The Many Worlds of Dean: Book 1 - Mars (5 page)

Dean seemed to be carefully considering her
words, so she continued, “Bill wanted nothing more than to go into
space. So, he spent more than ten years working as hard as he could
to make that happen. He earned his spot on this ship. I don’t want
to belittle your accomplishment, but you wrote an essay and got the
same thing it took him years to accomplish. And, before you say
anything, I spoke with the Captain and I know what you went through
during training. I believe you did earn your spot here. Bill just
can’t see that.”

“But, what can I do to prove to him I belong
here?”

“Dean, you want everyone here to respect
what you accomplished and to respect what you are capable of.
Shouldn’t you show Bill the same courtesy?”

“I do respect him,” Dean replied sincerely.
“I love working on the engineering aspects of this ship. I think he
has the best job here.”

“And, that’s another part of the problem.
You pick things up really fast. Once you get your hand on
something, you can understand it almost instantly. Bill spent years
studying engineering; he then spent several more years studying the
specs of this ship. He can name every single nut and bolt on this
ship, and he can even tell you their specific tolerances. It’s
understandable that he would be a little upset when he dedicated so
much of his life acquiring the knowledge to do his job, and then
someone that only worked for two years for the mission thinks he
can do the job better.”

“I can understand that,” Dean said. “I just
don’t know how to make it better.”

“Just try to understand where he is coming
from, keep your temper in check, and listen to him when he speaks.
You might even be able to learn a thing or two from him.”

“I would love that,” he said with a smile.
He reached forward and gave Stacy a hug. “Thank you so much for
talking to me. I think your advice will really help.”

Stacy kissed Dean on his cheek and said,
“You’re a brilliant young man Dean. I think many great things are
going to happen to you in the future.”

Dean couldn’t help but smile wide as a blush
slowly crept up his face.

What neither he nor Stacy noticed, was Bill
passing by the door during the end of their conversation. Had they
been looking that way, they would have seen Bill freeze at the
door, clench his fists tight, squeeze his eyes to narrow slits, and
then turn back the way he had just come and stomp off down the
hallway.

Dean looked out the window set into the wall
of his room and saw an amazing sight. Mars was so close, he could
make out the polar ice cap with his naked eyes. He wished fervently
he had brought along a pair of binoculars so he could study the
planet in more detail. He resolved to be patient; the orb was
growing larger with each passing day and he would soon be capable
of discerning many more features.

He tore his gaze from the alluring image and
moved to his small bathroom. He needed to take a shower and get
himself ready for the day. He was scheduled to work with Stacy in
the labs today and he didn’t want to be late.

Once he had showered and dressed, he exited
his room intent on going directly to lab three. Once in the
hallway, he heard loud voices coming from Stacy’s room, directly
across the hall from his own. He didn’t want to eavesdrop, but for
some reason he was unable to make himself move as he listened to
the argument relayed through the thin material that made up the
doors inside Destiny.

“I don’t care if you think it’s a bad idea,”
a distinctly feminine voice said. “Just because I let you stay over
on occasion, you have no right to try to control me.”

“I’m not trying to control you,” Bill’s
unmistakable baritone retorted. “I just said it was a bad idea. Is
my opinion worth nothing to you anymore?”

“Not when it’s shadowed by petty
jealousy.”

“I am not jealous!”

“Whatever! I refuse to have this
conversation again. Just get out so I can get ready for work.”

Dean panicked when he realized he was likely
to be caught listening to their conversation. He turned, ran down
the hallway, slammed open the door to the kitchen, and shut it just
as forcefully behind him once he was through it.

“Someone’s eager for breakfast this
morning.”

Dean hadn’t realized the kitchen was
occupied when he made his abrupt entrance. Now, he saw Sarah
standing next to the microwave oven with a knowing smile plastered
to her face. “Uh…yeah,” he said lamely.

“Don’t worry about it Dean. The whole ship
heard them. I wouldn’t want to get caught up in the middle of that
either.”

Dean smiled gratefully and replied, “I just
don’t understand how he can fight with her like that.”

Sarah walked over to the large table set
opposite the kitchen area and took a seat. She pointed to the chair
next to her and waited until Dean sat before explaining.
“Relationships can be complicated, especially when there is a
strong difference of opinion on a certain matter.”

“Why can’t they just respect each other’s
point of view?”

“Sometimes our beliefs foster such
passionate emotion; we refuse to even consider we might be wrong.
When that happens, people tend to lash out at those that see things
differently; even if they are the ones closest to us.”

Dean thought that over for a moment before
saying, “Well, if I had a girlfriend, I wouldn’t argue with her
just because she thinks differently than I do.”

Sarah smiled kindly and said, “That’s easy
to say, but until you are actually in a relationship, it’s hard to
know how you would react to something like that. I’m sure you will
get your chance to find out when we get home though. I hear you’re
still pretty popular with the girls back home.”

“I don’t understand that either. Before I
won the contest, there wasn’t a single girl in school that would
even talk to me.”

“Can you honestly tell me you are the same
person you were when you began writing that essay?”

“I guess not. I am kind of afraid to go
home. How am I supposed to deal with that?”

“You made it through your training; I’m
quite certain you will survive the attentions of many teenaged
girls. Just always remember who you are and don’t let the attention
go to your head.”

Dean licked his lips and asked, “I don’t
suppose I can just stay on Mars, can I?”

“Not a chance. You are going to be a
national hero. You’re going to be paraded around the globe to meet
with politicians and movie stars.”

“You know that doesn’t ease my fear any,
right?”

Sarah chuckled and answered, “I’m sure it
doesn’t. We will have a long talk about it on the way home. If we
play our cards right, you can turn the situation into an amazing
opportunity for yourself.”

“I’m just hoping I’ll be able to go to
college and get a degree.”

“I’m sure we can make that happen. Speaking
of which, why don’t you come by the med bay after breakfast. I’ve
got some programs on my personal database I’d like to show you.
I’ll let Stacy know I’m going to borrow you for the day. Probably
best if we let her have some time to herself anyways.”

“Sure, I love going through the medical
database. I finished the section on virulent pathogens last
week.

“If you keep that up, I may have to present
you with a medical degree before we even make it home. You have an
amazing ability to absorb information and you would make a great
doctor.”

“Well, please don’t tell Bill, but I think I
would like to study engineering in school.”

“I promise not to say anything, but I would
surely love to see his expression if he found out.” Rising from her
chair, she looked to Dean and said, “Eat a hearty breakfast; I
intend to work you until you see what you would be missing out on
by not pursuing medicine.”

The crew was gathered around the computer
interface in the common room trying to understand what the computer
was telling them. They had been in the process of celebrating the
fact they had achieved Mars orbit. Three hours ago the engine had
shut down and the computer had declared a stable orbit. The mood
had been festive and even Bill was grinning like a fool. The
Captain had broken out a bottle of champagne and he was immediately
besieged with questions regarding how he had managed to sneak
alcohol past the SpaceTek planners. Everyone had been ridiculously
happy.

And then the computer sounded a tone
indicating there had been a status update. The Captain had
sauntered over to the display, still smiling happily. Dean noticed
the smile fade as the Captain read whatever information was there.
He walked over to stand next to him.

“What’s going on Captain?” he asked.

“Um, I’m not sure. Read it for
yourself.”

Dean read the message displayed before him.
Apparently, the ships computer had detected a radio signal coming
from the planet’s surface. The computer had correlated the known
locations of all known probes and rovers and had decided the signal
was from none of them. By the time Dean had finished reading, the
others had detected the change in mood and had come over to find
out what was going on.

Having finished reading the information for
himself, Bill said, “That doesn’t make any sense. A radio signal
would have to come from a known object. Unless another country sent
a probe here and forgot to tell anyone.”

“That is a possibility,” Captain Rogers
said. “But look at the frequency. The signal is coming in on the
exact same frequency that was used by the Viking One probe. And
look how weak it is. It’s barely strong enough for Destiny to
detect. It wouldn’t be strong enough to communicate with any of our
orbiters, much less with Earth.”

“Where is it coming from,” Sarah asked.

Captain Rogers typed a command into the
computer and was rewarded with a surface map of Mars. In the middle
of the map was a blinking dot. “It appears to be centered at the
bottom of Valles Marineris,” he answered.

Dean ran his hand through his hair and
asked, “What is it saying?”

“It looks like gibberish or random noise,
but the computer says there is a repeating pattern.”

Bill grunted and asked, “So what do we do
about it?”

“I want you and Stacy to work with the
computer and try to find out if there is a coherent message in the
signal. In the meantime, I am going to send a message to mission
control and find out what they would like us to do about it.”

“What about me?” Dean asked. “Can I
help?”

The Captain scratched absently at his cheek
as he thought for a moment before replying, “You can do the same
thing as Bill and Stacy, but I want you to work alone so that you
don’t follow the same methodology as the other two. If we attack it
from different directions, we have a better chance of deciphering
any meaning that may exist.”

Dean watched as Bill rolled his eyes,
clearly unimpressed with the Captain’s logic.

“Perhaps we should just send Dean down to
the surface by himself to solve the entire mystery,” Bill
quipped.

“I’d be happy to, if you’re too scared to
go,” Dean replied bluntly.

“Enough!” Captain Rogers took a breath while
shaking his head. “You two have got to figure out how to get along.
Now get busy before I kick both of you off the landing
mission.”

Dean turned and made his way to his room,
where he could use his private terminal. He realized he shouldn’t
have said what he did, but Bill seemed to bring out the worst in
him. Well, he thought to himself, if he could figure out the signal
before Bill, maybe the engineer would finally see him as an equal.
Sitting at the small desk attached to the wall in his room, he
entered the commands necessary to bring up the information the
computer had on the signal.

He studied what the computer had already
deduced and began applying different algorithms to the signal to
see what happened. Once he had exhausted every program the computer
had available, he began to write his own.

It wasn’t until two days later that one of
his programs had a small amount of success.

“The Path? What are you talking about?”
Captain Rogers asked Dean.

Dean was again in the common room with the
others. He had notified the Captain that he had made progress with
the radio transmission and the Captain had ordered everyone to
assemble in the common room. Now Dean was trying to explain what he
had found, even though he didn’t really understand it himself.

“Let me start at the beginning,” he began.
“Due to the repeating nature of the signal, I started working with
the assumption that it was encrypted. I ran every decryption
algorithm the computer had and not one of them worked. I began
writing my own programs and testing them on the signal. Finally one
of my programs was able to show the pattern hidden in the signal.
What it showed was four separate parts, each with its own
encryption scheme. The first part, I was able to unencrypt. The
others appear to get more and more complicated as you go down the
list. So far, I haven’t been able to crack the second one and I
have absolutely no hope of getting into the last two.”

The Captain grabbed ahold of Dean’s arm and
said, “Forget the others; tell us again what the first one
said.”

“As far as I can tell, the first one is
simply an introduction by something calling itself ‘The Path’.”

“What in the world does that mean?” Bill
asked.

“I have no idea,” Dean said with obvious
frustration laced through his voice. “All I know is that the
message says, ‘Beings of the fourth world, I am The Path’.”

Captain Rogers asked, “There’s nothing more
than that?”

“No, that’s the entire message in the first
part. You should know, however, the other three parts contain
considerably more data than the first one. Especially the last
part; it’s four times bigger than the other three put
together.”