MEEK

by Richard Johnson

  “May I suggest you form an American Brigade, PM? It would really hammer home the point.”

  “Excellent suggestion. It works on so many levels.”

  Mark settled down to work and before two months were passed, he was working ten hours a day, six days a week. The quality of the emigrants was outstanding, America and Canada were losing their finest citizens. In the UN they were described as traitors who had betrayed their country to serve the atheist regime in Australia. Of course, this bought them applause from the Islamic Bloc. It was all water off a ducks back to Australia and its growing list of supporters. The UN was treated with open contempt, now. The stalemate in Papua New Guinea, Bougainville, Christmas Island and Timor continued. An attempt to take back Christmas Island failed but support for the Reformation Party had grown to such a degree that it was hard to imagine what life had been like in the ‘old days’ as they were increasingly being called. Negotiations continued to try and gain support for a second front.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  2028 JUNE. THE LANDING.

  Initially, the three spacecraft settled into a geostationary orbit near the Martian equator. A landing site had been selected ten kilometres north of the equator. The two craft carrying the accommodation modules were sent to the surface first. They landed successfully within one kilometre of each other. The six landing pods with crew and equipment detached from Nirvana and in fifteen-minute intervals descended to the surface. To avoid any political problems it had been decided that a representative from all three stakeholders – Australia, Japan and the consortium – would set foot simultaneously on to the surface. The traditional speech was made by the consortium member who was a European. The content was a bit of propaganda about the achievements of man through science. It all went very well. Back on Earth the three stakeholders were celebrating while the rest of the world was ignoring the event. The American Right and Islam denounced it as against God’s will. The Chinese and Russians were silent. Argentina joined with Chile in their open support and trade with Australia and New Zealand.

  The first of the two support craft was being loaded with equipment and would be ready to leave in at the end of May. It would have no crew aboard. The final support craft would have only two crew plus more supplies. The plan was to relieve two of the current crew so that they could bring Nirvana back to Earth orbit. Nirvana would then be filled with supplies and sent back again to Mars. This would complete stage one of the colony.

  The crew on Mars were far from comfortable and concentrated on building the modules with life support systems first. By the time this was done a month had passed and the first support vehicle was already on its way. In the meantime they were to set up three weather stations 100 kilometres from their base, forming a triangle. This was to assist in an early warning weather watch. Nirvana, now unmanned and fully automated, was constantly scanning the surface for signs of bad weather also mineral and ice deposits. Nirvana picked up what eventually turned out to be a small concentration of minerals 160kilometres from the base. It was decided to investigate it. However, the surface vehicle with two passengers could only move at forty kilometres per hour. If the expedition was to be carried out in daylight, there would not be much time available before they would be forced to return to base. An all-terrain with two passengers and some light equipment set out early one morning for the location indicated by Nirvana. There were no major obstacles, just the usual gibber stones and dust, so they ran the vehicle at close to its forty kilometre per hour maximum. Five minutes before arriving at the indicated co-ordinates, they could see a mound of red dust and something like a rock formation sticking out of the surface. They headed straight for it and, on arrival, unpacked a mineral detector and a shovel. The detector showed high concentrates of metals. The dust was loose and easy to shovel: it wasn’t long before the sound of the shovel hitting a metal surface made them both stop and look in to each other’s visors.

  Clearing away a bit more dust revealed a smooth, metallic surface, obviously manmade. “Stop, I’m calling base,” said Steve. “Expedition to base, please switch to secure transmission we require instruction please.”

  “Secure transmission on. What’s the problem Steve? Are you guys OK?”

  “Yeah, we are fine and we are at the location indicated by Nirvana. We have some sort of anomaly. There appears to be a metallic object buried in the dust here. As far as we can ascertain it is not a natural feature. I thought you’d better know about it before we dig around anymore.”

  “Hold on Steve, I’ll get the rest to gather around... OK. You say you have found a metallic object that appears to be an artefact. Is that right, Steve?”

  “Yes. There is also something sticking out of the ground about fifty metres away, it doesn’t look natural either. What do you want us to do? We are under heavy time constraints.”

  “Wait a couple of minutes Steve, we want to have a quick chat here.”

  Steve shrugged to his companion and they waited the two minutes.

  “Hey Steve, you there?”

  “Yes.”

  “We think it is probably the remains of an old satellite. But I’m going to play it safe. I want you to move the vehicle 200 metres away. Then one of you stay with the vehicle and do a visual recording. The other one is to walk back to the thing sticking out of the ground and start uncovering it. Is that clear?”

  “Yes, no problem.”

  Steve elected to be the man on the shovel. He scraped away for an hour. It appeared to be a long tube with about a two-metre diameter and at its base it was attached to a bunker-like building. Steve had just enough time to scrape away the perimeter of the bunker, which appeared to be around one hundred metres square.

  “OK Steve it’s time to go. We want you back before dark.”

  Back at the modules the discussion was excited. “It’s way too big to have come from space. My guess is it was built here.”

  “Do you realise what that implies?” Jenny Johnson the team leader broke in quickly. “It implies we are out of our depth and should send a coded message home seeking further instructions.”

  Kana was on duty when the coded message came through. She translated it and read it twice then ran to Richard’s office. Richard screwed up his face. “It’s a mistake Kana! Mars has come up with some pretty freaky natural phenomena before. I can come up with a few logical suggestions right now. Like a meteor impact that fuses an iron ore deposit.”

  “There are visuals Richard, take a look please.”

  Richard spent the next three hours analysing the visuals then called Kana. “Well, what’s your verdict Richard?”

  “It’s not natural, it’s an artefact. I want no one to go near it. We need an expert to get there as quickly as possible. Everything is on hold until we understand this thing.”

  Mark and Barry were once again in the PM’s office. “Gentlemen I need some sensible advice and you two came to mind. Please sit down and make yourselves comfortable. I have received some news from the consortium at the launch site. They have found what appears to be a building on Mars.” Neither Mark or Barry said a word. “It is apparently square–shaped, each side 100 metres long. It is made from a metal alloy and is partially buried under the dust so it could go deep below the surface. There is a long barrel-like structure coming out of it and pointing into space. That’s it, I have a CD here you can watch while I have a beer.”

  Barry and Mark watched the visuals of the object and listened to the commentary. When it had finished they still sat silently. Paul smiled at them, “The cat got your tongue boys?”

  Barry broke his silence. “Is this some sort of bullshit joke?”

  “Well that’s where you two come in. Your mates at the launch site swear it’s halal. They want experts to check it out, they don’t want their precious mission involved. They want to go ahead as if they had never found it. So the whole thing is to be totally top secret. They are converting the next supply vessel to allow four passengers. They have a metallurgist and geolo
gist. They want a language expert who can decipher written symbols; there were some on a plate on the far side of the thing. They also suggest an astrophysicist may be handy, plus someone with government authority who can make on the spot decisions.”

  “Well boss, I’m happy to go if that’s what you want to know. Barbara will give me hell but it will be worth it.”

  “Thanks Barry that is what I had in mind. I don’t expect you to be there for more than two weeks so you should be back in eleven months.” Paul and Barry looked at Mark. “Yes I will go and I can get you an astrophysicist also.”

  “Excellent. Be at the launch site by the end of next week, please. Get to the bottom of this as quick as you can The consortium seem to have mixed feelings about the discovery.”

  Barry and Mark adjourned to the pub. “You didn’t have much to say Mark, I was waiting for you to spout out the questions.”

  “I wasn’t game to say anything in front of the PM. Because I really don’t think he fully comprehends how this could affect the bullshit down here on Earth.”

  “I think you better enlighten me also, mate.”

  “Where do I begin? If this thing turns out to be extraterrestrial. Then A: They didn’t see us as worth talking too. Given that judging by the dust deposits they must have been around approximately 100 years ago, it’s more than a bit strange, surely they must have been aware of our existence. B: If there is a God then maybe we are not the chosen people and we are certainly not unique.”

  Barry looked puzzled. “So... what you are saying is given that all this bullshit here on Earth is about how much God loves his specially chosen people, aliens would blow that idea away, then what would happen?” asked Barry.

  “Well that’s the question I’m trying to get my head around. You see if Australia announces that it has proof humans are not the bees knees and aliens see us as inferior life forms, it may be just enough for every theist on this planet to try to crucify us just to shut us up. It could unite all the people of the books against us.”

  “I can see where you are coming from Mark, I’ll tell Paul to keep it under wraps for now and possibly forever.”

  “I think that’s advisable Baz, the implications are huge. I need time myself to let it sink in.”

  They arrived at the launch site three weeks later. Mark had brought along Jim Baker, an American astrophysicist who was ecstatic about this opportunity. They had not told him the full reason for his secondment. Jim was to be kept in the dark until he had worked it out for himself. The launch went off smoothly and the three of them settled back to a long trip. Mark and Barry celebrated their fifty-forth birthdays together, Mark in August, Barry in September. Jim turned out to be a good travelling companion. Not an argumentative bone in his body. At thirty-six he was in his prime and was an excellent choice as an astronaut. Nonetheless the journey was amazingly dull. They went into orbit mid December. The descent was scary and exciting but the consortium did not let them down. They waited for the dust to settle and disembarked. Their landing shuttle was to remain on the surface and be converted into a fairly spacious living quarters for them. It was first of all to be towed to the anomaly, as the structure had been called, so that the three of them could concentrate on their work. The consortium workers would be staying away, only turning up if requested to do so.

  Mark and Paul questioned the personnel of what was now a true Martian Base. They learned nothing new. They seemed a bit peeved by the anomaly, from their perspective it was a blight on an otherwise perfect colonisation attempt. It also brought into doubt their claim to be the first men on Mars. Mark and Paul were somewhat amused by the fact they were acting as if they were in fear of being upstaged by an unknown alien. Mark went out of his way to praise them for their professional handling of the situation and assured them that, back at home, the focus had not been deflected by the appearance of the Anomaly. It was in fact being kept a secret. This seemed to make everyone happier.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  NOVEMBER 2029 THE ANOMALY.

  The structure was now totally exposed. Its shape was a rectangular prism ten thousand square metres at its base and four metres high. The sign turned out to be exactly that, the symbol was not a piece of writing but a symbol denoting where an entrance to the building was. It consisted of a square dissected by a diagonal line. In the top left was the letter G. In the bottom right was the letter A. “If these people are aliens why would they use our lettering system? That suggests an earlier manned landing than the consortium’s,” said Mark.

  “There is a door here, a bit on the small size though. Still, if we can get it open we will be able to crawl in easy enough,” said Barry.

  “There is no sign of a handle or button to push.” Jim had been standing looking at the sign. “Are you guys saying you think this is extraterrestrial?”

  “It’s possible,” said Mark.

  Jim shook his head in disagreement. “Possible but unlikely. The metallurgist said it is constructed from stainless steel and the sign uses G and A. I’m afraid it looks more like a previous attempt at colonization from an earthly source to me. The long tube thing has things that look like prisms or crystals in them. It looks like a sophisticated antenna.” Mark stopped looking for a way in.

  “Jim, if it is an antenna can you get a fix on what it’s pointing at?”

  “Only roughly as my equipment is a bit limited, but I’ll give it my best shot.” Barry had walked up to the sign and was trying to guess what the G and A stood for. He wanted to feel the letters with his bare hands, they had been etched into the metal. He instinctively pulled off his glove and placed the palm of his hand on the sign. It was freezing cold and he put his glove back on very quickly. It was then he realised Jim and Mark were standing in front of the now open door, it had slid back into a recess.

  “Well done Baz. It’s small and dark in there, I’m going in, you two stay here. If I don’t come out in two minutes put your palm on the plate again and come and get me.” Mark crouched down and stepped inside, the door immediately slid shut behind him. The light on his suit came on and there was a hissing sound. Mark’s wristband lit up and showed air pressure at Earth normal, then another door slid open and he saw a ramp leading downwards into the dark. He took four paces down the ramp. A single light had come on but shed only minimal light. The room Mark was in was large and he was just able to stand upright. He removed his helmet as it was touching the ceiling. The air was musty and a bit smelly. He put his helmet back on and went back into the airlock, for that is what it obviously was. There on the wall was the sign, he placed his palm on it and it opened. They decided to rig up some solar lights inside the building.

  Once that was done, they went in search of the air supply. It turned out to be a water converter system and, because of its simple design, it was still working. There were cockroaches running around everywhere, which denoted the previous inhabitants had visited Earth or were in fact originally from Earth. “You realise if we can get this place cleaned up and truly functional, the guys back at the modules will gain a large habitable space? It could be quite a boost for the whole colonisation project,” said Jim.

  “I don’t think we should pursue that idea until we have fully established that this place is safe and have a fair idea at least of why it is here,” replied Barry. They moved deeper into the building. The original lighting system had failed so they rigged up lights as they went along. The large room with the ramp and the airlock narrowed and became a passage. Doors on either side of this passage opened onto individual living quarters. Each small room contained children’s bunk beds. Four beds to every room. Every third room had washing and toilet facilities which were very human in design. Eventually the passage terminated in an open space with stairs to an upper level.

  Climbing the stairs was executed with a lot of difficulty due to the size. They emerged in a very large area filled with control panels and apparatus not readily recognizable. There were more living rooms and a food preparation and dining area.
The majority of the second floor was taken up by what appeared to be controls, screens and unrecognisable gadgets. “This is going to take a lot of working out. It is some sort of control centre. My guess is it is the place where the antenna thing outside is controlled from,” said Jim. They had been standing at a control panel where some of the panel’s lights were glowing softly in a variety of colours. “I think the lights are gradually getting brighter, I wonder what the power source is?” said Jim.

  “Could it be solar? It could have switched on and started charging up the electrical system.” Barry had been quiet for some time, he had been assessing the politics involved in this discovery and was feeling very out of his depth. “Before we go any further I need to make something very clear to both of you.” Jim and Mark turned towards him and gave Barry their full attention. “This situation has massive political ramifications. Jim, you are an Australian citizen and have sworn an oath of allegiance. Mark you are a public servant employed by the Australian Government. I am reminding you of this as I must insist that whatever we discover here in the first instance must be for the ears of the Prime Minister. To that end it would be wise to have a story ready for the colony that is not too controversial. It has to be one that they can accept without rushing out here to do their own analysis.”

  “Well,” said Jim, “what lies do you want us to tell?” He wasn’t happy with the direction this was taking; he had had enough bullshit to last a lifetime in the US. “It’s a crashed vehicle, possibly North Korean; a large unmanned observation satellite that failed to orbit Earth, entered interplanetary space and eventually by sheer coincidence got trapped by Mars’ gravity and buried itself in the dust. There can also be traces of radiation present; unsafe and off limits until further extensive analysis is completed,” said Barry.

  “That should satisfy the curious even though it’s a bit far-fetched and give us time to unfold the truth,” said Mark.