Merfolk on Mars

Chapter 6

Isla had the exit door open and was already using the controls to extend the boarding ramp to reach the access door. The view below was spectacular. So far away that trees were just a haze of darker green, but impressive nonetheless.

The ramp clunked as hooks on the end of it dug into the crumpled metal around the doorway. Railings folded out of the ramp itself, and a green light flashed.

We were ready to enter Brasslantis.

Corvus went first and tried the doorknob. Gears around it twisted, and it opened. Strange. I found it strange that they didn't lock their back doors.

Corvus reached over and pulled a frisbee-sized gear out of the debris around the door. He turned the bent gear over and gazed down at the planet far below.

"I wonder what would happen if I dropped this."

"I'm not sure who's down there," I replied, "but I don't think that is quite the impression you want to make."

"It would be a big impression, though."

"We are trying to be inconspicuous..."

"Oh..."

He jammed the gear back, hefted the chainsaw, and entered the dimly lit hallway ahead. It looked like a maintenance corridor. Nearby, brown liquid sloshed out of an extended pipe for several seconds.

"What was that?" Arai asked.

"You don't want to know," Isla quickly said.

He looked between the pipe and the greenery far below several times with a strange look on his face as the smell finally reached him.

"Uh, ladies first." He finally said, gesturing for us to go ahead of him.

How thoughtful of him. For the first time in our trip, I was relieved to know that I had an axe hidden under my cloak.

The hallway was empty. Arai started to close the door when the ramp retracted. With a shuddering groan that I felt through the floor, the Leviathan eased away from its resting place and began flying away.

Isla came up beside me and crossed her arms, glaring daggers at the youth gaping at the retreating spaceship.

"Please tell me that you either set the brakes or took the autopilot off." Her words conveyed that she thought the opposite.

"Huh?"

"The auto-pilot," she enunciated slowly. "The program that pointed to the kelp bed in Sealantis – the one that the previous pilot set. I thought it was strange that you were just manually overriding it."

"It can do that?" He asked, flabbergasted.

Oh, shark farts. He was even denser than I had realized!

"Please tell me we can call it back," I desperately said.

"Unless this brilliant pilot entered a return path and time into the system," Isla replied, "then no."

I groaned. "That means we are finding a different way home. This was not part of the plan." And we had barely even gotten past the first doorway.

"Some sort of machine made it to Sealantis and back, so we can probably borrow one and send it back on autopilot," Isla said, trying to cheer me up.

I slowly nodded. "Now we just need to find that stone."

"At least the city isn't that big," Arai piped up. "How hard can it be?"

The mere fact that it was Arai who was asking such a question made me worry. Perhaps I should have insisted one of the Toms came with us instead.

Isla began walking. "Let's see if we can get up to ground level. Then we can hide those chainsaws while we explore the city and locate that stone."

"What if we come across a locked door we need to get through?" Corvus pondered aloud, gazing at her in curiosity.

"We'll knock, pick the lock, find a window, or you can borrow my axe," Isla replied in a remarkably patient voice.

He brightened up at that. "Ok." Apparently, he was content with whatever answer was provided.

The corridor was nerve-rackingly quiet as we went further. Where were the stairs? We were still in the lowest bowels of the city. The corridor went around several corners before we finally spotted the first door.

Isla cracked it open and peeked inside before opening it wider. Massive gears covered the walls, interlocking as they slowly turned. I had no idea what it was powering, but it must have been big.

My shoes squeaked as I walked onto the tiles in the humid room. I winced slightly. The squeal of wet leather on a highly polished floor was almost as bad as my singing. Wait. Wet floor? Where was the water coming from? I looked around uneasily.

The floor had numerous small puddles, but no clear source. Isla nudged me with her elbow and pointed up. Above us, steam escaped from pinholes in massive pipes. The moisture collected on any nearby surface and occasionally dripped down.

Arai jumped away from a falling water drop and began edging toward the next door. "Let's get out of here before one of those water drops hits us."

That was the smartest thing I had ever heard him say – and I was in full agreement. The last thing we needed was to grow a tail.

We hurried out of the room and into the next non-dripping corridor.

Room after room, and corridor after corridor.

They should have called it Maze-lantis.

Why were there no exit signs?

Ahead, a man carrying a mop rounded a corner and stopped when he saw us. With a shake of his head, he walked towards us. A handful of buttons and gears adorned his shirt in some sort of pattern I couldn't make out. I had no idea why the goggles on top of his head had two sets of lenses.

"What are you kids doing down here? And why are you two carrying chainsaws? Those don't look like proper steam-powered tools."

Isla stepped forward. "So sorry about that, Sir. We got lost. The team who collected the glowing green stone asked us to bring them these super-charged chainsaws – but we don't know where they went!"

"You mean that new Unobtanium stone?" he asked, tilting his head. "The one the archaeologists brought in?"

She nodded eagerly. "Yes! That one."

"Then you really can't get much more lost than what you are. They took the stone to the Sunbeam Tower. It's the tallest tower."

"Thank you so much, good Sir!"

"You're welcome, although I must insist that you leave the Boiler Area. Only licensed Steam Masters and authorized janitors are allowed down here. Safety, you understand. They only allow me down here to mop the floors."

"Certainly! Can you please give us directions? We will leave right away."

"The elevator is behind that door." He pointed to a gear-covered wall.

My friends exchanged confused looks, and the man saw them. With a sigh, he walked forward and twisted one gear, which clunked heavily before allowing a previously hidden door to open.

We filed through the door.

"Go all the way up," he said. "By the way, you're not little kids anymore. Put some goggles on before you bring disrespect on your family. Especially if you are going into the towers."

He closed the door behind us.

We looked at one another, trying to figure out the importance of goggles. I was already wearing leather and matching jewelry – what more did they want?

"I guess we better find some goggles like his, then," Isla murmured.

She was right. I now had to add obtaining goggles to my master plan. On top of finding a different way home. Lovely.