The Oceans of Mars

by Tiffany Weems

  Patricia walked around the corner. “You went through a bit of trouble to get me down here.”

  “It really was nothing of grand expense on my part. It is far simpler to control everyone and everything from as far away as possible. Keep people guessing. That is what sparks panic, the unknown.”

  “Is that what you want? Panic? That seems a little too simple for you. This group of losers left everything they knew hoping to find a better life on a planet they’ve never seen before. Panic is what they do best.”

  Lance didn’t seem amused. “Maybe you should take a seat.”

  Patricia looked around the room for the first time. They were in one of the hydroponic chambers. There were plants hanging from the ceiling, growing from the floor, and even some that mysteriously were growing out of the walls. In the center of the room there was a small row of three desks connected together where presumably the people who worked down there were supposed to take down their observations for the day.

  She approached the desks calmly, knife still out in front of her. It wasn’t until she was within reach that she noticed the woman tied up on the floor. She wasn’t dead. That seemed an odd choice for Lance. Patricia bent down to help her.

  “Sit in the chair. She’s fine.”

  Patricia looked up. “You can untie her. She’s not going to do anything.”

  Lance smiled. It was that twisted smile that almost reminded her of Beasley. It only made her hate him more. “She’s leverage. Take a seat or she will be beyond help.”

  Patricia took another look at the young woman. Attached to her arm was some sort of electronic injection device. That was enough to make Patricia listen. She took a seat.

  “Good. I knew you would be obedient.”

  He was really making it difficult for her not to kill him. She clutched the knife tighter in her hand, almost shaking from the force. She waited for him to speak again, but he seemed to be deep in thought. “So I hear you work for my husband now. That seemed like a good fit for your talents. Did the new teacher place you?”

  Lance shook his head. “After you were rightfully placed in incarceration, the new teacher felt fit to let us choose our future positions. The only one who didn’t get a choice was Teral, that poor soul.”

  “Who chose for him?”

  “His father.”

  Patricia shook her head. “Out of curiosity, where did he end up?”

  Lance didn’t answer her question. “I’ve wondered a very long time what it would be like when you were finally brought back to our plane. You were the only one capable of seeing through me.”

  “You seemed to be obsessed with me. That’s not healthy Lance.”

  “Do you know why I like this room?”

  Patricia shrugged. “The plants speak crazy?”

  “Because down here there is silence when I need silence. Down here there is life that brings about more life. And down here there can be death if death is desired.”

  Patricia narrowed her eyes. “What are you going to do?”

  “Nothing that wouldn’t bring about the betterment of mankind. This mission was failed from the start. Then, to assume that a civilization which has maintained its standards for so long and managed to send us a distress call would ever accept our feeble attempt at help is not only ludicrous, but is absurdly arrogant. I am just trying to do the right thing.”

  “Is your plan to kill everyone of board? You understand that includes you as well, correct?”

  “No, not everyone on board deserves to die. I am weeding out the unfortunate, the low level, the dead weight. Such as yourself and your foolish husband.”

  Patricia bit her tongue.

  “There are several ways for me to accomplish such a thing. Water filtration systems on board appeared to be the most likely candidate at first. Then the systems began to spontaneously acquire various issues. There were too many people busy trying to fix the bugs. They’d have noticed if sensors were sounding for high levels.”

  “Shouldn’t you be able to control that with your tattoo?”

  Lance smiled. “When did you first see it? When I got sick? I knew you wouldn’t be able to help yourself.”

  “You make it sound so wrong.” Patricia glanced sideways at the girl on the ground who was unconscious. It suddenly occurred to her who she was. “Cubina.”

  “Yes. A gifted student who just missed trees, plants and anything other than gray walls. Can’t blame her for wanting to work down here.”

  Patricia started to stand, but saw Lance make a move for his chest. So she sat back down.

  “The place has brought about several ideas. My reach can only go so far. There are things, few I admit, that I do not possess the power to take hold of. But those are the things that I wanted to focus on. For those things were not easily manipulated by others as well. Such as these.” He waved his hands around the room.

  Patricia was beginning to understand how he intended to weed them out, more or less. “How selective can you be with this method?”

  “There were a few options in that area. I have opted for a fun one, one that has taken me years to manipulate until the system became almost a second nature.”

  When he didn’t continue, Patricia sighed. “Seriously? You’re just going to say that much and let me sit here wondering what you’ve done.”

  “If I had intended for you to know my entire design, then you would know it by now. Just know you are not among the saved.”

  “I’m kind of happy for that, if it means you’re still going to be alive.” Patricia smiled. “And, again out of curiosity, what makes you think for one second that those aliens are going to let you through the barriers with a ship full of dead bodies. I’m willing to bet they’ll be able to see through you.”

  “We’ll see. Well, I’ll see. You won’t be able to, with any luck.”

  17

  He Got Away

  Patricia found it difficult to keep herself calm and seated the longer she was with Lance. Cubina had woken up at some point, though Patricia wasn’t exactly sure when, and every time she glanced at the poor young woman, Cubina would almost plead with her eyes. She wanted to help, but she had to be smart about it. Lance wasn’t going to hesitate to kill someone else.

  “What are you waiting for? If you are going to do something, just do it already.”

  Lance smiled. “In a few minutes, they will find Susanna Creighton in her bed no longer among the living. The captain will order a look at the camera footage and they’ll see you coming out of her room. Dear old Creighton will finally be aware that you are among the living once more. Then they’ll follow you down here. You have minutes before they’ll kill you. And they will.”

  Patricia glanced behind her to the door. “Minutes. Then I guess I don’t have much time to waste.” She dropped to the ground and grabbed the needle. With a quick yank, she ripped it from the device. Patricia rose back up. “That was easy.” She threw the syringe as hard as she could into the jungle of plants that surrounded them.

  “What are you going to do?”

  Patricia ran right for him, hurdling the desks and landing in the middle of one of the plants. Lance moved sideways. She gathered herself and grabbed hold of the front of his shirt.

  He smiled.

  She saw him move his arm, but she was too slow to stop him. He pushed something on his chest. The room was plunged into darkness. With one hand groping around in the dark, she clutched the knife tighter, ready to use it whenever she found him. But he didn’t appear. There was only plants and as she felt around, the rustling that she was making drowned any sound he might have caused.

  After several minutes Patricia was sure he was gone. She stopped moving. The knife dropped to her side. Then the lights flickered back on. Lance was nowhere to be seen.

  She kicked the nearest plant, causing it to bend and a few leaves to fall off. Then she turned around and was met with five guards already in the room. She glanced behind them at the open door, knowing there were more in the
hall beyond. How many would she have to fight to get out of there? How many would it take to bring her down?

  “You didn’t happen to see a six foot tall asshole run by you, did you?” she asked.

  The guards raised their weapons.

  “I didn’t think so.” She looked at the five. They were relatively easy targets for her. She just needed to take them out fast without spending too much energy. Then, with a glance down at her hand, Patricia decided it was better not to kill them. She shut the blade and tucked the knife away inside her shirt. “Well, I know what you think I did, but maybe we can talk this out.”

  Their weapons charged. The steady hum filled the room.

  “Okay. It was worth a try. Just remember, I really don’t want to hurt you, but this is going to hurt. Probably more for some than others.”

  The guards fired. Patricia dove behind the desk. Their shots were hitting the other side, causing it get warmer with each one. She couldn’t stay there forever. Were any of the shots hitting Cubina?

  She waited for it, the moment that the majority of their guns needed to recharge. The hums died down and that was her cue. She shot up from behind the desks and made a move for the two on the far right side. She grabbed the first and threw him into the wall. She kicked the second one into the third and turned to the first, knocking him out with a single punch to the head.

  The third guy threw his gun on the ground and pushed the second guy off of him. He ran at Patricia. She casually stepped out of the way, tripping him. He fell to the ground. She kicked him in the head.

  Someone grabbed her from behind. That was a mistake. She grabbed his arm, pulled it up onto her shoulder and pulled it down, flipping the guard over onto his back.

  The other three had charged their weapons. A shot hit her shoulder. She heard and saw it coming, but she never felt it. That was good. She approached the fourth guard, parried the gun away and punched him a few times before he fell. Then she wrestled the gun away. She fired the weapon at the other two, hitting them squarely in the chest. They both fell. Then, with a quick glance back, she fired at the only guard still awake, number three, who was struggling to get back to his feet.

  “I think I used to be better at this,” she said. She looked to the desk, but Cubina was gone. Lance must have taken her with him.

  Patricia grabbed one other gun, tucking it away. Then, with a deep breath, she left the room. There were two more guards standing just outside the room on either side of the doorway. She fired at the one on the left and grabbed the head of the one to the right, slamming it against the wall. They were out within seconds. Maybe she hadn’t completely lost her touch.

  Patricia crept down the hall to the elevator, peeking into each room in case Lance was nearby. He wasn’t. Where could he have gone? And why take Cubina?

  She rounded the bend. The elevator was in sight, but there was one more door. She held the gun firmly in front of her as she activated the door. She waited until it was fully open to jump around the corner. Her arms lowered. The walls were lined with cold cases of biological hazards and tubes of what appeared to be blood and plenty of other things that Patricia couldn’t identify. A strong smell engrossed the room, enveloping her nose, emanating from the surfaces. In the center were two shiny tables that had different medical equipment on each.

  Whatever they were doing in that room, Patricia knew immediately that it was the reason the floor was so heavily guarded. She also knew that Capena had planned for another eventuality far before they knew there would be a need. Sure, she had anticipated weapons again. That was a given, but biological hazards that would wipe out their entire crew within days was a new level.

  She quietly turned around to be met with a guard.

  “When I heard the report, I wondered if this would be where I would find you.”

  Patricia knew the voice, but she had a hard time placing it. “I don’t want to be here. I’d like to leave. Do you mind?”

  “I hate doing this, but I’m going to need to take you in.”

  Patricia squinted at the guard, trying to get a look at the younger version. No such luck. “I don’t think you realize what you’re up against. Maybe you should just back away slowly.”

  “My father said you’d be hard to capture. He didn’t think I’d be up to the task and so I was ordered to remain on the upper deck with him. My father never did trust me to do anything right.”

  Then it clicked. “Teral, this is not the time to try to prove your father wrong. Maybe you could choose a different battle. Do you even like this job? Is this what the captain thought you’d really be best at.”

  “I was given an assignment like everyone else on board. Are you going to come quietly?”

  “I don’t want to hurt you, Teral.”

  “Then don’t.”

  “But if you take one step toward me, I’m not going to have a choice.”

  Teral seemed to hesitate a moment. Then he reached for his holster and took a step toward Patricia.

  She ran forward, ramming into him. Teral sailed across the hall into the wall, but not hard enough. He bounced back, regained his footing and ran toward Patricia. She leapt sideways and kicked him in the back. Teral stumbled. He turned around, with his gun raised.

  “I’ll shoot you if I have to,” he said.

  Patricia smiled. “Everyone’s tried today, but I’m still standing. Maybe you need a new tactic.”

  He fired. She dodged the first bullet. The second must have hit her because she lost track of the light, but she couldn’t tell where it had hit. He just fired over and over again until the gun needed to be charged. Missing her every time; he really was a bad shot. Teral tossed the weapon aside. “I’ll fight you.”

  “You don’t want to do that.”

  “I can take you.”

  “Teral, I’ve lived a dangerous, hard life. I could kill you and probably would lose very little sleep over it, but I don’t want to do that. Just step aside and let me go.”

  Teral shook his head. “I kind of liked you as a teacher. You were at least better than that gascon who followed you, but I have a job to do, so I will not step aside. Not now when you are a danger to this crew and our mission to begin anew on an uninhabited planet. I am asking as a former student for you to come quietly.”

  “Teral, your father is wrong about me. I didn’t do any of this and I’m especially not responsible for your mother.”

  “What about my mother?”

  Patricia bit her tongue. “Never mind.”

  He ran at her, fists raised.

  Patricia didn’t hesitate. She grabbed his fists, pulling them down to the side and head butted him as hard as she could. She then followed up with a right hook to the side of his head. He fell to the ground unconscious. “I really am sorry.” Patricia grabbed his weapon from the floor and began again for the elevator.

  The elevator doors were open, as they had been when she was lured down there. Should she try the other one? Would it really matter? Patricia had made it that far, she figured wherever it was set to take her, she’d find Lance, the person she most wanted to see at that moment.

  So she stepped on board and watched as the door closed. When it opened again, Patricia found herself back on the sixth level. That seemed a bit obvious. They would have expected her to go there. Maybe the elevator trick wasn’t Lance that time; maybe the captain had ordered it. She stayed on board a minute, but the door refused to close. She would have to get off.

  Patricia took a deep breath. The floor was nearly deserted. There was one person who seemed disinterested in Patricia as she stormed past in a tizzy. She walked the oval hall, searching for where Lance wanted her to go, until, at last, she stumbled across an open door. Her own door. Patricia walked into her room. Seated on the bed were John and Troubalene. Neither of them appeared to be hurt, but both definitely appeared crossed. On the floor, was Cubina, still tied up. And standing just inside was Lance. His arms were crossed in front of his chest. In one hand, Patricia could make
out a needle, probably full of the deadly virus that he had used on some of the crew.

  “That took you a while,” Lance said.

  “I had a few obstacles.”

  “Still, for someone of your background, I had expected something a bit more impressive. And, tell me, how many of them are still among the living?”

  “If I did my job right, all of them,” Patricia said though she was sure that a couple were probably not.

  “Well, I had expected better from you. Dead is what we were going for.”

  “Dead is what you’re going to be.”

  Lance shook his head. “Now, now. Try not to make threats that you are unable to back up properly. I believe evidence to the contrary has been provided on this day.” He then unfolded his arms and held the syringe high in the air. “Not to mention, the countless lives here that you will decide the fate of.”

  Patricia looked at the three others in the room. Cubina was struggling to break free of her binds. Lance and Troubalene, however, appeared to be hardly moving. She was sure with the three of them, that they could take Lance down in a second. Why weren’t they fighting back?

  Troubalene’s strained as she spoke. “He has us tethered. Part of the chest device.”

  Patricia narrowed her eyes. “Well your plan worked. I’ve been framed for the murders on board. I’ve hurt more crew members to escape. So why do any of this? You’re in the clear. Or at least you were. Two of the first level officers are in this room, seeing that you’re responsible for all of this. I’m in the clear.”

  “You would be, if either of these two had any credibility with the captain. He won’t believe them.”

  Patricia rolled her eyes. “And Cubina. Would he believe her?”

  Lance smiled. “I knew you’d be tough to break. That’s why I like you. You’re a challenge.”

  “Why am I challenge?”

  “Your past. Earth toughened you. Destroyed you.”