Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    A Race across Mars
    A Race across Mars
    A Race across Mars
    Ebook95 pages57 minutes

    A Race across Mars

    By Charles Zuendel

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    In the year 2276, all space exploration is dead. James King, one of the world's richest men, leads a group of brave adventurists who seek to revive the spirit of exploration in humankind by mounting a car race across the face of the planet Mars. They will use the wind-powered race cars from an era long gone, when there were still open spaces on Earth.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSunset Publishing
    Release dateFeb 23, 2017
    ISBN9781370602926
    A Race across Mars
    Author

    Charles Zuendel

    Charles Zuendel is a novelist and screenwriter from Colorado, USA. He attended the University of Colorado where he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Film Production.

    Read more from Charles Zuendel

    Related to A Race across Mars

    Related ebooks

    Science Fiction For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Rocket Man

      Jan 26, 2022

      STAR TREK AND REAL SPACE flight have crossed paths before. A Space Shuttle test orbiter was christened Enterprise. Mae Jemison, the first black woman in space, appeared in The Next Generation. Two astronauts cameoed in Enterprise. But all of those we

      3 min read

    • Article

      We Come In Peace

      Mar 4, 2019

      We Come In Peace
      7 min read

    • Article

      Like Wotan Riding The Storm

      Jul 28, 2022

      Like Wotan Riding The Storm
      6 min read

    • Article

      End Game

      Oct 3, 2019

      End Game
      1 min read

    • Article

      Reality, Check!

      Feb 20, 2024

      Reality, Check!
      3 min read

    • Article

      Commonplace Book

      Sep 1, 2020

      We should build parks that students from afar Would choose to starve in, rather than go home … We must have many Lincoln-hearted men. —Vachel Lindsay, “On the Building of Springfield,” 1912 When the researchers posed as pedestrians waiting to cross

      3 min read

    • Article

      Lol

      Apr 22, 2020

      A YOUNG adventurer is trekking through the deepest, darkest Amazon jungle. Out of nowhere, he suddenly finds himself surrounded by 30 of the most fierce-looking tribesmen, all with long spears, bows and arrows. The chief of the tribe walks right up t

      3 min read

    • Article

      If You Go Down To The Woods Today

      Oct 4, 2019

      If You Go Down To The Woods Today
      3 min read

    • Article

      Rock Hard

      Sep 10, 2020

      Rock Hard
      7 min read

    • Article

      Edge Of The World

      Jan 30, 2018

      Edge Of The World
      8 min read

    • Article

      No Man’s Sky

      Oct 6, 2020

      No Man’s Sky
      3 min read

    • Article

      Ice Breaker

      Dec 24, 2020

      On an evening of gray skies, gray sleet and horrendous gray chop, I stand abreast the shoreline, my hood cinched, shivering. Lake Champlain conjures in many hearts a sweet, gentle environment, all neon swim trunks and cocktails sipped at sunset, but

      5 min read

    • Article

      Dodging Diamonds and Disasters

      Jun 14, 2019

      Dodging Diamonds and Disasters
      9 min read

    • Article

      Haulin’ Class

      Apr 13, 2020

      Haulin’ Class
      4 min read

    • Article

      Holding Power

      Sep 11, 2020

      Holding Power
      5 min read

    • Article

      Fit To Be Tied

      Sep 26, 2023

      Fit To Be Tied
      3 min read

    • Article

      No Man’s Sky

      Sep 17, 2020

      No Man’s Sky
      3 min read

    • Article

      Hook, Line And Sinker

      Oct 18, 2018

      Hook, Line And Sinker
      4 min read

    • Article

      Desert Warrior

      Apr 14, 2020

      Desert Warrior
      5 min read

    • Article

      Sundo wner

      Nov 2, 2022

      Sundo wner
      7 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for A Race across Mars

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      A Race across Mars - Charles Zuendel

      A RACE ACROSS MARS

      By

      Charles Thomas Zuendel

      A RACE ACROSS MARS

      Published by Sunset Publishing

      Copyright 2017 Charles Thomas Zuendel

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      Table of Contents

      Chapter 1

      Chapter 2

      Chapter 3

      Chapter 4

      Chapter 5

      Chapter 6

      Chapter 7

      Chapter 8

      Chapter 9

      Chapter 10

      Chapter 11

      Chapter 12

      Chapter 13

      Chapter 14

      Chapter 15

      Chapter 16

      Chapter 17

      Chapter 18

      Chapter 19

      Chapter 20

      Chapter 1

      If we do not destroy ourselves, one day we will venture out to the stars.—Carl Sagan

      This is Mars. The red planet. And red is all we can see. Dune after dune of oxidized dust. And crimson sky. A light wind blows. Timeless, deserted, lonely. . . beckoning.

      This is Earth. Year: 2276. Human population has finally covered the entire planet. Cities predominate all landscapes. Mass transit, mass architecture. There are no more open spaces. Once famous buildings and landmarks—the Empire State Building, Big Ben, The Eifel Tower—now suffocate among giant goliath skyscrapers, super highways, and heliports. The noise of this endless metropolis is deafening.

      Cornfields of Kansas and Ukraine alike are now enclosed in gigantic, clear ceramic domes. San Francisco has sprawled far into the ocean. Rot, decay; still more populace. This is no utopia.

      The dilapidated radio telescope array of the Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI) is now crowded by office and apartment buildings. A person hangs laundry from one of the dishes.

      At abandoned Edwards’ Air Force Base, similarly sprawl-strangled, a group of kids now play on a junked shell of a U.S. Space Shuttle. The Atlantis letters are barely readable under centuries of grime and neglect.

      Diving down into the heart of the California megalopolis reveals a traffic jam of epic proportions, not of individual automobiles long since outlawed, but of long double-decked carriers resembling busses and trains alike.

      We find one man, aged in his 50’s, on such a carrier, standing wearily among the other passengers. One of his hands grips a metallic bar overhead, and the other hand clutches a toolbox. His identification card says HVAC. It also says Floyd Lassiter.

      Another passenger is staring at him. Floyd catches him staring and turns away. The carrier comes to a stop, side doors slide open, and the masses begin to file out.

      Excuse me— the staring passenger inquires.

      I’m not him, states Lassiter. I get it all the time. If you’ll excuse me please, I’m tired. The passenger continues to stare at Lassiter as he disappears into the crowd.

      Chapter 2

      Antarctica. A wide plane of windswept ice and snow. The sun blinds. The wind howls. On the horizon, there moves a tiny metallic spec. The object makes an abrupt turn and accelerates at breakneck speed toward us. An onboard, outward view of the object, shakes as we pick up in speed, a whine of power and wind fills our ears.

      The metallic object is no longer a speck. As it moves toward us it begins to take shape—it is a car! Or is it? It flashes by us, the force of speed rocking our view even more. From the point of view of the car’s nose, it begins to slow, turn, and come about. The whine dies. Inside the cockpit of this mysterious object reveals the helmeted head of its driver. A crackled radio voice can be heard...

      Nice work. 118 miles per hour, 12.37 seconds.

      And the back-up? asks the driver.

      Ran a 112, in fourteen flat. That wraps it for the day, Gentlemen.

      No, we’re going again, demands the driver.

      …We’re back up to speed, Mr. King. It will be dark soon, if we don’t pack it in now, we could lose—

      Again! We’re going again. In the dark, if necessary, demands James King, age 50-ish, strapped in, and bundled up.

      Bill Anderson, a gaunt, nerdy man in his 30’s and the rest of his ground crew, struggles against the wind and temperature, under a makeshift shelter with frozen equipment, scattered about, high and low tech, alike, from telemetry computers, to open-ended wrenches.

      You’re risking lives out there. Just wanted you to know that, Anderson continues into his frosted headset.

      You think we’re risking lives now Bill? replies King.

      Good point, Sir, relents Anderson.

      "Its ok, Bill. I pay you to worry.

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1