Colony Mars Ultimate Edition

by Gerald M. Kilby

  Jann looked back, they were just standing there staring at her as she passed. She nodded at them. This action resulted in their looking amazed and they bowed even lower.

  “Come, just ignore them, this way.”

  They continued on through a short tunnel lined with pipes that finally opened out into a large cave. The floor was sandy and the roof bright, but in the middle was something Jann never thought she would see on Mars. It was a large lake of flowing water.

  “Wow.”

  “Told you.”

  “This is incredible.”

  The sandy floor of the cavern extended out to meet the water, like a beach. The lake itself seemed to disappear into a cloud of mist off in the distance. The cavern roof was peppered with long stalactites, and she could hear the water dripping down from their tips.

  “The aero-thermal activity is more intense the farther in you go.” Kayden pointed towards the back of the cavern. “That’s what creates the mist. It’s colder overhead so the moisture condenses and drips down, creating these huge stalactites.”

  “Like rain.”

  “Yes, like rain. On Mars.”

  At the edge of the sandy beach a small jetty with a floating pontoon tethered to the end extended into the lake. All along the water’s edge seating had been set up.

  “Is this where you go for a vacation?”

  Kayden laughed. “Yeah, you could say that. Come, let’s get onboard the pontoon and we can see the cavern from the middle of the lake.”

  They walked across to the jetty and Kayden held his hand out for Jann as she stepped onto the pontoon. It was flat and square with a low handrail on all sides. They hunkered down and Kayden picked up a paddle. “Here, you grab this, I’ll cast off.”

  Jann moved closer to the center of the pontoon, where it felt more stable.

  Two guards stood stiff and silent, watching. They became slightly more animated when Jann and Kayden cast off.

  “It’s okay, we’ll only be a short while.” Kayden shouted over to them. They relaxed.

  “What’s with them?”

  “Just paddle. We’ll take it out to the middle.”

  They moved with a graceful silence, the only sounds were the paddles hitting the water and the drip-drip from the cavern roof.

  “Have you found any life in here?”

  “You mean any microbial Martians swimming around?”

  “Yes. It would seem ideal, water, heat and lots of complex chemical compounds.”

  “Sorry to disappoint, but no, nothing.”

  Jann looked back to see how far they had come. They had skirted the edge of the lake, around a rocky outcrop, and were now out of sight of the guards. They slowly paddled out from the edge, towards the middle of the steamy lake. Then a thought struck Jann. She knew next to nothing about Kayden, or his intentions.

  She looked down into the water. “Is this toxic?”

  “Yeah, but don’t worry, it won’t kill you if you fall in, as long as you get out quickly. That said, you could still drown in there. Hell of a way to go, drowning on Mars.”

  Jann withdrew her paddle. “If it’s okay with you, let’s head back, I’ve seen enough.”

  “Just a bit more, keep paddling.”

  She reluctantly resumed, but kept a tight grip on the paddle—in case she needed it as a weapon.

  Mist began to envelop them before Kayden finally reversed his stroke. The pontoon came to a halt. “Okay, I think this should be far enough.”

  “Those guards back there,” he nodded in the direction of the beach. “Are Vanji’s eyes and ears. And what I have to say to you is not for them to hear. That’s why I took the precaution of bringing you out here.” Jann gripped her paddle.

  “We don’t have much time, so I’ll be quick. Here it is. We have a plan to help you escape.”

  Jann was not sure if this was a trick or some test of Vanji’s.

  “Escape?”

  “It may come as a surprise to you, but some of us don’t like what’s going on here. We want out, and that’s where you come in. How would you like to get back to Earth?”

  “Are you serious?”

  “Yes.”

  Jann paused for a moment. “Go on… I’m listening.”

  “We know that the Odyssey transit craft is still in orbit, still functioning. And that the MAV is intact, it can still be used.”

  “It has no fuel tanks, they were all destroyed.”

  “We know the ISA sent you information on how to manufacture them. So we have everything we need to escape, am I right?”

  Jann wondered how much Kayden really knew. “In theory, yes. They’ve been fabricated, but they still need to be filled, checked and transported.”

  “How long would that take?”

  Jann shrugged. “I don’t know, at least a sol.”

  Kayden considered this, as if he were recalculating his escape plan based on this new information from Jann. He stayed silent, thinking.

  Jann interrupted his thoughts. “How do you propose we get out of here? Just sneak out at night? I don’t think we’d get very far.”

  “Look, it can be done.” Kayden seemed irritated. “But we need you, as you are the only one who knows the launch sequence.”

  Jann thought about this for a moment. Escaping undetected might be possible—with the right help. And Kayden certainly fit that bill. After all, Boateng had done it. But what Kayden was suggesting regarding the MAV was reckless. They would first need to get back to Colony One, then transport fuel tanks back to the MAV, connect them, check all systems and then hope that it all worked when the button was pressed. It was insane. There was no guarantee that the MAV would not simply blow up with them inside. Considering it had sat there for three years it would need time to do all the proper preliminary checks. Furthermore, there was also a time issue in coordinating with the Odyssey orbiter, it all needed to be carefully set up. Perhaps Kayden didn’t fully understand this.

  On the other hand, Kayden was offering her a way out of here. As for getting off the planet, well… she could just play along with that—for the moment.

  He looked over at the edge of the lake. “We can’t stay here too long, the hybrids will be twitching. Are you in?”

  “Okay, where do I sign?”

  “Excellent.” He clapped his hands together. “Let’s head back. We’ll find another opportunity to talk more.”

  They returned to the jetty. The guards had not moved. But Kayden was right, they were twitching a lot more than usual. They stood face to face, looking directly at each other, seemingly not noticing Jann and Kayden stepping off the raft and onto the jetty. “What are they doing?” Jann whispered.

  “I honestly don’t know. They all started doing this weird staring match with each other a few months back. Strange isn’t it?”

  “Has anyone asked them what they’re doing?”

  “They say they’re just passing the time.”

  “Really?”

  “You don’t need to concern yourself with it. Best to just ignore them.”

  They made their way back to the upper galleries and Jann was escorted to her room. No more was spoken of the plan. She assumed they would meet again under some other pretext and the details would be outlined. In the meantime all she could do was wait. She sat on the small seat and looked out over the main colony. She felt her pocket for the object she had been given. It was gone. “Crap, where is it?”

  She searched the room frantically, around the floor, on the desk, and through the pockets of the few clothes she had been given. It was gone, along with the note. “Damn, they must have found it.”

  She thought that possibly the beta who brought her food might get into trouble for it. Jann felt she had let her down, she should have taken better care of it. Too late now, she thought.

  She sat in silence for a while, and watched the to-and-fro of the betas working all across the cavern floor. They moved in random patterns, in and out through the vegetation, planting, harvesting, tendin
g. It had a hypnotic rhythm and Jann felt the stress being gently expelled from her body. Maybe now that Kayden had given her hope she could stand down, so to speak. She moved her gaze away from the betas and started to observe the hybrids. Before encountering the strange behavior today at the lakeside, she had not given them much thought, save for how she could take one down. Now though, she began to notice them, pick them out from the other colonists. From what she could see they made up around ten percent of the colony’s population. They seemed to do nothing except monitor the betas, always silent, always watchful. But every now and then two or three would group together and do that same weird face to face communicating, their facial muscles twitching. Anytime this happened the betas would distance themselves. It was bizarre.

  What was Vanji really creating? They were human, that much was true. But they clearly displayed traits incompatible with human behavior. They were a different species, a step up on the evolutionary tree. It was how a Neanderthal might have felt observing Homo sapiens communicating. They were the same—but different.

  Then something extraordinary happened. The betas had all congregated in one area, just below her, and in unison, they all looked up—directly at her. Just for a moment, then they dispersed.

  She jumped up. “Holy shit, can they see me?” It happened so fast that she wasn’t sure it really occurred. Maybe she was hallucinating? Jann gripped the back of the chair to steady herself. “What the hell was that?” She retreated to her bed and curled up. She could take no more of this place. She just had to get out. The sooner the better.

  11

  Recycling

  Jann tossed and turned, her sleep was fitful. She awoke to the shadow of a beta moving in the room. It was morning and they had come to bring her food, but it was not May, the woman that had come before, it was someone different. Jann sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. “Where’s May?”

  The beta kept his head down and did not look directly at her. “She has been… eh, reassigned. Please eat. You will be required at the council meeting shortly.” He turned and walked out. Council meeting? she wondered. Finally she was going to meet the rest of the original colonists. Should be interesting.

  Jann got up and sat at the desk, eating and looking out across the main colony. She watched the betas going about their business, half expecting to witness a repeat of the previous evening’s occurrence. But there seemed to be a different dynamic going on. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but a different mood prevailed.

  The door finally opened and the two guards stepped in. One spoke, “Come with us, please.” It was the first time she had ever heard them speak. It was deep and sonorous, and had a mellow soothing quality to it. Jann was so surprised that all she could do by way of a reply was stare wide-eyed and nod. They all moved down the long corridor, one in front of her, one behind, to a doorway near to where Vanji had first shown her the colony. They entered unannounced. Along both sides of a long stone table sat the Council. At its head was Vanji. Behind him was a glass wall with doors opening out onto a terrace. She could see the cavern roof in the background.

  “Ah, Dr. Malbec, please be seated.” Vanji pointed at a vacant seat at the far end of the long table.

  The two guards took up position either side of her. Jann scanned the council members. They all wore similar off-white clothing. But each had a different color patch sewn on the breast. Vanji, however, wore a purple robe of some kind, perhaps as an indication of his rank and power. She noticed many of the council wore a patch of the same color. Jan wondered if these were the geneticists, presumably the highest ranked citizens of the Colony Two social hierarchy. They sat close to Vanji. She also spotted Kayden. He was closer to her and had a blue patch on his tunic. He didn’t make eye contact with her.

  “I have something to show you,” Vanji began. From a pocket he took out the object that Jann had been given by the beta on that first sol. He carefully set it on the table. “We found this in your room. We would like to know how you came by it.”

  “It was in the fruit basket.” There was no point in trying to hide it, Jann reckoned they knew already. But her response set off a ripple of murmurs around the table. Vanji raised a hand to silence them.

  “Do you know what it is?”

  “I’m guessing it’s a replica of the beehive hut, out past the dunes near Colony One.”

  “You are correct. But it is also evidence of something we have begun to suspect.”

  “Which is?”

  “Which is the existence of a creation myth amongst the betas.” This brought more animated murmuring from the council members.

  “This must be stamped out!” One member slapped the table. “We can not allow this to gain traction.”

  Vanji raised a hand and turned back to Jann. “You see, betas retain fragments of the memories of their alpha when they are birthed. Why? We are not sure. But that is irrelevant, the fact is they do. Now, this is very useful as they can be conditioned much faster and trained to utilize the technical know-how of their forbearer. But they also have memories, dreams, that become more lucid over time and these memories can drive them to seek out the past. It became a creation myth and it has the potential to undermine everything we are doing here.”

  “That’s a bummer,” said Jann.

  “You may scoff, Dr. Malbec, but this concerns you, more that you think.”

  “How so?”

  “Because rumor has it that they have a clandestine leader. One that unites them. Some say it’s a deity, a god, if you will. If this leader were to become strong… well, let’s just say the harmony of the colony would be in jeopardy.”

  “So what’s that got to do with me?”

  He picked up the object from the table, examined it for a moment, and put it back down slowly.

  “We believe that you are this deity they worship.”

  Jann laughed. “Maybe I should be honored.”

  That sent the council apoplectic. “Quiet!” Vanji shouted above the clamor. They quieted down. Jann sensed an ugly mood developing.

  “You need to understand that these dreams are of the past, of Colony One. They are becoming obsessed with it. They seek it, like a Mecca. It will drive them crazy. And you represent that to them. A visitor from Colony One is like a god descending on the multitude.”

  Jann was silent this time.

  “She needs to be recycled.”

  “Yes, this situation is too dangerous.”

  “It has to be done.”

  “We should never have let her in here in the first place.”

  The table was erupting around her, they wanted her head on a plate.

  Vanji raised a hand again and they settled down. “Kayden, what is your opinion? You have been very quiet so far.”

  Jann looked at the Head of Hydro, her fate totally in his hands. It seemed like an age ago when he had given her hope, a way to escape; now everything had changed.

  Kayden looked down and fumbled with the sleeve of his garment. “In the light of these revelations, it would seem the only option is recycling.”

  “What!” She had been betrayed. She jumped up and her arm was grabbed by one of the guards. But Jann twisted fast and buried two knuckles into the guard’s throat. He dropped; she knew she could take them down. She bolted out the door and into the corridor, but she didn’t get far. She felt a sting in her neck and touched a small needle. She pulled it out and threw it on the floor. But it had done its job. Her head felt heavy and she quickly lost all control of her body. She collapsed on the floor, face down, Her eyes closed and she lost consciousness.

  12

  The Tank

  In the time after conception, cells divide and multiply, growing exponentially more numerous. It is from this clump of living matter that all of which defines our biological makeup stems. Hence the term stem cells. They possess within them the power to become anything and everything. The genius of Vanji was not the ability to choose what was created, humanity already possessed this knowledge.
Nor was it the ability to speed up this process, although that too was a major breakthrough. No, it was the ability to reverse engineer.

  How to take a clump of stem cells and turn them into an organ was known. But to take an organ and turn it into stem cells was knowledge of a totally different order of magnitude. This was the genetic alchemy that he controlled. This ability to biologically recycle.

  It was Jann’s fate that soon, she too would experience this biological transformation. Like a zygote in the womb that needs nourishment and sustenance to grow and develop, so too does the body that is to be recycled. That is why subjects were submerged in the bio-tanks alive. And they were kept that way until the point at which they were biologically incapable of consciousness. But unlike a human that takes nine months to be fully viable, the reverse process was much quicker—it only took a month.

  Jann slowly became aware of conscious thought, like awakening from a dream. But she existed only in her mind, and so began to focus and tentatively assess the extent of her physical existence. There was none.

  She felt a wave of panic rise up from deep within her core. She had no physical sensation, no sight, no sound, nothing to define the limits of her body. She was pure thought, nothing more. Jesus, what have they done to me? Fear graduated to terror. She knew what was happening, she was slowly being biologically dissolved. How was this to end? How long would she be conscious of this horror? Hours, sols, weeks?

  Time ceased to have meaning. Her thoughts could have occupied a few seconds or an eternity, she had no way of knowing. She felt like she was floating out in the vacuum of space, except there were no stars to orient her. She simply existed in nothingness. There was no pain, at least that was something. But to endure like this, knowing what was happening to her, was a slow descent into a tortured insanity. In the end, there is no more terrifying a place than your own mind.

  A vibration. Was she dreaming? No, she felt it again, slight, but it was there, all around her. How could she feel it? She probed the extremities of her body and began to sense her physical being. It grew in intensity and she forced herself to move some part of her. With every fiber of her being she bent her will to the task, to lift a finger, to open an eye, anything. Then the dam burst and she was released from her viscous sarcophagus in a deluge. She broke through to the other side. Voices. She could hear voices, distant, indistinct. Vague lights swam across her vision and she felt her throat being ripped from the inside. It was the tube being pulled out. She gasped and spat and retched. Her body temperature plummeted and pain bound itself to every nerve. Voices. More voices.