Due to the desert terrain, the vehicle wasn't moving very fast. James had one hand on the steering wheel and, upon hearing Mark's question, replied, "There's nothing particularly special, but some of the people who came to the base recently have been leaving one by one in the past few days."
"Leaving?" Mark raised an eyebrow.
He remembered that a month ago, when he left, Landry had told him about the stone tablet brought back from Mars. It had been classified as top-secret, and a significant number of personnel had been assigned to it, indicating that it was of utmost importance.
Now, after just a month, they were leaving?
"Oh, don't even mention it," James continued casually. "You probably don't know that some time ago, a batch of supplies was transported from Mars, right? Among them was a stone, one of those tablet things, you know? The kind with writing on it for commemoration?"
"You mean a monument?" Mark asked.
"Yeah, exactly, a monument," James confirmed. "You're quite the cultured person."
Mark was quite surprised by this revelation. Not long ago, this matter had been shrouded in secrecy, almost treated as top-level classified information. How could it have spread so quickly?
"Then what happened to it?" Mark feigned ignorance and curiosity.
"It was a huge blunder!" James exclaimed.
"A huge blunder?"
"Yes!" James explained, "That thing was said to come from Mars, but after Dr. Harper and others studied it carefully, they found out it's made up of Earth materials!"
Mark raised an eyebrow. "So, are you saying there might be Martians taking Earth items to Mars?"
James couldn't help but shake his head. "For someone claiming to be a researcher, you sure say strange things. If there were people on Mars, couldn't you guys spot them with those space telescopes? No, this was just a regular rock that someone brought in from the Gobi Desert outside!"
"Huh?" Mark was genuinely taken aback. He hadn't expected such an answer.
"Are you serious?" Mark asked skeptically. It seemed absurd. It had clearly come from Mars, yet now they claimed someone had just brought it in from the Gobi Desert?
"At first, I thought it was a joke too," James admitted, "but after comparing it with rocks from the Gobi Desert, it turned out the compositions were nearly identical. And most importantly, the stone monument wasn't even listed on the inventory of items brought back from Mars!"
Mark: ???
"Isn't this a bit too far-fetched?" Mark couldn't help but feel that this was a colossal blunder, possibly even bordering on deceit. If this had happened in ancient times, it would be considered treason. Even in the present, it seemed like a misappropriation of funds.
However, after chuckling to himself, Mark began to sense that something was off. If the stone tablet was indeed a local Earth product, what about the spider that had bitten him?
Could it be something from Earth as well? Was he completely wrong in his initial assumption?
But if that spider was indeed a native Earth creature, how did it end up in that laboratory? He distinctly remembered the spider appearing only when he picked up that soil sample!
He could even recall its appearance, pitch-black with a few points of fluorescence, like a night sky. Its mouthparts were incredibly sharp, easily piercing through the thick plastic gloves he was wearing.
Mark furrowed his brow. No matter how hard he thought, he couldn't make sense of it. To avoid raising suspicion, he hadn't delved too deeply into the matter.
But even if he wanted to investigate further, he likely wouldn't have access to much information. After all, the security department wasn't a research facility, and the extent of their knowledge was limited.
If he truly wanted to understand what had happened, he would have to talk to Dr. Harper and Landry
Next, James seemed to open up and began sharing some interesting stories with Mark. Mark knew why he was doing this. Their daily routine of standing guard at the base could be quite monotonous, so when they had a chance to relax, they naturally talked non-stop.
However, the stories James shared weren't particularly insightful. Mark didn't hear about any "extraordinary" or strange occurrences. This relieved him.
At least for now, it seemed that his world was still calm, without any noticeable "dangerous effects" due to his presence.
That was enough.
Several hours later, the convoy returned to the base. Mark got out of the vehicle at the base entrance.
James needed to lead the convoy for debriefing and unloading, while Mark had to head to the security department, report in, and adjust his status. Otherwise, he wouldn't be allowed into that area.
Mark couldn't help but think that certain parts of this base were indeed strict.
For some reason, when Mark was processing the paperwork to end his vacation and return to the base, he couldn't shake the feeling that the head of security was giving him strange looks. But he couldn't pinpoint the source of this odd sensation.
With his updated ID card in hand, Mark returned to his accommodation in the base. The room's floor was impeccably clean, indicating that someone had come in to clean during his absence. However, he hadn't left any important items behind, so he wasn't concerned.
Before Mark could even settle in, Landry paid him a visit. As soon as Landry saw Mark, he appeared anxious. "Why did you come back now?" he asked urgently.
Mark looked puzzled. "Is there a problem with me coming back now?"
"Of course!" Landry replied. "Don't you know that someone at the research institute is out to get you?"
"What?" Mark was slightly surprised. "Someone wants to harm me? And why, out of nowhere, with what reason?"
As he spoke, Mark suddenly stopped and realized. "Could it be that someone is claiming I brought that stone in from the desert?!"
Mark's eyes widened in disbelief.
Landry was also surprised. "You know about it? I didn't even mention it."
"On the way back, I found out that they're saying the stone wasn't from Mars but was brought in from the desert," Mark said, sounding somewhat exasperated. He never expected that the blame would be shifted onto him.
Previously, when he got bitten by the spider and accidentally broke the Martian soil sample, there were rumors within the institute that he had brought the spider in from the desert, leading to the bite. At that time, there was no evidence to prove that the spider wasn't brought in by him. Even Dr. Harper believed it was an inadvertent mistake on Mark's part and didn't punish him severely.
But Mark never imagined that these two incidents could be connected.
°°°
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