Mars Nation 1 by Brandon Q Morris

Author:Brandon Q Morris [Morris, Brandon Q]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hard-SF.com
Published: 2019-10-20T06:00:00+00:00

The sky was behaving strangely today. Theo would have been worried if he hadn’t known what was coming. He hadn’t seen the sun come up. It was already a washed-out spot in the sky when they emerged from their tent balloon. Although it was now eight o’clock, it was difficult to judge direction by the brightness of the sky. It hadn’t grown brighter over the past half hour, it had actually become darker.

“Shouldn’t we stop somewhere and take shelter?” Rebecca asked from behind him.

“That won’t be necessary unless our visibility gets too bad,” he replied.

Ewa radioed in. “Are the two of you all right? The satellite has reported that the storm has almost reached you.”

“It’s only gotten a little darker,” replied Rebecca.

“That’s the dust floating in the air,” added Theo.

“Why hasn’t it hit you?”

“It’s coming up from the South, and we’re directly north of you,” said Theo.

“You’re forgetting the rotation of the planet. It disrupts the airstreams,” Rebecca noted.

“That’s right,” Theo said. “I should’ve thought of that myself.”

“But be careful anyway!” Ewa advised.

“Of course,” they both responded at the same time.

He terminated the connection. Theo’s thoughts drifted to his childhood. Whenever they had driven home from his grandmother’s house at night, white walls of fog had often blocked the streets. His father had driven straight through them with no hesitation. That had always impressed him greatly as a child. Another world is hidden inside the fog, his child’s mind had thought. Will we be able to find our way back out again?

He had imagined dust storms on Mars to be like that, but of course, they weren’t similar at all. The visibility was definitely limited, but he could still see for at least 150 meters. This was why he hadn’t dropped his speed even a little. The dust seemed to be swirling above their heads primarily. However, that was an optical illusion. When he glanced upward, he could see a brownish wall, actually a thick layer of dust, many kilometers in depth. The illusion didn’t function on the ground level because the scattered boulders provided a sense of perspective.

“It’s rather unnerving, that wall above us,” Rebecca said.

“The air isn’t any thicker than it is down here.”

“I know,” she replied.

But she was right. It was as if they were driving underneath a gigantic boulder that was gradually descending on top of them. In the direction they were driving, their perspective caused the boulder to look like it was sinking closer and closer to the surface, and yet the farther they actually drove, the higher the boundary between sky and surface seemed.

Theo glanced at the clock. Nine-thirty. “It’s nine-thirty,” he said. “This is the worst of it.”

The Rover’s gauge indicated that the wind speed was about 80 kilometers per hour. Since they were driving in the direction the wind was blowing, the storm seemed to be blasting them at 60 kilometers per hour, but at most, it felt like a gentle wind on Earth. He really hadn’t needed to worry. Next time, he’d let Rebecca sleep in.

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