by Jack Webber
As they started the second game one of the porters knocked on the door, and without waiting for an invitation, he strolled in. "What are you taking?" he asked.
Mellissa pointed to the pile on the bed. He flipped through the clothes, glancing quickly at each item. Finally he picked up Mark's bear and examined the face. He pulled a probe out of his pocket and pressed a button. A few seconds later it beeped, indicating the appropriate temperature. He held the end of the probe gently against the bear's nose, and it started to melt. "Yeah, I thought that plastic was kinda soft."
He put the cap on the probe and placed it back in his pocket. "Sorry, the bear will have to stay."
He tossed it onto the second bed. "Everything else looks ok. Hey! How about the stuff you're wearing? Are you leaving it behind?"
"Oh skat." exclaimed Mellissa. "I forgot. Come on kids, take your clothes off and put them on the bed."
They did as directed, and soon the Larses stood completely naked while the underpaid porter went about his business. Yes, he was distracted by Mellissa's beauty, but he pretended not to notice. He wasn't suppose to notice. He placed all the clothes in a bag and sealed it with a tag. A perforated edge allowed the tag to tear neatly in two.
"Here's your claim check." he announced, handing the half-tag to Mellissa. "You can claim your possessions at room 137 once you have disembarked. You'll need your claim check, so don't lose it. You don't want to walk around Mars naked, trying to buy new clothes with money that you don't have." He took one last long look at Mellissa, then left, bag in hand.
A few minutes later Dr. Jarvis opened the door and motioned them out. "You're next." he announced.
They crowded into the elevator and descended past the lower staterooms, past the now-empty fuel tanks, past the engines, and down into the barge.
The doctor, who was packing heat, waved them into an examining room and closed the door.
"Each of you is going to have a MRI scan, designed to search for foreign objects. You haven't declared any implants, so there should be no delay. Mr. Larse, you're first."
John stepped into a large metal booth and closed the door. A screen on the wall flickered to life, displaying the bones and muscles of John's feet. The image scrolled up, showing calves and then thighs.
The detail was impressive; even Mark was glued to the screen. Loops and loops of intestines rolled by, with lumps representing food in various stages of digestion. Next the heart could be seen beating in real time, adjoined veins and arteries pulsing with each beat. Lungs and ribs moved gently in and out with each breath. The vocal chords slid by, and then the brain, a magnificent 3 pound enigma.
"And if you found something unexpected?" asked Mellissa.
"You'd sit in a holding tank, until we can figure out what it is. Sometimes a kid swallows a marble or something, no big deal. But if you're trying to smuggle something across, well, you don't want to go there. It isn't pretty."
The door opened and John stepped out.
"You're next Mrs. Larse."
Mellissa stepped in and closed the door. The scan moved up her legs and into her abdomen, when Dr. Jarvis suddenly pressed the pause button. A rapid flutter could be seen in the center of the screen. He moved his joystick about to look at it from all angles.
"Well we don't see this very often." he commented. "That's the heart, about 160 beats per minute. See it there? I'd say she's almost two months along."
"Honey," shouted John, "you're pregnant!"
"I am?" asked a muffled voice from behind the door.
At this point Tania could not contain herself. She danced around the room and sang a song of joy. "I'm going to have a little baby sister! And I'm going to take care of her, just like Beth."
"Well young lady," cautioned the doctor, "there's no way to know if it's a boy or a girl." He resumed his scan, scrolling past intestines, stomach, heart, lungs, throat, and brain.
Tania, Mark, and Beth were scanned in turn, and all was in order. "You can go to room 137 to claim your clothes." He opened the door and waved them out.
John led the way, hesitantly. Nobody seemed interested in providing any guidance or direction. He looked up and down the hall and decided to turn right, only because he spotted some naked people in the distance. No doubt they were Earth passengers like himself.
They walked past room 119, 121, 123, and so on until they reached 137.
John turned inside and saw several naked people standing at a counter.
A woman handed two gentlemen a bundle and said, "Next."
The Larses took their place at the end of the line. "I hope you have the claim check." mumbled John.
"Its right here." said Mellissa, holding the ticket up for all to see.
The line moved quickly, and soon Mellissa was handing her ticket to the woman behind the desk.
She darted back into a small room and emerged with their possessions.
John took the bag, which was still hot, as though it had come out of a dryer set on high. He walked to an unoccupied corner of the room, opened the bag, and fished out some clothes for his family.
Mellissa dressed Beth in her one and only outfit, and then handed the baby to Tania as she dressed herself. Soon they were ready to go, but where?
"What do we do now?" asked Mark.
"Follow those people." suggested Mellissa, pointing to a clothed family that was passing through a far door. They slowly made their way towards the door, and then stepped through into a large waiting room with brown carpeting and orange chairs.
A display was visible on the far wall. "Please wait, the next ferry will arrive in 1 hour and 17 minutes."
John realized this elevator was located on the surface of a relatively small lake, just a few dozen miles across. There was no need for a supersonic flight to shore. A leisurely boat ride would do. He was lost in thought, picturing the boiling equatorial waters that he left behind, when a man touched him on the sleeve.
"Pardon me, are you John Larse?" The stranger was dressed in a suit and tie, and carried a picture of John in his hand. He looked like a government official, and indeed he was.
"Yes." said John in surprise.
"Fine. Fine. I hope you had a pleasant trip."
"We did." replied John, waiting for the other shoe to drop. Was he going to be extradited back to Earth on charges of murder?
"A Mr. Bruder told us you were coming, and sent us a video feed from the last energy conference in Siberia." He paused, but John did not respond. "Seems you're quite the expert in controlled fusion power, and we really need people like you here on Mars. Now you understand you're free to do anything you like. You can run a restaurant if you wish, but we hope you will work for us in the power industry. I have a job lined up for you, with a good salary. And I've taken the liberty of contacting a realtor, so you can get settled into your new home as quickly as possible. Would you like to come with me?"
John was stunned, and couldn't say a thing. He remained mute for almost a full minute.
"That would be fine." said Mellissa, rejoicing in their good fortune. She scooped Beth up in her arms and called to her children. They followed the stranger out of the waiting area and began their new lives.
SEVENTEEN
Tania was far out to see, invisible behind the waves and the gentle curve of Mars, with its lesser radius. Mellissa would have been frightened, but she could still see the yellow and blue striped hydrogen-filled balloon tethered to Tania's waist. It hung in the sky some thirty feet above the water, betraying her daughter's location. And it seemed to grow larger as Tania slowly returned to shore. Reassured, Mellissa leaned back into the warm sand.
The ocean was not at all like the small lake in Antarctica. For one thing, it was cold. The kids were use to it, and they seemed to enjoy it, but Mellissa was uncomfortable in anything cooler than a bath. And the ocean was big and powerful. Anyone who swam in those waves and didn't respect them was a fool, and would soon be a dead fool. Several young swimmers employed floating balloons similar
to Tania's, each with its own distinct colour pattern for quick identification. Then there was the salt, which was harsh on the eyes and oral cavities. These factors combined to keep Mellissa out of the water for most of the year, except on hot summer days. Still, she enjoyed the beach.
The sun and the sand were delightful, even into late fall. Mellissa wanted to take her clothes off and lie naked in the sun, but Mars was a bit more parochial than Earth. No matter; she was scantily clad, and the sun felt good on her skin.
Earth seemed far away, another world, another life. But Mars wasn't safe for long. Some day the sun would grow, and drive Mars out into space, beyond Jupiter, beyond Saturn, and out to the orbit of Pluto. After that the sun would shrink down to a white-hot ember, its fuel exhausted.
What would her descendents do on that day? They could spiral back down to the white dwarf, living off its heat for a couple billion years. Or they could strike out for another star. Do you play it safe and stay home for as long as possible, or do you take advantage of your high orbit and leave town? Well that was somebody else's problem, somebody far away in space and in time.
"Hi Mom." Tania touched Mellissa and startled her. "I've got to stretch out in the sand and warm up."
"Ok," replied her mother, "but then we have to go. It's getting late, and I've got to make dinner, and..."
She was interrupted by the baby kicking inside her. "Quick, see if you can feel your brother moving around." She placed Tania's hand on her stomach.
"Yes, I can feel it. That's cool, and a bit creepy. How are you going to get him out of there?"
"It's not easy!" chuckled Mellissa. "Come on, let's go home. You're father's waiting." They shook the sand out of their towels and packed them in the beach bag. Mellissa took one last look out to sea and saw the last four balloons moving towards shore. "It's nice here on Mars, isn't it?"
"Yes." Tania agreed. "I like it a lot."
Conclusion
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THE END