by Caldon Mull
“Mister Perez, I’m pleased you seem to be a regular.” She was different than he remembered, a big woman and plump, with grey streaks in her hair and with strong, almost coarse features.
“Hello Doctor. Please call me Esteban.”
“Certainly, Esteban.” Doctor da Silva nodded, “I see you were scheduled for some mass modifications for your biology on your last visit. Could you take off your clothing and get on that table over there. You also want me to check the structural integrity of your Kevlar skinweave on your shoulder and hamstring?”
“They should be on specification, I just want to make sure.” Esteban draped his suit over a clothes peg and moved to the slate, “A friend of mine is suggesting a fishing trip in the next few months and I want to be ready when he calls. You might know the place I’m talking about.”
“Of course.” She shrugged, “The preliminary scan indicates you are undamaged, I’ll do a deep dive on the diagnostics for the skinweave as soon as you are ready. Please ensure you are offline.”
“Certainly, Doctor da Silva… may I call you Dolores…?” Esteban settled on the table and stretched out.
The Doctor smiled, “Yes, Esteban you may. Your friend has contacted me as well. As soon as my new supplier in Cartagena has delivered some clocks I’ve ordered from him, I’ll be joining you on your fishing trip, a covert recovery.”
“Is that so?” Esteban looked hopeful, “There’s a model in his warehouse that has all sorts of interesting…”
“A certain clock? I got a good price on it, second-hand.” Dolores smiled down at him, “It’s in the shipment. You Cartagena boys are great for repeat business, you just can’t seem to stay out of trouble. The Starmind has assured me that cleaning house for an incoming Senator will keep me busy for some time yet to come.”
“That’s excellent news.” Esteban’s smile widened.
“I’m not adding it to my fleet, if that’s what you’re thinking.” the Doctor shook her head amused, “Pele_Starmind likes it too much for these away-trips. I’m just smuggling it back to Cadiz for him.”
“That’s even better news.” Esteban positively beamed, “I can hardly wait. It’ll be like old times again...” then his face fell, “well, maybe not like afterwards. That sucked a lot.”
“You really like him, don’t you?” Dolores looked up from her dock and stared at him intently.
“I... like the way he makes me feel.” Esteban licked his lips nervously, “I don’t get to feel a lot with this synthskin... but he makes me feel things, emotionally and with my meat. It’s like being with Ramon again, before his priorities changed.”
“I think I understand.” she went back to her deck. “Just before I met you I was beginning to think I was just a collection of dolls, that I was wasting my Group’s time. But then watching you do what you were made to do, watching you struggle with your family relationships made me realize something important...” she trailed off and stared out the port at the canyon wall for long moments.
“Oh?” Esteban prompted, intrigued.
“Just being happy to see them after I dropped the clock session in the Tunnels made me feel something too. The first time in a long while. I chose the SEAT-09 to protect as many people as I could, and being around you reminded me of why I made that choice in the first place. That’s why I recorded your Mapalé with Dona Senora Mercedes.”
“You did that?” Esteban blinked in surprise.
“Yes, when I handed that clip over to the Mars_Starmind he figured out the best way to permanently place you beyond GovSec suspicion was by dangling the bootleg in front of that OutSystems media darling.”
“That bootleg has made history, though.” Esteban smirked, “It’s made my career. But you said GovSec... are you sure?”
“I’m certain, I sent a clock through to Ceres and traced a clandestine flight of OutSystems Hegemarchs to there to discuss the mineral rights in the Argyre with that GovSec Captain. Whatever went on there, I don’t know much about. The ship returned to Earth shortly afterwards; most likely with five cloned Hegemarchs with re-programmed chips to prepare the OutSystems for Earthflight.”
“Isn’t the Jupiter-Senator Jevron also the GovSec primary?” Esteban propped himself on an elbow as the diagnostics sequence flashed ‘complete’.
“Yes, he is.” Dolores nodded and began to pack away the equipment, “That mineral you found in the lake; is pure Iridium Ore. The meteor that smashed into Mars must have been almost solid metal, more Iridium metal than Earth could even theoretically imagine. As soon as they arrive to mine it, they’ll discover the bodies and GovSec will detain and investigate the Mars-Senator.”
“I imagine anything could happen while they had full access to him?” Esteban growled.
“Exactly so.” she nodded, “Possibly a pre-programmed clone, just like with the Hegemarchs. Mars_Starmind has an interim plan to get Captain Damien Justin on the helm of the SS Kristos at Ceres and remove him from the playing field. It looks like he’s the major player behind the assassinations and the moles.”
“The Venus Senator’s Arcturus probe?” Esteban was interested, “I might have some influence there soon, on Ceres. I could nudge the GovSec Captain to make a grab for it, lord it over the Venus Senator-in-waiting and control the mission... rake in the credit when they get back, that sort of thing...?”
“I was counting on something like that.” Dolores smiled, “In the mean time I pronounce you fit for duty, we’ll meet up on your hydrology maintenance run and divert your flight for a day or two to the Argyre. Nobody pays too much attention to maintenance schedules anyway. Just three friends meeting up between jobs.”
“So we’re friends now?” Esteban chuckled, sliding his legs over the table’s edge.
“I think we are, you’ve certainly earned it.” she slapped his buttock and smirked, “Now get out there and be the best damn Weatherman on Mars until Pele_Starmind contracts you. We’re done here for now.”
“Oho!” Esteban grinned at her, “You better believe it, Doctor Senora da Silva! I am also that Weatherman!”
The End
About Caldon Mull
Caldon Mull has had a long publishing career in Technology, and various Game publications under different nom de plumes, and in his own name. He has travelled extensively throughout Africa and Central Asia, and has worked in Antarctica. In this time he has become a sous chef, a therapy counselor, a technician and a consultant for business and military sectors.
When he is not currently working in a Technology field, he is usually writing Science Fiction and Fantasy, and looking to expand his Genre work into new directions. He is an unrepentant petrolhead with a weakness for Classic Italian Cars.
Read Caldon’s Smashwords Interview at https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/Caldon
Other books by Caldon Mull
Please visit your favorite eBook retailer and other retailer on-line stores to discover more books by Caldon Mull:
Stand Alone Novels (Various Genres)
Storyville, A Gay Erotica Novel
Neid-Fire, A New Weird Novella
The Sol Senate Cycle (Science Fiction/Utopia-Dystopia)
Part One: Future History
Novella Memestalk, A Future History Novella
Book 1: The Estuary Tales, A Novel of Future History
Novella The Folk and The Shellmen, A Future History Novella
Book 2: The Sphinx, A Novel of Future History
Novella Terraform Triptych, A Future History Novella
Part Two: Diaspora (TBA from 2022)
The Agency Tales (Urban Fantasy)
Book 1: The Memoirs of a Faun, A Novel
Book 2: Omnipresent Occultation, A Novel
Book 3: Mirrored Myrrh, A Novel
The Smithereens (Science Fantasy/Short Story Reprint Anthologies)
Book 1: Shards - Includes: The Tale of Arc1 and Core3, All the Bright Children, Shards, The Garden Sea, Swan and Song
Book 2: Fragments - Includes: Infern
o, Fragments of Morning, Lawman, No Heart for the Matter, The Folk and The Shellmen, and (bonus content) El D’Or Dieux
Book 3: Talus - Includes: Portmanteau, Jamais Vu, Dancers, Ifrit and Neid-Fire
Book 4: Grabens (TBA from 2021) Includes: (TBA)
Collaborations (Young Adult, Science Fantasy Anthologies)
Ifrit - appearing in: ‘The Flight of the Phoenix’ - Edited by Natalie Rivener
Connect with Caldon Mull
Friend me on Facebook: http://facebook.com/CaldonMull
Favorite my Smashwords author page: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/Caldon
Subscribe to my blog: http://blog.smashwords.com
Visit my website: http://www.caliban.co.za