Mission 1: Oxygen Level Zero (Mars Diaries)
Chapter One
Sandstorm!
Across the plains, the black shell of the gigantic dome
gleamed in late-afternoon sunshine. It was beautiful
against the red soil, laden with iron oxides, and the faded
rose-colored Martian sky. From the bottom of the mountain
where I stood, it took less than an hour's trek across the
plains to reach it-in good weather.
But we would not get that hour. Sand rattled hard
against my titanium casing, warning me of how little time remained.
Much less than we needed.
I turned my head to the left, into the wind that raked the
sand across me. A huge dark wall lifted from the north of
the plains, a blanket of doom that covered more and more
of the sky. Winds of near-hurricane force lifted tons upon
tons of red sand particles. Already the front edge of the
storm reached out to us. In less than half an hour, those
tons of sand would begin to cover me and the three scientists
I had been sent out of the dome to find.
"Home base," I called into my radio. "This is Rescue
Force One. Please make contact. Home base. This is Rescue
Force One. Please make ... read full excerpt from Mars Diaries 1 ebook
