Martian Mission

It was the year 2035 and the international exploration team finally landed at their destination: Mars. The crew had been sleeping for the entire 15 month trip in cyro so it felt like only yesterday the crew were saying their goodbyes to their loved ones and being seen off in a giant celebratory gathering. As the first team to attempt a mission that would land them on the Red Planet and into the history books it was a monumental occasion. Still a little groggy from the deep cryo sleep commander Redding rubbed his eyes while he got an update from the ship's onboard AI system. Between yawns, Redding listened to the status updates and mission objectives. 

“Good morning Commander Redding. I trust you had an excellent rest. It is Sunday morning, on the 17th of June at 0700 earth central time, and we have just reached Mar's orbit. As instructed you are the first one to be woken from cryo sleep. Please stay still while I perform a diagnostic scan on your body, please lay fully back in the cryopod sir,” the machine whirred and within minutes a report was sent to the onboard AI. 

“According to my scans you appear vitally stable. Shall we commence with the briefing sir?”

Redding groaned and rubbed his eyes again, “Sure, proceed.”

“Ok sir! We are about 24 hours from our projected landing on the surface. So far the best landing zone appears to be a flat stretch of land between what appears to be a body of water and some rolling hills. I will pull up scans now for your approval.”

A screen dropped down from the ceiling and hung inches away from Redding's thin and chiseled face. An image of a thermal map and one with elevation visible on it appeared on the screen. The location seemed to be appropriate, but there was some blurriness near the mountains. The commander used his fingers to zoom in. “Were those structures?” Redding thought to himself.

“Computer, are those buildings that I see near the foot of the mountains?”

“I am unsure. I attempted analysis but the images are too unclear to be definitely identified.”

“Landing site approved. How is our equipment doing? Please give a total update on fuel stores, supplies, and thermal suit status.”

The computer whirred then gave him detailed information about the ship and supplies as well as the special heat resistant thermal suits that appeared to be normal space suits but with a thick layer of a newly developed synthetic polymer which made it possible to walk into literal lava if they desired to. This new technology paired with cryogenics allowed for the historic trip. Granted that all equipment appeared in good shape and fuel stores were adequate for a landing and the return flight home, Redding would initiate waking the rest of the crew. He had been designated the leader of the mission by an international committee due to his extensive flight experience and his several successful missions to the moon and the international space station; however, Redding didn't feel like he was any more distinguished than his colleagues. 

The crew was a five person team consisting of astronauts from five different countries, the United States, Japan, Russian, Germany, and China. Somehow, Christopher Redding, the representative from the US, had gained the popular vote from all five countries.  He shook his head and scratched his stubble covered face still in disbelief. Now that he was in charge it was up to him to make sure everything went according to plan, so he instructed the on board system to wake him before the rest of the crew. Now that all appeared in order, Redding felt comfortable waking his fellow astronauts. 

After giving the command, one by one the crew members woke from their cryopods and underwent their own scans. It wasn't until the following day that the crew readied themselves for the mission. The landing was a bit rough due to a surprisingly windy descent, but the team and equipment was otherwise unscathed. Being the first person to step on Mars was a huge deal so the team had come equipped with a drone with a mounted camera. The drone snapped hundreds of photos and recorded videos as the team simultaneously stepped off the landing craft and their feet made contact with the red soil. 

Redding made up a short blurb about how big of a deal it was to finally make it to the red planet. There was only one thing on his mind though, exploring the blur from the area surveillance, and he was sure that the rest of the team felt the same due to the overwhelming excitement that erupted from all of them when he shared the image. 

As planned the team sent another drone to work collecting soil and water samples while the five of them headed in the direction of the suspected structure. The Martian wind was surprisingly strong as they all walked in a line across the barren, dusty red dirt. As the team got closer, their suspicions were confirmed. A small building that appeared to be made out of clay bricks and some kind of mortar. Though the materials seemed rudimentary, the design of the structure was surprisingly complex. 

The interior was almost entirely shiny medal with an area that looked very similar to a decontamination chamber in a level IV laboratory. The team moved past the chamber into a viewing room with laboratory equipment and vials of what appeared to be prepared samples. The Japanese member of the team, a small thin woman with the last name Midorikawa, pulled out her storage pack and began to place some of the samples in individual containers with lids on them. She labeled each sample as the team made their way to the next set of doors. These doors did not open. 

The Russian astronaut, Dobresky, began searching the area for a key code or badge of some kind. After only a few minutes,  he returned with a white piece of plastic. They held it up to the card reader and to everyone's surprise, there was a loud beep and a hiss of air as the lock to the door disengaged. The doors loudly creaked open and the entire team gathered around the entrance. 

As the leader of the team Redding entered the room first. Inside it was brightly  lit with a single metal examination table in the center of the room. At first the team thought that there was nothing out of the ordinary, but as they approached they saw the figure that was leaning with it's back against the table.. They all formed a circle around the corpse and began to examine it. If it was wearing clothes, there was not even a remnant of clothing left which suggested that this body had been there for a number of years. The flesh was dry and brown, almost like that of a mummy. The expression on its face was one of agony. The creature was definitely humanoid but there were subtle differences between it and earthlings. Its digits were about twice as long as a man's, its empty orbits three times as large as the average person, and the figure was about 8ft tall. It was definitely too large for them to transport as a whole, but they could manage if it was cutt into smaller pieces.  

The room was clamoring with excitement, but soon this turned into bickering about which country would take the body for analysis. Redding suggested that each country take its own specimens. The body was dry enough that it would be split by hand. The team each put their samples in a air tight canister. The team rejoiced and celebrated their discovery when they returned to the ship. They had yet to realize just how significant their discovery would be for all of mankind.