Eternal Life

Vorna

Dust swirled in the air, the wind blew with bitterness and howled like a wolf. No one would try to venture across the Hadara Desert during this weather, unless you where slightly insane and in need of some money. 

Life on Mars was short and anything but sweet. Shown fully by the small group of people bent nearly over as they pushed against the wild wind, one destination in mind. The Vorna Mines. Out here in the Hadara Desert nothing could survive. 

Ships of the latest model where blown out of the air as if they weighed nothing. No, the only way to get to the Vorna mines at this time of year was to walk, the wind was less powerful at the ground level than high in the air. 

Which is why this group of travelers armed with only pick lasers where here, anyone on Mars who wasn't a billionaire of starving would be near here, near the entrance to The Vorna Mines, The Vorna Mines could make billionaires with the snap of a finger. 

Vorna was the only reason Mars was even habited, the gem sold for over a million dollars per kilo on the market. Each day there would be less and less Vorna as miners mined more and more. Soon the newer miners would spend days within the mines to find a pebble of the stuff.

But still they came, eager for money and freedom from Mars and its eternal dust and wind weather. The group trekking currently through the bitter conditions of the Hadara Desert seemed  if only slightly weary. 

Surrounding the group where sand ridges that seemed to go for kilometres. They all payed no attention, so consumed on conserving the little warmth they could as well as keeping the bitter wind out of their face. 

But wait, was there movement behind that ridge? Maybe it was the wind blowing the sand around, but what if it was actually the Ares Snake, native to Mars or it was the Vorna Rat, which fed on Vorna from the mines. The movement didn't seem to concern the travellers and they continued moving towards the ever closer mines. 

Already the mines where coming into view, the dark looming entrance, the dim surrounding lights and small flurries of action as miners arrived to the mines or left the mines. The group of travellers pulled their laser picks out of hiding from the wind and sand and forged onwards and into the mine. 

Over at the ridge a stream of miners came over the hill walking towards the mines wearily. No deadly Ares Snake or harmless Vorna Rat, no just weary travellers. Already they too where pulling their laser picks out ready to become millionaires at the click of a finger.

Standing at the entrance to the mines is a shadowed figure. The mans face is covered by a hoodie and his clothing is made up of scraps of different fabrics. The man seems to be a statue, unmoving. As the night progresses and the sun rises in the distance the man if anything wakes up and begins to move not towards the mine entrance but towards a massive boulder near the entrance.

He moves around the boulder until he finds some sort of latch or handle and lifts the boulder up. He walks down the grey stairs until he's down into a small room that glows purple. Boxes cover the shelves on every wall. 

The man picks the last box up and moves towards some sort of conveyor belt. He places the last box on the belt and watches as it disappears through the flap before he then makes his way back up into the Martian sun. Already the wind and sand above has calmed down. 

The man closes the boulder and then taps away on a small watch on his wrist. A holographic interface pops up and he clicks on a few of the buttons. The entrance to The Vorna Mines glow purple and then settle down into a hue of pink. With some more tapping the man disappears from view.

Soon a stream of hundreds of miners come out of the mine entrance weighted down with kilos of Vorna. The man reappears over a ridge holding a holographic phone of some sort to his ear, he speaks into the phone for a minute or so before teleporting away again. 

As the miners all leave towards the nearest town of Bellona The Vorna Mine mountain entrance, seems to glitch in the light of the Martian sun before it disappears. 

The wind and sand howl.