Mankind's Worst Fear

by David L Erickson

  Warning. There is no longer breathable atmosphere, sounded over the comsets.

  The outer hatch swung to the left, revealing a bright red landscape. Five hundred meters distant, a solid wall of rock reached skyward, its face cast in shadow. The group proceeded down a grated black ramp until they reached the ground and spread out. Puffs of red and black dust clouded their boots with each footfall. Soon the dust fog was up to their thighs and trailing behind them as they made their way to the transport. No breeze thinned the haze.

  Their transport, an open-air buggy with a gray tubular frame, titanium mesh tires and green web benches down both sides, could seat eighteen, with additional space for equipment in the middle.

  Despite some confusion, they were finally seated, with O’Brien and Doctor Myer in forward-facing buckets. A final check in the mirrors to make sure everyone was in place and he eased forward on the joystick rising from the floor between them. The buggy jerked, than steadily accelerated in the direction of the cliff. When the digital readout on the tip of the joystick showed thirty, O’Brien activated the autodrive.

  Here, the crater floor was peppered with well-marked soft spots, but the station’s crew had learned the hard way that new ones could develop anywhere. Accidents were infrequent and none had resulted in fatalities, though several victims had briefly lost their wits waiting to be dug out.

  It took several minutes to cross to the dig site, but before long the buggy was angling downward on a ramp created by the removal of hundreds of kilotons of rock and sand. Near the bottom, the well-worn track leveled out. O’Brien slowed the buggy and steered towards a jagged opening in the cliff wall. Brilliant halolamps on eight-meter towers and oblong gray equipment canisters, larger than their transport, crowded the nine hundred meter square excavation. Four technicians were unloading and setting up equipment from a small cargo buggy. A satellite transmission tower rose a hundred meters above its silver-gray octagon base, reaching beyond the cliff top. Six more specialists were down in the caverns, placing com uplinks from the surface to the mystery site eighty meters down and one point five kilometers in. Since they were not part of the exploration team, all would return to the base once their tasks were completed.

  O'Brien brought the transport to a halt outside the ring of equipment, then slapped his harness release and stepped off. In order, the others released and stepped down, forming two crude lines. He noted their upturned helmets and grinned in spite of himself. Though he had been to the cliff dozens of times and was no longer overpowered by it, even he found it difficult to refrain from gazing in awe upon the sheer rock face.

  “Follow me. Leave a meter between yourselves to keep from entangling or damaging your equipment. Attach your safety tethers, but keep a firm grip on the secure line leading down to the site anyway...even on the flatter terrain. If you have a problem, however minor, report it. Everybody set?”

  By now they were looking at him, though glances upward showed they had yet to overcome the mesmerizing affect of the wall. O’Brien waited until he heard from everyone before starting off with Myer momentarily beside him.

  Two men, carrying oblong, shoulder-mounted vidcorders, moved to intercept them at the cave entrance. From here until they returned to the surface, anyone on Earth who wanted to could tune into the Mars channel and be with them, virtually. The time delay was a mere six minutes, though channeling through the base system for editing would add ten more. Further editing by the networks for the requisite commercial breaks Mastifson spoke of, would take another twenty.

  “Colonel O'Brien. Welcome.”

  “Thank you, Lieutenant. Is everything in place?”

  “I believe so, sir.” Second Lieutenant Anthony Greco aimed his vidcorder along the line of scientists. “Be careful when you enter the third cavern. We’ve had a small cave-in and the bots haven’t cleared it yet. The path is passable, but barely.”

  “You’ll be leading us down?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Good. Try to keep the lamp out of my face.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Greco hurried on ahead. The vidcorders were omni directional set to focus on the group regardless of the operator's position. The result was a closer, sharper image without the movement jitters common to hand-helds. Their presence annoyed O’Brien, though he was careful not to show it.

  They passed into the gloom at the entrance, but a few meters within, brilliant overhead lamps glowed, casting the cavern in conflicting shadows. They were on a path cut smooth by laser rock-eaters to allow movement of equipment dollies down through the vast caverns.

  Following the path along the left face of the first cavern, they guardedly made their way down and through a widened crevice. The second chamber was immense, larger than anything like it on Earth. The brown sand floor was nearly flat. However, the path through the third chamber sloped to the right. Several scientists slipped, forcing the others to brace themselves or be pulled down. With a great airing of relief, they entered the fourth chamber, which was gently domed in the center. They made better progress, but took a circuitous route that extended the march and tired them. The lighter gravity proved to be deceptive, as the counterweight of the enviropaks and suits removed any gain.

  Midway across the cavern, O'Brien halted the procession beside stacks of yellow supply canisters and a red grid rack half filled with green oxygen tanks. Pole mounted halolamps flooded the area with brilliant white light.

  O’Brien faced his charges. “Take a ten minute break, doctors. Note the rack of oxy catalyst packs. Check your enviro levels frequently. If the gauge drops below thirty percent, I suggest you make your way back here. It's the only reserve depot in the caverns."

  Out of habit, O’Brien checked his enviro settings for the umpteenth time since leaving the base and sat down on an outcropping along the wall. His officers, experienced space walkers, went down the line of scientists, checking and adjusting their enviros. Several face shields had fogged over, as the air exchangers were unable to keep pace with excessive perspiration. Though the comsets masked normal breathing, four of the men were having a tough go of it. As their heart rate and respiration slowed, giving the air-exchangers time to catch up, the situation corrected itself.

  “Would you please describe what you found and how you found it, Colonel?” Doctor Myer’s pleasingly feminine voice flowed over him like a sudden breeze. She was standing in the middle of the path with her hands on her thighs, bent at the waist.

  O’Brien couldn’t see her expression through the moisture rivulets condensing on the inside of her face shield. He thought they would have learned the details before now. “As on the moon, Doctor Frailer used subterranean mines to locate the caves. Over the next fourteen weeks his team explored numerous pathways before widening the opening to this chamber. Sonirays revealed several symmetrical shapes composed of non-native materials behind a rock wall. Today we will breach that wall and find out what the shapes are.”

  “How thick is the wall?” Günter Krasmier, an anthropologist, was on his feet at the back of the group.

  “Less than a meter.”

  “Why haven’t you broken through before now?”

  “Doctor Frailer was ordered to stop, to wait for your delegation. He extends his apologies for not being able to direct the dig personally. His wife fell ill and he caught a shuttle back to Earth last week.”

  Doctor Myer straightened and moved closer. “You sound derisive.”

  “I hadn’t intended it so. I’m a military man. It’s not for me to question the motives of our political leaders.”

  “Dealing with political and scientific minds must be a burden.”

  “No burden, Doctor. Assignments differ, but my job remains the same: see to the safety of all personnel.”

  “I hope you’re good at it.”

  “I am.”

  Mastifson’s voice blasted through the comsets. “Why weren’t we briefed on this earlier! I assumed Doctor Frailer had preceded us to the site!”

>   “Speak softly, Doctor. The comsets are easily distorted by loud noises. But, to answer your question, there is some concern we may have a vid spy among us.”

  “And of what relevance was this aboard a spaceship three months in transit?”

  “My superiors believed this mission to be in jeopardy of sabotage, giving certain private corporations the opportunity to mount their own expedition. Tricks can be played...a minor cave-in, equipment failures...that sort of thing. However, it’s reasonable to assume we are not in any physical danger.”

  “Far-fetched I say. Smacks of paranoia.”

  “We’ll see, Doctor. I hope you’re right.” O’Brien pushed himself up and looked back along the line of men and women. “Gentlemen, ladies, time to move out. Key on your wrist lamps, but keep them aimed at the ground.”

  They struggled to their feet, two helped by others. When he received the ready signal from Greco, O’Brien led them out across an expanse barely illuminated by the pole lamps. Another quarter kilometer and he made out the dim glimmer of the halolamps bathing the suspect wall. Meter by meter they closed on the growing brilliance masked by the curvature of the smooth rock floor. Sixty meters from the site, the ground leveled out. Unlike the sticky black powder and red sand on the Martian surface, this sand was light brown, coarse and granular.

  Greco reached the site and following procedure, stepped to one side where he could have an unobstructed view of the room-size indentation in the cavern wall. The distinguished men and women filed inside. Six halolamps, mounted on tall yellow poles, pushed back the shadows. A polished titanium laser drill, mounted on a flat, gray wire wheel platform crowded with equipment, dominated the center of the recess. Two buff brown worker bots with appendages folded in, squatted to either side, like seated bulldogs.

  O’Brien waited while the troupe clustered loosely about the drill. Myer stepped forward to examine the wall, but the exertion of their passage had again streaked her shield.

  “We’ll wait until your shields clear before breaching the wall.” It was unlikely any of them would become unhinged, but O’Brien was worried one or two might collapse from overexertion. The handful of specialists had been subjected to any number of tests before leaving Orbital One a seventh generation launching platform in high Earth orbit but nothing could effectively prepare them for the fatigue and confinement of a three-hour space walk on Mars. O’Brien had been against this excursion since informed of it twelve weeks before, but politics had decided the matter.

  “This wall's glowing, Colonel. Were you aware of that?”

  “Yes, Doctor Myer. It appears to absorb then radiate the energy produced by the lamps. If you stand against it, then move away, a shadow mimics your shape for several seconds. It was this phenomenon that first caught Doctor Frailer’s attention. Mineral analysis indicates the wall is of the same material as the rest of these rocks, but fused in a different molecular pattern.”

  “You seem to be as knowledgeable about this as Doctor Frailer’s team, Colonel,” a masculine voice noted.

  “I generally review all data leaving the site, Doctor, uh...”

  “Jambert, Richard M. Are there others on Mars who have shown an interest in this find?”

  “Of course…Doctor Jambert...anthropologist.” It was difficult, given the sameness of the suits and the shield fogging, to see whom he was addressing. "They’re counting on us to fail.”

  Mastifson harrumphed. “So, this whole thing,” he waved his arms around encompassing all present, “us being here, is no more than a publicity stunt?”

  “Politically, yes. Scientifically, no. Don't trivialize this excursion because certain politicians stand to gain by it. Despite my initial misgivings, I consider it an honor to be here with you.”

  “In that I can quite agree, Colonel." His tone conciliatory, Mastifson motioned at the drill. "Shall we proceed?”

  “In a moment, Doctor. One of your colleagues still has a problem with a fogged shield.”

  They all turned, except one, a small distance from the rest.

  “Go ahead, Colonel. I’m sure my shield will clear before you break through.” The man’s voice was an octave higher than one would expect, and wavered at the last.

  “We have time. Lieutenant Paider. Would you assist...uh...?"

  "Doctor Anderson."

  "Doctor Anderson in adjusting his enviros?”

  “No problem, Colonel.” Paider crossed to him from where he positioned himself outside the recess and bent to examine Anderson's wrist control. A minute passed. “We’re all set Colonel.”

  O’Brien raised two fingers and pointed to the drill. An officer stepped up and activated a palm-sized control pad. One person stepped slowly back from the group, as if he were trying to keep from attracting attention while doing so. The subtle movement didn't go unnoticed. O'Brien started to turn towards him, but noted that Paider had seen it too, and let it go.

  The drill hummed to life and a wide, thin yellow beam cut into the wall three meters up, creating faint shadows behind those closest. Dust puffed out from the ever-deepening cut. The focus of the beam shifted downward at a snail’s pace, eventually shaping a rectangular cut one point five meters wide. The grotto warmed when the drill switched to wide beam and the rock within the cut began melting. Debris formed into droplets that collected in cookie-sized globs at the base of the opening, then tumbled down the growing pile and scattered outward.

  Twenty minutes passed before the laser disengaged, leaving an opening two point two-five meters tall. As his eyes adapted to the sudden dimness, O’Brien saw something skid across the ground. Before he could react, a brilliant cobalt beam sliced through the group, enveloping the baseball-sized object.

  “Get back!” O’Brien shoved Doctor Myer behind him, drew his weapon and fired at the object. A white burst and a powerful thunderclap knocked them down. O’Brien landed with a grunt and rolled to his feet. A figure in the shadows raised a weapon. O’Brien and Paider fired. The figure crumpled.

  “What the hell was that!” Mastifson struggled to his feet, his face ruddy with fear and anger. The other scientists stirred and began to rise.

  “An antipersonnel mine. If we hadn’t vaporized most of it, we’d all be dead.” With studied calm, O’Brien turned and offered Doctor Myer a hand. She took it and rose to her feet, trembling. Their shields touched and he saw her taut features soften. He smiled ruefully and looked beyond her, counting heads. No one appeared to be hurt as they helped each other up.

  Paider kneeled beside the man in the shadows. “He’s dead, Colonel.”

  “How many of us are soldiers here!” Blustering, Doctor Mastifson sounded frightened. He glowered within arms reach of O'Brien. “Colonel! You knew this was going to happen! Admit it! Didn’t you!”

  “I suspected espionage, not violence. I was wrong.”

  “We could've been killed! Bait! We were bait!”

  “You aren’t dead, Doctor. Just shaken. Both vid-ops and two of your people were replaced by my officers when they left the airlock. I was ordered to bring you down here, despite the risk one of you might be a saboteur.”

  “You were ordered to put us in harm’s way!”

  Major Clapton stepped up to Mastifson, drawing his attention. “Relax, Doctor. You’re hyperventilating. In the restricted environment of your suit, you could asphyxiate yourself. Colonel O’Brien did everything in his power to protect us...and...as you see...we are unharmed.”

  Mastifson relaxed perceptibly, though his eyes remained wide, his lips compressed and twisted in a sneer. His colleagues gathered around him, every bit as frightened. O’Brien’s officers remained in the background, two with weapons drawn. The other two shouldered the vidcorders they had set aside.

  “The man you shot isn't wearing the same suit we are.” Mastifson blurted, shaking an accusatory finger at O’Brien.

  “No, he isn’t. We're all accounted for, so he wasn't among your group and he’s not one of mine.”

  “Then tell, me...us.
..just who in the hell is he?” Mastifson tensed anew, his indignation growing. His colleagues were reacting as he: becoming agitated from the adrenaline diffusing throughout their bodies with nothing to act upon but fear.

  “Asian, probably.” Someone offered.

  Despite his racing heart, O’Brien provided a stoic presence. “Might also be an operative hired by the Texas operation. I can't assure you he came alone, but my men are ready...as you saw. They’ll never get this close again.”

  “How the hell did he get past your security?”

  “I can't answer that.”

  “Dammit, Colonel! How in God’s name do you expect us to do our job if you can't assure us we won’t be blown to hell one minute to the next!”

  O’Brien reached out, clasped Mastifson’s helmet, and looked him squarely in the eye. The wild look in Mastifson's eyes melted. “Look, Doctor, we can't change what happened, nor can we predict what will happen next, but you came eighty million kilometers to see what’s behind this wall. I suggest you get a grip on yourself before you panic the others...Doctor.”

  They stared at each other until Mastifson looked down, obviously troubled, but smart enough to see the wisdom of O’Brien’s words. His response was no more than a whisper. “Yes...yes...of course, Colonel...of course.”

  O’Brien released him and stood back to survey the small group. It took a special kind of person to attempt space travel, let alone step out into an environment where death was only a four-millimeter thickness away. They would be fine once the shock wore off. It was time to continue. “Now that we’ve regained our wits, I would suggest we turn our attention to the reason we’re here.”

  Mastifson harrumphed and stepped forward, yet hesitated before the breach. His team gathered around him, peering into another chamber roughly ten meters in diameter. It was dark, and indistinct objects ringed it, with one large barrel-like shadow at the center. Walter Holleander, an anthropologist formerly of Doctor Frailer’s team, stepped over the ridge left by the drill. Instantly the chamber filled with a diffused glow that brightened when he brought his other foot through the opening.