The finality of Mei Lo’s rationale sank in and Jessamyn felt as though ice ran through her veins instead of blood. “I see,” she said quietly.
“Give everyone an annum to cool this Terran fever, and perhaps we can send a mission to rescue our friends without the danger of awakening the Terran beast that will turn upon and devour us.”
“I see,” Jess repeated. But then she wondered. Did she see it clearly? Or was she simply prejudiced against the idea of interactions with Terrans because they’d captured her brother? She looked at the blurred outlines of the people walking past Mei Lo’s office. Maybe she wasn’t seeing things clearly because she’d clouded her vision with anger and hatred.
“Madam Secretary, do you think maybe … is it possible Terrans no longer present a threat to us?” asked Jessamyn.
“Jessamyn,” said the Secretary, her head shaking.
But Jess pushed ahead. “Maybe I’ve just been blinded because they hurt people I loved. I mean, they thought we were inciters—terrorists.”
“Jess,” said Mei Lo, more sharply.
Jessamyn looked up to see Mei Lo closing her eyes and pressing her forefinger and thumb along the bridge of her nose. “They are dangerous,” she said at last. “You know this.”
“I know,” said Jessamyn. What had she been thinking? She knew the truth about Lucca Brezhnaya. She sighed. “I just want my brother back.”
“So do I,” said Mei Lo. “So do I.”
Nessa Niedermaier bustled in. “Madam Secretary? Pilot Jaarda? We’re ready for you in studio one.”
“Bells of Hades,” muttered the Secretary. “Raider Jaarda? You and I will continue this discussion at a later time. Nessa, lead on.”
The hour-long interview with Mars Global Vid proved as much of a challenge for Jess as her exchange with the Secretary. The news anchor asked ridiculous questions: Do Terrans look just like us? Were you able to understand them when they spoke? These, she alternated with questions Jessamyn found too deeply private to answer. What was your lowest point, personally, on the mission? How did you find yourself able to move past the incredible sorrow of the loss of three crew members? Of the Red Dawn?
Jessamyn hid her anguish under a cover of irritability and allowed Crusty to handle increasing numbers of questions.
“Crustegard—we’re all friends here—can I call you Crusty?” asked the eager interviewer. “Did you encounter actual body-swappers?”
The mechanic cleared his throat with a low rumble Jess felt certain hid laughter. “Mighty difficult to avoid ‘em if your intention is to trade what’s in your ship’s hold for what they’ve got planet-side.”
“Hmm,” replied the anchor. “Of course. What we’re all wondering though—and I think I speak for everyone at home—is … how did you feel standing in the presence of someone who wasn’t even wearing the skin they were born with?”
Crusty stared at the face of the woman interviewing him. Jess saw him pause as he regarded her lack of First Wrinkle, her exaggerated eyelashes, her unnaturally colored lips. “There’s plenty enough folk here on Mars dressed in somethin’ that don’t resemble what God gave ‘em to start with. I reckon the Terran I spent my time with would fit in just fine here.”
“Well, that just about wraps it up for our time here this morning,” said the woman. “One last question for each of you. Let’s start with you, Crusty: what did you find yourself missing most?”
“Bein’ left alone,” said Crusty, eliciting laughter from around the room.
The anchor smiled brightly and turned to Jessamyn. “And yourself? What did you miss most?”
Jessamyn’s heart beat faster. Her mind threw answers at her, loud and fast. Sunrise over Mount Cha Su Bao. Rations with my parents. Playing Monopoly. Scrubbing the solars. Flying. Pavel. “The smell of peroxide,” murmured Jessamyn.
“Well there you have it, folks. She travels over one hundred million kilometers and she misses the one thing I spend all day trying to keep out of the house!”
The moment the vid recorders turned off, the newswoman’s fake smile disappeared. After a cursory thank you to the Mars Raiders, the anchor turned to the Secretary and murmured, “Well, I guess you didn’t choose them for their verbal skills, did you?”
Jess flushed and stood to leave.
“Oh-oh-oh,” said Nessa Niedermaier, reaching to grab Jess by the shoulder. “Just one moment. We’ve got you back on camera this afternoon with the board of directors, and that gives us just enough time to get the two of you into New Houston Outfitters for a fresh new look.”
Crusty stared at her as though considering which of the several salient phrases from his colorful vocabulary might best suit the occasion.
“I’ll be wearing my Academy whites for all future public appearances,” said Jess curtly.
“Hmm, well, we were thinking of an image that your average girl-about-Mars could relate to a bit better,” said Nessa.
“Her whites will be fine,” said the Secretary calmly. “I believe this is the ideal opportunity to inspire Mars’s future generation of scientists and explorers. Wouldn’t you agree, Nessa?”
The events coordinator made a series of abbreviated noises before landing on what it was she had to say. “Very well, Madam Secretary. If you think that would be best.”
“It’s settled then,” said Mei Lo. “And Crusty? Feel free to don work coveralls if you’d prefer. We have another generation of builders and engineers to inspire as well.”
Nessa’s powdered face colored visibly, but a small squeak of alarm was her only audible objection.
“Jaarda, I’ll see you back at my office at 14:00 sharp,” said the Secretary. “We’ve still got things to discuss.”
The studio, now empty of all excepting Crusty and Jessamyn, felt suddenly like that last place Jess wished to be.
“I’m going to suit up,” said Jess.
“You feel like takin’ a walk over to the Galleon?” asked Crusty.
Jess nodded. Minutes later the two strode side by side toward MCC’s largest spacecraft hangar. To one side of the Galleon was the space where the Red Dawn should have rested. Someone had piled it with crates and equipment, and the sight felt to Jessamyn like the desecration of a grave.
“Galleon’s in much better shape than she oughta be, by rights,” said Crusty, interrupting her morbid thoughts via their private comm.
“Is she?” asked Jess.
“Well,” said Crusty, bumping a gloved hand against his helmet as he tried (and failed) to scratch his chin. “I reckon she’s good for another couple trips before she starts complaining too bad.”
Crusty grew talkative as he took Jessamyn around the hull of the Galleon, pointing out minor repairs his crew had completed overnight. “Talked that event-nut of the Secretary’s into the idea that the ship oughta look like something special for folks to come see the evening after the big celebratory shindig.”
Neither of them had discussed the memorial service or the celebration. Jessamyn understood that the citizens of Mars deserved these planetary holidays to acknowledge the recent losses as well as the mission’s success. She just wished she didn’t have to be a part of it.
“I know you and the Secretary been talking,” murmured Crusty. “Just so’s you know, there’s nothing standing in the way of you taking this ship back up right now,” said Crusty. “Well, nothin’ I can’t get to in the next two days. Air filter needs a good wash-down. Picked up all kinds of microbes off you and me from our time on Earth. Stuff’s been reproducing like crazy on the trip back here. Thought about callin’ in the interns at Planetary Agriculture to have a peek.”
“You’re telling me this ship can fly a two-month mission now?” asked Jessamyn.
“Sure. Long as you get the Secretary’s say-so,” replied Crusty.
Jess reached for her oxygenation dial. Abruptly, it felt as if there wasn’t enough air to breathe in her suit.
“Hey, you okay? I thought this’d be good news. I say something wrong?” a
sked Crusty.
Jess pressed her gloved hand against Crusty’s forearm, managing a small squeeze. “It’s great news,” she said. “But you’re keeping quiet about it, right?”
“I ain’t what you might call the talkative sort,” Crusty said. “In case it escaped your attention.”
Jess chortled. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d found something amusing. “You heard about the … faction that wants to trade with Earth?”
Crusty snorted in indignation. “My granny’s elastic knickers—bunch of blamed fools is what they are.”
Jess nodded. “I know.”
“Oh, hey,” called Crusty from where he stood examining a rivet on the landing gear. “They boxed up your stuff and your brother’s stuff. You can pick it up over at suit repair.”
“Crusty?” whispered Jess. “Would there be time to get everything we’d need? Spacesuits, replacement parts for wafers, food and drink …” Her mind boggled at the thought of possible items that could be missing.
“You let me worry about that part,” said Crusty. “I’ve got folks thinking they’re setting this place up like an Ares-i-fied museum. All the parts’ll be there or they’ll have me to answer to.” He leaned in closer. “And I’m a bona fide planetary hero, by Ares.” He stretched his arms out to the side and then patted his chest vigorously. “A hero, I tell you.”
The gesture was so uncharacteristic for Crusty that Jess felt sure he’d done it to lighten her gloomy and cautious mood.
She gave him a tentative smile.
“I’ll see you around, kid,” said the mechanic. “Some of us got work to do.”
11
VULNERABLE
Jess had plenty of time to return to the Secretary’s office on foot for her meeting at 14:00. A simple walk across the plain between the hangars and MCC. Something everyday. Something normal.
“Yeah,” she muttered to herself, exiting the hangar. “Normal.” She kicked a small rock outside, sending it soaring. “Well the ship loaded with normal sailed, didn’t it?” She no longer knew what was normal. Her time was not her own. She couldn’t borrow a planet-hopper and chase sunsets around the globe. She didn’t know to whom she would apply for a craft—Lobster was gone. Her mother was moody, her father apologetic, her brother tens of millions of kilometers away. Her lips cracked no matter how diligently she drained her wet ration packets. Feeling tears pricking the back of her eyes, Jessamyn crossed her arms and sat upon a large, flattish rock halfway between the hangar and MCC’s offices.
Staring out at the tans, golds, and reds of her planet, she took in the fierce and deadly beauty that was Mars. The low rim of Prakash Crater looked especially near today. While she’d been away, the northern hemisphere had crossed from spring into summer. Dust storms, common in winter, often obscured Prakash entirely, but today she could see the shadowed creases of the rim which rose as high as a kilometer above the planitia beside which New Houston had been founded.
Pulling her gaze closer, Jess saw the familiar pebbles and small rocks that broke up the flattened landscape. Ellipses formed to one side of each small stone, reminding Jess of her granddad’s sundial. She’d never been able to tell time with it. Jess smiled to herself, realizing her pirate granddad had probably not been able to either. Most likely he’d just been good at lying about it. He could out-bluff a de-sulfurization salesman talking to first-time home buyers.
The sky had managed to herd a few wispy clouds to one side. Jess tried to remember Earth’s blue sky but couldn’t. Mars’s sky glowed yellow midday, looking exactly like a proper sky ought to. She sighed, wishing she could sit there all day. Wishing she could chase that sun around the planet.
But the Secretary was a very busy woman.
Jess murmured to her world, “You’re so very beautiful,” and rose to leave.
The Secretary kept her waiting several minutes before bursting out of her office and announcing a change in plans. “If I have to spend another minute inside this room I swear I will break something. Grab your suit, pilot. We’re going out in a hopcraft.”
“Yes, Ma’am,” said Jessamyn, a small smile upon her lips. She felt certain that whatever the Secretary had to discuss with her, it would sound a whole lot better from inside a cockpit.
Within ten minutes Jess and the CEO of Mars Colonial were heading toward Gale Crater, a lonely place if ever there was one on Mars. The sun cast shadows long and crisp along the eastern slope of Aeolis Mons. A full third of the crater lay in deep shade as well, due to the mountain-like rise of the crater’s rim. Mei Lo directed Jessamyn to bring the craft to rest along the western edge.
The two sat in silence for several minutes. Jessamyn thought of Kilimanjaro, one of Earth’s great mountains, and how it had seemed immense to her as she’d flown past it mere weeks ago. Mars’s Aeolis Mons, or Mount Sharp, was the taller by several hundred meters. She tried to imagine Gale Crater swimming with wildebeest and smiled at the images her mind returned. Someday, she thought. Someday the embryos would be awakened from their long cryogenic rest. Someday wild creatures would roam free on Mars as they did on Earth.
“I come here when I need to think,” said Mei Lo. “Did you realize this crater hosted one of the early Earth robotic missions?”
Jessamyn thought she remembered something about it from school.
“A rover landed here,” continued the Secretary. “It inspired a generation of children to yearn for the world we call home. Without Curiosity and her predecessors, there would have been no Mars Colonial.”
“Harpreet inspired me,” said Jessamyn.
“Not your grandfather?” asked Mei Lo in surprise.
Jess thought about it. “No. Isn’t that funny? But I remember every one of Harpreet’s visits to my classroom. I wanted to be just like her.”
The Secretary nodded. “You’re well on your way, Jessamyn.”
Another silent minute passed.
Jess noticed a transport craft circling overhead, perhaps bringing citizens of New Tokyo to her own settlement for the upcoming week of gatherings.
“You must miss her very much,” murmured the Secretary.
Jessamyn nodded her agreement. Her throat felt swollen and she didn’t trust herself to speak.
“I miss her every hour of every day, myself,” said Mei Lo. She shook her head once, twice, and then took a deep breath. “I canceled my afternoon meetings to come out here with you today. I wish to speak to you of something that you must never share with anyone else on Mars.”
Jess’s heart beat faster. Was the Secretary going to give her blessing to a rescue mission?
“I became the recipient of a terrible secret when I became CEO of Mars Colonial. I now intend to share it with you.”
Jess turned to the Secretary, feeling confused.
Mei Lo continued. “During our years of conflict with the Terran government, members of MCC became aware of certain irregularities in the Terran Re-body Initiative as it was practiced on Earth. My predecessors noticed other things—similarities in the rhetoric and speech patterns of successive governing officials. Odd disappearances of elected officials which were always treated as though they were deep and unsolvable mysteries. Or not investigated at all. After a decade of these and other observations, the CEO of Mars Colonial came to the conclusion that some members of Earth’s population were using the re-body program to extend their lives indefinitely.
“The deception seemed limited to government officials, but as there were hundreds of these, and as they re-bodied more frequently than the prescribed eighteen-year period, we deduced that many thousands of Earth’s citizens met an untimely demise in order that Earth’s governing officials might remain alive—and in power—for inordinate amounts of time.
“When the Terran Head of Global Consciousness Transfer voluntarily left her position due to ‘irreconcilable differences’ with her government, agents from MCC questioned her privately. She confirmed our suspicions about the abuses of the system. Days later, she disappeared wi
th no trace. No real effort was launched to find her remains or the cause of her death.”
Jess murmured, “She knew too much.”
“It would appear so. The Terran program, while utterly repellant, had at least seemed fair-minded from a certain perspective until this point. However, when the Secretary General of Mars Colonial at that time confronted the Terran Viceroy and Chancellor with this information, they did not attempt to deny our accusations. Instead, they issued a simple warning: Tell the people of Earth what you know, and we will destroy every man, woman, and child upon Mars.”
A sharp intake issued from Jessamyn’s lungs.
Mei Lo nodded grimly. “The No Contact Accords were signed with this understanding between the Viceroy and MCC. Mars’s CEO made a deal with Earth’s Viceroy to keep this secret,” said the Secretary as she gazed out over the lengthening shadows. “We have taken seriously the Viceroy’s promise to use deadly force if we did not keep our silence. Only Mars’s CEO and three members of the MCC board of directors were privy to this information. Those four told only the incoming CEO, who told the next CEO, who told me.”
“Why tell anyone?” asked Jess. It was Earth’s problem, wasn’t it? That much seemed clear to her.
“Why, indeed,” murmured the Secretary, watching as the Marsian sun seemed to hang over the horizon, resisting day’s end. “I have wished, many times, that I did not carry this dreadful secret.” She turned to Jessamyn. “Don’t you see what it means for you? For me? For every citizen of Mars Colonial?”
Jess frowned. “It doesn’t mean anything for us. I mean, for Terrans, it’s definitely a problem.”
The Secretary General shook her head softly. “No, Jessamyn, it’s not only a Terran problem. Do you not see that we live as free Marsians today because we were silent when innocent blood was shed on Earth?” said Mei Lo. “I do not intend to pass this dark secret to my successor.”
Defying Mars (Saving Mars Series-2) Page 7
