“I can help?—”
“No,” he cut her off. “My enhanced strength will make it quicker. And safer.”
She wanted to argue, but she knew he was right. His cybernetic abilities would allow him to enlarge the hole much more efficiently than she could.
“Fine,” she conceded. “I’ll gather the equipment we need.”
While he worked on widening the opening, she retrieved her field kit from the rover. She laid out everything they might need: high-intensity portable lights, climbing gear, sample containers, additional scanning equipment, and emergency medical supplies.
The sound of his work filled the hangar—the rhythmic scrape of metal against stone as he enlarged Roland’s excavation. His movements were carefully controlled, each strike calculated to remove material without compromising the stability of the surrounding soil.
“The natural fissure Roland found makes this easier,” he called over his shoulder. “It follows the path of least resistance down to the tunnel.”
She joined him at the edge of the now-much-larger hole, peering down into the darkness. “How deep is it?”
“About ten meters to the tunnel floor,” he replied. “We’ll need a ladder.”
She nodded and retrieved a lightweight, flexible ladder from the rover. It was designed specifically for field exploration, strong enough to support several times her weight despite its deceptively fragile appearance.
“I’ll secure it,” he said, taking the ladder from her hands. His fingers brushed against hers, and that now-familiar spark of awareness shot through her. She pulled back, focusing on the task at hand rather than the confusing feelings he stirred in her.
He anchored the ladder securely to the hangar wall, testing it with a sharp tug before nodding in satisfaction. “It’s stable.”
“Good.” She pulled a thermal jumpsuit on over her coverall, then gathered her pack, double-checking that she had everything they might need. Roland circled her feet, chirping eagerly. “Yes, you’re coming too,” she told him with a smile.
“I’ll go first,” Zach said as he clipped a light to his belt, his tone making it clear this wasn’t a suggestion.
She rolled her eyes. “Fine. Just don’t take all day about it.”
His mouth twitched in what might have been amusement. “Such an eager little scientist.”
Normally she would have objected to the term, but the warmth in his eyes made her heart skip a beat instead.
“You have no idea,” she muttered under her breath, watching him climb down the ladder with enviable ease.
“Clear,” his voice echoed up to her. “Send Roland down.”
She knelt beside the armadillo. “Go on, Roland. Be careful.”
Roland chirped once, then scurried over the edge, using his specialized limbs to navigate the almost vertical descent with astonishing speed. She watched until he reached the bottom, then secured her own light and began her descent.
The ladder swayed slightly under her weight, but it held firm. The walls of the excavation were rough where Zach had enlarged Roland’s original tunnel, but she could see the natural fissure Roland had discovered—a jagged crack that wound its way downward through the Martian bedrock.
As she descended, the air grew noticeably cooler. Her light illuminated swirls of dust dancing in the beam, disturbed by their passage. The fissure widened near the bottom, opening into the larger tunnel they’d detected on the scanner.
Zach waited at the base of the ladder, his silver eyes gleaming in the darkness. He reached up to steady her as she made the final steps down.
“Careful,” he murmured, his hands strong and sure on her waist. “The floor is uneven.”
She let him guide her down, trying not to focus on the way his hands felt or the fact that he didn’t immediately release her.
“Thank you,” she said, trying not to sound breathless.
He held her for a moment longer, and she had the feeling he was as reluctant to let her go as she was to pull away. The moment stretched, taut with tension, and then he finally stepped back, clearing his throat.
“What do you think?” he asked. “Natural or artificial?”
The tunnel was wide and high enough that even Zach didn’t need to duck. Their lights illuminated a rough, rock-strewn surface, the walls streaked with the colors of Martian minerals. It looked natural enough, except for the perfectly straight line of the tunnel extending into the darkness in both directions.
