                               CHAPTER 3: THE FACE
     
     
          Some seven hours later, something was finally spotted by the
     robotic cameras.
     
          "Look at this!" cried Steven.
     
          He was pointing at a paused image on one of the viewer
     screens, a series of lines and shapes obscured lightly by sand
     deposited by a recent sandstorm were displayed.  They were in the
     middle of the raised dome of the left eye.  With the use of
     digital enhancement the sand was stripped away to reveal a
     clearer image.  Carved into the rock was some form of writing.
     
          "Amazing!" exclaimed Vicki.
     
          By now everyone was crowded around the screen, except for
     Grey who was still in his control chair.
     
          "I'm moving the remote control camera to the left eye sir,"
     he said to Captain Freeman.
          "Good," Freeman replied, "Will, go to the cockpit and take
     us up there."
     
          Will left for the bridge and Freeman instructed Steven and
     Rick to get into their space suits ready to further investigate
     the strange marks.
     
          The ship ascended once more and glided through the air to
     land softly on the domed eye.  It was getting dark by the time an
     airlock opened and two space suited figures stepped out.  Rick
     and Steve walked to the center of the eye and examined one of the
     deep grooves which made up the strange writing.  They cleared
     away some of the oxidized sand and marvelled at the smooth rock
     beneath.  A thin, almost indistinguishable line ran along the
     center of the circular pupil, which was about 20 metres wide and
     framed with the same type of thin line.  
     
          "I'm picking up your pictures on the screen, what's that
     line?" Freeman's voice crackled over their communication devices.
          "It looks like a seam, like there's two pieces of rock,"
     Rick said as he stood and started following the line towards the
     bottom of the enormous eye. 
     
          At the bottom of the faintly lined pupil was a slightly
     raised platform, about half a metre square, covered with sand. 
     Steve, Who had now joined Rick, knelt down and brushed away the
     sand, revealing more of the strange angular writing.  
     
          "Are you getting this?" he asked the crew of the ship.
          "Yes." said Freeman.
          "Maybe this opens the eye!" exclaimed Rick, "push on it
     and see what happens."
     
          As Rick and the crew watched in anticipation, Steve slowly
     pushed on the slab, it didn't budge.
     
          "Give me a hand with this thing," he said to Rick.
     
          Rick knelt down opposite Steve and together they pushed with
     all their strength.  The slab slowly receded until it was level
     with the ground and from behind the two men came a scraping
     sound.
     
          "It does open the eye!" said Steve in amazement.
     
          The pupil was sliding into the ground, it stopped about a
     metre or more down.  Everyone looked on in astonishment.  The
     stone started moving again, this time separating along its center
     line, each section receding into the side of the opening.  The
     now standing figures gazed into the dark pit trying to make
     something out.
     
          Grey had sent the robotic camera into the hole some minutes
     after it opened.  Everyone was surprised to find yet another door
     at the bottom of a 20 metre deep cavern, and even more surprised
     to find metal rungs set into the side of the cylindrical pit.
     
          This was a clear sign that humanoid life once existed on mars.
     
          The rest of the scientific team now stood excitedly on the
     edge of the pit, armed with a myriad of scientific instruments
     ready to descend into the cavern.  Rick led the way, down the
     ladder followed by the rest of the team.  When they reached the
     bottom, they found a raised rectangular panel set into the smooth
     metal wall.  Seeing no alternative, Rick pushed on it.  The panel
     lit up and slowly the outer door closed again, the cavern also
     lighting up along several vertical lines running down the walls. 
     Then the floor opened up and even more light flooded in, the
     scientists shielding their eyes.  When the door was fully open,
     they knelt down on the skirting rim of metal they were standing
     on and peered into the cavernous vault below.  Everyone gasped in
     astonishment, for below them was an expanse of disc shaped
     objects many metres across.
     
          "Amazing!" Grey said in a hushed tone.
     
          He was looking, along with Captain Freeman and his co pilot,
     at the bank of screens showing the views of the cameras built in
     to the scientist's space suits and the remote control robot. 
     
          "Sir, we've got a reading from the robot's atmospheric
     instruments," he said, "it says that there's oxygen in that
     cavern!"
     
          Captain Freeman looked closely at the atmospheric data, the
     readings showed an atmosphere almost the same as earths.
     
          "There's oxygen down there," he said into the intercom, "you
     can take off your helmets, but be careful, if there's oxygen
     there's no telling what other surprises we'll be getting." 
     
          The scientists checked the outside temperature, and were 
     surprised to find it quite warm, so they turned off their suit's
     heating and removed their helmets and gloves.  
     
          "Is there any way of getting down there?" Freeman asked
     over the intercom.
          "There's something moving down there, some kind of
     machinery," came the reply, "looks like some kind of elevator,
     its coming this way.  Can you see it?"
          "Yes," he said, "proceed with caution."
          "Yes sir." 
     
          The lift ascended silently until it reached the airlock
     door, then it was noticed that the lift had no supporting
     structure, it was just suspended in the air.  When the lift
     stopped in the center of the airlock, a metal, iris diaphragm
     floor slid out from beneath the skirt and closed around its base. 
     Now able to get to the lift, which consisted of a flat base and a
     raised central control, the team walked out to examine it.
     
          "It looks like you have to put your hands on these domes
     here," said Robert, "everyone get on and we'll see."
     
          Cautiously, everyone stepped on the platform and Robert
     placed both of his hands on two of the transparent domes on the
     central module.  The floor slid aside and the lift descended
     toward the floor of the great cavern, lit by a brilliant glow
     emanating from the surface of the domed roof.
     
                             ************************
