Martian Republic: The Fateful Secret

Chapter 6: Capture

Location: Bosporos Planum, Martian Republic

Timestamp: 4pm +2 Standard Martian Time

Kelly was shaking as she stepped into her EVA suit. She had been jumpy all day, the weight of her mission and the uncertainty of the settlement weighing her down and impairing her ability to focus. She was even asked by some of her teachers if she felt ill!

She had dismissively just said that it was all due to lack of sleep, not wanting to divulge any information about the operation that was taking place. She had heard from Amy earlier that a team had been mobilised to track and capture anyone or anything that set off the alarm near the auxiliary communications site. In a way, she was playing a massive role in the whole operation. Massive but easy, for all she needed to do would be to drop some devices near the area.

"Are you done?" came a voice behind her.

"No, I got distracted, I mean ..." she said.

"Is it–" asked her friend Jen in concern.

"Never mind," said Kelly, clipping the homing beacon to her utility belt. She gave Mark the thumbs up sign.

Mark pressed the button to open the airlock. The dull gray door began to slide upwards. The air pressure gauge beeped, signalling that air pressure was dropping. As soon as the gauge read 6 millibars, the overhead lighting flashed green.

They stepped out of the protective barrier of the settlement's infrastructure and began their trek through the arid deserts of Mars.

"Do you think it's a good idea to check out that tiny crater next to that weirdly shaped rock?" asked Kelly, pointing at a jagged rock that vaguely resembled a cow's horn.

"Yep," agreed Jen.

The trio began to walk towards the rock, carefully skirting around a small crater filled with sharp-edged rocks. According to the rumours, those rocks were smashed bits of large boulders that were blown apart in order to level the ground during the early days of the settlement when they were building Dome 3.

"Did you hear about what happened to Mr. Erv last week?" asked Jen as they climbed up a small hill.

"No, what happened to him again?" asked Mark.

"So, according to my extensive list of sources, he was sending a box of water ice to Cafeteria 4 because apparently the dumb guy who was in charge of deliveries the day before had mixed up the dry ice with the water ice. But the problem was that he picked up the wrong box - the one with dry ice instead of the water ice. When the cooks on duty that morning loaded the ice into the drink-making machine, they totally freaked out when they saw vapour gushing out from a cup of iced water on the other end."

"Well, sounds exactly like him to make a mistake like that," said Mark. "But how do you always find out about stuff like that. I mean everyday you seem to be the first person to find out about the latest news in the settlement."

"Being one of the most talkative people in the settlement and having a massive social circle helps," she said with a girlish shrug.

The rock soon loomed before them. What surprised them was not the geological formations but the complicated array of antennas, ICCS panels and fibre-optic wires that loomed before them.

"Never knew we had a comm outpost here," said Mark.

"Wait, this looks like it has been compromised," said Jen, checking out some fibre-optic connections near an antenna. "It seems like someone spliced into it before ..."

"Look out!" shouted Mark. "Incoming vehicle!"

Sure enough, a jet black NIMF was swooping in for landing. It landed just twenty metres from the trio, its thrusters kicking up a huge cloud of dust.