February 1, 2018

MARTIAN HOLIDAY 119: 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.

Aster Theilen continued to walk, flashing letter “I”s appearing abruptly at intersections. Someone was guiding her through the Underground, deep beneath the lowest level of Opportunity Dome, until she reached the sub-Dome elevator. She got in, rode ten levels up and stepped out – into the bright concentrated sunshine of midday. She was still on the lowest level of the Dome and for a moment she stood blinking.

Several blue Artificial Humans dressed in dark blue business tunics and pants, stepped up to her. One, an elderly male she’d never seen before, said, “Excuse me, Madame Consort, but the Mayor, his Excellency Etaraxis Ginunga-Gap has sent me, BondAH to collect you.”

Aster snorted. “And how did his Excellency know I would be exiting here?”

He lifted his chin and said, “His Excellency has his ways. Perhaps the best known is that he is always listening.” BondAH managed to keep his smile to a twitch of one corner of his lips.

Aster couldn’t control hers as she replied, “Message received.” She nodded, “I would be delighted to travel with you, Master BondAH.”

“Simply ‘BondAH’, if it please your Grace.”

She lifted and eyebrow and said, “It no longer pleases me, Master BondAH. It no longer pleases me.”

“Indeed, Madame Consort. Does the Mayor know of your displeasure?”

Aster considered. If she pushed the Mayor, her titular Consort too hard, he might side with vo’Maddux – though Aster couldn’t imagine anyone siding with that pit viper of a woman. If she didn’t do anything out of the ordinary, she might lose her chance to change the Dome and its politics and policies, not least of which was its restrictions against people like her father. As pastor of an underground church attended by Human and Artificial Human alike, he had also become a political figure. She suddenly found herself wondering what, precisely, he was doing.

While he’d never overtly opposed the strong mayor-weak council government, there was always a first time. Overtly opposing it as he’d never much cared for it, either, preferring an absolute democracy instead.

By the time she’d reached the conclusion that her father was doing far more than she thought he SHOULD be doing, she’d reached the Residence with her entourage. She looked over the BondAH and aid, “If he didn’t already suspect it, I think I’ll let him know right now.”

BondAH bowed slightly and said, “Your Grace.” She noticed that there was a bit more of an inflection on the word than he’d used before. For a moment, she caught herself wondering if Artificial Humans could be Christians. She knew her dad believed so, otherwise he wouldn’t have a church below the surface of Mars. She imagined the Hideous Times on Earth, when Human trafficking had been a norm for virtually any large culture. Had there been real believers who felt that captured, enslaved peoples deserved to hear the good news? Who had, rather than setting out to “brain wash” slaves into the new culture, shared with them the same way Christians had always shared their faith – humbly and with fear. Not EVERY slave who converted to Christianity did so for fear or hope of gain. Some would have been moved by God. Some became real followers. Despite outsider’s implication that slaves and low-tech civilizations were populated by stupid and easily persuaded people, some of the converts must have been intelligent men and women startled by truths of a faith they’d never experienced before.

So, that made Dad’s mission below a real mission field. It also flew in the face of the philosophy of the United Faith in Humanity. The underpinnings made it clear that Christianity – as well as Buddhism, Islam, Taoism, Hinduism, and the other faiths of Humanity, in fact any belief in anything immaterial, were the sole cause of Human suffering. Humans being Human was something worthy to belie. It affirmed that Humans had the ability and responsibility to lead ethical lives of personal fulfillment that aspire to the greater good of humanity. Guided by reason, inspired by compassion, and informed by experience— Humans would encourage each other to live life well and fully, recognizing that values and ideals were subject to change as Human knowledge and understanding inevitably advanced.

In her personal life on Mars, she had not seen lots of evidence of the greatness of Humanity without the immaterial.

They reached the Pylon. “Where’s 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, complete with staff, he often worked from the Pylon. He’d just never invited HER to his office. “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.


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