He said, “Dad! Of course I would. So would Mom. She would have never understood you going, but she’s gone and she would want you to be happy. Here or across the galaxy somewhere. Go for it.”
I said my goodbyes and finally disconnected the call. That was that. My son would handle my affairs for at least the next two years, and I would travel to Barsoom. Or somewhere. Maybe.
I went to the truck and drove to the home supply center and bought three large steel equipment boxes and locks. That was all I planned to need to secure my camp. Then I went and ate my last dinner on Earth.
My excitement was still somewhat constrained when I woke up the next morning. It would be easier to turn around and head home. The cave would be there next year and the year after that; but today was the day that I was here now. This present moment was where I was, not a year from now or hours from now or six months ago. This moment called for me to shower, shave, brush my teeth, get in my truck, drive back out into the Arizona desert, and then leap through a portal into the unknown.
So, I did. I was in no mood to sit for a meal, so I drove straight to my campsite. It was some work to take the heavy steel work lockers down from the truck by myself, but I managed. I could have left them in the truck bed, but they would be harder to move by anyone thinking to steal them if they were discovered on the ground. I placed the boxes beside the truck and packed up the tools and supplies that I had brought with me in case I had decided to stay.
I broke down the canopies and other things that I had unpacked and I packed them away and locked the boxes. The perishable foods, I tossed away from the site to rot on their own. Everything was placed neatly in the lockers or in the bed of the truck and I locked everything for as much unguarded security as could be hoped for. I pulled the camo nets over the truck and other supplies, including the ATV and trailer and then took a last look and turned toward the cave site.
It wasn’t a long walk now that I knew exactly where it was. Finding the hole, I climbed down inside with my day pack, my phone, and my flashlight. The trek to the chamber with the portal was the same as the day before. When I got there, I placed the keys to the truck and a letter that I had written to my son in the blue box on the pedestal. My pack I set to the side.
I took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and then undressed. I folded my clothing neatly and laid it on the top of the box. I set my shoes on the floor beneath the box, next to the pack. Finally, when everything was done, I turned off the flashlight and lay it on top of my clothes.
The room was dimly lit by the pool itself. A greenish yellow swirl gave way to a purple and then black vortex in the center. If the room were not lit if I did return, I was confident that I could find the pedestal and my flashlight even in a pitch blackness.
I took another deep breath, let it out. Then I took one more… and stepped into the pool.
The floor of the pool seemed just an inch or two below the level of the floor, and made of smooth stone. The ‘water’ was apparently not a liquid. I couldn’t feel anything like water touching my feet. What I could feel was a force, like gravity pulling me toward the center. I could have stepped back out of the pool at this point, but I took another step forward, toward the center. The pull increased, but the bottom of the pool stayed at the same level as the step before. Out of caution, I decided to sit down. And then I slid myself into the center of the vortex.
Chapter 5
Arrival on the Red Planet
There was no sensation. Just as I hadn’t felt ‘water’ around my feet, I didn’t feel nausea or dizziness or pain. Nothing. The only sensation I had was of waking up, lying flat on my back, on a round, smooth stone surface. The chamber I was now in was lit by a bluish lamp.
I sat up and felt no worse for wear and examined my surroundings.
Getting to my feet I saw that I was in a chamber very much like the one that I had left, but not exactly. First, there was the blue lantern on the wall near the opening to the tunnel beyond. There was a matching pedestal and blue colored box, but none of the possessions that I had set aside. This was a different place.
I felt my body and even pinched my arm to make sure that I did feel pain, trying to prove to myself that I was not dreaming. I slapped the wall hard, and heard the sound and felt the sting. No, this was real and I was awake. I expected that my next logical move was to examine the box. Was there a message or instructions inside?
Opening the lid, I found another engraved inscription.
“Traveler, if you have just arrived from ‘elsewhere’, welcome. I hope that you and I both survive to meet one another someday.”
Below that, an inscription in some foreign script was written, supposedly for natives of the planet I was now on. And, below that, a question and a row of buttons, like the one in the cave on the other side.
“Name the state of origin:”
BYATQRMIZDKGOVNAH
My guess was that this was a question to prove that I had come from Earth, rather than being a native of this place. The state that I had come from was Arizona, at least that’s where the point of origin for this journey was. I pressed the keys. ARIZONA.
The familiar click was heard and the springs pressed up the tablet so that I could read the back and see what was hidden underneath.
“Welcome my kinsman of Earth. I hope you find happiness and grand adventure. I have supplied a few small tokens for your first days upon Mars. I suggest you start with these things:
1. Learn to walk. The gravity here is about 1/6th that which you are accustomed. It requires practice.
2. Take the compass. It is set to lead to what may be a friendly settlement.
3. Learn to talk. Find a beautiful Martian girl, hope that she does not kill you, and have her teach you the language.
4. Take the gems. There is a small sack. They should be provision for your journey, and then some.
5. Find water. I have written a parchment with hints about food and drink.
6. Make a weapon. I have left you a good sharp knife; anything more is up to you.
7. Take the other compass. This one is set to show the way back to this cave, no matter where you are.
Good luck to you, Man of Earth. May we meet in Helium.
Under the tablet was a small sack with a handful of colored stones, a few pieces of what appeared to be gold coins, a strange compass, a black-bladed knife, and a small number of journal pages written on a thin plastic like material. There was also a belt that would fit around my waist for carrying both the bag and the knife.
I placed the items on the belt and fastened it around my waist. Let’s see. Learn to walk. Find water. Find a beautiful Martian girl. It sounded pretty straightforward.
Of course, contrary to Carter’s insistence, this was not Mars. It may be Barsoom, it may be a red planet, but according to everything that we had learned about Mars in the past hundred years, it was not Mars. But, close enough.
Wow, I felt good. Here I was. Alive. Well, alive and naked with just a knife and a bag of magic beans, but alive and feeling good, nonetheless. There was nothing more to do. The path out was lit by the same blue lamps all the way to the surface. I paid special attention to walking. It was different to be so light on my feet and it was easy to over-stride. I’d feel more confident to try bigger steps once I was outside where the chances of injury were less than in the confined spaces of the cave tunnel.
I reached the opening to the outside without incident and easily hoisted myself into the open air. The cave mouth lie in a depression in the ground, about 15 feet below the surrounding terrain. Stones strewn about the edge of the rim would make it difficult to pick out from a distance as being anything but part of the almost flat plain that surrounded it. Looking around, all that could be seen was an enormous slightly rolling plain of greenish-yellow mossy ground-covering. It was soft underfoot, but not at all moist.