Free Giants Of Mars by Paul Alan Page A

programing glitch incapacitated all systems; maybe John Grier sabotaged the ship during the trip to Mars.
    Without panic, she followed an alternate plan and punched out through the Cargo Sleeve’s emergency hatch, and dragged Jason’s bio-suit protected, unconscious body through the dense bamboo. A heavy fog filled the damp Martian lowland. A continuous mist rained down on them, drenching her tight body suit that now clung to her subtle synthetic skin. When Jason’s physique got snagged on the thick undergrowth, her breast perked right through the material after gently fishing him out.
    In places, large brackish swamp puddles gathered between spongy bog surfaces, her footing bounced beneath their combined weight on these small islands.
                  Her internal sensors picked up a group of large animal-like signatures that hardly presented themselves in the visual range but under infrared they glowed in human-like form. Lexis could see their shimmers of refractive light moving amongst the plethora of bamboo. They never came close enough for her to actually see what they looked like.
    Mile, after mile, trekking through the swampy forest, she carried Jason’s unconscious body without being enervated. Albeit, she was relieved when the scenery began to ascend in elevation, and the humidity started to fritter away. Bamboo forest gave way to a more diverse selection of trees that mostly comprised of oaks, maples and pines.
    The changing landscape opened to a large rock outcropping castling out of the forest, signaling that this would be a good place to seek shelter. Lexis used her ground-penetrating radar, and discovered a small network of tunnels running under the rock; their depths would be ideal for hiding from satellite detection, and protecting Jason from the elements including surface radiation. He was in no immediate danger from the radiation but long-term exposure would be deadly. Keeping him out of the elements minimized the chance of him getting radiation sickness.
    Lexis came around the rock to where the mouth of a tunnel hid; after setting the gear down, she studied the opening with Jason tucked under her right arm. By analyzing the markings on the cave entrance she surmised the network of tunnels belonged to some kind of indigenous animal. Her sensors scanned for any kind of Martian life forms inside but came up empty, however she felt the prying eyes of the large Humanoids present but they remained well hidden. She gently laid Jason down, raised her pistol at the ready, and ducked down entering the low rock opening.
    After a quick investigation, Lexis discovered an open area about twenty feet in. She could easily seal both ends to protect them from the possibility of a forcible eviction by a returning Martian animal. She pulled Jason and the gear through the narrow opening until reaching the interior’s chamber; where they could actually stand upright. A small opening in the ceiling not only allowed light to beam in, but also allowed air to circulate through. Her nano-carbon and alloy frame permitted her superior strength to easily pile heavy boulders at the rear of the chamber where another tunnel ran deeper into the rock; dust temporarily filled the air when she pulled down the ceiling over the rear entrance, completely blocking it off.
    Only having to worry about the front entrance, Lexis worked at a fever pitch building a framed structure. Angling downward, she drove two opposing rows of sharply pointed bamboo logs into the ground; and with high-tensile strength wire she tied them together, thus forming heavy walls. Lexis invented a hinged trapdoor, and securely attached it to the A-frame assembly, opening upward so it could easily be locked down to safeguard the entrance. Lastly, she camouflaged the structure with piles of deciduous branches.
                  Lexis felt she could leave Jason securely behind while she trekked back to the Chameleon; there she would quickly cannibalize