Starship Legacy: A Novel by Not Elon Musk

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The first junction opened like an ancient cathedral, the rover's lights unable to fully illuminate its scope. Multiple tunnels branched off, each promising its own mysteries. But it was something else that caught Sarah's attention.

"These readings are a bit odd," she muttered, frowning at her tablet. The latest soil analysis showed something weird– trace elements that didn't fit the expected pattern. She'd been watching the numbers long enough to recognize normal variations, and this was different.

"Problem?" Luke asked, noticing her expression.

"Not exactly." She adjusted some parameters, ran the analysis again. "There's something unusual in the soil composition. Could be contamination from the surface, but..." She trailed off, tapping the screen thoughtfully. "The distribution pattern is strange. More concentrated as we go deeper."

Ben had stopped the rover at the junction, panning its cameras to capture a full view of the space. "Which tunnel do you want to explore first? The eastern branch looks the most stable."

"Hold on," Mark interrupted, his eyes fixed on his own readings. "The ambient temperature in that eastern tunnel is about two degrees warmer than the others. And the humidity..." He double-checked his data. "It's higher too. Not by much, but it's consistent."

Luke felt a familiar tingle at the base of his neck – the same sensation he'd had when they'd first discovered the tube. Mars had taught them that anomalies, however small, demanded attention.

"Take us east," he decided. "But slowly. Sarah, keep an eye on those compound readings. Mark, I want to know if anything changes with those environmental parameters."

The rover turned, its lights probing the darkness ahead. The tunnel walls here were different – subtle changes in texture that might have been meaningless on Earth but stood out sharply in this preserved underground environment.

"Deploying another relay beacon," Ben reported. "Signal strength still good." His fingers moved carefully over the controls, guiding the rover past a fallen rock. "Though there's some interference... might be mineral deposits in the walls."

Sarah's tablet chimed again. She stared at the new data, her scientific skepticism warring with growing excitement. "Luke," she said carefully, "I think we should take core samples here. Deep ones."

"The mineral content?" he asked.

"Among other things." She showed him her tablet, pointing to a particular set of readings. "This chemical distribution... it's not random. There's a pattern to it. And these trace elements..." She shook her head. "I've never seen anything quite like it."

Luke studied the numbers, years of Martian caution warring with the implications of what he was seeing. "Mark, how long until the next predicted tremor?"

"Ninety-three minutes, give or take."

"Alright." Luke straightened up, decision made. "Ben, position the rover for core sampling. Sarah, I want a full spectral analysis of whatever we pull up. Mark, keep monitoring those environmental readings – any change, no matter how small, I want to know about it."

As the rover's sampling arm extended, Luke watched the screens intently. The core sample seemed simple enough – just another cylinder of Martian soil. But something about Sarah's tone, the way she was studying those readings... he'd learned to trust her instincts about these things.

Sarah took the sample data with her usual methodical approach, though he noticed her fingers moving a bit faster than normal across her tablet. Whatever she was seeing in those numbers, it had her full attention.

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