Yves Giraud - Kahnu

For all, including the only true Martian on the red planet, today was going to be more special than anyone could have ever imagined. They had just arrived at the top of the plateau in sector 42-23, almost directly above the alien site.

“Chasma? Chasma??”

Everyone turned their attention to Dedrick who was calling his daughter with angst in his voice. The group was finishing setting up the rovers near the edge of the cliff when Dedrick realized the child was missing. After a quick look around, he climbed inside ARC 2 to check if the girl had gone back to the rover. To his disappointment, he only found François, who had beat him to it. She wasn’t there. They had no more luck with ARC 1.

“She can’t be far. Don’t worry, we’ll find her,” said the Frenchman, trying to reassure Chasma’s father. Now, everyone was searching as well.

“Chasma! Chasma!”

Vera, trying to stay focused and poised, was beside herself. Panic was gripping every inch of her body. The slope back down the way they had just driven up was too gentle and wide open for anyone to hide anywhere for several hundred meters, too far a distance for Chasma to have had the time to walk beyond. The other way, there was only the sheer drop of the abyss. Vera, suddenly imagining the worse, met Dedrick’s eyes who had just had the same thought. He rushed to the edge of the plateau, praying to God he was wrong. After the initial fright of imagining she could have fallen off the edge, he reassured himself, slowly breathing again, when he saw nothing on the boulders far down below. He simply turned back to Vera and said, “No.” He resumed his search, looking in every direction again. “ Where could she be? There’s nowhere to go…” He could clearly see the entire terrace they were standing on. The low south wall nearby was too smooth and even, to offer any nooks for Chasma to hide in, especially in her bright white suit.

“Chasma? CHASMA? Why isn’t she responding? Her headset should be on… When was the last time anyone saw her? Vera, I thought she was with you?” he asked.

“I… I don’t know. I do remember her next to me, but I was talking to Ladli and…”

“Hey guys, what about here?”

Liu was pointing at a small break to their left, at the edge of the plateau, right where the south wall met the abyss. Dedrick rushed to the area. A small portion of the ledge seemed to wrap around the rock face at that corner, but the ground was missing where a slab of rock had broken off. He couldn’t believe he had never noticed it before. To his defense, one had to be just at the right distance and angle from it to see the gap. Still, for a moment, he wondered if the damage could have happened recently. It seemed unlikely, but more importantly, he had to find Chasma. Although the prospect of Chasma having ventured that way seemed highly improbable, it was definitely worth checking. He kneeled down to assess the path better. The passage left by the missing floor was so narrow even her small body would have been partially above the sheer drop. He forced himself to rid his mind of the awful possibility she could have fallen and tried to peek beyond the wall. To his surprise, he could see another terrace beyond the turn that widened further along the cliff.

“Chasma? CHASMA!!” he called out but didn’t get any answer. “ Could she have gone that way? Why isn’t she answering?”

“Chasma!” Dedrick tried again.

This time, a crackling sound was heard in all seven helmets.

“Daddy. Crrrrk— I’m here, daddy!” said the small voice.

“Chasma! Thank God. Where are you, baby?” asked Dedrick.

“Where are you, baby?” said Vera, almost in panic.

“I’m OK, Mommy.”

“Chas—” Dedrick finally spotted the young girl appear from around a dark corner in the cliff, right behind a small bend on the second terrace. She was walking very carefully along the edge of the shrinking ledge in his direction.

“Chasma, go slow, baby. Be very careful… Give me your hand.” He stretched his arm as far as he could around the rocky formation. She slowly reached him and took his gloved hand. With one swift pull, he carefully lifted her up above the protruding rock formation and grabbed her in his arms as he stepped back towards the more leveled open floor of the main terrace, a fairly effortless maneuver thanks to Mars’ low gravity. Vera immediately rushed to them.

“Chasma, oh, Chasma, where did you go? Don’t you ever do that again, young girl!” she shouted in tears, as she grabbed Chasma and held her tightly in her arms, the girl’s helmet resting on her mother’s shoulder awkwardly.

“I’m sorry, Mommy. I just wanted to go see the big cloud.”

“Chasma, promise me you will never do that again! It’s dangerous. You could hurt yourself. What if you… a big cloud? What big cloud?”

“The big cloud, Mommy, down there, in the mountain!” she said, pointing to the area she had just returned from.

“What are you talking about, Chasma?” asked François.

“The big white cloud!” she said sounding a bit annoyed, as she raised her arm and let it fall back down her side with frustration, pointing once more in the same direction.

François and Dedrick looked at each other with puzzled expressions.

“A big white cloud in the mountain…” repeated François, perplex.

“Yes! He said it was OK.”

“Who did? The big cloud? He… talks?” asked Dedrick at a loss.

“What is she talking about?” Tendai was genuinely confused, as they all were.

“Yes!” Chasma said, raising both arms up in the air, shaping a big half circle as she let them back down with a big sigh, annoyed that none of them seemed to understand what she was saying. They were all looking at the child, uncertain of what to think, or say.

“He says you should all come, and he will explain everything.”

“He’s talking to you now? The big white cloud?” asked Sabrina at a complete loss.

“Yes, I just told you!”

“What the hell is she talking about?” finally said François. Vera gave him a disapproving look. “Sorry… I mean, it’s just weird.”

“Chasma, did you meet the big talking cloud when you went in there?” asked Dedrick.

“No, it was too dark, and I got a bit scared all by myself, so I came back. I didn’t go very far.”

“I think I’d like to see that big cloud,” said François with genuine interest, walking closer to the south corner of the cliff to take a peek at the other terrace beyond.

“Give me a hand, Dedrick, will you?” he said, leaning his arm forward for the Russian to grab.

“Hold on! Where do you think you’re…?” Then, thinking about it for a few seconds, Dedrick added, “OK, but be careful!” He grabbed François by his left arm and leaned to his side, securing himself against the rocky formation separating the two terraces. Keeping his feet planted firmly on the ground, Dedrick gave François a slight pull to help him keep his balance as the Frenchman pushed himself over the rocky wall and landed feet first on the other side.

Tapping Dedrick’s arm with his free hand, he then said, “Ok, I’m good. You can let go of my arm, now.”

“OK,” replied Dedrick, as he released his grip.

François carefully moving along the narrow ledge, quickly reached the wider part of the open space. Once he was able to walk freely without steadying himself against the cliff wall, he began to look around. The area was a stretched-out triangle about nine meters wide. The back wall curved up slightly above to form a natural dome over the whole area. Unlike the terrace where they had found the alien gate, this niche appeared to have been carved naturally. He walked closer to the edge and looked far down below at some of the larger boulders that he suspected had broken off from where he was. Turning his attention back to the space behind him, where the terrace met with the rocky protrusion separating the two terraces, François noticed a small fissure that narrowed sharply at the very top. Approaching closer, he noticed the passage seemed quite deep and appeared to continue at a slope, down into the mountain.