“Alright, fine. But at the first sign of trouble, we’re out of there, right? Promise me, Dedrick!”
“Absolutely, I promise! I have no intention of putting any of us in harm’s way. I assure you, love. We’ll be ultra-cautious.”
They briefly talked about who would stay at the base, and Liu and Tendai had immediately volunteered. If Chasma truly managed to open one of the alien pods, neither one was in a hurry to meet whoever was inside. And so, it was agreed. The rest of the colonist would leave early the next morning.
That night, the stars above the small Martian station were particularly bright. François, lying in bed, was staring out the porthole window of his bedroom, when Sabrina appeared.
“What do you think?” she said with a devilish smile.
She was standing in the makeshift doorway of their small bathroom area, wearing a black-lace, two-piece lingerie that left François speechless. He could only smile as his gaze took its time going up and down her sensual curves. She slowly approached their bed in an erotic fashion, licking her parted lips with her tongue and, untying her ponytail, let her long dark hair fall back, partially covering one side of her face. François felt his member get harder under the sheet. She crawled over the bed’s edge, pulled the sheets back, and slowly ran her hand up his leg. He felt the sensual energy rush to his erected penis as her hand moved closer. Pulling his briefs down, she grabbed the hard, warm erection. Slowly running her tongue along her lips, she looked at him, her big dark eyes smiling mischievously. Then, as he watched her lean down, aching in anticipation, she finally took his shaft in her mouth, and slowly began the pleasuring motion. He moaned while running his hand through her hair and watched her beautifully arched body move slowly and sensually between his legs. Her large breasts rubbing against his thighs, she kept swallowing his hard member, occasionally running her tongue on its entire length, while pleasuring herself with one of her hands. When she was ready, she slowly kissed her way up his torso, until she reached his mouth. Climbing on top of him, she finally mounted his hard-erected shaft, and brought his hand to one of her breasts. Moaning and breathing heavily, she began moving back and forth on him. Their burning bodies entwined, the two abandoned themselves to the pleasures of their love making, until they both reached climax a few minutes later, almost in unison. She fell back on him, both of them drenched in sweat.
Exhausted, she let her gaze float freely across the tiny room. Through the small round window, she could see the night sky. Thousands of stars shining, glistening through the thin Martian atmosphere, were gazing back at her from the infinite silence of space. In the bottom right corner of her view, Sabrina could just see the top of the nearest cliff, barely visible in the night, if not for the slight contrast its dark shape created against the starry background. She thought again of the alien cave, and the unknowns awaiting them. There was no way to tell what tomorrow would bring, but for the moment, she felt totally content.
Awaken
It was another beautiful morning on Mars. Tendai had tried to convince Ladli to stay behind with him and Liu, but in the end, human curiosity had prevailed, and she had joined the rest of the team. They had just left the outpost and were heading for the alien site. Kicking sand and rocks behind them, the two rovers raced across the deserted landscape with their six passengers, and soon arrived at sector 42-23. After parking by the south wall near the cliff’s edge, the colonists left the vehicles and began making their slow descent down to the alien cave.
Twenty minutes later, the team emerged into the giant cavern. The “big cloud” was still there waiting, lying on its grand platform, just as imposing as the first time they had seen it.
It looked even wider than Sabrina remembered.
“Does this thing look bigger to you, or is it just me?”
“I don’t know… maybe,” vaguely answered Vera without looking, paying attention to her daughter’s progress down the slope.
“I agree, I think it looks bigger, and they do say size matters,” volunteered François with a mischievous look.
She shook her head at him.
Dedrick was about to say something when Ladli interrupted.
“Come on, you two… Let’s go see who’s inside that thing… shall we?” she waved at them to follow her, as she made her way to the white vessel. The six explorers were soon gathered in front of the entrance. The purple haze was glowing inside.
“OK, Chasma. You’re sure you’re up for this? It’s OK if you wanna change your mind. You don’t have to go inside if you don’t want to.”
“I know, Daddy. I want to.”
Dedrick had the strange feeling she was going to be perfectly comfortable and unafraid, no matter what they would find if they managed to open those containers, and he couldn’t explain why. Something was telling him it was all going to be alright.
“Well, shall we?” said François as he proceeded into the opening. As the purple fumes dissipated in front of him, his body began to rise and floated away into the Big Cloud, quickly followed by Sabrina and Ladli. Vera looked one last time at Chasma, who nodded positively in her helmet, before the two stepped in, Dedrick in tow. Looking at Vera and his daughter hovering hand in hand in front of him, Dedrick was once again lost in thoughts. What surprised him the most was the ease with which his little girl seemed to move about the alien structure. Holding her mother’s hand as the two floated slowly through the purple lit corridors, it almost seemed she was the one pulling Vera along with her.
Ever since that faithful day, when the group had decided to bring the young girl along on their visit to the Gate, Chasma had been surprisingly unafraid, and appeared completely comfortable around the alien environment. Her ability to “hear” the guiding voice that had brought them to the ultimate discovery was still puzzling to him but was becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. It seemed obvious something, or someone, was guiding the girl. She was the one who had awakened the alien structure and opened the invisible door, and she had shown no hesitation entering the unfamiliar structure. She seemed to completely trust the voice she was hearing.
“Let’s hope she is right,” he thought.
A few minutes later, they were all standing in the large room. Vera was keeping her distance from the pods, while Chasma was pulling on her hand, trying to get closer.
“Come on, Mommy. I want to say hi to the sleepy people.”