Chapter Text
Dr. Michael J. Kiner stepped out of the compound and let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. Finally, he had a little free time. Apparently colonizing an uninhabitable planet like Mars is a little time consuming. Go figure. Dr. Kiner was just glad that the basic compound was up. He hated sleeping in the cramped landing spaceship.
Looking around, Dr. Kiner chose a direction and started walking. He was one of the first people to ever land on Mars, and he planned on being the first to explore the planet in person. Even though there was not a whole lot to look at, Dr. Kiner felt exhilarated as he walked, looking at the alien terrain. He had not been walking long when he came to the edge of a small crater about the size of a small bedroom. It wasn’t very deep, so Dr. Kiner felt safe climbing in it to look around. ‘I’m the first man in an alien crater,’ he thought.
As he looked around, something caught Dr. Kiner’s eye. It was almost invisible, barely perceptible, but he saw it. The air was warping in front of him as if an invisible fire was sending hot air rising.
“That’s … odd,” he said as he cocked his head. Reaching out his hand, Dr. Kiner touched the air, not exactly sure what to expect. He didn’t feel any heat coming through his thick astronaut suit. Reaching his hand up to the comm, Dr. Kiner called to the compound.
“Hey Sarah, you there?” He asked. A few moments later, a feminine voice piped up in his ear.
“Sure,” Sarah Finick replied, “Where else would I be?” Dr. Finick, the botanist of the group, was currently spreading soil brought from Earth onto the designated garden spot. The team had only brought so much food, so it was expected that Dr. Finick would start planting her crops as soon as they got there. She didn’t seem to mind the fact that she had more work than most other crew members. She actually seemed to enjoy her work, which was all the better since the entire crew’s health would be in her hands.
“You should come see this,” Dr. Kiner responded. Sarah frowned. Come see what? They were on Mars, not some tourist hot spot. She was about to respond when a short cry came from the comm and was abruptly cut off.
“Mike?” Sarah said, a little worried. No response came. “Michael!” Silence. “Michael Kiner, if this is a joke, it’s not very funny. If you don’t answer now, I’m going to call Captain Harriot.” She half expected half hoped an amused voice coming from the comm telling her that he was okay and that she shouldn’t call the captain, but nothing came. Sarah stood still for a few seconds as she realized that this probably was not a joke. Rushing over to the console on the wall, Sarah smashed the comm button down.
“Captain Harriot!” Sarah shouted over the comm. She waited, and for a second, she contemplated calling again, but after a moment, a deep voice answered her.
“Stars, Sarah! You don’t have to yell; I swear the people on Earth could have heard you. Now, what’s up?” Frantically, Sarah answered.
“Something happened to Mike! We need to go help him! We…”
“Calm down Sarah.” Harriot’s voice said, calming. “Tell me what happened. What makes you think Mike’s in trouble?”
“He called on the comm just a moment ago.” Sarah said, a little bit calmer. “He told me that I should go see something, but when I was going to respond, I heard him cry out, and now he won’t respond!” Over in the control room of the compound, Captain Harriot looked up sharply.
“Hold on, Sarah.” Harriot hit a switch on the comm and called out to the technical officer. “Hythic! I want a location on Kiner now!”
“Alright Capt’n, gimme a sec.” Keys clicked for a few seconds before Jerold Hythic took in a sharp breath. “He’s not here.” Hythic’s replied, sounding puzzled. “That’s impossible! His tracking badge doesn’t register at all.” Harriot’s jaw tightened.
“Where was he before his badge disappeared?” Harriot asked sharply.
“Umm…. Gimme a sec.” A few seconds of typing later, and Hythic had an answer. “He was outside the compound, Captain. Dunno why he was out there. It seems he was only 100 meters away. Hold on, I’ll send you the coordinates.”
“Send it to the control room. Harriot out.” The captain hit another switch on the comm board and called back to Sarah. “Hang tight Finick, I’m going to investigate.” Sarah didn’t bother responding to the captain. Instead, she sank onto the floor more worried than ever. Where was that idiot!
An hour later, Captain Harriot was in his spacesuit and outside the compound. It wasn’t a long walk to the coordinates, but Harriot cursed Kiner’s stupidity. What kind of an idiot leaves the safety of the compound without mentioning this to anyone?! His thoughts were cut off when he approached the coordinates. A small crater stood in front of him. The place was deserted; the only signs of life were the footsteps of Kiner’s spacesuit walking into the crater.
‘What in the stars would he want to show Sarah here?’ Harriot thought. ‘There’s nothing here.’ Looking around, Harriot searched for footprints leading away from the crater, but was stunned to see that there were none.
‘That’s… impossible. He couldn’t have just vanished!’ The captain thought, attempting to find a logical reason for Kiner’s disappearance. A crackle sounded from the comm near his ear.
“Captain, how’s it look over there?” Hythic’s voice came. Harriot was about to respond when the air inside the crater rippled. ‘What…?’ He stepped one pace closer and looked hard at the air. The warping of air increased in size until it covered the entirety of the crater. Harriot stumbled back, almost falling in surprise. Inside the warping air, two forms flickered a few times before solidifying and climbing out of the crater.
The two forms were wearing the strangest spacesuits Harriot had ever seen. They were slimmer and less clunky than what he himself wore, but they seemed to be functional. Harriot stepped back as one of the forms stepped towards him, and strangely grinned. Harriot stood there bewildered until he realized he recognized this face.
“Hey Captain! You won’t believe what I just discovered.” Kiner said with excitement.