Ghosts of Cydonia

I looked out my port window, the faint sun had just rose in the Martian sky. The small red flat topped mountains in the distance, and mesa filled terrain was a far cry from my home in Michigan. Even though I agreed to this mission to this foreboding red planet I missed my home. I grew up in a small-town farming community, and it had been a long time since I felt the wind blow through my hair. I missed the corn fields swaying in the wind like waves on the ocean.

I missed my wife and two boys, I tried not to cry when I waved goodbye as I climbed in the rocket taking me and my crew to Cydonia. Cydonia is a region of mars where a long time ago a satellite caught an image of a face. There was a great debate on whether it was an alien monument or something natural. Of course it was proven to be a large mesa, and the face was a trick of the light. However this was not good enough for my employer Darius Marksman self-made billionaire, and financier of this mission.

My name is Clark Andrews, I am commander of this crew of four that agreed to this long mission. At first I scoffed at such a mission, what a waste of time, other space agencies refused to go to Cydonia. They were so many other places on mars to see and explore. Many people accused Mr Marksman of being a radical alien conspiracy theorist, however no one stood in his way. If Darius Marksman wanted to waste Billions of dollars on a fools errand so be it.

I remember when Mr Marksman contacted me, wanting me to meet him, I was surprised and curious. He flew me in a private jet from Michigan to his office building in Boulder Colorado, I ate like a king. Never in my life had I ate a wagyu steak, it was the best steak I had ever ate. I was excited to meet Mr Marksman, and could not wait to see him. However, my excitement was short lived when he told me of this mission.

"You are the best astronaut in the business, you have had four successful missions to mars, your record is impeccable."

I could not believe it a mission to Cydonia what a waste of time. I shook my head, and was about to say no he held his hand up cutting me off.

"Before you say no let me tell you how much I will pay you for your time I know your boys are special needs, and require a lot of time and money.

"If you take on this mission, I will pay you five hundred million dollars tax free for your trouble. Your wife and boys will be taken care of, and will want for nothing."

I about fell out of my chair, five hundred million dollars? of course I took the job. Even though the last few years travel became safer, and routine,it still was a dangerous journey. My last journey to mars there was a malfunction that almost cost my crew and I our lives.

I was not sure how my wife and children would survive without there father. But with this insurance policy they at least financially they would have nothing to worry about. I stood up and shook mr Marksman's hand and excepted his offer, at this point I did not care if the face was just a pile of dirt.

Unfortunately I landed our ship after dark, so I was not able to get a visual of the face. Now it was morning, and the beginning of an exciting day, we were going to end the debate once and for all.

A knock came at my door "Clark breakfast is ready: Cindy's voice came from behind my door.

" I will be right there: I said as I took one more look at the landscape wondering what mysteries will be unfolded.

I sat down with my companions, Cindy looked at me and smiled as she drank her coffee. She was a single thirty year old she was engaged and could not wait to be married. Then there was blake a married thirty-one old man with two daughters. Then there was Jenna, Darius Marksman's daughter she was a married twenty-five year old with no children on her first mission. At first, I was concerned, but Mr marksman insisted, she turned out to be a great asset to the mission. At forty two that made me the old man on the mission.

I looked at my crew as we drank our tasteless coffee and freeze-dried breakfast, the biscuit I ate was hard as tack. The hardest thing about these missions was not the long treacherous journey across space. It was not the long arduous days working in low gravity, it was the lousy food. What I wouldn't do to have pancakes, eggs, sausage, and a decent cup of coffee from Jan's diner my favorite breakfast spot. Despite the lousy food the company I shared breakfast with was more than worth it.

We finished our breakfast, and went to get ready for a day of exploring, face or no face I was looking forward to stretching my legs. Even though our ship had its comforts, and had exercise equipment it did not beat exploring. After suiting up I sent a message to mr Marksman that we were getting ready to head out. Unfortunately it took several minutes to communicate with earth. When he replied we had just settled into the pressure chamber.

"Good luck prove the naysayers wrong take care of Jenna, Clark" he said.

I smiled as I looked at her "I will take care of her as though she was my daughter" I assured him.

Jenna rolled her eyes and sighed "father is so overprotective it drives me insane" she complained.

I smiled at blake he gave me a knowing look then I winked at Jenna "that what us fathers do."

Cindy then smiled I hope someday to have a child that way I will know that feeling."

We all smiled" you young whippersnappers it is time to go into the great unknown." I checked the pressure it had equalized "Perfect" I said. I opened the hatch door and out we walked onto the martian landscape. The scene before us took my breath away I had been to the north pole to study the ice caps.

I had been to the Utopian plains to to study meteorite impact craters. I had been to the largest canyon is our solar system Valles Marineres. I even walked on Olympus Mons the largest volcano in our solar system. All were breathtakingly beautiful, but there was something different about Cydonia.

It's beauty seemed natural,yet in some ways seemed almost unnatural. Now we were out in the open, and with our enhanced helmets I was able to see more clearly. In about another mile we would be at the disputed face of mars. Then a little further was what some had claimed to be pyramids from this distance they looked like dirt mounds.

"Come on daylights burning" the others nodded as we headed towards the face. The mesa or the face took shape as we drew near it was a mile long and a few hundred foot tall. When we approached the mesa seemed to be more mammoth. soon we where standing next to the mesa I put my gloved hand on the side. It was hard to tell if it was natural or not eons of erosion took there toll.

We stood side by side "are you all ready?" I asked everyone nodded there affirmation."Lets go" I commanded we all pushed buttons on our suits and our jet packs came to life. We slowly and gently rose by the side of the mesa, we then made it to the top and landed gently. Blake grabbed my arm when I lost my balance the mesa was uneven. I frowned as I looked across the mesa "well this is disappointing. I am not surprised, definitely not man made" I announced.

Jenna frowned at me "we are not going to give up that easily" she said, "we need to explore the whole mesa."

Blake smiled "Jenna you are ever the optimist," he said then he looked at me.

"I think she is right Clark, we need to explore there is a lot of dirt and dust to remove." "We must not hastily give up we traveled a long way to get here," Cindy said.

Then all three of them looked at me expectancy the final decision was mine. They all were like family and they would respect any decision I made. I smiled "of course, we are going to continue this was my initial observation. Who knows what we will find underneath ." I smiled at Jenna" besides I don't want to let your father down."

Everyone smiled "How can I say no to those wonderful faces," I said everyone laughed. Then I pointed to the pyramid mounds in the distance "then we will explore those so-called pyramids." I narrowed my eyes as I looked at those structures I had to admit they kind of looked a little unnatural. I was startled when Darius Marksman's voice came across the communicator.

"Well have you found anything yet, no little green men or monsters?" We all laughed as I responded telling him all that had transpired."

We pulled hoses from the top of our backpacks there was a small motor inside the housing. Air would be pushed out just strong enough to move dust and dirt, yet soft enough not to cause damage. I directed Blake and cindy to check the area where the jaw should be. "Jenna and I will check where the eyes and forehead should be." Everyone nodded their heads and we went our separate ways. After a long walk we made it to our destination I was ready to turn on the blower then I paused. A strange feeling came over me, then I saw movement out of the corner of my eye.

I turned quickly in the direction I saw the movement" what is the matter, Clark?" Jenna asked.

"I saw something move," I said we looked at our surroundings and saw nothing.

"Maybe it was something blowing in the wind, or maybe a shadow from a cloud" Jenna suggested.

However, it was a calm day and there was not a cloud in the sky. "It must have been my imagination," I said Jenna laughed.

"I guess you are just getting old and delirious" she jested.

"Haha," I said with laughter in my voice "okay smarty pants let's work."

We began our work I was amazed at how much dust these blowers pushed away. After several minutes I was about to give up hope then I saw it, I gasped. "Was that part of an eyebrow?" I yelled whatever it was it did not look natural. I turned off my blower and wiped the surface with my hands, sure enough, it looked as though it was chiseled. I waved and hollered "Jenna" she looked at me and turned off her blower.

She headed towards me with a curious look on her face "what is" she was cut off and screamed. The ground gave way beneath her feet as a hole formed beneath her. I ran to her as she held on to the rock ledge I grabbed her arm and pulled her up. We both looked at the gaping hole in front of us in disbelief. It was an open eye socket, "are you alright?" I ask Jenna. She just nodded her head her mouth still gaped open.

Blake and Cindy ran up behind us "what in the" Blake cut his sentence off, as they both gaped at the opening.

Then the face shook when dirt and debris at the other eye collapsed. Then we realized we were standing at the bridge of the nose. It was a dirt mound but it could be made out "any luck" Mr Marksman asked.

I told him what happened "I knew it my critics are going to eat crow, I won" he laughed.

I had to admit I was quite angry with him not once did he ask if Jenna was alright. "Go find more see if you can get down below, maybe find Martian treasure. Hey if there is we will have to make a show we will have the best treasure show since that curse island show aired."

I frowned at my companions and shook my head I did not realize what a jerk Darius Marksman was.

Jenna hung her head "I am sorry my father sometimes lets himself get carried away" she said.

I set my jaw "Let's see if there is a way down there." With the sun being so distant, its faint light offered little help. The eye was inky dark and could not see the bottom. I turned on my light on the top of my helmet. Pulled out a flashlight and turned it on. I scanned the outer rim of the eye then I noticed a staircase on the other side.

We quickly ran over to the staircase, the stone stairs looked like they had not been used in centuries. There was no way we would be able to use them so there were two options. "Well, guys we could us are rockets and slowly descend. Or we can go old school and repel down", Cindy smiled at me.

"Like you always say Clark "there's no school like the old school" everyone laughed.

"Kids these days no respect for their elders" I grunted with a grin "ok let's get down there. We all put out ropes securely around some stones and we started to repel. Everyone gaped in awe, our lights revealed on the wall strange writings. I took pictures from my helmet cam on our way down. I felt like I was dreaming there had been life on mars.

This was big, this would change everything, my mind was completely blown. Finally, we landed on the bottom I placed a bright light on the ground it partially illuminated the room. I looked up at the ceiling it was dark save the two eye holes. The room we were in was massive, the nearest wall to us was illuminated.

I walked up to it and put my hand on the wall the writing on the wall was amazing. In a lot of ways it reminded me of pictures I had seen of ancient Egypt. However, this writing I had never seen then I heard cindy gasp. We all ran to her, when I got to her I stopped in my tracks. I could not believe what I saw a sarcophagus. There were two of them they had what appeared to be gold plating on them.

The golden faces looked just like the original picture of the face taken so many years ago. "Let's spread out" I said as I walked I came across more graves. "It appears to be some sort of catacomb" I shouted I heard Blake grunted his agreement.

Mr Marksman's voice crackled "what is going on down" his voice cut out.

The thick stone walls was blocking our signal out "I tried to reply in hopes the signal would reach him. I gasp as a shadow appeared to run across the wall that was illuminated.

"Did any of you see that?" I exclaimed "See what?" Cindy asked.

"I didn't see anything" blake and Jenna said in unison.

"Am I losing my mind this is the second time I thought I saw something" I asked.

"I mean obviously there was life on mars, however I doubt there is still life on this dead planet.

" Blake chimed in "who knows try calling out" he suggested.

I frowned "even if there is something alive in here it would not understand." I decided to shout "hello, who are you? please come to us. Nothing happened "It must have been a trick of the light I suggested.

I jumped as Mr Marksman's voice came across the radio "for crying our loud what's happening."

The signal was strong again once again I updated him. "Make sure you take pictures of everything I am going to laugh at my critics." He started to laugh "open up one of the coffins tell the Martian to smile for the camera."

My heart skipped a beat "Darius I cannot do that I am not an archaeologist. Besides I do not believe in disrespecting the dead weather from earth or Mars."

I waited for his response "look here Clark I am paying you big money for this mission. If you care for your wife and kids you will do as I say" he yelled.

Jenna gave me a sympathetic look "I am so sorry my father is such a jerk." I patted her on the shoulder and smiled "well let's get this over with."

We walked to the first sarcophagus it looked as though it was the grave of someone important. Cindy started to take pictures as Blake, Jenna and I pushed on the lid. With a great effort we managed to push the lid it hid the floor with a loud clang. The echo was deafening and an ear piercing scream rang across the room.

"Did you hear that?" I asked this time everyone nodded their heads as we moved our flashlights around.

The beams of the lights showed nothing "we need to get out of here" Jenna said.

"Let's calm down the noise could have been anything" I said trying to keep the fear from my voice. We looked at each other and nodded.

I aimed my flashlight into the tomb the body was wrapped in cloth. Once again Mr Marksman contacted me I could barely make out what he said.

I explained to him what had happened "take the wrappings off and take more pictures" he commanded. I looked at my companions with a pained look and we started to take the wrappings off.

I gasped as I took the wrappings of of the head there was no decay on the face. It was a woman her long black hair bundled behind her head. We pulled off the rest of the bandages. It was a beautiful young woman wearing a breastplate of gold. Her long gold colored silk like skirt glinted in the light. We all marveled at her she looked like a human, she did not look like a humanoid.

She did not have any creature-like features, she looked like a human from planet earth. We all stood there in stunned silence "Why is she not a skeleton" I asked. None of us had an answer.

"She is so beautiful" Jenna remarked as she leaned over the Martian woman. Suddenly the unmistakable sound of footsteps rang across the room.

I looked towards the sound suddenly Jenna screamed we all looked towards her. My jaw dropped open the Martian woman was sitting up the limp body of Jenna in her hands. The Martian woman had broke her neck the woman smiled. She then spoke in a language I had never heard then the lids of the other tombs slid open.

The other martians got out of their tombs at unbelievable speed ripping off their bandages. Men and woman Martians charged at us from all directions. The were upon us in seconds all chanting in their Alien dialect. I managed to turn on my rocket pack in time. It was too late for Cindy and blake. Their heads were snapped and the fell to the floor dead.

The Martians screamed at me in frustration their contorted faces staring up at me. I managed to make it through one of the eyes and landed at the top. My blood ran cold at the site and I felt like I was going to vomit. I sent a message to Mr Marksman and told him his daughter was dead, everyone was dead.

I hoped that the Martians could not make it up the steps, I looked out, and my throat tightened. I could see footprint coming out of the pyramids, they were coming towards me. I looked at my jet pack fuel gauge. I could not believe it I was out of fuel. I was trapped hopefully the Martians should not be able to climb the walls.

I could hear the sounds of the Martians below then I heard strange grunting noises. Suddenly the Martians landed on top of the face, they had jumped the whole way up. More Martians came up from both of the eyes I was trapped.

"Clark you clumsy idiot, you killed my Jenna I will never forgive you" Mr Marksman's voice called.

"You are ruined you hear me, I want to wring your neck, you murderous idiot."

The martians slowly surrounded me like ghosts from cydonia. There contorted looks of anger on their faces. Then from the crowd came the woman whose tomb we opened. I fell to my knees "I am sorry I defiled your tomb" I cried.

She then spoke "earthling ,you shall die" she said I was stunned she spoke in english.

I felt my neck pop just as I heard Mr Marksman say "I am going to kill you" then all went black.

"Clark wake up" I popped up out of bed "Clark are you alright?"

It took me a second "Cindy is that you" I asked" I heard her laugh "who else would it be silly?" she said.

I got out of bed it was just a dream I had to laugh. Everyone got a kick out of my dream as we enjoyed breakfast.

It felt so funny as I contacted Mr Marksman telling him we were on our way to the face. I laughed to myself as we walked up to the face it looked nothing like my dream. The walls were completely different and misshapen, nothing that looked unnatural. We flew to the top and I laughed loudly just a misshapen mesa is all it was. We did split up and Jenna and I went to where the eyes were supposed to be. We turned on our blowers I smiled broadly then it dissappeared "did I see something move?" I asked.