Post by Ted Manning on Oct 20, 2013 17:58:29 GMT -5
Prologue
“Today is the first day of December, 2130. This is entry two hundred and thirty five in my personal video log. I have been on this installation for one thousand, one hundred, and ninety-five days. My research team and I have been studying the atmospheric changes on this” the man paused for a second trying to think of the most accurate word to describe his latest duty station “vile, desolate, wasteland the boys back home call Mars.” The screen showing the doctors tired face on the monitor crackled with static for an instance which caused the man to pause and look at himself in the reflection. Back on Earth he would have never thought to grow out his beard, especially in a professional workplace environment but times have changed. His eyes drifted down to the name embroidered on his faded grey jumpsuit: Dr. Eugene Kwasnicki.
“Doctor, we have some unique cloud formations coming from the north” came a voice from behind Eugene. He turned and saw one of the younger members of his four man team, Elijah. Elijah had joined out of college where he had soared to the top of his classes and excelled at one subject in particular, bi-molecular genetics. He was both an enthusiastic and talented kid, someone who reminded Eugene of himself when he had been younger and just starting out.
Dr. Kwasnicki waved his hand and turned back around in his chair, “I’m sure it is nothing, Elijah, we have atmospheric anomalies on a daily basis.”
“Eugene,” a second voice broke in “This is something completely different.” The voice came from Eugene’s second in command Sylvian Chambers. She flipped her blonde hair out of her eyes as she slipped on her suit’s helmet. She keyed the microphone inside, “I suggest you come take a look.”
He took a few moments to think about her proposition but then stood and headed towards the locker room. His footsteps echoed through the hallways of the research facility named “Mars One” a simple reminder that his team and himself were the only living beings on the red planet. His atmospheric integration suit or AIS hung all alone in the sea of lockers. Everyone had already put on their environmental suits and was likely waiting for him. Was it really that shocking outside? What had gotten his team so excited? A few dark clouds with maybe some questionable lightning sparking throughout, it’s not like they had ever seen a storm before.
Sliding his own helmet on a heads up display or HUD sprang to life on his visor showing his vital signs and the room’s temperature. Satisfied he gave one last deep exhale and left the room. The question kept nagging at him as he made the long and slow walk to the chamber that lead to the outside world. What had gotten Sylvian so excited? As he thought about it she didn’t seem too excited at all. Maybe perturbed was accurate. Now Eugene became anxious as his steps grew quickly towards where everyone else stood.
“This bloody well be good, Sylvian.” Eugene grumbled into his mic; however, it was Elijah’s name that popped up on his HUD in response.
“You won’t be disappointed, Doctor.”
“How do you know, Elijah?”
“I just have a good feeling about it is all.”
Eugene didn’t like that. Usually when Elijah had a good feeling something bad happened. He wasn’t one for superstitions but Elijah had a knack for causing and calling upon something bad. Just before launch Elijah had one of his good feelings, seventy-two hours later they finally shot into space after the ground crews found a stripped screw in the ship’s hull. On day fifteen Elijah once again had one of his “good feelings” when they began their first walk on the surface of Mars. Twenty minutes later Sylvian’s air supply rapidly emptied from her tanks after one of the tubes ruptured.
The chamber had finished pressurizing and the doors leading out of the research facility opened. Once again Elijah’s good feeling plagued Eugene’s mind as a massive black cloud grew darker and larger on the horizon. Blue lightning sparked and jumped from the tops of the clouds and onto the ground as the cloud progressed towards the research facility.
“Camera on” Eugene called out and the camera on his helmet began recording what he saw “This is Doctor Eugene Kwasnicki, lead scientist on Mars One. A grand anomaly has just taken place about five kilometers from the facility. As you can see a massive black cloud has pushed its way into the atmosphere. My team and myself have stepped outside to begin testing-” A massive explosion stopped Eugene mid-sentence as his team and himself were thrown back several feet.
“Is everyone okay?” Eugene screamed as he got to his feet. Elijah and Sylvian began to get to their feet as well.
“Where’s Kelvin?” Sylvian asked
Kelvin was the fourth member of Eugene’s research team and like Sylvian had been with Doctor Kwasnicki since research began on the red planet. He had been with the doctor and Sylvian when they were colleagues at the European Union’s School of Science. Fifteen years later and here he was right next to Eugene’s side on this shit planet. Kelvin had a wife and three kids back home, something that Eugene, Sylvian, or Elijah didn’t have. That is why Eugene liked Kelvin so much. He was the quiet and reserved man in the background who; when called upon, could fix, figure, and work his way to a solution of even the most difficult of problems be it in the fields of math or science. That’s what made what just happened so hard for Eugene.
The Doctor squinted his eyes as the dust began to settle around them and near the wall of the facility was Kelvin’s body. Eugene began to run over to where he was laying but Elijah slid to a stop in front of him. When Eugene got next to the body he immediately grabbed Elijah and pulled him away, “Don’t look” he said to the young kid. Sylvian arrived and caught a glimpse shortly before grabbing Elijah and pulling him away. Eugene got to his knees and looked over Kelvin’s body. The visor on his helmet had been smashed and blood leaked from the wall where his face had slammed into the thick metal. Kelvin was dead, whether he died before or after he hit the wall was another question but a question whose answer Eugene didn’t care for.
“Eugene, get over here” Sylvian’s voice was filled with dread.
Eugene got to his feet and headed over to where Sylvian and Elijah were standing. First he looked at their faces which were glued to the sky in front of them in almost stunned terror. Eugene then turned and faced a giant black rock as it pushed its way through the clouds and steam rolled towards the facility.
“Get inside now!” Eugene screamed.
The scream was muffled by the violent crashes and explosions that rocked the nearby region. The giant rock slammed into the ground causing a massive, blinding light that engulfed the entire area. Eugene’s eyes burned as his body was picked up and thrown several meters in the air. He didn’t feel the ground at all just an endless feeling of falling. His blood vessels burst, his skin boiled, his suit was nothing. Whether he was screaming he couldn’t tell. If he was in pain he had no idea. His last few moments alive were that of peace, silence, and serenity even as his body exploded into ash and nothingness.
