Lawrence: Funny… Oh, by the way you’ll want to take it easy with all your words of consolation. Maybe I ought to bury this gun somewhere so I don’t end up shooting you with it.
Lawrence looks back over his shoulder to see if he is being watched from the plaza. After feeling that he wasn’t being watched he took the gun in his right hand and pulled it back over his shoulder. A quick double check to make sure no one is watching, and he hurls it about thirty meters in the low gravity. The gun collides with the soft sand and the sand flies up in the air from the impact. As the dust settles, he looks to see if he can locate it from where he is standing… there is no sign of the metallic object.
Back in the control room, Cardiff and Mendez are quietly staring at the puzzling sight in the dimly-lit hallway. A large spray pattern of blood adorns the wall around the small bullet-hole.
Chapter 11
Fragments of black igneous rock crumble off of a much larger piece as heavy metal wheels roll over. The large metal wheels roll over obstacles with a subtle grinding noise as they spin. The rounded track marks left in the wake of the large rolling rig trail off toward the horizon. The noon-day sun beats down on the barren sands of the high plain. The ambient temperature rises to a relatively warm 12 degrees Celsius. The six-wheeled rig leans side to side as each of the wheels climbs up and over the rocks that litter the landscape.
Lawrence reaches up to touch his face, his gloved hand is stopped shy as his helmet prevents his reflexive motion.
Lawrence: You know, I think my face got powder burned. I guess it wouldn’t be enough to simply be deafened.
Long: I just think that you’re lucky to have survived the ordeal at all. From where I was standing, I thought you were done for when I heard the shot. You know, she could have taken your ear clean off or something.
Lawrence: Having your ear removed by a round at point-blank is not really “clean off”, I’ve seen it. I’ve seen a lot of things that I wish I could forget.
Long: All I have to say is that you have some quick hands. I could only see the shadow, but whoa.
Lawrence: Well, I am glad that you were entertained. Did you see that look on their faces? Priceless.
Long: Yeah, but why would Cardiff had loaded her gun and shouted over the PA like that? She was acting crazy. Should we be concerned that she might try and shoot somebody else?
Lawrence: I have a feeling that we might just need to be a little concerned about it. I hid the gun pretty good, so unless Cardiff brought her metal detector, we should be okay.
Long: Unless she brought a second. That whole “better safe than sorry” motto of hers has me a little worried.
Lawrence: Hey! I have been meaning to ask you. What did you do with the solar rover?
Long: Nothing… Seriously, I didn’t do anything with it, not after that rock I threw hit it anyway.
Lawrence: Be straight with me Long because it didn’t just drive itself, and it’s gone. When I mean gone, I mean I couldn’t see it anywhere the other day when Mendez and I went sightseeing. So there is no way that it just rolled away. I know that, you know that; you have a hard time pushing these things over all of the rocks around here.
Long: Maybe it was abducted by all of those folks you saw outside that first night.
Lawrence: I didn’t see anyone, remember?
Long: Right. At any rate, I didn’t take it. Besides, how would I have been able to stash it far enough away that you wouldn’t see it, and still be able to walk back in time?
Lawrence: I guess that makes sense. Unless you and someone else both drove a rig, you parked the solar rig and they drove you back in this rig, there is no way.
Long: I am going to chalk your paranoia up to you just getting shot at, how’s that? Anyway, what did Cardiff say when you told her it was gone?
Lawrence: I totally forgot to tell her about it! How could I forget about something like that?
Long: Maybe you were abducted in the night, and replaced with an identical you. That would explain it.
Lawrence: Okay, now you are just being stupid. Something tells me that you are just mocking me now. I can’t really see your face, but I am betting you have that stupid sheepish grin under that mask of yours.
Long: I am just taking advantage of the fact that you are off your game today. I’m usually opposed to the whole “kick you while you’re down” thing, but I’m having fun.
Oh hey, look at that. We’re finally here.
Lawrence: Logging all these hours in this rig is doing a real number on my back. We should have put in for the upgrade with the leather appointed seats, these metal bucket seats just hurt.
As the wheels slide to a sudden stop in the sand, a cloud of dust rockets out from under the rig, obscuring the landscape in front of them from view. After a couple of hours of riding, the pair has found themselves, yet again, at the same rock formation that stands guard over the entrance to the chasm. They quietly climb into the gear and down the opening.
Once down the familiar opening, and through the main tunnel, the pair stand in the utter black dark at the same “fork in the road” that they had found yesterday. With a sudden jerk of the lamp to the right, the ominous-looking alternate pathway comes into sharp contrast against the path that they had chosen before. Instead of walking into the relatively safe-looking tunnel to the left, Long starts down the tunnel on the right. This tunnel is convoluted, pressing upward and downward, left and right. The size of the opening in the cavern has varied greatly as they walk through its winding path into another large cavern.
Lawrence: Oh, look. No skylight in this cavern. I don’t really like this one as much, it looks… malevolent.
Long: I was unaware that you knew that word.
Lawrence: Just because I didn’t go to school, doesn’t mean that I don’t know. I know.
Long: Well put. When we get back I am putting that on a t-shirt for you.
Lawrence: I seriously underestimated your aptitude to be a pain in my butt.
Long: Now you are simply unveiling your immense vocabulary. No one likes a show-off you know.
Lawrence squares his body to face Long. He slowly brings his hand-held flash-light up to Long’s helmet. After he is sure he is pointing the light directly in Long’s eyes, he mutters a simple unenthusiastic utterance.
Lawrence: I hate you.
Long can only chuckle as he turns away from the dejected Lawrence. Long reaches out, and under the intense focus of the light from his headlamp, his hand touches more of the slime that covered parts of the wall in the other tunnel. He rubs his gloved fingers together, again, to test the consistency of the odd substance.
Long: I think that this is the same stuff that we had seen the last time we came down here. Lawrence! Hey, where did you get off to?
Lawrence: I am up over here. You really need to come and check this out over here. I just want you to know that I will forgive you for making all of those hurtful comments, you just can’t make anymore, that’s all.
Lawrence stands up on an outcrop of stone above Long. His gloves and head are the only parts of him that Long can see from down below. Long reaches up to grab Lawrence’s outstretched hand, beckoning him to climb up and join him. After pulling himself up the rock face, Long pulls his knee up over the edge, and with that he takes a second to breathe.
A quick jerk of the hand-held lantern that Lawrence is carrying startles Long. The light is now directed down below them, off into the unexplored portion of the cavern.
Lawrence: Did you see that?
Long: See what? I didn’t see or hear anything. Maybe you should get your mind checked. You are probably still high-strung from getting shot at earlier. Also, didn’t I tell you to stay off of the drugs?
Lawrence: Ha! That is really funny. You are one funny guy Long. I am being serious. I heard a scurrying over there, and a glimpse of something moving along the wall.
Lawrence turns around to look at Long. His right foot’s hold betrays him. The hand-held lantern falls,
in what appears to be slow-motion, to the rock face below. The lantern comes to a rest after bouncing back and forth for a brief moment. As Long looks back to Lawrence from the lantern, he sees Lawrence falling down onto the ice. From his resting place on the ice, he begins slipping toward the crevice. Lawrence’s hands frantically grasp at anything and everything around him; this proves to be a worthless endeavor as everything he touches is covered in a layer of ice. His legs slip into the icy portal, into a hidden cavern below. His arms grasp at the sides of the small opening, trying to slow his descent into the void below him. Lawrence calls to Long, but Long remains completely motionless.
Lawrence is momentarily successful in his attempt to stave his fall a moment longer. His yells and screams are well audible without the radio, but Long remains dazed, simply staring at his fallen comrade. All at once, Lawrence’s frail grip fails, leaving him to fall deeper into the void below him. A moment of utter silence passes, Long finally manages to stretch his hand out to where Lawrence had been moments ago. A ghastly thud sounds in Long’s earpiece as Lawrence lands hard on the floor of the cavern hidden within the large rock formation that they had climbed up on.
Long still stands frozen in place, unable to utter a sound, unable to breathe and ultimately unable to move. Hours seem to pass slowly in what only takes place in mere seconds. Panic returns to the mind as he awakens from his acute stupor of thought; he becomes aware of what has just happened, and that it really did. Long shouts loudly down to Lawrence, avoiding the icy edge, for fear that he may fall in too.
Long: Lawrence! Can you hear me down there!?
Lawrence: (Low moan heard over the radio).
Long: Hang on Lawrence! I will drop some flares down to you, and some more oxygen. After that I will go and call for help. I will get you out of there!
Long quickly grabs the bag on his back, it is quickly swung around to the floor. Long frantically searches through the extra supplies. The pressurized oxygen canister is quickly pulled out of the pack and set on the floor. Next, the flares come out of the pack; they are all promptly set next to the oxygen tank.
With the short amount of cord that is remaining in Long’s pack, he ties the flares and tank together. Gingerly, he begins lowering the supplies over to the edge. He lies on his stomach about a meter from the opening, ice lay around every edge. Long nudges his foot into a smaller crevice on the floor and he reaches out over the crevice with his hand, holding the dangling supplies over what he can only believe is Lawrence down below.
The physical strain of holding 15 kilograms of supplies outstretched causes Long’s strength to wane and his hand begins to quiver. The oxygen tank begins to slide off to the side of the roped bundle. After a few brief moments of quivering, the tank slips out of the bundle altogether. The heavy tank drifts downward under the reduced gravity and strikes the stone floor of the cavern adjacent to where Lawrence lay.
The flares left in the bundle all begin to drop around Lawrence as the knot holding them in the bundle became too loose once the tank had fallen out. Lawrence lays lifeless on the floor, unconscious and prostrate. Long once again calls to his comrade.
Long: Lawrence! Can you hear me!? I am going to call for help! Don’t wander off!
The flares which Long had dropped are specialized flares designed to burn in zero oxygen environments, like on Mars. Long grabs one remaining flare out of his bag, and strikes it swiftly against the ground to ignite it. The bright red flame emits brilliant metal sparks out of it, the smoke rises quickly to the ceiling. Long lays the flare down as close as he can to the edge of the crevice. After a moment of watching the brilliant flame, Long rises to his feet and slides down the rock face and begins to sprint toward the opening.
Chapter 12
The afternoon sunlight reflects off of the mirrored pond, the light shimmers back up onto the ceiling of the dome, giving the dome a luminous ceiling. A loud rumbling sounds out from the atmospheric compressor, which is mounted adjacent to the thick glass wall about fifteen meters from the south end of the pond. Ghent’s diligent concentration is shattered by the pervasive noise that has broken the stark silence.
His hand jumps off of the metal crate that he is trying to open. The light aluminum alloy container had been sitting adjacent to the airlock since they had arrived. Ghent carefully grabs the handle-style metal latch on the side. The air begins to rush by the rubber gasket on the door. After the air finishes equalizing within the crate, Ghent retrieves the integrated kit to set up the bee hive. In the process of sliding the kit out of the crate, he stops suddenly. He quickly stands upright, and then holds perfectly still; no movement is made for several moments. He slowly draws his hands up to his ears to cover them.
Doctor Mendez, who happens to be standing up in the plaza, watches Doctor Ghent from afar with great interest. Her facial expression reveals her bewilderment and surprise at his sudden cessation of all movement. She pauses a quick moment to see if he will start to move again before she starts walking to him. After a few tense moments, he begins to move cautiously. He starts to shake his head vigorously back and forth, as if to express “no” like he never had before. He first turns his head around to the right without moving any other part of his body, and then rigidly swings his head back the other way.
As suddenly as his strange behavior came, it also disappears; Doctor Ghent continues his task of setting up the beehive down by the pond. As Mendez arrives next to him, he remains focused on his work diligently and seems to be completely unaware of her presence, even though she is standing right in front of him.
Mendez: Doctor Ghent, how is the project coming? Would you like a hand?
Ghent’s hand once again flies off of the surface that it had been holding. The kit falls from its precise holding place in the crate and strikes the ground at his feet. Mendez reaches her hand out, as if to appear to want to stop the kit from falling, although she could not affect its salvation even if she wanted to.
Ghent: Oh, Doctor. You startled me. To what do I owe this pleasure?
Mendez: Sorry about that, is everything going okay? You seem to be a little bit preoccupied.
Ghent: We have much work to do before the forty-third day, you know what I mean? I need to get these bees set up so we can move on to bigger and better things, right?
Mendez: Day 43? What do you mean? I guess I didn’t know about day 43. Was there a memo that I didn’t get?
Ghent: You know, the day of the sun’s wrath. Do you always forget important dates like that?
Mendez: Okay. Yeah. Day 43, I will mark that on my calendar so I don’t forget about it again. Is there anything I can do to help out?
Ghent holds his palm out in front of him, facing her. He moves his other wrist up to his mouth, as if to cover it.
Ghent: No, no, no. I have got this under control. You go and attend to those things that you need to do. Leave me be… please, Doctor Mendez, leave me be.
Mendez: Okay Doctor Ghent… should I be worried?
Ghent: Only if you wish to survive past day 43.
Mendez: Right, day 43. So, where did you hear about day 43 again?
Ghent: If they haven’t told you about it yet, they will.
Mendez: Who are they again?
Ghent: Don’t patronize me!
Mendez: Whoa, okay. I’ll leave you be.
Mendez cannot help but to notice that Ghent continually glances over his shoulder at the pond, it looks as though he is watching to see if something is going to come out of it while he is talking. She cocks her head to the side to watch what he is watching. An abrupt ripple from the inside of the pond begins to move outward. The circular disruption takes a minute or so before the reaching the edges of the pond.
Ghent had noticed Mendez’s facial expression change from a look of concern into a look of bewilderment. The color of the pond began to change, very gradually at first, and then all at once the color changed from green to a brownish hue.
Ghent: Leave me to my work… please!
Mendez quickly nods her head up and down, she takes a couple of steps backward. Her eyes remain fixated on him as she slowly steps backward; she holds her hands up by her shoulders where he can see them. Her calm retreat is interrupted abruptly by Cardiff shouting from behind her.
Cardiff: Get your suits on! Lawrence is down in the volcanic tube! Grab extra air and some rope!
Mendez: Captain, how are we going to get there?! They took the large rig with them and the smaller one is missing.
Cardiff: What do you mean it is missing?!
Deeper Into the Void Page 12
