c. 2026 Rod Ice
All rights reserved
(4-26)
Monday morning at the New Cleveland Safety Center on Mars was frantic with activity. There were government representatives, legal experts, law agents, media observers, and host of spectators present under the sealed dome. A judgment from newly-elected members of the ruling council had been swiftly delivered. With concerns about the population becoming restless over details about their off-world history as a civilization, one step seemed clearly desirable above all the others. Dr. Judson Baines, university professor and historical researcher, needed to be expelled from their closed society.
But as this chore was being scheduled, with aid from the sleek, Morningstar III vessel, Admiral Corel Nauga received word that Lieutenant Kelly Strafe, one of his most promising officers, intended to join the away party as a volunteer. An act that would likely have her resigning once again from the military, and exiting as a citizen of the Red Planet.
The high-level official frowned and groaned audibly, when being told about his underling’s wishes.
“Kelly, let me speak candidly, and off the record. This is madness, young woman! You want to trash an entire career for a ride-share with that blasted geek from the schoolyard? He’s got no allies left here, all his bridges have been burned. Don’t think that your value is worth squandering so easily. You matter to us, and you matter to me!”
The junior soldier had her hair pulled straight back in a force-spec ponytail. Her expression was taut and severe.
“Sir, we’ve been connected for years. My reputation wouldn’t last, anyway. Admit it, I am just as stained by negative opinions...”
Nauga cursed and pounded the table in their conference room.
“A falsehood! I’ve done everything possible to rehabilitate you, Lieutenant! You and your damned reputation! Don’t dump this second chance! You’ve been a promising candidate for so long, and I’ve always had you in mind for better things. A promotion is inevitable!”
Kelly tightened her lips, and stood at attention.
“With respect sir, that’s just a load of horseshit!”
The Admiral gasped and slammed his fist until blood oozed freely.
“BAINES IS A CRACKPOT! THERE’S ONLY ONE SOLUTION TO HIS PLIGHT, AND IT IS BEING KICKED OUT OF THE MARS COLONY! WE CAN’T TOLERATE DISSENSION HERE, OUR SURVIVAL IS A MATTER OF COOPERATION AND HARMONY. CONFLICT IS INTOLERABLE! THESE WALLS AROUND US ARE DECIDEDLY FRAGILE! THE ARTIFICIAL ATMOSPHERE IS THIN! ONE DIVISION, ONE NOTE OF DISSENT, COULD KILL US ALL. I WON’T ALLOW THAT TO HAPPEN. NO ONE IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE SURVIVAL OF THIS CIVILIZATION!”
Strafe folded her arms and nodded with acknowledgement.
“Understood, sir. Count me as part of that equation. I am done with the Space Force...”
A cry of agony filled the room. Then, her superior bowed his head. He had been defeated without a proper battle. That sensation left him feeling empty.
“So be it, Lieutenant. The Morningstar III will depart at 0600 CMT, hours, tomorrow. In a gesture of benevolence, I am gifting the professor with a Digger shuttle, and enough provisions to last three months. That should get him started in his new environment. He has chosen to revisit what used to be called North America, the former State of Ohio, and the abandoned trailer community which was his origin point for study and scholarship. If you join him in isolation, it will be a sentence of death. I don’t believe he will last long among the ruins of that empire. The Great Uprising is still a matter of historical record, we have taught it in our schools for generations. It is not a fact to be disputed or amended. That calamity changed the course of Terran inhabitants, forever. It caused the migration to our current home. And it wrote a new chapter in the adventures of mankind. We are the children of that cataclysmic event. None of us have a right to question it as gospel truth. It is our identity as Martian colonists. Our heritage. Our foundation for being who we are!”
Kelly reached for her com-badge, and military insignia. Then, placed both on the conference table.
“My resignation is effective immediately. Thank you, sir, for the privilege of serving our planet...”
Admiral Nauga sat stiffly as she departed the conference room. Then, surrendered to a fit of rage. His face dripped sweat and reddened with intensity.
“BLAST THIS INFERNAL NONSENSE! BLAST THAT GIRL FOR SACRIFICING HER COMISSION! AND BLAST THE PROFESSOR FOR HIS ARROGANT PROCLOMATIONS ABOUT OUR HISTORY! LET THEM BOTH ROT IN THE HINTERLAND OF OLD AMERICA! GOOD RIDDANCE TO THAT PAIR OF FOOLS! GOOD RIDDANCE, INDEED!”
When the erstwhile soldier arrived at their New Cleveland spaceport, a day later, her adopted companion was already present. The scholar had assembled a duffel bag of materials, including scanned books on i-discs, and souvenirs from his school. At a docking port, crew members were powering up the ship. The distinctive whine of its C-drive propulsion could be heard throughout the complex. Then, they were ready for an official launch.
Baines was unusually scruffy, yet dressed in a suit made of synthetic fibers that were fashioned out of elements culled from the ruddy, Martian soil. His modernist appearance was appealing, if quirky.
“Kells, I want you to think about this... we’ll be off-worlders from here to the last day of forever. It’s something I want to do, but not your fate, necessarily. You can stay here, and thrive. I’m the one being shunned. I am the one being sentenced to a life beyond the scope of Mars...”
His willing cohort wrinkled her pointy nose, and scowled.
“No dice, Juddy! I am just as dirty in their eyes, believe me. We’re in this mess together. I don’t have the same passion for research, maybe, but my place is at your side. If you fail, this dream of revealing the truth fails. And I don’t want to live in that kind of delusion anymore. I’d rather be stuck on that ball of mud, with you!”
Her partner sighed heavily. He suspected that they might both perish in the wilderness of a forgotten globe. Yet the opportunity to finish what he had begun at Evergreen Estates was intriguing.
“That’s it then, for better or worse, here we go!”
Write on🥺
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