The next morning, Zed made his way to a conference room of sorts that had been indicated in the invitation. It wasn’t particularly spacious, but few rooms were in Naug. Johns was arriving just as Zed walked up.

  “Young Zed! How you on?” he cried, following his exclamation with a shoulder-numbing thump. “It’s a gurt big day, my boy. A big day indeed!”

  Zed could always tell when Johns was particularly excited when he lapsed back into the English of his youth. Zed just smiled and opened the door to the conference room. The two of them appeared to be the last of the invitees to arrive and sat down in the two remaining seats.

  Zed looked around the room. Commanders Jones and Bao were present, of course, but it was the other people at the table that Zed found surprising. For one thing, Baat was there. Zed couldn’t imagine what the old chaplain had to do with any of this. Baat noticed Zed and smiled at him. Zed wasn’t sure why, but he was glad Baat was here. There were a few other colonists that Zed had seen around; at this point, he recognized everyone in the colony. Naug wasn’t that big. After a week there, you were unlikely to see an unfamiliar face, even if you don't know the name that went with it.

  Also present was Miranda’s father, Jacob Ens. He was sitting next to Zed’s mother, and they seemed to be having a nice enough conversation. Zed could only imagine what his mother was doing there, but presumably it had something to do with health and safety.

  I'm gonna be so embarrassed if she's the one that kills this whole thing, Zed thought.

  Across from Jacob sat Janice. Zed hadn’t been expecting to see her here and was curious about what part she had to play. He almost hadn't recognized her at first. Zed realized he’d never seen her cleaned up and in anything but her grease-monkey overalls. Her hair was freshly shaved to the skin on the sides, with just enough left on top to be drawn back in a neat bun. The only indication of her day job was in her hands, which were worn and etched with grease-filled cracks that ran like oil-filled veins.

  Janice gave Zed a little wave, and he smiled in return.

  Commander Jones stood at the head of the long table. She raised a hand, quieting the pockets of chatter.

  “I think everyone here understands the situation we’re making a decision on today. Ethan Johns and Zed Marsh discovered some potentially interesting imagery and readings within the crater cave, far deeper than has been explored on foot thus far. While we had previously suspected the possibility of life in the cave, now we have actionable data. I would like each of you to speak from your respective expertise so that we can determine the importance of this new information, as well as the realistic options and safety implications if we try to reach it with a team.”

  She turned and nodded to Commander Bao before taking her seat.

  Bolin Bao and Thabisa Jones made an interesting command pair. Physically, they couldn’t have been more different. Bao was tall, in his late 30s, and well-muscled. He had an enthusiastic energy about him that was effective in maintaining morale and pushing the colony forward.

  Thabisa was a good two feet shorter and a decade older, but even standing next to Bao, she undeniably loomed larger in her presence and experience. Now that Zed thought about it, they actually made the perfect pair, making up for exactly what the other lacked.

  Bao rubbed his hands together and opened a shared virtual view for all their CIGs to connect to. He pulled up the 3D meshes that Zed had put together of the side cave in question, along with text displaying data that Bel and Nebo’s sensors had picked up.

  “As you can see, there is a curious pattern that the baby of our Martian family here has so beautifully put together.” Bao said this without sarcasm as he bowed slightly in Zed’s direction. Zed couldn’t help but crack a proud smile.

  “These holes in the ground and the concentric circles that surround them are interesting, but actually, they are not the most significant things we found here.”

  Zed leaned forward. He hadn’t noticed the holes. It looked like they might have made some enhancements of their own to his imagery. It was hard to see, but it certainly appeared that the mushrooms, or whatever they were, congregated around holes in the cave floor.

  Bao enlarged some of the text and numbers and continued.

  “As you can see here, we have high levels of radiation coming from the opening. Radiation in and of itself isn’t unusual on Mars, of course. It comes pouring out of the sky on a daily basis, and it’s a constant struggle to protect ourselves. At first, we thought there might be enough of an opening in this side chamber letting in surface radiation, but it’s too deep for that to be likely, and the readings didn’t match what we’d expect from surface radiation anyway.”

  Bao gestured to where Baat was sitting, hands folded under his chin. “Baat Bayaraa, if you would.”

  Zed realized this was the first time he’d ever heard his friend's last name used. He had always just known him as “Baat” and now felt a twinge of guilt for never asking.

  Baat leaned forward but didn't stand. “I’m sure some of you must wonder what a chaplain could possibly offer on this particular topic. Well, I wasn’t always a chaplain,” he said, smiling with his usual warmth as he made eye contact around the room. “One of my PhDs was in nuclear physics. There are certainly others in Naug more qualified than I am to speak to that topic, but in gaining that PhD, I did a great deal of research into an oddity on Earth that I believe may have connections to what we are seeing today on Mars.”

  Baat paused for a moment. He had their full attention.

  “First, the strange news. Based on what I’m seeing, I believe that somewhere in that cave there is a nuclear reactor.”

  There was a stir in the small group. Involuntary sounds of wonder and amusement escaped several people's lips.

  Baat held up his hands and nodded. “Yes, yes. I know how that sounds, but let me explain why this is not as insane a proposition as you may initially think.”

  Once again, the room fell silent.

  “In 1972, in a place called Gabon on Earth, the French were mining uranium. While taking isotopic measurements of some uranium samples, they discovered that it contained too little uranium-235. As a refresher for those who are hazy on their nuclear physics classes, or simply haven’t taken them yet,” at this, he winked at Zed, “I’ll remind you that uranium is actually comprised of uranium-234, uranium-235, and uranium-238. To maintain a nuclear fission reaction, you need the right percentage of uranium-235. The percentage is too low in natural uranium, which is why it has to be enriched before use. Uranium-235 only makes up 0.720% of natural uranium. After enrichment, this is raised to 3-5%. Two billion years ago, uranium had about 3.6% of uranium-235, but over time, it has decayed to what we see today.”

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  Baat glanced around the room. Some were leaning in, clearly able to follow the science he was describing, while a few others, Zed included, seemed to be struggling.

  “In short, there were naturally occurring nuclear reactors in Gabon that likely ran for several hundred thousand years. I don’t know how, but I think we may have come across something similar happening here on Mars. As I said, there shouldn’t be enough uranium-235 to maintain a reaction, but I don’t have a better way to interpret the data right now. Water is needed to sustain a reaction. I think those holes must be connected to chambers where the reaction is taking place, fueled by the uranium, and perhaps by the ice in the ground turning to water from the heat, which in turn continues the reaction and the melting. There are still so many unknowns, but it is a fascinating prospect.”

  Zed spoke up. "So if there’s some kind of reaction generating warmth and steam, or at least some humidity, it is possible that these objects around the holes could really be some kind of plant life, right?”

  Baat shrugged. “I’m not a botanist, but if there’s moisture and warmth, I would think that certainly increases the odds.”

  The murmuring among the meeting participants picked up in earnest now. Zed looked over at Johns, who was now precariously leaning back in his chair, his face beaming with confidence.

  Now it was Bao’s turn to quiet the group. “There will be time for discussion later. Let’s move on for now. Thank you, Baat.”

  Baat nodded, and Bao turned to Janice. “Janice, if you’d give us your assessment of the viability of the turtle suits in these tunnels?”

  Janice sat up straight and pulled her chair closer to the table. “Uh, yeah, sure. For those who don’t know me, I’m Janice Das. I’m one of the suit tech leads in the hangar.”

  She brought her hand up from behind the table for a small, awkward wave. Janice cleared her throat and continued.

  “Based on the likely paths that would need to be taken, the suits could technically make it through if they were on a small enough person. For instance, Mr. Johns here would be a poor candidate.”

  She gestured at Johns, who looked genuinely disappointed.

  “Not that you’re fat, just bigger than… you know… but…” She cleared her throat again and carried on a little faster. “As I said, the suit could make it through, but this last tunnel into the actual chamber will be an issue. It’s going to be a tight fit at best. It might not even be possible with the pack on, though we could come up with some workaround for that. Technically possible, but far from ideal is the long and short of it.”

  Janice nodded several times, as if taking a mental tally of what she had meant to say, and then pushed herself back from the table. She folded her hands in her lap and looked back at Bao.

  “Thank you, Janice,” Bao said. “On that note, Dr. Marsh?”

  Zed’s mother stood. Apparently, she felt an introduction was unnecessary because she started right in.

  “As Janice pointed out, this final choke point could be a potential hazard. If there’s a shift in the rocks, someone could be injured or trapped. The bigger concern for me, though, is the levels of radiation we might find. Our readings only tell us what was detected from the outside. Inside, it could be far more serious. The suits have a certain amount of built-in protection just to deal with the harsh environment, but it’s possible that protection just won’t be enough.”

  Of course, she’d be the one to rain on this parade, Zed thought, folding his arms tightly across his chest.

  Ana Marsh continued. “Not to mention, the trip through the cave won’t leave a great deal of time to actually explore the chamber, even if you do make it. You’d have to turn around almost as soon as you got there to avoid running out of oxygen, as I’m sure Janice simply forgot to mention.”

  Zed saw Janice squirm at this. He felt bad for her. He’d been on the receiving end of his mother’s passive-aggressive barbs more times than he cared to remember.

  “There would be some time, technically. You’d have about thirty minutes. Plenty of time for some samples, right?” Janice said a little too quietly. Ana ignored the explanation but picked up on the last part.

  “And speaking of samples, who’s to say this so-called life isn’t viral or some infectious bacteria? We could be bringing death to the colony just by setting foot in that chamber.” Ana sat down abruptly, apparently satisfied with her points.

  “Uh, thank you, Dr. Marsh,” Commander Bao said somewhat coldly. Ana’s report clearly wasn’t the kind he had been hoping for. Zed knew Bao liked to push boundaries. He had heard him in the mess passionately pitch the idea of starting another colony here on Mars—a backup for the backup, he had argued.

  “And last but not least, as the person who would actually be leading any potential expedition, Jacob, what are your thoughts after examining the data and the potential route?”

  Miranda’s father stood. “Thank you, Bao. Yeah, so I’ve been obsessing over this wonderful scan Zed and Johns put together, and when I saw that Zed had drawn his own potential path, I didn’t pay much attention. To my surprise, however, I think he nailed it. It really does seem like the most viable path. Now, that’s not to say it’s without hazards or risks.”

  Jacob grabbed the branching cave system and hid everything but the sections along the path Zed had laid out. He expanded it to focus on one particular section.

  “Other than getting into the actual side chamber at the end, this here is going to be our biggest issue. Zed, can you help me out here and throw in a scale human?”

  Zed hopped to his feet, nearly tipping his chair in the process. “Uh, yeah, absolutely!”

  Zed grabbed a human-scale mannequin model out of his CIG library and dropped it into the section of the tunnel Jacob had zoomed in on.

  “Thanks, Zed. As you can see, there’s a gap in this passage that we’re not going to be able to just hop over.”

  Jacob pointed to a drop-off in the middle of the passage that was at least two meters across and looked to be twenty meters deep.

  Zed had an image flash into his mind of what it would feel like standing at the edge and staring down into that darkness. There was no question that a fall there would be lethal.

  “This is the problem, people; now let's solve it. After flying millions of miles to get here, there’s no way I’m letting a two-meter gap stand between humanity and alien life,” Bao said. He seemed grateful to have the chance to conclude the presentations with some positive momentum in the conversation. He stole a glance at Thabisa, who gave a slight nod.

  ***

  The meeting went on for some time. More people spoke to the specifics of their fields. Every time someone new got up, Zed held his breath in anticipation of some new detail that would make the whole venture impossible.

  When everyone had said their piece, they were dismissed and told they’d be messaged when the commanders had made their final decision.

  Zed found himself falling in step between Johns and Baat as they exited the meeting room.

  “That was an interesting bit about the natural reactor, Baat. I never would have considered such a thing possible,” Johns said.

  Walking between them, Zed was struck by the massive size and height disparity between Baat and Johns. Baat was thin and a bit shorter than even Zed, while Johns loomed like some kind of green-thumbed titan.

  “Yes, well that’s just it. It still shouldn’t be possible. The process makes sense, but there should be no fuel for it,” Baat said.

  Zed didn’t hear any frustration in Baat’s voice regarding the paradox, just youthful curiosity.

  “Mysteries upon mysteries,” Johns said, shaking his head. “Ah, I do wish it was an option to go myself. That damn tiny tunnel. Oh well. It’s not as if Thabisa would have let me take such a risk anyway. The gruel must flow!”

  Johns gave Zed a good-natured elbow in the shoulder, nearly knocking him off his feet for the second time that day.

  They had made it as far as hydroponics, and Johns was about to take his leave when the three of them pulled up short in unison. They all received a message from Commander Jones.

  The crater cave exploration mission is approved for further planning. Jacob Ens will be spearheading the effort, and I request that all involved do their utmost to provide him with every tool and resource necessary. These are exciting times, and I think we can all agree this is a moment we’ve all dreamed of. Let’s make it happen as safely as possible.

  Sincerely,

  Commander Thabisa Jones