Blue Sky of Mars

by Christopher R Wills

  Jethro felt a kick to the stomach to follow the punch and as if that wasn’t enough a sledgehammer followed it up to make sure he was well and truly hurt. He stood up, desperately trying to stop himself from showing any emotion.

  “I’m sorry Jethro I really am. I hope we can remain friends. I have a huge amount of respect for you and everything you’ve achieved.”

  Jethro didn’t reply. He left and went to his cabin for some alone time.

  Conrad communicated to Earth the fact that the Methuselah still had three alien craft attached to it. The instruction came back that they were to land at the Edwards Space Base in the old USA. A large and secure military establishment where the craft could be examined.

  Jethro was both glad and worried to be going back to Earth. He rubbed the cream Doc gave him into his neck. His last visit to Earth was not full of happy memories.

  chapter 41

  Rumors had been circulating around the headquarters of the Earth Government all day but Secretary of State for Defense of the Earth, Robin Lytton was refusing to answer questions, emails, texts, videos and all other forms of communication from colleagues and the press. The previous day he told Earth President Boop that he finally had evidence that aliens had attacked Mars.

  “Are you serious?” asked President Boop.

  “Can I show you some evidence, Mrs President?”

  Lytton showed the videos to the President.

  “Lytton, are you sure these films are for real?”

  “Absolutely certain.”

  And so it was agreed that Lytton could have the floor at the full meeting of the Earth Government immediately before President’s Question Time the next day. Lytton cut himself off from the world to go through his presentation.

  Doctor Vesuvia Aguilar had not yet been home to see her husband and two children but but she had important work to do first. She agreed to be on hand for the Earth Government session as an expert witness for Lytton’s presentation.

  The Earth Government buildings sat on the site of the old United Nations headquarters. The UN building was deemed unsuitable for the Earth government to use because it was the scene of so much prevarication and failure in the past so it was demolished and the Americans had won the battle for the design and rebuild.

  The Earth Government building was a modernized version of the Capitol Hill building that kept the Greek style exterior that so many countries loved. The only major difference was that the central dome was directly over the debating chamber and was made of glass. This was to remind the ministers they were governing in a new age where there were no limits but also it was a bow to the glass dome over the Reichstag in Berlin which was built to show the German people that their government was visible and open and fair after the reunification of Germany when the Berlin Wall fell.

  However, for this afternoon’s session the glass dome was switched to opaque and the press and public galleries were closed. Members of the public were evacuated from the building before Lytton’s session. This was unheard of even during the war between Earth and Mars. Not that any of this would make any difference. The Earth Government was leakier than a sieve with its mesh filter removed. In fact, if a senator wanted to know anything that had taken place in secret in the Earth Government building, they only had to spend fifteen minutes touring the many cafes and bars that surround the Earth Government estate and all secrets would be revealed.

  “Are you ready for this?” Lytton asked Doctor V.

  “Kind of but I don’t know exactly what I’m ready for.”

  “Think of a kid’s fight in a playground where everyone is crowding around and shouting and you have no idea what’s going on and you might come close.”

  “It’s like that is it?”

  “I’m afraid so. Don’t worry. We will make no decisions today; this is just an information dump to get the message out - a pre-launch marketing. The War Cabinet will sit this week and make decisions and the Parliament will vote on them later. Today is just the start of the process. You’ll be OK.”

  The bell signalled the end of the previous session, a discussion over why in the twenty-fourth century when everyone on Earth could get Yottabytes of streamed data per second there were places on Earth that still did not have access to clean drinking water. Lytton noted that nobody left the chamber and there were many with him waiting outside to go in.

  He took his place, not his normal seat because on this occasion he was a presenter, so he sat on the stage area. He showed where Doctor V should sit. The chamber comprised a semi-circular auditorium where Senators from every country sat and a stage area where the leaders of the main alliances and the government ministers would sit. They reserved part of the stage area for the Speaker who controlled things and any presenters and their guests.

  The stage area was split in half with each half moving slowly to the side to reveal a central area with a podium in front of a huge screen where Lytton would show his evidence.

  “I need to stand at the podium to present my evidence,” Lytton said to Doctor V. “When I call you come and join me so we can take questions together.”

  “No problem,” replied Doc. “I thought you said this place was an unruly mess most of the time.”

  The Chamber had settled down quickly which was amazing given that every seat in the place was taken and for the first time in Lytton’s memory the speaker didn’t have to call the house to order. When Lytton walked to the podium, the Chamber was pin drop silent.

  He cleared his throat and took a sip of water. Unlike many members of the Earth Government, Lytton believed in starting on time and immediately. He would not recount his life story before he got to the point of his topic of discussion which may have accounted for the silence; that and the fact that despite the massive attempt at secrecy over what he would present, everyone in the Chamber knew exactly what he would talk about.

  Here goes.

  “Aliens have invaded Mars. You are about to see footage taken by Earth military present during some battles.” He sat down to silence which was amazing given what he had said.

  The film footage started. There was no editing other than selecting what was to be shown in the Chamber from the many hours of footage Jethro and his crew had brought back. Scenes of the attack on Uruk were shown, along with scenes from inside the Library of Congress building when it was being used as a field hospital. Scenes were also shown from the initial attack on the Blackbird, scenes from the attack and stripping of Maddy’s farm, scenes from the South Pole, from the Cavern at the Pole, from the attack when the Methuselah had taken off from Mars and scenes from inside the Methuselah when the six aliens entered and were killed.

  The film ended to absolute silence. Lytton stood and put both his hands on the podium.

  “Ladies, Gentlemen and others, these aliens will invade Earth. We must prepare Earth for the invasion.”

  A shout from the Senator for Ural. “This is a trick. It’s a cheap Hollywood production designed to increase defense spending.”

  Another shout. “What trickery is this? That’s just CGI.”

  Others started to join in the chant. “CGI, CGI, CGI…”

  The speaker stood up and tried to control the Chamber but nobody was listening.

  Half the Chamber were chanting “CGI, CGI, CGI…” The other half were waving papers trying to get a question or statement in but they couldn’t be heard because of the chanting.

  Lytton knew there was no point in continuing, so he sat down. He was unlikely to get a chance to answer questions at this time.

  Pandemonium broke out and the sitting had to be dissolved.

  Lytton took Doctor V back to his office. “I’m sorry about that, it was unedifying.”

  “It’s not your fault. What happens now?”

  “The message is out there. It will make the news and by the end of today most people on Earth will know about it. The weight of evidence should shout the naysayers down. That was a good move by Jethro to send out multiple copies in advance. Th
e War Cabinet meets tomorrow to discuss preparations. Once we agree broad terms, they’ll be put to the House for a vote which we should win and then the Defense Committee will meet to carry out any plans we make.”

  Doctor V left to visit her family.

  Later that day Lytton, who had not left his office or taken any calls, texts or answered any other form of messaging, switched the online news station on.

  “Earth Government was in turmoil today as Defense Secretary Robin Lytton made a laughing stock out of the government by claiming that aliens were just about to invade Earth. Opposition parties have called upon Lytton to resign immediately.”

  Lytton switched the news off.

  Later that day, the Secretary of State for Defense of the Earth, Robin Lytton was sacked from his post with immediate effect.

  chapter 42

  Alice: “And here is some happy news to end the news today. A one hundred and ten year old man has just broken the World marathon record in the Berlin Marathon race.”

  Ted: “What? You mean he has run faster than one hour thirty minutes for the marathon?”

  Alice: “No, Ted. I meant he has broken the record for his age. The gentleman, named Philippides Kouros ran the marathon in just four hours and fourteen minutes.”

  Ted: “How old did you say he was?”

  Alice: “One hundred and ten years old.”

  Ted: “That is remarkable Alice. How fast do you think you could run a marathon Alice?”

  Alice: “I know how fast I can run a marathon because I ran Boston last year.”

  Ted: “Of course you did. Sorry. How fast was that?”

  Alice: “I ran it in two hours and twenty-eight minutes Ted. How fast do you think you could do Ted?”

  Ted: “Goodness me, talking of time. So that was the World News for today. Remember people, unlike other news channels we deal in facts. We don’t make this up.”

  chapter 43

  “Are you OK Jethro?” Maddy asked as they got off the Monorail at Okehampton. “You’ve hardly spoken since we got back to Earth.”

  “Sorry. I was thinking.”

  They took a hover-taxi and told it to stop at the gate to the farm buildings. Jethro scanned his iris in to pay the credits - he should have enough, having been away for so long.

  “Shall I wait here?” Maddy asked.

  “No,” replied Jethro. “Come with me.”

  They went through the gate together and walked up the road towards the farmhouse. Jethro noticed from the length of grass on the verges that there were signs of neglect.

  Maybe I should have contacted Mum and Dad first? Too late now.

  They entered the farmyard thick with mud; it hadn’t been hosed down for a while. Jethro also noticed that most of the curtains in the house were closed. He was not getting a good feeling about his return home. He looked at Maddy and saw that she too had picked up the vibes.

  They would try the house first; Jethro was hoping the door lock would still recognize him. He scanned his eye and the door unlocked. He entered the dark house followed by Maddy. It felt cold and mail was piled up on the carpet beside the door. He picked a letter up and noted it was dated this week. There was something wrong.

  “Someone has been here to move the mail.” But that meant nothing.

  He led Maddy through the ground floor of the house, opening the curtains as they went. The place was full of dust. It wasn’t untidy or dirty but it was neglected as if nobody lived here anymore. They finished their tour of the ground floor in the kitchen. Like the rest of the house it was untidy and had not been cleaned regularly.

  “Ow.”

  “What?” Jethro asked.

  “The kettle. It’s hot.”

  Jethro went to the kettle and put his hand close to it. Yes it was hot.

  “Someone has been here recently,” Maddy said. “Perhaps I’d better go.”

  “No. Please stay Maddy. I might need you.”

  “OK.” But Maddy looked nervous.

  The sink and dining table were full of dirty dishes but they weren’t that old.

  “You’re right,” said Jethro. “Someone is using this kitchen.”

  He looked around because he still had the uneasy feeling that something was wrong and coming into the kitchen had exacerbated it but he still couldn’t work out what was gnawing at him.

  They both heard the sound coming from upstairs.

  “Maddy. You stay in here. I’ll go upstairs and investigate.”

  “OK. Shall I clear up?”

  “Yes please, if you like.” It was a good idea. Keep her occupied. The outside doors were locked and nobody was on the ground floor so if there were intruders, they would be upstairs and would have to get past Jethro first and he was feeling in a mean mood so he didn’t fancy their chances.

  He went up the stairs trying to remember which of the steps creaked but getting it wrong a couple of times so if there was somebody upstairs, they would know by now that Jethro was coming. At the top of the stairs there were three doors to the right and three doors along a corridor to the left.

  He tried the spare bathroom first. Nobody used it because both his parents and he had adjoining bathrooms to their bedrooms. It was empty and dusty, but when he was living at home, mum always kept it clean in case of guests. Mum was very house proud. And she was a great cook. That was it.

  No smell of cooking. There was always a smell of cooking: bread, stews, curries, bakes, cakes. Even on days when mum didn’t cook, they used to smell the day-before treats.

  Jethro felt the hole in his stomach open. The one Doc had created for him.

  Spare bedroom. Tidy but neglected. Dusty.

  Jethro’s bedroom. Jethro stood at the door and couldn’t believe it. It was immaculate. Everything was clean and shiny. There was not a speck of dust on any surface, not a crease on his bed and everything was squared off, even his model spaceships so that even the most OCD person would have difficulty in finding fault. And his duvet had one of the top corners turned over as if it was ready for him to jump into bed right now. The bed-linen was newly clean. This was not something that had been left since he was last here; this was something that had been taken off the bed recently, cleaned, ironed and put back, maybe even in the last couple of days.

  He heard the sound again. A kind of shuffling sound and it was coming from the big bedroom at the other end of the corridor. That was Jethro’s next target. He wanted to know who was in his parents’ bedroom and he was tense and ready for anything. He silently picked up his cricket bat, the one with Ian Botham’s signature on it, the one his dad had passed down to him, the one that had been in the family for almost four hundred years. It had a good weight and felt good in his hand, but he put it down again. No way was he going to ruin that by hitting someone with it. He picked up a baseball bat with some guy called Babe Ruth’s signature on it. An American relative had given his dad years ago. He didn’t mind smashing that into some intruder’s face.

  Luckily he could move down the passage without making a sound before he reached the door. The noise had come from the right of the door. There are various ways to go through a door but the military had taught Jethro only one.

  He held the baseball bat across his chest in a defensive position, stepped back slightly from the door, kicked it open jumped into the darkened room, rolled to the right into a crouched position and faced his would-be assailant with the baseball bat raised to strike him immediately.

  He saw a tall but bent over figure holding a shotgun in his direction. His baseball bat would not protect him against a shotgun, so he immediately dived again towards the end of the double bed and lay as flat as he could.

  Bang. He heard the gun go off behind him and felt a couple of sharp pricks in his rear.

  “Mum,” Jethro shouted. “It’s me. Jethro. Don’t shoot.” Jethro had noted the shotgun was double-barreled.

  After a moment of silence he heard a whimpering voice. “Jethro’s dead.”

  He had squirmed along th
e floor to the other side of the bed, putting it between him and his mum, armed with the shotgun.

  “I’m not dead mum.”

  Silence.

  “Jethro? Is that really you?”

  “Yes mum. It’s me.”

  “Stand up and let me see you.” She sounded clearer now.

  Jethro knew he was taking a chance. It was not luck that his mum had hit him; she was a bloody good shot. Jethro slowly got to his feet.

  “Let me open the curtains mum. Then you can see me better.”

  She didn’t argue so Jethro opened both sets of curtains allowing light to flood into the bedroom highlighting the floating dust particles. He turned to face his mum.

  Her eyes were raw red and her straggly straw hair had not been dyed or brushed for a long time. Her face looked emaciated like she needed a good meal.

  “You look like Jethro.”

  “It is me mum.”

  “But you’re dead.”

  “I’m not dead mum.” Jethro didn’t know what else to say. “I’m not dead.”

  The gun lowered, which was a relief in case she accidentally fired it.

  “I like Green and Black Tea blend. I make model spaceships. I spend hours souping up my hoverbike so it can go faster. I’m a fitness fanatic. I enjoy swimming in the reservoir.”

  The gun fell to the floor but luckily it didn’t go off.

  “Jethro?” Mum held open her arms. “Jethro, is this some kind of dream?”

  “No dream mum. I’m home.” He moved forward but was too slow to catch her. She collapsed onto the floor.

  Jethro picked his mum up. She wasn’t heavy; she’s his mother.

  The door opened and Maddy was there. “I heard a shot. Is everything alright? Oh my God. Your mum. She’s not…?”

  “She’s fainted.” Jethro laid her on the bed.

  “Where’s your dad?”

  “I don’t know. I expect he’s in the fields.”

  “Why don’t you find him. I’ll look after your mum.”

  “You sure?”

  “Yes. It’s no problem.”