Lance gazed northward. Ewa should be close enough that he could reach her over his helmet radio. He tried the MfE frequency first, but nobody responded. Ewa probably didn’t have her old MfE suit any longer. He didn’t know which frequency the Spaceliner project would use for future communications, but he could try out the normal channels.
“Lance to Ewa, please come in,” he repeated over and over again, waiting a few seconds before switching to another channel.
“Ewa here. What...”
Click. Oh crap, he had moved too fast. He switched back to the previous channel.
“... middle of the desert?” he heard the last part of Ewa’s sentence.
“Lance here,” he repeated. “Somebody had to pick you up.”
“Do you just happen to be out here to see if I’m completely insane and plan to kill all of you?”
Yes, that was at least part of the reason he was here, but he would keep that to himself. “No,” Lance said instead, “that wasn’t my motivation. I didn’t plan to sacrifice myself for the others if that ended up being your goal.”
“Got it,” Ewa said. “I seem to have started this conversation on the wrong foot. Sorry about that. I assume you lose all your social skills when you’ve been on your own as long as I’ve been. It’s nice to hear a human voice.”
“I’ll be honest with you. We’re not sure what we should do with you,” Lance said. “There’s a possibility that we’ll send you back out into the desert tomorrow.”
“You’d be justified to do that. I told you that already.” Ewa’s voice sounded neutral, as if it really wouldn’t bother her to be banished again. “I’d just be glad to have a chance to try to make up at least a little for the damage I caused.”
“Aren’t your MfE colleagues the first ones you need to make up with?”
“Absolutely, Lance. But they’re probably still a long way from letting me make amends. I thought I’d have better odds with all of you.”
“We’ll see. What kind of vehicle are you driving my way?”
“It’s a surprise. I’ll see you in ten minutes.”
A man-sized rubber tire rolled silently toward him. It was slowing down. Lance watched as its tread churned the Mars sand. It came to a stop. Some of the sand it had picked up trickled back down to the ground. Lance took a step forward to touch the tire. He could feel the warmth of the rubber through his glove. The tread looked practically new. He dropped his hand from the tire and walked clockwise around the vehicle. It had ten axles. Even from the side, it looked like a fallen electrical pylon. A ladder extended from the cab, somewhere near the center of the vehicle. He saw Ewa wave from behind the window, but decided to finish his inspection.
Lance began to see what this vehicle was used for. He had discovered the glinting metal of a drill pipe beneath the cab. If you set the metal structure upright, it created a stable drilling tower. With the drill pipe, you could dig far into the planet’s crust. Ewa had brought them a powerful drill that was probably twenty times as productive as their own robotic drill.
“Don’t you want to come in?” she asked.
“Is there an airlock?” he asked in return. He hadn’t seen one, which meant he couldn’t enter the cabin unless Ewa pulled on her spacesuit and expelled the air first, and that would be a waste.
“No, unfortunately not,” she said.
He had guessed that. “Then I’ll just ride along on the ladder. We don’t have all that far to go.”
“Whatever you say,” Ewa said. “Please grab on!”
Lance grasped the ladder and pulled himself up. His position wasn’t especially comfortable, but he could manage for half an hour or so. “All set,” he said.
“Then, let’s go,” Ewa replied.
The huge tires began to turn again. Lance watched in fascination as the vehicle gained speed. From up here—three meters above Mars’s surface—it felt much faster than it had looked before. “How fast are we going?” he asked.
“Fifteen kilometers per hour,” Ewa replied.
So, no faster than riding a bike. Lance glanced over his shoulder. He couldn’t see the other vehicle, but it was presumably trailing them. The pavilion, the antennae, and the KRUSTY soon came into view. “Watch out. The base is underground,” he warned Ewa.
“Don’t worry. I’ve been here already, remember? I’ll park a hundred meters away, just to be safe.”
“Thanks,” he said.
One thought darted through his mind. What if Ewa doesn’t stop the drill far enough away, but simply uses it to crash into the base? The bridge’s roof won’t be able to withstand that. I would only be able to watch as my friends and my partner died. But, no, that won’t happen.
Nonetheless, he climbed a few more rungs up the ladder. This put Lance closer to the cab, and if worse came to worst, he would try to break through the cab panels, incapacitate Ewa, and take over the steering.
“The glass structure up ahead is new,” Ewa said.
Lance groaned because his left arm, with which he had been holding on to the ladder, had fallen asleep. “That’s our pavilion. It’s connected to our base by a tunnel and it’s filled with air.”
“That’s smart. Now you can sun yourselves on the surface,” Ewa said.
“In theory. In reality, we’re already getting more than enough cosmic radiation. I’d rather not spend any more time lying out in the sun, unprotected.”
“I still like the thought. By the way, we’re only five minutes out.”
“Good.”
Lance brushed the dust from his helmet. With every rotation, the tires kicked up more dirt his way. “Lance to the bridge,” he called over his helmet radio. “We’re almost there.”
“Yes,” Mike replied. “We’ve been in contact with Ewa. We’ll be waiting for you on the surface.”
At that moment, Lance watched a person appear out of Mars. It was a strange image because the station was practically invisible. Suddenly there was a person in a spacesuit who hadn’t been there a moment before. One person rapidly turned into two, and then three. Lance couldn’t tell who was who—they were all pretty similar in size.
He realized that the heavy vehicle was slowing down. He climbed down a couple of rungs. When the vehicle reached walking speed, he hopped to the ground. It was only in hindsight that he realized what a bad call that had been. If he had stumbled, he could have fallen underneath the next tire. He was annoyed that, once again, he had acted so impetuously.
The drill slowly rolled to a halt. Lance walked over to his colleagues. Sarah greeted him with a hug. “Have you already guessed what Ewa’s brought?” he asked the group.
“Ewa told us. It’s a drill, and a doozy at that,” Mike said.
“I immediately thought about the water reserves Mike and Sharon found ten kilometers east of the base,” Sarah said. “If we could tap into them, we could increase our food production and stop relying on our stores within two months.”
“We’re not totally sure what we found was the actual water table, don’t forget,” Mike said. “All we know is that some of the radio waves bounced off something there. Don’t get too excited yet.”
“What else could it be?” Sarah asked.
“Maybe an iron deposit. Or simply a boundary layer between two rock types.”
“But with the drill, we could take a look without much effort. Then we’d know.”
“Yes, that’s true,” Mike agreed.
“By the way, Ewa’s getting out now,” Sharon cut in.
All four of them turned to look at the drill before slowly starting to move toward it. A slender figure climbed down the ladder that was attached to the side of the vehicle. Mike led the way. As Commander, he was responsible for official greetings.
Ewa slowly walked toward them. Lance was glad he wasn’t the one who had to break the ice.
“Hello, Ewa,” Mike said.
“Hello, Mike.”
“I... It’s a surprise to see you here. Nice suit, by the way.”
&
nbsp; “Life is full of surprises,” Ewa said. “The suit is the most advanced Spaceliner technology. The joints are motorized.”
“And you?”
“I’m not motorized.” Ewa laughed. “I know what you mean. I thought that before I died a pointless death, I would try to atone for a few things.”
“That’s an honorable thing to do. You have to understand that we’re unsure about your actual motives. You weren’t exactly honest about them in the past. Are you now?”
“I’m offering you these two machines without any strings attached. Also, I have other supplies on board, including three of these amazing spacesuits.”
Lance had the feeling that Ewa wanted to neatly sidestep Mike’s question.
“It’s an offer,” Ewa continued, “that will definitely make your survival easier. You can expand your base. The times aren’t going to get any better. Whatever provisions you brought with you will eventually run out. By that point, your base will have to be completely self-sustaining. You’ll be able to get a good head start on that with this equipment.”
“That’s true,” Mike said.
“But you don’t have to accept it. That’s obvious. You might want to hand the machines over to my old MfE friends. That would be completely fine.”
“Why aren’t you taking the vehicles to them yourself?”
“I... I can’t do that. No, that’s wrong. They wouldn’t take them from me. Perhaps they would from you.”
“Okay, that makes sense,” Mike said.
“If I may jump in, Mike, what I wonder first and foremost,” Sharon said, “is how can we be certain that we can trust you? Is there any assurance that you can give us? Did something cause you to change your way of thinking? How can we know that you won’t return to your old ways the day after tomorrow?”
Those were Lance’s questions, too. He saw Sarah nod in agreement.
Ewa sighed. “I’ve been anticipating that question. I can’t give you an exhaustive answer without making you think that I’m crazy.”
“You’re speaking in riddles,” Sharon said.
“I know. It’s still a puzzle to me, in part, too. Please give me some time, and I will explain it to you. However, if you want some kind of instant assurance, I can show you something.”
“Yes, that would be good,” Sharon said.
Ewa sighed again before rummaging around in her tool bag. She pulled out an object that looked like a gun.
“Whoa,” Mike cried, apparently the first one to realize the object’s function. He leapt at Ewa to try to wrest the gun from her.
“Wait,” Ewa said wearily, holding the barrel against her chest. “If I ever prove to be a threat to any of you again, I’ll pull the trigger on myself. I promise.”
Those are sincere words, Lance thought. She looked sincere, and he had the feeling that she would follow through on her vow if the occasion arose. But he had no idea what was behind her promise. It sounded to him as though Ewa weren’t solely responsible for her murderous behavior—or at least, that was what she thought. Even so, he didn’t find that completely convincing. They would need to keep an eye on Ewa.
“All right,” Mike said. “That was an impressive performance. I suggest that we continue this conversation on the bridge.”
“I have a better idea,” Lance said.
8/14/2042, Spaceliner 1
“Hi, Terran. May I speak to you for a moment?”
Chad was standing in the engineer’s doorway. Terran had already agreed to take part in a small test, provided that it wouldn’t put him in a bad light somehow. Chad couldn’t blame him. Rick Summers, the administrator, seemed to have a problem with minority rights. This didn’t make the situation easier for Terran, who was open about his homosexuality. When Jean had been in command, he had believed she would never tolerate any form of discrimination. But now that the word of Summers had become law, Terran had to be careful in order to not lose his job, because after a short three-month period in space, engineers like him were going to be urgently needed.
“Come in and shut the door,” Terran replied, as they had agreed beforehand. “We don’t need to air this to everyone.”
Over the past weeks, they had met more frequently, so that today’s conversation would look like a normal conversation between close acquaintances.
Chad closed the door and sat down on Terran’s bed. The cabin was small. In addition to the two of them, a microphone was listening to their words. What they didn’t know was if someone was following their conversation live, or if everything was being recorded.
“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, a
nd 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.
Mars Nation: The Complete Trilogy Page 43