The Homestead

by G R Higginbotham

  She went on describing the various dietary benefits of algae for some time in spite of Rebecca’s best attempts at steering the conversation to their questions about access to the growing tanks. Eventually she gave up and looked to Moses for assistance, frustrated and growing less patient.

  Moses reached out and put a hand on her arm, stopping her endless flood of information that at another time he might have found interesting.

  “Mags, this is fascinating and I would love to hear more, but right now we have some specific questions for you. Officer Martinez here has had a long day and may implode if we don’t get her some rest soon. I’m sure you understand how that can wear a person down.” She blushed again at his reference to the way they found her sleeping upon their arrival.

  “Sorry. I just get excited about my work. I’d love to tell you about it sometime, doc.” She placed her hand on top of his hand that was still laying on her arm. He removed it. “What do you need to know, doc?” She blinked a few times in his direction, utilizing those long eyelashes to their fullest, green eyes saying that she would tell him whatever he needed to know.

  “We would like to know about the growing tanks. Is it an open system, closed, would someone be able to access it from outside the labs? All of that.” Her unbroken gaze was beginning to make him uncomfortable. There were so many different cultures here that sometimes it was hard to know the differences between rudeness, normal interaction, and flirting. He was starting to feel like she was employing the latter, and assumed Rebecca was picking up the same vibe as she shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot, giving off tiny grunts of frustration.

  “The growing vats are accessible only by the labs down here, with access codes and key cards. I don’t even have them. I have to get one of the Big Three to let me in if I need inside, and they stay inside the vats with me. Those are the three main researchers. One each for greenhouse gasses, nutrient recovery, and fuel production.”

  “What about access from above?” Moses asked.

  “There’s no way,” she said confidently. “There is a convex glass ceiling over the vats, and then clean water sitting on top of the glass. That keeps particulates from contaminating the growing environment as well as intensifying the sunlight that reaches the bottom of the habitat to speed up growth and bring down the expense of heating the tanks. It really was a genius system that Stephanie created here.” He could tell she was proud of what they had been able to accomplish. “Terraforming has sped up by double digits since the introduction of the algal by-products to the global effort. They’re even starting to incorporate it into existing habs. That proves it must be beneficial because it is very expensive to go further down into the planet. If they’re willing to spend the money to dig underneath old habs, they must really think we’re making a difference. Not to mention the expense saved adding algal dietary supplements instead of shipping vitamins and other things planet-side from Earth.”

  “So there’s no way anyone could get some of the water with spores in it except through those locked rooms?”

  “Absolutely not. Unless there was a leak from the vats into Lake Idleman. That’s what we call the two meters of standing water on top of the growing vats. Isn’t that funny? I laugh every time.” As if to illustrate, she laughed. Moses chuckled to be polite. Rebecca remained silent. “But we would notice that because the filtered water on top is continuously replaced with fresh, clean water.”

  “If that’s the case,” Moses countered, “then how did the air-delivery system get contaminated with the growth of algae-mold hybrid spores? It put the lives of everyone in Homestead IV at risk. We need to figure out the cause to keep it from happening again.”

  This made her uncomfortable, and served to halt her non-stop words for a few minutes.

  “It could only have come from another source. There’s no way for our massive growing tanks to allow a mutation that would make the algae to mutate into air-born mold. It is spliced with bacteria and mold, that’s true. But the system is closed and monitored constantly. That’s why we have to take shifts to be down here at night. If something changes, the computerized assessment system would catch it at a microscopic level before it could spread to an entire tank. There are baffles that would isolate the section of the tank with the mutation. After that, the haptic device alerts the technician working that there is a problem, the door to the involved tank unlocks itself, and we go in and initiate the scrub. That section of the tank is heated to a level high enough to kill off all organic material inside. It just wouldn’t be possible.”

  “You said there are three tanks, right?” Rebecca was overcome with curiosity enough to put aside her earlier frustrations with Mags. She continued, “Then why are there four doors with locks?”

  “The three tanks are two triangles inside of a square. Each of the first three doors enter into the side of one of the tanks. The fourth door is where the three tanks are all exposed. That door is in Idleman’s office. That way she can monitor all three projects. Dietary on the left side is the smallest tank. Rocket fuel in the right-hand tank is a little larger. Greenhouse production is the giant square that encompasses the whole thing. It has the largest footprint.”

  “Wow,” said Moses, honestly impressed with the extent of design and engineering that went into making this whole aspect of the homestead. It was more impressive than he ever imagined. “Mags, you’ve been so helpful.” He grabbed her hands in both of his. Rebecca gave a disgusted grunt behind him. “Would it be ok to ask one more question?”

  “Sure thing, doc.” She smiled at him.

  “Do you remember Adrie Petersen ever spending much time down here with you guys?”

  “Oh, I miss her.” She smiled so big that all of her crooked front teeth showed. “Yes, Adrie came down every month or so. She was working with Stephanie to try to get some space to use algae to produce fertilizer. Stephanie really tried to accommodate her, but we just didn’t have the space. They even had words a few times. Even through her office door, we could hear Dr. Idleman and sweet little Adrie yelling at each other.

  “It was such a shame, what happened to her. The rest of us just loved her to . . . well, I was going to say we loved her to death but that sounds bad now.” She looked away sheepishly.

  “Thanks so much for your help, Mags. You’ve really been of great assistance to us.”

  She smiled again. “Sure thing. I’d love to finish telling you about the exciting world of algal nutrition, and the potential it has for our project here on Mars. Plus, I think I need to come see you for a checkup. It’s been a while.”

  “I’d like that. Come on by sometime. We don’t want to keep you from your work.” He winked at her, softening the blow of his joke at her expense. She smiled and blushed again, but didn’t deny that when they left she would be asleep within ten minutes.

  They walked back to the elevator, Moses rushing to keep up with Rebecca who was walking at top speed.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  The elevator ride back to the upper levels was awkward. Neither passenger spoke to the other. Moses was tempted to ask what was wrong, but he knew. Rebecca did not approve of the blatant flirting. Maybe she just wanted him to stay on task with the investigation. But he was trying to get more information from her. Being friendly would only facilitate an easier flow of information. Plus, she was pretty and flirted with him first. He had committed no crime. Hopefully, Rebecca would get some rest in her tiny room and feel better tomorrow.

  They silently rode up to the level that held Rebecca’s quarters. When the doors opened, she left the elevator and mumbled something about getting some sleep. There was no way he would be able to sleep now. He would pay for it later, no doubt crashing as soon as patients started showing up at the clinic. But he couldn’t stop his brain from cycling through the information he was mulling, as well as pondering the information he still needed to obtain. What was Adrie really doing in the mycophycology labs? What did she do that led to someone killing her? And how d
id Epps end up finding the same thing? Did Director Jacobs know about what went on? Did he have a hand, or did he help cover it up?

  There was still so much to do. He didn’t think Petersen, Jacobs, or Idleman had any clue that he was looking into the deaths. He would prefer to keep it that way until he had neared a conclusion. It would keep them from obfuscating any research he still had to do. Dr. Lamar definitely knew what he was up to. Hopefully he wouldn’t interfere. He had so little backbone, Truman didn’t anticipate any trouble from that sector. Best just to focus on getting the information he needed.

  As the elevator neared his own level, he considered how to patch things up with Rebecca. He needed her help with the research. And she was the only real friend he’d made in years. It would be best to preserve whatever friendship they had. Mars had turned out to be a lonely place. Everybody was so busy working their respective areas of interest that there was little precious time left over for conversation or mingling. The threat of excision from the terraforming project was ever-present, and was a very expensive consequence for non-productivity.

  It was funny. Moses Truman was the last man who ever thought he would desire human interaction. Difficult interactions would be a polite way to describe his social life back home on Earth. He was pretty good at faking it, and could cope in groups, but close relationships were never anything he really sought out. Usually he ended up finding a few similar people to congregate with, making an awkward group together instead of facing the “normal” people on their own. He was fine with his patients but that is because there is a defined expectation of who will ask questions, who will give advice, and who will follow directions. Those clearly defined roles were what helped him thrive in that setting. That clarity was generally missing from social society. He just had trouble navigating those situations where the rules weren’t obvious. Which made any relationship fraught with the anxiety of inevitable destruction through a misspoken word or missed cue.

  And now here he was, months of isolation between traveling with a small crew of astronauts and then learning to live in an isolated colony of terraformers turning him into a man thirsty for community.

  When the doors opened to reveal his own level, he was grateful for welcome distractions. He had a lot of reading and planning to do before the morning. And he had to find time to see a full day’s worth of patients tomorrow, as well. At least it was better than being left to think about his short-comings and emotional insufficiencies. That could wait for down time - which seemed like it would never come here in Homestead IV.

  When he rounded the corner that led to his clinic and rooms he discovered someone waiting for him at the door. It was the last person he ever would have expected to meet in a hallway in the middle of the night outside of his room.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  “Thank God you’re here.” Dr. Lamar said as he saw Moses approaching. “I’ve been looking for you all night. What the hell have you been doing?” He looked disheveled and his eyes were darting about like a mad man. He must have come in another rover as soon as one became available. The frantic man placed a hand firmly on his fellow doctor’s shoulder and ushered them into the room forcefully. He hit the override to prevent the automatic lights from turning on and refused a seat. Moses sat and watched the little doctor pace the room as he ranted.

  “I know you took things. I weighed the box. I know it’s lighter. Not by much, but some. What do you think you’re doing? You need to give that stuff back.” He kept running his hand through his thin hair, giving himself a rather comical look. Now he stood there looking at Moses, as if he would just return the drone and the fluid sample. Maybe he just wanted to know what was missing.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he lied. “Maybe it was just the layers of dust on the box that were disturbed when we opened it. Maybe the new adhesive was lighter.” Lamar just looked blankly back, hopefully pondering the possibility that this was the correct answer to the lighter box problem. That somehow they had managed to remove several grams of dust inside a place designed specifically to keep dust to a minimum in order to prevent it from interfering with delicate computerized technology.

  “That’s crap and you know it,” he said after a long silence.

  He must not have slept on the entire trip over here. If he had procured an emergency transport just for this confrontation then there would be major repercussions. He would have had to disclose the purpose and convinced their Chief that it was truly an emergent situation. It would bring all of ICE down on Homestead IV trying to figure out what was going on. Moses wasn’t sure whose side ICE would be on. They would want to protect their precious investment and retain the potential of the terraforming project. They wouldn’t want word like this to get around. Moses needed to figure out how much Lamar had told, and to whom.

  “How did you get here so quickly? Was there another transport rover nearby after I left?” Moses tried again to get Lamar to sit down. He was not successful.

  “We had a supply delivery a few days after you left. I just came along for your delivery. You were next on the list for supplies. And you’re lucky I told command I wanted to help make sure your respiratory outbreak was under control.” That answered the question about who he had told and what he had told them. It was a relief to know that he hadn’t leaked the information upstream. “They’re not happy with you right now, by the way. They have big questions about how a facilities’ personnel could get so sick.”

  Moses wanted to argue that it wasn’t his fault that the mutation of the algae allowed it to inhabit the ducts, but refused to be distracted. It would be best to be direct and at least partially truthful. The gamble was to see if he had opened the box to inspect it after he found out things were missing. “I just took the sample of liquid to test it and see what was inside.” He wouldn’t mention the robotic insect. It’s weight was almost nothing. How exact were those weights anyway?

  “And what did you find?” The distressed doctor was obviously torn between disgust at having to come out here for nothing and curiosity to find out what the liquid contained.

  “Didn’t you test it at the time of death?” Moses raised a single eyebrow.

  Lamar stammered. “We already knew the cause of death. There was no need to test every little thing. He clearly died of sudden heart death.” He began to look unsure. He was already sweating. Now he was squirming, too.

  Should he tell Lamar the truth about the test results, or let him think that there was no new information and nobody was suspicious? This was a delicate moment, and it needed to be handled correctly. If he told him the truth, maybe he would have a new ally in this fight. He already knew that Lamar wasn’t a bad man. He just lacked conviction and courage. Maybe he just needed a guiding hand to gently push him in the right direction. But what if he went to ICE command with Moses’ theories? Then it would all be over. They may even send everyone involved back to Earth, including Rebecca. And she wasn’t ready for that trip. There was no way he could risk her future and the chance of having to send her away from her home just to get some extra help. Extra help of which they would remain uncertain until the end. They just couldn’t trust him. Moses wished Rebecca was here to discuss this with, but there was no time.

  “Nothing.” Moses looked at the floor, trying to sell false disappointment.

  “Excuse me?”

  “There was nothing in the sample. It was just a saline solution.” Moses looked up to meet his eyes. “I don’t know how the saline was collected or where it was in relation to the body, but there was nothing worth looking into about that sample. Sorry, I know you wanted to find out what happened definitively, but I can’t help you.”

  A grin spread across Dr. Lamar’s face, happy to hear that the trouble was starting to fall apart.

  “So you’ll drop this stupid quest of yours? Leave it alone? There’s really nothing to find out anyway. We had two deaths, one unexpected, and they had similar causes. It’s no big mystery.”


  Moses bristled at hearing Adrie Petersen’s death described as an expected passing. She wasn’t that old, and she was in great health according to everything Moses had seen and read about her medical status in her files. And Dr. Lamar’s casual attitude about the death of two people made Moses’ temper flash to red. He began deep breathing to calm himself down so he wouldn’t break. In through the nose, out through the mouth. Smell the roses, blow out the candle. He could do this.

  “Yes, sir. It’s over now. I’m just focusing on keeping these people healthy now.”

  “Glad to hear it. Get your act together, young man. You can’t allow your habitat to fall apart from the inside. It won’t be tolerated.”

  “Thank you, sir. I won’t allow that. No matter what happens, this place won’t fall apart.” Moses meant it, too. He wouldn’t allow the sacrifice of human life and decency for a science project. It just wasn’t worth it.

  He was thankful when the tiny doctor left his rooms to go sleep in the ICE guest rooms on the upper levels. There were still a few hours left to try and get some sleep.