V.
TATYANA HATED THE FEELING of being shackled to another human being. Besides Mara, of course. Their partnership had been long and fruitful. The woman was reliable like clockwork, even in her eccentricities, and had never once let Tatyana down in any meaningful way, despite her regular accusations. Such was the nature of their friendship. But in every other relationship, she could look down the spotless annals of her memory and relive a thousand small disappointments. Being unable to forget such griefs became a greater burden as the years extended behind her.
Liam would let her down someday and probably sooner rather than later. It was inevitable, and yet Tatyana couldn’t tell the man no. When he rolled into town every few months like a dust storm, she was caught in his wake. And she knew it would be impossible to nail his boots to the ground. But there were perhaps other ways. Ways that took her time and effort to implement.
“When were you going to tell me you had started brokering for freelancers?” he asked one day as she welcomed him into the imposing new manor she had purchased.
“When it was your business,” she countered. “I only take on crews helmed by women.”
“Kind of a niche market, don’t you think?”
“Money is hardly the end goal.”
“How many of Jupiter’s moons do you own? At least three by now, I imagine.”
She scoffed. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
“So you wouldn’t make an exception and be my broker?”
“I broker for women. What’s the matter with Orson?”
Liam scratched the back of his head. “He dropped me without an explanation a month ago. It was the weirdest thing after all the years we’ve worked together.”
“Oh my. Liam, I’m sorry.” She feigned surprise at the revelation. After all, she had paid Orson a healthy bribe to do that very thing. “Maybe we can work something out, though you may find I’m a cruel mistress to work for.” She smiled. With a shorter leash, perhaps there was hope for their relationship after all.
VI.
TATYANA WAS AS GOOD a broker as she was a businesswoman, and in truth, she enjoyed it more than any of the other industries they had fingers in. Utilizing her extensive library of contacts, her freelancers never had want of jobs. She knew them, her daughters as she called them, perfectly, and could expertly guide their careers to success.
Liam was another story. She did her best to keep him on Mars, and near Rossiya, when she could. If he noticed, he never said anything. She had long ago worked her way into his finances. He would never be in need and would never have to take a harder look at the jobs he took. It was a small price to pay to keep him in her arms, and it worked for many years.
It was Mara who brought ruin upon all of them.
The years and diverging interests had kept them apart more and more. Such was natural. Perhaps that was what had taken its toll. Or perhaps Mara had always been a snake lying in waiting.
When she showed up at Tatyana’s manor, she seemed unsure of herself and reticent. Peculiar behavior for her.
“Well, what is it?” Tatyana asked. “I have a full schedule, as I’m sure you have.”
“Liam came to me,” Mara said, and Tatyana froze, hearing the subtle footsteps of doom. “He was having trouble with making sense of his finances, and we all know that’s my thing. So I audited his accounts. As a friend. As it turned out, there were irregularities, which I’m confident you know about.”
“Do not be coy, Mara. Say what you will.”
“I did some checking, even got in contact with his old broker.” She slowly shook her head. “Why? Why did you ruin Liam’s career?”
“You wouldn’t understand.” Tatyana stared at her hands. “You won’t tell him, will you?”
“I already did. He gave me a message to pass on to you.” She handed Tatyana a small scrap of paper. Tatyana unfolded it with shaking hands to read the familiar handwriting: ‘Go to hell.’
She crumpled the paper. “I see. He was always going to leave, I suppose. But you. You’ve been my friend for all these years.”
Mara shook her head in bewilderment. “You brought this on yourself.”
“Leave me. We are partners, but that shall be more difficult if I cannot stand the sight of you.”
Mara left without another word. As for Tatyana, she was left with only her memories, memories of each and every moment spent with Liam, and the knowledge that if she had only been more clever or covered her tracks better, he wouldn’t have left her.
VII.
THE LONG AND PROFITABLE partnership between Tatyana Medvedev and Mara Jane ended five years later. Their friendship had long cooled to icy professionalism. After Mara made her intentions clear, it took over a year to disentangle her from her numerous responsibilities.
When it was finally done, she came to the estate to say her final farewells.
“It’s a pity after all these years,” Tatyana said. It was empty sentiment, but it filled the dead air between them.
Mara nodded briefly. “I suppose you could say that.”
“What are your plans now?”
“I’m getting married, actually. And moving to Amalthea.”
This took Tatyana aback and she struggled to find words for a minute. “I wasn’t aware that you were seeing anyone. I suppose congratulations are in order.”
“Thank you. Yes, it took me until my forties to realize that I should seek some small happiness for myself.” Mara smiled and turned to go.
“Do I know the lucky groom to be?”
She didn’t turn back around. “It’s Liam, actually. Goodbye, Tatyana.”
She was left with a thousand unanswered questions, none of which had answers that would provide her with a shred of peace. “Ungrateful. Selfish,” she murmured to herself over and over. “A conspiracy to deprive me of the only people I have ever loved.”
Tatyana threw herself into her work. There were freelancers to mother, and now she was the sole head of the business empire. And when the news came some months later of a suspicious depressurization accident that killed nearly forty people on Amalthea. She paid it no heed.
But she slept little from that day forward.
Chapter 6: The Eye of War
The Highland Treaty Organization started as little more than a public relations stunt between the colonies of Arizona and Doch Rossiya. Named after the southern highlands of Mars that is home to both colonies, it was founded in 2 AM to give an assurance of peace to the rest of the planet. The centuries-long feud between the United States and Russia is well documented, and as Earth fell to war, the colonies looked at each other in fear, praying that the rest of the solar system would be spared from old rivalries.
Arizonan President Williams and Rossiyan President Federov signed the treaty to much fanfare. But to the surprise of all, the partnership became more than just a symbol that ancient griefs had been laid to rest. The alliance put both colonies in strong political positioning to lead Mars into its first few fragile years without Moses. As the years rolled on, new members were added with full status. Most were smaller colonies that joined on the promise that they would be defended if attacked, though a few more influential colonies, such as Warszawa and Stockholm, eventually joined as well.
There has never been any doubt though who the real power brokers of Mars were, and as the first
major international crisis of the post-Moses era reared its ugly head, Arizona, Doch Rossiya, and their treaty were at the forefront of that conflict.
Barbara Clancey
Churchill, Member of Parliament
Died 111 AM
EX COMMISSIONER-GENERAL Yuuto Kagurazaka rose before the light of dawn from a fitful sleep of uneasy dreams. So as not to wake his wife, he crept out of bed and padded softly down the hall to the kitchen to start a kettle of tea. Outside the window, the dark sky was moderated by the first gray of dawn. As his tea steeped, he picked up his tablet to read through the never-ending articles on the negotiations between the Highland
Treaty Organization and Kyoto.
Just yesterday, Churchill had entered the conversation, placing their political clout behind Kyoto, claiming that the colony was competent to lead its own security. He wondered if they did so simply to diffuse the political decision. In truth, despite his deep ties to his home colony, Yuuto had spent the week wondering if perhaps it might be best if the more defense minded colonies handled security at the factory. It had been over three centuries since the Japanese people had given up their martial heritage.
But now it was pride that ruled the conversation. Pride that Kyoto could take care of their all-important factory. Pride that the HiTO thought they could do better. He poured himself a cup of tea and set aside the news. He was only a retired police commissioner and his expertise had never been foreign affairs. The future would come in his despite and not at his behest.
He turned off the house’s alarm and pushed the back door open, releasing it gently to keep it from waking the rest of the household. He pulled his robe tighter around him to ward off the morning cold. The coming dawn made headway against the stars as one by one they slowly faded from view. Jupiter was high in the sky, a faraway point of light. He walked through the garden to the pergola, sat in a chair facing east to watch the rising of the sun. There was color to a Martian sunrise, and it had beauty enough, but Yuuto had often wondered how it compared to an Earth sunrise. Pictures and paintings rarely do any justice to the true nature of a thing, especially something as ephemeral and sublime as a sunrise.
No sooner had he settled, than a sound from the south caught his attention. Aircraft. A formation of skyhoppers screamed overhead, and he stumbled out from under the pergola to get a better look. Dozens of them of all sizes, not one of them a model used by Kyoto’s security force, and the guttural roar was deafening. Higher in the sky, engines burned like stars as an invasion force of ships, most likely carrying troops and armored vehicles, deorbited toward the Kyoto Factory Exclusion Zone.
Yuuto sighed and felt a weariness in his bones that he shouldn’t have felt so early in the day. The HiTO had made good on their promises and threats: the factory would be safe, even if that was accomplished through hostile occupation by a foreign force. He returned to the house, suddenly feeling an overwhelming helplessness as the surface of the world spun too quickly and left him behind.
ELIZABETH HEARD THE news about the invasion shortly after she awoke. Her morning routine involved listening to the radio over a bowl of oatmeal in the quiet hours around dawn. This morning she sliced a few blueberries in half and dropped them into her bowl before sitting at the table. She leaned back and flipped on the old radio on the shelf behind her.
“—ernight a coalition of Highland Treaty Organization forces led by Arizona and Doch Rossiya have occupied the Kyoto Factory Exclusion Zone. While we’re waiting on official confirmation, eyewitnesses report that military forces from the HiTO have deployed to the northern hemisphere under cover of night.”
She dropped her spoon into her bowl and jumped to her feet in surprise. The colonies had escaped Earth’s fate and been peaceful for almost a century. Why now? Why would they sacrifice that trust? She turned off the radio in frustration and marched out the back door of the house. In the east, the sun was peeking over the distant red ridges, and it shone dully on the hull of the Sparrow. She crossed between the fields and walked up the ramp to the airlock.
“Oh, what is that blasted code?” She entered a number sequence on the keypad, and it flashed an angry crimson. Vaguely she remembered Matthew warning her not to be wrong three times or else the ship’s security systems would engage. She pushed a lock of gray hair back behind her ear and tried again. Much to her relief, the pad turned green and the door opened. She shut it behind her and tiptoed down the halls to Matthew’s cabin. For a brief moment, she hesitated. He had enough stress in his life, and perhaps another hour of sleep wouldn’t hurt. But she knew he would want to know as soon as possible. She rapped her knuckles on the door.
A minute later, he slid it open, hair disheveled. “Oh. Good morning.” He looked down the hall to the common room. “What’s wrong?”
She motioned toward the cockpit. Matthew sighed and led the way. Elizabeth settled into the copilot’s chair and hesitated just long enough that he gently prompted her. “Well?”
“Turn on the radio. Anything local will be carrying it.”
A look of unease crossed his face as he reached forward to the console. There was a pop as the speakers turned on and the sound of static. Matthew scanned for frequencies and stopped when the noise turned into a human voice.
She watched his face as he listened to the announcement. His sandy hair was ruffled and the scruff on his face longer than normal. But it was the lines by his eyes that she took note of, the way they seemed deeper. They creased as his frown deepened. Lines of worry etched into her son’s face by hardship. She looked away, unable to bear the sight any longer.
They listened in silence for ten minutes to the broadcast. Eventually, when it became clear there was no new information until the Arizona government made an official statement, Matthew turned the volume down. He ran a hand through his messy hair.
“This isn’t your fault, you know,” Elizabeth said. “For them to have moved so quickly, they must have already had plans drawn up.”
“I was the messenger boy.”
She scoffed. “And that matters how? Had Logan sent his message straight to Barclay, this would have been the end result. You don’t have to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders.”
His countenance broke and he looked at her. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
Her heart softened. “I know. But there’s nothing you could have done here. You’re not a politician. The movers of our age don’t all heed your voice.” She reached across and took his hand. Despite his hard years as a freelancer, her years on the farm had given her the thicker callouses. “People may believe in you because you are a good man, but you are just one man.”
He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “You’d have me walk away from this, despite Logan’s effort to involve me?”
“I fail to see what you can do against nations,” she said. “Spend your strength elsewhere. Finish your business on Mars and move on.”
“First time you’ve ever tried to run me off,” he said with a half-hearted smirk.
“I’m used to being alone,” was her less than mirthful reply.
He stood. “I need to get the others up—”
The comm chimed and he reached over and hit it. “Morning, Cole. Ryan Thompson. No, I’m not happy to talk to you either.” Elizabeth frowned. The Minister of Law that Matthew had had so many problems with.
“I know your voice,” Matthew said.
“Good. Turns out the boys over in intelligence want to have a word with you about Alexander Logan.”
Matthew paused briefly. “If I come in willingly, are you going to let me leave on the same terms?”
Thompson sighed. “Cole. We aren’t going to arrest you. You’re a damn hero to the public. Consider it a full debriefing. The better picture intelligence can put together on Logan, the better chance we can bring him in or snuff him out.”
Matthew let out a long slow breath. “Okay. But I don’t want anything to do with it after this. And I need something in return. One of my crew members is stranded in Doch Rossiya. Help me get her home and I’m all yours.”
“The border isn’t really my department, but I’m sure I can work something out. When can you make it?”
“I’ll be on the first train into town.”
“Come to my office. We’ll go from there.” The call clicked off.
Elizabeth crossed her arms. “I thought you and Davey had a job in Warszawa?”
He frowned. “We did, but Thompson just clipped my wings. Plus, if it gets Abigail home it’ll be worth it.”
“I can take care of it,” Davey said from the hall.
Matthew spun in his chair. Elizabeth hadn’t
heard the young man’s approach either. “Eavesdropping?” Matthew asked. “You’re up early.”
Davey shrugged and leaned against the door frame. “We had a job, and I still do. Let me take care of it.”
“I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” Matthew said turning away.
Davey pushed his way into the cockpit. “I can handle it. And if something comes up, you’re just a call away for advice.”
Matthew frowned and looked away from him as if looking for an excuse, anything to tell Davey no. His eyes fell on Elizabeth. She only favored him with a small smile, recognizing in him the fear that all parents have as their children grow up. “You know, I didn’t really want to let you leave for Ganymede, either.”
He closed his eyes. “Alright. Take your sister and call me often.”
Davey pumped a fist and his eyes sparkled with excitement. “She’s not up yet.”
“Then you’d better wake her because you have a train to catch. I’ll send you the job info. But I have to admit, I’ll be a little disappointed to miss this one.”
Elizabeth eyed him suspiciously. “Why’s that?”
He smiled. “I was looking forward to meeting up with an old friend.”
LATER THAT AFTERNOON, after a three-hour mag-train ride, Davey and Grace stood on a corner in Warszawa. “You sure this is the place?” Grace asked.
Davey looked back at the nearest street sign and then nodded. It matched their directions close enough. “Unless I’m going crazy.” He looked at the garage in front of them. They weren’t in a bad part of Warszawa by any means, but the fresh, clean paint on the building made it stick out from the rest of the street. Must be a new business. They walked past the open garage door. A blue grav car was up on a lift and two mechanics were poking around beneath it.
After Moses: Wormwood Page 15
