by Keith Martin
Linda quietly got out of bed and headed for a shower. Behind her she heard a whispered. “Do you want me to come with you?” Jill was curled up with Otto like a cat with its favorite black dog on the first sunny day of spring.
“You stay with him, keep him sleeping as long as you can. I’ll take care of this and be right back. No later then nine or ten o’clock and I’ll be back.”
“Linda I love you, you know?” Jill said as she pulled herself in tighter to her man.
They had spent their love on Otto all night long and they fell asleep in each other’s arms exhausted from their lovemaking. It had been all that each where looking for and much more. They knew they were meant to be together. “I kind of think you are just wonderful to silly.” Linda shot back as she headed to the shower to start her day.
* * *
Larry rose early to find the wind had again died down. He was dressed and in the loader in a flash, despite the hangover from drinking all night. He wanted to get the container so he could settle in for the duration of the storm season.
He was soon on the ramp down into the canyon and was pissed to see all the slide damage that had been done to his road. He just dug in, and went at it. He knew that complaining wouldn’t help, and he did have a flask to help pass the time.
He was five hours in to the dig when Monica radioed him and warned him of an approaching storm system. “Starla thinks this one will hold together Larry. She wants me to tell you to get your butt in here as soon as you can.”
“I always knew she loved my butt. Tell her I’m on my way soon. I’m an hour from the container, then it’s just half an hour back to the shop.”
“Ok Larry, I’ll let her know your schedule. But try not to wait any longer than that. This storm is one big mother.”
He switched off his Com Link so he wouldn’t have to hear Monica any more. He just wanted to get this finished and her interruptions drove him batty.
The last slide in his way took four shoves over the side and then it was clear all the way to the container. He quickly got it strapped to the front of the loader and started his way up the ramp to the base. His mind was dreaming of the whisky this container was supposed to be holding. He liked whisky the best. He was going to savor its flavor and enjoy its ability to remove his depression from living on the backside of this Space Mission world.
He had the loader climbing the ramp when he stopped dead in his tracks; he just sat there looking at it for what seemed like hours. He switched back on his Com Link. “Monica this is Larry are you there?”
“What is it Larry?” She was in the Control Room tracking the storm. It was winding up into a beast.
“Is everyone in base?”
Now here was a weird question. “Of course everyone is here. What’s going on out there?”
He figured someone had to have placed it in the center of his road.
A bleached white skull sat there, as if looking at him.
If he had looked up the side of the slide he would have seen that he had broken into what must have been a mass grave of some type. Hundreds if not thousands of bones were scattered all across the top of it.
He looked all around making sure he was really alone out there. It was as if he expected a bogeyman to leap out from behind every rock. Fear was creeping into him and he couldn’t control it.
He got his helmet on and depressurized the loaders cabin. With more than a little apprehension he walked over to this skull and looked around to be sure he was still alone.
Humanoid but not human, that’s what it was. It had a larger than normal globe and a very defined thick brow ridge. The jaw was massive and still attached. There was a perfect set of teeth showing this being was in good shape when it died. And some of the teeth had fillings in them. This was a skull from a developed race of beings.
‘This is Mars, lifeless planet?’ His eyes and his mind just didn’t want to believe he was seeing this. He slowly reached down and picked it up. It looked and felt real. But it had to be something that Monica had created to mess with his head.
He thought about throwing it over the edge then decided to take it in and make her fess up. This was a great gag, this meant war, and the pay back would cost her dearly.
As he turned to get back into the loader he spotted a streak of white in the slide itself. He put the skull in the loaders toolbox and then used the loaders bucket to scoop this bone in the slide. He backed quickly as he dumped the load, spreading out the dirt, stopping when he could see the bone lying in the roadway half buried.
He went out and picked it up... it looked like a thighbone, a femur. He scanned the hillside and saw there where bones scattered all over.
Then it hit him, he had found signs of life on Mars.
Strapping down the container again he took off for the base with his toolbox carrying its cargo of bone.
He knew this would mean he’d be off this rock real soon. Everyone would want to interview him and there was a reward for finding it. He was going to be rich and famous. But most of all he would be off this God-Forsaken rock; he despised it with all of his being.
“Hello. I gather you’re Ton?” Linda asked as she wheeled in a serving cart set for two. “I’m the soon to be Mrs. Chisholm, or one of the soon to be I should say.”
Ton just chuckled and rose to greet her. “Soon to be?” He asked wryly.
“Yea, Otto asked Jill and I to be his wives last night.” Her face was lit with the emotion of what she was going through. She had known Otto for years now. She had been in love with him for longer then she could remember. Now it was all a dream coming true before her eyes.
She naturally lost touch with Otto as she grew up and he grew a family of his own and moved away to the ranch. She had gone to the ranch once with her brother to visit. That was before Otto had Ashley and all she remembered of the visit was her jealousy every time Otto’s wife touched him.
He found her again at the State Fair where she was running a booth that was selling farming equipment. It was her father’s booth and she was covering for him while he was at home sick. She had no idea what she was doing. She was a city kid who lived with her mother in Sacramento. She had come to spend the summer with her father, who now owned a ten thousand-acre hay farm and a dealership with John Deere. It was his Deere booth that had her at the State Fair that summer. She was leaving for college that year; she was just seventeen years old.
* * *
It was the kids that first caught her eye. All toe headed and well mannered. She could tell that good parents were raising them.
The smallest was Shianne. She was a doll in her cowgirl getup and she had long gold hair to her belt line. And even she knew all about the tractors Linda was trying to sell.
It shocked her when she asked Shianne where her mother was and was told that she had gone to heaven. She felt so embarrassed that she was close to tears. But it was Otto who had saved her and distracted the kids with a call for popcorn. The kids all screamed their agreement to his suggestion, and started pulling and tugging Otto out of her life. It was then that she realized it was him. Otto didn’t recognize her, she had been a child when he had last seen her, and now she was a fully developed woman.
Otto left a card and asked her to have her father call him about a new ranch tractor.
The two families became friends again. The Chisholm’s were there when she graduated, they were there when dad was put to rest; they were there when Mom remarried and moved to France with her new husband and Linda was there to watch them all graduate from college too.
She broke down one rainy night driving across southern California and she didn’t know who to call for help. She called Otto knowing the Chisholm ranch was not far off. Otto was there in less then an hour in a huge old gray truck pulling a trailer to load her broken down old Honda onto. Joshua was with him, between them her car was loaded up and they were headed for the ranch in no time.
She knew then that she had fallen in love with him. But they lived in two
different worlds. She was going to be a corporate executive and he was a rancher. It hadn’t worked for her parents. Her mother was 20 years younger then her father and they divorced. So she never even tried to make it work for her and Otto. At the time the age difference was a little too much for most to be comfortable with. Otto had 17 years on her. It didn’t stop her feelings from being real and strong.
Otto followed her through the ups and downs of growing up from then on and he watched over her from afar. He paid for some of her schooling when things got tight and would not except repayment.
“It’s what friends do for friends.” He would say.
Now she was on the Moon and she was going to be his wife. For her she was in heaven.
“That’s great Linda… we all love the big guy around here. He kind of grows on you.”
She understood completely. She and Jill where both elated seeing the way the personnel on the Moon treated him. Everyone was so nice and held his opinion as highly valuable.
“We agree. We plan to stick to him like glue.” Linda agreed.
Ton seemed to get lost in thought for a long time and Linda just waited for him to come back around. She knew what would bring him back. She took the lid off the breakfast and let the aroma loose into the room. “That smells great.”
“Dig in my friend and enjoy yourself.” She sat quietly as he ate his fill with gusto.
She had toast with coffee and sat watching him eat. To her it was important to keep her figure. So she always ate little, but healthy.
As he finished up she saw that the lack of sleep was catching up with him. But he seemed to want to talk, so she asked about the house. “Tell me about this house? Otto made it sound as if we could just make it any way we wanted too?”
“It’s going to be next to my place.” He pulled out a large drawing pad and a coal pen. “You have to go up there and get a perspective of the view and the scope of what we can do. The floor plan can be anything you want. Hell you can even have a pool or a pond with fish swimming around in it. My place has a small pool. Don’t think of it as a wall of rock three hundred feet off the floor of the chamber. It’s your home; we just need to get the rock out of your living room.” He was drawing a plan for her so quickly she was amazed. To him it was just another drawing of something to get them on the same page.
Now she was confused. She didn’t understand why they would have to remove rock from her home for her to have it. ‘Were they storing rock in it now?’ She didn’t ask so she would not sound foolish.
She did not understand that their home would be dug out of the wall of the main chamber, not a stick built house on the chamber floor. In her mind she was still thinking of the homes on Earth.
In five minutes flat she was handed a rough blueprint of the house floor plan. “That should give you a place to start thinking from. Remember that it’s only stone, so we can always expand it later as the family grows. I’m sure Otto will have a place for Joshua going in right below your place. That’s just the right thing to do anyway. Then we start on homes for the girls right below Joshua’s place. Figure about every twenty-five feet of wall face is a dwelling layer. I’m placing Otto’s house at the top so we can give you folks a great view and if you my dear need a second floor we can always expand upwards.” He giggled at his own little joke as exhaustion took its hold and started a battle with Ton’s mind.
As she watched, his eyes slowly closed and he drifted off. She found a blanket to cover him and took her seat watching these two men she had just met as they soundly slept. She knew they were family. Otto had told her about Ton and Steve many times over the past few years. She was glad to finally meet them. She just wished it were under better circumstances.
* * *
The nurse walked in an hour later to check on Steve. “How are our boys?” She asked quietly.
“Sleeping like babies.” Linda reported.
“I’ll take over for you if you would like. I have to stick around anyway.”
“I don’t mind staying.” She didn’t want to just leave Steve and Ton alone.
“Don’t be silly. They can’t get fresh with me if you’re here.” She chuckled. “You’re one of Otto’s aren’t you?”
“One of, yes….” She stood and they shook hands. “I’m Linda.” She introduced herself.
“I’m Brenda.” She looked like a china doll. She had straight black hair that shined, deep hazel eyes, and a body that any woman would sell her soul for. “That’s Chair Linda I hear?”
“Someone had to do it.” She made light of her position. “Will we see you at the wedding?” Linda asked.
“Otto asked you to marry him?”
“Yes. He is old fashioned.” Linda responded with pride.
“That is so cool, I don’t think men should collect women like baseball cards. They should marry us.”
“Why is it you’re not married?” Linda noticed she was wearing no ring.
“I’m only seventeen. Daddy will kill anyone who looks sideways at me. But then if you read the new law, I am of age to breed, I guess I’m of age to marry too.”
“Well I think you’re just beautiful. I’m sure you will catch any man you want with ease.” She said. “I’m on my way then Brenda, keep a good eye on our boys.”
“I will Linda, see you at the wedding, I wouldn’t miss it for the world. I hear it’s going to be a big thing, sounds fun!” She gave Linda a hug and then Linda was through the doors and walking back towards her new home.
* * *
As she walked down the halls she knew that she had found her true calling, to care for the well being of this massive extended family. She was just getting to know a few of them but they all knew her. She had never felt like she belonged until now. But now everyone she passed greeted her as she walked down the hall. All had wonderful little stories to tell her, about the things Otto had done for them personally or for the base as a whole. He was loved and respected by everyone she spoke with. That was the main theme of the words showered upon her. She seemed to float down the halls drinking in the base and the life it was growing into.
It made her smile as the miners passed by doffing their hard hats out of respect. All said for her to call on them if she needed anything and treating her as if she was breakable. Their blessings for a fruitful marriage and many healthy babies had her blushing and that only brought on more blessings to keep her smiling. Not since Catholic school when she was a child had she been blessed so many times and with such passionately conveyed words that were meant for her well being and assured friendship.
She felt blessed. It added to the high she was riding just finding her home on the base.
* * *
At 7:15am she walked into their home ready to rejoin Otto and Jill. The sound of the air seal on the door to the girl’s quarters deflating stopped her. A soft tap came to the door. When she opened it she found Shianne standing there dressed for the day and biting at the bit.
“Did Daddy really ask you to marry him?”
“Good morning to you too Shianne, and yes he did.” She let her soon to be stepdaughter into the unit.
“I heard that Chief asked his three ladies to marry him too.” She took a seat. “That will be three weddings in one day.”
“We will need to contact Chief today so we can fit them into this.” She sat with Shianne. “Its hard to believe a player like Chief would marry.” Linda voiced her thoughts.
“He is trying to emulate Dad I think.” Shianne said with a grin.
“A better man to emulate would be hard to find!” Linda replied with pride.
“It’s going to be nice having you in the family Linda. You know I remember when we first met you, way back at the state fair. You gave me a toy tractor.”
“Now Shianne we are not supposed to remind women how many years have passed. I remember that day still, just like it was just yesterday.” She took Shianne’s hand.
“So tell me how he asked?” She wanted to know everything; she took it al
l in, as Linda spilled the beans.
“Well… he found us working in the main chamber making flowers for decorations. He pulled us aside and just asked us. It was simply perfect…all that I would expect from Otto.”
Linda was so high her emotions were like a super freeway to Shianne. Her thoughts and dreams and flashes of new happenings in her life that were giving her powerful thoughts filled with emotion and joy filled her mind and started to download in a flood to Shianne so quickly. From G rated to PG-13 and on to R rated thoughts quickly started to head towards thoughts of loving Otto and Shianne pulled her hand back in a flash starting to crack up as she backed away from Linda.
“What?” Linda didn’t understand she was so overwhelmed by her new life.
Shianne pointed her finger playfully at Linda and told her the truth. “I love you Linda. But wow you love Dad a whole bunch. What a lucky guy!”
Shianne’s words hit hard and Linda turned a red as a rose and just started busting up realizing what Shianne was telling her. “Then don’t touch Jill at all.”
“I think I just did...” She jest in return and renewed their laughter.
* * *
Larry called Monica to the shop to show her what he found. He dismissed the idea of Monica setting him up with this. He could just see the request form. ‘One skull, one leg bone…’ Reason for need… to freak out Larry...’ Even Monica wouldn’t be able to pull that off.
This was also no human skull he had ever seen. Not that he had seen a lot of them. But he did know what one should look like, and this wasn’t it. This skull was from a warring people. It was built by nature to withstand blows, heavy blows. And the thighbone was too big. The humanoid that used it would have been massive. This had to be the real thing.
“What’s so important Larry?” Monica barked as she entered the shop.
“I have a little surprise for us all. Hell for everyone. For all of mankind!” He said with a smile.