ESCAPE FROM MARS

by G. T. Appleton

  “Come on,” Sylvia said to Carter. “We’re running behind.”

  Carter rubbed his eyes and grabbed his helmet. “I’m sorry. I should have gotten more sleep.”

  “You can get plenty of sleep on the shuttle.”

  Static burst on the transmitter wire. Magnus inserted the tip of it into his ear.

  “Heads up, big man,” Boony said through his earphone.

  Magnus turned with a grin and walked away from Carter and Sylvia. Excitement swelled inside his chest. Hearing her voice eased his apprehension.

  “You’re up early. What is it?” he whispered.

  “They’ve found the guards in your room. They’re looking for you.”

  “Shit!”

  Carter and Sylvia turned toward him.

  “What is it?”

  “Nothing. But Sylvia’s right. We need to hurry.”

  “Here,” Sylvia said, handing them each a small toolbox. “Helps you play the part.

  Magnus took the toolbox and then picked up a larger one where he had stashed food for Digger. Carter put on his helmet, tucked the silver briefcase under his left arm, and then he took the other toolbox.

  “Let’s go.” Sylvia headed toward the doors on the far side of the mechanic room. The doors were open and the landing bay came into full view.

  Ten guards stood around the inside perimeter of the landing bay. Their guns hung lazily over their shoulders. The expressions on their faces indicated the sheer boredom that possessed their lives.

  “I believe you’re right,” Magnus said, looking at Sylvia.

  “About?”

  “How tired the night shift would be.”

  She smiled. “It’s this way every morning. They’ve not had a day of excitement since they’ve been here.”

  “Well, that changes today,” Magnus said with a grin.

  Carter studied the guards. At first, he didn’t appear nervous. His gaze seemed unconcerned until he noticed their weapons. “How often do you think they practice shooting with those rifles?”

  “Probably never,” Sylvia said.

  Carter nervously fidgeted with his collar. “I can’t say that makes me feel any better.”

  “Let’s remain calm,” Magnus said.

  Sylvia stepped through the entrance doors with Magnus and Carter following behind. When they neared the center of the landing bay, two armed guards turned and marched straight in their direction.

  Carter nervously glanced at Magnus. Magnus gave him an encouraging wink and a slight nod. The three of them stopped to allow the guards to march past uninterrupted. The guards never hesitated in their pace, nor did they offer any suspicious interest toward them. After the guards passed, Sylvia led Magnus and Carter to the front of a silver shuttle, which was named: Percival 3000.

  Once the guards were out of hearing range, Sylvia whispered, “Pretend to be fixing something while I set the controls for take off.”

  “How are we going to get the landing bay doors open?” Carter asked.

  “They’ll open soon enough. A cargo ship is scheduled to depart this morning. We’ll follow it out.”

  Magnus opened a side panel and set down his two toolboxes. “Then set the controls.”

  Carter placed his toolbox next to Magnus’. “Are you sure we didn’t need those weapons in your cell?”

  “No,” Magnus replied. “I was framed for murder. If this fails, I’ll be able to plead my case better if I don’t fire back.”

  “I wish I had your nerves of steel.”

  “I’m more nervous than you think.”

  “You have a great way of hiding it,” Carter said.

  “Remember, worrying never changes anything. It never solves a problem. Sometimes you have to face danger head on.”

  The landing bay gates unlocked with a loud snap. The massive doors separated and began widening.

  Carter crawled beneath the shuttle and pretended to inspect the landing gear.

  “Magnus,” Boony whispered. “I want to alert you that Jonas has issued an APB search for you.”

  “No alarms?” he whispered.

  “No. The guards are sweeping the corridors and each prisoner’s cell. When the guards change shifts in fifteen minutes, they will scan each person’s tracer chip to make accurate identification.”

  “Thanks for the heads up, Boony. I am going to miss you. I wish things were different. Perhaps sometime in the future whenever you return to Earth, we can meet again. I’d love to learn more about you.”

  “Do what you need to do, Magnus. If I suspected that you had lied to me, you would have been taken into custody last night in The Vortex.”

  “I’m aware of that.”

  “Don’t let me down or make me regret my actions. Make right what was wronged to you. This might be the only chance you’ll ever get.”

  “No, if I stayed on Mars, I’d never get the chance. I’d die in the mines.”

  Boony released a soft sigh into his ear. “That’s true.”

  “Thanks, Boony. I greatly appreciate this.”

  “Be careful. Should fate want our paths to cross again, nothing will prevent it.”

  Magnus wanted to say more but the cargo ship propulsion engines ignited. The sound was relentless. He tucked the transmitter into his vest pocket.

  The landing bay gates opened wider and the bay’s temperature plummeted within a moment’s notice. The Percival 3000 was painted in deep maroon on the silver shuttle and was parked about a hundred yards to the side of the massive cargo ship.

  Sylvia leaned through the shuttle door and waved them toward her. “We’re set. Come aboard!”

  The outside harsh winds and cold air swept into the landing bay, making hearing nearly impossible. Fierce gusts filled with red dust swirled across the metal flooring. The perimeter guards lowered protective goggles and turned their backs to protect themselves from the gushing air and loose debris.

  Magnus and Carter grabbed their toolboxes and closed the compartment door. They hurried inside the shuttle. Sylvia hit the liftoff preparation button; the door lowered, and sealed shut.

  Sylvia returned to the shuttle cockpit and sat in the pilot’s seat.

  Magnus took one of the two co-pilot seats while Carter eased into the other. Carter regarded Sylvia with a curious gaze. Magnus assumed he looked at her in the same manner. After all, their escape and lives depended upon her getting the shuttle through the gates.

  Sylvia gave each of the men side-glances before she took a deep breath. Apparently she was uncomfortable with them watching her. Their presence added pressure to her doing her tasks properly. Sylvia held her finger over the shuttle’s engine start button as the heavy cargo ship slowly inched toward the open landing bay gates.

  “What are you waiting for?” Carter asked, nervously watching the activity inside the landing bay on the large monitor screen. “Hit the button.”

  She shook her head. “No. We must wait until the cargo ship passes through the gates first. If I start our engine too soon, the guards will be on us in seconds.”

  Carter rolled his eyes. “The guards aren’t even facing our direction.”

  Sylvia turned, partially frowning at him. “They will be once the air stabilizes and reaches equilibrium. The only reason they have their backs turned is to keep the grit and sand from striking their faces. Believe me, it’s painful and can gash open your skin.”

  Magnus leaned forward in his seat. “After that cargo ship leaves the bay, will we have enough time to clear the gates before they close?”

  “Of course. The shuttle is much faster than the cargo ships.”

  Carter frowned. His hand clenched tighter on the briefcase handle. “Then why don’t we go out first?”

  Sylvia glanced at Magnus. “Do you think we have enough time?

  He smiled. “More than plenty, if this shuttle is as fast as you boast.”

  Frustrated, Carter said, “You certainly have enough time to outpace it.”

  “I agree,” Magnus said.
“The cargo ship is moving like a snail stuck on flypaper.

  Sylvia pressed the ignition button. Fire blasted from the rear boosters. She flipped several more switches. The undercarriage boosters blasted, lifting the shuttle upward.

  A guard turned and noticed the shuttle rising. Quickly he pressed the emergency button on the wall to shut the landing bay gates. Red lights flashed. A horrendous alarm squalled with a shrill that was louder than the roaring winds and the engines combined. The half-awake perimeter guards turned and fumbled with their laser rifles.

  “Damn,” Carter said. “Now you do have their attention.”

  “I told you the engines would put them on alert. Hold on!”

  Sylvia increased the throttle speed, but the gate began closing. Two guards rushed in front of the Percival 3000 and aimed their laser rifles. They fired. She screamed, winced, and jerked to the side, shielding her face with her arms. In the abrupt movement, her hand knocked the steering mechanism. Carter rushed from his seat to stand beside her.

  “They can’t hit you,” Carter said, placing a hand on her shoulder. “That’s only a screen feeding us the outside camera views.”

  Although the deflective shields of the shuttle repelled the blasts, Sylvia’s reflexes caused her to jump, and she accidentally pulled the steering handle sharply to the left. The rear of the shuttle scraped the nose of the cargo ship, which pivoted the end of the shuttle toward the right.

  “I’m sorry,” Sylvia said. “I know that they’re not going to hit me, but—”

  “Watch out!” Carter said. “We’re going to hit the gates sideways.”

  Sylvia strained with every bit of her strength to gain control of the steering handle, hoping to realign the ship into a straight exit through the gates, but her attempt wasn’t working. She didn’t have enough strength. More guards rushed forward, firing as they approached. The blasts bounced off the Percival 3000, and the gates moved closer together.

  “I can’t get control of the shuttle!” Sylvia shouted in desperation.

  Several more guards fired their weapons. The blasts hit the side of the shuttle. The shield panel lit up.

  “Critical,” flashed in red text on the screen.

  “We can’t take many more hits,” Sylvia said with tears brimming in her eyes. “The heat shields are overheating and getting weaker.”

  Carter pointed at another panel. “The shields aren’t even up.”

  He pressed the button, making the force field barrier surround the ship.

  “Thanks,” Sylvia said. “That helps, but I’m not strong enough to straighten this shuttle back out. I can’t pull us back on track. If we hit sideways, we’re stuck, and they’ll capture us.”

  Magnus rose from his seat and grabbed the handle. With his strength, he moved the steering handle easily. Cutting hard to the right, he readjusted their position and pulled the shuttle back into a straight path toward the exit.

  “Boost the speed,” Magnus said.

  Sylvia pushed the acceleration lever to full throttle. The rear rockets fired and the shuttle thrust forward dead center of where the gates would eventually meet and seal shut. Four guards rushed to stand between the shuttle and landing bay gates.

  Magnus pulled up on the steering handle enough to prevent hitting the guards head-on and killing them but remained low enough to intimidate them. Before they could fire, the guards flung themselves face first onto the metal floor. The shuttle coasted about three feet above them. The guards rolled and rushed toward the perimeter to avoid the heat spilling from the boosters.

  The gates narrowed further, but the Percival 3000 was already three-quarters of the way through the gates. By the time the gates closed, most of the shuttle would be in the Martian atmosphere, but it was still questionable if they’d get completely clear of the gates in time.

  “I think we’re going to make it!” Sylvia said, squeezing Magnus’ shoulder.

  “Hang on,” Magnus said. He cut a bit to the right to get centered of the closing gates, but he knew they couldn’t escape without some impact. The left gate scraped the edge of left shuttle wing.

  Sylvia gasped, watching the monitor. Magnus turned more to the right and tilted the shuttle to the side. Sylvia pushed the accelerator lever harder, but it was already at full throttle. Her action was more hopeful than anything else. If there were a possible way to make the ship go any faster, she’d do everything she knew to do.

  In seconds, the shuttle pulled past the closing gates. The gates slammed shut with an echoing rattle.

  “You did it,” she said softly.

  Magnus smiled and shrugged. “We did it.”

  “At least we don’t have to worry about any more lasers firing,” Carter said.

  Sylvia said, “That’s good.”

  Magnus stood from behind the steering wheel and motioned her over. “Here, Sylvia, it’s all yours.”

  “Once we get into orbit, I’ll let the computer take over.”

  Carter stepped away from Sylvia.

  Sylvia’s hands shook as she took the controls. She smiled at Magnus and Carter. “We . . . we did it.”

  Magnus nodded.

  She mouthed, “Thank you.”

  He smiled.

  Carter plopped into one of the copilot seats and shook his head. “That was much easier than I expected.”

  “Nothing easy about that,” Magnus replied.

  “We’re all still alive,” Carter said, placing his hands atop the briefcase.

  Sylvia replied, “That counts for something.”

  “No,” Magnus said, “it counts for everything.”

  She gave Magnus a relieved glance. “Thanks.”

  “Not a problem. I’d say that this part was a lot easier than what will be waiting for us on Earth,” Magnus said.

  Carter responded with a stern glare. “What do you mean?”

  “Grayson will be waiting for us.”

  “Well, hell, I know that.”

  “But the thing is,” Magnus said, “Grayson has seven months to prepare for our arrival. Seven months is a hell of a long time to plan. No telling what he’ll have in store for us.”

  Sylvia’s face paled. “Magnus can we please talk about something else? I’m already so nervous that I getting sick to my stomach. I might vomit. Let my nerves calm for a few days before we discuss that.”

  “Sure. Sorry. What would you like to talk about?” he asked.

  “If you could relive your life and do it differently, what would you choose to do?”

  Magnus picked up Digger and rubbed the ferret’s ears. “Well, I’d have to say that Mars would not be in the picture.”

  Sylvia laughed. “Yeah. I’d rethink that decision, too.”

  “As would I,” Carter said.

  18

  Jonas stared at the surveillance monitors for the landing bay cameras. The shuttle had escaped and the gates had sealed shut. He fumed and stormed across the security room to where Boony sat at her desk. She nervously looked up when he stopped inches from her seat.

  “Did you see that?” he asked. His face flushed red, making his silvery hair almost glow.

  “Yes,” she replied in a near whisper.

  “I want you to find out who they are.”

  “Yes, sir. I’ll look into it.”

  “No, don’t look into it. Find out their names,” He ran his hands through his hair and shook his head. “Dammit! I can’t believe I’ve allowed this to happen.”

  “This isn’t your fault,” Boony said.

  “As head of security, anything of this magnitude is my fault. And there’s no questioning how Grayson will view this. I’ll be at the top of his shit list now.”

  “But you’re not to blame.”

  “Boony,” he sighed. “My mind’s been so preoccupied with Derek that I’ve overlooked my duties and obligations as the Security Chief and let things slip past me unnoticed. There’s no one higher ranked than I am on Mars.”

  “Anyone in your position would have soug
ht to find a lost loved one, sir.”

  “No.”

  “Yes, they would.”

  “I’m not allowing that as an excuse, Boony. I can’t. Not in my case. I understand why Grayson was dead set against family members working together. Had I not been so wrapped up about Derek’s safety . . .”

  “Jonas, it’s okay.” She placed her hand on his arm.

  Jonas bit his lower lip for a moment. Her eyes searched his. He kept waiting for her to flinch, to look away, but she didn’t. “Have you seen anything remotely unusual while you’ve been watching the monitors during the past few days? Anything at all?”

  Without hesitation or any change in her voice, she shook her head. “No.”

  He studied her eyes for a few seconds more and turned away. “To steal a shuttle took some time to plan. This didn’t happen on the spur of the moment. See what you can find on the surveillance videos and report it to me ASAP. Meanwhile I have the unique privilege to inform Grayson that his newest multi-billion dollar shuttle has been stolen. The Percival 3000 was the first of many in his latest fleet design. He will be sorely pissed.”

  “I’m sorry, sir,” Boony typed the commands to download the past day’s video feed.

  “Not as sorry as those thieves will be. When it comes to theft, Grayson is the worst enemy they’ll ever have once he discovers who they are, especially since they stole the Percival 3000.”

  “I’m on it, sir.”

  “Pull up the facial recognition and compare their images against the records of the Olympus Mons residents. Check for everything. Guards, prisoners, workers, and even my security personnel. All of them. Without exception. Understood?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Jonas exited the security office door, letting it slam behind him.

  Boony sighed with slight relief. Fear began to rise inside her. Not because she had lied to Jonas. He believed her. Otherwise, had he suspected any dishonesty on her part, he’d have arrested her without any further directions or questions. She worried about Magnus and whether he had fully anticipated the repercussions for stealing Grayson’s shuttle. She had no way to warn Magnus without her communication with him being picked up by Jonas, who was probably now eavesdropping on every conversation inside Olympus Mons.