Starship Legacy: A Novel by Not Elon Musk

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Chapter 2, Page 23

The next morning brought more questions than answers. Base Alpha's data streams showed normal operations – oxygen cycling, power consumption, crew movements within the hab modules – but the daily briefing remained "postponed pending equipment diagnostics." Something about that phrasing nagged at Elon's mind as he reviewed the overnight logs.

"Pull up the last week's communication records," he instructed his terminal. The data appeared instantly, a neat timeline of transmissions between Earth and Mars. Everything looked routine until yesterday afternoon, Mars time. Then the pattern changed – shorter bursts of data, heavily compressed. The kind of transmission protocol usually reserved for priority scientific findings.

Interesting.

He zoomed in on the power consumption data. Small spikes in the geological survey equipment, multiple core sample analyses running simultaneously. The energy distribution suggested they were processing a lot of data, far more than typical maintenance would require.

"Dr. Martinez is here for the Starship propulsion review," his AI assistant announced.

"Tell her I'll be there in ten minutes." Elon's eyes stayed fixed on the Base Alpha readings. The crew's movement patterns were concentrated around the science labs and the workshop. Whatever they were working on had their full attention.

He thought back to his last conversation with Luke Shaw, just three days ago. The captain had mentioned expanding their underground storage capabilities, exploring some promising geological features near the base. Standard stuff for a Mars colony, but now...

His tablet chimed with another update from Base Alpha. Still no briefing scheduled, but they were requesting additional bandwidth for data transmission. A lot of bandwidth.

Elon felt a familiar tingle of excitement, the same sensation he'd had during those first successful Falcon 9 landings. His engineering instincts, honed by decades of breakthrough moments, were practically humming. Something was happening up there, something big enough that Shaw's usually punctual crew was willing to break routine.

"Dr. Martinez says the propulsion team is waiting," the AI reminded him.

"Right." He stood, but couldn't resist one last look at the Base Alpha data. The transmission requests were still climbing. Whatever they'd found, they were being thorough about documenting it.

Good. That's why he'd chosen them – not just for their expertise, but for their methodical approach to the unexpected. Mars had a way of surprising even the best-laid plans. The trick was being ready when it did.

He headed for the propulsion lab, mind already racing with possibilities. After five years of careful expansion and incremental progress, had his Mars crew stumbled onto something truly remarkable? The engineer in him wanted to demand answers immediately, but experience had taught him patience. They'd tell him when they were ready, when they had something concrete to report.

Still, he made a mental note to keep his schedule clear for the next few days. Just in case.