Spring Showers Box-set

by Avell Kro

  Unfortunately, the descriptions always sounded better than the actual taste of the flavored yeast

  and aeroponically grown vegetables. Perhaps she should be more adventurous and grow a larger

  variety of edible plants. After the first year, she had settled on soy and green beans, corn, tomatoes,

  and chard as the basic vegetables in the greenhouse. For dessert, she grew strawberries,

  blueberries and kiwi fruits. Her robot helped in the greenhouse. Dev checked the water quality,

  the nutrients and monitored the growth of her plants.

  The buzz of the com interrupted her perusal of the menu items. Jasper’s hawk avatar flapped

  across the screen. Lucilla stifled a pang of regret that she couldn’t see his face. Of course, she had

  met him. He had flown her from the orbiting spaceship down to her station on Mars. But they had

  both worn helmets and their faces were distorted by the visor. Cocking her head expectantly, she

  hit the switch, and prepared to enjoy his call. The daily exchanges with Phobos station added a

  comic touch to her life.

  “Phobos to Mars Three. Jasper here with a song for Lucilla, Lu, Lu, cilla, cilla, la, la, la,” he warbled in

  falsetto, and then dropped into his normal baritone, “How are you, Lucilla, babe?”

  Lucilla was torn between laughter and annoyance at his honeyed words. She cringed inwardly. He

  would never call her babe if he saw her scarred face. It was best to ignore his silly song and sweet

  words, “Mars Three to Phobos. Hello Jasper, I’m fine. Just the usual. Watching the angels grow.

  What’s the news from the moon?”

  “Lucilla, I’ve been looking at your sequence data for the angels. The rate of mutation has increased.

  Do you have an explanation?”

  She hadn’t realized Jasper checked her findings, and said, “We expected the angels to mutate as

  they adapted to the conditions on Mars. As long as they keep pumping out oxygen, everyone will

  be happy.”

  “Okay. Keep an eye on the mutations. We need to know how the angels are changing. Here’s your

  Martian weather watch. The sensors show seismic activity to the west of your location. Your

  station should be out of range of the quakes. The ice caps are melting earlier than last year. Mack

  probably told you already.”

  “Mack never explains anything to me. He just said they were melting. I didn’t know anything was

  different from last year. I guess the angels will enjoy the fresh water. Any other news?”

  “Supplies and new personnel arrive in six months according to my sources at Taxyon Space.”

  “New people? Is anyone leaving Mars?” This was the first time Lucilla had heard of anyone else

  coming to the planet.

  “I’ve no idea. I don’t plan on leaving. Would you leave Mars Three station, Lucilla?”

  She shook her head, although he couldn’t see her, “No. I can’t go back to Earth. Talk to you

  tomorrow. Bye for now.” She ended their conversation quickly, shuddering in distress at the

  thought of returning to the crowded cities of Earth.

  When the com shut off, Lucilla stared at the screen for several minutes, pondering Jasper’s news.

  She didn’t envy the new recruits. She had endured the year’s voyage from Earth to Mars, alone for

  most of the time. Mixing with the crew was discouraged, and she had abandoned any attempt at

  friendliness after overhearing the whispers about her multicolored eyeballs. No, she was happier

  in her solitary dome on Mars Three.

  Next, she prepared her simple meal for the evening, activated the cleansing cycle, and set Dev on

  alert to monitor any abnormalities during the night. After one last check of the life systems, it was

  time for her to sleep.

  Chapter 3

  For a change of scenery on the following morning, Lucilla decided to take a long trip in the buggy

  and survey the extent of the angel’s spread. For safety, she preferred to wear her helmet with the

  emergency air supply, even though the cabin of the buggy was filled with breathable air. She

  checked the emergency supplies of water and food rations in the all-terrain buggy. The fuel cel

  was ful y charged from the solar panel on the roof. The buggy had plenty of supplies and fuel for a

  week, in case of an accident, although she planned only a half day trip. She wanted to measure how

  far the angels had spread from the initial injection site outside of her dome.

  As an extra safety measure, she tapped a quick message to inform Jasper of her trip outside. Lucilla

  climbed into the small cabin on top of the six wheeled buggy and started the engine. The buggy

  rocked awkwardly, descending from its raised platform, and rolled across the bare red sand

  surrounding the dome. On the left was the greenhouse where she grew vegetables and fruit. As she

  passed, Dev clambered out of the airlock, following her instructions to tend to the plants. Beyond

  the greenhouse, the yellow and green slime of the angels extended into the distance.

  She headed north, away from her dome, moving over the thick clumps of angels. The large wheels

  of the buggy squashed a path through the slippery mounds. Fine sand gave way to a rougher

  terrain of small stones, and later, slabs of rock protruded above the greenish angel goo. Even

  further north, ice-capped mountains loomed on the horizon.

  The cabin of the buggy was quiet, apart from the clunk of the wheels climbing over the rocks.

  Lucilla was accustomed to silence, unless she played music, or on the rare occasions when she

  ventured into the AR sims. She enjoyed the quiet of her own thoughts. Today, she pondered the

  angels’ color changes. Just as she had suspected, they had mutated and produced new varieties of

  genes unknown to normal cyanobacteria on Earth. She assumed the new genes encoded enzymes

  to process different nutrients from the soil and atmosphere. The reason for the color variation was

  still a mystery.

  The buggy had traveled five kilometers from her dome before the thick coating of angels thinned to

  green and yellow threads coiled around the larger rocks. The green tendrils continued for almost

  another kilometer, before the rocky ground she traversed became bare of angels. It was the end of

  her road trip for today. Lucilla used the robotic arm to gather samples from the angel bacteria at the farthest end of their range. Then, she turned the buggy and detoured over the sand at the edge

  of the yellow stains.

  An hour from her station, the buggy trundled past the cracked domes from the abortive attempt to

  colonize Mars forty years earlier. Lucilla reflected sadly on the lives lost in the early ventures to the

  red planet. The people killed in freak accidents, or when personality conflicts exploded into

  violence. The hostile environment had changed the long term colonization plans. Instead, the

  revolution in engineering bacteria had led to a new strategy to terraform Mars and generate a food

  source for the hungry billions on Earth.

  She halted the buggy on the bare sand and gazed at the abandoned domes, wondering if there was

  anything inside worth salvaging. Probably not, after all these years. Dust devils whirled in the dry

  sands in the first sign of rising winds. Lucilla frowned in concern when an icy blast from the north

  beat against the windows of the buggy. She cringed, as grit and small stones smashed against the

  synglass. The gale strengthened until flying sheets of sand obscured the view. She waited, frozen in

  alarm. The
buggy could be damaged, or tipped over by a powerful blast. There was nothing she

  could do until the winds ceased. The sandstorm even blocked transmissions from Earth.

  After about an hour, the winds calmed, the clouds of sand grains settled to the ground, and at last

  she could see through the windows again. Lucilla exhaled in relief. The worst was over. She steered

  the buggy towards the safer ground covered by angels for her journey home. The clumps of

  bacteria coated the fine sand and hindered erosion by the winds.

  Back inside the comfort of her climate-controlled dome, she checked the overnight analysis of

  yesterday’s samples. The mutant angels had generated several new proteins. Lucilla checked the

  predictions. The angels had produced a putative ion channel, an enzyme and a couple of small

  proteins of unknown function. She sighed. Without sufficient data, she couldn’t interpret what the

  mutations were doing. Lucilla selected the most evolved bacteria from her samples and set up a

  replication test in standard Martian soil and air. The angels grew more slowly under the Martian

  conditions than the original cyanobacteria on Earth, and the test would take another day.

  She went through the usual routine of com calls to Mars One, Two and Phobos, physical exercise,

  and her simple evening meal. The date on the daily news caught her attention. Tomorrow would be

  Valentine’s Day. No celebration for her, and it was ten years since she’d had a sweetheart. She

  sighed in regret. Now she would never know love. After flipping through the news and

  entertainment beamed from Earth, she watched a trideecomedy and then climbed into her

  hammock to sleep, anticipating few changes for the next day.

  Chapter 4

  Bump!

  Lucilla woke, blinked as her eyes adjusted to the dim lighting, and lay still with all her senses alert.

  It was almost midnight from the time on the wall display. Her hammock swayed gently. No, that

  motion was wrong. Why would the hammock move?

  She checked her air intake and sat up cautiously, holding onto the sides of the hammock.

  Bang!

  The whole room shook violently, tossing her onto the floor.

  It was a quake, a major quake judging by the rocking of her domed shelter.

  Pain stabbed as she bumped her head on a hard object. The interior lighting activated with her

  motion. Her body rolled against the interior wall. Lucilla clung to the textured surface and dragged

  herself upright with her back to the solid wall.

  Fear quickened her breathing as she scanned the room, taking stock of the damage. Most of the

  furniture was bolted to the floor. Her chair lay on its side by the desk. The precious com was

  fastened securely to the desk top. But, her data chips had fallen off the desk and littered the floor,

  and as she stared, a coffee mug rolled to the opposite side of the cabin. The quake had left an

  untidy mess strewn over the interior of her dome.

  The dome stopped shaking and grew quiet. Lucilla seized advantage of the lull and scrambled to

  her feet, staring around. The transparent dome was intact. She rushed to check the monitors. The

  station had power and the precious air hadn’t leaked. She waved her hand to dim the lights, and

  gazed outside the dome. As always, she admired the beauty of the stars against the blackness

  overhead. So many bright stars, many more than were visible through the grimy smog of

  overpopulated Earth. The dense pinpricks of stars in the spiral arm of the Milky Way galaxy cut

  diagonally across the black sky. The moon Phobos was a tiny dot gleaming in the lower east

  quadrant of the sky. As she noted the moon’s position, her com beeped to announce an incoming

  signal.The hawk icon flashed.

  “Phobos to Mars Three. Phobos to Lucilla. Lucilla, are you all right?” Jasper spoke abruptly,

  without his normal cheeriness.

  She felt a surge of relief mixed with exasperation at the sound of his voice. Jasper often ignored

  the formal protocols for communication. Still, she was glad to know he was watching her station.

  “Mars Three to Phobos. Lucilla here. Yes, I’m okay. No injuries. I’m assessing the damage from the

  quake. Over.”

  “Roger, Lucilla. Seismic monitors went crazy. It’s a huge quake. The epicenter is fifty kiloms west of

  your dome.”

  “The dome’s intact. Minor disruptions inside. I’ll check the outside surface next.”

  “Watch out for aftershocks. I have a shuttle, but I’ll be out of contact in one hour when Phobos sets.

  Bye, Lucilla. Stay safe.” The hawk vanished from the screen.

  No jokes this time from Jasper. She remembered the one occasion four years ago when she had

  been in his shuttle. He was the jesting pilot on the awkward ride from the spaceship, while she was

  tongue tied from anxiety about her future on Mars and scarcely spoke a word. After four solitary

  years, she looked forward to Jasper’s jokes in their daily calls.

  Lucilla activated the sensors and gazed outside. The rising sun cast long shadows and warmed the

  sandy ground. At first, she saw nothing unusual. The buggy was still fastened on its platform by the

  airlock, and the greenhouse dome loomed to her right. Was the greenhouse tilted slightly? She

  focused on an irregular bulge at the base of the large dome. Her lenses shifted through the

  spectrum until she identified the bulge as a mass of orange angels. While she watched, the sunlight

  reached the angels and they rippled into life, flowing slowly around the base of the dome.

  Lucilla gasped as the greenhouse dome shifted to one side. Fear froze her for a minute; the plants

  were her main source of food. She shook her head. It wasn’t safe to go outside, but she had to know

  the worst.

  “Dev,” she shouted. Green lights flashed as the robot woke from its rest phase, and its head swiveled

  toward her.

  Lucilla ordered, “Go outside and collect a sample from the angels at the base of the greenhouse.

  When you come back, wait inside the airlock for instructions.”

  Dev took the sample tubes and lumbered to the airlock. Lucilla returned to her position, leaning on

  the inside wall of the dome and watched the angels on the greenhouse. They crawled around the

  metal base, but seemed unable to creep up the transparent dome.

  Crack!

  The noise penetrated through the audio monitor, and to her horror, the dome tipped sideways

  until the upper edge lifted from the ground. Air hissed from the raised lip of the dome. Her plants

  would die in the frigid temperature.

  The robot moved steadily toward the angels massed around the greenhouse. Dev stepped on a

  bubbling mass of angels. The robot halted, then sank lowly onto one leg and toppled over. Red

  emergency lights flickered over Dev’s head and faded. The angels crept over the robot, leaving

  empty spaces in the shell encasing its body.

  Lucilla screamed. Insight smashed into her mind. The mutant angels had eroded the steel supports

  on Dev’s legs and the metal mesh of the robot’s armored skin. Their new proteins allowed them to

  eat metal. The molecular mechanism was clear in her mind. The ion channels pumped out

  hydrogen ions and generated acids to etch the steel, producing iron atoms, which were grabbed by

  the other new proteins. Hastily, she pulled on the bulky helmet and grabbed the com, hitting the

  symbol to call Phobos.

  “Jasper,” she yelled, abandoning any form
alities in the emergency. “The angels are eating the steel

  supports. My greenhouse is busted open and they’re creeping closer. I’ll escape in the buggy. The

  wheel tires are synthetic and should resist the angel acids. I’ll run a quick test first.”

  She didn’t have time to wait for his reply.

  Oh no, Rosalee was in danger too. Lucilla punched the code for Mars Two. “Watch out, Rosalee, the

  mutant angels are eating the metal struts. They’ve cracked open my greenhouse.”

  She slammed down the com and gathered her emergency supplies. Radio, medical kit, food

  concentrates, extra oxygen and the portable water recycler. Then, she rummaged in the workshop

  compartments and found the patch kit for the buggy tires. Lucilla sat at the remote controls, placed

  a test piece of tire material in the suction tube, and carefully maneuvered the robotic arm to drop the piece into the angels clustered near Dev’s pitted body.

  She focused her lenses on the thin strip and waited. After five minutes, the strip was untainted and

  the metal-hungry angels rippled away from it. Relieved, Lucilla sighed and hoisted the bag of

  supplies over her shoulders.

  Why hadn’t Jasper called back? She daren’t stayin the dome any longer. The supports might be

  attacked any minute. She hoped Rosalee wasn’t immersed in her sims and had seen the com signal.

  Lucilla clipped the com to her sleeve and went to the airlock. Before she exited the dome, she

  checked the sand outside the door. Lines of angels crept inexorably toward her shelter, but the path

  was still clear to the buggy.

  She jumped to the ground, took two long strides and leaped onto the platform. Next minute, she

  was inside the buggy, examining the maps from her cross country trip. The most direct route to

  the rocky highlands was full of angels. Instead, she traced a detour over a rock ridge with very few

  tendrils of the colored bacteria. Lucilla hit the starter. The buggy clumped off the platform, rolled

  over the nearest streaks of angels, heading for the hills.

  The buggy moved slowly, but outpaced the growth of the angels. Fewer green and yellow threads

  were visible among the rocks. Soon, Lucilla hoped to reach higher and safer ground.