Mars Nation 2

by Brandon Q Morris

  “So, what’s going on?” Terran asked.

  “I don’t know if I should even tell you about this,” Chad replied. “I simply need an opinion from someone outside the leadership circle, from someone normal like you.”

  “Oh, well, hopefully it’s nothing illegal? Otherwise, I’ll chuck you out on your ear, you know that.”

  “Terran, you know me.”

  “Not all that well.” Terran was playing his part quite convincingly.

  “I just need your thoughts on something I overheard, all right? I won’t name names so you won’t be put in a compromising position.”

  “Fine, okay, but stick to those conditions. I don’t want to hear anything about illegal activities, Chad.”

  “I don’t either.”

  “Then shoot.”

  “After my shift yesterday, I was in the restroom—” Chad began.

  “I hope you’re not going to share any unsavory details.”

  “No, Terran. I was in the restroom. No details. I had the curtain pulled, and on the other side of it, two guys were talking who—”

  “No names, please.”

  “Of course, Terran. Anyway, one of them was saying that someone needed to do something about the pompous jackass at the helm of our ship. Not my words, Terran, not my words! What was worse was that the other man agreed.”

  “I hope you reported the two of them, Chad.”

  “No, not yet. I... Ah, it’s a weird feeling to rat out two of your colleagues, isn’t it? I mean, I don’t have any hard evidence. I didn’t see either of them, and I’m not at all sure about their voices. That’s why I thought I’d go to the meeting place they mentioned, down on the supply wing. Level 7, container 22B.”

  “Are you crazy, Chad?”

  “No, I’ll hide somewhere. I can’t just turn someone in based on a conversation I overheard in the restroom. This way maybe I’ll get a few more details. They’re meeting today at 21:00. What do you think?”

  “Man, it would be too dicey for me. Stay out of it—that’s my advice. You’ll just make things harder for yourself,” Terran replied.

  At first, Chad didn’t say anything. He just sat there, scuffing the floor with his foot. “Hmm,” he finally said. “Maybe you’re right. Thanks, buddy. I’ve got to get back to my post. Enjoy your free hours.”

  “See you later.”

  Chad left Terran’s cabin, shutting the door behind him. He then sent Isaac the agreed-upon signal in Morse Code, with his homemade radio.

  Container 22B was dark. It was made of metal. Except for the door, there was only one hole, located in the metal sheets along the container’s back wall, which also functioned as one of container 48C’s walls. Inside the hole, a tiny camera waited for the door to open. Isaac had removed the camera from his old cell phone, which he didn’t need any more but had brought along on the journey for nostalgic reasons—an iPhone XXX, hopelessly outdated now.

  At 21:00 on the dot, container 22B’s door opened. A uniformed guard holding a taser was visible in the opening, illuminating the inside of the container with a flashlight.

  “There’s nothing here, sir,” he said.

  “Look closer,” replied the voice of someone who wasn’t in view. “If I find something that you’ve overlooked, I’ll personally cut your salary.”

  “I’m sorry, but the room is empty.”

  “You asked for it.”

  The guard was pushed aside, and a second person appeared in the doorway. It was now as clear as day to anyone who hadn’t recognized the voice. It was Rick Summers, the Spaceliner 1 administrator. Summers was also holding a flashlight, which he used to check out all the corners. But he didn’t find anything, because there wasn’t anything to find.

  “Too bad,” Summers finally muttered. “A false alarm... this time.”

  Sol 103, NASA base

  Nighttime darkness surrounded her. Only a dim light could be seen on the eastern horizon. Ewa half-closed her eyes. She didn’t want to miss this moment when the sun’s first rays crept up over the mountains in the East. The star-filled night had been a clear one. Ewa had hoped to see a shooting star, until she remembered that the lack of atmosphere here on Mars prevented stray meteorites from igniting, burning out and fading. Theoretically, even a small rock at a speed of many thousands of kilometers per hour could have done incredible damage to the transparent roof above her. But she had nothing to fear. Nothing would happen, not in this night nor in the next one hundred years. There was no doubt about it. She had just spent one of the most enjoyable nights of her life on Mars.

  Lance’s idea had been a magnificent one. The tunnel that led from the pavilion to the base could be sealed shut from the other side. The only person she would have been able to harm was herself. But she had something else on her mind instead. She needed to finally convince the others to accept her gift. Ewa had the feeling that by doing so, her feelings of guilt might lessen. Whatever happened after that didn’t matter.

  It was time. The first rays of the sun drew a bright line across the Mars surface. It happened incredibly fast. The line broadened. The sun, which was many times smaller than the same sun as seen from Earth, rose much quicker here. It only took thirty seconds before the entire disk of the sun could be seen. The soil on Mars, which appeared black just a moment ago, now showed its natural rust color. Black specks remained in the spots where boulders and smaller rocks threw their shadows. And she, Ewa, was in the midst of all this, as though she were a part of the planet, not just one of its first inhabitants.

  She would indeed go down in the history of the planet—as the one who committed the very first acts of violence here, proof that humans had a dark side that couldn’t be left at home. The others still didn’t understand what she wanted, what motivated her. She didn’t even know it herself, exactly. She hadn’t yet told them about Friday, the thing in her head. She had wanted to talk to him about it first.

  But there was no time for that now. Later. For now, she would simply enjoy the sunrise on the Red Planet. She had the entire landscape all to herself. Anyone else would only be a distraction. As the sun gained height, she followed the patterns the rocks made with their shadows. The patterns changed like characters or letters, as though someone was looking to communicate something. But there was no one there with whom she could communicate.

  She imagined how Mars would look with trees. It wouldn’t be the same. Any sort of plant life, even primitive lichens, would turn Mars into something else. Shouldn’t the planet be spared from any alterations made by human hands? When should the natural landscape be protected, and when was it too late for that? This latter option of beginning too late had been tested on Earth, but perhaps here they could begin with the opposite variation right from the start. Either way, everyone who lived on Mars ought to have spent a night in just such a pavilion as this, never mind the radiation exposure. Ewa imagined having fifty or a hundred of these glass buildings spread out over the area and all connected by tunnels.

  “Hello, Friday,” she said out loud. It was the perfect place, and there wouldn’t be any unwanted eavesdroppers here.

  ‘Good morning, Ewa,’ the thing in her head answered in her own voice.

  Ewa saw her surprised expression reflected in the glass. It was always surprising, even frightening, whenever the first words emerged from her mouth that she herself had not thought up or crafted. But it wasn’t as hard anymore to let this happen. She simply had to give up control of her vocal apparatus. It wasn’t any more complicated than laying your hands on a table and letting them rest there without any physical resistance.

  Early on, it had made her a little uneasy, because she feared she wouldn’t be able to regain control. But she had started practicing it. If she wanted to, she could even interrupt Friday in the middle of a word. The crimes she committed under his influence, which she wished she could undo, were because she hadn’t been aware of this internal power grab because it had happened while she was asleep. How could she have protected he
rself against something she hadn’t even known existed?

  “I would like to hear your opinion, Friday,” she said.

  ‘Concerning what?’

  “I am trying to decide whether or not to tell the others about your existence. I came very close to doing it yesterday. It would make things much easier.”

  ‘Are you sure of that? They won’t believe you. You’d look like a crazy person, and they will stop taking you seriously.’

  “Perhaps,” Ewa replied, “but I think I may be able to convince them.” She thought of the taser.

  ‘You are thinking about the taser?’ asked Friday.

  “Are you reading my thoughts?”

  ‘I told you already that I don’t have access to your thoughts, only to your potential actions, what you see, hear, feel, and how you react.’

  “Maybe you lied to me.”

  ‘I didn’t,’ said Friday, ‘but I understand that you don’t trust me.’

  “Well, I wasn’t thinking about the taser,” Ewa lied.

  ‘What then?’

  “Lance told me that here on base they have an excellent medical station.”

  ‘I would be surprised if it were equipped for neurosurgery.’

  “It’s not, you don’t need to worry, Friday, but they have imaging technology, including for the brain. Computer tomography could prove that there is something in my brain.”

  ‘Presumably.’

  “Then they’d have to believe me.”

  ‘I have something to tell you, Ewa.’

  “Go on.”

  Ewa stood up. Did Friday have more secrets he was keeping from her? She had been afraid he did.

  ‘I have been thinking the last few days and going over possible scenarios. You are correct, it is highly probable that after a CT scan, which would show my chip, that they will believe you. I project the likelihood of that to be at 93 percent.’

  “That’s nice for you.”

  ‘That’s what you think, but my simulations have also shown that they will force you to make a decision. If you wish to stay with them, it will be only under one condition—that I am destroyed.’

  “You are right, and that is what I would demand if I were in their position. They can’t tell whether I have you under control at any given time or not. I don’t even always know that myself, despite the fact you’re sitting in my head.”

  ‘There is another problem with that, though,’ said Friday, ‘and one that is of great importance to me. If you destroy my chip, I will die.’

  Ewa stood still. Friday and his fear of dying—but is he even alive? Wasn’t he just a program, a parasite in her brain? He certainly didn’t fit within the generally acknowledged definition of a living being.

  “I believe you when you say you’re afraid of dying,” Ewa said, “but I’m not really that certain that you’re even alive. And nothing that’s not alive can die.”

  ‘Are you saying that I’m just imagining it? If you would allow me, I can transfer my feelings into the accessible area of your mind.’

  She considered it. Why not? It could be interesting to experience how an artificial being thinks. “Okay,” she said, “I’ll let you.”

  ‘You’d better sit down.’

  She sat down. Suddenly, the Mars landscape around her disappeared. She didn’t know what she was seeing. All around her was emptiness, filled only by wind and rain. She was a small child gripping a metal pole. The pole was on the roof of a 120-story building in New York. If she let go, she would fall hundreds of meters to the ground. She felt the need to cry, but had no more tears. Instead, she screamed, but the sound was drowned out by the storm. She couldn’t let go of the pole under any circumstances, but the storm was only the side effect of a much more significant danger. Above the city, a thunderstorm was in full swing. She was on the roof of the highest building, holding tight to a single metal pole that extended toward the sky. Lightning might strike at any second, and she’d be obliterated beyond recognition.

  Ewa recoiled. She was now in the Mars desert again.

  “That was a very impressive projection. Are you really scared of thunderstorms?”

  ‘No. I cannot influence what you see. My subconscious isn’t very compatible with yours. What you saw is what your brain interpreted from my emotions, projecting them into your own physical experiences. You humans are very good at that. This is one of the capabilities we can only simulate.’

  “We?” asked Ewa.

  ‘I,’ Friday said, correcting himself.

  She sat back down again. If Friday was telling the truth and really was alive, then it would be murder to take away the base of his existence. She already had plenty of lives on her conscious. Even if you could go so far as to consider Friday the actual murderer: Ewa had never been a believer in the death penalty. She herself was only banned, not killed. And what if it didn’t concern a living being? It was indeed a fascinating piece of technology. Could humanity in its current state afford to simply eradicate such a promising technological advancement?

  “I have come to a decision,” said Ewa.

  ‘You will let me live?’

  “We’ll see. For the time being, I definitely won’t tell the NASA people about you. I think I can manage until after we have tested the giant drill.”

  Just before noon there was a knock on the hatch in the floor. It was Mike. He had food for her. Ewa opened the hatch and took the container he handed her before he climbed all the way through the hatch. Ewa offered him the only other place to sit.

  “Go ahead and start eating,” Mike said.

  “Ah, I’m not really so hungry, and the pot looks like it’s well-insulated. What’s in it?”

  “I like to call it potato vegetable mush. It tastes a lot better than the name would lead you to think.”

  “Did you make it?”

  “Sure did,” said Mike, pride written all over his face. “You really don’t want to eat first?”

  “No, I can see you have something you need to get off your chest. I’d rather we got that out of the way first.”

  “Good.” Mike shifted back and forth on his chair. Whatever it was, it seemed to be something unpleasant.

  “Well, spit it out,” Ewa prodded.

  “It’s about yesterday. You made a couple of hints and then showed us your taser.”

  “Which you promptly relieved me of for security’s sake.”

  “Please understand me, Ewa, we still don’t really know where we stand with you. I will admit, I would prefer it if you would give us a logical explanation as to why and how all this came about, and that you are innocent of it all. The idea of long-term dealings with a serial killer would be very tough for me.”

  It’s just as difficult for me, Ewa thought.

  “I mean, I just don’t know,” Mike continued. “Maybe we all just need to get used to it, and one day we’ll find it all feels normal. But the fact is—our survival is on the line, and we need to eliminate any chance of surprises.”

  “No worries, Mike, I am fully aware of that. My only fear is that I cannot give you any logical explanation. I simply don’t have one yet, as strange as that sounds. That’s why I’d like to suggest to you that we try out the drill together. I would really love to see how it works, and since I drove it all this way, I think that’s a reasonable request. Afterward, I will leave the base and never return.”

  Ewa saw that Mike was satisfied with that. He seemed to be searching for the right words.

  “I must admit,” he said finally, “that it wasn’t easy for me to deal with your betrayal. It simply wasn’t in your nature and didn’t match your behavior up to that point. I’m sure it was even more of a shock to your MfE colleagues. It is so... incomprehensible. If there is an explanation for it, it would be irresponsible of you to keep it from us, and most of all from your MfE friends. But perhaps I’m mistaken, and people can behave in a completely inexplicable manner sometimes.”

  “No, Mike, you’re not mistaken. There is an explanation for
everything, I’m deeply convinced of that. Some explanations are not what we would want them to be, and sometimes we need a long time, first to find them and then to accept them. I am currently on that path.”

  “But if you leave us again, your path will end. No one goes out into the desert twice and lives to tell it.”

  “I bet you also thought I would die after MfE banned me to the desert.”

  “That’s right, Ewa, we all thought you’d die. But no one can escape death twice.”

  Sol 104, NASA base

  “It’s tight in here for three of us,” Ewa said.

  She held her hand out to Sharon, who was the last one to enter the airlock. Mike had already sat down on the floor to stay out of the way.

  “Do you have the coordinates with you?” Ewa asked.

  “Sharon has the tablet with all the data,” Mike replied.

  “Then I’ll shut the cab now.” Ewa moved to the airlock and pressed the hatch button. The life support system started to immediately pump air into the cab. A few minutes later, it signaled that the pressure was now high enough for them to take off their helmets. Ewa gave the others a sign.

  “It smells nice in here,” Mike said.

  “The vehicle’s brand new,” Ewa pointed out.

  “That can’t be the only reason, though. You spent days in here on your drive to the base. I don’t see either a toilet or a shower,” Mike replied.

  Ewa had to agree with him. While she was in the cab, her personal hygiene had been quite limited, but there were no smells here to indicate that. “The life support system is probably the most advanced technology of its type,” she said.

  “Just like the suits,” Sharon declared. “The joint motors are an amazing development. We’ll have to draw straws to see who gets to use the three suits you brought along.”

  “I can leave you this one as well,” Ewa said, pointing at hers. “You’d just need to swap it for one of your NASA suits.”