{"id":69,"date":"2008-05-25T00:00:26","date_gmt":"2008-05-25T04:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/?p=69"},"modified":"2022-12-14T13:59:10","modified_gmt":"2022-12-14T18:59:10","slug":"a-man-called-mister-brown-to-the-underworld","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/articles\/a-man-called-mister-brown-to-the-underworld\/","title":{"rendered":"A Man Called Mister Brown: To the&nbsp;Underworld"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"serial-posts-wrapper\">\n<h3 class=\"serial-posts-heading\"><span class=\"serial-post-text\">Read more from this serial.<\/span><\/h3>\n<ul class=\"serial-posts\">\n<li class=\"serial-posts-list-item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/articles\/a-man-called-mister-brown\/\" title=\"A Man Called Mister Brown\">A Man Called Mister Brown<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"serial-posts-list-item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/articles\/a-man-called-mister-brown-ms-hitt\/\" title=\"A Man Called Mister Brown: Ms. Hitt\">A Man Called Mister Brown: Ms. Hitt<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"serial-posts-list-item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/articles\/a-man-called-mister-brown-mr-green\/\" title=\"A Man Called Mister Brown: Mr. Green\">A Man Called Mister Brown: Mr. Green<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"serial-posts-list-item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/articles\/a-man-called-mister-brown-the-ishtar-death-march\/\" title=\"A Man Called Mister Brown: The Ishtar Death March\">A Man Called Mister Brown: The Ishtar Death March<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"serial-posts-list-item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/articles\/a-man-called-mister-brown-camp-adonis\/\" title=\"A Man Called Mister Brown: Camp Adonis\">A Man Called Mister Brown: Camp Adonis<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"serial-posts-list-item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/articles\/a-man-called-mister-brown-mars-in-winter\/\" title=\"A Man Called Mister Brown: Mars in Winter\">A Man Called Mister Brown: Mars in Winter<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"serial-posts-list-item current-inactive\">A Man Called Mister Brown: To the Underworld<\/li>\n<li class=\"serial-posts-list-item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/articles\/a-man-called-mister-brown-the-graves-speak\/\" title=\"A Man Called Mister Brown: The Graves Speak\">A Man Called Mister Brown: The Graves Speak<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n<p class=\"section\"><span class=\"dc\"><strong>S<\/strong><\/span>ince the Deuterium War in the previous century, ending with the  destruction of the <em>E.S.S. Jefferson<\/em> and the liberation of Jupiter\u2019s  colonies, the Jovians had isolated themselves from Earth. They bought immense  amounts of machinery from Venus and the Asteroid Belt, and paid in water.<\/p>\n<p>Lunar telescopes observed  during the following eight decades, how Jovian settlements spread to all the  large satellites of Jupiter and Saturn&#8230; and eventually those of Neptune and  Uranus.<\/p>\n<p>Scientists analyzed the scant  evidence, and speculated that the Jovians had developed an entirely new human  species with a methane-based metabolism \u2014 thriving in temperatures and  atmospheres even deadlier to oxygen-breathing humans than Venus or Mars. Such  humanoids, capable of living without oxygen for long periods, would have slower  metabolisms but greatly extended lifespans.<\/p>\n<p>After one too many spy probes had  disappeared, the ATAF sent its best agent \u2014 Armini Hitt \u2014 in a cyborg form  specially designed for the Outer Planets.<\/p>\n<p>And years later, Hitt returned  to Earth with amazing images from the frozen worlds, descriptions of a  subterranean city on Triton&#8230; and her eyewitness account of a new species  created by the original Jovian colonists. She said the new breed called  themselves \u201cNew Flesh\u201d. They could fold their arms, legs and other appendages  into their bodies, and communicated primarily by electromagnetic signals  instead of sound.<\/p>\n<p>She also claimed to have slept  with one of them. She did not explain whether the sex had been consensual or  not, but she showed the scientists a genuine semen sample, as proof it actually  happened.<\/p>\n<p>Deemed too disturbing for  public access, Hitt\u2019s account of the New Flesh was destroyed.<\/p>\n<p>Top-level Terran strategists  understood that the new breed posed no immediate threat, but warned their  leaders: the New Flesh would have much less difficulty migrating to other stars  than Old Terrans.<\/p>\n<p>Mister Brown did not know  this; neither did Mr. Vaino \u201cGreen\u201d Fingers. All they knew was that Ms. Hitt  had turned traitor. Neither Brown, Green nor the Terrans knew how the Jovians  could slip spies past the surveillance screens and land on Mars. Ms. Hitt knew,  and she wasn\u2019t talking.<\/p>\n<p class=\"section\"><span class=\"dc\"><strong>T<\/strong><\/span>he airships landed by the crater lake, and fired their anchors into the  ground. Out of the gondolas spilled two brigades of dwarves in camouflage  uniforms, dragging equipment.<\/p>\n<p>Green stared. \u201cJovians. It\u2019s a  farking invasion.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Jovians did not seem to  have a leader, but acted like a single unit. As the sun sank toward the  highland mountains, they worked without pause to assemble vehicles, tools and  weapons. Hitt accompanied the Jovians and directed them toward a large  pipeline.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDon\u2019t say it, Green.\u201d The  scowl on Brown\u2019s face revealed his dismay.<\/p>\n<p>The NeoMartians expanded  ribcage shook with laughter. He pointed at the busy Jovians, then at the Cybe  woman, and leered knowingly at Brown.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m warning you, Green&#8230;\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Darkness fell over the frozen  desert and Brown stomped his feet to stay warm. Green danced around him,  sticking out his tongue, making faces.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<em>Ha-ha-ha<\/em>&#8230; and you  thought you were the big man, who got in her bed! Look at Mr. Brown, does he  feel small now! <em>Ha-ha-ha! <\/em>Mr. Brown, meet <em>Snow White and the Seventy  Dwarves<\/em>!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou can\u2019t prove that\u2019s true,\u201d  Brown replied, awkwardly. \u201cShe\u2019s only doing business with them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut you\u2019re afraid it <em>might<\/em> be true!\u201d Green nodded. \u201cAnd why not? A Cybe can bed just about anything. I\u2019m  sure it got <em>real<\/em> lonely on that long, long trip she took to the Rim&#8230;\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The dwarfish Jovians finished  assembling their cargo; they quickly gathered into three low, armored vehicles  and drove toward the pipeline. The floodlights from the airships dimmed down  one by one, until the area was lit by nothing more than a faint blue gloom.  Hitt ran for the nearest airship, where the hull opened and something lowered  down to the ground.<\/p>\n<p>Brown squinted but saw  nothing; he and Green moved closer to the ship.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDon\u2019t Greenies have heat-vision?  On Venus, you couldn\u2019t see me hide in the shadow.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOn Venus it was too farking hot.  Stand aside, Pink.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The irises of Green\u2019s eyes  shrank away, and the pupils grew to triple size. He leaned against a boulder  and focused on Hitt, some 30 meters away.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHoly Constant!\u201d Green\u2019s mouth  fell open. \u201cThat Dummie daughter of a screwdriver&#8230; <em>I don<\/em>\u2019<em>t believe  it! <\/em>An <em>alien! <\/em>She\u2019s hugging and talking to a space alien!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAre you sure? Could be a  Stroider. They look pretty weird.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s <em>not<\/em> a Stroider!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat\u2019s it look like?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLike a big ball, as tall as  her&#8230; moves around on lots of itty-bitty legs&#8230; it\u2019s wearing a shiny suit&#8230;  things pop in and out of the ball, could be its arms&#8230; are those <em>eyes<\/em>?\u201d  Soft moans sounded from the spot Green was watching; he scrunched up his face  and groaned. \u201cWhat the fark are they <em>doing<\/em>?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think we\u2019re in over our  heads. Can you send a distress signal?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMs. Hitt took everything we  could use to transmit. Besides, I\u2019m not giving up my share. Go ahead and run if  you want, see how far you get.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Brown searched the pockets of  his suit; he wore his coat inside, so he couldn\u2019t reach it. Then he found  something in the suit pocket labeled EMERGENCY USE ONLY. \u201cCover me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Before Green could object,  Brown was running up the slope leading to Lake Carter. The Jovians ignored  him, or did not dare leave their vehicles.<\/p>\n<p>At the crest of the slope, he  saw the 300 meter wide surface spread out before him. It seemed polished like  glass; the stars and one of Mars\u2019 moons were reflected in the ice.<\/p>\n<p>Brown took out the nuclear signal  flare he had found, and hesitated. The fuse had two settings: DELAY and BURN  TEMP. The printed instructions were quite clear: If he set the delay too long,  the sun would have time to come up and nobody would see the flare from space.  If he set the burn temperature too high, the flare would burn extremely bright  and hot \u2014 but might malfunction.<\/p>\n<p>He had to make a quick  decision.<\/p>\n<p>Brown broke the flare\u2019s seal,  set the DELAY to three hours, and BURN TEMP to the maximum setting. Lying on  his belly, Brown braced himself and threw the flare toward the center of the  lake. The flare skidded on the ice and slid further; Brown did not stay around  to see it stop, but ran down the slope as fast as he could.<\/p>\n<p>When he returned to the  boulder where Green stood hunched, the alien visitor had disappeared. Hitt was  heading in their direction, and brushed away hair from her face.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid I miss anything special?\u201d  Brown asked, catching his breath.<\/p>\n<p>Green had a stunned, dazed  expression on his face. \u201cYou\u2019d never believe me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hitt pointed a weapon at them,  mounted directly on the outside of her right arm: it resembled nothing so much  as a small, flexible drill.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEmpty your pockets,\u201d she  said. \u201cWe\u2019re going in.\u201d She escorted them to the point where the armored  vehicles were waiting: a 4-meter wide inspection port in the giant pipeline.  The Jovians were cutting the port open with acids, lasers and other devices.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut the lake is still liquid  at the bottom,\u201d said Green. \u201cWe can\u2019t just drive in.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>From the top of the moored  airships, crane arms folded out and moved drills and pumps to the edges of the  lake. The drills cut through ten meters of ice in a few minutes, and pump hoses  were lowered into the narrow holes. A low rumble sounded through the surface,  as the bottom of Lake Carter was dredged dry.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cImpressed?\u201d Hitt asked Brown.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe frozen part of the lake  isn\u2019t going to hold,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019ll crash down on our heads if we try to move  in underneath.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe lake is shaped like a  bowl, and the pipe wall underneath is going to support the weight. It\u2019ll hold. At  least until the sun rises.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd of course now you\u2019ll send  in Green and me with shovels to do the dirty work for you?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hitt let out a low, amused  laughter. \u201cYou silly man. I\u2019m on a tight schedule. Hop into the truck.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>     <\/strong>The Jovians pulled  open the inspection port, and waved at the vehicles to drive into the pipeline.  Hitt, Brown and Green sat in the last truck, guarded by a dozen Jovians. The  drivers did not use visible light to see ahead; darkness enveloped the  passengers in the echoing tunnel.<\/p>\n<p>Somebody held Brown\u2019s hand in  the dark; with his gloves on, he could not identify the person.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIs that you, Green?\u201d he  asked.<\/p>\n<p>The hand squeezed his, and he  understood it belonged to Hitt.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cKeep your head down,\u201d she  said. \u201cAnd put these on.\u201d She handed Brown a pair of night-vision glasses;  neither she nor Green needed any.<\/p>\n<p class=\"section\"><span class=\"dc\"><strong>W<\/strong><\/span>hile the armed convoy rolled through the pipeline, Brown talked to  Hitt.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou spent a long time on that  Outer Planets assignment. What happened to you?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou wouldn\u2019t understand,  Brown&#8230; you\u2019re Old Flesh. Only a Cybe can survive out there&#8230; and truly  appreciate the cold majesty of Saturn, Neptune or Uranus.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Green laughed in the dark: \u201c<em>Uranus&#8230;  cold<\/em>&#8230; I\u2019ll drink to that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo why\u2019d you come back?\u201d  Brown asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI promised my new friends to  help them restore the Lost Plutonium. <em>Their<\/em> plutonium. The official  cover story&#8230; the Terrans made it up to keep the masses from panicking. That  plutonium shipment was manufactured on Venus, at great cost&#8230; not to build a  starship, but to make weapons for the Outer Planets. With those weapons, the  Outer Planets would be able to defend their trade routes from Terran attacks.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDon\u2019t tell me&#8230; the shipment  was sabotaged by Terran agents?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt must\u2019ve been. I don\u2019t know  the details. But if it was buried here, those who stole it did it. And then  they disappeared. One of them was identified and went fugitive for decades,  until he ran into Mr. \u2018Green\u2019 Fingers and his gang. That\u2019s when his luck ended.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd now you\u2019re going to arm  the Outer Planets. And what if they use their new weapons against Earth? One  ton of plutonium equals \u2014\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFuel for mass-drivers to send  asteroids on a fast course for Earth.\u201d Hitt looked into thin air as she spoke  in the urgent voice of a true believer. \u201cThere\u2019s too much Old Flesh on Earth&#8230;  useless fat flesh, leeching off the Solar System, keeping it from reaching the  stars. It\u2019s time to cut off the fat. The New Flesh is lean, mean and moving  forward. It\u2019s the next step in human evolution, Brown. Don\u2019t try standing in  our way.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Brown paused for a few  moments. And then he hugged her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m impressed, Armini.\u201d He  caressed her arm, and worked his way down to her hand. \u201cYou\u2019ve become all you  could be. I wish I were a part of this grand design. You know how resourceful I  am&#8230; I could become an asset to your work. It\u2019s not too late for me to turn Cybe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She did not return the  caresses. \u201cFirst you find that grave. Then we\u2019ll discuss your future.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>From the pipeline segment  ahead of them, pumps rumbled and gurgled. The convoy arrived at the valve which  separated the pipeline from the lake, and slowed to a halt. A team of Jovians  climbed out and went to work on the valve. A few minutes later, they could push  it open. Water sloshed in from Lake Carter, and flushed away  one Jovian who did not climb to safety fast enough. After a few minutes, the  water level had subsided enough to let the convoy in.<\/p>\n<p>With all lights turned off and  the motors running in silent mode, the vehicles rolled slowly out of the  pipeline\u2019s mouth and splashed across the muddy, still wet bottom of the lake.  Only a meter above the passengers\u2019 heads, the frozen part of Lake Carter hung like a gigantic  glass lid. The ice was clear enough that one could glimpse a passing moon in  the night sky, and the bright lights of other planets. The concrete wall that  surrounded the pipeline\u2019s mouth jutted toward the narrow middle of the bottom.<\/p>\n<p>Brown signaled silence to  Green; the ice might break up at the slightest stress and bury them. Green  looked up at the frozen mass, searching for cracks&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>The convoy stopped; they were  in the exact spot where the graveyard was supposed to be.<\/p>\n<p>Green couldn\u2019t control  himself, and jumped down from the truck. Then he remembered Brown\u2019s warning and  beat himself over the head, and hushed at the others.<\/p>\n<p>The passengers got off and  searched the wet mud. The pumps were still at work, but the mud still reached  up to the Jovians\u2019 knees. Now also the bottom sediment was in the process of  freezing up. As they dug with shovels and poked with sticks, Brown kept  glancing up at the frozen lake, as if he were looking for some small detail.<\/p>\n<p>Two hours had already passed  since he threw the flare.<\/p>\n<p class=\"section\"><span class=\"dc\"><strong>G<\/strong><\/span>reen waded through hardening mud, growing more and more nervous,  whispering under his breath. \u201cWas it the wrong crater? Is there another one?  No, he didn\u2019t say that&#8230; it\u2019s got to be the right one&#8230; great Constant, save  me from a life in poverty&#8230;\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It did not seem to occur to  Green that he might soon be poor and dead.<\/p>\n<p>Time passed. Hitt scanned the  ground in several wavelengths and with her built-in radiation detector. She  detected nothing beyond the natural radiation of the planet, the atmosphere and  space.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSediment froze,\u201d one Jovian  told her. \u201cPumping station heating ducts over there, no reach ground here  center. We need to drill or blast.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCan\u2019t. No time,\u201d she  whispered. She went after Brown. \u201cWhere do you think <em>you<\/em>\u2019re going?\u201d The  weapon on her arm began to turn as she took aim at his chest. \u201cTrying to sneak  away?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt might be safer to stay  away from the center&#8230;\u201d he began, glancing upward every few seconds.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cExplain yourself or die. You  have ten seconds. <em>One <\/em>\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Brown removed his night-vision  glasses and tried to look into the Cybe\u2019s eyes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<em>Two <\/em>\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Like black holes in the gloom, the eyes  seemed to suck up light.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<em>Three <\/em>\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf I were a Cybe \u2014\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<em>Four \u2014<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201c\u2014 perhaps I\u2019d think like you \u2014\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<em>Five <\/em>\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201c\u2014 or perhaps \u2014\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<em>Six <\/em>\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201c\u2014 I\u2019d go far away.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<em>Seven \u2014<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNow \u2014\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<em>Eight <\/em>\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNow  hear this!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<em>What?<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDuck!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And the timed flare went off.  In the middle of the lake ice frozen to -80 Centigrade, a white-hot flame  melted right through. The vapor produced a tremendous pressure which could not  escape through the tiny hole melted into the surface. And the sudden  temperature shift caused the ice to expand just enough to rupture its  stability.<\/p>\n<p>From its center, one-third of  the transparent frozen lake shattered with a tremendous boom. It looked, for  the people standing below, literally as if the night sky lit up and fell down  on them.<\/p>\n<p>Brown ducked down and ran for  the open walled-in pipeline. Some survival instinct made him throw himself to  the ground, and Hitt\u2019s first shot narrowly missed. It passed over his head and  blasted a hole in the valve doorway.<\/p>\n<p>A huge chunk of ice crashed  down between Brown and Hitt; the noise echoed across the crater and rang  through the pipeline. Another, bigger block fell on top of the first one and  left a small space in between, where Brown lay trembling but not crushed.<\/p>\n<p>It took a few seconds for all  the ice to settle on the bottom. Only then, the bright light of the flare died.  The stars shone down from the crater opening, and the Milky Way glowed among  them.<\/p>\n<p>Brown crawled out from under  the iceblocks, and went looking for the others. The vehicles had been smashed  into junk. He found several dead Jovians underneath a single block, trapped  like specimens under a giant microscope slide, and picked up a gun they had  dropped. He could barely fit his finger into the trigger-guard.<\/p>\n<p>When he came to the center of  the crater, he stopped. One iceblock had crashed <em>through<\/em> the bottom, and  left a hole large enough for several people to climb through. Brown leaned down  and peered into the hole. Its edges were not metal, but some synthetic material  that created the false image of solid rock on the scanners and radar.  Underneath the one meter of camouflage lay a man-made chamber, about five  meters deep.<\/p>\n<p>The iceblock had shattered  into thousands of pieces on the hard floor below. And on the floor lay row  after row of gravestones, engraved with names.<\/p>\n<div id=\"serial-posts-wrapper\">\n<h3 class=\"serial-posts-heading\"><span class=\"serial-post-text\">Read more from this serial.<\/span><\/h3>\n<ul class=\"serial-posts\">\n<li class=\"serial-posts-list-item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/articles\/a-man-called-mister-brown\/\" title=\"A Man Called Mister Brown\">A Man Called Mister Brown<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"serial-posts-list-item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/articles\/a-man-called-mister-brown-ms-hitt\/\" title=\"A Man Called Mister Brown: Ms. Hitt\">A Man Called Mister Brown: Ms. Hitt<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"serial-posts-list-item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/articles\/a-man-called-mister-brown-mr-green\/\" title=\"A Man Called Mister Brown: Mr. Green\">A Man Called Mister Brown: Mr. Green<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"serial-posts-list-item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/articles\/a-man-called-mister-brown-the-ishtar-death-march\/\" title=\"A Man Called Mister Brown: The Ishtar Death March\">A Man Called Mister Brown: The Ishtar Death March<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"serial-posts-list-item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/articles\/a-man-called-mister-brown-camp-adonis\/\" title=\"A Man Called Mister Brown: Camp Adonis\">A Man Called Mister Brown: Camp Adonis<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"serial-posts-list-item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/articles\/a-man-called-mister-brown-mars-in-winter\/\" title=\"A Man Called Mister Brown: Mars in Winter\">A Man Called Mister Brown: Mars in Winter<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"serial-posts-list-item current-inactive\">A Man Called Mister Brown: To the Underworld<\/li>\n<li class=\"serial-posts-list-item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/articles\/a-man-called-mister-brown-the-graves-speak\/\" title=\"A Man Called Mister Brown: The Graves Speak\">A Man Called Mister Brown: The Graves Speak<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Part 7 of the 8 part <em>A Man Called Mister Brown<\/em> serial by A.R. Yngve finds Vaino &ldquo;Green&rdquo; Fingers, Mister Brown, and Ms. Hitt going beneath the surface of Mars in search of the missing plutonium. <em class=\"nobr\">&mdash; ed, N.E. Lilly<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":539,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3,5],"tags":[97,98],"media":[299],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1159,"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69\/revisions\/1159"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/539"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69"},{"taxonomy":"media","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?post=69"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}