by Don Viecelli
“I’m afraid everyone on Mars knows about the UFO now. I assume people on Earth do to. I have been swamped by media calls asking for more information. I must release a press release soon. So, please get up there and get some answers for me.
“One more thing. Colonel Jackson will be in charge of this mission for the UN. However, Doug will pilot the shuttlecraft since he is an experienced pilot and asked to go along with Janice. I requested Doctors Colbert and Martin to ride along in case they are needed.
“Colonel Jackson, I assume you will take some of your Marines with you. Did you clear the mission with your General?”
“Yes, Mister Deputy Secretary. I have been cleared to go under your command.”
“Very well. Keep me informed every hour. And be safe.”
The mission was on. Now all they had to do is find out what was going on in that starship.
Chapter 5
Starship
Colonel Hayward Jackson led his squad of thirteen Marines aboard the Mars shuttlecraft located at the spaceport just outside of Haffen City. The shuttlecraft was sitting inside a large hangar protected from the cold Martian atmosphere. The Marines were dressed in specially designed armored military spacesuits, which were light weight, flexible, bulletproof and designed to withstand hazardous space vacuum conditions. The suits were camouflaged in various shades of green, tan and brown and each Marine carried in his or her hands a dark green helmet equipped with Heads-up Display (HUD), radio communication controls, night vision and a tough protective faceplate.
Attached to the back of each suit was a small rectangular Air Support Power Pack (ASPP) that provides up to eight hours of oxygen for breathing and the removal of carbon dioxide when exhaling. The power pack also provides battery power to heat and cool the suit as needed.
Colonel Jackson carried a standard issue Beretta M9B Semiautomatic, 9 millimeter pistol that shoots up to 15 rounds. Each rifleman carried a light weight M6 automatic and semiautomatic, magazine-fed carbine that shot 30 rounds of 5.56 x 45 mm caliber bullets suitable for close combat action. The Colonel was taking no chances.
Several of the Marines also carried medium sized duffle bags full of explosive devices and other equipment suitable for breaking into secure compartments like an unknown alien spaceship. No one had any idea if what they were bringing with them would do the job. The skepticism was evident on their faces, although no one expressed any doubt. They were simply following orders. Most were actually looking forward to the mission knowing they were about to make history as the first humans to offer documented proof of alien contact.
Security Director Doug Martin was sitting at the controls of the shuttlecraft in the pilot seat waiting for the Marines to take a seat. Doctor Janice Martin and Doctor James Colbert were in passenger seats directly behind Doug. The co-pilot seat was empty waiting for Colonel Jackson to make his way to the front of the shuttle.
Finally, everyone was on board. Colonel Jackson sat down in the co-pilot seat and strapped in. “We’re ready to leave Director.”
“Yes sir; ready to depart.” Doug started the shuttlecraft engines. He said over the PA system, “Everyone strap in and prepare for takeoff.” He hit the radio transmitter button and communicated to the spaceport control tower. “Shuttle Five-Zero-Five ready for takeoff. Rolling out the hangar now. Open hangar doors.”
“Roger, Shuttle Five-Zero-Five. Rolling out spaceport now. Opening hangar doors in one minute.”
Doug pushed the hand throttle on his right forward. The rear engines responded by moving the shuttlecraft slowly forward toward the large hangar doors, which were now opening. The shuttlecraft was 50 meters long, 10 meters in diameter with a wingspan of 21 meters. It was shaped similar to a small passenger jet on Earth, but did not need large wings for travel in space. It could carry up to 30 passengers, take off and land vertically or glide in for a landing on a planet. The shuttlecraft was capable of speeds up to 50,000 kilometers per hour, which made it very useful for passenger travel between the three cities on Mars.
Once the shuttlecraft rolled outside the hangar doors, Doug turned on the bottom booster engines located under each wing. “Ready for takeoff,” he announced to Tower Control.
“All clear, Five-Zero-Five,” came back the reply.
Doug pushed down on the booster engines button next to the hand throttle and let the spacecraft automatically increase power to shoot the shuttlecraft vertically upwards. Mars gravity is only 38% that of Earth’s, so it didn’t take much thrust to leave Mars gravitational field. The loss of gravity was quickly felt until weightlessness was achieved at just over 120 miles above the planet. At this point, the autopilot shut down the vertical thrusters and Doug switched to rear engine control. He had already entered the space coordinates for the alien spaceship orbiting at one thousand kilometers above Mars moving east to west along the equator at 22,000 km/h. Doug let the autopilot adjust engine power to match orbit speed and altitude and gain on the starship.
Doug could see the huge starship ahead through the front windows growing larger by the minute. “Man, that is one big spaceship!” Doug exclaimed as he watched the starship get bigger in size as they approached from below and behind.
Once they reached the same orbit and speed, Colonel Jackson suggested, “We should keep a safe distance from the UFO and make a spin around it to take pictures.”
“Did you hear that, James?” Doug asked turning around to face Doctor Colbert.
“The camera has been on since we left Mars. I’m zooming in now.”
“Okay. I’m taking control of the shuttle to fly completely around the starship. I’ll stay five kilometers distance. Keep your eyes open for any signs of life,” Doug said.
“I’m transmitting the same contact messages Mars communication center is sending, Doug, but no signals have been detected from the spaceship yet. Maybe we just don’t have the frequency they use; or they use a completely different means of communication. I just don’t know. I’ll keep trying,” James said.
Doug flew the shuttle around the entire spaceship one time. The only lights they saw were what looked like running lights along the bottom edge blinking in red and blue colors every few seconds. Up close the UFO looked metallic gray in color. The sides sloped upwards until it reached a large dome shaped top. It was easily 10 meters in height, but no windows or lights could be seen shining out of the dome area. There were large silver colored writing and symbols engraved in the metal on four sides. They were completely alien in design.
“Looks like identification marks,” Doug said as he flew around the ship manually adjusting his speed every few minutes.
“I’m going to fly over the dome area now,” Doug said when he completed the rotation.
“I don’t see any weapon systems, but that may not be obvious to us,” Colonel Jackson said looking out the windows and checking the video images.
Doug noticed everyone in the passenger seats intently staring out the side windows as well. The sight of the huge UFO had everyone on the edge of their seats.
Doug flew the shuttle above the UFO, but still remaining five kilometers distance. Everyone could clearly see the damaged area just below the dome. “It looks like the hole was caused by an internal explosion. It exploded outward instead of inward,” Doug said to Colonel Jackson.
“I agree. Something caused the hull to blow outwards. It probably caused sudden decompression inside the dome. It would have killed any living thing not protected from space vacuum.”
“Any response or signal from the spaceship, James?” Doug asked again.
“Nothing! They don’t hear us or they don’t want to answer us,” James said quietly.
“Well, they certainly can see us if anything is alive on that spaceship. What do you want to do, Colonel?” Doug waited for the answer.
Colonel Jackson took a moment to decide and then said, “Move us closer. We need to find a way inside.”
Chapter 6
Boarding
Doug Martin fl
ew the shuttlecraft closer to the damaged area near the dome of the UFO. Doctor James Colbert zoomed in on the hole in the hull of the spaceship and commented, “According to the computer, the hole is almost as big as this shuttle.”
“We just might have to use the hole to get inside if we can’t find a door or something to land on,” Doug said while looking at the outside view from his forward camera lens and concentrating on flying the shuttle.
“I didn’t see any entrance doors or landing pads on the ship when we flew around it, Doug,” James said looking again at the video images on the computer screen.
Colonel Jackson looked out the front window and said, “Put us near the damaged hull and I’ll take a team and find a way inside the spaceship.”
Doug was about to reply when a bright white light appeared on one side of the spaceship. “I see something! It looks like a door is opening. James, zoom in on that area.”
James focused the camera lens on the area where the light was shinning. A large door opening appeared in the side of the spaceship. It clearly looked like a landing zone inside with a large flat hangar deck surface and blinking green colored lights shining out every second or two.
“Damn! It looks like a welcome, come land here, sign to me,” Doug said in surprise.
“There’s been no contact with whoever is on board that spaceship, Doug. Maybe we should wait out here a little while longer,” James said nervously.
“I think we should go inside and land.” Janice was excited and insistent.
“I agree,” Colonel Jackson said. “That’s why we’re here; to make contact as soon as possible. We need to find out why these aliens are here; one way or another. Take us inside.”
Doug rested his hands on the controls for a moment. The decision to land was up to Colonel Jackson and it appears he made it. “Send a message to Mars what just happened and tell them we are going to land inside the spaceship. Maybe, the aliens will see it and we’ll get a reply this time.”
Doug adjusted his flight path and flew closer to the spaceship. The door opening was near the center edge of the disk below the dome area. As he moved the shuttle closer, everyone could see out the front windows how big the opening was. It was 100 meters wide and 20 meters high.
Doug slowly approached the landing area until he was within 50 meters of the opening and stopped moving forward. He could see inside the spaceship. There were other spacecraft parked inside, larger in size than their own. “There are spaceships inside, Colonel. Do you still want me to land inside?”
Colonel Jackson was also studying the spacecraft parked inside the spaceship. “Take us in, Doug. If they wanted to do something to us, they would have done it before we got this close.”
Doug was about to say something to the effect that maybe the aliens wanted the humans on board their shuttlecraft to study, but decided it wouldn’t be very funny. The thought probably occurred to the people on board already. It was better to think more positive at this point in the mission, he thought to himself.
“Going in. Prepare to land,” Doug announced over the PA system as he moved the control throttle forward. Everyone put on their space helmets for the landing and checked their equipment and communication systems.
Doug flew inside the spaceship and immediately felt the effects of gravity. It pulled at the shuttle as the autopilot adjusted the landing thrusters before the shuttle settled down on the landing platform with a small thud and sudden jerk. The hangar doors closed behind them.
“We have landed. This spaceship is generating gravity somehow. James, check the atmosphere inside this hangar,” Doug requested over his mic.
James looked at the gravitational and atmospheric readings on his tablet and said, “It appears the gravity inside here is stronger than Mar’s, but lighter than Earth’s at 7.4 meters per second squared. Atmospheric pressure is also stronger than Mar’s, but lighter than Earth’s at 10.7 pounds per square inch. Oxygen levels are similar to Earth’s at higher altitudes. The air is breathable if need be, but we should keep our helmets on to be safe since we don’t know what else is in the air,” James added as a bit of caution.
Colonel Jackson stood up and turned to his squad. “Prepare to disembark,” he ordered. Doug, Janice and James did the same. Doug reached the door first and opened it. He let Colonel Jackson walk down the ramp to the landing deck first. The Marines followed the colonel and set up a perimeter. The light inside the hangar was dim, but bright enough to see it was a big area that continued far into the darkness.
Colonel Jackson turned to Captain Shirley Tills. “Pick two soldiers to stay here and guard the shuttle. The rest of us will explore this spaceship.
“Yes, sir.” Tills picked one man and one woman to stay behind.
Colonel Jackson led the way through the hangar to a doorway nearby. The door looked to be three meters high, which gave some indication as to the height of the aliens. When they reached the door, it opened into the wall automatically. Appearing through the door was a hallway leading further into the ship. It was big enough for four people to walk side by side or approximately four meters wide and three meters high. The floor and walls were smooth and light colored. Ceiling lights turned on automatically as the team walked slowly down the hallway.
“Someone must be home if the lights are working,” Janice said to Doug as they walked behind the Marines.
“It appears so, but I’m surprised there’s no one to greet us.”
“I can’t imagine what they look like. Can you believe this?” James said in excitement.
Colonel Jackson came to a junction in the hallway. He decided to split up the team. “Captain Tills, take four soldiers and go right. We’ll go left. Keep me informed whatever you find.”
“Yes, sir.” Tills picked the first four Marines and headed down the left hallway.
“Do you think it’s wise to separate us?” Doug asked the colonel.
“We’ll never cover enough ground on a ship this size if we don’t, Director. We have eight hours before our air runs out and we have to return to the shuttle. Our primary objective is to find the Command Center and I assume it’s at the top in the dome area. Let’s keep going and see if we can find a way up.”
The team walked further down the hallway until they came to the end. In front of them was another door that looked similar to an elevator. There was a small panel on one side with two round glass buttons with strange symbols on each one.
“What now?” Colonel Jackson seemed flustered.
Doctor Colbert walked up to the panel and studied the symbols. “One of these button symbols obviously is pointing upwards and the other down.” Without further instructions, he pressed the up button and stood back.
A light appeared on a panel at the top of the doorway; then the door slid open revealing a tubular shaped glass enclosed compartment big enough to hold all ten members of the team.
Colonel Jackson walked inside with four soldiers, turned around and said, “My team will go up first. You three wait here with Lieutenant Sanchez and Corporal Dimitar. If you don’t hear back from me in ten minutes, go back to the shuttle as fast as you can and get out of here. Understand me?”
Lieutenant Juan Sanchez affirmed, “Understood sir!”
Colonel Jackson looked at the panel of buttons inside the elevator. There were 2 rows of buttons, 15 on each side for a total of 30 levels. The left side was lit with symbols pointing up indicating they seemed to be in the middle on level 15. Jackson pushed the top button on the same side figuring it had to be the top floor. He stood back and let the door swish close and was gone.
“We should have gone with him,” James said.
“I agree with the Colonel. We don’t know what he is going to find up there,” Janice said.
“We’ll know soon enough,” Doug said. “It’s the smartest move under the circumstances. We wait to see what happens.”
Doug, Janice, James, Lieutenant Sanchez and Corporal Alexa Dimitar stood patiently in the hallway waiting for word
from Colonel Jackson. They studied the walls, floor and ceiling of the hallway they were standing in. The material they were made of was not metal or plastic, but something in between. The walls and ceiling were smooth, sturdy and flexible when touched, light in color and the material in the ceiling provided illumination. The floor was firm and covered with a non-slip plastic looking material that seemed to blend right into the flooring. Doug thought the whole hallway could have been formed into shape all at one time.
Ten minutes later, the microphones inside their headsets came alive with Colonel Jackson’s voice. He sounded tense. “Lieutenant Sanchez, bring your group up the elevator now! Push the top left button in the elevator to get here.”
The elevator door opened in front of the group. They got inside and Sanchez pushed the button. There was no sensation of upward movement in the elevator which surprised them. Within seconds, they reached their destination and the door opened.
Lieutenant Sanchez and Corporal Alexa Dimitar stepped out of the elevator first with their rifles pointed forward not knowing what to expect.
Doug, Janice and James followed behind. What they saw shocked them beyond words. There appeared to be dead aliens lying all around the room on the floor in front of them.
Chapter 7
Contact
“What happened here, Colonel?” Doug asked first walking into the room. Colonel Jackson and his four Marines were standing in what looked like the Command Center Bridge for the starship. They were staring at the aliens. Doug walked closer to Colonel Jackson and stood beside him. Ten alien bodies were spread around the room on the floor. They were all dressed in the same two-piece light blue uniform.
“Don’t know yet. They were dead when we got here. Now we know why they didn’t communicate with us. I suspect the damage to the hull caused total decompression and air loss. The air pressure in the room seems to be normal now. The ship must have sealed itself off.”