The Many Worlds of Dean: Book 1 - Mars by Eric Hodgkinson Read Free Book Online Page A

algorithms and I don’t think we will be able to crack
it. From what I am able tell, the first part had an encryption
level of approximately one hundred bits and the second part has a
level over five hundred. I can’t even determine what level the
other two are at.”
    “Alright then,” The Captain began, “the only
way we are going to get any answers is to go find whatever is
sending the signal; which is exactly what Dean, Bill, and I are
going to do tomorrow.”
    “But we weren’t scheduled to land on the
planet for another week,” Sarah said.
    “I know,” he replied. “And we are still
going to make that landing as scheduled.” He held up his hand at
the questioning looks he got from every member of his crew. “Let me
explain. What you, and the rest of the world, were told was that we
had enough fuel to utilize the lander four times. The reality is
that we have enough fuel to land six times. Just like everything
else on Destiny, the mission planners wanted us to have some backup
just in case. Maybe we developed a fuel leak and needed the extra,
or maybe we discovered something that would warrant an extra trip.
I think this qualifies as the latter. So we have been ordered by
mission control to make an unscheduled landing to find out what is
behind the signal. I’m sure after hearing about Dean’s discovery,
they will be even more adamant that we find the source of this
signal.”
    Stacy looked from face to face and then
asked, “But what about the whole ‘first step’ video the people back
home are waiting to see a week from now?”
    “We will still do that. Only we will know
that it isn’t actually the first step. We’ve been ordered to keep
this landing a secret; as in national security type secret. I’ll
make sure Dean is the first out of the lander so that we won’t be
lying when we portray him as the first human on Mars.”
    “And if something goes wrong?” Sarah asked
skeptically.
    “Then SpaceTek will tell the world something
went wrong…a week from now.”

Chapter 14
     
    Dean wished he hadn’t eaten breakfast. He
was certain he would be unable to prevent it from spilling forth at
any moment. He tried to look out of the window of the lander, but
all he could see were flames of bright glowing plasma. He had
assumed there would be no flames since Mars had such a thin
atmosphere. He was wrong.
    The lander bucked and jumped, like a city
dweller trying to walk barefoot across a gravel drive. In this
instance, Captain Rogers would be the farm raised man with feet
like hardened leather. He was laughing gleefully at the discomfort
both Dean and Bill were obviously experiencing.
    “I don’t know why you’re so happy,” Bill
said. “This is completely unnatural.”
    “I agree,” Dean seconded.
    “Whoa, did I just hear you two agree on
something?” the Captain asked, smiling wickedly.
    Bill looked at Dean, who nodded his head,
before replying, “Yeah, I guess you did. We both think you’re
crazy.”
    Dean wished the Captain would pull down the
tinted visor on his helmet so he wouldn’t have to see the huge
smile plastered on his face. It wasn’t fair that the Captain got to
enjoy himself at Dean’s expense.
    Suddenly, the buffeting eased. Captain
Rogers looked at the computer display beside him and said, “There,
we’re through the worst of it. A few more minutes and the chutes
will deploy. Buck up lads, we’re about to make history; even if no
one will ever hear about it.”
    Less than five minutes later, they felt a
pop as the drogue chute released, followed quickly by a sharp jerk
as the main chutes deployed. Dean thought of the nightmare he had
to look forward to when it would be time to repack those
parachutes. Those things were hard enough to pack with his bare
hands. Doing so in the thick gloves and cumbersome pressure suit
would be extremely difficult. He knew because they had made him do
it dozens of times during training.
    Dean’s train of thought was interrupted when
he