Chapter 3: Once Upon A Mars
Staring at the screen in front of him, David translated over a thousand lines of code before he could fluidly understand the data presented to him. The alphabet was clever. It was like binary code. Rows of numbers representing letters, then sentences. All he found so far was an endless plethora of inventory and descriptions of items in this underground complex. The more David translated the code, the more he felt that George hasn’t been truthful toward the team. The math was advanced to be sure, but not beyond the realm of comprehension, feeling a kinship to these people who left behind this life of technological supremacy. Mars is a barren wasteland. So how did a thriving civilization like this end up losing the ecological stability of their planet with all this knowledge at their disposal? Such an advanced race of beings should have had the means to stop a disaster of this magnitude.
Feeling a soft, warm hand caress his neck, his skin sent ripples of ecstasy to his nervous system, and in turn, he grasped the hand that touched him. Upon realizing it was Summers he quickly withdrew, slightly embarrassed.
“So have you figured out why there are chunks of data missing from the codex indexes?” Summers asked David.
He looked up at her face and smiled.
“Not yet, but I am close. What have you been up to? Played with our new toys again?”
Diane grinned at him devilishly.
“How did you know?”
“You always have a guilty look on your face when you do.” He replied, averting his gaze, embarrassed at the obvious innuendo.
She had a knack for making him uncomfortable and excited at the same time. Sometimes it could be a smile, or accidental touching of hands when handling the lab equipment. He would then shrug it off as silliness on his part. She left the lab again, probably going back to the dig site. His gaze trailed after her.
“Tell me Mr. Hanson, do you ever miss having a girlfriend, or even plan on getting married one day?”
Decker just let out a disgusted grumble, went over to the coffee machine, and poured himself a cup.
“My lifestyle does not appeal to the fairer sex Professor Brown. I am happy on my own. Why let a woman complicate that?” He said before blowing on the hot liquid in his cup.
David just chuckled and typed a few more lines of code. He just stopped. He closely looked at his screen.
That can’t be right, can it?
“What’s that?” Decker inquired.
“Pardon? Oh was I talking out loud?”
“Yes you were. Did you find something?” Hanson said as he sauntered over to David’s workstation.
David’s forehead knotted into a deep frown.
“I don’t know. I just stumbled upon something here I can’t make sense of.”
“Well? What is it?” Hanson asked him, a hint of urgency in his voice. Clearly, his interest was piqued.
David lifted his handset off the table next to his keyboard and dialled a number. Exasperated, Hanson just stood there, waiting for an explanation.
“Get here quickly.” Was all he said, his voice a grim edge to it.
---
Not even a minute went by when Dr Summers came barging into the lab.
“What did you find?” she asked breathlessly.
He walked over to her and gave her a printout of his findings.
“We have been deceived Diane. The government was behind the data corruption.”
“Are you sure? What proof do you have? These lines of code could just be random numbers for all we know.”
“These numbers match government encryption sequence. There is no mistake Diane. Before the start of every missing codex entry, these codes appear, in the same numerical sequence and pattern.
“Now we are presented with another problem.” Jason said, his voice a dark note to it.
“What?” she asked a hint of panic in her voice.
“No. The question is why.” Hanson offered.
“You are quite right Mr. Hanson. This bit of secrecy begs the question as to why the government would want to remove these entries. I am starting to think that the president wasn’t as forthcoming as he would lead us to believe.”
“The only thing you can believe in, Professor Brown, is that treason is still a capital crime.”
The voice was as ominous as the man himself. David visibly flinched. Bracus entered the room and suddenly it felt as if all the warmth of the lab ebbing away just by his mere presence. Decker was the first to speak.
“Oh come on Bracus, do always smell conspiracy where there is none? Or did George send you with us to keep us from finding this?”
He grabbed the printout from Diana’s hands, walked over to Bracus and shoved it into his enormous hands. Bracus read it and at length, tore it up, the little pieces littering the floor.
Bracus just gave him a grin, meeting his gaze. Hanson fumed on the inside, struggling to keep his inner calm. That man always had a knack for pushing his buttons. And all the wrong ones at that.
“Whatever my orders are, it has nothing to do with you. Or any of you. As to the matter of the data corruption, the government had it removed for classified purposes. You will be briefed on this if need be.”
Bracus turned and left the room. After a lengthy pause, Hanson released his pent-up breath.
“That was the longest sentence I ever heard that man utter.”
His attempt at humour failed because Diane and David were already at their workstation.
“So what now?” Diane asked David.
David stared at his screen again.
“Now we find out why.”
---
David sat at his workstation for the next twenty-four hours, working and thinking. A lot of the complex he has not seen yet. Only Diane and the others have. David knew if answers were to be had, they would be here, at ground zero, the lab complex. Only Diane had the patience to rummage through all sorts of rubbish at the archaeological dig. The thought let the corners of his mouth lift in what could have been a smile. The thought came unbidden. What did George take from the codex? What was so damning that he went to great lengths to keep it secret? He rubbed his eyes. It felt like burning coals in their sockets.
I need a break, he thought.
David made his way to the mess hall. Loosely termed though, as they just converted one of the adjoining chambers to the lab into a makeshift kitchen and dining area. He went to the sink and washed a plate, opening the fridge and took out a beer and, what he liked to call, Government Issue lean cuisine. He unwrapped the plastic, stuck it in the microwave, opened the beer, and stopped. David felt a subtle push against his eardrums, and in an instant, he was stone deaf, like all the sound around him was drowned out by silence, so deafening it built a kind of pressure inside his skull. His eyes darted to the microwave. He turned the knob for a minute. The lights came on and the dish rotated on the inside, but no sound came from it. Clapping his hands yielded the same result. No sound.
It came out of nowhere, a pain so acute, that David sank to his knees gasping for air. He clutched at his head, like a white-hot lance ripping through his skull. It was a ringing cacophony of sounds, an amalgam of voices, music and other sounds being either played fast or really slow. The entire room started to spin and sweet oblivion took him, as the darkness filled his mind as he drifted off into a deep slumber.
David woke up with a start, and as if on cue, bile burned his throat as it rushed towards his mouth. He struggled to fight oncoming nausea. It was as if someone hit him over the head with a case of whisky. Standing up unsteadily, wiping at his mouth with the sleeve of his lab coat, he looked down at the floor where he lay and saw that in his stupor, voided the contents of his stomach. He got up groggily and the moment he stood up the room started to spin, his feet feeling unsteady on solid ground. He groped his way across the kitchen towards the intercom.
“Any one there?” he croaked, his throat still burning.
At first, there was silence and static.
“David is that you?” a voice broke through the static.
“Oh thank God, it’s you Allegra. What the hell happened?”
“I don’t know David. All I know, is I have a massive hangover caused by this insane blackout.”
“Get everyone assembled, and see if you can find Bracus. We need to talk.
Everyone filed into the conference room, each one looking as haggard as the next one. All of them took their seats and looked at David as if he were the one to take charge. He scanned the room, confused and dazed.
“Where are Diane and Bracus?” he asked Jason.
“Bracus is on his way. As to the whereabouts of Diane, I saw her going into the dig site before all this happened.”
David’s heart skipped a beat.
“Mr. Allegra, could you please go and find her? I’m worried that...”
Allegra raised his hand.
“Say no more, I’m on it.” He got up and motioned a clone trooper to follow him.
“What the hell happened to us David? Feels like I drank for a week.” Decker said, rubbing the side of his head.
“I have no idea. I was just warming up some dinner when I just passed out. Did you guys hear anything before you blacked out?”
“Just an unnerving silence, like all sound around me was muted. And whatever it was, it didn’t affect the clones. One woke me up where I collapsed.” Decker said.
“I have some idea how this could have happened.” Jason offered.
David motioned for him to continue, his own interest aroused.
“What we have experienced was not a natural occurrence. I have experienced it many times before but not on this scale or intensity.”
Bracus casually entered the room. Everyone’s gaze darted to him instantly. He ignored the stares and took his seat beside Hanson.
“If everyone has finished gawking at me, please, feel free to continue.” Bracus scowled.
Jason continued, unfazed.
“It happens when a psyon is born, when the talent is unlocked and unfettered. It usually happens with an instructor and pupil in an isolation chamber, as to protect the rest of the academy from the effects.”
“More superstitious nonsense.” Decker scoffed.
“Whether you believe this ‘nonsense’ is irrelevant Commander Decker. The fact is I know it to be true. And that means we have another serious problem on our hands.”
“What kind of problem?” Bracus asked.
“We have a psyon on this base that is more powerful I am. And if uncontrolled, could cause us serious harm. We have to find this person. I am sure he or she is mightily confused now and does not understand what happened.”
“Allegra to conference room.” Blanco’s voice sounded over the intercom.
“Go ahead Blanco.” Bracus growled.
“We have a situation here at the dig site. Get here quickly. All of you.”
---
Nothing prepared David for what he and the rest of the crew saw when they entered the dig. Diane was in the centre of the dig suspended in the air, maybe six feet off the ground. Upon closer inspection by the crew, she was holding a human skull in her hand. The skull was pulsing with a bright, white light that gave Diane an eerie-silhouetted appearance in contrast to the darkness surrounding her. David’s hand reached out to her, but Jason grabbed his arm and shook his head.
“We cannot disturb her. She is trapped in a dream-state. If we do, we could destroy her mind.”
“Is she alright?” David asked his voice nearly a whisper.
“For the moment she is. Her vision should play out first before we attempt to wake her up.”
“Is there anything we can do to make her more comfortable?” Blanco asked Jason, his face white as freshly starched linen.
“No. Whatever is happening to her is also sustaining her for the moment. The best we can do is just hold a vigil for her till she wakes.”
Allegra touched his earpiece, apparently receiving a message. He walked up to Jason.
“Bracus’ ship just made a jump to earth.” He said, a puzzled expression on his face.
“He did what?” David exclaimed.
“Just five minutes ago. Apparently, it was a presidential order.” Allegra concluded.
David looked back at Diane, his expression unreadable to all in the chamber.
“I will stand the first watch.” David declared.
Jason laid a hand on his shoulder.
“No David. Despite what happened we must stay the course. I will stand the first watch. The rest of us have work to do.” Jason offered.
They all filed out of the dig site. The only person that stopped and looked back at Diane was David.
What happened?
He let his gaze linger for a moment longer and reluctantly left.