“Ah. Now I see where you’re going with this. You’re still rattled by your little misadventure in the hills and now you’re wondering whether fate has it in for you or something.”
James shook his head. “No, that’s not it at all. Ramirez told us that someone paid him to plant the bombs. That confirms there’s a conspiracy. Who knows how widespread it is, or what the ultimate goal is?”
Jankowski smirked. “From what I heard, three of those suspicious events occurred while you were in the area. Maybe that proves you were involved. Or maybe they were after you—whoever ‘they’ are. As for your conspiracy theory, of course that deranged lunatic said there was a mysterious conspiracy afoot. He’s trying to save his ass. He had absolutely no evidence to back up his story, did he?” When James didn’t respond, he snorted.
“Look, kid, space is a dangerous place. Mars is a dangerous place. Accidents happen all the time. Sometimes they occur in clusters. That’s just the way it is. Consider that there are dozens of base camps, several thousand people, and more than a hundred different mines spread out over tens of thousands of square kilometers of Martian real estate just in this region alone. There’s almost as much of everything around Moreau. Every base camp is like a small town. Everyone knows everyone, and we all run a twenty-four-and-a-half-hour operation, so there are always people on duty. A stranger trying to slip in to sabotage anything would stand out like plutonium in a Geiger counter factory. Are you suggesting that one of your coworkers here might want to do you in?”
James squirmed under Jankowski’s withering gaze. “Well, not if you put it that way….”
“I do put it that way. I’m not going to do daily bomb-proofing of every vehicle under my watch just because some kid is afraid of his shadow all of a sudden. Now why don’t you get the hell out of my face and let me get back to doing something productive!”
James slunk back to his quarters, his face burning the whole way. Once there he checked his v-mail. There was one from Janice, asking whether he wanted to do something together, but James was too mortified to want to see anyone at the moment.
I’m probably jumping at shadows, as Jankowski said; but I think I’ll keep my eyes and ears open anyway, just in case.
Maybe I should talk this over with Janice and see what she says. I’d hate to think I’m getting paranoid in my old age. On the other hand….
“What if I’m not?”
He headed for the door.
CHAPTER 15
Precious and Semiprecious Stones: Beryl—Beryl, or Beryllium Aluminum Silicate—Be3Al2(SiO3)6—is a transparent-to-translucent glassy mineral. Beryl ore is the primary source of metallic beryllium. Colored varieties of the crystal are prized as gemstones. The gems are classed by the impurities that give them their color. Varieties include Emerald (green), Aquamarine (blue-green), Bixbite or Red Beryl (red), Morganite (pinkish purple), Heliodor (greenish yellow), and Goshenite (colorless).
Beryllium is a high-melting, lightweight yet rigid, corrosion-resistant, whitish-silver metal. Primary uses are as an aerospace structural material, as a moderator and reflector in Fission reactors, and in a beryllium-copper alloy used for springs, electrical contacts, and nonsparking tools.
— Excerpt from Terrestrial Mineralogy, 9th Ed., 2142
* * * *
Janice agreed that there was sufficient reason to keep their eyes open, but she stopped short of calling the recent events sabotage. James reported his suspicions to Dr. Chow and was met with the same reaction. When the mine explosion was determined to be the result of an oxygen cylinder and an acetylene cylinder being crushed by the descending lift, it seemed to settle the matter. Never mind that no one could explain why the cylinders, used in oxyacetylene welding, had been left there—or by whom.
It wasn’t impossible that the blast was intentional, but there was no solid evidence to prove it either. The more reasonable explanation for the three mysterious explosions was simply a cluster of random accidents occurring in a short span of time, just as Petr Jankowski had suggested.
When no further incidents occurred for several weeks, it lent credence to this conclusion. As for James, after two weeks of vigilance, he finally relaxed and devoted his full attention to work. Unfortunately for him, the next six surveys proved no more fruitful than the first.
I’d better find something soon, before they start rethinking the wisdom of hiring me. I’ve accomplished squat since I’ve been here, unless you count almost getting myself killed and wrecking a Cat.
This next survey had better be good. I need to find something. That section of the canyon looks promising for beryl; but then, the last seven all looked promising, too.
James stopped before Dr. Chow’s door. He took a deep breath before knocking.
“Enter.”
James did so and closed the door behind him. “Good morning, Dr. Chow.”
“Morning, James. So what do you have for me today?”
“I think we’ve got a good shot at beryl in Coprates Chasma.”
Holly Chow’s brows drew together. “A ‘good shot’? You’ll have to do better than that, James. People have been all over that canyon for the last hundred-plus years. No one’s found anything commercially viable there thus far.”
“Yes, I know. But there was a massive landslide there several weeks back. It exposed a large expanse of rock face that’s never been seen before. Look.” He transferred several topological maps of varying scale to Dr. Chow’s console and displayed two of them side by side on her holoscreen. See? Here’s before, and here’s after.”
Chow nodded. “Quite a change.”
He flipped to a third image. “And if you look at this close-up, it shows a spectrographic signature consistent with beryl, right over…there.” He pointed to the spot on the north wall.
“So it would seem. But a spectrographic match isn’t foolproof.”
“Agreed; but we’ll never be sure until we investigate.”
“True enough, James. But that’s a long way from here. Base Camp 6 is closer. Shouldn’t they be the ones to check it out?”
James shrugged. “It makes sense for them to be the ones to do the actual mining, but I’d like the privilege of being the one to do the survey. After all, I recognized the significance of the landslide. Besides, I already called Base Camp 6 and all of their areologists are presently in the field. But I’m currently available.”
Chow suppressed a smile. “So you are. That’s some pretty rugged terrain between the canyon mouth and the landslide. Are you sure you’re up to it?”
“It’s nothing a Cat can’t handle. I just have to be extra careful, that’s all.”
“Very well, then. It’s a good two-day drive each way. You’re going to need extra air and food. Why are you still standing here?”
James flashed a big grin. “On my way, boss!” He flew out the door.
All right! Maybe things are looking up at last.
He left a short v-mail message for Janice, who was out in the field, and began packing.
* * * *
“Look, ‘Lieutenant,’ if you want the union to play ball, you have to play ball, too.” The man picked at an imaginary piece of lint on his pant leg, donning an air of nonchalance.
Lee Tennant gritted his teeth at the nickname Jardin always used to get his goat. Man, I’d love to wipe the smug look off the sleazy sonofabitch’s face.
Doug Jardin was short, wide and ugly. But no uglier than his ethics. By ‘union’ Jardin really meant Jardin. His offer of cooperation was nothing more than a shakedown; the corollary being that if you didn’t play ball with Jardin, shop steward of Industrial Workers of Mars Local #4, bad things could happen to your mining operation.
“Is that what happened to Amalgamated and Barsoom, and all the other mysterious ‘accidents’ over the past few months? They didn’t play ball?”
Jardin removed the soggy stub of a Diego Corona cigar from his mouth and rolled it between his fingers before answering. Although smoking was prohib
ited everywhere on Mars, he liked to gnaw on unlit Coronas simply to rub people’s faces in the fact that he had the money and the pull to have them smuggled all the way from Earth. “I ain’t sayin’ it was, and I ain’t sayin’ it wasn’t. But for some reason them boys at Amalgamated have been a lot more cooperative lately, I’ll tell you that. Allied Shipping, too.”
Tennant half-rose from his chair, face flushed. “You unmitigated bastard. How dare you come into my office and threaten—!”
Jardin held out his palms placatingly. “Now, now, Tennant, I ain’t threatenin’ nobody. I’m just statin’ facts.” Tennant sat back down, his anger barely contained.
Now there was steel in Jardin’s voice and the good ol’ boy mannerisms were gone. “You need to understand that the camps that go along, get along, if you catch my drift. Those that don’t….” He shrugged. “I can’t help it if a disgruntled worker gets a bit… overzealous. Things happen; sometimes tragic things….”
That did it. All of Tennant’s pent up rage at the man burst out. “Get out of my office you slimy sack of shit before I rip your arms off and beat you to death with them! If anything more serious than a hangnail happens to any of my people—any of them—I’m going to come after you personally. No ‘due process of law.’ Just me—if you catch my drift. God help anyone who tries to get in my way.”
He slapped the button for the intercom built into his desktop. “Bella! If this ‘gentleman’ isn’t out of the building in ninety seconds, I want you to have security escort him out. Tell them not to be gentle about it.”
“Yes sir!”
Jardin sauntered to the door, then looked back and sneered. “You’re making a big mistake, ‘Lieutenant.’” A very serious mistake.”
Tennant charged from behind his desk, and Jardin hastily slipped out the door. Tennant waited a minute to be sure Jardin was gone, then pressed the intercom button again. “Bella, send out a notice to all MMR location heads. Tell them to step up security until further notice. Have them notify me of any suspicious activity, however small.”
“Yes sir.”
“And have them tell me if Jardin shows up at any of our facilities unannounced.”
“Yes sir.”
I’ll be damned if I cave in to that pig’s extortion.
Let’s hope I didn’t just start a war.
* * * *
By mid-morning, James was provisioned and ready to leave.
Jeez, it almost looks like I’m going to war here. James shook his head in disbelief as he looked over the vehicle. I’ve got enough food and water to feed an army, extra O2 bottles that look like missile pods strapped to the Cat, and the passenger compartment is stuffed with extra vials, chemical reagents and gear.
What the heck, as long as I’m going to go all that way I may as well cover as much ground as possible when I get there, right?
I’ve got just enough time to v-mail Janice, Kim and Daniel before I leave. I can’t have them wondering if I dropped off the face of Mars when they don’t hear from me for two weeks.
James chuckled to himself. Come to think of it, while I’m down in the deep, dark depths of the canyon, I will have dropped off the face of Mars.
He sat at the computer terminal and began recording.
“Hi, Janice. I know we never seem to get any time together lately, between your missions and mine, but what are you gonna do? That’s the job. Speaking of missions, I’m about to leave on one now. Dr. Chow gave me permission to scout part of Coprates Chasma for beryl. I’ll call you as soon as I can, but I’m afraid I’ll be out of touch for a while. With any luck, you’ll be here when I return and we can celebrate a major find by one of us. If not, we can celebrate just being together.”
He flashed a boyish grin. “Talk to you later, sweetie. James out.”
* * * *
“I’ll be gone a couple of weeks or so. Try not to miss me too much!” The image winked at her. “James out.”
Kim immediately fired off a reply marked Urgent. “James. I really hope you get this before you leave. There’s a huge dust storm moving in on that whole region from the west. It’s still over the horizon from your base camp, so I’m not surprised you’re not aware of it. I heard the weather service guys talking about it a few minutes ago. It just showed up on the orbital sensors and it’s roaring in your direction. You’ve got maybe a week until it reaches your camp, but only four days before it hits the western end of the Valles Marineris trough system. After that, the wind is going to roar up the rift like a freight train until it hits Coprates. That won’t be a good place to be caught outdoors. Please check your messages before you leave!”
As soon as she hit the Send key, she chided herself. Idiot! What am I saying? He won’t get my message asking him to check his messages unless he checks his messages first.
She followed up with a silent plea. Please, James. Check your messages.
* * * *
James hopped in the driver’s seat with the same feeling of excitement as before all his other missions. I’m going to find the mother lode this time; I just know it!
He smiled crookedly. Yeah, just like the last seven times. Well, I’d better get at it.
He triggered the remote door opener and drove the big Cat out of the motor pool.
What a glorious day. Indeed, the sun shone brightly, causing bits of mica in the packed, ground-up regolith that served as a roadway in and out of camp to sparkle merrily as he headed out. Even Jankowski’s admonition that James “had better bring this Cat back in one piece!” didn’t faze him. He was going out into the field once more. That was all that mattered.
This is going to be a good trip. I can feel it.
* * * *
In his haste to get to Coprates, James pushed himself hard.
The sooner I get there, the sooner I can get back. I can sleep when I get there, James told himself—even though in the back of his mind he knew he’d be too excited to sleep.
In his hurry, James had neglected to turn on his radio. He was eleven hours out of camp and ready to stop for the night before he discovered his error.
“Where the hell have you been, James? We’ve been frantic back here. There’s a big dust storm coming your way. There’s a reason those Cats come equipped with radios, you know….”
“It’s always good to hear your voice, Joe. Sorry about the radio. I just noticed it was off. What’s that about a storm?”
“There’s a huge one heading east, towards Valles Marineris. It should hit Coprates in another three to four days. You don’t want to be in the middle of the canyon when it hits.”
“Look, Joe, I’ve just had a long drive out here. I’m not about to turn around and head back now. Besides, I’ve weathered dust storms before. These Cats are plenty tough. I’ll just accumulate as many samples as I can. Then when the storm hits I’ll hole up in the Cat and do the analyses. No big deal.”
“James, this is Mars, remember? Everything is a big deal. This storm could last a lot longer than most. What if you run out of air again?”
“Don’t worry, Joe. I learned my lesson the first time. This is expected to be a two-week exploratory. I provisioned for three weeks, just in case.”
“Maybe so, but you still don’t want to be caught out in the open when this storm comes whistling down through the canyon. The air may not be as thick as on Earth, but those walls will create a funnel effect that intensifies the wind.”
“I’ve thought of that, too. I’ll find an outcropping, or a pile of rubble tall enough to shield the Cat, and park behind it. Relax, Joe. I’ve got it covered.”
“Have you ever heard the expression, ‘famous last words’?”
James chuckled, but even to his ears it sounded a bit strained. “I’ll talk to you later, Joe. James out.”
Great. Just what I need: a big honkin’ dust storm. Why can’t anything ever be easy?
Over the next forty-one hours, James kept up the routine of calling every morning and every evening.
“Base Ca
mp 9, this is James reporting in. Over.”
“Gotcha loud and clear, James. Where are you now?”
“Hi, Joe. I’m just about to descend into the canyon. The rubble here is pretty well settled. I should be able to get down without trouble; but once I’m in the shadow of the north wall I’ll be incommunicado most of the time. So I wanted to check in before I started down.”
“Roger. That dust storm is still expected to hit your position in a couple of days, so make sure you keep checking in for weather reports. You don’t want to be caught out in the open when it hits.”
“Will do, Joe. James out.”
Mindful of his promise to Dr. Chow to be extra-cautious, James exited the Cat to check out the precipice before attempting the descent. I’m sure it’s fine, but with all the recent landslide activity in this area lately, it can’t hurt to double-check.
He walked the final eight meters to the edge and looked over. The late-afternoon shadows cast the boulders and jagged rocks of the slope in stark contrast.
Jeez, that’s a long way down! It doesn’t look this steep in the topos. Still, I know the Cat can handle it. The question is, can I?
He silently chided himself for this lack of confidence. It looks solid enough, but could I identify an impending landslide by eye anyway? He shrugged. Just get it over with.
He returned to the Cat, entered the airlock and climbed back behind the wheel. James carefully inched the Cat forward, over the brink and down the incline.
The first warning James had of danger was when the back end of the Cat slewed around. What the—? A ninety-meter section of the rocky slope had broken free, taking James with it. I knew it!
Even for a Cat, normally as surefooted as a mountain goat, an avalanche was a Very Bad Thing. Within seconds, James and the Cat were plunging sideways down the slope. Sand, gravel, rocks and immense boulders flew over, under, and by the Cat, some pinging off the sides of the cab where James was thinking furiously.
The Imperative Chronicles, Books One and Two: The Mars Imperative & The Tesserene Imperative Page 19