September 13, 2018

MARTIAN HOLIDAY 131: Stepan of Burroughs

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, 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 140,000+ words as of now), drop me a line and I’ll send you the unedited version.

“What the hell are you doing up there?” QuinnAH, the artificial boy disciple shouted from the foot of the stairs.

Stepan Izmaylova, preacher, estranged son of a Martian revolutionary, almost dropped the remains. “Language, please.” There was silence. He relented. “I found something,” he shouted down. “Something that’s gonna scare you.” The sound of Quinn’s pounding feet as he charged up the stairs like any other teenager confronted by mystery; stopped abruptly. “What…”

Stepan tilted the helmet back, shining the light into the cavity. QuinnAH squeaked. One foot still in the air as his mouth worked, but no sound came out. Stepan said softly, “I think we’ve found ourselves another alien.” He squeaked again. Stepan couldn’t help but smile.

QuinnAH came out of his freeze and shouted, “Why would you do that to someone?”

“I didn’t do anything to you that hadn’t happened to me.”

The boy opened his mouth to argue, then sighed. “Fair enough, Preach.” He paused. “But what now? That b-born pod left and I don’t think they’re coming back.”

“Why not?”

“They don’t belong here. They be on some sorta quest. They lookin’ for something and it…”

“I’m not your friends. You can speak regular English with me,” said Stepan, smiling a bit.

QuinnAH hung his head, “Sorry. I forget you’re not a normal person.”

Stepan laughed and stood up. Gently toeing the suit, he said, “We have to move this, probably bag it up, and send it to DaneelAH and his vatmates. They have the cetacean spacesuit now, and one of them has access to a Virtual Reality unit that fits it. I have no doubt that there are other artifacts scattered over Mars.” He pursed his lips then leaned down to QuinnAH, “And I think something big is brewing on Mars. Something that will change everything on the Red Planet.”

“You mean like what your god did to Earth?”

Stepan met his defiant gaze then slowly nodded, saying, “He did change Earth. But people grabbed what he said, twisted it and used it for personal gain.” He sighed. “It’s what Humans do as easily as breathing.”

Image: https://media.recovery.org/wp-content/uploads/recovery-shutter280148666-man-watching-sunrise-over-city-640x300.jpg

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