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knowing that no matter what he did, he couldn’t help anyone back on Earth. Sure, the submarine under the command of Captain Rick Noble was monitoring the biospheres, but there was little that man could do for any of them. By now the captain probably knew the truth. That humanity’s days were numbered. The doomsday clock was ticking.
    Hoffman wondered exactly what was going through Noble’s head. He was a strong man, the son of a navy commander Hoffman had known personally. He remembered how paranoid the man had been in the years before his death, always talking about the apocalypse.
    Had Commander Noble known what Hoffman now knew?
    Sighing, he pushed the thoughts away. There wasn’t anything he could do about Earth now besides sit back and watch all his plans fail. He had to look to the future.
    Hoffman relaxed in his chair. Punching in a few commands, he loaded the confidential NTC database filled with images of the Mars colony.
    Clusters of white-domed buildings peppered the alien landscape. Beyond the facilities there were massive cylinders. The terraformers , he thought with a half smile. They would be fully functioning by now, slowly making the planet hospitable to human life. He filtered through the pictures, stopping on the farm of solar panels and then the silos where robots were already storing and preserving the first batches of crops.
    By the time Hoffman’s and the other ships arrived, the colony would be fully prepared for the human race. There would be food, power, and most important, oxygen.
    A message from Robert rolled across the top of the screen. Hoffman read it aloud. “Biosphere 21 has gone off-line. Will transfer images shortly.”
    Hoffman replied with his own message. “Don’t bother.”
    There was no response. Flicking off the screen, Hoffman walked back over to the window. The dread he had felt earlier had vanished. It was replaced with hope. The fight for Earth may have been lost and the biospheres a failure, but the view of space reminded Hoffman that the future of the human race was on Mars. And that’s all that mattered.

CHAPTER 6
    A PACK of Spiders came rushing out of the desert to the east. Jeff counted six of them. Their bodies cast an eerie blue glow over the sand as they moved toward the base.
    â€œJeff . . .” David said. “I’m scared.”
    â€œConcentrate. Aim like dad taught you.”
    Jeff followed his own advice and lined the crosshairs of his rifle on the pack of approaching Spiders. They skittered past the guard tower and onto the roadway that curved onto the base.
    The monsters were so fast, the high joints in their legs allowing long strides.
    â€œGet ready,” Jeff said. His heart was thumping so hard now that he could hear it. He took a deep breath and waited.
    Shrieks filled the night as the Spiders fanned out.
    â€œCrap,” Jeff muttered. He thought of his dad and fired off the first shot.
    The weapon hammered back into his shoulder. He let out a cry and then refocused. The round had gone wide, missing the intended Spider that was now rushing toward the hangar.
    He fired again.
    The bullet chipped the pavement, leaving a dent in it. The creature halted, pawing the air with its front claws. Mandibles opened and more of the high-pitched sounds filled the night.
    â€œShoot, David! Now! ”
    The boy did as he was told. The hunting rifle cracked and put David on his ass. But the bullet hit one of the Spiders. Jeff watched in horror as a blue shield pulsated around the monster.
    â€œCrap. Crap, crap!” he shouted. Then he fired again. Every round bounced off and tore into the surrounding concrete.
    Jeff pulled off his mask, suddenly feeling like he couldn’t breathe. He didn’t know what to do. He’d doomed himself and David. The Spiders couldn’t be killed. They had freaking shields!
    Frantic, he reached for the bag of grenades and pulled out another. It was his last hope.