Imprint of Blood

by Phil Huddleston

  Later, as they lay sweaty in the bed, cool air from the fan blowing across them, Teresa mused out loud.

  “Jake. What would you do if they finally killed me?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You know. The Earth governments, the corporations, the Saints, all the other religious nuts who want to kill us. What if one of them succeeded and got me, but you were left. What would you do?”

  Jake shook his head. “Don’t think about it, Terese. Just let it go.”

  “No, really,” she persisted. “I want to know what you would do.”

  Jake growled. “I don’t want to think about it. Go to sleep.”

  Teresa sat up in bed. “No, Jake, dammit, what would you do?”

  “For God’s sake, Terese,” Jake growled again. “How should I know?” He rolled over in bed, facing away from her. But now she had planted a seed, and he couldn’t let it go. He lay there, eyes open, the horrible thought running through his head for a minute. He tried to push it away, but it wouldn’t go. Finally, he rolled back over to her.

  “I’d cut off their arms and legs. I’d leave them to flop around on the floor while I spit in their face. Then I’d let them just lay there and die,” he whispered, so quietly that she almost couldn’t hear it.

  “Good,” she whispered back, staring at the ceiling. “Good. I like that."

  Next morning, Jake had a staff meeting. His flag staff – including Teresa, who was considered part of his flag staff in her role as Director of Operations – settled into his conference room and Jake called the meeting to order. Jake noticed that Kirsten’s second-in-command, Commander Patel, was also present, covering for her in her absence.

  “Everyone, if you haven’t heard already – and the way scuttlebutt flies around this place, I don’t see how you could have missed it – our Director of Colonization, Captain Monk, got married last night to Captain Lois Vetton of the Beijing. They are now on Earth, starting their honeymoon.”

  “When their honeymoon is over, Lois will take the Beijing to a point roughly midway between Earth and Aeolis – about 290 lights out – and search for a habitable planet where we can set up a forward base closer to the Aeolian Empire. Assuming she finds one in a reasonable time, I want a complete crew assembled and ready to go out there, put together the base, and begin operations as quickly as possible. I would like no more than four weeks to pass between the time Lois sends us her results and the time we send the team out there. Commander Patel, please put that plan together and call upon any of my staff you need to get it done.”

  “Will do, sir,” said Patel.

  “Next item…” Jake looked at the agenda on his tablet. “Based on the intel brought back by the Beijing, the Bats are pretty quiet right now. We may have ten, twelve, even fourteen years before they set out to hit another target. No way to predict where they might go next. It could be away from us, toward the Core, or toward us.”

  Jake leaned back and looked at Atsuko. “Let’s get a permanent scoutship presence in the Nest system going forward. I want to know every time the Bats so much as hiccup. If you need to shuffle around the build schedule to get enough scoutships in place, work with Teresa to make it happen.”

  Atsuko nodded.

  Jake scanned his tablet again.

  “Next item. The new railgun testing looks damn good. Mei Li, can you get those improvements fitted to the Beijing before Lois departs?”

  “No can do, Boss,” said Captain Mei Li Wang, “But we’ll have everything ready when she comes back in. We’ll get her upgraded then.”

  “Fine,” said Jake. “OK, we’ll focus on the Chengdu first. Then the corvettes. Teresa will set your priorities for them.”

  Teresa spoke across the table. “I’ll send you a list.”

  Captain Wang nodded.

  “Next item,” said Jake. “This new political party called the Saints. Officially, the Covenant of God, I believe. Ultra-right party, wishes to impose a theocracy on the world. It seems they have decided we are their worst enemies, since we refuse to give Earth control of the RDF and live in sin. Atsuko, are we keeping an eye on them?”

  “We are, sir,” said Atsuko. “So far, just a lot of talk and bluster, name-calling, typical far right BS. We’ll continue to monitor; let you know if there’s any threat.”

  “Good,” said Jake. “Finally, last item. Colonization. The colony on Liberty is doing well. We’re still sending supply ships bi-monthly, but the colony PM has given us the word that their first crops came in, and the animals are breeding successfully. Climate meets expectations and no surprises so far. He’s speculated that we can reduce supply runs to monthly by mid-year, and probably to quarterly by early next year. I want to give kudos and a hearty thank-you to everybody who works in the Colonization Office or supports it, directly or indirectly. A fine job, well done. Commander Patel – I’d like for you to set up a big party in Geneva, to thank everyone and give out some awards. Anytime in the next six months, I know we’re all busy, but it’s important to show people how much they’re appreciated.”

  “Will do, Admiral,” said Patel.

  ***

  Five months later Captain Kirsten Monk walked off the shuttle from MarsDock, met by Jake and Teresa. They embraced in a group hug, then Kirsten pulled back to kiss them each individually.

  “Great job in Sierra Nevada, Kirs,” said Teresa. “Nothing but glowing reports about the new colony setup.”

  “Thanks,” said Kirsten. “But there may be a fly in the ointment.”

  “What?” asked Jake.

  “I’ll tell you later. For now, I just want to get home and lie down for a bit. The trip down from MarsDock was pretty rough today, for some reason.”

  “You got it,” said Teresa. “We’ve got an electric cart for you right over here. C’mon.”

  Kirsten gave Jake a quick peck on the cheek, said “See you at dinner,” and went off with Teresa, while Jake walked back to his office. He walked into his conference room just as the RDF Legal Team and their boss, Captain Ming Xiao, assembled for a discussion.

  When Kirsten established the RDF Colony Office in Geneva in late 2121, the subject of government for the colonies of Earth was a hot topic of discussion. Earth had just been through an agonizing round of bloodletting. First came the jihads and religious terrorism of the 20th and 21st centuries, which dragged on until the end of 2092 before the blood and treasure expended finally brought the exhausted combatants to a point of uneasy acceptance of each other. This was coupled with the two ultra-right U.S. rebellions of the 21st century, the first in the late 2020’s - put down quickly by a loyal American military - and a resurgence in the 2080’s which ultimately cost hundreds of thousands of American lives before the flames of the neo-Nazi right were finally tamped out. This, coupled with the Brush War of 2115 involving most of Asia, had left the world exhausted and sick of war.

  Kirsten – and Jake and Teresa – wanted to avoid that kind of religious fanaticism and nationalistic turmoil in the future governments of the colonies. Hence, after much argument and head-scratching between the three of them – and members of their staffs – they came to adopt a doctrine known as the Basic Rules – a pattern of government for the colonies of Earth to implement, with an eye to minimizing the misery caused by past excesses in political emotion.

  The Basic Rules were simple in concept. They were based on the Westminster form of government from the United Kingdom, coupled with the Bill of Rights of the United States. Despite flaws in both systems, the RDF believed such a government model would have the best chance of long-term stability.

  Enforcing the Basic Rules, however, was a concern. As Jake argued during these discussions, the establishment of an initial form of government was only good until the RDF colony ship departed back to Earth. After that, anything could happen.

  Thus, they instituted a second rule for colonization – the principle of ostracization. A colony that abandoned the Basic Rules – that abandoned the Westminster form of governme
nt or removed any part of the Bill of Rights – would automatically be ostracized from the rest of the Rim. This meant the RDF would not defend the colony from attack; no trade could occur with the rest of the Rim; and all interstellar communications would be disabled. In effect, the colony would revert to the early 20th century, with no access to space.

  The meeting today was indirectly related to that. It was time for the first test of ostracization – not for a colony planet, but for a prison planet. Ming opened the meeting.

  “Jake, Earth – and to some extent, the colonies - are screaming for us to provide some relief for their violent prison populations. Earth claims the process of colonization takes their best citizens and sends them away, leaving the dregs behind for them to manage. Of course, that’s a ridiculous argument – we’ve only moved about 650,000 people off Earth since colonization started, not even a small dent in the population - but you know how they can be. The real trouble is the crazy growth of the population, the impact of climate change damage to the crops and infrastructure, and the freshwater shortage. It’s overwhelming the governments and the police. But, unless we perform some symbolic action, we’re going to continue to get smeared in the dirtside media. We think we should act in a positive way to divert some of the flak away from us. We have a proposal for you.”

  Ming flicked a document from his tablet to Jake’s, and Jake – having already seen the document of course, as Ming had provided it to him days before – considered it for few seconds, laid his tablet back on the table and looked around the room.

  The proposal was to establish a prison planet – a colony devoted purely to repeat violent offenders – which would be ostracized. No space travel. No interstellar communications. No contact with the outside universe. Once you were dropped on the planet, there was no way out. The planet would be called Cold Bay, a name Jake thought fitting. Life there would be cold and unyielding.

  Jake addressed the team. “You have a planet selected?”

  “We do,” said Ming. “About 200 lights toward Aeolis, in the middle of nowhere. Our forward base at Eudora would be the closest colony, and it would be 80 lights from Cold Bay. So even if they managed to put together a primitive rocket that could reach 5% of light speed, it would take them about 1,600 years to get to Eudora. I think that should be sufficient deterrent.”

  Jake nodded. “And the planet is not suitable for a normal colony?”

  “Not really,” said Ming. “Cold, foggy, rains all the time. Too dark and wet for most crops, although there are some that will grow. It’ll produce enough to keep them alive, but not much more.”

  Jake gave his assent. “OK, pull the trigger on it. We’ll provide ferry service to the governments to take their prisoners to Cold Bay. Use newly built colony transports on their 2nd or 3rd shakedown cruises. However, I want safeguards in place to ensure that these are true repeat violent offenders. Every prisoner double-vetted before transport, two independent teams. I don’t want these governments pawning off their political prisoners on us. Every prisoner sterilized before transport, of course. The last thing I want is a child born in a place like that. Oh, and charge the governments for the cost of transport. If they want us to take their problems to Cold Bay, it’ll cost them.”

  “Can do, Admiral,” said Ming. “We’ll get it done.” The team rose and left the conference room.

  After dinner that evening, Jake and Teresa listened as Kirsten explained her misgivings about the latest colony established on Sierra Nevada.

  “On the trip out, I started hearing rumors about a group – a clique, whatever – that was questioning the Basic Rules. Evidently, they laid low during selection and waited until the Shandong was enroute, then came out into the open. They started talking up a plan to strip out the separation of church and state from the Basic Rules and form a theocracy – a white nationalist theocracy. The Provisional PM shut them down right away, but I have a bad feeling about this. You know how the poison spreads, once a group of thugs start trying to take over.”

  “I do,” said Jake. “What did the PM do after landing?”

  “There wasn’t too much she could do. She did try to separate them as much as possible, made sure they were spread out through the colony rather than being all right together, but other than that, she has to respect freedom of speech. But she assured me she would keep a close eye on them.”

  Jake nodded. “Their first election is six months after landing, right?”

  “Correct,” said Kirsten. “They’ll elect a provisional Parliament, with only a lower house for now. The Parliament will then select a PM and cabinet for the key offices. They won’t need most of the normal ministers at this early stage, so probably only two, Home Office and Community Affairs.”

  “Well, keep a close eye on things out there, Kirs,” said Jake. “Any sign of trouble, provide all the support they need to keep things on an even keel. I would really hate to ostracize a new colony like that.”

  Kirsten lifted her wineglass, sipped, and replaced it on the table.

  “So what did I miss around here?” she asked.

  Teresa jumped in. “We have a new forward base halfway to the Aeolians now - it’s called Eudora!”

  Kirsten made a face. “Eudora? Who came up with that name?”

  Teresa pouted. “I did. Why? Don’t you like it?”

  Kirsten shook her head. “No, I don’t. Where did you find that name?”

  “In Greek mythology. Eudora was one of the 3,000 daughters of the Titan Oceanus. It also means ‘early’. I thought it appropriate for our very first forward base near Aeolian space!”

  Kirsten sighed. “OK, fine, it’ll grow on me, I’m sure.”

  “Well, fine,” said Teresa. “You can name the next forward base. Which will probably be somewhere near the Bat Empire, so you can name it ‘Batshit’ for all I care.”

  The three of them fell on the floor, laughing.

  Sol System - Earth

  The party in Geneva celebrating the success of the Colonization team kicked off three weeks later, on a Saturday night. Jake came in from MarsBase to be there, his first time back on Earth in more than six months. He made a speech, thanking Kirsten and her team. Then Kirsten made a speech, singling out individual team members for awards, which Jake pinned on them as they came up on stage. After that, there was a lot of dancing, drinking and general tomfoolery. Jake got tired about eleven and went to bed in their old apartment in the Geneva Headquarters Building. Kirsten stayed with the party a while longer, telling Jake she would see him soon.

  ***

  Blackness surrounded him, a dark curtain that he couldn’t move aside.

  Jake struggled, but he couldn’t get past it. Where am I? he thought.

  Did I eject? Where did the plane go? I have to complete the mission…did I knock down the bomber? I have to get back to the carrier...

  Slowly, Jake came back to consciousness. The ceiling was that typical white acoustic ceiling tile that pervaded the complex - but he knew it was Medical because of the smell. His chest and right leg hurt like hell. His head was fuzzy; he couldn’t think straight. He was cold, with nothing but a white sheet over him.

  “Cold,” he managed to mutter.

  Kirsten’s face came into view, leaning over him. “Well, hello there, big guy. Welcome back. How’s the head?”

  “Cold,” Jake said again. He couldn’t think.

  He felt Kirsten lay a blanket over him, then start massaging his arms. Tears slid down her cheeks as she tried to warm him up.

  “You’re in Medical, Jake,” she said. “You were hurt pretty badly. You’ve got a concussion, and you had surgery to remove shrapnel from your leg, chest and shoulder. You’re heavily sedated. But you’re going to be fine.” Jake saw another tear slide out of her eye and down her cheek.

  “Love you, Kirs,” Jake whispered. Then he was gone again.

  The second time he awoke, he was alone. The pain was muted, and he knew he had been dosed with painkillers again. But his head fe
lt better. He could think a little bit. He fumbled at the bedside and found the buzzer for the nurse. He pressed it, repeatedly, until a nurse came in, pulled the buzzer out of his hand, and glared at him.

  “Admiral, you only have to press it once, you know,” she said. “What do you need?”

  “What happened?” Jake asked.

  The nurse started tucking in the blanket around him, busying herself while she talked.

  “It was a bomb,” she said. “Placed just outside your quarters, timed to go off while you were sleeping. It almost worked. You were lucky, Admiral. Just rest easy now, I’m going to get Captain Monk for you.”

  The nurse left. Jake gazed around the room, bemused, while he waited. There was no TV, no flowers, no pictures on the wall. We need to do something about that, he thought. He wondered where Teresa was. Then he remembered she had gone to Eudora on another mission for Atsuko.

  “God, I love them both so much,” he thought. “What would I do if I had to choose between them? I could never do that. I could never choose one over the other. I wonder if that is normal? But then…nothing about my life is normal.”

  Slowly, Jake drifted off to sleep again. He awoke when Kirsten entered the room.

  “Hey, Kirs,” he greeted her.

  “Hey yourself, big guy,” she replied. “You’re pretty hard to kill.”

  “What happened?”

  Kirsten sat down beside the bed and took his hand in hers. “A big bomb. It went off about 30 minutes after you went to bed. Packed with shrapnel. Took out the entire wing. You were damn lucky, Jake.”

  “How long?” Jake asked.

  “Two days ago,” said Kirsten. “You had three surgeries. They took shrapnel out of your shoulder, chest and right thigh. You’ll have some good scars. Your concussion seems to be getting better. The sawbones says you’ll be fine.”

  “Was…was anyone else…”

  Kirsten nodded. “Four people killed, ten wounded. Mei Li Wang, Captain Danes, Commander Patel, Lieutenant Commander Bukhari were all killed.”