Summer, 2018.
NASA has been to multiple universities around the United States, looking for students who wanted first, hands-on experience to be launched in space, and to be the first ever to set foot on none other than the red, enigmatic planet. Mars. They had nearly given up their search, as most of these college students were not in the best shape to take on this mission. However, eventually a group was found. Years prior, an astronaut by the name of Charlie Roberts was scheduled to set sail for the moon, a dream he wanted since he first saw Neil Armstrong walk on its surface. Right before launch, however, he discovered quickly that his illness was the cause for his denial to touch the stars. Now, years later, his only daughter he named Evangeline Roberts, was specially selected, along with four other students, to be the first to set foot on the mysterious planet of Mars
There is one mission objective:
To find the water that scientists discovered there back in 2016.
However, they did not expect to find themselves stuck 2.5 million light-years away, on a planet with hostile aliens and a team led by one man that would change their lives forever.
Especially the life of Evangeline Roberts.
And the story begins here.
"Serendipity, this is Ground Control. Are you reading us, Hunk?"
"This is Shelia Hunk. I read you loud and clear, Huston."
The static of the man's voice on the radio made what sounded like a sigh of relief, although it was difficult to tell. The static of another's radio went off, and a highly pitched voice chimed in. "I cannot wait to get off this boring ass planet, already! How much longer?" She sounded annoyed (and practically full of herself), but indeed, even the others were wondering the same. "Soon, ma'am." The voice on the radio belonged to a large, burly man sitting next to Sheila, the redheaded woman in the cockpit. His voice was older, thick, and very masculine. She remembered him from the briefing yesterday, said his name was Sam Rockwell, but that his friends called him Rocky, because of some inside joke. "You are our passengers. We're trained for space flight, and know all the procedures to get us off the ground. Please, try to relax, ma'am." Her auburn eyes glanced at the talkative girl's tag on her spacesuit. Gulliver, V. That's how everyone's name tags were, including her own; Roberts, E. "You sound so manly, mister," the girl with the high pitched voice replied, almost in a seductive tone. Was she seriously trying to hit on him? He was a good thirty years her senior. "My God, Valentina, lay off the dude." The new voice on the radio belonged to an obviously annoyed young man. Her eyes moved towards the other individual, reading his tag. Tillman, J. The girl named Valentina made some sort of scoff sound, as if annoyed with him as well. "Well, excuse me!" she replied in a nasty voice. "I didn't realize that you were in control of my life. Who died and put you in charge, anyway?" "Oh my God, Valentina, shut up." "No, you shut up! I am allowed to flirt if I want, am I right, mister?" Rocky cleared his throat, but that's all that was heard on the radio. He was too old to even get in the middle of this argument. "Well... there is no harm in a little chat, bubba! Like, seriously!" They continued to bicker back and forth, causing her to become uncomfortable sitting across from them. "Wow. They sound like some old, married couple, don't they, Evee?" Now that was a voice she recognized, and that very voice belonged to the man beside her. She didn't need to look at his name tag.
She tilted her head at him, a grin spreading on her lips. "I wouldn't exactly call them that, though, Alex." He tilted his head towards her, a small laugh emitting from the radio. "Oh? And what would you call them, Evee?" "I dunno. I barely know them," she replied simply. Alex seemed to laugh, his blue eyes gleaming despite the suit's bulky design to see this expression. She has known Alex almost their entire life, since elementary school. He was in a grade higher than her, but was so fiercely protective of her. His life was one of sorrow and tragedy, one he looks back on with mournful eyes. It is one of the reasons he has a hard time getting to know anyone else. Especially people who seem to be interested in him. That was the fault of one person who she dared not speak the name of. A tiny strand of hair seem to have gotten loose from his ponytail, which he had gotten cut recently before this mission. The sides were shaved completely all the way to the nape of his neck, where only a little bit of his hair remained to make it into a ponytail. His beard seemed to be thicker than last month, too. He must be growing it out still. She looked at the other two bickering students. They obviously were from the same university as her and Alex, but she didn't know them all that well. Except perhaps Valentina, who seemed to have a different boyfriend almost every time you turned around. But other than that, she didn't know them enough beyond their faces.
"That's enough, you two," an older voice quietly snapped at the bickering students, leaning forward in his seat. This was one of the professors at Alex and Evee's university, an old astronomer by the name of Bradley Stevenson. From what Evee understands, he is the man responsible for specially selecting her and the other four students that were here. She only heard of him in passing from Alex and a few of her peers, but never met him personally until two weeks ago, when this project began. "It's not like I recommended you to NASA so you all could bicker. This is a very important assignment, and we were picked for this. You are the smartest ones in your fields of study. You might even be working with one of these people one day. Can we please try to make a good first impression?" Alex made a coughing noise on the radio, bowing his head respectfully. "Sorry, professor. We'll go radio silent for now." "Thank you, Mr. Montgomery. Mr. Tillman, Ms. Gulliver?" "Shutting up, prof," Tillman said before a clicking sound was made, indicating his radio was off. "Fine," the girl named Valentina groaned in annoyance, before her radio also promptly clicked off.
It was quiet for a while in the shuttle as everyone sat anxiously, strapped tightly in their seats. The sounds of the pilots clicking the buttons and switches on the consoles were a bit deafening inside these heavy, bulky suits, which seemed to almost lull Evee to sleep waiting. "Well. This is exciting," a new, younger male voice chirped, waking her from her daze. Evee looked to see that the voice belonged to a young man she knew from one of her classes, although she didn't recognize him by his last name on the tag. However, she did know him as Nikolai, someone whose family was from Russia. He had a slight accent when he spoke, but he spoke English surprisingly well that people hardly notice it. She looked at his tag, but it was difficult to read from here. Either that, or his name was just difficult to pronounce in general. "Is there something you want to say, Mr. Lebedev?" Professor Stevenson asked, glancing over at Nikolai. "Nah. I just wanted to make small talk. Might as well, since we're waiting. I despise the silence." Everyone seemed to agree with this, even the pilots. "Well... I suppose some small talk couldn't hurt," the professor agreed. "So long no one decides to turn it into an argument over something ridiculous." He glanced over at Valentina and Tillman, who didn't seem to either notice or care at that moment. Alex was the first to chime in, replying to Nikolai. "I hate the silence, too. Especially when we are finally up in space. Man, it's making me nervous just thinking about it." Nikolai seemed to have made an agreeable sound, but the radio made a soft static noise when he did. "Back in my family's home country, they always told me that I would be here one day, because of my deduska. He was apparently a space man himself in the sixties!" The student with the Tillman name tag leaned forward to look at him, his expression unreadable because of the glare on his helmet. "De-what?"
Nikolai laughed in the radio loudly, slapping his knee. "Deduska. 'Grandpa.' What did you think I said, Judas?" So, his name was Judas. Judas Tillman... wasn't he the one who wrote that paper on quantum physics about a year ago? She would probably have to ask Alex later for confirmation. Judas shrugged his shoulders, waving his hand dismissively. "I dunno. Some weird mumbo jumbo." Nikolai made a sound on the radio that seemed as if he was dismissing Judas' claim, but seemed to press on. "Does it bother you? Me saying some words in Russian?" "Well you know English, right?" The question Judas asked was obviously one of sarcasm, and not exactly meant to be answered. Everyone could see what he thought of Nikolai's way of speaking. The American-Russian student decided to ignore him, turning to Evee. "What about you, Evangeline? Does me saying some words in Russian bother you?" She wasn't sure why he was asking her this, but they were acquaintances. Maybe he was looking for a friend to just help him out. "Not really," she replied with a smile. "I think it's cool, especially since I can learn some Russian from you." This alone caused him to break out in a large smile, another loud laugh emitting from the radio. "Haha! That is true. And who knows! Maybe we'll get to meet a Russian-speaking Martian!" She laughed wearily, leaning forward to take a peek at him. "Okay. That's seriously doubtful, Nikolai." Nikolai leaned forward as well, as if trying to get close enough to look her in the eye. The radio crackled as his mic turned on, his voice calmly replying as his smile remained. "I said 'maybe,' podruga." "Now what does that mean?" Judas asked, his arms crossed over his chest. Nikolai looked over his shoulder at the man he sat beside, before leaning back and relaxing a bit. But a coy smile still graced his lips.
"It means 'girlfriend.'"
Judas made a sound on the radio as if he were surprised by this, his arms suddenly dropping to his knees. "Y-You two are..?" Nikolai pulled back in surprised, the sounds his voice made on the radio that of shock. "What, no! Sladkiy iisus! Don't you know? I'm not your stereotypical American-born Russian." Everyone seemed to stare at Nikolai as if confused by this statement, which Evee certainly was. She was curious as to what he meant. She knew the stereotypes that were used to portray Russian people, thanks to the movies she's seen growing up, which is not the best way to get an honest opinion on a race of people. A sigh on the radio was heard from Nikolai's mic as he gestured with his hand towards the male passengers. "I'm into guys." Everyone seemed to get what he meant now, and caused a lot of discomfort with Judas. It seemed Alex got a kick out of Judas' misfortune, as he and Nikolai both did an air high-five from across where they sat. Evee smiled at this. It was good that they had someone like Nikolai, who was different from all of them. He was unique as the world's most exotic flower. This is what the team needed: diversity. Without diversity, they would be a pretty bland group as is, and their opinions would practically be identical to the next. This was good for them, their team.
"Ground Control to Serendipity. We read that all systems are green. Are you ready to initiate the launch sequence?"
Rocky clicked one final switch on the console before sitting back, nodding to Sheila. "Ground Control, this is Major Rockwell. We can confirm that we're ready for launch." "Acknowledged. Initiating countdown sequence..." The rockets on their shuttle burst to life as the countdown sequence started, everyone suddenly going silent as they were readying themselves for launch for the first time. Judas certainly wasn't having a good time, as his face was very strained from the unbearable quaking that the shuttle was undergoing.
10...
Nikolai whooped loudly as the countdown began, his expression that of pure joy. "This is it, druz'ya! This, is, it!" He laughed dramatically as he threw his head back to whoop again.
9...
The professor seemed to bow in prayer, his voice barely audible in the mic as the countdown continued. Judas seemed very uncomfortable with the violent tremors of the rocket, nearly hurling in his helmet.
8...
Alex peered over at Evee with a friendly, warm smile, taking her hand in his. He was so happy when he learned that they selected her, for he knew this was a dream come true for Evee and her family. And soon enough, they would travel into space together.
7...
Evee held her breath a moment, the butterflies in her stomach fluttering excitedly as she comes to a sudden realization. This is real. It's actually happening. "I can't believe we're doing this..."
6...
Alex continued to stare at her, the grip on her hand tightening for a moment before he spoke. "Having second thoughts, Evee..?" he whispered softly, his voice on the radio calm and serene.
5...
She turns her head to him, a smile ever growing on her lips. She had tears in her eyes. She knew she shouldn't cry during launch, but she couldn't help it. This is where she belonged. "No... I've dreamed of this moment my whole life."
4...
"I'm can't let my dad down now," she said finally, her hand squeezing Alex's as well.
3...
He smiled wider as he heard her say this through the radio, both leaning their heads enough to just barely nudge their helmets together. "That's my girl."
2...
She smiled up at Alex as her first tear finally sheds, her heart pounding excitedly as she looks out the tiny window above. This is where she'll gaze into space for the first time...
1...
"Godspeed, Serendipity. We'll see you in two years time."
The rockets initiated and propelled their shuttle forward, a growing white cloud bursting beneath the rockets as it began its ascension into the sky. It was loud, roaring like the beatings of a loud drum in their ears as their entire world seemed to constantly shake. It was deafening, but Evee stared out the window above her, watching as they broke through the atmosphere, and soon enough, began to dance with the stars. She smiled, her tears suddenly levitating in front of her. This truly was it. They were officially in space. Even through this tiny window, she could see just how beautiful their solar system was. She took a deep breath, a smile ever growing on her face. They would be gone for a long time, but they came extra prepared and were ready to live in the harsh conditions of Mars. They were ready for this. They have trained for it! She caught a small glimpse of Earth one last time, her thoughts going to her parents, to the two who encouraged her to reach for the stars.
"Goodbye, Mom, Dad. I'll be back soon, and I promise I won't leave out a single, tiny detail."
The Serendipity had been out in space for six months now, drifting ever closer to the gravitational pull that was Mars. They still had about a day or two to go, but they were getting excited for the arrival. The students were unable to sit still since they were told this morning... at least, it was supposedly morning back on Earth. It seemed at lunchtime that they had calmed down and returned to their daily routine, although it can still be seen that most of them were jittery. Evee had been staring out the window since this morning, observing the stars as they twinkled and sparkled. Despite seeing up close how each star was simply a ball of gas, they were all beautiful.
"I call," Rocky said, allowing a piece of candy to float up to his face before catching it with his mouth. He had taught the boys how to play poker during their six month travel, and has had a pretty good winning streak against them all... except Alex, who seemed way too skilled for this. "I raise you another peanut butter cup," Alex said, putting a piece of candy in the fish bowl that seemed to float around the shuttle. All of their bets were mostly on candy goods, which the crew seemed to have a huge surplus of. It turned out that Rocky had something of a sweet tooth, although he admits that he also got it for the ladies on board. He's been on tour in space with Sheila before, and he can safely say, it was best to bring an insane amount of candy. "Royal flush," Alex said, taking the candy out of the fish bowl and stuffing it in a pack with his name on it. "Damn kid! That's the third time you've beat me this week! I'm impressed!" Alex shrugged his shoulders, smirking as he allowed a chocolate bar to float to his childhood friend. It bumped her arm before she realized he gave her anything, causing her to smile and take it. "I guess my stepdad was good for something," Alex replied, popping an mm in his mouth.
Evee watched as they decided to play a less betting card game instead, and as they began to set it up, she decided to float and check on the rest of the crew. The first stop was to the shared barracks in the back of the shuttle. The professor was inside, reading a book on quantum physics as he ate an apple, his glasses held firmly on the bridge of his nose. He had read all seven of his books over three times since the departure from Earth, although it didn't seem to bother him much. She continued on, noticing Nikolai was floating upside down further down one of the halls, meditating with a mix tape that was playing in his earphones. He did this every day right after lunch, said it "strengthens his stomach." She wasn't sure if it was healthy for him to do this, but no one seemed to stop him from doing it. As she continued down the hall, she entered the room where both Valentina and Sheila were, whom were doing crossword puzzles and sudoku respectfully. Evee learned so much about everyone on board over these last six months, like Valentina with her crossword puzzles and even Judas with his writing. However, Judas didn't seem to be in his usual spot with his journal, which was odd. "Hey," Evee called out, looking at the women. "Have you guys seen Judas?" "He's probably in the cockpit," Sheila replied, looking up from her sudoku book. "Rocky put him in charge of watching our approach for Mars today. It's only a matter of time now."
That's right! They were due to arrive in less than three days. This was a moment Evee didn't want to miss with her camera. She quickly floated back to the barracks and right to her bunk, opening a compartment on the wall that had her name printed on it. Inside was a camera, one with exceptional battery life, that was strictly used to record her time in space. She knew this was a moment that had to be captured, especially since they were so close now. She maneuvered over Professor Stevenson's head as she left the room, her camera tightly in hand, as she headed towards the cockpit to see the red planet close up.
Judas was staring out the window of the cockpit, glaring at Mars as he spotted a storm happening on its surface. In beginning of this voyage, six months ago, he was excited, but now it seemed as if that excitement has dwindled for him. He was nervous about this, this whole thing leaving a bad taste in his mouth. He felt like he was the star in a bad sci-fi movie, where the hero dies in the end and he never gets the girl. He smirked a bit to himself. There has been one person that did make this trip bearable.
For the six months he's spent with her, he had come to be quite fond of Evangeline Roberts. The way she talked about space and the stuff that makes up stars caused him to simply stare at her, especially when she gets really into it. She once said something about the reason why she wanted to go to space, but he forgot what it was. He was more focused on her than the conversation at the time. He always wrote about her, writing some note to himself about what he would do if they were officially together. It often led to bad, smutty novel-like daydreams. He chuckled to himself. He has been thinking about asking her if she would like to be his girlfriend. He wasn't sure months ago if he should, but he's certain now. Evangeline Roberts will just have to say yes to being his girlfriend. She just has to.
A sudden hiss from the door startled Judas, causing him to turn around. And then suddenly, his heart was in his throat. "E-Evangeline! Hi!" he said excitedly, turning to face her. She slightly groaned. "Judas, I said to call me Evee. Evangeline is just way too long." He chuckled nervously, turning to face back out the window. "Yeah. Sorry. I wasn't thinking..." They both stared out the window, watching the red planet's storm intensify slightly. Judas took a breath, but was immediately cut off by Evee. "That's one hell of a storm. We're gonna have to make sure we don't land in its path. Or otherwise, we can kiss our shuttle goodbye." "Uh... y-yeah! We wouldn't want that!" He felt like he was acting a fool, but he shook his head at the thought. He needed to stay confident. As he was about to speak again, he saw her pull up her camera and take a picture of Mars and it's storm. Confused, he stared at her. "Wha-What are you doing?" He hadn't seen her take a picture before, despite this camera being a quarter of the way full of photos from this six month voyage. "It's for my dad. I want to make sure I don't miss a thing since he... well, you know." Judas felt ignorant. He really couldn't remember why Evee was taking pictures for her father. Already he knew he was incompetent boyfriend material because of it.
They sat quietly again as they watched the storm, with Evee thinking of her father and mother back home. Was he even still alive? His cancer was flaring up right before she left, and had gotten progressively worse as she trained for this mission. She held the camera close to her chest, a thick lump suddenly growing in the back of her throat. She can't cry here. Not in front of Judas. "I miss him. My dad," she said suddenly, not once looking away from the storm on Mars' surface. He looked at her, a brow raised in confusion. She didn't elaborate. They were silent once again, both thinking of entirely different things. Judas took this time to look at Evee, memorizing all of her features on her face. Her dark hair was short, yet long enough to be put in a ponytail, with bangs flowing to the curve of her cheek, with eyes like two amber stones that gazed so heavily at their target. Her lips were slightly parted, which seemed to be something she didn't notice she did, although he didn't mind it. Her off-white tank top with the NASA logo was perfectly fitted to her body, causing him to stare at her chest a moment longer than he was suppose to. Luckily, she didn't notice this either. He suddenly imagined what it would be like if he and Evee were alone on this shuttle, with nothing but all the time in the world for each other. The only two people left in the whole galaxy. Sounded like a script to a bad sci-fi romance where they both possibly die at the end.
"Anyway... it looks like we're only a couple days out now," she continued, changing the subject back to their arrival to Mars. "It's exhilarating, isn't it? We, some college kids, being the first to set foot on Mars." Judas glanced up at her as he heard her voice, but ignored what she said and simply stared at her, enjoying how the cockpit's lighting illuminated her features. He saw her turn to him, confused. "Judas? Did you hear me?" "Huh? What?" He shook his head as he cleared his throat. "Sorry. I dazed out for a second," he admitted shamefully. "You've been doing that a lot around me lately," she confessed, her voice soft as she glances at him with watchful eyes. "Yeah. I must be tired or something," he dodged, trying to think of something to say before Evee continued on. "Uh so, Evee. There's something I wanted to talk to you about, y'know. If you've got the time." She sighs as she looks back out the window again. "Sure. What is it?" He cleared his throat one more time, turning his neck to crack it and relax. "I was... meanin' to ask you if... y'know. If there's someone special waiting for you. Like... a boyfriend or something?" He felt as if his I.Q. decreased as he spoke that sentence, as it was not spoken the way he would've liked. She didn't look at him, but shook her head. "No. I never had time for a boyfriend. Still don't." Still? "Oh. Well, I guess I should consider myself one lucky S.O.B. for that, huh?" Judas started laughing to himself, although Evee wasn't impressed. "What's that suppose to mean?" she asked, her brows causing a tiny wrinkle between them. He rubbed his neck, nervous and ashamed for the failed flirt attempt. "O-Oh, that? It was- What I meant to say is-" He sighs in defeat, turning away from her. "Never mind." Evee slowly returned to looking at Mars and its now fading storm, her mind reeling and perplexed by his words from moments ago. It was only a minute later when Judas spoke again, floating backwards towards the door. "I'm... going to go see if we have any snacks left."
He pushed off one of the pilot seats and began to float away, silently cursing himself as he failed to tell her how he feels. Six months they spent together in this hunk of metal, and he still had issues with talking to girls. Well, not just any girl. This girl. Evangeline Roberts. As the door hissed opened, he stopped himself, thinking about why she was here in the first place. What was it that called her to say yes to this mission? Why did she want this? "Hey Evee," he called out one last time, turning towards her. She looked over her shoulder at him, replying in a clear voice. "Yeah?" He tightened his fist a moment before relaxing, as if trying to keep himself focused on the question. "Why did you want to do this anyway? Go to space, I mean." It was a question she had gotten many times back on Earth, one she didn't mind answering. Even if it meant repeating it again to someone she's told it to before. "My dad. That's why. He couldn't go to space back when he was an astronaut, because he was sick. Still is..." Judas slowly nodded his head. He could understand a bit as to why she chose this path. "I promised him that I would capture the stars and bring them back to him," she continued, holding her camera close to her chest as she turned back around. "It was his dream to reach the moon, and now here I am, going to Mars." She touched the glass, her eyes drifting to the dust cloud on the planet's surface, her reflection even gazing at the desolate planet. "We're the first human beings to go a place where no man has gone before. It was something humanity didn't believe would be possible in our lifetime. Yet, here we are." Her reflection showed that she closed her eyes for a moment before looking at the planet with determination. "I am going to be the first person to ever set foot on it's surface. I am going to bring the stars back to my dad, and make him proud. This was not just his dream, but mine as well. I can't fail him. I refuse to." Judas was taken aback by the power in her voice, which made her sound like she was the heroine in some epic space odyssey movie. She didn't sound dramatic about it as she spoke her speech, but it was still enlightening to hear. It was as if some grand adventure was about to happen, which rekindled the flame in him. Six months of doing nothing in space got to him, and now, he remembers why he agreed to go. He wanted to write a story, about this mission and his experience, to tell the world what he saw. And now, he wanted to write about him and Evee, and how their time together created this monumental tale about their time on Mars, with (possibly) a romance between the two. Alright, he admitted to himself that he was thinking too far ahead, but he was determined to get him and Evee together.
"I believe you," Judas said in a breathless voice. Evee looked at him through their reflections, smiling a bit. "Thanks. We'll be stranded here for the next two years. We might as well make the best of it." He nodded in agreement, about the leave the cockpit again. "You coming?" he asked one last time, a part of him hoping she would say yes. She was silent a moment before shaking her head, her bangs flowing around from the lack of gravity. "I... wanna watch Mars a bit more before I go. For such a barren planet, there is a weird beauty to it, you know?" Judas was silent and simply nodded as he finally left the cockpit, leaving Evee alone to continue observing the red planet. They were so close to the planet now, just mere days away. They had so much to do when they got there; setting up camp, making sure there is oxygen inside their portable domes, setting up radar to track the storms... It was unbelievable that they were the first to be on such a mission like this, and a dangerous one. She was certain that there were no aliens on it. That was only a thing in the movies. Still, if there was something else there besides what they were looking for... Evee shook her head. There was no way that there was something else here. If there were, NASA and scientists all around the globe would've seen it. Although, if there truly was something else there, Evee was determined to unlock whatever secrets were in store for her. She wanted to be the first to discover everything that Mars had to offer them.
A plan was made as the days dwindled by, and their distance from Mars continued to close. Everything was set into place, the rations completely put into order, and the supplies needed to create a base were all together. Everyone was excited for this day, when their shuttle would land and they were to set foot on Mars for the first time. Evee was floating down the hall with a bag of their supplies when she heard a giggling voice coming from their storage closet. With curiosity getting the best of her, she floated closer to the open door, peeking inside to see Rocky and Sheila kissing passionately inside. His thick goatee scratched Sheila's chin as their kiss intensified, her hands combing through his thick, pushed-back graying hair as she could feel him press up against her. She pulled away slightly, giggling in a hushed voice. "Rocky. Someone will see us." "Let 'em," he replied quietly, kissing her. "I want them to see how much I love this woman in front of me... the one I'm going to marry when we get back to Earth." She laughed softly, barely above a whisper. "That's two years too long, though." "So?" He kissed her neck, his large hands running through her pixie haircut up the small of her neck. "I loved you since we last went on tour together. Remember? When we went up to fix that panel on the satellite?" She sighs, slowly tugging at his trousers. "I remember," she whispered in his ear before nibbling on his lobe. "Careful," he warned playfully. "If you get me worked up, I might have to do a strip search..." "Ha! I'd like to see you try, handsome." As they continued to kiss once more, Evee tried to sneak by and not disturb them. It was best to leave them alone in times like this, especially since it showed that even in space, love can blossom. However, the bag of supplies she was carrying got snagged on a piece of metal that was protruding from the wall, and a loud shredding sound was heard. Rocky and Sheila turned to see Evee trying to stop the supplies from floating away, which in turn caused her to look at them. "I uh... I didn't see anything!" she said quickly, knowing it was a lie. She somehow got the feeling that they knew it to be a lie, too. But instead of getting angry, they laughed and looked at one another. "I told you someone would see us," Sheila teased, lightly smacking Rocky's chest. "So? Let her see us together. I don't care."
They both chuckled before turning to Evee, and coming to her aid to stop the supplies from floating off. It was actually kind of sweet that they had each other, even in space. Their relationship was strong, and even space couldn't tear them apart. As they brought the supplies back to her, placing them in a new baggage from the storage closet, Sheila took Evee's hands, pleading with gentle eyes. "I don't mind if you know about us, Evee. You're a good girl." She smiled at the older, redhead woman, nodding as she took the newly supplied bag. "Just... one thing before you go. And this is coming from me, okay?" "Sure, Sheila. What's up?" Evee asked, looking up at her. The pilot sighed before looking at Rocky, who was tying the supplies down in preparation for touchdown. "I don't want the rest of them to know about me and Rocky. It will distract them from their mission. Maybe when things calm down and we're all set up, we'll tell them, too." Sheila looked at Evee once more, resting her hand on her shoulder. "But... for now, please keep this between us three. Okay?" Evee replied with an affirmative nod, offering a smile to the happily engaged woman. "You better hurry that along to the supply crate," Sheila said, floating back into the storage closet with Rocky. "I have some... things to take care of in here." The co-pilot grinned from ear to ear as he heard the woman he loved say those words, causing him to turn around and pull her inside. "Yeah... don't want these things to just float away." He moved towards the panel and entered a code to shut the storage closet door, locking it from the inside to those outside. Evee shook her head, continuing on towards the others that were putting supplies in storage crates for the surface. At least they'll have some fun before touchdown.
"Evee! Vstavay! You have to wake up now!"
A blurry figure was shaking her as she stirred awake, yawning as she stretched out. She was lucky she didn't float away in her sleep. Thank God for these straps to keep them in place. She rubbed her eyes before looking up at the figure, although with that accent, she didn't need to see them to know who it was. "Nikolai? What's going on?" "You have to get up now, Evee! We're going to touchdown on Mars!" Never had Evee ripped herself out of her bed straps just to glide halfway across the shuttle to get to the nearest windows. Mars was so close now! And it even looked like they were in the clear of any storms! "Oh my God," she said, breathless. "It's really happening. We're finally here..." Nikolai nearly rammed into her, laughing in pure and utter joy. "Well what are we waiting for, podruga?! Let's go get our suits on!" They both floated as fast as they could to where their spacesuits were stored, where everyone was already waiting for them and gearing up. She didn't expect to see Valentina and Judas already prepared before her. It was a tad embarrassing. "Oh my God, like, finally!" Valentina said, in her usual annoyed voice. "Judas wouldn't, like, shut up about you wanting to be the first to set foot on Mars. I seriously thought you would be up before any of us." "Yeah, me too," she admitted, floating over to her suit and beginning to gear up. "I didn't get much sleep last night. Too excited, you know?" Alex could hear that excitement pouring out of Evee's voice, causing him to chuckle. He knew she had been waiting for this since almost forever. Evee had sealed her helmet on her suit at last, a gentle, yet excited sigh escaping from her lips. "This is it, isn't it? I'm not dreaming, right?" "Do you want me to pinch you through your suit?" asked Alex, chuckling again. She laughed before floating over to bop his shoulder. "No! You might damage the suit!"
Their radios in their helmets all crackled to life as they all geared up, Rocky's voice calling out to them. "Everyone. Report to the bridge A-SAP. We need to strap in before we make our descend planet side." "That's our cue," Judas said, floating off past everyone before stopping in front of Evee. "You first, Evee. I know how important this is to you." She smiled at him, grateful for the gesture. He seemed to be doing nice things for her lately, or at least, the last couple months. With a nod of her head, she floated off, heading towards the place they all sat before, back when they first left Earth six months prior. It was a little nostalgic, although clearly it was not nostalgia at all. Evee was the first to strap herself into her seat, followed by Alex and Judas, and finally the rest. It was very exhilarating, to finally be here. To touchdown on the planet that no man had ever gone before. She sighed heavily, nearly breathless again. Her stomach suddenly twisted in knots and thumped around violently. Was she nervous? Well of course she was! This was all new to her; being in space, going to Mars, living on Mars. They would have to for the next two years, since they were not going to be close enough to make it back to Earth again, which would take an additional six months after. Still, to be here, and with Alex especially... Evangeline Roberts was unafraid. She would be brave, and strive forward onto greater things. This was a new challenge, and she would face it with her head held high, and a big smile on her face.
She had to.
For her father.
"Are we all strapped in tightly?" Sheila asked on the radio, her hands working the controls with her co-pilot, Rocky. Everyone made an affirmative sound on the radio in response, all looking over at the captain who was to be their guide to landing this hunk of metal down on the planet. She had done it many times before, when she had to test land these rockets for NASA. And if there was anyone she recommended to be her co-pilot, it was Rocky. He was very skilled with working with flying machinery, since he did work on jets in the military, even flying a couple before he was honorably discharged for a minor head injury. Luckily, NASA seemed to not pin that against him, and still allowed him to fly. It was especially a good thing for Sheila. "Alright, hold onto your butts," Rocky said humorously, cackling in the radio. "Hey! You stole that line from that one movie!" Valentina squeaked. "'Jurassic Park,' Valentina," Judas replied in an annoyed tone. "I-I knew that, doofas!" "Knock it off," Alex replied coolly, shaking his head. Suddenly, the engines were rattling violently, the Serendipity readying itself to land on that red planet.
It was starting.
"Sheila, I'm losing control a little," Rocky said calmly, although there was a hint of concern in his voice. "Wind is effecting our descent. Adjust to the starboard side by ten degrees." Rocky seemed to follow the captain's directions, and soon was back in control. "Board is green again. We're good to go, Sheila." The shuttle rattled and shook as they descended down to the planet, the winds picking up, but not terribly effecting them anymore. Evee looked up at the window above her head, seeing the red dust fly past. She smiles. "So Marsdoes have wind patterns..." "So it seems, Ms. Roberts," the professor replied. "The storm we saw a couple days ago was just one proof. Now we're gonna be living in it." The Serendipity was rattling violently again, but not from the winds this time. The rockets were causing the rattling, and even made everyone jerk harshly in their seats. It was a rough descent down to the planet, but luckily, thanks to all the procedures and guidelines they followed. Besides, Evee wasn't too worried. Rocky and Sheila were trained professionals. She noticed Judas sitting in front of her on the other side, his head leaned back and his breath heavy on the radio. He was having a hard time with this. "I think I'm gonna puke," he finally replied, obviously nauseous from the violently trembling of the shuttle. "Please don't," Valentina replied, trying to move away from Judas. It was difficult, of course, since they were strapped down tightly. "We're almost there everyone. Hang on!" Sheila sounded so confident on the radio, that it was almost infectious. Evee couldn't hold in her excitement anymore, despite how hard she tried. She just wanted to rip off the straps and run straight to the door. Gravity seemed to restore a little, but not too much. Still, it was better than everybody floating like they have the past six months. "We're almost there," Rocky said, with a static on the radio. "Touchdown in 5... 4..."
The seconds couldn't be counted any faster.
"2... 1..."
The Serendipity landed with near perfect accuracy on their target, the engines roaring loudly right before they were cut off. She couldn't get the straps off any faster, even if she was the first to take off one of them. "Lemme help you," Alex laughed, helping her with her remaining strap before working on his own. She bolted out of her seat, moving past everyone and practically running to the shuttle door. "Ms. Roberts, be careful!" the professor warned her, but she ignored him. She knew she was going to be just fine, and that this was a chance of a lifetime. She wanted to the be first, the first of these people selected for this mission, to set foot on Mars. She stood there, impatient at the doors, waiting for them to open. It felt like it took ages before they did.
And when they did, she could hardly believe her eyes.
Evee took a breath as the doors of the shuttle opened before her, revealing the red planet's landscape before her very auburn eyes. It was dusty, with visibility near zero. But it was honestly the best view she's ever seen of the planet on it's surface physically. As she climbed down the ladder, she looked towards the ground, imagining her first step. "'That's one small step for man,'" she quoted, leaping down away from the ladder and creating the first ever human footprint on Mars. "'One giant leap for mankind.'" "Neil Armstrong," she heard Alex say on the radio. "The first man to walk the moon. Classic quote for this occasion." "Crazy how far we've come, hasn't it?" she asked, smiling to herself. "This is a momentous occasion," Rocky suddenly said on the radio, which statics a bit from the gravelly sound of his voice. Alex and Judas were the next ones off the shuttle, both moving on towards the hatch on the other side to get the crate of supplies. It seemed Judas was still trying to recover from the landing, as he stumbled a bit while walking. Valentina and Nikolai were next afterwards to get off, and then Professor Stevenson, Sheila, and Rocky. Everyone had a job to do, even Evee, but she was too focused on her footprint to even take notice. Alex decided to take over her duties for the moment, until she was ready. Everyone knew she was there for her father, gathering memories for him. Something he wasn't able to do himself.
Rocky, being a retired military vet, decided to take the lead. "I'll scout ahead," he said. His mic statics once more when he spoke, the signal getting slightly weaker because of the distance he's put between him and their shuttle. "Remember to stay close to the shuttle for a good signal with the radios. At least until we get those antennas up and running." "I'll take care of those," Sheila responded, getting to work on opening a crate that had the antennas inside. Nikolai helped her get them set up, following behind with a cable and attaching them to each little antenna Sheila placed down. Judas was able to carry one of the crates that they had on his own, his condition getting better by the minute. Still, he rather get the building set up as soon as possible, as he did not like wearing this suit for very long. Luckily for him, it seemed Sheila has found a suitable place to set up the building. It'll take some time, so they might have to sleep in the Serendipity, but at least they will have a building eventually, with a roof.
Evee was looking at her footprint, the first human footprint on Mars. It seemed surreal to look at it, but it was definitely not a work of fiction. She took her camera out of one of her external pockets on her spacesuit, and knelt down to take a photo of the footprint. Her footprint. "This is for you, Dad." "Evee!" Alex's voice on the radio caught her off guard as she stood up, turning to face him as he approached. The others were already heading off towards Rocky's location, almost leaving her behind. "You okay?" Alex asked her, concerned that she was starting to get seconds thoughts about this trip now. She smiled. He truly was like a big brother figure, always protective of her and concerned. She looked at the rock formations off in the distance as she sighed. "Yeah. I'm fine," she finally replied, breathless. "It's just this place is... so amazing." He smiled back at her, gazing at the formations as well. "I agree. It's almost hauntingly beautiful." They stared at the structures for some time before a static on their radio startled them. "You two doing alright?" It was their professor, Stevenson. He sounded a little winded from having to walk after practically six months floating around. "We need to get moving. Captain Hunk said that there is a suitable area up ahead for setting up our base camp." Alex gazed over at Evee with a smile, offering a hand to her. "Let's go make history," he said softly. She took one last look at her disappearing footprint in the sand, an overwhelming sensation flowing through her.
"Yeah." She takes his hand. "Let's go make history."
Setting up a base was difficult, as the filtration system was nearly impossible to put together. Valentina was the one who complained the most about having fresh air, despite her being the one who was suppose to be in charge of putting it together. As the days rolled on, they continued to get further from the Serendipity, but not too far from their first base they've built. But it seemed that, despite how close they landed to the supposed spot where the water was, the crew had yet to find it. After about a month, tensions were rising, especially between Stevenson and the captain. Evee and Alex had finished returning to home base after setting up even more antennas, only to walk out of the pressure chamber to see what looked like a soda can flying across the room. "Dammit, Hunk, just admit it! This mission is completely bogus! NASA lied to us!" "You're wrong, Stevenson," Sheila replied, as calmly as possible. "This mission had been in the works for years. NASA wouldn't just lie to us." "Bullshit!" Stevenson threw another empty can of soda across the room, nearly hitting Alex in the head. "Hey whoa, Prof! Chill." The angry professor turned to see Alex and Evee, not realizing they were there. "Shit. What are you two doing back?" "We finished setting the antennas," Evee answered slowly, not wanting to incur his wrath. "We got done a little early since we emptied the crate." "Well, there goes the third one," Sheila replied, going over to a large binder on a desk nearby. They had been emptying crates left and right, and didn't seem to be getting closer to where they needed to be. Stevenson sighed angrily, shaking his head. "We are starting to get low on supplies, Hunk," he said. "Admit it. There is no water here on Mars. We came here for nothing!" "No we didn't," Rocky suddenly said, exiting the next room. He was holding a coffee cup with NASA's logo in his hand, which was steaming from the black liquid that was inside. He was wearing a grey, NASA tank top with black pants as he approached, a hand in his pocket. It looked as if he had just taken a shower, as his hair was wet. "There is proof of water here. We have seen live feed from one of the rovers before it went dark." He took a sip of his coffee before setting it on the table. "We have a clear location on where it is. It's just... we're on foot. It will take a while without a ground vehicle to get us there." "And how long will that take?" Stevenson snapped. "At this rate, we'll be out of food and water before we know it! We'll starve out here!"
Just hearing those words made Evee's stomach twist and sink. She didn't realize they were that close to diminishing supplies. They had yet to learn how to plant crops with the soil on Mars, let alone get it to grow anything. They had packaged soil from Earth, which Valentina was working with, but would that be enough? It's a good thing Valentina found the green house crate, which is where she probably was right now, working on the plants as best as she could. Still, if she still has yet to grow anything... "I'm sure our supplies are not that bad," Sheila reassured, setting the binder down. "Once Judas gets back from counting the supplies we do have, I'm sure he will reassure you that everything's fine." The door to the airlock opened again, with Judas and Nikolai both entering with worried expressions. Evee turned to them both, noticing that look of despair in their eyes. "Don't tell me..." She bit her lip, her knuckles pressing against it. Nikolai sighed as he gave her the clipboard, not saying a single word. "We are running low on supplies. Namely water," Judas answered, matter-of-factly. He had confirmed their greatest fear. "Great. Just great." Stevenson turned to Sheila, jabbing his finger in her direction. "You said we would be fine. Does dying of dehydration sound fine to you!?" Rocky swiftly moved defensively in front of the captain, standing an obvious foot taller than the professor. He gave him an intimidating stare, but it seemed the professor wasn't startled by this. "Are you trying to scare me, white boy?" he snapped quietly, staring up at Rocky. Although the name did startle almost everyone, as no one knew the professor was that kind of man. "Stay away from Sheila," Rocky warned calmly. "I am sure this is a problem that NASA foresaw beforehand. We just need to look at the procedures..." "Fuck you and your procedures, Sam!" "Professor Stevenson!" Sheila snapped at last, taking the binder and slamming it down on the table, causing her coffee cup to nearly fall over. "NASA has crossed all their Ts and dotted all their Is before this mission went green. They had planned ahead. They have!" Nikolai didn't seem to like the arguing that was going on between the older adults in the room, causing him to simply depart with an almost angered look in his eyes. Evee had heard that his parents once argued like tha, when he was little, and it was bad. Broken plates and shattered windows type of bad. Nikolai nearly ran away from home for good once, but ended up at his grandfather's place and stayed there for a few days. His parents never knew until they finally came over and found him. They vowed to never get into arguments that pointless again, and so they did. But here, Nikolai didn't have the comfort of his grandfather's home to go to. Evee felt awful for him, to hear arguments from others getting out of control. If only there was something she could do...
And then, it hit her.
She remembered looking at the binder one night for Rocky, looking for the log to write something down. But while flipping through in search of it, she came across something; a single page with a cryptic message: "Activate Protocol 32-B." There was more to the page, but that was all she could recall. Maybe it was something they had to activate when they were low on supplies? "Um... guys?" She tried to catch their attention, but they were still arguing profusely. "Hey!" she called again, but still they ignored her. "Evee, what's up?" Alex and Judas both seemed concerned for what Evee was trying to do, not exactly understanding why she was trying to butt in on this mess. "Alex, I need to talk to them. I need them to listen!" Judas looked at the man Evee called her big brother figure and simply watched as he nodded his head. Alex wet his lips and put his fingers in his mouth, and with a quick breath, whistled loud enough to catch everyone's attention. Stevenson snapped his head to look at them, his eyes sharp enough that he could kill a man with them. "What is it, Mr. Montgomery?!" "Evee has something to say. It's important." Sheila came up behind Rocky, keeping as much distance between her and the professor as possible. "Yes, sweetie? What is it?" "I, uh..." Evee swallowed the dry lump in her throat, hoping that this simple memory will solve their problem. "I... think that there is something that can fix this. It's in the binder. Protocol 32-B?" Rocky and Sheila both seemed confused for a moment, but their eyes lit up upon the realization of this. "That's it! Remember what Mission Control said before we left, Rocky?" "Protocol 32-B," he replied, grabbing the binder and flipping quickly through the pages. "They said that only activate it in case of an emergency. This is definitely an emergency!" "What's Protocol 32-B?" Stevenson asked, but was ignored. "Evee, hon. What was the page number? Do you remember?" Rocky asked, looking at her. She thought about it, trying to remember. She knew it was well past the supply list for the crates, which was at least in the 200 pages, but before the log she wrote in, which was exactly on Page 404. "I know it's at least past Page 299 but before Page 400... try Page 348 and backwards?" Rocky went straight to the page number and worked on backwards as told, flipping through slowly and reading each page. "What is Protocol 32-B?" Stevenson asked again, getting annoyed by the lack of an answer. "I can't seem to find it," Rocky replied, flipping a little more quickly. "Try to remember, Evee," Sheila said calmly. "Try to remember the page number." Evee did think about it again, trying her hardest to remember. It was slowly coming back to her. "Try... Page 383 and go backwards again." Rocky flipped forward to that page, and after looking a few pages back, he found it. "Here it is!" He practically sounded as excited as a child who opened his presents on Christmas morning. Sheila looked over his shoulder to read the binder as well, a smile crossing her lips. "Protocol 32-B is located on the Serendipity, huh? I remember loading it up the day we left. Everyone stay here!" She dashed past everyone and went to go suit up, beaming with confidence once again. It caused Rocky to look over his shoulder at her, and cock a smile. This was obviously the thing he loved about her, when she was so confident and took charge. It was attractive to him. Yet another reason why and how he fell in love with her.
"What is Protocol 32-B?!"
Stevenson's voice was on the verge of cracking after how many times he had shouted today. Rocky sighed as he looked back at the binder, the moment ruined thanks to the professor. "We don't know all the details. However, once Sheila returns with Protocol 32-B, we can proceed." Evee slumped down in the chair nearby, a heavy sigh released from her chest. She prayed that this truly was the answer. Sheila and Rocky both seemed confident, which made her hopeful. "I think I'll go help her look," Alex said suddenly, following after Sheila. "The sooner we find this thing, the sooner we can activate this protocol, right? I'll be right back." As he disappeared behind the pressure room to get suited up, Judas came over to Evee's side, leaning against the table. "That was a hell of a thing to remember, huh?" She looked up at him, confused. He rubbed his neck nervously, looking away. "It's like a Deus ex Machina. You know, where a seemingly unsolvable or desperate situation was solved by a simple solution. Except, it's mostly thanks to a complete stranger or bystander than the protag." These words were confusing. "Pro... tag?" Judas chuckled a little. "It's short for protagonist." Evee nodded. She forgot he was a film major. "So... I'm the protagonist in your script you keep writing?" she asked, teasingly. Judas scoffed and tried to dismiss her claim, waving his hand at her. "Pssh! C'mon, Evee! My script is still crappy. Hell, my protag doesn't even have a name yet! Beside, it could be a boy for all you know." She gave him a smug look, leaning back in her chair. "Yeah right. I read your script..." It was obvious that he was about to sweat bullets, but instead, tried to play it cool. "That... was for something else. Which sucked, by the way! I threw it out." "Oh." She was mildly disappointed. "I actually kinda liked that script, though. How the girl saves the guy, for once. There aren't enough female leads saving the male characters, you know?" He noticed that what he said really did strike a chord with her, and he felt bad. Now he wished he didn't throw that script away. Maybe he should revise his new script..? "Well... anyway," she began, stretching. "So I pulled a... what did you call it? A 'deus ex machina'?" "Yeah. It's Latin," Judas replied, but he didn't elaborate what it meant. She didn't need him to, however. She was lucky enough to know Latin. "It's just... it's a hell of a thing to remember something like that during a situation like this. It's almost unbelievable." She chuckled nervously before shrugging. "Eh. I try."
Rocky turned to Evee and Judas a moment, still reading over the protocol's guidelines. "When Sheila and Alex return with the protocol, we'll need Valentina. I think she's in the green house room. Could you go get her?" Evee nodded and was about to stand up before Judas stopped her. "Nah. You stay. I'll go get Tina." As he wondered off and disappeared behind a door, Stevenson snorted, crossing his arms. It was obvious that he wasn't happy with how everything was turning out, although he was calm again. It has been an insane month on Mars. Most of their clothes were either stained with sweat, or red dust from Mars' surface. It was nothing like Earth, that was for sure. "They better get here, quick," Stevenson said impatiently. "I want to know what the hell this protocol is. Why wasn't it mentioned to us?!" "It was for the superiors to know, the ones in command. Me and Sheila," Rocky replied, flipping the page over to read the back before flipping back again. "We don't know exactly what it's for. Just something for emergencies only. Food and water are our main concerns, so it must be about that. It has to..." "It better be," the professor snarled, before pulling out a crumpled box of cigarettes out of his coat pocket. A lighter was stuffed inside the box, with only three or four smokes left before it was finally empty. He lit one and took a puff, slowly exhaling the horrible stench and letting it fill the air. "You've gotta stop smoking that crap," Rocky replied quietly, waving the smoke away. "It'll kill you one of these days." "Better to die of lung cancer than to die of dehydration," he snapped back, taking another puff and blowing towards the co-pilot's direction deliberately. "It sucks to die, either way, Stevenson. Don't be an asshole." The professor laughed at Rocky, thinking his reply as nothing but empty words. "I'm old and tired, Sam... I don't really give a shit." Rocky snorted, waving the smoke away from himself. "Same here, Bradley. But I do give a shit." Evee curled up in her chair as she sat quietly, listening to the older men talk back and forth. It reminded him of her father and uncle when they talked about her father's cancer. Crazy how he survived all these years, but she was glad he did. She prayed that her father will survive these next two years without her. She wanted to show him so many things that she's found on this planet. She was determined to fill this camera with everything she could, even of the people that were with her. He wanted to be a part of it.
After some time, Sheila and Alex had returned from the shuttle, carrying a small yellow box with a bold black label that read, "32-B." Evee practically jumped out of her seat as she saw it, her eyes lighting up with excitement. She ran towards the room in the back where Nikolai was, finding him sitting on the bed and reading a technician handbook. "Nikolai! Hey Niko!" She shook him gently, startling him. He had his headphones in, which made it difficult to hear her the first time. "What's going on, podruga?" "There is a solution to our water problem," Evee answered excitedly. "Everyone needs to be in the main room to hear it. C'mon!" She began to make her way back as Nikolai turned off his music player, leaving it behind and following her. "You're serious? Ty dolzhen menya izdevat'sya..." They returned to see Judas had gotten Valentina out of the green house long enough to see what the small lockbox contained, which seemed to have Stevenson on edge. Rocky stood by Sheila, his arms folded behind his back as she took charge. "Alright, people. Roll call! Montgomery. Stevenson... Roberts. Tillman. Lebedev. Gulliver." Everyone was present and accounted for, which put Sheila to ease. She looked at the small, yellow lockbox on the table, looking at the black bold letters that adorned it with a soft sigh. "I do not know what's in this box," she admitted before looking back up at them. She leaned on the table a bit. "However, if my gut is right, this will fix our problem. For those who do not know..." She looked at Valentina, who seemed oblivious to what was going on. "...we have a situation. We are running low on water. It's a dire situation, to be sure. However, I have a feeling that whatever is in this small box, it will help us fix that problem." She turned the box around to see the small keypad on the front, and peered over at the binder to read the code input on the page. After inserting the code, the box popped ajar. Rocky hissed in a short breath as he braced himself for what was in store for them, as everyone else held their breath. Sheila slowly opened the lockbox, delicately as if she was defusing a bomb. But to everyone's surprise, there was nothing more than flash drive that sat snug inside a padded case.
Stevenson snorted angrily, already in disbelief of what was discovered. "That's it? A fucking flash drive?" Evee swallowed hard, her knuckles pressing against her lips again. "No. That can't be it," Alex whispered. "There has to be more to it, right?" "What's on it?" Judas asked, gesturing with his head. "Maybe there is, like, a map or something on it?" Valentina suggested. "A map to what, though? To the water we're looking for?" Judas shook his head, crossing his arms as he replied to her. "Sheila," Rocky spoke in a soft, but gravelly voice. "Want me to get the computer booted up?" "Yes, please do, Sam." Evee noticed how Rocky's face winced from hearing his first name. Normally, everyone would call him "Rocky" and nothing else. Something told her that the captain only called him that because she was worried, or scared. She had every right to be. What if this didn't pan out? What if it was for nothing? Rocky left to boot up the computer in the corner, which almost felt like it took an eternity before it finally turned on. He input his personnel login for NASA and the machine hummed to life, welcoming him with a computerized feminine voice. "Well that's new," he said, jokingly. Sheila took the flash drive out and inserted it into the computer's hard drive, opening the files and projecting it on the large screen that the computer was attached to. It only contained one video file, and an encrypted file. "Why is that file encrypted?" Alex asked, pointing at it. "Maybe there's a decryption code in the video file?" Nikolai pondered, rubbing the stub on his chin. Sheila took a breath before activating the video file and standing back, everyone's eyes glued to the overscreen as the file began to play.
An image of a man appeared, and immediately, Evee recognized him. It was the Director in charge of this entire mission, the one who - along with two others - specially selected her and the others to be a part of this. "Hunk. Rockwell. If you two are watching this, that means that the situation is dire," the Director said on the recording. "I'm sure that the major concern must be either water or food... or both. And if it is, that can only mean one thing: during your six-month flight, you broke open the food crate reserved for Mars." Everyone looked over at Judas, who felt guilty for being the one who suggested opening the second food crate at least four months into their journey. But no one knew it was suppose to be reserved, not even Rocky and Sheila. "It makes sense, however. We did have two extra mouths to feed at the last minute, and didn't get the chance to fix the problem before the flight." Two extra mouths? Evee knew Alex and Valentina had to be the unexpected newcomers, especially since she suggested Alex join them. Valentina was probably added to balance the team, but... "However, what's done is done. You are all on Mars now, accomplishing what no man has ever done before." He shifted a little off-screen, and revealed that he was reaching for his coffee cup. "Now I know what you're thinking: what is Protocol 32-B? What does it do? Why was this flash drive the only thing the lockbox contain? I can answer these questions. Simply put, NASA had been planning this day for years. Even back in the 70s and 80s, when there wasn't a means to get there, to Mars." The Director took another sip of his coffee, taking a moment to himself as he leaned back in his squeaky chair. "Even back then, however, everyone had planned for this mission... especially my great-grandfather. He worked here, just as my father and my grandfather before me. And all of us have said the same thing: humans will be able to go to Mars one day. And we believed that. So, even back then, plans were set in motion." He took a sip of his coffee before setting it down, his chair squeaking as he leaned forward. "There are airtight crates that were sent there from long ago, with food that won't spoil. However, we discovered that it took two years for Mars to reach it's closest point towards Earth, and since then, decided to send at least one crate of food and water to Mars every two years. As well as any other necessities that are needed, of course: toiletries, feminine products, and so on. You may call these caches, if you will." He leaned forward in his chair, staring directly into the camera, his small eyes and round cheeks being prominent features on his face. "Now that you've watched this video file, a decryption code will have sent to the other file on this flash drive, which will activate a map that will show you the pinged locations of the caches in your area. Retrieve them, and I can promise you, your next two years on Mars will be just fine. Just remember: you are doing Humanity a great service. You are accomplishing a dream that has been in the making for years. You are the best and the brightest chosen few on our little planet. Make us proud." The Director gave a simple smile, and with that, the screen shut down and the feed went dark. The computer console made a loud blip sound, and the once encrypted file became decrypted.
Sheila took a breath before returning to the computer, and opening the file. The over screen lit up again to show the file, which was - indeed - a map with live radar as to the locations of the caches that were nearby. And, to their surprise, there were at least two of them close. "Holy shit," Judas gasped, his aqua-green eyes darting to each of the pinpoints on the map. "We're saved." Sheila smiled as she looked back to everyone, confidence in her eyes and in her mind. She gave a quick gaze over to Rocky, who simply flashed his charming smile at her. Evee could tell that a plan was forming, and that she was knew this meant one thing: they were going back outside, all of them, and they were going to find these caches that were close to their base. And bring them home.
"Are you suited up already?"
Judas was just coming to check on Evee when he saw her finishing up her suit, the helmet not yet placed on. "I know Sheila gave us an hour, but... I'm ready now, Judas!" He could hear the excitement in her voice, smirking a little to himself. He took his suit suddenly and began to put it on as well. "What are you doing..?" "Getting ready, too," he answered, grinning at her. "Why? Am I not allowed to?" Evee looked away suddenly, sitting down on the bench in the pressure chamber. "N-No. I just... sorry." Oh great, now he felt bad for joking with her like that. "It's fine, Evee. I was just teasing!" He strapped and zipped up parts of his suit before actually thinking about it. His suit was just as bulky as hers, being almost too big for their bodies. It reminded him of a fat Santa suit. He turned to her suddenly and threw his head back, patting his stomach and jiggling it with a loud, "Ho ho ho." Evee chuckled, looking at him with such confusion. "What the hell..? What are you doing?" "Santa Claus. C'mon, I practically feel like the jolly ol' bastard!" She couldn't help but laugh, which made Judas feel a whole lot better than before. "Except it's all white, not red." He looked out the window when she stated that, causing him to shrug. "Maybe Mars' dust can turn it red. Then I can really be Santa Claus!" He chuckled as he sat down on the bench opposite of hers, fixing up a part on his suit as they sat in silence for a moment.
"So," Evee finally broke the silence. "You like Christmas or something?" He looked up at her, a tad confused. "What do you mean, do I like Christmas? Of course I do. Doesn't everybody?" "Well... maybe not the Scrooges, but you know," she replied, shrugging. "But really, Judas. I sometimes hear you humming Christmas tunes to yourself. I was just curious. You don't have to tell me if you don't wanna." He let out a heavy sigh through his nostrils, biting the inside of his cheek. "Hmm. I suppose it's okay to tell you. You don't seem like the type who would laugh at me." Evee scooted to the edge of her seat, looking at him with interest as she sat patient and quiet to listen to him. "The truth is... I absolutely love, love, love Christmas. It's seriously my favorite time of year. It annoys the hell out of my parents, but I always go overboard, y'know?" He began to tell her a story about what happened one year during Christmas, how he had spent so much money on presents that he actually did forget the decorations. He felt bummed about it, despite how glad everyone in his family was for him going minimal that year. But he loved Christmas. "It's the only time of the year when I am actually happy," he explained, looking at his reflection on his helmet. "I mean, it's the only time I can be myself and not worry about what others think of me. I know that... probably sounds stupid." Evee shook her head, tilting her head a little. "No Judas. It's not stupid." He looked up at her with his eyes, a little surprised by that. "It's like all of this with me. I love being here, despite how dangerous it is. And, in a way, it's for my dad, too. He never got the chance to go to the moon like he wanted, so... I took the chance to go beyond it, and to Mars. He was practically in tears because of it." She pulled the velcro from one of the external pockets and pulled out her camera, looking it over. "I will take as many memories on this camera as I can, for Dad. I know he would love it."
They sat there for a moment more in silence, with Evee looking at her camera and Judas looking at her. He grinned a little at the thought of him being one of her memories. They were going to be here for the next two years, at least, so maybe they could grow closer. This was already a step in the right direction, he would think. She looked up at him with a soft smile, bringing her camera up to snap an unexpected photo of Judas. "Smile!" A tiny bleep sound came from the camera before she looked at it, chuckling. "You look so confused," she laughed, showing him the picture of himself. Judas blinked to himself to return to his senses, and saw his dumbfound expression on the photo. He grumbled a little before slightly smiling to himself. It was a pretty dumb picture, but he was happy that she took one of him. He always wanted her to take a picture of him. The doors hissed open and Valentina waltzed in, surprisingly dressed in the proper jumpsuit for her astronaut outfit. She seemed surprised that Evee and Judas were already in here, but couldn't say anything about it as Alex stumbled through. "Oh hey you guys," he replied, passing around Valentina. His hair seemed to have been trimmed back down on the sides, although the ponytail seemed a tad longer now. "I see you two are already set. Excited to get back out there, Judas?" The man scoffed in annoyance before leaning back, waving a hand at Alex. "Hell no! If I had a choice, I'd stay indoors as much as I could. But we really need that water..." Alex murmured in response, pulling up his suit. Valentina seemed distracted as she peered over her shoulder at Judas, as if she wanted to say something, but decided against it. She would probably speak up eventually, like she always did. "Do you think we'll even find it? The cache," Judas asked, looking at Evee for the answer. "If we do, then I hope they have beer stashed inside." Nikolai's voice came from the door as he came inside, giving his opinion on the topic. "Or at least a banquet fit for a king! We deserve it after all we've been though." "I doubt they'll have food that lasted that long," Judas replied. Nikolai shrugged as he decided to get suited up as well. "So like, if you're not excited to get back out there, then why are you all ready to get going?" Valentina finally spoke again as she finally put on her suit, sealing a strap on her arms. Of course, they knew she was addressing Judas, who only groaned in annoyance again. "Because I don't want to be the last one to get ready like last time, when we all went out as a group," he replied. "Besides, the soon we find this cache, the sooner Stevenson can get off our backs. That guy's been on a rampage since yesterday when we took inventory. That's why Sheila told us to do it again today." Evee had wondered about why they rechecked the stocks. She didn't think it was because of the professor. Then again, she was outside at the time, taking pictures of the landscape as she always does. She thought about what was waiting for them out there, when they go and get the cache. She began to worry about finding it as well. She knew everyone was having doubts about it.
No.
She can't afford to doubt herself now.
"We will find it," Evee answered at last. "There are dozens of caches out there, some of them bundled together. If we're lucky, we might find more than one." Alex grinned in response, sitting down beside her. "Y'know what? I think we will, too." She smiled as he wrapped an arm around her, drawing her in for a small hug. That's what everyone needed right now: hope. Once the other three were ready to go, they would leave this breathable habitat in search of the food caches. She was hopeful. She had to be. There has been too much fear and doubt bestowed upon the group. Some good news would be great for their moral.
"Visibility is getting clearer. Rocky, give me a direction."
Sheila was taking charge as she led the group through an uncharted area of Mars, the group carefully following behind in a line. Rocky looked at the tracker in his hands, the slow, droning bleeps seemingly getting weaker as they trekked on. "Signal's not good in this direction," he replied, gazing a moment at a new path and gestured with the tracker. The beeping spiked up as he aimed towards it, which seemed to make everyone hold their breath. "Let's head north a ways. It looks promising." As they continued forth, Stevenson stopped to sit on a nearby rock, his breath raspy on the radio as he spoke. "Are we anywhere near where we need to be? We've been out here for almost two hours!" Everyone ignored the professor at the time, and instead, focusing on looking for anything that looked like crates. "Soon," Sheila responded for what seemed like the tenth time. It was clear that she was becoming annoyed by the elderly man's questionings. Evee took another picture of the group behind her, waving at Alex as he waved back. She had to keep her spirits up while they were out here, had to stay hopeful. It was becoming difficult in such an empty landscape. How much longer would they be out here before they found something? What if they didn't find anything at all?
But soon, the beeping began to grow in strength. She dashed over to Rocky and looked over his large shoulders, trying to see the tracker in his hands. "Is it really..?!" she asked, optimistic. He glanced over at her with a charming smile on his dashing features, a deep chuckle emitting from the radio. "You bet, kiddo! It looks like we're finally getting somewhere." Sheila came over to look at the tracker herself, breaking out in a large smile herself. "Hear that, Stevenson? We're close!" Judas and Alex came rushing up the hill where Evee was, wanting to look at the tracker as well. "Give an old man some space," Rocky joked as pulled the tracker away. "There's plenty of me to go around, y'know." Stevenson got up with a groan before trying to straighten out his back. Rocky continued forward towards their new direction, the beeping becoming stronger and stronger. Everyone held their breath as they followed behind, eager to see if they were to be led to one of the caches. The group was extremely nervous about what was up ahead, and prayed that what they were looking for was there. It had to be. "We're getting close," Rocky said again, his eyes gleaming with joy. The beeping grew louder and faster with each step they took, their hearts beating just as fast to the rhythm of the tracker. "Just over this hill now... I know we're close." "It has to be there," Evee whispered to herself. "It just has to be."
Nikolai was able to push forward past everyone and reach the top of the hill, being the only one who was good at scouting ahead of the group. As he got there, standing above what felt like the world, peering over the edge, a shout was heard over the radio, followed by him saying something in Russian. "Everyone! Get up here! The caches are here! Loads of 'em!" Loads? There were more than one? Evee began to climb up the hill as fast as she could, wanting to see the caches for herself. Her suit felt heavy as she traversed up the steep hill, body trying to push forward and reach the top. She had to see it, all these caches that Nikolai sees. As she reached the top, her breath became caught in her throat, her heart pounding a mile a minute as she saw the landscape before her.
Crates, both old and new, were littered all over the place, as if they were gathered there by some unknown force. Evee coughed out a laugh before the rest of the group made it up the hill, the tracker beeping even more rapidly as they reached the top as well. "Oh my God," was all that came from Sheila's mouth before Nikolai gripped Alex's arm with another excited shout. "We found it! We're saved!" He began to stumble down the hill, nearly tripping over the small rocks as he approached one of the crates. Alex and Stevenson followed behind before Sheila and Rocky, the tracker in the co-pilot's hands beeping ever so rapidly before he turned it off. Judas stood beside Evee a moment, with Valentina standing beside him. "Damn. That is a shit ton of crates," he murmured on the radio, which crackled a little from the whisper, making it difficult to hear him. "How did they get here like this? Did... something move them?" "The storms, maybe," Evee replied. "There are pretty powerful storms on the surface. Maybe strong enough to lift these crates." "That makes sense," Valentina replied. "Explains the patterns of the storms, and even their velocities. They are a bit more frequent on the other side of this hill, but here... it might be a dead zone. The crates aren't like, even covered up with dust and dirt. You can still see them." Now it made sense why Valentina was chosen. She practically sounded like a meteorologist. "I think the storms must've dropped the crates here over time. Perhaps not even all of them, but... most of them." "Now we just gotta figure out how to get these back to home base," Judas pointed out, a hand on his hip. "We might need to get a dolly or something to help us even lift these things." Evee gently tapped his arm before giving him a smile. "C'mon. Let's go see what's down there for us. There must be some sort of manifest on each of the caches."
As she began to make her way down there, Judas and Valentina slowly began to follow behind, the sound of Nikolai's excited cheers emitting loudly on the radio ahead. "Mr. Lebedev! Calm yourself!" the professor warned, but Nikolai ignored him. "This is amazing! Look at all of these! They are all full of food!" "Well some of them are, Niko. Half of these are missing their manifests," Rocky responded, looking at a shredded piece of paper that was stuck on one of the caches. "Either way, we at least got food and water again," Alex replied, looking at another crate. "Hey, this one has some sunlamps in here. Probably for the greenhouse we've got going." "That's good. We're going to need that," Sheila replied, approaching Rocky. "This is one hell of a find. I didn't expect we'd find so many at once." "Better than finding none," the co-pilot answered, flashing a grin at her. She seemed to laugh at this, looking over her shoulder to see the rest of their group arrive. "Ah! Evee. And Judas and Valentina. You decided to join us." "We were just... taking it all in," Judas said quickly, looking at Evee. "Well, you better help us organize these instead of watching. We've got a lot to do, and we don't have that much daylight left." "Yeah. It's like, super creepy out here at night," Valentina replied, shivering unexpectedly at the thought of being outside after dark. It's not the same as it is on Earth, where streetlamps and city lights lit up the darkness. And the silence, save for an occasional wind howl, was especially eerie when they laid in bed after lights out. "Judas, why don't you help Stevenson with that crate over there. Valentina, you can help Nikolai. And Evee, you can give Alex a hand. Looks like he needs it." "Sure thing, Captain," Evee replied with a gentle static over the radio. They dispersed to go straight to work in their designated areas, working on the task at hand.
Alex was flipping a crate over when he noticed Evee approaching him. He waved at her and shoved the crate back, flipping it successfully. "These things weigh a ton," he exaggerated with a huff. "I'm lucky to even lift them up to flip 'em." "Here. Lemme help," Evee responded and gripped on the side of the crate. "Nah. I'll do the heavy lifting, Little Red. How about you check to see if these ones have manifests on them." "You sure?" she asked, worried she was giving him the difficult task. "I can still help lift them, if you want." Alex chuckled at her over the radio, gently pushing her away. "Seriously, Evee. I got this. You can still help me in other ways, y'know." She sighed as she moved back, practically defeated by her childhood friend. "Whatever you say, Bigby. Just don't strain yourself." It felt like forever since they both called each other by their nicknames, as they had always done growing up. Of course, Alex's nickname use to be Big Bad, but was later changed to Bigby after he picked up his first Fables comic book. He couldn't put an issue down after that day, and continued to go hunting for the next issue that was at the stores. Eventually, he began to read them to Evee when they took the bus to school, and she began to read them, although not as faithfully as Alex did. She approached a crate and looked it over for a manifest, reading what she could on it out loud. "This one looks to have nothing but water in it." "Great find, Evee! I'll move it over here in this pile then." She moved about a foot away from him when she nearly tripped over something, and a metal thud sound emitted from under her foot when she caught herself. It startled her at first, as she thought it was simply a sound she imagined. She stomped her foot again, and the metallic sound came once more.
"What..?"
Evee carefully bent down and wiped the dust and dirt away, revealing a metallic-like panel that seemed both ancient and unknown to her. There was no way scientists would've seen this through their telescopes or rovers. "Hey Evee." The voice of Judas came from behind her as he approached. "Rocky told me to come check up on you guys, so I-" He stopped dead in his tracks as saw the metal-like panel she discovered, his blood running cold with what could only be described as fear. "W-What the hell is that?" he asked, keeping his distance. "I don't know," she replied, her voice obviously fascinated by this discovery. "But whatever it is, we need to know what it does." "What?!" Judas' voice on the radio caught everyone's attention. "What's going on, Mr. Tillman?" Stevenson asked loudly on the radio. "Evee found something. I... I dunno what the hell it is, but-" Sheila immediately stopped what she was doing and came over to look at what Evee discovered, the rest seemingly following suit as the captain made her move. "Evee? What is it? What did you find?" She moved away enough for the group to see the metal panel, causing a couple of them to gasp and move away from her. "Is that like, some sort of alien technology or something?" "Seriously, Tina?" Judas asked angrily. "There's no such thing as aliens. That's only in the movies." "Well excuse me for asking, Mr. Know-It-All!" "Quiet you two!" Alex shouted. "This is not the time to be arguing over stupid shit! We need to figure out what this thing is." "And what it does. If it does anything," Evee responded, looking back down at the metal panel. "I wonder what would happen if-" "Evee, don't." The sound of Sheila's voice was firm as she stopped her from touching the oddity again. "We don't know what it is, or what it is capable of. If we go around messing with things we know nothing about, then we're asking for trouble." "But Sheila... what if it isn't trouble? What if it's nothing at all?" Alex could tell Evee was determined to learn what this strange device was, if it was a device. He couldn't help but be curious as well. "Maybe it could lead us to the water," Nikolai suggested, shrugging. "Maybe it is a secret elevator, that goes down into an aqueduct here on Mars?" "Mars doesn't even have an aqueduct, stupid," Valentina whined, crossing her arms. "It was a suggestion, suka." "What does that mean?" The Russian American student chuckled to himself before looking at her, giving her a mischevious grin. "Wouldn't you like to know..."
"Enough!" Alex shouted again, standing beside Evee. "Look, there is no need for tensions to get this bad. Besides, Evee's got a point." He bent down to the metal panel and brushed the dirt and dust away, revealing more of it's surface to them. "I say we try and figure out what it does. The sooner we learn what it does, the sooner we can get it out of our minds. What happens if it suddenly activates in the next two years and, I dunno, vaporize us or something?" "That won't happen," Judas pointed out. "Maybe not, Judas, but still... it's a thought." "Well, either way, this is all up to the captain," Rocky interrupted immediately, getting his point across. The group was silent for what felt like an eternity. He was right. Sheila was the one who made the final decisions in the group, as she was appointed leader back before launch months ago. Evee stood up and came over to her, her eyes expressing how much she wanted to learn about this unknown thing. "Sheila. Please." She was practically begging. "I know that something potentially dangerous could happen. I will face the consequences myself... but I..." She lowered her eyes a moment, deep in thought as she remembered the promise she made to her ill father. She couldn't help but hold the camera close to her chest whenever she thought about him. "Please... Let me do this. I will face the consequences if anything goes wrong. I swear." Sheila sighed heavily in her headset, shaking her head in thought. It was obvious that she was conflicted with this. It wouldn't only be Evee who would have to face the consequences, but also Sheila herself. She was the captain here, the leader. If anything happened to this group, to Rocky... She gazed over at her co-pilot, who only gave her a reassuring nod and a tiny smile. Maybe it won't do anything. Whatever it was, it seemed dormant for a reason. Maybe it won't even turn on, whatever it was. Sheila turned back to Evee again, another sigh escaping her.
"...okay," she replied reluctantly, with a nod. "Best to deal with this problem now instead of later. But how do you plan to even turn it on?" Evee wasn't exactly sure about that herself, although she did have an idea. She crouched by the strange metal panel again, and swiped her hand across it's surface. Nothing. She swiped her hand across it again, removing more dust and dirt than before. Still nothing. She felt along it's surface, and felt ridges and crevices that could either be buttons or a panel that sinks in. Or maybe it pops up? She pressed her finger on one of the smaller cracks and it sunk in, and immediately, the panel lit up. Valentina squeaked on the radio and grabbed Judas' arm, huddling behind him. "Get off of me!" he growled at her. "It only lit up. It's not like it's going to rise out of the ground like some-" The panel began to rise out of the ground as he said that, causing everyone to move back from the unknown machine in fear. Valentina smacked Judas in the arm harshly, griping at him. "You just had to say something, didn't you?! Dummy!" "Quiet!" Alex snapped, glaring at them before looking back at the now raised panel. Evee hesitated a moment before finally moving over towards it again, hovering her hand over it. Nothing happened as it did so either, but it was still worth a shot. "Maybe we shouldn't mess with it," Judas whispered quietly on the radio, as if afraid to anger any ghosts that haunted the strange device. "Relax, Judas. Nothing's happened yet," Nikolai reassured him, even though he was just as nervous about the entire thing. Evee was sweating as she cautiously lowered her hand closer to the lit panel, hovering over an unknown symbol that seemed to glow brighter than any other unknown symbol on there. Maybe it was meant to be pushed?
"Evee?"
The voice of Alex startled her a moment, causing her to give him a weary smile. "I'm good," she answered with a dry chuckle. She couldn't stop sweating from how nervous she was from trying to get this thing to work. After a moment of trying to calm herself down, she hovered over the symbol from before, and hesitated again. Should she push it? No. She's got to stop worrying about this. If she does it and nothing happens, then there is no reason to second guess herself. She took a breath and inched closer to the symbol, which suddenly activated as if she had physically pushed it. A loud droning whine gurgled from beneath their feet, and without warning, a pillar as tall as a building pierced through the ground, sprouting up like a bamboo tree. It created a terrible tremor, causing some of the group to topple over from the unsuspecting quake. The metal structure creaked and groaned as it stood high above everyone's heads, the dust and dirt gently falling down and all around them. It was silent for what felt like an eternity. Everyone was afraid of even holding their breaths. Evee got up off the ground with Alex's help, and stared up at the monstrosity before them. It was of a sheen silver, completely unlike the panel, and wasn't glowing at all. The dust and dirt was caked in each of the little crevices, making it difficult to imagine what the metal structure could've looked like in it's former glory. Still, it wasn't the massive structure that disturbed them. It was the silence. It was as if the wind itself had died away, the planet beginning to sit still, and time coming to a full stop. Stevenson was mesmerized by the oddity before them, moving closer to inspect the strange alien-looking creation. Rocky tried to stop him, but to no avail. Evee herself couldn't help it either, and moved just close enough to lightly touch the surface of the metal pillar. She wiped the dust away to reveal it's sleek, black shine, but other than that, nothing occurred. She turned to Stevenson, and then the group with a chuckle of relief.
"It's alright. We're safe. It doesn't even work."
Everyone seemed relieved, their breaths that they were holding finally released and free. It was going to be fine, they thought. It did nothing. Except, when the thought crossed their minds, an unpredictably loud, ear-piercing whirling sound echoed within everyone's headsets, causing a few of them to grip their helmets. Valentina nearly tore her helmet off just to stop the sounds, but Judas had to place her in a hold. "Don't! You'll choke to death, stupid!" "What the fuckin' hell is that sound?!" Alex shouted, trying to be heard over the whirling shriek. Evee groaned as she gripped her helmet, her first instinct to cover her ears taking over the rest of her logic. The sounds were extremely ear-piercing, to the point one could become deaf if not careful. The tone continued on for quite some time, the pillar that erected from the ground beginning to glow in an ominous greenish-blue light that emitted from the middle of it. The skies began to grow darker as the light shot out of the structure, pulsating through the atmosphere. And then suddenly, the wind began to kick up, a storm brewing right there inside the valley. "A storm? Now?!" Sheila shouted, looking at the darkness above them. "That's impossible! There's no way a storm could just start out of the blue like this!" Valentina screamed, trying to pry herself out of Judas' arms. The storm began to pick up violently as they tried to get the sound out of their headsets, a few of the crates suddenly being lifted up off the ground and flying across the valley. "Holy shit!" Rocky shouted and dashed over to Nikolai, pushing him out of the way of the dangerously flying crates. "What the hell is going on?! What did you do?!" Valentina shrieked at Evee.
"I..! I didn't..!"
Evee's voice could barely be heard above the shrieks that emitted from Valentina's helmet, as she witnessed the girl's body whisking out of Judas' hands and into the air. He would follow suit, along with Professor Stevenson and Alex. "No, Alex!" Evee tried to snatch his hand, but missed by a hair. She felt tears building in her eyes and shrieked as her body began to levitate off the ground, and was carried away along with the rest. She couldn't control her body or what direction she was going, the storm carrying everyone off towards the dark, ominous green sky above. She was terrified. This was her fault. It was all her fault! "Evee!" Alex grabbed her hand quickly as the wind blown him close to her, but the sheer force of the gust continued to tug against them, tearing the two apart from one another. Her screams could be heard from the headset as she suddenly slipped from his hand, being blown away by the unexplained wind force. Sheila unsuspectingly came flying at her, their bodies colliding in a harsh thud, nearly damaging their suits. Everyone couldn't stop screaming. Those blood-curling screams that will now forever haunt Evee's dreams. She looked at the dark sky above, at the cloud that was created by the unknown machine. Was this to be their fate?
Were they to die on Mars?
None of these questions could yet be answered, as debris from the ground smacked the back of her head.
And everything went dark.
Voices.
She could hear them. They were close. Who was talking so loudly, and yet so muffled? Evee murmured softly as she stirred at last, awakening from her short coma to see Sheila and Rocky above her. "Oh thank God," the captain cried, helping Evee sit up. "We thought we lost you! Are you alright?" She couldn't say a word. Everything that happened before felt like a dream, and yet, it was real. She couldn't look Shelia in the face. She was ashamed of the disaster she had caused. "I'm sorry..." "Oh sweetie, don't be. We're alright. We're alive, at least!" Shelia helped Evee to her feet, helping the girl gather herself. "But... I caused this. Everyone's either hurt or dead because of me." "Don't say that," Rocky warned gently. "If we're alive, so are the others. We'll find them." Wait. Find them? Evee began to observe her surroundings at last, noticing the oddity of the landscape before them. The sky was just as dark and ominous as the rest of the landscape, bolts of lightning occasionally making contact with the earth, with odd floating rock formations that Evee's never seen before. She was speechless beyond belief at the newfound landscape around them. "Where are we?" It was obvious now that they were separated from the rest of the group, stranded in an unknown location on what seemed like an unknown planet. "Is this... Mars?" Sheila asked, looking at the exotic plants. It couldn't be. Mars didn't have plants. And yet, this planet looked sick, dead, the ground littered with debris from the busted caches that came with them through the storm. The air was obviously toxic to them, as their meter indicated on their suits. It was best to keep their suits on, although they would have to find oxygen soon.
"Where do you think the others are?" Evee asked, about to touch an exotic, dead tree. She retracted her hand back before she could, afraid she might cause another unknown disaster. "No idea. I can't get a signal out here." Rocky hit the radar in his hand, but it sparked and went dead. He cursed loudly and threw the machine down, causing it to shatter against a rock. "We'll find them, Rocky. Don't worry," Sheila reassured calmly. "We have our headsets. That's gotta count for something." "If the others are in range," Rocky huffed, "then we will be able to find them using that." Evee wasn't so sure. This was another planet entirely. How could they possibly find the rest of the group in a world they've never explored? Her thoughts went to Alex, worrying over him. He must be out of his mind by now, desperately trying to find her. Maybe if they don't move from this spot, Alex will find her.
A sound nearby took her from her thoughts, causing her to unknowingly seek out the cause of the noise. "Alex?" It sounded like footsteps. It had to be Alex and the others! Evee continued forward; "Alex!" she cried. However, a forceful hand would stop her, dragging her to the ground. "Rocky? What are you-?" "Shh!" Sheila and Rocky kept low as they held Evee close between them, observing the direction the sound was coming from. They waited with baited breath, hoping that it was what they wished it to be.
But it was not to be.
Creatures with strange structural, bodily texture that seemed to resemble bone appeared before them, bearing what looked like firearms from a whole different world in their claws. They shouted something in their native tongue, obviously searching for something.
Possibly for them.
"Sweet Mary and Joseph," Rocky whispered, gently pushing Evee's head down to hide her from the unknown creatures. "What are those things?" Shelia gasped, petrified with fear. He shook his head, not exactly sure what they were either. "Aliens?" Evee replied in a hushed tone, looking over at them. It was the best deduced answer they had to go on. The creatures in front of them had to be aliens, and it was obvious that they were not looking to make friends. Evee could hear them say something in their native language again, knocking over debris in an active search for something. Or someone. "What do we do?" Sheila asked in a quiet voice. It was clear that fear was what drove her on, as these aliens were probably searching for them. They must've made a loud ruckus when they appeared on this planet through the device on Mars. "For now, we stay put," he replied just as quietly. "I'm going to test something." Shelia gazed over at him with concern in her brown eyes. What was he going to do? "Sam..." Hearing his first name was something he knew Sheila wouldn't do unless she was truly scared. He hated worrying her like this, especially since what he was going to do was probably the most stupidest thing he could conceive. He gripped her hand in his, bringing it up to his helmet. "I'll be careful, baby girl... I promise." His reassurance was comforting, but Evee knew from the look in Sheila's eyes that she was terrified for him. She was, too. If anything happened to Rocky, to the only man trained to combat any enemies, they would be in trouble.
Rocky began to sneak up on the unknown alien creatures, trying to remain as quiet as possible as one kicked another set of debris away. One seemed to ask the other a question in their native tongue, the other replying in a eerily soft voice. "Hmm... thokin." What did that mean? It seemed like it was an order of some sort, although it was hard to tell with this language they spoke. He was close to one of the aliens that seemed to stray from the group, unsuspecting of the human behind them. It seemed to have found one of their busted caches, which unknowingly to them before, contained a pistol. The alien in front of Rocky was called away to look at something, completely oblivious to the firearm that laid at it's feet. Carefully, Rocky moved forward to collect the gun, and stealthily returned to Evee and Shelia. "Where the hell did you get that gun?!" Shelia whispered harshly, trying her hardest to keep quiet. He carefully checked the pistol's ammo, making sure to cock the chamber back as quietly as he could. "It was in one of the caches. I guess it was for in case of an emergency..." "And what emergency would that have been, Sam?" He didn't answer her. It wasn't a hard question at all. All three of them knew exactly what the answer was. Rocky shook his head a little before looking over the boulder they were hiding behind, watching the unknown aliens searching one of their caches. "Okay. Here's the plan..." Sheila and Evee leaned closer to Rocky as he spoke, watching him gesture to the aliens. "We're gonna try to talk to them." "Are you fucking serious, Sam?!" He shushes Shelia, peering at one of the aliens that seemed too close for comfort. "I know it sounds crazy, but listen. I'm going to try to talk to them, first. Get a feel for these things. And if it turns out that they are hostiles, then I'll shoot 'em. I was in the military for a few years, Shelia. I had to use a gun before..." He checked the pistol one last time before he took a breath, noting how Sheila grabbed his arm. "This is suicide!" "It's the only option we've got right now. I rather not attempt to sneak away only for them to shoot us in the back." She opened her mouth to say something, but bit her tongue. It was hard to argue in hushed voices, especially since they were clearly in danger. Evee didn't agree with Rocky's plan either, but he was the one with the experience, and the gun. She had to put some faith in him.
Rocky stood up from behind the boulder, keeping the gun lowered and out of sight as he cleared his throat loudly. One of the mysterious aliens spotted him, immediately aiming their gun and shouting in their foreign language. "Relax. I'm a friendly!" he called back, trying to break the ice. The alien continued to shout, continued to aim at Rocky with the rifle. "Now now, pal. Let's not do something we'll regret. I just want to be your friend. I'm not the bad guy, okay?" More of the aliens appeared by their comrade's side, also aiming their guns and shouting loudly. "Whoa now. Let's not get hasty..." "Sam!" Shelia called in a hushed voice, wishing to drag him back down behind the boulder again. The older man stood his ground, however, not once flinching as he watched the aliens carefully. Another alien shouted, it's claw getting ready to pull the trigger. "You don't wanna do that, pal," Rocky warned, but was obviously ignored. As they all stood there, silent as death, one of the aliens growled to reveal it's teeth, gritting them tightly. It was like some western showdown, both sides waiting for the other to shoot their gun first. He had an inkling that these aliens were smart, that they knew that Rocky had a gun hiding behind his back. A bead of sweat dripped from his temple, his hand gripping the gun tightly.
The alien shouted again, and the rest began to open fire on Rocky. He ducked just in time, barricading himself from the onslaught of alien weaponry that fired at him. The girls shrieked in fear, lowering their heads all the way to the ground to avoid getting hit. "Keep your heads down!" Rocky commanded, peeking out to aim his gun. He popped off a couple shots, successfully hitting one of the aliens. It did not kill it, however, and continued to fire. "Ah shit!" He ducked behind the boulder again as the next wave of bullets seemed to whiz over their heads. This was the first time Evee was ever in a firefight, and it showed. Her body trembled in fear, her voice cracking from her screams after every shot from a gun was fired. She was crying tears as the fight ensued, her mind reeling from all the possible outcomes of this battle. She didn't want to die here, on an unknown alien planet by the hands of aliens. She was immediately wishing she was home, watching the stars with her father with his telescope, only dreaming of going to other planets in rocket ships. This was not what she signed up for. This was not what any of them signed up for.
"Sam, watch out!" Shelia's voice caught Evee off-guard, and she peeked up to see Rocky continuing to pop off a shot from his pistol every so often. "Damn! It's like their skin is made of bone or something!" he hissed, ducking behind cover again. "These guys just don't know when to quit." "Sam, please! We need to get out of here!" Shelia's voice cracked from the sheer terror of this battle, a terror that Evee was completely familiar with. "Shit!" Rocky ducked out of cover one last time to shoot his pistol. As the bullet traveled across the field, it went directly through the eye of one of the aliens, who shriek in pain as their body tumbled backwards and fell to the ground. Rocky thought he was lucky that he finally killed one, but as he pulled the trigger again, the gun clicked. Empty. "Fuck! Outta ammo!" Rocky tossed the gun at the aliens, which hit one of them and caused it to become more angered than previously. "Evee, Shelia! On my signal, run as fast as you can!" "But Sam-" He gripped Sheila by the arms, forcing her to look at him. "Trust me, Shelia! We are getting out of this alive!" They waited until the aliens took a pause to reload their guns, and as Rocky shouted, the trio ran off in the opposite direction as fast as they could. One of the alien's shouted at the others, and they began to chase after their human targets.
Their suits were slowing them down a little, but they knew they had to stay one step ahead of these creatures. They were relentless, merciless, and above all, dangerous. "Keep going!" Rocky commanded, making sure the girls were ahead of him. If these aliens decided to catch up, they would have to deal with him first. There was no way in hell he was going to let these aliens lay a claw on his fiance and Evee. One of the aliens began to open fire again, nearly clipping Rocky in the arm. "Get behind that rock!" As the girls did so, Rocky took this chance to stop in his tracks. He had to face these things head on. Maybe he could even snag one of their guns and use it against them. "Sam, don't!" Sheila called out, but Rocky already dashed ahead, his battle cry echoing throughout the cliffs that hung overhead. One of the alien's were caught off guard by this action, and couldn't aim their gun fast enough to shoot at the charging human as he grabbed it's gun. The two began struggling for dominance over the firearm, their snarls and grunts being heard loudly on this field. The alien's comrades stopped in their tracks to try and shoot the human, but they couldn't for their own kind stood between them and their target. One shouted in their native language and withdrew something from it's belt, throwing it towards the struggling duo's direction. As it landed by Rocky's feet, he peered down at the strange, round object only to discover that they threw an alien grenade at them. "Oh hell..!" was all Rocky could say before the grenade went off, literally releasing a smoke screen to blur everyone's vision.
Sheila and Evee watched in fear as the smoke began to become thicker and thicker, obscuring the struggle that Rocky was locked in. "Sam!" she cried out to her fiance, praying he would answer. "Sam, answer me!" "Rocky!" Evee called out as well, before yelping at the sound of another alien gunshot. It suddenly grew quiet as the smoke continued to roll on, still making it difficult to see what was going on in front of them. After a moment, a figure began to make their way through the smoke slowly, a gentle gasping sound emitting on their radios. "Sam! Is that you?" Sheila came out from behind the rock to greet the unknown figure, praying to God that it was Rocky. As the figure came into view, the captain couldn't help but practically cry for joy.
It was short lived, however, as the smile faded from the woman's lips and was replaced with one of horror. Rocky had indeed returned to her, but with a plasma bullet wound that had pierced through his chest.
"SAM!"
Shelia grabbed him as he toppled towards her, helping him back toward the rock that they were hiding behind. The aliens seemed confused in their own smoke screen, which bought them time to get back into cover. She tripped as his weight brought her down, her mournful cries emitting loudly on the headset. "Don't you die on me, Sam! We're suppose to go back to Earth and get married! You promised me!" She placed her hands over his wound, trying her hardest to stop the bleeding. Evee couldn't believe her eyes from the scene before her. He was bleeding profusely, choking on his own blood. She was petrified with fear and shame, for she is the reason they were in this mess, the reason why they were on this godforsaken planet. Sheila grabbed his hand, holding it close as tears continued to flow from her eyes. "Please! Please don't go!" Rocky gagged as he looked up at the love of his life, smiling slightly before coughing up blood, soaking the inside of his helmet. "Sam, no! No!" she cried as her beloved drew his last breath, his hand slipping from hers lifelessly, with eyes glazed over and staring at the empty, dark sky above. Evee had never witnessed anyone die like this before. It was extremely horrifying to witness, to watch a person literally draw their final breath before they are no longer alive. Her stomach turned violently to the point she wanted to vomit. Sheila bowed her head over his body, her mind reeling as she sobs loudly over his corpse. Suddenly, she does the unthinkable. She removed his helmet, a hissing sound emitting as air escaped from the bulky object's departure. Immediately afterwards, she removed her own helmet, an alarm on her suit beeping loudly as she did. "Sheila! What are you-" The captain leaned down to kiss her deceased lover, despite choking from the unbreathable atmosphere.
"I love you," she gasped, kissing him again as she sobs loudly.
The mysterious aliens heard their voices and came charging as the smoke lifted, ready to kill the rest of their latest intruders. Sheila choked as she looked up at Evee, smiling as she's made peace with her fate. "Go Evee. Run..." Those were were hard to get out as she spoke, her lungs possibly failing from taking in the bad air on this planet. She leaned over to kiss Rocky once more, before the bone infused aliens seemed to have spotted them. "Run... Evee. Live."
Suddenly, as Sheila sat up, ready to take her last breath, her chest exploded outward, covering Evee's suit with blood. She froze in shock as she watched the captain collapse on top of Rocky, dead from a well-placed shot to her back. Evee was frozen in place as the blood ran down her helmet, her own blood running cold as she watched this all happen right before her very eyes. Rocky's dead glazed eyes pierced back at her, as if they could see Evee's very soul. It was a warning to her.
She was going to die here if she stayed.
"Run," she heard Sheila repeat in her head. "Run, Evee!"
Before the aliens had time to react to shoot Evee, she got up and sprinted away as fast as she could. They shouted at her, beginning to chase after the solitary human that was now in their sights. The bulk of her suit made it difficult to get too far ahead, but she was lucky enough that she got a head start. If she didn't want to die in this place, die by their alien guns, she would have to run. The terrain was getting harder to traverse as she ran ahead, but it seemed to give her the upper hand as it made it difficult for some of the aliens as well. She knew she couldn't stop. One tried firing at her, but the shots miraculously missed. She shrieked at the horrifying sounds, dodging every plasma bullet she could. She was absolutely terrified, but she couldn't give up yet. She suddenly came face to face with a ledge, showcasing that she was on a high cliff. She took this chance to look down below, seeing how the rock formations formed a sort of staircase to the bottom. Each ledge had a fair distance between them to appear like far drops, but it was either that or face the gun-wielding aliens. She chose the cliff.
One alien shouted at her as it fired it's gun, which missed again by an inch of her life as she ducked down to begin her descent down the cliff's edge. She dropped down and slipped on the steep ledge, groaning at the pain in her ankles as she landed crooked. "Dammit!" she groaned, taking a second to rub the pain out of her leg. It was cut short as a plasma shot hit the ground beside her, missing her once more. She was lucky that these aliens couldn't seem to aim their guns at her properly. Evee got to her feet again, limping over to the next ledge and climbing down to the next set. The aliens seemed to stay on the cliff's edge, constantly firing their guns at her. She continued to make her way to the bottom, almost making it there in one piece. She just had one more ledge to go, and then she can lose these aliens. She was so close now! A stray bullet from the alien's firearm suddenly struck her arm, and she lost her grip, falling to the next ledge. She landed face first, cracking her helmet before rolling off and falling again to the next ledge, and finally, to the plains below the cliff. Evee groaned as she pushed herself to her back, the air seeping out of her helmet as she watches the aliens begin their descent towards her. She started gasping for air as it seeped out of the crack on her helmet.
This was it, wasn't it?
She was going to die here.
"Evee!"
Alex?
The familiar voice belonging to a friend caused her to look towards the sound, seeing familiar and yet unfamiliar figures appear in the distance. "Kett! Stay back, Alex! Cora, Liam, cover me!" An unfamiliar male voice barked out commands to his comrades, humans from the looks of it. "I'll check on her!" the man shouted. "You got it, Pathfinder!" an unknown female voice called, their blurred figures dashing away as the other unknown figure approached her. They were wearing armor of some sort, and had an orange, holographic computer on their forearm. "Hang on!" he shouted as he typed something on the hologram. "I'm going to patch your helmet! Don't breath!" She did as she was told, but she couldn't seem to hold it long enough. She took this moment to look up at the stranger as her vision cleared a little, gazing back at a pair of icy blue eyes that belonged to him. His helmet obscured most of his face, including his mouth, but she could slightly tell that he was a brunette before her vision blurred once again. She coughed before choking on the air once again, her eyes slowly going to the back of her head. His voice was muffled as her hearing seemed to fade, as well as her vision. "She's fading! Get her to the Tempest, now!"
And suddenly, all of the light around her went dark.