Chapter Three
It was February 12th, 2027. Callum Hammond was entering a briefing room at Darkside, for what would be his final briefing before the launch of Hades.
He cautiously looked around the dimly lit room, knowing that Simone would be there. Eventually, he spotted her, sitting at the back of the center row of seats.
Once they made eye contact, Simone quickly looked away and turned her attention to a stack of papers on the desk in front of her. Callum then kept his sights on her, as he slowly made his way to the back of the room.
“Front and center, Hammond,” said Alexander Mandrake; the director of Darkside.
He was an older gentleman of Spanish descent, with years of military experience behind him. He was a bitter man, who had become numb to the world and rarely showed anything that even resembled patience.
Callum turned to see Mandrake pointing at a seat in the front of the room. Unfortunately for Callum, Darkside was all too aware of his history with Simone. So, their reunion would have to wait.
Callum quickly and obediently sat in his designated seat. Mandrake then handed Callum a portfolio, and as Callum began to flip through it, he saw pages of jumbled text, accompanied by various frequency numbers.
“What the hell is this nonsense?” he asked Mandrake.
“You’ll find out once we get started,” answered Mandrake. “We’re still waiting on a few more people.”
Max O’Brien, Sophia Bronson and Jack Sanders, then entered the room. Richard Morioka was already seated in the middle of the room, when Callum had first entered.
Callum gave the three of them a respectful nod, as they took their seats. Richard then smiled, as he made eye contact with Max.
“How’s it going, Max? Feeling any better?” Richard playfully asked him.
Max rolled his eyes and replied, “Don’t start.”
Callum started to chuckle, as Mandrake was already looking annoyed.
He turned to Max and said, “Max, just so you know, we’re packing extra waste bags for this trip so nobody has to swim through your vomit.”
Everyone in the room laughed. Everyone except Max. Max was a pudgy, pale Caucasian of average height with short dark hair, who blushed easily and was only shy, until the people around him stopped talking.
“Alright, that’s enough! Stow it!” Mandrake shouted.
The room instantly fell silent. Mandrake then walked to a projector at the front of the room and turned it on. A crisp holographic image of Charon had appeared in front of the group.
Mandrake used a laser pointer to draw everyone’s attention to a specific spot on the moon’s surface.
“This is the hot spot,” Mandrake began.
The image then zoomed in on a cracked area of solid rock, which resembled a fault line of some kind.
“The damage to the surface that you’re seeing happened recently,” he continued. “Our deep space probes sent us images of this sector, five days ago; and five days ago, this entire area was a smooth solid slab of rock. Some significant seismic activity is going on here.”
He paused for a moment, then gave the group a long and sincere look.
“This is also where Hades is going to be landing,” Mandrake added.
There was a light commotion, before Mandrake motioned for everyone to remain silent.
“As inconvenient as that may be…” Mandrake continued. “…this extremely unstable region of Charon happens to be the source of the transmissions, we’ve been intercepting.”
“Are you thinking they’re somehow related?” asked Richard.
“That’s just one of many questions that Hades is going to answer,” answered Mandrake.
“Sir, forgive me, but wouldn’t it be more logical to send in another probe; closer to the surface this time to find out the exact condition of the area?” Max fearfully asked.
“The probes don’t do us any good, because the area has been constantly changing and will most likely continue to do so during your trip out there,” Mandrake answered.
“Then why are we even attempting this?” asked Max.
Jack and Sophia, who were seated directly behind Max, then started snickering to one another.
“We haven’t even gone up yet and he’s already shitting his pants,” Sophia whispered to Jack.
“I said that’s enough of the attitude!” Mandrake scolded.
The room fell silent again, as Max rolled his eyes and loudly exhaled with frustration. Mandrake then turned his attention to Callum who had been giving Mandrake a very cold stare for the last minute.
“Something on your mind, Hammond?” Mandrake asked.
Callum hesitated for a moment, then answered.
“Well, sir, it just seems to me that there’d only be one reason to not send in more probes before a manned mission,” he began. “You’ve found something new haven’t you?” he asked, insinuatingly.
“That’s correct,” Mandrake began, acquiring the group’s complete attention. “At first we thought the transmissions were coming from some kind of alien artifact that had crashed into Charon, but now we’re thinking it’s something completely different; as well as far more confusing,” he continued.
Mandrake then turned his attention to Simone, who was still seated quietly in the back of the room.
“Ms. West, I think you can take it from here,” Mandrake ordered.
Callum and the others turned to face Simone, as she made her way to the front of the room. Aside from Callum and Mandrake, this was the crew’s first time meeting her.
“For those of you who do not know me,” she began. “My name is Simone West. I am a specialist from the Central Intelligence Agency.”
“A specialist?” Callum asked, condescendingly. “What exactly do you specialize in?”
Simone gave him a stern look and then quickly answered, “I actually can’t tell you that.”
“Big surprise,” Callum quietly mumbled to himself.
Simone then turned her attention to the entire group.
“All I can tell you is that I specialize in these kinds of situations,” she continued. “Now, can everyone please turn to page three of their portfolios?”
The group opened their portfolios to an entire page of jumbled and seemingly random text. Looks of confusion came over the group.
“What you’re looking at may appear to be nonsense,” Simone began. “But it isn’t. You’re looking at a rough interpretation of a language being spoken in the transmissions from Charon.”
Sophia’s eyes lit up. “You heard a voice?” she asked eagerly. “Like the voice of an alien?”
”No, not an alien’s voice,” Mandrake interrupted.
Simone quickly glanced over at Mandrake and then turned back to the group.
“No. As incredible and improbable as it sounds, the voice on the recordings is coming from adult male human vocal chords,” Simone added.
Silence fell over the room.
“That’s right, people,” said Mandrake. “There is somehow, at this very moment, a human being living on Charon.”
So wait a minute…” Callum began. “Are you telling us this a rescue mission?”
Simone looked over at Mandrake, seemingly for his approval. Mandrake then nodded to her, and she obediently turned her attention back to Callum.
“Yes, it is,” she hesitantly answered.
An uproar ensued. The crew bantered back and forth about the impossibility of the presence of a human being on Charon. However, the evidence was conclusive and Callum and the others were forced to accept the unfathomable scenario laid before them.
Each member of the crew, then proceeded to bombard Mandrake and Simone with questions. In response, Mandrake quickly and authoritatively silenced the group, yet again.
“I don’t have any new information to give you, other than what you’ve already received,” he announced. “We don’t know how he could’ve gotten out there. We don’t know how he’s been able to surv
ive and send these transmissions, or how he’s even sending them. We don’t know if he is alone, or if there are other survivors present in his company. At this time, we are proceeding under the assumption that an unsanctioned spacecraft was launched at an unknown time and from an unknown location; and that said spacecraft has crash landed on Charon and is currently acting as a lifeboat for at least one survivor.”
The bewildered crew remained silent and attentive throughout Mandrake’s closing statements.
“The Hades mission is as simple, as it is dangerous; very,” said Mandrake. “The environment is ever changing and extremely hostile. It’s going to take you eight months to get there and upon arrival your reflexes are going to have to be beyond top notch.”
He then fixated his eyes on Callum, as did Simone. His expression grew cold and his words came with absolute sincerity, along with a hint of worry. His darkest emotions were pouring out of him, for the first time in decades.
He then leaned in close, met Callum at eye level and said, “You may have pulled some slick shit in your days behind the stick, Hammond. You may have excelled in the simulators. But I promise you, son. During the final hours of your flight out, while you’re struggling to land on that rock and five other people are right there with you, depending on your every decision, you’re going to feel like you’ve never flown a plane before in your life. At that moment Hammond, you will know fear.”
Mandrake then backed away from Callum and rejoined Simone at the front of the room. He whispered something in her ear and then gave the entire group another stern look.
“We launch in two days, people,” he announced. “I suggest you take the next 48 hours to clear your heads and get some rest.”
The crew had become enraptured by Mandrake’s words to Callum and the haunting sense that they may have all signed up for a one way trip.
“There’s no turning back now…Dismissed,” said Mandrake.
The crew left the room single file, leaving Mandrake and Simone, alone with their thoughts. Simone couldn’t help but stare Callum down, as he was the last to leave the room.
Callum’s gaze never left hers, until he passed by. In the end, Callum had only one thought. He knew that no matter what obstacles were waiting for them, he was going to get everyone there and back safely. He also wasn’t going to let Mandrake’s psychological tactics dampen his excitement. If anything, he was more fearful of spending the next eight months in close proximity with Simone, than he was the trip to Charon.
On February 14th, 2027, Hades was successfully launched from the Darkside facility. Callum Hammond, Simone West, Richard Morioka, Jack Sanders, Sophia Bronson and Max O’Brien were on their way to discovering the truth behind the voice from Charon.
It was to be a sixteen month round trip that would ultimately become the catalyst for a very dark period in human history.