Following the first video conference with the Stargazer colony, the meeting itself was declared highly classified. That meant all records of the conversation, or what was said during that highly charged conversation were also deemed classified and kept a secret from the public. The United States has spent trillions on these projects to save humanity, almost doubling the national debt, so it was decided to keep the public in the dark about the Mars Colony. If the people were to hear that a project they funded just declared their independence and left the taxpayers holding the bill, it would not be taken that well. Congress would also freak out about how the debt was used to build a new nation, and since it could become an election deciding issue, so it was decided to kept things under wraps for the time being. Anything that mentioned the Stargazer project was wiped clean from the system. The money used to fund it was reclassified as funding used for other projects, especially the one that actually did save the Earth from the extinction level event. Politicians had no problem fudging the books because it made them look like heroes who put their money on the right horse and came out smelling like roses.
Yet there were still people who believed the Stargazer project existed, even if they didn't know it's actual name. There were witnesses who claimed they saw one of the space cruisers launch into the sky. Others online claimed that NASA had been exchanging text only messages with the colony on Mars, but that was denied as nothing more than just more conspiracy theories, all speculation with zero evidence to back it up. These people were laughed off as loons that were asked what kind of tin foil they wore on their heads while creating these farfetched stories.
Nathan Jones was one of those people who claimed to have seen something, but was always dismissed by everyone as a quack looking for attention. He as only a teenager when it happened, when he saw the massive ship rise up and float up into the clouds with massive engines propelling it. Not even his father believed it, because the old man was in the bathroom taking a leak at the gas station when it happened. Before the old man can back from the latrine, the ship had already entered the clouds and was gone. The boy was endlessly teased at school, called a liar and was picked on for spreading stories that were just not true.
By the time he reached high school, Nathan had learned that hard way to keep his story to himself. He stopped telling people what he saw and instead chose to look for the answers himself privately. He studied engineering in school and even became a pilot in the air force, learning as much as he could about agronomics so that he could prove or even disprove what he had seen that day. While he never came close to finding out what the truth was, he came a lot closer on his twenty-sixth birthday. Almost fifteen years after the asteroid disaster that was averted, a wealthy entrepreneur named Richard Hawkes came to him with an offer he simply couldn't refuse. He was building what he told the governments all around the world was a new deep space satellite that was going to observe and look at distant stars, but he was in fact lying to them. The massive probe that he wanted to launch into space was actually a deep space explorer, a manned explorer that he wanted to send to Mars.
Mr. Hawkes even had details about the Stargazer program that no one else had access to. He even showed Nathan emails that he exchanged with Doctor Eric Saunders, asking for funding for something that he didn't want to pass by the government out of fear they would deny his request and jeopardize the mission to colonize Mars. Nathan read that email a few times, and he was just happy to meet someone hat he didn't have to convince what he saw that day was true. What the rich old man needed was a pilot, and Nathan was one of the best in the world. Upon hearing the destination, Nathan was eager to accept the mission. He along with two others would make up the crew of the make shift shuttle. They would have to mask themselves as a probe for the first week or two until they were far away enough from earth to change and expand the ship to make things more comfortable for the crew. Hawkes spent a quarter of his family's fortune creating the rocket that would send the probe/shuttle into space.
When it came time for Nathan Jones to step away from the army, Hawkes had a doctor step up and falsely declare that Jones was no longer fit to fly. Upon his medical discharge, Jones disappeared and would never be heard from again. Mr. Hawkes believe that since Jones was released for allegedly being incapable of flying, he would be the last man suspected of piloting this mission.
The Day the rocket sent the probe/ship into space, many people watched with interest as it left orbit and into space. As planned, they would not communicate at all, only spending small pings to base to let them know. Command back in London would text a yes or no question, and one ping meant yes and two meant no. It wasn't until they were past the moon and a lot further out into space that the shuttle shed it outer hull and hit started to really move. Yet without the aid of Saunders' engines, it was going to take the probe/shuttle close to a year for it to make it out to Mars. This is why they had a skeleton crew of only three people; they had to cram supplies wall to wall to make sure there was enough to survive the trip. It was a mission that would test the resolve of the very small crew, but they were determined to make the trip. Nathan's own desire was to see that space ship again in person, touch the hull and confirm that he wasn't seeing things that day, that he wasn't a crazy kid like everyone had accused him. The smartest thing the crew packed were games to pass the time, like a chess set, even connect four and anything they could do with a deck of cards. Simple things like that helped the crew keep their sanity, along with a few hard drives full of old shows and movies. The long months were tense at times, while other days were calmer as the three went further towards Mars.
When Nathan first spotted the red planet in his window, several months later, he was more excited than ever. They were still a while out, at least a month, but if they had champagne, the entire crew would be popping the bubbly at that point. It wasn't until a few weeks later when they made first contact. As they began to get closer to the red planet, one member of the crew noticed something floating around it. They thought it was a moon or even a stray asteroid locked in the planet's pull, but the argument was settled for them when the radio sparked to life.
"Unidentified space craft," the radio started, "Please identify yourself or you will be considered a hostile target."
The crew seemed to laugh at the thought.
"What are they going to do about it?" Nathan thought, amused by the threat.
That question was answered seconds later when two fighter jets flew past them at very high speeds. They crew scrambled to their windows to watch the jets fly by a few times, and then Nathan activated his com and replied.
"We are not hostile, I repeat, not hostile." Nathan started, "We are explorers from Earth."
There was a short pause. "What government do you represent?"
"None," Nathan replied, "This is a private mission that was conducted without the consent of any nation. Who are we addressing?"
"This is the M.S.O," the radio replied, "The Mars Space Observatory."
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"Request permission to dock with the observatory," Nathan requested. He and his crew paused and waited with great anticipation.
"Permission granted," the voice replied, "After we scan your vessel."
"Understood," Nathan replied, "Scan to your heart's content. If there are any other security measures to be observed, we will fully cooperate."
"That is greatly appreciated," the voice replied, "Please follow the Star Shooters to the observatory. They will be scanning the ship during escort."
"Star Shooters," Nathan said as he looked out the window, "Those things are amazing!"
It took them a lot longer than the shooters to float to the observatory and using thrusters, Nathan has no problem docking their make shift craft to the station. Once the doors opened, Nathan and his people almost hurt themselves as gravity came back to them for the first time in months. As they slowly walked off the vessel, they were welcomed by several armed men and one man who was their superior officer as he was unarmed and had his hands behind his back.
"I'm Commander Devon Jackson," The officers started.
"Jackson," Nathan repeated, "You used to work for NASA."
"Yes, I did," Jackson confirmed, "But that was a very long time ago. Please identify yourselves and your country of origin."
"Nathan Jones," Nathan said, saluting Jackson, "Former Air Force and out of Nevada."
"And you," Jackson asked the other two members.
"Rachel Hodder," the young woman answered, "The United Kingdom."
"Gregory Harris," the last man replied, "Canada."
"You've all come a long way," Jackson said as he extended a hand, "Welcome to Mars Space Observatory, formerly known as Stargazer Three."
"This was one of the Stargazer vessels?" Nathan asked, shocked.
"Yes," Jackson confirmed, "The vessel was decommissioned and turned into an observatory for study as well as for planetary defense."
"Like those Star Shooters?" Gregory inquired, "How long have you guys had those things shooting around?"
"I'm not allowed to answer that," Jackson replied, "You will be debriefed by someone more qualified to answer any inquires you might have. We also have quite a few questions that we'd like to ask you as well."
"Of course," Nathan said as he pulled something out of his coat. "That's why we brought this for you as well."
The men all looked at it strangely.
"What is that thing?" Jackson asked as he reached out and took it from Nathan to inspect for himself.
"It's a data box." Gregory asked, "There are over a hundred terabytes of data on that, which is over 1,000,000 gigs."
"All that data is in this box?" Jackson repeated, "It's no bigger than an apple."
"While it's not as impressive as your star shooters," Nathan admitted, "We still managed to make some advancements since we parted ways."
"Fair enough," Jackson said, "Follow me for debriefing."
"Who will be debriefing us?" Nathan asked as he and his comrades following Jackson down the hall.
"And ruin the surprise for you? No chance." Jackson said, smiling as he opened the door. "After you."
As the three crew members entered the room, two men were sitting at a table, waiting for them. Jackson walked into the room and handed the small apple sized box to the older of the two. He looked at it and then at the crew.
"What is this?" he asked.
"A present," Nathan asked. "It's a tool used for storing data, and lots of it."
"What kind of data is on this?" the old man asked.
"Media files." Rachel replied, "Every media file that has been created on Earth for the past fifteen years. To catch you up on how the home world has been fairing since you moved out."
"That's awfully considerate," the old man said as he put down the box. "My name is Doctor Eric Saunders. This is Councilman Ian Drummond of the Mars high council, the government of the colony below."
"So, the colony does exist?" Nathan asked.
"It does," Eric replied, with a weird look on his face, "Was the Stargazer project never revealed to the public?"
"It was not," Gregory replied, "All evidence or the mere mention of it was wiped from records. Many of you are listed as casualties of the Asteroid disaster to cover up your absence."
"How did they manage to pull that off?" Drummond asked.
"When hundreds of millions die, adding thirty or forty thousand names to the list doesn't get questioned," Nathan answered, "And those of us who did ask the questions were removed from sight or deemed crazed nuts."
"Over fifteen years, there isn't one mention of our existence in this box?" Eric said as he held up the data box again.
"I'm afraid not, Sir." Nathan replied, "But we are a privately funded mission. We do not represent any government. We were sent here by this man."
Nathan pulled out a letter and handed it to Jackson who then passed it onto Eric, who proceeded to open it and read it. Once he finished reading it, Eric couldn't help but laugh, as he remembered the man who sent them out.
"How is Richard doing these days?" Eric asked.
"Rather well considering his age," Nathan answered, "He sends his regards and hopes you are all doing well here on Mars."
"We are," Drummond answered.
Eric held up the box, "Is this the only one you brought with you?"
"No sir," Rachel answered, "We brought several."
"That's a lot of media files," Jackson snidely commented.
"Not all of them media, Sir." Nathan corrected him, "Some of them are like a care package. Movies and television shows that we've made over the last ten years. Books, music and even sporting events like the world series, the superbowl, and the last few Olympic games."
"Wow," Eric said as he sat back, "Richard sent us one hell of a care package. You do realize we'll have to scan all of them to make sure there is nothing harmful in these data files."
"We understand," Nathan replied, "This is a peaceful mission. We just wanted to see for ourselves if the Stargazer program was real."
"It's real alright," Drummond replied, "Come see for yourself."
As he stood up, Drummond waved at the three astronauts to follow him out the door. As they exited the small room, they entered a massive deck that had a brilliant view of the red planet.
"We'll pass by them in just a few moments." Drummond said, leaning up against the bars. "The colonies are so big they are visible from space now."
"Colonies?" Nathan repeated, "As in plural?"
"Look for yourself," Eric said as he came out to join them.
The three astronauts looked out in awe as the colonies came into view. There was one massive dome in the middle, but it has lines running to other domes that were about a quarter of the big one's size.
"What are those lines?" Nathan asked.
"Rail lines," Drummond repeated. "There are no cars. Either you walk or you take the train."
"Where did you find the materials to make this?" Samantha asked.
"At first we used the hull of the ships." Eric answered, "Then a few years later we found a rich metal in the ground and mined it to start building our own materials to expand. The last ten years has been spent expanding the main colony and then branching out to create others.
"Will we be allowed to visit?" Nathan asked, hoping he would get a chance to see the colony he had spend his whole life dreaming about.
"Of course," Eric replied, "But you'll forgive us if we leave your ship up here. It would be far easier to use our crafts to return to the colony."
"You mean the star shooters?" Gregory asked.
"Not exactly," Drummond replied, "but you're still in for one hell of a ride."