Kahnu (The Guardians of Tomorrow Book 1)

by Yves LF Giraud

  Within minutes, the sunlight began to move back up the wall of the terrace, and the purple glow around the sphere disappeared.

  “I guess we should start heading back soon. We only have an hour left on our tanks, anyway,” mentioned Dedrick.

  Forty-five minutes later, they were all back in the rovers, leaving a long trail of dust behind them as they zoomed across the reddish landscape. Far in the distance, the sun was now setting behind the tall cliffs of Valles Marineris. Its light gradually shifting from bright yellow to soft orange, the ancient celestial object appeared to be following the racing rovers on their journey back, like a giant eye spying on the intruders. Occasionally reflecting on their windshields, its rays of deep rusty reds and crimsons cut through the canyons from above the immense geological formation, until it finally disappeared behind the high plateau above them.

  That night, none of the Martian colonists would be able to sleep.

  Chapter VII

  Chasma

  Crawling through one of the housing tubes between habitat three and its greenhouse, Chasma was holding her favorite doll, Sylvia that Vera had made for her almost four years earlier. Her long blonde hair flowing down her back, she had become quite a beautiful child. Everyone loved her on the base, and she was treated like a little princess everywhere she went. Something she loved, of course. She was turning five today, spoke three languages fluently, and a fourth one quite well. Her French was limited. François didn't like using his French and was a reluctant teacher, when it came to his native language. He always pretended he couldn't remember it very well, but they all knew he simply didn’t like to.

  Chasma was of course fluent in English, the primary language of choice for all communication between members of the station, but her natural aptitude to juggling multiple languages showed already. She was also fluent in Russian and Spanish, and her Korean was good. She loved talking to each members of the base in their native tongue. She made a point to do so every day, and they all knew better than to tell her they were too busy, even if they truly were at times. François felt it was useless. They would never go back to Earth, so why bother? Regardless, she was relentless, always wanting to learn more, know more, and would chase them around the small base, asking questions and wanting answers. But her true interest was science. She would ask about the controls in the rover anytime she was allowed in the garage, or want to know how the water recycling systems worked. She was fascinated about the mechanics of the universe, why Mars' atmosphere was almost completely depleted of oxygen, how different gravity was on Jupiter and other planets, and how the universe was created. Another favorite subject was biology and all the different plants in the greenhouses. Every morning, she crawled her way to the lab to go check on the progress of the vegetable gardens, always making to stop by the Blobus Viscus aquariums, and last but not least, have a look at her favorite flowers in greenhouse III: The tomato flowers. The tomato plants made beautiful yellow flowers. It was the only flower growing on the station at the moment.

  “Hola, Sabrina!”

  “Hola, Chasma! Dormir bien?”

  “Si. Y usted.”

  “Si, gracias! Desea ver las flores?”

  “Si, por favor.”

  Walking through a path between rows of vegetable trays, they soon arrived at the spot where the tomato plants were grown. One plant in particular looked fuller and healthier than all others. There were even more flowers on it than the day before. Chasma loved looking at them, but she loved smelling them even more. Sabrina took Chasma in her arms and raised her up to help her sit on the table, right next to the plant beds, just as she did every morning. The young child leaned over to smell the closest flower to her.

  “Ooooo! This one smells good, Sabrina!”

  “Yes, it's a nice one; and big too!”

  “It's my favorite!”

  “Do you want it?”

  “Oh, can I? Please, can I?” the girl asked all excited.

  In truth, Sabrina had already planned to give her a flower from the batch that morning, for a good reason. Today was Chasma's birthday. In a few hours, the members of the small Martian station would gather in greenhouse II to celebrate her turning five.

  A few minutes later, holding her beautiful flower in one hand and her doll, Sylvia, in the other, she burst into her parent’s pod.

  “Mommy, Mommy! Look!”

  “Well, what do we have here? That's a beautiful flower, Chasma. Did Sabrina give it to you?”

  “Yes, she said it was because it's my birthday today, Mommy. I'm five now, you know?”

  “Yes, you are. You're a big girl, now.”

  Vera was kneeling in front of her daughter, adjusting the bow in her long blond hair when, coming back from a routine maintenance check, Dedrick entered the room.

  Both turned.

  “Hey!” he said, happily surprised to see them both there.

  “Hi Daddy. Did you see my flower?”

  “Very nice, Chasma. Where did you get such a gorgeous flower?” Of course, he knew where it came from.

  “Sabrina gave it to me for my birthday. I'm five now.”

  “Oh yeah, that's right. I almost forgot,” he replied with a teasing smile.

  #

  When the small group, that now counted eight members, had first settled on Mars, each section of their habitat had been designed for a very specific function and usage by the Mars First engineers and architects. But after the loss of communication with Earth, the group had eventually taken advantage of their newfound freedom, and after relocating some resources, made four of their six pods their new living quarters. Dedrick, Vera, and Chasma, now slept together in pod 3, François and Sabrina were in pod 1, Ladli and Tendai occupied pod 2 and Liu had pod 4 all to herself. The new arrangements seemed to please everyone.

  Although the compound counted three more pods, Greenhouse II had become the place of choice for occasional group meetings and special events. The largest of the three by a good meter, it was also the most centralized location in the small outpost. And if that had not been a good enough reason, the astronaut’s craving for some well-deserved entertainment had been satisfied when François had pointed out that it was the only greenhouse with its own home theatre. A luxury the Frenchman had managed to setup a few months back.

  Today was one of those special occasions. They had all gathered to discuss the possibility of taking Chasma with them on tomorrow’s excursion. Not that Dedrick and Vera would have needed their teammates’ approval, but they had all agreed years ago to share any decision that could affect the rest of the colony, and in such a small community, pretty much everything did. Although Chasma had been allowed to venture outside many times before, they had never taken her to the “Gate” before. Vera had never been very enthusiastic about letting her daughter go down the cliff side in one of the baskets. She was very protective of Chasma, understandably so considering the countless dangers of the hostile red world. Most of her resistance usually began by pointing out the fact that they had only one suit for her. If anything happened to it, she would never be able to go out on foot again. They knew she was right about that, of course, but as François had argued, what was the point of having it if she wasn’t going to allow the child to use it?

  Dedrick was looking at Sabrina and her Frenchman. The Guatemalan girl was seated on his lap, her arms around his neck. He had his around her waist.

  “Personally, I think the more she knows and experiences, the better. Plus, she’s gonna have to go out there, eventually. Why not now?” said François looking at Vera.

  “She’s been asking a lot about the alien place lately. We can’t keep her away from it forever. I think it would be fair to let her come, if that’s what she wants,” added Sabrina.

  “I don’t know… She’s so young and going down that ravine can be very dangerous. There is no margin for error out there. You all know that. Najib knew that.”

  She paused, realizing she didn’t need to mention his name. She glanced at L
iu Xing with a caring smile and turned her attention back to the rest of the group.

  “I mean, I know I promised we would take her with us this time but…”

  “Love, I understand how you feel. We all care about her, you know that. Chasma has proved how disciplined and attentive to details she can be, countless times. She knows the routine as well as any of us, by now. She’s a smart girl, I know she’ll be careful, and you know she’s not easy to scare.”

  “That’s the part that worries me.”

  “That’s also a quality that can save her life someday.”

  “I would prefer it if she never had to. Sending her hanging above a precipice is not my idea of an ideal birthday present for our daughter, Dedrick. She’s only five, for crying out loud!” she almost cried.

  “Come on, Hun, you know how much Chasma wants to go.”

  “I…I know, you’re right, I’m over reacting.”

  She took another look around the room. No one would ever care for Chasma more than this small group of people, and Vera knew it.

  “I know how much you all care about Chasma and only want the best for her, and I love you all for it. Sometimes, my fear of losing her overcomes my sense of adventure and freedom; that same drive that brought us all here on Mars, in the first place. I want Chasma to experience life and its wonders to the fullest, even if our world is a giant desert. And I realize you are right, she deserves to see as much of it as we do. It’s also her world.”

  She paused a moment and then, looking at Dedrick, she added, “You’re right, I guess it’s time. Let’s take her with us tomorrow.”

  “Well, that settles it, then,” finalized Dedrick.

  Key Largo

  The day was November 21, 2039. All eight of them had left the station in ARC 1 and 3, leaving no one behind. This was a first. Leaving the base unattended had always been a big no-no, especially after the incident with Tendai a few years earlier. Since then, there was always at least one crew member, besides Chasma, who stayed behind to hold the fort, and in most instances two. Since the crash of MF3 had happened on the same day Chasma was born, the team usually commemorated the astronauts’ deaths a day earlier. The young girl had never been with them for that. It was time for her to go visit the MF3 memorial. They called the site “Key Largo,” and for some reason, she had never wondered why until now.

  “Mommy, what’s Key Largo?’”

  “Well, Key Largo is an island in Florida, one of the states in the US, and-”

  “I know about Florida, Mom,” cut her off Chasma, somewhat offended her mother thought she didn’t.

  “Yes, you do. That’s right. Anyway, the people we’re going to visit really liked that island and that’s where they spent their last vacation together before coming to Mars. So, we decided to call the place where they rest now, Key Largo, in their honor.”

  Chasma knew some of the circumstances surrounding the crew’s death, but not all the details. The colonists had told her a malfunction had caused the crash, and that the incident had happened long before her birth. Today, she would get a chance to see where the MF3 crew was buried. It also meant the group was going to take her to “The Gate.”

  #

  “Are you OK, Chasma?”

  “Yes, Mom, I’m fine. You don’t have to ask me every time.”

  “I know. I’m just making sure. It’s a long trip and the way is a bit bumpy at times.”

  “I don’t mind.”

  They finally came to a stop at the foot of a slope. Not far away, four small pyramids made of large stacked up rocks were looking back at them. Shoulder high and looking strangely enigmatic, the evenly spaced monuments were hard to miss on the flat Martian landscape. They each featured a small niche, the size of a shoe box, where the colonists had put some of the astronauts’ personal belongings they had managed to find after the crash. There was also a picture of each team member taken from the computer archives. Chasma stepped out of the rover holding her mother’s hand, and the two began walking to the memorial.

  A few minutes later, all eight humans were facing the site. Atop a small boulder in front of the pyramids, a white metallic plaque read the following:

  “Here rest the body, spirit, and soul of our friends, brothers, sisters and colleague astronauts Ebba Andreasson, Jessie Bruun, Daniel Patel and Antonio Bardino. May their death not be forgotten, and their life celebrated for the true heroes they were. Pioneers in the conquest of space, they came to Mars and died on this day of November 22, 2034, in the name of all mankind. Stretching the limits of their world, and overcoming the fear of the unknown, they came in peace to explore new frontiers and a world yet unexplored. Mankind is forever in your debt, dear friends.”

  Dedrick stood in the middle of the small group, facing the fallen colleagues.

  “…and we all miss you. We wish you could have seen all this with us. We’ve finally made good use of the panels we had found from your ship a few years back and managed to build another storage area behind the station. Most of it is built underground, right into the cliff behind the base. So, I guess we have you to thank for that too. Last week, the…”

  While Dedrick was addressing the four monuments, the rest of the group had gathered around him in a tight crescent. Chasma was staring silently as the sunlight grazed the side of Jessie Bruun’s tombstone. Jessie, team three’s mission specialist, had just turned forty-one when the ship had finally left Earth. She was ecstatic and for good reasons. Her passionate love for Mars had inspired more interest in the project, during her astronaut training, than any other candidate ever had. She had the most infatuating personality of her group, and her looks didn’t hurt, of course. She had many admirers, to say the least, and François had commented on her feminine charms more than once, which invariably made Sabrina jealous. Jessie Bruun had been the most disappointed of her team when their trip to Mars, originally scheduled for 2030, had been delayed, after the shocking news of Najib’s death. She had also found herself quite affected by the astronaut’s unexpected passing. But she had worked diligently at helping Mars First convince the powers at play to allow the next ship to launch, eventually getting her wish four years later. Tragically, her dreams of exploring the red planet had died with her when MF3 had crashed on Mars six months later, killing Jessie and her three teammates on board.

  “…but that wasn’t enough, I guess, so they had to kill everyone! So fucking stupid! We were so close! Leave it to the human race. Makes you wonder how we even got this far, doesn’t it?” Dedrick’s speeches invariably led to his frustration over Earth’s ultimate demise, each time the colonists came to the MF3 site. They were all used to it by now, and no one cared to stop him. After all, he wasn’t saying anything they didn’t agree with. Although traveling to other stars had seemed a perfectly plausible future for humans to the visionaries of the twenty-first century, that scenario was very unlikely now. With only eight of them left, possibly the very last survivors of their doomed civilization, the universe would forever be left unexplored. And even though Chasma was proof life could go on, even here on Mars, chances were the small outpost would never offer more than a precarious dwelling, destined to eventually breakdown and die, them along with it. The base couldn’t be expanded or even repaired, now that they couldn’t get any more help from Earth. Eventually, something would need to be replaced, a computer would fail, a door seal would wear out. Whatever the cause, they too would disappear, ending the human saga forever, and they all knew it.

  “…yet, somehow, we’re still here. Eight small creatures, alone on Mars. That’s quite a miracle in itself, isn’t it?” He looked up at the sky. “Lars, if you can hear me, I hope you can see us now and are proud of yourself. You made this possible. You and your dream that we were meant for more; that we were explorers and meant to break through the barriers of our own atmosphere, travel millions of kilometers through space and begin anew, on another world. You helped humanity go further than anyone had ever before, and in doing so, as fate would have it, g
ave humanity a second chance. We will do our best to be worthy. We’re going to survive, and we’re going to grow. Chasma is the first child of Mars. But there will be more. We will make a better world, a smarter one, a peaceful one. We will make it worth all the efforts and all the losses.”

  He was staring at the landscape in the distance. The megalithic cliffs ahead letting giant beams of light cut through their plateau’s crevices, some casting kilometer deep shadows across the flat plane below, offered a sight rivaling none. On a day like this, occasional dust devils and wind storms were common sights. But, to his surprise, those seemed strangely absent today. As if reading his thoughts, a light wind picked up for a few seconds, as if saying “we’ll see about that.”

  Dedrick continued, “Today, we have a new visitor for you. Chasma… Chasma…?”

  Only partially listening to her Dad, Chasma was staring at the picture of the dark-haired woman on one of the pyramids.

  “Mommy, that’s my birthday,” she stated, pointing at the date on the inscription.

  “You’re right, sweetie. The MF3 accident happened the same day you were born. I guess it’s time you knew.”

  “Did you know her, Je…ssie?”

  “Yes, sweetie, I knew her. She was a wonderful person. I think you would’ve liked her very much. And you know what? She loved flowers too. She always had some in her room, back on Earth. And she was funny, gosh she was funny...”

  Chasma was listening to her mother, watching her from below, when she noticed a few tears begin to roll down her face.

  “I’m sorry, Mommy.”

  “I know, love, I know. It’s OK.”

  She squatted down to take her daughter in her arms, only to realize how unpractical it was with both their suits on. She looked at Chasma through the glass front of her helmet for a moment, and finally asked with a smile, “Do you want to see something really cool?”