Bowtie van zyl biography of william

Back cover of eBook.

EXCERPT -

Violent wind storms of the past had whipped orange dust into the atmosphere, and it had settled in a myriad of fiery orange hues. The landscape is a combination of dirt, sand and rocks – a deserted relief. As I peer out of my helmet’s visor, I raise my white-gloved hand in front of my face to shield me from the worst of the Sun’s futile glare. Walking in the spacesuit is difficult, it is bulky and uncomfortable. Where there are rocks, my footsteps disappear as if I had not been there at all. My air supply is low – the red light on the side of my visor is flashing – I have to return to the pod to top up.  

I am lonely here. I think Jason is alone too. It is so quiet here, not a sound: no birds, no cars, and no neighbour chatter. I can’t even hear the wind. I miss the happy noises of animals and the friendly voices people.

I am hungry — Jason too. Jason is going to be very disappointed in his lunch today. It is the same as yesterday and the day before—synthetic minced meat in a tube – grown in a lab. I am going to try the spinach and potato mash for lunch today or maybe the pasta with tomato paste and synthetic beef. All our food is mashed into large tubes. Some of it has small chunks in it, just to break the monotony of the mash. In fact, all our food is mashed up and stored in tubes. I miss Earth today. I feel so sorry for Jason.

While we were standing outside, about a kilometer away from our pod, something unexpected happened. Jason saw the movement too. Immediately, instinctively, he chased after it.

‘What was that? Was it a shadow?’

I had the shock of my life. What is going on?

“Come back, Jason, Jason!”

Jason can’t hear a thing. We are now both low on oxygen! I decided to run after him. We are getting further away from the pod.

“Jason, Jason!” 

“Come back, Jason!”

A red furry animal dashed for fifteen meters and then disappears into a hole. It looked like a large dog.

What? Am I dreaming; an animal alive on Mars!

                            *****

The hole looks like it had been drilled by a machine of some kind. It is large. Someone must have dug this hole? But, we are the first astronauts living on Mars. Had people been drilling and excavating the red planet before us? There is absolutely no record of that.

Jason is down the hole – somewhere – behind the ‘thing.’  

‘I have to save Jason.’

My head and chest-cam are switched on. But, I have decided not to contact the base station where we live. I don’t want to alarm the other members. I want to investigate first.

The hole – which becomes a tunnel of some sort – is big enough for me to fit in comfortably. I went onto my knees and started to crawl down at a steep angle, laser gun in hand. I switched on my additional headlamp LEDs.

‘Am I doing the right thing?’

After five minutes of very slow crawling, I see a burst of movement that attracts my attention. It is shadows against the wall. My heart stops for a moment. The white-and-copper coloured tail is just visible as the tunnel makes a slight curve to the right. I move slowly towards the creature; careful not to make a sound as to startle it. The white, grey, and copper coloured fox turned its head slowly towards me. It can see me coming.  I am stunned as our eyes lock; it is sizing me up with its honey-coloured eyes. I reach out slowly to him, and in a flash of copper, he races past – running over me – and out of the hole. The fox moved like lightning. I haven’t even had time to move a muscle – he flew over me like a jet.

‘There is Jason, there is Jason! He is alive!’

I tried to turn in the hole, but it was just too narrow. I backed out feet first. On my out, I bumped my head against a big rock. I looked up and to my left was an unusual shape.

‘That is black and white hair – it is the fur of an animal!’  

“It is a fossil, it is a fossil! I can’t believe it, it is a fossil of some kind!” I shouted.

What we have been looking for – life on mars – I have just found! This changes everything! 

I switch on the two side lights on my headpiece. I sit on my knees and turn to face the fossil.    

‘I can’t believe my eyes!’

In front of me – staring at me – is the fossil of a badger. I know badgers because I have a particular interest in them. The full length of the badger is displayed, I can see the entire length of it. It is like a cross-section of the animal. Every single bone is intact. The skeleton is surrounded by the skin of the badger – a thin line around the bones. The fur looks new and fresh as if the badger died yesterday. This is the find of the century. The humans on Earth will be excited when they receive the picture and the news...