As they emerged from the rover, the first thing he noticed was the heat. It was all-consuming. He felt like he was wrapped in a blanket. The sun was high in the sky; it was noon, and as close to the equator as they were, Megrez was almost directly overhead. Mere seconds outside the rover, he began to sweat. It evaporated almost immediately, stolen by air as thirsty as he was. In minutes a thin film of oil and salt built up on his dark skin. 

His team began to emerge from his rover and the others as he stood, hand above his eyes to survey their surroundings. He’d grown up in a desert, but never in his life had he seen a place so desolate. They stood on a shallow plain of sand, searing bright in the sun. Ahead, vast, rolling dunes rose high as mountains over a desert untouched by human footsteps.

“Doctor Ford!” one of his researchers called out from behind him. 

He turned to find Milore jogging toward him, and raised his hand quickly. “Whoa,” he said, “take it easy out here.”

Milroe slowed to a walk. Even after a brief run he was panting, and doubled over as he stopped in front of Ford. “Ugh…” he rasped, “don’t need to tell me twice.”

Ford withdrew sunglasses from the left pocket of his shirt. “How are we looking?” he asked, donning his shades.

Milroe put on his sunglasses as well, then turned to survey their convoy. “All the rovers look good. No signs of damage on the wheels.” He paused, wiping his forehead. “Rover three hit a rut a few km’s back, so their batteries are running a little low.”

Ford looked up at the sky, felt the sun searing his face. “Well,” he began, “I don’t think recharging will be a problem around here.”

“You’re telling me,” Milroe rasped, wiping salt from his neck. He lifted his tab, flicked on the screen and gaped at the display. “Doctor Ford, it’s already thirty-seven degrees out here.” He paused, lowering his tab. “And we still haven’t reached thermal maximum.”

“We probably won’t for another hour,” Ford replied. He looked down, then turned back to Milroe. “And cut it with the ‘doctor’ stuff. I’m Bill.”

Milroe smiled weakly. “Then I guess I’m Tayvion.”

Ford smiled, nodding. “We’re all alone out here, Tay. Even if they have the sprites up and running, it’ll still be a couple hours before they can get to us out here.”

Milroe frowned, worried. “You think they still don’t have them adapted for the heat here?”

Ford chuckled. “You kidding? We aren’t adapted to the heat out here yet.”

At this Milroe chuckled weakly. “Copy that.” 

For a moment, they both fell silent, taking in the view. A soft breeze blew; to Ford it felt like standing behind an engine. Eventually, Milroe lifted his tab, scanning the surrounding desert. “Damn…” he whispered, “the air here is dry as hell.”

Ford simply nodded. This was about as close to hell as anyone could get.

“Uh…” Milroe began, pausing his scans and motioning to Ford. “Bill? What’s that?” He lowered his tab and pointed to the southwest.

Ford moved in close, following his finger. He tapped the side of his sunglasses, zooming in on his HUD. In the distance, he could see something poking out of the sand. “I dunno…” Ford whispered, squinting. “Looks like it’s about…a kilometer and a half away.”

“Should we check it out?” Milroe asked.

Ford shrugged. “It’s what we’re here for, right?”

As it was only a short trip, Ford left most of his team behind. They parked their caravan of rovers in a box, set around what would be their camp site. With the others unfolding their tents, Ford and Milroe set off in rover one. The HUD kept them trained on their distant target as their wheels kicked up sand. Inside the rover, Ford took a deep breath of cool air. With the rover’s computer doing the driving, he sat back, guzzling water from his pouch.

“Shouldn’t you conserve that?” Milroe said, capping his own pouch.

Ford withdrew his pouch, wiping his mouth and breathing heavily. He shook his head. “No point in conserving it,” he said. “Not out here. Best place to store water is inside your body.”

“But, what if we run out?” Milroe asked.

Ford looked at him. “Well, then we die.”

Milroe stared at him, shocked. Ford shrugged, then leaned toward him, lowering his voice. “In places like this, it’s all about survival. Every decision you make is about staying alive. So you take nothing for granted. You don’t act like you’ve got rovers with AC. You don’t act like you’ve got more than enough water. You hold on to whatever you have. And you never stop thinking about the danger. Because the moment you do, it’s too late.”

Milroe looked out through the windscreen, his shoulders drooping. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.

Ford reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder. Milroe turned to him, and he smiled reassuringly. “You don’t have to apologize,” he began, softly. “When I first landed here, I had no idea what I was doing. I figured it out. So will you.”

Milroe looked up at him. “Yeah, but you had Randall Holmes with you.”

Ford nodded, still smiling. “And he taught me everything I know. And now, I’m gonna teach you.”

Soon after, the rover trundled to a halt. They’d reached their destination. The two stepped out of the rover, blinking in the afternoon sun. Milroe lifted his tab as Ford put on his sunglasses, then squatted as they examined their first point of interest.

Ahead of them, a flat plain between low dunes was punctuated by dead trees. They were gnarled and shriveled, their short trunks snaking up toward spindly branches, as though pleading for water. There were at least thirty of them, dried to a crisp in Megrez’s merciless light.

“Wow…” Milroe whispered, lowering his tab. “Trees…in the desert. This is crazy. I’ve never seen anything like it!”

“I have,” Ford replied, standing up. “There’s a dead forest like this in Namibia, on Earth.”

“How did they get here?” Milroe asked.

“They sprouted here,” Ford replied. “A long, long time ago.”

Milroe looked down at his tab. “Looks like you’re right,” he began, reviewing the data. “Scans indicate they’re at least…a thousand years old.” He paused, looking up at the dead trunks again. “Why are they still standing?”

“The climate,” Ford replied. “They’re not just dead; they’re mummified.” He paused, gazing around at their surroundings. “We’ve figured for a while that this desert was pretty new. And that it’s growing. Now, we’ve got proof.”

“So this wasn’t always a desert,” Milroe observed.

Ford shook his head. “Nope. Way before we got here, it was probably a forest like the Sanctuary Valley. The water went away, but the trees couldn’t.”

“So they died,” Milroe added.

Ford nodded. “And the same thing will happen to us if we stay here too long. We should get back to camp.” With that, the two boarded the rover, and headed back.