Origins

          Mars was changing.
         Professor Alred sat on the second story veranda in the back of his ridge top country home. Arnus Vallis ridge had a resort community, overlooking the bountiful fields of the Aeria plains. Phil could feel the cool breeze of the north ocean blowing in from the distance as sun began to set. Reading the geological survey report he could feel his chest tightening.
         Nothing like this has happened in the last 250,000 years.
         Phil Alred graduated from the University, mastering astro-physics. He was heavily recruited by the military. As an officer in the cosmic department, he spent a few years in the space exploration program. Then receiving his top-secret clearance started work in the colonization project.
         Alred sifted through the data, looking for time frames and warning signs. Frustrated, he set the report aside and made his way inside. The phone was ringing. Crossing the poorly lit sitting room, Alred reached the phone next to his reading chair, sitting comfortably before answering.
         “Hello.” He said apprehensively not expecting a phone call.
         “Phil.”
         “Oh, hello director.” Director James Sapp was twice as old as Alred, ex-military intelligence. Now, Sapp was the director of colonization project.
         “I suppose you’ve had a chance to see the dire predictions made by the rock jockeys in their yearly report.”
         “Yes, I was just looking at the reports executive summary on geological phenomena. It looks like we’re….”
         “You don’t believe that report, do you? That project has been on the chopping block for the last three years. How else are those rock heads going to get funding for their project? There has to be some major disaster coming or they’re all out on the street.”
         “All the same director, I’d like to meet with the geology and seismology team that put this together. Geology is a major part of any colonization project, and having a better understanding of our own geological formation and tectonic movements would be more than helpful.”
         “Of course Phil. The real reason I called was to let you know you have a week to wrap up your current research. You’ve been transferred. You’re heading up the Earth exploration and development team.”
         Phil was perplexed. “I thought Ewing had that team.”
         “Ewing and Daley died yesterday in an accident during a high pressure training exercise at the Cydonia ocean floor training center. I’ll brief you on all the details and the upcoming mission schedule at the end of next week.” Click.
         Phil hung up the phone and slumped back into his easy chair. His head was spinning, trying to grasp the implications of the report, his sudden change of assignment, the loss of a colleague, the unknown commitments that the team leader of the EED he was now responsible for seemed overwhelming.
         He fixed himself a drink and moved out to the veranda, just in time to see Phobos jump up from below the horizon, into the western sky where the sun had set only moments ago. He waded through the geological document finding the name of the lead researcher.
         Doctor Corin Durr. I will have to contact the good doctor in the morning and arrange a meeting.
         Phil Alred arrived early for his appointment with Doctor Durr. There were rows of display cases lining the entrance hall to geological center. Each contained a fantastic array of geological formations. He announced himself to the receptionist at the end of the hall and seated in an executive waiting room. Thumbing furiously through the research he had collected over the last two days, he was trying to get familiar with all aspects of geology to appear informed during the meeting. A few minutes later, the receptionist opened the door poking her head into the waiting room.
         “Professor Alred”. Phil pulled his eyes off the page to recognize the receptionist. “You can go in now.” She motioned to the door on the other end of the waiting room. “Doctor Durr’s office is down the hall, last office on the right.”
He collected his paper work and headed for the door. The hallway on the other side was white washed and sanitary looking. There was no decor except the nameplates on the office doors, and very quiet. Reaching the last office on the right, he rapped softly on the door.
         “Come in!” A slightly gravely but extremely feminine voice responded.
Phil quickly entered the office closing the door behind him. He turned to face the doctor as she extended her hand with a warm greeting.
         “Good morning professor Alred, nice to meet you.”
         Phil stammered. “Uh, good morning.”
         Phil was frozen in place buy her wide smile. She had a perfectly proportioned, symmetrical face accented by the black rimmed glasses perched on her nose. She moved back to her desk and sat down, gesturing for Phil to take a seat across from her. He was instantly smitten. He sat down awkwardly, scanning the doctor’s desk to avoid eye contact.
         “What can I do for you?”
         “Thank you seeing me on such short notice. I’ve recently been assigned a leading role on the EED, and was interested in finding more information about tectonic plate movements and their implications, especially as they relate to other worlds.”
         “I’m sorry.” Corin appeared stunned. “Did you just say you were the team lead on the EED missions of the colonization project?”
         “Yes”. Alred sensed her apprehension.
         “I thought that was top secret.” She said.
         “Yes it is, but I really wanted to ask you a few questions about the geological report that was just released. It mentions the Mons Olympus volcano and its smaller sisters along parallel fault lines being a threat to the planet? There has been plenty of volcanic action recently, but it’s been over 250,000 years since the planet has seen something of the magnitude your team is predicting.”
         “Professor Alred, I have a presentation scheduled in ten minutes to review our findings with the government’s scientific research oversight committee. I believe all your question will be answered, if you will just follow me please.”
         Corin Durr came out from behind the desk over to a row of file cabinets. She was rummaging through them, while Alred stood up and was gathering himself. After a few minutes, Durr turned looking perplexed.
         “It seems I have misplaced the data disc on which my presentation was stored. Well, no matter, I have a blank disk I can copy the file to from the main frame.”
         Durr snatched a disk from a box on top of the filing cabinet and motioned Alred through the door. They walked briskly down the quiet hall, past the receptionist toward the mainframe room. There was a sudden burst of sound. Sirens in the building had been triggered. The sound was deafening. Alred was reminded of childhood safety drills in his school of primary education. The loud noise of the siren, filing out of building to a safe distance while extinguishing units responded. Durr grabbed Alred by the hand and lead him through a door just off to the left into another hallway, then quickly through another door into a stairwell. They made there way down to the ground floor and exited. It seemed they had been programmed to do so, or were trying to get away from the loud sirens so they could hear one another speak.
         Outside the geological center, the extinguishing units were waiting, but also the military was on site securing the area. Alred did not remember this from his childhood. Just then, an armored vehicle pulled up beside them. A young soldier got out and made his way over to Alred. The soldier spoke loudly to be heard over the background noise.
         “Sir, Colonel Sapp is in the vehicle waiting to see you!”
Alred grabbed Durr by the hand and guided her into the armored vehicle, letting go as soon as the door had shut behind them.
         “Sit down Phil and make yourself comfortable it’s going to be a long ride.” A gruff voice came from the far end of the vehicle, as it started to move.
         “Colonel Sapp? I thought you retired from the military years ago.”
         Sapp turned toward Durr. “Hello, I’m director Sapp.” Sapp extended his hand. Corin reached out to take it, when she noticed he had a thick glass tumbler filled with clear liquid and ice cubes. “On the rocks I presume.” Corin took the glass. She moved over to a bench like seat against the wall and sat holding the glass in her lap.
         Alred sat down next to Sapp. “Is everything alright?”
Sapp hesitated. He set his drink down and pulled some paper work out of his hazel nut briefcase. “I assume this lovely young woman is the geologist that’s going to replace Daley on your team.”
         Alred was stunned, but remained cool. Great idea! “Yes, but the top secret clearance process has not been completed on doctor Durr, and...”
Sapp cut him off. “I know Durr and her work.” He seemed smug. “I’m giving her field clearance as of now. The time table has been moved up so I’m going to brief you on the EED while we’re on route to the training facility.” Sapp opened up a side panel in the vehicle that revealed a computer with a large display screen. Corin and Phil moved closer to the screen and Sapp. Phil wondered why the timetable had suddenly changed and getting to the training center was so urgent.
The inside of the vehicle was dimly lit. Streaks of light broke through slats in the armor, meant as firing positions, illuminating dust particles floating through the humid stuffy air. The greenish colored luminescence of the display screen brightened the front end of the vehicle. Sapp handed satellite photos, dossiers, and other technical documents to Phil and Corin.
         “Phil, you can review the documents on your team members later. You know most of the team already, and because it’s your team, you decided who you want on it. The training station is at the face of Mars. We have five pyramid colonization craft ready to go. The next launch will be done at night from the ocean floor to protect the secrecy of the project.” Sapp continued the briefing. “Earth itself has more than twice the mass of Mars and that make you and I very heavy. The training facility will require you to wear additional appendage weights and a weight jacket at all times. The amount of weight will be added as your training progresses. The atmospheric pressure is almost twice that of ours so you’ll be spending some time in compression and decompression chambers, acclimating your body and lungs to the pressure.” Sapp pointed to a satellite photo of the Earth’s largest continent. “Here on this continent we discovered a crescent shaped region that has the richest soil on the plant. We’re going to set up agricultural facilities through out this region. The growing season will only be half as long. The Earth revolves around the sun once every 365.25 days.” Sapp grumbled under his breath. “That means I’m 62 Earth years old.”
         Corin sat up straighter trying to get comfortable, turned to Sapp. “Has there been any volcanic activity in that region?”
         “No fault lines even come close to that region. So that won’t be the issue.”
As Sapp paused, Alred sensed that there was an issue. “Than what are we up against?”
         Sapp looked blankly past Corin, then back at Alred. “We’ve had anthropologic teams monitoring humanoid life on the planet.
         Alred was perplexed. “Are you saying there’s life on this planet already?”
         “Not only humanoid life.” Sapp shot back. “Plant and animal life fills the oceans, the lands, and the skies.”
         Corin gasped. She clung to the drink in her hand now took a big gulp.
Sapp began again. “These humanoids use rudimentary tools, have almost no spoken language, are barely clothed, and live in small clans. They are hunters only and have no agriculture. They can be violent and territorial, so large fertile plains with no animals to hunt should keep our colonists out of the way.
Tour next mission launch will be in a couple of weeks, so get with your team and review the specs.”
         The vehicle came to a halt. The back of the armored vehicle opened and they all steeped out into the night air. Day had turned to night during the ride and everyone was feeling exhausted from the trip. They were in a large underground military facility. They were shuffled through some guarded checkpoints into a deep-sea shuttlecraft. The craft was small and sleek with room for about eight people and their gear. They descended quickly into the darkness of the water to the ocean floor. Traveling for a few more minutes, docking lights soon appeared in the distance. The swift shuttle ducked under the row of flashing lights and rose up into an open-air docking facility.
         They were met by staff members of the facility that immediately adorned the new comers with all manors of weighted garments. Phil and Corin were ushered swiftly through the tight, dimly lit passageways of the training facility to small sufficient private bunkrooms.
         Phil settled into his bunk and was surprised at how comfortable the mattress was considering it was no more than an inch thick and sat on a steel frame. In fact, everything in the room was made of metal or plastic. The bed extended the length of the room. A small metal desk surface protruded from the wall. The lighting in the room was dim and incandescent and seems to glow through the ceiling.
         Phil was exhausted. He sank back onto his mattress. He felt the weight of the day’s activities, of his new responsibilities, and of course, the physical weights that the condition part of his training demanded he wear. Phil was anxious to see the training area where Ewing and Daley met their demise. I need to get involved with the investigation into the training accident now that I’m here. Corin should be able to give me the information I was looking for even though she doesn’t have her data disk. I’ll set up a meeting with the team to review their progress.
         He drifted off.

         Phil opened his eyes slowly. His mind was filled with the haze of half consciousness where he was not sure if he was awake. The muffled background noise turned into a low, slow, and distant rumbling as his senses came out of the haze. He stood and stretched. Feeling refreshed he remembered the tasks that lay ahead and was anxious to get started. Making his way through the halls, he accidentally found the compression chambers where the accident occurred. Although not on the schedule for today, Phil decided to get into a wet suit and SCUBA gear to investigate. Just as he was getting into one of the chambers, there was another low, distant rumbling sound. This one was much louder, which made him pause.
         “Phil…” Corin shouted down the hall from behind.
Phil turned to see her hurrying toward him. From the expression on her face, he could tell something was not right.
         “Is everything alright?” he asked.
         “I think we are seeing the first geological changes our research predicted.” Her voice seemed confident and troubled. “Let’s find director Sapp. We have to warn everyone on the surface to find shelter.”
         They raced through the corridors to the observation deck where Sapp was monitoring daily training activities. Sapp was not his usual calm self. He was barking orders and flying from station to station trying to keep on top of the cataclysmic events unfolding in front of him.
         “Director Sapp…” Corin started, “How can I get in contact with the research center or the emergency department of the government?”
Sapp turned to face them. “We’ve lost contact with the surface.” His expression was telling. “There’s nothing we can do from here. I’m sure the emergency department is doing its job. We need to do ours.”
         “Where is my team?” Phil asked.
         “They’re on board the pyramid craft.” Sapp replied. “We need to get these ships off the ocean floor before the launch pad in compromised by shifting tectonic plates.” Sapp pointed towards the maintenance bay doors. “Take the maintenance vehicle down the tube to the launch pad and prepare for launch. I’m evacuating the station before it collapses.”
         Phil and Corin turned immediate toward the doors and made there way to the maintenance vehicle. The maintenance tube runs along the floor of the ocean, from the training sight to the launch facility. It was a clear tube with intermittent support beams. The vehicle is automated, and floated on a magnetic levitation track that ran the length of the tube. Half way through their mile long ride, there was a loud rumbling, and cracking sound.
         “That did not sound good”, she said.
         “It looks like a small leak had sprung at the seams”, he said, as small quantities of seawater started spraying into the tube at cracks along the seam.
They reached the launch facility and stepped out of the vehicle into a few inches of standing water. They pushed the recall button to send the transport back to the training facility and watched as it rushed out of sight.
         “Let’s get into the pyramid craft”, Phil said while going through corridors of the launch facility. “We’ll wait as long as we can for the others, let’s just be ready to go.”
         Corin and Phil made it to their stations at the top of the Earth bound colonization ship. From their position, they had a view from the edge of the launch pad to the training facility. The ships where positioned in a zigzag fashion running west to east. The eastern most part of the launch pad had the maintenance tube connected to it running off into the distance, ending at the training facility. He could see the tube filling with water. It didn’t look good for the crew of the training facility.
A loud, grinding noise suddenly shook the ship. Looking out towards the noise, just past the west end of the launch pad, the fifth ship was gone. Ships three and four were leaning westward, unable to launch. Ship two fired its thrusters and lurched upward, cutting through the warming ocean waters.
         Phil had the crew prepare for launch and gave the command. The thruster fired. The ship rumbled, but the density of the water smoothed the accent to the surface. Once the Ship emerged from the water, the main boosters were engaged and the ship rose swiftly. The crew was able to get a good view of their surroundings.
         The surface was scared with cracks where fault lines had given way to the pressure from the planets core. Volcanoes were spewing rocks and fine red ash into the air, while rivers of lava poured out covering large sections of the planet. Ship two was hit by a fiery chunk of rock from one of the larger volcanoes, and plunged head long back to the surface of the planet. Ship one rose through the upper atmosphere. Looking back, the surface of the planet was no longer visible. It had been covered in a fine red dust.
         Once the ship was out of danger, the crew entered their stasis chambers and began the long journey to their new home.

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