as if he were a double-jointed circus freak, waiting for the final applause. Staged like some freakish diorama in a wax museum, a macabre presence set the scene; frozen in a deathly scream, his jutted chin mouthed a silent cry for help that never came. Lexis had snapped the Crew Person’s head back in an unnatural pose, and with such a force, it had caused his cervical bone to protrude from what was left of his stretched neck.
“Death was swift for this man,” she coldly said.
“We all live on borrowed time, and some have more time than others.” Jason’s remark was a sign of approval for her actions.
When Lexis’s Terminate or Combat Programing initiated, she became an unstoppable killing machine, and dispatching the Crew Person, who was wearing a silly blue outfit, was merely just an act of war in her encoding.
H AMMER OF T HOR
Lexis’s plan was simple; deactivate the Ring Technology and detach the Cargo Sleeve from the forward Command module. This would create a slight course deviation, veering them from the Polaris Space Station circling Mars; and after overshooting the Space Station, the Sleeve and its contents would either skip across the upper atmosphere, shooting into outer space, or the Chameleon would safely enter at a typical 40 degree angle.
Hacking of the Polaris Transport computer took some work for Lexis but once she was inside, she initiated the emergency abort command. Alarm sirens blared throughout the Cargo Bay Sleeve. However, inside the hermetically sealed Chameleon the noise was nil.
From his Captain’s chair, Jason gently touched the laser scar on his forearm. Lexis had removed his Polaris Citizen Chip, and placed it into the dead body of the Crew Person. This would elude the authorities who would believe Jason had died.
He now watched the countdown reach zero, several interior safety bolts securing the command module, exploded in a fitful force of pent-up dynamism, releasing it from the Cargo Sleeve. Momentum of the exploding bolts pushed forward on the Module, easing it into space. After a few seconds lapsed, rocket boosters engaged, hurtling it towards the oncoming planet. Thanks to the outer bulkheads and the airlock hatch, the Cargo Sleeve safely enclosed the Chameleon.
Before activating the Transport’s Emergency Abort, Lexis sabotaged the ship by inserting a worm into the computer, altering one of the rocket boosters to slightly burn hotter, giving the ship a steeper angle of attack when entering the Martian atmosphere. Also the virus would deactivate the landing rockets and parachutes. Jason wanted no evidence to survive.
Jason sat watching the separation on the Skin and thought about his next move. At this point, he was relying heavily on Lexis’s abilities and high functioning brain. “How do I get back to Earth safely?”
“Lexis, as soon as we hit the surface I want to send a priority one message to Aldiss Spline, explaining our situation, and please ask how to advise? Also, we’ll need to egress immediately from the Sleeve and redeploy under cloak.”
“I have calculated with our trajectory, a landing site within a twenty-five mile radius.” Lexis’s neural net was already two steps ahead of him.
“Dry or wet land?” Jason asked.
“We will land in close proximity to the Cydonia Pyramids in the northern hemisphere.” Shaped like faces and built on a high plateau, the three Pyramids were built by the ancient Martians to align with Orion’s Belt.
“The terrain?” Jason asked.
“Mostly rolling savanna, however there are some swampy lowlands to the immediate south.”
“Lexis, plot a route across the grasslands and through the lowlands. We’ll take the unexpected path, and head to the southern pole city of Promethei. Anyhow, they’ll be
“Death was swift for this man,” she coldly said.
“We all live on borrowed time, and some have more time than others.” Jason’s remark was a sign of approval for her actions.
When Lexis’s Terminate or Combat Programing initiated, she became an unstoppable killing machine, and dispatching the Crew Person, who was wearing a silly blue outfit, was merely just an act of war in her encoding.
H AMMER OF T HOR
Lexis’s plan was simple; deactivate the Ring Technology and detach the Cargo Sleeve from the forward Command module. This would create a slight course deviation, veering them from the Polaris Space Station circling Mars; and after overshooting the Space Station, the Sleeve and its contents would either skip across the upper atmosphere, shooting into outer space, or the Chameleon would safely enter at a typical 40 degree angle.
Hacking of the Polaris Transport computer took some work for Lexis but once she was inside, she initiated the emergency abort command. Alarm sirens blared throughout the Cargo Bay Sleeve. However, inside the hermetically sealed Chameleon the noise was nil.
From his Captain’s chair, Jason gently touched the laser scar on his forearm. Lexis had removed his Polaris Citizen Chip, and placed it into the dead body of the Crew Person. This would elude the authorities who would believe Jason had died.
He now watched the countdown reach zero, several interior safety bolts securing the command module, exploded in a fitful force of pent-up dynamism, releasing it from the Cargo Sleeve. Momentum of the exploding bolts pushed forward on the Module, easing it into space. After a few seconds lapsed, rocket boosters engaged, hurtling it towards the oncoming planet. Thanks to the outer bulkheads and the airlock hatch, the Cargo Sleeve safely enclosed the Chameleon.
Before activating the Transport’s Emergency Abort, Lexis sabotaged the ship by inserting a worm into the computer, altering one of the rocket boosters to slightly burn hotter, giving the ship a steeper angle of attack when entering the Martian atmosphere. Also the virus would deactivate the landing rockets and parachutes. Jason wanted no evidence to survive.
Jason sat watching the separation on the Skin and thought about his next move. At this point, he was relying heavily on Lexis’s abilities and high functioning brain. “How do I get back to Earth safely?”
“Lexis, as soon as we hit the surface I want to send a priority one message to Aldiss Spline, explaining our situation, and please ask how to advise? Also, we’ll need to egress immediately from the Sleeve and redeploy under cloak.”
“I have calculated with our trajectory, a landing site within a twenty-five mile radius.” Lexis’s neural net was already two steps ahead of him.
“Dry or wet land?” Jason asked.
“We will land in close proximity to the Cydonia Pyramids in the northern hemisphere.” Shaped like faces and built on a high plateau, the three Pyramids were built by the ancient Martians to align with Orion’s Belt.
“The terrain?” Jason asked.
“Mostly rolling savanna, however there are some swampy lowlands to the immediate south.”
“Lexis, plot a route across the grasslands and through the lowlands. We’ll take the unexpected path, and head to the southern pole city of Promethei. Anyhow, they’ll be
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