Xerosis
“All systems nominal. Mars surface stable. Prescribed distancing established. Mars walk is a ‘go.’” The droning voice of the ship’s main computer made Talia Resnick’s neck hair stand up straight even though the dulcet tones were designed to be the most soothing.
Her haircut resembled a blonde mushroom — long on top and cropped short on all sides. She scratched her head aggressively because it would be at least a few hours before she could do it again. Tanner Blackman held her helmet at a specific angle so she could walk into it, and when she had, he twisted it clockwise twelve degrees so the lock would engage. A click followed by a tiny whir from the locking motor indicated that it was attached and hermetically sealed. She returned the favor. Neither of them said a word. They were almost certain what lay ahead for them.
“Major Resnick, confirm Weapons are go?” The computer was required to complete the checklist audibly and receive verbal confirmation from the crew.
“Check.”
“Please acknowledge with affirmative or negative.”
“Affirmative.” Shut UP, stupid computer.
“Suit Pressure?”
“Nominal.”
“Gear Rover loaded per mission parameters?”
“Affirmative.” This might be the worst user interface and operating procedure ever. The geek who wrote this never stepped out of a Martian Lander on a rescue mission. Well, I guess nobody ever has. Okay, geek. You get a pass, but only this time. “Malkovitch, take a note. Have disembark protocols loaded in the nearest airlock for jettison prior to next mission objective.”
“Major.” The computer didn’t have a scripted answer, so it paused to run her command through the AI. “You have made a request that does not follow any established rules of physics. I cannot comply. Please refrain from calling me by nicknames, as it will slow my response to commands, which could have adverse results for you.”
“Did you take the note?”
“Everything said is noted, Major.”
“Super. Make sure that note is on top of my to-do list, exactly as I dictated it.”
“Already done, Major.”
“Can we go now?”
“Major Blackman, confirm weapons are…” Talia cut off the voice.
“Tanner. You good?”
“Yes ma’am.” Tanner was smiling broadly at Talia.
“We’re going now.” She was having trouble even sounding patient. “Malkovitch, open the hatch.”
The AI didn’t respond for a few seconds. “Major, were you talking to me?”
“Bye, Malkovitch.” Talia reached for the pad with the giant buttons like an old-person phone from her great-grandma’s youth. She tapped out the code manually overriding the AI and locking it out of the controls for the hatch.
“You see. When you make up names for me that are not my name, it delays my ability to respond.” Talia pushed her head back against the back of the helmet trying to tame the hairs that wouldn’t settle down until she was out of ear-shot of that computer. Maybe there’s a big crater I can fall in so I don’t have to listen to that damn robot for another six months.
Talia motioned to Tanner to join her on the surface of Mars. They stepped out the hatch and on to the ramp that unfolded from the body of their ship. Tanner had the oversized Flexible Flyer cart in tow using the controls on his wrist to manipulate it down to the soil before letting it follow like a stray dog as they trudged across the wasteland to Mars Base Alpha.
The walk wasn’t very far, but the terrain was uneven and the cart got stuck seven times and had to be carried over a patch of boulders once. They arrived at Alpha an hour after ending their argument with Malkovitch with the equivalent of storming out the door in a huff. The doors were sealed up, and the dome appeared to have nothing growing inside. Tanner stepped up to the door, and tapped in the access code. The door slid open with no sign of troubles.
“Careful, Tanner. We haven’t heard a peep from them in almost three months. This might be…”
“I know. Heads on swivels. Maybe we’ll meet some little green men… or women.” He turned toward her and winked through the fogged dome of his helmet, sweat dripping down his face. Talia smiled back at him through her own fog.
Gawl-dang. That boy is cute. They walked in to the airlock and Tanner closed the door behind them. The lights were out and only a small stream of light came in through the tiny windows of the doorway. Talia opened the inner hatch and waited for the air to equalize, then checked the air quality using the sensors on the forearm of her suit. The silence was alarming. Where is everyone? This is not okay.
“I’ll check the systems to see if it’s just a communications error,” Tanner said.
“Okay. I’ll access the logs to see if there’s anything obvious in there.” They turned away from each other and to different terminals near the air lock. After a few minutes of silence Talia said, “There’s no personal logs in the last three months. There’s system logs, but it’s all basic stuff. No notes. No diary entries. Nothing.” The sensors on her wrist finally turned a set of LED lights green on her wrist. “We’re good to take off these helmets. I am soaking wet.”
“Wait! Stop!” Tanner’s voice approached a shrill tone.
“What? Do you have something? Help me get this off.”
“No! Leave it on. Until we know for sure what is going on here, we have to treat it like a hazmat scene.” Tanner’s eyes shone wildly through the droplets of humidity inside his helmet.
“Okay. You’re right. Hazmat.”
“Let’s go find them. Delta Crew has to be here somewhere.” Tanner tried to smile in a way that Talia knew was meant to inspire confidence, but was unnerving in exactly the same way that the soothing tones of Malkovitch’s voice grated on her. She smiled weakly back at him.
The pair started for the command module just off the edge of the massive bio-dome. It passed several labs and work rooms, and the bio-cycler. As they passed it, Talia noticed there was a fine layer of red dust on the inside of the window on the door of the bio-cycler room. I don’t think I’m gonna need a crater. They continued to walk with a steady pace to the command module, but before they could reach it they found the first body. It looked like a mummy had been dropped on the floor in the hall that led from Command to Living Quarters.
“Oh my…” Talia’s breathing became shallow and strained. “Oh. Wow.” Tanner stood motionless with his eyes wide. Talia waved her hand in front of his helmet. “Hey, Tan. You okay in there?” She waited for a response and after a few long seconds he responded.
“Wah. Shee. Gaah. Blrr.”
“Yah. Tan, that’s not inspiring confidence right now. Can you talk to me in English, maybe?”
“Sorry, Tali. Yeah. We gotta go. Now. Leave all the gear and get out.”
“We have to find the rest of them. We can’t leave without knowing what happened.”
“Are you seeing this? Are you seriously seeing this and telling me to stay and expose myself, and my entire race — my planet — to whatever killed this entire dead rock? No. Not gonna do it.”
“What happened, do you think?”
“As a doctor, I can tell you this much. They’re in an advanced state of Xerosis. They’ve been entirely dehydrated like they’ve been in the Sahara for a couple thousand years. This planet is no place to be.”
“Okay. Okay. Yes. You’re right.”
Talia turned, took Tanner’s hand and walked straight out of the facility without looking back. I can’t wait to hear Malkovitch talk down to me again. Please be a rude sonofabitch when we get back, Malkovitch.
#AtoZChallenge Mission is nearly complete. Fortunately, nothing as severe as what happened here has plagued the challenge.
Maybe we could NOT go to Mars and figure out how to unscrew this planet with all that money and human ingenuity.
