“Looks like it, although they wouldn’t get very much from this. To generate any sort of meaningful power on Mars it would need to be massive.” Lu was examining the motionless blades, slowly spinning under the touch of her hand.
They moved away from the airlock and continued their circumnavigation of the facility perimeter. “Over here,” said Paolio as he waved to the others. “It’s an old rover.”
A small six wheeled machine was partly buried in sand. Two circular solar panels extended from its back giving it the look of a winged insect. It was covered in grime. Jann wiped a hand over a panel to brush the dust off. She thought she saw a green LED flash momentarily and jumped back in fright. “Holy shit. I think it’s still working.”
“You okay?” said Paolio.
“Fine… just a bit jittery.”
Lu laughed. “That rover hasn’t functioned in years. It’s totally dead, for sure.”
As they moved away, Jann looked back at the little machine, half expecting it to awaken and crawl out from its sandy grave.
The three were now close to the base of the main bio-dome. It had a wall about two metres high made of a type of concrete produced in-situ from the local regolith. It was robotically manufactured and had been layered down by large industrial sized 3D printers. The upper dome structure consisted of a super-tough, semi-transparent membrane stretched over a lattice frame-work. Its complex molecular structure engineered to provide radiation shielding. It was essentially the same material used in one of the many layers of the crews EVA suits.
Jann walked up the edge of the wall, where the sand had built up, in the hope that she could see in. But so much grime had accumulated on the surface that it was impossible to make anything out.
They moved on towards one of the smaller domes where the roof had collapsed. The support members were bent and crumpled. Jann’s augmented reality display overlaid a wire-frame of the last known facility configuration. On the readout there should have been three modules attached, tagged accommodation. But they were missing.
“See, the wall here has been sealed up. So they must have moved the modules,” said Paolio.
“I wonder where are they?” said Jann.
“Recycled maybe, broken up and used inside for something.”
As they worked their way around they could see several other modules were also missing. On the far side of the facility, leading from the base of the bio-dome, two long grow tunnels extended outward. These where part buried and covered in Martian soil. This was one of the oldest parts of the colony. Built even before the first colonists arrived. They had been robotically constructed prior to human habitation so that the early settlers would have sufficient infrastructure to maximise their chances of survival.
Jann had considered simply walking over one in the hope that she would be high enough to get a glimpse through the main dome membrane, but thought better of it. The tunnel was probably fragile and one of them had already collapsed. Also the weight of the mule following along behind her might be too much for it. She didn’t risk it and instead walked around the tunnels. It was difficult to know where they ended as they seemed to just merge into the surrounding dunes. The crew gave them a wide berth nonetheless.
By the time they were heading back to the main dome they could see Decker and the others approaching the cluster of four modules grouped together. A sand ramp led up to the main airlock. But unlike the others they had inspected, the door was shut tight.
“Malbec, bring that mule over here,” said Decker. “Tell me we brought the laser cutters, Kevin.”
“We did, why, what are you planning?” replied the Engineering Officer.
“A little breaking and entering.”
Jann untagged the mule so it would stay put and not follow her around any more. Kevin started to unload cases with the equipment.
“I don’t think that will be necessary.” Annis pulled the recessed handle on the airlock door and it swung open. She stepped inside and examined the panel on the inside.
“That’s odd.”
“What is?” The commander was now beside her in the airlock.
“It’s got power.”
“Well that’s possible since the solar array field looks mostly undamaged, so it’s not that surprising.”
“It’s not just that… it looks like… well, it’s pressurised inside.”
“Let me see.” The chief engineer was now examining the panel. He rubbed a layer of dust off the small screen and stood back in amazement. “I think you’re right."
“Alright,” said Decker, “here’s what we’re going to do. Kevin bring that cutting gear in here. We’ll need to close the outer door before we can open the inner one. If we can’t get it open, we’ll cut it open. If we get stuck in here, we’ll cut our way out. The rest of you wait outside until I give the all clear.” He stopped for a moment, then looked at each of them in turn. “You all need to prepare yourselves for what we’ll find in here. There’s probably going to be a lot of dead bodies. It isn’t going to be pretty so be ready to expect some nasty scenes.”
They all nodded. Jann had not given this much thought. But now that the time had come, it was clear that it would be a hellish tableau that greeted them on the inside. She imagined the desperate colonists huddled together in some corner of the facility, eking out the last of their precious resources, all hope lost, waiting for death to come.
Decker, Annis and Kevin stepped inside the airlock and closed the outer door. Jann and the others could hear the conversation through their helmet comm. She looked over at Lu and Paolio. They exchanged a glance that spoke of excited apprehension.
“Outer door sealed, okay… let’s see if this works.” It was Kevin’s voice that they could hear. “Look, it’s pressurising, there must really be air in there, incredible. Sixty percent… eighty… hundred. Alright, here goes… opening inner door.” There was a pause in the chief engineer’s commentary as he survived the interior. Jann, Lu and Paolio waited anxiously for him to resume.
“Looks like a storage area… boxes piled up on either side. Some old EVA suits… torn… parts missing… no helmets that I can see. Moving in to the next section. Seems to be a common area… seating… tables. Wait a minute… that’s impossible!”
“What, what is?” said Lu.
“Eh… you guys better get in here and see this for yourselves,” said Decker.
CHAPTER 4: EXPLORATION
Jann opened the exterior airlock door and stepped in, followed closely by Lu and Paolio. He shut the outer behind him and spun the locking wheel. Jann then hit the button to equalise pressure. It took a few anxious moments to complete the cycle and for the green alert light to illuminate. “Okay, here goes,” said Jann, as she swung open the inner door. They passed through the airlock and Jann, Lu and Paolio stepped into Colony One.
The small airlock entrance was lined with broken and damaged EVA suits. They hung along the walls like abandoned marionettes. Ahead of them the area opened out and pale orange sunlight filtered down through a domed roof, illuminating a large circular space. It looked like a junk-yard. Every available flat surface was covered with machines and components in varying states of disassembly. Balls of wire sprouted from containers and spooled out across the floor. Tubes and pipes snaked around the area in all directions. Yet, it was clear that a routine had been well worn into this seeming chaos. They spotted the others just ahead.
“Over here,” Kevin beckoned to them with his arm and pointed at something on one of the benches. “Have a look at this.”
They gathered around and inspected the object that had so startled the commander. Resting on a plate, beside a small box of fresh fruit, an apple had been cut in two, a bite taken from one half. Kevin held the knife up and they could see the juice ruining down along the edge. “It’s just been cut.”
There was a stunned silence from the crew for a moment as the implications began to sink in. Jann reached down, picked up the part eaten apple and held it up close to her vi
sor so she could give it a better examination. It was fresh, no doubt about it.
“There’s someone here, still alive, that’s incredible,” said Jann. “How is that possible, after all this time?” She slowly placed the apple back down on the bench.
By now, they were all looking around, expecting the ragged survivors to come through a door or emerge from some darkened alcove at any moment. Jann considered that the joy of the crew’s arrival could be overwhelming for them. Like a group of deserted island castaways rescued after many years of isolation. So they waited with ever mounting anticipation — but no one showed.
“Where the hell are they?” said Annis.
“Maybe they’re afraid?” ventured Kevin.
“Of what?”
No one had an answer.
“Okay, there’s someone still alive here, that much is certain. So, if they won’t come to us then we’ll just have to go to them. We need to do a full search of this facility, every inch of it if necessary — starting with the bio-dome over there.” Decker pointed towards an open tunnel at the far end of the space. “Let’s go.” He marched off.
They picked their way through the junk-yard detritus towards the entrance and passed into the low connecting tunnel. As one by one, they entered into the bio-dome a sea of verdant vegetation greeted them. Row upon row of food crops radiated out across the vast space. Densely packed grow-beds were built into racks stacked one on top of the other — three, sometimes four layers high. Tubes coiled around each bed bringing water and nutrients to the plants. A confusion of power-lines and ducting arched overhead. Grow lights hung from beneath each row to augment the pale Martian sunlight. It was a machine for growing food. Everywhere was ordered and meticulously maintained — in complete contrast to the mayhem of the previous area.
“Wow, just look at this place, it’s incredible,” said Lu as the six ISA crew stood around in awe at the lush surroundings.
“We should split up,” said the commander. “Paolio, Jann take that side, and check out that long grow tunnel. But be careful, though. It may be structurally compromised. Kevin, Lu you search along the opposite side, over there. Annis and I will take this central area. Let’s see if we can find some life forms in here other than plants.”
A path wound its way all around the inside perimeter of the dome, Jann and Paolio followed it. Along the inner wall were stacked storage boxes of one kind or another. Jann opened one, it was full of some sort of bio-mass, and she wasn’t sure what it was without testing.
“Potatoes,” Paolio pointed at long neat rows of plants, “and carrots.” They walked through the rows for a while, identifying some as they went. “I recognise this,” said Paolio. Jann came over and looked at the leafy plant. “Is that what I think it is?” she said as she touched a leaf.
“Cannabis. Presumably it’s legal on Mars,” said Paolio.
Jann laughed. “I suppose the law is what you decide yourself up here. Looks like someone brought some seeds with them. They’re healthy plants so whoever is here is looking after them.”
Paolio looked around. “So we’re looking for a bunch of Martian stoners — wherever the hell they are.”
“Come on, let’s keep searching.”
After a while it became evident to Jann that there were a great many plants she simply did not recognise. These, she suspected, were genetically engineered specifically for Colony One. Designed to produce food in the weak Martian sun. Plants that would never be allowed free reign on Earth, due to concerns over genetic contamination. But here, there were no such fears. As a biologist, she had followed the development of some of these new botanical species with avid interest. Colony One was a geneticist’s playground, with a totally controlled eco-system, and not bound by the ethics of Earth. There really was no law on Mars but your own.
They had now arrived at a point along the dome wall where it opened into one of the long buried tunnels. It had a wide airlock, but both doors were swung fully open.
Jann took a cautious step inside. It was wide, with dim overhead lighting. Two long rows of clear plastic water tanks receded into its depths. They could see that each one contained a different species of fish. The tanks all looked to be well stocked. The fish looked to be perfectly healthy. Towards the back of the tunnel she found several low shallow beds used for spawning.
“This is very impressive. It takes a lot of skill and knowledge to be able to do this,” said Jann.
“I wonder if they are genetically engineered?” Paolio was leaning over a tank looking down at the swimming fish.
“That’s a possibility. Although I didn’t hear of it. Still, they became very secretive about what they were doing up here.”
“If you’re finished your sweep, meet us in the centre. There’s something here you should see.” Decker’s voice echoed in Jann’s helmet. She nodded over at Paolio and they both made for the rendezvous point in the middle of the dome.
“It’s getting very hot in this suit.” Jann was looking at the temperature readout on her helmet’s biometric display. The EVA suit was designed to keep the occupant warm on the surface of Mars, where it could often be minus sixty below. But in the hot and humid environment of the bio-dome the suit was having trouble maintaining a comfortable level. “We’re going to have to get out of here soon.”
“Yeah, I’m boiling up.”
As they moved closer to the middle of the vast space, the neat rows of hydroponics gave way to an overgrown wilderness. The plants in this section had been let to run rampant. Yet, here and there could be seen a deliberate planting structure. Someone designed it this way. Tall trees and grasses lined the path and, as they neared the centre, branches began to hang down and form a tunnel. It was covered with trailing vines.
“It’s like a tropical glasshouse in some botanic garden,” said Jann, as she brushed her gloved hand along the hanging tendrils.
The path ended and they stepped out onto a large central dais. It was wide and flat. At the far end it sloped into a sizable pond, with a three metre high waterfall that sparkled and danced in the pale sun light. The others were gathered around a hammock slung between two trees. Below it, on a low table, was a control interface of some kind. Kevin was down on one knee investigating.
“This is amazing,” said Jann looking around.
“It’s like paradise island,” replied Paolio.
“Decker looked over at them. “Anything?”
“No, nothing. Just fish.”
“Maybe they really are hiding from us,” ventured Lu.
“Someone’s here — somewhere.” Decker was looking at a schematic of the facility on a small tablet screen.
“I’m burning up in this suit, we can’t stay here much longer.” Annis was also getting uncomfortable.
“Dammit, I don’t want to report to mission control that the place is functioning and colonists are still alive — but we can’t find them,” said Decker.
“We may have to. We need to get out of here and back to the HAB. We can do a better search tomorrow.” Annis was moving off towards the airlock.
“Wait a minute.” With that, Decker reached for the side of his helmet to flip open the visor.
“No… wait… don’t do that. The air could be poisonous in here. We need to do some analysis first.”
“It’s fine, Paolio. Someone’s alive in here so they must be breathing good air, right?
“You don’t know that for sure.”
Decker ignored him and popped his visor open. He held his breath for a second or two and then took his first gulp of Colony One air. The others waited. He smiled, laughed and breathed again. Then he sniffed. “It smells like… like a forest.”
Annis was next to pop her visor. She took a deep breath and then removed her helmet completely, shaking out her long hair. “Oh my god, that’s better. I was beginning to feel like a hot-dog in a water bath.”
Kevin was next and soon they all had their helmets off. Jann was last to open her visor and breathe the fragrant air.
Decker was right. It smelled of botanicals and bio-mass. It was strange that a colony outpost, on a far off planet, should have such a smell. It reminded Jann of an exotic garden. It had a pleasant earthy smell.
Decker was now removing his gloves. “Okay, this gives us a lot more time to do a thorough search of the facility and find these people.” He was back to consulting his screen.
“I don’t think they want to be found,” said Jann.
“That doesn’t make any sense. Why not? They’ve just endured three-and-a-half years isolated here with no communication,” said Annis.
“Maybe they’ve gone insane — you know, and think we’re a bunch of aliens invading the planet,” offered Kevin.
Decker ignored these comments. “We still haven’t searched any of the modules along these other sections. I suggest two of us stay here and keep an eye on the door into the bio-dome. The rest of us will continue the search.”
I’ll stay here, if that’s okay,” said Lu.
“Fine, Kevin can keep you company. The rest of you… let’s go, let’s find these people.”
There were a myriad of other modules connected around smaller domes, all grouped in different configurations. The first group they came to seemed to be used for refrigerated storage of some kind. Jann opened one of the large doors. “There’s no point in that Jann. We’re not looking for a snowman.” Decker laughed at his own joke. Then stopped, gripped his abdomen and bent over with a low groan.
“Commander, what is it?” said Paolio.
He stood upright again. “It’s nothing, just a bit dehydrated I think.”
“Let me have a look at you.”
Decker brushed him away. “I’m fine, it’s nothing.” With that he doubled over again clutching his stomach.”
“You’re not fine, let me see you.” Paolio examined the commander as best he could. He felt his pulse and then put the back of his hand on Decker’s forehead. “You’re burning up. We need to get you back to the HAB — right now.”
Colony One Mars: A SciFi Thriller (Colony Mars Book 1) Page 3
