Aries 1

Paul sat at his desk dozing off, when suddenly, he was startled awake, knocking over his cup of cold coffee as his computer beeped loudly signaling the images starting to appear on his large screen after being decrypted. He noted the time by glancing up to the clock on the wall.

Grabbing his phone from his shirt pocket he quickly dialed his immediate supervisor…

“Hey, it’s ready, you’re going to want to see them right now. “
There was a brief pause on the other end,

“OK, bring what you have, tell no one”
The call abruptly ended, Paul grabbed his heavy winter coat while the files transferred to his flash drive. He moved some other related files and then made sure all information was deleted from his system. Walking out into the dark late evening he couldn’t help but shiver. The temperature had plummeted 30 degrees in the past few hours. Snowflakes kissed his forehead before he could bring his hood up.

Driving the now vacant highway at night was one thing but expecting the return trip in a predicted snow storm was something he wasn’t really looking forward to.

Marcus sat with his back to his office desk staring out over the city lights from the 25th floor. He raised his glass of scotch, the ice clinked as he sipped feeling the familiar burn as he swallowed. The buzzer interrupted his moment of mental solitude. It was the front security desk notifying him that a Mr. Paul Green had arrived with a small package for him. He spun around in his seat then thumbed the button to reply.
“Send him up”
Looking over his glasses across his desk at the other person already in the room.

“If this turns out to be what we think it is you and your people will have a lot to do in a very short amount of time General”

General Ramirez reached up with his beefy hands, removing his glasses slowly folding then setting them aside before replying.

“Marcus, we’ve known of this possibility for some time, for years we have speculated and strategized how this may unfold if true and now it seems we may have to put those scenarios into practice. The amount of knowledge and possible technology we may acquire would be worth a considerable amount. Not to mention it would give us an advantage over our future adversaries” The General was interrupted by a sharp double knock on the office door,

“Come in”

A rather serious faced well-dressed woman opened the door, introducing Paul’s arrival while she half leaned into the office.
“Thank you, Martha, you can go ahead and take off, I can manage from here.

“Thank you, Mr. Cromwell, have a good evening and I’ll see you Monday morning” She quickly closed the door.

Marcus stood up and walked around his desk as Paul met him half way, only glancing down at the seated General briefly nodding his head as their eyes met. Paul wasted no time and handed Marcus the package.

“Anybody follow you?”
Marcus asked as he took the package then removing its content.
“No sir”
Paul replied as the General stood then walked close putting his glasses back on as he now stood towering over Paul. Paul felt intimidated by his presence. Marcus plugged the flash device into a USB port built into the top of his desk then typed a command into the keyboard. The room darkened as the lights automatically dimmed and the formerly crystal-clear windows went completely black while simultaneously a holographic 3-Dimensional image appeared centrally hovering in the room. Paul drew the two men’s attention to the light blue image slowly spinning before them and noted the location of what appeared to be a tunnel entrance.
“Our previous satellite image and data collection methods missed it due to the valley trench rock overhang but with our latest lander probe drones we were able to fly into this canyon and take these scans”
Marcus and the General listened attentively then silently looked at each other knowingly out of the corner of their eye.
Marcus crossed his arms over his chest and massaged his well-trimmed goatee giving the impression of deep thought. The General cupped Paul’s shoulder in his immense palm.
“Good job son, You ready for an adventure?” He asked in his deep husky military voice. Paul’s reaction was both excited and nervous at the same time.
“Yeah…Yes, I mean of... of course, Sir”

Marcus returned to his chair and poured himself another drink then set the bottle on the far end of his desk towards the other two signaling for them to join him…

The next morning

The Oval office had the aroma of freshly brewed coffee

Marcus stood calmly cleaning his glasses in front of the President’s desk, General Ramirez was seated behind him with his head tilted towards a high-ranking member of the joint Chiefs whispering as the President finished reading their typed report. Then he leaned back in his chair as he sat the report aside and asked,
“How many personnel do we need and what will this cost?”
Marcus took a deep breath and said
“Well… Mr. President, we already have the technology for the trip and also already have the necessary people on the payroll with clearance. We just need funding for the trip. Our Black budget should cover it”

The President looked past Marcus at another man seated across from them in a dark blue well-tailored suit.

“Bob, what do you think?” Robert Haskins was no stranger to creating cover stories for covert missions, He spoke up
“I believe we should be more concerned about the Chinese, they are planning to launch their Shan-Zhu Mars orbiter mission in less than 8 months” Looking over at the two-high ranking military men.

“Can either of you two guarantee we can get there before them and still have enough time to explore, cultivate what we may find and accomplish the mission with the least amount of exposure possible?”

General Ramirez cleared his throat then looked up at Marcus then over to the President and finally at Haskins and spoke.

“We’ve anticipated this scenario, we have the means to undertake this mission with only a weeks’ notice if need be. We already have a craft built. It’s large enough to transport, support and maintain a crew of up to 20 people for 4 months”

Marcus then turned to the President and opened a file he had under his arm. He handed some documents to both him and then Mr. Haskins. The President devoured the 2 page document and looked over at the two Military men.

“You’ve kept this from my Administration?”
This time the other General spoke up.
“We have had this vehicle for some time, it was developed during the last days of the Cold war, we’ve tested and flown it several times. It’s been moth balled and It can be operational and reliably put into service rather quickly now that we have a real mission”
The President and Haskins looked at each other for a few seconds as if discussing the pros and cons without ever saying a word, Finally Haskins raised his eye brows and nodded in the affirmative. The President looked up at Marcus

“Don’t # this up!”
Marcus gave the President a quick grin

“No Sir, No # ups”

Dr. Angela Brown always wanted to get into space, but her studies and career prevented that possibility but due to unforeseen sheer dumb luck she was boarding the Aries 1 as it was now known. General Ramirez thought it was appropriate to rename it so.

“You the Doc?” Capt. Andrews asked as he was stowing away some gear of his own. He turned and extended his hand. She shook it and replied

“You must be Capt. Andrews I presume?”
“The names Ben, Ben Andrews” He replied letting go of her hand and continued stowing more gear that laid at his feet.
“I’m Dr. Angela Brown but Doc will do just fine, where am I?” as she looked around
Ben looked at her blankly for a second then realized she was asking where her quarters were. Stepping to one side he waved his right hand down a brightly let corridor.
“You’re bunking with two others the third door on the right. When you finish getting your stuff squared away meet me up on the bridge”
“Aye, Aye Mein Capt.” She said half-jokingly while giving a poor example of a solute. Making her way down the corridor stepping aside several times on her short journey to let several other people pass. There she met her two other female bunk mates.

Later, Ben was up on the bridge checking with some of the bridge crew on launch preparations. The bridge hummed with the sound of computers and other components working processing data. There were small beeps and clicks and the sound of several keyboards in use. Dr. Brown made it to the bridge as requested where the second in Command introduced himself as Lieutenant commander Russ Horn and showed her to her Bridge station then piled in front of her a stack of manuals.

“You’ll have several weeks to get acquainted with your stations automated functions. If you have any question on operational medical control we have a real good hot shot Engineer, Shepard is his name, I’d take you down to the engine room and introduce but he’s kinda busy now”

She started wondering if she would be able to learn her station in the few short weeks it would take to get to their destination.
She looked at him after sliding the tall stack of manuals to one side
“Hey, no problem” she said as she slumped in her chair. The Capt. came up “I see you found the bridge” smiled and told her she needed to stow those away before launch. Then walked off looking at a data pad.

Aries 1 was finally ready for launch. The crew were all strapped in tightly. The large craft lumbered out slowly from the hidden hanger bay door into Groom lake nights sky. Its huge temporary gantry was pulled onto the runway. The Capt. Radioed the tower that Aries 1 was ready for final check. The crew one by one signaled they were good to go. The Bridge was dark only aglow from the numerous consoles and screens.
The Radio crackled in the crew’s headsets
“Aries 1 you’re free to launch when ready”
Ben palmed the coms
“Aries 1 ready for left off” He then quickly glanced back at the bridge crew then pushed the ignition button then he and the crew were instantly pushed deep into their seats as the 4 massive primary engines roared to life, Blue flames thundered from them as the craft rose slowly at first but quickly gaining speed and altitude as they could feel the raw thrust power from the engines vibrating the metal grate flooring up through their boots. The bridge was alive with beeping. The Capt. and Copilot were flicking switches and crew members were passing information back and forth as they rose quickly up then broke through Earth’s atmosphere.

The engines fired until they were cut off by the main computer reaching a prearranged distance. Then Ben and the copilot both reached up and punched several buttons each. The craft changed orientation, the crew eased its nose in the direction needed dictated by the computer and then they initiated their top secret advanced 4th generation powerful Ion drives. Aries 1 began its journey to Mars, the crew settled in for the trip.


Trip to Mars
The Crew busied themselves with ship maintenance and other tasks, prepping their equipment. The 20-member crew got to know each other. The Capt, Copilot and the small ten-man troop of Marines Commander conversed several times with Earth in private encrypted messages that the rest of the crew were not privy to.
The ships main research lab softly hummed and occasionally beeped but Paul stopped noticing that weeks ago as he worked diligently at his task analyzing the newest data and images from Mars by way of the drone probes, The door hissed as it opened drawing his attention to the Capt entering with his second in command following closely behind.
“Anything new or interesting to report, we’ll be arriving in two days” the Capt said as he made himself comfortable sitting directly across from Paul.

Paul exhaled deeply then rubbed his eyes while getting a small stretch in. “I’ve concluded that we may find a rather large facility or even a small city, who built it or when is anyone’s guess”
Paul stood then walked over to a side table and poured himself a cup off coffee and continued speaking.
“The previous Mars missions have recorded some anomalous objects. They give the appearance of large glass tubes or subway system semi exposed near the surface. The images have come and gone over the years. We figured back in the day that they were just computer pixilation or graphical artifacts but now it seems they may be something related to our new finds”

The Capt stood and got himself a cup of coffee as well. Turning back to Paul.

“Please continue” as he sat down again.
Paul typed in a command at his console. The overhead screens came alive showing the older NASA images. They did indeed appear very strange to the commander. Then Paul typed in another command and the images changed but now with the so-called tubes disappearing.

“I think it’s the Martian surface changing due to massive sand storms that on occasion exposes them and then later covers them up again. Therefore, they were dismissed previously”

The commander shifted in his seat, looked over at his second in command “Get Sgt Rays, we must get him and his boys up to speed” His second left the room quickly, turning back to Paul “You have any guesses if there’s atmosphere in this facility or city?”
Paul leaned forward putting his elbows on the table then clasped his hands together
“Capt., I have no clue, I’d hazard a guess that at one time there may have been for the previous inhabitance. Was it compatible for humans? I’m not sure. Is it still capable to support us? You got me, I guess it all depends on how advanced these being were and how well the structure has stood the test of time”

The Capt. Stood thanked Paul informing him there would be a ships crew meeting at 0800 tomorrow morning and to get some shut eye. The commander slowly walked back to his cabin. He quickly showered and poured himself a double on the rocks as his door buzzed. He answered it in his robe. It was his second. They both relaxed their demeaner as the door shut.

“Got another one of those?” asked his second as he made himself comfortable on the small sofa while loosening his collar. The Capt poured him one, no ice. Handed it to him. “So, what do you think? “he queried as he sat down on his cabin console chair facing him and gulped his drink.
His second paused then sipped his drink “It boggles my mind, we are actually here doing this, this isn’t a dream and nobody, but a handful of people know it. We are about to investigate and ancient Martian site. Who knows what we’ll find. I’m a bit apprehensive and excited at the same time, You?”

The Capt poured himself a second and last one for the night, looking up then shaking his head slowly, “I’ve only thought this sort of thing was Sci Fi, not a real possibility. The brass back home wants us to investigate and bring back anything useful, remember that this ship isn’t just

constructed with some of the largest defense contractor’s cooperation and financing, they want a return on their investment. They want future weapons contracts”
He then stood, gulped his drink down, told his second to hit the sack. His second agreed finished his drink and left.


Mars grew large in the windows. The crew was assembled crowded into the ships small mess hall. The Capt explained to the crew their full missions complete with images and new findings. Many were not totally surprised....


End Part 1