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Each year since the fatal crash of Mars First 3, the colonists paid their tribute to their dead colleagues at grid C 12-4, aka Key Largo, where the largest portion of the ship had been recovered, and where the colonists had buried their fallen friends. Soon after the alien door’s discovery, they had extended that visit to include a stop there as well each year. It was a logical decision since the Gate, as they called it, was less than half a mile away from the crash site.
For all, including the only true Martian on the red planet, today was going to be more special than anyone could have ever imagined. They had just arrived at the top of the plateau in sector 42-23, almost directly above the alien site.
“Chasma? Chasma??”
Everyone turned their attention to Dedrick who was calling his daughter with angst in his voice. The group was finishing setting up the rovers near the edge of the cliff when Dedrick realized the child was missing. After a quick look around, he climbed inside ARC 2 to check if the girl had gone back to the rover. To his disappointment, he only found François, who had beat him to it. She wasn’t there. They had no more luck with ARC 1.
“She can’t be far. Don’t worry, we’ll find her,” said the Frenchman, trying to reassure Chasma’s father. Now, everyone was searching as well.
“Chasma! Chasma!”
Vera, trying to stay focused and poised, was beside herself. Panic was gripping every inch of her body. The slope back down the way they had just driven up was too gentle and wide open for anyone to hide anywhere for several hundred meters, too far a distance for Chasma to have had the time to walk beyond. The other way, there was only the sheer drop of the abyss. Vera, suddenly imagining the worse, met Dedrick’s eyes who had just had the same thought. He rushed to the edge of the plateau, praying to God he was wrong. After the initial fright of imagining she could have fallen off the edge, he reassured himself, slowly breathing again, when he saw nothing on the boulders far down below. He simply turned back to Vera and said, “No.” He resumed his search, looking in every direction again. “Where could she be? There’s nowhere to go…” He could clearly see the entire terrace they were standing on. The low south wall nearby was too smooth and even, to offer any nooks for Chasma to hide in, especially in her bright white suit.
“Chasma? CHASMA? Why isn’t she responding? Her headset should be on… When was the last time anyone saw her? Vera, I thought she was with you?” he asked.
“I…I don’t know. I do remember her next to me, but I was talking to Ladli and...”
“Hey guys, what about here?”
Liu was pointing at a small break to their left, at the edge of the plateau, right where the south wall met the abyss. Dedrick rushed to the area. A small portion of the ledge seemed to wrap around the rock face at that corner, but the ground was missing where a slab of rock had broken off. He couldn’t believe he had never noticed it before. To his defense, one had to be just at the right distance and angle from it to see the gap. Still, for a moment, he wondered if the damage could have happened recently. It seemed unlikely, but more importantly, he had to find Chasma. Although the prospect of Chasma having ventured that way seemed highly improbable, it was definitely worth checking. He kneeled down to assess the path better. The passage left by the missing floor was so narrow even her small body would have been partially above the sheer drop. He forced himself to rid his mind of the awful possibility she could have fallen and tried to peek beyond the wall. To his surprise, he could see another terrace beyond the turn that widened further along the cliff.
“Chasma? CHASMA!!” he called out but didn’t get any answer. “Could she have gone that way? Why isn’t she answering?”
“Chasma!” Dedrick tried again.
This time, a crackling sound was heard in all seven helmets.
“Daddy. Crrrrk- I’m here, daddy!” said the small voice.
“Chasma! Thank God. Where are you, baby?” asked Dedrick.
“Where are you, baby?” said Vera, almost in panic.
“I’m OK, Mommy.”
“Chas-” Dedrick finally spotted the young girl appear from around a dark corner in the cliff, right behind a small bend on the second terrace. She was walking very carefully along the edge of the shrinking ledge in his direction.
“Chasma, go slow, baby. Be very careful… Give me your hand.” He stretched his arm as far as he could around the rocky formation. She slowly reached him and took his gloved hand. With one swift pull, he carefully lifted her up above the protruding rock formation and grabbed her in his arms as he stepped back towards the more leveled open floor of the main terrace, a fairly effortless maneuver thanks to Mars’ low gravity. Vera immediately rushed to them.
“Chasma, oh, Chasma, where did you go? Don’t you ever do that again, young girl!” she shouted in tears, as she grabbed Chasma and held her tightly in her arms, the girl’s helmet resting on her mother’s shoulder awkwardly.
“I’m sorry, Mommy. I just wanted to go see the big cloud.”
“Chasma, promise me you will never do that again! It’s dangerous. You could hurt yourself. What if you… a big cloud? What big cloud?”
“The big cloud, Mommy, down there, in the mountain!” she said, pointing to the area she had just returned from.
“What are you talking about, Chasma?” asked François.
“The big white cloud!” she said sounding a bit annoyed, as she raised her arm and let it fall back down her side with frustration, pointing once more in the same direction.
François and Dedrick looked at each other with puzzled expressions.
“A big white cloud in the mountain…” repeated François, perplex.
“Yes! He said it was OK.”
“Who did? The big cloud? He…talks?” asked Dedrick at a loss.
“What is she talking about?” Tendai was genuinely confused, as they all were.
“Yes!” Chasma said, raising both arms up in the air, shaping a big half circle as she let them back down with a big sigh, annoyed that none of them seemed to understand what she was saying. They were all looking at the child, uncertain of what to think, or say.
“He says you should all come, and he will explain everything.”
“He’s talking to you now? The big white cloud?” asked Sabrina at a complete loss.
“Yes, I just told you!”
“What the hell is she talking about?” finally said François. Vera gave him a disapproving look. “Sorry…I mean, it’s just weird.”
“Chasma, did you meet the big talking cloud when you went in there?” asked Dedrick.
“No, it was too dark, and I got a bit scared all by myself, so I came back. I didn’t go very far.”
“I think I’d like to see that big cloud,” said François with genuine interest, walking closer to the south corner of the cliff to take a peek at the other terrace beyond.
“Give me a hand, Dedrick, will you?” he said, leaning his arm forward for the Russian to grab.
“Hold on! Where do you think you’re…”? Then, thinking about it for a few seconds, Dedrick added, “OK, but be careful!” He grabbed François by his left arm and leaned to his side, securing himself against the rocky formation separating the two terraces. Keeping his feet planted firmly on the ground, Dedrick gave François a slight pull to help him keep his balance as the Frenchman pushed himself over the rocky wall and landed feet first on the other side.
Tapping Dedrick’s arm with his free hand, he then said, “Ok, I’m good. You can let go of my arm, now.”
“OK,” replied Dedrick, as he released his grip.
François carefully moving along the narrow ledge, quickly reached the wider part of the open space. Once he was able to walk freely without steadying himself against the cliff wall, he began to look around. The area was a stretched-out triangle about nine meters wide. The back wall curved up slightly above to form a natural dome over the whole area. Unlike the terrace where they had found the alien gate, this niche appeared to have been car
ved naturally. He walked closer to the edge and looked far down below at some of the larger boulders that he suspected had broken off from where he was. Turning his attention back to the space behind him, where the terrace met with the rocky protrusion separating the two terraces, François noticed a small fissure that narrowed sharply at the very top. Approaching closer, he noticed the passage seemed quite deep and appeared to continue at a slope, down into the mountain.
“Looks like there’s a small cave or tunnel back here, guys,” he announced through his helmet microphone.
“Really? Can you see where it goes?” asked Dedrick.
“Well, it’s only a few meters wide here, but I think I can fit through. It looks like it widens further in. As for where it goes, I guess there’s only one way to find out.” François turned his helmet lights on and proceeded into the fissure.
“Wait! François? François?” called out Dedrick.
“Yeah. I’m here. Crr- I’m entrrrr-Crrk- tunnel. It’s bigger insss- Crrrrrk-ssssssssssssssshhhh…” and the connection went dead.
“François? François?” called out Dedrick again in vain.
“Crap! I hate when he does that.”
“Tendai, give me a boost, will you?”
Already standing by, Tendai secured himself against the rock and the two men locked arms. Dedrick stretched one leg over the wall and lowered himself carefully down the other side.
A few seconds later, he was standing in front of the small tunnel the Frenchman had described. After calling François one more time and receiving no reply, he engaged himself in the narrow passage and disappeared as well.
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“Can you see anything?” asked Vera seated behind Arc 2’s dashboard.
“Nope. I can only see a portion of the terrace,” replied Tendai, still standing by the terrace, stretching himself over the rocky outcrop, as far as he could.
“Maybe we should go check on them. It’s already been several minutes.” Vera was addressing everyone. She looked at Sabrina in the other rover through her window.
Ladli still outside with Tendai felt the need to voice her opinion.
“I don’t think going after them is such a good idea, Vera. Dedrick and François are quite resourceful, and I’m sure they’ll be fine. Until we hear from them, we should probably stay put.”
Ladli was right, she knew it, but her daughter’s dad was out there, and she had to summon all her strength to resist running after him. But at least, Chasma was with her. All they could do now was wait. She was too preoccupied to notice it, but the five-year-old girl, seated next to her, was smiling. The big white cloud was talking to her.
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Inside the dark tunnel, Dedrick’s suit lights were only showing him enough down the narrow passage to see about a dozen meters in front of him, at best. Slowly making his way through the corridor, he finally reached an enlargement that seemed perfectly geometric. He quickly estimated that the space was probably a perfect cube. The walls of the chamber were smooth and straight. In its center, François, standing silently, was staring at another sphere, buried halfway in the ground. It looked exactly like the one in the cliff outside.
“Wow!”
“Yeah, check it out! Another sphere. And did you see the rest of the room? Look at the walls!”
“I see that. It’s amazing. And look at all those inscriptions. This is incredible!”
“I know.”
The geometric lines and shapes covered the entire inner walls of the space. Not a single square meter had been spared. From ceiling to floor, the intricate designs and long grooves were crisscrossing everywhere. Some deep enough to fit someone’s entire hand in, others barely visible, the curved lines all seemed to start, or end in the center of the room, where the large spherical object met the floor.
After a few minutes scanning the strangely decorated space, Dedrick turned to François.
“I see the tunnel keeps going over there,” pointing beyond the Frenchman.
François agreed with a nod.
“Shall we?”
“After you, Maître,” replied the Russian, with an inviting gesture.
Having two sets of lights instead of one didn’t seem to help whatsoever. It was almost as if some invisible force was keeping them from probing beyond a certain distance ahead. But they were moving forward, nonetheless. A good fifteen minutes had gone by, most of it spent walking downhill, and the two men were still slowly progressing. Moving deeper and deeper into the mountain, they finally noticed something ahead. The path, widening ahead beyond the tunnel, was offering a glance at some vague but apparently large feature beyond. It wasn’t long before they were entering a giant chamber. Their suit lights were too weak to light up clearly the entire place, but they were now able to see much further than they had while in the tunnel. Unlike the previous room, the walls of this new cave did not appear to be decorated with any markings or carvings of any kind, at least as far as they could see. The ceiling towered so high above them that they could not see anything but darkness. It was hard to estimate distances, but the walls stretched several hundred meters before disappearing into the darkness. The floor in front of them sloped down mildly for about a dozen meters before leveling. The two men began walking slowly down the incline until they reached flat ground.
“Now, what do you make of that?” asked François.
The strange oval structure he was pointing at to their left vaguely resembled a partially deflated blimp; a large one. Their lights were too weak to show the massive object in its entirety, but they could tell it was at least the size of a small cruise ship. The uneven bulgy mass was by far the most alien thing they had encountered so far. Like everything in the giant chamber, it was completely covered in a thick layer of dust that made it impossible to tell what it was made of, and aside from its white color, not much else could be seen about it without getting closer. Like a gigantic blob, the “blimp,” resting on the floor of the cave seemed to be waiting for its visitors to approach. Both instantly realized they were staring at Chasma’s Big Cloud.
“The big white cloud in the mountain! Of course, that’s what Chasma was trying to describe,” voiced Dedrick.
They both stared at it for a moment.
“What do you think it is? It looks like a giant cocoon to me. I wonder what’s in it…You think someone’s home?” asked François with a smirk.
“I wouldn’t joke about that. I know so far the whole cave looks like it has been abandoned for quite some time, but I keep thinking about Chasma and that ‘voice’ of hers.”
“Come on, you know how kids are. It’s not unusual to have imaginary friends at that age.”
“Yes, I know, but it’s Chasma we’re talking about. You know it’s not like her to make up stories.”
“True. Well, I guess there’s only one way to find out.”
He walked around Dedrick and headed for the large structure.
Dedrick had to give it to him, if his actions often seemed irresponsible, the French astronaut was rarely scared. He followed his colleague toward the egg-shaped edifice.
By the time he got next to him, François, had already cleared a few square meters of dust on one side of the structure, revealing its off-white surface.
The more they stared at it, the more obvious it became to both men that the strange shaped object, with its large bubble-like protrusions all across its surface, made for a fairly good cloud impersonation. Dedrick, helping François dust off a larger area, suddenly felt the surface give in slightly under the pressure of his gloved hand and stopped. Taking a step back, he shined his light at it again, closer this time, and began to wonder... It almost looked organic to him. He had the feeling he could probably push his arm through its walls if he tried, as if the skin of the object was made of some thick gelatinous material that could flex.
“What is it?” asked François.
“I don’t know, but this thing is not as hard as I first thought. Look.”
He pressed his hand
against it once more, to show the Frenchman.
“Mmmmh… interesting…”
Dedrick took a few steps back again. “I’m not so sure messing with this thing is such a good idea...”
“Come on, don’t be such a wuss.”
“I’m just saying... I have this eerie feeling this thing is…alive.”
“Alive? Pfff! Seriously…” François shrugged his shoulders.
“You can laugh all you want…”
Leaving it be for now, the two men started walking back alongside the big object and followed its contour, until they came all the way back around. There was no way in, at least none they could find. No doors, no windows, no hatch of any kind were visible anywhere. The only two areas they couldn’t check were the top of the structure and its bottom. If there was a way in, it had to be through one of those. Eventually, giving up their search for the time being, they began heading for another structure they could see further down the giant cave. As they approached the new edifice, the huge tower stretching from floor to ceiling slowly revealed itself in their spotlights. The even surface of the edifice was broken here and there by oval openings or windows of sorts, placed at random intervals along its entire length. A good three meters in diameter, the two humans were beyond surprised when they realized the openings reflected none of the light from their torches. The oval holes were absolutely dark. On each side of the building, what they figured was an entrance, due its greater size, offered only the same unrevealing darkness, when hit by their searchlights.
“Do you see that? It’s like the light stops right there. There’s no sense of depth, no shadows, nothing reflecting back. That’s really strange. It’s like an impenetrable black vacuum.”
“An impenetrable black vacuum? How do you come up with that stuff?” asked the Russian chuckling.
“I don’t know. It sounded good in my head.”
François was once again the first one to touch the new discovery. Passing his gloved hand gently along the structure’s wall, he revealed a darker layer under the dust, almost as dark as the “windows” themselves, but this time, the construction did not give under his pressure. He pushed as hard as he could to no avail.
Kahnu (The Guardians of Tomorrow Book 1) Page 22