The backbone of the station consists of a long skeletal truss section, terminating at one end with a plutonium-239 nuclear cryogenic propulsion system. This provides both the five thousand degree heat required to propel vaporized hydrogen out through the engines, and also electrical power for the entire station. Forward of this power plant is rigged a large diameter disk. At first glance this might look to be an effort to shield the rest of the station from the reactor core, and to some extent it performs this function. However, its main purpose is to house the secondary EMDrive system. A bizarre device, whose function is firmly rooted in the weirdness of quantum physics. Where the cryogenic propulsion system could trace its lineage back to the middle of the twentieth century, the EMDrive is very much a twenty-first century creation. Yet, compared to its older chemical cousin, it produces a feeble amount of thrust. Nonetheless, being electric it can run non-stop, and so can accelerate the spacecraft way beyond anything that a conventional rocket engine could hope to achieve. It is the engine of choice for all solar system craft, and the main reason that the colony on Mars, as well as the mining of the asteroid belt, could be accomplished.
Further along the station’s central truss sits a constellation of tanks, wrapped around it like a bracelet. After these, the truss becomes sparse and skeletal, with nothing other than a few dish antennae to break up its visual continuity, until it finally terminates at a large spherical structure, comprised of several docking ports for transport craft. Currently two of these were occupied with small craft that made periodic commuter trips up and down to the planet’s surface.
As impressive as all this engineering is, by far the most spectacular aspect of the station is the one hundred meter wide rotating torus, anchored just aft of the docking sphere. Its outer rim rotates at approximately three times a minute, giving its occupants a very comfortable Earthlike gravity. Along this rim are housed all manner of labs, maintenance bays, conference rooms, recreation facilities and accommodations.
It was within one of the better appointed accommodation pods that Kane Butros, Second Director of the Mars Alliance Scientific Survey, was currently viewing a video recording of a very disgruntled colony courier giving a G2 unit a good kicking.
“Who else knows about this?” said Kane.
“I thought it would be better to keep it to ourselves, for the moment,” said Blake Derringer, his security advisor.
“Good, keep it that way. I cannot stress enough how delicate the current situation is. A good deal of the MASS board are already spooked by this rover accident. We can’t risk any further cause for suspicion.” He looked back at the image of the courier on screen.
“So what the hell is going on here?”
“Apparently her G2 unit blew a fuse and they got lost while delivering a package to HQ.”
“Well maybe they did?”
“I don’t think so, have a look at this.” Blake moved the video forward. Now on screen they could see both the courier and the robot inside the enclosure for the EVA suit. The robot seemed to be accessing the suit’s diagnostics. The courier was talking.
“Any sound, can we hear what she’s saying?”
“No, no sound, just video.”
Kane scratched his chin and looked at his comrade. “Not good.”
“My thoughts exactly,” said Blake.
“Who is she?” He looked up. “And I mean who is she really, and who’s put her up to this, and since when can a G2 unit run diagnostics on a EVA suit?”
“I already know who she is, and you’re not going to like this. She’s an ex-cop, came up here on sponsorship six months ago.”
“A cop?”
“Ex-cop.” Blake corrected.
“So who put her up to this? Someone has to be behind it.”
“It’s unclear. But let’s face it, we both know who’s been agitating for an investigation.”
“Malbec?”
“Exactly. She’s like a dog with a bone, won’t let go.”
“So she recruits some ex-cop colonist and all of a sudden we’ve got a problem.” Kane was looking back at the frozen images on screen.
“The question is, how much can she find out between now and the event?”
“Even if Malbec does suspect something, the council are against her, she’s powerless to influence anything.” Kane waved a dismissive hand at his security advisor.
“Don’t be so sure. From what I’ve heard of her reputation she’s capable of anything. Underestimating Dr. Jann Malbec has been the downfall of many better than us.”
“So what are you suggesting then, Blake?”
“Well, let’s not be too hasty, we’re so close now. We need to tread carefully.”
“Well, I say we get rid of this cop… and that droid.”
“I don’t like it, too risky. We’ve already managed to load all the blame for the last accident onto AsterX, any further unexplained deaths would just raise more suspicion. Remember, Kane, I advised against the first operation.”
“He had to go, you know that. There’s no way we could let a clone go back to Earth. You knew that when we set him up.”
“Still.”
“Still nothing.” Kane’s tone became more measured, his stance aggressive. “Now is not the time to grow a conscience. You know what’s at stake here, this needs to be dealt with, and soon.”
His tone lightened and he moved to wrap an avuncular arm around the shoulder of his colleague. “You know, Blake, sometimes to get out of a problem, one needs to get into it more. Just remember, she’s going to die anyway—they all are.”
“True.”
“Good. So we need to deal with this… courier problem, head on.”
Blake nodded his approval.
“You’ll need to go down there again and get this issue tidied up. And I need to keep the MASS board up here on track for the event. Already certain parties are spooked.” He lowered his voice again. “There’s talk of canceling.”
“I know, I heard. But it’s just talk.”
“Maybe, but let’s not give them any more excuses.”
Kane looked back down at the screen as the video replayed. “So what else do we know about her?”
“Just what’s in her official profile.” Blake tapped an icon on the table screen and several documents appeared. Kane began to scan through them.
“One other thing, might be useful—then again, it might not. Her boyfriend is none other than Christian Smithson—and he just dumped her.”
Kane lifted up his head and looked at his security advisor. “Interesting. But I can’t see how that’s going to help us.”
“Maybe not. But the word is she’s trying to track him down. Apparently he stole something from her, and she’s desperate to get it back.”
“Really? Maybe we’ve underestimated Christian. Speaking of which, where is he now?”
“In HQ, awaiting transport up here to the station. In fact it was he who brought this video to my attention.”
“Do I detect an effort on his part to curry favor with us?”
“My thoughts exactly, considering he just shopped his ex-girlfriend.”
“Hmmm… If that’s the case, then I think we should keep him closer to us while this mission... plays out.”
“I think it would be good to get him out of the way. However, we could let Mia Sorelli think he’s actually holed up somewhere… isolated, but accessible.”
“Ahhh… I see where you’re going now, very good, that could work.”
“She would try and head out there, she might even break a few rules along the way. Good opportunity for an accident.”
Kane smiled. “A bit like our other friend.”
“Exactly, and if we plan it right then we might be able to add more weight to AsterX’s technical incompetence.”
Kane thought for a moment. “Okay, do it. But get it done quick. We have a lot at stake here.”
Blake nodded. “Consider it done.”
14
Harsh Environment
Blake Derringer disliked being on the planet’s surface, he found himself ill suited to the one-third gravity environment. These frustrations emanated mainly from the disruption it caused to his finely honed physical training schedule. All that he had trained his body to do seemed to be pointless in this feeble gravity. What good was it, in a place where everybody could do exceptional physical feats, lift extraordinary weights, jump great heights.
The MASS space station, on the other hand, had an almost perfect one gee setup. The artificial gravity produced by centrifugal spin meant there was a fractional difference experienced between the upper and lower body. This had not hampered him in any way and most people on the station never even noticed it.
But he had not been brought here as security advisor to Kane Butros, so he could spend his time training. He was here to do those things that other people couldn’t, or simply wouldn’t, do. Wet work, as he liked to call it. Although in the strange and exotic environment of Mars, there was very little wet involved, such was the vast range of possible ways in which a person could die up here, the opportunities for creativity were endless, and it pleased him that he was practicing his craft in a hitherto unexplored arena.
There was also the money, of course. By the time he finished his contract and returned to Earth he would be very very wealthy, enough to retire and live the good life, several times over. But his work was not something he wished to retire from. It was an art form, in his mind—something that just gets better with age. So he put up with the one-third gravity and began to see it as yet another opportunity to express his creativity in his craft.
He had traveled down to the surface in one of the many MASS transports and had rendezvoused with a contact in the Industrial Sector. Having studied the requirements of the assignment, he devised a plan that should deflect attention away from the true nature of the unfolding crime. His contact had already furnished him with an ID as an AsterX maintenance technician, a passcode for their mainframe and a small thumb drive.
Blake made his way to Central Logistics using his newly acquired ID to gain access to the maintenance area. He kept his head down and spoke to no one, so as to attract as little attention as possible. After a while he made it to the maintenance airlock, donned an AsterX tech EVA suit and ventured out on to the planet’s surface. He was looking for the rover used by Mia Sorelli, and found it quickly, exactly where it was supposed to be, connected to the umbilical for Central Logistics. He needed to hurry now, as he only had a short window of opportunity in which to execute this part of the mission.
Entering the empty rover via the side airlock in the docking port, Blake removed his helmet and sat down in the cockpit. After a few minutes he had successfully accessed the rover’s main control system and uploaded the file contained on the thumb drive. With this phase of the setup now complete he needed to get moving so he would have a chance of accomplishing the second phase of the operation.
Seventeen minutes later Blake Derringer sat in the canteen in courier central surveying all the comings and goings. If the information he had been given was correct, then he shouldn’t have long to wait. His big fear was that he might be too late and have missed his opportunity. But just when he began to harbor doubts about the validity of his intel, his mind was put at rest at the sight of Mia Sorelli entering the busy canteen. He waited and watched from an inconspicuous corner as she loaded up her tray from the food dispensers and made her way to an unoccupied table at the back of the canteen. It was time now for Blake to put his game face on. He grabbed a bar and a drink from the dispenser, walked over to where Mia was sitting, and took a place on the opposite side of the table, two seats down. He nodded to her. She nodded back.
“You new here? Haven’t seen you around before.” He gave his best smile.
“Yeah, just a few sols.” she replied.
“You like it?”
Mia looked up at him. “It’s okay. I get to see more of Mars this way.”
He nodded and let a moment pass. “Terrible tragedy about that guy up at Nili Fossae.”
“Yeah. These things happen, I suppose.”
“It’s a very harsh environment here, people forget that. It’s very tough on machines. I’m just back from way station 29, and there’s a guy going to be stuck there for a few sols because his rover broke down. It happens all the time, a lot more than they let on.” He jerked a conspiratorial thumb in the direction of Central Logistics HQ.
Mia said nothing, just offered a slight nod.
“Poor guy, I feel sorry for him. Christian, I think his name was.”
Mia’s ears instantly pricked up. “Who did you say?”
“Christian Smithson, I think. Why, do you know him?”
“Yeah.” Mia looked down at her food for a moment. “I thought he was heading up north.”
“Well, he’s not going anywhere until they fix his rover.” Blake laughed and shook his head.
“So where did you say he was holed up?”
“Way station 29. It’s about a hundred and fifty kilometers out of Jezero, in the Isidis Basin, and he’s gonna be there for a while. Like I was saying, it’s a harsh environment.” He sucked down the last of his drink and stood up. “Anyway, nice talking to ya, see you around.” He saluted.
“Yeah, thanks.”
As Blake Derringer left the canteen, a brief smile cracked his face. The trap is set, now let’s see if she takes the bait.
15
Way Station 29
“We’re going to way station 29.” Mia moved quickly down the connecting corridor leading from Central Logistics to her rover. Gizmo was moving along beside her.
“This is not a scheduled trip,” said Gizmo.
Mia stopped abruptly. “If your… programming, or whatever it is, won’t allow you to go, that’s fine, you stay here. But I’m going.”
“This is most irregular, Mia. We have no clearance to embark on this trip. I suggest you allow me to pass a message to Dr. Jann Malbec and she can evaluate the risk/reward inherent in this endeavor.”
“You do whatever you like, I’m going. It may be my only chance to catch up with this guy.”
“Perhaps if you explain the nature of the operation so I can present all the data for analysis.”
Mia threw her hands up in the air. “Why am I explaining myself to a robot?” She stopped and looked at Gizmo. “Look, you infuriating bag of spare parts, this guy did me wrong. I don’t expect you to understand that, but the only reason I took this gig in the first place is so I could track him down and get my stuff back.”
“I see.”
“No you don’t, Gizmo. You’re a robot, okay. Now I’m going, with or without you.”
“And how are you going to operate the rover… pray tell?”
“Stop, go, left, right. How difficult can it be?” With that Mia moved off to the airlock door of the rover. Gizmo hesitated for a moment, then followed her. Mia looked back.
“So you’re coming then?”
“I am afraid you leave me no choice. My responsibility is to ensure your safety. So this prerogative overrides any others.”
Mia smiled at the little droid. “Well, that’s good to know. Come on then, let’s get moving.”
They got the rover powered up and detached from the umbilical with no problems. But she had only moved a few meters when the comms burst into life.
“This is Central Logistics, this vehicle is not scheduled for operation at this time, please state your intentions.”
“Eh… we’re en-route to way station 29, you should have it in your system,” said Mia.
“I’m sorry, we have no such record in our inventory. I insist you return to the docking hub and await further instructions.”
Mia gave Gizmo a conspiratorial glance, winked and started talking in broken sentences into the comms. “This… high priority… top command… by order of… council… serious shit.”
“Sorry, you’re breaking up, please repeat.”
Mia switched the
comms off. “Okay Gizmo, let’s hit the road.”
The rover moved out from the central docking hub and joined the main traffic heading out of Jezero crater in the direction of the Isidis Basin. Mia estimated the trip would take over three hours, so she sat back and considered what she was going to do once she confronted Christian. Maybe she had been mistaken, maybe he didn’t take her stuff after all, maybe it was still in her accommodation pod, having fallen down the back of some unit. Or maybe she had just misplaced it herself and it would show up next time she did her laundry or some other random chore. She would look a right fool, going all that way to confront him only to realize she had judged him wrong. Doubt began to creep into her thoughts. She had spent all this time and energy finding a way to get to him. Now that it was within sight, she wondered if what she was doing was right. But then again, he probably did steal it. Even Dexter and Marina, in the canteen said he was no good, things went missing when he was around.
“That is strange.” They were nearing their destination, but it was the first time Gizmo had spoken in well over an hour.
Mia looked across. “What is?”
“I am reading anomalies in the power distribution controller.”
Mia looked at the robot.
“Fluctuations inconsistent with acceptable component tolerances,” it continued.
“Can you just cut to the chase, Gizmo? Is it good or bad?”
With that Mia experienced a complete brain whiteout. An intense blinding flash seemed to emanate from inside her head. At the same instant every muscle in her body spasmed in an uncontrollable convulsion. Then she blacked out.
When Mia came to, the first thing to register was that is was unbelievably cold. A shiver ran through her body and she started to shake uncontrollably. She got a grip on her body, literally—folding her arms around herself and rubbing some feeling back into her torso. Her breath condensed and she could see fine ice crystals feathering across the edges of the rover windshield. Mia looked over to where Gizmo was docked in the cockpit. It was still and silent.
Jezero City: Colony Four Mars (Colony Mars Book 4) Page 10
