Yves Giraud - Kahnu

“You’re sure that’s it?” said François. “I don’t see anything shinny.”

“I know,” said Dedrick. “The sun is not on it anymore, but I’m sure that’s the spot.”

“Well, I don’t see how we can possibly get up there without a crane or some giant ladder, two things we do not have. That terrace must be at least a hundred meters above us, maybe more. There’s no way we can climb this cliff, it’s way too steep.”

“There’s another way, from above.” interjected Sabrina.

“From above? And how do you propose we get there?” replied François amused, pointing at the rock wall. “You expect us to fly up there?”

“Don’t be silly. I think we can get there from behind the cliff, with the rover. Hold on… I’m almost positive we’ve already been to that side in sector… let me see… 42-23. Yep, my pad agrees. Sector 42-23 is right behind that cliff,” she said with confidence, looking at a small computer pad in her right hand.

“I think we can make it in less than forty-five minutes if we leave now. It’s a big loop, but once there, we should be able to lower ourselves with the tow cable,” she added with a touch of excitement in her voice.

“Sounds a bit hazardous, if you ask me. And how long is the cable, anyway? Looks like we’re gonna need a good sixty meters of it to reach that terrace from the plateau above,” commented Dedrick, looking up awkwardly through his helmet.

“You know what? I think that’s a great idea. The rover’s tow cable is eighty meters long, just so you know,” said François looking at Dedrick. “And we do have a basket in the back. It’s just what we need!” Turning his attention back on the cliffs above, he added, “We still have a few hours of daylight, right? I say we go for it. I’d really like to know what’s up there…”

Dedrick looked again at the high-perched terrace. “Yeah, w hat IS up there?”

“Well?” asked François.

“OK, I guess we have some time left, but only if the terrain on the other side is practical. Any possibility of danger and we turn around.”

“Yes captain!” said the Frenchman sarcastically, with a salute.

A few minutes later, in the control room of Mars First, the radio started to make sporadic sounds again…

“ Shhh —Ladli? Lad— crack—buzz —Can you— shhsh—buzzz —me?— zzz—crack !”

“Dedrick? Dedrick? Do you copy?”

“ Buzz—sssshhhhh—”

“Dedrick? Where are you guys? Are you OK?”

“ Crack-buzz —before we— buzz —come back— buzz —”

“Dedrick, I did not get that. Please repeat!”

“ Buzz —said we’re walking back to the rov— crack —sector 42-23 before we come back rrrack —”

“Dedrick, you are still breaking up. What about sector 42-23?”

“I said we’re walking back to the rover now. But there’s something we need— sshhh —check before we come back. We’re moving to sector 42-23. Did you get that?”

“Ten-four, Dedrick. Loud and clear now. Glad to have you back. I hate not knowing what you guys are doing when you’re out there, you know that.”

“I know, Ladli. I promise, we’ll be careful, and we’ll stay in contact at all times. I don’t think we’ll have a loss of signal in that sector. We’ll be high up. Another thing, I’m sending you a few images taken by my camera of the canyon we were just in. Can you upload everything to the main computer and run a complete analysis?”

“You got it. What did you find? And why sector 42-23? You were scheduled to go to sector 50-16 today.”

“I know. I’ll explain later. We only have so much daylight left. I’ll talk to you in a few minutes, when we get to the plateau. Dedrick out.”

Climbing in the rover, Sabrina, Dedrick, and François started moving toward the sector 42-23. It was an uneventful drive of just under eight kilometers. Climbing slowly the low grade of the cliff’s gentle slope, the rover and its passengers eventually reached the top, near the edge of the plateau they had been looking at from below earlier. Dedrick maneuvered the rover to face the edge of the precipice, leaving a good ten meters between the vehicle and the sheer drop. After putting his helmet back on, he then walked to the back of the rover to get the basket. With François’ help, the two attached the carrier to the hook at the end of the cable coming down from the overhead winch. The basket was now dangling in front of the rover, about two meters up in the air.

Sabrina soon joined the two men at the front of the vehicle.

“So, who wants to go first?” asked François.

“Someone has to stay up here to control the winch,” Dedrick said.

“I’ll stay!” volunteered Sabrina quickly. She was not looking forward to stepping into the abyss, now that she could see it from above.

“I thought this was your idea?!” said François teasingly. He knew very well how she felt about heights.

Turning in the general direction of the station, Dedrick called Ladli on his helmet communicator. Vera, who had now joined Ladli in the control pod, answered.

“Don’t worry, love. I promise we’re just gonna go down for a quick look, and we won’t leave the basket unless it is absolutely safe to do so. I have no intention of missing dinner tonight.”

“You better not!” she replied.

After telling her about the shiny object they had spotted earlier, and how they intended to get to it, “very carefully,” he had promised, she had reluctantly agreed. She wasn’t happy about them taking unnecessary risks, but she knew Dedrick and François too well to argue. No matter what anyone could say, those two always ended up doing what they wanted, anyway.

“Check your feed every five minutes, no matter what. I know your helmet will be constantly sending me images, but I also want to monitor your vital signs. All three of you!” she ordered.

“I knew you cared about me, Vera darling,” said François.

“I’m sorry. What was that, François?”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s just François talking nonsense, as usual,” said Sabrina. “I’ll stay in visual contact with them. Don’t worry,” she added.

“OK then, we better get going,” said Dedrick.

Following François to the rover’s forward crane, Dedrick waited his turn to climb on top of the arm, as the two men made their way carefully into the basket. Securing himself into position, Dedrick gave the OK for Sabrina to start driving the rover closer to the edge, above the cliff. Giving the two one last wave and wishes of good luck, Sabrina engaged the winch motor, and the basket slowly began its descent down into the abyss. Carefully lowering them at a pace of about half a meter per second, Sabrina was following the basket and its cargo on her dashboard screen, thanks to the camera mounted on the crane’s arm.

Dedrick was trying to locate the protruding rocky outcrop they had located from below. If there were in the right place, it had to be about fifty meters directly under them. But the view from above was significantly different. It was hard to recognize the cliffs features, and looking down with their suits on was difficult without feeling a bit noxious. They were quite high, and the basket kept rocking, at times dangerously, at any movement the passengers made.

After descending for a couple of minutes, Dedrick told Sabrina to stop the winch.

“Are you there? Did you find the spot? Dedrick?… François?”

A few seconds passed. Vera and Ladli were also listening.

“What’s going on Sabrina?” asked Vera. “Why aren’t they answering you? Do you have them on your monitor?”