Chapter 57: Unknown Plague

“Found it! I found it! It’s this rock, isn’t it?”

Victoria held up a chunk of emerald-green ore, her voice crackling with excitement over the comms as she snapped photos.

“Me too! This vein is massive. The color is incredibly pure, that indicates a high concentration!”

“This deposit must be huge. This is incredible! Truly incredible!”

The radio channel was flooded with jubilant chatter. Dr. Clark, suppressing her own thrill, cut through the noise. “Ladies and gentlemen! Congratulations to everyone! Please don’t wander too far… Let’s collect samples and return to base. We’ll conduct a comprehensive survey once the main force arrives.”

…

An hour later, the team gathered by the rover, laden with heavy sample cases.

“I estimate this site holds hundreds of thousands of tons of uranium. Enough to power humanity for decades,” Zack exclaimed the moment he cycled through the airlock.

“This is a gift from God.”

Victoria flashed a radiant smile at her camera. Holding a piece of raw ore, she began her report. “Ladies and gentlemen, we have discovered a major uranium deposit just 150 kilometers from the Mars Forward Base! It’s truly amazing… It makes every hardship of this trip worth it.”

“Now, I’m going to share this news with the world. You are witnessing history with me.”

Click.

The flash illuminated the cramped cabin.

Although the rover lacked the bandwidth to transmit high-definition video back to the Noah in real-time, Victoria wanted to capture the raw emotion of the moment for later broadcast.

Zack eagerly ran the sample through the portable spectrometer. His eyes went wide. “My god… look at this! The uranium content is 1.36%! This isn’t just a mine; it’s a bonanza! We struck it rich!”

He had never been so excited. This discovery secured the future of the fleet. Energy was everything. An ore grade of 1.36% would be considered top-tier even on Earth.

The 150-kilometer return trip took about three hours. They radioed the good news ahead to the base, which then relayed it to the Noah in orbit.

“It’s a uranium mine!”

“Uranium on Mars!”

The ship was in an uproar. Everyone understood the implications.

In the command center, Jason clenched his fists and punched the air, venting his relief. A uranium mine meant not just fuel, but access to associated rare earth metals crucial for high-tech manufacturing.

“Good evening, viewers. I’m Victoria, and I’m delighted to share this discovery with you…” The delayed broadcast began playing on screens across the ship. “Everyone, look. This is the moment we found our future.”

The footage showed the entire process, from the scientists’ exhaustion to their sudden shock and eventual jubilation. It was raw and authentic. The joy was infectious.

“It is a beautiful greenish stone, and it is the key to our survival. Uranium is the fuel of stars, and the energy generated by nuclear fission is enormous…”

“…This isn’t just a victory for the twenty of us, but for all of humanity…”

Suddenly, a researcher in the background stumbled. Someone rushed over to Victoria and whispered something. The screen flickered, and the feed was abruptly cut.

Jason noticed the unnatural break immediately. His expression hardened. He whispered a command to a nearby officer, then turned to Austin.

“What happened? Why was the feed cut? You look pale.”

Austin walked over, his voice low and urgent. “Captain, fourteen of the twenty people on that rover team have collapsed. They’re comatose with high fevers.”

“What?!” Jason slammed his fist on the table.

…

Down on the surface, Dr. Roman, the base commander, ordered immediate isolation the moment the rover docked. He was cursing internally.

The symptoms had a delayed onset of several hours. The team had already mingled with base personnel. What now? Isolate everyone? Roman himself might already be infected.

Soon, the 15th person fell into a coma. Then the 16th. The 17th… The collapse was spreading like wildfire.

“Emergency announcement! Emergency announcement! Do not remove your helmets! Repeat: Do not remove your helmets! An unknown pathogen is spreading rapidly!”

“Emergency announcement! Biohazard Level 4 active!”

Was this… malice from Mars.

Dr. Roman speculated it was a dormant Martian microorganism, something humanity had never encountered.

The only way to fight it was to identify the pathogen and find its weakness. But working in bulky EVA suits made delicate lab work impossible. Someone had to take the risk.

Then let it be me,Roman decided. I’m likely infected anyway.

He could already feel the symptoms, a slight fever, a heaviness in his limbs.

He felt he had failed humanity. A crisis at the worst possible moment…

Why hadn’t they found life earlier? Was it all concentrated around the radiation of the uranium mine?

Roman sighed. He felt responsible. Although the rover team was infected before returning, as the commander, the lapse in quarantine protocol was on him.

Humanity was naive. Their bio-safety measures were designed for Earth-based pathogens. Standard disinfectants worked on terrestrial life, but against Martian biology? Roman realized too late that their assumptions were fatal.

Regret was useless now. He had to make amends.

“Marcus,” Roman called out over the local channel. “You and your men haven’t removed your helmets since the rover arrived. Your infection risk is low. If I go down, you are in command.”

“Understood, Doctor. I will hold the line,” Marcus replied, his voice steely. He stood at attention, initiating martial law. No one was allowed to unseal their suits or move between sectors without clearance. Only medical personnel had freedom of movement.

Roman entered the bio-lab and began drawing blood from the patients.

“Patient Zero: Body temperature 39.1°C. Respiration normal. Heart rate 95 bpm. No immediate threat of organ failure. Estimated incubation period: four hours.”

“Transmission vector likely airborne. High contagion rate. Direct contact also a vector.” Roman dictated his notes, fighting through the brain fog that was beginning to cloud his thoughts.

“Standard EVA suits seem effective. However, the pathogen persists in the air. Breaking the seal to eat or drink leads to infection.”

He placed a sample of the uranium ore under the electron microscope.

“I found traces of DNA and protein on the ore sample. It appears to be carbon-based… Wait. I understand now. On an energy-poor planet, these microorganism cling to uranium deposits. They feed on radiation! They survive by metabolizing nuclear decay energy!”

“That explains why the rest of the planet is barren. They congregate at energy sources.”

“Analysis of infected blood shows a spike in white blood cells. The human immune system is fighting, but losing. Humoral immunity is ineffective.”

“The organism is microscopic, virus-like in size. Optical microscopes are useless.”

“Standard disinfectants are ineffective. Their cell walls are likely reinforced to withstand high radiation, making them impervious to chemical attacks…”

Roman shook his head violently, trying to clear the dizziness.

“Four hours post-exposure. My head feels like lead. Dehydration symptoms. Alternating chills and fever. Vision is blurring.”

He kept writing, his hand shaking but determined. Every word could be the key to a cure for the survivors.

“Antibiotics: Ineffective. Interferon: Ineffective. Immune response…”

Dr. Roman couldn’t hold on any longer. The pen slipped from his fingers, and he collapsed onto the lab floor.

Soldiers in full EVA gear rushed in, awkwardly lifting him onto a cot and hooking up a saline IV. It was all they could do.

100 casualties… 200… 300.

Within hours, the count stabilized at 322 comatose. Only 178 remained conscious. They huddled in their suits, terrified to break the seal even for a sip of water, staring at their fallen comrades.

Hunger and thirst gnawed at them, but fear kept their helmets locked.

…

On the Noah, Jason was pacing like a caged animal.

“Emergency landing! Prepare for immediate descent!”

Crews were frantically welding heavy ballast to the hull to increase the ship’s mass and force a landing. It would take six hours to reach the surface.

Advisors warned him of the safety risks, but Jason didn’t care. He had to save his people.

How can the New Human Civilization fall to a virus? Brothers and sisters, hold on. You must hold on! We are coming!

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep