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Software Vault: The Sapphire Collection
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Software Vault (Sapphire Collection) (Digital Impact).ISO
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marslife.zip
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CHAPTR10.TXT
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1994-07-23
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CHAPTER 10: DEPARTURE FROM A NEW WORLD
Xanthir's hand moved over another arrangement of crystals
and he started speaking again.
"Now if you watch the space behind you, I shall show you the
plans for our terra-forming project."
They turned around and a three dimensional, holographic
projection of mars appeared before them. The surface of the
slowly revolving sphere was divided up into grid squares, on
which certain points were marked by circles.
"The circles mark the positions of huge underground ice
melting machines, water pumps, and evaporating stations. They
have been built over the centuries throughout the ice deposits
beneath mars' surface. They are honeycombed within the ice and
all interconnected by huge pipes and supporting structures."
As he spoke, the hologram changed to a three dimensional
map of one of the ice deposits showing the honeycombed system of
pipes and machinery.
"When activated they will melt all of the ice on the planet.
Some of the reclaimed water will be evaporated into the thin
atmosphere, filling it with oxygen. The rest will be pumped to
the surface to create oceans, rivers and lakes. This has been
precisely calculated to create conditions much the same as
Earths. Soon the planet will be ready for the introduction of
vegetation and animals."
The image changed again, mars reappearing, this
time devoid of grid lines. It slowly metamorphosed into a planet
covered with blue oceans and dotted with clouds. Then the red
pigment which so distinguished the planet was slowly replaced by
the green colour of vegetation. The hologram then flickered out
of existence.
"We shall then repopulate Mars with both our race and yours.
It is now the time to activate the machines."
Xanthir ran his delicate hands over the rows of crystals on
his chair and the wall screen blinked on with the picture of one
of the gigantic melting machines, embedded in one of the ice
pockets. With great hisses of steam and the sound of sliding
metal it plunged great heating rods into the ice from every
direction. They glowed red hot and the ice began to transform
into water and steam. The picture changed to a section of the
Martian landscape, huge cylinders bursting through the soil and
releasing great geysers of water vapour into the air.
"What about our colony?" asked rick. "Will they be covered
over with water?"
"No." replied Xanthir.
"They are positioned on one of the soon to be land masses,"
said Betl, "as is our city."
Xanthir now had the base of the disc shaped building
displayed on the wall screen. Four metal hooks on the top of the
cylindrical support building slowly released their hold on the
base of the disc. The disc then slowly disengaged from its
resting place atop the cylinder and hovered over the green
landscape below it.
"Where are we going," demanded Rick.
"To your planet," said Xanthir. "I shall speak to your
people, we have much to do if we are to rebuild mars."
"What about Freeman and the scout ship?"
"They will be taken care of, I shall send one of our smaller
crafts out for them."
A huge, rectangular, airlock door opened in the wall of the
pyramid and the ship glided through. It then closed behind it
and the outer door receded, letting the craft out into the
martian night. Jets of water vapour could be seen dotted around
the landscape shooting hundreds of feet into the air.
Captain Freeman was staring at the wall screens which showed
the strange phenomena outside, the towering jets of water vapour
shooting out of the ground.
"What the hell is all that?!" he asked no one in particular.
Grey was panning the ship's cameras over the dark landscape
outside.
"We've got their homing signal again!" cried Will from the
tracking station.
"Excellent!" said Captain Freeman. "Where are they?"
"They're leaving the pyramid in some kind of flying
vehicle," he replied.
"Where could they be going now?" Freeman asked himself.
While Captain Freeman stared at the tracking screen, Grey
trained the cameras on the top of the pyramid, in search of the
flying ship. And there it was, slowly moving across the sky.
"Captain, look at this," he said.
"What...?" Freeman stopped when he saw the ship.
Something else appeared on the screen in the distance. It
shot towards them at a frightening speed and hovered alongside
the scout ship.
"My God!" Captain Freeman cried. "Did you see how fast that
thing moved!"
Will joined them at the screens and stared in astonishment.
The disc hovered beside them for a few moments and then slowly
moved up and sat in the air above the scout ship. It stayed
positioned there with the rim still visible over each side.
"What's it doing?" Will asked.
"I don't know," Freeman replied.
Suddenly the scout ship was plucked from the ground and held
in mid air by the disc's magnetic field. The ship was then
speedily flown to the larger disc hovering near the pyramid,
where it was taken inside through a hatch in the base.
The larger ship then flew straight up through the newly
forming atmosphere, and into the blackness of space. Waiting in
the darkness, hung a long cigar shaped mothership. The disc flew
towards it and entered through the end docking bay which closed
behind it. The mothership then sped off towards Earth, leaving a
new Mars behind.
THE END.