Jann laughed. It was the first time she had done so since returning to Earth.
The journey up to the old vineyard was short, they were there in less than twenty-five minutes. Teri had been booted out of Jann’s vehicle and Freddy installed in her place. As they traveled they pointed out places where people they knew had lived. Some were still there, but it seemed to Jann that almost everyone she had ever known here had either died or moved on.
The vineyard itself had formerly been part of a ranch that had been split up and sold off in lots. Her parents had come into some money and had had the romantically insane idea to move out of the hustle and bustle of the big city and engage in the agrarian lifestyle. But through a combination of naiveté, lack of knowledge and plain bad luck, that dream slowly faded into the harsh reality of subsistence fruit farming.
They turned off the main road through the gates to the property, and up the long drive to the house. Jann could see the effects of years of neglect. The plantings were parched and many were dead from lack of water. The olive trees seemed to have fared best and they were substantially bigger than Jann remembered. Already there were several security personnel dotted around. Presumably an advance party to check the place out before allowing Jann to set foot in such an open and unprotected space. Overhead she could hear the choppers circle around.
The SUV crunched its way across the gravel driveway and came to a halt in front of the house. Through the journey here she had rested the urn beside her on the back seat, cradling it with one arm. Now that they had stopped she brought it up and placed it in her lap and held it with both hands. The door was opened for her by a young and efficient security agent who stood back, motionless, one hand on the door handle, eyes darting this way and that as he waited for her to alight.
She turned to Freddy. “This…” she nodded at the urn, “…I have to do on my own.”
Freddy nodded back. “I understand.”
She stepped out into the afternoon sun, and made her way around the side of the house, through a small wooded area and down to the edge of the river that bordered the property. It was by far the best part of the place, and the reason that her parents had fallen in love with it. They spent many happy days here, fishing and swimming, when the river was high enough. She kicked off her shoes and waded in to the center of the stream. It was cool and refreshing. She lifted the lid on the urn and sprinkled the ashes into the water. It had been her father’s wish, a romantic to the end. Perhaps he had some notion that he would be washed downstream and find his way into the vines that filled this valley. Maybe next year, when the new season wine was being drunk, the vintners and oenophiles would sniff its notes, taste its flavors and declare it an excellent vintage.
She stood there for a while watching the ash pool and eddy and slowly drift off with the gentle currents of the stream. She looked up from the water and took one last look around the home she grew up in. She stepped out of the stream, grabbed her shoes and walked back up to the waiting cars.
Freddy was standing outside looking around when she got back. He waved when he saw her and then looked at her intently, perhaps trying to gauge her state. Careful to not say the wrong thing to her at this emotional time.
She waved back. “Mission accomplished. My father now sleeps with the fishes.”
She sensed Freddy was somewhat taken aback by the glibness of her statement. She smiled. “It’s what he would have said. He had many faults but at least he could see the lighter side of life. It was probably what sustained him.”
“I can see what he liked about this place.” Freddy scanned the landscape again.
“I can see the attraction, tending the vines, pruning, harvesting. Bringing life out of the ground sure beats the hell out of putting the dead into it.”
He looked back at Jann. “Oh… sorry, I didn’t mean any disrespect.”
“None taken.” It was now Jann’s turn to take a more studied look around the fields. “Why don’t you do it then, you know, get yourself a small plot, live the dream?”
“I would love to but… I don’t have the money for it, and then there’s the family business, commitments, duty. You know.”
“Well then you can have this place.” Jann spread her hands out.
Freddy looked at her and laughed. “I don’t have the finances for anything like this.”
“Freddy, I’m not selling it to you. I’m giving it to you.”
He stood there in silence for a moment. Jann could see he was trying to figure out what her angle was, what trick she was playing on him.
“Freddy, I see the same thing in your eyes, that same look my father had. You would cherish this place, wouldn’t you?”
Freddy was looking around again, but this time she could sense he was taking stock. Perhaps seeing what planting needed to be done, which areas could be expanded, how new irrigation could be set up. He was hooked. Then he shook his head. “It wouldn’t feel right, Jann.”
“I want you to have it, Freddy. It would make me happy, and my father, to know it was in good hands.”
He just stood there speechless, for a few moments. “What about you? I mean this is your home.”
Jann looked around again, slowly this time. “For a long time I thought of this place, this Earth, as my home. But now as I look around, all I see is what’s not there anymore, what’s gone. I now understand that home is not about place, it’s about people. Coming here finally made me realize—my home is Mars.”
Extract from the First Book of Martian Poetry, by Xenon Hybrid, President of Mars.
Extravehicular activity (EVA)
Enclosed, encased, encapsulated
No sound, save for breath and beat
No touch nor taste nor scent
Senses reflected
Like radar echo
Returned unanswered
By mylar and metal
To see, but not to be
To know through proxy only
This world, this planet
This Mars.
Reproduced by kind permission of the Government of Mars and The Greater Martian Territories.
Author’s Note
I hope you enjoyed reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it for you. If you did, then please leave me a review. Just a simple ‘liked it’ would be great, it helps a lot.
To receive updates on future books in the series, please join my Readers Group or connect with me at www.geraldmkilby.com. You will also get a link to download my techno-thriller REACTION and the follow up novella EXTRACTION for FREE.
About the Author
G. M. Kilby grew up on a diet of Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clark and Frank Herbert. This developed into a taste for Ian M. Banks, Stephen R. Donaldson and everything ever written by Michael Crichton. He is currently working his way through the entire canon of Neal Stevenson.
Understandable then, that he should choose science fiction as his weapon of choice when entering into the fray of storytelling.
REACTION is his first novel and is very much in the ‘old school’ techno-thriller style. Whereas, the COLONY MARS series, is more of a hard scifi feast.
He lives in the city of Dublin, Ireland, in the same neighborhood as Bram Stoker. And can be sometimes seen tapping away on a small laptop in Bram’s Cafe, with his dog Loki.
You can connect with G.M. Kilby at:
geraldmkilby
www.geraldmkilby.com
Published by GMK, 2017
Copyright © 2017 by Gerald M. Kilby All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed, or electronic form without express written permission. Please do not participate in, or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies or events is entirely coincident
al.
This book has been edited for US English.
Version us1.1
For specials and updates on upcoming books, please join my Readers Group at www.geraldmkilby.com.
You will also find a link to download my techno-thriller REACTION and the follow up novella EXTRACTION for FREE.
Colony Three Mars (Colony Mars Book 3) Page 19
