Oxygen Series Box Set: A Science Fiction Suspense Box Set

by John Olson

  “Valkerie, don’t you get it?” Bob sounded angry. “Something’s trying to kill us.”

  “The rover and Hab were the first two courses,” Kennedy mumbled. “If we don’t hurry, the MAV could be dessert.”

  “Assuming it hasn’t visited the MAV already,” Bob said.

  “Guys, listen to yourselves. There has to be a logical explanation for what’s happening that doesn’t involve—”

  “Involve what?” Bob asked. “You already found one creature on Mars.”

  “Sure. Bacteria.” Valkerie cast a cautious glance behind them. “The fire’s already out. I could be back in three—”

  “Let’s move!” Kennedy hissed. He and Bob broke into a jog.

  Valkerie fell in place behind them, reaching in to help support Lex’s weight. Eerie shadows moved all around them, but she kept her head down and plodded on. It didn’t make sense, but something was out there. They trudged on and on. Valkerie’s arms started to burn. Her head felt like it would explode. Something was trying to kill them.

  Finally, a dark shadow loomed in front of them. She stumbled backward, dropping her load of oxygen tanks. Bob and Kennedy set Lex down and stepped forward.

  “Bob?”

  “Shhh. It’s okay,” Bob said. “We’ll just top off the MAV and be on our way.”

  Valkerie blinked her eyes.

  Bob was standing at the base of the fuel‑factory unit. To his left she could just make out the MAV silhouetted against the star‑emblazoned sky.

  Bob flipped a switch and a green light stabbed through the darkness. Valkerie could feel the pumps vibrating reassuringly under her feet.

  “It should only take—”

  The vibrations stopped and the light went dead. Bob flipped open a panel and threw another switch.

  “No power,” he said in a dull voice. “Whatever attacked the Hab may have just taken out the nuke.”

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Saturday, May 9, 2:00 a.m., Mars Local Time

  Bob

  “WE CAN’T LEAVE LEX ON the ground! She’ll freeze to death.” Bob stabbed Kennedy with the beam of his flashlight. “Valkerie, help Kennedy carry Lex up into the MAV. Try to get some heat up there so she doesn’t freeze.”

  Bob turned back to the MAV’s fuel gauge. They had made almost two tonnes of methane that week, in three batches. The last batch was still sitting in the fuel factory. Almost two hundred gallons of liquid methane, which they must have to get into orbit. But without electricity, there was no way to pump it from the factory into the MAV’s tanks.

  “We’ll need to fire up the heaters soon or Lex isn’t going to make it.” Valkerie’s voice sounded tense. She was trying to hide it, but Bob could tell she was scared.

  “Do it.” Bob looked up at the MAV. Good. They were already in. “Bring the cabin up to pressure and power on the heaters. The fuel cells have juice for seventy‑two hours of life support.” And more than enough for the fuel pumps. Bob pried open a service panel on the MAV and started searching for a cable—any cable long enough to run from the MAV to the fuel factory pumps.

  “Stay inside with Lex.” Kennedy’s voice came over comm. “That monster is out there somewhere. Bob’s going to need some help.”

  “Wait. Help me get her turned around.” Valkerie’s voice.

  Bob turned back to the fuel factory and started ripping out every wire he could find. He twisted them end‑to‑end, fashioning them into a long cable. Not nearly long enough. Think, Kaggo. There’s got to be more wire. He turned to the MAV. Was there a subsystem he could cannibalize without affecting launch?

  Wait! The power cable. With the nuke dead, they didn’t need the cable anymore. Bob started pulling the heavy cable out of the ground. But how could he cut it? He went to the tool shed behind the fuel factory and grabbed a pickax. Twenty yards should be enough cable. He paced it off and raised the ax.

  A man‑sized shadow moved across the darkness.

  “Kennedy?” Bob set the pickax down and started toward the shadowy form. What was Kennedy doing back behind the MAV? “Kennedy, help me—”

  The figure vanished.

  Bob stood silent, blinking in the darkness. “Kennedy, is that you?”

  “What?” Kennedy’s voice grated through Bob’s helmet. “Of course it’s me.”

  “Would you stop playing games? I need help with this cable!”

  “I’m coming, already,” Kennedy grumbled. “You okay, Valkerie?”

  “I’ve got her.”

  Bob lumbered back and grabbed the pickax. A movement caught his eye. Was that Valkerie climbing down the steps of the MAV?

  “Valkerie, what are you doing? Stay in the MAV with Lex.”

  “I am. What are you talking about?”

  What was going on?

  The white‑suited figure jumped down and shuffled toward Bob.

  An icy chill percolated up through Bob’s spine. “Kennedy?” He shined his flashlight at the figure.

  Kennedy scowled back at him through the visor. “Yeah?”

  “I thought I saw you back there.” Bob pointed back behind the MAV.

  “Oh yeah?” Kennedy mumbled something under his breath and then took off running in the opposite direction from where Bob was pointing.

  “Kennedy, wait!” Bob searched the darkness behind the MAV. Had he seen something? “Kennedy, stop. I need help with this cable!”

  Labored breathing sounded over comm.

  “Kennedy, it’s okay. It was probably just a shadow!” Great! Bob tossed the pickax aside and shouted up at the MAV. “Valkerie, start going through checkout. I’ve got to bring Kennedy back.”

  “Bring him back? What’s wrong?”

  “I wish I knew.” Bob loped after Kennedy. “Hampster! Nothing’s out there. It was just my imagination.”

  Static.

  “Kennedy, this is Lex. Come back right now. That’s an order!”

  The static was getting louder. Louder.

  “Be ready at the pumps, Bob. I’m almost there,” Kennedy wheezed.

  “Almost where?” Bob slowed to a stop. “Kennedy, no!”

  A hailstorm of curses battered through the static. “It got the nuke. Beat it up pretty good.”

  “Get out of there, Kennedy!” Bob started back for the MAV. “If the nuke’s lost its shielding ...” His pulse hammered in his temples. Oh great, Kennedy was going off his rocket again. Beautiful timing.

  “Bob, go find him,” Lex said.

  “No, I countermand that,” Kennedy said. “Kaggo, stay at the fuel pump and be ready to move some fuel.”

  “Bob, I said go get him! He’s nuts.”

  “You’re not a shrink, Lex,” Kennedy said, and he laughed, a thin, screechy kind of laugh that dragged fingernails down the blackboard of Bob’s spine. “Those shrinks thought they were so smart. Well, I outsmarted them, didn’t I? I outplayed them at their own game.”

  “Kennedy, let’s be reasonable,” Bob said. “Come back and let’s talk.”

  “Kaggo, get to the fuel pumps!” Kennedy said. “I’m almost done.”

  “With what?” But Bob already knew the answer.

  “One of the lines is ripped out, but I’m gonna fix it. The end’s not broken, it’s just hanging loose here.”

  “Kennedy, watch your rad monitors!”

  No answer.

  Bob went to the fuel pumps and waited. A bead of sweat dropped into his eye. He shook his head, powerless to stop the stinging.

  Over the comm link came the sound of tuneless humming. Then Kennedy’s voice, ragged, brittle. Singing. “Hush, little baby, don’t say a word. Papa’s gonna fix your power cord. And if that power cord holds tight, Papa’s gonna give you electric light. And if those ‘lectric lights don’t turn, Papa’s gonna get you some fuel to burn. And if—”

  A green LED lit up on the pump panel.

  “Hit it, Kaggo,” Kennedy’s voice rasped out in an anguished whisper.

  Bob punched the switch and watched the fuel ga
uge begin to move. “Kennedy? You okay?”

  “Bob, go check on him,” Lex said.

  Bob started walking toward the nuke.

  “No!” Kennedy’s voice again, faint. “The monster ... ripped the shielding ... off the nuke.”

  “Get away from there!” Bob ran toward the reactor.

  “I’m ... holding the wires ... in place.”

  “Forget it!” Bob shouted. “There’s too much radiation.”

  “I see the monster!” Kennedy shouted a string of curses. “I see it, but it don’t see me. Get in the MAV, Kaggo, and be ready to roll. I’m gonna break that baby’s head if it’s the last thing I do.”

  “Bob, get back here now!” Lex shouted. “That’s an order.”

  “We need you,” Valkerie pleaded.

  Bob stopped and turned back to the MAV. As he reached the fuel factory, the lights on the console went dark. The gauge read empty.

  “We got it!” Lex shouted. “Kennedy, run for it!”

  A gurgling sound filled the comm channel. Then Kennedy’s labored voice. “Negative. Took too many rems. Get out of ... Dodge, cowboys. This is my fight ... not yours.”

  “What’s it look like?” Bob stared into the darkness.

  An anguished scream answered him. Then silence. The sound of Kennedy’s breathing was ... just gone.

  “Bob, get in the MAV now!” Lex said.

  “On my way. Get back in the rescue bubble, Lex.” Bob ran to the steps and began climbing. He reached the top and waited.

  “She’s in,” Valkerie said. “I’m pumping down to vacuum.”

  A minute later the hatch swung inward. Bob climbed inside, then took one last look at Mars. From out of the gloom, he saw a dark shadow heading toward the MAV. He pulled back inside and slammed the hatch shut. “I saw something!” he shouted. “It’s headed this way! Get us out of here, Valkerie.”

  Valkerie dropped into the pilot’s seat. “We’re good to go.”

  Bob flicked some switches. “I’m pressurizing the cabin. Get us off the ground!”

  Valkerie’s hands flew over the console, setting switches, pressing buttons. “Igniting engines ... now.”

  Something clanged down in the superstructure at the base of the MAV. The ship reverberated.

  “It’s attacking us!” Bob shouted. “Have we got enough thrust yet?”

  “Another few seconds,” Valkerie said. “I’ll tell you when to release.”

  Another metallic clang. The MAV shook. Bob realized he wasn’t even buckled into his seat yet.

  “On my mark,” Valkerie said. “Three ... two ...”

  Another clang. The MAV shook, then began tipping.

  “Mark!”

  Bob threw the switch. Somewhere down below, six explosive charges fired, severing their connection to the base platform.

  The MAV leapt off the base.

  * * *

  Saturday, May 9, 2:30 a.m., Mars Local Time

  Valkerie

  Valkerie unbuckled her harness and let herself float free above her seat in the tiny MAV capsule. She shut her eyes and relaxed into the zombie float of zero‑g. She had forgotten how good it felt to be weightless—free from the burden of an overwhelming and terrifying planet. No more research. No more bogeymen. No more ... Kennedy.

  The realization came crashing down on her like the weight of an entire world. Dark images crisscrossed her mind, running helter‑skelter through her emotions. She gripped the arm of her seat and held on tight. Kennedy was gone. He’d given his life for them. Her throat tightened. Her chest squeezed. For an agonizing second, her whole body locked up, refusing to respond to her desperate attempts at control. Then a long, painful sob convulsed her body as a flood of pain, tears, and emotion all tried to escape at once. She cried for what seemed like hours. Until the well of her tears was dry—until she was a trembling empty shell floating like a baby in Bob’s arms.

  Bob looked down at her with puffy, tear‑streaked eyes.

  She wiped her face with her hands and turned to face Lex, who floated nearby watching her with an expression of deep concern. “I’m okay. It’s just that ...”

  Lex nodded and managed a tight smile. “I know,” she whispered.

  They floated silently in the cramped compartment, looking from one to another.

  Silence. Calm. Valkerie was loath to break the peace, but she felt she had to say something. She couldn’t hold it in forever. “I can’t believe he’s gone. That he gave his life for us.”

  Bob reached for the radio. “He wouldn’t have wanted for it to be in vain. We’ve got to concentrate on rendezvousing with the ERV.”

  “No!” Lex grabbed at his arm. “Wait.”

  “Why?” Bob drew back his hand.

  “I ...” Lex stared into space. “I’m not sure it’s safe.”

  “What do you mean not safe?” Bob asked. “You’re not worried EECOM might break out of jail, are you?”

  “No, but the thing that attacked us. You don’t honestly think Valkerie’s fifth man is some kind of a Mars monster?”

  Bob considered for a long while and finally shook his head.

  “So ...” Lex looked from Bob to Valkerie. “It had to be the rover. That’s the only thing that makes sense. I suppose it’s possible Kennedy could have programmed it to attack, but ...”

  “No way,” Bob said. “Impossible. I locked Kennedy out of every computer subsystem but his e‑mail. He couldn’t even use the head without my help. And besides, I don’t believe he could do it. Psychologically, I mean. He was different after he came back. All busted‑up inside.”

  “I agree,” Valkerie said. “He’s changed. And he died to save us. If that doesn’t prove he’s innocent, nothing will.”

  “I’m gonna miss him,” Bob said.

  “Me too.” Lex brushed at something in the corner of her eye. She sighed deeply. “Crazy as that sounds, I’ll miss him. But we still have to figure out who was driving that thing. And can they do anything to the ERV?”

  “This might sound crazy,” Valkerie said, “but what if that Russian orbiter was controlling the rover?”

  “The Russians?” Bob looked skeptical. “What do they have against us?”

  “Just listen,” Valkerie said. “We never figured out how EECOM was controlling our robots. Houston checked the logs, and no commands ever went out through the Deep Space Network. But the Russians don’t need the DSN. They’ve got their own radio antennas. So if EECOM was in cahoots with the Russians ... it all fits.”

  “That’s not such a crazy idea,” Bob said. “It explains why nothing ever got logged on our network. That’s the last piece of the puzzle.”

  Lex shook her head. “It’s an interesting theory, Valkerie. It explains how. But it doesn’t explain why.”

  Nobody said anything for a while.

  “Maybe the Martian flu?” Bob said. “None of this weird stuff happened until Valkerie got sick. After that, everything hit the fan at once. The Russians have a strong paranoid streak, and they really got hit hard by AIDS. They’re terrified of back‑contamination.”

  “But what about the de‑orbit burn on the ERV?” Valkerie said. “How did the Russians do that?”

  “That’s already explained,” Bob said. “EECOM did it. She couldn’t use the Russian network to access the ERV. Otherwise, she would have never risked going through the DSN. And we know for sure she did that hack. Nate and Josh found her script, and our guys checked every line—it’s a perfect match. She had all the passwords to get into the Goldstone network, and she used the Russian machine as a cutout—probably with their cooperation. Then the Russians pointed the finger at Josh. That’s it! They had to be working together on everything. EECOM provided the command sequences for the robots. The Russians provided the back‑door network to transmit the signals.”

  Valkerie ran over and over the scenario in her mind. The more she thought about it, the more it seemed to fit.

  “So what do we do?” Lex nodded to the transmitter. “They ar
rested EECOM, but the Russians are still out there. Think they’ll go after the ERV again?”

  “They can’t.” Bob smiled. “If they could touch the ERV through their back door, EECOM wouldn’t have gone through Goldstone, and she would never have gotten caught. Anyway, Houston changed all the DSN access codes right after they caught EECOM. The ERV is safe.”

  Valkerie nodded her agreement.

  Lex reached for the mike. “Houston, this is Commander Ohta calling from the Ares 6. Please come in. The Ares 7 has been attacked. Kennedy Hampton is dead. Bob, Valkerie, and I barely escaped to the MAV. We took off and we’re in a low orbit around Mars. We don’t have much fuel, so we need you to bring the ERV down to us for a rendezvous. Sending telemetry now.”

  * * *

  Valkerie looked down at the monitor and caught her breath. The image of the ERV loomed closer, shining like a sterling‑silver cross against a stippled velvet field.

  “Relax, Valkerie.” Lex touched the attitude controls. “I’m on it.”

  Bob patted Lex on the back. “Lexie here could do this maneuver with one eye closed and all her fingers taped together.”

  Lex laughed. “And after three beers. Right, Kaggo?”

  The smile faded from Bob’s face. “Valkerie, are you okay?”

  Valkerie nodded. “Just nervous, I guess.”

  Lex nodded. “Fifteen meters. We’re coming in at ten centimeters per second. A few more minutes and it’s home sweet ERV.”

  Two minutes ticked by. Three meters left to go.

  Valkerie glanced shyly at Bob, but he didn’t seem to notice. He didn’t look nervous at all, just sat there with the shadow of a smile on his lips.

  “One meter.” Lex tapped the controls. “Firing microjets.”

  Valkerie leaned toward the monitor, trying to catch Bob’s eye. “Do you realize what day it is?”

  Bob glanced at his watch. “May 9—that means more than a year before we get back to Earth. It could be worse.”

  Valkerie bit her lip. Surely he hadn’t forgotten?