The God Mars Book Two: Lost Worlds by Michael Rizzo

clinging to the canyon walls and ravines where water is
likely to accumulate when the desert gets rain.
    “You’d think the Power Rangers would have shown this
place off first chance they got,” Matthew criticizes, considering
how much the ETE have played us their dreams for continuing to
terraform Mars as proof of their benevolent designs.
    “It’d go far in making Earth forget what they’re
afraid of,” Lisa considers with less overt suspicion, but that only
proves Matthew’s point: Why didn’t the ETE show us this
immediately?
    I try to remember what the ETE did tell us. I
mostly remember idle comments about ecosystems, green-frosted
orbital images, computer models. No actual images or details about
this region except for the vague warnings about hostile locals. I
got far better intel from Abbas, who only had the second-hand tales
of food traders who probably exaggerated to discourage
competition.
    “It would sell me,” Tru agrees, the heavy concession
in her tone reminding me that she and her Ecos bled dearly to try
to stop the very research that made this possible. The ETE should
be ecstatic about what’s happening here.
    “So why the lack of advertising?” Matthew pushes his
point. “What’s wrong with this pretty scene?”
    “It doesn’t look that scary,” Kastl idly agrees.
    “It’s beautiful, sirs,” Thomas comes on, her voice
echoing inside her helmet. “You really need to see this up
close.”
    I remind her to look for signs of activity, maybe
even the trails used for the Nomad food routes.
    “Stay focused, Lieutenant.”
     
    The colony ruin comes into view in another few
minutes.
    Tranquility’s three big domes were built “stacked” up
a steep ravine cut into the south rim of Coprates—the Datum-high
ridge that separates Coprates from the parallel Catena. The divide
is ribbed with such cuts. The colony scientists built into one of
the larger and wider ones looking to study erosion (hoping it was
due to ancient water and not just crust fracturing) and exploit the
exposed geologic history of the valley.
    We can barely see the jagged, twisted lines of the
lower dome. It’s surrounded by green, overgrown with it, and large
sections of the dome are shattered. The other two domes are
completely buried under talus as the ridge apparently slid down on
them, creating a new slope now covered by a veritable forest, all
in the shadow of the newly-exposed cliff face that towers over the
colony ruin. The landing pads of the airfield just to the east are
still visible in the growth, partially buried, but the dock
facilities look smashed.
    The scene immediately reminds me of pictures of
Southeast Asian temple ruins taken over by the jungle, only it
looks like this jungle may have blossomed out of the burst dome
like Tranquility was its seed.
    “I’m no botanist,” Tru offers, “but it does look like
a lot of the wild growth we’ve seen so far may have started
here.”
    “Tranquility had some impressive gardens,” Lisa
remembers, “multi-story hydroponic farms.”
    “But did it have survivors?” Matthew refocuses.
    “If the domes were all compromised, anyone who
survived the slide would have been hurting for air and heat,” Doc
Ryder assesses. “Their seedlings could have gone into stasis, then
germinated again years later when it got more temperate, but the
colonists may have needed to relocate.”
    “But I’d come back home, especially if it was like
this,” Tru counters. “Or somebody’d be bound to move in.”
    “Thomas to Ops,” she cuts in. “Look at this…”
    The feed locks on a spot just east and downslope of
the pads. There’s nothing there but rock and green, but closer
scans show scars of old construction. Thomas overlays the original
colony blueprint.
    “Fuel dump is gone,” Anton confirms. “Not buried.
Moved.”
    “Scavengers?” Acaveda wonders.
    “Or the colonists trying to keep it from scavengers,”
Tru considers.
    “What did Abbas say about the site?”