Mars Rising (Domeworld Saga Book 1)

by John Corwin

  Scarlett returned to the main menu and touched the icon labeled Meta-Operations. An overhead image of the great red plain appeared, dotted with domes.

  "They're named." Max jabbed a finger at City 7. "Project Alderman V 7. Project Chatsworth V 4." He looked over the other names. "What does V 7 mean?"

  Alderman's words floated through Scarlett's memory. Starting over isn't an option. "City 7 is the seventh version of the city. Alderman and the others said something about starting over. I think they've done that several times."

  "Started over?" Max's eyes widened with horror. "He killed everyone and started over?"

  "There's no way he could have done that so many times in his lifetime," Scarlett said. "Can you imagine how long it would take to bring everyone to adulthood?"

  Max touched the image of City 7 and a long list appeared.

  History

  Operations

  Statistics

  Killswitch

  "That can't be." Scarlett reached toward the killswitch.

  "Stop!" Max's hand flashed out to stop her and bumped her hand into the screen instead. The word flashed red.

  Another menu appeared.

  Memory wipe

  Terminate

  Scarlett slapped Max's hand. "For fuck's sake, Max, you could have killed everyone!"

  "But you—"

  "I wasn't going to touch it." She pointed toward the memory wipe option. "I am tempted to touch that."

  "Do it," Max said. "We'll make Alderman and his people forget everything then we can go back and take over City 7."

  "Along with everyone else," Scarlett said. Even so, the idea held a certain appeal.

  Max looked at her expectantly. "Well?"

  Scarlett touched the memory wipe option.

  Enter passcode appeared on the screen.

  Max groaned. "Should've known it wouldn't be that easy."

  After returning to the main screen, Scarlett touched the image of Utopia. An identical menu appeared. This time, Scarlett went to history. The entries were ordered by the newest first, but the last entry dated Primas 11, 2049 summed up the fate of Utopia in two simple words. Killswitch Activated.

  Scarlett touched the entry and read the full entry. "By order of Founder Musk, Project Utopia is terminated to prevent Earth Order from discovering and terminating other projects. All personnel are ordered to the bunker until the threat is over."

  "Earth Order," Max breathed. "They must be the people who attacked Utopia."

  "But how did they get inside?" Scarlett asked. "How did they get here from Earth?"

  "Only one way to find out," Max said, pointing at the screen. "We read."

  Max found portable tablets that linked to the main computer and located a comfortable seat. While Scarlett discovered the history of Utopia, he delved into City 7. The population of City 7 arrived on Mars in 2016, each member chosen for their own special talents. Alderman led the government, a democracy, in which the citizens were allowed to vote on the direction of the city.

  Every citizen was given equal access to education and if they wanted to do something else with their lives, they were allowed to make that choice. It sounded like the perfect society, one Max could only dream of having.

  Alderman scrapped the scheme after a year since the workers with the harshest conditions like those in the steamworks went on strike, and other citizen voted to keep them housed and fed even though, as Alderman stated, "Critical operations are going unattended and will lead this city down the path of destruction. Everyone must do their part for the city to survive."

  His words went unheeded and Alderman reached out to the founders for guidance. Founder Musk authorized him to try a different form of government, and version two of City 7 was born.

  The history read from several perspectives, each one denoted by author name. One of the writers actually lived in City 7 while the others wrote their outside observations. It became apparent to Max that neither Alderman nor his citizens were told about the other habitats or cities and Utopia was held out to them as the Promised Land once Alderman cracked the secret to a perfect society.

  Though Max was no expert, it seemed Alderman changed the economic and governmental variables too often to see if they worked. The first general mind wipe was used after version four, a socialist democracy failed. In almost every case where the population was given too much control over government, those at the bottom chose to leave their jobs and go on something called government welfare instead of working.

  The history didn't go into details about how the mind wipe worked, simply stating that the population was redirected. Max went to the main menu and found a section on scientific procedures. The section on memory control made his eyes glaze over, but from what he understood, the memories of the people were not erased, but altered slightly to remember history a little differently than what it was.

  Cold fear spread through Max's chest. What if everything he remembered was false? He dug through the menus and found what he was looking for under population statistics.

  City 7 Citizen Biographies

  The names were ordered by last name. He scrolled down and felt some relief to see himself listed as Planck, Max along with his parents and sister. He touched his name to see what secrets might be in store.

  Max Planck, born Quartas 7, 2020. Status: First generation Martian.

  Father: Rick Planck

  Mother: Claire Planck

  Siblings: Sarah

  Occupation: Constable

  Prospects: Possible future leader of Nova City

  Max's heart beat a little faster when he read the last sentence. What's Nova City? Going back to the main menu and under operations he found the answer. Nova City was scheduled for completion in 2041, but Utopia had fallen and with it, the engineers and construction crews building it.

  Max returned to his bio and read the rest. The historian living in City 7 had taken a special interest in him for some reason, writing extensively about why he thought Max could be the first native Martian to lead a city. Max wondered if the historian was still living in City 7 and if he had any idea Utopia had fallen.

  It seemed highly unlikely anyone sending communications to Utopia wouldn't know of its demise unless the historian had an arrangement that didn't allow for two-way communication. The only clue to this historian's identity were the initials, L.B.

  Following a hunch, Max went back to the list of citizens and scrolled down. There were over a hundred people with last names starting with B, but only five people with a first name starting with L. One of those hit Max in the gut with certainty.

  Lyle Babbage—the reclusive head of Technology Division.

  Chapter 40

  Max showed Scarlett his discovery. She quickly went to her own bio and read it. It turned out she was not a freezer baby after all, born to Erin Flynn with a twin brother, Nathan. Erin died of complications and Joseph died later that year in an accident.

  Status adjusted from orphan to in vitro by order of Administrator Richard Barnes.

  "That bastard!" Scarlett slammed a hand on the desk. "Why would he keep this from me?"

  "I don't know." Max read through the rest of her bio, including some snide comments from Oswald Simmons. Apparently, the computer systems here mirrored whatever official notations were made to the records in City 7 and the historians annotated them with additional information.

  "What makes you think Lyle Babbage worked for Utopia?" Scarlett asked.

  "How else would he know about Nova City?" Max sat down and dug through his records. His memories had been adjusted twice to make him remember specific things differently, primarily to do with the government. It amazed him how precisely they controlled him and the other citizens.

  Scarlett dropped into the chair next to Max, tears on her cheeks. She gripped his hand and looked at him, eyes filled with pain, but said nothing. Max put his hand over hers and let her have the silence she needed to finally mourn the truth.

  "I had living parents, Ma
x." She smiled through the tears. "My brother and I grew in the same womb. We were born, Max." Scarlett laughed with the relief of someone who'd just shed a tremendous weight from their backs. "We were born!"

  "Does that make you feel more real?" Max asked.

  "I'm not a shadow anymore, Max." Scarlett wiped her eyes and laughed again. "I'm whole."

  Max didn't see why being a freezer baby made anyone a shadow or half a person, but he wasn't about to argue the point. He traced a thumb down Scarlett's cheek and caressed the curve of her chin. "I've never seen you as anyone but a whole person, Scarlett. Sometimes you argue enough to be two people."

  An uncharacteristic giggle burst from her and she leaned forward abruptly and pressed her lips to Max's. Shock ran through his body. Her mouth could be harsh, but her lips were soft, filling him with heat and desire. Her lips felt so familiar.

  But this was Scarlett Flynn, the woman that would never look past what he'd allowed to happen to her brother.

  As if they'd both had the thought at the same time, Scarlett and Max pulled away, looking at each other with surprised eyes, but cheeks flushed with need for something more.

  Scarlett slapped Max hard enough to make his ears ring.

  Max rubbed his cheek. "What was that for?"

  "Because I enjoyed that too much, Max."

  He stared at her fierce eyes. "Slap yourself next time."

  Scarlett smiled. "What would be the fun in that?"

  The date on the computer screen added another day to the tally and Max remembered another obligation. "We have to go check on Yana."

  "We don't need the jungle station anymore, Max." Scarlett waved a hand around. "We have our own city now."

  "How long until Alderman goes searching for us?" Max said. "How long until he finds Utopia on his own and takes over?"

  "We can disable the doors to this place. Maybe there are survivors."

  Max jabbed a finger at the computer. "If Alderman finds the codes to the killswitch, he could rule every city and habitat. From what I read, the fake Martian landscape was built onto every city as a buffer to keep them separate. I don't think they planned for someone to do what we did with a toughsuit."

  "You think Alderman would outfit an army in toughsuits and send them through once he finds out what happened to Garth?" Scarlett stared across the room at the computer screen. "If they didn't want anyone knowing about the other cities, why didn't they camouflage the airlock door leading from City 7?"

  "It was one of two things," Max said. "This place is massive. The construction crews might have forgotten to hide the door."

  Scarlett leaned forward. What's the second possibility?"

  "Sabotage."

  "You think someone intentionally revealed the door hoping it would be discovered?"

  Max imagined the scenario. "I think Lyle Babbage did it. If he really thought I could lead a new city, he may have done it so Sarah would find it when they fed her to the father. Maybe he set her on the course that got her in trouble."

  "And I had to go and ruin it," Scarlett said. Tears pooled in her eyes. "What I did to you and Sarah was unforgivable, Max. You didn't kill my brother—Alderman did."

  Max had seen the truth of it, but he didn't blame Scarlett. Before this revelation, all anyone knew was going into the red wastes was a death sentence. Even with oxygen, no one could survive. "I forgive you, Scarlett, and I'll leave it at that."

  "Why?" she asked, voice filled with pain. "I don't understand."

  "Because I love my sister too much to blame anyone but the monster behind her death." Max hesitated to touch Scarlett's hand but did it anyway. "Alderman killed her. He killed Nathan. Once I figure out how, I aim to kill him."

  She remained quiet for a moment then nodded. "You have the right of it, Max. I'll be aiming to kill Alderman right alongside you."

  "We need a good plan then."

  Scarlett smiled. "You're not much of a thinker Max, so let me help."

  The next morning, Max and Scarlett returned to the jungle habitat to wait on Yana. They decided to play it safe and took the perimeter path east, gradually turning north toward the meeting place. As they walked, a stiff breeze stirred the trees and sent a group of monkeys into paroxysms of chatter.

  Max remembered the winds just before the dome storms and looked up, expecting rain even though the weather had kept to a schedule during his time here. No rains came during the remainder of their hike north and Max and Scarlett slipped into a hiding spot to wait for Yana.

  It wasn't until noon that the ranger finally appeared, face pale, walking gingerly as though in pain.

  "She looks awful," Scarlett whispered.

  Max put a finger to his lips. He needed to make sure the ranger was alone before approaching. Something seemed off about Yana's face—a slight discoloration of the cheek that hadn't been there the day before. "Look at her cheek."

  "I think that's a bruise," Scarlett said. "Someone hit her."

  Max had a nasty suspicion about why and motioned Scarlett to follow him. They picked a careful path, avoiding fallen limbs and staying on the harder packed dirt to avoid making noise and circled behind Yana. Just up the perimeter path stood two men in brown lab coats.

  "Shit," Scarlett hissed. "They didn't believe her story about the blaster burn."

  Max held back a growl of frustration. Everywhere they went, another repressive government waited to end their lives. The smart thing would be to run, but he was done running. "Get your blaster ready," he told Scarlett.

  She gripped his forearm. "Are we going to kill them?"

  "No." He jabbed a finger at the forest. "I'd bet there are marshals waiting in the jungle near Yana." Max turned his finger toward the lab coats. "Those are probably scientists on the council."

  Scarlett drew her weapon. "Hostages."

  "Yep." Max pulled his blaster and picked his way toward the unsuspecting men.

  "Rumors like this will spread like wildfire," a tall balding man said. "There's a reason only the science council knows the truth."

  "We'll have to requisition another ranger," his squat bearded companion said. "They're going to ask questions."

  While the scientists talked, Max angled around behind them and pressed a blaster to the temple of the bearded man. "Hello."

  The bearded man gasped. His companion went for the blaster at his side, but Scarlett pushed her blaster into his back and took the weapon.

  "What are your names?" she asked.

  "Who do you think you are?" the tall man said.

  "People," Max replied in an even voice. "And that's more than I can say about you, lab coat."

  "Names," Scarlett hissed.

  "William Bradford," the bearded man said. "He is Thomas Upson."

  "How many of your people are in the jungle waiting on us?" Max asked.

  "Five—"

  Thomas elbowed William. "Shut your mouth!"

  Scarlett rapped Thomas on the back of the head with the butt of his blaster. The tall man staggered, tears forming in his eyes. "William, how many?" Max asked again.

  The bearded man's eyes filled with absolute fear—something he'd probably never felt in all his years with a buffer of armed guards between him and the people he ruled. "Five security personnel."

  "What were their orders?" Scarlett asked.

  He gulped. "To apprehend or kill you."

  "Are you familiar with Utopia?" Max asked.

  Thomas's forehead wrinkled. "How do you know about that?"

  "We've been there," Max said.

  "Impossible," Thomas shot back. "It hasn't been completed yet."

  Scarlett raised an eyebrow. "I'm afraid it was the first city on Mars."

  "No," William said, sounding baffled. "That can't be." He tried to back away, but Max gripped his collar. "They told us once it was finished we could live there and make a perfect society."

  "Call back your men and have them disarm." Max worked the muzzle of his blaster against William's temple. "If anything happens,
you and Thomas will be the first to die."

  Thomas stared into the distance as if lost in thought. Scarlett prodded him. He blinked and looked around like a person waking from a dream. "You're lying. You have to be lying."

  "It gets worse," Max said. "Do what I said and we'll show you the truth."

  William took a radio from his pocket and spoke into it. "Captain Fulbright, gather the prisoner and return."

  "Yes, sir," came the prompt reply.

  Max pulled their hostages off the path and hid behind trees until the marshals appeared with Yana in tow. A woman with short cropped hair and a severe expression halted her people on the perimeter path and looked around. Max kept William in front of him and stepped into view of the marshals.

  Five blasters shifted his way but Captain Fulbright quickly motioned her people to lower their weapons. "It would seem the prey have us at a disadvantage," she said, looking at Thomas.

  "You will disarm," Scarlett said. "Give your weapons to Yana."

  "Do as she says," William said, voice quavering.

  Yana took possession of the weapons and shoved all but one into a backpack she removed from one of the marshals.

  "Now what?" Thomas said. "Do you mean to kill us?"

  "Captain Fulbright, are you aware there are domed cities just outside these walls?" Max said.

  A bemused wrinkle formed in the marshal's forehead. "Cities? Are you daft?"

  "Did you know there are four other habitats?" Scarlett said.

  The other marshals exchanged confused glances and murmurs.

  "Why are you telling me this?" Fulbright said.

  "Because the science council who rules your habitat station has known all along. Because those who know the truth will kill to keep it."

  Fulbright's eyes widened and Max quickly realized it wasn't because of what he was saying. Yana angled her weapon to the south as she saw the same thing.

  Max turned and felt his stomach sink in horror.

  Alderman stood a hundred yards away, twenty marshals, all armed with blaster rifles at his back.