The Ruins of Mars (The Ruins of Mars Trilogy Book 1) (30 page)

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Landing

     
As the first of the imposing triangular craft reached the ground near the edge of the temple stones, three hinged legs silently unfolded from beneath the faintly glowing underside. Touching down like the feet of a giant insect, it settled itself in the mud and became still.

     
Remus and Romulus clutched one another as the rest of the ships descended to the ground, arranging themselves in careful formation. Landing with perfect precision behind the first, they created a patchwork of triangles, which checkered out across the wet grasslands. In total, there were more than twenty: thick steam rising off of their backs as the rain continued to fall.

Caves—
Sol 26

     
Sailing through the thin air, the little plastic ball blinked in slow motion as it flew past the orb of light emitted from the first beacon. Harrison’s aim was true, and the new x-ray emitter landed squarely at the foot of the figure across the cave from them. As the echoes of blue light leaped the distance of the chamber, the three explorers exhaled with a mixture of relief and awe. What they had seen standing in the shadows was not a living monster of unimaginable dread, but rather a large stone statue.

     
Four-and-a-half meters tall, with a body as humanoid and androgynous as a Christian angel, the figure stood, its long arms hanging rigidly at the sides of its shapeless torso. Its head, oval-shaped and bald, depicted three squinting eyes arranged in a triangle atop the bridge of a narrowly pointed nose. Each eye possessed a different curve: the left looking up, the right looking down, and the middle eye—above the others—looking straight forwards.

      “
Holy shit!” yelled Marshall. “I mean...Holy shit!”

     
Invigorated, Harrison scrambled to locate more beacons while Marshall and William began tossing their own into the chamber. As the flashing balls of x-ray waves spread out into the open cave, another statue was revealed standing to the left of the first. Practically a perfect copy of its partner: only the eyes were different, appearing as the mirrored, or reversed, image of the first statue. Pulling back, Harrison threw his last beacon into the darkened space between the two imposing figures and waited for the pings to reach him.

Opening

     
As the rain drove down in sheets and waves, it exploded against the hot metal of the black ships. Flashes of loose electricity arced between the closely stationed crafts, spreading like currents of disrupted water as it danced through the armada. Most of the watching crowd had turned to run, but those who had stayed were now dropping to their knees, chanting in shrill voices that pleaded and begged. Among them were Teo and Ze, rainwater beading on the oily sheen of their deep purple skin. Struggling to his feet, Olo held his hands out in a gesture of peace.

      “
Great Spirits!” he called above the voices of the fearful people. “You have arrived!”

     
A low groan, like the shifting protest of an object long-since settled, broke out from the fleet. The noise sent shockwaves through the driving rain, momentarily suspending the droplets so that they hung like ornaments, caught in the invisible grasp of an alien energy field. The deep note sounded for a second time and, all at once, the dangling beads of rain fell to the ground in a flurry of motion.

      “
Look!” cried Remus, pointing. “It’s opening!”

     
A narrow shaft of light ran down the underside of the nearest craft, spreading out to form the shape of a long rectangle as it grew. In perfect time, a metal walkway unrolled from within the ship like the lazy tongue of a lizard, reaching down to rest in the mud with a hiss.

Caves—
Sol 26

     
With a muted rush of blue light, the shadowed area between the two standing statues came into view. Kneeling behind the others was a final statue. Two large egg-shaped eyes stared back from the diminishing dark as the tightened waves of the x-ray beacon illuminated the final corners of the ancient cave. Kneeling, the figure was that of what appeared to be a praying woman. Bare-breasted and hard-featured, her fingers were woven together like braided snakes, and her eyes were impassively deep. The three statues loomed in the giant chamber as the wavering light of the pulsing x-rays seemed to give movement to their rock-hard stillness. Unable to speak, Harrison stared at their finely carved faces, listening to the calls of a distant whisper. In a voice both ancient and foreign, he heard the words of a story as familiar as the details of a fading dream.

The Great Spirits

     
In the brilliant light that poured from the open ship, two ethereal forms began to take shape. With slow and calculated movements they emerged: stepping out into the rain and onto the metal ramp. Bathed in a luminescence that seemed to shine through matter and time, the two humanoid astronauts each raised an arm and pointed with impossibly long fingers. Following the line of their indication, Remus and Romulus turned to face the temple. Sparkling with veins of metal ore, the monoliths glowed like melting glass in the coals of an endless fire.

EPILOGUE

     
Spreading out, the three explorers wandered between the standing statues, snapping screen shots in the oscillating fluorescence of the scattered x-ray beacons. Drawn by the expression of reverence on her face, Harrison made his way towards the statue of the kneeling woman. Nearing her, he saw that she was fused to the very rock of the back wall—her body growing from the smooth surface like living stone. Mind racing over the possible ways in which the woman could have been so magnificently crafted from the existing rock, Harrison could not shake the feeling that there was a bigger mystery staring him right in the face. Lifting his head, he looked up and inspected the statue’s delicate eyes. Her inspired gaze was trained on the backs of the standing figures, and she looked to be praying to them as if they were indifferent gods. Suddenly struck by a thought so glaringly obvious that it had thus far eluded him, Harrison jogged back towards the opening of the cave, then turned to stare into the faces of the standing statues.

      “
Correct me if I’m wrong,” said Marshall as if reading his mind from across the chamber. “But it looks like there are two different types of, um, people here. Which ones are the Martians?”

     
Scanning from the three-eyed faces of the twin statues to the slightly bovine features of the kneeling woman, Harrison felt his mind trip and snag as it banged against the simple yet profound question.

      “
I—” he started. “I don’t know.”

To
be continued...

Special thanks and considerations.
              I would be a scoundrel if my first and most emphatic
thank you
did not go to Mia Mann, my best friend and wife. From random plot ideas to full on character and story arcs, Mia was always there to lend an ear, a mind and a personality that kept me honest and true. Her kind yet brutally honest nature helped provide invaluable perspective and constructive criticism when building the reality my characters were to operate in. Without this, I would have been confused and scattered. Secondly, I would like to thank Cougar George. His unflappable skepticism was a constant source of chagrin for me, yet in the end I always felt better about an idea after running it through the “Cougar-grinder.” Furthermore, he did the cover art which exemplifies his connection to the project. Thirdly, I would like to thank my parents, Jim Quarles and Jean Baldwin. They created me, raised me, and set me loose on the world. What more needs to be said? Also, in need of thanks is my friend, Cary Thielen. His mind for sci-fi and general interest in the whole undertaking was received readily and warmly by me each time we talked about the book. Another superbly important player in need of my thanks is Garrett Jenkins. His help with my second draft propelled me forward on the path that eventually lead me to here. Special thanks as well to Yvonne Verser for her help early on in the project. Additional thanks to Kelley Williamson for listening patiently to my caffeine induced babblings and never becoming too annoyed. Lastly yet not least importantly, I would like to thank my editor, Andrew Olmsted. For soldiering on through the mountains of punctuation errors and formatting missteps, I will be forever grateful.
If through some cruel twist of providence, I have omitted your name from this list, I am sorry. Being that my head is often in two or more realities at once sometimes has that effect on me. Believe me when I say that if you even so much as met me in a bar while I was writing this, thank you.
             
Dylan James Quarles