Bloodlines

Bloodlines
Chapter 3: Sympathy for the Devil

“Shuttle H.G. Wells, this is Ares Station.” The radio squawked at me as I was shaving, “Please respond.”

“Ares Station, this is shuttle H.G. Wells.” I activated the com-unit built into the bulkhead next to the mirror, “Receiving you loud and clear, over.”

“Confirmed, shuttle H.G. Wells, we show you on final approach. Please turn over your guidance system to our control and prepare for docking.”

“Negative, Ares Station: my flight plan is for a direct decent to Port Lowell.”

“That’s a negative: there is a massive sandstorm building just south of Port Lowell. We predict that it will reach the colony an hour before you’re due to land. Please proceed to Ares Station for docking.”

“Roger that Ares Station, over and out.” I thumbed off the com-unit, “Bugger!”

I wasn’t sure what else to say.

Martian sandstorms can last for a year and cover the entire planet. Port Lowell itself was safe: the colony had been designed to withstand anything the local weather could throw at it. But there would be no way that a ship could land during a major sandstorm. It had been tried before, and the ship was almost lost when it was blown into the side of a mountain. The air on Mars may not be as thick as it is on Earth, but it didn’t need to be.

And Kay was somewhere outside the protection of the colony. I could only hope that she was somewhere safe; the alternative wasn’t worth thinking about.

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The Ares had changed a lot since I had last seen it in orbit of Luna. The forward section had been detached as soon as it had reached Mars and now formed the bulk of Port Lowell. The aft section, containing the massive gravimetric drives and the huge solar sail array had been landed on Phobos, the larger and innermost of Mars’ two moons.

Now re-christen Ares Station, it served as a hub for all traffic to and from Mars, as well as the launch pad for the probes being sent to the outer planets. Much of the station was buried deep within Phobos, protecting it from harmful solar radiation without the need to use a power-hungry magnetic shield.

A docking bay opened as the Wells began its approach, easily swallowing the relatively small shuttle inside a covered crater. Bright spotlights illuminated the hull, showing off ever scratch and dent in its thick armour: at the speeds the prototype could reach, every speck of space dust hit with the force of a small bomb, pock marking the protective outer hull. A universal docking arm extended from the side of the bay and latched onto the airlock, slowly cycling through to an Earth-normal atmosphere.

Picking up my duffel bag, and making sure I had my credentials at hand, I made my way through the airlock into the station proper.

“Mr Drake, I presume?” A tall man in his late twenties stood waiting for me, “Joe Hundredaire; I’ve been assigned to be your liaison while you are with us.”

“First off, you can call me Nathan.” I looked round, “Is there any way I can get down to the surface? I didn’t come all this way to look at Mars through a view port.”

“I’m sorry, sir, but there is no way a ship can descend through the storm. Even if it could, Port Lowell is in full lockdown until it passes. We do have a room prepared for you if you’d like to freshen up...”

“What ever.” I shook my head, trying not to think too much.

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The room was slightly bigger than the living quarters on the Wells, and contained a computer terminal linked to the stations mainframe. I accessed the files about Kay’s disappearance and looked to see if anything more had been found while I was in-transit.

The search had been suspended for the duration of the storm, but there was a map showing the area that had been covered. It also showed how far Kay could have gotten with her available oxygen supplies. I was grateful to see that there were several shelters and semi-automated outposts within the area: it was possible that she was held up in one that hadn’t been checked, or had re-supplied at one before moving on.

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I woke sometime in the middle of the night. I wasn’t sure why at first, but then I got the unmistakable feeling that there was someone else in the room, watching me. I centred myself and listened carefully, trying to hear something other than my own breathing and heartbeat.

A second, very calm heartbeat was coming from the direction of the small seating area near the door. Reacting on instinct, I exploded from the bed, literally flying across the room to the main light switch and turned it on, flooding the room with a bright light.

“That was somewhat impressive.” The figure in the seat facing the door smiled, “Haven’t seen you do that for a while.”

“In the name of all that is holy...” My legs gave out and I landed on my ass with a thump, “Charlotte!”

“The one and only.” My ex-wife turned her chair round to look at me, a smug, self-satisfied smile on her lips, “You’re looking well.

“Can’t complain too much, all things considered.”

“Good; that’s good.”

“What...what are you doing here?”

“I wanted to see you. Is there anything wrong with that?”

“Well, apart from the last few times we were this close, you tried to kill me...”

“That was the will of my former masters; I don’t answer to them any more.”

“They let you go?”

“No; there was a, how you say, séparation des manières?”

“A parting of the ways?”

“I see your French is improving. Yes, a parting of the ways. Although I am sure that they are less than happy with my departure.”

“What about all the stuff they had on you that stopped you leaving before?”

“I have something even better on them: I looked behind the curtain and saw the wizard for who he really is.”

“You know who’s behind the Conspiracy?”

“Yes.”

“Who?”

“Come now Nathan; that would be telling. There are some things that you have to come to in your own time and in your own ways.”

“Why are you here? Why now?”

“Isn’t it obvious? I want you back.”

“Have you totally flipped? You divorced me, tried to kill me and my friends. Why in Gods name would I want you back?”

“Because you love me, Nathan; you always have.”

“You’re crazy.”

“And you are lying to yourself. Do you deny that you loved me when we got married?”

“No, but I thought I knew you back then. Given what has happened these past few years, I think it is safe to say that I was wrong.”

“I am still the same woman you fell in love with.”

“I love you, I probably always will, in a way, but I’m not in love with you. And that is important. I love Ren, and I am not leaving her just because you snap your fingers and expect me to come running. Hell, for all I know, you’re the reason Kay is missing!”

“I have no desire to hurt your friend, Nathan; what is done is done and I can not change that. But I will have you back.”

“Best check the temperature in hell first...”

“I can see you’re upset, not thinking straight.” Charlotte smiled again, “We’ll continue this discussion later.”

And, with a flash of light and a sound like a crystal bell, she was gone.

To Be Continued...