“Paolio.”
He turned back. “Yes?”
“I think it would be best if you didn’t go mentioning Leprosy to the others… for the moment.”
“You mean Annis.” he nodded.
“That’s exactly who I mean.”
CHAPTER 16: WALKABOUT
First officer Annis Romanov felt, rather than heard, the hiss of the main Colony One airlock depressurising through the thick laminate of her EVA suit. The outer door opened and she stepped out on to the dusty Martian surface. Ahead of her, to the east, lay the ISA HAB module. The others had effectively abandoned it now. With Paolio injured, Decker turned in to a lab-rat and Malbec playing nursemaid, the decision had essentially been made for them to relocate to Colony One, after all it had no shortage of space and food. Nevertheless, it was vital for Annis to establish communications with Earth, and it gave her a valid reason to spend most of her time in the HAB rather than in the contaminated biology of Colony One. She didn’t trust the place; the less time spent there the better, as far as she was concerned. Fixing the comms unit was as good a reason as any to isolate herself in the HAB. However, she wasn’t going to fix it — she didn’t need to. Fortunately she had a plan B. It was part of her mission brief with COM from the very beginning. And now was as good a time as any to execute it.
She looked out across the dunes towards the location of the ISA HAB. Its marker reflected on the heads-up display on her visor. Another marker, further on from the HAB identified the location of the fuel processing plant. And another outlined the Mars lander. This also doubled as the Mars Ascent Vehicle, the MAV. It served both to land on the planet surface and lift off again to rendezvous with the Odyssey transit craft, still in orbit. However, to return to Earth they first had to refuel the MAV with supplies from the processing plant. But that operation was a long way off, a few more months at least.
Annis was not heading for the HAB this time. Instead, she took a few paces out from the colony airlock and turned north towards the location of the old supply lander. This had been sent in the aftermath of the disaster, when all contact from Colony One was lost. It contained emergency supplies of food, medicine and survival equipment. There was one item, however, that she had been instructed by COM to utilise once she found an opportune moment early on in the mission. These were instructions to her directly from COM — they were not part of any ISA mission plan.
It was clear to Annis that the mission had already suffered a major catastrophe with two dead, Paolio injured and Malbec’s crazy notion of helping the psychotic Decker. He should have been killed, he was still a danger and no amount of probing and poking by Malbec was going to change that. He had been contaminated by something in the colony and it was only when Annis left did she feel safe. If she had her way, they would leave this godforsaken place now. She was the First officer, the de-facto commander of the mission now that Decker had been compromised. She would not be brushed aside as if she were a minor entity, a bit-player.
Annis moved across the dusty crater surface, picking her way through the detritus of abandoned equipment. Every now and then she would pass a body of a dead colonist, a graphic reminder of the horror that had befallen the great Colony One adventure. After a time she left the main site behind and entered into the solar array field. Hundreds of black panels laid out across the crater, each slightly elevated to catch the maximum amount of sunlight. She looked up. A pale orb hung low in the Martian sky, bathing the solar array with life giving photons. She examined one of the panels. It was remarkably dust free. They had their own self-cleaning system, but they still needed regular manual maintenance to function at optimum levels. And the only way that could happen is if Nills went out onto the planet surface. “So he does EVA,” she was beginning to mistrust him even more. She moved on.
It took a full fifteen minutes to get through the array field and arrive at the location of the old supply lander. Its squat form rose out of the landscape like the conning tower of a submarine breaking through the ice. The bright red COM logo emblazoned on the side still visible. The three-an-a-half years of Martian dust and sand had still not etched it clean.
Annis located the hatch and worked the leavers to open it. Once the bolts retracted she grabbed the handles, lifted the entire door off and laid it down on the sand. Inside was jammed with equipment and supplies. She started unloading bags and boxes. None of these were of any use to her, what she was looking for was the emergency communications unit.
When this supply mission was being put together, it had been considered that the comms might be damaged, and that any survivors would need a way to communicate with Earth. COM still had its satellite in orbit around the planet, targeted on the colony site. All the comms unit had to do was connect with that satellite and two-way communications could be re-established.
It didn’t take her long to find what she was looking for. Two suitcase sized units; one a satellite up-link and the other the comms unit. She dragged them out of the modules and put them down on the ground outside. She then brought up her 3D display and tapped out the commands to call the rover to her location. It would take a few minutes so she repacked the supply module and replaced the outer hatch. Annis then moved the satellite up-link unit to the far side of the supply module so it would not be visible from the colony direction, unpacked it and extended the solar array. Having spent three years cooped up inside the supply module it was unlikely that it had any charge, in fact she was doubtful if it even worked.
She waited. Every now and then she would check the satellite unit to see if it showed any signs of life. She was beginning to think that it was totally dead when the unit responded with an orange charge light. “So far so good.” After a few more minutes the charge light turned green. “Okay, time to see if this puppy works.” She extended the dish antenna and hit the search button. The unit was now slowly tracking across the sky seeking out the communications satellite, and it didn’t take long to find it. The small screen on the unit came to life and showed the connection and signal strength. “Excellent,” thought Annis. In about thirty minutes time the old COM control centre back on Earth would see the connection.
By the time Annis had finished establishing the satellite link the rover was already in sight, rolling across the surface, tracking to her location. Setting up the satellite link was only half the job. She now needed to unpack and power up the comms unit. Only then could she send a report. This however, could only be done inside. So when the rover finally arrived she threw the unit onto it and headed for the HAB. All going well, she should now be able to re-establish communication with Earth and talk directly to COM, without ISA snooping in on the conversation.
The closer to the HAB she got, the less paranoid she became. It had become her safe-zone. A place where she felt insulated from the malignancy of the Colony One environment. She unloaded the comms unit from the back of the rover and entered into the airlock. She waited as it re-pressurised and decontaminated her EVA suit, removing any dust and particles that had accumulated. She wished it would decontaminate her as well. She was beginning to feel like her body was invaded by the contamination from the colony. The light went green and she wasted no time in stripping off her EVA suit before entering the HAB interior. The place was still a mess since Decker had trashed it. She should really clean it up, “some other time”, she thought. In the operations area she hoisted the unit up onto the bench, opened it up and spent a few minutes connecting power from the central HAB source.
The screen illuminated and showed a schematic of the satellite's position and strength of signal. Everything looked good. Time to send her report. Annis kept it short and to the point, it was done in a few minutes. Nevertheless, it would take at least thirty minutes for it to reach Earth, and at least another hour before COM could digest her message and formulate a reply. She had time to kill, so she decided to take a shower — and wash the colony grime from her body.
The prevailing paranoia that rumbled beneath the surface of First Of
ficer Annis Romanov’s sanity was one of contamination. If Decker had succumbed to it then maybe it was only a matter of time until they all met the same fate. Yet, none of the others had shown any signs of mental instability — at least no more than normal. And Nills said it only infected some. But then a thought struck her, as the hot shower beat down on her back. “Maybe he’s the one infecting them, maybe he's picking them off one by one — him and that robot sidekick.”
Her arm hurt and she realised that she had been scrubbing it until it was red raw, trying to wash the contamination out of her. She stopped the shower and got out to dry herself. She still didn’t feel clean. It was like it was inside her and no amount of scrubbing was going to shift it. She dressed, tied her hair back and went over to the operations area to check on the comms unit. A message had come through. It was direct from Nagle Bagleir and started with the usual bullshit. Annis carefully listened to the message twice, to ensure that she understood what they required of her. When it finished she sat back in the chair, ran her fingers through her still wet hair and laughed. “That crazy hippy’s not going to like this."
CHAPTER 17: THE ANALOGUE
All had gone dark — again. It looked like Rick Mannersman’s premonitions were turning out to be true. There had been no communication with the ISA crew now for over twenty-four hours and anxious eyes in mission control scanned satellite imagery for any clue as to surface activity — there was still hope. Peter VanHoff’s tablet pinged and the avatar that was Nagle materialised in front of his field of vision — and spoke. “Some interesting developments, Peter.”
“This better be good news.”
“Good and bad. The good news is our agent, First Officer Annis Romanov, has re-established communications by utilising the emergency comms unit, sent up on the last supply lander.”
“Excellent.”
“Indeed, it means we now have direct communications with her, outside the sphere of ISA influence. However, the bad news is that our worst fears may have been realised.”
“Don’t tell me… it’s happening again.”
“I’m afraid so. The ISA Commander Decker has developed a violent and destructive psychosis. So far he has killed Chief Engineer Kevin Novack and Seismologist Lu Chan.”
“Oh dear God, no.”
“Nonetheless, our agent has seen fit to contain the commander. He is strapped down in the Medlab and suitably sedated. She has also set Dr. Malbec the task of establishing the cause.”
“Is that wise?”
“Only time shall tell. However, what I do think would be wise is if Romanov redirects any analysis back to us, so we can get some clues as to the nature of this affliction.”
“Hmmm. I see. Does ISA know any of this yet?”
“The commander has also destroyed the ISA comms unit in the HAB, hence the reason there have been no reports to ISA. So no, they are still in the dark and we have not informed them — as yet. However, there is another significant development — a survivor has been found.”
“You’re kidding me… after all this time.”
“Nills Langtorp, colonist number thirteen.”
“How in God’s name did he survive this long.”
“From what we know of him he is a highly skilled engineer and very resourceful.”
“Well, I suggest we see how things develop first before informing ISA. Because once we do, there goes our control again.”
“My thoughts exactly.”
“Has Romanov located the Analogue?”
“Not yet, the research lab is shutdown. They will need to bring it back on-line first.”
“Can she not EVA in there and retrieve it?”
“Difficult, if the entire facility were derelict then yes she could. I know that was our initial plan but the fact that it’s not, makes the operation risky. We have to make it operational first.”
“I don’t like it. We can’t have them poking around in that lab. Particularly if this Dr. Malbec is involved in the analysis. That lab would be an Aladdin's cave for her.”
“It’s a risk we have to take if we want the Analogue.”
Peter VanHoff paced, a habit of his when he was thinking. He turned back to the avatar that was Nagle. “Fine, if we must. But once the Analogue has been retrieved that lab needs to be destroyed. No one must know what went on in there. Is that understood?”
“Yes. I will instruct Romanov on how to proceed.”
“Ensure that she is suitably motivated. She may be required to go well beyond the initial mission brief before this is over. Particularly if Malbec gets too nosey — or lucky.”
“Understood.” The avatar that was Nagle extinguished itself.
CHAPTER 18: NO RETURN
Jann opened the door to the incubator and inspected the petri-dish cultures. One from each of the remaining ISA crew and one from Nills. It was plainly obvious, from the multitude of blots populating the agar gel, that they were all infected - the entire crew. Yet, Jann checked them anyway, one by one, under the microscope just to be certain. And there it was, the same elongated bacterium that had infected Decker, and possibly morphed him into a deranged psychotic. It was present in all the crew samples. However, it was only Decker that had developed the devastating psychological transformation. The good news, if she could call it that, was their infection load was much lower. It seemed that all but Decker had someway of fighting the infection, fending off the biological invasion and keeping them sane.
Nills, on the other hand, was clear. Even though he had been exposed to this for years, his sample looked to Jann to be completely free of the bacteria. Perhaps she made some mistake in preparing it. She would need to check again to be absolutely sure.
The implications of these results began to percolate in Jann’s mind. The bacteria were highly virulent and once infected, you either went psychotic or your body figured out a way to live with it. This meant that there was only one option now — she had to find a way to kill it. And if she failed, then none of them could leave the planet — ever.
The risk of carrying this plague back home and infecting Earth was unthinkable. It had the potential to devastate the human race. A pandemic bordering on apocalypse. Of course, she was assuming that this bacterium was in fact the cause. Jann had no real proof of that — as yet. She looked over at Decker. His chest rose and fell as the monitors drew out his life in luminescent peaks and troughs. He had been lying in stasis for a long time now. His consciousness held in check by the drip-drip of drugs. How long would he last like that, she wondered. A month, less? It was slow death by starvation. Perhaps Annis was right. Killing him may have been better — more humane. Yet, she had to try. It had gone beyond simply Decker now, they were all in this, all infected. If she were to ever see the blue planet again then she had to find a solution — a way to kill it.
Since it was a bacterium, it may be as simple as administering a course of the appropriate antibiotic, as Paolio had suggested. The lab was well stocked, although how much was in date would impact on its effectiveness. But they had others in the HAB. It would help if she knew more about the type of bacteria she was dealing with here. It was engineered, that much she was certain. But how and why she had no clue, unless she could dig deeper into its DNA. However, for the moment at least, she had no way to perform those kinds of test. Not that it mattered in reality. Decker would be the guinea pig, if the antibiotics worked on him they would work on the rest of them. In the meantime she would repeat the culture test on Nills. If it still proved negative then here at least was a potential source of biological answers — maybe even an anti-body. But she was getting ahead of herself.
On the bench, beside the microscope, a red LED blinked on her comms headset. She picked it up, placed over her head and hit the receive button. It was Annis.
“Malbec, nice of you to answer. You’ll be happy to hear I managed to re-establish communications with Earth.”
“That’s great, you fixed it. What was wrong with it?”
“Eh… look
I don’t have time to get into the technicalities. Suffice to say, I managed to send a report back to Earth.”
“And?”
“And the upshot is they want to get the Research Lab back on-line. They reckon it will help you in your investigations.”
“That’s fantastic.”
“Now listen. We need to get that hippy on board with this. I’ve been sent the boot-up routines and schematics, but it would be better if he and that goofy robot of his help us. He knows the systems better than anyone.”
“Okay, when are you coming back here?”
“I’m on my way.”
“Well bring some food… and coffee”
“Malbec, we’ve got more important things to concern ourselves with than food.”
“If you want to get Nills on board then there is no better way than to come bearing gifts. He’s been living on a diet of fish and plants for years. He may well be in need of a change — even if it’s just for the novelty.”
“Fine, I get your point.”
“And Annis…”
“What?”
“When you get here, be nice.”
“Jesus Malbec, next you’ll be asking me to seduce him with my womanly charms.”
“I wouldn’t worry about that. You don’t have any,” thought Jann as she switched off the headset.
Annis dutifully brought back supplies. They consisted of some standard ISA food rations and a few pouches of ground coffee. Nills was tucking into a portion of Chicken Tikka Masala. “This is just amazing. I had forgotten how good it tastes.”
“Consider it an Indian take-out, with a 140 million mile delivery,” said Paolio. “To be honest, we’re pretty tired of it after three months.”
“And this coffee is simply ambrosial.” He sipped the thick black beverage. “You know, we tried to grow the arabica plant up here. Not very successfully. It’s a difficult and temperamental plant to grow, even on Earth.”
Colony One Mars: A SciFi Thriller (Colony Mars Book 1) Page 12
