If hell was real, Harvey was sure he was in it. The surface of Mars at least had the beginnings of something human but deep within her bowels, the endless cave systems and caverns offered only a quick end. On Earth he’d at least have air to breathe but down here, there was none of that, if something breached his suit, he was done. So every step they took, every wall of rock they broke down had to be a calculated risk. Times like his he zoned out, much easier to run on auto than worry all the damn time. He was part of a small crew escorting a mining drill into another large section. One thing that had stood out since they began uncovering Mars’ hidden wonders was that not all of the tunnels appeared to be natural. He didn’t say it out loud because they’d call him crazy, but he was sure some of it had to be dug out by a machine.
The drill continued noisily churning through dirt and rock while the accompanying crew of four watched on to make sure it didn’t get stuck. Soon enough it began making a slow hacking noise and stuttered like it had hit something that wasn’t rock. The driller came to a stop and slowly began edging backwards. He along with the others stepped back to give it all the room it needed. The last thing they wanted was to be crushed by its large rubber wheels. Once it stopped properly, Harvey approached the front of the massive machine and couldn’t mask the shock on his face at the sight of the mangled drill head. The green metal door swung up and hit the driller’s side. The driver, Devin stepped down from the massive driller and joined them in taking in the damage.
“It fucked the drill. Things busted.”
“I can see, what did you hit?” he asked.
“I think it’s what they’ve had us really burrowing for, Harv! Go take a look yourself, if you don’t believe me.”
Harvey stepped past the man and strode down the full length of the carved-out tunnel. He saw nothing for yards except rock walls and crushed stone. That soon changed once he met the dead end and was greeted by an ominous black wall, definitely not made of rock. The rest of the mining crew had now joined him and neither had the right word for what they were seeing.
“We’ll have to breach it,” said one of the men, Alex as he approached the black surface he brushed his hand over it. “Didn’t even scratch it,” he chuckled.
“We could try a plasma charge or two?” said Ricardo.
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“Would it even burn through a wall like this,” said Harvey. “I mean that drill is no slouch and you saw the state of it.”
“We have to try,” said Ricardo.
“Shouldn’t we first call this in?” asked Samuel.
“Probably won’t hurt to,” said Harvey folding his arms. “Do we even get a signal down here?”
“I can use the driller’s radio to transmit to the surface, should reach them, hopefully,” said Devin turning away and returning to the driller.
“The plasma charges are held in compartments on the side of the driller. We’ll try four for now. If that’s not enough… then it’s time for plan b.”
For the first time, a report came his way that he had been hoping to receive for a while now. Giovanni had the unfortunate task of keeping track of Mar’s fledgling mining operation. Even just getting set up had proven tricky. He had overseen the tedious task of constructing the dome and then after that, they had to find a means of accessing the body of the planet. Of course, they were after resources but Giovanni knew why Lazarus had sent them here. He remembered the man’s words well when he first met the strange eccentric head of the Lazarus Foundation.
“You’re the first man I’ve told who doesn’t think I’m off my rocker,” said Lazarus sitting across from Giovanni. His new boss had decided to hold this meeting in his luxury suite in the lunar city. Lazarus’ ambition was something that the rest of humanity seemed to lack, too caught up in their archaic politics to see what was before them—unlimited reach, potential, and a future that lay in a dark, endless forest.
He took a sip from his glass of wine and looked at the large window wall that showed the majesty of Earth in a way he had never seen before.
“I mean, forgive me, but can you blame them? I’m starting to understand why you hired me though.”
Lazarus swirled the liquid in his glass. “Few humans have had the fortune to enter the old outposts and most of them remain outside my reach.”
“Is that your plan? To take control of everything.”
Lazarus stood up and approached the glass window, he downed his wine and rested his palm on the transparent surface, his right hand appeared to touch the Earth. “If it means ending the Long War, sure.”
“Then you already know the Long War is functionally over, all eyes now point to you and your operations here. You’ve poached people from both sides. The stick they wield against each other will soon be pointed at you.”
“I know, that’s why I hope to remain ahead.”
“And that answer lies on Mars?”
“The Earth is too complicated for me to navigate properly. Most of the sites that belonged to my people are controlled by those who have no idea what they are sitting on. They see technological advancement as an excuse to make crude weapons of war instead of actual progress.”
“That doesn’t surprise me,” said Giovanni standing up now. He joined Lazarus. “So you’re expecting this Mars site to be untouched, what are you hoping to find?”
“Answers.”
“To what?”
Lazarus grimaced, “to the scourge that set all of this in motion.”