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Olympus Mons: Mine Shaft Fifteen
Clark Middons brushed his long brown hair away from his face and pulled it back into a ponytail. His scraggly beard helped keep his face warm while he worked inside the corridors of the mineshafts. If he had his way, he’d still be out in the western United States studying the geothermal energy sources in Yellowstone National Park where he could wear shorts and flip-flops. But the money Grayson had offered for a geophysicist with his experience was far too great for him to ignore. He figured his three-year contract on Mars would earn him enough money to buy a new Jeep and start his own white water rafting business—‘where every day was a vacation and not a chore.’
Clark squinted as he hammered the metal temperature spike into the volcano wall. A few seconds passed before the gauge provided him with the temperature reading.
“Damn,” he said, shaking his head.
“What is it?” Shad Templeton asked, walking toward Clark. Shad was eight inches shorter than Clark, and probably the shortest man residing on Mars. He glanced up at Clark.
Clark tapped the temperature reading device with index finger. “I think this gauge is stuck. This can’t possibly be right. The temperature is getting warmer.”
“So? We’re getting deeper into the old volcano, and much farther from the permafrost.”
“I know that,” Clark said. “But the core temperature reading inside Olympus Mons has been a steady thirty-six degrees, and that’s hot for Mars. Except for the landing bay where it’s always colder. Twenty-six degrees there.”
“That’s because the landing bay gates never stay shut long enough for the temperature to rise. The thermal ventilation system has increased the overall temperature of Olympus Mons.”
“Yes,” Clark said, frustrated. “That’s in the tunnels. This reading is from the core rock. It contradicts every former prediction about a cold Martian core. And if it’s getting warmer the deeper we go, who’s to say that we might actually hit a lava pocket or cause an eruption.”
Shad laughed and his eyes resembled blue ice. His nose scrunched, too, which made him look mousy. “Lava? This volcano has been dormant for millions of years.”
“As far as we know,” Clark said.
“You really think such a possibility exists?”
“It’s not impossible.”
“So it’s a myth?” Shad asked, placing his hand against the rough volcanic wall.
“I wouldn’t necessarily classify it as a myth. But, think about it. Every report we have had about Mars shows that the atmosphere was oxygen poor, which it was, but the oxygen levels inside Olympus Mons are much higher than any scientist on Earth would have ever assumed.”
Shad shrugged. “I wouldn’t get all bent out of shape over it.”
“It should be worrisome.”
“Why? Who knows what other secrets we’ll uncover the deeper into the volcano we go.”
“I know. That’s why we should be more cautious.”
Shad laughed. “No life forms have been found. Hell, no fossils have even been found.”
“Yet,” Clark said. “That’s what we’re looking for.”
“I hope we do unearth some fossils. Wait, no . . . this is Mars, so there isn’t any earth. Right? Do we unMars fossils?” He brushed reddish soil off his boots. “Got a question for you, Mr. Geologist.”
“What’s that?” Clark asked.
“If we call dirt on Earth, earth, what the hell do we call dirt on Mars? Oops, I got some mars on me. How do you get ground-in mars off your clothing? You have a technical answer for that one?”
“Oh, stop being a smartass.”
“Okay, fine. Let’s say we do find fossils, then what? We’ve seen nothing that indicates life. Other than ourselves, obviously.”
“I know, but—”
Shad shook his head. “No tremors. Not even a slight one. Right?”
“That’s correct.”
“And you worked at Yosemite?”
“No, Yellowstone.”
“Basically the same thing.”
Clark shook his head. “Nowhere near the same thing, and the locations are half a day apart from one another.”
“Okay,” he said, rolling his eyes and waving his hands in surrender. “Anyway, you studied for possible earthquakes.”
“Yes.”
“So no tremors should be a big clue that this volcano is dead.”
“Not all formations are the same, Shad. This is Mars, and until we got here, what did anyone really know about the geological formations on this planet? The increasing temperature concerns me, even if it doesn’t you.”
“You’re right. It doesn’t worry me. It means I get to wear less clothes,” he said with a wide grin. “I might have to make jumpsuit cutoffs before much longer.”
“Fine,” Clark said, grabbing his pack and slinging it over his shoulder. He picked up his small pick ax and turned to walk away.
“Oh, calm down. Besides, our job isn’t to determine the temperature ranges. We’re supposed to keep searching for signs of former life, too.”
“I know. I did mention that earlier.”
“Technicalities. Always the details for you.”
Clark’s jaw tightened. “Precise measurements and data prevent errors, which sometimes prove to be fatal because the proper research wasn’t performed.”
“Well, you keep up with all of that technical stuff, and I’ll get back to my drilling machine so we can move closer to the center of Olympus Mons.”
They walked past two miners that were shoveling up loose dirt into wheelbarrows. Neither miner noticed them. Both shoveled at the same pace and almost in mirrored reflections of one another.
“Please take it slowly. As a precaution?” Clark said.
“Your reading isn’t anywhere near what a hot volcano would read. But if it will ease your mind, I’ll drill slower.”
Shad climbed up into the driver’s seat of the giant tunnel-boring machine. He took out his CAM-L device and typed commands into it. The two miners placed their shovels on top of their wheelbarrows and moved out of his way.
“That’s sad,” Clark said.
“What is?”
Clark pointed at the CAM-L control device. “Being controlled by computer chips the way they are.”
“Beats the whips and chains, baby! Besides, I’d rather not deal with a murderous convict with mere words. These Sleeper Chips are the best invention Grayson ever developed. Certainly alters the minds of psychos.”
“Not all of them were psychos. I take it that using those controlling devices doesn’t bother you?”
“Shit no. None in the least. It’s nice to know they can send the absolute worst criminal to Mars, and we never have to worry about any revolts. Besides, I’m only one step from becoming a Space Warden. When they establish the next mining camp, I might get promoted even higher than that.”
Clark smiled, shaking his head. “Well, don’t sprain one of those fingers, buddy. You might get demoted.”
Shad frowned with a soured expression on his face before he adjusted himself in the seat. He pulled his seatbelt and locked it into place. He turned on the machine’s blinding bright lights.
“Do me another favor,” Clark said.
“What’s that?”
“Instead of descending at the normal four percent grade, how about leveling forward for about a hundred yards, so I can test the temperature there. If it’s not abnormal, we’ll return to the four percent, okay?”
Shad shrugged. “Sure, why not?”
Clark had only worked with Shad for two weeks. Already, he was tired of Shad’s short man syndrome attitude. Shad always overcompensated for any activity. Even if the task required additional help from his coworkers, Shad insisted on attempting to do the assignment alone, at least until he absolutely proved to himself that it was more than he could handle alone.
The other irritating thing that Clark had noticed about Shad was that the little man loved the power of the CAM-L. Using it, he had complete control of six prisoners at a time, each of which was twice his size. The device empowered him and made him overly cocky, but Clark knew that if the chips ever failed, Shad would flee and scream like a frightened child. There was no questioning that. His confidence thrived with the knowledge that the prisoners possessed no freewill to challenge his authority. Remove the control aspect, and Shad became bloody chum to a host of violent prisoners.
Clark was a geophysicist and not assigned to any guard duty. He didn’t have access to use the mind-controlling device, and he was quite thankful for that. He was also not someone with the education to properly perform psychological analysis on people, but even he saw the immediate danger the staff and guards faced should the prisoners ever break free of these mind-controlling devices.
He was shocked when he had first arrived at Olympus Mons and noticed the small number of guards that oversaw the vast number of prisoners. He questioned how long before some type of computer glitch released the prisoners. The guards would hold no control of the prisoners. Once that happened, the revolt was nothing they’d ever contain. The guards would be at the mercy of the crazed prisoners, which, as Shad had indicated, probably possessed no compassion for anyone else.
Clark looked up at Shad. “Have you ever considered the possibility that one day these prisoners will break free of your electronic reins?”
Shad laughed. “That would certainly add more excitement to my duties if that ever occurred. This job is so boring that I seldom even carry my laser weapon any more. The CAM-L control is impossible to fail.”
“Chips have been malfunctioning lately.”
“A few have, but the margin is so slim. It’s almost nonexistent.”
“Nothing’s impossible, Shad. Nothing. You never know what we might find here. Life could exist. Different life forms unlike anything we’ve ever known.”
“This planet was dead long before we reached it, Clark.”
“Perhaps, but this volcano is the largest in our universe, and we’re still at a high level above the Martian surface. Who knows what we’ll find once we dig deeper.”
Shad shook his head. “Okay, I’m not a scientist, nor do I ever hope to be. But I have enough knowledge to wonder why you’d think we’ll find signs of life inside this volcano.”
“Why?”
“If the volcano contained flowing lava when it was active, how could life possibly exist here? The temperatures would have killed anything that stepped inside, right?”
Clark hung his pick on his tool belt. “My theory is that living creatures might have moved inside the volcano after the lava cooled and hardened. Probably long before the surface water vanished and the atmosphere thinned. As the outside terrain became too severe to support life, different species might have sought refuge here.”
“That’s absurd.”
“Not really. On Earth creatures have adapted for thousands of years. Ever heard of eyeless fish and newts that live in the total darkness of caves?”
“Yeah? So?”
Frustrated, Clark shook his head. “Never mind.”
Shad started the giant drill. The whining noise forced Clark to insert his earplugs to reduce the sound. The drill cut into the volcano wall. Shavings of rock, small stones, and crushed MarQuebes rained down in cascading dry streams, forming piles of colorful debris.
The drill whirled, cutting a giant circular groove. It made a strange whine as the bit scraped and caught in the wall. The machine shook. The massive drill bit twisted out of its proper alignment. Shad quickly shut off the drill while he maneuvered the tracks, hoping to back the machine up without causing further damage.
“Dammit!” Shad shouted.
Clark turned. “What happened?”
“The drill bit struck something hard and threw itself off track.”
“I can see that. Looks like your down for the day.”
“Hell, even if we have the necessary parts, it’ll take more than a few days for them to fix this!”
The rocks beneath the circle where the drill bit had carved rumbled. Part of the wall collapsed, revealing a large opening on the other side of the wall. Shad shifted the gears and backed the machine several yards. The bright lights beamed through the enormous hole.
A warm breeze flowed from the opening, spilling across them. The air held a strong acrid smell, forcing them to cover their noses and mouths with the top of their jumpsuits.
“What the hell?” Shad asked.
Clark set his pick on the side of the machine track. He pulled out his earplugs. “I’ll be damned.”
“What is that?” Shad asked.
“I believe you’ve tapped into a large opening. Probably from when the volcano was cooling down.”
Shad climbed down from the cab and rushed ahead of Clark toward the opening. “I’m checking it out.”
“Wait,” Clark said.
“Why?”
“Be cautious.”
Shad grinned. “Of what?”
Clark pointed. “The ceiling looks unstable and more rocks might collapse.”
“Okay, yeah, I see that. But isn’t it odd that I’ve tapped into what looks like a room of some sort.”
“I agree.”
Shad hurried to the wall. The opening was about a foot above his head. He climbed the rugged outcroppings until he was able to look through. He unstrapped a small pickax that hung on his belt and struck at the opening to enlarge it. Loose debris pebbled and cascaded down the other side of the wall. Orange light glowed from the other side, illuminating Shad’s face.
“What do you see?” Clark asked.
“I think we’ve stumbled onto something big.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s much warmer in there.”
“Told you the temperature was getting warmer.”
“Yeah, but there’s a bridge-like structure and a silver door on the other side of it.”
“Oh, bullshit!”
Shad looked down at Clark and nodded. “Seriously. I’m not lying.”
Clark grabbed a flashlight out of the metal toolbox that was welded to the drilling machine.
“You won’t need that,” Shad said. “Between the machine’s light and the orange glow in there, everything’s quite visible.”
Shad pulled himself into the opening. His feet dangled over the edge.
“Wait up,” Clark said, grabbing a handhold and starting his way up the side of the wall.
“I’m going to check it out.”
“I think we should alert Jonas and the others first.”
“And let them grab the glory of this discovery?”
“We don’t need to go inside until we have guards or other staff here. We have no idea what might be over there.”
“Clark, we’ve tunneled all this way and haven’t found one fossil. Not one. No signs of life other than the door and bridge inside this open chamber. There’s nothing moving in there.”
“A bridge and door isn’t enough evidence that something might be alive in there?”
“Seeing is believing,” Shad replied. “I don’t see anything that’s alive.”
“Dude, you kept insisting you needed proof. Don’t you have enough proof?”
Clark pulled himself up higher, trying to get to Shad before he climbed over and down the other side. Shad pulled forward, but Clark grabbed his right foot and held fast. Shad tried to kick free with his other foot but missed.
“Let me go!” Shad shouted, staring down at Clark.
“Not until I see what’s over there.”
“That’s what I figured.”
“What’s that?” Clark asked.
“You want to claim this discovery for yourself.”
Clark held Shad’s ankle tightly. “That’s ridiculous.”
“Then let me go.”
“Let’s wait until we have others here as backup.”
Shad rolled his eyes. “If I see any little green men, I’ll scream for you.”
“Not funny,” Clark replied, pulling Shad’s ankle.
The rock ledge that supported Clark cracked. The section beneath his left boot gave way and forced Clark to release Shad, so he could grab a handhold on the wall that prevented him from falling.