FOR I AM THE LAST

This document represents the last Will and Testament of William T. Krosney. To the finder of this document I bequeath all my worldly possessions. To the people of Earth I bequeath this story. Let the story be told, so we are not forgotten. For I am the last.

I am William Krosney, Mission Specialist - Botanist, Mars Excursion Base. I am the last surviving member in a crew of twenty. What happened to us? What is happening to me? Why am I here? This is my story, a story I must tell.

Two forces, the mountains of Earth and the heavens above have shaped my life.

As a child I was drawn to astronomy and space exploration. I read and re-read the historical exploits of Russia's Yuri Gagarin (first man in space) and America's Neil Armstrong (first man on the Moon). I remember distinctly where I was the day, hour and minute that China's Kam Lee became the first man on Mars. I built telescopes. I built and flew model rockets. Even today, in tribute to my youth, I've brought an old Mars Lander rocket kit with me to Mars as part of my personal effects (Vern Estes would be proud). Yet strangely enough, as a youth, I never envisioned, or even dreamed of space travel myself. I hadn't even ridden on the sub-orbital jaunts offered by Space Disney.

In my late teens I discovered mountain climbing. I was driven to climb, each peak higher than the last. In my twenties I devoted years of my life full-time to climbing. The obsession culminated in an excursion to the top of Everest, an event that changed my life forever. On the day of our final push to the summit we left camp in the pre-dawn darkness under a star-filled sky. In that darkness something happened. At 8000 meters above the Earth's surface, the stars looked different, they behaved differently, in a way that I couldn't explain. I felt them reach in and touch my soul, and in some strange way I felt "one" with the stars. It was then and there I realized that my destiny lie in the stars. Was it a spiritual revelation, or nothing more than the effects of oxygen deprivation from a clogged regulator as suggested by some? Whatever the real reason, my path in life was clear. Space was calling.

I had reached the peak of Everest, touched the top of the world, yet I felt empty. After Everest I never climbed again. I devoted my life full-time to get into space. I returned to school, obtained Ph.D.'s in Genetic Microbiology and Astro-Biology. My doctorate thesis was on the bioengineering of Mars. I worked on the genetic engineering of lichens to improve tolerances to ultra-extreme climates. I joined the Civilian Astronaut Corps. My life was focused, targeted with going into space. When the call came for volunteers for the Mars Endurance Base I jumped at the chance. My belief that Mars could be changed and my work in genetically altering lower plant forms to thrive in a Martian climate secured me a position. I was going to Mars!

We left Earth orbit bound for Mars in February 2046. My crewmates found the six-month trip to Mars tedious, almost boring. I found it exhilarating. Free of Earth's gravity, I was a 21st century Columbus sailing across the cosmos.

A fleet of robotic spacecraft preceded us. Advance craft were responsible for establishing shelters on the Martian surface and ensuring that our landing location had readily accessible resources of sub-surface water ice. The early days of Mars exploration had revealed a cold, dry and desolate world. Water, which once flowed freely across the surface of Mars, had long since disappeared, vaporized into space, frozen beneath pole caps, or locked into sub-surface frozen deposits. The search for life had revealed some tantalizing possible fossilized remains of early Martian bacteria, but without liquid water, Mars was a dead world. Our site had been selected because of substantial sub-surface ice deposits. Extracted, thawed and refined, liquid water was the lifeline for our colony.

We landed on August 29, 2046, my birthday! Our landing point was in Amazonis Planitia. To our east, the 24-kilometer crown of Olympus Mons rose above the Martian plain. Short-term, temporary occupations had preceded us, and permanent robotic outposts were well established. But Mars Endurance Base was to be the first permanently manned, self-sustaining Martian colony. As the Alpha Crew for Mars Endurance Base, we were to establish the base and remain for 26 months until a replacement crew came. We were a new breed of space explorers; we were colonists.

Within the protective cocoon of our habitat modules life settled into a comfortable routine. As one of three Mission botanists, my primary role was in support of the "GREENs". The GREEN was an elaborate system of living plants providing edible produce and aiding in the recycling of carbon dioxide and other colony wastes. Our primary mission objective was to prove the viability of long-term manned occupancy of Mars; scientific research and exploration were secondary objectives. But, our mission was not without its scientific firsts. A personal triumph for me, my genetically modified lichens survived on the Martian surface. But, by far, the greatest discovery we made came on day 725 of Mars Occupancy.

On Sol 725 we were drilling a routine exploratory hole, searching for further sub-surface ice deposits, when we hit a liquid. Like an old-fashioned oil gusher it spewed forth. Most quickly vaporized in the thin Martian atmosphere and a gentle powdery white snow fell on the Martian soil. But, for the first time in millennia, water flowed on the Martian surface.

We had found liquid water!

Capped and managed, we had more liquid water than we knew what to do with, a bountiful supply of pure, fresh, liquid water.

We washed. We bathed. We drank the water!

We had filtered the water of course, but within weeks of drinking the "sickness" appeared. We called it the sickness; we never really knew what to call it. It never manifested itself in symptoms the likes of a fever or other medical ailments. Toxin, microbial and viral screenings all revealed nothing. But something was slowly happening to us. It came from the deepest recesses of our subconscious; long dormant desires, fears, and anxieties. It came to us in dreams. For each of us it was different, yet the same; a slow, creeping madness.

My closest friend on our mission was Chin Lo. What happened to Chin was symptomatic of what was happening to many of us. Chin was a Mission Specialist - Engineer. Qualified beyond reproach, yet it was no secret why Chin was here. His father had died in China's first manned mission to Mars, his craft crashing into the surface on landing. Chin was here to honor his father's name, to fulfill his father's dream. For Chin his madness began with his own dreams. He dreamed his father was coming for him, and together they would walk the Martian surface. Infrequent at first, the frequency and intensity of the dreams increased. In each Chin would awaken just before his father appeared. The pain and mental anguish Chin experienced was obvious. Then one morning we awoke to find Chin and his pressure suit gone.

Many would not reveal the demons in their minds that they could not exorcise. But it was visible in their eyes. In desperation some simply walked out onto the Martian surface unprotected, succumbing quickly to the extreme cold and thin atmosphere. Others mercifully died in their sleep.

I do not know why I have been spared till now. I am the last, and now it is my turn.

My dreams started about two weeks ago. I am climbing Olympus Mons, scaling the tallest mountain in the solar system. I am not sure why I climb, but something stirs within me to climb, and climb I must. There is something that awaits me on the peak, something important. Yet each night I awake before I reach the summit.

It now occupies my waking hours. I gaze out the view portal, across the desolate Martian surface. In the distance Olympus Mons towers over the Martian surface, beckoning me.

I know that within days the replacement crew will arrive. But I don't seem to care.

Let the people of Earth know that ours is not a story of loss, nor one of failure. Let the people of Earth know that we were the first to establish a permanent base on Mars. Let the people of Earth know that we were more than mere caretakers; we were explorers. On the surface of Mars we have grown life, beneath its surface we have found liquid water.

Another communication from the replacement crew crackles over a monitor in the background. They implore me to hold on. But I am not here; my mind is miles away.

I must go now; Olympus Mons is calling.