by C. O. Amal
They slowly walked towards the office room.
* * *
“Thrusters One and two online ...”
“Taking off in 3, 2, 1, 0 ... Successfully took off.”
The launch vehicle carrying the space craft flew up from the launch pad.
Joseph stared at the computer monitor in front of him. On the monitor various status levels of the space craft is clearly depicted.
“Dominov, it broke out of our gravitational field under the radar. Signal him that it’s time for hibernation.” Joseph said.
The space craft is designed based on a space ship they had recovered in Rostov. This space craft have the capability to support one man’s life for ten years, provided most of the time he is in hibernation. It’s in the last year that they found out that the Rostov space ship had actually came from planet Mars.
This new mission is mainly to find whether the planet Mars is habitable. It’s a fortune to the Russians that they recovered the space ships from their country; otherwise they would have lost this race to the Americans.
A moment later the cameras of the space craft became online and it began to send live video feed of the current path it took, in colour.
Joseph at first marveled at the technology this Russians have in this control room. Every computer is of the latest model and this technology is not even in the market. The Russians are keeping everything secret. They don’t want this technology in the hands of other countries. For a moment Joseph wondered why the Russians are thinking like this. This technology belongs to everyone. But Joseph quickly pushed back his thought. Such thoughts could end his life.
The space craft glided through the everlasting space at blazing speed.
* * * * *
Chapter 9
A.D. 1978, Mars
The Russian space craft slowly entered inside Mars’s gravitational field. Slowly the craft approached the Martian land. A few minutes later the space craft slowly landed in a planar region between two craters, with a loud thud.
* * *
A.D. 1978, Somewhere in Russia
“Mars - 1 successfully landed.” Joseph broke the silence.
Suddenly the small control room exploded with applauds.
“Dominov, transmit the signal to wake Sonov.” Joseph commanded.
Dominov, who is sitting in front of Joseph frantically typed commands into the computer. A moment later he hit the send button.
They waited several minutes.
* * *
A.D. 1978, Mars, Inside Mars – 1
A small room inside the Mars – 1 spacecraft. In the middle of the spacecraft sits an advanced hyper sleeping chamber. The Russians took this sleeping chamber directly from the Rostov space ship. With a loud sound the sleeping chamber opened and a smoky gas escaped from the chamber. Inside the chamber rests Sonov, the Russian astronaut. He is breathing steadily and red and green coloured wires are all over his body. A moment later a spark escaped from a wire which is placed in his head. Then a series of blue sparks escaped from the same wire to his head.
Suddenly Sonov wriggled. And he slowly opened his eyes. His eyes met the metal ceiling of the room. He slowly sat up and fell in thoughts. Remembering things after a long sleep is very difficult. Then he climbed out of the hyper sleeping chamber and looked around. There is a sealed door on his left. He slowly walked towards the door. At the instant he reached near the door, the door slowly slide into the wall with a screech and before him another room became visible. He slowly walked towards the nearby room.
In this room there is a metal table in the corner and there is also a chair nearby. On top of the chair there is a shirt and pant. That’s when Sonov realized that he is naked from head to toe. He slowly approached the table and he took the clothes from the chair and he quickly wore them. Then he looked at the table and saw a series of instructions written in red ink in a small chart.
After a few try he digested the instructions. According to the instruction, there is a plastic box in a small locker on the nearby wall. A few minutes later he found the locker. He twisted the knob and the door of the locker slowly opened. Inside the locker he found the plastic box. And in the plastic box he found a few loaves of bread, a bottle of jam and a bottle of juice.
Before long he filled his belly. Then he walked towards the next room. He quickly reached the next room and from this room he could see the outside through the window. For some time he stared at the outside view. Outside he could see a barren wasteland. Occasionally he saw the wind whipping up dust from the ground.
Then he looked around the room and found a space suit in a corner. He quickly remembered his training on using this high quality space suit. Then his gaze fell on top of a big camera on top of the table. Then he remembered his mission clearly. He should go outside and film everything in this online camera. At the moment he switch on the camera, everything the camera’s lens picks up will directly send to Earth and he would get only half an hour for that. Then he could enjoy the outside beauty, and then he could die down here.
He looked at the small computer monitor on the wall. The monitor is in red colour and it displayed a warning message that oxygen level is less than ten percent.
He quickly took a mental note on everything. He needs to get inside that space suit and he should immediately exit the space craft with the camera. He would get about one hour of oxygen in the suit.
Then he didn’t wait further. He immediately put on the space suit. Finally he wore the glass helmet. Then he went near the wall and took a tube from the corner. One end of the tube is attached to the wall and he attached the other end to the flat oxygen tank on his back. Then he pressed a red switch on the wall.
A few minutes later the monitor on the wall showed a warning message that the oxygen fully expended. He quickly took the huge camera from the table and he walked towards the exit door. At the moment he reached near the door, he pressed a red button and the door, with a hiss, slide into the wall. A wind whipping up dust blew inside the spacecraft. With the death mission in his mind he stepped into the Martian soil.
* * *
A.D. 1978, Somewhere in Russia
The monitor in front of Joseph quickly began to show a brownish landscape.
“The camera is online.” Joseph reminded everyone. Suddenly a big monitor in the room started to show the brownish landscape.
The camera slowly moved towards a crater. The crater is pretty big and there are numerous other craters nearby. Often black and white dots appeared on the screen. A few moments later the camera focused on the ground. Everyone inside the room excitedly stared at the monitor.
There is nothing unusual in the video but there are lots of craters that they could see. Then the video ended.
“That’s it folks. Now we know what’s on Mars. Sonov’s sacrifice will not be forgotten. Now start working on the next projects.” Joseph shouted.
People quickly thinned out from the control room. Dominov came near Joseph and he patted on his shoulder.
“Good work.” Dominov smiled at Joseph. Then he left the room.
Joseph went near a glass wall and stared at the scene in front of him. In the wide room in front of him lay six other spacecrafts, all waiting for finishing touches.
* * * * *
Chapter 10
A.D. 2050, Mars, Rostov Russian Colony
Sergeant Lucy gazed at the Rostov colony through the window. Her ship slowly descended towards main colony building. As the ship slowly approached, the roof of a building parted and on the ground a big yard became visible. The military ship slowly landed on the ground and the roof automatically closed.
Lucy quickly stood up and walked towards the hangar where a battalion of soldiers are standing. All the soldiers are wearing a face mask, and at the moment Lucy reached near them, the soldiers saluted her. Quickly one soldier ran towards Lucy and he gave her a face mask.
Lucy wore the mask and a moment later the hangar door slowly opened. Lucy walked out of the ship into the colony hangar. Two small
ships are resting nearby and a few colonists stood before Lucy. They all are wearing a face mask. The soldiers all exited the ship and they stood behind Lucy.
“How many are infected?” Lucy asked a nearby colonist.
“Many.” The man said. The man is wearing a white shirt and the shirt is all dirty.
“Tell me how it happened.” Lucy said.
“We were digging when we saw some live men buried in the ground. They were alive! Can you imagine that? But they didn’t breathe ... Then they attacked my men. They were actually not men; they are more like some kind of creatures, like zombies.”
“Zombies?” Lucy asked like it’s a joke.
“Yeah. They eat human flesh.”
“And.”
“The whole place got filled with a gas which is emitted by these creatures and the men who were exposed to this gas turned into one of them. We think that these men we found under the ground were alive all this time because they were infected by this mysterious illness.”
“So, where are they now?”
“We somehow locked them in the quarantine shelter.”
“And all the turned men are inside this shelter?” Lucy asked.
“Yes. It took us a lot of time to lure them into the quarantine shelter.”
“Take me to them.”
“Okay.” The man quickly led Lucy towards a corridor. Soldier closely followed Lucy.
The man led them deeper into the corridor. On the way they saw many colonists.
“How many are normal here?” Lucy asked.
“About four hundred, including me.” The man said.
Finally they stopped in front of a room with glass wall. Lucy peered inside through the glass wall and saw what’s left of the once man beings. They all are standing here and there. All of them are missing flesh somewhere in their body. Those things are not doing anything and they just stared at some place. All of their face is filled with blood stain. Some of them near the glass wall grinded their teeth like a rabid animal.
“Did you inform this to anyone else, like media?” Lucy asked.
“No.”
“Good.”
Lucy took her revolver from the holster and she trained the gun at the man’s head. And she pulled the trigger.
Pop!
The man fell down.
Pop! Pop! Pop!
Soldiers started to shoot down rest of the people nearby. The colony immediately got filled with people’s scream. People ran in different direction, only to get a bullet hole in their head.
“Seal this building. Nobody goes out.” Lucy commanded to a soldier.
“Yes, sergeant.” Soldiers ran in different direction.
Pop! Pop! Pop!
Sound of gunfire and scream of people lingered in the air.
* * * * *
Chapter 11
A.D. 2060, Somewhere in Portland, USA
Eric stopped the car in the drive way and he got outside. As soon as he is outside, he went to the back of the car and took the groceries from the car.
Suddenly a black SUV stopped in the road in front of Eric. “Eric, how’s things are going.” The middle aged black man inside the SUV asked.
“Jafri, things are looking good. Want to come inside? It’s about coffee time.” Eric said.
“No. Thanks for the offer, anyway. Need to get back to home. Wife will be angry if I am late, even if it’s one minute.” Jafri said.
“Okay.”
“See you tomorrow at the office.” Jafri waved at Eric and the SUV moved away from the road in front of Eric’s house.
Eric for a moment stared at the settling sun in the horizon. There are ten houses nearby and all are dead silent. A very peaceful day. The streets are all empty, unusual for this time of hour. He slowly marched towards the front door of his house. The door was unlocked. He slowly got inside.
“Emma, I am home.” Eric shouted.
Emma, his young wife marched towards him from the kitchen.
“Were you busy?” Eric asked.
“No.” Emma kissed him in the lips. And she grabbed the groceries from his hands. “David is here. He said he is here for an urgent matter. He is in your office room.”
“Okay.” Eric slowly walked towards the office room and Emma disappeared behind the kitchen walls.
Before long Eric reached his office room and saw David. David is very busy doing something on Eric’s computer.
“David. It’s so good to see you, man.” Eric said.
“Eric, did you watch the news lately?” David asked in a hurry. His face is filled with panic.
“What is it, man? Is everything okay?”
“Nothing is okay, man.” David stood up.
“Tell me what it is.”
“We need to get out of here?”
“Why?”
“Come on, I will show you.” David quickly led Eric to the living room.
As soon as they reached the living room, David switched on the TV. A moment later TV screen came alive but the channel is blank. David quickly switched through the channels. All the channels are filled with black and white dots and every channel is down.
“It’s all down, man.” David became frustrated.
“They may be working on the lines. Calm down.” Eric tried to sooth David.
“It’s not okay, Eric. The plague is here.” Tears oozed down from David’s eye. Tears of fear.
“Are you crying, man? What plague are you talking about” You’re not saying everything, man.”
“Our planet is dying, man. A few hours ago all channels were filled with this news. Most people left this place looking for their loved ones.”
“What? Is it a global disease?”
“They called it Marselia, man. The airborne version is spreading through the cities and the infected are everywhere. Soon they will be here too. We need to escape from here.” Now tears uncontrollably oozed down from his eyes.
“Why the infected are coming here, man. They are supposed to go to the hospital, right?”
“Eric ... These are not that kind of infected. These infected are dangerous. They are like the fucking zombies, man.”
Eric almost laughed. “Man, are you okay. I just saw Jafri. He said nothing. It will be okay.”
“Eric ... This disease is the disease which forced our people to abandon our planet?”
Eric for a moment fell in thought. His smile vanished from his face.
Emma on hearing the commotion came to the living room.
“What are you guys yelling each other about?” Emma asked.
“It’s nothing, baby.” Eric said.
“Nothing? It’s nothing? Tell her the truth, man. We can’t stay here for too long. They will be here soon.” David yelled, sill crying.
“David, are you crying?” Emma asked. “What truth are you guys talking about? Eric, what is it, baby?”
Eric for a moment fell in thoughts. A little panic is surging through his body. He weighs things, whether his wife would believe him or not. Whether she believes or not, things are going out of hands. They need to escape to some remote place before things are pretty out of reach.
“Eric, tell me, honey.” Emma said. A drop of tear fell from her eyes, seeing Eric like this. She is afraid that something is making her loose Eric.
“Eric, tell her, before it’s too late.” David said.
“Emma, we need to move to some place safe.” Eric finally said.
“What is it? Did you do anything wrong?” Emma began to cry. “Are the cops looking for you?”
“Emma, Emma ... It’s not like that. Do you remember the story I am going to write about planet Mars and its destruction? Do you remember the plague from which the Martians were running from?”
“Yes.” Emma wiped away the freshly arrived tears.
“The fact is, that story was true. And that plague is here. That’s why the channels are down and that’s exactly why David is here.”
Emma managed a nod. “It’s hard to digest. Is it that
bad?”
“Yes. You see, these infected are very dangerous and they will kill us if they got a chance.” Eric said.
“Where would we go?” Emma asked.
Eric looked at David. “Where to, man?” Eric asked.
“I don’t know. Maybe Roger knows about it.” David said.
“What about my parents. Will they be okay?” Emma asked. “They are in New York.”
“New York is under lock down.” David said with sad face. “In fact, most places are under quarantine. Internet is down; otherwise I would have contacted our friends.”
“What about cell phones?” Emma asked.
“They were the first to go down. We need to take a decision now. We can’t be here when they storm here.” David said. “Oh, and we need face masks quickly.”
“We have several masks in the closet.” Emma said. “I bought them during the flu outbreak.”
“That’s good. Get those right now.” David said.
Emma ran away from the living room to the bedroom closet.
“Are you sure Roger knows where to go?” Eric asked.
“Yeah, I am certain.” David said.
“Did you able to contact any one of our friends?”
“No, man. They all are off the grid. We need to save ourselves. They might know what to do. I suggest getting a ship and fly the hell away from this planet.”
“Where would we go?”
“I don’t know. Roger might know. He was doing some researches lately.”
“We are going to another planet?” Emma came to the living room with face masks. All masks are like those gas masks.
“We will tell you on the way.” Eric said. Eric and David grabbed a mask each and they wore them on their face. Emma also did the same.
“Ahh ... Help me ...” Suddenly an ear breaking scream came from outside.
Eric, Emma and David froze for a moment. Eric rushed towards the front window. He slide away the curtain and peered outside. Sun haven’t fully settled in the horizon. Then he saw it. A man is on top of another man. And the man on top is doing something on the other man’s chest using his head. Eric can’t see it clearly.
Then the man on the top stared at Eric’s house. Now Eric saw it clearly. In fact Emma and David also saw it. The man’s face is filled with blood and this man was feeding on the man who is lying on the ground.
