The Aquifers of Mars

A Crack in the Foundation

The air in the control centre of the ventilation system was dry and stale. It smelled like the hoar frost that accumulated on the condensers of the heating and cooling system on the next level down. Sandra knew that smell and she knew what it meant: Carbon dioxide crystals were getting into the air vents. Where there were crystals, there was usually silica dust too. She sneezed instinctively. Then she sneezed again and again, ten times in total. This was going to be a long day. She turned toward her colleague Peter and tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around and looked at her with his watery eyes.

"There's something wrong with the scrubber filters. Can you smell it?"

Peter took a rag from his pocket and blew his nose, then placed it back in his pocket. She tried not to cringe and reminded herself that Marsborn didn't share the same rules of etiquette she had known back on Earth. Peter lifted his head and sniffed the air.

"It's just a bit of dust. No big deal."

"No big deal?" She glared at him with disgust. "You might not care, but I have standards to maintain here. This entire cave depends on us for clean, breathable air, and I don't want to be brushing silica out of my bedroll tonight."

With a shrug of his shoulders, he turned back to his console and tapped it a few times.

"System says we're within normal parameters."

"Never mind the system, I know what I smell. I'm going to check it out."

"As you like, just be careful. Winds are high today and there's a severe dust storm watch."

Sandra headed to the stairs and climbed them two at a time. She hated going outside but she hated dust in the air even more, and she wanted to fix the problem before the storm hit. The filters could barely keep up with a storm at full capacity. If there was something wrong with them, people would be sleeping with gas masks on tonight.

From the top of the stairs, she followed she followed the yellow line painted on the walls leading to the ventilation access airlock. The line became less and less visible as she got closer to the airlock, sanded away by the grit that the airlock was supposed to keep out, until there was nothing left but badly pitted concrete. Opening a locker, she took out an evac suit and gave it a hard shake, dislodging a cloud that made her sneeze and cough, then suited up and pressed the door to the airlock chamber.

Even through the thick, airtight suit, she could feel the blast of cold air as the heavy door slid open. Clenching her jaw, she marched into the chamber and slammed her fist against a large button protruding from one of the walls. The door slid closed behind her and an orange overhead light started flashing as the airlock prepared to cycle. Impatiently, she counted the flashes and flexed her hands in time, forcing blood into them to warm them up. The outer door slid open and she stepped out, surrounded by rock walls, a narrow metal ladder staring her in the face. Dust swirled all around her and she had to grip the ladder to stay still.

With one hand still on the ladder, she swung the other one back to hit the button that would shut the airlock, and the safety of their caves, behind her. Then she began her ascent.