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 (100,000+ words as of now), drop me a line and I’ll
send you the unedited version.
Aster, Consort of Opportunity
Mayor-for-Life Etaraxis had found a public rest area, sitting to close her eyes
and breathe deeply for several seconds. The Orphan’s Ball might very well shatter
the stranglehold grip “natural Humans” had over cloned Humans on Mars
She would be heading revolution that
might change the face of Mars. Standing, her pulse roared in her ears as she
headed for the lift, she thought furiously that this might very well be the purpose
to which God had called her. She might be a fulcrum to change the face of a
world; to make a difference in the lives of Artificial Humans. While her life
was limited on Mars, mostly because she was less interested in the sciences and
math than many other women, she’d never really found a calling. It was how she
drifted into government office work. While she’d applied for higher positions,
none of them had ever materialized; her father had always suspected it was
because she was his daughter. She’d been gifted with NOT simply being consort to
Etaraxis, but with an opportunity to wield true power.
Her moment had arrived. It was time for
her to do something important for Mars; it was time to do something important
for herself. She rode the lift to the surface, then took a train to the Mayor’s
Aerie. No one slowed her down. In fact several bureaucrats nodded, several
smiled. She was startled to realize that many appeared to like her.
She abruptly realized that this was her
power base. By the time she reached the Apex – the part of the Aerie that poked
through the dome, she was confident she could shift the consensus directed at
Artificial Humans. She was feeling good about herself until, unseen, Vo’Maddux
was walking beside her. Weasel – Aster knew the word from her father’s description,
describing a sharp-toothed, rat-like creature who was not to be trusted. She’d
never seen a real one, but the images father had shown her were disquieting. She
leaned in close and said in a low voice, “I hear your father is a leader in the
Christian under…”
Aster scowled, cutting off the Mayor’s
assistant, “Yes, he is. Etaraxis knows. You know. He’s been like this my whole
life, so it’s no secret from me.” She stopped, spinning to face Vo’Maddux and
leaned into her face, “Are you trying to blackmail me into something,
assistant?”
Vo’Maddux leaned back, startled, then
leaned back in, said angrily, “If you don’t do as I want, I can have your old
man executed.”
Aster stood, shook her head, and said, “I’m
fairly certain you’re overestimating your influence on the Pylon.”
“And I’m certain I am now, Consort. You’re
one of a long line of virtual one-night-stands. You’re no different…”
Aster stepped full into the other woman’s
space, crowding her, forcing her to take a step back to risk collision – and even
she wasn’t bold enough yet to be seen possibly attacking the Mayoral Consort.
There were, after all, eyes everywhere and she was not, after all, the Mayor’s
Consort. Aster looked down at her from her slight height advantage, and said, “You’re
not Consort yet, Vo’Maddux, and until you’re ready to risk your life in challenging
me, you’d be wise to take a couple of steps back.” Aster took a quick step
forward, forcing Vo’Maddux to collide with her and risk a record of her
assaulting the Mayor’s Consort – or back off.
She backed off. Aster nodded, turned,
and strode away toward the Pylon. She was certain Vo’Maddux sliced her to ribbons
in her imagination. She said faintly, “But not today, Dear,” she tossed a look
over her shoulder. Vo’Maddux hadn’t moved. With a smile, she added, “Not today.”
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