Deeper Into the Void Read Free Page B

attempt at lightening her mood clearly does not have the intended effect. She quietly sits for a thoughtful moment, “I don’t know”.
    Dust raises high into the Martian sky under. The amber sky turns a blood red as the swirling sand and dust courses over the setting sun on the horizon. The plain around the newly settled vessel shifts in the rolling sands, driven by the evening wind. Pyroclastic rock litters the terrain in every direction. The growing shadows of the volcanic rocks reach ever closer to the vessel lying in their midst.

Chapter 2

    Year 15, Day 35
    W arming rays from the sun rush over the horizon and flash all around the dormant craft laying prostrate in the soft dusty sand. The black of night fades as the sun crests over the distant slopes of Olympus. The pervading silence that blanketed the rusted iron landscape flees before the coming winds. The sound of a hydraulic motor humming breaks the gentle sound of sand driven in the wind.
    A large plate, once flush with the rest of the undercarriage of the vessel slowly drops out of the belly of the metal beast. The long, thin hull of the spacecraft is sleek; shiny metal plating reflects the dawns light. Mechanical feet protrude from the bottom of the hull, and rest on the sandy plain with large metal plates to distribute the weight in the sand.
    As the platform continues to drop its load to the deck, the reflective black glass plates covering the solar powered rover come into view. Six large metal wheels support the light craft. A single cable tethers the craft to the ship above. A tall figure, clad in a blue pressure suit and a reflective helmet, stands adjacent to the solar rover as it touches down. He reaches over the heavy tether and touches the glass control panel at the front of the seating area. White light illuminates the plain glass console in patterns and in the form of words. His gloved hand moves along the smooth surface as he presses on it again to reveal the power status. “100%” appears alongside the battery symbol on the console. Over the helmet radio set, a voice awakens the dormant earpiece.
     
Cardiff:

Mr. Lawrence, what’s the status on the solar rover?

Lawrence:

Captain, it’s charged. I am just pulling the plug right now. The gear is already loaded onto the back. We should have enough juice until the sun is high enough to provide some power.

Cardiff:

Very good. I am going to try and raise the dome one last time. You did remember the replacement communication equipment when you loaded the gear, right?

Lawrence:

Packed it with the prune juice in Ghent’s gear.

Ghent:

I didn’t pack any prune juice!

Lawrence:

Don’t get worked up; it was just a joke.

Cardiff:

Cute. Doctor Mendez is going to log our required entry before we leave for the dome, just in case we can’t do it there. Get everything ready so we can leave as soon as she does.
    On the distant horizon, the dome gleams in the morning light, appearing from afar as a large soap bubble. The dome is lent its odd appearance by the unconventional construction of the dome itself. The outside is comprised of thousands of smaller spheres of glass combined, one upon another, to create an enormous dome of quartz glass. The green within provides a sharp contrast to the surrounding rust colored landscape.
    While the Martian landscape may appear plain and drab in places, it is wondrous in others. It is wild yet desolate, quiet at times and ravaged by fierce sandstorms at other times; it is truly a place of wonders. What curiosity and fear it inspires among those who venture this far into the reaches of space.
    Journal Entry
Doctor Julie Mendez
Year 15, Day 35
    Someone once asked me, “How is it that you can be sure about what is ‘really real’?” At the time I laughed about the question; it was the sort of question that I had heard enough to dismiss it as nonsensical and immaterial. This question resurfaced numerous times during the course of my unconscious journey