Mars Nation 1

by Brandon Q Morris

  He reached the upper floor. After all that effort, he needed to relieve himself. He left a puddle behind in a corner. It didn’t really look all that different up here than it did below—boxes sitting all around and a few strange tables with colorful, blinking lights. Petey had hoped that there might be some fellow animals living up here, but there wasn’t a single creature in sight. He couldn’t see any food either, and that was the actual problem. Maybe he should try the feeder again.

  The Two Legs might have just come in through the other door, and perhaps Petey had missed him. Suddenly worried, Petey hurried to the round hole and jumped back down to the lower floor. His landing was somewhat louder than he’d expected. Eliza leaped up and whipped her head around in fear. He glanced over at the door, to the one that had been closed for so long, but which the Two Legs had used the day before yesterday. It was shut, unfortunately. However, he hadn’t noticed until now that there was a red light burning right beside it.

  Sol 8, NASA base

  “NASA and their coalition partners deny any responsibility for the events connected with the Mars expedition funded by the private initiative Mars for Everyone,” Sarah read aloud from the official statement just issued by Mission Control in Florida.

  “Contrary to expressed expert advice,” she continued to read, “the organization launched its ship, the Santa Maria. This flight never should have been allowed to take place, since none of NASA’s high standards were met, at any stage, by this mission. The MfE bears sole responsibility for the five people who have already died due to insufficient planning, and the recent disappearance of another astronaut from the MfE landing module indicates that the chain of unfortunate events is not over yet.”

  The six people who had just transferred from the ship to the base stood before her, their heads bowed. Sarah wouldn’t have wanted to be in their shoes. They had taken considerable risk, and they had failed—or were, at least, about to. But she knew that the message from Mission Control wasn’t over yet. The attorneys must have insisted on the formulation of the first sentences. But pragmatism always triumphed in the end. And this time wouldn’t be any different.

  Sarah jumped over a few sentences full of blah-blah, and then read the critical sentences aloud. “Nevertheless, NASA and all the coalition space organizations have decided to make available the surveillance capacity of the satellites in Mars orbit to aid in the search for the missing Santa Maria crew member. At this very moment, the module’s landing site is being measured at a five-millimeter resolution. If the astronaut is located within a five-kilometer perimeter, the cameras will locate him. That also goes for any clues he might have left behind, or equipment parts. The four-person crew at the NASA Mars base has been authorized to operate at their own discretion in utilizing their capacities for the search and rescue operation.”

  “That’s good news,” Ewa said.

  Sarah didn’t quite know what to make of the blonde woman. Mike seemed to be keen on her, even though he wouldn’t admit it. He could hardly take his eyes from her.

  “They’ll find him!” Sarah declared.

  “When can we head back?”

  “The Rover will be ready to go in thirty minutes.”

  They had spent a long time discussing whether they should just turn the Rover over to the MfE people for the second transfer excursion. Mike was firmly for that idea, since it would mean that he could finally sleep in his own bed again. However, he had subsequently turned down Sarah’s offer to take over the navigation. Now there were three of them returning to the module. Ewa was on board, and Theo. The Rover was tanked up again. Their mission was straightforward—to rescue Andrej Pugashwili, known as Andy, from whom nothing had been heard in at least four hours. But they also had rolls of plastic wrap on board. Ewa had insisted on that. They had to keep going. Unlike NASA, she refused to view the MfE project as a failure. Their mission wasn’t beyond salvage yet.

  The autopilot had been instructed to maintain an average speed of 20 kilometers per hour on the outbound drive. The risk of a lower distance capacity seemed to be less dire than the possibility that Andy urgently needed their help. Mike’s feelings were mixed. He was afraid that the missing man was long dead. Otherwise, wouldn’t he have reported in by now? The radio in the module was still intact. At least, the receiver was in a state to establish a connection with their sender. What else would keep an astronaut from answering their calls?

  “I have no idea,” Ewa said, cutting into his thoughts.

  Mike flinched. Had he spoken aloud?

  “Oh, did I say that out loud?” Ewa asked as she noticed his surprise. “I was wrapped up in my thoughts.”

  “I was just wondering what reasons there might be for your colleague’s silence,” Mike said.

  “I was wondering the same thing. Funny,” Ewa replied. “The only thing I could think of was he’s either unconscious or dead.”

  “I’m sorry,” Mike said, “but I don’t have any better ideas. Wasn’t the last thing he said that he was going to take a walk?”

  “Yes. Maybe he fell down a cliff?”

  “There’s nothing to fall down around here. Take a look at this desert, Ewa. NASA spent a long time searching for a spot as safe as this for our landing. We should be close to the equator, too, and the soil supposedly contains aqueous minerals. That’s why the land’s so boring. I wouldn’t even want to be buried here.”

  Mike snapped his mouth shut. That was an insensitive thing to say, but Ewa didn’t react. She looked distracted.

  “Safety first,” he continued. “The geologists don’t care if they get bored. But they should’ve sent a remote-controlled probe down here first. What are we doing here besides proving to the world that the Americans were the first ones able to put four people on Mars?”

  Ewa didn’t respond. What was she thinking about?

  “Maybe Andy was abducted by Martians,” he suggested.

  Ewa’s face remained impassive. He might as well be talking to the wall. Theo wasn’t offering any companionship, either. The German had been sleeping practically the whole time. Exasperated, Mike turned around and stared at the navigation console. If only he could sleep, too! But he wouldn’t be able to rest under these circumstances. To do that, he needed peace and quiet, and room to stretch out. And since he had a mission to fulfill, there was no way he would find the ‘peace’ part of that recipe right now.

  A chiming sound startled him. Had he really fallen asleep? His body had desperately needed rest. Mike activated the screen, and an impatient Sarah popped into view. He hadn’t responded quickly enough.

  “Can you hear me, Michele?”

  Now she was calling him Michele as well. No one except his mother ever called him that. “I’m here,” he answered.

  “We’ve analyzed the satellite photos.”

  Mike woke up his passengers. “Ewa, Theo, you need to hear this.”

  “There isn’t a single trace of your colleague within the search area,” Sarah said.

  “Not even footprints?” Ewa asked.

  “When you landed, the engine blew away most of the dust, so there’s nothing to be seen. Even if there were some slight traces, the contrast was too small for the satellites to pick up from three hundred kilometers up,” Sarah replied.

  “Maybe we’ll see something once we’re there,” Mike said.

  “Yes, you’ll have to take a look on site. That’s our only option right now. One more thing,” Sarah said. “We heard some noises coming from the module earlier. The microphone seems to be on. Something was moving around, but nobody answered us.”

  “Could it be the animals?” Mike asked.

  “The microphone is located up on the command level, and the animals are locked inside a cage,” Ewa remarked.

  “Then you must have visitors—or it’s Andy who for some reason doesn’t want to talk to us.”

  “That would be good,” Ewa said. “We’d know he was alive, at least.”

  Mike gazed at the navigation screen. Th
ey still had 60 kilometers to go. That meant he’d been asleep for almost four hours.

  “Thanks, Sarah,” he said. “We should know more in about three hours.”

  The Rover slowed down as it approached the landed module. Mike had by now taken control of the steering. He wanted to get the hatch as close to the airlock as possible so they wouldn’t have too far to go during the loading process. Ewa and Theo were waiting at the hatch in their spacesuits.

  Mike was also wearing his suit. He’d had to help the other two get dressed. Thank goodness NASA had switched over to the more modern suit version years ago. He closed his helmet. “Let’s go,” he said. “Are you ready?”

  “Yes,” Ewa assured him.

  Theo mumbled something that Mike took as a yes. He opened the external hatch. The breathable air gusted out, condensing into a whitish, shimmering cloud. It looked rather cinematic as Ewa and Theo climbed down the ladder through the mist. They reached the module in three strides.

  “There’s a problem,” Ewa said.

  “Oh?” Mike asked.

  “The airlock’s blocked.”

  Damn it. He had no experience at all with this ancient technology. Where could they quickly find a specialist for airlocks from the Stone Age?

  “I can break into it,” Theo declared.

  “Will we be able to make it airtight again?” Ewa asked. “If not, the only way we can get in is if we let the breathable air out of the module. The animals—”

  “It wouldn’t be good for Andy either, if he’s lying inside without his suit on and we let the air out,” Mike interrupted.

  “Then I shouldn’t,” Theo replied. “A crowbar isn’t exactly a precision instrument.”

  “Could we get the module’s navigational software to release the airlock?”

  “That seems to be the only possibility, Mike,” Ewa said.

  “I have to say up front that I really don’t know my way around with these old programs,” Mike said. “Do you, Theo?”

  “I prefer hardware,” the German said. “If we could ask Andy, we’d be set.”

  “I can try,” Ewa cut in.

  “You? I thought you were a chemist and an agricultural technologist,” Theo replied. He sounded sincerely surprised.

  “I had a life before MfE,” Ewa shot back. “I’m already thirty-five.”

  “And you were a programmer? That puts a whole new spin on things.”

  “Something like that, Theo. Programming was part of what I did.”

  Mike heard someone climb up the ladder at the back of the Rover. It was Ewa.

  “Can you get me a data link to the module?” she asked.

  “Sure, but I don’t have any login information,” he replied.

  “I have Chuck’s login, so it shouldn’t be a problem,” Ewa said.

  She leaned over the keyboard. She couldn’t type very fast with her thick, rigid gloves on, so she looked like a retiree trying to work on a computer.

  “Would you like me to type for you?” Mike asked. “My gloves are more flexible.” Ewa shook her head. From where he was standing, Ewa’s body was blocking the monitor.

  “I’ve found the problem,” she said. “The system diagnosis has determined that there’s something located in the airlock. Since the system can’t ascertain the condition of the object, it won’t let the door be opened from the outside.”

  “Good call,” Mike said. “Whatever is stuck in the airlock might require air, and if we come in from the outside...”

  “Could it be Andy?” asked Theo.

  “No, don’t think so,” Ewa replied. “I took a look at the oxygen level in the airlock. It’s been constant for hours. Nothing in there is breathing. If it’s Andy, he must be dead.”

  “In that case, there shouldn’t be any risk to the object in the airlock if we open the external door. Can you override the system and get it to open the hatch for us?”

  “I think so, Mike. Just a second.”

  Ewa typed an entire row of commands. Then she warned, “Theo, please stand right in front of the airlock. If it opens, enter as quickly as you can, and I’ll shut it behind you.”

  “Got it.”

  “Why such a complicated procedure?” Mike asked. “Didn’t we just agree that there’s nothing living in the airlock?”

  “I just want to be prepared for anything. We’ve already made enough mistakes. By ‘we,’ I mean those of us with MfE,” Eva replied.

  “I’m ready,” Theo announced from outside.

  “On the count of three. One two three.”

  Mike heard a huffing sound over the headphones. It had to be Theo.

  “I’m in,” Theo said. “Andy’s here.”

  Shit. They’d been wrong. Again. No, I hope we’ve been wrong, Mike thought, hoping Theo had found Andy still alive in the airlock.

  “Shutting door,” Ewa said.

  “The closing mechanism can’t overcome the air pressure,” Theo said. “The airlock is trying everything it can to keep the pressure in here constant. Wait. I’ll try to leverage it shut.”

  For a few seconds, all they heard was the clatter of metal against metal.

  “Oof,” Theo finally said. “The door is shut. Andy is lying on the floor. He’s alive, but unconscious. I can’t make sense of his biodata.”

  “We’ll bring him over here,” Ewa said. “And then we’ll take him with us.”

  Andy’s condition appeared to be stable. His heart rate was even and regular. Theo transferred the biodata to the Rover, and Mike forwarded it to the base.

  “I can’t make any kind of diagnosis,” Sarah said over the radio. “The oxygen saturation is okay. Can you elevate him carefully, Theo?”

  “Sure,” Theo said. “Now.”

  The image on the monitor didn’t change.

  “He doesn’t seem to be in pain,” Sarah said. “I suggest that you take him to the Rover where we can check a few of his responses.”

  “We have a practical problem here,” Mike interrupted. “The Rover is depressurized right now. Should we go ahead and fetch the rest of the stuff from the module?”

  “Rats. I wish he could get to me as quickly as possible, but I suspect that twenty minutes more or less won’t change anything. Andy’s probably been unconscious for quite a while.”

  Ewa helped Theo carry Andy to the Rover. They laid him out near the front of the cabin across three tall crates. Then they quickly carried the rest of the cargo over to the Rover. Mike broke out in a sweat, but he didn’t complain—at least he could still walk. The animals were the last things. They rebelled against the idea of being wrapped in the plastic wrap, but they weren’t given any alternatives. The packages all thrashed around a little, looking eerily ghostlike, which was why Mike was happy when he could finally shut the Rover’s hatch and pressurize the cabin. That had been a lot of work. Hopefully, Gabriella and Sarah would find a way to help the unconscious Andy.

  What could have happened? Eva thought. Did he somehow inadvertently cause this condition, or was this another case of sabotage?

  Sol 9, NASA base

  “Turn down the volume. It’s driving me crazy!” Mike said, rubbing his temples. He had a headache, and hadn’t yet caught up on his sleep after the long drive.

  Sarah glanced at him, then pushed the button on the machine that was tracking the unconscious man’s vital signs. The beeping stopped.

  “Thanks,” Mike said.

  Andy was stretched out in the lounge on a mattress they had rolled out across three boxes, putting him at a height of 1.2 meters. He had an IV in one arm. As the supervising doctor, Sarah had decided that he needed to be hydrated and nourished. Mike and Sarah stood at Andy’s ‘bedside’ with Ewa, the MfE commander. Theo, who had practically become Ewa’s shadow, and Gabriella, the other doctor, were there, too.

  “Could you tell us what you’ve found out so far?” Ewa asked.

  Sarah swapped looks with Gabriella. “You go first,” Sarah said. To Mike, this sounded like the two doctors didn�
��t agree. The doctors had sent the three others out during their examination.

  “There really isn’t much to say,” Gabriella explained. “Andy is doing fairly well. He doesn’t seem to have sustained any organ damage. His heartbeat is regular, and the heart is operating at full capacity. There’s no reason why he couldn’t get up on his feet any minute.”

  “Then why is he still lying here?” Mike asked.

  “We can’t see inside his head. We assume oxygen deprivation caused damage to certain areas of his brain. However, we don’t have a tomography unit here with which we could verify that. His brain might be in the process of coping with the damage. In other words, the functions of the injured areas are being taken over by undamaged zones. We know that can occur, but we can’t say how long it will last.”

  “And you’re not sure about that?”

  “No, Ewa, we don’t know what’s going on in there,” Gabriella said while pointing at Andy’s forehead.

  Mike pressed on. “Can he hear or see us?”

  “Our measurements are showing activity in multiple areas, which is good. This means he isn’t brain dead—and that the activity isn’t limited only to the brainstem. However, he isn’t showing any reaction to external stimuli. It’s possible that these aren’t being relayed to the brain,” Gabriella explained.

  “He might be stuck there inside his head, completely alive, but the outer world has disappeared?” Ewa asked with an odd smile.

  Mike wondered why she was smiling. She had to be forcing herself to do that.

  “We can’t preclude the possibility, but it might also be that he’s living inside his own world, like in a dream. We just don’t know.”