The Sun Rises

Chapter One

Desolate. A world of grey. Its face is a mosaic of plains, craters, and ridges; the story of its past carved in the rock. A lone figure moves across it in the twilight of the rising sun.

Not where I'd go on holiday. Dave eases his way up a ridge, noticing a slight lightness in his head. But I can certainly see the appeal. At its peak the ground slopes gently down before him, leading into a great plain with few craters. While that change gives him great relief, it's the grandeur of the view that catches his eye.

With the sun still below the ridge at his back, the plain is shrouded in shadow. Otherworldly, in a word, is what it becomes. Even more so than usual. Its stone shapes dance beneath a sky filled with stars.

Mercury. Never thought I'd end up here. Sunlight breaks around him fading out the stars. I should be grateful that Mydas offered me a job. After what happened with the Europa program...

The sun catches up with him standing still and its intense heat seeps into his suit. Okay, time to go! He sets off down the slope.

A minute of brisk walking and he's back in the relative safety of twilight. He doesn't need to move much faster, due to the planet's plodding rotation and the approaching perihelion. Especially so this far north of the equator. But even in a pinch, he wouldn't dare run. Not without ditching the precious cargo carried in two cylinders on his back. All of this for disgusting grey sludge. Disgusting grey sludge with four times the energy density of gasoline, maybe more. And like a thousand times the tendency to explode. That would be something. Commander Daveous killed by grey sludge.

A tremor lightly shakes the ground beneath him. Another one. Definitely happening more frequently than usual for Mercury. He checks on the sludge, codename Mercurium, gently tapping on a panel on his arm. But, they seem to be getting worse... Light slowly streams around him and he looks back over his shoulder as the sun rises above the ridge. Its enormity emerges second by second as it glides into view. It appears much larger here than on earth. Here, you really start to get a sense of just how massive it is. His visor filters out the blinding light, allowing him to see it as it truly is. At least for a few moments. Underwater cities and alien ecology are amazing... But Europa doesn't have this. His suit beeps in warning and he turns his head back to the view in front of him. The plain continues seldom cratered to broken ridges in the near distance, beyond which lies his destination. There, he walks.

"Dave." Static plays inside his helmet. "Dave, do you read me?"

"Loud and mostly clear, Renna." He jokes.

"Progress check." A couple taps are followed by a thud and the static clears considerably. "And the rover at this range? You should have heard what the coms they supplied sounded like. Horrible, even in normal conditions. But nothing I couldn't fix, obviously." Renna says.

"On schedule." Dave replies. Doctor Yorrenna Fex. One of the few people that's actually as good as they say. "You would think that when one of the planets starts emitting unexplained radiation they would send their best equipment to figure out what's going on."

"That was my thinking exactly when we arrived so I called our contact. I didn't take their non-answer for an answer and finally, they transferred me to Mydas' main office. The director of resource acquisition themselves told me that it was decided to send the stock rover due to my expertise in wireless technology. They sent a cheap one because they knew I could fix it!" She says.

"I'm not surprised. This is the same corporation that blocked all independent science officials from initial findings and procedures. All so they could secure anything potentially profitable." Another tremor strikes, considerably stronger than before. Dave nearly topples over then regains his balance. Definitely getting worse. "Did you feel that?" He asks as he checks on the Mercurium, jabbing the panel. He waits, inches from the unlit eject button as a narrow blue bar jumps up, turns green, then yellow. He dares not breathe until it starts falling back down. Whew, not red.

"Yeah, I did! How's the Mercurium?"

"The sludge is fine. I'm fine too, by the way. Still in one piece."

"You're gonna say Mercurium. It's just a matter of time."

"Never. It's called sludge until I come up with a better name."

"Hmm, sure." A beep is heard through the coms. "The tremors are getting worse. Preliminary findings suggest a correlation between Mercurium deposits and geological activity. No sign of any connection to radiation though. That's... ugh... that's actually why I'm out in the rover. I'm checking on our seismic and radiation sensors and setting up new ones. Hopefully, we'll get some answers. Or at least get closer to some." She says.

"That would be great. That and some progress from Jonlin and Sade. Like figuring out how to stabilize the sludge enough to run safely." He checks the panel again to be safe. I would like to not become a crater. "I kinda like not riding in the rover. And hey, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I've had a little bit of a headache and it like, spiked for a second. I'm good."

"Huh, I've had some of that too. Not quite headache level though."

"Probably stress." She doesn't sound convinced. "Anyway, I'm also setting up equipment to monitor the upcoming perihelion. It's gonna be awesome! I got approval to do it since I was already scheduled to go out. Well, approval as long as it doesn't interfere with standing objectives." She says.

"That's actually surprising. And awesome. Mydas isn't completely horrible apparently." He replies.

"Apparently. As exciting as it is, I can't wait to get out of the cold."

"Cold? You're in the rover. It's not like you're walking outside or anything." Says Dave. Renna actually laughs in response.

"It's barely warmer than you walking in twilight. And it's still night here." Static increases and a few taps make it through the noise. "I'm almost out of range. After I finish I'm heading back to the hab. I'll com your next progress check from there." She says.

"Copy that." See you soon.

Dave goes back to walking in near silence with nothing but his thoughts, his breath, and the steady rhythm of his boots. His mind wanders. What is really going on here? So far they haven't found any answers, only more questions. Granted they've only been on the planet for a couple weeks. Still, they expected to know something by now. Radiological and seismic activity without a known source isn't that bad. That just takes time. But a newly discovered substance with an unknown chemical structure?

"Whoa..." He stops mid-step. His hand shoots up to his helmet. Not pleasant. Then the sudden pressure and pain in his head eases. Strange. That's almost exactly what Renna said she felt. He checks his vitals using the panel only to find them well within normal. No sign of any toxins or foreign bodies. Still, he decides that everyone should do a thorough check at the hab. Just to be safe. Right as he starts walking again the ground starts to convulse beneath him.

He lets himself fall to the ground and controls the landing. He lands on his stomach and immediately looks at his panel. The ground continues to shake for a few seconds more. But those seconds feel like an eternity. His eyes are glued to the meter as the bar grows even higher than before. It passes yellow and the tremors stop like they started. All at once. Then it continues to climb into orange. The eject button lights up as soon as it crosses over. His instructions are to eject if it reaches three-quarters of the way to the red zone. He's considering forgetting those instructions. Don't go to red. Don't go to red. It climbs just over halfway through orange before falling back down. Dave sighs in relief and drops his head to the ground. Then he gets back up and back on his way.

The ridges grow large on the horizon before him while the sun lingers above the ones behind him. So weird. They said it would be unlike anything we've ever seen. It moves slower and slower across the sky, making him walk slower with it. It also doesn't help that the pressure in his head isn't going away anymore. Not completely. Perihelion. I might have to step outside at the hab to watch. Probably will get in trouble for it. He glances over his shoulder. Worth it.

"Dave!" Calls Renna through little static.

"I read you. Made it to the hab?" Dave replies.

"Yes! How close are you?"

"I'm on schedule, just under three kilometers away." He checks his panel just to be sure. Something's happened.

"Hurry back! Something's wrong with Sade and Jonlin. I'm not sure what's going on with them! They seem sick... but I can't find what's causing it!"