He shook his head, but the haze was returning. Before he could react, he passed out again, slumping across the bed.
When he awoke the next time, he was sharp and wide awake almost immediately. He sat up in the bed, still in his combat clothes, in the same caved room. He surveyed the area: to his left the doorway, to his right a small table and a washing unit, and ahead of him, the familiar empty wall.
He stood, moved to the table, and opened its drawer. He found his breathing mask and ID badge neatly placed inside.
After stowing the drawer contents on his belt, he faced the door. The activation button flashed red with each push.
"Open up, you piece of Martian junk," he said, gritting his teeth as he pushed the button firmly. "Jinx."
He conceded fighting the door would be futile. Breaking the control panel would cause a cascade of electrical shorts and seal him in until someone cared to torch him out.
He paused.
The last moment he remembered was his attempt to stagger up the ramp to the yacht. After that, he recalled only the jostling of the cabin and his desperate effort to stay awake. Shannon had gotten out, but did she fly them far enough to be picked up by Alliance forces?
He doubted the MSA captured them. They wouldn’t have given him a washing unit or even a soft bed. But the locked door said otherwise. Maybe Gwen’s MSA was different.
He swallowed as his throat itched and tightened. He touched the water button on the washing unit, and a small trickle landed in his cupped hand. He drank several handfuls and then moved to the bed.
He sat staring at the wall in front of him.
After some time had elapsed, the door clicked and slid open. Shannon, along with one other officer, entered. Confusion twisted his face; a single look to Shannon begged her to explain what was happening. Shannon, without hesitation, nodded for him to remain silent. He obeyed.
"I’m Major Frank Bareson," the man said with a rigid military tone. He thrust his chest thrust out, showing Seth the decorated stripes and chevrons across his jacket and an Aethpisian flowered insignia.
"Alliance?"
"Yes, I’m part of the Alliance. I hope your stay has been comfortable. The field medic tells me your wound is…healed."
He said "healed" with just enough delay to make Seth aware of his doubts. These military types seemed eager to share their misconceptions about the world. And he had little doubt Shannon had mentioned his healing ability, a subject always greeted with apprehension.
"It’s fine. I’m glad Shannon landed us in friendly hands," he said, shifting his eyes toward Shannon. "Did you give him what we came for?"
Shannon remained silent. The silence was uncharacteristic. Without her eagerness, she seemed controlled, as if she felt threatened.
Seth turned to Bareson, giving him a long, searching look. "Say what you have to say. I’m not intimidated."
"I don’t expect you to be intimidated." Bareson waved his hand in defiance. "I expect you to act like a soldier while you are under my command."
"I’m not military."
"Quiet," Bareson replied, firmly enough for him to notice a change in Shannon’s eyes, begging him to stop. "The moment you accepted the mission with pilot Shannon Buckley is the moment you joined the military. Mars was at war, and you are not relieved until a superior says so."
Seth cocked his eye toward him. "Sir, what does ‘was at war’ mean?"
"The minister has signed a cease-fire treaty, and that means everyone is returning to their homes. My little rat hole will be turned into an algae administration building in a matter of hours. This will be MSA territory at midnight tonight."
"Hold on," Seth said. "Mars has peace? How long was I out?"
"Only one night," he replied. "The minister will be holding a press conference in two hours to announce it."
"Then I can go back to Lunara."
"Not exactly," Bareson said. "As I didn’t say you were relieved. Eamonn Dalton is still held captive behind enemy lines."
"What do you mean?" Seth said. "With a cease-fire, everyone should be allowed to return."
Bareson remained silent.
The hairs on the back of his neck stood up as he thought about Martian peace. He wondered if some mistake had been made with communications, or was it an MSA ploy to trick the Alliance? With Damon Arwell dead and after what they had done to her father, Sarah wouldn’t placate the MSA. Chloe told him about the pain and the vengeance bubbling in the back of Sarah’s mind. She hid it from the rest of the Alliance but not from Chloe. She couldn’t suppress that much raw emotion.
Something wasn’t right.
"What is this all about? Are we at peace or not?"
"This is completely off the record, and I will deny everything said here."
"I don’t care about your justice or what you are doing corruptly on Mars. Tell me why Eamonn isn’t free."
"Because the minister made a huge mistake when she agreed to this cease-fire treaty," Bareson said. "From my sources, she didn’t even request the release of our political prisoners. She only demanded Aethpis back."
"She wouldn’t leave Eamonn to die," Seth said, clenching his fists.
"She isn’t her father," the captain replied with a satisfaction underlying his tone, a sentiment he had kept wrapped inside of him for some time and now finally had an opportunity to say it. "She committed the most reprehensible act in the short life of the Alliance. She left men to die, captured by the enemy. Eamonn Dalton, the consuls, and the diplomatic aides have all been locked in a detention center for over a month without the slightest interest from anyone but Shannon Buckley."
"We have the location," Shannon said. "It is only a matter of getting in and out before the MSA detect us."
Seth shook his head. "If we break the cease-fire, Mars will go to war again."
"Listen to yourself. You would abandon people from the Alliance," Bareson said. "We’ve been ordered to leave this outpost within the next few hours. I order you to come with us to free those prisoners. Our mission is to retrieve our lost personnel. Ms. Buckley said you’d follow us."
"This mission isn’t sanctioned by Alliance Command? You’d risk the cease-fire over a few prisoners who the MSA will release in a couple of days anyway. Everyone will come to their senses," Seth said pensively, holding off the conflict in his mind for a moment. They were offering a chance to rescue Eamonn, but how could he ignore peace and a safe place for Chloe? "The minister’s announcement hasn’t happened yet, so how can we be sure Eamonn’s detention will hold?"
"He’ll never be released. Along with the rest of the political prisoners, the MSA view them as traitors, and they are never released from their punishment."
"Gwen Arwell wouldn’t leave Eamonn in prison."
"Seth," Shannon said, firmly, causing him to turn his head toward her. "Eamonn killed the chancellor. I was with him when he did it. Either we rescue him or he will die, probably painfully."
"Another Buckley secret revealed," Seth muttered. Eamonn killed the chancellor. Suddenly, he understood why Gwen didn’t release him. He was more than just a prisoner. He was Gwen’s symbol of everything bad with the Alliance and everything right with the MSA.
"And that leads to why I came here. Either you come with us or you will be executed by me," Bareson replied.
"Wait a minute," Shannon said. "You can’t kill him. That wasn’t part of the agreement. You said you would send him back to Aethpis."
"Agreement?" Seth said, glowering at her. "What did you do?"
She stabbed her finger at him. "I saved your ass. Captain Bareson was ready to claim you and me as collateral damage until I talked him into letting us land. I told him of the detention center and our loyalty to the Alliance. I assured him that you would help us."
"You made an agreement while I wasn’t able to reject it. It has no weight with me."
Bareson shrugged. "I can’t allow you to leave. You could give away our location—a simple ion trail or triangulation of your flight ve
ctors. Listen, it will be dangerous, but I have to complete this mission. Either you are with us or you are dead. The MSA’ll be here in less than twelve hours."
Seth groaned. When Shannon and he left Aethpis, they said they would come back with Eamonn. No matter how much he wanted to get back to Chloe, he couldn’t go unless they brought back Eamonn. Chloe wouldn’t stand for it or rest until he was back safely. "Bareson, you can be persuasive," he said.
Chapter 37
The skimmer’s repulse engines fought Chloe every step of the way down. To her annoyance, the newly installed backup circuit reset the computer to its default settings, and the result was a misaligned thrust unit. She used all her skill and concentration to keep it level on the descent into the valley to the north of the Ganges Chasma.
The skimmer touched down, jolting her teeth. By the time she regained her wits, the control panel was flashing its green affirmation light. The verification showed that her struts had touched the ground with the proper stability.
Jan, sitting in the navigator’s position, sighed in relief.
"We are down. Don’t be so nervous," Chloe said. She shot a playful glare at her, disappointed in Jan’s white knuckles and the way her hands were tightly grasping the arms of her seat.
"Wasn’t that your first atmospheric landing?" Jan quizzed her. "They aren’t easy, and the repulse engines aren’t aligned to full efficiency. I have legitimate reasons to be nervous."
"It wasn’t hard. I did fly a starwing for a number of years."
"Excellent landing," said Parker, sounding a tad too fractious for her liking. "How about you open up the canopy so I can get out and stretch my legs? I’m the tallest, and I got stuck in the back here."
"You are such a gentleman. We didn’t think you would mind," Jan said playfully. "And I think I’ve a few centimeters on you."
"Ha." Parker laughed. "Maybe in those evening heels you wear but not straight up."
"Get your breathing masks on," Chloe ordered.
She opened the canopy and was pleasantly surprised to avoid a blast of cold air. The air was warm, and the sun beat down through the clear skies above them. The rare mild day had gone unnoticed with all the excitement at Nereidum Mons. She pulled herself up and leapt out of the pilot’s seat and down onto the rocky surface. She heard the rocks crunch as they snapped together under her weight.
"Look’s like our luck is changing."
"Which way?" Jan asked, moving toward her from the other side of the ship.
"Not far from here, but I don’t see a way we can enter anything from. The land is so flat and barren, but maybe it will get busier as we move forward."
Parker spun around in a circle. "Mars. Don’t you girls just love the infinity over our heads—no walls, no ceilings, no containment fields…air is not a worry for us here."
"What do you call this?" Chloe shook her breath mask against her face. "On Earth, we could walk the land bare."
He snickered. "The Earth is saturated with methane. You shouldn’t dwell on the unachievable. Seth eats that torment up but not me."
"He has his problems, but he believes in the Earth. More people on Mars should," she replied.
"Mars is the people’s future and should be his focus."
"Seth is here fighting isn’t he? Why did you come to Lunara if the Earth is so horrible to you? You are a member of the Protector. We protect the Earth."
"I came for the Protector and a job."
"I guess we are just coworkers then," Chloe snapped at him. "Perhaps this is why Sarah has become more important to you than helping Eamonn and the rest of the crew. Why you left Seth, Gwen, and me on Mars?"
He stepped toward her, his fists balled into tightly squeezed hammers.
Jan stepped between them. "Parker, maybe you should stay here and work on the skimmer. We should remain grounded until you fix the repulse engine."
Parker didn’t seem to like the idea. He scowled as he turned toward Jan.
"We’ll radio you over when we find something. How about that?" said Jan.
"I guess so," he replied.
"We are big girls," she reminded him again. "I think we can handle looking around."
He gazed at her. "Just have your pistols loaded and ready." He stomped like a petulant kid to the back of the ship, buried his head into the supply cabin, and rummaged loudly through it.
"Should I apologize?" Chloe asked Jan. "He didn’t leave us…I just don’t like him talking about Seth…as if he is a criminal." She took a step in Parker’s direction.
Jan grabbed her arm. "Let him be. He’s worried about Sarah, and he’s worried about you. He’s taking a big risk in parading you around Mars. Seth won’t forgive him if anything happens to you."
"I’m a coworker. Remember."
"You know he doesn’t believe in the Earth as a paradise." Jan turned her around to face her. "He is a real hero, and he worries."
"I don’t need to be worried about," she said, pulling her arm away from Jan’s grip. "Come this way, it should only be about two hundred meters or so."
"We are close," Jan replied with relief. She hurried along beside Chloe. "Are you still mad at Seth for what happened at the Aethpisian processing plant?"
"He hasn’t apologized, has he?" She kicked at the ground, sending a spray of rocky debris scattering across the surface. "Sometimes he is too protective. Jinx, everyone is overly protective. My helpless vibe is getting old."
"Do you want me to talk to him?"
"You can’t say anything to change him now. He is set in his ways. I only complain because I don’t want him worrying about me, but I don’t think that is possible."
"He is a man. They are protectors by nature."
She spun in a full circle. The terrain was flat to the horizon in each direction except from the south where Ganges Chasma dropped over a kilometer to its bottom. From where they had come, she could see Parker busy at work on the skimmer. Occasionally, she would catch his eye when he glanced toward them to check their progress.
She put her hands on her hips and took a deep breath. "Do you smell that? An algae farm must be close." She inhaled the refreshing wind as it rushed past the filter. The clean oxygen filled her lungs, energizing her.
"A massive collection of pools is located about three miles to the northwest. Maybe that crazy terraforming is working," Jan said.
"Of course it is. You have seen the reports."
Jan put her hands up in surrender. "Just a joke. So where is the metalor?"
Chloe grunted and kicked the rocks around where she was standing. "Right here. I swear it."
"There is nothing."
Chloe tapped her foot on the ground to test it.
"Is it buried?"
"There’s something here."
Jan reached for her CommUn. "Parker, this is Jan. Do you copy?"
In the distance, Parker stood and walked around the ship. The crackling of the CommUn alerted her to his reply. "I’m here. Find anything?"
"No, not a thing. It’s barren, but Chloe insists something is under our feet. Can you bring the scanners so we can look under the surface?"
"It doesn’t go far—only about twenty meters in this type of rock."
"We can at least look."
"Be right there," he replied, and with a huff, his breath crackled the radio.
Jan moved back over toward Chloe. "He is still upset. I thought it would get out of his system while we were away from him."
"He says he’s glad to be back on Mars, but I don’t believe him. I think he misses the crew and Lunara," Chloe replied. "He condemns the Earth, but I don’t see it in his actions."
"The Earth is an enigma to many people from Mars. Most of the time, it flickers with a small glow in the night sky. For many, it’s just like all the other distant stars. Of the million or so people on Mars, maybe fifteen thousand have been to the Earth. The cruises around Saturn and Jupiter hold more interest."
"Venus, too," Chloe replied. "Seth took me there once, al
ong with Parker and his former girlfriend. I remember the trip because Parker solidified his friendship with us. You know how you see a person in a different light after a while? He enjoyed it twice as much as we did. I pulled from his excitement, and I felt a bond."
Jan smirked. "Parker has always been excited about how things are and how things work."
Chloe laughed, but it was laden with uneasiness. "And Seth torments himself with how things should be and how things should work."
"Seth doesn’t get excited. He is more subdued. I think you enjoy the balance he provides."
"I do. His protection has warmed my heart many times. This trip has created many new feelings within me. So for some reason, I don’t like the protectiveness of everyone anymore. I know my destiny now, and I can’t escape it."
"Parker and Seth don’t want you exposed to anything terrible. Seth doesn’t want you to relive what you went through as a child."
She sighed. "He is falling off a slippery slope."
"This war and this trip to Mars will be good for Seth," Jan replied. "Many things have changed and will change further to the detriment of the people. But for Seth, he’ll learn a few things about life and about how this world works."
"I think he has his mind made up about how things are working. He doesn’t like it at all."
"That is my point. The attrition of this war will wear on him, allowing him to reflect on what he holds dear in the here and now. He’ll learn to love the little things in life and not torment himself with everything around him."
"I hope you are right."
They fell silent. Chloe stared into the distance, along the horizon to the subtle green of the planitia below. She marveled at Mars’s transformation. Two hundred years from now, the terriformers and the gravity correctors would create a world much the same as the Earth, except that it would, she hoped, be a new paradise that people like Seth would be happy to enjoy.
Lunara: The Original Trilogy Page 59