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The original was posted on /r/nosleep by /u/googlyeyes93 on 2024-10-16 23:09:36+00:00.
Oceans have always terrified me. Just the feeling of open water, not knowing how far below you something could be lurking in the depths, waiting to devour me with no rhyme or reason as to why, just the primal urge to feed. Figured getting away from Earth would solve that fear, especially considering Mars was mostly desert as far as the eyes could see.
Bet you didn’t know there’s a whole terraforming colony up there already, did you? Yup, ever since the 90s when we sent the first small crew up, the world’s governments have been steadily supplying scientists, builders, and equipment to Outpost Genesis. Work has been slow going, but we’ve seen a hell of a lot of progress over the couple of decades we’ve been up there. Hell, I’ve been doing three-year-on, two-month off stints for the past twenty years, slowly helping to build up a survivable planet for my fellow humans.
Honestly, though, I love it here. Things are different, sure, and I’m not entirely used to missing some earth commodities after all these years, but knowing we’re up here for a real, good reason is enough for me to look past all that. We’ve known for years now that the Earth wasn’t going to be sustainable for life as we know it now, either due to climate issues or overpopulation eventually making things go batshit insane. Hell, up here we even have a running bet on exactly what’s going to cause Earth to blink out of existence first, and most of us are pretty sure it’s going to be human hubris and violence. As cruel as the Earth could be to us, humanity was always finding ways to be even more cruel to each other.
Up here though, I didn’t have to worry about that. Meals were taken care of, I had friends to go out drinking with after we got done with the tasks of the day, and things were honestly pretty comfortable. Maybe four hundred of us lived up here in total, everyone with their own job and duty to the outpost. I do geographic surveys, picking out the best spots on the planet for new outposts, resource stations, things like that. The best part is, it pays well and I haven’t had to spend a damn cent while I’m up here, so the account back home is bursting whenever I decide to retire.
The sun came up and signaled a start to the day, waking me from a delightful dream to an awful, awful hangover. My head was pounding like someone was taking a jackhammer to the base of my skull, and the last thing I want to do is take a research buggy out with two other surveyors. Work is work though, and there’s no calling out for hangovers up here unless you really, really want to get in trouble. So, against my will (for the most part) I met up with Sandra and Sho in the transport bay to get on the metaphorical road.
”You look like shit.” Sho said, laughing at me as I walked into the locker room. He was already halfway into his pressure suit, making sure everything was locked in and secure before we entered the atmosphere of Mars. “What time did you end up tapping out?”
”Probably around one. You?” I asked, finding my way to the nearby sink so I could cold water on my face. It hit like a brick wall, waking me up much more.
“Pfffft I was out of there by eleven. Had my drinks, did my rounds, and my ass was in bed before midnight.” He retorted.
”Is Teller here yet?” Sandra said, busting into the locker room already suited up, a huge pack of supplies in her arms. Through the door into the transport garage, I could see our home for the day- one of the mobile survey labs that were scattered throughout the outpost. It was like a small RV, set up with seals, ventilation, and everything needed to do our jobs out in the harsh desert of the red planet.
“Mornin’” Was about all I could mumble back to her, dragging myself over to the locker containing my atmos suit. I hated these things, even after all the years I’ve been using them, and it was like being put into a little cage. I went diving once in my life and it felt like the same thing, knowing that only the helmet you’re wearing is keeping you from a terrible fate of suffocation, whether it be under the seas or in the hot sands right outside.
“Told you. Should’ve gone to bed earlier last night instead of hitting that last jack and coke.” Sandra was laughing now as well, turning back with her bag of supplies to load up the research vehicle. All I could do was grumble my discontent as I crawled into the atmos suit, hearing the pressurized hiss as the last seal snapped into place. Sho walked out to the vehicle before I could leave the room, telling me I had five minutes to finish sobering up.
”What, they gonna give me a Martian DUI?” I shot back, grumpier now. Not sure why I was so irritable today, but something just felt more… off than usual.
It took a few minutes, but we all finally loaded into the Survey RV, making our way West toward the newest survey sight. We had a lot of luck in the past few weeks discovering areas that could possibly support life, with the right push of course, and things were looking pretty bright for the first time in years up here. Maybe that’s why I felt so off, the feeling that something could go wrong when everything was going so inexplicably right lately.
The drive was a nightmare though. Know how the infrastructure on Mars is set up? It’s not. Any expedition we took was traversing rough, red sand and rocky terrain, with the huge wheels on the RV barely able to handle some of the more jagged chunks of rock that would spike up from nowhere under the sands. I swear the wheels on this thing would tear up a whole mountain back home, but here every little rock they ran over felt like someone stabbing a dagger into the back of my head.
Maybe three hours later we finally reached our destination. I might have ended up asleep if I wasn’t the one driving, but Sho and Sandra decided to do their pre-survey checks on our way there so I was left with the short stick. When we arrived, I could see why we were being sent to study this place.
In the midst of the red sands that were stretching around for miles, this single formation of rock stood waiting. It wasn’t quite big enough to be a mountain, but as tall as a five story building maybe. It went up high enough that we would probably need the entire day just to climb up.
”Seriously? We have to get up there?” I said, letting out an even bigger groan than when we took off.
“Nope. Under it.” Sho answered, heading past me out of the doors. I could see on closer inspection that there was a small opening at the base of the structure. A cave, entrance4 wide enough for a small truck to pass through, was there, gaping open as if inviting us into the darkness beyond. “Grab some flares and floodlights, we’re going to take the buggy as far as we can.”
I pressed a button, loosing the small transport buggy we held in a small bay at the back of the Survey RV. It rumbled out with a small hiss, the open cabin and bed in the back already piled with what we would need. Just in case though, we grabbed a few more of the flares and high-powered lamps. If it was dark, we were going to at least be prepared.
Even with all the light we were holding in reserve, it took a moment to gather courage once we reached the cave mouth. Everything beyond was pitch black, a complete absence of any kind of light source. We turned on the brights on the buggy, and those were barely able to penetrate past the first few meters. All we could tell was that the ground sloped downward hard almost immediately, meaning we had a descent in store.
”Ready, boys?” Sandra asked, looking to Sho and I both before pulling one of the flares from a bag. “Might be making a discovery that will change humanity’s future, after all.”
”Been hearing that for years.” Sho mentioned. Sandra chuckled, handing each of us flares to keep in our belt. We set off, brights cutting through the darkness maybe twenty meters ahead, with the abyss running endlessly ahead of us. The rumbling of our wheels echoed off high walls, crunching over hard rock beneath us. As we got further in, the rocky sand of Mars’ surface gave way to solid, red stone. I found myself tapping the brakes more frequently as we went further down, the descent becoming steeper exponentially.
”Hey, think we’re going to have to go on foot from here. Drop off is getting too dangerous for the buggy.” I said, slowing down enough to pull the emergency and set it in park. “Never thought I would need a parking brake on Mars…”
We set off on foot, loading up flashlights and flares, along with a few small light markers to find our way back more easily. Not like the path was very non-linear, but when you’re underground it’s easy to get disoriented. Our boots echoed loudly as we walked across the smooth, red rock, shining like a beautiful granite below us. It was so much more brilliant than the dull rock on the surface, almost mesmerizing in the swirling patterns set deep into the stone.
Drip… drip… drip…
All three of us stopped at the same time, the sound setting off billions of alarms in our minds that all pointed to that life-changing discovery- water on fuckin’ Mars. We all looked at each other, not even daring to believe we were the ones to find something like this. It was… we’ve been theorizing about this for decades, maybe centuries, but to be the ones that actually find it? We would be fucking gods back on earth…
“No way,” Sandra whispered.
”We’re gonna be loaded.” Sho was giggling already.
”Don’t get your hopes up ju…
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