[ WP ] We finally get men on Mars and they discover an old Soviet flag placed down decades ago . The Soviets won the space race but for whatever horrifying reason did n't say anything .

``... and so it is that we find ourselves in the position to be able to introduce Polkovnik Vladimir Komorov to the platform. Please wait until his statement is finished before asking any questions.'' 
 
 The NASA press secretary took a step down, and shook the gentleman's hand. The cameras flashed without cease, making it difficult to keep his eyes open to see where he was going. He reached out his hand to feel the podium and stepped up. 
 
 `` Thank you for your time today. Before going any further I would like to first speak to my beloved daughter Irina. I know you had to grieve for me. I know you had to grow up without a father. I know that the times you have seen have challenged you, and I know you must have much anger towards me.'' 
 
 He paused, not solely for breath, but for strength. 
 
 `` I was often there. I came to see my beloved Valentina, your mother, buried and I saw you. I was scared and excited that you might have seen me but you could barely see past your tears. I wanted so surely to come and hold you and explain everything I could, but it was impossible. I hope you can learn to forgive me for all that I did, and us, for all that we had done. I hope you can look at what we planned to do and find a way to understand it. I am sorry, my daughter.'' 
 
 A tear rolled down his cheek, which he wiped away with his hand, as youthful as it ever was. He took a sip of water, and mopped his brow. Coughing, he took a deep breath and composed himself. 
 
 “ You must understand how difficult this is for us, we glorify all our successes and work very hard at keeping our failures hidden. This was not a failure. This was glory. We had beaten our biggest adversary at the biggest race there had ever been. ” 
 
 The excitement in his voice was clear, and this excitement was harmonised by the cameras flashing, catching each gesture and each strong look to be uploaded immediately to social media channels, published on blogs, and shown news outlets alike. 
 
 “ We had a plan, of course, we had everything on hand, and we had prepared everything to broadcast live from the Red Planet the very day that America was to land on the moon. Can you imagine?! Glorious communism beating this ridiculous idea of democracy, this capitalist society where only the rich survive and the poor are left in squalor, you americans are so arrogant and we would show you, we would be the ones to lead the world into the new era. Yuri kep- ” 
 
 He paused to cough. Around the room, hundreds of people held their breath. Vlad noticed that his heart was beating so fast, he believed it might pump straight through his chest. 
 
 “ Yuri kept saying we were like Columbus but I always corrected him. We weren ’ t like Columbus, he only found land that humans already conquered. We we- “ 
 
 Vlad brought his hand to his mouth to cough. He noticed a spat of blood on his hand. 
 
 “ We were truly the first from the human race to reach this land. So we set off on April 24th, 1967, and the mission went without problem. We exited earths orbit the next day, using earths gravity to push us as fast as we could towards our destination. All of this went without incident, which, as I ’ m sure you ’ ve now noticed, is where our story deviates from yours. ” 
 
 As the lights beat down on his head, he squinted to the back of the room, thinking he had seen an old face. 
 
 “ We settled down to the long journey. We had large elastic bands for resistance training to keep our muscle mass up, and we had just simple concentrated rations to get us through the year. The landing sequence went well, but touchdown was harsh, I broke my collar bone and Yuri had some manner of nerve damage that made his hands shake. Of course, everythin- ” 
 
 He paused again, mouth suddenly dry. As he looked across the room, he realised he could see no faces, his vision was blurred. He wiped his brow again, and paused to take a sip of the water. 
 
 He sipped, but this time noticed the numbers 14-07-54 etched into the base of the glass. His thumping heartbeat practically stopped as he looked up and around. 
 
 He looked to the back of the room and saw her. He knew he didn ’ t have much time. 
 
 “ Everything went to plan. Right up until November 7th 1968. When we awoke that day, Yuri was out of bed, and looked YOUNGER. He was repairing some electronics for the air recycling system that I had been working on, because his hands wouldn ’ t stop shaking. When I went to wash my face, I noticed all my grey hair had gone. My wrinkles had gone. The ache in my collarbone had gone. I could stretch my arm to full reach without problem. You can imagine how we felt, somehow we had found the effects of Bimini, and the pool of which Herodotus wrote. We were excited to share this news with RSVN, with Kosygin, and with all of Russia, but that day was w- “ 
 
 A thud. A flash. Vlad reached to his chest but could not feel his heart. He dropped to the ground. He didn ’ t hear the screams and didn ’ t see the camera flashes. He only saw Irina, and reached out his hand to hold hers. 
 
 “ It has to be this way, father ” she said softly, as he drifted into eternal darkness.
