The Alien Artifact 8

by V Bertolaccini

  Once he realized that nothing was happening he started to enjoy the rest and being free from being attacked, and he considered how to get back to the others, and if it was actually safe there. His mind raced through what had occurred! Yet he only realized that the location that he strolled into had to have something, and he started to wonder what was there.

  Who would go to such lengths to kill him? What could possibly be there? What could be there in such a desolate place? Was there another space vehicle there?

  Suddenly he saw something buried in a region of the darkness to his side, and he shifted behind a large boulder at his side and hid from there, and his heart leapt as he studied the dark spacesuit figure shifting lifelessly forward, and it shifted out from the darkness into where some starlight was beaming down, and he studied the figure not realizing what would happen!

  He felt like moving away from the figure but he would be spotted for one, and he studied the gun and it looked like an old one, and he wondered who the hell was there and where he had got the spacesuit and gun, and noticed that the spacesuit was an old version.

  There was something strange there that he could not grasp and he studied everything over and over trying to grasp something, going over everything he could think of, and it was like there was something there that should not be there, but it was there!

  He studied the spacesuit faceplate and could not see through the dark shiny material, and the figure never reacted, and he wondered what would happen if he rushed towards it

  He sensed he could do something stupid and he studied the faceplate of the spacesuit more and more, and stood back shocked!

  He thought he saw a skeleton, and it moved away, and realized that there usually was a name on most spacesuits, even the old ones, and he tried to see it and though saw it he could not see the letters properly, and as it vanished into the darkness he thought he saw it said Anderson.

  He was confused, trying to work out what they should do, and what it might do, and what could happen!

  When he finally returned to where the others were he soon found the other two astronauts at exactly where they had been, but noticed that their positions had altered as though they had done something and returned to where they had been.

  While he rested over the ground he wondered what the hell an astronaut, or even a ghost astronaut, was trying to shoot him, or what he was actually doing, and realized again that the shuttle was unbelievably valuable and worth it, but why had they not just taken it, as they never had guns, and he realized they might be just after its technology and he considered if they could take it without them suspecting it.

  Chapter 5

  The First Death

  Once the sun rose above the horizon Cronenberg went out and explored where the other astronaut had been and was surprised that there were no marks anywhere, and found where he himself had been there and where he had been behind the boulders and found his own footsteps in the sand.

  He searched everywhere and started to think he had imagined it, and he examined the hill over at his side in the sunlight and realized it would be quick to climb and decided to go up and explore the region from the top, as he had intended.

  If he needed the others he would return and go back up, and he quickly climbed up and at the top stood staring at the fascinating view, with Mars stretching out into the horizon all about him, and he spotted the shuttle, and spotted a large short message beside it, written in the sand and with boulders, with a SOS message, showing their destination and they had crashed, and he was sure the satellites would spot it, and most could spot any changes in the landscape and environment and detect anything unusual and take close up photos, which would be sent back to the base – and they would be looking for it after the communications stopped!

  He examined everywhere with powerful binoculars, including where the southern pole was, for anything unusual and for water if they got trapped there but never saw anything and realized they would have to be saved by the others shortly or they would die of oxygen starvation.

  Yet as he was about to move away he wondered where the hell the thing that had taken them there was, if it actually existed, and he removed a device he had brought and checked for any traces of it and found nothing and wondered what the hell the outcome of it would be, if they survived, and if he would always wonder what they had encountered there.

  When he arrived back where the other two astronauts were he discovered Campbell still asleep and Rosenberg gone, and he began watching Campbell strangely, and his lifeless unmoving figure, and realized that he had not moved since he had left, and he considered if it was just his spacesuit that made him not move, and he started to wonder if there was something wrong and rushed over and showed himself to him, moved up close, and examined his unmoving face and gasped when he saw his hidden mouth expression, as if he was screaming at something.

  He firmly shook him, still not believing anything was wrong, and shook him hard, and he unzipped and removed his glove and felt his cold hand and arm for a pulse, and saw his cold lifeless complexion, and was amazed that there was no pulse, and that he had been dead and had not noticed anything.

  He searched his spacesuit for any rips or holes, and wondered if it had been a fault in his spacesuit, and he realized that he had best record a message on their camera of the incident and gave a record of the occurrence, and checked the various functions of the spacesuit, and had its computer check him further and was surprised his death had not been oxygen starvation.

  In the end he removed his helmet and whole spacesuit and sat back staggered, as large sections of his body were gone, as though something had removed them viciously, as though a wild animal had attacked him.

  Suddenly he spotted marks on the ground where something had obviously happened.

  Rosenberg suddenly rushed out from behind him and gasped, and crouched over the body, and he observed him examining the body, and fall back with blood covering his gloves.

  Chapter 6

  Anders

  What astounded him was how deadly and vicious whatever it had been was! If it was what had taken them there!

  What the hell was it? How could it be so advanced and vicious? Was it some form of alien animal that got its prey with special powers? Yet how did it manage force an entire shuttle into going there and what form of prey did it live on? The planet was virtually empty of life!

  In the end he realized he could not believe it without more evidence, and whatever it was it would have to be left until they could check it out.

  What also surprised him was that Rosenberg had been away, and looking about like him, since he woke up!

  He was also surprised that he had found something hidden away in the distance, which he never knew the identity of, and Rosenberg took him over to a region at the other side of the hill, from where he had gone, and he showed it to him and they examined it with their binoculars, and he realized it was artificial, and that it had been there some time and partially buried in sand, and was hidden behind a small hill from where the shuttle was, and from it being observed from where he had been at the other side of the hill, and on the above hill there.

  After examining it he was surprised that it was at about the same distance away as the shuttle and virtual in a straight line with it from there, and just hidden away from it, and he wondered how the hell it could have ended up so close to it. The planet had hardly anything on it and the south pole even more so.

  The chances of two objects coming down there was immense, and after examining everything he wondered if it could be just space wreckage. Something from some space station or rocket had been discarded and had fallen there.

  Rosenberg wanted to check it, before they returned to the shuttle, and so did he! But their main problem was their oxygen was running out, and they only had a little left, even after taking Campbell’s, and they swiftly left, and left Campbell where he was, for investigators to find him, and they saluted him, at where he was, and went away from the hill wondering what ha
d happened.

  When they finally approached the place they both started to gasp as they realized that they had lost more air than they had thought they would, and Cronenberg even thought his last tank was empty a dozen times, and felt like collapsing, and he approached the site struggling to focus on what was there, seeing a distorted form of the sun, shimmering around, and he again adjusted the hot temperature that built up in his spacesuit, and wondered what had happened to its stability and ability to control its temperature, and he realized it could be him, and his struggle to get there faster, and he sighed as his spacesuit adjusted and he felt its coolness cool his body, with ecstatic pleasure.

  The site looked incredible as they staggered into the area, a miniature valley, and crater in the landscape, hidden at three sides from areas further out, and only visible from where they had seen it on the hill.

  It had resemblances to volcanic desert region and Rosenberg started analyzing and taking soil samples about him, while he inspected what was there and found the wreckage of a space vehicle, and on a closer approach he saw that most of it was buried in the ground, and had structural damage from an explosion, and fire.

  The heat from the explosion had had more of an effect on it than he had realized further out! Things somehow took a different perspective than the damage of a normal fire.

  He asked Rosenberg for his advice, recalling Rosenberg was experienced in space vehicles, as well as being one of the flight engineers like Campbell was, and he had some experience in the old stuff.

  They rushed around and investigated everything, thoroughly.

  Cronenberg examined it in detail and half-heartedly observed the soil and rocks – while looking out for traces of anything within the layers of ground.

  Rosenberg examined things, as swiftly as he could, clearly running out of air and trying to quickly finish the investigation so they could rush away to the shuttle.

  Suddenly he yelled out and Cronenberg rushed over and found him standing next to a partially buried spacesuit, stuck in the sand, with the top part resting over boulders, and they examined the helmet faceplate and Cronenberg lifted it up and saw a skeleton inside and he followed its stare going up into the Martian sky, and he read the nameplate on the suit, and realized it his name was Anders, and he recalled his name.

  “Did he not go missing?” Rosenberg gasped.

  “Years ago! They never found where he went …”

  He recalled reading about it when he was younger, and him thinking of becoming an astronaut.

  “This place is incredible!” Rosenberg announced. “What are the chances of two space vehicles coming down here?”

  He nodded back amazed and examined the rocket vehicle, and wondered what it had been like, and Rosenberg rushed away and continued his investigation of the crash site.

  Cronenberg started examining the pockets and contents of the spacesuit and was surprised at how preserved the things were and that one of the items was an old map, with names and locations on it, which clearly had been used a lot by Anders, and he studied the area on it and realized it was the area they were at.

  Chapter 7

  The Rescue

  While they marched swiftly back to the shuttle Cronenberg kept going over the events trying to piece them together but he could not grasp something! Something hidden or obvious! Some clue that they had not noticed!

  The heat from bright sun shining straight into their faces, through the thin atmosphere, resembled the blazing sun in space, with its high radiation, and it exhausted them, especially with lower level oxygen they had altered their spacesuits to.

  He thought of Anders and the way his body had been resting and his stare and he looked there now, to the location in space, and was surprised to see the Earth.

  What surprised him was another large object raced passed it, and faster than it should go, and he slowed, shaded his eyes, and struggled to focus on it, covering up a distorted form of the sun, shimmering around, and he recalled where his spacesuit helmet’s polarization adjustment was and adjusted the polarized faceplate to compensate for the extra light, and started studying the object’s incredible velocity and shape, and even thought it looked like a small alien spaceship.

  When Rosenberg stopped and stood dazed he knew it was something big, and when he rested he realized its true identity and that it was one of their shuttles, and they both rushed on.

  Their speed increased vastly and he knew he would not die before they reached the shuttle, and knew he had to go faster, and he was surprised when they got over a hill and saw their shuttle was resting at the bottom, and they watched the other shuttle come down from the sky and land next to their shuttle, and they ran down the hill as fast as they could, not wishing to miss anything and to get a new supply of fresh air.

  At the shuttle he was so out of air and suffocating that he ordered them to get him into the shuttle, where he removed his helmet and collapsed over the floor, recovering from the run, and breathed the incredible air in, and Rosenberg copied him, and he realized how wonderful it was not to have the helmet on, after sleeping in it, and he studied the amused face of Stanley sitting in at his pilot chair, and he wondered what had happened while they had been away.

  He was surprised beer cans were lying over the floor, and tried to work out where they came from, and if anything had occurred.

  “Did you manage to contact the base?” he panted, curiously, breathing in the sweet air, seeing the remains of the food they had been eating, and discarded food containers lying about the floor.

  “So you made it ...!” Stanley murmured, grinning at him, and at the state he was in, lying over the floor.

  “When did you know that the shuttle was coming?”

  “Just before you arrived! It was lucky! Our oxygen is starting to get real low!”

  “Whose idea was the SOS message over the ground?”

  “That was Orwell! He claimed he had seen it done before! And calculated the size it had to be to see from up in orbit! We all worked on making it!”

  “It worked! Any food?”

  The pilot jumped up and removed a container of food he knew he liked, and gave it to him, and got a drink dispenser!

  He watched Cronenberg and Rosenberg sitting on the floor eating through the food hungrily.

  “Where’s Campbell?”

  Cronenberg gasped and nearly choked, and saw Rosenberg look startled, and watched the others look up with looks of astonishment, knowing something had happened.

  “We found him dead!” Rosenberg announced. “Something here kills humans! When we woke we found his body and that he had been partly eaten!”

  “What! Something ate him! And neither of you heard anything?”

  “The spacesuit and the thin atmosphere don’t carry much sound, and we were heavily asleep in our spacesuits!”

  They all seemed to consider what had happened astonished!

  “Perhaps that’s what took us here! To eat us!” Lyndon gasped.

  “What did you see over there on that hill?” Stanley asked, curiously, examining them, and the state they were in.

  “I saw little!” Cronenberg confessed.

  “Where you there early in the morning?” Stanley asked.

  “Yes!” he replied.

  “I thought I saw you! I got up early! The top part is visible from over there!”

  “Find anything else? Why did you come from over there …?” Lyndon asked

  “We found another space vehicle over there!”

  “Where did you find it?”

  “He found it!” Cronenberg pointed at Rosenberg.

  Rosenberg replied, “I searched the other side of the hill! I saw it over there, hidden away … It was in a direct line with here!”

  They looked at him confused, wondering what it was.

  “We found a crashed space vehicle there! It was an old rocket spaceship! We found two pilots! One was called Anders!”

  “I recall him!” Stanley replied first. “He vanished with anothe
r astronaut on Mars years ago!”

  As Cronenberg thought of Anders he realized he had looked identical to the ghost astronaut he had seen in the night over at the hill, which he had searched for signs of in the morning before he climbed up the hill, and he wondered what the hell it meant, and he decided not to mention it unless there was more evidence of whatever it was existing.

  They all looked up and watched pilots from the other shuttle enter their shuttle, and them examining everything about them, and one trying to check the damage done to the shuttle.

  Cronenberg got up and watched one at work, and recalled him, and his job, and realized he was the best person for the job.

  “You’re Commander Cronenberg! What happened before you landed here?” he asked, curiously.

  “Something attacked the shuttle and took control of it!”

  He looked up, and stared at him with surprise.

  “Are there flights records that can confirm that?”

  “And we can to!”

  He looked confused, wondering what it could be.

  “Wait until you see the other space vehicle ...!” he told him, still amazed at the find.

  “What other vehicle is that?”

  He pointed over in the direction of it, and replied, “Did you not see it while landing? It’s away over there!”

  “What could it be?”

  “Anders! Remember him! It’s an old rocket vehicle …”

  “I remember him! What do you think he was doing out here?”

  “I don’t have a clue!” he announced, and he thought about it and realized how intrigued he was, and realized he really wanted to know, and what was there and what was going on there, and why he had seen a ghost astronaut.