A Walk Down Sandy Lane - By A. P. Davis - 10.14.2018

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There was a shadow hanging over him. Miles out, miles in every direction were clouds, heavy and dark. Having been on a path like this for several days that appear as nights, Jake was unable to get his bearings. Which way was North? Which way South? Just walking along Sandy Lane, along a shore that divided a dry sea bed of what were once ancient waters from a dry sandy desert and only the light of a blood orange sun shined enough to see the footsteps below boot covered feet walking from somewhere to perhaps nowhere, but still, walking for lack of any sense of destination. Memories of Earth. Memories of walking along a beach next to the sea kept him from going mad but this landscape was nothing like the Earth. Was this real or was he dreaming? Yea, He remembered walking down Sandy Lane, holding hands with his girl. Keep the memory alive. That is the only way to survive. What it felt like, to walk barefoot on the sand? That was a time he would always remember, walking down Sandy Lane. The sounds of wind blowing on his face as he pondered the old world from which he came, from planet Earth, his home, now walking along a lonely and desolate world. There was a connection that was made in one last attempt, at the landing sight. The last message that came in before the storm was simply that Earth was having trouble getting through on his com. The next lander should be somewhere about 10 miles towards the horizon, he thought. There he would find life. At least some food and drink and shelter. Carrying the heavy suit and gear on a planet that was inhospitable as Mars, was a contradiction in itself. This was no place for man. No quantum leap for human kind. Like all other efforts to look for another planet, another world, just because our home had become more like an alien world, where once humanity had a foothold but for so long, as things were taken so for granted, it was now time to move on. To press forward. Walking, hoping for new life. Hearing the wind blow, hearing your heartbeat and your own breathing and feeling the sand beneath your feet as you march through and as you breath each breath, you feel as though it might be your last. The tank was half empty or was it half full? Jake was an Optimist. You left behind 12 other searchers, from the same home planet, all going into different directions, not knowing exactly which way pointed to sanctuary. Your hope was that, out of the 13 brave hearts of this journey from Earth to Mars, you might be the one to find the lander. Knowing full well that that meant the other 12 would possibly perish in the efforts to walk blindly without a compass, without a visual reference. Just a full tank of air and enough water and food to last 7 days. You walked alone. Everyone walked with the hope they would be the one who found sanctuary. Meantime, there was only the constant push forward, with every breath and every heartbeat. The wind was unrelenting. The sand went on forever. :Jake, it's me Sam. Do you read?" - "Yea Sammy, I read you, over." - "The coordinates before the storm took out our computers was on the basic grid for the location of Lander Opex One. I will send up a flair when I get there. I have monitored a weak but regular electromagnetic pulse." I have been able to contact the orbiter using low band radio frequency 807.20.372 and the modulator is working." - "What about the rest of the team?" - They have all been contacted except for Parks. He is the only one who lost his signal and we will not be in contact with the orbiter or Parks until 0800. That will be in a few hours. Meantime, keep on your present course. I will send a signal to you when I have pinpointed the marker." - "Sam out." The storm that hit our lander was unusually violent. But nobody was hurt, but the structure took a big hit and all the atmosphere was lost. No breathable air or secure pressure. The storm was a Cat 5 and for Mars, Cat 5 storms were about as bad as a tornado in the alley back on Earth, through Texas and up in the northern plains. Mars was full of unpredictable weather and although the atmosphere and gravity were not the same as Earth, a storm coming out of nowhere without warning posed the single greatest challenge for the entire team. The year was 2022. A fleet of astronauts took flight from Earth in a rocket designed by a retired former NASA scientist with the help of LM and funded by a non-profit organization called Space Force One. The thing Jake really hated about the Martian landscape was the monotony of it all. It was like walking on a planet that was mostly desert and orange skies. It was kind of funny and very very strange that they even signed up for this madness. The various shades of helmet vision made it possible to darken the landscape and actually adjust it to various hues and colors and even make it possible to see in either the infrared or the ultraviolet and various other wavelengths. Jake preferred looking at Mars through a Blue View. It's always nice to have shades, thought Jake. It will be good to get to sanctuary and get out of this heavy suit and take a shower and have something actually fit to eat. Of course, this was under an assumption that the next landing sight was in tact. It had already been placed 5 years ago and regular supplies sent once every few years. There would be much to talk about when they all reached their final destination. What could possibly be worse than a sandstorm or dust devil on the surface of Mars? Thinking back to the earlier days of living in Dallas in 2018, Jake thought of how good it would taste to sink his teeth into a good old Texas sized cheeseburger. Martinez, Roper, Monroe and Valdez appeared inside a rover and pulled right out in front of Jake, as he was surprised and had not expected this. There were no rovers in the area that he was aware of. Apparently, they managed to find on inside a hangar some 20 miles South of their current location. "Hop aboard. There's room for more." The door opened and Jake got in and boy was he glad to see a few of his fellow travelers still alive and in a deluxe Martian taxi of sorts. "I never thought I would ever see you guys and for so long, I was feeling really kind of nostalgic for Earth." "This thing has a nice set of shocks. It rides real smooth. We found it parked at the edge of June's Crater and it had a full tank. It's fully loaded and has an MP3 player built right into the console. The AC works good too." "Talk about style. The last team that left about 11 months ago to go back to Earth, must have left it there figuring someone would need it sooner or later." Jake thought about that. Why would they just up and leave that rover parked at the edge of June's Crater? That just didn't make sense. Rovers and other forms of multi-terrain vehicles are usually parked inside storage facilities and locked away to prevent exposure to storms such as the ones recently experienced. Something just did not add up. Below is a link to appropriate music to set the proper mood for this story.