Fable Hill

by Christopher Uremovich

  “Fine . . . Alexei, tell them,” Roland slapped the table.

  Alexei looked around the room in silence and then stared at Frank for a brief moment before reluctantly giving in.

  “I am building an FTL drive,” he revealed solemnly.

  “That’s it?”

  “A what drive?”

  “Why does that constitute secrecy? Why?” Mia asked sharply.

  Alexei began to speak but Roland took the lead. “Alexei has been tasked by the governments of eight different nations to construct a faster-than-light drive on Mars.”

  “But why Mars? Why not build it on Earth?” Frank jumped in, waving down Mia who was about to blow her lid.

  “Because the formula needs a reduced gravity and air pressure to work successfully. It would cost millions more to replicate the conditions of Mars on Earth,” Alexei explained.

  Mia was at a loss for words, not because she was impressed or confused, but because information was kept from the crew. She felt betrayed and wondered what else had been kept from them.

  “I believe all of us here have a right to see this engine . . . like right now.” Her lips pursed, holding back anger.

  “Mia . . .” Roland started to say, but her laser-like stare stopped him.

  “I'm serious, I wanna see this thing now,” she bellowed from her diaphragm.

  The other crew members agreed, each expressing their distrust with Roland. Each member of the crew demanded entry into the secret workshop. They argued with Roland, going back and forth until Alexei slammed his fist against the conference table.

  “Enough. None of you know what you are talking about. The drive technology isn't an engine in the traditional sense, but a means,” Alexei barked. “I don't have time for this. It is imperative that I finish my duty on Mars and deliver this technology on time and unhindered. Like clean water and abundant food supply, this must be done for the sake of humanity,” Alexei continued.

  Mia rolled her eyes at Alexei's perceived righteousness. The condescension was thick. She was determined now more than ever to see inside the workshop to get answers.

  “So, this whole time we’ve been experiencing power outages and water shortages because of your experiments?” Frank inquired, making an excellent observation.

  Alexei frowned and loathingly admitted to it. “Yes, the technology requires a large amount of water, but I cannot confirm if the power outages are attributed to my work,” Alexei said to disgruntled scoffs from the crew.

  “I don't consider myself an expert on theoretical physics, but there is no way a nuclear reactor is having trouble powering this research station, no frickin’ way,” Frank stated. “Unless, of course, something would require a large amount of energy, like an FTL drive.”

  “I don't have time for this,” Alexei snapped back. He attempted to leave again, this time Roland granting him permission.

  The crew members departed for their respective assignments. Roland had assured them they would have a chance to tour Alexei's workshop once the mission was complete.

  Frank, Mia, Roland, and Renee left the comfort of Ōme Station for the frozen wastes of Lyot Crater. The MEV chugged along, following its own tread marks made the previous sol. Frank had used the crane to load 930 kilograms gross mass of raw materials, including the massive industrial 3D printer.

  Visibility was bad but not terrible. The dust had turned Mars into an orange haze as dust particles scattered light. The trip was smooth and uneventful as Frank stuck to the trail. Some areas with deep sand became slightly perilous as the MEV's tires sunk deeply, spinning as all six wheels worked to grip the loose ground.

  Frank hit the brakes as hard as he could, locking all six wheels and skidding to a halt, a mere meter away from striking the glaciated wall.

  “Sorry about that,” Frank said.

  “It looks different,” Mia commented. The walls of the cavern had collapsed some, adding a good bit of regolith to the debris apron surrounding the dugout. Smooth blue and white ice still jutted out from under a new, thin layer of red dust.

  As the astronauts prepared to leave the safety of the MEV, Roland praised Renee on her newfound courage.

  “I’m very proud of you, Renee, for finally leaving the habitat. What made you do it?” he asked her.

  Renee was taken back a little from the statement and question. “Well, I did it because you . . . because you wanted me to?” she asked him in a deeply confused tone of voice. “I was told by Frank and Mia that you wanted me to get out of the habitat.”

  Frank glared at Mia, who was purposely avoiding eye contact with him. She got up and unlatched the spare oxygen tanks.

  “I never ordered anyone to have you leave the habitat,” Roland told Renee.

  Mia spoke up abruptly and interrupted the conversation. “Helmets on!” she cried, her hand on the airlock release lever.

  Outside the MEV, the air was thick with dust particles, with frost covering the ground entirely. Visibility was no more than three feet in front of their faces; a hand quickly vanished when put far enough away.

  “We need to keep close. Don’t want to lose anyone out here. Activate your neon beacons,” Roland ordered. The immediate area became aglow with green, glowing auras.

  For an hour they moiled in the cold, off-loading the industrial printer, several kilometers of spare piping, and bins of raw materials in the form of polymer and aluminum pellets.

  “Since this is a secondary pump, it won’t be as large,” Roland said.

  Mia input the commands and uploaded the CAD files into the printer. Ice accumulated in the form of spider-webbed crystals on the exterior of the printer. The keypad blurred over with internal moisture, prompting Mia to restart the machine before declaring it frozen.

  “No use, it’s too cold out, Roland,” Mia declared.

  “What kept the other pump from freezing?” Frank asked as he scaled the spongy debris apron, drill in tow.

  Roland kicked at the dirt and put his hands behind his helmet. “Deuteronilus has a pump house, heavily insulated, but it was built in the summer. We should have pre-fabricated the parts long ago,” he said.

  “Hindsight is a bitch, now. We never could have predicted these water issues.” Frank started up the electric drill, a long yellow extension cord connecting it to the MEV as a power source. The drill discharged a white hot electric arc as it heated up.

  Frank jammed the fine tip of the plasma torch into the thick slab of ice, and his body was immediately engulfed in a fervor of steam. The drill bit took hold and began spinning, moving deeper into the ice before Frank let go of the apparatus.

  He continued to watch the drill as it traveled on its own through the wall of ice, steam still pouring from the hole. The drill carried with it a short piece of composite piping, a female end that would attach to the main pipeline and pump.

  Satisfied, Frank turned around and took a single step down the embankment. In an instant, his right knee buckled and collapsed as a screw was dislodged from the artificial knee socket. He fell to the ground and cried out for help.

  “What happened?” someone asked. The other astronauts ran to Frank’s aid.

  “My knee, it broke apart or . . . something,” Frank puzzled. “It’s never done that before!”

  A loud snap, audible even through their suits, could be heard. A soft rumble was felt as Mia pointed up towards the glacier.

  “Look!” she shouted.

  A large crack appeared out of nowhere inside the interior of the glacier. Dust sprinkled down from the top of the crater wall and large amounts of sand fell on either side of where the astronauts stood.

  Like deer frozen in headlights, they just stood there as Mars seemed to crash around them. “Run!” Mia shouted. She grabbed onto Frank with all her might and slung his body over her shoulders, carrying him down the lobate apron.

  “Look out!” Roland cried as the roof of the cavern gave way and collapsed, sending rock, sand, and boulders of ice plummeting down.

 
Just before impact, Roland pushed Mia and Frank down the hill, causing them to tuck and roll. A piece of rock struck Roland in the back, vaulting him down at great speed. Not far behind, Renee remained in the fetal position, hands protecting her head. Hundreds of tons of regolith came crashing down on top of her, swallowing her body up in a heap of sharp rubble.

  Frank stirred to life from under a pile of sand. He pulled himself up before succumbing to pain in his lower back, falling back to the ground. With one arm at a time, Frank pulled himself across the ground, low-crawling his body to where he thought the MEV might be.

  Mia took a knee. She was unscathed but visibly shaken. Her hand shook violently as she attempted to regain mental aptitude, attempting to radio anyone over an open channel.

  “Frank, Roland, Renee . . . come in!” she called out.

  A hand grabbed Mia by the ankle, causing her to step on it. It was Frank, motioning for her to pull him by his suit girdle back to the MEV.

  “Are you alright, Frank?” she asked, but no transmission went through.

  Frank tapped on his helmet and again motioned towards the MEV. If he could only reach the vehicle, his leg could be fixed. Mia tapped his helmet and flashed an arm signal, telling Frank to wait. Frank rolled onto his stomach and began low-crawling again towards the MEV. He gasped for more air within his suit and began to angry crawl, determined to fix his leg and help.

  Mia ventured into the swirling shit-storm of the collapsed crater wall, waving her hands around in a swimming motion, trying to find any signs of Roland or Renee. She felt like a firefighter roaming a smoke-filled house, searching for survivors.

  “Roland?! Renee?! Come in . . . over!” She attempted a few more transmissions in vain before tripping over what she thought was a rock.

  “Arghh!” she groaned, falling and hitting the soft Martian ground.

  Lying there in the grunge next to a split dirt clump, Roland appeared, motionless.

  “Roland, Roland!” Mia vigorously shook Roland’s limp body, but it was no use.

  Mia grabbed onto Roland’s girdle strap with two hands and began to pull and heave his body back to the MEV. Waiting at the steps of the vehicle was Frank, struggling in vain to climb up. Mia situated both astronauts inside the safety of the MEV before departing again like the wind.

  Frank took off his suit. The heated interior of the MEV felt heavenly on his cold, dry skin, bleeding in areas where the skin had cracked open. Roland removed his own helmet, nose gushing blood down the front of his suit. He moaned and thrashed around, contorting himself to help take off his suit.

  With a torque wrench and some patience, Frank’s leg was as good as new. He checked up on Roland, who was still struggling to remove the spacesuit. Frank departed the MEV once his own suit was reapplied.

  Outside in the harsh, cold expanse, Mia jogged to the top of the now-higher lobate apron. Her feet sunk in the talcom-like soil, making it difficult to traverse.

  “Renee!” she called out with no response.

  It wasn’t until Frank caught up with Mia that they found Renee’s broken body, wedged between layers of rock and grime. A single glove protruded above the mess.

  “She’s dead,” Frank said without hesitation.

  “No . . . we have to get her out of there!” Mia said with frantic determination, scooping the sand away with her hands.

  Frank retracted his e-tool and sprung into action, helping Mia dig out Renee’s body, now feared a corpse. Mia pulled, tugged, and pulled some more at the lifeless arm, to no avail. Renee was buried too deep.

  What seemed like an eternity ensued. Frank would dig feverishly, more sand would fill back into the hole, and Frank would dig some more. Back and forth this went on until finally enough regolith was dredged from around Renee’s body that they were able to pull her out.

  Mia cursed the blotched sky, her cries silent and unheard within her own helmet. She beat her chest and fell to her knees in a sobbing mess. Frank stood in silence. He was no stranger to death. The mangled limbs, shattered, bloodstained visor and blackened, frost-bitten face of his teammate were enough to make anyone vomit, but not Frank.

  Mia ran back towards the MEV. She ran fast without keying a single transmission. It was too overwhelming for her, too gritty and real. The woman she got to know so well over the course of three years, who was just a few moments ago living and breathing, was dead.

  Frank knelt and studied the after effects of the landslide. Renee’s suit oozed gel from various blunt force breaks. Her battery pack and life support were split apart like a cracked egg. Small amounts of some kind of chemical still vented in a gaseous state. No blood, just red stains, her face blackened from no doubt freezing alive in frigid carbon dioxide.

  For what? Tears fell down Frank’s cheek, pooling above the lip. He carried Renee’s body and brought her back to the MEV. Glass bits fell from the crumbled visor as Frank walked, creating a bread crumb trail behind him.

  Not wanting to distress Mia, Frank wrapped Renee in empty nylon bags and placed her into the back of the trailer. The situation was so dire, the three astronauts so in shock, none of them realized the 3D printer and water pump had been destroyed in the landslide. Nothing now remained of their second water extraction point.

  Chapter 29

  1500 hours, Sol 308

  Ōme Station

  Earth Date: March 8, 2046

  “Watch your step,” Alexei warned as Frank crossed the airlock barrier and removed his helmet.

  The inside of the mysterious workshop was dark and cold, like a crypt, exactly how Frank imagined it would be. Small lights were distributed evenly around the two-room structure. A cramped office was separated from a larger warehouse-type room with a concrete floor made from local Martian aggregate.

  Alexei clapped his hands and the office lit up, bright as day. The walls were littered with equations and formulas; it all looked like gibberish. Frank had never been particularly good at math. He had an affinity for geometry but was at a loss for the vector fields, coupled differential equations, complex analyses, and quantum theories on display. It all seemed very stochastic.

  “Wow. So this is where you will change the world?” Frank asked. Alexei shuffled through his tablet computer, ignoring Frank's question. “What the hell is Pavlov Theory?” Frank ran his fingers along the wall. “I got one for ya, pompous theory,” he whispered to himself.

  Frank delved deeper into the scientist’s lair, finding himself in the main, much larger room. Inside, rovers sat disassembled on the floor, workbenches sported assembly lines of power tools. Connected but separate from everything was the laboratory, which was much tidier. Test tubes, beakers, a computer, and the periodic table decorated the lab.

  “Where did you get all this stuff?” Frank asked, confused. He couldn’t recall bringing any of it onto the Yamada. Alexei strolled over to his instant coffee maker and poured a cup for himself. He didn't bother asking Frank.

  “Most of it came with the science module on the Yamada.” Alexei took a sip, cringing slightly at how awful it tasted. “Some of it, tools and some other things, came with the Ogaki lander.”

  Frank shuffled about, in awe at how disorganized it all was, reminding him more of a mechanic’s garage than a nuclear scientist’s work center. “So where is this FTL engine?” Frank asked curiously, still panning around as if he would see some giant device hidden under a tarp.

  “For, like, the third time, it's not an engine. It's a concept,” Alexei explained.

  “Well, where is this concept? I don't see anything but a bunch of junk.”

  Alexei groaned and walked to a clear sheet of plastic tarp and pulled it back to reveal a pane of reinforced glass. On the other side lay a one-by-three-foot contraption. A blue pin prick of ominous light sat suspended inside zero gravity.

  “What . . . is that?” Frank inquired as he strained to squint at the almost invisible light.

  “The future of space travel.”

  “But what is it?” Frank ask
ed again.

  “It's anti-matter contained in a magnetic field. A hundred million dollars’ worth of anti-matter, funded by eight different countries for the express purpose of fulfilling the zenith of my research,” Alexei said as he ranted.

  “For twenty years I have been working on this technology that my father started, long before me. Ever since I blew up the dormitory in Moscow, I’ve been fascinated with quantum mechanics.”

  “I thought you burned the dorm down?”

  “Semantics . . .” Alexei replied. “This little ball of light will propel us to distant stars, but it’s only the gatekeeper. There is still much work to be done.”

  Frank stared deeply at the seemingly minuscule ball of light, contained within the Penning trap. He wondered how such a small thing could lead to humans becoming a space-faring species and had his doubts about Alexei's claims.

  “I have to get back. You should too,” Frank said, putting something inside his pocket as Alexei looked away.

  “Yes, yes, I know. Big meeting today,” Alexei scoffed.

  The mourning crew assembled in the main atrium for an emergency vote. It had been two sols since Renee's passing. Her body was kept in a sealed container filled with liquid nitrogen to keep from decomposing.

  Some of the crew, Mia in particular, had become quite adamant about canceling the mission and returning to Earth. It was a tempting prospect, but had critics. Alexei, for one, was an ardent opponent of returning to Earth, determined to carry on with his research and vote against any measure that would threaten his magnum opus.

  Other proposals were set forth, such as returning Renee's body in a capsule back to Earth. This idea had one problem, however: with the current blackout of communications, sending a capsule would be risky with no one knowing of its arrival.

  Burying Renee on Mars was also discussed, as well as cremation. Once all proposals were exhausted, Roland called for a vote. Each crew member cast a ballot in a box. Returning to Earth won, three to two.

  “I refuse to leave,” Alexei protested as Roland finished tallying ballots.