Before Starship USS Enterprise

Early in the 21st century as a serious world economic paradigm shift was about to take place, a small group of multi millionaires and billionaires competed to form a new private space industry well outside governmental controls. Riding on the coat tails of what Nasa accomplished in the late 20th century this group of entrepreneurs pushed the limits of rocket and space technology much further than ever before and formed a new industry to get civilians into space , and eventually all the way to the Moon and Mars. Of course at this point , anti-gravity and warp drive technology hadn't been developed yet.

The human allure to go to Mars had been in the human consciousness for thousands of years before it actually happened.

The year is now 2036. The band of space faring entrepreneurs were forced to stop competing with each other for monetary gains in space tourism , and work together to make the Mars trip a reality.

It took the combined assets and resources of 4 private companies to make it there. 6 trained individuals , chosen from within the 4 companies, made the successful Voyage to Mars. Big improvements in propulsion and sensory technology made it possible to get there in 2 months.

The group of civilian astronauts were briefed by company leaders on what they would probably find once they landed. The region of Cydonia was the landing target, as so many enthusiasts back on earth donated to the cause of making this area the landing sight.

The Mars voyagers did expect to find ruins of an ancient Martian civilization. There had been enough direct and indirect evidence from decades before, that confirmed this.

But, what they didn't expect to find , was the remains of a Human outpost within a few miles of the base of one of the Martian pyramids. To their extreme surprise, they were not the first humans to land on Mars. It was estimated by the team of 6 , that the remains of that original expedition had been there since the 1980s. This expedition would be referred to as "Terra1980".

It was a small outpost, but had all the necessary equipment to survive for an extended period of time. The spacecraft remains they found were like nothing they had ever seen before. There were no markings on the exterior of the craft , but they did find "Nasa" and "United States Of America" emblems all over the interior components. There was no sign of human life that might have survived over the last 50 years.

This reality dealt these modern explorers a heavy emotional blow. After all, what would ever give them the reason to believe that Mars had ever been visited in the past by humans ? They assumed the past mission must have been conducted secretly by the government.

There was one crew member that wasn't surprised. But, he kept his thoughts to himself. Quietly nodding his head with a questionable smirk on his face as it all unfolded. This was Crew member 4 . He logged technical specifications of everything found from the remains of the past mission.

Plans began to form for a land expedition to explore the closest pyramid more deeply. Crew members 1, 4, and 5 were chosen to scout out this ancient monument.

They traversed the Martian surface on personal hovercraft with great enthusiasm and feelings of surreal magnificence as they could see this enormous structure appearing larger with every passing minute. As they arrived at the base of the ancient monument, it seemed at least twice as large as The Great Pyramid of Giza. The group of 3 noticed easy access into the interior just like a large typical cave entrance on earth. It lead lower into the ground below the structure.

What they would find is even more phenomenal than the remains of the earlier Mars explorers. It was a vault made of stone. It spanned the length of a football field. There was a shiny chrome looking insignia carved into the wall. It said, "Martian Treasury". Carved documents with laser precision were found within the walls of the vault that explained what it all meant, along with a very large amount of bright luminous spheres that appeared as a gigantic stack of golden canon balls.

The explorers were shocked and confused by the enormous treasure that was found. Each solid gold sphere is a unit of weight that would equal the cost to build a small human outpost on Mars. It seemed this vault was put in place by humans but the golden spheres had certain physical characteristics that go way beyond their technology. It will take the wisdom and knowledge of crew member 5 to try to crack the code of the valuable spheres. This individual think tank will dissect one sphere by laser slicing it right across the diameter. Much denser than the outer gold , is a ball of platinum like material at the very center.

It's as though each one was formed as a miniature planet with a very dense core.

At this point crew member 5 relays the technical information found, to the other crew members. They are expectedly fascinated by the discovery, and larger questions arise that they know must be answered as soon as possible.

As the new arrivals on Mars ponder all the information flooding their minds, their questions would be answered much sooner than they ever suspected.

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The Humans Are Met By Martian Lifeforms

The existence of Intelligent humanoids, indigenous to Mars, would become the biggest revelation to the team of 6. The Martians that reside within the subsurface ecosystem of the planet, not too far from the ancient pyramid, are now aware of the second group of humans to visit their planet.

The Martians decide it's best to show themselves right away to diffuse any hostilities that might arise between the two lifeforms.

They make their way up to the martian surface in antigravity vehicles with technical plans of high technology to give to the new comers. They make their short ascent to the Vault of the Martian Treasury and wait for the humans to return as they knew they eventually would. It's necessary for the Martians to wear protective suits the same way the humans do, to enter the vault near the oxygen free surface of Mars.

The Humans would meet the Martians under very unexpected circumstances. They had no reason to believe that any extra terrestrial beings still live on Mars.

Back at their outpost the humans mull over the significance of what they found for a full day. They speculate that the valuable spheres are used as part of some kind of energy source, and are now ready to start moving them out of the vault for eventual transportation back to Earth. All six members would return to the vault this time. As they approach that phenomenal site of golden glory, Two beings in strange suits come into view . The humans first thought that these were survivors from the earlier ,secret trip to Mars. But as they approached, real anxiety kicked in as they realized, these beings were not human. Of course their concerns were unwarranted, and the Martians quickly communicated to the six explorers telepathically, that they were there to befriend them.

The Martians gift the humans with technical plans that would allow them to build a full size antigravity spacecraft with advanced warp drive technology to get back to earth very quickly, along with easy access to a large supply of the "magical" spheres that would act as the core components for construction of the new propulsion system . They find out that everything else they need to build this advanced transport system is carved into the walls of the vault and all materials necessary are available on the Martian surface. The humans are now in possession of technical information that will ultimately change the whole energy grid and transportation system back on Earth.

The Martians return to their home below the surface without much more communication between them and the humans. Only wondering how the Earthlings would use the new technology that they had given them.

The team of 6 is dumbfounded as they've just been given a free ticket to the future without a question , from a group of beings that were no longer supposed to exist.

Would they decide to complete the new spacecraft or crafts on their own with what they had been given ?

Will they return to Earth and seek help from the company leaders and risk having to leave most of the spheres behind ?

And, what exactly happened to that first human outpost from Terra1980 ? Answering this question might be most important as the humans were more than a little suspicious of the Martians true intentions.

These sticky questions would have to be answered before they can do anything.

To be continued.