Avernus: Book One Page 6

  “Let me see that.” She grabbed the sample from Rocco and began examining it. “Oh, I remember taking this. It’s my sample from when we first took out the rovers. I’ve got nothing better to do right now and since we’re leaving tomorrow I might as well log it right now.” She struggled, and strained to remove the lid to no avail. “Hey Mr Muscles, open this.”

  The first attempt fell short. “that’s really on there.” Rocco put his full strength into it. The lid released letting out a soft pfft. A sulfur smell filled his nostrils, emanating from the jar. “Why does this smell so bad?” He handed the stink grenade back to Sophie.

  Taylor turned away from his notes. “The hell is that smell? Is it coming from that? Holy shit give it here.”

  Rocco had never seen anyone this excited about anything, especially dirt that reeked of rotten eggs. Before he had time to process the situation, Taylor had taken the sample from him and was locking it inside a glass box.

  Taylor’s hands worked furiously through a pair of rubber gloves. After roughly ten minutes of this he opened the box up and revealed ten glass slides. “Close that box for me would ya.”

  “Got it.” Rocco closed the lid unsure what all the energy was about.

  “Nothing…” Taylor tossed the slide aside. “Nothing.” Another one flew off the microscope. “Yes! Fuck Yeah. it’s…God Damn!. I…I.. Can’t believe it.” His eyes never seemed to leave the lenses despite the yelling.

  By this time the entire team was running over to see what had happened, including Rocco.

  “What are you yelling about?” Zea asked wiping the sleep from her eyes.

  “This sample! Cells! We found it!”

  Trent spoke up, “But we checked all our samples over and over. Are you telling me we missed something?”

  “Actually I found it outside.” Rocco muttered trying not to seem like it was actually his doing. “It’s Sophie’s sample from when we first got here.”

  “I took it from somewhere on the edge of the crater. It’s from the same place I took the first deep soil sample. Now let me see.”

  The group bustled over the microscope. Rocco stood back with Captain Somers letting the others have at it. With the initial shock wearing off Rocco managed to get a look at the discovery of a lifetime. Beneath a thin layer of glass sat a dulled yellow oblong cell. Little oar like arms projected from all around the outer edge. This is where the similarities to anything on earth seemed to end. Three large circles lay inside: one a soft orange with dark spots, another clear with dark lines running through out connecting to the surface of the sphere, and the third one a cloudy green orb. Spiny little oval shaped pieces lined the front edge of the cell. Moving around the sample revealed hundreds of them.

  “Someone get NASA on the line.” Taylor shouted, hands gesturing towards no one in particular.

  Joseph replied, “Sounds like a job for you. I mean you know more about it that I do.”

  “I’m trying to document everything. I’m too busy to make the call.”

  Rocco figured if he didn’t take care of it now it would never get done. The video monitor was already turned on awaiting departure information in the coming hours so Frank was bound to be in. He typed in the call command. The ringing was drowned out by the commotion of the crew behind him, completely oblivious that he’d taken the initiative.

  Franks face popped up all pixelated. A staticky voice broke through the speakers, “Phoenix Crew this is NASA, please don’t tell me something happened.” His face made jerky movements as the signal was adjusted.

  “We found life, sir. Small bacteria like life.” Rocco responded. He patiently waited for the signal to reach earth and bounce back with Frank’s response.

  “Hey is that Frank?” Taylor jumped in front of the screen. “This is incredible. The most amazing …”

  Frank broke in, “Say that again. I thought I heard you say we found love. Your message didn’t make sense.”

  “He said we found life on Mars. Little green men, only their yellowish, and they’re more like individual cells instead of men. Frank this is the most important find in the history of humanity.”

  Rocco stood aside as Frank and Taylor tried to communicate. He couldn’t help but chuckle at the two old friends attempting to communicate through the transmission delay.

  “We need to get this back to the labs before we can run any real tests.” Taylor ran off from the screen yelling, “I’m sending you pictures and my findings so far.”

  With the distraction out of the way Rocco returned to his discussion with Frank. “I think it would be wise to wait until we’ve had a chance to return to Earth before anything comes out about this.” Patiently he awaited the response.

  Rather than Frank responding, a strange young redheaded man appeared on the screen. “I’ll get a few official statements going that we made some scientific advancements but that we’re waiting for you guys to be able to tell everyone about it in person. That should hold off the vultures for a few months.”

  “Captain Somers what do you think?” Frank asked from behind his understudy.

  “I’m in agreement with Rocco. If you need to, you can always just say we found liquid water on Mars. they’ll eat it up. The more time we wait the less room for wrong info. Until then we’ll see about collecting a few more samples to bring back.” her voice carried across the room.

  Rocco rubbed the back of his head in frustration. “Well I’m already suited up so I guess I’m going back out. Sophie let’s go. Taylor, Diego I want you guys to come along too.” out of the corner of his eye he saw Sophie’s face light up, presumably at the mention of Diego going along.

  The final surface exploration team of the mission had been formed. They moved out to the rover. Sophie clung to Diego as if they were one person, going so far as to sit on his lap inside the confines of the Rover. Had this been his crew during an army mission their actions would be uncalled for but he figured there was no harm this time. All he wanted was to keep the piece to get this over with as soon as possible.

  The GPS location appeared to be close. A twenty minute drive placed them at the original sample sight. The mouth of the crater opened wide before them, with a steep ledge falling hundreds of feet. Rocco watched the others scurry about taking samples. Sophie scuttled about trying to find the exact spot from before. Diego following her like a lost puppy. Taylor’s approach seemed more methodical, following the crater’s edge scraping away at the dirt every five steps, and placing the tube in his pack.

  It took as a few minutes of watching the others work for Rocco to configure an optimal strategy. He took a row of three samples spaced out by fifteen feet. A similar row was created fifteen feet above and below forming a box of nine samples. The first two boxes went smooth and created a zen like feeling. He moved on to the next zone. Following the pattern of the last two, he picked a raised mound of dirt to begin digging. The scoop dug in easy enough, but quickly encountered a dense patch. Packed dirt? that’s a first. He pushed away the soft dirt from around where he was working. What greeted him was a brown layer that quivered when disturbed much like a bowl of jello. The soft sand flowed through the fingers of Rocco’s glove and closed in around it. As he pulled his hand out the surface reformed seamlessly. In an instant he realized exactly what this was. “Everyone get over here. I found something.” The team approached as he continued running his fingers through the wet substance.

  “What did ya find, water?” Diego asked incredulously.

  “Actually yes. Look.” He picked up a handful of water logged dirt and presented it to the others. “I say we get this back. We need to test it before we launch.”

  “I brought a microscope. I’m going to take a look.” Taylor grabbed a tube from off of Diego’s belt to scoop up some mud.

  Rocco filled the rest of his sample vials and met Taylor over by the Rover. The screen sat dark. A flick of the switch from Taylor and suddenly an orange glow filled the view. The hazy image cleared to show individual particles fl
oating around. Several of the particles appeared to be shaking. “You alright? Your shaking quite a bit. Look how much the dirt’s moving.”

  “That’s not me, take a look.” Taylor threw his hands in the air as if to make his statement more clear.

  Upon closer inspection, Rocco saw the small yellow cells from earlier squirming around. Next to them sat small amorphous blobs that seemed to be crawling through the liquid. “What the hell are those?”

  “They appear to be similar to amoeba. But we won’t know until I run some test.”

  “Fascinating. You’re telling me these are just like life on Earth?”

  “Not exactly more like similar design different make up.”

  Captain Somers’ voice took over the intercom. “Attention crew, our departure window is closing. I need everyone back to help pack up. Before take off.”

  “Yes captain,” Diego and Sophie spoke one after the other.

  “Gotcha,” Taylor followed suit. “Also we found water teeming with life. We’ll be bringing it back to analyze once we’re on the ship.”

  Packing up a few more samples, the team moved out leaving the planet to once again cover the precious small collection of water. Once they arrived back at base there was no time to relax. The immediacy of the launch was all that mattered now.

  Rocco went to work folding up the solar panels he had spent so long taking care of. Once they were all collapsed into small four foot wide squares he had to place each one inside the habitat. No reason to let them get buried outside with a perfect usable shelter around. Next came the samples stored inside a large crate along with their personal effects. It fit neatly inside the landers compartment. The ship loaded, Rocco stopped to view the red beast one last time before climbing inside. He took his seat behind the controls. “Prepare for launch.”

  Faint whirring noises grew, giving way to a soft rumbling. The engine kicked in snapping the ship from its slumber. In response the metal shook with anticipation.

  “Main engine online, “Joseph called out.

  Trent pointed to his on screen map, “Trajectory set for intercept course with the MOS.”

  “Prepare for launch in 10…9…8…” The thrusters roar blurring out any attempt to hear the countdown. despite the futility of going on, Rocco continued counting. “3..2…1.” the ship lurched into the air with minimal effort. It rose swiftly through the atmosphere and into orbit. “MOS dead ahead.”

  A pair of claws jutted from the Space Station waiting to pull the lander in. Rocco delicately maneuvered the ship into the waiting arms. For one full hour he adjusted the lander’s angle until the ship was fully docked. “Open the door.” A loud burst of air rushed into the cabin. The crew stood up and one by one entered the MOS.

  It was finally time to head back home. Rocco wanted nothing more than to climb into his stasis pod and wake up to the sight of Earth’s blue oceans. Once he was back he would spend a month at his cabin lake away from everything. A chance to restore his mind after all this time cooped up. Only one thing stood in his way, detaching the Phoenix VII and setting their course. This task remained easier said than done. Ideally he imagined a few switches and they would be off. As it turned out they required a team of four to go on a space walk in order to release the bonds. Begrudgingly Rocco found himself once again locked inside a space suit. For the first time he began to feel inklings of claustrophobia. He couldn’t stand being confined to such a small restrictive piece of equipment. Focus on the task at hand.you’ll be out of this thing faster than you know he had to keep reminding himself. Captain Somers decided to take the opportunity to assist Rocco.

  The bay door opened into the void of space. No external sounds, no engines, no wind. His suit was the only source of disruption in the calm. The other two members Trent and Joseph traveled to the far side of the ship climbing along the built in handholds. Rocco and Captain Somers were tasked with unlocking the front of the ship. Coordination between partners was essential. The sleek metal surface made gripping difficult. His pack provided short bursts of momentum to help the travel. Before him stood a large metal brace secured with bolts. He latched himself in next to the Captain. “I’ve got the drill if you’ll grab the bolts and twist the latches.”

  “I gotcha” Captain Somers signaled throwing him a thumbs up.

  The front bolts released easy enough. Rocco worked his way over towards the back side, and locked himself back in. deciding that waiting was pointless and wanting to get out of the suit as quick as possible he rushed ahead, undoing the bolts and catching them as the drifted off. “Only two bolts left.”

  “Perfect, sorry it took me awhile to finish the other side.”

  “No worries. Let’s just get this done.” His drill popped out the next two bolts but the latch refused to move. “God damnit. It won’t budge.”

  “Here. You just need to use a little force.” Captain Somers pulled a crowbar from her belt and worked it between the metal joints. “Just..a…little…more.” The joint flew open.the ship was now free. “Our ends done guys. How’s your end looking?”

  “Well Trent’s using the drill to spin in circles, so you tell me,” Joseph chuckled.

  “We’ll meet you back inside. Captain out.”

  Relief was in sight. Rocco and Captain Somers pulled themselves into the bay. They passed through the airlock and back into the safety of the Phoenix. He threw his suit aside and headed for the Bridge to make the final adjustments.

  “Trent and Joseph are back.”

  “Thanks Zea.” All that was left was for Rocco to enter his numbers. “We’re all set Captain.”

  “Diego, take us home.”

  Yes Captain.”

  The ship began pulling away from the now empty station. All that was left to Do was get in his pod. They would get the samples back to a lab and be considered legends. He took one last walk around the ship making sure all samples were sealed up. The time had finally come. He stripped down and hooked himself up to the life support. The gel was cold but it wouldn’t matter. He shut the lid and drifted off to a dreamless slumber.

  TRENT

  Trent awoke to the disconcerting sound of what could only be described as a banshee’s wail. His ears began to throb as it pierced his skull but, as quickly as it had come, the sound disappeared. He opened his eyes to find himself staring through a clear gel like substance illuminated by a faint blue light. Blue light, Blue light he thought to himself. What was that supposed to signal?He pulled his left hand up through the gel that surrounded his body and placed it against the glass above him. It moved away as if it had read Trent’s movement. A hand gripped his, pulling his torso out of the slime. A dark figure that was lurking to the side placed a soft towel in his hands to wipe his face off with.

  When his vision cleared he found himself sitting in a large grayish black pod made from an advanced polymer that while extremely lightweight, could withstand a small explosion, keeping the person inside safe from impact. This model was designed specifically for the Phoenix VII mission. The gel it contained was a nutrient bath designed to be absorbed slowly through the skin. It remained chilled to help suppress the body’s metabolism.

  A light shock suddenly caused both of Trent’s quadricepses to tense up. He reached into the gel and removed the pads producing the electric pulse. These pads were strategically placed on different parts of the body to help move the muscles while in stasis, preventing muscle atrophy. After all the pads were off, he stood up and removed the rest of the gel from his body.

  “How are you feeling?” the figure he came to recognize as Zea inquired. “Are you experiencing any side effects?”

  Trent removed the breathing apparatus from around his mouth, followed by a raspy moan.

  “Sorry, I forgot that it takes a bit for your voice to return. Just nod your head if everything feels alright.”

  He nodded his head to reassure her that all was well. The lights slowly came up and the cabin lost its blue hue and instead became flooded with a soft white light
. Zea stood shoulder high to Trent, golden brown hair flowed down to her shoulders. “I assume you noticed the blue light. We got an important message from NASA. Take an hour to get dressed and adjusted to moving around again, then come to the bridge for a debrief.” she sounded concerned.

  Trent sat next to the Stasis Pod from which he had emerged. A row of pods sat on either side of the room and a lit up path ran down the middle. The curved dark metal walls flowed seamlessly into a low hanging ceiling with color changing lights. Each color was used to convey a certain message to the crew upon being awoken from stasis: Yellow signaled equipment failure, Orange indicated fluid or gas leaks, red glowed when in emergency mode, purple light appeared when life support maintenance was needed, green represented an external threat, and blue meant NASA had an urgent message for the crew. The on board programing would analyze the severity of the situation and deactivate the necessary pods. This prevented any delay in response time in case of an emergency. The other Pods in the room sat empty, The rest of the crew must be in the mess hall he thought to himself. What’s so important that Captain Somers decided to wake the entire crew? After getting his uniform from the floor compartment, Trent dressed himself and stumbled off to the mess hall on shaky legs. He felt like an infant attempting to walk to their parents.

  By the time Trent entered the mess hall his steps conveyed a more confident tone. Being in stasis for 4 months had left him with quite the appetite. Located next to the door was a small tablet that linked to a machine in the corner of the room. He picked up the tablet and it sprang to life. Holding it at eye level allowed it to clearly identify his face. With the scan complete, the display changed to show a list of most requested meals along with the option to create a new one. “A steak with asparagus sounds delicious,” he said realizing his voice had finally returned.

  “Too bad all you’ll get is 3D printed slop,” a voice from across the room mocked.

  “Better than that Tofu block you’re trying to eat,” Trent replied, pushing his selection on the screen. The machine in the corner began whirring and ticking. He turned around to see Taylor sitting at the table in the center of the room. He looked like a mountain man, his curly long hair all tangled and frizzy, and his beard so thick it engulfed his mouth. It was customary for male crew members to shave before entering the pod, However Taylor’s tradition was to remain unshaven for the duration of any trip he went on. Trent on the other hand preferred to shave not only his face but also his entire head. There was less hair for the gel to stick to that way.