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. They are HanAH, the security expert (m); DaneelAH, xenoarchaeologist (m); AzAH, language
expert (f); MishAH, pattern recognition (f).
MishAH said, “I’ve read that United Earth is
considering legislation that declares anyone who is less than some percentage
of something they call ‘Original Human DNA’ will be inhuman and will be tossed
into the category we live in.”
“They’ll be declared slaves?” AzAH said.
“They’re only rumblings of a few, sweet sister. But
for now, we have a problem.”
“What?” AzAH and MishAH said together.
HanAH lifted his chin and said, “We’re here.”
The Rim of Burroughs Dome loomed over them as they
approached. They slowed to wait with other marsbugs, vans, and transports,
sealed and open to the atmosphere Humanity was building on Mars. After a few
moments, the massive airlock opened, the vehicles moved in, the airlock closed,
and the pressure outside rose until they could hear the howl of air being
pumped in. Overriding the internal communication systems, the Dome Traffic
Control said, “All vehicles please proceed to docking ports or inspection points
for access to underground ramps and causeways.”
MishAH sat down and gripped the control handles,
tipping them forward slightly. The ‘bug moved. “Seems our mysterious host has
granted us control again.” He nodded and drove to a parking slot. Once they’d
gathered their things, they got out and joined the movement of living beings.
Of course, they weren’t allowed to enter with Natural
Humans but were directed through another gate that scanned them for contraband,
brands, and ownership chips. The four of them passed easily – they were owned
by the Mayor of Malacandra, after all, and their status, while officially below
that of privileged Naturals, was considerably above that of Traffic drones like
the Natural woman who passed them through once their chips registered.
Once in the transport hub of the Dome, they stopped
and huddled. The high-ceilinged hub roared with the reflected and refracted
voices pouring them back down as white noise which covered any one, specific
sound. Conversations, music, and anything that was supposed to be said
disappeared. More than one thief, con artist, kidnapper, or conspiracist had
planned their crime under the Dome and the surveillance of countless peace-keepers.
DaneelAH
said, “We need to find this christian person.”
“That shouldn’t be hard, he was the Hero of the
Faith Wars,” MishAH said.
“He’ll either be easy to find or no one will have
any idea what we’re talking about,” said HanAH.
DaneelAH shook his head and said, “We’re emissaries
of the Mayor of Malacandra to the people of Burroughs…”
“What message are we carrying to them?” said HanAH.
They all turned to DaneelAH, holding the silence
for some time before he said, “The Mayor of Malacandra has a proposition for
the Mayor of Burroughs…” he paused.
AzAH smiled faintly, crossed her arms over her
chest. “What could the Mayor of Burroughs possibly want from the Southern
Wastes?”
HanAH said, “The whole planet is a waste – what would
the Mayor of one the Five Domes of Mars, possibly want with…”
“He would want evidence that there was alien life
on Mars at one time,” DaneelAH said.
HanAH snorted, “What kind of evidence of alien life
did Mayor Turin have?”
MishAH said, “We’ve got patterning evidence of
unusual branching, subsurface markings.”
“What?” said HanAH.
“Tunnels,” said DaneelAH.
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