by C.O. Amal
Project Mars
Dying Planet Book Zero
Written By
C.O. Amal
Copyright © 2016 C.O. Amal
Published By C.O. Amal on March 2016
4th Edition
All rights reserved
ISBN 9781370910083
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this ebook with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this ebook and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favourite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
For information email to [email protected]
Visit www.coamal.wordpress.com for more information about the author’s works.
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This book is a work of fiction. Names and characters are fictitious, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Cover image from www.Freeimages.com
Dedication
To my father and mother
Table of Contents
Prologue
Part 1: The Discovery
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Part 2: The Abomination
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Part 3: The Fall of Civilization
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Part 4: The Sanctuary
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Epilogue
Author’s Note
About the Author
Also by this Author
Prologue
Mars, Sector 27, Iridium Mine, 2060 A.D.
Chief engineer Alex took a final look at the image structure obtained by Canto graphing. Canto graphing is used to find out the mineral structure of a region of the mine. Living in artificial environment is making him mad. It may be because of the artificial oxygen. He is desperate for his wife’s touch. His wife Julie is a teacher in Will Man’s public school in Los Angeles. He couldn’t forget her hands tracing around his head when they have nothing to do on Earth. He has no children, but he is looking forward to have a bunch of them.
“Sir, I think you need to see this!” One of the technician announced.
Alex suddenly came back from his day dream. “Okay, I will be there in a sec.” Alex said through the mic.
Alex quickly paced toward the control room.
“What is it?” Alex asked with a deep breath.
“Sir, we found heavy iridium deposition ten feet deep from here. And Canto graphing shows that some kind of biological material is wrapped inside the iridium deposition.” Technician Tony said.
“Biological matter? Did you inform NASA?” Alex asked.
“No! But I wanted to inform you first.” Tony answered.
It is mandatory that if anything unusual came up, they should inform NASA. Alex sat in front of the computer and checked the video link. After some mastered key strokes he established communication link with NASA. Monitor displayed a middle aged woman sitting in a chair.
“We are from the Iridium mine on the Mars” Alex announced. “Today we found something peculiar. Are you the right one to discuss this?”
“Yes. Please continue.” The woman answered.
“Today we think we found some biological matter, wrapped inside some heavy iridium deposition. Do you want us to dig?” Alex asked through the mic.
A minute of silence, then the woman answered. “Please dig, but do not damage the biological matter. It should be as it is, wrapped around the iridium deposition. We don’t want to contaminate it.”
“Okay. Are you going to send a ship to carry this to earth or do you want us to deliver it?” Alex asked.
“No, we will send a ship to get it. We advise you not to come in contact with the biological matter.” The woman said.
“Okay, I will immediately have some people digging this out of the ground.” Alex said.
“Okay then. End of transmission.” The woman said. Then the screen became blank.
Alex walked out of the control room. He approached the diggers with a map in his hand.
“Roony, please come here.” Alex announced.
“What is it, sir?” A middle aged man came forward and asked.
“We want to dig something out of sector 25. Some biological matter wrapped around heavy iridium deposition. We don’t want to contaminate it. So dig carefully, and preserve it as it is.” Alex Said.
Alex hand him over the map. “The site is marked with red ink.” Alex said.
“We will begin extraction now.” Roony said.
“Okay. Once you are finished, carry it to the ship dock. Some NASA folks will be there soon.” Alex said. With that Alex left the room to his cabin.
Wormhole travel discovered in 2050 changed the whole idea of space travel. It allows to travel between planets in a matter of minutes.
Roony has been here for almost two years. He misses Earth, his wife Jenny and their children. He live in Chicago in a small town called Soxenburg.
Roony called out for a ten member team. They got inside the rovers and began to roll towards sector 25. Once they reached there they assembled the digging machine and carefully starts to dig. When they reached ten feet deep the metal of the bulldozer clashed with iridium metal. Roony carefully marked out the iridium boundary and he and his fellow workers starts to dig around it. Roony placed the Canto gram in the iridium surface and checked. Surprisingly the graph does shows the presence of a biological matter. They dug out a large solid cylindrical shaped iridium container which supposed to contain the biological matter.
“This must be millions of years old.” Roony said.
Roony carefully placed the iridium container in the back of one of the rover using a crane.
“Sir, look. There is one more heavy iridium deposition here.” One of the worker said to Roony.
Roony took a closer look at the pit they have just dug. There is in fact one more iridium layer. Roony used the Bulldozer to clear away the dirt and suddenly he accidentally dragged on the iridium layer. Suddenly some kind of pressurised gas inside the iridium chunk erupted out of it. Men frantically ran away from the pit. But the gas spread quickly, enveloping the digging team. Men started to choke. But the gas existed for a short duration and it died out. All men except Roony was exposed to the gas because he was safely protected by the glass wall of the Bulldozer.
“Are you guys alright?” Roony called out.
“Yes, we are fine. It was carbon dioxide or something.” One of the men said.
It is normal that some of the metal layers contains trapped carbon dioxide.
Roony immediately called out for Alex through his radio. “Alex, do you copy?”
“Yes, loud and clear. What is it?” Alex asked through the radio.
“We dug out the iridium container. But our men were exposed to some strange gas.” Roony said.
“Is everyone all right?” Alex asked.
“Yes, we think it was some pressurised carbon dioxide.” Roony said.
“Come back to the base, the NASA folks are here.” Alex said.
“Okay, we are coming back to base.” Roony said.
NASA scientist cam
e in a Talon Class B ship. They are in medical suits. Workers loaded the ship with iridium container. Before leaving one of the scientist checked the iridium chunk with his Canto gram device.
“This indeed contains biological matter.” The scientist said surprised.
“This changes many things.” Another scientist said.
“Yes, indeed.” The scientist said.
With the precious cargo, Talon left Mars to Earth.
* * * * *
Part 1: The Discovery
Chapter 1
NASA Research Division, Los Angeles
Johana quickly paced around the corridor to Professor Langton’s cabin. Professor Langton is the head of the NASA research division. At the time Johana reached his cabin, professor was having a conversation with Professor Lincoln. They were discussing about the possibility of existence of life outside earth. Johana smiled when she heard the conversation.
Is it really a coincidence that the news she’s here to give is similar to the topic the professors are talking about? Johana thought.
“Sir, I think you need to hear this.” Johana announced.
“What is it?” Langton asked.
“Some mining team on the mars contacted us earlier. They claim to have found biological matter, buried deep in the Martian soil.” Johana said with a deep breath.
Professors exchanged an unusual glance.
“In what form did they found?” Langton asked.
“They said it is wrapped inside iridium deposition.” Johana said.
“And what are the actions you had taken?” Langton asked.
“I have taken necessary actions according to the protocol. I had sent a team to mars to obtain it. I advised the miners to not to come in contact with the biological matter. I have filed it under project mars” Johana said.
“Project Mars?” Lincoln asked.
“It’s the name came to my mind at that time” Johana said.
“Good. You can go now. Inform me, when the team arrives.” Langton said.
With that Johana left the room.
“Biological matter embedded in iridium deposition. What do you think of that?” Langton asked Lincoln.
“It must have been there for millions of years. It may explain how mars lost its capability to support life.” Lincoln said.
“It is a great news. So mars must have supported life once. Our satellite images and our previous missions on mars had suggested the possibility of existence of rivers and oceans. It must had been a life thriving planet. But now a barren wasteland. It may indicate why mars lost its atmosphere too.” Langton said.
“But first we need to know in what condition the biological matter is in. It must had become a fossil.” Lincoln said.
“Fossil or not, it can tell us lot of things that we don’t know.” Langton said. “But what puzzles me is that how come it became embedded inside iridium deposition. Iridium is one of the costly material, no doubt about that.”
“Nature has its way. What if the material is perfectly preserved?” Lincoln suggested.
“It must had been millions of years old. How can it be perfectly preserved?” Langton asked.
“Anyway, we can wait and see.” Lincoln said.
“It would take about two hours to reach here. Meanwhile we can prepare the instruments and laboratory.” Langton suggested.
“Your right. I will go ahead and inform the staff.” Lincoln said.
“Okay. I will take care of the lab while you select the experienced personal.” Langton said.
Lincoln left Langton’s cabin to his room. When he reached there he called out for a meeting. He quickly paced to the meeting hall. All of the staff had arrived without late. He walked to the center of the crowd.
“Today I have a mind blowing thing to discuss with you. As some of you may have heard we have found biological matter, on planet mars. And we have sent a team of scientists to retrieve it.” Lincoln cleared his throat. “It seems that this biological matter is somehow embedded inside heavy iridium deposition. At this point we don’t have any theories for how it became embedded in the iridium. We will be sending a team to investigate Martian soil in the future but now we have something to analyse. The precious cargo will reach here in about two hours. People, this is a historic moment we have been waiting for. It could answer many of our questions about the life on planet mars.” Lincoln said.
“What do you want us to do?” One of the men asked.
“Everyone do their job. Technicians, prepare the lab room for analysing the specimen. I also need a team of experienced medics and palaeontologists. Contact the famous most experienced ones and bring them here.” Lincoln said.
With that everyone left the room and started doing their jobs.
Johana quickly came towards Lincoln through the crowd of people.
“I have contacted the most experienced palaeontologists and medical surgeons through government officials. Everyone will arrive here soon.” Johana said to Lincoln.
“Good work.” Lincoln said. “So, you had done everything already?”
“Yes, I did according to the protocol.” Johana said
The Talon reached earth at 2 O clock after noon. It landed in the yard of Los Angeles NASA research division. Workers carefully moved the cargo to the lab where it waits for dissection.
* * * * *
Chapter 2
Mars, Sector 27, Iridium Mine
Roony hurriedly walked towards Alex’s cabin. When he reached there Alex was standing there and enjoying the view through the glass window.
“Chief, some of the men are ill. I think it has something to do with the gas they were exposed to earlier” Roony said.
“You said it was carbon dioxide!” Alex asked.
“It looked like that.” Roony answered. “Personally I think they need some serious medical attention. Bruises are all over their skin.” Roony finished.
“You go ahead and do your job. I will contact the medical team.” Alex said.
Roony left Alex’s cabin. Alex quickly walked towards the control room. When he reached there only Tony was there. Everyone else was having a coffee break or something.
“Tony, I need you to contact NASA.” Alex said.
Tony typed the commands in the computer. “Chief, I have established the communication link.” Tony said.
The same middle aged woman is sitting in a chair.
“It’s good to see you again. What is the matter you want to discuss?” The women asked.
“Earlier today when my men were excavating the biological matter, they were exposed to some sort of gas. And now they are ill.” Alex answered.
“Why didn’t you mention this earlier?” The woman asked.
“We thought it was carbon dioxide. Its normal that metal layers contain trapped carbon dioxide in these parts.” Alex said.
“What are the symptoms?” The woman asked.
“Bruises are all over their skin.” Alex said.
“Put them under quarantine. We advise you to not to come in contact with them. We will send a research pod to your location immediately.” The woman said.
Suddenly scream of one of the men emanated from the corridor Alex have just came in. Alex opened the door to see what it is. The scene in front of him horrified him. One of the men is eating the guts of another men. They were two or three feet away from him. Roony is running away from the scene towards Alex. The whole complex is filled with scream and growl. Alex froze where he stood.
“What is happening down there” The woman said through the speaker.
Alex said nothing. Tony is also in shock. Roony finally got inside and he closed the door panting. He sit on the floor with his back on the door.
“What was that?” Alex finally asked.
“I don’t know. I was in the cafeteria when it started. One of the ill men attacked another one. I think it was Joseph. Joseph or what was left of him bit him in the neck … and clawed at his stomach … and … he started to eat him. I tried to push him
back. But … another ill man came out of nowhere and bit me in the hand.” Roony showed his hand to Alex. “I barely escaped from there when all other ill men came at me all at once. Anyway somehow I escaped.” Roony said panting.
Suddenly the door began to shake. On the other side of the door stands a creature or what was left of the man, and he is thrashing at the door.
“This glass door won’t hold long.” Roony announced.
“What should we do?” Tony asked.
“The only way to outside is through the exhaust pipe.” Alex said.
Alex could see the creature clearly now. Blood is oozing down from its mouth.
“But these things are everywhere. I saw one of them going out of the base.” Roony said.
“We have to take the decision now. Look, more of them are coming.” Tony said pointing to the door.
“We will take the path through the exhaust pipe. And then we can crawl our way through this building to ship deck. NASA said they have send a research pod to this location.” Alex said.
Tony and Roony agreed with that with a nod. They opened the Exhaust pipe by removing the grill. And one by one they entered the exhaust pipe. They began to crawl out of the pipe. Once they reached the ship deck they came out from the exhaust pipe to the deck. Alex looked out to see whether any of those things have found them.
“I didn’t saw any of them. We may be safe here. We can shut the door till the NASA folks arrives.” Alex said.
Tony nodded. When Alex take a look at Roony, he was laying down on the floor breathing heavily. Alex approached Roony to check on him. Roony have caught a high fever. And his skin are full of bruises.
“He said one of the creature bit him. This may be because of that.” Tony said.
“We must open the roof. NASA folks will be here soon.” Alex said.
Tony pressed the switch and the roof opened. They waited for an hour. But then something began to trash at the door. Some creatures have found them.
“How did they found us?” Tony asked with panic.
“May be they can smell us.” Alex said.
A distant sound of engines can be heard. “The sound of incoming ship. They are here.” Alex said.
A silver coloured ship landed on the floor through the roof of the building. Two men inside large medical suit came out of the ship.
“We need to go now.” Alex said to one of them. “We think he is infected.” Alex said pointing at Roony.
One of the men approached Roony and checked him. Suddenly Roony grab hold of the medic and bit him in the neck through the medical suit. Blood started came out of the wound like a well. Alex and Tony froze. Other medic approached to help the one who has been bitten. Suddenly the door to the ship dock parted away and two creatures arose through the gap.