ESCAPE FROM MARS

by G. T. Appleton

  “But won’t returning to Earth place your lives into jeopardy again?” she asked.

  “After this week, it’s a risk I’m willing to take. There are plenty of places on Earth where Derek and I can change our identities and hide. But, if you think fighting Matthews is the better option, now’s the time to tell me if you wish to oppose his offer.”

  Boony glanced toward Matthews. When she noticed his guard uniform, she thought of Magnus. She smiled, remembering his massive body stuffed inside a uniform that was too small for him. She wanted to see him again. He was only a few weeks out into space. Leaving now meant that she might be able to find him on Earth and offer him some assistance in clearing his name before he found himself on the wrong side of the law for real murder.

  She looked into Jonas’ eyes and smiled. “Let’s go home.”

  After she voiced her decision, she felt an invisible weight lift off her. Instead of worrying about Olympus Mons, she could turn her attention back to a new future and what she hoped it could become.

  Jonas lowered his gun and motioned for the others to do the same. “We accept the proposal but only if you’ll agree to one more thing.”

  “What is that?” Matthews asked.

  “Don’t inform Grayson that we’ve left for Earth and you’re in charge of the operations here for at least one week.”

  Matthews nodded. “Splendid. Keep him in suspense. I like that. Certainly, I can do that.”

  He released Dr. Sheung. She turned and started slapping at him. Matthews caught her hands and gently pushed her to the side of the desk to get out of her reach. “You can take her back to Earth with you.”

  Jonas shook his head. “No thanks. She wasn’t part of the agreement. She’s all yours since I can only take ten passengers.”

  Dr. Sheung gave a harsh glare toward Jonas.

  Matthews looked at her with a slight grin. “You see? They don’t appreciate you like I do.”

  Boony placed her hand upon Jonas’ forearm. “Let’s get out of here.”

  Jonas nodded.

  “You taking the offer?” Carlton asked Gary.

  “Not if Jonas has room onboard for me,” Gary replied.

  “You’re welcome to join us, Gary. And you, too, Carlton.”

  Carlton shook his head. “Nah, I think I’ll see this out. Twice my pay? Hell no. I’d never find a job like that on Earth.”

  “Suit yourself,” Jonas replied.

  Boony smiled as they left the doctor’s office. She’d try to get a message to Magnus. The excitement of leaving Mars was stronger than her original joy of traveling to the red planet. She couldn’t wait to be back on Earth. Of course, what the mind imagined was never what reality offered.

  50

  Adam had driven the giant Caterpillar dump truck through the steel doors almost as successfully as Derek had hoped. The impact slung three of the Chinese robots aside, but it didn’t deter their pursuit of the truck. The steel doors landed on top of the fourth robot and the heavy truck ran over it. But like Derek had expected, the robot suffered no obvious harm. However, the heavy doors were weighing it down, impeding its progress as it tried to crawl out from beneath the doors.

  The problem Adam and Paul now faced was staying out of the robots’ weapon range. The heavy dump truck wasn’t built for speed, and regardless of how much Adam pushed the accelerator to the floor, the truck wasn’t going to move any faster. It was bad that the vehicle’s breakneck speed was approximately twenty miles per hour on the rugged terrain.

  Because his helmet limited his peripheral vision, Derek looked over his shoulder instead of using the rearview mirror. He partially turned his body to the right as he dropped the flatbed into reverse. He gunned the engine and backed through the opening where the doors once sealed the entrance. Isaac and Bradbury stood on each side of the EMP, balancing it between them. He was thankful to have these two robots, but inside he still grieved over the loss of his other three.

  When Derek had given the plan to Adam and Paul of how they could get the EMP outside Olympus Mons, he didn’t have any idea exactly how the Chinese robots would react to a truck crashing through the entrance doors. He feared the robots would simply ignore the truck and immediately enter the engineering department. If so, that probably would have been the end of his plan.

  Instead the robots went after the truck. He wondered if they had been programmed to annihilate any human they happened upon? Once they targeted a human with their heat-sensors, they weren’t deterred by anything else. They pursued relentlessly.

  Had Derek not been able to drive away, he didn’t doubt that he’d have been killed at the Phobos Crash Site. They had encircled his location and decreased his radius for escape. But even after driving outside their range, they had not given up their hunt. They tracked him like predators hunted their prey. Following him had quickened their arrival to Olympus Mons and essentially placed the lives of everyone inside into immediate danger.

  Red dust and silt billowed behind the dump truck. Three of the robots were gaining on the truck. They ran much faster than he estimated they could since they were constructed with heavier armor than his robots.

  The EMP device Isaac and Bradbury had built wasn’t overly large. Building one didn’t take a lot of components. Pinpointing range and accuracy proved to be more challenging. Often an EMP allowed one pulse to be fired, which neutralized the device itself. He hadn’t had the time to debrief his robots about the specifics this device was capable of performing, so he didn’t know what was going to happen.

  His flatbed truck backed over the robot pinned beneath the two steel doors, pushing it deeper into the road. It wasn’t destroyed, but it wasn’t going to free itself quickly.

  Derek increased the truck’s speed, and he was gaining on the two robots that were nearing the dump truck. But the third one went to the left side of the dump truck and seemed determined to reach the passenger door.

  Bradbury and Isaac could easily take out the pair, but it was doubtful the EMP could strike the electrical components of the third one.

  “Fire!” Derek shouted.

  Bradbury flipped the trigger switch.

  The two Chinese robots dropped face-first on the road.

  Derek came close to shouting, until he noticed the dump truck had been hit, too. It was slowing rapidly.

  The third robot hurried to the passenger door, grabbed the handle, and yanked.

  “Damn,” Derek whispered.

  Paul looked at Adam. “Can’t you get this thing to go any faster?”

  Adam shook his head. “I’m practically standing on the accelerator!”

  “We have a robot approaching my side of the truck.”

  “I see it, but there’s nothing I can do.”

  Nervously, Paul looked at the side mirror. “When are they going to use that EMP?”

  “I hope soon. I can’t see the other two robots, which makes me nervous.”

  “I’m more concerned about the one coming toward my door.”

  The loud engine silenced. The dashboard lights went out.

  “What the hell, Adam?”

  “The EMP took out our engine and everything.”

  “Shit!” Paul said, as his door came open. Red eyes gleamed a moment before the robot grabbed his right arm and yanked him from the cab.

  He felt the bones break in his forearm, and he wailed when his shoulder was dislocated. He landed hard on the abrasive rocks. Even though his suit was punctured, the rocks pressed indentions into his flesh. “Run, Adam!”

  For a moment Paul had thought the robot was going to grab Adam, too, but it didn’t. It walked slowly toward him. Its robot face was that of a machine, but for some reason, it looked evil and menacing.

  Paul tried to pull himself backwards, down the steep embankment, hoping to get away, but he didn’t make much progress with one good arm. His right arm radiated with such severe pain that he cradled it to his chest. The slightest movement was added torment.

  Lasers bounced
off the robot’s shielded back and didn’t do any damage, nor did it attract the robot’s attention. Adam jumped from the passenger side of the truck and grabbed several large rocks. He threw them like baseballs. Two smacked and thwacked off the back of its head.

  Nothing.

  Paul swallowed hard. Tears welled in his eyes. He kicked his feet against the loose rocky debris, pushing himself a few more feet down the embankment. The robot advanced. Its heavy weight dislodged larger rocks, pebbles, and silt, causing a cascading array of earth to slide around Paul.

  Paul kicked against the debris again. With the added weight of the loosened stones, he descended about ten feet deeper into the ravine. He glanced over his shoulder and noticed he couldn’t slide any farther or he plummet several hundred feet to the jagged rocks below.

  He didn’t want to think about death, but it was the major intruding thought rambling inside his mind. Either the robot killed him, or he plunged to his death. Neither would be pleasant.

  Two more rocks bounced off the back of the robot’s head.

  “Run, Adam! Save yourself.”

  “I’m not leaving you behind.”

  “How do you plan to stop it? There isn’t any reason why we both should die. Run!”

  The robot raised its laser arm and aimed at Paul’s face.

  Paul shoved his feet against the rocks with all of his strength. There was that moment of peace as his body left the rocks and dropped through the air. He felt light, carefree. The screaming of his name carried with the rushing wind around his helmet. The robot’s laser split open his chest piece. A fiery sensation rushed into his chest. It was the last thing he felt, and the last thing he remembered when he struck the rocky terrain at the bottom of the ravine.

  51

  Derek stopped the flatbed truck a few feet away from the dump truck. He hurried from the cab and stopped beside his robots. “You only have one shot?”

  “It’s charging. It will take a few more seconds.”

  “Adam! Get over here!” Derek said, waving his arm. He glanced at his robots. “We lost Paul over the embankment.”

  “Two more seconds,” Bradbury said.

  Adam turned to run.

  The loose debris cascaded around Chinese robot’s feet. The soil was giving way beneath it, burying up to its knees.

  “Hurry,” Derek said to his robots.

  Isaac and Bradbury turned the EMP toward the robot and fired. The robot stiffened and stopped fighting against the tugging soil. Seconds later the current of rocks and silt carried it over the edge.

  Adam stopped beside Derek. He was panting and teary-eyed.

  “I’m sorry,” Derek said. “There wasn’t anything we could do.”

  “I know. If he could have waited another minute, but he kicked himself over the ledge.”

  “That’s four Chinese robots down. There are four more out here.”

  Adam counted. “Four? Only three are deactivated. The other one is—”

  “Under the doors. I know. Come on. I know how to stop it.”

  Derek got into the cab of the flatbed while Adam climbed in on the passenger side. He drove the truck on top of the doors and parked it. “That damn thing won’t be going anywhere soon.”

  “Derek?” Jonas said via transmitter.

  “Yes?”

  “Where are you?”

  “Shutting down the Chinese robots.”

  “What? Are you outside Olympus Mons?”

  Derek paused a few seconds. “Yes, sir.”

  “What the hell for? Get your ass back inside now.”

  “We have taken out four robots, but we don’t know where the others are.”

  “How?”

  Derek smiled. “My robots built an EMP.”

  “That worked?”

  “I told you there had to be some way to stop them.”

  “I don’t recall you ever mentioning using an EMP. Get back inside immediately.”

  “I need to find the other four,” Derek said.

  “It’s not our problem anymore.”

  “What?”

  “You heard me. Get to your quarters, pack up whatever you wish to keep, and get to the landing bay ASAP.”

  “Why?”

  “We’re going back to Earth.”

  “Back to Earth?”

  “Yes, Derek, back home.”

  “Can I take Isaac and Bradbury?”

  “Sure.”

  “What’s going on? Why are we leaving?”

  “I’ll explain the details after you get here. I can take ten people with me, so if you know someone that wishes to hightail it out of here, bring him with you. Once we leave, we’re never coming back.”

  “Roger that.”

  Derek got out of the truck and slammed the door. They were only ten yards from the open entrance to Olympus Mons. Adam hurried beside Derek. His face displayed the sadness of losing Paul.

  “That was Jonas?” Adam asked.

  Derek nodded as he started walking toward the entrance. Bradbury and Isaac followed them. “Yeah.”

  “What did he want?”

  “Apparently, some of us are returning to Earth.”

  “Really?”

  “That’s what he said. He’s taking ten people back with him. You want to go?”

  “In a heartbeat.”

  “I thought you enjoyed it here.”

  “Overall I have, but other than work, there’s not much else to do. But what about our work contracts? Has this trip been approved by Grayson? Or is this like a military leave and we’ll be required to return?”

  “I’m not sure. My grandfather said that he’ll update us after we meet in the landing bay.”

  “I’m ready.”

  Derek slowed his pace. He was torn about leaving Mars behind. If he did, this final walk back to Olympus Mons was most likely the last time he’d experience the Martian terrain. Of course, he was still young, so it wasn’t impossible. He understood that his grandfather would never return to Mars.

  He wondered what the true motive for his grandfather’s urgent decision was to return to Earth. With the horror stories Jonas had given about Derek’s parents, Derek never imagined they’d leave Mars.

  In many ways, Derek had wanted to watch the evolution of Mars. He wanted to watch the first buildings and homes erected. He stopped outside the entrance and looked across the terrain. A part of him wept. He stooped and grabbed a handful of the reddish soil.

  “Souvenir?” Adam asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “Derek,” Bradbury said. “Enemies overhead!”

  Derek glanced up to see the other four robots materialize on the narrow ridge above the Olympus Mons entrance.

  “Adam, watch out!” Derek dropped his handful of Martian dirt and dove to shove Adam out of the robot’s aim, but wasn’t fast enough.

  The laser struck Adam’s left leg, melting through his smart suit. Adam screamed, grabbing his blistered injury, and fell as Derek tackled him seconds too late.

  “Dammit!” Derek said. He read the pain in Adam’s eyes. He remembered how badly such a wound hurt. “Come on, let’s go.”

  Isaac and Bradbury lifted the EMP and aimed toward the ridgeline.

  Derek rose to his feet, pulled Adam up, and then slung Adam over his shoulder and started running toward the entrance. Adrenaline gave him strength and speed unlike anything he’d ever had before.

  A second after Derek rushed through the entrance carrying Adam, one deactivated robot crashed to the road with a heavy clank. There wasn’t any time to glance back and evaluate the situation. He needed to get Adam to a medic so the wound could be patched and medicated. He tapped his helmet. “Jonas! The other four Chinese robots are at the engineer bay doors. We need a team to seal the entrance or everyone will die!”

  “What’s wrong with the doors?” Jonas replied.

  “We have no doors.”

  “What?”

  “It’s a long story. No time to explain. Adam’s been hit and I’m heading
to the infirmary.”

  “Negative. Don’t take him there.”

  “Why not?”

  “Bring him to my office. Now! We’ll tend to him.”

  “Why not the infirmary?”

  “I’ll explain when you get here.”

  “Roger that.”

  Dr. Sheung glared at Matthews. “How dare you put a gun to my head!”

  Matthews chuckled and feigned complete innocence. “I wasn’t going to pull the trigger.”

  “They might have fired at you and shot me instead,” she replied.

  “If only . . .” Dr. Lee said, walking down the hallway.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” she asked. “Get back here.”

  “Let him be, doctor,” Matthews said. “If he stresses any more, he’ll have a stroke. You wouldn’t want that, now would you? Then you’d be the only doctor here.”

  “You heard what he called me?”

  “Of course. You should hear the names that have been hurled at me. The list has to be a mile long. When you’re a hard ass, or in my case, a brilliant scientist, it comes with the territory.”

  She crossed her arms and continued glaring at him. She was small but the look made her appear to be an intimidating, towering beast.

  “Come now, Kim, how long are you going to harbor a grudge?”

  “How do you know my first name? I’ve never told anyone.”

  Matthews chuckled. “I know everyone’s name at Olympus Mons.”

  “How?”

  “Research. A bit of hacking. The details aren’t important.”

  “Are you really going to let Jonas and the others leave?”

  Matthews shrugged. “Sure. Why not? They are of no importance to me, and they’re another set of thorns in Grayson’s side.”

  “I thought you were going to kill them.”

  “Like I told Jonas, ‘I’m not a murderer.’ But I think you really hoped I’d kill them, right?”

  The sour expression returned to her face.

  “What have they done to you?” Matthews asked.