Rabbit Hole on Mars - Day 21 (Nov 21) 845 words

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, “Why did you guys stop being friends?”

“Well, I started this project to get my own rover to Mars. Jason wanted to help out. He was super helpful at first, but after a while he tried to take over. Telling me what I can and can't do with the rover. Sometimes he would steal stuff. I couldn't finish things with him around. I had to start building more than one component in case one came up missing.

“Like how much stuff?”

Don paused. He felt a little embarrassed, “Almost enough to build a second rover.”

“Who would think we need a Star Wars program on Mars?” Brian said.

“We have no defenses there,” Kantpis said, “Frankie and Don have made it very clear. Is there any chance we can try to escape?”

“Frankie keeps an eye on us at all times. He's five times faster than we are. Even if we ran, we'd be like a turtle trying to out run a cheetah.”

“Is there anyway for Opportunity to self destruct?”

“We didn't send it to Mars to self destruct,” Brian said.

“So he did build his own rover?” Samantha asked.

“I don't know,” Don said.

“You built Frankie and then he wanted his own?”

“I built Charlie first. I only built Frankie, because Charlie was gone and so was Jason. Controls and all.”

“You built two rovers?”

“Charlie was missing a bunch of components.”

“All the components that Jason had already stolen from you?”

“Yes.”

“Do you think Jason will try to hurt you again?”

“The more we worked on the project, the more he switched from Dr. Jeckyll to Mr. Hyde.”

“What are you doing with Frankie on Mars?”

“Let's say he launched Charlie to Mars soon after he disappeared. He should be landing there in the next few days.”

“How did you get their sooner?”

“I improved the thrusters on my rocket. It's funny, Frankie probably passed right by Charlie on the way to Mars.”

“Let's say, Charlie arrives on Mars. What are you going to do?”

“If I destroy Opportunity first, at least I can keep Jason from hacking into it. It's one thing to watch a rover run around Mars, causing havoc. It's another to see a hacked NASA rover, being the one causing the havoc. Kind of sacrilegious. People can hate me for destroying Opportunity, but the later isn't something I will let happen as long as I'm on Mars.”

Just Joe turned around to face everyone in the Rover Control Room, “What if we pull the plug from here? Or let if freeze to death in the middle of the night, like the Chinese rover on the moon?”

“With all due respect, gentlemen,” Brian's voice began to fill with anger, “I think we've been more than accommodating here to the FBI and NSA, but if you don't start pulling your heads out of your asses, you will be asked to leave.”

“Let's call the police,” Samantha said.

“You have to have more evidence than just saying I think this person has bad intentions. What am I going to say? I know cause I'm the guy with the rover on Mars?”

“What is your end goal for all this, Don?”

“Besides the drama right now, the rover is only the beginning. I'd like to move there. With someone someday.”

“Are you asking me to live on another planet with you?”

“I'm asking you to live with me under the same sun.”

“Okay,” Samantha said as she rushed over to Don and hugged him tightly, “Under the same sun.”

They sat and watched the sun as it approached the horizon on Earth. Don took out his phone, opened his music library and hit play. Ben Howard's song, “Under The Same Sun” began to play.