Back Door to Mars: After His Dream To Go To Mars Is Thwarted A Young Scientist Gets Unusual Second Chance But Finds Far More Than He Bargained For

By Thomas E. Martin

Back Door to Mars is set in the mid-twenty-first century and begins in the Appalachian Mountains, progresses to Washington, DC, and concludes with some amazing adventures and discoveries on the planet Mars. 

John Cayman is a young college professor who teaches a graduate course in interplanetary archaeology while his wife, Winona, own

• Language: English
• Publisher: Stratton Press
• Release date: Jan 7, 2020
• ISBN: 9781643458649

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After His Dream to Go to Mars Is Thwarted a Young Scientist Gets Unusual Second Chance But Finds Far More Than He Bargained for

Thomas E Martin

BACK DOOR TO MARS

Copyright © 2020 Thomas E Martin

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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ISBN (Paperback): 978-1-64345-714-7

ISBN (Ebook): 978-1-64345-864-9

Printed in the United States of America

Contents

1. The Beast

2. Safe at Home

3. Surprise Encounter

4. Homeward Bound

5. Say No

6. The Discovery

7. Fun Breakfast

8. Partners by Accident

9. Expedition One

10. Impossible Theory

11. Dream Come True

12. The Meeting

13. Rudman’s Syndrome

14. Good News, Bad News

15. The Cure

16. Next Stop Mars

17. Administering the Cure

18. Rust-Red Wanderer

19. Mega-Monster

20. The Landing

21. Dome-Land

22. The Last Request

23. Only Blackness

24. The Ordeal

25. The Change

26. Operation Paradise

27. Interplanetary Diplomacy

1

The Beast

An urgent escalation of the wake up John wake up John from my computer-controlled alarm awakened me early this Friday morning. As I stepped outside, a bright sunrise began to spill over the top of a distant mountain range, while a lone mockingbird perched on a sagging power line just behind me was chirping away to one of his buddies in a nearby tree.

This morning though, I felt unusually anxious about getting to one of my archaeological digs before the weekend. But where was my help? I was certain that the two student assistants had clearly understood we were getting an early start this morning and they knew that, as head of the Interplanetary Archaeology Department, I would likely record their tardiness.

Assuming that the two assistants were getting some extra winks in the back, as they often did, I adjusted the patch over my blind left eye, tugged at my sweat-stained safari hat, and climbed into the university’s nuclear-powered Land Rover, but soon realized we were in an unfamiliar mountain range.

That’s strange, I thought. These mountains are completely unfamiliar. Evidently, I’ve made a wrong turn somewhere. Better stop here and get my bearings, I remarked while disembarking the vehicle.

Ordinarily, my assistants would have been awake, and several students would have caught up in the other Land Rover by now. But there were no assistants sleeping in the back. Peering long and expectantly in every direction, I soon became painfully aware that no one was coming, and an eerie, lonely feeling came over me.

A quick visual survey of the area was inconclusive. Nervously, I paced back and forth and took note that the narrow dirt road behind me was bordered on both sides by a dense forest, which thinned to a few sparsely spaced trees just ahead, and those disappeared altogether approximately another fifty feet up the hill. But from that point on, there appeared to be no life of any kind.

There’s something weird about this place, but I just can’t put my finger on it.

Placing my right foot on a large rock with my forearm resting on my knee, I began rationalizing and stroking my beard with thumb and forefinger.

Very interesting, wonder what’s buried under that knoll.

I paused for a long moment and then stepped back into the Rover. Oh well, might as well see what’s ahead.

Beyond the trees, the soil had a strange grayish color.

This has the earmarks of an ancient volcano, which means that it’s probably an excellent location for old bones and artifacts. But where is this place and how did I get here? Also, where are my students? I asked, as though expecting an answer.

However, the excitement of the moment quickly drew my mind back to the possibilities ahead. So I drove on to a spot just beyond the last tree, stopped, and activated my triad computer.

Great, I exclaimed, the knoll is only two hundred feet farther, and while the other side drops off sharply, the top appears to be relativity level. This should be an excellent place to begin my investigation.

I quickly became accustomed to hearing only silence following my comments. But the sound of my own voice was better than no sound at all.

Assuming that the velocity needed to lift the run-about in the air mode and the weight of it in the land mode would most likely damage any valuable surface clues that were sure to be lying around, I decided to park the Rover and walk up the slope. Upon reaching the knoll apex and marking my digging circle at the base of another short incline, I was pleased to find the soil much softer beneath the hard surface.

The digging circle grew larger and deeper. But as I was about to take a break, the spade clinking against something solid startled me.

Oh my goodness, got to be more careful.

As my fingers carefully brushed the dirt from around the object, a surge of elation sprang up within me.

Just as I thought, there are bones here!

I began scratching and brushing away the remaining dirt, which appeared to be covering the jawbone of a donkey, except that it was so huge.

Judging from the size and shape of these few remaining teeth, this thing must have been something really bad, something carnivorous.

Realizing that my thoughts had become verbal again, I continued anyway.

Wonder what kind of enemies it had, I said.

Stooping over the partially decayed skull, I began taking a closer look when a loud shrieking noise jerked me back to the upright position. The unexpected sound evoked an image of a beginning music student blowing loudly on an out-of-tune trumpet. Then, for a moment, there was only silence. But it was short-lived as another loud noise pierced the air, which reminded me of a group of students running together. It seemed to be coming from below and off to the left.

Turning toward the sound with a welcoming smile, I expected to see my students marching up the hill.

Ah, help at last, I said.

The realization that trouble was at hand filled my heart with fear when something huge with very large jaws came into view, and even from a distance, its awesome-looking teeth were quite visible. The creature loped along on all fours, but the hind legs were much bigger than the front. It was grayish-brown in color with a body structure similar to the makeup of an Australian kangaroo, except for the vicious-looking head. It was rapidly heading in my direction.

Good God! That thing thinks I’m dinner—and me without the laser rifle from the Land Rover. I’ve got to get out of here.

Lunging up the slope and desperately trying to make the top, I felt the gray shale turning into a small landslide under my feet. I struggled with all my strength to maintain balance, but to no avail, as the loose footing ultimately won and brought me to my knees. I frantically clawed at the unstable soil, and finally, my uncoordinated movements coalesced and moved me to the top. A feeling of elation filled my heart as the other side of the knoll proved indeed a very steep drop to the bottom. Now to slip over the edge, hang out of sight, and hope that the momentum of the huge creature’s charge would cause it to be crushed on the rocks below. However, my best efforts to lunge over the edge were thwarted. The animal’s putrid breath filled my nostrils as the taste of vomit in the back of my throat and the tightness of my stomach made it abundantly clear that it was too late.

The animal’s monstrous lower jaw scooped under my legs, and it sank its sharp teeth into my stomach. My fingers clawed uncontrollably at the rocks under me. The contorted facial grimace from the unbearable pain caused the patch over my blind eye to break loose, and my terror-filled good eye caught sight of my own blood as it seeped into the soil beneath me. Then the monster’s upper teeth crunched into my neck and shoulders. The intense pain of my own flesh being torn apart and the sickening sound of shattering bones sucked one last bloodcurdling scream from my lips.

2

Safe at Home

Blood seeped into my eyebrows and down both cheeks. But to my amazement, there was no pain. Afraid to look, I sat up and gently began to pinch myself. My hand recoiled at the dampness of my own blood, but just then, a distant voice penetrated the silence.

That sounded like Winona’s voice, I thought.

Suddenly awakened from a sound sleep by a terrifying noise, Winona pushed herself to a half-sitting position and leaned back on her elbows. She then turned wide-eyed toward the noise and was somewhat puzzled to see me wide awake, soaked with sweat.

What’s wrong, John?

But she heard only silence. Upon noticing the sweat-soaked sheet and observing that my hands were quivering, she loudly repeated, John! What’s wrong?

Wiping the dampness from my forehead with the back of my hand, I responded, A huge monster just killed me! Where am I?

A cautious glance around the area brought familiar objects of our bedroom into focus. Only then did I realize that my body had not been torn to shreds on the side of a mountain by who knows what but was safe at home with my beautiful wife. My forearm slowly rose to my brow in an attempt to hide my intense embarrassment. Feeling my wife’s warm hand on mine and after a moment of silence, I heard her say in a tone that was somewhere between anger and compassion, What in God’s name is the matter with you? I’ve never known you to have nightmares.

My eye betrayed a lingering tinge of fear. Don’t know…but it was so real. You don’t think that it had something to do with the cancellation of the Mars expedition, do you?

No, John, it hasn’t affected me. Besides, we agreed that we wouldn’t dwell on it. Remember, we’re thinking positive about reinstatement.

A long pause, then I said, That’s right, just don’t forget it.

I’m sure you won’t allow that to happen, dear. Anyway, you seem to be okay now. So let’s forget about it for the moment and…

The computer clicked on with a soft wake-up tune.

See, it was time to get up anyway, she said.

Great, some hot coffee would go a long way toward soothing my nerves right now. Taking hold of the bedpost and pulling myself upright, I said, How about you? Hearing no response, I turned toward Winona and immediately saw that she was very uneasy about something. Grasping the edge of the bedsheet, I wiped the sweat from my face and then said, You seem upset, anything wrong?

Throwing her legs over the bed’s edge and coming to a full sitting position, she responded, What do you mean?

My trauma of a few moments ago faded into the background as I focused on my wife. Standing there stroking my chin hair with thumb and forefinger, I began speaking sternly but with concern. Well, your chin’s quivering and your eyes are darting back and forth, as though you were expecting something to happen any moment.

She looked at me with pleading eyes for a long moment. A little problem of my own cropped up last night, she said. But I can’t talk about it right now, okay.

Pausing momentarily, I said, Sure. But if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to take a cold shower. Why don’t you zap up some hot coffee?

Good idea, she replied as she got up and started around the end of our huge four-poster bed toward the kitchen.

Marveling at the plush blue carpet between my toes, I also moved around the bed and headed toward the shower. We hesitated momentarily as we passed each other. She peered into my eye as I gazed into hers. Still somewhat shaken by the realism of my dream and needing the affirmation of Winona’s warm body, I realized that she was also very much in need of a comforting touch and held her close for several minutes.

I gave her a long, passionate kiss and then gently pushed her back down on the bed. After about thirty minutes of rolling and moaning in hot, passionate lovemaking, her toes began to curl in ecstasy as our orgasms flooded over us. Finally, I said, Wish we could remain here all day, but it’s about time for work. The look on my boss’s face will be priceless when he hears about my dream.

But I thought we were keeping it to ourselves, Winona said.

Don’t worry the university president is completely trustworthy.

Good, I’ll stop by the bathroom a moment and then set up the coffee maker while you freshen up.

We had been sitting at the breakfast table, sipping coffee, and discussing my nightmare for several minutes when Winona noticed an article in the newspaper I had put down moments earlier.

It read: Tranquilized Man Released from Hospital.

What are you so interested in?

This article, it says that the police found a man passed out in the middle of Ashland Avenue last night.

So?

That’s just two blocks over, John.

Grinning broadly, I said, He probably had too much to drink.

Winona leaned forward, slapped her finger on the paper, and said, According to the article, the police thought that was the case at first. But when they ran a scope check, you know that instrument law enforcement uses to instantly get a blood-alcohol reading by scanning a person’s retina?

Yeah, I’ve heard that it’s rather accurate.

Well, she said, leaning back, according to this article, the guy’s system was completely alcohol-free.

Impatiently scratching my nose, I said, What was his problem, then?

Winona shrugged her shoulders. I’m not sure, John. It says here that the police couldn’t wake him, so they took him to the hospital and that the emergency-room doctors found him to be heavily sedated with an unknown drug. The man awoke this morning with a total memory loss of the last forty-eight hours. The doctors determined that it would likely be permanent, but that it would not affect his health, so they released him.

Why in blazes are you so interested in this man anyway?

Sighing deeply, she said, John, please don’t get upset. But while you were busy sleeping, someone broke into the house last night.

What! I said, snapping my head toward Winona. What happened? Why didn’t you wake me?

Her chin was quivering as she remembered the incident from last night. I tried, but you just wouldn’t wake up.

Caressing my mustache while rationalizing about recent events, I replied, That’s strange. I don’t remember taking any sleeping pills.

My face buried in my hands for several seconds, I finally looked up at Winona and asked, What did the bastard look like anyway?

Making eye contact, she said, I’m sure it was the same man mentioned here in the paper.

Why would you think that?

She nervously wiped the tears that were forming in her eyes while momentarily reliving her traumatic experience. Finally, she regained her composure and said, When he threw me to the floor and was trying to assault me, I spotted the syringe that I had dropped moments earlier and, without thinking, grabbed it and stabbed him in the neck.

Good, I said. What was in it?"

Winona lowered her head, picked up the cotton napkin from her lap, and gently blew her nose. Then she said, The drug was one of my own inventions with the erasure of the patient’s short-term memory built in as a desired side effect.

Furrowing my eyebrows, I said, You mean the jerk that almost did a number on you gets off and won’t even remember being here?

Frustrated, Winona responded, You don’t understand. I don’t know what the drug will do to a human being. It’s supposed to be used on animals only. And this particular syringe had an extra-strong dose, as I had prepared it for a scheduled elephant surgery tomorrow.

You’re doing elephant surgery?

That’s right. I am a veterinarian, you know. While it’s true that I seldom deal with elephants, I promised the zoo vet that I would help remove a delicate cancer from one of his animals. She hesitated for a moment. John, that man could become impaired years later. I just don’t know.

Did he hurt you?

No, just scared me half to death.

Well then, to heck with him. He deserves whatever he gets. Pausing, I scratched my head and said, It appears that we both have some stress to deal with. Let’s finish our coffee.

Soon, we were back to enjoying our continental breakfast. I had just expressed my opinion on how useful Winona’s chemical skills might be on the Martian surface when I heard the chiming of the view phone.

Who could that be so early in the morning? Are you expecting a call, dear?

Not me, Winona responded as she took a sip of her coffee and nibbled on the last sweet roll.

You had better see who it is. Winona pushed the viewer-on button and was surprised to see the round face of our family physician, Dr. Kelvin Keelson.

It’s a little early for a house call, isn’t it, Doc?

Dr. Keelson smiled back, and for a moment, this friendly, outgoing forty-one-year-old with his bald head, thick mustache, and neatly trimmed goatee gave me the impression of someone that I might expect to see playing the part of a villain in a low-budget mystery.

Good morning, John. I wanted to catch you before you left the house. How are you feeling?

Fine, why do you ask?

Winona stood next to me and asked, Is there something wrong? John isn’t sick or anything, is he?

Has he had any trouble sleeping in the last few days? Dr. Keelson asked.

Thoughtfully, Winona replied, No…well, he did have this bad nightmare this morning, but he seems all right now.

I was afraid of that. I’m sorry, folks, but I need to see John in my office at his earliest convenience.

What’s wrong? I demanded.

The doctor looked worried. I can’t tell you now, he said, but it’s important. Winona, you make sure that he’s here as soon as his schedule permits. His face disappeared from the viewer.

Winona and I were apprehensive about what the doctor was going to reveal to us when and if I decided to call on him.

We sat in silence for several minutes and then I stood up and forcefully stated, Okay! That’s it. We’re not going to work and we’re not seeing anyone until we take care of our own needs. So pack your bag, you and I are headed to our favorite ski lodge.

Are you sure? Dr. Keelson sounded genuinely concerned.

"It’ll have to wait. Reschedule your elephant surgery while I call