Chapter 1

Beneath the dark eyebrows, Dr. Geyser’s hazel eyes scanned the data burried in the spreadsheet; intently and methodically, like his teeth biting down on the plastic cap of the pen.

He already knew the answer but he had to confirm; again and again. Every day for the past week he has done the same thing inside his small cramped office at the government labs and the data kept saying the same conclusion. It was another round of checking on a Saturday night and awaiting emails from a week ago from colleagues around the world.

Dr. Geyser was your regular scientist. He surfed, he looked young for his age and he loved science because he was good at it. He did it the way athletes do a sport, since young age he was better at it than others and he derived pleasure and pride from being the best. He did science with a certain love and craft and he had friends and enemies as people who are good and know it often do. He waited for a discovery to make his mark but when it seemed to finally happen, for the first time he realized he was afraid of what he may have discovered and even more afraid of a possibility in case he was wrong.

He was about to call it a night when the phone rang.

“Rob!” voice on the other side said.

“Hey Jim, how are you? What time is it in Hong Kong?”

Jim Hyunh and Rob went to college together at Columbia. Hyunh took a position at a University in Hong Kong after getting married.

“It’s morning and yeah, sorry I haven’t gotten back to you earlier but this data seems pretty legit. What does it all mean?”

“I’m not sure but if it’s right, I think it might mean we’re from Mars”