Free The Attempt (The Martian Manifesto Book 1) by Bob Lee Page B

side. At the last second, they emerged and bit into the slow moving treads and chewed. Although the treads attempted to shake them off, the synths just kept chewing as they rode around on the treads. As soon as the tread on the right separated, that synth lunged up. Gaping its mouth wide, it grabbed onto the alien’s neck and pulled sideways. The whole machine teetered and then fell over.
    Instantly the other synth released its hold and wrapped around the rear section protruding above it. It then released its store of electricity in one huge jolt. The treads on the alien machine stopped. The synth on the right then wrapped around the front of the machine, and released its shock to ensure destruction. Then, per programming, the two synths reburied themselves and returned to the safety of the crater.
    Probe Spit was satisfied. The programmers would be proud; it had assessed the situation and acted correctly. It would now monitor events to see if the alien machine revived or if additional machines were dispatched to threaten it. If nothing additional approached it within three of this planet’s days, it could proceed with the next phase.
    # # #
    Charles arrived to find the other three astronauts huddled around the equipment. “What happened?” he asked.
    Brad turned around to look at him. “The rover just went dark. I had programmed its approach to that crater, and it was in autonomous mode as it worked its way around any rocks or holes that it detected. I was watching the monitor now and then while I was running on the treadmill across the room.  I think I saw the image tilt and then everything went dark.”
    “It might have missed detecting a rock as it was moving and tipped after running over it,” Commander Grant Styles suggested.
    “That type of accident might have caused the monitor go dark,” replied their technologist Sergey, “but all the instruments are now dead, as if the whole mechanism has shorted. That should never have happened, even if it fell over. There are too many redundant components. I can’t get a response from any of the various instruments. I’ve even transmitted a hard reboot three times, but with no response.”
    “Can you run back the video feed we have stored here?” Charles asked. “Maybe we can spot something that caused it.
    “Da, good idea,” Sergey stated. “I will start the feed from five minutes before the incident.” He tapped a few keys and the monitor came to life. In the distance, they could see the raised ridge of the crater that was the rover’s destination. The rover moved slowly forward and then stopped in front of a small rock. It then turned slightly right, moved forward a few feet, and then stopped and turned back towards the crater. It then proceeded forward again. The way ahead looked clear.
    After a minute, the rover suddenly stopped. Thirty seconds later, the scene tilted sideways. It was obvious that the rover had fallen over. Five seconds later the video went dark.
    “Wait, go back, pause the video and get a timestamp from when the rover abruptly stopped,” Charles said. “Then pull up the telemetry for that moment. Maybe something happened we can’t see. Perhaps we hit a sinkhole or something similar.”
    Brad the geologist snorted. “There are no sinkholes on Mars, Chuck. It’s not Florida.”
    “Well, do you have a better explanation?” Charles retorted. Brad shook his head negative.
    Sergey tapped the keyboard and pulled up a set of numbers on the monitor. “This is most strange. The instruments report that the treads were still moving, even though the rover was not making progress. Perhaps we hit a sand pit and dug out one side, causing us to tip.”
    “I wouldn’t think the treads on one side could dig a hole deep enough to tip the rover in thirty seconds, but at least that is remotely plausible,” Brad said. “I guess that’s our best theory for now.”
    Sergey tapped the keys, more insistently this time. “Bah, it is totally dead. I