THE JOURNEY TO MARS E-Book

Janne OB Larsson

• Herausgeber: BoD - Books on Demand
• Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Seitenzahl: 141

Beschreibung

This is a story about a man's dreams of Mars. No one knows who he is or where he comes from. One day, he received a gift that could change everything on Earth! There will be a visit to Mars and beyond, deep into space! The story begins in Pajala, in northern Sweden, when Lars took a walk in minus 30 degrees. Suddenly, he saw a bright light, and from that moment, everything in his world changed!

Leseprobe

Mars

This is the story of one man's dreams of Mars.

No one knows who he is or where he comes from. One day, he received a gift that could change everything on Earth!

Janne OB Larsson (Jan Larsson)

Table of Content

The Journey to Mars

TIME TO RUN A TEST

TO MARS

THE DELIVERY

NASA'S BREAKTHROUGH

PAYMENT FOR SERVICES

THE LARGER MACHINE

THE JOURNEY TO THE USA

THE EXTORTION

WORLD PEACE

SPACE CENTER

SEARCHING FOR EXOPLANETS

TOWARD EUROPA

CONCLUSIONS FROM EUROPA

BASE CAMP

EXPLORATION OF THE PLANET

The First Expedition

The Discovery at the Smoke

The Valley

The City

Glob

THE PEACEKEEPING FORCE

DEPLOYMENT OF TROOPS

THE INTERROGATIONS

THE CONSPIRACY

THE JOURNEY TO THE OTHER PLANET

THE NEW WORLDS

ISOLATION

THE JOURNEY WESTWARD

THE JOURNEY HOME

THE CEREMONY

DEVELOPMENT

The Journey to Mars

He was on his way to collect the mail from the mailbox. It wasn't far, about 50 meters. The temperature was 25 degrees below zero, and it was a clear winter day somewhere in Norrbotten. The spruce trees were covered in snow, and the sound of his footsteps echoed through the crisp air as he walked. He was an ordinary person, with no higher education, but over the years, he had learned how to tinker with computers and had become quite skilled with electronics.

Halfway to the mailbox, he was struck by an intense headache. He saw flashes of light and a sharp glow in front of his eyes. He stopped in his tracks, and slowly, the pain began to subside. The whole experience lasted maybe a minute, no more. When it was over, he felt a strange sensation—like a fog had lifted from his mind, and everything suddenly became clearer. He resumed his walk, retrieved the mail, and headed back home.

The next day, he sat at the kitchen table, eating breakfast. In front of him was a notebook that he had absentmindedly started doodling in. After a while, he noticed something odd—he had scribbled down several formulas and drawn a diagram. He glanced at the equations, and to his surprise, he understood what they meant.

"Strange," he muttered to himself. "I've never seen these before."

After a moment, he realized that the notes were a blueprint for an electronic machine that he was somehow destined to build. Could this be connected to the strange experience he had on his way to the mailbox? He wasn't sure, but he decided to press forward.

He began listing the components he would need to construct the machine. Hundreds of different diodes, capacitors, and special electronic parts would be required. He searched online for suppliers, adding the components to his cart. But when he saw the total cost, he realized it would be far too expensive to buy everything at once. He decided to purchase the parts gradually, a little at a time.

Over the course of three months, he continued to acquire the necessary materials, slowly building his project. Various metal constructions and converters were also needed. Once he had assembled everything, created circuit boards, soldered the components, and connected the system to a computer, he realized that programming would be required—something he had never done before.

"All of this is incredibly strange," he thought to himself. "I'm designing and programming something I had no prior knowledge of. It feels as though someone—or something—is guiding my actions, helping me understand how everything is supposed to work! But I don't feel afraid; rather, I'm excited to see where this will lead."

He proceeded to mount a camera onto a frame that was 10 cm wide and measured 3 by 2 meters, standing vertically like a large window. Along the inside of the frame, he installed power capacitors, phase shifters, and frequency magnet amplifiers at regular intervals. All of this would be powered by a 380-volt three-phase current. The power distribution would be controlled by the software on the computer.

TIME TO RUN A TEST

The day of the test arrived, and all preparations were complete. The equipment had been supplemented with protective clothing to shield against radiation, as well as oxygen tanks for breathing. All of the equipment, except for the computer, had been installed in a well-insulated room. The room was equipped with an airlock to allow entry and exit, and there was a thick glass window to observe the frame inside.

He connected the electricity, and the electronic circuits began to blink. Everything seemed to be functioning as expected. The computer was ready, waiting for the coordinates of the location to be explored. He entered the longitude and latitude, and the screen displayed:

"All systems OK. Start search? Press ENTER."

He pressed the key, and inside the frame, an image appeared—a grassy lawn with a red ball. Using a joystick, he controlled the view and zoomed in on the ball for a close-up.

He entered the airlock, closed the first door, and then opened the second to step into the room. Carefully, he shut the doors behind him. Taking a grabber tool mounted on a long rod, he slowly extended it towards the window. As the gripping end reached the window, it passed through and became enveloped by the image. He extended the tool further, grabbed the ball, and pulled it back into the room. When the tool and the ball returned, the image vanished, now without the ball.

He had successfully retrieved an object remotely, even though there were miles between his location and the place where the ball had been. Everything had worked as planned. A sort of wormhole had formed, and the distance to the coordinates no longer mattered. He took the ball, exited the room, and closed the doors securely behind him. Then, he examined the ball to see if its material had changed or if there were any traces of radiation.

The machine could indeed transport material from one location to his building. Once he shut down the program, the outer window disappeared, and the wall was solid once again. After the successful experiment, he sat down, satisfied, and began planning the next steps for the machine’s use.

The following day, he would conduct a much, much bigger test.

He reviewed his notes with the coordinates he was going to use: Longitude, Latitude: 77.40131021°, 18.45143045°.

These coordinates did not point to any place on Earth, but to Mars—specifically, to the location where samples number 17 and 18, which the Perseverance Rover had placed on the ground, were waiting for a future mission to collect them. He had gathered all the information from NASA's website about the project, where they had marked the rover's path and the locations where the samples had been drilled. NASA planned to send a Mars lander to retrieve the samples and then transport them to Earth using a rocket. This project would cost billions in rockets, fuel, and manpower.

"I have a plan to use the machine to connect and retrieve those two samples, then deliver them to NASA without them knowing anything about the invention," he thought. "I must protect the machine so that it doesn’t fall into the wrong hands and get used for malicious purposes."

He realized how dangerous it would be if the construction of the machine became public knowledge. However, he had built in a safety feature that ensured the machine couldn't function unless he personally activated the software or equipment. There was also a self-destruct mechanism that would trigger if the machine didn't register his vital signs.

If the machine worked as he envisioned, a new universe of possibilities would open up. Planets could be explored, no matter the distance, as long as one had the exact coordinates.

TO MARS

The following day, he began preparing everything needed for the connection, including protective gear and an oxygen mask. He couldn’t predict what might happen if the machine worked. Would Mars' atmosphere and lower pressure seep into the room? How would the window to a world without oxygen react—would it hold? There were many factors he couldn't foresee. To be safe, he constructed a pressure equalizer so that the pressure in the machine room wouldn’t become too high.

Once everything was in place, he activated all functions and input the coordinates into the computer, along with the precise location of Mars relative to Earth. After pressing ENTER, it took a bit longer than usual for anything to happen, but eventually, a window appeared, like a screen within the frame. Outside, a reddish desert, colored by Mars’ sand, came into view.

As he gazed at the sand and the pale sun shining in the sky, it struck him that he was the first human to truly see this environment. It felt grand, almost surreal. He saw rocks of various sizes and shapes, and carefully took hold of the joystick to slowly pan the camera to the right. The same formations of sand and rock stretched out before him. As he turned further, something caught his attention: two tracks in the sand, clearly left by the rover that had driven there earlier.

He followed the tracks but saw nothing unusual at first. He turned the camera 180 degrees to look in the opposite direction. After a while, he spotted something glinting next to the tracks. Curiously, he zoomed in and saw two small containers, about 30 centimeters long and a few centimeters thick. Bingo! These were what he had been searching for.

It was time to act. He donned the protective gear and gas mask and stepped into the room. Carefully, he checked that the doors were securely closed before taking the rod with the grabber attached. Slowly, he moved the rod toward the window, watching as the grabber passed through the image, now enveloped by Mars' landscape. With great precision, he opened the grabber, clamped onto the first tube, and slowly pulled the rod back into the room.

He placed the first tube into a lead box with a tightly sealed lid, then repeated the process to retrieve the second tube. Both tubes were now safely stored in separate lead boxes. He then used a measuring instrument to check for any radiation emanating from the boxes. To his relief, he detected no radiation or other anomalies.

What had fascinated him the most was that the "window"—the strange interface between the two worlds—had worked flawlessly. It completely enveloped the rod and the tubes without allowing any part of Mars' atmosphere or pressure to enter the room. The surface of the image remained stable, with no distortion in any direction. The large pressure difference between Mars and his room had not affected the window or anything else.

With a deep sigh, he finally released the tension that had been building up. He hadn't even realized his pulse had spiked to at least 180 beats per minute. Inside, he was elated by the success—everything had gone according to plan.

After leaving the room, he shut down the machine via the computer, removed his protective gear and oxygen mask, and performed another check for radiation on the clothing. No readings there either. He restored the room’s pressure to normal and felt a sense of satisfaction that everything had gone so smoothly.

THE DELIVERY

He continued with the next part of his plan: finding a way to hand over the tubes without revealing himself or their origin. NASA would get the first tube, but it had to be done in a way that made them take it seriously without risking contamination during examination. The plan was to use the machine to deliver the tube to a place with sufficient resources to analyze it, and for NASA to realize that it was an authentic sample from Mars.

All the information about NASA's Mars project was available online. They had never had any reason to keep it secret—quite the opposite, they wanted to showcase their technical skill and position at the forefront of global research. Online, there were detailed records of the coordinates where the tubes had been left on Mars, how the organization was structured, and who was responsible for the various parts of the project. There were also pictures and information about the research station, along with demonstrations for students who wanted to see all the parts of the project.

He studied all the information carefully and decided where he would leave one of the lead boxes. He wrote an accompanying letter explaining what the lead box contained and how important it was to open it in an absolutely sterile laboratory. Everything was meticulously planned: no fingerprints, no traces of DNA, or anything else that could reveal his identity. It would be exciting to see whether NASA decided to go public with the discovery or if it would remain secret for a long time.

"No, they'll probably stay silent for a long time, with a lot of nervousness within the organization," he thought with satisfaction. He was convinced that they would realize the tube was genuine and that the drilled samples were extraterrestrial.

After checking the location of the lab and its coordinates, he attached a note to the lead box's lid: "It is of utmost importance that you examine the contents of this box in a sterile lab to avoid contamination. I will return with more samples once you have confirmed the authenticity of this Mars sample. According to my tests, there is nothing dangerous in the tube, but you should be cautious. If you confirm its authenticity, announce a breakthrough on your website—then I will return!"

Late at night, in the middle of the night in the U.S., he started the machine and programmed the coordinates for the lab. Just to be safe, he had also installed a stronger light, in case it was too dark in the room, and a video camera to record the entire process. He pressed ENTER and waited.

The screen flickered to life, showing a dimly lit room. He looked around and saw the glass window and protective arms used to examine samples. He maneuvered the gripping arm, placed the box on a table, and left a copy of the message on the other side of the glass where someone could easily see it. To draw attention to the box, he pressed a button that triggered an alarm in the room. Then he disconnected the machine and shut off the power.

"Now it's just a waiting game," he thought.

The next day, at NASA's lab department, an alarm went off. A guard received a warning on the screen and immediately notified security personnel, who rushed to the scene. When they arrived, the lab was empty, but the alarm was still blaring. They inspected the room but couldn't see anything unusual—no computers or lights were on. Following protocol, they contacted the research leader, Walter Collings. Having been woken up in the middle of the night, Collings groggily answered:

"Yes, this is Collings. What's going on?"

"There's been an alarm in the lab," the guard replied, describing the situation. Collings asked them to stay at the room, saying he would come as soon as possible.

Twenty minutes later, Collings arrived, looked around, and entered the room. On the bench by the glass window was a lead box, and on top of it, a note. He read the note several times, pondering what to do.

"A Mars sample? Is this a joke?"

Collings ordered the guards to contact Brian Adams, head of the geology department for the Mars project. When Adams arrived, noticeably tired and out of breath, Collings showed him the box and asked him to read the note. Adams read it, and his confusion deepened with each reading.

"Where did this come from?" Adams asked.

"No idea," Collings replied. "It was here when we arrived. The alarm button was pressed manually, but security footage shows no one in the room or hallways."

"We need to examine this box," Adams said. "We can use the remote controls and robotic hands behind the glass. If anything happens, we'll be at a safe distance."

"Good, do it," Collings responded.

The guards were ordered to remain outside and keep quiet about what they had seen. Adams activated the remote controls and adjusted the camera toward the bench. Using the robotic hands, he carefully lifted the box’s lid. To their surprise, inside was a tube that looked exactly like the ones NASA had sent to Mars. Adams gently picked up the tube, but the box was otherwise empty. He placed the tube back and moved the robotic hands away from the table.

"It seems safe to continue the examination from inside the room," Adams said.