Lost in the Red Hills of Mars

by Jackie Hunter

  Celine awakened in the dawn. Alex was still sleeping. I have been listening to my inner voice.

  Alex awakened. “You’re awake early,” he said.

  “I was dreaming about my grandmother.”

  “She hasn’t changed her mind about the red hills, has she?” Alex grinned.

  Celine sat up slowly. “Oh my goodness.” She rubbed her knee.

  “Moving a little slowly this morning, huh?” Alex asked. Then he chuckled.

  “Like I was run over by a herd of buffalo,” she said. “My knee is so sore.”

  Alex raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Amusing,” he mumbled. “What could a Martian Girl know about buffalo? Even I know little about them.” He smirked. “Buffalo? I take that as you’re not feeling like running today?”

  “I feel awful.” Celine stretched her arms over her head but was careful to not touch the frost-covered tent.

  “Well, what am I going to do with you?”

  “We’ve come too far to turn back,” she said.

  “Who said anything about turning back? I was thinking about leaving you here,” he joked.

  She felt too sore to verbally joust with Alex. So she moved slowly into a seated position and crossed her legs in front of her. She tried to relax her shoulders as she rested her hands on her knees. With her eyes closed, she began chanting.

  “Hey, yeh yeh Aka lotahey…”

  “What do you think you’re doing?”

  “Chanting,” she said, her eyes still closed. “It will make me feel better. Hey, yeh yeh…”

  “Nonsense!”

  Celine’s eyes snapped open. “My father taught me how to do this! You should try it!”

  “No way am I sitting like a pretzel and making a fool of myself.”

  “Suit yourself. What’s a pretzel?”

  “Twisted bread snack on Earth.”

  “Bread?”

  “Pray, please.”

  “Dad said the vibrations from chanting synchronizes with God Vibrations and heals us.”

  “Really.”

  “You have to believe in the medicine of the chant and visualize yourself healthy.”

  “So I can get rid of this headache?”

  “You might.”

  Alex folded his legs in a half-lotus position.

  “I am curious. I’ve done many things but never anything like this.”

  “Now close your eyes and repeat after me,” Celine said. “Visualize yourself healthy.”

  “Hey yeh yeh….” Alex opened his eyes. “I don’t feel any better.”

  Celine rolled her eyes under closed lids.

  “How long do I need to say this ‘Hey yeh yeh’ stuff?”

  “At least two hundreds times.”

  Instantly, Alex opened his eyes. “You’re joking?”

  Celine didn’t answer, but continued her chants. “Hey yeh…”

  “Celine, we don’t have time for this. Remember the drone.”

  Celine eyes popped open, and she squeezed her lips together tightly. “How could I have forgotten the drone?” She bent over and rubbed her sore feet. “I am so achy. What can I do to get rid of this pain?”

  “Get up, and help me put this tent away. Start moving. That’s all I know.”

  Celine wanted to continue her chants. Chanting had made her feel extremely relaxed when she was at the Compound; it made her feel closer to her dad. Her dad chanted each morning and had taught her how. But she and Alex needed to move on. She didn’t want Morg and his crew to find her and take her back to the Compound with unfulfilled dreams. She couldn’t let a sore knee slow her down. She rolled up the right pants leg of her suit. Her swollen knee was blue. Then she took her first-aid kit from her pack and removed the small container of her stem cream. Using her pinky, she removed a tiny bit of the cream and rubbed it into her bruised knee. Immediately, the color improved, and the swelling began to go down.

  “Come on; get moving,” Alex said. He had already put on his boots.

  “Your command is my wish, Captain Water Boy,” she said. She dressed and was ready to help.

  Alex chuckled. “You have a lot to learn,” he said. Then he started breaking down and packing away their tent’s top.

  Celine grabbed an end of the tent’s floor and folded it. “So do you,” she said.

  After they were all packed, Alex, using long strides, headed toward the hill. “Bring up the rear, Martian Girl.”

  “Bringing up the rear, Water Boy.” Celine ran to catch up.

  ◆ ◆ ◆

  The teens used their climbing gear once, in an area that would have been a dead end for nonclimbers. When they reached the top of the canyon and looked ahead at the landscape, it was easy to understand why the area was called Chaos. To the west was a maze of hills and valleys. Some of the hills were lopsided, as if they had collapsed like deflated balloons. To the north were tall hills with wave-cut strandlines cutting into their slopes, giving them a rainbowlike appearance of different shades of rusty reds and pinks.

  “They’re beautiful!” Celine said. She waved her arms over her head.

  “Yes, they are,” Alex agreed. He sat his backpack on the ground and took out his binoculars.

  “Look at the gullies.” Celine pointed at a hodgepodge of lopsided hills and deep gullies, waterworn ravines of rusty red rock.

  “Niagara Falls.” Alex muttered. “Without the water. Unbelievable!”

  There were so many different landscapes. It was chaotic. They stood on loose sedimentary rocks and sand, not hard and dense rock like the area on the other side of the canyon. Useless for anchoring a climb, Celine noticed.

  “I didn’t know Mars had trees,” Alex said, pointing to the dark brown areas cascading down the sides of some of the sand dunes in the distance.

  “That’s dark sand, not trees. We think it was darkened by volcanic ash.”

  “I see.” Alex spied a volcano through his binoculars, past the sand dunes. “This is something to behold. Breathtaking. The only thing I can think of that compares to it is the Grand Canyon back on Earth.” Alex took out his data recorder and began recording images of the different landscapes.

  “One day, I plan to see the Grand Canyon,” Celine said.

  “I’m sure you will.” Alex pointed his data recorder toward a lopsided hill.

  As they walked, squeaking noises came from the rocks and sand beneath their feet.

  “This sounds like we’re walking on broken glass,” Alex said. “It would be difficult for anything to sneak up on us. That’s a plus.”

  “True, but anything could hear us coming. That might not be a plus.”

  As they continued, creating their own path toward the hills in the west, Celine could feel something vibrating beneath her, sounds of continuous movement. It sounded like nothing she had ever heard. Layers of rock and sand muffled the sound.

  “Stop, Alex. Listen. Do you hear that noise?” Please hear it, Alex.

  Alex stopped. He bent down, getting his ear closer to the ground.

  “Sounds like moving water!” He shouted, his eyes wide in disbelief “It can’t be water. Can it?” Alex entered the coordinates into his Navi. “Water would be more valuable to the Company than any ore.”

  “Maybe it’s lava,” Celine said. “You saw those volcanoes.”

  “No, lava would be hissing and popping and moving slowly. This is way too fast to be lava.” Alex paused and studied Celine. “You were walking when you heard that. How did you do that?”

  “I don’t know.” Celine didn’t want to elaborate. “Let’s go. You have the coordinates.” Celine walked westward toward the ledge.

  “Come back here, Celine!” Alex ran after her. “And you can see better than I can with these binoculars. Don’t deny it.” Alex stopped a few meters from her.

  Celine noticed Alex’s heel was too close to the ledge.

  “Alex, watch out! You’re going to fall!”

  Alex’s left heel slid, and he fell to his knees. Just as he slid, Ce
line caught him by an arm. She fell back on her bottom and dug her heels into the rocks.

  “Don’t move,” Alex said. “OK. I’m going to turn around so I can sit next to you.”

  Celine released his arm. She could hear some of the rocks fall to the crater floor.

  Once he was seated next to Celine, he said, “Use your hands behind you to push away from the edge.” They both did. When they were no longer in danger, they sat there silently.

  “I’ve been wanting to tell you about me…” Celine was winded.

  “Not now.” Alex stood up and reached down to take Celine’s gloved hand to help her up. He took out his Navi and appeared to be studying the map and comparing it to what he saw.

  He began to walk toward the red hills. He looked back at Celine. “Bring up the rear, Martian Girl.”

  “Bringing up the rear, Water Boy.” Celine was relieved that she didn’t have to explain her strange abilities to Alex—at least, not yet.

  Alex looked back at Celine and grimaced.

  Spirit, please don’t let my eyes glow now, Celine thought.

  The teens walked silently for three kilometers.

  “Your dad’s signature is coming from that area,” Alex said. He pointed toward a rusty red, lopsided hill. “I think we can reach it hours before night falls.”

  “Wait. I saw something flash in that dark opening.” She pointed to a different hill. I also saw a heat signature for a moment, and then it stepped back into the cave. Dad, let that be you.

  “You have vision like no one else I know. So lead the way.” They turned and headed in the direction of the flash, about a half day’s trek, no serious climbing.

  ◆ ◆ ◆

  As Morg waited impatiently for his backup at the entrance to the tunnels, he felt the vibration of his Com. “Now what? I gave my coordinates. What’s the holdup?” he said, thinking it was the commander. When he checked the Com, he saw a message from the Compound that said the drone had located Celine and the boy and had delivered their coordinates. Morg studied the coordinates. “How did they get this close to the Chaos? Surely my men can catch two wandering teens.” Calling his crew, he found out that the men had spotted Celine and Alex as they climbed the sloping side of the crater. This meant that the pair could reach the tunnels within the day. Morg stepped out of the cave’s entrance. He stayed in the shadows of the cave to avoid detection as he searched the area for the teens.

  They were out there. He could see them clearly. Heavy backpacks—looks like they’re going camping. He laughed. Real troopers. That little girl has really taken to this planet. Not like her mother. He was impressed. One day she’ll become a superior soldier.

  They’re heading westward. Most of those caves lead to dead ends. A few of them, like the one her dad hid in, lead to the tunnels. But those tunnels won’t be there for long. “Where’s my backup?”

  Morg stepped back into the cave and placed his shiny binoculars in his bag. He fished out a piece of synthetic meat jerky from his ration box and devoured it.

  As Morg chewed his third piece of jerky, he thought about how the tunnels had been very useful to him. When others had traveled on the surface, he had travelled alone in the comfort of the tunnels. It was never cold down there. He thought the planet’s hot liquid core might have had something to do with that, but he was no scientist. I’m going to miss those tunnels. Real sorry the commander thinks it’s more important to keep the tunnels a secret than to let me enjoy their comforts.

  He stepped outside the cave to call Theodore. In between bites of jerky, Morg berated him, “Can you explain to me how a couple of kids can get so far ahead of you?”

  “Sir?”

  “Where are you?”

  “We are about two days away from the Chaos Region.” Neither of Morg’s men considered themselves good enough climbers to climb the canyon wall to save the day.

  “We don’t have any stem cream, so we’re taking the route around the canyon.”

  “I have the children in my view,” Morg said. “I’ll bring them in. You cowards can return to the Compound. I’ll bring the children in.”

  It was not like Theodore to disobey an order, but he thought Morg was hiding something in the Chaos Region.

  “Morg, you’re not coming in clearly. What did you say?” Theodore turned off his Com signal.

  Morg called him back but only got static noise. “Darn solar flares,” he said. “Those darn kids are going to ruin everything.”

  CHAPTER 11

  Meat Jerky Wrappers

  ◆ ◆ ◆

  Morg munched his fourth meat jerky. Nothing much ever happens on this outback planet, he thought, so his greatest source of joy came from his food. His pleasure was interrupted by a steady humming sound. To untrained ears, the humming sounded like a constant flow of air moving through an opening in a cave. Morg, however, recognized the sound as that of his backups. They were wearing Angel Wings, the military’s name for a small box that contained a small electric rotary engine and large flexible angel-like appendages. It was a one-man flying machine.

  The two soldiers had flown over six hundred kilometers, ten meters above the ground at speeds of two hundred kilometers per hour. Morg had attempted to use the Angel Wings once, but he found them too difficult to control. He reassured himself by claiming only a lower ranking soldier could possibly build up the kind of core muscles necessary to maneuver them. Officers like me don’t need to use them.

  The soldiers were cloaked in the best camouflage available: metallic fabric that reflected the environment around them. They were practically invisible to untrained eyes.

  “I am here,” Morg called as he stepped out of the shadows. Two humanoids deactivated their cloaks and alighted next to him. Neither said anything. They stood at attention, like GI Joes: strong, handsome faces and lifeless eyes.

  Morg didn’t care much for humanoids. They looked and moved like the perfect military man, but there was nothing human about them. They were single-minded, emotionless killing machines. Morg gave Humanoid One the coordinates to the river.

  As they entered the cave, Morg made his way between the soldiers for protection. The glowworms remained lightless, but the darkness presented no problem whatsoever for the humanoids. Morg walked in the middle of them like a prisoner; they neither spoke nor replied to any comments he made. Though Morg was a big man, nearly two meters tall and 114 kilograms of almost perfect muscle, he looked puny next to the humanoids. Each stood two and a half meters, and their weight was changeable. Humanoids could weigh what they needed to weigh to get the job done. Humanoid One led the way to the designated site. The other trailed Morg, sandwiching him in to keep him safe. Nonetheless, he didn’t feel safe around them. He didn’t trust these machines to make decisions. You never know what they may perceive as a threat to the mission. They were created to serve as soldiers and nothing more. Hundreds of them sat dormant at the base, like ancient Chinese Terracotta Warriors on Earth, waiting either to be activated in an emergency to fight and protect humanity or to do the bidding of the commander who held their wake-up codes. The mission for these two humanoids was to escort Morg to the location near the river that would release the water through the tunnels, covering everything the military wanted to hide.

  Morg had to walk quickly in order to keep up with the nameless robot in front of him and to prevent the one behind him from trampling the back of his heels. When they finally arrived at the river’s mouth, Morg quickly set the explosives as the humanoids stood guard.

  In twelve hours, his favorite place on planet Mars, the tunnels, would be underwater. He would utilize them one last time to take him westward where he had last seen the children. Certainly there was enough time for him to find them and get them far away from the Chaos Region. He would return them safely to the Compound. He would be Abbie’s hero.

  Morg used the maxi beam enhancer: a powerful searchlight the humanoid had given him while setting the explosives. The lava tubes had never been brighter. He stepped
jauntily through the lava tubes heading westward toward the children. He smirked as he walked. I can’t wait to see the look on their little faces when I tell them about the volcano that’s going to blow its top. They’ll have no choice but to return with me. Wonder what that idiotic crew of mine is doing? He started to call them on his Com but decided he’d wait until he was out of the lava tubes.

  ◆ ◆ ◆

  After a relatively short trek across rocky terrain, the teens arrived at the cave where Celine had seen the flash of light. No one was there, but Celine could tell someone had been. There were four meat jerky wrappers at the entrance of the cave. Celine’s thoughts began to race. I know only one person who eats this much and has the audacity to leave his trash behind.

  “Morg’s been here,” she mumbled. She picked up the four wrappers and angrily stuffed them in a pocket on her backpack. “Greedy slob…I can’t believe I brought us to Morg!” she cried.

  “You messed up big time. I knew we should have followed the Navi.” Alex looked across the rocky terrain they had just covered. “I’m not letting Morg get in the way of my plans.” He patted the pocket on his backpack where he kept his ray gun. The gun was set on high.

  The evening gale winds began to blow gently.

  “It’ll be dark soon,” Celine said.

  Suddenly a barrage of red dust began to pummel them.

  “It might be safer to set camp inside this cave. It’s way too windy out here.”

  “What about Morg?”

  “Don’t worry about him. If he finds us, he’ll be sorry!”

  Celine opened her eyes in surprise. Is this how people behave on Earth?

  “You would actually hurt him?”

  “Let’s go!” Alex shouted over the howling winds. He shoved Celine into the cavern.

  With barely enough light from the cave’s entrance, they were able to find their gena-lights. Alex turned his on first and began searching the contents of his backpack for his data recorder.

  “It’s in there,” Celine said as she pointed to an outer pocket. “You didn’t answer my question.”

  “I know.”

  “Well, answer me.”

  “I don’t know why I even bother telling you anything.”