Kevin stopped to think about that. He had made the assumption that the surface of whatever world they were on would be like home – bleak and desolate. But, what if it wasn’t? What if it was as full of life as Earth?
‘Well?’ asked Connie.
‘You’re right. I should want to see it. I’d been thinking of this place as a big hab.’
‘Big hab?’ Connie’s expression was puzzled.
‘Back home. If you’re not in a hab, the atmosphere is too thin to breathe and it’s bastard cold.’
‘Oh, I see.’ Connie flashed him a smile. ‘I’m imagining a jungle. Like the one’s back home.’
‘A jungle? Complete with, uh, tigers?’
‘Don’t be daft. There aren’t any tigers in Africa.’
‘Probably not any here either,’ said Kevin.
They were both quiet for a minute before Connie asked ‘Have you named it?’
‘Named what?’
‘This world we’re on,’ said Connie.
‘Uh, no.’
‘You’ve got to give it a name. Discoverer’s prerogative.’
‘I don’t know. Kev’s world?’
Connie’s laugh was warm and genuine. ‘I think your sister would have something to say about that.’
Kevin couldn’t help grinning. ‘You’re probably right.’ His gaze met Connie’s and they shared a few seconds of companionable silence. This then stretched into a few more seconds of silence which were more loaded with tension than comfortable. Kevin looked away from her dark brown eyes. Had she felt it too?
‘Time for bed,’ said Connie.
Kevin felt a tingle of excitement shoot from his head to his toes. Then, he realised she was probably just talking about going to sleep. ‘Umm, right.’ Or was she? It was with a sense of trepidation that he followed Connie into the Box. Trepidation which morphed into a mix of disappointment and relief when she went into her sleeping compartment and closed the door without even a backward glance.
* * *
The next morning, Kevin was woken by the sound of voices next door. His head felt full of cotton wool and his mouth was as dry as the Tharsis plain. He stumbled into his colony coverall and out of his tiny sleeping compartment.
His sister and Connie were sat at the table drinking fresh coffee.
‘Good morning,’ said Simone.
‘Ugh,’ said Kevin, wittily.
Connie picked up her coffee and took a sip; her eyes crinkled with amusement over the cups rim.
Simone poured him a cup of coffee which he accepted gratefully.
‘We’ve been talking about Kev’s world,’ said Simone.
Kevin almost choked on his drink.
Simone continued, pretending to be oblivious to Kevin’s beverage troubles. ‘I have to admit, I think the name may need revisiting.’
Connie lowered her coffee cup revealing a wide grin.
‘Putting the matter of the name aside, Connie has suggested we try and see some more of Kev’s world.’
‘See more of?’ asked Kevin.
‘We can use this magnificent machine to go outside,’ said Connie.
‘And I think we should do it,’ said Simone.
‘You want to be first again?’ asked Kevin.
‘Of course.’
Kevin thought that Simone wouldn’t listen to his quite reasonable fear of the unknown, but decided to try changing her mind anyway. ‘Shouldn’t we get back home? Doctor Webb and his team can take care of any exploration to be done here.’
‘Doctor Webb.’ His sister’s voice was flat.
‘Yes, he’s leading the study,’ said Kevin.
Simone’s expression was unreadable. ‘The trouble with that is that the Box only listens to me, or who I tell it to listen to.’
‘You’re not keen on this Webb guy then?’ asked Connie.
‘Not sure what gave you that impression,’ said Kevin. He wondered what Webb had done to deserve his sister’s enmity.
‘He heads the council committee that is responsible for project funding,’ said Simone.
‘And that means?’ asked Connie.
‘He’s responsible for the Program going down the tubes, ’ said Kevin. He now realised why Simone hated Webb.
‘The Program?’ asked Connie.
‘A gene-editing project. The idea is we get to go on the surface without a mask this century.’
‘Not just that. But yes, largely correct,’ said Simone.
‘Wow.’ Connie nodded at Simone. ‘Amazing.’
‘My sister is the family genius,’ said Kevin.
‘Obviously,’ Connie said drily.
‘My brother’s work is just as important for the day to day running of the colony,’ said Simone.
‘And that is?’ asked Connie
‘Water miner,’ said Kevin.
Connie raised an eyebrow. ‘Mining?’
‘There’s not much in the way of surface water on Mars, with the exception of the poles of course, so we process water-bearing rocks,’ said Kevin.
‘It sounds so different,’ said Connie.
Kevin refilled everyone’s cup. ‘How about you Connie? What did you do before?’
‘Before you kidnapped me or before Polly?’
‘Before everything went wrong on Earth,’ said Simone.
Connie was silent for a moment before answering in a quiet voice. ‘I was a ranger in the AWDF.’
‘What’s that?’ asked Kevin.
Connie looked down at the table Her reply was clipped and tense.‘The African Wildlife Defence Force.’
Simone reached out, touching the other woman’s hand. ‘Did something happen?’
Connie did not pull away, instead she lifted her head and looked steadily at Simone. ‘I’d rather not talk about it.’
The two women looked into each other’s eyes for long enough to make Kevin feel a little uncomfortable. He coughed then changed the subject. ‘We’re going to do some exploring then?’
‘Yes.’ Simone stood up. ‘Box, move outside this place.’
‘That’s all it takes?’ asked Connie. ‘What now? Do we go outside?’
Simone just smiled. ‘Box, show the outside.’
The screen flicked into life. Kevin looked in fascination at his first glimpse of a truly alien world. He didn’t really count Earth as alien despite having lived all his life on Mars.
The screen was filled with a vision of cascading water crashing into a large lake. The rocks surrounding the lake were slick with water and what might be small plants were growing in the cracks. A pale yellow sun sent light sparkling through water droplets, creating a rainbow that arced across the base of the falling water.
All three of them just stared at the high definition image until Kevin said, ‘Wow.’
‘Now can we go outside?’ asked Connie.
‘Just a couple more things,’ said Simone. ‘Box, give us a three sixty view of the outside.’
Kevin heard Connie gasp as the wall to either side of the screen quickly formed into more screen, extending it until the screen completely circled the room, showing the view all around the Box.
He echoed Connie’s gasp as he saw what was dominating the view on one side. A wide expanse of water; more water than Kevin had ever seen in his life. A nearby waterfall tumbled into the lake and a carpet of lush green grass extended out to the rocky shoreline. Opposite this stunning view, some distance from them was a long, white wall which stretched kilometres in either direction.
‘We must have been inside that,’ said Connie pointing at the featureless white wall.
Simone nodded. ‘Box, show exterior atmospheric composition.’
A small part of the giant wraparound screen switched to showing the percentage makeup of gases in the exterior atmosphere. It was breathable.
‘Now, we can go outside.’
CHAPTER 20
Daniel stared at his cuff. A small icon was flashing in one corner of the display. He didn’t recognise it. Which meant it was proba
bly a notification from the AI that Lula had set up. He watched it blink, his mind caught in a loop of dread at what news it was bringing. Finally, he tapped the icon, bringing up the alert.
He felt sick as he saw the message. ‘Match found: Doris. Accident.’
The more familiar message notification icon popped into existence. He brought up the message from Lula. She was on her way.
He stood up, abandoning his canvas. He had sat down this morning fully intending to progress this painting, but had so far only outlined a couple of rocks. He passed the fifteen minutes it took for Lula to reach his hab pacing back and forth with nervous energy.
He said nothing as she stepped from the airlock carrying her laptop under her arm.
Daniel found it hard to read her expression. ‘Hello Daniel. We should sit down.’
‘Of course, of course.’ Daniel waved her towards the battered grey sofa. Was it really only a week ago that Simone had been sitting there talking about grandchildren with him?
Lula sat down, still clutching her laptop. ‘You have anything to drink?’
‘Uh, coffee,’ said Daniel.
‘Something stronger would be more appropriate.’
‘Sorry, I don’t have a fridge full of alcohol.’
Lula smiled. ‘Sorry, too used to living with Dimitri. Coffee it is.’
‘Doris, two coffees please.’ Daniel sat at the other end of the sofa. ‘Lula, what is it? What have you found?’
‘The accident.’ Lula clutched her laptop tightly with both hands. ‘It wasn’t an accident.’
Daniel said nothing. He’d suspected, but having Lula confirm it made it real.
‘The original record shows Doris’s tank-belt showed signs of tampering.’
Daniel found his voice. ‘My God.’
‘I’m sorry.’ Lula tentatively reached her hand out, then dropped it.
‘It’s not your fault.’ Daniel could feel the sharp flint of his rage cutting through his partially healed scars of grief. ‘But it’s someone’s.’ The tremble of rage in his voice surprised him.
‘Yes. What do you want to do?’
‘Is it wrong to want revenge?’ asked Daniel.
‘No.’
‘Do you know who…’ Daniel trailed off, somehow unable to finish his question.
‘I’ve got an AI on it,’ said Lula. ‘Unless the evidence has been completely destroyed, it’s only a matter of time.’
Both of their cuffs played a notification alert.
‘Jacob,’ said Lula.
Daniel realised he hadn’t given his son-in-law a thought and immediately felt guilty. ‘What is it?’
‘He’s being transferred.’
‘Transferred? Where to?’
‘The can.’
‘Oh no,’ said Daniel.
The can was the colony’s prison, and a last resort when dealing with criminal behaviour. If Jacob was being moved there, his chances of being released were not good. It was the place that those deemed unsafe to work off their debt to society were sent. It was the place to put people and forget them.
‘Dimitri comes off shift soon. We can come up with a plan of action,’ said Lula.
‘Right,’ said Daniel. ‘What’s going on, Lula? Everything seems to be turning upside-down recently.’
Lula shrugged. ‘The council isn’t what it used to be.’
Daniel shook his head. ‘It’s so unreal. I remember Doris complaining about some of the other council members, but this... the accident not an accident, Jacob being sent to the can.’
‘Dimitri would tell you they’re all fascists,’ said Lula.
Daniel managed a small smile. ‘Yes, he would, wouldn’t he?’
‘Speaking of which, I said I’d meet him at dome six when his shift is over.’ Lula stood up. ‘Are you with us?’
Daniel took one last look at his half-finished painting. There was more important unfinished business than a Martian landscape. ‘I am, yes.’
CHAPTER 21
Kevin stood beside the waterfall with his mouth open. He was genuinely speechless. The roar of water crashing down battered his ears and he could feel fine wet droplets settling on his skin. The soft colours of a rainbow hung in the air giving the whole scene an unreal quality.
‘Kev, it’s wonderful,’ said Simone.
He glanced at his sister. Her eyes were alive with excitement and she seemed on the verge of bursting into laughter.
He nodded in response and closed his mouth, settling it into a wide grin. There was just so much water.
‘Connie, come on out and see,’ called Simone.
Connie emerged from inside the box and joined them, flinching away from the spray from the waterfall.
‘It’s a waterfall, not the second coming,’ said Connie.
Simone shook her head in wonder. ‘I’ve never seen anything so beautiful.’
Kevin scrambled down the rocks to the lake’s shore. The holding tanks at the head of the mine were big, but held nothing compared to this expanse of water.
He scooped a cold handful of water and looked at it sparkling in the palm of his hand. ‘Do you think it’s safe to drink?’
‘We’d better take some to test.’ Simone took a bottle from the green bag she was carrying over her shoulder and passed it to Kevin. Earlier, Simone had made them wait while she instructed the Box to make her the bag of sample containers to take with them.
Kevin held the bottle under the water and watched the bubble rise and pop on the surface before climbing back over the rocks and handing it to his sister. He then looked past Simone, Connie and the looming presence of the Box behind them at the immense white structure that they had been inside earlier.
‘Do you think there’s an entrance somewhere?’ he asked.
‘We should check the perimeter,’ said Connie.
Simone put the sample bottle back in the bag. ‘Or better yet, I’ll get the Box to rustle up a drone.’
‘Still amazing,’ said Connie.
Ten minutes later, Kevin was controlling an Exo-120 model drone that was in common use on Mars. The thicker atmosphere on this world allowed the drone to generate more than enough lift to operate under the slightly higher gravity. He hadn’t flown one since his days in the prospecting team of the Mars colony but he soon slipped easily into using the familiar controls.
Kevin was sitting in a chair and peering intently at the screen which had returned to its usual size. He was controlling the drone while Simone and Connie occupied the sofa, watching him.
‘He’s very intent,’ observed Connie.
‘Don’t let his incompetent demeanour fool you. He can be surprisingly focused,’ said Simone.
‘Har bloody har,’ said Kevin. He could almost feel Simone smirking behind him.
‘Wait, what’s that?’ said Connie.
Kevin brought the drone up sharply into a hover, maintaining its position. ‘What’s what?’
Connie walked over, put one hand on his shoulder and pointed towards the bit of enormous white building occupying the lower left of the screen. ‘That.’
‘A dark patch? Let’s take a closer look,’ said Kevin.
He slewed the drone around so the forward mounted camera was pointing directly at the area in question and activated the zoom function. It resolved into a light grey circular patch in the side of the building, at ground level.
‘Is that an entrance?’ asked Connie. She took her hand from his shoulder.
‘Perhaps.’ Simone walked up to the screen, pointed at the possible entrance, and said ‘Box, go here.’
Kevin blinked as he saw the unmistakable grey cube of the Box appear on-screen where Simone was pointing.
‘How the hell does that even work?’ asked Connie.
‘Magic,’ said Kevin. He brought the drone in for a controlled landing next to the Box before tossing the controller onto the sofa. ‘Shall we?’
‘I think we should give Connie her weapon back,’ said Simone.
Kevin looked at hi
s sister. She didn’t look like she was joking. ‘What?’
Connie looked surprised. ‘What?’
‘We don’t know what we’re dealing with here. It makes sense we should be armed,’ said Simone.
Kevin had to agree with this assessment. ‘But, Connie?’
‘Do you want me to go outside and let you talk this over?’ asked Connie.
Simone put a hand on the woman’s arm. ‘No, it’s fine, stay.’
‘Why don’t I carry the gun?’ asked Kevin.
Simone gently smiled at him. ‘Have you ever fired one?’
‘Well, no.’
‘Neither have I. Connie has.’
Kevin supposed it was logical. Connie had nowhere to go on this world. He looked at her. She was sitting quietly, her hands folded on her lap and an unreadable look on her face. He supposed that she didn’t look like she would go on a murderous rampage as soon as she was armed, and he actually thought that he could trust Simone’s judgement over his own where Connie was concerned.
‘I suppose that makes sense,’ he admitted.
‘That’s decided then,’ said Simone. ‘Connie, get your rifle.’
Connie got to her feet and looked at them both. A light frown wrinkled her brow. ‘You’re sure?’
‘We’re sure,’ said Simone.
Kevin nodded. He trusted his sister to make the right call.
After Connie had armed herself, they all stepped out of the Box and back into the sunlight. Immediately in front of them was the sheer white wall of the building only marred by the light grey circle they had spotted with the drone.
‘It might open if someone touches it,’ said Kevin.
‘What makes you say that?’ asked Connie.
‘The Box opened when Simone touched it,’ said Kevin.
Simone stepped forward and pressed her palm in the middle of the circle.
Nothing happened.
‘Is something supposed to be happening?’ asked Connie.
‘Should have guessed it wouldn’t be that easy,’ said Kevin.
‘Hold this.’ Connie handed Kevin her gun.
He held it awkwardly by the barrel and watched her join his sister at the wall.
Connie put her hands on her hips and regarded the large circular grey patch. ‘It’s got to be a way in right?’
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