“I don’t like him—” Celine looked around the cavern for heat signatures but saw none. “But I could never hurt him.”
“Look at the readings on this recorder.” Alex’s face showed excitement. He appeared to have not heard Celine’s concerns. “We have oxygen! We don’t need to take O2 pills in here.”
He began to unfasten his helmet.
Celine touched his gloved hand. “Not yet. Collect more data first.”
“If you insist.”
Celine stepped deeper into the cave. She shined her bright light onto the cave’s wall.
Alex followed with his light dangling from a carabineer attached to his suit, leaving his hands free to record data from the cave. “It’s six degrees Celsius in here.”
“That makes sense—I thought it felt unusually warm in here.”
“And there’s oxygen and nitrogen.”
“No carbon dioxide?”
“There’s a lot, about four hundred ppm, but I’ve recorded that much in some of the cities on Earth. Solar radiation is low. That’s to be expected.”
“So it’s safe here?”
“It seems that way.”
Both teens unfastened their helmets and attached them to their backpacks.
Celine stood in the center of the cavern turning around in circles, looking up and down at its features. The cavern walls appeared white, like limestone, and the ceiling was rounded out like a planetarium and dripped with blankets of red and pink stalagmites.
“Amazing. I never knew anything like this existed on Mars.” Alex said.
Celine titled her head to the side. “I’ve never seen anything like this either.”
Alex pointed to a lava tube that extended from the dome-shaped cavern. “There’s running water in there.”
“Wait! Look at this.” Celine pointed to three sets of distinct footprints leading in the direction of the sounds. “This must be Morg’s. See the boot size number?” Celine could also see the heat signature rising from the print. “Fresh print,” she mumbled. “These four.” She looked at the deep prints showing tread marks but giving off no heat. “They’re Humanoids.”
“Humanoids? Are you positive? Why would there be soldiers on Mars?”
“I don’t know why, but Morg definitely has some with him.”
“Seriously?” Alex appeared shaken. He searched the cavern.
“Yes, he does,” Celine said dreadfully.
“Well, Celine, I think we need to find a place to hi—.” Alex dry-heaved, interrupting his sentence. “I am not feeling well.”
Celine could feel the muscles in her stomach knot up. “I’m not either.” Alex didn’t need to tell Celine he was sick, for she had watched the unusually high amount of heat rising from his body.
“I see a place where we might be safe. Over there,” she said and pointed to a small opening in the shadows, close to the floor.
“That looks like some kind of animal den,” Alex said. “Use your X-ray vision to see what’s in there,” he joked.
“I don’t have X-ray vision.” Celine wondered if she had done the right thing in sharing so much about herself with Alex. She studied the den’s opening but saw no heat escaping from its tiny entrance “But I can tell there’s nothing’s in there,” she said.
“Oh, you can?” Alex bowed. “After you, Madame Martian Girl.”
Celine pushed her backpack through the small cave’s opening. She listened for movement and heard none. On her hands and knees, she cautiously crawled through the small opening. There was no source of light, but she was amazed that she could see as if it were daylight. “Come in, Alex. It looks safe. There are no signs of animals.”
Alex shoved his backpack through to Celine. “I can’t see anything. It’s way too dark in there.” He began to crawl through the opening.
“Ah!” Celine shouted.
“Ouch!” Alex butted the back of his head as he stood up to back away from the entrance.
“Oh, are you OK?” Celine felt guilty that she had frightened Alex.
“I’m fine.” He rubbed his sore head.
“I’m sorry—I shouldn’t have done that.”
“Yeah, you’re right…I butted my head, but I didn’t draw blood. And wait, there’s barely any room in here!”
Alex crawled and twisted his arms though the opening. Celine helped pull him into the den.
“I think I snagged my suit.” Alex turned his back to Celine. “Check my back. Do you see any tears?”
She shined her light on Alex’s suit even though she didn’t need the light. Alex had dust on his face and in his hair. “A small snag. It doesn’t look like it’ll break.”
“Good,” he said. “All right, this place is not bad. There’s enough room to spread out the tent’s floor covering. I don’t think we’ll need the top. Do you?”
“Only if it will make you feel safer,” she teased.
◆ ◆ ◆
The humanoids returned to the cave’s entrance. Before revving up their engines to fly away, they decided to do one last thing to ensure the success of their mission. Together, they lifted a huge boulder and placed it at the entrance of the cave so no one could get in.
They pushed a button on their wrists, and their cloaking mechanism activated, rendering them nearly invisible and reflecting everything in their presence. Their electric rotatory engines began to hum, and they were lifted high above the cave’s entrance. About two kilometers in the distance, they could see two men setting up camp too close to the Chaos Region. Both humanoids pointed their index fingers and fired killing rays, then quietly flew back to the military base on the far side of the planet.
◆ ◆ ◆
Morg’s crew had followed his life signature to a hill in the western Chaos Region. Through their binoculars, they saw Morg communicating with two solders.
“Did you see that?” Mike said to his partner, Theodore.
“Yeah, man. That’s military. What is military doing here on Mars? And why are they meeting with Morg?”
“You know he was trained by military.”
“That still doesn’t explain how they got here. We didn’t bring them here. They weren’t on our supply shipment.”
“This is way out of our league, man. We need to head back to the Compound and share this with Admin Rittenhouse. Let her and the other administrators figure this out.”
“What about the kids?”
“Look, they’re going into the cave. Morg can return them to the Compound. He said he would.”
“He has a lot of questions to answer.”
Theodore and Mike set up their body-heat tent about two kilometers away from the cave. Suddenly a ray of light struck Theodore, and he dropped to the ground with a red mark on his forehead where a ray had penetrated his skull. Mike fell next to him, with a trail of smoke coming from his chest. As night fell, the cold air penetrated the two holes in their tent. Everything in it, including the men, was frozen solid.
CHAPTER 12
More Than I Want to See
◆ ◆ ◆
Celine and Alex slept soundly through the night. It was the first time they felt safe and comfortable since leaving the Compound. The cave was warm and cozy, and neither the fear of freezing nor of wild animals disturbed their sleep.
Alex stretched and yawned. “What happened to the light?” He asked when he woke to find the cave totally dark.
Celine had awakened an hour ago. She sat silently thinking about her dad. Her head rested on the cool cave wall. Her simple plan to locate him proved not so simple.
“The light?” Alex said.
“I don’t think I should turn it on. Morg and the soldiers might still be here.”
“Well, we won’t know for sure, sitting back here in the dark.”
“You think the storm’s gone yet?” Celine shifted so she faced Alex. “Can you see me?”
“I heard you move. Don’t tell me you can see in the dark too.”
“I’m just finding this out.”
“I should have you on my show, Martian Girl. The headlines will be ‘Freak with Insane Vision Can See Literally Everything.’”
“You just can’t stop the insults, can you?”
“Lighten up. Where’s your sense of humor?”
“The truth is I can see everything. Sometimes more than I want to.”
“I was joking, but you sound serious.”
“For a year now. I’ve been seeing things.” Celine paused. “I—”
“I don’t like the sound of that. You’re not getting sick on me, are you?”
“It’s not like that.”
“Good. Then what are you trying to tell me?”
“Never mind. Let’s go and see if Morg has left.”
“Finally—sounds like progress. Let’s go.”
Alex patted the floor for his Navi.
“What are you trying to find?”
“My Navi and ray gun.”
“They’re against the wall to the right of you.”
“I didn’t put them there.”
“I did. They were in my way.”
Alex found the Navi. He tapped it, and it lit up. He quickly turned it away from the cave’s opening. “I’ll input this location. That way we can leave our things here. But not this,” he said, referring to the Navi. He then picked up his ray gun and attached it to the clamp on his suit. “And not this.”
Celine, on her hands and knees, crawled to the cave’s opening. She peeked out, looking for signs of Morg. She saw none. “Looks clear.”
“Well, let’s get out of here then. What are you waiting for? I need to stretch my legs.”
Celine crawled through the tiny opening into the large cavern, and Alex crawled out behind her. The cave had served as a great hiding spot.
From their hiding place, they crept into the large centralized cavern. Five lava tubes expanded from it like arms from an octopus. The tubes were tall enough for a man to walk upright, but they were not inviting. They were dark and gloomy. Celine stopped where she had seen Morg’s footprints.
Alex stopped in front of the tunnel where he had heard the running water. “I need my data recorder. I’m going in there.”
Celine nodded. “I want to follow these prints.”
Alex went back to their den and returned with their backpacks. He sat them on the ground next to his feet. Then he took out his data recorder and began collecting data from the tunnel.
“There is water in there!”
Celine came over to join him. “Shh—Morg might still be in here,” she whispered.
“And there’s water in there.” Alex pointed to the tunnel. “And what did you say?”
“Look, Morg’s been down there,” Celine said. She pointed to a lava tube that headed away from the cave’s entrance. “But the soldiers went back to the entrance.”
“Why would they separate?” Alex inquired. “Do you think they’re looking for us?”
Celine didn’t answer. She noticed a green light coming from the ceiling of one of the lava tubes.
“That’s strange.” She stepped into the tube to get a better look, and instantly the tube became as bright as a Martian day. Celine tilted her head back in an attempt to find the light’s source.
“Aah, disgusting,” she said and nearly fell backward out of the lava tube.
Alex ran over to her. “What’s wrong?” He widened his eyes and fell back from her. “Your eyes—they’re glowing. What happened to you?”
“Nothing. I’m OK.” Celine looked down at her ugly boots to avoid looking at Alex.
“You’re not,” Alex whispered. “Celine, what’s going on?”
“Let me explain.” Celine bit her lips, but she did not look at Alex. “I tried to tell you.” Then she looked directly at Alex and stepped forward.
“Don’t move.” Alex placed his hand of his ray gun.
Celine stopped in her tracks. “You wouldn’t.”
“I might.” Alex seemed frightened.
“I’ve tried telling you, but I was afraid.”
“You were afraid. Right.”
“I’m sorry Alex, but I was afraid you wouldn’t help me if you knew.”
“So this has happened before?”
Celine nodded.
“And you didn’t tell me…”
“I told you I was afraid you wouldn’t help me.”
Alex swallowed. “Why does it happen? I won’t catch it, will I?”
“No. I don’t think so.”
“Are you going to get sick? Cause I’m not carrying you back to the Compound.”
“No, I won’t get sick. Do you always put yourself first?”
“Yes. Don’t you?”
“Not the way you do.”
“Don’t change the subject. Tell me about this condition. Why do your eyes look like my pet seal’s?”
“Your pet seal ? Alex, you’re awful. I thought you had changed.”
“Looks like you’re the one who’s changed.”
Celine sat on a large rock that was a meter from Alex. “I don’t completely understand why my eyes change. It started last year, after I had my last Brain Booster.”
“What’s a Brain Booster?”
“You don’t know about Brain Boosters? It’s a brain booster injection.”
“No, I don’t. And judging by the sound of it, I’m glad I don’t.”
“I thought everyone had to get them until age twenty-five.”
“Never heard of it.”
“Oh.” Celine was silent for a moment. “Maybe, it has another name.”
“I don’t know. Anyway, so it started with your last Brain Booster.”
“Yes. It started with me noticing what appeared to be heat rising from my mom and dad.”
“Why didn’t you tell them?”
“It only lasted a few seconds, and I didn’t feel sick.”
“But it wasn’t normal. You should have told them.”
“Yes, I should have.”
“Why didn’t you? After a year? You and your parents seem close.”
“We are, but no one’s ever ill in the colony. I didn’t know what was happening, and I didn’t want to be the only one sick. Plus, I mean, I thought it would just go away.”
“I heard you were ill when I arrived.”
“Who told you?”
“Admin. Why does it matter?”
“Mom didn’t want anyone to know. I needed light therapy.”
“OK. So that’s it?”
“Yes. But that was the first day my eyes changed. And I could see auras around everyone one—Chakra colors.”
“I don’t believe in Chakras.”
“I do. That’s how I knew those animals were irritated. Dark red was surrounding their bodies.” And I might have used mine to calm those animals. I better keep that to myself.
“Like…auras?”
“Yes.”
“Do you see other colors?”
“Yes, sometimes. I don’t have any control over it.”
“So, if I were angry, you would see red colors around me?”
“Maybe.”
“What color is around me now?”
Celine stared at Alex for a few minutes. “Blue. There is always blue around you—” Celine paused. “Or red.”
Alex looked away. Then he appeared thoughtful. “Interesting. You’re a—” He searched for the right word. “A synesthesian. I’ve heard of people like you.”
“You think I’m a synester?”
“Synesthesian, Celine. There’re only a few people on Earth who can do what you do.”
I don’t think there’s anyone anywhere like me.
“But don’t get too excited,” he continued. “There’re only a few like you, and they’re all in the military.”
“Military?”
“Yes. They were drafted.”
“Drafted. You mean they had no choice?”
“None.”
Celine whispered, “My grandfather was in the military. Grandma said he hat
ed it.”
“I guess so. Who’d want to be treated like a humanoid?”
“My Enisi wanted me to keep my eyes a secret.”
“But with those eyes—how are you going to hide it?”
“I don’t know.” Celine’s eyes faded to normal.
“Your eyes are normal now. Darn, I wanted to get a picture.”
“Don’t say that.” Celine turned her head from Alex.
“Lighten up, Celine.”
“Promise you won’t tell anyone about this.”
“Why should I do that? You’d make a great story on my show: ‘Alex Finds a Real Martian on Mars.’”
“You wouldn’t dare!”
“I might.” Alex chuckled, but then he got serious. “I wouldn’t do that to you.”
“Thank you, Alex…Something good is going to happen to you, I can feel it.”
“Yeah, OK. What did you see in that lava tube?”
“I don’t know what it was,” Celine said nervously. “It looked like slimy animals dangling from the ceiling.”
Alex unhooked his ray gun and readied it. He cautiously stepped into the lava tube. Instantly, the tube brightened. He looked overhead but did not flinch. Hanging from the ceiling were glowing worms.
“Worms! You’re afraid of worms!” Alex reattached his ray gun to his clip. “Hand me my data recorder.”
“Be careful, Alex.” Celine searched the floor next to their backpacks. “I don’t see it.”
Alex walked over to his backpack where he had stored his recorder. “Your weird seal’s eyes not working?”
“Shut up, Water Boy.” Celine smiled.
“Good to see you smile.”
Alex stepped back into the tube. Celine watched him as he recorded data. The worms moved back and forth as if blown in a gentle breeze. Then she saw a red haze radiating from them.
“Get out of there.” Celine reached for Alex’s arm. “You’re irritating them.”
Alex followed her from the tube. He shook his head. “You’re way too dramatic.”
“What are they?” Celine rubbed her arms as if she could feel the worms crawling over her.
“They look like the glowworms you see in the Amazons, but—”
“You’ve seen those kind of yucky things before ?”
“Not exactly.” Alex continued to read the data. “Maybe they’re not animals. They appear to be part metal.” Alex pushed the replay icon on his data recorder. “There’s also something in them listed as unknown on the recorder.
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