The Unknown

by Angel Wedge

  The glider was only three metres from the hatch, but the walk seemed to take forever with the eyes of so many senior officers on her. Scientists, politicians, and anyone who didn’t have anything better to do with their time right now. There were probably as many people watching Elle’s back as there were staring at the mysteriously alien vehicle.

  When she arrived, she realised that opening the flexible plastic film would release the air inside, subjecting Boo to massive pressure changes as well as air that she was sure wouldn’t be breathable. Boo put a hand to her mouth, giggling silently, and then fished around in the vehicle’s footwell. There was a suit there, but even lighter than the ones they’d seen before. She slipped on a helmet that looked more like a luchador’s mask than anything designed for use on an alien planet. It bulged like a balloon when it was connected to one of the atmosphere generators, and Boo had no hesitation unhooking the plastic sheet from the frame. The flimsy helmet visibly swelled more with the pressure change, looking just a little obscene. Elle could see enough of Major Ng’s gestures back in the camp to be glad she couldn’t hear his words. The glider’s bubble shrank back onto the frame, and Elle climbed inside as quickly as she could. Once they were cut off from the outside again, she set to work uncoupling her own helmet.

  Boo was grinning, bouncing on the spot. She was both excited and nervous, and her fingers were white as she held tightly onto the tablet she was using to steer the vehicle. This was a meeting of two cultures, an important historical milestone even though they were constantly reminding the officers of how unofficial and informal it was. But it was only seeing the other woman’s bubbling anxiety that Elle realised this was more than just an unsanctioned exchange of cultures. This was actually a date.

  The glider rushed across the Martian desert, and they were already out of sight of the camp by the time Elle could see again, putting the bulky helmet and its neck coupling on the vacant seat. She glanced at the mountains in the distance, still vertiginously tall to someone who’d grown up on Earth, and tried to work out which way they were going. She didn’t recognise the scenery from her first visit to Kells, but then she hadn’t been paying too much attention to the surroundings, and there were few enough landmarks to break up the flat brown sands.

  “Are we taking a different route?” Elle could only restrain her curiosity so long. Now they were skimming up a steeply ascending rocky spur, with the cliff a couple of metres away on one side, and a sheer drop to the desert below on the other. She was sure that she would have remembered if they’d come along here last time.

  “Kind of,” Boo shrugged, “There’s something I wanted to show you before we head back to the city. The view, it’s one of the best I’ve found. And nobody will disturb us there, if there’s anything you want to talk about in private. For people who’ve travelled so far to get to Mars, most of the Travellers don’t seem to be interested in seeing it. Like they’re more interested in what they can build here than the most beautiful… stunning sunsets, I guess is the word, but it sounds kind of lame if I say it like that.”

  “That sounds wonderful. And I kind of know what you mean. We were all so excited to be going to Mars, everybody was, and we all wanted to get in. But by the time we got here, concerns about the ships, and the camp, and testing the technology that’s going to keep us alive, it seems to have eclipsed any thought of the planet itself for most people. Finding how to improve our chances is prioritised over finding out about Mars, and we’re mostly scientists, so there’s few who take an interest in the– oh, wow.”

  As they reached the top of the long ramp, a good couple of minutes after the ascent had started, it was immediately obvious that this was the viewpoint. The path opened out into a wide ledge that looked like a whole chunk of the cliff face had been knocked out by some giant chisel. The cliffs curved in so sharply overhead that it almost gave the impression of being indoors, lit by a warm golden light where the sun shone directly along the canyon. At first Elle was half blinded by the light, but as she got used to it she could see that the light refracting in the air here made the whole sky look like it was made of liquid gold, and this little nook was lit with a warm yellow light.

  “It’s almost like Earth,” Elle gasped, “Well, an Earth desert, anyway. I haven’t seen scenery like this in years. And you’re right, it’s beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing this place with me. It can be our little gem. A secret place to come and relax, if you’d like to share something so… I mean…” she clammed up quickly when she realised just how far her imagination had been running away with her.

  “I always knew it was a wonderful view,” Boo didn’t seem to notice, or was at least too polite to draw attention to Elle’s embarrassment, “I didn’t realise you could make it sound so romantic. Thank you.”

  “I didn’t mean–”

  “Don’t deny it. Let me believe it for a moment. Just look at this place with me.”

  They sat in the glider, and watched the sun rise. Both started speaking, and got embarrassed after a few words. But talking wasn’t really necessary, it seemed so natural to just sit and watch the beauty of the natural landscape. Or, if either was prepared to properly admit it, the beauty of the woman next to her. A representative of an alien culture, but so similar they could have been sisters. Laughing at the same jokes, really understanding each other’s feelings on any subject they cared to talk about. There was no doubt now that they both wanted to say the same thing.

  But saying it too soon would spoil the moment, so one of them managed to speculate about going for a walk in the wonderful landscape. And it just happened that Boo was carrying a spare environment suit that would have been about the right size for Elle. Not new, nothing was really new in the city as long as reuse was so much less effort than recycling. But clean and fresh, and so much less effort than the clunky Mars Camp 1 suits that needed someone else to tighten the bolts every time you put them on.

  They walked. Elle was surprised to find that the gloves were malleable enough that she could feel the pressure of Boo’s hand in hers. Even if these suits were the only thing they got from their Martian neighbours, the mission would have been worthwhile. From her superiors’ point of view, anyway. Because when she turned to meet Boo’s gaze, Elle knew that she would be satisfied with this meeting even if she went home knowing nothing more than she did right now.

  Then she looked down into the canyon, and knelt on the edge until the dizziness went away. While she waited, she pointed down at the floor of the valley. At a dried up river bed, so far below that it was beyond belief. It took a few minutes getting used to the sheer impossibility of the view before she could form a question.

  “We don’t know,” Boo answered, “It’s a strange rock formation, almost as if it was worn away by water. But we know there’s not been liquid water on the surface here for thousands of years. I know a rockologist who was trying to work out what had happened to make this place. And even he didn’t realise how beautiful it is, in all the times he came to study the landscape.”

  “It’s like a little piece of a desert on Earth, scooped up and carried to Mars. It’s the last thing I expected to see here. Well, aside from finding other people here. You were the last thing I would have expected when we arrived. But it seems like Mars is no end of surprises.”

  “It seems so amazing to me, even though I’ve never known anything different. I never paid much attention to the canyon down there, though. The sun is enough for me, and thinking about the odds that a canyon like this would be at just the right angle, with just the right minerals getting weathered into the atmosphere to create such a beautiful display.”

  “It’s the kind of thing that would make me think it’s manufactured. Is that possible?”

  “I don’t know. But why?”

  “A homesick elder, missing Earth maybe? Wanted to create a viewpoint to remind him of the canyons of some part of his homeland? Maybe using mining equipment to reshape the walls slightly, scraping away rock in places, and de
positing different minerals to change the colour of the light? Carved out the impression of a dry river bed below? I’m sure it would be possible, so the question is whether anyone would have the influence to get all that equipment for a vanity project. Presumably without telling the rest of the city, as well.”

  “I guess it could be possible. I mean, some of the power plants produce kilolitres of wastewater I think, so somebody could have jet carved a river… bed? I never really thought of it like that, probably because a river is something I’ve only seen in books. And you just confirmed one of my own theories, too.”

  “Oh?”

  “That different backgrounds mean we see the same thing in different ways. We should stay together, yeah?”

  “Yes?”

  “Because we might be able to solve big mysteries as a team. You spot things I miss, and all that.”

  “Is that why you wanted to bring me here?”

  “No. I got plenty of reasons that I don’t need to think about. That’s a reason I thought about petitioning for an official assignment, though. So I can spend as much time with you as I want, and call it work.”

  “I want to hear about more of these ideas. And I want to look at that river bed, too. Too many intriguing things. And I want to –”

  “We can always do both,” Boo giggled, “And we can do the other thing later. The glider isn’t going to go down the cliff, and the canyon is closed at both ends at ground level. But if we can get to the ridge at the north end, we can winch down. I’ve got a good length of cable, and it should take like twenty minutes to reconfigure one of the engines. Want to go exploring? We can talk while I work, it’s not something that would need all my focus, and we can do the other stuff when we get back to the city.”

  “Deal. But let’s stay here until the sun is fully risen.”

  * * *

  The valley was just as interesting on the ground, though the cliffs curving in overhead really made it feel like they were underground. Elle wasn’t a geologist, but she’d studied a bit of all the sciences to improve her chances of getting on this mission. And everything she could see, with the simple instrument set on her suit and the gadgets Boo had brought with her, suggested that the indentation in the ground really could be an old riverbed. Whether it was natural or manmade presented a bigger question, but not one it was easy to answer.

  “It looks like water flowed along here,” she said, “But why? Did whoever built this place like the sound of running water? Or did he just want a dried up river bed as part of his scenic nook?”

  Boo shook her head, not really having anything to add. She was enjoying herself immensely, and was happy to follow and chat as Elle tried to find the secrets of the hidden canyon.

  “How do you feel about being on video?” she asked, as they were picking their way into a cavern at the far end of the dry river, “I mean, I could argue that a set of video blogs about us working together has educational merit, and I bet the people who haven’t had a chance to meet an Earth astronaut yet would love to watch us. Just chatting, working together informally, finding out bits about each other’s background. Let the Martian folks learn about Earth, and vice versus. We could be stars!”

  “Sounds like fun. But how much do we show them? I don’t know what broadcasting standards are like in Kells, but I think some parts of tonight might not get past the censors.”

  “I think to start with, just the work bits,” Boo giggled, “Unless you really want to…”

  “No, no. I’d never do something like that, I’ve got to be a good role model for the younger crew members. I’m pure and innocent.”

  “You had to think about it for a minute, though.”

  “Well, maybe. But you… wait, there’s a wall down here?”

  “Oh, yeah. There’s something dangerous, a pit or something? I think the first generation blocked it off. They had this kind of paranoid thing about making all the areas close to the city safer, so that kids who were exploring outside for the first time wouldn’t be tempted by anything too dangerous. I looked it up when I found this wall the first time, it’s just a boilerplate construction order. Maybe to protect us from the planet, or to protect the planet from us. Who knows? There wasn’t any more information there, and that’s what I really hate about some of the early explorations. Because they were so worried about the colony surviving, it was more important than openness. If they thought that some datum would tempt the next generation to put themselves at unnecessary risk, they just didn’t record it.”

  “Seriously? I thought that keeping secrets was like, unconstitutional?”

  “Uncultural is the word you want. We have a code of ethics, but it’s designed to evolve with our society, not a written constitution. And yes, it is. But there’s a few exceptions, like not telling someone things that will harm them. You don’t want to stress people with things they don’t need to know, but there’s a lot of debate about where to draw the line. They probably wouldn’t get away with not documenting this today, but it was sealed off when I was like a year old. Is open information really a big thing on Earth now? I thought your governments had more secrets than us by a long way.”

  “Yeah, but our leaders are nervous about allowing us to talk, you know. Meeting a new civilisation, they say we don’t know how far we can trust you. A lot of that’s bureaucratic paranoia, but at the same time it’s spreading down to the ordinary people. A lot of groups have secrets, for a lot of reasons. Mostly trade secrets, protecting research from rival corporates. But with an entirely new trading partner, they want to know that there aren’t any big secrets. Like weapons stockpiles, or human rights atrocities, huge skeletons in the closet. So I’ve had no end of officers yelling at me to make sure I find out why your city, or the other Martian cities, has a big secret.”

  “Is there a big secret?”

  “I don’t know. They think there is, from their conference of ambassadors. Maybe it’s not something that important, but in a culture that’s so open, sharing research with anyone, I guess any secret would stand out more. Maybe it’s something that the top brass wouldn’t share, but I could find out easily by asking you. If I knew what to ask for. I don’t know. So let’s not think about that, right? Let’s think about how this valley could have been made, and what cunning plans you can put together to buy us some time together.”

  There was a lot for them to talk about. Like the ubiquity of technology in standard dimensions, which made it simple for a non-engineer like Boo to take a pump out of one of her vehicle’s air cyclers and press the motor into service as a winch. But Elle was starting to think that Boudica was a lot more into physical experiments than she let on. If this was a hobby skill, and her real talents were in software, then she must be a real genius.

  Then they headed back to the city, which was surprisingly close. They only needed to follow a path up from the ridge where they’d left the glider for ten minutes before they were at another entrance, this one much smaller and halfway up a cliff. Inside the city, they chatted a lot longer, but very little of their conversation would have been suitable for broadcast.

  * * *

  Day 38

  A dozen days later, Elle was pulling up to the camp boundary in her own glider. It was nothing like as fast or as elegant as Boo’s, but the neighbours all agreed it was pretty good for a first attempt. She’d really enjoyed building it, and some of the camp’s scientists thought it was a great thing to study. Despite their best efforts, the engineers from the two cultures hadn’t yet managed to come up with a standard file format to allow the computer blueprints to be transferred, so the more physically-minded were reduced to analysing whatever Martian technology they could get their hands on. The first time she’d brought a prototype back here, it had taken several hours to retrieve component modules from various labs and put it back together. Today, hopefully, a sack full of spare components would have kept them occupied and her ride would remain in one piece.

  At the gate, Pattison and Jasper were just cleanin
g up after painting a sign, with an unreactive dye specifically designed not to contaminate the surrounding dust too much as it weathered. The sign was originally intended to say ‘Camp Vulcan’, the name of the ship. It would have been accompanied by signs made from the nameplates of the other ships as they arrived. But there had been a political disagreement with the sponsors back on Earth, of which only the most important crew members knew the full details. Nobody wanted to live in a settlement named as an advertising stunt, so they’d stuck with ‘the ship’ and ‘the camp’ for as long as they could. That wasn’t so easy, now that the second ship was incoming. So after much arguing with their sponsors, Commander Lemuel had proposed a compromise that the colonists were mostly happy with. Camp Wayland would be named after one of the proposed names for the ships, but one which none of the sponsors had particularly wanted to claim.

  “Hey guys,” Elle waved, and clambered out of her vehicle. She was on her own this time, but she was getting more comfortable traversing the barren expanses of Mars without a guide. The only downside was that it would be a whole weekend before she could head back to Kells, and that there was no partner to talk to while she waited for the airlock to cycle. That was always tedious, so she breathed a silent sigh of relief when the two sign painters jogged up to the door behind her.

  “Hi,” Jasper waved, “Make much progress?”

  “Not on anything that’s your business. No sign of big secrets, I’m starting to think it’s all a myth. Closest thing I’ve seen to a secret is one wall in the back of a natural cave.”

  “A wall?”

  “I haven’t told you about that before? I thought you were… oh, you missed that debriefing. Yeah, there’s a canyon on the northeast side of Kells, looks like an ancient riverbed. We think it’s somebody’s joke project, trying to make a place that looks like Earth. At one end there’s a cave, where the river would have run into, but it’s walled off.”