Are physical forces alone at work there, or has evolution begotten something more complex, something not unakin to what we know on Earth as life? It is in this that lies the peculiar interest of Mars.

            - Percival Lowell -

The dawn of a new day began with a hazy California sun poking up from a desolate desert. This spectacular visual treat was accompanied by the keen of hawks circling above in a lazy summer sky while searching for careless lizards.

Inside the X-1001, the mood was decidedly more anxious. The idea of traveling to Mars in two days sounded like pure madness. This amazing new technology was unbelievable and NASA was wary of the implied dangers that were inherent in this new craft. They were accustomed to intricate and comprehensive risk analyses of any and all hardware. There was no doubt about it: the risk factor was immense, but the brave crew wouldn't miss it for the world.

"Houston reports that we are cleared for launch in two minutes, Angie."

"Thank you, Delphi."

"You are welcome, Angie."

Marty turned to look at George, Uma and Ferris. "We'll be accelerating to 2.4 million kilometers per hour. This will require about two hours. Please remain buckled up in your seats until the burn is complete."

"What's our ETA for Mars?" George asked with an almost imperceptible quiver of his lower lip.

"We should be in orbit around Mars by tomorrow evening. Mars will be in midday at our designated landing site."

George frowned. "That’s assuming we don't run into something."

"If we run into anything above a few dozen centimeters, we'll give Earth viewers one hell of a light show."

"Launch will commence in ten seconds, Angie."

"Acknowledged," Angie said before turning to smile at her crew. "Ignore him. He's just teasing."

The engines fired up and the ship began a swift trip down runway-3. Before the crewmembers could tense abdominal muscles, the ship had already shot straight up to the stratosphere. Images of the ground on the main screen rapidly shrunk to a blue-white globe with patches of brown. Earth's image quickly took up less and less space on the screen.

George's eyes widened. "Wow! We're really putting the pedal to the metal this time."

"Mars is a lot further than the Moon," Marty said. "The sooner we achieve full velocity, the better off we'll be."

"Why is that?"

Several loud bangs and a sound that resembled hail impacting on a tin roof interrupted the conversation.

"For one thing, there'll be less of that," Marty said. "When we're traveling at full velocity we cut down the probable attack angle of space debris."

"Assuming what velocity?"

"I think it's around 170 kilometers per second. Most meteors don't go above 113."

George blew a nervous breath. "Do you realize that we'll be going over 640 kilometers per second when we reach full velocity."

Marty laughed. "Hell, that's coasting. Theoretically, we should be able to approach 17.000 kilometers per second, although, I wouldn't recommend it in or anywhere near this solar system."

"What if this Antigrav of yours fails?"

Marty turned to look at Ferris and smiled. She was an African woman, and her complexion was darker than Uma's—a nice dark chocolate. She had large expressive eyes and an atypical thin nose but her lips were lusciously full. Obviously, she was a mix, of what he wasn't sure.

"If that happens, the engines shut down."

Ferris shook her head. "If that happens, we'll be stranded. How reliable is this Antigrav?"

Marty flashed a smile before solidly setting his jaw. "Antigrav is the most critical technology on this thing. They've built a lot of redundancy into it. So far Angie and I haven't experienced any problems with it."

"That's comforting," George said. "What I'm curious about is fuel. What does this thing use for fuel? All I've seen them putting into it is water."

Marty smiled. "That's what it uses: pure water."

"I assume that it's split into hydrogen and oxygen."

"Right."

"There's no way we could have enough water fuel to get to Mars."

"You forget," Marty said. "Force equals mass times acceleration. Just think of how little force is needed if the mass is reduced to near zero."

George's eyes ballooned. "The Antigrav can do that?"

"Yes it can. That's the reason we can accelerate so quickly and use so little fuel in doing so."

"Amazing! But, I don't understand what powers this Antigrav."

"That's fusion. E equals M times C squared. The energy from just a few grams is awesome. That's why our sun is still working after billions of years."

George winced. "That’s all well and good as long as the E part of that equation doesn't get out of hand."

Marty smiled. "Don't worry; be happy. There's a lot of safety built in."

"Still," Ferris said. "If we're stranded, we’ll have no hope of rescue because this is the only space craft of this type."

"You're right," Marty said, throwing in a placating smile. "But, I prefer to think positive. Angie and I have flown plenty of test flights in this craft and have only experienced a few minor problems."

"But, not to Mars."

"True, but this is an experimental craft and we are all volunteers. I for one would go no matter how dangerous it was."

Nobody argued with that.

###

George was intently staring at a monitor and alternately peering into what looked like a wide microscopic eyepiece.

Marty’s curiosity caused him to move up behind George. "What's cooking?"

George never looked up. His eyes were glued to an image of Mars that was also displayed on a screen. "Look at how clear this view of Mars is."

Marty peered over his shoulder. "Yeah, you're right. Is that from the archives?"

"That's real time. What you're seeing is the planet as it is right now . . . well, actually five minutes ago."

"Wow! Not bad for eighty million kilometers away. How'd they do that?"

"It's Electronic Lens Technology. The digital image is messaged by the computer through a series of Fourier transforms."

"I'm sorry I asked," Marty said with a mocking grin.

George laughed before returning to looking through the eyepiece. "Where are we going to land?"

"Good question. We have to locate Adventurer before we can land."

"Where was its last known position?" George asked.

"Somewhere in the Valles Marineris."

George whistled. "Oh brother! That's a four thousand kilometer long canyon. Trying to locate a meter long object in there is not going to be easy. I assume it's not transmitting."

"Hasn't since March of last year."

"It's probably covered with regolith from an avalanche."

Marty gave him a playful grin. "It'll make a good opportunity to try out our new imaging gear." He looked around. "Where'd the women go?"

"They're in the cargo bay checking out the new rover."

"How many women does it take to set up a rover?"

George smiled. "That sounds like the first line of a joke. You had better be careful; they outnumber us."

Marty returned his smile with interest. "Only in number."

They laughed.

"What's so funny?"

The two men turned to watch Angie enter the cockpit.

"It's man stuff," Marty said with a sheepish grin on his handsome face.

Angie wasn't convinced. "I'll bet."

A loud whooshing noise preceded noise that resembled a hailstorm.

"Status, Delphi," Angie said,

"A zero point seven three meter asteroid was within six degrees. No damage was sustained."

"Thank you, Delphi."

"You are welcome, Angie."

"She fired the particle canon, didn't she?" Marty said.

"Yes. At least we know that it works."

Uma and Ferris entered the cockpit with their eyes wide with concern.

"What happened?" Uma blurted.

"Delphi blasted an asteroid that was in our path. There's no damage."

"Thank the gods!" Uma said.

"No, thank Delphi," Marty said. "And the engineering gods of IBM and Boeing."

"Now that we know that the system works," Angie said. "We should bunk down for sleep now. I'll have Delphi reduce gravity to make you more comfortable."

When she noted the smirk on Marty's face, Angie smiled. "You would be comfortable at any gravity setting."

His smirk bloomed into a smart-ass grin. "It comes from having a clear conscious."

Angie wasn't convinced. "Yeah, right."

###

The main view screen was filled with a slowly changing reddish brown surface that mesmerized anyone who cared to gaze at it

Angie was not as easily distracted. "Inform Houston that we've in orbit around Mars, Delphi."

"Yes, Angie."

Marty turned to George. "It’s time to find that needle in a haystack."

"That needle may not be as difficult to locate as you think," George said without looking up from his monitor. "I may be able to pick up a germanium-silicon blip in the x-ray signal."

"I hope so. The sooner you locate that thing the sooner we’ll be able to step onto Mars."

Angie couldn't resist the chance to tease. "Do you have your speech ready?"

"I'm not Neil Armstrong, Angie. Besides, I think it would be more appropriate for a woman to be first on Mars, especially since you outnumber us men."

"And don't you forget it." She laughed. Uma and Ferris joined her.

"I think I've found it," George said, excitement coloring his normally droning voice. "I have a definite signal."

"Where is it?" Angie asked.

"It's in the Candor Chasma. I’ve sent the coordinates to Delphi."

"Inform Houston, Delphi," Angie said. "Take us down."

"Yes, Angie."

The forward engines fired and the image of Mars loomed closer and closer. Suddenly, the ship dived straight down into what appeared to be a huge canyon, leveled out and gently sat down on the bottom.

George breathed again. "Wow! When you said take us down, you weren't kidding."

"Time to suit up and get busy," Angie said.

###

The bottom of Candor Chasma was unexpectedly smooth. The canyon’s powdered regolith had the customary reddish brown color, but there were many jagged white and black tinged rocks littered about. Furrows laced with blue cracks, some fairly deep, cut through the landscape perpendicular to the walls of the canyon. They resembled wind-swept dunes on a micro scale and were prevalent all over the canyon’s bottom.

The ship had landed near the north wall, which rose to such an unbelievable height that the view had a grandeur that vastly surpassed the Grand Canyon on Earth. The canyon wall was faceted with deep cuts and clefts, revealing numerous strata of alternating color.

The south wall was beyond the horizon, the result of being nearly 200 kilometers away on a planet smaller than Earth.

The women were first out. When Marty and George came out, they hesitated to sightsee.

"Wow!" Marty said, looking up. "This is one hell of a canyon. How far down are we?"

"I think it's about four kilometers," George said.

Angie frowned. "You guys get busy and locate the rover. We'll be over by the wall."

Marty couldn't resist being a wise guy. "Yes, Captain."

"Why is she in charge?" George asked, watching the three women walk away.

"She outranks me. She was a full colonel. I was just a lieutenant colonel, or as some would say: a chicken colonel."

"But you're not in the military."

"True, but it makes her happy. Hell, I never dreamed that I would set foot on Mars let alone go out on several missions. If having her in charge is what it takes, I'll do it."

"I see," George said, not really understanding.

"We had better get busy," Marty said. "Or, the captain will have us keelhauled."

George unfolded a potable x-ray viewer and began scanning. After several minutes, he pointed to a small dune fifty yards to the south. "It’s over there."

They started towards the dune but stopped dead in their tracks when they saw the X-1001 suddenly ascend and fly off.

"Hey, Angie. Where's the hell is the ship going?"

"You two take cover over by that dune. We'll stay over here. And, you had better make it fast."

"Oh, shit! Let's boogie, George."

The two men ran as fast as they could in space suits, jumping down into a small trench near the dune.

"What's happening?" George said while trying to catch his breath.

"Delphi spotted incoming."

George was confused. "Incoming?"

A nearly blinding flash above them was followed by several fiery streaks in a pale yellow sky. They heard and felt nothing until one of the streaking fireballs collided with the canyon wall a few clicks from their location. The resultant explosion created a sonic wave that nearly picked them up out of the trench. When they peeked over the edge of their hiding place, both men could see that the meteor impact had caused a landslide.

Marty closed his eyes. "And the third angel sounded, and there fell from heaven a great star, burning as a torch."

"What?"

"Oh, I’m sorry. I was just recalling some Revelation. It seemed appropriate."

"You may be right," George said. "For a moment there I thought that we had bought the farm."

That turned on a light in Marty's head. "Hey, Angie, are you all right?"

When he received no response, Marty began to worry. "Hey, Angie, Uma, Ferris. Come back."

"We read you. We're okay. How about you two?"

The ship landed in the same position, almost as if nothing had happened.

"We're fine."

"Well then, get back to work."

Marty smiled. "I love you, too."

George pointed over to the left side of the trench. "Look what I see."

"Well, I'll be. It's the rover. The explosion shook the dirt off of it."

George went over to examine it. "Judging from its angle, I would say it fell into this trench and could no longer send a signal back."

"Let's get it out of the trench," Marty said. “Then we can open it up."

Over near the canyon wall, the mood was more subdued.

Uma pointed to a wall where the avalanche occurred. "I think we should go over there. The impact caused a fresh cut in the canyon wall."

"Definitely," Ferris said. "I can see the stratification more clearly."

"We had better be careful," Angie said. "There could be another avalanche if the canyon wall was weakened by that impact."

"Can your computer determine that?" Ferris asked.

"Delphi, give us a status."

"There has been no damage to ship systems, Angie. The asteroid was successfully deflected."

"How large was it?"

"Three hundred thirty-two meters long, forty-five meters wide, and ten to the 12 kilograms, Angie"

Angie wanted to say wow, but she suppressed it. "Delphi, could you scan the canyon wall around the impact and tell us if it's unstable."

"Yes, Angie."

Ferris examined the wall with a binocular scanner. "I see a thin black stratum. Judging from its location on the wall, I would say that it represents a cataclysmic impact approximately ten million years ago. That could explain why Mars is now a dead planet."

"That is still to be determined," Uma said. “Age of any particular stratum will be difficult to determine on Mars. We know little of its geology. However, I am convinced that if water exists here, there could still be residual life."

"Perhaps," Ferris said. "But, it would have to be hardy to survive under these conditions."

"Angie, the canyon wall is currently stable."

"Thank you, Delphi."

"You are welcome, Angie."

Angie gestured to the others. "Let's get cracking."

The area near the canyon wall was littered with piles of rock and mounds of regolith, making it difficult to approach. Uma began to examine rocks that had been obviously disgorged from the wall by the impact. Ferris struggled up to the freshly cut wall to begin her inspection. She began picking at white-gray stratum below the black one. When she dislodged a flat stone and examined it, her heart skipped a beat.

"Praise Allah!"

"What's the matter?" Angie said.

Angie and Uma rushed to her when they saw that she appeared to be in shock.

Uma took the stone out of her hand. "It's a fossil." She looked up at Ferris. "What is it?"

Ferris' voice was higher pitched than normal. "It's obviously an aquatic species. Don't you see the fins?"

Uma was resolute in her belief. "That means that Mars did have seas and the seas contained life."

Angie was more cautious. “We’re jumping to conclusions. I’ll take some pictures of the fossil and the stratification. We’ll send them back to Houston for their opinion.”

 “I’m detecting fair amounts of iridium in the blackened layer,” Uma said, while aiming her gamma scanner.

 “That makes sense,” Ferris said. “It’s indicative of similar observations on Earth.”

Angie moved up closer to the wall to get a better shot. What she spotted startled her. She turned to the others. “Is that what I think it is?”

Uma and Ferris looked to where she was pointing, a position on the wall that had a protruding object.

 “Is that a bone?” Ferris asked, more to herself than the others.

 “I told you there was life here,” Uma said, excitedly.

Back at the rover, there was little in the way of excitement. With considerable effort, Marty and George had extracted the rover out of the trench and were in the process of cleaning it up.

 “I hate having to work in this suit,” Marty said.

 “I wouldn’t advise taking your suit off,” George said. “Even though we’re probably at the lowest point on Mars, It would be equivalent to bailing out at 80,000 feet without a suit. The temperature is nearly 50 below here and there’s very little pressure. I’m only reading slightly more than ten millibars.”

 “A garden spot compared to the moon.”

 “True, but it’s far from hospitable to human life.”

Marty attached a star ratchet to his glove and began removing the screws that held the solar panel to the top of the rover. “We’ll have to check out that antenna. It may have gotten damaged when it snapped off in the rover’s fall into the trench.”

George picked it up and examined the support column. “It appears to have just pulled wires loose. We should be able to re-attach them.”

Marty removed the solar panel, being careful to not snap the connector cables. “Check this panel. If it’s still putting out current, we should be able to use it.”

While George examined the solar panel, Marty removed the main logic board. He replaced it and then started on replacing the storage batteries.

 “The solar panel is putting out nominal current,” George said. “There are a few pits and dings, but it should be ok.”

 “Great. It’ll take awhile to charge these batteries. The sun doesn’t shine as brightly way down here.”

 “True, but the light is richer in ultraviolet. I believe that the solar panel cells are more sensitive to that particular part of the spectrum.”

 “I’ve gotten the solar panel re-attached,” Marty said. “Let’s get that antenna back where it’s supposed to be.”

George positioned the antenna on the rover and Marty began attaching wires from it. After tightening four bolts, the rover was back in business.

 “Delphi, inform Houston that the rover has been repaired.”

 “Yes, Martin.”

 “The boys at JPL will be happy,” George said.

 “I’m sure they will. They probably never dreamed that a manned team would go to Mars and fix it.”

George smiled, which was a rarity for him. “I never dreamed that I would be one of those fixing it.”

 “You and me both.”

Back at the wall, there was no reason to dream.

 “I’m not sure that we can get the bone out without damaging it,” Ferris said.

 “There are many fossils buried in the layer near it,” Uma said. “We must be careful.”

The long-range communication system signal lamp flashed in Angie’s helmet. “We’ve gotten the rover repaired. What’s next?”

 “You may as well get started on the drill,” Angie said. “We can only stay out here for three more hours.”

 “That may not be enough time,” Marty said.

“That’s okay. We can finish tomorrow.”

 “Keep in mind that tomorrow will be longer in coming than on Earth.”

 “It's only forty minutes longer,” Angie said, her voice colored with a tinge of frustration. “Get started.”

 “Copy that,” he said.

 “Angie, there is a voice communication from Mission Control.”

 “Patch it through, Delphi.”

 “Yes, Angie.”

 “This is Houston. We’ve examined your images of the fossil and the stratification. Needless to say, your discoveries have caused a great deal of excitement here. The fossil is unlike anything seen on Earth. We are not sure about the stratification. We will require more information and samples.”

 “Copy that, Houston. We’re sending additional images of more fossils and a bone that appears to be protruding from the canyon wall. I’m not sure that we can extract it without damaging it and the surrounding fossils.”

 “That should make their day,” Uma said.

 “I’m sure that it will,” Angie said. “One thing that it should drive home to them is that they need human presence in space.”

Both Uma and Ferris were in agreement.

The men were less than enthused about their task. Setting up a drill is hard work, especially in space suits.

 “Do you think that we’ll hit water?” Marty asked.

 “I’m not sure,” George said. “Most planetary physicists and geologist believe that many of the surface features on Mars were formed by flowing water. Certainly, this canyon could have been so formed. However, there are many other theories that could explain it.”

 “If Mars had all of that water, where did it go?”

 “Most of it evaporated into the thin atmosphere and eventually dissociated into hydrogen and oxygen, which were subsequently lost to space. The atmosphere was once much denser than it is now, but the solar wind has blown it away. Mars doesn’t have a magnetic field like Earth. That’s what protects our atmosphere from solar wind.”

 “We’re down to about a hundred meters,” Marty said. “The drill is cutting through faster than I thought.”

Suddenly, the drill began to vibrate.

 “I think we’ve struck something,” Marty said.

A white cloud hissed up the drill hole and began coating everything in ice.

 “It’s freezing,” Marty said. “Why would it do that?”

 “At this low pressure, the boiling point of water is not far from its melting point. The temperature is near sixty below now, more than adequate to cause it to freeze.”

 “So it’s impossible to have liquid water on the surface.”

George scraped a sample of ice from the drill supports. “Not impossible, but unlikely. How far down were we?”

 “About three hundred meters, give or take a few.”

 “Interesting. I would have guessed that water was much deeper. Judging from the pressure, I would say that it’s a sizable deposit.”

 “Hey, Angie. We struck water at three hundred meters.”

 “Good. Collect your gear and get your butts back to the ship. The sun’s going down and we don’t want to be on the surface at night. It gets down to 150 degrees below.”

 “Copy that.” He turned to George. “Let’s get cracking. We don’t want to the first to freeze our butts off on Mars.”

George laughed.

###

Dawn of a new day on Mars. The only indication of a rising sun at the canyon bottom was a dull pink glow in the sky above. Unfortunately, there were no birds here to sing their joy for this new sun.

Inside the X-1001 the crew was up and enjoying a quick breakfast with coffee.

“I’ll have to give you one thing,” George said after taking a bite out of his muffin. “The food on this ship is better than any I ever had on previous missions.”

“That’s because Angie and I got tired of eating NASA rations,” Marty said. “It also helps to have so much storage space.”

“I take it that that’s another benefit of Antigrav,” George said.

Marty grinned. “Yep.”

Angie was more interested in business. "Delphi, take us to the Cydonia Plateau, two kilometers from the midpoint of the east wall of the Face artifact."

"Yes, Angie."

A high pitch sound accompanied a rapidly changing image on the main screen. The image of the canyon wall quickly dropped away, providing the crew with a spectacular view of the plateau bathed by first light.

"What are we supposed to do at the Face?" George asked.

"They want us to check out the top of it," Marty said. "The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is showing an anomalous magnetic field over the Face."

"That's very odd," George said. "The so called Face is just a worn down hill. Why would it have a magnetic field?"

“Good question,” Marty said. “Ours is not to reason why . . . ”

“Just keep that in mind,” Angie said. “We’re here to make preliminary discoveries. Teams that follow us will do the heavy work.”

When the ship settled down onto the Cydonia Plateau, the main screen showed The Face as a mound on the horizon. There was nothing special about it, at least from their view.

“Remember that the atmosphere is thinner up here and the plateau is subjected to winds and dust devils that could become quite dangerous,” Angie said. “We’ll take the ATEV to the wall and use MMU packs to reach the top. The men will jump to the northern end and we will investigate the southern section.”

“What are we looking for?” George asked.

“Anything unusual,” Angie said. “We’re trying to determine why there’s a magnetic field.”

“In that case, I’ll take the radiation field probe,” George said.

“Are we to take samples?” Uma said.

“Yes, if you think they’re unusual.” Angie looked around at the crew. “Anything else?” Seeing none, she stood up. “Let’s get cracking.”

After getting into their suits and going through another pre-breathing exercise, the crew emerged from their craft. Marty and George were assigned to extracting the ATEV from its compartment beneath the ship while the women used the ship's robotic arm to remove the new rover from the cargo bay.

“Delphi, open the ATEV compartment,” Marty said.

“Yes, Martin.”

Where there were no visible seams, a door slowly slid away and a ramp descended to the ground. Marty activated a winch to slowly back the ATEV down the ramp.

“Well, George. We’re going to see if The Face is really a face.”

“I think that NASA has already determined that it’s just an illusion, just like The D&M Pyramid and The City.”

Marty checked the ATEV control panel. “Hey, Angie, the ATEV is all charged up and ready to roll.”

“Good. Mount up. You can drive.”

Marty wanted to grin, but he avoided showing any pleasure in being allowed to take the controls. He drove the ATEV around to the other side of the ship so that he could pick up the women.

"Your taxi is ready, ma'am."

"Cool your jets," Angie said. "We have to make sure that this new rover is operational. And, be careful what you say and do. The camera is working."

"Hey, George, we're on Candid Camera."

"Oh, goody!"

After some last minute adjustments, the rover sprung to life and came up to full power. The women quickly climbed aboard the ATEV and Marty started it towards The Face. The ride was slow and bumpy despite the vehicle’s large tractor wheels, and since the Cydonia plateau is rugged and rock strewn, a careful choice of course was required. Marty didn't care; he knew that it was within the capabilities of the ATEV and he was having fun.

"Mars could use some paved roads," George said, his voice taking on a tremulous tone from the steady jarring.

"I'm sure it will have them some day," Marty said. "That's assuming that Mars is colonized."

"With these new ships of yours that would be easy," George said.

After a bumpy trip, they arrived about two kilometers away from the east face. The Face appeared as a large hill, but the sides were fairly steep, enough so to require using MMU packs to ascend it.

"You guys can go first," Angie said.

Marty activated his helmet screen and was pleased to see that his unit soon indicated green. "Ready, George?"

"Yes."

The two men rocketed up the side of The Face in ten seconds and moved forward over the uneven top.

"I see a good spot near that depression," George said.

"Down we go," Marty said as he began his descent.

They landed without bouncing as they had on the Moon. Mars gravity was only 38 percent of Earth's but it was a good deal more than that of the Moon.

"I think we're in the left eye of The Face," George said.

Marty wasn't impressed. "Wonderful. Now what?"

George began taking readings with his energy probe. "I'm showing a magnetic field, but it's generalized, not specific." When he walked further into the depression, George tripped, but his fall was slower than it would have been on Earth.

"Whoa, George! Are you okay?"

Marty helped his partner up. "What happened?"

"I tripped on something."

Marty looked back at his footprints in the regolith to a position where it was obvious that his boot had caught an edge. "There's something under the surface." He removed a small shovel from his utility belt and began digging.

George joined him. "What is it?"

After removing a substantial layer of regolith, they were staring at a strange round object.

"This is definitely not a natural object," George said.

"No shit. It’s perfectly round and flat." He brushed a layer of dust away. "What the hell?"

"It's some sort of writing," George said. "I've never seen anything like it." He scanned the object’s surface with his gamma probe. "It's not reflecting back. I can't make a determination of its composition."

"That's just great." He rubbed more dust from the part of the surface that contained the writing. “I wonder what it says.”

“That’s a good question,” George said.

The women were having similar fun.

"What is that over there?" Uma asked, pointing to what looked like a clump of Black grass.

"I have no idea," Ferris said while rushing over to it.

It appeared as crabgrass but was thicker and rougher, almost like leather. The color was jet black but it varied slightly in shade from shaft to leaf.

"Are those what I think they are?" Angie said.

Ferris was dumbfounded. "How can plant life grow and survive on a planet bombarded in ultraviolet light and exposed to a sparse atmosphere that's so miserably cold?"

"Are you sure that they're plants?" Uma said.

"What else could they be? They're obviously not rigid." Ferris moved her glove through them. "Maybe this is something that survived the climate change on Mars, evolving into a black color to adsorb more light from a weak sun. Maybe the magnetic field over this hill protects them. I don't know."

"Well," Angie said. "Let's get some photos and take a sample."

Ferris used a small shovel to dig a plant out roots and all and place it in an atmosphere trap--a box that was designed to maintain a sample's native atmospheric conditions.

Angie noted a communication from the ship. "Angie, I have a message from Mission Control."

"Send it through, Delphi."

"Mars Orbiter is showing an extensive dust storm seventy five kilometers from your position by the time you receive this, moving at approximately two kilometers per hour. We advise that you achieve orbit as soon as possible."

"Copy that," Angie answered. "We will return to Earth as soon as possible."

The long-range communication indicator went green. "Hey, Angie, George and I have found some strange cylindrical object buried in the ground. George thinks that it's responsible for the magnetic field."

"Good. Take photos of it and get back to the ATEV. There's a dust storm approaching. We have to get the hell out of here."

"Copy that. We'll meet you down there."

Marty and George were in the ATEV when the women returned from the top. The dust storm was not quite visible yet, but the sky had taken on a dark reddish tint.

"How far away is this dust storm?" Marty asked as he began the drive back to the ship.

"Less than fifty kilometers,” Angie said. “We're going to go into orbit as soon as we're in."

By the time they arrived back at the ship, the dust storm was easily seen on the horizon. Dark and ominous looking, the storm appeared to have picked up speed.

“You guys get the ATEV stowed. We’ll get the ship ready to achieve orbit as soon as you’re in the exit chamber.”

“Open the ATEV pod, Delphi,” Marty said.

“Yes, Martin.”

After the door slid open and the ramp descended, George hooked the front of the ATEV and Marty activated the winch. By the time that the ATEV was in the pod and the men were ready to enter the ship, dust was beginning to blow up, obscuring anything more than a few meters away.

“We’re in, Angie,” Marty said.

“Hang tight,” Angie said. “We’re out of here.”

The ship quickly achieved orbit, leaving a planet obscured by dust. When Marty and George got out of their suits and entered the cockpit, they were appalled by how bad the storm had become.

“Is it normal for dust storms to happen that fast?” Marty asked.

“The process usually takes longer,” George said. “But, there have been similar storms in the past. Sometimes it lasts for months.”

“I guess we wore out our welcome,” Marty said.

“Plot a course for Earth, Delphi,” Angie said.

“Course has been entered, Angie. I am ready.”

“Execute, and inform Houston, Delphi.”

“Yes, Angie.”

The main engines fired and the image of dusty Mars soon shrunk at an ever-increasing rate.

“What was that object you and Dr. Taylor found?” Uma asked Marty.

“I have no clue. It had some strange writing on it. I guess that we’ll need to bring along a linguist the next trip.”

“Be careful what you wish for,” Angie said.

“What is the next trip?” George said.

Marty shook his head. “I’m not sure. We’re scheduled to train on the new star ship.”

Angie’s eyes shot fire. “Marty!”

“Sorry. I forgot that we’re not supposed to talk about it.”

“What are you talking about?” Ferris said. “A star ship? Are you going to go to other star systems?”

Uma smiled at her.

“No way,” Ferris said. “Even as fast as this craft is, it would take years to go to even the closest stars.”

“You’ve been listening to Einstein,” George said.

“You mean that you’ll be able to go faster than light?”

“Do not talk about this to anyone,” Angie said. “We’re the only ones who are supposed to know about it.” She turned to frown at Marty. “This blabber mouth has compromised that.”

“Hey, I said I was sorry.”

“If you’re going to the stars, I want to go along,” Ferris said.

“We’ll put your name on the list,” Marty said. “Although, you may not care for being stretched to infinity and dragged through a singularity.”

“I don’t care.”

“Don’t worry. Angie and I will take it on a test flight. If we return in one piece, you’ll know it’s okay.”

Several loud reports from the engines ended with a lurch that slammed the crew into their restraints.

“What the hell?” Marty shouted.

“Status, Delphi,” Angie said.

“I am sorry about that, Angie. The object required several alterations simultaneously because it was not natural.”

“Explain, Delphi.”

“The object did not obey The First Law, Angie.”

“The First Law?” George said.

“She’s referring to Newton’s First Law,” Marty said.

“Ah,” George said, smiling, but his smile transformed into a frown. “How could that be?”

“It was obviously guided,” Angie said.

“By whom?” George said.

Marty shrugged.

“Please play the encounter, Delphi,” Angie said. “Give us one frame at a time.”

The main screen switched to an image of a thin white line in a blurred field of stars. As each scene was displayed as a slide show, the object began to expand to a white oval and then to a nearly circular configuration.

“Freeze that one, Delphi,” Angie said.

“What the hell?” Marty said. “That sure as hell isn’t an asteroid.” He turned to Angie. “What’s going on out here?”

“I don’t know,” she said. “Delphi, send these images to Mission Control, along with your projections of its speed and course.”

“Yes, Angie.”

“What if they come back?” George asked.

“They, whoever the hell they are, will have to catch us,” Marty said.

Angie smiled. “Good idea. Delphi, make the necessary course correction and increase our speed to 1000 kps.”

“Yes, Angie.”

The engines stopped and the ship was shifted in angle slightly before the engines fired again.

“Inform Houston of our new ETA, Delphi.”

“Yes, Angie.”

That was close!