Angelica LeMont peered out of the rover's view portal into the vast darkness. Six months on Phobos and she still couldn't get used to the nights. Each time the small moon slipped into the ink filled ocean behind Mars she was in awe. Utter and complete darkness for hours. Some nights she played. Some nights she rested. Tonight, she worked.

Following the moonquake last month, manned rovers were sent out to assess the fortitude of the base's outer structures. Most were not affected by the incident. One tower in the south west quadrant had toppled into a new ravine. Angelica, and her assistant Jose Rojas, secured the rover to a massive surface boulder, and rappelled to the bottom of the crack.

The tower sustained significant damage. In addition to being lifted off the floor of the deep ditch, most of the core beams would have to be replaced. The dish which stood at the upper most point was smashed into several pieces beside an odd shaped boulder. Angelica approached the domed oval formation as Jose radioed the tower's status back to base.

As she approached, the geologist-cum-astronaut was astounded by what she saw. The exterior of the Phobosian formation lacked inorganic features she had grown accustomed to researching while on the moon. In fact, she thought, the massive organic shape before her was an egg.

A team was deployed to remove the crashed tower, secure debris which might fall in the event of another moonquake, and establish a perimeter in which to examine the strange egg. Carbon dating of surrounding soil, spectral analysis, and probes of the egg itself indicated a specimen of great age. At best estimate, the team placed the egg at over two and one quarter of a million years old.

Weeks were spent in debate about how to secure the area from disturbance or interaction. Central Command, Earthside, demanded the egg sample be contained and shipped back for exhibition and further research. While Phobos based scientists raged against the idea, they also wanted it hauled out of the hole for closer inspection within their labs. On her own time, and not logged in the official record, Angelica acquired a sample of the soil which clung to the egg and matched it with soil found on the Martian surface, passing by some 3,700 miles below.

The base scientists won the debate, and the ancient egg was transported to the large hanger attached to the scientific labs and main living quarters. All the residents paraded past the displayed artifact during the first week. In time, excitement ebbed and the entire base got back to work. News of the dormant egg drifted back to Central Command and made headlines until Earthside conflicts dominated once more.

As the ink of night filled the spaces between working rovers and sleeping habitat pods, Angelica rested. She was deep in a dream which found her relaxing on a white pebble beach back on Earth when another moonquake rocked the base. She was thrown from her bunk onto the cold steel floor. The breach sirens wailed, and she scrambled to her feet to grab the breathing apparatus from her locker. Once secured on her face, Angelica ran through damaged passageways. To her left and right she caught glimpses of her colleagues dead from explosive decompression and extreme cold when their pods cracked. She ran for her life toward a lone rover sitting outside the science lab.

Angelica LeMont peered into the lab's view portal from outside in the vast darkness. The egg, dormant for millions of years, had somehow hatched.

THE END

On Phobos Lay