MARZ | Book 1 | MARZ

by Davis, James

  Johnny,

  Hey, John, Doc here. Sorry about the service last night. I’m out here in the Congo researching a lost tribe a group of loggers stumbled across while clearing out their land. The encounter turned bloody as you could imagine. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that a clear image of that plaque you were trying to show me froze perfectly on the screen for about an hour after the call dropped and I was able to get a good look at it. It is definitely the same as we found on the spaceman. From everything that I learned about the spaceman, the tablet he had and those symbols I have concluded that those symbols are individual colony stamps for a coalition of ancient Mars colonies. My guess is they all pooled their resources to get a few people off planet to Earth to preserve their species. We did find that their DNA was a close match to our own but ultimately not the same. If you have any more questions you can try to contact me via video again and if you can’t reach me there shoot me an email. It was good to hear from you again my friend. Safe Travels.

  Dr. Desmond Winters

  Johnny sat the computer down on the table and stood up to stretch his back. He sat back down and typed out a quick response before getting dressed to head down to the kitchen where he was sure he would find Roosevelt.

  “Doc emailed me this morning already,” Johnny said when he spotted Roosevelt nursing a cup of steaming hot coffee. Johnny’s mouth began to water as the sweet aroma of the Columbian blend filled his nostrils with each passing step.

  “Oh yeah? What did he have to say?” Roosevelt asked in a low dry tone, still gritty with sleep. Johnny grabbed a plastic mug from the cabinet above the counter and started to pour himself a cup before responding. Once giving Roosevelt all of the details, he sighed and took a long sip of his coffee.

  “So basically, the only new information we have now is that the spaceman did come from Mars just like you always thought?”

  “Pretty much but that's not nothing. In fact, that is pretty damn amazing if you ask me,” Johnny replied, taking another sip from his steaming cup.

  “That it is, my friend, that it is,” Roosevelt replied. He tipped his cup up and finished the last of his coffee and then proceeded to wash the cup and return it to the cabinet.

  “You about ready for breakfast or what? I am starving!” Roosevelt said as he dried his hands. Johnny nodded his head as he swallowed the final gulp of his coffee.

  “Yeah, what’re we having?”

  “Man, you know we’re eating the same old crap we do every day,” Roosevelt said with a chuckle.

  “So powdered eggs, pre-cooked turkey bacon and fake biscuits that should be labeled as crackers? Ok, just checking,” Johnny replied as he dried his cup and put it back into the cabinet. After breakfast they each headed to the gym to get in their daily exercise. Once they finished in the gym, they both grabbed a quick shower and met down in the lab for the daily briefing on the day’s events.

  “Morning, everyone. I trust you all slept well?” Erik said in his thick accent as he sipped on a cup of coffee. Rebecca stood beside him chewing on a piece of the bacon that came in the MRE packages, not looking thrilled at all about eating it.

  “I guess Tanner is skipping the morning meet?” Roosevelt asked. Erik shrugged.

  “Alright let’s get right down to it. I’ll be staying here with Tanner today and Rebecca will be going with the two of you to explore what's at the end of the stairwell you found. Anyone have a problem with that?” Erik asked. When no one answered, he added, “Alright then let’s get to work.”

  An hour later the trio stopped the rover in front of the stairwell entrance. They each climbed out and started grabbing their tools and equipment they would need in case they had to breach the entrance to an underground bunker or room at the end of the stairs. When they had everything they needed, they headed toward the entrance and stopped. Rebecca looked around the entrance with wide eyes amazed at the possibilities that the stairway could bring.

  “Wow!” she said, her hands resting on the side of her helmet. Tanner's voice came through her internal speakers as she stood there staring at the entrance.

  “Rebecca, take a few steps back and lift your head and to the right a bit. That's a great shot for my live feed.”

  “Is he serious right now?” Rebecca asked, looking from Johnny to Roosevelt. They each chuckled and shrugged their shoulders. She ignored Tanner’s requests and moved forward into the stairwell's entrance. She looked down into the depths of the stairway and studied the worn-down steps as far down as her light would shine.

  “This is amazing. Can you even imagine what we’re about to find down here?” she asked when she turned back to look at Johnny and Roosevelt.

  “Been thinking about that all night long,” Johnny said, sharing her excitement.

  “Well, let’s find out!” Roosevelt said pushing past the two of them, his arms loaded down with gear. They each grabbed up their own gear and followed. After several minutes of descent, they could finally make out the end of the stairs which lead to a circular shaped door that was hanging on by a single hinge. They moved in closer and made sure the massive door wasn’t going to fall in on them when they started moving past it into the room beyond. Johnny was the first one through. He turned around and helped Rebecca and then Roosevelt through before taking the first look inside of the room.

  Chapter Sixteen

  11:49 a.m. August 20, 2048

  Inside the mountain

  “Holy shit!” They all said in unison as their lights penetrated the darkness. The room was about the size of a football field. The far wall directly in front of them was caved in with what looked to be the nose of some sort of space shuttle. Directly in front of the crumbled wall, out in the middle of the floor sat several rows of what they thought were desks with large rectangle flat pieces of either glass or crystal standing straight up on a slight angle toward the crumbled wall like rows of advanced touchscreen computer monitors. On either side of the room were labs and workstations with the same rectangle glass screens situated a few feet apart with circular doorways set in different spots all along the walls. Behind the front row of desks were large mechanical parts hanging from odd looking twisted chain type supports that hung down from the roof. In the back corners of the room directly next to them were smaller rooms with what had to be beds set on either side of the rooms.

  “This looks like living quarters,” Johnny said, shining his light around the room at the metal tables inside.

  “I don’t see any toilets or sinks,” Roosevelt said.

  “Maybe these creatures didn’t need them,” Rebecca replied.

  “Or maybe these aren't living quarters at all,” Johnny said from the other room across from them. Inside attached to the metal tables were some sort of restraints at the top and bottom of the tables.

  “Looks like these were labs for doing tests on people or whatever these creatures were,” Johnny stated, aiming his light at each of the tables.

  “What is that?” Rebecca asked, pushing past Johnny into the room. She shined her light on a table that held a small rack that held five short, fat, metal vial looking objects. She held one up to the light and gently shook it.

  “Feels like a small amount of liquid inside,” she said handing it off to Johnny. He shook it and nodded his head before handing it over to Roosevelt.

  “Maybe we shouldn’t be shaking these things. You never know, it could blow up or something,” he said setting the vial back down in the rack easily. They all backed out of the door and moved deeper into the large room staring up at the crumbled wall. The pointy cone shaped nose of the alien craft poked through giving them a clear look at the dark grayish color and the four symbols stamped into the metal around the center section of the nose.

  “Look, it’s the same symbol as the spaceman and the plaque,” Rebecca stated, shining her light on the four symbols.

  “From everything we’ve seen so far it looks like these people were trying to get off of this planet. The spaceman must have been a scout
to check Earth out before they sent the rest of their people and I would almost bet the craft is big enough to carry hundreds, if not thousands of people on board,” Johnny said.

  “Why would they be trying to leave the planet and start over on Earth?” Roosevelt asked. Johnny chuckled.

  “Have you not seen where we’re at? It’s not exactly the lush green fields of Earth outside. More like being in hell,” Johnny answered. The three astronauts moved deeper into the room searching every inch of it. Rebecca went around snapping pictures of everything from every single angle she could manage.

  “Here's another one of those tablet things like the spaceman had,” Roosevelt said, holding up the piece of advanced tech.

  “We might be able to power it up when we get back to the shuttle,” Johnny said with a grunt as he tried to open each of the other doors. The group searched around the entire room not finding much more. It seemed as if everything that wasn’t made from the tough metal had already rotted away with time. After several hours of searching the room and snapping pictures they decided it was time to head back to the shuttle. It was getting late in the day and they did not want to be caught out on the surface after the sun went down so they packed up their gear and headed back outside to the rovers. As soon as they were half way up the stairs Erik’s voice came through the speakers.

  “Johnny, Roosevelt, does anyone have a copy?”

  “Loud and clear, base,” Johnny said.

  “It’s about damn time! I was about to get in the other rover and come find you guys! I’ve been trying to reach you for hours!” Erik said, relief washing over in his voice.

  “We never heard anything. The mountain must have blocked the signal from getting through.” Johnny replied as he topped the stairs behind Roosevelt.

  “Did you find anything down there?” Erik asked.

  “Not much. Just another tablet and a few metal tubes. Looked like everything else that wasn’t made from the metal had rotted away,” Johnny said.

  “Rotted away? This place must be a lot older than I first thought if that’s the case,” Erik replied.

  “We’ll discuss it more when we get back. We’re getting ready to leave in the next few minutes,” Johnny replied.

  “Copy that,” Erik added. When they finished loading the rover with their gear, they all climbed in and started the long ride back to Gungnir. Two hours later just as the sun was sinking below the horizon they pulled up in front of the shuttle. Johnny eased the rover up onto the ramp to bring the rover on board. Once lifted inside they all climbed out and exited the rover storage area and finally their suits. They were all hot and sweaty from the day's work so they decided to all grab a quick shower before inspecting the few items they had found.

  “Let’s get some dinner before we head down to the lab,” Roosevelt said as he entered Johnny’s room and sat down on the edge of the bed. Johnny pulled a shirt on and then sat down next to Roosevelt to put on his shoes.

  “I’m good with that. I bet Rebecca is too,” Johnny replied.

  “What’s for dinner?” Roosevelt asked as they entered the kitchen area. Rebecca laughed,

  “Steak and baked potatoes. What else would we be having?” she asked, tilting her MRE toward Roosevelt. Inside was a pathetic looking slice of what passed for meat and a small red potato she had already taken several bites from.

  “PB & J it is,” Roosevelt said as a shiver ran up his spine. He couldn’t stand the “STEAK” that came in their MRE’s. It reminded him of eating shoe leather covered in burnt hair.

  “Oh, it’s not that bad,” she said, biting into the meat and grinding her teeth back and forth until a small hunk tore free.

  “No, thanks. I’ll just have my peanut butter.”

  “You’re in the wrong profession to be picky about the food you get,” Johnny said with a chuckle as he grabbed his own MRE from the cabinet. After they finished eating, they all gathered down in the lab. Rebecca started doing tests on the metal tubes while Tanner tried to get the tablet powered up. Johnny, Roosevelt and Erik just sat there watching as the two worked on each of the objects.

  “What do you think is in those tubes?” Erik asked. Roosevelt shrugged,

  “No idea. Felt like something was in there though.”

  “Whatever is in there is probably not what it once was after all of this time just sitting there,” Johnny added.

  “It sort of looks like one of those tubes they collect your blood in only made of metal or whatever that stuff is,” Erik said.

  “Could be medicine too. Won’t know till we open one and test whatever is inside,” Roosevelt murmured.

  “We are not opening any of those until we get back to Earth and get it in a safe room just in case it's something toxic,” Johnny said as he watched the progress Rebecca was making.

  “Well, luckily, this is my shuttle and I make the rules. Not you. I say when we open them up and see what's inside.” Tanner interrupted as he stood up to take a break from the tablet. He walked over to the table with the metal tubes and snatched one from its holder and began flipping it in the air. Johnny jumped to his feet and shoved a finger at Tanner,

  “Don’t be a damn fool, Tanner! None of us have the slightest clue what the hell is in those things. For all we know, it could be some sort of deadly gas that will kill us all. Now, put that shit back down before you drop it!” Johnny all but shouted. Tanner snatched the tube from the air and gave Johnny the evil eye before reluctantly putting the tube back down.

  “This is my shuttle! I paid for it with my money and I will say what goes around here! If you don't like it, then go stay out on the surface!” Tanner shot back before flipping Johnny the bird and storming off.

  “That man is going to get us all killed if he keeps up his childish crap,” Johnny huffed.

  “Maybe we should lock the vials up or hide them so he can’t do anything stupid while we’re not around,” Roosevelt suggested.

  “Yep, they're made from the exact same material as the plaque,” Rebecca said as she looked up from her computer.

  “So, what is it?” Johnny said, glad for the change of subject from the Tanner issue.

  “I believe it's a sort of injector. If I had to guess, I would say it’s an insert of a needle injector. You put the vial in the injector and a small plunger pushes through this small hole and releases whatever is inside from the opposite end somehow,” she explained.

  “Well, like I said, we do not open those things until we are back on Earth in a safe room. There’s no need in taking unnecessary risks while we’re so far away from home. I don’t give a shit what Tanner says or how angry he gets. He’ll thank me when we find out it's some kind of deadly gas inside of them. Let’s lock them up like Rosie said. If Tanner throws a fit send him to see me,” Johnny said, pointing his chin at the metal tubes across the room.

  Chapter Seventeen

  3: 57 a.m. Christmas Eve 2048

  Aboard Gungnir

  It had been months since the crew found the secret mountain base on Mars. They went back numerous times and tried to get through the other doors and even the collapsed wall but never had any success. They decided that there wasn’t anything else to find at the base so they searched around the area looking for another possible mountain base or another entrance to the one they already found. Having no luck, the crew reluctantly decided to give the mission one more month before calling it quits and heading back to Earth. It was clear that any real evidence that they might find would be rotted away like the first base they found. All they really knew was that a species of human did come from Mars to Earth in the distant past but the reasons were unknown. They speculated that the Martian humans were in search of a new home due to planet wide problems on Mars but they had no way of proving it. Dr. Winters had a bunch of predictions but just like them his predictions were just that, predictions, not accurate or quantifiable. Winters did have the working tablet but he had nothing to go by when attempting to translate the language used in the tablet. Tanner d
idn’t have such luck getting the tablet they found in the mountain to work so he turned all of his attention to the metal tubes they found. He was constantly trying to get the tubes so he could open them and study what was inside but Johnny stopped him every time.

  “It’s too damn risky, Tanner, and not worth it. What if it's some kind of flesh-eating bacteria and we have no way to neutralize it once it starts? Or, what if it's some kind of Martian disease that can kill us?” Johnny would say every time Tanner would start in on them about opening the tubes.

  “We have everything we need right here on Gungnir to contain anything that could possibly be in those tubes. Let’s just open one and find out what's in there,” Tanner would plead over and over. Finally, after enduring another month of Tanner’s badgering Johnny finally blew up on him.

  “You know what, Tanner, I don’t give a shit if you did pay for this ship and everything on it and I don’t give a shit if you funded this entire trip! You are not opening the damn things, and if you try to, I swear to God, I will break every damn finger on your hands until you finally understand what a stupid ass idea it is to open those right now!” Johnny had shouted causing Tanner to take a few steps back. After that, Tanner avoided Johnny at all costs. Finally, sometime around Thanksgiving, they all agreed that they had found everything they were going to find and that it was time to head back to Earth. The three-week trip got them back to Earth just in time for Christmas. It was early morning on Christmas Eve and everyone but Tanner was still in bed. Tanner was up finishing his packing and getting ready to do another live stream since the full Earth could be seen from the viewing ports.