Mary leant over to her friend’s ear and told her all, leaving Gwyneth completely disconcerted:
“What?”
“Just what I said. It won’t take me long to find out what happened. But let’s not worry about things that, for now, don’t affect us. I’m much more interested in knowing about... Thomas.”
Gwyneth looked a little sad. She realised that Andrew didn’t know who Mary was talking about.
“Thomas is my boyfriend... or, at least, I thought he was. He went and he hasn’t come back. He knew perfectly well that I was going to work here. And, like the rest of the miners, he’s supposed to end the night here in the canteen, getting drunk like everyone else. The only one of them I was going to let touch me – and he hasn’t shown up.”
Mary laughed.
“Maybe he’s had to do some shift work,” Andrew attempted an explanation.
“Shift work? Already?”
“Yes. They don’t have much time to spare. There’s a lot of work in the mines and they prefer to take advantage of the gaps between storms to get on with excavation work. So it’s possible that the second shift has just finished and, if that’s so, they won’t take long to...”
Suddenly, the door to the premises opened and a group of exhausted men traipsed in dragging their suits, covered to the hilt in dust. Gwyneth’s hopes rose as she saw them. She patiently waited for each and every one of them to take off his helmet. All the suits fell one on top of the other, burying Mary’s and Andrew’s ones. But there was no Thomas.
“Could something have happened to him?” asked Gwyneth, getting nervous.
“I don’t think so,” answered Mary. “Relax, Gwyneth.”
The young woman was already at the entrance asking the miners who had arrived last.
“Do you know a ‘Thomas’?”
They all shook their heads.
“No? Well...”
Gwyneth returned miserably to where her friends were. At that second, another man came in with his helmet on. As soon as he took it off, he recognised her with her back to him:
“Gwyneth?”
Gwyneth stood stock still, and then turned with a radiant face as she recognised his voice.
“Thomas!” she exclaimed, running up to him.
Without waiting for him to take off the rest of his suit, Gwyneth kissed him a thousand times if she kissed him once.
“Well,” muttered an old man, glass in hand. “I think the raffle for that kiss was fixed...”
Chapter 16
Day broke silently on Mars. Only Andrew watched the spectacle of dawn in order to enlighten his soul with that beautiful image. The rays crossed the hills and trapped everything that crossed their path of light and colour.
James had slept fitfully that night. Thoughts drove him to insomnia in spite of how tired he was since the accident happened. As he didn’t have a car to hand, he got onto Loja and went outside.
A few yards out, he stopped and took a deep breath of fresh air.
“It’s a wonderful day, isn’t it, Loja? Giddy up!”
The horse whinnied with that metallic whine and trotted off into the distance, towards the greenhouse.
Once there, James approached a plantation to find some breakfast. From hundreds of fruits, he chose the one that appealed to him most. Every morning, he did the same thing – although never this early. He found it, tugged at it and pulled it off the tree. He wiped it on his shoulder and bit into a kind of apple. Before he could swallow the first bite, he saw her before him, leaning against the trunk of a tree, covered with a thermal blanket.
“Mary...?”
James, surprised, walked very slowly towards her. He swallowed in silence and knelt down in front of her. He didn’t want to wake her – just look at her. James had never looked at how a woman slept, in spite of having been in bed with lots of them. Her serenity calmed his soul. Nobody was there to tell him to be the tough guy he usually was and wake her with a kick or some unpleasant, dry words. He was captivated by her hair lying on the bark of the tree, and her lips almost brushing off the blanket in a kiss that he wanted for his own.
He didn’t want to touch her, although his hands begged him to. He sighed, he got up and he turned away, going back the way he had come. But a hose got in his way like a rattlesnake in the desert. He didn’t see it and neither did his feet. He tripped, lost his balance and fell – and the bang he made against the ground woke Mary.
“What? How?” she exclaimed, startled.
Then she got up, sliding her back up the tree, letting the blanket fall at her feet.
“Mr...Mr Stafford.”
James turned nervously, standing up as fast as she did.
“Miss Ackerson... What are you doing here?” he asked with a serious face, pretending he was surprised to see her.
“Well, you see... Your brother, Andrew, invited me to his house. And then it turned out that he didn’t have any food, and he said: ‘Let’s go to the canteen because...’ Well, that doesn’t matter; well, anyway, so we went to have supper at the canteen. But, rather than having supper, we drank a little too much.”
“You drank?”
Mary smelt her breath and confirmed:
“Yes, yes, and we danced with men that seemed quiet on the mothership. Alcohol definitely frees you from your inhibitions more than I remembered... Oh, what a headache!”
“And how did you end up here?” asked James, looking amongst some bushes.
“I don’t remember. Maybe Andrew brought me – I don’t know. Maybe it’s the only place I knew – nobody told me where to sleep.”
“A tree trunk is not the best place, of course,” said James, pulling some berries off a bush. “Here, eat them – they’ll help you with the hangover.”
James dropped them into her hand. Mary put them into her mouth without thinking much about it and chewed while James looked for the hose to offer her some water.
“It’s better to swallow them,” laughed James when he saw Mary’s face, as she tried to digest those little bombs of bitterness.
“They’re disgusting! I’m not surprised they get rid of hangovers. Now I need a drink to get rid of the bad taste in my mouth,” said Mary with irony.
“Here’s some water,” said James, offering her the hose. Mary drank.
“It tastes like...water.”
James smiled.
“You have to understand, Mr Stafford: I’m not used to Martian tastes...”
“Water is supposed to be tasteless...”
“I assure you it isn’t. This water tastes wonderful!”
Mary took the hose into her hand and soaked her face, and then her neck, feeling an immediate shiver down her spine.
“It’s so cool! Where do you get it?”
James didn’t answer. He went back to turn off the tap.
“Do you really want to know?”
“I’m the director of cows and plants...”
“Farming Resources...”
“Well, yes, that. I’d like to know... everything.”
That word put a spell on James, trapped in the imaginary net that Mary wove around her eyes, her lips and that infinity of freckles that made her face as natural as beautiful.
“I’ll be delighted to teach you everything, Miss Ackerson.”
Mary swallowed.
“Follow me, Miss Ackerson. Tell me, have you ever ridden a horse?”
“Not one of those...” she said, looking at Loja.
“They respond in the same way. They are biomechanical. You will soon have one, or if you prefer it, you’ll have a vehicle at your disposition – whatever you find most comfortable. Meanwhile, I hope you won’t mind riding with me.”
Mary stopped in her stride.
“No, of course not.”
“So? Why have you stopped?”
“Well, you see...”
James understood her shyness immediately.
“Relax, there’s a toilet just around the corner.”
“Oh, thank yo
u very much! I’ll be with you in one minute!”
Mary ran into the toilet. After relieving herself, she looked in the mirror.
“Look at the bags under my eyes, for the love of God! Mary, since when have you been so worried about what you look like?” she asked herself as she smoothed down her tangled hair. “And to top it off, you made him wait while you went to the loo. What must he have thought of that? Come on, come on, stop thinking of him as a man – he’s your boss. He’s not undressing you with his eyes – it’s you undressing him!”
Mary breathed in deep.
“I’m getting nervous. I’m going to be riding along pressed up against him on his horse; there’s nothing more erotic than that for a cowgirl like me – my breast against his back, just the two of us. I’m getting hot...” she thought as she came out.
No sooner was she outside than James was there waiting for her, with the horse’s reins in one hand and Mary’s spacesuit in the other.
“Damn it, I forgot I had to wear the suit. I forgot that we’re on Mars... Oh God, how I hate having to breathe!” she concluded, resigned to it.
Chapter 17
James put real trust in Loja and, just saying where he wanted to go, the latter would quickly find the best way there. That oiled horse knew Mars as well as the horseshoe on its hoof. Mary, meanwhile, searched the horizon with her gaze and leant in as close to James as she could. It was like hugging an oak tree under which you could take shelter. In spite of the fast trot and the bumpiness of some of the terrain, she was delighted with such manly comings and goings.
Suddenly, Loja stopped and walked more slowly. Mary awoke from her romantic dreaming.
“We’re here, Miss Ackerson. Miss?”
Mary pulled nervously away from his back.
“Sorry, I didn’t hear you through the helmet,” she apologised.
“Look in front of you,” he said loudly.
The young woman did as she was told.
“It’s like the Great Canyon in Colorado...” she said, surprised.
“The Valles Marineris. Seven times longer and seven times deeper than its friend in Arizona.”
“It’s incredible...”
“Incredible... but just as boring. Giddy up!”
Loja skirted around the canyon, descending a dangerous stony trail.
“Slowly, Loja, slowly. Remember we’ve got company,” requested James.
Loja responded, going down carefully until he reached a little piece of safer ground.
“We’ll get off,” said James.
They both did. James helped Mary, who was a little clumsy in her heavy suit.
“Wait, your glass is full of dust,” James said to her, untying the scarf around his neck.
He rubbed the glass until it was completely clean. On the other side, Mary sighed with a smile – waiting for their eyes to meet.
“Can you see me well now?” he asked.
“Yes,” she said. “Perfectly.”
“From here, you can see the bottom of the canyon better... or not.”
Mary went closer to the edge of the gorge.
“Be careful, this ground is not very stable.”
“I can’t see the bottom...”
“That’s normal... It’s 23,000 feet deep...”
“What did you say? Twenty-three thousand...?”
Mary, turning in surprise, had the bad luck to slip and almost fall into the gaping space – if it hadn’t been for the providential hand that caught her by the arm at the last moment. Frightened, she looked at James with a contorted face; he couldn’t resist a joke:
“Yes, it is. Twenty-three thousand feet deep. You don’t have to check it.”
“No, no...”
Still shaking, Mary moved back to a safer area while James walked around the edge, not afraid of falling.
“I brought you here to show you where the first prospecting on Martian soil started.”
“Was it here?”
“Yes, it was.”
“And what did they find?”
“Well, let’s see... Answer this question for me: what happens when you get a cut?”
“Eh... it hurts?”
“I don’t mean that...”
“It bleeds?”
“That’s it! It bleeds – valuable, red blood.”
“You mean...”
“Oil, minerals... This canyon bleeds gushes of incredible riches.”
“Really?”
“Come closer – without fear. This area is an inexhaustible source of resources. From Melas to Chryse, Stafford Research operations dominate the orography of Mars as if we were in Texas itself.”
“So I see...”
“You don’t seem very excited...”
“Can you tell me why you want to extract so many resources? There’s no demand yet...”
“But there will be in a few years. The new inhabitants will have to pay for the energy they use. First, they’ll help us to get it and then we’ll create energy needs that they won’t be able to do without. Earth might even require part of what we extract. It will be a vicious circle, and it will be profitable...”
“Mr Stafford...Does your family not remember what happened on Earth?”
“All of that is in the past.”
“And this, Mr Stafford, is the future of humanity.”
“My family has always done this. We do it well.”
“I have no doubt. But not well enough to protect all of those colonists who died in your service...”
“Are you still on about that?”
“About that? We’re talking about a lot of victims. Andrew told me that you’d tell me about it.”
“Andrew has a big mouth.”
“Well? Are you going to tell me some day?”
“Do you really want to know?”
Mary nodded.
“All right...”
At that moment, an alarm rang out all along the width and length of the canyon. James’ eyes opened wide as saucers.
“It can’t be. Not now, damn it!”
“What’s wrong?” she asked, frightened.
“Storm – we have to get out of the canyon as fast as possible! Loja, get us out of here!”
They got onto the horse nervously and it galloped off as fast as it could.
“Come on, Loja – I can see it!”
Mary dared to turn her head and saw that a huge cloud of colossal dimensions was crossing the desert behind them at the speed of lightning – heading directly for them.
“Is that... the storm? It’s a dust-cloud!”
“It’s a little more than that! Run, Loja!”
James saw that it was impossible to get away. Loja was doing what he could but a stone got in his way. James and Mary went flying and their bodies crashed onto hard Martian soil. Fear took hold of Mary, who didn’t move. James, a few yards away, got up however he could and ran over to her.
“Loja, here! Cover us!”
Loja, limping, did so.
“Down, down, good horse. Lie down.”
James dragged Mary’s body over the sand and pressed it against Loja, who was being used as a trench.
“Calm down. Pay attention: do...not...move!”
Mary didn’t speak, she just shook. The dusty roar got closer. James, meanwhile, covered his mouth and nose with his scarf and lay on top of Mary, pinning her down with his arms.
“Trust me,” he said, closing his eyes tight. Mary copied him.
The storm passed over them. The noise was deafening. The wind passed over Loja at such a speed that Mary thought it was a tornado that would take them flying away with it at any moment. James pressed down harder on her, without saying a word. She felt protected by that strong man who, with his uncovered body that didn’t need a spacesuit, was standing up to a storm full of sand daggers. Mary envisaged herself buried under the Martian surface.
After a few minutes that seemed like hours, the storm continued on its way, disappearing over the horizon. Covered in dust and sand,
the three stayed still. Mary was the first to speak.
“Mr Stafford, Mr Stafford, are you all right?”
Nobody answered. But James’ bloodied fingertips did, cleaning the glass on Mary’s helmet. It was him, he was alive. She had never been so happy to see anyone. So much so that she couldn’t stop tears from flowing, and she almost hugged him.
She stood up however she could. She looked at James and Loja, both wounded, bruised by stones and gravel.
“You’re bleeding,” Mary said, looking at his hands.
“Miss Ackerson,” said James, getting up with difficulty. “This isn’t over.”
Mary swallowed. .
“Why? But look at yourself: you’re... wounded.”
“We have to get to the greenhouse as soon as we can,” he explained, checking his horse’s state of health. “Loja, we have to go...”
“But Mr Stafford, the storm has gone.”
“But not the gift it left us.”
“What gift?” asked Mary, looking worried.
“Death.”
Chapter 18
Loja dragged his bruised legs along and, on his back, he carried the infected bodies of James and Mary. The doors to the greenhouse opened to let them in. James flung himself off the horse and pulled at Mary with strength and urgency.
“Come on, there’s no time!” he shouted crossing the entrance hall.
“But where are you taking me?”
They came into a big room with metal walls. James turned on a light: it was white and cold. Without a word, James took off Mary’s helmet, throwing it into a corner. Then he continued with her spacesuit, which ended up under her feet. Next, to her surprise, James undressed her, ripping off her uniform brusquely so that the buttons from her shirt went flying all over the tiled floor.
“But... what are you doing?” she exclaimed nervously, covering her breasts.
“You have to take off everything. Your trousers. Quick!”
James made a grab at them and, with a few tugs, he pulled them down. Mary tripped and fell in front of him, but he didn’t stop for an instant and continued with her boots.
With barely any clothing covering her skin, Mary felt like crying. She couldn’t find any reason for James acting that way with her, so violently and nervously.
Love On Mars Page 7
