Blue Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson Page A

the existence of an internal magnet in
the body, as in the pineal glands of migrating birds—but there was no magnetic
field to speak of. Perhaps his skin was sensitive to solar radiation to the
point of being able to pinpoint the sun’s location, even when the sky was a
thick dark gray everywhere. It had to be something like that, because the
feeling that he was properly oriented was so strong!
    Eventually the nausea of the disorientation passed, and in the end
he stood and took off in the direction suggested by the wristpad, feeling
horrible about it, listing a little uphill just to try to make himself feel
better. But one had to trust instruments over instincts, that was science. And
so he plodded on, traversing the slope, shading somewhat uphill, clumsier than
ever. His nearly insensible feet ran into rocks that he did not see, even
though they were directly beneath him; he stumbled time after time. It was
surprising how thoroughly snow could obscure the vision.
    After a while he stopped, and tried again to locate the rover by
APS; and his wristpad map suggested an entirely new direction, behind him and
to the left.
    It was possible he had walked past the car. Was it? He did not
want to walk back into the wind. But now that was the way to the rover,
apparently. So he ducked his head down into the biting cold and persevered. His
skin was in an odd state, itching under the heating elements crisscrossing his
suit, numb everywhere else. His feet were numb. It was hard to walk. There was
no feeling in his face; clearly frostbite was in the offing. He needed shelter.
    He had a new idea. He called up Aonia, on Pavonis, and got her
almost instantly.
    “Sax! Where are you?”
    “That’s what I’m calling about!” he said. “I’m in a storm on
Daedalia! And I can’t find my car! I was wondering if you would look at my APS
and my rover’s! And see if you can tell me which direction I should go!”
    He put the wristpad right against his ear. “Ka wow, Sax.” It
sounded like Aonia was shouting too, bless her. Her voice was an odd addition
to the scene. “Just a second, let me check! . . . Okay! There you are! And your
car too! What are you doing so far south? I don’t think anyone can get to you
very quickly! Especially if there’s a storm!”
    “There is a storm,” Sax said. “That’s why I called.”
    “Okay! You’re about three hundred and fifty meters to the west of
your car.”
    “Directly west?”
    “—and a little south! But how will you orient yourself?”
    Sax considered it. Mars’s lack of a magnetic field had never
struck him as such a problem before, but there it was. He could assume the wind
was directly out of the west, but that was just an assumption. “Can you check
the nearest weather stations and tell me what direction the wind is coming
from?” he said.
    “Sure, but it won’t be much good for local variations! Here, just
a second, I’m getting some help here from the others.”
    A few long icy moments passed.
    “The wind is coming from west northwest, Sax! So you need to walk
with the wind at your back and a touch to your left!”
    “I know. Be quiet now, until you see what course I’m making, and
then correct it.”
    He walked again, fortunately almost downwind. After five or six
painful minutes his wrist beeped.
    Aonia said, “You’re right on course!”
    This was encouraging, and he carried on with a bit more speed,
though the wind was penetrating through his ribs right to his core.
    “Okay, Sax! Sax?”
    “Yes!”
    “You and your car are right on the same spot!”
    But there was no car in view.
    His heart thudded in his chest. Visibility was still some twenty
meters; but no car. He had to get shelter fast. “Walk in an ever-increasing
spiral from where you are,” the little voice on the wrist was suggesting. A
good idea in theory, but he couldn’t bear to execute it; he couldn’t face the
wind. He stared dully at his black plastic wristpad console. No more help to be
had