Bloodlines

“Shit, I’ve always wanted to say that!” The stranger laughed, “You’re Nathan, right?” I could only nod, “The name’s Gideon; a mutual friend sent me to get you out...” he raised the huge gun, “GET YOUR BLOODY HEAD DOWN” I ducked just in time, a beam of charged partials washed over me. I felt the hair on the back of my neck singe under the hellish heat. What it did to the group of Clones who were following me I do not want to know.

“We should be getting out of here.” Gideon picked me up and pulled me into the airlock, “Get a pressure suit on; we’re going for a walk.”

I grabbed one of the mesh suits off of the rack and quickly pulled it on; taking care to make sure that the attached oxygen tank was full and correctly sealed. Thankfully they were scaled down versions of the suites used on Luna, so I had a good idea what I was doing. The face mask fitted snugly, and I pulled the straps as tight as I dared without breaking them. I twisted the valve in the middle of the chest place and cool air hissed into the face mask. I took a couple of deep breaths, before exhaling sharply, checking for leaks.

“You ready?” Gideon asked before activating the airlock. Massive pumps sucked out the air and fed it into pressurised tanks so that it wouldn’t be wasted. Despite this, there was still a noticeable puff of escaping air when the outer door swung open on well oiled hinges. The airlock opened out onto the side of Port Lowell that was facing away from the storm, but the relentless wind and sand still conspired to reduce visibility to almost zero. Gideon looked round to get his bearings, and then pointed out away from the colony.

“Where the hell are we going?” I asked, unsure that following him would be the best idea.

“Somewhere safe, at least it is for now.” Gideon’s suit started to disappear into the storm, “Unless you want to stay with your friends back there.”

I followed on behind him, for lack of a better plan. Soon the billowing red sand enveloped us, and it took most of my concentration to keep track of Gideon as he marched on across the rocky ground. After almost stumbling twice, I decided that, despite the constant buffeting by the wind, it would probably be better if I flew rather than walked. Willing myself up until I was only a few inches above the ground, I followed my mysterious savoir into the storm.

Gideon strode forward for what felt like hours, never saying a word and never once deviating from his course. All I could do was follow, knowing that I would be totally lost if I lost sight of the back of his suit. The billowing sand and howling wind made it look like we were walking through a thick fog. And still we walked.

Eventually, a dark shape began to take form ahead of as, slowly solidifying into one of the massive rovers used to scout new ground and move between Port Lowell and the isolated outposts set out across Mars. Gideon led the way around to the far side of the rover and remote-activated the airlock. We quickly made our way up the steps and inside to stop too much sand following us, and the outer door closed with a dull thud.

There was a growing hiss as the internal atmosphere rose to what passed for normal, and Gideon pulled off his suits helmet. The first thing I noticed was the scare running down from his hair, across his left eye and down to his upper lip. His left eye was amber, something I’d never seen before. Adding to the strange look, his right eye was hazel. He stood a little taller than I did, but it was hard to tell while we were both wearing environment suits.

“Long story; tell you later.” Gideon smiled slightly when he saw how I was looking at him, “Right now we need to get out of here.”

He cracked the inner airlock door and stepped into the cramped cabin. There was a rack to hang our suits, a few equipment lockers, and four padded seats, two of which were occupied. The man in the nearest one looked about my height, with short black hair, a neatly timed goatee bearded and a pair of black specials. He looked almost terrified to see us, and kept glancing at the woman to his left. She was shorter, and of slim build with shoulder length chestnut hair. A pair of expensive looking digital cameras hung from straps around her neck.

“Our two friends here work for the National Geographic society: they’re up here doing a piece on our terraforming projects.” Gideon waved at them as he headed for the empty seat behind the Rover’s controls, “They’re a little unhappy with us borrowing their ride, but as the only other option for them was going back to Port Lowell and trying to uphold the freedom of the press under the New World Order, I think they’ve gotten off lightly.” He grabbed the radio and adjusted the settings apparently at random, “Ajax to Aphrodite: I have Odysseus and request destination, over.”

“Roger that Ajax: you’re to meet up with Hephaestus at Troy.” An unfamilour femail voiced replied over the stattic filled air, “We’re about to broadcast Zeus’ message before Prometheus or Theia gets there’s in first.”

“Have we heard from Zeus yet?” Gideon asked, apparently a little unsettled.

“That’s a negative: Zeus is still missing from Olympus.” The voice replied, “Ares and Athena are out looking now.”

“Roger that: Ajax out.” Gideon put the radio down and slumped into the driver seat, “Troy is two days hard drive across rough terrain from here.” He fiddled with the radio again, “We’d better get started.”

Wordlessly, I moved to the vacant seat and sat down. I had no idea what was going on, or who my apparent saviour was, but I lacked any better options. My train of thoughts was derailed when the radio again crackled to life.

“Attention, your attention please: this message is being broadcast on all frequencies.” Kay’s voice came over the airwaves, “As head of the Mars expedition and elected governor of Port Lowell, I do hereby declare the planet of Mars an independent and sovereign Republic, effective immediately. Any attempt by an outside force to challenge our sovereignty by force of arms will be considered an act of war, and we will respond accordingly. That is all at this time.” The message started to repeat itself, but I shut the radio off.

“Is she joking?” I asked Gideon, “There are less than a thousand people on Mars, not counting the troops Goodheart and Legion brought with them! That’s not enough to start a country.”

“It’s the principal of the thing.” He explained as he started the Rover off into the storm, “The simple act of broadcasting the message will direct everyone’s attention here: if our friends back at Port Lowell try anything now, they’ll have the world watching them. Might not stop them, but they won’t be able to sweep it all under the rug, not now.”

“I was wrong: she’s not joking, she’s crazy.” I shook my head as we made our way through the sand and wind, “And I’m just as crazy for getting caught up in all of this...”

To Be Continued...