The Holes Around Mars

A spacecraft crew exploring Mars finds a series of perfectly circular four-inch holes cut through rocks, cacti, and other features, all precisely aligned across the landscape. They measure the apertures, observe repeated impact marks and dried plant tissue, and test sightlines that connect distant points. The team debates plausible origins—ritual, utilitarian surveying, or destructive technology—while small native animals and electrical phenomena heighten unease. The story blends careful scientific observation, wry interpersonal dynamics, and growing puzzlement as the explorers try to account for an uncanny engineered pattern on the planet.