— We are ready, remember that the objective is to reach the special base.
— We must check the ship that crashed in the space base, it is important to destroy all means of location and transmission that are in the ship.
These were the last words of Susan who was leading the operation
The vehicles, floating one meter above the ground with the thrusters on, were waiting to be boarded.
One of the guards took one of the hoverboards, transport vehicles without wheels capable of levitating over Mars.
Then the other guard assigned to the mission joined the starting point.
Then Jack got on, who felt the sensation that the vehicle looked like a motorcycle without wheels, then Eva joined him, who got on and hugged her boyfriend.
Susan, lost in her thoughts, saw how the vehicles slowly faded away on the horizon
Susan pressed her communicator, her voice resonating in everyone's receivers.
— When you arrive, report the situation, she demanded.
Everyone listened through their receivers on each bracelet, but silence took over the communication.
It was the first time that Jack drove a transport of that type, the closest thing on earth was a skateboard with a seat for two people, however it was familiar and easy to manipulate.
The guards kept pace and maintained the same course.
Eva was observing the desert landscape and did not take her eyes off the guards, while Jack observed each time interval to his guides.
The routes were programmed to reach the destination or at least close to the objective.
The air felt dense and cold despite the fact that the ground would give off heat, the vision was clear and clear at that moment.
The sky was clear blue and would be clear.
Along the way, they came across strange white constructions, similar to igloos, evoking a remote arctic landscape.
It was also very common to see small mountains and some caves.
Deep in those caves you could find liquid, a water with a chemical composition impossible for the human race to ingest.
Dr. Susan had already found a solution to that problem of the vital liquid.
Every morning Susan made measurements on the quality of the water, since the water went through different physical and chemical processes that in turn were processed into a water purifier.
The journey was long and a bit extensive to reach the space base. This was so with the intention of staying well away from the sight of visitors and the climatic factors of those areas.
Along the way you could see some species of animals, at least that was what Jack could see while driving.
Eva's memories transported her to crucial moments in her life: the day she decided to join the army, the excitement of her promotion to Colonel and the immense satisfaction of seeing her father, General O'Neal, so proud of her.
The entire road would be surrounded by mountains of solid reddish sand, some higher and others smaller, it was like seeing plateaus.
Suddenly they began to enter a somewhat dark area, where as dusk fell, it was the darkest and coldest area on the planet.
The radar gave the proximity signal and the target was closer.
The guards indicated with their right hand that the target was close and then made another sign indicating that they would turn left around the next mountain.
Jack made signs nodding his head in response to the message.
Eva had not noticed the mountain until she had it to one side, it was inevitable not to notice the enormous mountain before your eyes.
The guards were slowing down to ascend a little higher and made signs to Jack to do the same, but Jack could not find a way to raise the transport at the moment, until one of the guides made signs to me that I should pull the steering wheel towards him as if it were piloting an aircraft.
The guards increased the altitude and signaled Jack to follow them. After a few moments of confusion, one of them told him to pull the steering wheel towards him, as if he were piloting a plane.
Logic told Jack that a rapid descent would be equivalent to a free fall, endangering his safety.
A few meters away, the space base could be seen in the distance, or at least what was left of it.
The guards accelerated the vehicle and Jack observed that the response time interval in the acceleration between one gear and another was very short, which made it possible for the vehicle to reach high speeds in a matter of seconds.
The speed of the vehicle in front of him was an irresistible temptation. Jack turned the accelerator, feeling how the vehicle responded with a force that surprised him. The sensation was similar to riding a motorcycle, with the wind whipping his face and adrenaline running through his veins.
With each passing second, Jack increased his speed until, in the blink of an eye, he overtook the guards, leaving them behind.
The other problem would be how to brake quickly or gradually.
Jack thought that if he stopped accelerating the vehicle, perhaps, it would slow down, and he finally got that right, but he still couldn't stop completely, since the vehicle was still moving.
When the guards saw that Jack was having trouble controlling his speed, the co-pilot intervened. Patiently, she explained to him that to slow down, he had to make a movement opposite to the one he had been doing, pulling the handlebars towards him.
Despite his lack of experience, the pilot demonstrated great talent by passing the test on his first attempt, leaving everyone surprised.
What would have become of the Earthlings without the presence of the guides? Jack thought.
The vehicles stopped near the space base and one of the guides approached Jack to greet him. Jack understood that they were congratulating him on his piloting.
They prepared to walk, but each step they took was slow and high, as if they could jump in the air, and so they went until they entered through the only side door that was still in good condition.
Jack entered, then he extended his hand to Eva and then the guards entered. One of the guards stayed at the door, while the other decided to follow them.
— Let's go to the control center announced Jack who indicated with his right index finger that they should go there.
— Eva nodded her head in response to the confirmation.
— Let's start with this module, announced Jack.
— Eva lower that lever to activate the power backup mode , ordered Jack
— Ready Jack , on.
— It doesn't work answered Jack.
— Eva check that the power backup connector is not loose.
— Ok , I already checked, is it a black cable with a strange plug like this one?
— Yes, that same Eva, connect it.
— Ok, ready.
— Eva, lower the lever and when I tell you to, raise it.
— Let's wait at least five minutes for the clocks to light up, Jack replied
— The room is already lit up, Eva replied.
— I'm going to do a continuity test with the computer, this charge level is enough, Jack announced
— I'm going to do a loop to see if I have the return of the packets I sent in binary.
— Correct, the packets are sent but they don't arrive complete, Jack replied.
— Let's try other ways.
— But, Time without response, Jack announced
— Let's test all the channels by sending a ping.
— Out of thirty-two channels, only one responded.
— What does that mean, Jack?
— The module receives, but it doesn't transmit, that is to say, from Earth we can communicate, but from here we can't avoid any signal, Jack replied.
— So they couldn't track us? Eva asked
— Not because of the main module, because it's broken, Jack replied.
— However, every ship is equipped with an audio recording of what happens inside the cabin, Jack replied.
— And I know that, it's a black box, Eva replied.
— What I don't know is if that has another transmitter module incorporated, Jack replied.
— Most likely, Jack, knowing General Patrol, he is a very calculating and methodical man, a great strategist, answered Eva.
— Let's look for that box, come on...
— Where do they usually hide those boxes?, asked Jack
— It's going to be a hard task, answered Eva.
— You and the Guard go look, while I think of something better, answered Jack
— But think fast, love, we don't have much time and we can't spend the night here, answered Eva.
Jack remembered that inside the ship there were some measuring instruments that he kept.
Then he remembered the day that Susan took out a kind of wand that measured the frequencies of the transmitters.
Jack went to the Guard and made signs about the instrument he was looking for.
However, the guard stared at him, as if trying to encode the message.
Jack insisted again, but this time, he decided that he should use his wrist transmitter to report that they had arrived and to make some preliminary report.
— Susan, this is Jack, do you copy?
There was no answer.
— Calling Susan.
— Jack, good to hear from you, what did you find? asked the doctor.
— The main module doesn't work, it only receives, but doesn't transmit.
— But we have a problem, the black box has a transmission module and we must find it, replied Jack.
— Of course Jack, we have to get that box, replied Susan with a worried voice.
— That's what I wanted to ask you, I need that rod that you used to measure the frequency of the suits' transmitter.
— Jack, I gave you one, remember, replied Susan.
— By any chance the guard doesn't have one? Jack asked.
— They have a similar one. But it's for detonating, they're soldiers, Jack.
— I don't have it, Jack confessed.
— Then we'll have to destroy the ship and everything in it, without being sure that the box was destroyed, Susan answered.
— I'm going to kill you, Jack. How could you forget that, for God's sake?
Suddenly the guard who was at the door approached Jack and handed him a long, black box, which looked like a case that when opened contained an instrument similar to the one Susan had used that day.
Jack thanked her and the guard took out the instrument and activated it.
The instrument displayed a blue crescent-shaped light and Jack watched carefully.
Then the guard pressed the button and a screen began to sound like a radar.
The guard passed the instrument around the control room and the instrument began to beep.
Jack approached and saw what the instrument was trying to detect and could see that the LED was changing from blue to red without understanding the meaning.
The guard handed Jack the instrument, trying to manipulate the electronic device without understanding what it was doing and what the new device was detecting.
— Susan, I have an instrument that detects something, it seems to search for frequencies, but I don't know in what ranges.
— Send me the image Jack
The guard captured the image with her bracelet and shared it to Jack's bracelet, who received a notification on his bracelet screen. Jack touched the screen and viewed the image, then pressed the screen for a time interval and showed a send menu, he chose the recipient and Susan's name appeared, he selected the option and sent it.
Susan received the sent file on her bracelet and could see the image.
— For Earth frequencies, that device is useless, Jack.
— I have to try, insisted Jack.
— You don't have much time, you have one hour left to complete the mission, otherwise we will blow up what's left of the spaceship, replied the doctor.
Jack insisted on continuing to look for signals, and as he went down some stairs the LED changed from blue to red and the whistle sounded.
Eva approached and kicked the door, Jack approached with the instrument and the signal became stronger.
Eva insisted that going through that opening was almost impossible to reach.
— None of us fit through there, nor will we be able to corroborate if the signal that is detected has anything to do with the black box, replied Eva.
— Take out your detonator, ordered Jack directing his voice to the guard.
The guard approached and pointed towards the end where everything was darkness.
A loud explosion was heard from the dark end of that narrow corridor, which only an iguana would cross.
— The signal went out and stopped ringing, Jack replied
— NB-21, can you hear me? Destroy the entire ship and the space base, Susan replied on the speaker.
Suddenly the guard took Jack and Eva out of the place and they went down until they touched the Martian ground.
The Guard took out their detonator and pointed it at the space ship and then at the space base. The roar was such that the satellite flew into pieces as if it were an incomplete puzzle and suddenly there was nothing left, just a sky blackened by the smoke of the explosion.
There were thirty minutes left to leave. It was time to return.
They all took their respective vehicles and at maximum speed they propelled themselves back to the fortress.