The Strange Taste of Metal - John Spark, #1

John Spark is a tour guide in the caves of Mars. He's a jack-of-all-trades, a climber, a freelance writer, highly resourceful. He has to be, because on Mars there's no 'roadside assist'. Whether it's a vehicle, a suit, or a body, you fix it, or you face death. Luck lands him a plush job with an exploration team. The cashed-up researchers seek clues to the origins of life, 97 light years from Mars. Or so they say.  What exactly is a middling university doing with a cutting edge ship like the Coromandel? As the 'Help', John doesn't have a need to know.
Seems he's not the only one who's curious about what's below deck. On arrival at Aemilia, the crew stumble on a bizarre message from a cryptic source, but who was it intended for and what does it mean?Conditions on planet Aemilia are as treacherous as they are beautiful, and not as anyone predicted At the height of success, the mission is cut short amidst increasing danger, of a kind and extent that no one could imagine.  John and the crew must use all of their wit and resources to get home in time to avert a truly terrifying disaster, galactic in scale. approx: 101, 000 words.