The Martian Journal

by Burnside, Michael

  14:53 Thursday 15 January 2178

  Still didn’t sleep well. I suppose that’s not really surprising considering what we’re up against.

  Spoke to Frank this morning. He wanted to apologise for his outburst the other day when I asked him to recalculate our route. I didn’t consider it really an outburst as such, but he wanted me to know that he didn’t mean to show any disrespect. To be honest, it took me a moment to realize what incident he was referring to but we shook hands and I told him he was doing an excellent job. He does seem to spend nearly every waking moment on the bridge constantly tracking our flight path. I wouldn't be surprised if we arrive at the Clarke a few days early.

  I got a chance straight afterwards to speak to Aaron who was fixing some breakfast. I told him about his brother apologising and was wondering if maybe he had told him to do it. Aaron never really answered but said that his brother really wanted to see this mission to the end, possibly to redeem himself a bit to the rest of the family. I guess he was worried we would turn around and he’d lose the prestige of being one of the few to go to the Clarke.

  Sarah came down and Aaron left the two of us alone. She seemed in a better mood, obviously slept better than I did. I imagine perhaps the late night talk with Malcolm has eased her slightly. I had a chance to speak to her in more detail about her contact with the Aldrin. Apparently it’s a little tense there and they've stopped any ships leaving until they've tracked down the saboteur. I was surprised to find out that Sarah hadn't been talking directly to the Clarke but through a representative based at the Aldrin. It won't be until we're docking with the Clarke that we’ll be able to speak directly to someone onboard there.

  We chatted for a bit while we had breakfast. Seems she's been in her current role for only a few months so this bomb incident hit her quite hard. I asked her if it annoyed her that she's not privy to the full information about our trip. She shrugged and said it probably was the best way to keep the mission secret. She then laughed and said it hasn't really worked. I asked what she knew of Malcolm and if he had told her anything about himself. She paused, looked around and told me quietly that all she's learnt is that Malcolm is connected directly to the cargo. He owns it.

  She finished her coffee and told me that there'll be an official from Aldrin who will want to speak to me soon. She said she'll let me know when he makes the call which could be sometime in the next couple of hours. I thanked her as she left and told her not to worry. She smiled again. She should smile more often.

  Hutchie left a note for me under my door. It said he needed to catch a couple of hours sleep but wanted me to meet him down in the lower deck later.

  Log 0020

  18:13 Thursday 15 January 2178

  Hutchie was still asleep so I though I’d visit Lloyd in the lab. I’m hoping that since Hutchie is able to sleep then perhaps it isn’t anything too serious. Here’s hoping.

  I was only able to speak to Lloyd briefly. I asked what he thought of Malcolm and he just shrugged and said he thinks he probably knows a lot more than he lets on. I told him that he’s connected to the mysterious container down below. Lloyd said he wasn’t surprised and that he’s probably the reason somebody wants to blow us up.

  Sarah called over the intercom and asked me to meet her in the comms room along with the package. I said to Lloyd that I’d speak to him later and if he’d let me know if he thinks of anything that could be important. He said he would but reminded me that he wasn’t even told what he’ll be doing on the Clarke or for how long. He feels just as much in the dark as me.

  Sarah was already in the comms room. On the screen was an official, impatiently waiting for me who, when I think about it, never mentioned his own name throughout the entire meeting.

  I took a seat and right away he began his questioning of how and when the bomb was found. As I answered, I noticed he would occasionally glance to the side, where somebody was obviously watching but not prepared to show themselves. I told him that the bomb had been disarmed. He snorted and then asked to see the device. I handed it over to Sarah who placed it in the scanner.

  Several minutes passed with nothing being said, the man still conferring with the unseen person or persons. Eventually he turned and asked me if there were any searches or checks since. I told him that I've had the crew be on the lookout for anything else. He didn't seem too impressed and demanded I organise a rota and search check plan immediately. Before I could protest against his arrogant request, he turned once again to the side and continued his mysterious conversation. I looked at Sarah and she just shrugged her shoulders, probably fully aware of what these people are like.

  After a further several minutes of silence, he faced the camera and gave me run down of what they've deduced from the bomb. Seems Lloyd indeed managed to deactivate the bomb in a way that it couldn't be exploded remotely. However it still could be set off again if you either throw it against a wall or pull the wires loose.

  I remember Sarah and I looked at each other, both absolutely speechless. The man did tell us that the bomb seemed to have a fifteen minute fuse so it wouldn't go off immediately on us. That is unless I knocked it fourteen minutes and fifty nine seconds ago.

  He advised to store it somewhere secure because it's quite a substantial bomb. I asked if they knew how it got on board and who planted it. He looked over off camera and then answered that they didn't know but they were following all leads on the Aldrin. I then asked what was it we were carrying that was so valuable but he abruptly told me that was classified and that the delivery to the Clarke would continue as scheduled. He then said he would inform Sarah of any further developments and if there are anymore discoveries on our side then to inform him immediately. Before I could even say anything else, he ended the transmission. I stormed out of there and punched a door on the way back to my quarters. Hand is still killing me.

  I probably should go apologise to Sarah before seeing Hutchie. I honestly don't know how she can work with people like that.

  Log 0021

  00:02 Friday 16 January 2178

  I returned to the comms room and picked up the bomb. I told Sarah that I’d store it in one of the empty containers down in the cargo deck. She asked if it was even safe putting it there. Personally I would love to just jettison it out into space but the problem with that is that it could explode before it gets a safe distance.

  I asked if she thought the meeting earlier went ok. She thought it went as well as it could all things considering. I apologised for walking out like that but she said not to worry about it and she doesn’t blame me one bit.

  I went down to the cargo bay to see Hutchie, stopping off to get a beer for him and myself. He was down inside the life pod working away, so I stashed the bomb inside one of the spare containers and dropped down into the pod.

  Hutchie was glad to see I brought a beer for him. He seemed to have been working quite intensively down below. We both sat down and I told him about the meeting with the no named official earlier. I told him were I placed the bomb and not to go banging the containers too hard otherwise we could be in trouble. I then said, jokingly, that if he did, he would have fifteen minutes to get to the life pod before it blows. Hutchie then stood up and said that’s actually what he wanted to see me about. He walked over towards the display panel and turned it on. He said he nearly missed this because normally a warning light appears, but it seems our oxygen supply for the life pod is not exactly full. Far from it in fact. I nearly dropped my beer as I got up and joined him at the display. Hutchie ran through the reports showing the power supply was adequate, but the display for the oxygen level was almost reading zero. Hutchie said normally these capsules could supply fifty people enough air for just under a month, providing they don’t move about or talk too much, but if the seven of us ever needed to use this, we would last a day and a half at the very most. Nowhere near enough time for a rescue ship to reach us before we choked.

  Hutchie had been checking out the onboard operating system, trying t
o figure out how and when the oxygen tanks were drained but was having no luck. I suggested it might be a malfunction or a faulty tank but Hutchie pointed out that the alarms which would have alerted them if there was a problem. The pod was deliberately sabotaged and whoever did it covered their tracks well.

  We both sat back down and thought about the situation to see if we could make any sense of it. Somebody wanted to blow us up and as a security measure, made the life pod a death trap. So what is the target? Is it the mysterious container or could it even be somebody aboard the ship who is the intended target?

  A question that Hutchie came up with was when was the bomb planned to go off? They could have set to go off as soon as we set off from the Aldrin but it was several days before Lloyd found it.

  Too many questions and not a single answer. Hutchie did say that there’s a good possibility that the Clarke would have materials and equipment to refill the oxygen tanks. I told him that we would still need to check everything there. There’s always the possibility that the person or persons who planned to blow us up, could also have people on the Clarke.

  We finished our beers and I thanked Hutchie for the work. He shrugged and said he was just doing his job.

  It’s late. I’m not tired yet so I’ll see if Malcolm’s still up.

  Log 0022

  01:57 Friday 16 January 2178

  Picked up another beer from the fridge and headed down to the recreational room. Just as I was hoping, Malcolm was sitting there peacefully. I sat down with him and I think he knew right away I was there to question him. I simply asked who he was.

  He was actually quite relaxed and accepted that it was not an unreasonable question. I sat in silence as Malcolm explained everything to me.

  Malcolm indeed owns the contents of the container. In fact, he designed it. It’s a very important piece of equipment that completes a device already assembled on the Clarke.

  A device that is capable of using solar energy and firing an extremely powerful laser. Its purpose is to be the first and ultimately the last line of defense of rouge asteroids that endanger the safety of both Mars and Earth.

  I took a long swig from the bottle and asked how powerful this laser is. Malcolm said powerful enough to have saved the dinosaurs. He also added that the reason Lloyd is along is because the equipment designed was based on a lot of his work.

  Apparently Lloyd was part of the science team who managed to maximise the solar energy which provided the Aldrin with its impressive farming dome. I asked Malcolm why Lloyd maintains that he doesn’t know why he’s going to the Clarke. Malcolm laughed and said it’s because he doesn’t. He’ll be fully informed as soon as he arrives by the scientists there. Several of them worked with Lloyd on the Aldrin’s farming dome so he’ll be able to be slot in right away.

  I asked why the secrecy. Surely, if Lloyd is going to be working with them, then it would be sensible to have him fully briefed before he gets. Malcolm said security and information around the Clarke has always been like this and that wasn’t going to change anytime soon. He laughed and said you don’t get very far in life if you tell everyone everything.

  I still wanted to ask him a few more questions but Malcolm had got up and said he was retiring to his quarters and if I wanted, he would speak to me again about anything else that was concerning me. He asked if I would also keep the contents of their conversations strictly between us as he felt he may already have divulged too much information.

  He bid me goodnight and left me to finish my beer.

  Not too sure what to make of it. I thought a device that would be able to destroy any world threatening asteroids would be big news the world would love to hear. Why would anyone want to disrupt that? Not even the Earthbinders would be that suicidal to object to something like that and I can’t see them getting much support from anyone if they did.

  Another thought just occurred to me. When was the last time an asteroid threatened us? Several million years ago? Is there really a need for such a device which we will unlikely use anyway?

  Once again, too many questions and not enough answers.

  Log 0023

  14:27 Friday 16 January 2178

  Slept a bit better, but not as much as I would have liked. Spent most of the first half of the day in the bridge, keeping busy analysing our course journey and other pointless statistics. I really don’t need to do this as much as I am doing as the Harris brothers have it all covered. I suppose it helps take my mind off things. Still thinking about if I should tell Lloyd what I now know about why he’s going to the Clarke. I know I promised Malcolm I said I wouldn’t, but I still can’t help get the feeling that he knows more than he’s telling me. Maybe I should question him a bit more and see if I can get a better picture of him.

  I did think of mentioning something to Sarah but then though against it. I don’t want to put her under anymore pressure than she already is. It's bad enough for her having to deal with difficult officials. She probably doesn’t need anything else to cloud her judgment.

  My head’s beginning to thump now. Must be because my sleeping pattern is disrupted and the stress probably isn’t helping. I told Frank and Aaron to keep an eye on things while I lie down for a bit. As the days go by, the end of this journey seems to get further and further away.

  Log 0024

  23:56 Friday 16 January 2178

  I woke up feeling not much better than I did before I went to bed. I walked past the door to the bridge and briefly glanced in. As expected, one of the Harris brothers was stationed in there. I didn’t catch which one it was but I’m glad for the two of them working like troopers. It makes my job as captain that much easier.

  I saw Malcolm as he was leaving the recreational room for his quarters. He asked how everything was going and I told him it would be a bit easier to deal with everything if my head would stop banging. He told me I should relax and we’ve nothing to worry about since the bomb was no longer an issue. In fact, he added, if we had never found the bomb, I wouldn’t be worried but yet we would still be in danger. I can’t really argue with his logic.

  I asked him why anyone would want to blow us up if we’re carrying such a world saving invention. He looked off in the distance thoughtfully. He said perhaps they didn’t realise what we were carrying and just wanted to make a point. He then went on to say that he thought they probably would have waited till we reached the Clarke to make the biggest impact. He then asked me a question. Who do I think intended to detonate the bomb? I looked at him blankly and he explained that he didn’t think somebody who worked on the Clarke would be involved. And since it’s been established that the bomb can only be detonated in relative close proximately, then surely the crew of this ship are potential suspects.

  I firmly told him that I didn’t want to hear anyone on this ship say anything like he just did. Malcolm was taken back by my tone, but I think he understood and apologised. He just wanted to be sure that as captain, I was aware of every possibility. I told him I appreciate his concerns but I didn’t want a level of mistrust to develop amongst us.

  He bid me good night and left. I really don’t know what to make of Malcolm anymore. He may appear to be a docile old man but I’m beginning to wonder if there’s a lot more he may be covering up.

  Log 0025

  11:31 Saturday 17 January 2178

  Frank is dead.

  Log 0026

  14:24 Saturday 17 January 2178

  I better report this now.

  Earlier this morning I received a hysterical message from Sarah. I hadn’t quite woken up and couldn’t really understand what she was saying. All I could make out was that there was some sort of issue at the bridge. That was an understatement.

  I got to the bridge and Sarah was outside the door, looking very pale and very upset. She had difficulty speaking so I just walked onto the bridge to see what was going on. At first, I saw Aaron sitting at the side bench, head in hands with Malcolm sitting sombre beside him. Just as I was about to walk over to t
hem, I glanced across to see Hutchie and Lloyd standing over a body. Frank’s body. Hutchie had taken his jacket off and covered the top part of him. They looked at me sadly and Hutchie just shock his head.

  I asked Malcolm to take Aaron and Sarah down to the recreational room so I could speak to Hutchie and Lloyd. I waited until the three of them had left the corridor before saying anything.

  From what I gathered, Frank had been on the bridge working alone for several hours. Sarah and Aaron were both arriving at the bridge at the same time when they found him on the floor. There were no signs of a struggle and there didn’t seem to be any injuries to the body, but we really don’t have the equipment or qualified persons on board to confirm how he died.

  An opened bottle of beer was sitting on the desk that Frank had been at. I lifted it and saw that it was half empty. Lloyd held his hand out and asked for the bottle. I handed it over and Lloyd swirled it before taking a sniff from it.

  Hutchie asked him if there was anything wrong with the beer, but Lloyd didn’t answer him. He continued to swirl the bottle, occasionally tapping the bottom of it and holding it up to the light. Eventually he turned to me and asked if he could take the bottle down to the lab for some checks. I said if he thought Frank was poisoned to which he replied that it was a distinct possibility. He added that it’s unusual, although not unheard of, for a healthy young man of Frank’s age to collapse dead.

  Lloyd then left for the lab, leaving myself and Hutchie to deal with Frank’s body. This was actual a first for me as in all my years of traveling in space, I’ve never had to deal with a death on board before. Luckily Hutchie had experience of dealing with this and told me that body bags are kept on board, ironically amongst the supplies on the life pod. The reason being that if someone dies while waiting for a rescue ship, the remaining survivors tend to get a little disturbed being cooped up with a dead body, especially considering there’s no gravity in the pods.