Change - ch. 6

“Scavenger Alpha has descended. Making its way towards the target…” The frequency cuts out into gibberish and static. “Is that a good copy, over?”

The surface of Mars is a desolate terrain of cracked mud rocks and powdered rust. Within the red walls of the cavern there lay inside that strange metallic object. Certainly it wasn’t from this world or any world known to man. The Mariner Rover kept distance as the captain ordered and watched in silence as the little box was shot from space.

The box burned brilliantly in what little atmosphere the planet had before smashing into the surface. Even as the parachutes fell on top of the metallic box, labeled with the property of the United States, the enormous cube was quite the sight. The box took quite the beating as it rolled and smashed onto the surface before the impact balloons expanded and rolled the object up right.

The parachutes draped and twisted around the top of the crate and remained as silent as a metallic box could in the growing winds and debris slashing at its walls. It remained unmoving and still for what could have minutes before one side of the box opened up and dropped down like a ramp for loading cars on to the back of a big rig truck. The dimensions of the box were the normal military issued ‘quad con.’ Measuring the side of a small room in a cheap apartment, the box held within it a billion dollar piece of machinery.

The machine rolled out of the crate like some mechanical contraption from any 1960s science fiction. It rolled on a modulated tri-wheel track capable of flipping over even the harshest terrain and it wielded two powerful two-fingered claws that were able to pick up the finest and most delicate material available on Earth. The body of the robot was thin with bulking wires wrapping around what most would consider a spine. Its head was a square block with two massive red glowing eyes for sight followed by two additional cameras that constantly moved about. All of these visuals could be seen from the space station casually drifting above the scout party.
“Scavenger Bravo, that’s a good copy. Atmosphere radiation is interrupting signal. Expect delay in response time. Current time is thirteen fifty-six Zulu, package arrived at thirteen fifty-one Zulu. Do you confirm delivery, over?” Colonel Baker was lounging in his chair and leaned over to look through the small port hole and overviewed the roundness of the red planet below him.

The radio responded minutes after Baker’s response and he heard Lieutenant Chapel’s screaming clear enough to recognize the voice in the speaker. The winds picked up in the response made it difficult to understand his word and the Colonel could hear the small over shaking sounds of rock violently hitting the rover from the massive winds coming their direction.

“This is Scavenger Bravo, we confirm drop and it proceeds to target. Heavy winds in the area will make for difficult movement back to base, over.”

The robot was controlled by Sergeant Wallace near the Captain’s chair. His seat was far from completed. It was a make-shift gnarled wire frame with a torn pillow for the base. It creaked and rattled every time the station made an orbital adjustment. He hadn't grown used to it over the month of his time here, after all he had been working down in the cargo hold for most of his time. Wallace looks over to his commander and shakes his head with disagreement. He wasn’t pleased at all.

The robot on the surface attempted to move to the target inspected by the scout party before it, but it moved in slow periodic movements. It crept several feet forward and stopped. It moved several more feet forward and stopped. This was what the scout party noticed as a large chunk of something crashed against the side of their rover rattling the crew within.

“We can’t stay here much longer Sir, winds are picking up, danger imminent.”

Sergeant Wallace turns his attention to his commander and speaks bluntly, “Sir, this robot isn’t responding to controls. Something on the surface is interrupting the transmission. I suspect it’s the Mariner winds.”

The commander looks to Wallace and frowns. He nods his head and grabs the microphone from his desk and presses the button down, “Understood Scavenger, make your way back to base as soon as possible. Mission scrubbed, over.”

Lieutenant Chapel yelled at the top of his lungs from the cabin of the rover to his crew barely heard over the shattering torrents of wind outside, “I’ve been ordered to scrub the mission, prepare for immediate evacuation from the site!”

The two crew members were far from hesitant to react to the order and immediately began to move the rover around to move out of the chasm that they were in. The robot was left ignored and they all expected it was controlled by the experienced professional on the station in the heavens.

One of the crew members in the rover yelled back, “Moving out now!”

The rover was a massive machine the size of a small tank. It was armored to resist the impact of a nuclear explosion. The design was Russian and even though the armor was expensive it was insisted by several other governments in NATO. The tank moved slowly through the treacherous debris and was struck several times by boulders the size of small cars. The crew inside shook around like marionette dolls, but they held their resolve. Their only focus was to survive this growing storm they had found themselves in.

The robot moved inches and finally stopped at near the haul of the abandoned wreckage. The cameras had already been destroyed by the flying debris and Wallace was driving the machine blindly. There was a single camera left from the impact of the storm, a fail-safe system demanded by the Chinese. The camera recorded only in black and white and the resolution was terrible but at least the machine was still operational.

The grey and black images were spattered with speckles of grey and white flying by at incredible speeds when Wallace reviewed the footage nearly a minute after what the robot had seen. He looks to the Colonel and says, “I can’t see shit in this storm Sir… I don’t think this robot will survive this weather!”

Frustrated and blind, Wallace tries to drive the billion dollar machine out of harms way. This was his opportunity to show his captain what he was capable of doing. The brightest and most well equipped in the world. This was why Wallace was selected for the mission. This was more than just a simple operation to the sergeant, it was a test of mettle.

Colonel Baker looks back to Wallace, “Try and salvage what you can!” He looks over his shoulder and notices the rest of the crew wasn’t there. He turns on the intercom within the station and demands all hands on deck.

Wallace maneuvers the robot near the side of the wall and the lee side of the unknown object. Here the robot had the best chances of survival. Wallace continues to review the dark mass of spatter on his screen and can’t tell where the ship was or what the debris from the wind. The movement was erratic and from time to time the images from the camera jolted as the robot was struck or moved by the wind.

“All hands on deck! This is not a drill!” Baker spoke and his voice echoed heavily and loudly throughout the station, “All hands on deck!”