Deeper Into the Void

by Mitchell A Duncan

  Cardiff: Oh, here it is I think.

  Long: The control panel?

  Cardiff: Uh, yes. Let’s just get the cover off and see what is underneath, shall we?

  Well, there is the problem, right there. Somebody has placed the unit on manual override.

  Long: Why would someone come all the way out here, just to do that?

  Cardiff: Well, that is a great question. Let’s see who did it, just got to press this and hold that for a moment. Okay, it should be back on automated. Now, who overrode it?… Underwood? That can’t be right. Why would he…?

  Long: Override it?

  Cardiff: I get it. Well, that is enough sight-seeing for today. We need to get back down and head on back before we get low on air.

  Long: I hear that.

  The mammoth machine rapidly begins its next scheduled movement toward the pair. They both jump back out of sheer reflex. Cardiff lands out on the edge of the curved glass edge underneath them. Without a fraction of a second to think, Long turns and dives toward her. He manages to clasp hands with her.

  Cardiff: Don’t let go of me Long!

  Long: Not planning on it Captain. Grab my other hand, and I will pull you back up.

  Long begins to slide slowly toward her, toward the edge. Yet he manages to get a clean spot on the glass to grip with his rubber boot. Obviously strained under the pressure of trying to hold them both with his foot and trying to hold on to her as to not let her fall, he calls to her to hurry and climb up.

  After another moment of struggling against the sand, the two manage to find themselves atop the glass, in the center. Lying on their stomachs they both look at each other and laugh a sigh of relief.

  Cardiff: Thanks for not chocking… this time.

  Long: This time? What are you insinuating?

  Cardiff: I am not insinuating anything, nothing at all. Don’t worry about it. Let’s just get back home for now.

  As they finish their descent off of the glass wall, Cardiff walks around the side of the large rig and opens a single access panel. She reaches in, Long looks on, and she yanks the power coupling from the battery bank. She climbs up the side of the rig and looks at the control panel in front of the driver’s seat, it is off.

  Long: What are you doing Captain? She slowly climbs down the attached ladder and turns to face Long.

  Cardiff: You trusted me enough to return my gun to me, so I am going to trust you here. Don’t let me regret this decision.

  Long: Can do. I didn’t give you your gun though.

  She brandishes her side-arm for him to plainly see.

  Long: Okay. Trust away.

  Cardiff: I unplugged the rig so that the radio communication from our helmets could not be relayed back to any other computer-controlled relay point.

  Long: Makes sense, but why?

  Cardiff: The computer discovered that the first expedition was trying to abort the mission out here, and it went homicidal. It is now trying to deceive us so that we are lulled into getting the job here done so progress will continue.

  Long: That explains your cryptic corporate compliance back on the way in. You don’t want the computer to suspect that we are worried, do you?

  Cardiff: That is why I told you to keep your comments to yourself. The computer is advanced and can understand what it is we are talking about; it just can’t pick up on our inferred meanings. They never installed that hardware into the system.

  Long: Okay, let’s say that everything you told me is true. Why would the computer kill people to maintain the corporate objective?

  Cardiff: Simple, because it is programmed to advance the mission at the cost of everything, and everyone else. Don’t get in its way. Remain productive and positive until I can figure out how to deactivate the computer without killing all of us in the process.

  Long: Alright. Hey, why did you need to take me all the way out here, just to tell me this?

  Cardiff: The dome is under constant surveillance from the computer. There are only a few spots in the dome where your lips can’t be read or your voice cannot be heard. I have already made the mistake of voicing my concerns in front of the computer. I have talked to Mendez while she was in my room, but I cannot afford to draw any more attention to myself from the computer.

  Long: Right. That is why you are overcompensating by appearing loyal and confident in the mission, got it. So, won’t the computer be suspicious about why the rig is unplugged?

  Cardiff: Yes, we are going to talk about the maintenance that we performed out here. Then we are going to talk about the mission-supporting facts regarding what you have found while out in the tunnels.

  Okay, hop in, I am going to plug it back in.

  Chapter 23

  Doctor Mendez picks up her tablet off of the table where she and Doctor Ghent have been sitting for some time.

  Discussion about perceptions and reality have occupied the better part of three hours. Ghent still does not seem very enthusiastic about accepting that he hasn’t actually discovered alien life.

  The tablet, now in Mendez’s hand, has a bright blue circle in the top right corner of the glass surface, indicating to her that she has received a new task from Badlands corporate headquarters on Earth.

  Mendez: Well, let’s see what we have going on today. It says that we are to collect the video logs, security footage, journal entries and all pertinent reports and resend them all back to base.

  Ghent: Looks like I am to work with you on this task. I was not informed that we had security cameras out here. Are the cameras equipped with enhanced night vision ability and infra-red?

  Mendez: Of course, they didn’t put the cheapest stuff out here you know. Alright, get your stuff. We need to send all of this from the control center.

  The hallway outside the control room is dark. The small control center building has no windows and heavy doors in case of an emergency situation. Light pierces the dark hallway as the outside door opens slowly. Motion sensors ignite the lights inside the hallway. The heavy interior door, which is built more like a vault than a door, begins to open inward in preparation for the pair entering.

  Footsteps in the hallway resound into the control room as Mendez and Ghent make their way down the hallway. The heavy door behind them finishes shutting as the door in front of them finishes opening.

  The small table in the middle of the control room still has the empty gun case sitting on top of it. Ghent reaches for it, while touching the molded foam interior of the case, Ghent looks up at Mendez in an inquisitive fashion.

  Mendez: Yes, I know. What in the world is a gun case doing here on Mars? It is a long story, but I will say that I am becoming more inclined to believe that being well-prepared for anything is not the worst way to be.

  Ghent: So, what exactly would one do with a gun out here? Don’t get me wrong, I am wishing that I had one. I would probably sleep better at night.

  Mendez: Well, why don’t you have a seat over there and I will go ahead and pull up the security footage and send it back, you can start with journal entries over there.

  The control console again lights up as Mendez presses her finger onto the clear glass. Ghent reaches out in a similar fashion, pressing his finger against the console glass. The console reads his fingerprint as he has his index finger pressed against it. A split-second later the console shows his picture and company credentials next to the spot where he pressed his finger. The computer makes a single quick announcement, welcoming Ghent and requesting information about his security clearance. Apparently, Doctor Ghent was not added into the system as an operator in the control center.

  Doctor Mendez extends her own clearance to Ghent by responding verbally to the computer. Ghent chuckles and shakes his head back and forth.

  Ghent: You know, Doctor, when I was a younger man we used keyboards and had to remember no less than one hundred different user-name and password combinations. Now, these almost read your thoughts and anticipate your requests, nearly getting to where you need to be befo
re you even know where it is that you need to be. If you weren’t around for that, then you just cannot appreciate the technology available now.

  Mendez: You aren’t that old, are you?

  Ghent: I prefer the term “experienced” to “old”, age is so relative of a concept. One can be youthful while still being advanced in years.

  Mendez: Of course. I was just saying that you do not appear to be “advanced in years”.

  Ghent: Thank you my dear.

  After a brief smile, Ghent manages to retrieve dozens of journal entries. Each team member is required to create a video or text entry each day; journal entries are about the only records of activities and problems encountered. Badlands has requested these to review the progress and monitor the team more closely than they had previously done.

  On the main screen, each team member has a video picture as the thumbnail image next to the date or title of the entry that they had created. Ghent selects the “sort by creator” arrangement option and all the logs appear to move around the screen until they are arranged so.

  Lawrence had entered several entries despite his relatively short stay in the dome. Along with the entries of the second expedition, all of the first expedition entries were listed as well. Ghent rearranges them all by expedition to keep them straight. Ghent takes a lingering glance at the list of journal entries that Lawrence had entered again.

  Ghent: Doctor, when did Mr. Lawrence pass away? What was the date?

  Mendez: Day 40. Why?

  Ghent: Well, take a look at these journal entries.

  Mendez: He had two on that day. The next one shows as being entered on day 41.

  Ghent: I am going to open the second entry on day 40. Let’s see, time entered is 2107… Isn’t that after we got back?

  Mendez: Yes. Yes it is.

  Ghent presses his finger on the entry, the large screen above illuminates with the entry; together, Mendez and Ghent read.

  Journal Entry

  Jim Lawrence

  Year 15, Day 40 #2

  While exploring the cavern system with Doctor Long, I fell. Despite the broken bones and agonizing pain, I am less concerned about my physical condition. I managed to light a flare; in doing so I saw something in front of me that has fulfilled my premonitions. I saw the same young girl from my tormented dreams; she was standing right in front of me.

  Boils and blisters covered her face and arms, obvious signs of exposure to the biological weapon unleashed those years ago. Images like this one have been etched into my mind and I cannot seem to escape them. The people who died horribly after that incident did not deserve what happened to them.

  She reached for me, and then I must have blacked out again. I awoke again to find myself in the cold and the dark. Feeling better, I got up and stumbled around until I found the oxygen tank and the flares that littered the cavern floor.

  After struggling for what seemed like ages, I finally managed to find another way out of the cavern and make my way up to the surface. My oxygen is holding, oddly. The rig was gone, but I could see the tracks where it had recently been. After walking for hours, I finally made it back to the airlock entrance to the dome. The sun had set already, but I was determined to get back inside. I waited outside the airlock, and looked around to see if I could see inside the dome. The lights were not on, and the control pad at the airlock would not grant me access to get in. There was something about me already being inside, which doesn’t make any sense.

  –End Entry–

  Ghent: So Lawrence did not die after all? That inferno had to have consumed him, right? Either way, where has he been these days?

  Mendez: Your guess is as good as mine. We will need to read on to see, select the next one, day 41.

  Ghent: Here is the next installment.

  Mendez: Um, before we start reading that, I need to just review some of this security footage before I send it back to corporate. What do you see on the screen up there?

  Ghent turns his attention from Mendez up to the main screen in front of them. Mendez turns to watch his reaction. Ghent rubs his stubble-covered chin in contemplation.

  Ghent: Nothing out of the ordinary, I suppose.

  A feeling of relief courses through her veins as her suspicions about her hallucinations are confirmed. She supposes the confirmation of a troubled mind is better than her fears being realized by him confirming what she thought she could see.

  Ghent: My only question is this, who is that person? I cannot read his name on the patch. Why are you reviewing old footage from the first expedition anyway?

  Mendez: We need to see what happened here before. There has to be some indication in the footage from before. There is only one problem; that isn’t archived feed. That is the live feed from down by the pond. Look at the time-stamp. Maybe Cardiff’s right.

  Chapter 24

  Outside the dome, Captain Cardiff and Doctor Long roll up to within several meters of the outer airlock door. Cardiff is sitting next to Long, she holds her tablet to review what task Mendez or Ghent had been assigned. Mendez never called her on the radio to inform her of her task and location.

  Cardiff: Well Doctor, the other two are probably in the control center. Let’s see about joining up with them for some lunch.

  Anyway, it appears that they have been tasked with collecting all journal entries, footage and anything else that can be found and to send it back to corporate. What do you think about that Doctor Long?

  Long: It seems to me that the company is concerned that we may be suffering from the same delusion as the first team. It is a good thing that we know better, and can see the profitability of this venture.

  Cardiff: Yes, it is a good thing.

  As the two enter through the airlock, both quickly remove their helmets. All is perfectly quiet, so quiet that all that they can hear is the sound of breathing. Their boots tread through the damp Martian clay, leaving new impressions in the muddy soil.

  Cardiff cautiously unsnaps the holster for her gun as to prevent any undue delay if the need arose to use it. Long walks slightly behind her and to her right as he cautiously watches the other buildings in the plaza. The pair arrives at the entrance to the control center. The glass panel that allows for access shows the door as being unlocked. Cardiff reaches up to touch the handle of the door, and swings it open suddenly.

  The bright halogen lights in the hallway flicker and the interior door is wide-open. Something is obviously wrong with this picture. Cardiff reaches for her side-arm and with an open palm instructs Long to wait outside. She leans in toward the inner wall as she quietly makes her way down the short hallway to the inner door in the control room.

  From inside the room, the pistol appears and the hands holding it become visible. Simultaneously, Cardiff’s head barely peers around the corner. The lights inside the control center are also flickering in step with the lights in the hallway. The screen is off, the control panel dash flickers slightly with the lights. Cardiff bends down and picks up the gun case off of the floor, the same case that she had left on the table before. There isn’t anyone else in the control center; not in the control room, nor in the hallway. Cardiff turns and walks back down the hallway, holstering her weapon at the same time.

  Long: Not in there? Where are they then? Oh, and what would cause the lights to do that.

  Cardiff: Well, they might be in the utilities control over there.

  A simple nod indicates the simplicity and sensibility of the request given him. Walking further up the plaza to the living quarters, Long is watching intently for any signs of further problems or duress. The door leading into the hallway that ends in the mess hall is also open; this is not surprising though, the door is almost never closed.

  The hallway is completely dark; the mess hall at the end of the hallway is well lit as a result of the windows adorning it. Long takes quiet steps into the hallway, the lights come on down the hallway. The mess hall at the end is further illuminated by artificial lighting.

  Cardiff fi
nds herself at the door of the utility control building. The door hangs slightly ajar, and the inside is completely dark. Once again drawing her weapon and holding it steadfastly in her right hand, she reaches for the door with her left hand; a firm push swings it open quickly.

  The power converting and distributing hardware hums in the darkness of the large utility room. Rows of utility hardware stand neatly, bolted to the floor. Cardiff grabs her flashlight, holding it with her left hand, she braces her other wrist with it. She steps into the room with one foot. No movement can be seen in the room, so Cardiff turns her attention to finding the light controls in the room. A simple old-fashioned switch on the wall next to the door is found a moment later, and the lights quickly illuminate the corners, and the rest of the irregular room.