On a well-settled Mars, the five major city Council regimes
struggle to meld into a stable, working government. Embracing an official
Unified Faith In Humanity, the Councils are teetering on the verge of pogrom
directed against Christians, Molesters , Jews, Rapists, Buddhists, Murderers,
Muslims, Thieves, Hindu, Embezzlers and Artificial Humans – anyone who
threatens the official Faith and the consolidating power of the Councils. It
makes good sense, right – get rid of religion and Human divisiveness on a
societal level will disappear? An instrument of such a pogrom might just be a
Roman holiday...To see the rest of the chapters
and I’m sorry, but a number of them got deleted from the blog – go to
SCIENCE FICTION: Martian Holiday on the right and scroll to the
bottom for the first story. If you’d like to read it from beginning to end (37,000
words as of now), drop me a line and I’ll send you the unedited version.
It
didn’t take long to program an intercept course from where he was to the main
highway between the Sink and Burroughs to Bradbury. God had called him to do
something. Maybe this was such a time; maybe the United Faith In Humanity and
the Church were about to collide.
Not
the first time, Paolo Marcillon thought as he pressed pushed the joy sticks of
the marsbug forward. The Moon had been the first to set up planet-wide
restrictions against the old Earth religions after the long horrors of
persecution and brief, brutal wars, and terroristic act perpetrated by the
ancient institutions that had grown up around each original faith. Coopted and
infiltrated by non-religious political groups as well as governments, the old
religions...
A
loud clank came from underneath and the ‘bug slewed around. Paolo release the
joy sticks and coasted to a stop again. Scowling, he sealed his helmet, stored
the air, and climbed back down to the surface of Mars. Out of Burroughs, he’d
barely reached the equator, four hundred kilometers south of Bradbury. The city
was immense, First among all of the cities, its technology the most advanced,
its four million residents the wealthiest. Its power greatest. He said out
loud, “Its roads the worst.” Shaking his head, he took out his scanner, aiming
it at the ‘bug, activating the undercarriage sensors. An image appeared.
Expecting a rock, he saw instead something obviously made by Humans.
Muttering,
he said, “I hate kneeling.” The suit was flexible – to some extent. He leaned
on the ‘bug and lowered himself to the surface, tilting sideways to see
underneath. The object was silver. “Looks like a satellite.” There was no other
way to get the object. He lay on the ground, reaching underneath. The ‘bug had
some ability to lift up or lower – the parched surface of Mars was liberally
strewn with rocks and minerals ranging in size from gravel to apartment-building-sized
boulders. Using the scanner to signal the computer, he made it lift to maximum
extent. The object rolled free, toward him. “Well, it’s not a fossil or
something from a long time ago. Probably a baby comsat.” He scooped the object
toward his feet then moved it out from under the ‘bug, following after it himself
by squirming like a sidewinder rattler on Earth.
Muttering
again and he clambered ungracefully to his feet, he was panting hard by the
time he stood, looking down at the object he’d run over. Obviously silver, it
no longer looked as pristine as it had while wedged beneath the ‘bug.
He
wasn’t so stupid as to bring it with him inside the ‘bug – he’d seen the
Martian version of the classic SF story ANDROMEDA STRAIN when he was a kid.
Scared the living daylights out of him! Instead, he passed the scanner over it.
Devoid of markings, there was clearly no UPC on it anywhere – which eliminated
it from the realm of commercial satellites. “Could be illicit...” There were
always tales of this entrepreneur or that business woman trying to horn in on
the communication monopoly held by the Five City Councils and launch their own
line of designer satellites, but now that he was looking at it critically, he
was beginning to realize exactly how odd it was. Humans typically used smooth
titanium or aluminum shells, either boxy or misshapen but this was pebbled in
some way – not abraded by micrometeoroids like cheap sats were after a couple
years in orbit. Mars was, after all on the edge of the asteroid belt and
despite the fact that most junk gut drawn to Jupiter, Mars had far more
asteroid impacts than Earth ever had.
He
passed his hand over the surface. It wasn’t exactly an eclectic collection of
slapped together components the Councils sometimes blew out of orbit and
claimed were signs of Cartel activity on Mars. No other entity could raise more
hackles than the Cartel. Even the UFIH’s crusade faded into the background when
the boogeyman of the Cartel came up in conversation.
Even
so, the more he studied it, the more...alien it looked. Subtle things about it
he couldn’t attribute to simple cheapness. He pursed his lips and tried to pick
it up – and nearly threw his back out. It hadn’t seemed that heavy when it was
under the ‘bug.
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