The Secret of Mars

“Where is she? Her ship was right behind ours?” an irritated Tong asked as she hurried down the hallway, hovering in her containment sphere just inches above Glock’s right shoulder. At only an inch tall, she would have had no chance of making her way through the bodies of beings crowding the hallway. But at nine feet tall, with a shoulder width almost five feet across, her usual companion Glock had no trouble advancing toward the Command Center. One of Mars’ notorious windstorms was heading toward the Settlement, and a directive was issued for everyone to take shelter inside. Tong couldn’t believe how many people had waited until the last minute to follow the directive, thus clogging the halls.

Like most days from the past six months, Tong and Glock had accompanied Princess Mary and her protector, PiePie, to the dig site right after breakfast. Mary was sure that somewhere in the ancient ocean bed were hidden the remnants of Lord Hoffman’s city. And she wasn’t leaving Mars without something to verify her hypothesis. For fourteen days they worked the area, lifting every pebble, looking under every rock, searching inside every tiny crevice. But all their efforts had yielding nothing. That is, until that morning.

The upcoming storm prevented Mary and her team from returning to the site they had been excavating. Rather than lose a whole day because of the approaching storm, the Princess opted to examine an area closer to the Settlement, just five miles away. It had some good rock towers the deep sea currents might have sculptured, so it had possibilities. But possibilities was all it had. Nothing was found. When the command was given to return to the Settlement, Mary uplifted one more shovel of dirt, prepared to leave disappointed again. As she turned over the spaded earth, she stared in disbelief. Two urn pieces encased in the Martian dirt laid on the ground. With no time left, they quickly secured the pieces and marked the area so it could be hopefully found again after the storm. Tong, Glock and the two diggers ran to the smaller speeder. Mary, PiePie, their guard and the precious artifacts took the second speeder. The four Oonock guards would follow in the third.

All three speeders lifted off simultaneously as the front edge of the storm hit, kicking up the Martian red dirt and making visibility almost nonexistent. When Tong reached the base, she discovered that both Mary and the Oonock guards’ fliers had not returned. Fearing an equipment malfunction, which was common in these speeders because of all the Martian red dust storms, she tried radioing them. There was no response. She and Glock hopped back into their speeder preparing to go back out and search for the missing princess. But their path was barred. A flight attendant stood in front of the flier moving his fingers across his throat indicating the flight was suspended. The Control Room was denying them clearance to disembark because the storm was too close. Knowing time was short, the two, along with Sub-Commander Gormee, rushed to the Command Room to demand clearance from the Day’s Commander. Thus their current predicament of trying to traverse a crowded hallway. Upon reaching their destination, an announcement was broadcasted that the Settlement would be sealed in ten minutes.

“Commander, Mary Water’s speeder did not return from the field,” Tong stated, propelling her little tennis-ball sized environmental sphere off of Glock’s shoulder and over to the Commander.

“What do you mean she hasn’t returned?” he asked. “Where is she?”

“I don’t know,” Tong answered.

The Commander looked at the radio operator. “Soldier, has Mary Waters’ speeder checked in?”

The soldier checked the list on his screen. “No, Sir. Neither her ship nor her guards’ have arrived.” He scrolled down the list to see which soldier had accompanied her that morning, then checked to see if he had checked in. “It appears Lootii went with her and he has not reported in either.”

“See if you can reach any of them on their communicators,” the Commander ordered.

Tong held her breath as she watched the soldier send out a call. The Settlement’s radios were much stronger than her handheld one, so perhaps they could get through. But only static was returned. “I’m sorry, Sir. The storm is interfering with external communications. I’m not able to reach them.”

“Commander, inform the hangar we have permission to leave,” Tong demanded, silently daring him to object.

“For where?” the Commander asked. “You can’t possibly be planning to go out in that storm.”

“Sir, we cannot wait here if our Princess is in danger,” Gormee added. “Even my guards cannot protect her from the storm. We must go back out. There’s plenty of time to reach her and return.”

“Come on, Commander, you know he’s right,” Tonk said. “But we don’t have much time. We have to go NOW.”

The Commander stared hard at the little floating biosphere. For probably the thousand time, he wondered what the creature inside looked like. Was she staring back at him? Knowing it was useless to argue with a Flick, the Commander asked. “What area were you working in?”

“Section 34-C-5,” Tong replied.

“Soldier, bring up section 34-C-4,” the Commander ordered. As soon as the map appeared on the screen, he scoured the schematics. “There,” he shouted, pointing to a darkened area on the screen. “That might be a downed speeder. But I only see one.”

“The other one could be masked with dirt,” Gormee proclaimed.

“Or been destroyed.” The Commander studied the landscape’s image and the possible downed speeder. “I can’t grant you permission.”

Glock stood a step forward and grunted loudly. Without thinking, the Commander took a step back from the angry alien. “He says he can do it: he can weather the storm and shield her,” Tong translated.

The Commander looked at the huge nine-foot, hairy creature standing before him. He was from X-3B, a moon circling the fourth planet around Aldebaran in the Taurus constellation. X-3B’s environment was much like Mars, known for harsh conditions and heavy wind and electrical storms. His species had evolved to exist in such climates. The Commander knew that, with some luck, Glock could get Tong, the two missing Oonocks and his soldier through the storm alive. “Sub-Commander Gormee, I won’t allow you or any member of your Oonock team to go back out there. But I will allow the Hipper.” The Commander turned towards the giant alien. Glock grunted again, apparently accepting his mission. The Commander pointed to a darkening on the screen. “Try to get her to that location. You might be able to weather the storm inside that impression using one of the shelter barriers.”

“Tell Flight Command we’re on our way,” Tong stated as she and Glock headed for the hangar. The Commander nodded to the radio dispatcher, signaling for him to pass on the message.

Tong, Glock and Gormee rushed down the hall toward the ships’ hangar. All were glad to see the hallways had cleared during the few minutes they were inside the Command Center. Those that remained quickly flattened themselves against the walls as the huge Glock ran by. Although an extremely gentle creature, everyone knew the power Glock possessed and had no desire to get their bones broken in an accidental collision with the being.

Upon entering the hangar, they saw Tong’s speeder prepped and ready for takeoff. It was a personal speeder designed to accommodate both the large Glock and the tiny Tong. Either one could operate the craft, but this time it would be Glock at the controls. With the magnitude of the approaching storm, it was necessary for someone with excellent strength to handle the throttle and maneuver the plane at a moment’s notice.

“Bring back my Princess,” Gormee said as he closed the hatch.

“See you in a few,” Tong said, settling into her personnal biosphere holder on the console.

Glock pushed the controls forward and sped out of the hangar and across the landscape. He headed towards the blimp they hoped was Mary’s speeder. But where was the second ship? Tong continued to try to reach either ship by radio, but the storm continued to interfere with communications. Pushing the speeder to its limits, they made the trip in twenty-three minutes.

The storm had intensified. The air was filled with thick clouds of red dust, making visibility nearly impossible. Torrents of sand and small rock pulverized the speeder and windshield. The flier shook and creaked under the pressure of the storm, voicing its objection to being in such a gale. Both occupants hoped their speeder would find their lost comrades before the red dust clogged their intact values and disabled their ship.

“Can you see them, Glock?” Tong shouted, trying to be heard over the raging wind outside. In a desperate attempt, she tried her communicator again. She hoped they were close enough to finally receive a message or at least a signal of where their friends were. Like anyone exploring Mars, Mary and the others had tracking devices inside their suits. Tong and Glock intently watched the screen, praying that one of the tracking devices would be picked up.

“Come on. Give us something,” Tong said, more to herself than Glock. A beep! Then another. The computer had picked up two of the tracking devices. They anxiously waited for more, but another did not emerge. Either they were malfunctioning, or several of the team members were lost. But which ones?

Glock rose the speeder into the air, trying to get above some of the debris being blown around, firmly holding the control stick with both hands. The wind was now so strong that he had to keep two hands on the throttle. Larger rocks hit the ship, denting the sides with small impressions. One struck the shield, startling both occupants. They watched as a crack appeared and began to spread across the windshield.

“Glock, put your breathing mask on,” Tong ordered, as she lifted her environmental capsule out of its place on the control panel and flew over to the collar around her comrade’s neck. She carefully maneuvered her pod into the small chamber the collar contained, a place of safety especially designed for times like this. “If we take another hit like that, this whole windshield is going to shatter. Can you see anything?”

“Grunt,” Glock replied. Keeping the speeder moving forward, he scanned the area ahead. His unique eye filters extended over his eyes, giving him thermal vision. There, over to the right, he saw one of the speeders. Two individuals huddled beside it. It appeared they had tried to take off in the storm and crashed. He could not tell who it was or if they were hurt. He tried scanning the surrounding area but could find no other life signs. As he maneuvered their ship toward the disabled speeder, it started to buck and lurch. Alarms began to sound as the engines coughed. They were losing power. Glock looked outside and saw the output pipes caked with red dirt. They were going to crash too.

“Try to get us as close as you can,” Tong shouted, realizing they were going down.

It took both of Glock’s strong hands to keep the ship on a steady course. As the ground getting closer, he grunted loudly, warning Tong as the ship hit the ground and slid to within a few yards of the other vessel. Glock hit the hatch button, but it only opened four inches. The force of the storm was keeping it closed. Using all his strength, Glock pushed against the windshield. With Tong secured around his neck, he squeezed through the opening, grabbing the shelter barrier just as the hatch blew shut. Tightly gripping the ship’s side, Glock made his way through the raging wind toward the huddled two. Twice his feet rose above the dirt as the wind lifted him up. He knew if it were not for the ship to anchor him, he and Tong would be blown away.

“Mary, are you okay?” Tong yelled when they were close enough to discern it was Mary and PiePie. “Are you hurt?” As had happened all day, there was no answer. Tong wondered if they were unable to respond or they could not hear her over the storm. “Glock, see if you can reach Mary.”

Glock directed his thoughts toward Mary. His race, like the Oonocks, had developed a way to communicate telepathically. He breathed a sigh of relief when he heard Mary respond. “Yes, Glock, PiePie and I are fine. But we lost Lootii.”

Glock passed Mary’s message on to Tong, searching the area at the same time for the needed earth impression and nearby outcrop. He knew they only had minutes to get everyone sheltered inside the hollow and get the barrier around them. Although it appeared the storm had diverted slightly, it would still deliver an inhabitable environment. Taking out his scanner, he scanned the landscape and found the hollow just a few feet away. Holding the two Oonocks close to his chest for protection, he extended his folds of fur around them, then crawled as fast as he could toward the dirt impression the moment he felt a decrease in the wind. He kept as low as possible, fearing his bulk was not enough to keep him anchored to the earth, and they would all be blown away to their death. But finally, he reached the desired location. He quickly scooped out handfuls of dirt and debris, making the hole deeper. Placing the two Oonocks inside with their backs against a tall rocky outcrop, he opened the shelter barrier, placing it across his back and crawled into the hole facing Mary and PiePie. After hooking the top and sides of the tent to the outcrop, he leaned over the two Oonocks and pushed the button. Even over the howling of the wind outside, all could hear the sound of air being sucked out of the barrier as it formed a secured bubble. Inside, the four beings would wait out the storm – a little cramped, but at least alive.

“Mary, what happened?” Tong asked, disconnecting herself from Glock’s collar and drifting down toward her friend. The sealed barrier not only kept out the wind, but it also dampened most of the noise. “You were supposed to be right behind us. Why didn’t you return to the Settlement?”

“We started back,” Mary began to explain. “But as I stepped inside our speeder, my scanner started to beep and buzz. I looked down and saw a mud footprint of Glock’s.”

“Glock?” a surprised Tong asked. “Where did he get mud?” Mars was known for her arid, dry land. There was no moisture to make mud. Glock grunted and clicked, answering Tong. “That’s right,” Tong stated. “I forgot about that. Glock said you had asked him to wash off one of the fragments you found. He walked a few feet away and washed them off with some water. It spilled onto the dirt and made some mud that collected on his feet. He noticed it when he went to get inside our speeder, so he stomped his feet and knocked it off. But I still don’t understand, Mary. What was so special about the mud? We’ve scanned this entire section and never found anything out of the ordinary in that soil. Why didn’t you just pick up the dirt and take it back to the Settlement to study, if you thought there was something special inside?”

Mary laughed, a look of childlike glee on her face as if she had found a chocolate kiss inside a cupcake. “Special is an understatement, Tong. My scanner was picking up tiny traces of bendicor.”

“Bendicor?” Tong inquired, amazed, yet doubtful of Mary’s statement. “The same bendicor that powers Oonock technology? The same bendicore that operates your speeders, powers the Settlement?”

“The same,” Mary smiled. “And as you know, bendicor comes from only two locations. Europa and Ganymede. Which means either one of JeffRa’s starships crashed here or it is the site of the Oonock settlement.”

“Mary, we’ve searched this area several times,” Tong answered. “We rejected it as a worthless dig site. We certainly never found any traces of bendicor before. Why would there be traces now? Are you sure your scanner isn’t malfunctioning?”

“That’s what I thought,” Mary stated. “But I had to be sure. I knew there was a chance that that massive storm last week had displaced enough dirt to stir up the bendicore flakes from below. We’ve never searched below the surface, you know. Anyway, just as the wind brought us the bendicor, it could also quickly cover it up again. I knew I had to check out the area before the storm totally hit. I couldn’t take the chance of losing the first clue we had found.”

“And?” an excited Tong asked. “Did you find anything?” Mary reached inside her spacesuit and withdrew something. She opened her glove to reveal a pea-sized rock of bendicor. “Is that what I think that is?”

“Bendicor,” Mary answered. “Europan bendicor. A piece of my homeworld, definite proof that the Oonocks once lived here.”

For a moment there was silence, only the faint outside sound of the raging storm. “While a great discovery, Mary, you should not have endangered your life as you did. I promised your grandparents I would keep you safe. It was a foolish thing to do. And you, PiePie, as Mary’s protector, should never have allowed her to go back out into the field. You should have followed proper procedures.”

“You are correct, Tong,” PiePie firmly replied, straightening her shoulders.

“It is not her fault,” Mary quickly stated. “I gave her no opportunity to fulfill her duty. As soon as I realized what the readings indicated, I ran to the spot where Glock had washed the fragments. PiePie reminded me of the oncoming storm, but I thought I had enough time to collect the samples and get back to the Settlement.”

“An error in your judgment which cost Lootii his life,” Tong sternly said. “And possibly the lives of your four guards, along with our own.”

“The guards?” a sorrowful Mary asked. “They did not make it back either?”

“No.”

“I wondered why they left us here unprotected,” PiePie said. “They must have realized our ship was disabled and returned to help.”

“A decision which probably resulted in their deaths,” Tong angrily stated. “As a monarch and a possible future queen of Earth’s Oonocks, it was your responsibility, Mary, to keep those around you safe and free from danger. Your reckless actions will need to be reported, even if they did accomplish a great feat. I will be contacting your parents and grandparents about this event.”

“I understand.” Mary replaced the small piece of bendicor back inside her spacesuit pocket. She knew Tong was right. The precious piece of metal did not warrant the forfeiting of Lootii’s of her guards’ lives. Her actions had compromised not only her mission but endangered those around her.

“They may well request your return to Earth,” Tong continued. “And PiePie, your failure to comply with Oonock security protocols may result in the removal of your protection of the princess.”

“I would expect no less,” PiePie replied.

Glock clicked and grunted. “He is right,” Mary reported. “The storm is abating.” She looked down at her scanner. “It has already dropped by a twenty percent veracity.”

“That’s odd,” PiePie stated. “Mars storms usually don’t decimate this quickly. They may shift course, even split apart. But the standard life span is two to three days. This storm is barely five hours old.”

Suddenly, the darkness inside the barrier vanishhheddd as Mary’s face was outlined in a warm glow of lilac color. It almost appeared as if a lightbulb had been turned on inside her helmet. “My amulet,” Mary stated, hoping to calm everyone’s alarm.

“Does your amulet always lighten your darkness?” a curious Tong asked. Even though the two females had spent most of the past six months together, she still had much to learn about Oonocks and their way of life, especially the monarch’s way.

“No, never,” Mary replied.

“Perhaps it is warning us of danger,” PiePie said.

“I do not think so,” Mary answered. “Usually danger is signaled by a red or dark purple glow. This glow is a soft, lilac color, signaling something Oonock.”

“Could it be picking up the energy from the bendicor?” Tong asked.

“I suppose,” Mary replied. “But I have been around bendicor all my life. My amulet has never reacted to it before.”

“It does put a little mood of mystery to our predicament,” Tong laughed. No sooner had she made her comment then there was an odd sound, like wind sucked down a tunnel. The light disappeared, plunging them into darkness once more. “Mary, I didn’t mean for you to turn it off. Mary. Mary?” There was no reply.

“Mary?” PiePie asked, concerned that Mary was not answering. Reaching out to feel if her charge was alright, she encountered dead space. Frantically searching, PiePie discovered Mary’s spacesuit slumped against the far wall. Shaking it to arouse Mary, she suddenly realized the spacesuit was empty. “She’s gone.”

“What do you mean, she’s gone?” Tong shouted, flying closer. “How can she be gone?”

“I don’t know, Tong,” PiePie replied. “But her suit is empty.”

Without notice, Glock stood up, breaking the seal on the shelter barrier. As the tent fell to the ground, sunlight streamed into the small hole. The storm too had miraculously disappeared, leaving a clear sky. Only a layer of red dust covering everything and the smashed speeders testified that it had even existed.

“What in the world is happening?” PiePie asked, staring in disbelief at the bright sky, Mary’s now empty suit still in her arms. “Where’s the storm?”

Glock grunted and pointed to the outcrop of rock where they had hidden. The wind had blown away a good portion of dirt that had surrounded it. There, plain as day for all to see, was a lilac rock with the Oonock symbol distinctly carved into it, the same symbol that hung over the great doors at the palace on Europa. There was no doubt now – they had found the site of the lost Oonock colony. But where was Mary?

On Setus Three, Mary’s twin sister Amber quietly sat crouched on a giant lily pad, transformed into a creature resembling a scaly pink frog with a green feathery-finned tail. She possessed six eyes: two red eyes in the front of her face, a yellow eye on each side of her head and two green eyes suspended on antenna above her head. In this form she had remained for five days, motionless, waiting for the Inks to appear. One of the outer rim races wanted to colonize the planet and had asked for her help in contacting the local sentient beings. All other attempts to communicate with the Inks had proven disastrous. Not only were the Inks aggressive in defending their territory, but no way had been found to communicate with them. The Coalition of Beings’ policy stated no race could take over another’s planet and needed permission to establish colonies. Amber was the Coalition’s last chance to make contact and reach a possible agreement.

Earlier that morning she had seen several pairs of eyes in the distance, peeking up through the gold waters. She hoped they had felt the friendly vibes she had been sending out across the waters and had come to investigate if she was friend or foe. From what she was told, there was a good chance they would come and talk with her if they allowed her to see their eyes. That meant they trusted her enough to allow her to know of their existence.

As she waited, she allowed her top eyes to observe once more the beauty of this world. The sea of yellow methane, hydrogen, and ethylene stretched for as far as she could see from her perspective on the lily pad. The sky was a soft rose, with splotches of yellow clouds. The foliage, including the lily pad she sat upon, were shades of forest green, teal and myrtle green with splashes of crimson red, bright orange, periwinkle and lavender thrown in. It very much reminded her of Earth’s forest during the autumn leaf color change.

“Princess Amber,” came a quiet voice from the tiny communicator embedded in her ear. “Ten Inks just passed our camera’s position. They are coming your way. I believe they are about to make contact.”

Her heart racing, Amber slowly nodded her head, afraid to say anything or make much of a move. She did not wish to frighten the elusive approaching Inks. Forcing herself to remain calm, she scoured the water’s surface for any bubbles or movement. Then, to her left, her eye caught a brief second of movement. Silently, she turned her top eyes in that direction and saw a pair of green eyes resting upon the sea’s surface. Then another set appeared, and another, until there were ten pairs of green eyes all looking at her. Not knowing what to do, she humbly bowed her head down, lowering her eyes in a gesture of reverence. When she raised her head, she saw all twenty eyes do the same. Apparently, her instincts had chosen the correct gesture.

Two Inks broke away from the others and swam forward, lifting themselves onto two lily pads nearby. The others took various positions around the two, remaining in the water

“Although your form says you are one of us, I do not believe that to be true,” croaked the Ink on the right. “Might I ask who or what you are? And why you have come to our pool?”

Amber was greatly relieved that she was able to understand the Ink’s croaking. Thanks to her connection with the Orbs, both Mary and she had been blessed with the ability to talk with creatures. “I am an Oonock, a shapeshifter, from a world of blue water far, far away from this place. It is called Earth. I have come to meet and talk with you. Are you the leaders of the Inks?”

“Inks?” the other creature asked. “Is that what you call us? We are Kronnagouts, the keepers of this world.”

“I beg your pardon,” Amber apologized. “Since we have never communicated with you before, I did not know the proper name for your race. I meant no disrespect.”

“None was taken,” the first Kronnagout replied. “And yes, we are the leaders of our people. I am known as Ree, and she is Maa, my other half.”

“It is an honor to meet both of you,” Amber politely replied. “My name is Amber. I am the offspring of my leader’s offspring.”

“What do you want, Amber of Earth?” Maa asked, a slight tone of loathing in her voice. Amber wondered if this was a natural reaction to the unknown, or if Maa had encountered other outside visitors before.

“I represent a world of planets,” Amber explained. “Some of them would like to come and visit your world.”

“Others have come here before and tried to take what we have,” Maa croaked, thus answering Amber’s question.

“Those beings were not from this group,” Amber stated. “We do not step foot on other’s worlds unless invited.”

“We did not invite you,” Maa croaked. “Yet you are here.”

Amber had to admit the Ink was correct. They did not invite her to meet them; the Coalition had on behalf of another alien race. Thinking quickly, she said, “You are correct, Maa. But I heard about your greatness and wanted to meet you. I hoped you would pardon my boldness to come uninvited and meet me.”

“So, if we say you are not welcomed, you will leave?” Maa asked.

“That is correct,” Amber replied. “Would you like me to leave?”

“If you left, would others come? Ree asked, speaking before his rude mate could voice her opinion. “Even if they were not invited?”

“Yes. If you tell me that you want no one to come to your waters, they will not come.”

“We have never met beings who are willing not to enter our lands without permission,” Ree said, a perplexed look on his face. “Might I ask why these beings want to come here?”

Amber needed to choose her words carefully. She had to be honest as to her purpose, but not intimidate or scare the Inks by the aliens’ intentions at the same time. “Who would not want to come to see this beautiful place? I have been to several worlds, and none can compare to the absolute beauty of this location, except for possibly Earth. And, if you find the beings trustworthy and sincere, it is our hope that you will participate in a cultural exchange. Perhaps even visit the other planets, like Earth.”

“So none of your beings will want to take anything from our world?” Maa asked, still not trusting the false Ink crouched before her.

“That I do not know,” Amber answered truthfully. “If there are resources other worlds can use, these beings may ask to trade or buy these resources. But always, the choice is yours. They will take nothing that you do not agree to.”

“How many of these creatures will wish to come onto our lands?” Ree asked.

“Again, I do not have that answer. It is something we need to sit down and discuss,” Amber replied. As the last sounds escaped her throat, a powerful feeling of danger and dread overwhelmed her. She immediately stretched upward to get a better view but saw no trouble. Then she realized it was not her that was in danger – it was Mary. Something had happened to her sister. “Forgive me, but I must leave. My sister needs me.”

Before their eyes, Amber transferred into a giant tiger-like creature and leaped onto the shore, racing across the land to where her speeder was hidden. Within seconds, her protector Cainbow was at her side, racing beside her.

“What’s wrong, Your Majesty?” a confused Cainbow asked.

“We need to get back to headquarters. Something has happened to Mary. I need to get to Mars.”