by Trent Falls
“Save your breath, Scott.” Dekker’s weak voice interrupted.
Shin and Euler both fell silent at the sound of Dekker’s frail wavering voice. The beaten retired Colonel’s eyes searched through the bright glare of the room to try and find the people standing around him.
“All he knows is war.” Dekker continued weakly. “All you know is hate. Whatever you find out there… that will be meaningless. You’ll only use it…. to try and kill each other.”
Shin held his eyes on Dekker for a moment. The old colonel’s head slumped forward. The guards standing at his side stopped him from falling over. Shin’s eyes then slowly turned towards Euler.
“Zao is on your team.” Shin noted to Euler evenly. “Get this man off my ship.”
Euler smirked somewhat angrily at Shin. Euler then waived at the guards holding Dekker. “Let’s go.” He ordered them.
Euler walked away from Shin and the detention center. The guards carrying Dekker followed him.
Mars. It appeared first ahead of the Tequesta as it emerged from warp. A significant and very familiar red dot, it suddenly became apparent in the middle of their field of vision. Alex kept a sharp eye ahead, all the while remaining extremely aware of what the instruments on the console in front of him were telling him. His velocity was slowing dramatically from warp. It was now 590,000 km per hour and dropping.
John sat in the copilot chair. His eyes too remained fixed forward. It had been some time since he had seen Mars. It had been some time since he had done anything away from Earth.
“You gonna do your thing, man?” Alex asked John indirectly. Alex was busy flying the starship and focused on the task at hand. He needed to slow down enough to give John the time he needed to establish communications with Aiyana.
The wireless headset for the copilot hung from a small hook above John’s head. John picked up the wireless headset and put it on. He switched to the frequency he knew Martian Steel used for freighter traffic.
“Explorer seven oh nine calling Port Huron control.”
John waited for a while. There was no immediate answer.
“Port Huron Control. This is Explorer seven oh nine requesting contact with Aiyana Rodriguez.” John called out again.
Again, there was no immediate response.
“What the hell kind of identifier is ‘seven oh nine’ anyway?” Alex asked.
John muted his com line before replying to Alex. “It’s the best I can come up with.” John noted sideways to answer. “They’re going to scan your transponder anyway when you get in range and figure out what’s up.”
“I’ll be lucky if they don’t call Mars EEF and have a bunch of starfighters shoot me out of the sky!” Alex noted seriously.
“They won’t. Relax” John tried to reassure him.
“Explorer seven oh one this is Huron Control.” A traffic officer’s voice came back aloud over the com.
“Huron Control, this is seven oh nine.” John called back. “We have you on our screens. Say again.”
“Huron Control. We’re requesting landing instructions for your commuter airfield. We have an important matter and need to get in contact with Aiyana Rodriguez immediately.”
“Explorer seven oh one, we read you as Tequesta five nine nine.” The operator’s voice sounded confused.
John pressed his channel mute button. “I guess they have better tracking than I remember.” John said aside to Alex.
“Are you serious? You really need to get with it!” Alex grumbled.
John released his mute key on the com and responded to Huron Control. “Huron Control…. Yeah, uh, sorry. We just bought this vessel. Sorry for the mix-up. This is Tequesta five nine nine. We need landing instructions for your commuter port. It is imperative that we speak with Miss Rodriguez as soon as possible.”
There was a long pause. Alex looked over at John and, very conspicuously, shook his head in disapproval.
John pointed down towards the ground. The Martian horizon was filling up the view ahead of the ship. John was indicating that they should descend immediately.
Alex stared sideways at John for a moment.
John raised his eyebrows at Alex, indicating silently that he was serious.
Alex grabbed his flight yoke and edged the nose of his spacecraft down. The surface details of Mars appeared to be better defined ahead as they descended. Hazy brown patches became the outlines of sharp peaks. The sunlight glowed off the edge of the horizon in a bright amber hue. Alex looked ahead at his navigation screen and HUD. The beacon for the Martian Steel shipyards was coming through clearly on his tracking sensors.
“Tequesta five nine nine. Please remain in a holding pattern. We haven’t given you authorization to land.” The voice from Huron Control called back through the com.
“Huron Control. This is Marshall Carn calling for Aiyana Rodriguez. We have a critical situation and need to land immediately.” John’s voice took on a half genuine sense of urgency. “Please, contact Miss Rodriguez. She’ll be able to square this away.”
Alex looked over at John quickly. Confident that his com channel was closed, Alex spoke up. “Man, this is ridiculous! They’re going to ID you for sure now! They’re going to throw your ass in the stockade and…”
“Alex, if this doesn’t work I get arrested anyway.” John replied to him in a low and serious tone. “This is my only shot. Trust me! I’ll keep you out of any trouble.”
“I wasn’t worried about me!” Alex exhaled.
The surface of Mars grew ever more detailed. A large bubble structure appeared ahead of the Tequesta. It was a group of three glass-like domes, clustered together with several large rust colored Martian structures surrounding them. The domes grew larger and larger. Several tubes extended away from the bubble structures; five or so heading west and about four to the north. They were mag-lev train tubes. As the Tequesta grew nearer to Port Huron, it was easier to see what the mag-lev trains were used for. One long train moved towards the port, carrying a great volume of raw iron ferrite ore.
First time visitors to Mars were often taken aback at the scale at which buildings could be constructed on Mars. Mars, having one third the gravity of Earth, allowed for massive buildings. The clustered domes ahead of the Tequesta were nearly two thousand feet high at their highest point. The grounds beneath the domes spread along several square miles. A number of large transport ships were docked below the dome, visible through the domes many layers of transparent ETFE. The entry to the port was a wide gaping tube a number of ships flew into and out of the gigantic opening, which extended for several miles ahead of the structure. Pressure was maintained by a series of repulse force fields, layered throughout the giant tunnel.
“Tequesta five nine nine. Please continue on your present heading at seventy knots. Set your thrust to forty percent and bring her in on repulse.” The Huron controller noted over the com.
The Tequesta skimmed the surface of the red planet on a flight path leading towards the entry tunnel. A large commercial freighter was on its way out. Despite its size, the commercial freighter only took up a fifth of the tunnel’s width. There was still plenty of room for the Tequesta to navigate.
Alex followed the flight controller’s instructions. Without repulse engines, the thrust from his main engines alone would have been insufficient to keep the Tequesta in the air. The large white and blue trim ship glided along peacefully, dipping down over the Martian landscape and into the arched transparent ETFE and steel framework tunnel.
The inside of the dome was one massive industrial spaceport. About a dozen large freighters were parked at the back. Most were being loaded, either with iron ore or refined steel. The entire spaceport moved and clanked with the sound of heavy machinery. Large star cruisers lifted off the ground with roaring thrusters and baritone humming repulse emitters. Heavy shipping crates and ore containers boomed as they were set on the ground.
Mars was rich in iron. Much of the iron mined on Mars was either returned back to Earth
or shipped out into the colony worlds to build new cities. The lower ring of the main dome was surrounded by administrative and maintenance structures. A tall tower stood within the center of the main dome. The control tower had two observation decks; one below the dome to watch over arrivals and departures and another deck high above the dome to watch for traffic coming in to the planet.
Aiyana Rodriguez had a ritual of jogging around the Huron Spaceport. She typically ran in the mornings but, as fate would have it, she had gotten a late start. It was midday. Aiyana’s lean white runner’s legs pumped rhythmically over the concrete deck atop the surrounding wall of the spaceport. The wall was really the roof of the administrative and repair facilities. A number of Martian Steel employees and contractors walked around the wall. Aiyana ran between them on her routine jog.
Aiyana was forty-two but had the body of a woman almost half her age. A large engine mechanic eyed Aiyana as he got out of her way. His eyes followed her momentarily as she ran in her skin-tight black running shorts and black top. Aiyana’s hair was pulled up behind her head. Her mouth breathed at a deep but steady pace, matching the cadence of her stride.
She slowed for a moment, looking out to the Explorer class transport shuttle landing a short distance away. She could see the armed security team heading towards the ship. The security officers wore light grey and rust red body armor. They all carried submachine guns. It was serious.
Aiyana hurried down a section of wide stone stairs, leading down in two ninety degree turns to the rust colored tarmac of the spaceport. A similarly armored and armed guard at the bottom of the steps nearly stopped Aiyana, but allowed her to pass once she realized who she was.
The control tower and security officers had notified Aiyana of what was happening on her comlink. A strange transport shuttle with unusual transponder readings coming in for an unscheduled landing? The pilot of which was asking for her by name? It was all very confusing until they passed along the information that the pilot had identified himself as “Marshall Carn.”
It was a name she hadn’t expected to hear at all. Aiyana knew what had become of John. She knew why he had left New Australia. Aiyana had not seen him in over ten years. A whirlwind of emotion swept through her quickly. She had changed so much since then. A part of her was indifferent about the impending meeting. Another part was terrified and another part still was angry as hell.
The rear ramp of the Tequesta had been lowered. The grey and maroon colored guards rushed up into the expansive cargo bay of the vehicle. There was a lot of shouting.
As Aiyana drew close she could hear John’s voice. A chill ran up her spine as she suddenly was made to remember what he sounded like.
“Get down now!”
“Okay!!!” John’s voice said.
“Hey man! Take it easy on my ship!” Alex’s detached voice said.
“He had nothing to do with this!” John added. “I took him prisoner and hijacked the vessel!”
“Shut the fuck up!” a guard shouted.
“Get moving!” another guard barked.
John and Alex finally appeared from the top of the ramp. Their hands had been bound in front of them with plastic pull ties. The guards kept their submachine guns aimed low but very ready to turn upward if they needed to shoot. John and Alex’s feet stamped into the metal ramp as they were shoved down to the tarmac.
John hadn’t seen Aiyana. Neither had Alex. She wasn’t yet close enough. John and Alex finally reached the foot of the ramp. The guard shoved John hard in the back with an elbow.
“Get on your knees!” the guard shouted.
“Come on, man! Don’t be such a dick!” John grumbled.
The guard replied by punching John in the back. As John reeled the guard, aided by one of his teammates, pushed down on John’s shoulders.
John got on his knees. Alex was made to do the same right next to him. If John didn’t know better he guessed the next thing coming might have been a gun shot through the back of the head.
Instead, John’s eyes moved upward from the ground to see a pair of white sweaty legs in lightweight running shoes standing in front of him. His eyes continued upward to the curves of her thighs in her black shorts, her bare tight abs glistening with sweat, the curves of her upper body in her black sports top. He finally found himself looking into Aiyana’s brown eyes.
She was still amazingly beautiful. John was stuck for anything to say. There was a little more wear around her eyes but she was still the beautiful woman he had last seen in New Australia. His heart was in his mouth.
“John Carn.” Aiyana’s smooth voice finally touched his ears. “I never expected to see you out here!”
“Aiyana.” Was all he could muster for words.
“You’ve got some guts landing at our spaceport.” Aiyana added.
“I had no choice, Ana.” John said aloud. “You’re the only person I thought could help me.”
Aiyana stared down at John for a moment before turning towards Alex. “Hello Alex.” She greeted him. “Fancy seeing you in John’s company.”
“Hey, Ana!” Alex greeted her back.
“He’s not responsible for any of this, Ana!” John interjected sharply. “I MADE him come here!”
“I’m not going to deal with this here.” Aiyana turned to the security guard leader. “Get them up. Take them to the brig.”
“Yes ma’am.” The guard answered obediently.
John and Alex were hauled up on their feet again. John watched Aiyana walk away. She seemed like she might have felt hurt, or even detached. The authority in her voice as she ordered the guards around was surprising. Clearly, Aiyana was a woman who was in charge. The guards, Martian Steel employees, were respectful to her the way subordinates were respectful of superiors.
Aiyana continued walking away. She would soon be out of earshot from John.
“They took her, Ana!!!” John shouted to her. “They took my little girl!!!”
The guards were yanking on John’s arms, forcing him to move. John kept his eyes on Aiyana as she walked further away.
“They took my little girl, Ana!!!”
Aiyana had, apparently, not heard John yelling after her.
In the previous century, Richmond Howe might have been viewed as being equal to a Bill Gates, or Max Rockefeller, or a Henry Ford. His most associated parallel was Andrew Carnegie, who wielded considerable corporate power as well as political influence. Indeed, Mars had a representative parliament. Like the captains of industry that preceded him, Howe was powerful enough to demand a say in the government that would, potentially, have a say in his business.
Richmond Howe was the image of the modern professional. He wore a 50,000 credit suit with charcoal slacks, a black silk shirt, and a red and grey trimmed long coat. His long red hair was pulled back tight in a pony tail. His full beard was short and well manicured. He had an iconic look similar to Steve Jobs, Warren Buffet, or Richard Branson; someone whose visage was not only immediately recognized by his peers but much of the public in general.
Howe sat at his wide mahogany desk, working intently on his desktop computer. The desk, the bookshelf behind him and the other office furniture had soft modern curves while the rich red color of the polished mahogany gave the massive office an old-world feel. Howe’s office was cavernous. The ceiling was twenty feet high with recessed can lights set into its surface. A pair of long brown leather couches extended away from his desk. The arrangement was much like those used by many US Presidents. Rather than a picture window, however, the back of Howe’s office was a giant glass wall. Three inch thick polycarbonate-glass blend made up the transparent panel. Short of a phase blaster, a sustained laser strike, or a direct hit from a howitzer round, the glass was claimed by its engineers to be impervious. The window looked out onto the main square of Hutchinson City. An identical window set at the opposite end of the chamber and to the left looked out onto the rust colored desolate environment of Mars. To the right was an alcove, where a pair of brushed sil
ver elevator doors stood between several potted green plants. It was the main entry to Howe’s office.
Hutchinson City itself was a corporate city. Named after an early Martian explorer, Andrew Hutchinson, the city was constructed by JFE Holdings of Japan after initial colonization of Mars. Hutchinson City was a base initially where astrogeologists began their early cataloging of Mars’ surface. Much of this work was already done remotely starting in the mid 20th century when probes from Earth were first sent to the planet. A steel production facility was to be constructed, but after finding that shipping the material back to Earth would be cost-prohibitive, JFE backed out of the project.
Richmond Howe, or Rich as he was then called, was already a well respected inventor and industrialist in his early twenties. Seeing an opportunity, Howe bought the JFE facility and sat on the property for almost ten years. Martian Steel was truly born when humans began colonizing planets outside the solar system. Hyperdrive technology had been greatly improved and repulse technology had been invented, allowing the effect of gravity to be reduced on ships to as little as 10% of their normal mass. Repulse technology had been much improved since then, making takeoff weight concerns a thing of the past. Howe could lift hundreds thousands of tons of steel off Mars with only 40,000 pounds of thrust; about in the neighborhood of a commercial jet engine.
The elevator doors chimed. The silver doors parted. Aiyana emerged from the doorway, wearing a professional looking black suit, a black skirt, and a loose white blouse beneath her jacket. She walked directly, in a routine fashion, towards Richmond Howe’s desk.
“I don’t want any part of this, Aiyana.” Richmond spoke out. His voice reverberated in his large office. “Your friend is to be turned over to the Martian authorities as soon as possible. ESF has an all-points on this man.”
“I know. I just read the report.” Aiyana replied. She walked over to Howe’s desk and sat on its edge. “Still, what would make John come all this way, breaking several laws, and land here?”
“He thinks you can help him.” Richmond answered flatly.