All along both sides of a long stone table sat the Council. At its head was Vanji. Behind him was a glass wall with doors opening out on to a terrace. She could see the cavern roof in the background.
“Ah, Dr. Malbec, please be seated.” Vanji waved a hand at a vacant seat at the far end of the long table.
The two guards took up standing position either side of her. Jann scanned the Council members. They all wore similar clothing with the same colour, a kind of off-white. But each had a different colour patch sewn on to the breast. Vanji, however, wore a purple robe of some kind, perhaps as an indication of his rank and power. She noticed many of the Council also wore a patch of the same colour. Jan wondered if these were the geneticists, presumably the highest ranked citizens of the Colony Two social hierarchy. They took up seating positions close to Vanji. She also spotted Kayden. He sat further down, closer to her and had a blue patch on his tunic. He didn’t make eye contact with her.
“I have something to show you,” Vanji began. From a pocket he took out the object that Jann had been given by the Beta, on that first sol. He carefully placed on the table. “We found this in your room. We would like to know how you came by it?”
“It was in the fruit basket.” There was no point in trying to hide it, Jann reckoned they knew already. But her response set off a ripple of murmurings around the table. Vanji raised a hand to silence them.
“Do you know what it is?”
“I’m guessing it’s a replica of the bee-hive hut, out past the dunes, near Colony One.”
“You are correct. But it is also evidence of something we have begun to suspect.”
“Which is?”
“Which is the existence of a creation myth amongst the Betas.” This brought out more animated murmuring from the Council members.
“This must be stamped out!” One member slapped the table. “We can not allow this to gain traction.”
Vanji raised a hand and turned back to Jann. “You see, Betas retain fragments of the memories of their Alpha when they are birthed. Why? We are not sure. But that is irrelevant, the fact is they do. Now this is very useful as they can be conditioned much faster and trained to utilise the technical know-how of their forbearer. But they also have memories, dreams, that become more lucid over time and these memories can drive them to seek out the past. It becomes a creation myth and it has the potential to undermine everything we are doing here.”
“That’s a bummer,” replied Jann.
“You may scoff, Dr. Malbec, but this concerns you, more that you think.”
“How so?”
“Because rumour has it that they have a clandestine leader. One that unites them, some say it’s a deity, a god, if you will. If this leader were to become strong… well, let’s just say the harmony of the colony would be in jeopardy.”
“So what’s that got to do with me?”
He picked the object up from the table, examined it for a moment, and placed it back down slowly.
“We believe that you are this deity they worship.”
Jann laughed. “Maybe I should be honoured.”
That sent the Council apoplectic. “Quiet!” Vanji shouted above the clamour. They quietened down, Jann sense an ugly mood developing.
“You need to understand that these dreams are of the past, of Colony One. They are becoming obsessed with it, they seek it, like a Mecca. It will drive them crazy. And you represent that to them. A visitor from Colony One is like a god descending on the multitude.”
Jann was silent this time.
“She needs to be recycled.”
“Yes, this situation is too dangerous.”
“It has to be done.”
“We should never have let her in here in the first place.”
The table was erupting all around her, they wanted her head on a plate.
Vanji raised a hand again and they settled down. “Kayden, what is your opinion? You have been very quiet so far?”
Jann looked at the Head of Hydro, her fate totally in his hands. It seemed like an age ago when he had given her hope, a way to escape, now everything had changed.
Kayden, looked down and fumbled with the sleeve of his garment. “In the light of these revelations, it would seem the only option is for recycling.”
“What!” She had been betrayed, she jumped up and was immediately grabbed by the arm by one of the guards. But Jann twisted fast and buried two knuckles into the guard’s throat. He dropped, she knew she could take them down. She bolted out the door and into the corridor. But she didn’t get far. She felt a sting in her neck and touched a small needle, she pulled it out and threw it on the floor. But it had done its job. Her head felt heavy and she quickly lost all control of her body. She collapsed on the floor, face down, her eyes closed and she lost consciousness.
CHAPTER 12: The Tank
In the time after conception, cells divide and multiply, growing exponentially more numerous. It is from this clump of living matter that all of which defines our biological makeup stems. Hence the term stem-cells. They possess within them the power to become anything and everything. The genius of Vanji was not the ability to choose what was created, humanity already possessed this knowledge. Nor was it the ability to speed up this process, although that too was a major breakthrough. No, it was the ability to reverse engineer.
To take a clump of stem cells and turn them into an organ was known. But, to take an organ and turn it into stem cells was knowledge of a totally different order of magnitude. This was the genetic alchemy that he controlled. This ability to biologically recycle.
It was Jann’s fate that soon, she too would experience this biological transformation. Like a zygote in the womb that needs nourishment and sustenance to grow and develop, so too does the body that is to be recycled. This is why subjects are submerged in the bio-tanks alive. And they are kept that way until the point at which they are biologically incapable of consciousness. But unlike, say a human that takes nine months to be fully viable, the reverse process is much quicker — it only takes a month.
Jann slowly became aware of conscious thought, like awakening from a dream. But she existed only in her mind, and so began to focus and tentatively assess the extent of her physical existence. There was none.
She felt a wave of panic rise up from deep within her core. She had no physical sensation, no sight, no sound, nothing to define the limits of her body. She was pure thought, nothing more. “Jesus, what have they done to me?” Fear gave way to terror. She knew what was happening, she was slowly being biologically dissolved. How was this to end? How long would she be conscious of this horror? Hours, sols, weeks?
Time ceased to have meaning. Her thoughts could have occupied a few seconds or an eternity, she had no way of knowing. She felt like she was floating out in the vacuum of space, except there were no stars to orientate her. She simply existed in nothingness. There was no pain, at least that was something. But to endure like this, knowing what was happening to her was simply a slow descent into a tortured insanity. In the end, there is no more terrifying a place, than that of your own mind.
A vibration. Was she dreaming? No, she felt it again, slight, but it was there, all around her. How could she feel it? She probed the extremities of her body and began to sense her physical being. It grew in intensity and she forced herself to move some part of her. With every fibre of her being she bent her will to the task, to lift a finger, to open an eye, anything. Then the dam burst and she was released from her viscous sarcophagus in a deluge. She broke through to the other side. Voices. She could hear voices, distant, indistinct. Vague lights swam across her vision and she felt her throat being ripped from the inside. It was the tube being pulled out. She gasped and spat and retched. Her body temperature plummeted and pain bound itself to every nerve of her being. Voices. More voices.
“Shit, she’s getting hypothermia.”
“I told you we should have done it in stages. This could kill her.”
“We don’t have time,
quick get her into the blanket, switch it on, get her warm, fuck, don’t let her have a cardiac arrest.”
“Christ, she’s no good to us like this.”
“It will pass, trust me, she’s only been in the tank for less than an hour. Just keep her warm.”
“How the fuck are we going to get her into an EVA suit like this?”
Jann felt something warm wrap itself around her, an oxygen mask was held over her mouth, her shaking began to subside.
“She’s okay.”
“Thank fuck for that.”
“Right, let’s get moving. We only have a twenty five minute window and we’ve already used seven.”
Jann still shook and shivered, but with less intensity with each passing minute. She tried to open her eyes and speak. “It’s okay, we got you out.” Someone placed a hand on her head, she went quiet again. She could feel herself being carried on a stretcher of some kind. It was dim and dark but she began to make out lights here and there as they moved. After a while they stopped and laid her down. She was beginning to come round and tried to lift a hand to wipe her forehead but she felt pinned down, and her mouth was like sandpaper. “Water,” she croaked, “Some water?”
“She's coming out of it.” Someone said.
“Water.”
“Wait, hold on, let me get you out of this thermal blanket.” Jann could feel the heat drain away as the blanket deflated. She could move again. Someone unzipped it a little and placed a bottle of water against her lips, she raised a hand to hold as she lifted herself up on her elbow. She drank it all.
“Feeling better?” Kayden knelt down beside and took the empty bottle.
Jann sat up fully and ran her fingers across her face and over her skull, she shook her head and looked back at Kayden. “Bastard, you put me in there.”
“The Council put you in there. I had no choice but to go along with it, otherwise they would have suspected me. Anyway, you’re out now, time to leave.”
“Jesus, I thought I was going to go insane in that tank. How can anyone conceive of such a death?”
“Think you can stand, we don't have much time?” Kayden placed a hand under her shoulder.” Samir, give me some help here.”
Together they lifted her into a standing position. She was shaky, but her body was beginning to recalibrate itself back to normality. She was still wet with slime from the tank, she shivered in horror when she realised, and started to frantically wipe herself down with the blanket that was still partly wrapped around her. “Fuck, fuck, get this shit off me.”
“It’s okay, Jann, just calm down, it’s inactive outside the tank. Just take a deep breath.”
She clutched the blanket close to her, the panic began to subside. She let out a deep breath. “Okay, I’m okay.” She looked around. They were in a small, dimly lit storeroom. “Where is this place?”
“Near the main entrance to Colony Two.”
There were two others with Kayden. Samir, who was speaking to her now, and another woman, she looked agitated.
“I don’t suppose you have some clothes for me? Or do I go around naked?”
“The best sort, we’ve got your EVA suit. Think you can handle it?”
“If it means getting out of this place, then, yeah, lead me to it.”
“Behind here.” Samir started moving storage boxes out of the way.
“Noome, get Jann some more water. I’ll help Samir with the suits.” Kayden started to move more of the storage boxes.
Hidden in behind were four EVA suits. Samir started to check them one-by -one. “Looking good, fully prepped, should do the job.”
“I hope you’re right, they all look a bit ragged, save for Dr. Malbec’s.” Noome was giving Jann a second bottle of water.
“They may look shit, but they’ll get the job done.”
“Come on, we’re wasting time.” Kayden started to get into his suit.
“Shhhh…”
“What?” whispered Noome.
Samir placed a finger over his mouth. “Listen.”
They all stopped and looked towards the door. Footsteps — getting closer.
“Shit.”
“Shhhh.”
The sound of the footsteps stopped outside. Jann looked around for a weapon to arm herself with as they all waited for the door to open. A moment passed, then another, and another, but the door stayed closed. Voices, Hybrids, even Jann could recognise their deep resonant tone. Then the sound of movement, more footsteps, this time heading away from the door, back down the corridor, disappearing into silence.
“Whoa, fuck, what was that? Noome was trembling with fear, clutching on to Samir’s arm. He wasn’t much better.
“Hybrids, looks like we had a close encounter,” said Kayden.
“That was weird, why didn’t they come in, they must have known someone was in here?”
“Who knows, who cares. They didn’t, that’s all that matters. Come on let’s get going before they come back.”
It took them all a few minutes to get suited up and checked. The plan, as far as Jann understood it, was to enter the main Colony Two airlock, this was the main entrance, the one she had seen on her first scout of the area. This was where they had stashed her rover. They would commandeer it, open the main airlock door and head for Colony One. As an escape plan, she didn’t like it, way too risky, too high a chance of being spotted, or setting off some alarm when the main airlock door opened. They had nearly been rumbled once so far, and they may not be so lucky again. But there was no other way of getting to Colony One. They had no option but to risk it.
Kayden slowly opened the door and peered out, looking up and down the corridor. “All clear, let’s go.” He stepped out and waved to the others to follow. They all had the heavy suits on but carried their helmets, they wouldn’t need them just yet. They tried to move quietly but it was difficult. It took them a few minutes to pass through into the main entrance cavern for Colony Two. It was dark but as Samir and Kayden swept the area with a flashlight Jann could see it housed not just one but two pressurised rovers along with a myriad of other small vehicles.
“Samir, go open the inner door. We’ll get the rover started.” Kayden pointed off to one side of the cavern. The rest of them clambered into the rover and Jann started it up just as the inner door opened. Samir ran back and hopped in. She ran through systems checks to ensure pressure and then drove into the airlock. The door automatically closed behind them and there was a moment or two of nervous waiting before the outer door opened. It was pitch black outside as Jann slowly inched the machine out onto the Martian surface.
It was slow progress at first, the lights on the rover had little range. But as she grew in confidence, and the further they got from Colony Two, the faster she pushed it. There was a collective mood of relief that grew as they moved. “We did it, we fucking did it.” Noome was ecstatic and slapped Samir on the back. He ventured a smile in return.
Jann pushed the machine as fast as she dared in the darkness. “I saw a bunch of other rovers in that cavern. Did anyone think to disable them?”
“Don’t worry, they haven't moved in years. This is the only operational one,” said Kayden.
“I hope so, because it’s going to take time to get the tanks ready, we don’t want them following us.” Jann started to slow down a bit.
“Once we get to Colony One, we’re home free. They can’t get there, not for a while anyway.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Trust me, we have a sol or two head start, that should be enough time.”
Jann felt a sense of relief ripple through her. She pushed the rover as hard as she dared to get more distance between her and the nightmare of Colony Two. She was running away, yet again. She felt that she had spent a lot of her time on Mars running away from one thing or another. Someday, she would have to stop.
CHAPTER 13: Colony One
They had been moving slowly across the Jezero crater for over an hour. Jann reckoned, assuming Kayden was
right and the other vehicles in the cavern were out of commission, they were in no immediate danger of being followed. So she decided to drive with caution, the last thing she wanted now was to run into a gully or get caught up in a sand dune. Nonetheless, they were making progress and getting close to Colony One. The mood in the rover was one of fatigue mixed with excited relief.
“There it is, over there, look.” Jann pointed out into the darkness at the lights on the roof of the colony Bio-dome. Noome and Samir, got up from their seats in the back and leaned into the cockpit to get a better look.
“Cool,” said Noome. “I had nearly forgotten what it was like, seems like so long ago since we left there. Wish I never did.”
“Yeah, doesn’t seem so bad after all this time.”
During the journey Jann discovered that it was these two that had been tracking the Odyssey craft and intercepting ISA communications. They were original colonists but not on the council, they wanted no part of Vanji’s vision of Colony Two. How they hooked up with Kayden, Jann had not yet found out. Not that she cared, she was free of the place and now had a way off Mars, and a return ticket to Earth.
They stood there for a while just watching the lights getting closer until eventually Jann reached down and tapped a few icons on the comms panel.
“Gizmo, this is Jann Malbec, are you still there, over?”
“Gizmo? Who’s Gizmo? I thought you were alone in there?” said Kayden.
“I was the only human.”
“So who’s Gizmo?”
“You’ll see soon enough — I hope.”
“Gizmo, are you receiving this, over?” Her call was met with static coming over the rover comm as she waited for a reply. Finally, it crackled into life.
“Dr. Malbec, this is a surprise. Do you realise I calculated the probability of your existence being compatible with life at 0.03%?”
“Nice to know you still care, Gizmo.”
“I have been tracking a rover crossing the crater for some time now, I assume this is you?”
Colony Two Mars: A SciFi Thriller (Colony Mars Book 2) Page 7