Do you know know the feeling when you planned a mission for years, checked and rechecked your calculations, made double-sure you didn't miss anything? And then, when you're well under way and beyond the point of no return, you realize there is one tiny detail you missed. And suddenly, everything changes. That's exactly what happened...

The story began 7 years ago, after the success of my experiment... The first portal created by me, or should I say the first portal created by man, worked better than anyone had imagined.

I was successful in teleporting a cotton t-shirt from my lab to the lab of my young colleague, Dr Cho, which was 100m away. The t-shirt appeared 2m to the right of the target location but we didn't consider that as much of a problem.

The press couldn't get over appreciating the achievement. Everybody began treating me like 'the generation's Einstein', I found that annoying... how could they compare Einstein with a jerk like me? The President became so proud that he didn't mind thinking once before announcing that our country would teleport the first human to Mars in 5 years of time.

I felt crushed under responsibility. 100m was in no way comparable to the 225,000,000km between Earth and Mars. I knew that the mission was gonna be difficult to pull off... but orders are orders...

We began with tests in just a few days from the announcement. The t-shirt was replaced by a dummy. Everything else was the same as the first experiment.

I pushed the button of the teleporter, an array of lights surrounded the dummy as the portal opened around it. In a moment, the dummy disappeared into thin air and the lights were gone. I ran to Dr Cho's lab. To my horror, the dummy had appeared 27m on the left from the target.

I did the experiment again, looking for the mistake. The dummy appeared 17.5 meters right. Next time, 12m left and 2m ahead. Then, 6m right and 4.5m above. Then,5.1m above 5m behind and 29m left. Then, 1m ahead... I felt slightly relieved. On the next try, the dummy appeared in my lab instead of my Dr Cho's. That was alarming.

That was enough experiments for a day... I asked everyone to leave and sat down on my chair and started going through the calculations. I knew there was some error but the experimental data just didn't seem enough to help me locate it. While I was busy scratching my head, a soft step echoed through my silent lab. I turned my head to see Dr Cho walk towards me with concern visible on her face. On that day, she sat beside me and we discussed the possible ways to get the required experimental data. That was the first time I felt like a had a partner to watch my back... I might have been the team leader for the mission but I just felt that all the responsibility was on my shoulders. I was not famous for being a social person and I don't remember talking to Dr Cho before that day came by.

She suggested we increased the scale of the test immediately. Both of us took the permissions to move the project to the Lorartic Desert 34 miles away from our laboratory. There, we began trying to teleport the dummy to a location 1500m away. It appeared 219m away from the target location on the first try. On the next try, it appeared 167 m away. Then, 271m away and 10m above. Dr Cho and I conducted many trails. We were forced to stop when the dummy appeared about 120m above the ground level and fell down... making all its limbs break and fall off the torso.

I sat down in Dr Cho's caravan with all the experimental data my team had collected and started going through the calculations. Dr Cho suggested some changes... I found them very compelling and saw no trouble in giving them a try.

The next morning, the updated teleporter gave more accurate results in teleporting the new dummy... The error in position had decreased. But we were light-years away from perfection.

It took our team more than an year to fully correct the error in the positioning along the plane of the ground. After that, there were no ahead or behind errors. Nor were there left and right errors. But the dummy kept appearing at random heights above the ground. We were forced to replace the dummy about three times everyday. With the task of preparing the machine for astronauts as soon as possible, that was still a huge problem.

Dr Cho and I, spent weeks trying to remove the vertical error but kept failing over and over again. I didn't notice when I began calling her by her first name, Helen.

Pressure was building up on our team and I couldn't find a way to correct the z-axial errors. Then, I started looking for a plan B. I got a plan ready in less time than I thought. If we couldn't know how high above the ground the astronaut would be teleported, we could could equip him with gear which would allow a soft landing.

A jetpack was the ideal option for the required gear. We equipped the dummy with a remotely controlled jetpack and to our relief, were able to make it land safely.

We decided it was time to bring the astronauts into the picture. The astronauts who were preparing to be sent to Mars by our mission were called to the Lorartic Desert. The trials went better than we had imagined...
Lt J Carter, a young and enthusiastic fellow, was the first one who gave it a try.

He was teleported to a point about half a kilometer above the target, yet he was able to land without any problems due to his marvelous control over his jetpack.

Then, we began increasing the scale of the tests even further. We successfully teleported the crew to Siberia, then to Australia.

The final details were presented before our team when we were told that the astronauts were to be teleported to the BS Scientific Settlement on Mars.

The government provided us with a life-size model of the settlement, mostly made of wood. When conducted a 'rehearsal' of the mission teleporting Carter to the spot symbolizing our actual target location. It was more than just successful... It worked out fabulously. Carter nailed the landing with his jetpack skills.

In all this time... One thing had become clear. The machine could, luckily, only teleport to an empty space (not necessarily vacuum but a place with air and nothing solid). Had this not been true, the t-shirt would have made a mess appearing midway between the wall between the labs.

Before anyone noticed... The day arrived. It was decided that Carter would be the first man to perform the feat. The others would be sent only after we received the signal from the scientists at BS Scientific Settlement confirming success. Sadly, due to the distance between Earth and Mars, that would take about 3 minutes.

Carter's spacesuit was equipped with sensors of all kinds to measure the temperature, pressure, wind speed, radiation levels and luminosity of the environment he was to be teleported to. The sensors would send a signal through the portal and so, we would get the results immediately.

Everything seemed to go as planned. Carter stood by the teleporter. My one hand was ready to press the button while the other held Helen's hand. Her presence prevented me from panicking.

Then... I pressed the button. The array of lights appeared around as Carter disappeared into the portal . All the screens in the room erupted with data from the sensors. I couldn't believe my eyes... I felt my soul sink.
Radiation level:0
Luminosity:Pitch Dark
Wind speed:0 km/h

None of those matched the conditions on the surface of Mars. Every member of the team began to panic... Everyone expect Helen. She gripped my hand tight, making me know she was with me. I tried to calm down and asked everyone to wait for the report from the scientists at Mars.

In what seemed like ages, the horrifying report arrived. Carter had NOT reached the location. I felt sorry for the young fellow. Going missing on an alien planet was no joke.

"Where could he be?",I asked Helen as the room exploded into chaos. "We corrected the x-y errors. He's not above the surface..."

I turned to Helen as she turned to me. Our eyes met. We knew we were thinking the same thing.

"Negative Z, Gordon", Helen said with a slightly shaking voice.

We had never checked for an error along the negative Z-axis. Carter might have appeared below the target location.

I immediately got to a computer and started typing a report to the BS Scientific Settlement. I told them that Carter was not on or above the Martian surface but was somewhere along the negative z-axis with respect to the target, he was beneath the surface, somewhere empty with enough space to fit him. I told them that the spacesuit could keep him alive for the next 6 hours if it was not damaged. I prayed for Carter and hoped his spacesuit was intact.

They must have got to work asap for in about 4.5 hours, they sent us a message. The scientists had to use a laser drilling machine to find their way through the hard Martian crust. After long vigorous drilling, they found a small dried up lava tube about 900m below the surface. They found Carter near the opening of the tube into a bigger lava tube. He was unconscious but alive.

The mission was a confusing success. The press held a divided opinion on the mission. Some said that we had accomplished something unimaginable. Some called us careless for not making such an error and risking a man's life. Well... That's how the mission ended.

But the story didn't end there. The scientists on Mars explored the dry lava tubes we had discovered by chance. The small tubes ran into a big one, with dimensions so big that it could fit an entire town. The place was also naturally shielded from the solar and cosmic radiations which affected the Martian surface, making it difficult to establish settlements on Mars.

In the course of 2 years, the first ever civilian settlement was established on Mars. Or should I say, inside Mars. The volcanic tube became a haven for human civilization. The scientists increased the air pressure, made a system for oxygen supply and the underground cave turned habitable. With a continuous supply of food through portals, live was good in the settlement which Carter named, Barsoom.

Due to our role in the discovery of the place, Helen and I got a free citizenship of Barsoom. We became real good friends during our stay there. Both of us are now neighbours. Carter is our neighbor too. I'm pretty sure walking by our houses while reading the names on our doors can make a man 's day. The doors read 'Dr Gordon Freeman',
'Dr Helen Cho' and 'Lt J Carter: The guy who is lucky Mars isn't volcanically active.'

I hope you enjoyed the story. I loved writing this one. There are many easy to find easter eggs in this short story. How many did you find? Please vote if you enjoyed the story and let me know your thoughts or my grammatical errors😅 through comments.
THANK YOU FOR READING