screeching buzz. Doc didn't have to hear the word to get the message. He dove off the hurtling cylinder just before it reached bottom and slammed into the side of the rover, pushing the one ton vehicle several feet and nearly tipping it over. Doc slid down in the red dust.
Tom hurried down the wall to check that Doc and his suit were intact. They were. Then the two astronauts walked to the rover to assess the damages. The cylinder itself didn't have a scratch on it. The rover frame had been dented, but not severely enough to make it inoperable. The wheels appeared straight and intact. Not until they had checked the power system and felt certain they could get back to the lander, did they congratulate each other for breaking the Hexbox free. They could see the entire object clearly now, since most of the dirt clinging to it was knocked free by the impact with the rover. It was about seven feet long with an identical hexagonal shape on the back end. In the center of the back end was what looked like a grip handle of some kind. Using the crane, it was a relatively easy matter to hoist the Hexbox onto the rover's bed. The two men secured it to the bed with nylon straps.
They were too far from the lander for the bluetooth intercom system to work. Tom switched to shortwave radio. “Come in Mars Lander. This is Mars Rover One reporting. Over.”
The pilot, Jon Lacey, saw the signal light on the overhead, and switched on his radio speaker. “Jon, here. Good to hear from you, Tom. What is your status?”
“We have the Hexbox. And tell Bob it is definitely man-made.”
“I knew it,” said Bob, chiming in. The crew had argued about the Hexbox on the trip to Mars, with Bob unwavering on it being man-made, despite the pounding he took from the other three men. “And good work,” he added.
“We are starting back now,” said Tom.
“Okay, good idea,” said Jon. “You don't want to cut it too close. Bob wants to know if there is any sign of a motor.”
“None that I can see. But it is completely sealed. You'll have plenty of time to study it when we get back. We better get moving.”
“Okay. Out.”
After driving the rover backward and forward and rechecking the systems, Tom and Doc headed back the way they had come. Getting the rover up out of the crater was slow and tricky, but the custom balloon tires were precisely designed for traction on the Martian surface. Even on flat ground, the object's added weight slowed the rover by half, and the importance of the find had Tom driving slowly, erring on the side of caution. The return trip proved uneventful, if slow and tedious. But when Tom and Doc finally came over the last rise and saw Bob and Jon in front of the lander waving at their arrival, both men experienced a surprisingly strong surge of emotion. On a barren planet, millions of miles from Earth, even the tiny lander was a welcome sight.
The rover had beaten sundown by only minutes. All four men watched the sunset, which, on Mars, looked like a speeded up video compared with the same event on Earth. Without much atmosphere, there was little of the reflected and refracted light that makes an Earth sunset so long and beautiful. On Mars the day raced into night, and after the sun went down the astronauts hustled into the lander as the temperature began to drop rapidly.
Once inside, Tom microwaved the protocol to start a comm link with Earth. “Mars Mission 31 to Earth Command. Come in. Over.” Even with their current position nearly as close to Earth as Mars would ever get, there was at least a seventeen-minute lag for any signal to reach Earth and be returned. While they waited, Bob and Jon had a lot of questions. “Did you see any signs of life at the discovery site?” asked Bob. He was eager to make contact with aliens and vindicate his lifelong belief in live alien presence on or near Earth.
“Sorry, Bob, no little green men,” said Tom, teasing his friend. “Looks to me like the Hexbox fell through the Martian atmosphere and buried itself in the dirt. A dust and dirt slide in the crater must have uncovered it.”
Doc agreed. “Based on shape and size, it didn't likely have any means of locomotion beyond whatever originally launched it.”
“What about writing?” asked Jon, the pilot, who was also the language expert.
“Didn't see any,” answered Doc. “But, we didn't have time to do more than strap it onto the rover and hightail it back here.” Doc handled a few more questions himself, as he could see Tom was on edge waiting for a response from Earth.
Finally the radio link popped into action, “Earth Command receiving. Jack here. What's the news from Mars? Over.” Jack Stillgoode was one of two close friends of the crew who manned the comm link at NASA Mission Command on rotating shifts, once Mars Mission 31 hit orbit around Mars. He had trained with all of them, but was grounded because of a health issue that was insignificant to anyone except an astronaut.
When a man was millions of miles away from home, hearing a familiar and trusted voice counted for a lot. Tom fought the urge to chatter away, and said, “Good to hear your voice, Jack. We have recovered the object and brought it to the lander. Looks to be intact. Definitely an artifact. Over.” Another long wait.
Finally they heard, “We're going to lose our line-of-sight transmission window soon. We'll talk again at 17:00E—your tomorrow. Find out what you can. Out.” That would be nearly fourteen Earth hours from now. They would have time for some rest before daybreak, although how much they would sleep was uncertain. They had an alien-made object lying outside less than twenty feet from the lander. The first one ever found.
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About the Author
Jack Thompson is an international bestselling author, finding voices in many genres. His latest release is Swimming Upstream, the third book in the bestselling Raja Williams mystery series. He has also written political thrillers, science fiction, paranormal romance, children's stories and fairy tales.
According to Jack, whether reading or writing, what makes a story great is how well it communicates to the reader. Whether presenting him with a hero he wishes he could be or a villain he chooses to hate, the characters must relate to the reader on a personal level. A reader will leave a good story in an improved condition. He may have learned something new about the world or himself, or simply been well entertained. That's why Jack writes.
Other Titles by Jack Thompson:
Science Fiction
Godmachine
Blue is for Boys
The Companion
Mystery & Thriller
Raja Williams Series
The Color of Greed
C’est la Vie
Swimming Upstream
Political Thriller
The Rand Principle
Poetry
Lyrics for Living
Adventure
A Trick of the Eye
Contact Jack
email:
[email protected] website: JackWrites
twitter: @jack_writes
facebook: Author Page
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