The Red Rock

Chapter 5: Battle at Thirst Land

I didn’t sleep at all that night, going over the plan again and again in my head.

By morning, we were riding deep into the desert, our rovers kicking up trails of dust behind us. We

passed through narrow canyons and dry riverbeds, threading steadily through the dunes toward the

heart of the region.

“All this time, there hasn’t been any sign of life or activity,” Gerry said over the comms.

“They’ve come through,” Jarek replied. “But it’s too harsh. Too exposed. That’s why they call it Thirst

Land.”

At times, when cresting the brow of a dune, we’d see something ahead.

“Are those—?” Gerry started to ask.

Jarek raised a fist, and we stopped.

“Yes,” he confirmed. “They’re Tardigrades.”

About twenty of them lay curled like dry boulders.

“Are they dead?” Gerry asked.

“Tun state,” Vanessa explained. “They slow their systems almost to zero.”

“Cryptobiosis,” Tyron added. “We should avoid waking them.”

It would’ve taken too long to go around. So we rode through the resting herd, slow and quiet as ghosts.

Then: a siren.

A harsh wail.

Our vitals spiked across interfaces.

Panic.

“What the fuck?!” Jarek roared.

 At the back of our line, the oxygen extractor rover’s emergency lights flashed and its siren blared.

Tyron was already at the panel, pressing buttons, shouting, “It’s a malfunction!”

The Tardigrades began to tremble.

They were waking up.

“Let’s go, Tyron!” Vanessa yelled. “They’ll be up in a minute!”

We accelerated, hoping to escape before they fully stirred—but too late.

One massive Tardigrade charged from the herd and grabbed Gerry’s bike by the high-velocity tire. He

and the creature tumbled into the sand.

We stopped and formed a defensive line. Bullets flew. The Tardigrade dragged Gerry by the foot across

the dune. He screamed, clawing at the red sand.

Jarek fired—but the creature’s hide was too thick.

Then it got worse.

A Rotifer emerged—huge, worm-like, tooth-lined maw gaping as it slithered from under the surface.

It became a tug-of-war between the Rotifer and the Tardigrade over Gerry’s limp body.

“THWACK! THWACK! THWACK!” Jarek fired, hitting the Tardigrade in the head.

It stumbled.

But the Rotifer kept coming.

We shot everything we had, but more Rotifers burst out, hungry and frenzied.

Gerry passed out from shock. We were surrounded. Our ammo was running low.

Then—precision strikes lit the sky.

Drones.

Black, sleek, UN Space Force drones.

They tore through the monsters with coordinated efficiency. Tardigrades and Rotifers fell in twisted

piles.

Silence fell.

The siren stopped.

The only sound was our heavy breathing inside our helmets.

Gerry staggered to his feet, dazed.

“What the hell was that?!” I demanded.

No one answered—except Gerry.

“UN drones,” he muttered. “Standard protocol if a mission is compromised.”

Everyone turned.

“Wow, Boss. How’d we miss that?” Tyron asked sarcastically.

“We didn’t,” I said. “No one told us drones were part of the mission.”

Jarek fumed. “That’s sabotage. A planted malfunction. Someone wanted us exposed.”

Tyron lunged at Gerry, furious. I grabbed him, pulling him back.

“Think of the bigger picture,” I said.

I turned to Jarek. “Can we still make it?”

He nodded. “If we ditch the rovers, we can move faster. We’ll trade some of the gear for portable

extractors at the next exo camp.”

“Exonationalists?” Gerry interjected. “I thought they were just a myth. I say we go back.”

I looked around the group.

“All in favor of going back, raise your hands.”

Only Gerry raised his.

Vanessa snarled. “Your problem is, you think everything’s a myth.”

We rode into the Martian sunset.

I pinged Jarek on a private line.

“Those drones worry me,”I said.

He smiled grimly. “We’re heading into territory where long-range comms won’t work. That’s why the

Interstellars set up camp there.”

I was impressed.

He added, “I left the rovers behind on purpose. That’s how they were tracking us.”