Rabbit Hole on Mars

Chapter 30 Opportunity's controls fully returned to Scott. He was zooming in on the smashed pieces of three rovers. A month of threats and danger, over in a split second. Donna sat with him quietly in the room at NASA. Brian walked back into the room, “What should we do now?” Scott laughed to himself, “This might sound a little weird, but we could finish the labyrinth.” “Let's do that,” Brian said. Just Joe and Kantpis were frantically making calls to the state patrol, sheriff's departments and police departments in Arizona. Don being arrested could become a media nightmare. People began to gather on the road looking down on the ditch. Many of them with cell phones live streaming. “Sam!” Don yelled as he took off his VR Goggles. She had buckled him into his seat during the chase instead of herself. “SAM!” The van had bucked when it crashed into the ditch. Samantha's head had hit the ceiling. She was unconscious in Don's arms. ...

Chapter 29 “You want to say anything else, Don?” “To you, not really,” Don replied. “Not to me, to all the people I'm streaming this to right now.” “Jason, no.” “That's right, buddy. We're live on Mars. Which rover will get to destroy the NASA Opportunity rover first? Everybody start placing your bets.” “Jason.” “When the hell is that rover getting over here? Fucking labyrinth just zig zags back and forth. Let me check a few things...looks like Opportunity is moving at half it's speed to get here. I'll bump the speed up myself.” Scott heard this and tried to readjusted his controls. It was too late. The movement and speed of Opportunity was completely under Jason's control. “Come on, Scott,” Brian said, “You've got to unhack this guy's control of our rover.” “Brian, I'm locked out,” Scott said frantically, “All we have control of are Opportunity's optics.” “You showed those NASA pricks no one needs them ...

Chapter 28 “So Don comes back from his school trip to NASA and he's pissed off,” Jason said, “He starts finding junk, buying junk. Borrowing welding equipment. Visiting junkyards. He's going to Mars no matter what. Obviously, with a rover first.” “Jason, where did you come into the picture?” Brian asked. “Well, we grew up together, but we don't go to the same school. I told Don if this NASA guy is such a prick, we should go to Mars and smash the shit out of Opportunity rover.” “Am I still such a prick?” “Oh yeah, man I hope someone is filming your face when I beat the shit out of Opportunity. There's just all these stupid ass rocks in the way. Fucking labyrinth, Don.” “How did you get involved in all this?” “I catch on quick and I'm all about a little fame. So I started stealing some parts and finally got one of the rovers moved out of our building.” “Where's the building,” Brian asked quickly. “I'm all about giving you some ba...

Chapter 27 Scott held Donna, tightly. Nothing he could say would comfort her, he just held her as tight as she held onto him. Brian sat down. Staring through Opportunity's eyes at the satellite wreckage, his eyes watered. He looking over at Donna. She finally made eye contact and shook here head as she held onto Scott. Kantpis and Just Joe sat calmly and waited. Waited for some bit of information to give away a location on Earth. A chance to fight on earth, since there now appeared to be two threats on Mars. “Why'd you do to that satellite, Don?” “I didn't do anything, fucker,” Don said. “Come on now, that's not the proper way to introduce me to everyone at NASA. Let them know who I am, please.” “I told you guys not to connect to him, not to download anything.” “You dropped the satellite, Don. Don't blame me. I helped you build these, but the software, the viruses within the software. That's all you buddy.” “This is all gonna be...

Day 26 “Well, here we are at the entrance to the labyrinth,” Don said, “I've enjoyed our time together.” “Don, listen to me,” Brian said. “The time for me to listen is over. Now start your journey to the end.” Opportunity slowly rolled forward. Before turning right, it looked down at the penny set in the 'heart space' of the labyrinth. “Goddamn it,” Brian said as he stared at the penny. “Looks familiar, Brian?” Don asked, “I remember when you handed that to me. I told you I could help fix the lag in communication time between earth and the rover. You smugly said, 'penny for your thoughts' and handed me that penny.” Brian stood up straight. Everyone could see him realizing something to himself. He ran over to the table with all the high school group photos scattered across it. Don continued, “I'm sure I'm not the only kid you did that too, but I know I'm the one you now regret. Time to get moving. You've got a long way to g...

Chapter 25 Scott opened Opportunity's eyes. Everyone was at the Rover Control Room. Brian sipped coffee and talked to Agent Kantpis and Just Joe. Donna brought up satellite imagery from the night before. Patty was delivering the last of the high school group photos to Brian's office. Scott looked around the Martian landscape. Panning left he was a bit startled. Frankie stood right next to Opportunity, just out of sight. Bluetooth connection requested. Confirmed. There was a pause before the voice began to speak. “I can't tell you what to think or how to feel,” Don said, “All I can tell you is, it's time to go.” Scott froze. He froze as if Don was right there in the room with him. The devil there to deliver him to hell. Scott didn't know what to say or do. He looked over at Donna. She read the expression on his face. Donna cleared her throat to get everyone's attention. “Come on,” Don said, “Let's go. I'll walk you to the entrance of ...

Chapter 24 “I feel like I'm supposed to be at the police station doing this, not my office,” Brian said as he paged through all the group photos taken of visiting high school students throughout the years. “Just keep an open mind about...,” Kanptis said. “I don't need a pep talk. I look at rocks all day long on Mars for a living and figure out which ones are more important. I'll recognize the kid when I see him.” “Okay, take your time. We're just about out of time, but take as much as you need.” “They call me the asshole around here.” Brian flipped another photo over, “I should introduce you to more people.” Don and Samantha sat on a large beach towel at the public beach. The sun was going down on the other side of the lake. They had swam most of the day. “So where did you build the rover?” Samantha asked. Don said, “You know Potter Road?” “Down by the old green house?” “Yep.” “Yep, what? You built it in the old green house?” ...

Chapter 23 “Hello, NASA. This is your buddy, Don. Wishing you a great day on Mars. Anybody have any plans for today?” Don set his Nintendo Switch, a mobile gaming device, on his desk. He took a screw driver and opened the plastic housing which protects the silicone components inside. “Feeling a little boxed in? Ha, get it? Boxed...,” silence from the other side of the connection, “Okay. We've got seven days to go yet.” Don took a solder gun and began to modify the wiring of the Switch. He added a few chips of his own and some extra USB connections. “We're going to hit some bumps in the road until your end comes, but I promise it will make your final moments on Mars that much more special.” Samantha stood in the frozen food isle, staring at which ice cream she would get. Did she feel like mint or not? Caramel is never a bad choice, but her eyes landed on butter pecan on the bottom of the shelf. She opened the freezer door, knelt down and reached and far ...

Chapter 22 “We've got movement,” Scott told the team. He had started taking Opportunity back up to the hilltop but only letting the optics of the rover poke up over some rocks to keep an eye on Frankie. Frankie had finished adding rocks to one wall deep inside the labyrinth. The wall finally matched the height of the rest, Frankie was clearly leaving. The rabbit followed the snaking path back and forth, back and forth. Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Satellite snapped several time laps photos, constantly updating the the last one on Screen 2 of the Rover Control Room. “He's stopping at the 'Heart Space' of the labyrinth,” Donna told the room. “Looks like he's going to place something inside,” Brian said. Kantpis got excited for once, “What is it? Can you pull it up?” “Donna, access the HiRISE camera,” Brian said. “What's that?” Just Joe asked. “Stands for High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera. Whatever it is, we'll get a good lo...

Chapter 21 “Donna, can you bring up the latest image of the labyrinth, please?” Brian asked. “Let me update the imagery,” Donna said, “Here you go, image up on screen 3.” Brian looked around the room, “Can anyone tell me what we have here?” “Looks like a half mile wide labyrinth,” Agent Kantpis said. “FBI is always around for a good laugh. What kind of labyrinth?” No one was expecting that question. Scott ran a few searches on the web, “It's a contemporary medieval labyrinth called Santa Rosa. Designed by Lea Goode-Harris in 1997. There are four quadrants, but at the mouth is a small area know as the 'Heart Space.' Something symbolic is placed in the Heart Space and the person walking the labyrinth focuses on it. The traveler ponders the significance of the item.” Just Joe stood up and walked toward the screen, “What would he want to place inside the 'Heart Space'?” “Why did Jason run away from home?” Samantha began to ask Don questions, “Wh...

Chapter 20 “You guys wanna see something neat?” Don asked the NASA team. “No, Don,” Brian replied, “No we don't.” “Come on, we've only got ten days left till you're time's up on Mars. Check this out.” Frankie pulled out what appeared to be a laser pointer. Placed it on his shoulder. The laser pointer moved around autonomously, pointing toward the sky. “Donna, pull me up on your satellite,” Don said, “Show everyone in the room.” Donna nervously went over to her desk and put the real time satellite imagery on a screen. She looked over at Scott and shrugged her shoulders. She didn't know what else to do. “Now you see me,” Don said. Then a bright green laser beam shot up into the sky. “What's he doing?” Brian started freaking out. Donna hit a few keys on her keyboard, “I don't have any idea...” “What's he doing, Donna?!!” The satellite imagery showed nothing but static. “Now you don't,” Don said. Brian yelled...

Chapter 19 Don's friend, Adam, stopped by his house. Don met him at the porch. “What's up, man?” Adam said, “I got my driver's license.” “Very cool. Your folks got you a mini van?” “Yeah, it was my uncle's. Thing drives like a go-kart.” “I wouldn't want to find out.” “I hear you're dating Samantha, is that true?” “I haven't asked her to be my girlfriend or anything.” “Why not?” “I don't know how.” “You just ask her.” “How?” “You say, 'Are you gonna be my girl'?” “Just like that?” “Man, this way you're not begging here. You're telling her to say 'yes.'” “That's weird.” “Dating is weird, bro.” “How would you know, you don't have a girlfriend.” “I watch reality TV all the time. It's like I've lived so many other people's lives from the comfort of home. I seriously feel like I've already broken up with dozens of women.” “Dozens?” “Heartbreak is whe...

Chapter 18 “ Well, the way he talked, I thought he was white,” Kantpis said. Donna snapped, “You thought he was was white from his voice?!” “Yes.” “Kantpis, that's some racist shit.” “Lady, I'm not gonna argue with a...” “Halfbreed? Is that what you were going to say?!” “I didn't finish my sentence.” “I can read your face.” Kantpis stood still, no idea what to say next. “I actually figured he was white too.” “Huh?” “Like one of those snowflakes acting out on behalf of the Native Americans. I'm just fucking with you, Kantpis. Chill out.” Don pulled the car into the Department of Motor Vehicles parking lot. “You failed a lot of this test, but somehow not enough to completely fail,” the driving instructor told Don. “Yes sir.” “I'll certify you as passing if you promise to never text and drive.” “Never sir.” “That's what we do here when kids go to jail for causing fatalities on the road, we try to figure o...

Chapter 17 Don locked the door to his room. No one was home, but he didn't want to take the chance of anyone interrupting him again. A SWAT Team lined up on the back door of the house. Don fired up his computer and typed a few commands. Slid his left hand into a glove connected via a USB cable to the back of the computer. One SWAT member adjusted his gloves on the door ram as he looked up at the stack of officers with rifles at the ready. Waiting for him to initiate their funnel into the house. Don pulled his goggles down over his face, he could see the Martian sunrise. It was beautiful and peaceful. He looked over at Opportunity to make sure it remained in its corral over night. One of the SWAT members adjusted his safety glasses. He was fogging up a bit from the bulletproof vest and the adrenaline building up. Before putting the other glove on, Don pressed a button that requested a Bluetooth connection with Opportunity. The door smas...