The Ruins of Mars: Waking Titan (The Ruins of Mars Trilogy) by Dylan James Quarles

triumphantly into her helmet, she danced around the room, kicking her feet so that plumes of dust hung in the air.
    Harrison is going to be so happy to see this, she cheered silently—forgetting their troubles in the face of such a discovery.
    Jogging back to the rock, she crouched again and checked to see if she had really seen what she thought she’d seen. As it had been for millennia, the subtle curving line of a cave painting smiled back at her.
    Snapping a picture, she stood and took another, this time including the nook in the wall where the rock had fallen from.
    “Harrison,” she radioed excitedly.
    “Yes?” came his sullen reply.
    Ignoring the ice in his tone, Liu entered a short code on her wrist-mounted Tablet and sent him the two pictures she had just taken.
    “Look at these. I think there were cave drawings in here once.”
    There was a long pause, during which time Liu could hear Harrison’s breathing in her helmet speakers.
    “Well?” she said expectantly.
    “I’m coming down with the next load,” he replied, a touch of the regular Harrison in his voice.
    Fifteen minutes later, the lift clattered down and Harrison quickly slid back the gate.
    “Help me get these boxes out,” he called, waving to the stack of silver crates behind him.
    Working in a tense silence that shifted between elation and melancholy, Liu watch Harrison’s body bend and straighten as he lifted and unloaded the huge boxes with ease.
    When the carriage was empty, Harrison sent it back up the cables and turned almost reluctantly to face her. She had cleared the blue tint from her visor, and her small elegant features peered hopefully out from behind the glass at him.
    “Is that it over there?” he said, pointing to the boulder.
    “Yes,” she nodded, taking his hand and leading him around to the back side of the rock.
    Crouching, Harrison turned on his helmet lights and flooded the smooth surface of the boulder in a hot white glow.
    “Holy shit,” he breathed. “How did I miss this the first time?”
    Carefully, Liu placed a hand on his shoulder and gave it a little squeeze.
    “Anyone would have. You were busy finding giant statues.”
    Straightening, Harrison cleared the tint from his helmet visor and looked down sorrowfully. Her heart leaped as she saw another shade of the familiar pass over his face. Grinning back, she tried to speak the volumes of truth she had inside, using only her eyes. As quickly as the moment had arisen, it passed and Harrison was turning away from her, his fists clenched.
    “I wish,” he began, then trailed off.
    “Yes?” she said hopefully.
    “Nothing,” he sighed. “Never mind. Let’s just—never mind, forget it. We have a lot to get done.”
    As if bitten by some hideous poisonous snake, Liu’s heart constricted then deflated. When she replied, her voice was little more than a whisper.
    “Okay.”
    Spending the rest of their time together in an awkward painful silence, Liu went and sat near the lift port while Harrison studied the rest of the cave walls, looking for more evidence of etchings. Soon, Marshall and William arrived, followed by the little Rover with its newly added cutting arm.
    Rolling off the lift and onto the cave floor, Braun possessed the Rover, manipulating it like a crude puppet.
    “Alright,” said Marshall, attaching a dolly to the Rover. “Who’s leading?”
    After loading up the large silver crates, the four set off down the tunnel in the rear of the cave towards the Statue Chamber.
    As they walked, Liu hung near the back, watching Harrison as he talked with Marshall over a closed radio channel. A few times, the older astronaut turned his head around to quickly glance at her, and she wished she knew what they were saying.
    But you already know the answer to that, she chided herself. Besides, if you really want to know so badly, just ask Braun. Maybe he’ll tell you.
    At this, Liu realized that the AI had been oddly quiet for some time. Though not normally