Seconders, p.23
Seconders, page 23
Cathal was staring at the floor again, shaking his head slowly. “There isn’t anything they can fire missiles from, far enough out to push them off course.”
“What about the Armstrong?”
“It left Earth with supplies, not missiles.”
“What about shooting from the Moon or from orbit?”
“Too close, not enough time for them to change course.”
“But…”
“We are plan B, Verena.”
She stared at Cathal, her mind searching for solutions while blocking reality. Her eyes slowly filled with precious water and Cathal leaned in with Leo to hug her.
Sol 430, Tithonium Eden Two – J Wojcik
Jan held Charlie’s hand. She admitted she was still having nightmares about the top of Pavonis, and she woke to the nightmare of knowing that everyone she cared about on Earth would die and there was nothing anyone could do to stop it.
“I owe you my life,” said Jan, quietly.
“I killed him,” she replied.
“Before he could kill me.”
“He was trying to protect Earth.”
“God only knows what he was doing but I bet he wasn’t thinking about Earth while he was beating seven kinds of shit out of me.”
It had been the strangest week of his life, knowing that his home world was doomed, that everyone he knew there would die, but not being able to say anything to them. He had been keen to work, to try to find some purpose for being here on Mars, alive. He had helped with the evacuation of Tharsis Eden One, ferrying some to Tithonium in the glider while others took resources to Pavonis East. Antonio’s team were busy taking up crops from the main Tithonium dome and putting them into hydroponic tanks, ready for replanting when the new Pavonis dome was finished.
Voight had quietly taken charge of Pavonis East, busy organising the temporary habs and equipment to make the construction team as comfortable as possible, as well as keep them focused on living.
Bulman was broken. He would have sat indefinitely in the hab by the missile rack, staring at the horizon, if Voight hadn’t put him in a rover and taken him to Tharsis. There he seemed to remember some of his responsibilities and assisted the evacuation Eden One, though those who saw him barely recognised him. Sunil said Bulman reminded him of a captain about to go down with his sinking ship: the same grim resolve and sense of duty over self-interest.
Sunil came to Tithonium to help with local data collection and forecasts. He gave Jan and Charlie a thin smile and a nod, no doubt remembering the events on the top of Pavonis only a week ago.
“Hey, Verena is here,” Jan nodded at their de facto colony leader, striding up to the assembled colonists at the centre of the Tithonium dome. She carried Leo in a baby sling nestled into her chest, one arm still in a sling. She looked like a mother, about to address her family.
Jan looked around him and saw both Firsters and Seconders standing in mixed groups, not apart. Any such division would have been meaningless.
“Thanks to everyone here we have survived,” Verena started simply. “Up until now we have had no idea how important that is.” She paused, looking at the solemn faces, no doubt reflecting on the real reason why Mission Control had moved heaven and earth to get them to this distant planet.
“I know you understand why we cannot tell our loved ones on Earth what will happen. There is no need for them to know. Let them live out the last of their days without fear and desperation. Without panic and chaos. Make vids: keep talking to them, tell them you love them…” she started to choke on her words and Cathal stepped in beside her to hold her hand. “… and when the time comes… say goodbye.”
She paused, seeming to find a new strength from her family. “We are not Firsters or Seconders. We are Martians.”
Sol 431, Tithonium Eden Two – J Wojcik
Jan had found a corner of the nursery dome to be alone. From here he had a view along the Tithonium Chasma where he could consider the raw beauty of Mars. He was also considering Verena’s words from the day before. She spoken in her usual Germanic matter of fact tone, yet with an underlying warmth. She had not told anyone what they didn’t already know, yet she had reminded them of what they needed to focus on: that they had a purpose to live. Yet Jan continued to struggle with this purpose. How could God allow this to happen to Earth? How could this be part of His plan? What good could come of it?
Jan felt a hand on his shoulder, he looked up.
“You look lost,” said Charlie.
“I feel lost,” Jan admitted. “I can’t see how any of this can be right.”
“You’re wondering why your god has let us all down?”
“You know I’m a Catholic?”
“Johanna told me. It’s cool. We’re going to have plenty of time for you to tell me what you believe.”
“How can I believe anymore, if He allows such… hell?”
“Did he make the asteroids collide?”
“No.”
“Did he point the meteorites at Earth?”
“No. No, they’re all random senseless acts of destruction.”
“What if your god helped people to help us get to Mars, just in time, to make sure that someone survived?”
“But what is the point of surviving? Why are we alive when everyone else will die?”
“Did you hear the one about the stranded starfish?” asked Charlie.
“What are you talking about? Is this a joke?”
“A man walked along a beach full of starfish, all washed up on the shore after a storm. There were thousands of them all over, just flapping or lying there, stranded, dying. He stooped down to pick up a starfish and threw it back into the sea. He kept on picking up random starfish and throwing them back until another man stopped him and asked him why he was bothering. ‘You’ll never save them all, they’re too many. Why even try?’, he asked. The first man answered…”
“… ‘because it matters to the starfish who survives’. Yes, I’ve heard that story. But I still can’t see the point.”
Charlie put her arm around his shoulder. “I can.” And she gave him a gentle squeeze. “For someone who passed all those selection tests to get to Mars, you can be damned slow,” she added with wry smile. Then she leaned in to kiss him.
30th June, Message from Cologne, Earth, L. Meier
“My! He’s a beautiful little boy! Red hair, just like his Mutti! And the first Martian! You know he’s famous here on Earth? We are so proud. ‘Our grandson!’ we keep saying, to anyone who’ll listen. ‘Our family on Mars!’
“You know we have a queue of reporters wanting to interview us? They ask us ‘is he good at sleeping, does he cry, is he putting on weight?’ So, you must keep telling us all these things.
“Lena and I love you and Leo and Cathal very much. Please send another vid as soon as you can.”
Verena sat on the edge of her bed, Leo in her arms, and re-watched the vid for the third time. She wiped the tears from her eyes. “Was sage ich ihnen: Leo? What do I say?”
11th July, Message from Cologne, Earth, L. & L. Meier
“Hi Verena, Hi Cathal, Hi my darling grandson, Leo! Yes, I know, it’s the first time I have joined Lex for a vid message. I’m so sorry it has taken me this long. You know it has been so hard for me, but I have realised that I must stop being so selfish and come to say hello…”
Verena spent the rest of the evening crying. Cathal held her and Leo until she cried herself to sleep.
In the morning Verena recorded the hardest message she would ever send.
13th July, The Ark, Moon orbit – Dr A. Law
Dr Law was alone. He stood at the view screens of a vessel called The Ark, moving gently out of orbit from the Moon. He watched four bright spheres of light, each trailing a dazzling streamer, riding across the void, towards his home. Earth turned, as it had done for eons: small patches of blue sea and vast wreaths of cloud. Despite all his kind had done to wreck the planet, it was still a gem: a precious clouded stone, upon which people clung for their lives.
The first streaming sphere inched slowly towards this gem, as a bashful boy might approach a girl. It flared as it touched the egg-shell atmosphere, throwing up a sparkling display of bright orange fireworks. With the grace of a ballerina playing the dying swan, it crumpled against the side of the planet. Mesmerising white rings rippled slowly across the surface of the seas. Tsunamis rose to the height of Everest as they crossed the land, engulfing each island in turn. Eventually the ripples met again on the far side of the world, where gouts of rock and water erupted into space. The water froze instantly as it was thrown into the frigid void and sparkled like a tiara of tiny diamonds in the sunlight.
The second sphere, larger than the first, rolled lazily across the face of the world. As it passed, a swathe of sea and sky were torn away, reaching out a wispy arm towards the sphere, as a dancer might reach for her partner. Momentarily the bare rock face of the planet was exposed, naked to the night sky. But, embarrassed by this indignity, Mother Earth pulled her seas back across the empty space, as if she were rearranging her skirts.
Then the third sphere approached. Earth had turned a little since the impact of the first body. Dr Law could see the muted outlines of Europe, of Britain and Ireland, now disappearing under the shadow cast by this latest intruder. From his vantage point he could just make out a wave of lights twinkling in the false dusk, as millions sought a last look at their end and of each other. The lights were swallowed up and the sphere collapsed like a cooling soufflé, smothering the national outlines beyond any geographer’s recognition. More ripples passed outwards to embrace the world.
If his eyes had not been so full of tears, he would have appreciated the beauty of such planetary motions. He was enveloped in the silky silence of space, yet his ears were ringing with imagined storms and cries. Humanity’s end? Why had they been condemned?
Here came the fourth sphere. Not a sphere but an immense ragged mass: a gaping hole where the first three bodies had come from. It skimmed the Moon, spinning his Ark as if it were a child’s toy, before continuing, on its way towards Earth. The world had turned a little further: the Americas were just visible after the tsunamis had subsided. The fourth and by far the largest horseman of the apocalypse rode on through what was left of the atmosphere, hardly enough to set fire to its approach. What little was left was thrown out into space in a graceful arc of glittering ice, followed by a gorgeous spiral of debris. Earth spilled her pearls before the sun who bathed them in the warmth of her ancient light.
Dr Law closed his eyes for a very long time. When, finally, he opened them again the Earth was still there, just like she was when she gave birth to the Moon, so many millions of years ago. This time she had delivered a belt of ice and rocks into orbit around her waist, which reflected every colour of the rainbow. Saturn’s rings seemed dismal and two dimensional when compared to Earth’s new coat of many colours. But in her eagerness to show off her new clothes she seemed to have forgotten her children. Her child.
*
Epilogue
Sol 2055, Tithonium Eden Two – J Wojcik
It seemed so long since the Armstrong had returned, and yet only yesterday. When Jan and all the colonists discovered Captain Hannah Huynh and the third team were on board, they were elated. Their arrival and the re-construction of the space elevator did much to help the stranded colonists cope with their losses. Like all Martians, Jan knew that Earth was now barren, but one day he hoped that their children may choose to return and claim it, just as they had claimed Mars. Maybe next time they might treasure it. Maybe that was what Jan’s god was trying to teach them: the value of a gifted world.
Not everyone welcomed the third team. Hal Bulman shunned company and Jan understood his feelings of isolation and failure. Bulman relinquished the title of Captain, said it didn’t mean anything now there was no army or Mission Control, so he volunteered to explore the Martian south pole. Ben Voight went with him, and Jan suspected that neither man could face the other colonists after what had happened and certainly didn’t want to be involved in any discussions about leadership with Hannah Huynh.
They lost contact with Hal and Ben about two hundred sols into the expedition. Drones were sent to their last known location and searched an ever-widening circle around it, but no sign was found. A few sols ago, Verena organised a memorial plaque on top of Pavonis Mons in memory of Hal, Ben and John, who had come to Mars to try and save Earth only to lose their fight and their lives.
Jan sighed, he still found faith hard in the face of such tragedy and yet…
He watched his children playing. Maria was one and a half Martian years old (three Earth years). Katarzyna was one (two). They ran around the sunlit dome, chasing after Leo and the other kids, screeching with delight. Their laughter was a strong tonic for heavy spirits; Jan smiled and felt himself blessed after all.
Charlie, his wife, was helping Trish and Sam to work out a teaching syllabus starting with simple science games and working upwards. Trish and Sam thought it would be the best use of their knowledge and time after their own children, Phoebe and Dean arrived. Sam confided that Trish had wisely talked him out of calling them Phobos and Deimos. Mars may still try to kill people every day, but the Martians were no longer afraid of her. This was their home.
A home which supported many forms of life, not just those they had brought from Earth. Einarite was revealing further secrets under the patient analysis of Debbie Starczewski and a small team of biochemists who had travelled with Hannah Huynh. They hoped that someday they might adapt crops to thrive outside the domes. Someday they might farm Mars under open skies and, little by little, bring it back to life.
Jan looked down at the intricately patterned stone he held in his hands. He had prised it from the rock face in the cavern under Tithonium when it caught his eye that morning and he tilted it so that the sun caught the surface and threw the shapes into sharp relief. Tiny segments overlapped in a spiral, each reflecting hues of purple and magenta. A fan of delicate lines traced away from the outer edges and a trio of tiny bumps nestled in the centre of the segments. He was trying to remember what it reminded him of: a curled-up centipede? A trilobite? Just now he was the only one who knew of its existence, and he wanted to keep it that way a little longer. Once his discovery was shared, he knew it would up-end everyone’s view of their new home. Mars had lived, Mars had slept and now, millennia later, Mars was waking. A second life.
Sol 2055, Arsia Eden Three – V Meier
Johanna and Markus stood either side of Verena, inside the newest dome at Arsia Mons. Johanna and Markus brought their baby, Ursula, with them. She stared with wide blue eyes at the dome ceiling, as if she were taking it all in and assessing it carefully like her parents. Being such driven and gifted parents, they had worked out how to extract the minerals needed and process them to make more air cushions and more cables. And so, Verena had been drawing plans again: where would they place the next dome to meet the growth of the Martian people? How would they travel more quickly between them? Which part of the world should they explore next, and what else might they discover?
Verena took the old-fashioned, green-bound notebook from her pocket and fondly remembered when her parents had given it to her in Cologne. She drew the pencil from its spine and opened it on a virgin white page. She had an idea that she wanted to sketch out and show to Markus. Then she heard a little cry and looked down at her second baby, Lena. Verena caressed her cheek with the back of her finger and wondered who she might become and what she might discover.
THE END
*
About Chris Gregory
I live in Hertfordshire where I’m lucky to see trees and a glimpse of water from my window. Sometimes I look away from the view and get some architectural work done. Sometimes I receive orders to provide food and attention to my demanding cat, (the creative director). Sometimes I have the luxury of sitting with my laptop to write a story. All these moments are golden.
I have been writing stories for over ten years and if you enjoyed this one, I’m delighted. Please remember to leave a review of my book at your favourite retailer.
If you wish to find out about the other stories I’ve written, then please peruse the list of other books below and my website:
http://www.chrisgregory.uk
Other Books by Chris Gregory
by Chris D Gregory
Seconders
by Chris Gregory
Everyday Ghosts
Everyday Spirits
Everyday Legends
Chris Gregory, Seconders
