“How is that possible? Your recorder might be radiation defected.”
“I kept it in my backpack. I only used it once on the surface. It’s working fine. These creatures, whatever they are, contain some unknown element that enhances their bioelectric ability.”
“You think they’re manmade.”
“No, I think they are alien-made.”
“If there were intelligent life other than us on this planet, I would know it.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure of that,” Alex said.
“Well, those things give off heat like they are alive. I can see that.”
“So does a florescent light.”
“But they look like they’re responding to us.”
“Built-in motion sensor?”
Suddenly, the Navi beeped wildly.
“Is Dad showing up?”
Alex looked down at the Navi and turned its volume off. “Possibly. Follow me.” Alex placed his hand on his ray gun. Celine walked silently behind him.
They came out of the tube into another room-like cavern that also had four lava tubes extending from it. Alex’s light dimmed, and he checked its charge. “Low. We can’t afford to lose our lights in here. The Navi’s low too. Let’s go outside so we can recharge them.”
“Dad might be in there. What if he leaves?”
Alex looked at the dark lava tubes. “Look, we don’t want to get lost in here.”
Reluctantly, Celine agreed. “Dad!” she yelled. Her only response was her own echo.
“Fine. Let’s go, Alex,” she said, crestfallen.
They headed cautiously toward the cave’s entrance.
“Oh no!” Celine ran over to the huge boulder that blocked the entrance to the cave. She pounded the huge rock with her fists. “No!” She pushed on it until her heels began sliding. “I can’t move it! Help me!” Celine and Alex leaned against the boulder and pushed, but it didn’t move.
“Not even a millimeter,” Alex said. They sat next to the large rock, exhausted.
“Alex, I think there’s another way out.”
“You think?”
“Remember Morg’s footprints led down another lava tube. He never came back. It must be the other way out of here.”
“What are you waiting for? Lead the way.”
Celine started with Morg’s footprints. She stepped into the lava tube, and it became bright.
“Spirit, they’re everywhere.”
“Keep walking. Don’t look at them.”
“Do you think they’re dangerous?”
“If you’re worried they’ll eat us, don’t be. There’s no fecal matter in their system.”
“Disgusting.”
“Keep moving.”
“Don’t touch anything.”
Suddenly Alex stopped in his tracks. “This could be a trap. Morg could be waiting for us.” He unclamped his ray gun and laid his Navi on the floor.
Celine smirked. “What do you think you’re going to do with that? If Morg’s in there, we can outrun him, Alex. You won’t need that.”
Alex ignored her. He didn’t see the puddle of slime in front of him. He lost his balance. As he slipped, he fired a laser beam into a patch of glowworms.
“Now you’ve done it.” Celine rolled her eyes.
The worms shrilled so loudly that Celine and Alex were momentarily paralyzed.
Then the lights went out.
He crept from the floor. “Disgusting,” he said. “Lead the way, Martian Girl.”
He walked on Celine’s heel. “Move faster.”
Finally, they came out of the tube into another large area.
“Another cavern.” The cavern was similar to the one they had left, almost dome-shaped with four lava tubes leading in the four directions.
“You want to put that ray gun away now?”
Alex didn’t answer. He clamped his gun on his hip. “Celine, lead the way, please.”
“Of course.” Celine cautiously walked forward. She saw a faint heat residue coming from Morg’s footprints. They glowed like directional signs. “Let’s go this way,” she said.
The prints led to the tube that went north. They stepped into the tube. The glowworms did not brighten their way, but Celine saw small green lights emitting from them. At least they’re not shrilling anymore. My eardrums still ache. “Look, there’s sunlight. I knew there had to be another way out.”
They began to walk faster. “Careful!” Celine shouted.
Celine noticed the warm green glow from the worms change to a muddy red. “Run!” she shouted.
The worms began discharging electric shocks. “Ouch!” Celine said.
“Double that!” Alex said. He was shocked several times.
They ran to the end of the tube onto a ledge. “Stop! Stop!” Celine screamed.
Alex almost slid to a stop.
Both stood on the ledge waiting for their eyes to adjust to the sunlight. Celine wanted to chastise Alex for making the worms angry. Her body tingled. “Are you OK?” she asked. Then she noticed the magnetic field flickering around Alex’s jumpsuit.
“Never felt better.”
“Don’t move, Alex. We’re on a ledge.” She looked at the narrow ledge. It was wide enough for a man to walk if he placed his back against the wall.
Both teens peered over the ledge at the large rust-colored rocks beneath it. “That could have been a nasty fall,” said Alex. “At least thirty meters down.”
The ledge curved around both sides of the hill. Celine could not see where either side led. “Which way?” She muttered.
“The Navi! I left it in the cave!”
CHAPTER 13
I Saw It Flicker
◆ ◆ ◆
“I’m not going back in there,” Alex said. He folded his arms across his chest.
“We have to.” Celine said. She didn’t necessarily want to return to the cave either, but the Navi contained her dad’s coordinates and needed to be retrieved.
“They were firing at me, not you. You go back and get it.”
“Yes, they were firing at you, and they hit you too. They might have damaged your suit—I saw it flicker. You need to get out of this radiation,” Celine said as she inspected his suit.
“All right, all right—enough with the lecture,” Alex snapped as he slapped her hand away. “You go in first.”
Celine was disappointed at Alex’s immaturity, but she was not surprised. She had always admired him on his reality show. He seemed so brave and caring on the air, nothing like in real life. She was getting to know the real Alex, and it was a letdown. She reentered the cave.
“Alex,” Celine said. She turned to look over her right shoulder at him.
“I’m coming.” Alex followed Celine into the cave. He pouted and rolled his eyes.
When Celine entered the cave, she expected to see the Navi lying on the ground. “I don’t see it,” she said.
“That’s because I left it in that tube.” Alex pointed to the lava tube where the glowworms had shocked them.
Flashbacks of the shocks flooded Celine’s head.
“Well, I don’t see any signs of life in there now,” Celine said with a hint of optimism. She cautiously walked toward the tube and took one step in. She peered up at the ceiling. “They’re all black…Like they’re burned.”
Alex stepped in beside her. “Well, would you look at that? They burned themselves out.”
Alex let out a prideful laugh then strutted down the tube to reclaim his Navi. “That’ll teach you to mess with Alex Rittenhouse IV!” A swollen worm popped. Alex, startled, quickly grabbed his Navi and ran out of the tube.
“Let’s get out of here,” Alex said to Celine as he darted past her and led the way to the cave’s opening.
“Wait, Alex! Your suit!”
Alex stopped at the opening of the cave. “Look over there,” he said, ignoring Celine’s remark. He pointed to flashing balls of light in the Martian deep red sky, then he drew back from the opening.
“You have to check your suit. Remember, I saw it flicker.” Celine touched Alex’s radiation suit.
Alex sighed and plopped down on to the cave’s floor. He leaned against a wall. Celine could see the tension and sadness in his face. A dark blue aura outlined his body.
“I should’ve asked my dad for help,” he said. He rested his elbows on his knees and entwined his fingers under his chin.
“We can’t give up now. We’re too close to finding my dad—and those coordinates you want.”
Alex looked up at her. He gave a half-hearted smile.
Celine noticed the blue around Alex brighten a little.
“Sit down,” he said. He patted the floor next to him. “Please.”
Celine ignored him.
“Let me have the light and the Navi,” she said. “They need to be charged.”
Alex removed the light from his backpack. He handed it along with the Navi to Celine. She set them next to the cave’s opening in the dim sunlight. Then she returned and plopped down next to him, pushing her back against the wall.
They sat together in silence for hours as they watched the storm in the distance.
“For once,” Alex said, “I want to show him…I want to show him that I can do something great.”
“Your dad?”
“Yeah. He’s difficult to compete with.”
“Why do you feel the need to compete with him?” Celine asked.
Alex paused as if racking his brain for an answer. “It’s just the Rittenhouse way. We’re competitors. We’re winners.”
“Does that mean someone has to lose?”
Alex looked surprised. “You’re pretty naive, aren’t you?” he said.
“I don’t think so.” She got up and walked toward the cave’s opening to retrieve the Navi and the light. Suddenly, a loud scratching sound tore through the cave’s silence. She stumbled back into the cave before the ball of lightning smashed to the ground a half a kilometer away.
“We won’t be leaving this cave any time soon,” she said. She slumped down next to Alex once again. “It’s so quiet in here…kind of eerie.” The wind howled. Celine swallowed and felt goose bumps rise on her arms.
“I guess I better check my suit.”
“I can help if you want.”
“No thanks. You go over there.” Alex motioned to the opposite side of the cave. “No peeking.”
Celine rolled her eyes. “I don’t understand why you’re acting so modest. I’ve seen your shows.”
“Well, I’m used to privacy. I wasn’t raised inside a can with a hundred people.”
Celine sucked her teeth and walked to the other side of the cave.
Alex took off his suit to inspect it for damage. He saw a small hole burned on the left leg of his suit. “It’s burned but not burned through the suit, thank goodness,” he said.
Celine shuffled her feet back and forth. “But will it protect you when we’re on the surface?”
“I hope so.” Alex turned his suit’s electromagnetic field off, and he slipped it back on. “OK, you can come out of the corner, if you’d like.” He chuckled.
“Your suit,” Celine said, “Why’d you turn it off?” She seemed stunned.
“We don’t need it on in here. We don’t need these helmets on either.”
After doing another quick inspection of her surroundings, Celine turned off her suit as well. “Let’s keep the helmets on. You wouldn’t want a dead glowworm to fall into your hair or something.”
“No, I wouldn’t. Who would have thought something so innocent-looking could be so—I don’t know—powerful.”
“They didn’t look innocent to me.”
“Whatever. Let’s go to the den. We can leave our gear there while we look for signs of your dad. Oh, and maybe I can find that water.”
Alex turned on the Navi. “Fully charged! Good thing I saved the coordinates.”
“You want me to lead the way again?”
“I got this.” Alex strutted through the lava tube under the blackened ceiling.
“Wait, listen. It sounds like the running water.”
“Which way?”
“I think it’s coming from the tube where we saw the footprints.”
“Let’s check it out then.”
Alex seemed excited. Then his expression changed. His eyes rolled around as if he were confused. “This place is actually awesome!” he said.
“Yes, but no shouting. I don’t want you to agitate the other glowworms.”
“I am telling you, Celine, this cave is freaking awesome! I wouldn’t mind staying here forever.”
Celine stared at Alex, bewildered. His eyes and mouth were opened wide in awe. He almost looked like a different person. “Alex, have you lost your mind? You want to stay in this cave? Forever?”
“What are you talking about?” Alex replied.
“That’s what you just said.” Celine stood still. “Do you need more time to rest?”
“I don’t need any rest. I need to find out where that water is. Water on Mars is more valuable than gold.” He headed down the tube toward the gurgling sound.
“Wait for me.” Celine followed Alex gingerly into the most beautiful cavern she could have ever imagined. There were columns of white and pink sandstone. What appeared to be water flowed in the center of the cave’s floor. It was a light-pink puddle that bubbled up from the ground like a natural spring.
“There’s your water.” Celine smiled. “Still more valuable than gold?” She moved in to get a closer look. “I’d love to touch it. Have you ever seen anything like it? Pink water.”
Alex pointed his data recorder at the spring. “It’s acid,” he said.
Celine gasped then fell back and scrambled away from the liquid.
“Relax,” Alex said. He laughed. “It’s a mild carbonic acid. The same thing that’s used to flavor soda waters on Earth.”
“So it’s not dangerous.”
“It could give you gas if you drink it.” Alex took out his water bottle and scooped up some of the liquid for analysis. “This is amazing,” he chuckled. “Pink water on Mars. There’s got to be a source for the spring. Maybe an underground river.”
“Aw, it’s not pretty anymore.”
“Celine, this stuff is safe enough to drink.”
“Maybe, but I wouldn’t do it if I were you.”
“I’m not going to drink this. But if I were your dad and had run out of water, I definitely would.”
Celine turned her head to one side “Quiet. I hear something?”
Alex stooped down next to her. “What?”
“Music. It sounds like a flute.” Celine patted the outline of her flute in her backpack. “It’s Dad! He’s made a flute out of something. He’s calling us! Come on, Alex. Follow me.” She was ecstatic and quickly ran toward the sound. Suddenly, Celine stopped in her tracks.
“What did I just say?” Celine palmed her face. “Alex, what’s happening to us? My dad wouldn’t make a dumb flute. He’d be trying to find a way home.”
Instinctively, she began to walk quietly, almost wolflike, cautiously, listening for movement. When she heard the sound directly above her, she looked up.
“It’s the wind whistling through this tiny opening in the ceiling,” Celine said, motioning upward. “Would you look at that? My goodness, there’re hundreds of them!”
Alex looked up. “What kind of formation is that? I’ve never seen anything like it.”
High up, around the walls of the cave, were perfect circular openings like those made by carpenter bees. However, these holes were large enough for a man to step through.
“They remind me of cliff apartments. You know, the kind Pueblos Indians lived in,” Celine said. “But how would anyone get up there? The walls are pretty smooth.” She further studied the surroundings. “No inclines either.”
“Ladders. They would use ladders.”
“Maybe it is just something natural, places where lava bubbled out. I just hope it wasn�
��t made by some kind of animal.” She looked for any sign of heat coming from the openings. “I can’t tell if anything’s in them.”
“Do you think we should be in here?” Alex said.
Celine turned to face him. His eyes were glassy. He appeared to be in a trance.
“Alex, are you sick? How do you feel?”
“OK, I guess.” He staggered.
“I don’t want to go home without Dad. But maybe we need to go back.” Suddenly, Celine noticed something shiny in the dirt. “Alex, may I use your data recorder?”
“No. Why do you need it? I can record.”
Celine was surprised that Alex was acting so childish. But she didn’t feel much like herself either.
“Alex, come over here…I think I found something. Look. Something’s embedded in the soil.
“It looks like a chip.” Alex pointed his data recorder at the metal. “It is—it’s your dad’s.”
Celine took out her safety box and removed the tweezers. She used them to loosen the soil around the chip. She could see what appeared to be small bones in the dirt. The chip was caked with blood and dust. Finally she was able to pry it from the dirt. Celine picked it up and turned it over in her gloved hand. Her stomach tightened. “Here,” she said. She handed it to Alex and then wrapped her arms around her stomach. “Is it still active?”
Alex looked at it. “Yes, it is.”
“Is it possible the satellite picked up its signal?” Celine choked, but she held back the tears.
“I’m afraid so.”
Celine felt woozy. She wanted to scream. She closed her eyes and shook her head.
“Celine, maybe your dad removed the chip. Maybe he doesn’t want to be found.”
Alex ran the data recorder over the area where Celine had found the chip. “There’s animal DNA here.”
“So you’re saying my dad was eaten by an animal?” Celine began to cry.
“Don’t cry, Celine…There’s still hope. Plus, you’ll need your O2 pill early if you cry. Stay calm, please.”
Alex’s comments went in one ear and out the other. Celine slumped to the ground and sobbed quietly.
Alex pointed the data recorder throughout the cave. He hoped he would locate Celine’s father’s gear. He found nothing.
Lost in the Red Hills of Mars Page 14
