8. Mars

[dakota]

" Not by yourself you're not. " McKenna replied, getting up." Besides, if he's hurt you'll need me. " She looked at Jess and Mengsk," coming?"

[Dome]

Flip says, "no sense on all of us getting hurt or whatever, let me go ahead scout it out and see if I can find any sign of him. He may just have fallen into a hole, but no sense on all of us falling in."

[Mierin]

Jessica shakes her head at Flip and says "While I agree that we should try to find him, you're not going alone. At the very least, as security, I'm going along as well, in case things get hairy." Turning to McKenna, she adds "I think you should stay here for the moment. If he is injured, we'll call for you."

[Renekin Skywalker]

"I'll come too." Said the one who worked for the mining company. "I don't know cave spah-lunking, but I can at least keep my eye out for troubles in the rockwalls." He was suited up before the others could object. "And, I don't know for security, miss, but we don't need the doctor here on the bus."

Mensk (GMed) agreed to come along as well, because the GM didn't feeling like writing two whole storilines, and to move things along, anyways.

A short while later, they were suited up and outside the bus.

"We keep radio contact with the bus." Said the miner, slining an extra rope over his shoulder and handing the first aid kit to McKenna. "With the heavy metals, it won't last long."

[dakota]

"But..." McKenna started to argue with Jessica and Flip as she took the first aid kit, then sighed. Then when the miner agreed she should join the search party, she smirk cockily," Don't worry, I'll stay out of the way."

[Mierin]

Jessica raises an eyebrow at McKenna and smirks at her, shaking her head. 'Somehow I doubt that.' she thinks to herself. Out loud, she says, "Let's get moving then."

[Renekin Skywalker]

The five (Jessica, Foreman, McKenna, Miner Joe and Mensk) wandered ever deeper into the cave. All the while, Joe was speaking aloud what h learned as they went. This made for the perfect opportunity to maintain radio contact, really, since people would interrupt with questions.

So far, Miner Joe had established that the rock was igneous ore rock, similar to the Canadian Shield, for stability. This meant low odds of tectonic activity, and few fissures or rock bursts or other worse things to worry about. The caves were hollowed out by the wind and sand, judging by the smoothness of the walls. Water might never have been involved, since there are no stalactites or stalagmites to be seen or felt, and no sediment stains along the walls. This was also a good since it made the tunnels even more stable. Though, by the way the tunnel snaked, it may have once been an underground river, just with the tributaries hidden by eons of sand.

There weren’t many offshoot routes, which was helpful, though it did snake like a river. Miner Joe often spoke like they were moving upstream.

At one point, he joked about it being a good vacation spot if the city became too crowded. There were nervous chuckles from the bus.

Given the volume of Martian sand on the tunnel/cave floor, and the breeze, and the fact that the sand isn’t blowing too deeply into their cave entrance, meant that there was indeed a network of tunnels, with openings far enough away to be either within or outside of the dust storms.

This meant that the network, even if it is a few tunnels, is miles long.

It was at this revelation that the group realized they had lost contact with the bus.

EDIT:
GM note: while they walked, they could see the tracks of the spelunker, but had not, yet, come to the end of those tracks.

[dakota]

" Sad thing is, this is the most exciting thing that's happened on this dirt ball." McKenna muttered under her breath, following the others at the back of the group.

[Renekin Skywalker]

"Yeah? This is exciting?" Asked Miner Joe. "I heard some ship nearly crash-landed a few weeks ago. All odds against them, and they did a 3-pointer, of all things. First time they used emergency response in years, too. Movie-level stuff. That would have been exciting. This... Hold on." He switched frequencies. "Test... Test... Hello? Bus?"

He looked at the others. "We can go back and re-start, or we can go on. We're not where the other guy disappeared, and we could hear him on the radio, so I'm kinda worried."

[Dome]

Foreman listens to the guy, he thinks, 'yeah a shipful of people dieing on reentry that's exciting all right...'

As they stop he drops down and looks at the tracks trying to see if he can notice anything about them, he says to the others, "could be the storm. If you guys want, head back. I'm not just going to forget about a guy because the radio stopped working."

He looks at the tracks one more time, then heads deeper into the tunnel network.

[dice=20]perc on tracks. (all he has for that)[rand=555264628068784286800111684958098688341371762467039222427688434425]

[Renekin Skywalker]

Dome, despite his horrible glummy funk, came to a conclusion that the light sand blowing from the storm, is covering the footprints. The spelunker's prints (and no others) are visible, but fading.

About 20 feet ahead Miner Joe had stopped, and was looking round the walls. "They end here, antually."

[Dome]

Dome, moves to catch up to the miner. "any sign of what may have happened to him?"

[Renekin Skywalker]

Neither of us remembers the poor pilot's name... no wonder he's mopey.

Foreman... being who is meant by Dome, what with Dome playing Foreman... sees what Miner Joe sees:

The footprints stop. There looks like what might be other footprints... or spikes in the ground. And then the spikes disappear, too. Probably why Miner Joe suddenly had an interest in the walls and roof of the cave tunnel.

[dakota]

"What makes the little spike prints?" McKenna asked, moving up to see passed Foreman. " Did he have a walking stick or something?"

[Dome]

Foreman shines his lite at the roof of the cave and looks up to see if anything from up there may have caused what they see. As he does so he answers MJ, "I don't know. I don't think he had anything with him at all."