Prolgue {by Anthraxus}

The pick crunched into the loose rock face of the volcano side. Through the textured surface of his pressure suit glove he imagined he could feel the faint rumbling of the basaltic magma that still flowed deep in the heart of the great volcano. He smiled as he pulled himself up and over the lip of the ledge. He puffed a little as he settled down and looked out across the vast expanse of Martian terrain before him. He could just pick out a cluster of flyers and builder drones working on setting up one of the modular homesteads units.

The exodus was coming. The home office on Earth had confirmed that the geologic instability had reached a breaking point, and it was just a matter of time until the tectonic power plants went into melt down. The first ships were already on their way, and were expected to land in the next couple of weeks. Central Trading was already ahead of schedule in deploying the homesteads, outposts, and settlements that the new population would be distributed to. The construction of the AREV units for the adventursome settlers that would be designated as prospectors was on schedule. Everything seemed to be moving smoothly.

A burst of static over his headset broke his reverie. "Eric, this is Central. What is your status?" He bit down on the response key and said, "Central, I am in position. Placing the package now. Eric out." He stood with a grunt and began assembling the digging array that he had hauled up with him. Twenty minutes later the array was complete, it's twelve foot launching tube extended at a fourty-five degree angle to the side of the mountain. Eric carefully stepped along the ledge until he was safely ensconced behind a protrusion. He flipped the arming switch on the remote and pressed the fire button.

Even in the thin Martian atmosphere the boom of the digger was impressive, and the echoing roar seemed to carry on for several minutes, bouncing back at him off of the small volcanoes nearby. He worked his way back out from behind his protective shielding. and noted with a grimace that the boring tool was completely destroyed. Apparently the echo had dislodged some rocks from further up the slope, and they completely folded the tube in their descent down the volcano side. At least it blasted the hole properly. He cut the mooring lines that held the destroyed equipment in place and watched it bounce down the slope.

Once he lost it in the shadow of the volcano, he turned back and began digging through his pack again. Smiling he pulled out the package. He carefully placed it in the slanting hole and let it go. It slid down the borehole, quickly vanishing from sight. Reaching into his pack one final time, he withdrew a small length of plastique. He carefully ringed the hole with it and pushed in a radio detonator. Sideling back behind his protective rock wall, he pushed the button for the detonator. Another echoing boom, and he moved back out to insure that the hole had collapsed.

He bit down on the key for his radio and said, "Central, this is Eric. The package is in place. Heading to rendevous, send my ride." He had already dropped over the side of the ledge and began to make his descent when he heard the reply, "Yes sir, Chairman. Your lifter is on the way."

He slid the last ten feet down the slope and stepped out onto the flat ground of the Martian plain. He could just spot the speck of his lifter approaching. He checked the last item off his mental list. Now that the last "Ipod" package was hidden, his direct actions in preparing for the newcomers were complete. He looked up into the sky, imagining that he could already hear the rumble of the descending rockets, bringing the remnants of humanity to his dusty Martian paradise, and a smile creased his features.