“Get the hell away
from me, leave me alone.” Commander Gordon shouted between sobs.
Outside
the Lander, the creature that once was Gerald Carr hammered at the hatch.
Gordon saw the latch move up and down, but due to the positive pressure inside
the capsule, compared to the outside vacuum, it would be impossible for the
thing to swing the hatch door inwards. Impossible for a human, anyway.
All
around the Lander he now heard knocking and tearing as something tested the
capsule. He heard a ripping sound as something tore at the amber coated foil
that encased the descent section, felt the Lander judder as some unseen entity
pounded at one of the legs. He wasn’t due to liaise with Vance in the orbiting
CSM for approximately 15 hours, but would they have winkled him out by then? What if he
entered a different orbit than Vance, would he have enough fuel in the retros
to alter his orbit and dock? Once more he felt the Lander shudder and heard the
screech of tortured metal. He looked out of the portal, beyond the foul
animated remains of his dead comrade, something else moved within the cloud of
dust that had followed him across the crater; something wholly alien like a
huge crab with tentacles. If he didn’t launch now, he probably never would and
everything, including Carr’s death would have been for nothing. Flicking switches he powered up the LSM and strapped himself
in for take-off. The hammering on the hatch grew in intensity, he looked
towards the portal, and there was Carr, his skeletal face staring at him from
its empty sockets. Gordon extended his middle finger, flipping the bird at the
monster, and hit the rocket switch. There was a roar and Gordon felt the
acceleration as the Eagle left the moon. He half expected to be shot at once
more, as they had been landing some six hours previously, but he smiled to
himself as he realised the cloud of dust had covered his escape, in the
weightlessness the camera from the rover floated past. Checking his trajectory
and alignments he made slight alterations with the retros.
A sudden
thought entered his head and he felt around for the bag attached to his utility
belt, breathing a sigh of relief when he found it; inside was the data crystal
he had found on the remains of the ancient Empress Pandora. Unstrapping himself
from his chair he floated to the portal and looked down at the moon, already
the Copernicus Crater was disappearing as his momentum took him away.
Satisfied, he sought some much needed nourishment and water and secured himself
once more to the chair. As he ate he pressed record on the bulky tape machine
and related his report into the microphone.
“Eagle,
this is Lightfoot. Dick come in.”
The voice
from the Command Module crackled over the radio. Gordon blinked, realising he
had fallen asleep. Setting the tape machine to one side he smiled as he replied.
“Lightfoot,
this Eagle. Good to hear you Vance. I’m already in orbit. Turning on rendezvous
beacon.”
The radio
crackled white noise before Vance replied. “You said, I’m in orbit? Gerald?”
“He
didn’t make it Vance…”
Once
again there was a pause. “Understood. I see you, 12 km distant, approaching for
docking. Let‘s get back home.”
Present
Day NASA - Mars Science Laboratory
Curiosity
Mission Coordinator Darren Brown turned off the playback machine, he looked
solemnly at his superior, sat with him. Newly instated NASA Director Chuck Bolden looked
perplexed and shell shocked, shaking his head in disbelief. “Jesus Darren, and
the President knew of this when he appointed me? I’ve never even heard of the Apollo
18 mission.”
“All Presidents since Nixon have known of the alien presence
on the moon, but we have only known the true nature of the threat since
President Reagan’s tenure in 1981.”
“I don’t understand, the recording?”
“The recording, videos and data crystal – all the data from
when Dick Gordon opened Pandora’s box - were only brought to earth in 1981 when
the Space Shuttle Columbia rendezvoused with CSM Lightfoot in 1981, on her
maiden flight. The remains of Vance Brand and Dick Gordon were also recovered.”
“They didn’t make it?”
“No. CSM Lightfoot suffered a catastrophic accident whilst taking
up geo orbit. It was tragic, they almost made it home; they were true heroes,
not just for America but for all of humanity; their story, however, their
sacrifice remains uncelebrated. The bodies of three homeless men of similar builds
were released to the relatives of the astronauts; the official story was that
all three died in an accidental capsule fire while training on earth. The mission itself had been launched in secret
and no knowledge of the true nature of their deaths was ever revealed. Back in the
70’s, prior to the internet, such a cover up was possible. As far as anyone
knows, the Apollo mission was halted due to financial constraints after Apollo
17. Now however, in an age of free access to data and hackers we are facing a
severe problem of controlling information. Not for nothing has the President
gained executive powers to shut down the worldwide web if required. Obviously
such an action would be the last resort; in the meantime we keep on questioning
the mental state of sources revealing data.”
“What data, and what has this to do with the Curiosity
mission?”
Brown stood up and poured two cups of water from the water
cooler, passing one to the Director. He sighed before continuing. “We analysed
the data crystal and other operatives confirmed the information that had been
relayed to Gordon. Mars had indeed once been a home to humanity prior to a
global nuclear bombardment by extra-terrestrial forces. We had to be sure. Viking
orbital missions saw the Face on Mars but we managed to discredit
whistle-blowers; it was merely shadows and the psychological phenomenon of Pareidolia.”
Bolden took a sip of water. “I take it we’ve found further
evidence.”
“Indeed, we’ve found remains that are difficult to explain as
natural geological features…”
“Such as?”
“Statues and wheels. The statues can be put down to
Pareidolia, but the wheels, no. Meanwhile the orbiter has focused on the moon
Phobus…”
“The monolith?”
“Exists, yes. Its a massive boulder, differing from the
surrounding geology, some 238 m across.”
“We need the information written upon it. Are our planetary
jailers still active?”
“We avoided the moon as we thought that was where their main
observation post in the system is. The recent Chinese, Jade Rabbit, probe was
destroyed soon after landing, although the authorities there said the probe was
merely in a hibernation phase. We have tentatively warned them but they are
intent on a home grown manned mission. I hate to think what the outcome may be…”
“Are our jailers elsewhere?”
“Yes, our recent Dawn mission photographed a base of some
kind on Ceres, a large moon in the asteroid belt.”
“But are they on Mars?”
“The Curiosity Rover photographed this.” Brown said, handing a
photograph to the Director.
“My God… the tentacled crab, as described by Gordon! I don’t know,
I just can’t…”
“It’s a lot to take in Director, I know. If will you excuse
me, I had better get back to sifting the newly arrived data.”
“Of course Darren, of course. Those poor men though, to have
come so close to safety and die so close to home, its tragic. What was the
nature of the accident they experienced?”
“It’s revealed on the recording from point 548, I warn you it’s
not easy to listen to. I will speak with you soon Sir.”
Brown shut the door behind him while Bolden fast forwarded
the digital counter to 548. Soon the long dead voices of Gordon and Brand, and the
insistent beeping of alarms, filled the room.
“What was that explosion?”
“Oxygen levels are plummeting, what the hell happened?”
“We’re venting gas, the paneling outside has ruptured, hang
on, what the hell?”
“What can you see? What is it? Life support is failing!”
“There’s something moving in the gas. Oh my God, its… its CARR…”