Athena Lee Chronicles 7: The Martian Inheritance Read online

  I nodded. “Dad, you need to admit to yourself that he was a fool. Don’t take the blame for him.” Men! Big strong wimps.

  “Fine, fine, I bow to my daughters judgment. But we're getting off topic here. Now, as I was saying about your mother. Amelia, loved all of you. She knew the risks and came here with me anyway.”

  “Dad, why are you bringing all of this up now?” I hoped that nothing was wrong with him, bringing up the past was not his way!

  He gave me a sharp look at my tone. Then he laughed. “I’m fine, don’t worry about me. I am bringing this up because of the trip you are about to make. Mars colony, is the reason for this.”

  “Dad, I know that mom came from Mars. That is what Min and Han had always told me growing up.”

  “Neither of you, or your brother, knew the real truths about your mother. We did not set out to keep you in the dark, but events got away from us and then with her illness and your birth Athena… Well we are going to talk about it now.”

  I looked at Min and she looked back at me shrugging her shoulders. We had no idea what was going on. Dar sat between us and was just watching dad in that calculating way that she looks at things.

  “Time for a history lesson. Mars. Mars colony was the second major colony set up from Earth. The first one was on Earth’s moon, Luna. That colony was government sponsored and mostly military in nature. Mars was different. Mars first colony was a scientific station. It was built there with an international effort to prove that colonization was possible. With the invention of the Doohan drive people could get there faster and with bigger ships. The first setters were those with big bank accounts and wanted off Earth. Believe it or not, it truly was celebrities and science tech geeks that founded the first colony there.”

  “Dad, that’s not what we learned in school, or even at the academy!”

  “I know, on this planet we just did not know all that much about what happened both before and after the colony was founded here. Some of the fabled horrors of the Cyber War were still in our ancestors minds and they chose to forget them. Many history books were changed.”

  “Dad! Isn’t that illegal? How can you justify…”

  “Athena, calm down. There are historically accurate histories in both the planetary assembly library and at the University. Many of our scholars and government officials are aware of the real truths of our society. It is not that big of a secret.”

  At that point Wilson reappeared on the screen in his cowboy persona. “It’s true Athena. There is lots of vids and text online about the hidden history.” I motioned at the screen and he buzzed out.

  “I’m sorry Dad. Please continue.”

  He smiled at me. “The Cyber Wars were ending and many people saw that the governments of the world were weak. They did not want to be there if a war broke out so they left. The corporation's left first, then those with personal money. Businesses like the Dorr corporation, Orange, TQB, BigHard, and a few others. Then the celebrities and then the Church’s. All of them were afraid that the governments would try and take their money away from them, so they packed up and went to Mars. A few went further than that, like those folks you found Athena. Soon after, the governments started sending their ‘undesirables’ out into space. Only they sent them a lot farther. They did not want them coming back. So, Mars. All those people built cities and began to terraform and change the planet. They found resources and water to help them build. The governments of Earth left them alone, for the most part.”

  “Dad, what about the wars? It is in our books that they had wars on Earth.” That was what I remembered most about history, all the military stuff. I glanced to my right, Dar was totally enraptured to what dad was saying. I had to chuckle, he was a good storyteller.

  “OK, the wars. The Cyber Wars were over. Earth had a international council of sorts called the UN. It stood for United Nations. After all the terrorists were captured or killed the UN started to throw its weight around. It began taking over. Many of the larger countries fought back, hence the wars we hear about. We don’t know all that much. I know more because of your mother. Mars was very close to the situation so they knew the truth. After Earth ran out of religious groups, undesirables, or political dissidents they started population reductions. They would sweep up whole neighborhoods or small towns and ship them out as colonists.”

  Min reached over and tapped his arm. “Father, that’s crazy! Why would they do something like that?”

  “I only know what your mother told me. Mars could still get radio or vid transmissions so that is how they knew what was happening. The UN conquered the big nations by bombing them back to the stone age with kinetic strikes. Then they mopped up and presumably sent the people off world. After that, nothing.”

  “Why do you say presumably?” My eyes widened, Dar asked a question.

  Dad looked at my girlfriend and threw up his hands. “We don’t know. Mars doesn’t know either. The last group of ships was launched and the colonies just disappeared. Only one was ever found and they only had a small number of people alive on it. None of them were old enough to remember Earth and they did not have any records or history tapes.”

  Dar nodded her head. “Which planet was it? That the colony was found on.”

  “Botany Bay 7, it’s in the Botany Bay system, uh sector 7 or 8 I think. The planet is overrun with dinosaurs and the colony was in this small valley surrounded by gun turrets. There were around 100,000 of them when they were found. They had cannibalized the colony ship and all the tech to build up the colony. So all the history records, if they even existed, were lost.”

  “Dad, do you know the name of the ship that founded the colony?” I had an idea of what it’s name might be.

  “Something Jewel, that is all I remember. Why?” My sister and Dar had turned to look at me.

  “Could it have been the Precious Jewel?”

  “Yes! That was the name. How did you know about that Athena?”

  I related my story about Sam the junk dealer back on New Reno Station and his claim of being a colony ship pilot. I added that Wilson had researched him but had found very little. Sam kept a very low profile.

  “I had no idea. So the New Reno government knows about him?”

  “Yes, Dad. Or at least that is where Wilson found his information. I will have him send you what he found along with a vid copy of the story he told me.”

  “I would like that, thank you Athena.” He leaned over and gave me a half hug.

  ‘Father, about Mars…” I could hear the impatience in Min’s voice.

  “Sorry, so after Earth cut itself off and put up the satellites and stations, I presume that you know about those?” We all nodded. Everyone knew about Earth’s defense system. The defenses were regarded with an awe that would more usually be reserved for mythological monsters. No one went near them.

  “After that Mars was on it’s own completely. The Catholic church tried a power play and lost, the Martian people were tired of big governments running things. They formed city states, very much like ancient Greece with Sparta and Athens. Each dome, or city, was represented in the Assembly. Which is what their government is called. They have mutual defense pacts and share tech and resources. About thirty years ago our planet sent a trading mission to Mars. This was just before the war. My father sent me to be one of the representatives to the Assembly. The jump took over six months to get there. When we arrived we were greeted by a small trading delegate comprised of people from all the domes. For us is was a real eye-opening experience. Mars is a little decadent.”

  “How so? I mean they are the tech giants of the galaxy they have to be civilized!”

  Dad started laughing. Min looked angry, she did not like it when people laughed at her. Not even Dad.

  “Wipe that look off your face Min! I am still your father and we still have a woodshed out back.” Now it was my turn to laugh.Of all the things he could have said that was not one of them.

  “What I meant by that is they have unusual tastes. Much of the planet has not been terraformed. Masks are still required outside the domes. Inside people are a little free. Their mode of dress is shocking if you are not ready for it. Many people walk around unclothed. They have looser moral restrictions and participate in unusual sports or games.” He made stopping motions with his hands. “No I’m not telling you. You will be surprised like I was. So, your mother. We met at one of the dinners held in our honor. I was instantly in love with her and asked her out on a date. Imagine my surprise when I found out she was already married! To a group of people, at that!”

  He chuckled at the looks on all of our faces. “The marriage was a platonic one. They have those there. Single women are frowned upon. They prefer that single women be protected and ‘marry’ them to small groups for protection. Sometimes the groups stay together and sometimes they don’t. Your mother came from one of the founding families. The group she was married to was made up of society elite and future leaders. Because the marriage was in name only she was allowed to date me.” He looked at Dar and me. “Athena stay close to Dar in public places. The security forces will ask if you are together. It is not against the law, but it is frowned upon. You two should be fine so long as you stay together. When it came time to leave, I almost stayed on Mars. Your mother, at the last minute, chose to give everything up and come with me. The reason that I tell you all of this is your mother was related to the rulers of Dilmun, the main domed city. Her family can trace their ancestry back to members of the Dorr foundation who helped to found the city.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out an old data crystal, handing it to me.

  “Your mother prepared this for each of you. I have one for you too Min. They were for if you ever went to Mars. Give this to any government official and they can contact
your family. Only the government, mind you. Your mother was very explicit in her instructions. Only show this to a verified government official.”

  “What is on it?” I was eying the crystal with surprise.

  “I really don’t know. Your mother once told me she had funds available that she had to leave on Mars. It could be that or a connection to her family. I’m not sure. Hold on to it. It could be very important to you. Well, now that I have wasted our morning, let’s go check out the new weapons that the armory sent over. I know that Dar is just itching to try them out.” He hopped up from the table and headed for the door on his way to the shooting range. Dar followed after him like a puppy.

  Minerva took the crystal from my hand and looked at it. She handed in back to me with a smile. “Just like mom to leave us a mystery to solve.” She laughed and hurried to catch up to dad.

  Chapter 4

  I glared at the data crystal that dad gave me again. He’d kept this thing from us our entire lives! As a child, I would have loved to have had any token of our mother. When he gave Min hers she had stared at it like it was ‘fairy gold.’ Poor Min she actually remembered mom. My whole life she’d shared with me stories about our mother. Her memories were all I had because father refused to talk about mom.

  The temptation to have Wilson ‘hack’ this thing was almost overwhelming. I stared at it a moment more before carefully putting it back in my pocket. No. I would wait. There would be every opportunity to explore its secrets once I got to Mars colony.

  I rubbed my eyes to clear my head. The engineering reports just kept piling up. Repairs were finally almost complete on the station. On the outside the ‘dent’ I’d made, by stopping that asteroid, was almost gone. Since we’d had the station ripped up anyway, we went ahead and began installation of the new bulkhead designs. The Empire might decry copyright infringement since the design ‘technically’ belonged to them, but I’d invented it so I figure I have every right to use it. In the near future Freedom Station would be able to take another hit like it had and next time it wouldn’t need major surgery. Not that my sister is going to allow me to ‘drive’ the station again!

  While working on the station has been rewarding, I can’t wait to get back on a ship. The James Cook had just arrived back in the system after a grueling training cruise. Captain Gorshin was a demanding but fair Captain. He had excelled at turning his ship into a training vessel. The damage it had received in the battle against the Imperial fleet had been repaired and a new training crew shipped out. We desperately needed trained spacers and officers for our new Navy. Now, Captain Wang will take up the chore of training. Commander Kościuszko and his team of magicians over at the shipyard, had repaired the Paney in record time. They also reconfigured the ship a little bit, to allow for more space cadets. For some reason, Wilson thought calling them that was hilarious. AI’s they never explain anything.

  Minerva recently made the suggestion that we turn my job functions on the station over to an AI. The only AI that we have is Wilson and he stays with me. We do have that megalomaniac crazy one, but he’s too far gone to be of any help. I know that the solution is to clone Wilson yet again, but I’m trying not to do that too much. I love my little sidekick, but I wonder about him sometimes. The two books that he published, the so-called parody business books, are about world domination and robot rebellion, respectively. He won’t try anything while I’m around to stop him but after I’m gone? Do we really want to give an AI with an agenda that much power over us? I bounced my thoughts on that subject off my dad. He told me that the decision was out of his hands, but he agreed with me. Whatever happens, it’ll need to be soon. The station’s crews are almost finished arming and provisioning the James Cook for their upcoming mission.

  ___

  Minerva was at the head of the table when I entered the room. Also sitting around the large table were several officers that I knew and a few that I did not. “Athena, good. We were about to start.” Min pointed me to an empty seat between Dar and a Marine officer I’d seen around.

  Dar patted my leg with a smile as I sat down. I poked her back and turned my attention to my sister.

  “So, as I was about to say, this briefing is for the upcoming mission to Mars. I won’t get into the history of our planet's relations with the Mars colony or it’s own history. In front of you are short briefs you can review that explain all of that.” There were several sighs of relief as this announcement.

  Minerva just frowned at everyone. “I’m not that boring folks!” She shook her head.

  “So, the mission. Commander Paulet? I believe that you have a briefing for us.”

  “Yes, Ma’am, I do.” A tall man stood up across from me. He was a plain looking conspicuously dressed man in a suit not a Naval uniform.

  “For those of you who I have not yet met, I’m Commander Amias Paulet. At the moment I am in disguise.” There were several chuckles around the table.

  “What’s funniest, is that I really am in disguise. I try and keep a low profile on the station.” He glanced at Min, who nodded her head.

  “Mars is technically our ally. We sent trade missions to the colony and negotiated a treaty with them before the last war. Even after our joining the ‘Empire’ they remained trading partners. We still have an embassy of ours located in Dilmun, the capital city. There’s a small caretaker staff there that assists our trade fleet and provides assistance with legal issues. Mars colony is the most advanced in the galaxy. They are at the pinnacle of technological advancement for mankind. Much of what we believe to be impossible they believe possible. They are also the most ‘open’ morally. Sex clubs, nude bathing, group marriages, gladiator matches, personal enhancements, and gene splicing are just some of the more common things that you’ll see. But almost nothing is off limits. They do come down hard on prostitution, molestation, or any sort of verified sex crime. Crimes against children have the harshest penalties. They have extremely strict laws on that. Now, the tricky part. If something happens off-planet they, for the most part, will ignore it. Their laws only apply to Mars. They WILL NOT enforce international or extra-planetary laws. For you history buffs, think Old World Mexico or Switzerland in the 19th or 20th centuries. So unless they break local laws, criminals on the lam just love Mars colony. It’s a free port for all things criminal as long as they obey Mars’ laws. This both helps and hurts our upcoming operation.”

  He looked back toward Minerva, as if to say ‘all yours.’

  “Thank you Amias. The upcoming mission has two components.” She paused and activated the large Vid screen behind her.

  The screen came to life and a vid played of a heavily guarded man climbing out of a shuttle. The man was of medium build with dark hair and a swarthy complexion. He was surrounded by at least six heavily armed men. Hiding his face he ducked his head to enter a doorway and for a split second his face was shown. The vid froze and his partial face was shown next to a biographical picture with text.

  “Meet Commodore Grigory Meketovich Vakulinchuk, we now know that he was not killed when his flagship was almost destroyed in what we’re calling the ‘Battle of the Rock.’ Somehow he managed to escape along with his personal Marine force. Some of our operatives captured this footage on Mars three weeks ago.”