, isn’t it?” she said.
“Yes, truly awe inspiring.” Lu was now staring off into the distance. The topography of the crater basin was mainly flat with dips and valleys undulating across it. They could see Isidis Peak away to the east. To the west, the rim of the crater looped around the horizon. They stood there for quite some time, soaking in the vista.
After a while they turned back to their work. Lu hit a button on her remote control display and the first rover rolled out from its compartment on to the dusty soil. These were heavy-duty utility vehicles used for transporting equipment, supplies and samples. They were not designed for driving around in by crew. Just simple robotic mules, the space exploration equivalent of flat-bed carts. Jann poked a button on her remote and the second rover rolled out. She drove it out a few metres from the base of the HAB and set to work doing a full systems test. Both rovers had robotic arms but one mule also had a drill for seismic research. The colonists had discovered cave systems in the area, so this rover was here to find and map these. It could drill down to a depth of several metres and deposit an explosive charge. When it detonated the resultant shock wave would be analysed and a detailed chart rendered of the sub-surface.
They were also designed to be autonomous. You could load one up with all your gear, set a beacon on your EVA suit and the rover should follow along wherever you went — like a faithful donkey. Jann was now testing this, she walked away from the HAB and the rover dutifully followed. However, the terrain around the HAB was hard and flat, easy ground for the rover. What she needed was something more rugged to truly put the machine through its paces. Jann looked out across the vast crater basin and marched off in search of more testing ground.
After the months of confinement on-board the Odyssey, on top of months of intensive training before that, she now felt a wave of exhilarati
ng freedom wash over her. The vast plain stretched out as far as the eye could see; desolate, empty and inviting. She felt like a child again, wandering off across the expanse of old family farm. She moved with a steady, easy pace, soaking up her surroundings as she went, lost in her thoughts.
“Jann, where are you off to?” Lu’s voice broke into her helmet.
“Oh… eh.” She had to think for a moment to re-orientate herself. “I’m just testing the rover… taking it for a walk.”
“You don’t have to bring it to the other side of the planet. Try and remember the focus part, Jann.”
“Okay… yes. I’ll head back.” She took one last look out across the crater, before turning around.
“Focus, I really need to keep focused.”
CHAPTER 3: COLONY ONE
It took most of that morning to get all the system checks complete. Once finished, Decker reported back to mission control, and by late morning they received a go to proceed with a preliminary reconnaissance of the derelict Colony One site. An air of excitement rippled through the crew as they suited up in the airlock.
“Comms check.” Decker’s voice squawked in Jann’s helmet. Followed by a ripple of verbal affirmations by the rest of the crew.
“Listen up. I want a tight line, no wandering off and no falling behind, Malbec. Understood?”
Jann nodded and they exited the airlock, stepping out onto the Martian surface. They wasted no time in loading up one of the rovers with the necessary equipment and, with final checks done, Decker gave the command to move out. The six crew of the ISA Mars mission marched off in the direction of the crater rim, the location of Colony One.
Reconnaissance imagery depicted the crater basin to be smooth and flat but, on the ground it varied widely. The terrain ahead undulated with dips and valleys, while under foot it shifted from hard cracked regolith to soft sandy dunes. Rocks and boulders of varying size and composition were scattered across the entire site. Walking in one-third gravity took some getting used to and Jann, as usual, had difficulty keeping pace. It didn’t help that she would get distracted by the landscape and slow down to take it all in. More than once Decker halted the procession just so she could catch up.
“Hey… check this out.” Chief Engineer, Kevin Novack, looked down at the ground and toed some object in the dirt.
“What have you found?” said Annis.
“If I’m not mistaken, it looks like litter.” He reached down, tugged the edge of a plastic bag buried in the soil and pulled it out. “A component wrapper of some kind.” The others gathered around. They could just make out the faded Colony One Mars (COM) logo on the outside. Decker paid no attention to the artefact, he was busy scanning the horizon.
“There it is… over there,” he pointed in the direction of a rock formation nestled in front of a low line of dunes. Through a dip in the line they could just make out the top of the bio-dome.
“Let’s keep moving,” he started off again.
Novack wasn’t sure what to do with the wrapper. In the end he just let it fall out of his gloved hand and it drifted back down onto the sand. They moved off towards their destination.
After a while, it became apparent to them that the rock formation in the foreground was not natural. It seemed to have been constructed by someone, a colonist presumably. Annis was first there to investigate. “It looks like a small hut, crudely built with rocks, like an old stone wall.” Annis paused, gently ran her hand over the stones and then continued with her commentary. “It’s around two metres high and the same wide… with a domed roof. There’s an opening on this side. I’m going in.”
“Wait, Annis! It may be unstable, you shouldn’t take any unnecessary risks… just yet.” Jann’s voice squawked in the first officer's comm. Annis hesitated for a moment, looked over at Jann and then back at the hut. It was like she was considering a reply, but thought better of it and entered the stone hut regardless.
“There is a body in here… just sitting in the middle of the floor,” she announced.
Jann was next over to peer inside, although she stood someway back, just in case her futile warning to Annis turned out to be prophetic.
A colonist, in a full EVA suit sat cross-legged in the centre of the small space, its head slumped down a little on to its chest. The name-tag on the left breast read Bess Keilly. They all gathered around the strange alien mausoleum for a time, in silence, taking turns to peer in at the dead occupant.
“It’s a bee-hive hut,” said Kevin, after a while. This seemed to snap them all out of it.
“What is?” said Annis.
“The little building here,” he waved a hand over the hut.
“You mean for bees?” said Lu.
“No, not for bees — for monks,” said Kevin. “There’s a tiny remote island off the western most tip of Ireland, Skellig Michael it’s called. A group of monks set up home on it back in the 6th century. The lived in huts built just like this one. They’re called bee-hive huts — because of the shape,” he waved an arm around again. “The island was regarded as the most remote place in the known world.”
“I don’t get it, why would anyone build such a thing here?” said Lu.
“It’s a sculpture, I suppose. A piece of art. It obviously has no useful purpose,” offered Kevin.
“Well they did have a lot of time on their hands. Seems completely pointless to me,” said Decker. “Okay, let’s keep going.”
They left the grim Celtic crypt and climbed up the back of a high dune. The sand was loose and their boots would sink in as they progressed up its side. It made for tough going. Jann was last to crest the dune. She stopped at the peak and looked in awe as the entire Colony One site sprawled out before her.
“Wow, it looks way bigger than I imagined,” she said. Jann could now see where some of the domes had caved in. Sand had also built up around the derelict site and it looked like Mars was reclaiming it, inch-by-inch, a little bit more with each passing year. It was like discovering the remains of some long lost alien civilisation on a far off planet. And, in many respects, that ‘s exactly what it was.
One by one, they descended the side of the low dune into the basin of the site and fanned out across its expanse. Jann felt like she was entering an abandoned mining town. Equipment strewn here and there, along with other odd rock formations and sculptures of one kind or another. Most were in a state of collapse and part covered in sand. On the far edge of the site, out past the solar array field, Jann could see the last supply lander, still sitting where it came down, untouched.
For a time they wandered aimlessly around the site in a kind of dazed wonder. Like how Howard Carter must have felt after entering the tomb of Tutankhamen.
“Found another body.” Dr. Corelli's voice reverberated in Jann’s helmet. He was bending over the prostrate corpse of a dead colonist. It was lying face-up, visor smashed, and was missing an arm just below the shoulder.
“It looks like a clean cut…” Paolio was examining the injury. “…done with something very sharp.”
By now some of the other crew had gathered around. “Seems you were right doctor,“ said the commander, “the arm is over there.” He pointed at the dismembered limb a few feet away.
“What the hell happened here?” said Annis.
“Well it wasn’t the sandstorm, that for sure,” said Jann.
“Obviously,” replied Decker. “Okay, we need to stick with the programme. I want everybody on heads-up. The commander thumbed a button on his suit sleeve. The others did the same. On her visor Jann could now see an illuminated three dimensional wire-frame overlay of the site. It followed the contours of the buildings as she moved giving detailed information on each structure. There were also five flashing markers tracking each of the other crew.
“Paolio, Lu, Jann, take a route around the northern perimeter of the structure. Myself, Annis and Kevin will explore the area on this side. We’ll meet up over at the main airlock.” He pointed off at a group of modules attached to th
e main Colony One facility. “Lets get to it.”
“What about the mule?” said Jann.
“Just keep it tagged to you, we may need it on the other side.”
“You’re not planning on going inside the facility today are you?” said Annis.
Decker considered this. “We’ll see… after we do an inspection. It’s a derelict site so it may be too dangerous. Anyway, let’s get a move on”.
They split up. Paolio took the lead and they walked over towards what remained of humanity’s first ever planetary outpost. The structure was dominated by a massive bio-dome. Around this were smaller domes, and around these were attached the crew landers and supply modules that the colonists and equipment arrived in. These were cylindrical, around five or so metres wide and the same tall. They each had two doors and some also had airlocks. They could be attached together and reconfigured into different arrangements. Somewhere on the far side of the structure were two long grow tunnels, part buried in the sand. One of these had collapsed.
The first lander module they came to, Jann’s heads-up display identified it as simply EVA/Maintenance, an entrance in and out of the base for work crews. A sand ramp had been built up to the height of the airlock entrance and the outer door was wide open. She walked up the ramp and peered inside. The inner door into the facility was sealed tight. The interior, having been exposed to the Martian weather, was covered in a thick build up of sand and dust.
“Come and have a look at this, she waved her arm to signal Paolio and Lu. Inside the airlock, bolted to the floor, was a rudimentary windmill, fashioned from recycled materials. Its crude blades sat motionless in the still atmosphere.
“Weird, what do you think that was for?” said Paolio.
“Generating power I think, look there’s a wire leading in through the door seal,” Jann traced the cable with her gloved hand.
“But there’s no wind?”
“Not today, but during a sandstorm there would be plenty of wind. See the size of the vanes, big to catch as much as possible. They must have been desperate to generate more power,” said Jann.
Colony One Mars: A SciFi Thriller (Colony Mars Book 1) Page 2
