Astronomicon 1: Inception Point (Finished)

44 - Last Leg

Dark grey smoke still billowed into the air behind the supply module as the three buggies drove steadily along the join between the sea of gravel and the bare, cracked rock. Chris was not confident that the buggies could climb over the ridge that stood between them and the Command Module. It was only ten to twelve metres tall, but all of it looked far too steep.

They travelled more than a kilometre and a half before they reached the point that Chris has spotted from his vantage point back at the supply module. It was a suitable crossing point, but smaller than he predicted at only two hundred metres across. For that distance, the sea of gravel had overwhelmed the growing, deep cracks in the rock surface and reached right up to the base of the slope up the ridge. It was probably the only opportunity they would get to drive right to the ridge.

For the benefit of the following buggies, he pointed his arm at the crossing point and then turned his buggy to head loosely at the middle of it. He soon had to slow to a fast walking pace and weave between the deepest dips in the gravel. Where the mini-crevasses in the rock were at their largest, they had swallowed up most of the gravel, leaving dips more than a metre deep with steep sides and, on occasions, the jagged edges of the rocky cracks still visible at the bottom. Chris had no intention of accidently driving the buggy into one of those.

The other buggies followed his lead. Chris gunned the motors on his buggy as the slope steepened, trying to build up some momentum for the ridge ahead. On foot he would have walked diagonally up the slope to reduce the angle of climb, but doing that in the buggies would risk rolling them over so he aimed directly up the ridge at the lowest point he could see.

Soon the gravel petered out, exposing a surface made up mostly of broken, small rocks. The wheels struggled for purchase, causing the buggy to scrabble and bounce its way up the increasing slope. He and Kate were jolted around every time the large wheels bounced over rocks or dropped into gaps between them. The tyres pulled numerous small rocks free, leaving them cascading noisily down the slope behind.

For a while, the buggy maintained some kind of momentum and conquered the steepest part of the slope. Chris drove the accelerator pedal into the floor and mentally urged the buggy onwards. The driver's side wheels slipped for a second, swinging the buggy around to the right. Chris threw the steering the opposite way, desperately trying to keep the buggy aligned with the slope. The spinning front wheel threw a cascade of loose rocks down the slope before it caught some grip and pulled the buggy forwards again.

The motors were at their limit and their power was alternating between clawing the vehicle forwards and spinning the wheels pointlessly. The peak was barely two metres away, but the buggy was barely making any forward progress now. The front wheels bounced and skittered several times, killing its remaining momentum.

"Take the wheel!" he called to Kate over the buggy noise.

She reached across to grab the nearest side of the steering control, before shouting back, "What are you doing?"

Chris unfastened his seatbelt and slid away from her in his seat. "I'm getting out to push," he replied. "Ninety kilos less weight will help too."

In a panic, Kate struggled with her seatbelt and just released it as Chris lifted himself out of the seat, standing on the accelerator pedal and gripping the steering wheel with one hand. He paused until she had moved across into his seat and taken over the controls, then he dropped onto the rocky slope, skidded a short way down the slope and used his gloved hands to stop himself tumbling over.

Kate slammed the accelerator down as hard as she could. Chris gingerly stepped around the spinning back wheel, then held onto the small cargo tray on the back of the buggy. He shoved as hard as he could, but his feet kept slipping on the loose rocks. The thin air was taking its toll, failing to provide enough oxygen for his level of exertion.

The buggy bounced again, throwing out more loose rocks, and then surged forwards just enough for the front wheels to roll over the peak, dropping completely over and leaving the tubular chassis to drop onto the unforgiving rock. The wheels dropped to the bottom of the suspension and spun uselessly in the air.

"Cut the power!" Chris shouted, not sure if they could hear him above the whining of the four motors and the roaring of the rear tyres spinning against the rock.

Kate let go of the accelerator and Chris collapsed on the ground, unable to move his legs. She leant out over the side of the buggy and stared at the offside front wheel, dangling in the air. The buggy did not seem to be sliding anywhere, so she engaged the parking brake and set about lowering herself onto the slope beside the buggy.

"It looks like we're well and truly stuck," she announced, picking her way cautiously along the buggy to look for Chris.

He gasped, unable to move or even talk. She arrived to find him lying back on the rock, partially beneath the back of the buggy. His skin looked worryingly grey, and he was panting deeply.

"You okay?" she asked.

He did not reply but half-heartedly raise one hand a little as if to wave before dropping it back onto the rock.

The other two buggies had stopped, with the front one some three metres further down the incline. Fletcher and Lucy had already got out of their respective buggies and set off on foot towards Chris and Kate.

"Give... just g...," he spluttered before holding up his hand more concertedly. "Give me... a mo..."

"Take your time," Kate replied, sitting down beside him. "I don't know how we're going to free the buggy from this."

Fletcher walked up alongside the four-seater buggy to assess its predicament. "I thought the hardest part would be getting up the slope, Commander," he laughed. "Looks like making it over the top is the biggest problem!"

Chris struggled to sit up, so Kate pulled his hand to help him into an upright position.

"I can't see any damage, Commander," Fletcher reported. "They designed the underside to take a hammering, so it should cope, but the plastic at the sides ain't gonna be the same again."

"We just need to give it a hard-enough shove to get the front half over," Chris wheezed. "Gravity will do the rest."

"Maybe if we all pushed together?" Kate suggested.

"Even without the supplies stacked in it, it weighs over half-a-ton," Chris replied, shaking his head.

"There are six of us, Commander. Get the lightest person to drive and have the other five shove with all their might. It's only a metre or so we need to move it before the centre of gravity is far enough forwards."

"I need a breather first," said Chris. "But you think it's worth a try?"

"Unless we can get the two-seater buggy to give it a push, but that might damage both buggies, sir."

"Manually pushing it over would be the simplest solution, I guess, although I should point out that any exertion is draining in this air," said Chris. "If that doesn't work, we'll have to unload it."

After Chris had recovered, and Kate and Lucy had argued over who was the lightest, Kate climbed into the driving seat and everyone else gathered at the back to push. Fletcher counted down from three, then Kate hit the accelerator and everyone heaved.

For a moment, it seemed like it would not work, but then one of the back wheels bounced as it caught some grip then threw out a larger rock, knocking Anil off his feet. As the buggy wallowed on its suspension, it briefly gained more traction. With their combined heaving, the floor of the buggy slid across the rock, grinding the chassis as it moved. Anil scrambled back to his feet and threw his weight into it too.

As it moved forwards, the back wheels were no longer pressed as firmly against the slope and they lost grip. The buggy already had some momentum and the five pushers capitalised on that by giving one final grinding shove. That put just enough of the buggy over the peak that it tilted slightly downwards. Kate eased off the accelerator, then stopped the motors altogether.

Once it was past the horizontal, the front continued to swing downwards until the rear wheels were not just clear of the ground but lifted to almost head height. The buggy's underside scraped painfully over the jagged rock, grating the chassis and tearing at the plastic bodywork.

Anil began a cheer, but as the others joined it, they realised that the buggy was still moving, scratching its way down the beginning of the drop on the other side.