Colony Three Mars (Colony Mars Book 3)

by Gerald M. Kilby

  “It’s that crazy bug, isn’t it? It’s starting to happen again… oh god we’re all going to go insane.”

  “No, you’re not. And yes, it is that crazy bug, but colonists are immune to it, we all are. So it’s just COM and the Chinese that have to worry.” Jann’s words had a visible calming effect on the ragtag group. It was only then that she noticed the colonists had kept quite a distance from each other, fearing that at any moment a friend might flip and drive a stake though their heart.

  “How can you be so sure that’s what it is? I thought it had died out, long ago.”

  “No. A small sample remained. I released it into the colony environment last night.”

  “Holy crap, so it’s true?

  Jann smiled. “Yes, and we now have them on the run. So we need to pull together and take back control.”

  “What should we do?”

  “Xenon is being held in the operations room, we need to get him out. But we need to be careful, there may be a COM mercenary in there with him.”

  The colonists all gripped their makeshift weapons tighter and moved closer to Jann and Gizmo. They were ready for the fight.

  The operations room was the nerve center for Colony One. All systems could be monitored and managed from there. It had one main door, with a long window along the wall facing out onto the concourse that connected several different sectors of the facility. One side led to domes four, five and accommodation. Another side had a short connecting tunnel which led to the common room and farther on to the biodome, medlab and a raft of other sectors. They were all now moving through this connecting tunnel but stopped once they reached the concourse intersection. Jann looked across at the operations room window. It was blacked out, no way to see in.

  “Gizmo, any movement around here?”

  “Data indicates lifeforms located in various sectors, none in close proximity, save for two in the operations room. But this is only an estimate based on ambient temperature readings and sundry data.”

  Jann hefted the PEP weapon, looking it over to get a feel for how it worked. Maybe it had an on switch. She didn’t want to be in a situation, needing to pull the trigger, only for nothing to happen. A small screen on the side displayed ready. She took this to be a good sign. Below it were a series of bars, which she reckoned must be charge or perhaps shots. It displayed 9. Other than that she couldn’t figure much more about it. Whether it was set to stun or lethal she couldn’t tell. Maybe it didn’t have such a setting. The only real way she could test it would be when she fired off a shot. But if she were to enter a fight she needed to trust her weapon and this was not good enough. She thought about giving it to Gizmo, and instead using a spear one of the colonists was carrying. But it looked too bent and twisted, no good for straight flight. There was nothing else to do, she would have to chance it.

  Jann nodded to the others and they followed her quietly across the concourse, lining themselves up on either side of the operations room door. Surprise was the only way this was going to work. But the mercenary inside might already be on high alert, with an itchy trigger finger, waiting for some crazed comrade to come bursting through the door and attack. But then she thought, that might help us. She whispered her instruction to the others, then counted silently down from three—and kicked the door in.

  She dropped down to the floor as a blast of plasma energy screamed over her head out though the open door and dissipated in a cackling wave across the far wall of the concourse. She knew her direction now, rolled over, sighted her target, and fired.

  A ball of flashing brilliance enveloped the mercenary. It burst out across his body encasing it in a fiery mesh of flashing light. He shook and jerked as his coordination broke down under the massive surge in electrical signals now overloading his nervous system. Sparks exploded from various electronic equipment he had strapped to his person. No longer able to stand upright he collapsed across a control desk. It too began to pop and spark, as monitors flickered on and off. Finally he slumped to the floor as the last of the plasma burst fizzled out. His eyes were wide, his body still and a thin filament of smoke rose from his skull.

  “Holy crap.”

  “Go check on him.” Jann waved to one of the colonists now coming through the door. She ran over to where Xenon was crouched down. One arm covered his head, the other was zip tied to the bar that ran around the edge of the comms desk. He poked his head out and looked up.

  “Jann. I thought you were dead.” A look of surprise burst on his face.

  “Yeah, I’m still alive. It’s hard to get rid of me. Gizmo, can you get these zip ties off?”

  The little droid selected a suitable tool from its inventory and snapped off the nylon cuffs. Xenon stood up. “How did you survive the tunnel collapse?” He was rubbing his wrist.

  “That doesn’t matter. What matters is getting control back. We have an opportunity now, so we need to grab it.”

  “What’s going on? Everyone is running around, going crazy.”

  “You remember the Janus bacteria?”

  “Yes. It decimated the original colony. But that was destroyed a long time ago.”

  “Not exactly. There was one sample remaining—and I released in to the colony environment last night.”

  Xenon eyes went wide. “I see. Well that would explain a lot.”

  “But don’t worry, all colonists are immune to it. It will only affect COM… and the Chinese.”

  “Very clever. So they’re all going insane.”

  “Not all, just some. But enough to throw a very crazy cat or two among some very scared pigeons.”

  Xenon smiled. “So we have a chance to get rid of them?”

  “No.” Jann grabbed his arm and looked hard at him. “We cannot let them leave the planet. That would be a disaster. We can’t let them bring this back to Earth.”

  “Ah… I see. No, that would not be good.”

  Gizmo’s head twitched.

  “What is it?”

  “Movement… multiple sectors.”

  “Can we see from here?”

  Gizmo tapped at the control desk. “The network is down. The electrified COM mercenary shorted out a lot of circuits. It will take time to get them repaired.” A few sparks exploded from the desk as Gizmo tested it. “This could take a while.”

  Dr. Peter VanHoff had finally encased himself in his EVA suit, but left the helmet off for the moment. It would only take a few seconds to attach it, should the need arise. And he was hoping that was not going to happen. He had briefly contacted Kruger on his comms but got no information from him other than, sit tight and wait until you get the all clear. So he and Dr. Molotov sat on an old storage container. VanHoff occupied himself with his thoughts as he waited.

  The reason he had come to Mars in the first place was to find the very thing that was now inside him, working to restore his flawed genetics. He had so far escaped the negative side effect, insanity. So he felt a deep calm wash over him, something that he had not felt for as long as he could remember. It bathed him in a warm glow of peace and contentment, mixed with a dash of anticipation—the future looked good, very good for Peter VanHoff.

  It struck him then that he did not need to be here anymore. Not in this safe zone, not in Colony One, not even on this planet. Now that he had found it, what need was there for him to remain? He could return to Earth. Sure, there were a few practical issues to deal with. But to all intents and purposes it was job done, time to go home.

  Yet there was always a possibility that the Janus bacteria would not work to counter the effects of his genetic disease, as it did with those who were not so afflicted. So more scientific investigation might be needed to divine its function. But this could be better realized in a fully resourced genetics lab back on Earth, than in the rudimentary facilities here on Mars.

  He thought about contacting Kruger again but decided it might be best not to bother him. He was probably busy trying to contain the various members of the crew that had gone psychotic. Assuming, of
course, that the commander himself had not succumbed. And if he had, then how would VanHoff get out? He looked around the space that they had been sequestered in. It was subterranean, that much he knew. But was there a way out from here on to the Martian surface? And even if he could find a way there was still the long walk back to the COM ship. Could he handle that? He was more confident now in undertaking such an arduous journey. Physically he should be able to manage it. It would be controlling his debilitating claustrophobia that would be the challenge. However, he felt sure he could overcome it. With the flight officer ready and waiting, and everything prepped, he could, in theory, leave the planet and return to Earth.

  The only problem with this plan was he could not see a way out of here, save for going back into the facility and exiting via one of the usable airlocks. It was doable. But it would mean exposing himself to more danger than was necessary. So he decided to wait. Well, he would give it another thirty minutes. Then, if there was no resolution, he and Dr. Molotov would attempt to leave this place and make their way back to the MAV, and ultimately off this hellhole of a planet.

  19

  Jing Tzu

  It had gotten quiet, too quiet. Jing Tzu stood with his ear pressed against the locked door of the food processing pod, where he and the two other Xaing Zu crew had been imprisoned. Outside in the biodome nothing could be heard. Something was going on, and he didn’t like it.

  A short while after Xenon and the other colonists had unceremoniously dumped them in here, the biodome descended into chaos. Shouting, yelling, the sound of a PEP weapon, then running. Now there was a deathly silence. Yet it could be an opportunity.

  He and his crew needed to get out of here somehow. Better still, would be to get off the planet and return to Earth. They would have to leave sometime, COM couldn’t hold them here forever. But he didn’t trust them either. He wouldn’t put it past that maniacal VanHoff to just blow them out of an airlock.

  He pressed his ear against the door again—silence.

  “Anything?” His first officer, Chen Deng, called over from the back of the pod. He had finished tying up their mission geneticist, who had started to get that same strange look in his eyes that Dan Ma had just before he went psychotic. So they decided to tie him up, much to his consternation, before he started killing them all. He protested for quite a while before finally zoning out, or maybe he was unconscious, Chang couldn’t tell. Commander Jing Tzu moved away from the door and shook his head. “Nothing.” He looked down at the geneticist. “How is he?”

  “Well, if he wakes up and goes ballistic, like Dan Ma, at least we’ve got him contained.”

  “We need to get out of here, back to the lander if possible. There’s something going on out there, and I have a bad feeling about it. However, it might just give us an opportunity.”

  “Back to the lander? How? We’d need our EVA suits.”

  “Well you can stay here and go insane if you want.”

  Chen looked down at the unconscious geneticist. “What’s happening to them?”

  “It’s this place, it’s possessed by a corrupt biology. One that eats away at the mind. They warned us about it, remember?”

  “But it was supposed to be eradicated.”

  “Well, you can stay here and think about it if you like, or you can help get us out of this place.”

  Chen stood up. “So we just leave him here… and Dan Ma as well?”

  “Screw him. He’s a geneticist, the very people who create these abominations.” Jing Tzu moved closer to Chen and calmed his voice. “Two of our crew are dead, killed by COM. Dan Ma is probably dead too or may as well be.” He looked down at the geneticist. “And we can guess what’s going to happen to him. So the mission is over. There is nothing to be gained by staying here. We need to grab this chance and try to escape.”

  Chen looked at him for a moment and eventually nodded. “You’re right, let’s get the hell out of here.”

  It took them less than five minutes to break open the pod door. They stepped out into the biodome and looked around. It was still and silent. “Where are they all?” Chen whispered.

  Jing Tzu didn’t answer, instead he was looking high up to the biodome roof trying to spot cameras. “Come.” He moved into where the undergrowth would hide them from any prying eyes. Chen followed. When Jing Tzu was sure they were well hidden he broke a small twig from a bush, hunkered down and started drawing in the dirt.

  “We’re here. Over here is the airlock with our spare EVA suits. The only problem is that was damaged by COM in the attack. So the suits may also be damaged.”

  “They might not even be there,” said Chen.

  “True. Also, there is a distinct possibility that the colony is in lockdown. If that’s the case then none of the airlocks will be operational.”

  “Great.”

  “However, there is another option.” He started scratching again with the twig. “This is the operations room, over here. Beside it is the storage pod where we put some of the additional equipment we brought. There should be some more spare EVA suits in there somewhere.”

  “That sounds like a better plan to me. But, assuming we find the suits, how do we get out?”

  “There is an access route, around here, that goes down into the soil processing area.”

  “But that’s subterranean, how’s that going to help us?”

  “There is an automatic airlock system for the soil harvesting robots.” He looked up at Chen. “It doesn’t go into lockdown.”

  Chen looked at the commander’s scratchings for a moment. “Okay, let’s do it.”

  They moved through the biodome, sticking to the areas where the vegetation was thickest, hoping it would keep them concealed from view. They passed along the dense rows of hydroponics and finally to where the main entrance door stood, wide open. “Come on, let’s keep going.” They hurried to the side of the door, keeping low and quiet. Jing Tzu looked down the length of the short tunnel. “Clear, let’s go.”

  They hugged the tunnel wall as they moved along and out into the main common room. “This way,” Jing Tzu signaled and they moved off in the direction of the operations room. They had only taken a few steps when they heard the telltale whoomp of a PEP weapon, followed by a scream, followed by footsteps—running their way.

  Jing Tzu dived out of sight behind a low counter, Chen followed behind. They waited as the footsteps grew louder. It sounded like multiple people, running fast. As they charged past they could see they were colonists, carrying two others, all heading in the direction of the medlab. As soon as they were out of sight Jing Tzu rose from his hiding place and nodded to Chen to follow him. They moved with caution, keeping their ears alert to any danger.

  When they arrived at the concourse it was deserted, but they could see shadows moving behind the smoked glass window of the operations room. Somewhere far off in the depths of the facility they could hear shouts.

  Jing Tzu put his finger to his lips and pointed in the direction of the storage pod. Chen nodded his understanding and they tiptoed across the concourse, all the time keeping an eye on the movements within the operations room. They reached the door to the storage pod, as the racket emanating from deep within the facility was getting louder and more frenetic.

  The door was locked. “Shit. I don’t suppose you know the code?” Jing Tzu was pushing his shoulder to it trying to break it open.

  “Here, let me try.” Chen pushed Jing Tzu out of the way and tapped at the keypad a few times. The door clicked open. He looked over at Jing Tzu and winked. “Its good to pay attention to the details sometimes.” They bundled themselves inside.

  Automatic lights flickered on, illuminating a chaotic scene of equipment and storage strewn all around the space. They stood with their backs to the door looking out across the tumbled landscape.

  “We’re never going to find anything in here.” Chen scanned the jumble of crates and boxes.

  “There should be at least three spare EVA suits in here somewhe
re, and the sooner we find them the sooner we can get off this rock.” Jing Tzu started sorting through the detritus, reading labels, righting boxes.

  “Commander Jing.” Chen was on the other side of a mound of equipment.

  “Did you find them?”

  “No, but I found something else.”

  Jing Tzu moved over to look at where Chen was pointing. Sitting on the floor, partially covered by a tarpaulin was Yutu. He looked over at his First Officer and smiled. “This is good fortune indeed. Maybe even auspicious.” He reached down and ripped the cover off. The robot looked undamaged, but inactive, no power lights. Jing Tzu slid open a metal panel on the robot’s back, revealing a small flat screen, with several switches arrayed on either side. He flicked a number of them and the screen lit up, then placed his palm momentarily on the screen so it could be scanned. The robot twitched and the screen filled with scrolling code as the boot-up sequence began to reanimate the machine.

  The robot rose up from its haunches and moved several of its limbs as if testing their function. Jing Tzu and Chen stood back as it performed its systems checks. When it finished it raised its head and spoke. “Commander Jing Tzu, First Officer Chen Deng. I am at your service.”

  “Debrief, show last visual.” Jing Tzu instructed.

  Yutu’s eyes flickered and a 3D image was projected into the space in front of the robot. It showed the main airlock exploding inward as the COM assault began. COM had set up an outer umbilical so the facility would not lose atmospheric integrity when it blew. Smoke and dust filled the scene, punctuated by streaks of bright blue plasma bursts from the PEP weapons. Then a COM mercenary came into view and aimed something at the robot. The visual ended abruptly.

  “Replay—data only,” said Jing Tzu.

  This time Yutu projected a stream of stylized data for the time period. It was part environmental: what existed in the space around the robot at the time, and part internal: what was happening to its own systems.