“Shit, she’s getting hypothermia.”
“I told you we should have done it in stages. This could kill her.”
“We don’t have time, quick get her into the blanket, switch it on, get her warm. Shit, don’t let her have a cardiac arrest.”
“Christ, she’s no good to us like this.”
“It will pass, trust me, she’s been in the tank for less than an hour. Just keep her warm.”
“How the hell are we going to get her into an EVA suit like this?”
Jann felt something warm wrap itself around her, and an oxygen mask was held over her mouth. Her shaking began to subside.
“She’s okay.”
“Thank god for that.”
“Right, let’s get moving. We only have a twenty-five minute window and we’ve already used seven.”
Jann still shook and shivered, but less with each passing minute. She tried to open her eyes and speak. “It’s okay, we got you out.” Someone placed a hand on her head; she went quiet again. She could feel herself being carried on a stretcher of some kind. It was dim but she began to make out lights here and there as they moved. After a while they stopped and set her down. She was beginning to come around and tried to lift a hand to wipe her forehead but she felt pinned down, and her mouth was like sandpaper. “Water,” she croaked. “Some water?”
“She’s coming out of it,” someone said.
“Water.”
“Wait, hold on, let me get you out of this thermal blanket.” Jann could feel the heat drain away as the blanket deflated. She could move again. Someone unzipped it a little and placed a bottle of water against her lips. She raised a hand to hold it as she lifted herself up on her elbow. She drank it all.
“Feeling better?” Kayden knelt down beside and took the empty bottle.
Jann sat up and ran her fingers across her face and over her skull. She shook her head and looked at Kayden. “Bastard, you put me in there.”
“The Council put you in there. I had no choice but to go along with it, otherwise they would have suspected me. Anyway, you’re out now. Time to leave.”
“Jesus, I thought I was going to go insane in that tank.”
“Think you can stand? We don’t have much time.” Kayden put a hand under her shoulder.” Samir, give me some help here.”
Together they lifted her into a standing position. She was shaky, but her body was beginning to recalibrate itself back to normality. She was still wet with slime from the tank. She shivered in horror when she realized, and started to frantically wipe herself down with the blanket that was still partly wrapped around her. “Get this crap off me.”
“It’s okay, Jann. Just calm down, it’s inactive outside of the tank. Just take a deep breath.”
She clutched the blanket close to her as the panic began to subside. She let out a deep breath. “Okay, I’m okay.” She looked around. They were in a small, dimly lit storeroom. “Where is this place?”
“Near the main entrance to Colony Two.”
There were two others with Kayden. Samir, who was speaking to her now, and another woman who looked agitated.
“I don’t suppose you have some clothes for me? Or do I go around naked?”
“The best sort, we’ve got your EVA suit. Think you can handle it?”
“If it means getting out of this place, then, yeah, lead me to it.”
“Behind here.” Samir started moving storage boxes out of the way.
“Noome, get Jann some more water. I’ll help Samir with the suits.” Kayden started to move more of the storage boxes.
Hidden in behind them were four EVA suits. Samir started to check them one by one. “Looking good. Fully prepped, should do the job.”
“I hope you’re right, they all look a bit ragged, save for Dr. Malbec’s.” Noome was giving Jann a second bottle of water.
“They may look like shit, but they’ll get the job done.”
“Come on, we’re wasting time.” Kayden started to get into his suit.
“Shhhh…”
“What?” whispered Noome.
Samir placed a finger over his mouth. “Listen.”
They all stopped and looked towards the door. Footsteps—getting closer.
“Shit.”
“Shhhh.”
The sound of footsteps stopped outside. Jann looked around for a weapon to arm herself with as they all waited for the door to open. A moment passed, then another, and another, but the door stayed closed. Voices, hybrids—even Jann could recognize their deep resonant tone. Then the sound of movement, more footsteps, this time heading away from the door, back down the corridor, disappearing into silence.
“Whoa, what was that? Noome was trembling with fear, clutching Samir’s arm. He wasn’t much better.
“Hybrids. Looks like we had a close encounter,” said Kayden.
“That was weird, why didn’t they come in? They must have known someone was in here.”
“Who knows, who cares. They didn’t, that’s all that matters. Come on let’s get going before they come back.”
It took them all a few minutes to get suited up and checked. The plan, as far as Jann understood it, was to enter the main Colony Two airlock. This was where they had stashed her rover. They would commandeer it, open the main airlock door and head for Colony One. As an escape plan, she didn’t like it, way too risky, too high a chance of being spotted or setting off some alarm when the main airlock door opened. They had nearly been rumbled once so far, and they might not be so lucky again. But there was no other way of getting to Colony One. They had to risk it.
Kayden slowly opened the door and peered out, looking up and down the corridor. “All clear, let’s go.” He stepped out and waved to the others to follow. They all had the heavy suits on but carried their helmets, they wouldn’t need them just yet. They tried to move quietly but it was difficult. It took them a few minutes to pass through into the main entrance cavern for Colony Two. It was dark but as Samir and Kayden swept the area with a flashlight Jann could see it housed not just one but two pressurized rovers along with a myriad of other small vehicles.
“Samir, go open the inner door. We’ll get the rover started.” Kayden pointed off to one side of the cavern. The rest of them clambered into the rover and Jann started it up just as the inner door opened. Samir ran back and hopped in. She ran through systems checks to ensure pressure and then drove into the airlock. The door automatically closed behind them and there was a moment or two of nervous waiting before the outer door opened. It was pitch black outside as Jann slowly inched the machine out onto the Martian surface.
It was slow progress at first, and the lights on the rover had little range. But her confidence grew, and the farther they got from Colony Two, the faster she pushed it. There was a collective mood of relief. “We did it, we did it.” Noome was ecstatic and slapped Samir on the back. He ventured a smile in return.
Jann pushed the machine as fast as she dared in the darkness. “I saw a bunch of other rovers in that cavern. Did anyone think to disable them?”
“Don’t worry, they haven’t moved in years. This is the only operational one,” said Kayden.
“I hope so, because it’s going to take time to get the tanks ready. We don’t want them following us.” Jann started to slow down a bit.
“Once we get to Colony One, we’re home free. They can’t get there, not for a while anyway.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Trust me, we have a sol or two head start, that should be enough time.”
Jann felt relief ripple through her. She pushed the rover as hard as she dared to get more distance between her and the nightmare of Colony Two. She was running away, yet again. She felt like she had spent a lot of her time on Mars running away from one thing or another. Someday, she would have to stop.
13
Colony One
They had been moving slowly across the Jezero crater for over an hour, Jann reckoned. Assuming Kayden was right and the other v
ehicles in the cavern were out of commission, they were in no immediate danger of being followed. So she decided to drive with caution. The last thing she wanted now was to run into a gully or get caught up in a sand dune. Nonetheless, they were making progress and getting close to Colony One. The mood in the rover was one of fatigue mixed with excited relief.
“There it is, over there, look.” Jann pointed out into the darkness at the lights on the roof of the Colony One biodome. Noome and Samir got up from their seats in the back and leaned into the cockpit to get a better look.
“Cool,” said Noome. “I had nearly forgotten what it was like, it seems like so long ago since we left there. Wish I never did.”
“Yeah, it doesn’t seem so bad after all this time.”
During the journey Jann discovered that it was these two that had been tracking the Odyssey craft and intercepting ISA communications. They were original colonists but not on the council, they wanted no part of Vanji’s vision of Colony Two. How they hooked up with Kayden, Jann had not yet found out. Not that she cared, she was free of the place and now had a way off Mars, and a return ticket to Earth.
They stood there for a while just watching the lights getting closer until eventually Jann reached down and tapped a few icons on the comms panel.
“Gizmo, this is Jann Malbec, are you still there, over?”
“Gizmo? Who’s Gizmo? I thought you were alone in there?” said Kayden.
“I was the only human.”
“So who’s Gizmo?”
“You’ll see soon enough—I hope.”
“Gizmo, are you receiving this, over?” Her call was met with static coming over the rover comm as she waited for a reply. Finally, it crackled into life.
“Dr. Malbec, this is a surprise. Do you realize I calculated the probability of your existence being compatible with life at 0.03%?”
“Nice to know you still care, Gizmo.”
“I have been tracking a rover crossing the crater for some time now, I assume this is you?”
“It is. I have three other people with me, we’re heading for the workshop, can you ensure it’s got atmosphere?”
“Certainly, Jann. I am here to assist.”
“Okay, we’ll be there shortly, we can catch up when we arrive. Over and out.”
“Who was that?”
Jann looked over and smiled. “Like I said, that’s Gizmo, and you’ll meet very soon.”
She pulled up outside the main workshop airlock with a jolt. Dust and sand rose up all around as the wheels skidded to a halt. Through the swirling dust they could see the door beginning to rise as a crack of light pushed back the night. They drove in, pressurized and finally came to a stop inside the workshop. Jann got out of the rover first, followed by the others.
Gizmo raced over to her and waved a metal hand. “Welcome back, Jann.”
“Thank you, Gizmo.”
“At the risk of sounding sentimental, I was beginning to miss your company.”
Jann gave the little robot a smile. “Me too, Gizmo.” She turned to the others. “Kayden, Noome, Samir, meet Gizmo.”
The little robot raised a hand. “Greetings Earthlings.”
“Wow, that’s a pretty cool droid,” said Noome. “Where did it come from? I don’t remember there being a robot here.”
“The last colonist here built it. Nills Langthorp.”
“Nills?” said Kayden. “Well, I’m not surprised. He’s an amazing engineer, if his clone is anything to go by.”
“Nills has a clone?” Jann stopped and looked at him.
“Yeah, of course. There were two of him, I believe, but one got recycled for some reason, I can’t remember.”
“Inciting insurrection,” said Samir.
“Nills-beta is one of the main engineers in Colony Two. I don’t think the place would function without him. I think that’s why he gets away with so much.” Kayden continued.
“With what?”
“He’s a leader amongst the betas, if you’re to believe the Colony Two rumor mill. He’s well respected, and not someone that can be gotten rid of without very good reason. He’s too valuable a resource and he keeps the betas in line,” said Samir.
“Nills is alive?” said Gizmo.
“Yes and no, his clone is.”
“I would very much like to meet him again.”
“Me too,” said Jann. “But I don’t think that’s going to happen as we are leaving this planet as soon as possible.”
“Leaving?” replied the little robot.
“Yes, on the MAV, so we need to get the new fuel tanks organized. What’s the status on them?”
“Fabrication was complete some time ago, but they need to be filled with fuel, and then a diagnostics run to check integrity.”
“How long?”
“Best estimate, thirty-six point seven hours.”
“What? We don’t have that much time,” said Noome. “They’ll find us before then.”
“Thirty-six hours?” Kayden directed his question to Gizmo.
“Approximately.”
“Shit, shit.” Noome started jumping around. “This is not good, not good.”
“Kayden, you better get a handle on her or I will kill her myself.”
“Noome, we still have enough time, they won’t find us that quick.” Kayden’s voice was measured.
“How can you be so sure? You’re just talking shit.”
Kayden grabbed her by the arm. “Listen, just put a sock in it. This isn’t helping us.”
Noome settled down—a bit.
Jann turned around to face them. “Okay, it is what it is, so here’s what we’re going to do. We need to get into the main Colony One facility. That means EVA, there’s no way through from here. The propellant processing plant is in dome five. Gizmo can run through the procedures once we’re inside. It’s going to take a while so if they come for us before we’re ready then we can defend ourselves better in there. Also I need to clean up, I feel like shit. Anyone got any problems with that, Noome?”
They all shook their heads, even Noome.
“Sounds good to me,” said Kayden.
They started to get their suits ready to EVA. Kayden approached Jann. “I was just thinking, seeing as how you’re the only one who knows the launch sequence for the MAV, maybe it would be a good idea to tell me, just in case anything happens to you. You know, otherwise we could all end up stranded.”
Jann looked back at the renegade council member. “Well then, you better make sure nothing happens to me.”
“Yeah, but…”
“Ready to go?” Jann snapped her helmet on.
They made their way out of the workshop and along the outside perimeter of the Colony One facility. Gizmo raced ahead and got the main airlock ready. As they walked, Jann noticed that Samir and Noome would look out across the crater in the direction of Colony Two, waiting for any sign that the hybrids were coming for them. Understandable considering the situation, but what interested Jann was the fact the Kayden never once looked, like he wasn’t in the least concerned. Perhaps he was made of stronger stuff. He must have nerves of steel, she thought.
When Jann finally stepped into Colony One and removed her helmet she took in a long deep breath. There was the familiar smell, a scent of home, fragrant and botanical. It sent her mind back to the very first time she opened her visor in Colony One, all those years ago. So much had happened, so much death, so much destruction. But soon she would be free of it, free of this place, free of Mars. Part of her would miss it, she knew that. Deep down she knew it owned a little bit of her now. How much she wasn’t sure, but it was there all the same.
Her body itched and chafed inside the EVA suit and she could feel patches of ooze from the tank dried on to her flesh. She needed a shower, a very long shower to wash away the horror of her time in the recycling tank.
“Gizmo, can you show these guys where they can get some food and rest? I’m heading for the biodome.”
“Certainly, J
ann. May I say, it is good to have you back.”
She smiled at the little droid. “It’s good to be back, Gizmo.” With that she stepped out of her EVA suit and ran into the garden. As she raced past the hydroponics and the food crops, she could see that Gizmo had been very diligent. All looked well tended to and lush. But it was different, more verdant than she remembered. She dashed across the central dais and dived headfirst into the pond, coming up again just under the waterfall. She felt instantly alive and full of vitality. She would wash the memory of Colony Two from her if it took all night.
In the end, it didn’t last that long. Just half an hour or so. She had Gizmo bring her some fresh clothes and she sat in her old wicker recliner, drying her hair. It had grown quite a bit since the little robot had cut it off for her at this very spot.
“I have primed the fuel processing plant and it is now in production. I calculate thirty-four point two hours to complete the process. Then a further one point four three hours for filling and calibration.”
“Excellent. Did you lock down all the airlocks like I asked?”
“It is done. No one can get in here without the use of heavy tools.”
“And the others, what are they up to?”
“I took them into dome five and explained the procedure to them. They are taking it in shifts.”
“Okay, good.”
Dome five housed the ARE, the Atmosphere Resource Extractor. This consisted of several units, each one dedicated to processing the thin Martian atmosphere and extracting various gasses from it, such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen, argon and even small amounts of oxygen. The area also housed the fuel processing plant. This took both carbon dioxide from the ARE and hydrogen from the SRE, the Soil Resource Extractor. The SRE was originally in dome five but had been moved by the early colonists down into the cave beneath the facility, the one that Jann entered when Nills had rescued her from the demented Commander Decker. It broke down the Martian soil into many components, one of which was water. This was further split into hydrogen and oxygen. Both units worked in tandem to provide Colony One with the essential resources needed to provide life support.
Colony Mars Ultimate Edition Page 24