“Oh, what the heck, okay. Just a small one. Not going to get any sleep now anyway.”
Paolio fiddled with the machine as it hissed and spluttered. He brought the coffee back over to the table and presented it to Jann with all the flourish of a seasoned waiter in a Michelin star restaurant.
“Et voila, Madam.”
Jann sipped the astringent brew for a while. “You know Paolio, I actually applied for the Colony One Mars programme — back in the day.”
“Really, I did not know that?”
“Nobody does. You’re the first person I’ve ever told — outside of COM.”
“You kept that very quiet.”
“Yeah, I had this romantic notion of being part of the great colonisation experiment, being in the vanguard of humans as an inter-planetary species.”
“Didn’t work out too well for them. Nothing romantic about suffocating to death on an alien world. So, tell me, what happened?”
“I got accepted into the ISA astronaut programme, around the same time. Seemed like a much better option.”
“And you never told them?”
“God no. Didn’t want them to think I was a flake of some kind.” She sat forward and took another sip from her coffee. “Sometimes I think, in reality, it was me just copping out.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, let’s face it, the probability of me actually going to Mars by joining the ISA programme was less than one percent. I knew that when I joined. I think it was just a way for me to dream but not actually commit.”
“Well, here you are.”
Jann looked around. “Yeah, be careful what you wish for. Because sometimes it might come true.” She stood up. “I’m going to try and get some sleep. Big day tomorrow.”
“For sure.”
“Thanks… for the talk.”
“My pleasure Jann, anytime. And remember, the difference between us and those colonists is we get to go home.”
Jann turned around as she stepped on the plate elevator to ascend to the sleeping quarters. “Let’s hope so, Paolio.”
CHAPTER 7: A NEW SOL
The discovery that the Colony One site was still functioning, at least technically, sent shock waves through ISA mission control back on Earth, not to mention the public media channels. Mars was now a twenty-four hour story with non-stop speculation and debate. All this was interspersed with an endless loop of archive footage of the early colonists, from lift-offs and interviews to daily life on the planet. The general consensus had always been that the colony had collapsed as a self-sustaining facility and that all fifty-four colonists were long dead. The brief for the current mission was simply one of survey and assessment of what was thought to be a derelict site. Not anymore, everything had changed.
Commander Decker was still laid out in sick bay, and still unconscious. The rest of the crew had assembled in the operations area to review the overnight report in from mission control. The audio visual on the main screen was that of ISA Mission Director summarising their assessment of the discovery and advising on next actions.
“The top priority, as we see it, is to find whoever is still alive in the colony. If we can do that then we can get answers to all the other questions such as; how did they survive and why they didn’t try to contact Earth. This is now a mission imperative.” The ISA director droned on. “Regarding Commander Decker, we understand that he is still unwell and as a precaution we strongly advise not breathing the air in the facility. Stay in your EVA suits at all times when surveying the site…”
“That’s bullshit,” said Annis. “Everyone else is okay. We could get much more done by not having to bake in an EVA suit inside that place,” she shook her head and sighed.
“…we are currently working with the COM people to get you as much data as we can on the eco-system within the colony. But, you have to realise that nobody thought we would ever need this information, so it’s taking time to put together. In the meantime we have sent you all the current data we have. As mission biologist, please have Dr. Jann Malbec review this data, it may prove useful…”
Jann had already started on this and had downloaded the information sent overnight by ISA on to her tablet. She was quickly scrolling through it as she listened to the director. She sipped her second coffee of the morning, trying to wake herself up. She only had a few hours sleep the night before and was feeling it. The others seemed to be all fresh and alert, even Paolio. He was obviously made of stronger stuff than her.
The ISA Director droned on for a while but they were all losing interest and started to discuss the plan before the report ended.
“Okay, it’s pretty clear what the objective is. Find who is still alive in there.” The First officer, Annis Romanov, had now assumed command since Decker was still incapacitated. “That means a full and thorough sweep of the entire facility. Every module, every compartment, every nook and cranny. I want no stone unturned.”
“What about the commander?” said Lu.
“I’ll stay here and keep an eye on him,” said Paolio. He was refilling his coffee cup.
“No Paolio, we’ll need you at the site in case we find someone and have to assess their state of health. Anyway the commander is out of danger, you said so yourself.” Annis was being adamant.
“I’ll stay,” said Jann. “I need to go through all the data sent from mission control, so it is as good a time as any to do it.” In reality she was seriously considering going back to bed when they all left.
“Okay, that’s settled, Malbec will stay. Everyone else get ready to EVA in one hour.”
Through the small window in the HAB, Jann watched as the four crew marched across the Martian surface towards Colony One. She stayed sitting there for a time, just looking at them trail off into the distance. She wondered how long it would take to find the elusive colonists? And if they were found, then what? After a while she turned away from the window, sat down in the operations area and started studying the Colony One eco-system in earnest.
It soon became obvious to Jann that much of the information sent by the ISA was old and out of date. It was data that anyone with an interest in the Colony One Mars programme could find out with a quick internet search. However, there were a number of interesting schematics of the facility. The one that caught her eye was the layout of the Research Laboratory. She studied it for a while and realised that there were a number of anomalies with it, that she couldn’t quite put her finger on.
Eventually, Jann got up and went over to the display table in operations and activated the 3D map of the current site. She brought up the schematic and zoomed in on the location of the research lab. On the charts that ISA had sent, it was a single module attached near to the bio-dome, at the functioning side of the colony. She flipped on the hi-res satellite image to overlay it on the schematic. The image now showed an additional large dome with four modules attached. This meant it had been greatly expanded at some point. It was now a major part of the facility. Perhaps this accounted for some of the missing modules, but not all of them. “I wonder what they were up to in there?” She switched off the display and went back to the reports.
Most of these were about plants that had been genetically modified specifically for the colony. However, there was a group of reports which dealt with bacteria, genetically modified (GM) bacteria. The biggest stumbling block to the colonisation of Mars was not water or oxygen, but soil. It was not possible to grow food crops in the Martian regolith as it contained a high concentration of perchlorates. Toxic to humans. At high doses it could cause thyroid problems. So it needed to be decontaminated first and this magic feat was performed by a genetically engineered bacterium. They converted the perchlorate into useful compounds including oxygen, and in the process cleaned up the soil so it could be used for food production. This was just one of the many GM bacteria in use in Colony One. But most of this information Jann knew already. There was nothing new in any of this. After a while tiredness got the better of her, she folde
d her arms on the table and slumped her head down. Within a few minutes, she had dozed off.
Jann awoke some time later to the sound of a low moan. She lifted her head up and listened intently. She heard it again. “Decker?” She couldn’t see him from where she was sitting in the Operations area. He had been afforded some privacy in the small sick bay by virtue of a curtain pulled across. Jann stood up from the table and cautiously walked over to look in on him.
He was flat on his back, still out. “It must be eighteen hours now,” she thought. His breathing was normal, as far a she could tell, but his face had a pained contorted tightness. She leaned over to get a better look at his skin. His eyes flashed opened. Jann stepped back in shock — not far enough. The commander grabbed her wrist in a vice like grip. She tried to twist free but he was too strong. His eyes were wide and wild. Then he spoke — just one word — “contamination.” He released his grip, his eyes closed, and he was still again.
“Holy shit.” Jann rubbed her wrist and moved back against the wall of the HAB. “Robert?” she ventured a tentative step forward. “Commander, are you okay?” No answer. He was out for the count again. “Jesus, what was that about?” she thought as she stood there for a moment and considered what to do. “Contact Paolio, let him know.”
She hurried quietly backward into the operations area, all the time trying to rub some feeling back into her wrist and keeping one eye on the commander. He didn’t move again. She sat down at the communications desk and started thinking of what she was going to say, and how best to phrase it. She didn’t want to sound like a frightened idiot. “Focus,” she said to herself as she leaned into the desk to press the transmit button. She caught her reflection in the blank screen in front of her and thought she saw some other movement. She spun around, Decker was standing right behind her.
“Robert, you’re awake.”
He didn’t reply, he had a vacant, glazed look in his eyes. He seemed confused as to where he was. He kept looking this way and that.
“Are you okay?”
“Contamination.”
“What?” Jann was now backing away and putting some distance between herself and the commander — just in case. He advanced towards her. “I must get rid of this contamination.”
“What are you talking about, what contamination?” Jann hadn’t noticed at first but now she could see that he was carrying a heavy metal bar of some kind. He raised it over his head. Jann backed off, pressing herself against the HAB wall. “Robert, you’re scaring the shit out of me. Put that down, put it down NOW!” She drove some authority into her voice and for a moment Decker stopped, like he was considering the situation. He held the tool and looked at it for a moment as if wondering what it was doing in his hand. Then he sprung forward and smashed it down, aiming for Jann’s head. But she was too quick for him and darted out of the way as it clanged off the HAB wall.
“Robert… Christ, what are you doing?”
“You are a contaminant that must be eradicated.”
Jann slid along the wall to put more space between them and realised she was beside the airlock door. She opened it and dashed inside. But as she tried to shut the door the commander managed to get his arm inside, she couldn’t close it. She pulled with all her might. Decker’s arm swung about wildly and tried to grab her. It was no good. She couldn’t get it closed — there was only one thing for it. She pushed open the door and swivelled a kick into Decker's stomach, he stumbled back and the bar fell out of his hand. She slammed the door shut and locked it.
Jann backed into a corner of the airlock. Her breathing was heavy. Adrenaline coursed through her body. She had never kicked anything other than a punch bag in her whole life. Part of her was concerned that she might have hurt the commander. There was no sound. “Oh shit, what if I’ve injured him?” She had visions of Decker lying on the HAB floor, blood pouring from a head wound or some other injury he may have sustained as he fell. Still no sound.
Her breathing slowed and eventually she moved over to peer through the little window in the airlock door back into the HAB. There was no sign of the commander. “Shit, what do I do now?” She could go back in and try to contain the deranged Decker. She could wait it out here until the crew returned, but would be many hours from now. Or she could get out now — and run.
Jann hurriedly got in to her EVA suit and started to depressurise the airlock. She had decided to run after all. Before the sequence had completed, the commander’s face appeared on the other side of the window. Jann was momentarily relieved that he was okay, before he started shouting. She couldn’t hear. It looked like he was mouthing 'contamination'. Then he started bashing the door, over and over again. She could feel the force vibrating through the entire HAB.
“Come on… come on.” The status light on the airlock finally illuminated green. Jann opened the outer door and jumped onto the planet surface. She ran as fast as it was possible to run in a bulky EVA suit — in one-third gravity. It was not beautiful but it was probably a record.
She was quite a distance from the HAB when she realised she should have jammed something in the outer door so the commander could not get out. Once the airlock was re-pressurised, the door to the HAB would unlock. Would he come after her? Too late, she was not going back now. She kept on running.
CHAPTER 8: JUST THE FEELING
The four ISA crew, led by Annis Romanov, had spent a number of hours investigating the deserted Colony One facility, searching systematically, ticking off areas as they went. Here and there lay the scattered evidence of recent activity; crumpled clothing, scraps from a half-eaten meal, food in the process of being stored — but no colonists. They also discovered areas that were not in use at all; sealed off, closed up, shutdown. This was not surprising considering it was a facility designed for a hundred souls that now only sustained just a few — somewhere.
Yet, their search was not completely in vain. It did pull back a veil on the mysterious Colony One survivors. It was evident that they were skilled at engineering. The crew found many areas with equipment being repaired, or recycled, or in the process of being fashioned into some other creation.
After two hours of methodical investigation they reconvened in an area inside a small dome that looked to be a common room of some kind. It had worn and tattered seating. Crude drawings adorned the walls depicting Martian landscapes. It also had strange homemade furnishings and lighting that gave it a kind of scrap-yard chic. It had the feeling of someone’s home. But that someone had vanished, all that remained now was just the feeling.
“There must be more to this base, a hidden section perhaps. Maybe some of the derelict areas are still functioning?” Annis had long given up on keeping herself cocooned inside an EVA suit, as had the others. They had become too hot and uncomfortable after the first half an hour inside the colony. So, one by one, they stripped off the bulky EVA suits and down to basic flight-suit clothing.
“We’ve been everywhere, there’s nowhere else to look. Nowhere that’s got life-support, that is.” Lu sat down on one of the tatty armchairs. “It’s obvious, they simply don’t want to be found.”
“But why? It doesn’t make any sense. You’d think they would be jumping for joy at the prospect of being found alive after all this time.” Paolio had joined her on another armchair. “Maybe they’ve been hiding for the last three years,” he continued.
“What do you mean?” Annis was pacing.
“Think about it. The colony is presumed dead after the sandstorm, no message, no communication, not even an SOS scrawled on the sand outside, nothing. Yet someone is still alive, still living here — somewhere. Do you not think that’s just a little weird?”
“And what about the others? There were… what… fifty-four colonists alive up here before the storm. There are six outside,” ventured Lu.
“Seven. You forgot the one in the bee-hive hut,” Kevin corrected.
“Okay seven. Then there’s one, maybe two, hiding out here somewhere so that makes forty odd
unaccounted for. No bodies, no EVA suits, so where are they?”
“Maybe they’re compost, you know… recycled as plant food,” said Kevin.
He was just about to sink his teeth into a colony apple when he stopped and thought better of it.
“Alright, let’s split up and see if we can find some better clues as to who is here. Paolio, take the Medlab, Lu take the galley and accommodation modules. Kevin, I want you in the operations room and I’ll do another sweep around the bio-dome. We’ll meet back here in an hour.”
“So what are we looking for this time?” Lu reluctantly got up from the armchair.
“Anything that will give us an idea of who is still here — and where they might be. Make a note of any computer terminals you come across. We can do a more forensic analysis later.”
They all nodded and slowly wandered off to their appointed tasks.
This was Paolio’s second time examining the Medlab. The colony’s sick-bay, so to speak. It consisted of two interconnected modules, one of which was shutdown, its door control panel dead. “Conserving power,” he assumed. He didn’t find anything the first time so he was not expecting anything this time around. Mostly, he spent his time opening compartments and detailing the contents. It was well equipped and reasonably stocked with supplies of antibiotics, pain killers and a host of other medicines.
It was very quiet, dimly lit, and just a little creepy. Every now and again some machine deep within the bowels of the colony would start up and Paolio would get a jolt. On more than one occasion, he could feel his heart race as some eerie feeling got the better of his rationality.
“Anything?”
He jumped. “Jesus Lu, don’t sneak up on me like that.”
“Sorry, didn’t mean to give you a fright.”
“Nothing here, weird isn’t it? It’s like the Mary Celeste.”
Colony One Mars: A SciFi Thriller (Colony Mars Book 1) Page 5