by Paul Rix
"I'm sure the captain would be proud of you. He saw you as a surrogate daughter." Doctor Betts stepped on to her speeder, as the last of the crew climbed into the MEV.
"Let's see how I do. I want him to be proud of what we achieve before Expedition Three arrives. There's a lot of work to be done, especially with only eight of us. Only then will I know if I was the right choice." Georgia fired up her speeder and set course for Alpha Base, with Megan keeping pace by her side.
"You're a popular choice with the crew. They've not shown it yet because of the deaths, but they'll be very supportive I'm sure."
"Thank you, Megan. I know you'll be overworked with counseling and your physiology research, but I would appreciate it if you could be my deputy. I value your judgment more than anyone else's here."
"You've got it." Megan gave her friend a beaming smile of encouragement. "We'll get through this together. Did Ground Control confirm if the Russians picked up Redmayne?"
Georgia could barely control her annoyance." Would you believe the Russians are denying all the accusations about their involvement with Redmayne? He wasn't working under their instructions or even in contact with the Andropov. They're asking how they could know that Redmayne was up on the plateau rather than here. Apparently, yesterday's flight was a trial run for their lander to shake out some system issues. They touched down briefly but went straight back to the Andropov."
"So he's dead."
"Officially he and Jim were killed in the same accident that killed the others. Neither side is willing to go public about the Sentinels. Personally, I think the bastard made it back to the Russian ship. Part of me wishes I'd killed him when I had the chance. I was tempted for a brief moment."
"You did the right thing, Georgia. I hope the Russians left him to die a slow lingering death as his air supply depleted, but people like that always get a lucky break. He'd better hope he never meets me again though."
"Either of us," Georgia said grimly. She noticed that the MEV had raced ahead of them and was entering the base. There was nothing urgent for her to hurry back for today. Anyway, gliding over the bumps and rocks at high speed wasn't as much fun without Jim.
<<
Get exclusive content
Building a relationship with my readers is the very best thing about writing. I occasionally send newsletters with details on my current projects, new releases and special offers.
And if you sign up to the mailing list I’ll send you a copy of Deception, my prequel to the Mars Frontier series. You can receive this novella, for free, by signing up at www.paulrixauthor.com
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Paul Rix is the author of the Mars Frontier human colonization series. His online home is at www.paulrixauthor.com. You can connect with Paul:
on Twitter at www.twitter.com/PaulRix8
on Facebook at www.facebook.com/paulrixauthor
or email at [email protected] if the mood takes you.
DEDICATION
To Julia. The future is in the stars
COPYRIGHT
First published by P&J Books 2019
Copyright © 2019 Paul Rix
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without written permission from the publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
Paul Rix asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
First edition