Colony Mars Ultimate Edition

by Gerald M. Kilby

  “Malbec, pick up the pace, let’s keep it moving,” Decker’s voice echoed in her head.

  “Yes, commander.”

  Annis looked anxiously at the encroaching storm front. “We’re not going to make it. Dammit. Looks like we figured it wrong. Anyway, we’re committed now, no going back. Come on, we need to move faster.”

  Jann dug deep and found a rhythm of sorts. They moved in silence, all focused on one objective, get to the HAB before the storm hit. She looked up at the ominous billowing cliff of dust as it moved and reshaped itself ever closer. Annis was right; they weren’t going to make it.

  “There it is.” They could see the white squat cylinder of the HAB off in the distance, just before it was swallowed by the oncoming maelstrom.

  “Stay close, we’ll lose visibility shortly, everybody stay tight, keep everyone else in sight.”

  The storm charged across the crater’s surface with impressive speed and Jann braced herself for impact. But the impact never came. The Martian atmosphere was so thin that she barely felt anything. It was eerie. Fine dust swirled everywhere and blocked out the world. Encapsulated in her EVA suit Jann had a strong feeling of dislocation. It was like she was not physically here. Like a ghost. She lost sight of all but Paolio and forced herself to move faster. Her balance failed, she tripped and tumbled forward.

  “Help! I’ve fallen. I can’t see anyone.”

  “Malbec, is that you? Goddammit, we don’t need this now. Everyone stop exactly where you are. That includes you Malbec, don’t move, we’ll come to you, just stay put.”

  “I can’t see anyone…” She managed to stand up again but had lost all sense of direction. Everywhere she looked was a dense murky sea of dust. She turned this way and that, arms outstretched. She was blind. Fear rose up inside her, she fought to control it. The sound of her own breathing began to reverberate in her helmet. She was beginning to panic.

  A hand grabbed her elbow. “It’s okay, Jann, I got you.” It was Paolio. “Are you all right?”

  Her breathing calmed. “I’m fine… just got a bit… I’m okay…” The others came into view, materializing out of the ghostly dust.

  “Follow me, we’re nearly there.” Decker moved off again. The rest fell in behind. Jann stuck close to Paolio.

  They walked for only a short time and finally the HAB rose up out of the dust like a lost ship in a fog. They found their way to the airlock door and one by one crossed the threshold and into safety. Decker hit the controls to pressurize the airlock. As soon as the alert flashed green the crew started to remove their helmets and breathe their first taste of HAB air.

  “Holy crap,” said Novack, “let’s do that again.”

  2

  Jezero Crater

  For three days the vast Jezero Crater was immersed in dust as the crew waited it out, cocooned in the relative comfort of the HAB. It was a two story pressurized cylinder approximately eight meters in diameter and the same in height. The HAB was the culmination of intense design and redesign over thousands of hours and hundreds of iterations, each one inching it ever closer to ergonomic perfection. The ground floor housed the main operations area, a small galley dining space, and a utilitarian medlab sickbay. There was also a large airlock with enough room for all six crew along with EVA suits. An open column ran up the center of the HAB with a ladder and a small standing elevator, giving access to the top floor. It was divided into eight sections, sliced like a pie. It gave some private sleeping space for each crewmember along with a ‘slice’ each for exercise and sanitary. Compared to the cramped confines of the Odyssey it was palatial.

  For Jann the sandstorm was a blessing in disguise as it gave her body time to adjust to working in one-third gravity. More than once she positioned an object in midair, expecting it to float, only for it to fall crashing to the floor. It also gave her mind time to contend with the enormity of the responsibility that lay before her. She spent much of this time in the privacy of her room studying mission protocol and mentally rehearsing many of the technical procedures.

  By the morning of the fourth sol (day) the storm cleared, moving off eastward away from the crater basin. Jann sat in the HAB galley reading through the last known communication from Colony One. The message was sent over three and a half years ago by Nills Langthorp, the thirteenth human to set foot on Mars.

  “What do you think he meant by that last line on the message?” Jann directed her question at Dr. Paolio Corelli, who was making his second espresso of the morning. The HAB had its own fresh coffee machine, courtesy of the Italian Space Agency. Paolio, being a native, was very proud of it and relished any opportunity to instruct the others as to its operation.

  “Who… what line?”

  “Nills Langthorp, the Mars colonist. His last message had the line Send no more.”

  Paolio waved his hand in the air. “Who knows? Many people have debated that over the last couple of years.”

  “I know, but what do you think it means?”

  He sat down across from her and sipped his coffee with all the theater of a true connoisseur. “Most people think it meant send no more colonists. But I have another theory.” He poked a finger in Jann’s direction. “I think the message was cut off.” He sat back.

  “So you think there should be more to it?”

  “Absolutely. I think what he was actually saying was send no more of that horrible Dutch coffee.” He laughed.

  Lu Chan stepped into the galley. “We’ll be ready in ten for a preliminary mission brief.”

  “That gives me just enough time to show you how to use the espresso machine, Lu.” Paolio jumped and grabbed a little cup from a storage unit.

  “Paolio, show me later. I have to get ready for the brief.”

  “Nonsense, you have plenty of time.”

  Lu sighed. “Oh all right.” She looked down at Jann. “Better let him show me so he doesn’t keep going on about it.” She rolled her eyes.

  Lu and Paolio were close; they had a relaxed way with each other. Jann had considered it would be difficult for a relationship to survive the rigors of space travel. But they made it look easy. A part of her envied them. Paolio fussed and fiddled with the machine and a few minutes later Lu emerged from the huddle with a dainty little espresso. “Come on guys, time for the brief.” She brought her coffee with her.

  The six ISA crew gathered around a large display table in the operations area of the HAB and waited for Lu to start the session. She tapped an icon and a map of the Jezero Crater radiated out across the table surface. She tapped again and the map rendered itself in three dimensions. It gave the illusion of hovering above the surface of the table. She rotated it.

  “This is us here.” Lu pointed to a red marker overlaid on a 3D rendering of the HAB. She zoomed in. “Over here is the lander and that’s our fuel processing plant.”

  “Okay, let’s see Colony One,” said Commander Decker. The map zoomed out and they could now see most of the western side of the crater.

  “That’s Colony One, about two kilometers west, near the crater’s edge.” She rotated the map and zoomed in on the site. A wire frame 3D model ballooned out from the display table. “I can overlay this with our latest orbiter imagery to give us a better idea of what we can expect.”

  The Colony One site slowly rendered itself in photo-quality detail. It was a sizable facility comprised of a large biodome where the colonists had grown most of the food that sustained them. Radiating around this was a number of smaller domes and around these were dotted a series of interconnected modules, arranged like petals on a flower. These were the landers that each batch of six colonists arrived in.

  “As you can see, the roof of this dome here has caved in, and the same with this one. We have major sand ingress here and here. Also several of these modules are damaged or missing completely.” They looked at the model as it rotated slowly. It was more detailed than anything they had seen before.

  “How can modules just disappear, could they have blown awa
y?” said Jann.

  “Impossible, the atmosphere is too thin for even the most vicious sandstorm to do that. The only explanation is they moved them or maybe they dismantled them for some other purpose,” said Lu.

  “These long humps in the sand are more grow areas, right?”

  “One is. The other is soil processing for water reclamation and resource extraction—and it looks like that has also collapsed.” Lu zoomed out from the main structure to take in more of the surrounding area.

  “Over here, on the edge of the site is the main solar array field—looks about eighty percent intact. Here, up on the crater’s edge is the plutonium reactor. We need to be very careful of this, in case it’s fractured. The power cables run down along here and across here.

  “I presume that’s the last supply ship?” said Decker.

  “Yes, still exactly where it landed, untouched for over three years.”

  In the months after contact was lost with Colony One, an unmanned ship was sent packed with emergency supplies, in the vain hope that some of the colonists might be still alive. It was still there where it landed, gathering dust—literally.

  “I count six bodies, but none near the reactor or along the cable routes.”

  “I wonder why they’re all scattered around like that?” Paolio waved a hand around the 3D map.

  “If they went out during the sandstorm there would have been very poor visibility. They probably got disorientated. A bit like Malbec did when we arrived here," said the commander with a laugh. Jann said nothing.

  “Lu can you zoom in a bit more on this body here?” said Paolio. The map model ballooned out and picked up on the prostrate form of a dead colonist. It lay flat on its back.

  “I could be mistaken, but he, or she, looks to be missing an arm.”

  “Well the image at this detail is poor so it could just be a buildup of sand around the body obscuring the arm.” Lu leaned to examine the image.

  “I don’t think so,” said Paolio.

  “Why?”

  “Because… I think that’s it over there.” He pointed to an arm shaped smudge a few meters from the body.

  The others looked at the forlorn figure with a mixture of fascination and horror.

  “Well, we’ll find out for sure soon enough.” Commander Decker reached over and shut off the map. “Okay, listen up. I want all system checks done on all the equipment as soon as possible. Once everything is nominal we can proceed to the site. You all know what to do, this is what we trained for so lets get to it.” He clapped his hands together.

  “And Malbec…”

  “Yes, commander?”

  “I need you to stay sharp. I know you haven’t had a lot of training but I still want you focused.”

  “Yes. Of course, commander.”

  “Why does he give me such a hard time?” Jann and Lu were in full EVA suits, outside on the planet’s surface, running diagnostic tests on the two utility rovers.

  “He just wants to keep on top of the mission. Take my advice, don’t take it personally.” Lu disengaged the rover locking mechanisms to wake them up.

  “Maybe you’re right.”

  “I am right. You try too hard, Jann. No one’s expecting you to be perfect at everything. Just keep your head down, stay focused and you’ll be fine.”

  “I wish I had your confidence.”

  Lu stopped and looked over at her. “Believe me, underneath this elegant, swan-like exterior there’s a lot of paddling going on.” She laughed.

  “Okay, I get it, head down, stay focused.”

  “Exactly… and chill out.”

  “And chill out.” She nodded and smiled at Lu.

  “That’s the important bit.”

  That said, Jann was finding it difficult to concentrate on the task at hand. In fact, both of them would get distracted, and stop and look around at the Martian landscape. It was the first time that Jann really had a chance to truly look at her surroundings. The trip from the lander to the HAB had been one of sheer terror, not a time for sightseeing.

  “It's incredible, isn’t it?” she said.

  “Yes, truly awe inspiring.” Lu was staring off into the distance. The topography of the crater basin was mainly flat with dips and valleys undulating across it. They could see Isidis Peak off to the east. To the west, the rim of the crater looped around the horizon. They stood there for quite some time, soaking in the vista.

  After a while they turned back to their work. Lu hit a button on her remote control display and the first rover rolled out from its compartment onto the dusty soil. These were heavy-duty utility vehicles used for transporting equipment, supplies and samples. They were not designed for driving around in by crew. Just simple robotic mules, the space exploration equivalent of flatbed carts. Jann poked a button on her remote and the second rover rolled out. She drove it out a few meters from the base of the HAB and set to work doing a full systems test. Both rovers had robotic arms but one mule also had a drill for seismic research. The colonists had discovered cave systems in the area, so this rover was here to find and map these. It could drill down to a depth of several meters and deposit an explosive charge. When it detonated, the resultant shock wave would be analyzed and a detailed chart rendered of the subsurface.

  They were also designed to be autonomous. You could load one up with all your gear, set a beacon on your EVA suit and the rover should follow along wherever you went—like a faithful donkey. Jann was now testing this; she walked away from the HAB and the rover dutifully followed. However, the terrain around the HAB was hard and flat, easy ground for the rover. What she needed was something more rugged to truly put the machine through its paces. Jann looked out across the vast crater basin and marched off in search of more testing ground.

  After the months of confinement onboard the Odyssey, on top of months of intensive training before that, she now felt a wave of exhilarating freedom wash over her. The vast plain stretched out as far as the eye could see: desolate, empty and inviting. She felt like a child again, wandering off across an expanse of old family farm. She moved with a steady, easy pace, soaking up her surroundings as she went, lost in her thoughts.

  “Jann, where are you off to?” Lu’s voice broke into her reverie.

  “Oh… eh.” She had to think for a moment to orientate herself. “I’m just testing the rover… taking it for a walk.”

  “You don’t have to take it to the other side of the planet. Try and remember the focus part, Jann.”

  “Okay… yes. I’ll head back.” She took one last look out across the crater before turning around.

  “Focus, I really need to keep focused.”

  3

  Colony One

  It took most of that morning to get all the system checks complete. Once finished, Decker reported back to mission control, and by late morning they received a go to proceed with a preliminary reconnaissance of the derelict Colony One site. An air of excitement rippled through the crew as they suited up in the airlock.

  “Comms check.” Decker’s voice squawked in Jann’s helmet, followed by a ripple of verbal affirmations by the rest of the crew.

  “Listen up. I want a tight line, no wandering off and no falling behind, Malbec. Understood?”

  Jann nodded and they exited the airlock, stepping out onto the Martian surface. They wasted no time in loading up one of the rovers with the necessary equipment and, with final checks done, Decker gave the command to move out. The six crew of the ISA Mars mission marched off in the direction of the crater rim, the location of Colony One.

  Reconnaissance imagery depicted the crater basin to be smooth and flat, but on the ground it varied widely. The terrain ahead undulated with dips and valleys, while underfoot it shifted from hard cracked regolith to soft sandy dunes. Rocks and boulders of varying size and composition were scattered across the entire site. Walking in one-third gravity took some getting used to and Jann, as usual, had difficulty keeping pace. It didn’t help that she would get distracted by the la
ndscape and slow down to take it all in. More than once Decker halted the procession just so she could catch up.

  “Hey… check this out.” Chief Engineer, Kevin Novack, looked down at the ground and toed some object in the dirt.

  “What have you found?” said Annis.

  “If I’m not mistaken, it looks like litter.” He reached down, tugged the edge of a plastic bag buried in the soil and pulled it out. “A component wrapper of some kind.” The others gathered around. They could just make out the faded Colony One Mars (COM) logo on the outside. Decker paid no attention to the artifact, he was busy scanning the horizon.

  “There it is… over there,” he pointed in the direction of a rock formation nestled in front of a low line of dunes. Through a dip in the line they could just make out the top of the biodome.

  “Let’s keep moving.” He started off again.

  Novack wasn’t sure what to do with the wrapper. In the end he just let it fall out of his gloved hand and it drifted back down onto the sand. They moved off towards their destination.

  After a while, it became apparent to them that the rock formation in the foreground was not natural. It seemed to have been constructed by someone, a colonist presumably. Annis was first there to investigate. “It looks like a small hut, crudely built with rocks, like an old stone wall.” Annis paused, gently ran her hand over the stones and then continued with her commentary. “It’s around two meters high and the same wide… with a domed roof. There’s an opening on this side. I’m going in.”

  “Wait, Annis! It may be unstable, you shouldn’t take any unnecessary risks just yet.” Jann’s voice squawked in the first officer’s comm. Annis hesitated for a moment, looked over at Jann and then back at the hut. It was like she was considering a reply, but thought better of it and entered the stone hut regardless.

  “There’s a body in here… just sitting in the middle of the floor,” she announced.