Last Flight For Craggy (33 page)

Berry
explained, 'At first we thought this was some sort of black hole,
because it swallows light. But physical things, including humans,
can go in and get out again.'

'And the aliens
created this?'

'Yes. Go take a
look. I'll hold you with the line and pull you back. Helmet radios
don't work in there.'

Dillow entered
the darkness. She could see the ends of all the tunnels, looking
like dull yellow lights suspended in nothing. She tugged on the
line and Berry pulled her back to the tunnel.

'See those
lights in there? They are tunnels, like this one. One goes to the
heart of Mons. Stella is in there right now, working on the alien
computers. One of them goes to Phobos. A ten minutes crawl along
it, gets you there.'

'Incredible.
What about the others?'

'We have no
idea. Fawn. All we know for sure is, he didn't come back this way,
or enter Mons or end up on Phobos. He must have become
disorientated, and picked the wrong tunnel. We have no idea where
he could be. I am so sorry.'

'Commander
Potts said we have to destroy this.'

'He's right.
One of those tunnels probably leads to the aliens world. That means
they could come to Mars at any time. They may be small, but they
have a superior technology and they can be ruthless.'

'We can't shut
this down and forget about my father.'

'Fawn. We have
to face facts. We can't risk this thing being kept open for long.
We have to hope Lance finds his way back before we make the
decision to shut it down.'

It was a
painful reality check. 'How long do we have?'

Berry sighed.
'At the moment, we don't know how to shut it down safely. Stella is
trying to find that out on the alien computer. If she can do
that...'

'Stella's
brilliant. She'll find it.'

'That's when we
have to decide.'

'I want to see
Stella.'

Max Morgan put
the metal case on the seat next to him and took off. It was only a
relatively slow flight for just over one hour to the northern cap.
It wasn't a magnetic pole as on Earth, because the internal core
had stopped spinning, millions of years before. Much of the water
was undrinkable without intense treatment. Little was on the
surface, the majority lying below the surface. It was late summer
in Mars northern hemisphere, but the temperature was still one
hundred below. Morgan's suit would protect him from the worst of
the freezing Martian air. Relying on the suit to keep him alive, he
picked up the case and went through the airlock.

Morgan walked
across the frozen wasteland, ice crystals crunching beneath his
boots. From the air he had seen a reasonable expanse of ice and it
was towards that he carried the case.

* * *

'Fawn. What
brings you here?'

'Hi, Stella.
I'm looking for my father.'

'Sorry. He's
not in here.'

'I know. He's
gone missing.'

Stella said,
'Missing? I don't understand. I thought he was trying to find a way
to close down the pathways.'

'He was. Then
he vanished.'

'My God,'
gasped Stella. 'I've been out of touch up here most of the time.
It's impossible to get a signal from anyone in the blackness.'

'Stella. We
think he got confused and took the wrong tunnel. We have no idea
which one.'

'Tried
Phobos?'

Fawn said,
'Yes. He's probably taken a new tunnel. He could literally be
anywhere.'

'Fawn. I am so
sorry.'

'Commander
Potts said we have to close the pathways down. My father could be
lost forever if that happens.'

Stella said,
'We have to close it down. Every minute that passes is a threat to
us. Your father knew that as well as anyone.'

'I know. But we
have to give him a chance. Berry told me you are trying to find a
way to close the pathways down from the computer.'

Stella nodded.
'And I have.'

'No. We can't.
Stella, please.'

Stella said,
'It isn't up to me. Only the commanders can make that call. But I
know one way to shut it down. Look.'

Stella worked
the computer and the alien appeared on the screen.

'This is
Korlyn. This little guy is a hero. He gave his life to save
us.'

'The commander
told me most of it.'

Stella worked
the computer. 'This is an English translation. Watch
carefully.'

They stood
together and listened to the alien. There was an image of the
terraforma.

Korlyn spoke.
'When the terraforma is activated, it will close the pathways for
ever. I have reprogrammed it to do that so my people may not return
here. Activating the terraforma shuts down the pathways.'

* * *

Max Morgan
reached the expanse of ice and opened the metal case. He took out
the artefact and held it carefully in his padded gloved hands.
'Right. Let's do this.' He held the top and bottom as he'd been
shown and twisted. Nothing happened. It wouldn't budge. 'Come on,
you damned thing. Open.'

A final effort
and something gave. It turned green. He carefully placed the
beautiful artefact on the ice. 'Go do your thing.'

He picked up
the empty case and returned to the freighter. As he sat down, the
radio started.

'Morgan. This
is Commander Potts. Do not activate the terraforma.'

'Come again,
Sir?'

'I repeat. Do
not activate the terraforma.'

'Sir. You
called me about two minutes too late.'

The deep
resonating rumble woke Lance Dillow up. It took a moment to realise
where he was and what was happening. As he lay on his back, his
helmet light revealed a wide crack opening up above him. Small
chunks of rock were dropping on his visor. If he were to survive,
he had to get out of there fast.

He scrambled
onwards, ignoring the wild shaking, clambering over the larger
slabs of rock desperately trying to get to the end of the tunnel
which was still nowhere in sight. The shaking became more
violent.

'Move your ass,
Dillow.'

On he went, the
tunnel breaking up in front and behind him. A large piece landed on
the back of his leg making him yell out in pain, but it didn't slow
him down. And suddenly there it was, the end of the tunnel. He
hurled himself out of it as the whole tunnel disintegrated behind
him.

Dillow found
himself falling and rolling down a steep slope, scattering rocks
and dirt along with him. The slope ended and he was falling. He
fell ten yards and landed face down on a narrow ledge, the visor of
the helmet smashing to pieces.

'Did the Earth
move for you?' said Cragg.

'No,' said
Misty. 'But Mars damn well did. Get off me, you big lump.'

'That's not
what you said half an hour ago. Listen. It's stopped.'

'A quake?'

Cragg said,
'You know better than that. Mars has no tectonic plates. Only
volcanoes. Oh, shit. Mons?'

They dressed in
a hurry. Outside their rooms, they could see many others were also
wondering what was going on. They were all staring up at the huge
roof of Base Three. For that to break would be a deadly
disaster.

Cragg saw
Forbes and Potts, also staring up at the roof.

'Is Mons
erupting?' he asked them.

'The terraforma
destroyed the pathways,' said Forbes.

Everyone had
been kept up to date with what was happening. They were not aware
of the decision being made to activate the terraforma, though.

Misty said,
'You set the bloody thing off? With no warning.'

Potts said, 'We
wanted to surprise everyone.'

'No shit,' said
Cragg. 'Guess bloody what? You surprised us.'

Forbes said,
'Craggy. We tried to stop it. We were too late. But activating the
terraforma destroyed the pathways. We only found that was going to
happen minutes before Morgan activated it.'

Joel had Shyne
in his arms, and the little girl was holding a doll.

'You idiots,'
snapped Joel. 'Fawn was in that. If anything has happened to
her...'

'God,' said
Potts. 'We had no idea.'

Cragg said, 'No
point arguing about this. We need to get out there and find
Fawn.'

Joel said,
'Misty. Will you take care of Shyne for me please?'

'Of course,'
said Misty. 'Come to aunty Misty, Shyne.'

'I want
mommy.'

Cragg gave a
burning look at Forbes and Potts and said, 'And your Uncle Craggy
is going out to get your mommy back.'

'Promise, Uncle
Craggy?'

'If it's the
last thing I do.' With a hard look at the commanders, he growled,
'Don't just stand there, you dummies. Get a search party
organised.'

'We're onto
it,' said Forbes, grabbing Potts by the arm and pulling him away
from Cragg's animosity.

Strong hands
pulled Lance Dillow over on his back. He moaned with pain and
looked up through a hole in his visor at a blue sky. With his
helmet ruined, why wasn't he dead?

'Anything
broken?' a voice asked.

Dillow tried to
move. 'Just banged up, I think. You speak English?'

'I am English.
This isn't England, though.'

'Which planet
am I on?'

The face of the
young man looked puzzled. 'Earth, of course. Didn't you know?'

'No.' He looked
up the slope and could see a large fragment of the tunnel,
everything else covered in rubble. He wasn't going back to Mars
that way.

'Can you stand?
I don't fancy trying to carry a big bloke like you.'

Dillow grasped
the hand that helped pull him to his feet and the pain to his leg
shot through his whole body, but it wasn't broken. 'Thanks. Who are
you?'

'Dave Foreman.
You need looking at. Follow me. Oh. You can take off your helmet.
You don't need one now.'

Dillow did that
and felt a gentle breeze on his face. 'Where are we going?'

'To the
commune. It isn't far. Come on.'

There was a
well worn path down the rest of the mountain, and it snaked through
dense undergrowth. Dillow limped behind Foreman and they soon came
to a collection of buildings in a clearing, built to blend into the
surroundings.

'Not much, but
we call it home.'

Foreman took
Dillow to the largest building on the site. Several people of
different colours, nationalities and ages were coming and going,
busy with things to do. Some stopped and stared at the man in the
space suit. Most smiled at him but didn't linger to talk.

'He'll be in
here, I expect,' said Foreman.

The first thing
that hit Dillow was the strong animal smell. There were cages of
various sizes covering most of the place, floor to ceiling. Dillow
was startled by a large chimpanzee suddenly appearing.

'Ooh! Hello,
hello, hello,' said the chimp.

Foreman said,
'Hi, Mango. This man is a friend.'

'Friend,
Mango.' Mango offered a hand to shake and Dillow shook it.

'Hello, Mango.
A GenMop?'

'Ooh.
GenMop.'

'Nice to meet
you, Mango. I am Dillow.'

'Dillow. Ooh.
Dillow.'

'Where's the
Boss, Mango?' Foreman asked.

A voice from
above called out, 'I'm up here. I'm coming down.'

'You be
careful, Dad,' said Foreman.

'Got it,' said
Dillow. 'Andrew Foreman.'

'Guilty as
charged,' said Foreman senior.

Dave said,
'Dad. You shouldn't be climbing up there like that.'

Foreman rolled
his eyes to the ceiling. 'My son thinks I'm a dried up old fossil
who would crumble if I fell over.'

'Dad. Dillow is
hurt. He fell out of the cave.'

'He came out of
the cave?'

'I was on duty
up the watchtower when it happened.'

Dillow could
feel his leg seizing up. 'I'm from Mars. Mr Foreman. I don't wish
to be rude, but if I don't get a drink of water soon...' As if to
emphasise that, Dillow started to buckle and Dave caught him.
Dillow's mind blanked out and he awoke on a comfortable bed in a
room smelling of medical chemicals and his suit had gone. Foreman
was sitting by his side.

'Feeling
better?'

'Not a lot.'
There was a pitcher of water on a crude cabinet by the side of the
bed and Dillow drank a pint straight off. 'Thanks for helping
me.'

'You're most
welcome.'

The door opened
and Mango walked in holding a banana which he gave to Dillow.

'You are
honoured indeed,' said Foreman. 'Normally he just takes banana's,
not hand them out.'

'Thanks, Mango.
Jeez. It must have been forty years since I ate one of these.'

'Enjoy. Why are
you here? Not that you aren't most welcome.'

'Pure accident.
I got lost in the blackness. Took the wrong tunnel and ended up
here.'

'No going back
that way. The last one through there was Korlyn Num Serdinda. A
real nice guy.'

'You met
him?'

'Of course. How
is he?'

'Dead.
Sorry.'

Foreman looked
both stunned and sad. 'Oh. My little pal. Lousy poker player, but
such a neat guy. They killed him?'

'You mean his
own kind? Yes.'

'Bastards. He
said they might. Ah. David. Some food for our guest.'

'Just eggs and
some fruit and custard.'

'That will save
my life. Hmm. These eggs are so good. This place. I don't
understand?'

'I'll leave you
to let Dad tell you all about it,' said Dave. 'I'll find you some
clothes. Can't guarantee a good fit.'

Dave went away
and Foreman senior told him the story.

'Korlyn was
what you would call a scientist, an academic. Not a malicious bone
in his body. He was one of the inventors and developers of all that
stuff you've seen.'