An Expedition to the South Pole
Mark knew there were science fiction stories about Martian colonies under Antarctica. He never expected to find one.
Mark headed up a science team sent to study Antarctica’s melt and its impact on the environment. In the last 20 years, it had warmed 3.7 degrees. 1/3 of the polar ice cap melted away. Melted. Evaporated. Gone. At one time, it was the largest mass of ice on Earth, covering most of the Antarctic continent. It was more than five million square miles of ice.
Today, the ice covering was less than half of what it was at the turn of the 21st century. The science wasn’t hard to follow. Scientists had warned the world for years. Yet governments had taken little action to slow climate warming.
Ignorance and greed prevailed. By 2040 the rise in sea level had impacted seashores all over the world, including Antarctica. By 2050 the Southern Ocean had warmed 3 degrees. The Antarctic ice shelves were thin and retreating.
Antarctica is a desert averaging only 6.5 inches of precipitation a year. Like sands in a desert storm, fierce winds from the warming ocean blew most of the continent’s snow cover out to sea.
For the first time in recorded history, humanity saw what was below the ice. 45 million years ago, Antarctica was a tropical paradise.
What Mark found was a Martian colony. So, how did Mark know it was a Martian colony? First, the settlement dated from 45 million years ago. Humankind first appeared around seven million years ago.
Secondly, the technology was years ahead of even today’s humans. And there were maps and images of Mars spread throughout the camp.
When they released the news of the Martian colony, the question everyone wanted answered was. “Were the Martians our ancestors?” And the answer was probably not. 45 million years ago, Earth was home to early hoofed plant-eaters. Such as Phioma, an early member of the group Proboscidae. Which included modern elephants. It and other mammals shared genetic markers with humans.
DNA was found on a Martian expedition more than 20 years earlier. Tests determined we did share genetic markers. The accepted theory was that life-giving organic material floated down to Earth as well as Mars. This theory was still prevalent. The Martians weren’t humankinds’ ancestors.
The first indication of a colony appeared to be the top of a dome showing through the melt. Mark brought in an excavation team and discovered it was, in fact, a dome-shaped building. The alloy used in the construction of the dome was unfamiliar to the team.
One of the scientists wondered out loud what kind of metal could last for millions of years. After a series of tests, they found the alloy was metal only found on Mars.
After clearing the dome, they found what they assumed to be the entrance, but it wouldn’t budge. It took three days to open the door. They tried torches, small explosives, and brute force to no avail.
On the third day, Mark was studying the door when he placed his palms on the top third of the door. It opened. No one was certain why it opened. It didn’t matter. It was open. Mark opened the door. It didn’t creak. It opened as smoothly as it must have 45 million years ago.
Mark was the first inside. It wasn’t what he expected. He had assumed it would have similarities to human construction. Something like a human spacecraft or comm center.
The inside of the structure was almost empty. There were no furnishings, interior walls, or windows. There were no visible computing or communication devices. The only thing in the room was a row of metallic tubes.
The tubes were on pedestals a couple of feet off the ground. They were roughly three meters long, circular, and one meter wide.
Mark walked over to the first tube. He looked under the tube, then at both sides and the top. On the top, Mark noticed what looked like a window. He asked the team for help cleaning the visor. As a team member sprayed it with a citrus cleaner and scrubbed it with a soft sponge, Mark looked inside.
Mark noticed a Metallic cloth. It was part of a uniform. And inside the uniform was a Martian. The dome wasn’t a dwelling; it was a cryogenic chamber. Mark hadn’t found a Martian colony. He had found Martians.