by M. R. Holman
Lonely Out in Space
A Compilation of Sci-Fi & Fantasy Short Stories
By: M. R. Holman
Text copyright © 2015 M. R. Holman
All Rights Reserved
Table of Contents:
The New Colony
Echoing Freedom
A Meeting of the Black Knight and the White Queen
Intergalactic Public Radio
The Snake in the Grass
The Titanic Columns
Junior Ranger Rooney and the Wallabies of Learant XII
A Can of Anana
Ping Pong - or - It's Them That's Wrong
Traveler: Day Two
The LHP (Last Habitable Planet)
Death Touched the Stars
The New Colony
The low murmur of a crowd of scientists, scholars, reporters, and generally intellectual individuals buzzed across a lecture hall like a distant bee hive. A vacant podium stood before them. A man sitting in the front row checked his wrist watch and adjusted his spectacles. His name was Dr. William Marblight and he was the reason that everyone had gathered in the lecture hall. He picked up the papers on which his speech was written and approached the podium. The crowd behind him fell silent at once.
Dr. Marblight relished in the attention he was garnering and struggled not to openly display his glee. He had been waiting for this moment for twenty years. He had worked in a frenzied state for the better part of those twenty years, but it was all coming to a culmination. It was all going to be worth it.
The moment had finally arrived when he would unveil the final incarnation of his grand plan which he promised would revolutionize human society on the relatively recently colonized planet of Mars. After two decades of study he had finally made it to the red planet. He had finally made his way under the terraforming dome which Mars' inhabitants called home. He was finally going to secure his place in human history. He struggled not to stroke his beard, as was his habit. He had dyed it black that morning. He wanted his memory to be impressive.
He placed his speech on the oaken podium and ran his hands across the polished grains. He wanted to remember every detail of his triumph. He looked across the crowd at the skeptics, the awestruck, and the merely curious and did not look down at his speech again. He knew it all by heart. He wanted to see every face in the crowd. He wanted to see their joy and their fear as they discovered whether they would be allowed to stay and become the pinnacle of human culture and society, or if they would be failures destined to return to Earth for the rest of their lives.
"Ladies and gentleman, I welcome you to the beginning of a perfect society."
Raucous applause erupted throughout the lecture hall. A great number of those in the crowd had aided Dr. Marblight, and an even larger segment had been anxiously awaiting the day that his plan would go into motion. The applause continued until he raised a hand in the air, motioning for it to stop. It still took a few moments to die away completely.
"Mars, as many of you know, was named after the Roman god of war. As such, it has thus far lived up to its name. Murder and violence have been the order of the day since Mars was colonized only three decades ago... But why? Why have the citizens of Mars thus far failed to accomplish what they were sent here to do? Why have they let their own selfishness and weakness and temptation mar this fresh start for all of humanity?"
Utter silence gripped the room at each pause of Dr. Marblight's speech. Could he really change the course of a society that seemed overwhelmingly doomed?
"Instead of a blank slate upon which the new history of mankind could be written, Mars' colonization has only been a continuation of Earth's bloody and frankly bewildering history. When Mars' was initially colonized, the desirable colonists were unknown or unattainable variables. Great numbers of living, breathing bodies capable of work were the brunt of those who were sent to establish this planet, because the individuals with high intellect knew better than to come! That is no longer the case. Mars' is now ready for the next generation, the peak of humanity, the New Colony."
Applause echoed against the walls of the lecture hall as Dr. Marblight surveyed his admirers. There was one reporter, however, who remained tacit with his pen and pad in his hands. He maintained a glare that Dr. Marblight had great difficulty ignoring. He reasoned that it did not matter that a few would object to his ideas if the vast majority was in agreement with him. He pressed on.
"Through a series of tests that will assess personality, intellect, physical well-being, sexual virility, and emotional stability that I myself have devised and tested, we will assure that the right colonists remain. The end of violence is here. The end of addiction and thievery and dishonesty has arrived. There will be no halting the advancement of the New Colony. The weeds must be cut so that the fruits of our labor may thrive forever."
While most applauded once more, there seemed to be some dissent at his last remark. Dr. Marblight's eyes locked on the reporter once more. He was pained to see that he was rising from his seat. The applause and whispering died away.
"I don't think it's fair that you get to take a test that you created yourself," the reporter said in a deep, carrying voice. Dr. Marblight was appalled to see that some of the audience agreed with the man. How could they not wrap their minds around his concepts? How could they be so obtuse?
"It was merely the theory and essence of the tests that I designed. Individual questions and testing techniques are procedurally generated for each test taker. There are no two tests that are alike so as not to favor any one person. I assure you, I will be under the same scrutiny as everyone else that wishes to remain here."
"And if you fail, will you leave?" the reporter asked boldly. Some of the crowd shook their heads mutinously, as though it was not only an impossibility, but a treasonous thought to even consider. Others, however, appeared intrigued by the possibility. Did Dr. William Marblight believe so wholeheartedly in his cause that he would not take part in it if he was found unworthy?
"Of course," Dr. Marblight said coldly. "I'll have no choice. As will everyone else. The tests will be administered in one week's time. I advise you not to over-prepare. Stress is taken into account during the tests. Further information regarding test times and locations will be broadcast throughout the week. Thank you all for taking part in my vision."
"Like we have a choice..."
Although Dr. Marblight could not hear the reporter, he read his lips over the applause. He hoped that the reporter would be deported back to Earth. Surely he would. There was no place for that kind of unnecessary revolutionary spirit in the New Colony. Dr. Marblight had seen to that when he developed his societal theory for the planet.
The audience soon began to thin out, leaving only a handful of Dr. Marblight's colleagues in the lecture hall to accompany him. There was a tense silence lingering in the lecture hall after the last of the audience left the room. Dr. Marblight addressed what he assumed they were all thinking.
"I want it to be known amongst you all that in the unlikely event that I do fail the test, that it's true that I must be deported. The plan will go along the same without me. Everything has already been prepared," Dr. Marblight said, looking through his colleagues.
"Sir, we were not even intending for you to take the test yourself... You're too vital to this mission to be sent back to Ea - "
"I must. I believe in this cause and I must be subject to its stipulations," he said with a fals
e air of confidence. The truth was that he feared that he would fail his own test, but it was not a fear that he had acknowledged until the reporter had verbalized it... How dare he humiliate him in front of all those people in his time of glory? In the back of his mind, Dr. Marblight had been fearful of the possibility of his failure ever since he saw the type of human that was passing his demo tests on Earth. He was too old, too slow, too corrupt, and though he hated to acknowledge it, he feared that he was too unintelligent.
"You're all dismissed," he said, collecting his speech from the wooden podium. He watched his colleagues file out of the lecture hall and he sat down on the front row once more. He pulled a small metal flask from the inner pocket of his jacket, opened it, and took a long draught of the amber liquid within. He relished in the burn in his throat and the intoxicating aroma that filled his nostrils. He closed his eyes as the booze entered his bloodstream, allowing it to wash away his worries.
Perhaps it was due to the current population's renewed interest in remaining on the planet, but in the following week there were only seventeen murders under the terraform dome. Dr. Marblight found this news appalling, even though it was several orders of magnitude lower than the typical weekly homicide rate. There was just something about that planet that drove people wild… It did not matter though, he reasoned. They would soon be gone and a new era of peace and enlightenment would remain. Each drink
