April 5, 2018

MARTIAN HOLIDAY 123: Aster of Opportunity


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 (70,000+ words as of now), drop me a line and I’ll send you the unedited version.

In her personal life on Mars, Aster Theilen, former office pool, current Consort of Mayor-for-Life, his Excellency Etaraxis Ginunga-Gap, had not seen lots of evidence of the greatness of Humanity without the immaterial. After meeting her father’s – literally – underground Church – she’d come to the surface to find that an entourage was waiting for her. Consisting of a group of blue Artificial Humans dressed in dark blue business tunics and pants, led by an elderly male, who had introduced himself as BondAH. She said, “Where is my Consort?”

“Waiting for you in his office,” said BondAH.

“His office?”

“Yes, your Grace.”

Aster scowled. The office was for business – his home office, obviously – and despite the fact that he had a perfectly good office there, complete with staff, he often worked from the Pylon. He’d just never invited HER to his office in the Pylon. “Why does he want me here?”

“I do not know, your Grace.”

“Cut the ‘your Grace’, stuff, Master BondAH.”

“I will ‘cut the your Grace, stuff’, when you cut the Master stuff, ma’am.”

She couldn’t help but grin. “Fine. I’ll call you Master, and you can call me ‘your Grace.”

BondAH stopped, touched the door chime and stepped back as it slid open. “The Mayor awaits you, your Grace.”

She stepped through the door and took the lift to the top, feeling the shift underneath her several times as it slid sideways. Holding her breath, she tried to figure the best way to approach him. She’d never really done anything that he might disagree with, though he might have forbidden her to sponsor the Orphan’s Ball. He’d thought “shaking things up” a good idea. She was, however, fairly sure that what she was planning would go beyond what he expected.

On the other hand…the lift door slid open.

He was standing with his back to her – a bad sign – looking out over the Opportunity Dome. It was a clear view of the raw landscape of Mars. Though softer today than it had been a hundred years ago when the First Colonists had landed, it was still not an environment to be trifled with. Humans still lost their lives on the surface, and disaster was only a large puncture away. The cool, moist air Humanity had grown to some form a maturity in, was several thousand kilometers away; the dry, thin air of Mars – at an air pressure that, even today at ten kilopascals, it was still less than ten percent of Earth’s air pressure. It was also remained primarily carbon dioxide, though now the argon, neon, nitrogen, and molecular oxygen content had increased appreciably. Even so, Humans were a long, long time from being able to cavort freely on the surface. As if he’d been reading her thoughts, Etaraxis said, “It’s different than it was, but not different enough.” He turned to her, smiled faintly, and added, “Good to see you, again, Aster.”

She nodded, smiling a bit as well. He wasn’t a horrible man, certainly not the Anti-Christ her father sometimes muttered about. Aster would have given that appellation to vo’Maddux. “You as, well, Etar.” They both sniffed at the play on their names. She offered him her hand, he kissed her chastely on the cheek, then he slipped his arm around her waist.

He said, “My…dog…tells me you are plotting my downfall.”

Not surprised by his gambit, she said, “How many accusations does this make since you asked me to the Pylon?”

He snorted outright this time. “Your steadfastness continues to catch me off guard, Madame Consort!” He shook his head, “You have no idea how badly that woman frightened the others.”

“I have a very good idea, thank you. She terrifies me,” Aster said without looking at the Mayor. The austerity of Mars, which she usually took for granted – if she noticed it at all – sometimes took her breath away. “This world is an excellent metaphor.”

“For what?”

“vo’Maddux’ soul. Dry. Cracked. Singular. Unbroken.”
Etaraxis grunted then said, “Could you be a little more specific, Dear?”

She shot him a look, noted that he was teasing her, then said, “Of course I’ve been to the underground. If I’m going to be your consort and have a say in what happens in this Dome – as well as keep an ear to the ground – then I need to wander our home freely.”

“It’s dangerous…”

“Mars is dangerous, dear Consort. Every inch of it not covered with Dome is dangerous. The parts that are covered are ten times more dangerous because they can lull you into thinking everything is safe and sound.”

He turned to her this time, then gently turned her to face him. “You’ve heard something. I know that… ‘know-it-all’ tone in your voice.”

“I don’t have…” then she stopped. Her father had said the same thing to her once, when she was young and wanted to move out of his Church. She sighed. “I do. And I do.”

“You’ve heard that particular accusation before.”

“My father.”

“Wise man to turn you lose before you destroyed yourself!” He paused then said, “What have you heard?”

“There’s a snake loose in your paradise, Dear Consort.”

“vo’Maddux can’t…”

“Not her. She’s more like the bull in the china shop.”

“The what?”

“Doesn’t matter – an old Earth saying Dad would toss at me when I got overly enthusiastic about something and didn’t understand exactly what I was doing.”

Etaraxis nodded slowly. “So, this snake?”

“Nothing certain yet, but my source seems to think that it will strike soon – and it will strike here.”


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