Losing Mars (Saving Mars Series-3)

by Swanson, Cidney

  “I don’t believe me eyes,” said the woman, appearing to recognize one or the other of them.

  Kipper rose and made a neat little nod with her head. “Cameron Wallace, I presume?”

  “Aye,” replied the clan leader. “But Captain Kipling? First Officer Jaarda? What are the two of ye doing here?”

  In short order, Cameron reconvened the group in a room more congenial to friendly welcomes. A roaring fire burned inside an oversized hearth, making Jess’s heart pang a bit for Yucca’s bonfire gatherings.

  Cameron poured out small glasses of a golden-colored liquid for the three of them, murmuring happy little phrases such as, “So delightful,” and, “Quite unexpected,” and, finally, “Please forgive the, well, the unconventional welcoming party.”

  “That was quite the welcome,” muttered Jessamyn.

  “Do you mind my asking what you’re playing at with fake Red Squadron Forces?” asked Kipper.

  Cameron was just holding out a tray of the tiny wet rations with a large smile on her square features. As soon as Kipper uttered her question, however, Cameron’s face took on an expression Jess had seen when children lost balloons in the high-ceilinged Crystal Pavilion.

  “I paid an armor manufacturer quite handsomely for all that.” She waved one hand toward the suited guards. “What makes you assume they’re fake?” she asked Kipper. “Well, apart from the Chancellor and I not being on friendly terms?”

  Jessamyn snorted derisively.

  “The helmets,” replied the captain, ignoring Jess. “The join along the base of the neck is wrong. It’s vulnerable to projectile penetration. Your armor supplier sold you goods that were made redundant over a year ago.”

  “I see,” said Cameron, nodding slowly. “Well, no wonder the price seemed too good to be true. And, would anyone with connections to actual Red Squadron Forces recognize the difference, do ye believe?”

  “Well, I don’t know about anyone, but I certainly did,” replied Kipper.

  “Aye, well, it’s a good thing I didn’t try to snatch ye out of hospital using these lads and lasses in red,” said Cameron, smiling affably. “Don’t know as I’d have actually got round to it for awhile, mind, but it was on me to-do list.”

  “Rescuing Kip—ah, Cassondra Kipling—was on your list of things to do?” asked Jessamyn.

  “Aye, lass, we’re cousins, she and I,” replied Cameron. “Fourth cousins four times removed. She’s me own blood-kin. I had a duty, didn’t I?”

  Jess stared at the odd woman.

  “Drink up, then, lasses,” exclaimed Cameron, “And then tell me yer tales fantastical!”

  Jess took one sip and promptly choked on the burning liquid, her eyes watering as she gasped for breath.

  “We’re not used to spirits, thanks very much,” said Kipper. “Some water, perhaps?”

  Cameron shook her head sadly. “It’s why I could never live on Mars, meself,” she said. “A world without whiskey, well, I ask ye, what’s the point?” Saying this, she downed her own glass and reached for the one that had been placed before Kipper. She did not, however, swallow it down, preferring to hold it and slowly swirl the amber liquid while staring at Jessamyn.

  “So, if me cousin Brian’s to be believed, you’re the girl who went there and back again,” Cameron said, her voice low, with a hint of admiration. “You’re a bold one, and that’s for certain.”

  Jess colored. She was many things, and most of them were not as flattering as “bold.” She did not respond.

  “And now ye’ve saved me cousin from her terrible imprisonment. Not to mention brought her back from a coma.”

  “Oh, I didn’t do that,” said Jess.

  “Were ye not in a coma, then?” Cameron asked Kipper, puzzled.

  “I woke from the coma several weeks ago,” added Kipper. She explained the offer Ruchenko had made and then described Jessamyn’s bold rescue, leaving out a few things that would have made Jess’s foolhardiness more apparent.

  “Well,” said Cameron, still swirling the golden liquid within the small glass. “And now I suppose ye’re here about a replacement ship to get ye back to that frozen red planet ye call home.”

  Kipper frowned. “We do need assistance returning a ship to the Family Vanyashin. And we need to acquire a new vehicle to replace one Jessamyn … misplaced. But we’re not looking to upgrade from the Red Galleon, if that’s what you’re asking.

  Cameron looked momentarily puzzled.

  Jessamyn felt her skin catch fire, the heat radiating out from her beating heart upwards, along her chest and neck and face. She considered swigging the remainder of her tiny glass. She’d heard alcohol made some people bold. It would probably make her stupid, though. And she did stupid just fine on her own.

  “It was a great loss, nonetheless,” Cameron continued, “And I mourn her passing along with you. Still, I suppose they’ve other ships they can send for ye? Was it Red Sunset? No, Dawn, perhaps?”

  “We lost the Red Dawn during the mission that stranded me in the clinic,” Kipper said, soberly. “She was a brave ship, and her crew composed of the finest.”

  Cameron raised her glass in salute. “The Red Dawn,” she said solemnly. After holding the glass high for a moment, she drained the contents. “So that leaves ye with nothing, then.” She considered her empty glass but did not refill it.

  Kipper looked at Jessamyn. Jessamyn did not look at Kipper.

  “Just the Galleon,” replied Kipper. “She’s all we need, though.”

  Cameron looked confusedly from one Marsian to the other. “Ye’ve not … Ye didn’t … “

  Jess interrupted the clanswoman. “Kip doesn’t know.”

  “Well, Brian did tell me that at least,” murmured Cameron to herself.

  Kipper turned to face Jessamyn again. “What don’t I know, First Officer?”

  Using as few words as possible, Jessamyn described the disastrous loss of the Galleon. With Cameron present, Jess thought it unwise to mention that she’d taken the ship without permission. That would have to come out soon enough, though, and perhaps in the clan chief’s hearing.

  Kipper snatched up the tiny glass of spirits and hurled it into the fire, where it made a minor explosion. Then she rose, paced, and swore for the space of a full minute, using terms and phrases with which Jessamyn was largely unfamiliar. But before long, the pain from Kipper’s head wound staggered the captain.

  With Cameron’s help, Jess brought Kipper back to the couch.

  When she had recovered, Kipper’s words were far more collected than what Jessamyn had expected, the captain’s anger apparently spent.

  “The journey ought not to have been attempted while the two worlds were moving so swiftly apart,” Kipper said. “How could you hope to carry enough fuel? And if you couldn’t, a crash was inevitable.”

  “There was sufficient fuel,” said Jess. “Until your wretch of a brother secretly stuffed the hold so he could trade.”

  During Jessamyn’s explanation, Cameron had risen and begun pacing.

  “Ye’re speaking of the great load of tellurium that went down with the ship?” asked the clan leader.

  “How did you know about that?” asked Jessamyn.

  “She seems to know everything,” snapped Kipper. “Unlike some of us.”

  “I make it my business to know such things,” replied Cameron. “Especially when the Chancellor’s declared a world-wide shortage, thus placing Clan Wallace in about as bad a position as we’ve been in for over a century.” The Scotswoman shook her head.

  “I’m sorry, but how, exactly, does any of this affect you?” asked Jessamyn.

  Cameron Wallace, instead of answering, laughed humorlessly.

  Kipper explained. “Shipments of tellurium in forty-year intervals have formed the basis for Clan Wallace’s wealth, infusing all their operations with working capital.”

  “I know that,” said Jess. “But if Lucca’s declared a shortage, Cameron should be doing better than ever, given our fi
rst delivery and current prices on the stuff.”

  Kipper rolled her eyes heavenward. “Your grasp of what is transpiring on Earth is appalling, Jaarda. Lucca has declared that the tellurium supplies are low because inciters stole them.”

  Jessamyn felt her face heating once more. It was true, she paid next to no heed to anything having to do with Earth and her politics or economics. Why should she? She just wanted to finish Ethan’s mission and get everyone safely home.

  “All of which means,” said Cameron softly, “I daren’t shift even very small amounts at the moment. So, me dears, what I’d like to know is, how much of this did MCC place in motion? And what, exactly, is your government planning in its future relations with Earth and with Clan Wallace?”

  The suggestion that MCC might have engineered any of Cameron’s current problems was ludicrous to Jessamyn. She felt flustered and snapped in response. “We just want to be left alone,” she said. “Well, except for a handful of crazies who think we should buddy-up with Earth and her government.” She shot an angry glance at Kipper.

  “And those are the crazies who loaded yer crashed transport with tellurium?” demanded Cameron. “Because, if they want to establish trade, they’ve picked a very bad way to go about it. Unless they wish to avoid transacting any business with Clan Wallace after all these years.” The clan leader crossed her substantial arms over her broad chest.

  Kipper stood. “No one in a position of authority on Mars right now wishes to end friendly relations with Clan Wallace. And if my idiot brother Cavanaugh wanted to deal with Lucca instead of you, well, no one is going to trust him with so much as a spare pressure suit by the time I’ve aired his dirty laundry for all of Mars to inspect.”

  “Is that so?” asked Cameron, her voice considerably cooler. “I take it my fourth cousin Cavanaugh is a bit of a renegade?”

  Kipper laughed bitterly. “And a liar. And very nearly a murderer: he tried to destroy the rations’ supply of all Mars Colonial. And he somehow got off the hook for attempting to fill the Red Galleon’s hold with tellurium, which means he must’ve been planning to steal her away,” mused Kipper.

  “Aye, well, the fact that the girl here beat him to it would tend to exonerate him. On that last count, anyway,” said Cameron.

  Kipper’s face turned pale. “First Officer, please tell me you did not take the ship without permission.”

  Jessamyn stared in shock at Cameron. “How did you know about me stealing the ship?”

  “Brian tells me things,” said Cameron. “We’re not officially on speaking terms, of course. But we still talk.”

  The captain crumpled as if from another of her attacks.

  Jess rushed to her side.

  “It’s not my head this time,” moaned Kipper.

  “I was going to tell you,” Jess said. “But the conversation got hijacked into a discussion of whether or not Mars had it in for Clan Wallace.”

  Kipper groaned.

  “Mei Lo’s forgiven me,” Jess added. “For what it’s worth.”

  “Right then,” said the clan chief. “Gloves are off, as it were. I suggest you tell me what exactly that Secretary of yours has in mind so I can evaluate how it might impact me clan.”

  “Hold on,” said Jessamyn. “A few minutes ago you were happy to see your long-lost cousin and offering me whiskey and now we’re, what, adversaries?”

  “I wouldn’t put it in those terms,” replied Cameron. “I haven’t popped ye back in the dungeon, now, have I?”

  “Are you planning to?” asked Jessamyn, hands on her hips.

  Cameron smiled. “Nae, lassie. Settle yerself a bit. I admire ye. I do. For all the reasons I enumerated earlier. And it is my dearest wish to remain upon good terms with Mars Colonial Command. And yer own two selves, naturally. But I’ll be needing a few missing pieces to sort out the puzzle ye’ve presented.”

  Jessamyn sighed heavily and seated herself before Cameron’s substantial fire. “Things are bad on Mars just now.”

  Cameron laughed softly. “Well, we start on common ground, then, do we not?”

  “From what I can tell,” said Jessamyn, “you know pretty much everything already.”

  “I don’t know what ye’re doing here,” said Cameron, leaning forward. “Marsians. Here on Earth. Between our agreed-upon intervals of trade.”

  Kipper spoke up. “She came back to rescue the Raiders.” Under her breath she muttered, “Impulsive rule-breaker that she is.”

  Jess flushed.

  “And that’s all?” asked Cameron.

  Jessamyn considered her father’s oft-repeated phrase: the truth is the most eloquent persuader of all. But Jess couldn’t be sure Cameron was someone Mei Lo would entrust with her secrets. “It’s all I’m authorized to tell,” said Jess at last.

  “Jaarda!” hissed Kipper.

  “Nae, cousin,” said Cameron. “Don’t reprimand her.” The clan chief turned to regard Jessamyn. “I’ve a sense just here,” she pointed to her gut, “that ye are no teller of lies. So I’ll ask ye directly, does your world mean to cause harm to me clan with whatever else ye’re up to out there in the desert with Brian?”

  “No,” said Jessamyn. “It’s like I said already. We just want to be left to ourselves. Well, most of us, I think. And once Kip has her say about Cavanaugh, I think it will be all of us wanting to be left alone.”

  “And coming here twice in the space of two months accomplishes that, how, exactly?” demanded Cameron.

  Jess frowned. “I did what I felt I had to do.”

  “I see,” said Cameron. “Allow me to voice the clan’s true concern. I thought it odd three months back when none of the Mars Raiders spoke of the next time ye’d be coming to collect rations. Odd and disturbing. Are we finished then, Clan Wallace and MCC?”

  “Well,” said Jessamyn, “Given that the goal of the current government is independence, I’d say we might not be back come forty years’ time. We hope to be self-sufficient by then, certainly. But I don’t think anyone on Mars knows for sure when that will happen.”

  “I see,” said Cameron, rising. “It would seem I have much to consider. And the two of ye might prefer to be alone as well. Shall we meet again in three hours?”

  “Yes,” said Kipper. “A chance to confer with my crew member would be most welcome.”

  Jess didn’t think it would be all that nice, but she nodded her agreement as well.

  “Jamie, if ye’d see the young ladies to the Rose Suite, please?” said Cameron, exiting the great hall.

  “Jessamyn,” said Kipper, as the two followed Jamie down a long, curving hallway, “when they build a cell to hold my brother, they ought to build another one for you. Without a key.”

  27

  SCOTLAND THE BRAVE

  Jessamyn and her former captain found several things to argue about, chief of which was that none of the Mars Raiders had any right to expect to see home again.

  “We knew this was a possibility,” said Kipper. “All of us agreed to risk our own lives for the sake of Mars. You should never have come back for us, and you will not bargain on behalf of MCC in order to obtain transport back to Mars.”

  “I don’t intend to bargain on behalf of anyone other than myself,” snapped Jessamyn.

  “You’re mighty free with your ‘Mars-wants-this’ and ‘Mars-will-do-that’ then, aren’t you? Jessamyn, you are a Mars Raider, not an ambassador representing Mei Lo or the citizens of Mars.”

  Jessamyn held her silence, wishing she’d never rescued Kipper.

  No, that wasn’t how she felt. She admired Kip and was glad to have her free. Jess just didn’t like hanging around her former captain. And while Jessamyn didn’t believe she’d overstepped any boundaries yet, she couldn’t say she wouldn’t be willing to do so in the future in order to secure a Mars-class transport capable of making the return journey.

  Kipper sighed in exasperation. “You will confine your remarks to those you can make as an individual and not as a self-appointed re
presentative of our home world. That’s an order, First Officer.”

  A sudden screeching noise outside the deeply set windows of the suite forestalled any answer.

  “What in the name of Ares is that?” demanded Kipper, clutching her head in pain.

  Jessamyn moved to the window. Outside, in the castle forecourt, she saw a man wearing a plaid skirt and carrying what looked like a pillow with sticks poking out of it. The noise was emanating from the pillow. Removing a mini-wafer from her jacket, Jess held the device outward to face the strange noise and the individual making it. Then she pulled the wafer back to where she could ask a question.

  “What is that?”

  The wafer returned several answers.

  1. An individual PIPER performing upon an instrument known as a bagpipe, traditionally associated with ancient Scotland.

  2. The instrument known as a BAGPIPE.

  3. A DIRGE, or song played in times of mourning, whether for the loss of an individual or the mourning of a larger disaster.

  Once Kip had recovered from her attack, Jessamyn offered a mash-up explanation to her captain’s question. “It’s a piper playing the bagpipes. It’s a Scottish tradition.”

  “It sounds like someone’s being murdered,” muttered Kip as she rubbed a spot on her temple.

  Jess shrugged. “Someone may have been. The song’s a dirge, my wafer claims. I think it’s rather a nice sound. In a mournful sort of way.”

  “Ugh,” called Kipper.

  A series of light raps sounded upon the door, followed by the appearance of the person who’d shown them to their rooms earlier.

  “If you’ll follow me, the chieftain would like to entertain you for the evening meal,” said Jamie.

  “No unauthorized bargaining, Jaarda,” murmured Kip as she rose and exited the suite.

  Jessamyn threw her shoulders back and tilted her chin up, but she also made a silent promise to ask herself the question, “What would Harpreet do?” prior to making any requests or deals.