by Shawn Jones
Keen moved on to the next topic.
--
An hour later Kay and Cort were in his quarters. Sköll was playing with Cort’s companion Zandra. Even their relationship was complicated. In public, they both stayed very close to their humans, constantly on guard. Once they were together in a room with humans they knew, they would groom each other and cuddle for hours. Other than Sköll, Zandra was the only wolf on the planet that had killed a human.
Two months after the battle for independence, Cort and Rhodes had been walking through the common area where Cort had killed part of the mercenary team. A female colonist approached them from behind and tried to stab Cort through his FALCON suit. The blade was useless against the carbon nanotubes of the suit, but before the men could even turn around, Zandra had crushed the woman’s throat with her jaws. Cort had insisted every wolf in the colony get meat from the woman’s body. “They need to know that we are an acceptable prey. It’s the only way they will defend themselves against us should it be necessary.”
After a brief investigation, Rhodes learned that the woman had been the sister of one of the men General Taps had sent to assault the Aeolis site. When he checked the colony rosters later, he found another twenty-one people who had been closely related to people Cort had killed. Most of those were loyal to the colony. Only one of them showed any desire for revenge. From that point forward, he was monitored closely whenever Cort was at the colony.
Kay watched the two wolves clean each other’s paws and said, “I miss John. More than I miss Clare’s father even.”
Cort sipped his coffee. “I do too. He and Clare were my first friends in this time,” Cort laughed, “Do you remember when you asked me to teach you how to fry bacon? The look on his face was priceless.”
“That was great. How was I supposed to know you had just fed a dozen men to the pigs? I didn’t think a human stomach could hold that much. He was so embarrassed.” Kay held her mug to her lips and said, “I think that’s when I realized I loved him.”
“He loved you the minute I carried you into the cavern. He was mad that I let you head brush against the plastic curtains. Some of your hair got caught in one of the zippers. He saved it. Put it in a little container. Always carried it around with him.”
“That was my hair?” Kay was surprised. I thought it was his late wife’s. I was never brave enough to ask him about it. Her eyes filled with tears.
“You should give it to Rand or Clare. They both knew and loved him.”
“Rand, I guess. Who knows when Clare will finally come here?”
They fell silent for a few minutes. A chime went off. Cort said, “That’s the new freighter. Why don’t you join me?”
--
Once the new module was in place and connected, Cort went inside and changed into his FALCON. Four security officers were on station. Two were at the terminal module’s airlock and two were at the new junction between the modules. The incoming freighter was already pressurized, which meant that there was some form of life on it, whether plant or animal.
“I’m sorry Mrs. Gaines. You have to wait here. No civilians are allowed into the terminal module,” a man in a nanotube suit like Cort’s said to her. The man looked over her head and saw Cort wink.
“It’s alright, Kay. I’ll stay here with you until the module is cleared,” Cort said.
Kay watched the procedure taking place at the other end of the module. A woman stepped out of the freighter and through a scanner. When she passed through it, Kay saw her face. Both security men stepped out of the way, so as not to get run over by the Science Director.
“Clare!” Kay ran down the module. “Oh my Gods! It’s you!” She turned to Cort as she ran, “You bastard! You knew!”
Because she was running one direction but facing another, as the words left her mouth she stumbled and was caught by another security officer, this one a woman. “Careful, Dr. Gaines.”
Mother and daughter both looked at her. After a moment they all laughed. The security woman said, “This is going to get confusing.”
Clare, Rand, and Kay spent the rest of the day together in Kay’s quarters. It was the first time Clare had seen Rand in almost ten years. Cort left orders that they not be disturbed for any reason. All communications were to be directed to him. That night, after visiting with her mother and brother all afternoon and evening, Clare went to Cort’s quarters.
“How have you been, Clare?” Cort asked his twelfth great granddaughter.
She said, “Kiss me.”
--
“Cort, I just got a message from Dar,” Keen said over the comm, “Atlantica and The Southern Alliance have asked to send diplomatic teams here.”
“That’s your area, not mine.”
“I know, but Atlantica is asking to send their own security team.”
“No. And it’s not negotiable. I control every weapon on Mars. That’s the way it is.”
“Dar doesn’t think they will send the atmosphere plants if we don’t give in on this.”
“Then start looking elsewhere. I control the weapons on Mars, Dave. Only me. In fact, cancel the contracts for the plants. Nobody blackmails us.”
“Okay. I’ll let Dar know. Keen out.”
Earth
“You can’t do that!” Pan was furious. “You cannot cancel the atmosphere plant contracts. We are too far into the production. We will lose billions.”
“It’s out of my hands, Dr. Pan,” Dar said. “Mr. Addison was quite clear. The Ares Federation will not be strong armed into allowing outside weapons onto Mars. Therefore, as of now, the contracts are cancelled.”
Pan sat down. After he regained his composure he said, “It’s not just the atmosphere plants, Ambassador. We need that data. Without it, nearly a decade research will be ruined.”
“May I speak candidly Dr. Pan? Perhaps you should have considered that before you made threats against Mars.”
“We didn’t make threats against Mars. We only wanted to supply our own security people for our diplomatic team. It’s standard practice.”
“It’s standard practice here on Earth. There are different rules on Mars, Doctor. You should know that by now.”
“Dar, I have to get the data from your astrophysics people. We didn’t have anything in place to observe the comet’s collision because we thought you would give us the data. You had a front row seat. Well, your people did. I’ve seen the vids of the event. It was incredible. Dammit Dar, we need that data.”
“And we will give it to you. But not for the atmosphere generators. There are other supplies and materials we can trade for. Even money. But we will be looking elsewhere for the atmosphere generating equipment. Mr. Addison made that decision.”
“I thought the civilian government ran things on Mars.” Pan’s comment was clearly meant to come across as snide.
Dar was unfazed by the comment. “All decisions made on behalf of the people of the Ares Federation are made by civilians. Until you make weapons a part of the discussion. Then Mr. Addison has not only the final say, he has the only say. You would do well to remember that in the future, Dr. Pan. In the meantime, I will send you a list of requested materials. Once we agree on the exchange rate, I am sure things will get back to normal and this matter will serve as a lesson to all parties. Good day, Doctor.”
As Dar left his office, Pan cursed the late General Taps yet again. I wish we could have killed him three more times. He’s cost us more in scientific currency than the Cull did. Never mind the planet we lost.
Aeolis
“Cort you should have seen the look on his face when I cancelled the contracts. I thought he was going to cry synthetics. Seriously. And I just sat there like he was quoting Shakespeare. I think you got their attention,” Dar laughed in the vid.
“On to the personal stuff though. Let me get this straight. My tenth great-grandfather is asking me for advice about whether or not he should, what’s the word you always use? Whether or not he should fuck his own twelft
h great-granddaughter. A young woman who happens to be over three hundred years younger than him, and my granddaughter. That’s what you are asking about, right?”
Cort turned beet red as Dar’s message continued, “Seriously though, Cort. I’ve been trying to look at it from all angles. Biologically speaking it’s easy. Yeah, technically, she’s your relative. Twelve generations removed. Genetically, you are very distant cousins at best. In reality, because of the Cull, it’s less of a genetic link than the majority of marriages in our time have. As far as kids go, Clare’s synthetics would prevent any kind of genetic anomaly from occurring.
“Then there’s morally. That whole ‘incest’ thing. The concept is rooted in a religious system that is founded on the premise that one man and one woman populated an entire planet that was the center of the universe. Two planets now. So that religious system, based on incest, condemns incest, while its god allowed it in several instances. According to the book that condemns it as immoral, that is. A book taught by pedophile men who molested millions of children for hundreds, maybe even thousands of years. I’m not even going to grace that with an opinion.
“Now there is legally. You don’t have legal status on Earth. Other than in our family archives, there’s no proof that you even came from the twenty-first century. Or Earth. But let’s apply the laws of your time. First cousins. Most of your English speaking culture allowed second cousins to marry. Some nations even allowed first cousins to. Most of the United States, including California, allowed it. Only seven US states prohibited cohabitation and sexual relations between first cousins. The direct lineage aspect throws a wrench into it, but I think twelve generations, the Cull, and synthetics all negate that argument. Hell, Cort. Some remote tribes from our time still allow siblings to marry.
“Listen Cort, I am not saying ‘mate with her’ or do not ‘mate with her’. That is a decision only the two of you can make. But do not let a three century old hang-up stop you. She loves you and you love her. And if what you are telling me is true, she is way past worrying about the family link. Make up your own damned minds about it. I would say it is beyond me how two people who love each other can make mating so complicated, but I was married once, so I understand.”
Dar shook his head. “I seriously cannot believe I am even having this conversation with you. What the hell, man? Okay fuck this. No wait. Bad choice of words. Holy Gods.” Dar shook his head and reached down to move something that was out of the viewscreen. “Queen’s knight to King’s third. Check.”
Cort looked down at his own chessboard. Fuck me.
--
“It looks like you’ve started an arms race on Earth, Cort,” Rhodes said. “I’m sending you the dispatch we just received. It’s from the Asianic Alliance. Keen wants your input after you see it.”
Cort was in his CONDOR, helping Kim Point set up the first open space. “Okay. Once I finish up here and meet with Kay, I’ll take a look at it.”
Cort lifted a temporary framework into place. Kim was on top of the modules watching as eight men in atmosphere suits locked the gridwork in place. After it was set up, Cort watched as the metallized Formvar began to coat it. When the barrier was thick enough, the frame was detached and Cort lowered it for disassembly. Then he left Kim and her people to finish the job. The strength of his powered armor saved them about forty man-hours of work.
Back inside the colony structure, Kay walked in front of Cort as he returned to his quarters. Sköll walked beside her, and Cort’s suit was too bulky for them to walk the corridor abreast of each other. He asked, “How are you, Kay?”
“Why don’t we wait until we’re alone to talk?”
A few minutes later, she plopped down in his sitting area while he changed. He emerged with two drinks in his hand. He gave one to her and sat down. “So what’s wrong?”
“I am pregnant.”
--
“Dave, I’m inclined to sell it to them. They’ll get the tech sooner or later anyway, and I don’t trust Atlantica. By selling the Asianic Alliance my weaponry, we can get a lot of needed supplies.” Cort said to Dave Keen later that afternoon. “And if I were in your shoes, I would be thinking long term, not short term.”
“I think we are on the same page, Cort, especially if Atlantica really wants to come here. We need to be able to manufacture on our own. We have a lot of raw materials, but no way to mine or process them.” Keen saw Cort nod and continued, “I would rather have the ability to make our own supplies than trade research to Earth for them.”
Dave Keen had all sorts of new headaches. Overnight, he had received three messages from Dar. The first one said that Atlantica was now going through old records so they could try to start replicating Cort’s weaponry and technology. The Cull and synthetics had rendered much of the weaponry obsolete, so it had been mothballed over a century before. Now that Cort was using that tech to assert independence for Mars, someone back home had decided that maybe those weapons weren’t so obsolete after all. The second message was that one of Dar’s cousins had informed him that Atlantica was considering sending a new colony to Mars, independent of either The Addison Trust’s launching facilities, or Ares Federation oversight. That would mean full scale war with Earth. Cort would destroy every unauthorized vessel that entered Mars’ orbit. But it could also create problems for the Trust’s assets on Earth. Dar was working on that problem, but it was an eventuality for which they had to be prepared. There was already an emergency evacuation launch ready to go at all times. If Atlantica did make a move against the Ares Federation, members of the pack who chose to do so would quickly be launched to Mars or evacuated to the Asianic and Southern Alliances. The third message was a trade request from the Asians. They wanted Cort’s technology now, and they were willing to trade for it. An arms race was always a bad thing, but it was even worse if you were on the short end of it.
“Exactly,” Cort said. “The only raw materials we really have to get from Earth are water and reserve air. Their recovery uses a lot of our energy. If we had that energy for manufacturing, we could start forging our own building materials. And we’re going to need to do that if you are serious about a monorail system between sites.”
“Okay, so we really are on the same page. I just wanted to be sure. I will get Kim and her people working on a list of what we want. In the meantime, I’ll have Dar start negotiating. What about the Southern Alliance? Do you want to let them in on it?” Keen asked.
“I would. In the twentieth century, there was a very similar ‘cold war’ arms race, between essentially the same two blocs. Countries that weren’t a part of it were beholden to those that were, economically and militarily. The Asians won’t like it, but Dar can get them to go along I think. From our standpoint, if they are all trying to keep up with each other, they won’t be as focused on us. But I want some physicists and design people working to stay ahead of anything we sell to Earth. Agreed?”
Keen nodded to Cort’s screen this time. “Agreed.”
In his own message to Dar, Cort expressed his personal feelings more completely. “Dar, you need to be prepared. The weapons they want aren’t necessary against alliances on Earth. I think they are for use against us. Prepare for that. I’m attaching the CONDOR Two specs. You might want to make a few. And I think you should up the launch rate for the foreseeable future. I’d pack every module top to bottom. I think war is on the horizon.”
Cort called his move, “Bishop to Queen’s first. And Dar, be prepared to evacuate. If you can’t get out of Atlantica, get on a module. Come here. I don’t want to lose you.”
Seven
Ares Federation Science and Military Headquarters, Argyre Site
“I think you’ve done a great job here,” Rhodes said as Cort showed him around the new training facility. “And Kim did a great job with your new open spaces.”
Zandra kept herself between the two men. She had never met Chief Rhodes, so she didn’t trust him. When he had first stepped out of the MELT, Rhodes slapped C
ort on the shoulder, eliciting a low growl from the female wolf. Cort had to settle her down before he could take Rhodes on a tour of the rebuilt facility. Cort said, “Once Kim had taken everything apart, we realized that this was almost perfect for what we needed. I got a larger training area with both interior and exterior training areas, the design people got a testing area, and by moving everything that arrives through this site, we can protect the other two more easily.”
