The Alien Artifact 8 (4 page)

Suddenly a loud explosion blasted out and a
bullet thudded somewhere nearby and he automatically switched off
his light and ran through the darkness for his life!

He dared not use his light now and he could
barely see, and regularly tripped up and continued!

He realized that he could have an infrared
filter on is faceplate, to see in the dark, and he searched for the
switch to activate it, and realized it was a different version that
had it, and he just dived into a pile of sand behind some rocks,
and hid himself. Surely he would not be found there, and he had not
left any footprints nearby and had changed direction a few
times!

Once he realized that nothing was happening
he started to enjoy the rest and being free from being attacked,
and he considered how to get back to the others, and if it was
actually safe there. His mind raced through what had occurred! Yet
he only realized that the location that he strolled into had to
have something, and he started to wonder what was there.

Who would go to such lengths to kill him?
What could possibly be there? What could be there in such a
desolate place? Was there another space vehicle there?

Suddenly he saw something buried in a region
of the darkness to his side, and he shifted behind a large boulder
at his side and hid from there, and his heart leapt as he studied
the dark spacesuit figure shifting lifelessly forward, and it
shifted out from the darkness into where some starlight was beaming
down, and he studied the figure not realizing what would
happen!

He felt like moving away from the figure but
he would be spotted for one, and he studied the gun and it looked
like an old one, and he wondered who the hell was there and where
he had got the spacesuit and gun, and noticed that the spacesuit
was an old version.

There was something strange there that he
could not grasp and he studied everything over and over trying to
grasp something, going over everything he could think of, and it
was like there was something there that should not be there, but it
was there!

He studied the spacesuit faceplate and could
not see through the dark shiny material, and the figure never
reacted, and he wondered what would happen if he rushed towards
it

He sensed he could do something stupid and he
studied the faceplate of the spacesuit more and more, and stood
back shocked!

He thought he saw a skeleton, and it moved
away, and realized that there usually was a name on most
spacesuits, even the old ones, and he tried to see it and though
saw it he could not see the letters properly, and as it vanished
into the darkness he thought he saw it said Anderson.

He was confused, trying to work out what they
should do, and what it might do, and what could happen!

When he finally returned to where the others
were he soon found the other two astronauts at exactly where they
had been, but noticed that their positions had altered as though
they had done something and returned to where they had been.

While he rested over the ground he wondered
what the hell an astronaut, or even a ghost astronaut, was trying
to shoot him, or what he was actually doing, and realized again
that the shuttle was unbelievably valuable and worth it, but why
had they not just taken it, as they never had guns, and he realized
they might be just after its technology and he considered if they
could take it without them suspecting it.

Chapter 5

The First Death

Once the sun rose above the horizon
Cronenberg went out and explored where the other astronaut had been
and was surprised that there were no marks anywhere, and found
where he himself had been there and where he had been behind the
boulders and found his own footsteps in the sand.

He searched everywhere and started to think
he had imagined it, and he examined the hill over at his side in
the sunlight and realized it would be quick to climb and decided to
go up and explore the region from the top, as he had intended.

If he needed the others he would return and
go back up, and he quickly climbed up and at the top stood staring
at the fascinating view, with Mars stretching out into the horizon
all about him, and he spotted the shuttle, and spotted a large
short message beside it, written in the sand and with boulders,
with a SOS message, showing their destination and they had crashed,
and he was sure the satellites would spot it, and most could spot
any changes in the landscape and environment and detect anything
unusual and take close up photos, which would be sent back to the
base – and they would be looking for it after the communications
stopped!

He examined everywhere with powerful
binoculars, including where the southern pole was, for anything
unusual and for water if they got trapped there but never saw
anything and realized they would have to be saved by the others
shortly or they would die of oxygen starvation.

Yet as he was about to move away he wondered
where the hell the thing that had taken them there was, if it
actually existed, and he removed a device he had brought and
checked for any traces of it and found nothing and wondered what
the hell the outcome of it would be, if they survived, and if he
would always wonder what they had encountered there.

When he arrived back where the other two
astronauts were he discovered Campbell still asleep and Rosenberg
gone, and he began watching Campbell strangely, and his lifeless
unmoving figure, and realized that he had not moved since he had
left, and he considered if it was just his spacesuit that made him
not move, and he started to wonder if there was something wrong and
rushed over and showed himself to him, moved up close, and examined
his unmoving face and gasped when he saw his hidden mouth
expression, as if he was screaming at something.

He firmly shook him, still not believing
anything was wrong, and shook him hard, and he unzipped and removed
his glove and felt his cold hand and arm for a pulse, and saw his
cold lifeless complexion, and was amazed that there was no pulse,
and that he had been dead and had not noticed anything.

He searched his spacesuit for any rips or
holes, and wondered if it had been a fault in his spacesuit, and he
realized that he had best record a message on their camera of the
incident and gave a record of the occurrence, and checked the
various functions of the spacesuit, and had its computer check him
further and was surprised his death had not been oxygen
starvation.

In the end he removed his helmet and whole
spacesuit and sat back staggered, as large sections of his body
were gone, as though something had removed them viciously, as
though a wild animal had attacked him.

Suddenly he spotted marks on the ground where
something had obviously happened.

Rosenberg suddenly rushed out from behind him
and gasped, and crouched over the body, and he observed him
examining the body, and fall back with blood covering his
gloves.

Chapter 6

Anders

What astounded
him was how deadly and vicious whatever it had been was! If it was
what had taken them there!

What the hell
was it? How could it be so advanced and vicious? Was it some form
of alien animal that got its prey with special powers? Yet how did
it manage force an entire shuttle into going there and what form of
prey did it live on? The planet was virtually empty of life!

In the end he
realized he could not believe it without more evidence, and
whatever it was it would have to be left until they could check it
out.

What also
surprised him was that Rosenberg had been away, and looking about
like him, since he woke up!

He was also
surprised that he had found something hidden away in the distance,
which he never knew the identity of, and Rosenberg took him over to
a region at the other side of the hill, from where he had gone, and
he showed it to him and they examined it with their binoculars, and
he realized it was artificial, and that it had been there some time
and partially buried in sand, and was hidden behind a small hill
from where the shuttle was, and from it being observed from where
he had been at the other side of the hill, and on the above hill
there.

After examining
it he was surprised that it was at about the same distance away as
the shuttle and virtual in a straight line with it from there, and
just hidden away from it, and he wondered how the hell it could
have ended up so close to it. The planet had hardly anything on it
and the south pole even more so.

The chances of
two objects coming down there was immense, and after examining
everything he wondered if it could be just space wreckage.
Something from some space station or rocket had been discarded and
had fallen there.

Rosenberg
wanted to check it, before they returned to the shuttle, and so did
he! But their main problem was their oxygen was running out, and
they only had a little left, even after taking Campbell’s, and they
swiftly left, and left Campbell where he was, for investigators to
find him, and they saluted him, at where he was, and went away from
the hill wondering what had happened.

When they finally approached the place they
both started to gasp as they realized that they had lost more air
than they had thought they would, and Cronenberg even thought his
last tank was empty a dozen times, and felt like collapsing, and he
approached the site struggling to focus on what was there, seeing a
distorted form of the sun, shimmering around, and he again adjusted
the hot temperature that built up in his spacesuit, and wondered
what had happened to its stability and ability to control its
temperature, and he realized it could be him, and his struggle to
get there faster, and he sighed as his spacesuit adjusted and he
felt its coolness cool his body, with ecstatic pleasure.

The site looked incredible as they staggered
into the area, a miniature valley, and crater in the landscape,
hidden at three sides from areas further out, and only visible from
where they had seen it on the hill.

It had resemblances to volcanic desert region
and Rosenberg started analyzing and taking soil samples about him,
while he inspected what was there and found the wreckage of a space
vehicle, and on a closer approach he saw that most of it was buried
in the ground, and had structural damage from an explosion, and
fire.

The heat from
the explosion had had more of an effect on it than he had realized
further out! Things somehow took a different perspective than the
damage of a normal fire.

He asked
Rosenberg for his advice, recalling Rosenberg was experienced in
space vehicles, as well as being one of the flight engineers like
Campbell was, and he had some experience in the old stuff.

They rushed around and investigated
everything, thoroughly.

Cronenberg examined it in detail and
half-heartedly observed the soil and rocks
–
while looking out for
traces of anything within the layers of ground.

Rosenberg examined things, as swiftly as he
could, clearly running out of air and trying to quickly finish the
investigation so they could rush away to the shuttle.

Suddenly he yelled out and Cronenberg rushed
over and found him standing next to a partially buried spacesuit,
stuck in the sand, with the top part resting over boulders, and
they examined the helmet faceplate and Cronenberg lifted it up and
saw a skeleton inside and he followed its stare going up into the
Martian sky, and he read the nameplate on the suit, and realized it
his name was Anders, and he recalled his name.

“
Did he not go missing?” Rosenberg
gasped.

“
Years ago! They never found where he
went …”

He recalled reading about it when he was
younger, and him thinking of becoming an astronaut.

“
This place is incredible!” Rosenberg
announced. “What are the chances of two space vehicles coming down
here?”

He nodded back amazed and examined the rocket
vehicle, and wondered what it had been like, and Rosenberg rushed
away and continued his investigation of the crash site.

Cronenberg started examining the pockets and
contents of the spacesuit and was surprised at how preserved the
things were and that one of the items was an old map, with names
and locations on it, which clearly had been used a lot by Anders,
and he studied the area on it and realized it was the area they
were at.

Chapter 7

The Rescue

While they
marched swiftly back to the shuttle Cronenberg kept going over the
events trying to piece them together but he could not grasp
something! Something hidden or obvious! Some clue that they had not
noticed!

The heat from
bright sun shining straight into their faces, through the thin
atmosphere, resembled the blazing sun in space, with its high
radiation, and it exhausted them, especially with lower level
oxygen they had altered their spacesuits to.

He thought of
Anders and the way his body had been resting and his stare and he
looked there now, to the location in space, and was surprised to
see the Earth.

What
surprised him was another large object raced passed it, and faster
than it should go, and he slowed, shaded his eyes, and
struggled to focus on it, covering up a distorted form of the
sun, shimmering around, and he recalled where his spacesuit
helmet’s polarization adjustment was and adjusted the polarized
faceplate to compensate for the extra light, and started studying
the object’s incredible velocity and shape, and even thought it
looked like a small alien spaceship.