Athena Lee Chronicles 7: The Martian Inheritance (9 page)

The Bridge was standing room only. Finally the captain had the images from the bridge transmitted to screens across the ship. Everyone wanted a first hand look at fabled Mars colony. I felt out of place in my dress blues standing next to the Captain.

“Captain, we are being hailed!”

“Put it on the screen.”

The head and shoulders of a man dressed in an old style button down uniform appeared on the screen. “To the ship that just crossed our frontier. State your business and planet of origin. Failure to do so will result in imprisonment and seizure of your ship.”

“Lieutenant Sprong, send our greeting and information please.”

“Yes, Sir.”

The man on the screen must have received what Sprong sent because his eyes widened a bit. “Greetings, James Cook. We have been looking forward to your arrival. I am sending you a navigational beacon. You will be met by a customs and navigation ship. Please allow the pilot to direct you to a parking orbit as is required by Martian law.”

The screen abruptly went dark as the local ended the conversation. “Sir, we have a lock on the beacon.”

Mars wasn’t as red as the history tapes showed. Terraforming efforts over the last two hundred years had changed all that. Patches of green and blue could be seen on the surface.

As our ship traveled closer to Mars more details could be discerned. Mars orbit was extremely crowded. Over a half dozen massive space stations surrounded the planet. We would later learn that each major city had a station in geosynchronous orbit. The beacon’s ‘trail’ led us to a medium sized ship painted with bright yellow and red stripes. This had to be the customs ship.

“Sir, we are being hailed on all channels. They instruct us to follow at a distance no greater that ten kilometers. They say that we will parking the ship in Deimos orbit.”

“Sir, Deimos?” Lieutenant Behr, the navigator had a question.

“Captain, I can answer this one.” I hated to interrupt but father prepared me for all things Mars.

“By all means Commander Lee.”

“Lieutenant Behr, Mars has two small moons. One is called Deimos and the other Phobos. The names come from ancient Greek history. They were the companions of the God Mars in battle. In Greek they were ‘panic’ and ‘terror.’ If you are familiar at all with Old Earth entertainment and fiction the moons were used as the locations of demons and aliens. Though as far as I know they have never found either there!”

“Thank you Ma’am.”

“You’re welcome Lieutenant.”

The Captain smiled at me. He'd still been prodding me to apply for bridge officer’s school.

“Sir, Intelligence is reporting that there seems to be a massive amount of infrastructure on Deimos.”

“Thank you Commander Blomkvis. Inform Intel that they are to scan and capture as much information as possible. The tech gonzos have a request in for any specs or first hand knowledge of Martian capabilities.”

The striped ship directed us to a location with a good view of the small moon. It appeared to be a military outpost. There were about a dozen destroyer sized ships on a constant patrol around the base. Shuttle craft and small piloted pods seemed to be everywhere in orbit zipping around. Two shipyards and what appeared to be a fighter wing base also orbited the moon. Most of our crew had not seen this much firepower since the war. Only the renegade Commodore’s fleet had come close to this.

“Captain, we are instructed to take a shuttle down to the base where we will be met by the Assembly delegation. We are to bring the delegates, you or your representative, and a total of four guards. They say that they will provide a beacon.”

The Captain looked at me. “That’s it then. Commander if you would send a message to Lieutenant Mutai. Tell him to bring along four of the shipboard marines. Full weapons load out, but no powered armor: that’s an order! Have him meet us in the main hanger. We will be taking an assault shuttle down.”

The seven of us soon boarded the shuttle. We had a small crew on the shuttle, but they would stay on it in case we had to make a run for it. “Captain? Is this unusual for a meeting?”

“I’m not sure, Commander. The last time we met with anyone from Mars in an official capacity was over thirty years ago. I was told that your father was part of that mission. It’s possible that they’ve been having issues with others?”

Our shuttle followed the beacon down to a large surface base that clung to the edge of a large crater. The edge of the crater held what looked to be gun emplacements. A large door opened to lead us to an unknown fate. I was reminded of some of the early space warfare vids where the dark tunnel led to a large monster at the end. Hopefully this would not be the case.

The ship shuddered a moment as gravity was restored to the outside tunnel. Our antigrav units switched on immediately as their sensors detected the change. A secondary door opened at the end of the tunnel. A well lit hangar bay half filled with people greeted us. A platform with flashing landing lights signaled our landing spot. Our pilots set us down in a text book landing. There was a loud hissing, followed by a thump as our ship was re-pressurized and all vents opened. Lieutenant Mutai reached past the Captain and lowered the loading ramp. It was now or never. Captain Gorshin led us into history.

Chapter 12

Have you ever had one of those dreams where you walk into a room and everyone gasps at your appearance because you’re naked? I now know what it feels like to have one while awake.

Captain Gorshin had led our small party off the shuttle. Lieutenant Mutai followed him with me and the guards bringing up the rear.

A large crowd of delegates and onlookers half filled the bay. A tall gentleman in an archaic style military uniform shook Captain Gorshin’s hand. “Welcome to Mars. I am Admiral Demetrius Dorr, Commander of the Mars Defense Force.”

“Thank you Admiral. I am Captain Frank Gorshin of the PPL James Cook. Behind me is Lieutenant Kinno Mutai and Commander Athena Lee.”

Being short I stepped out from behind the two taller men. I immediately froze at the gasp of surprise from the gathered delegates and the crowd. I instinctively glanced behind me scanning for a threat. As I turned back I found the entire room staring and pointing at me. Our Marine guard quickly formed up on either side of me. Captain Gorshin looked at me and I stared at him wide-eyed, then finally shrugged. He turned back to the Martian Admiral. “Is there a problem Admiral?”

The tall Martian shook himself and turned back toward us. “Captain, may I approach the Commander?” At his nod the Martian stepped toward me.

He peered at me like I was a science project under inspection. When he started to take another step toward me, I stopped him. “That’s close enough Admiral. Is there a reason why everyone in the room is staring at me?”

“I’m sorry about that, Commander. You happen to bear a striking resemblance to one of our citizens. She is fairly well known and respected on this planet. Seeing her likeness… well, let’s just say it has come as a shock to many of us. I apologize if we scared you.”

“I don’t scare that easily.” But these people were freaking me out!

“If I may ask Commander Lee, have you any relatives from Mars?”

“Yes, my mother was from here.”

“I see, has she told you of our culture and perhaps her family here?” He seemed to be fishing for something.

“She died when I was two years old. Her immune system couldn’t handle our planet’s atmosphere.”

“I’m sorry to hear that Commander Lee. The loss of a parent is always very hard. Do you have something to remember her by?” Aha! Bingo. The question was, could we trust him? Mom’s message was that I was not to give it to anyone but a ‘government official.’

I glanced at my Captain. He shrugged his shoulders. I was on my own here. Wilson chose that moment to whisper in my ear. “Athena, I am recording everything in the room. He won’t get away if he tries anything funny. I have just about broken into their systems, the protocols are a bit funky but I think I have it figured out.”

Buoyed by Wilson's support, I looked back at the Admiral and replied. “I do. She gave me a crystal.”

The Admiral’s eyes lit right up. “May I see it please?”

“I need it back after you’re done with it.” My smile had disappeared and I was using my command voice.

“Of course, of course… ” He held out his hand eagerly, palm up.

I reached into my pocket and withdrew the small crystal that Dad had given me. I rubbed my fingers over it before placing it in the Admiral’s hand. He closed his fist over it, pulled his arm back and began to closely examine the crystal. The Admiral looked up and made a complicated hand signal to the gathered crowd. A short while later a man in a similar uniform approached us with a small machine in his hands. The Admiral presented the crystal to the man who plugged it into the machine.

Lights flashed on the small machine and a small hologram appeared above the unit. Words flashed in a language I did not understand and then the hologram went dark.

The Admiral took the crystal back and held it in his hand. He started to turn away from me and step toward the crowd, but several cries of protest drew him up short. He bowed his head for a moment and turned back to me.

The Admiral handed me back the crystal. He smiled a grim sort of smile. “This belongs to you Commander. It must be read on an official Dilmun city reader. The hologram that flashed on was a warning that my unit was not an official reader.” He paused, pursed his lips and then nodded. “My aide will show you to temporary quarters. I must consult with our political leaders. Hold on to that and don’t lose it. Only give it up to a real Dilmun Government official.” With a flourish he turned and strode out of the hangar bay pushing through the crowd.

Captain Gorshin gave me a questioning look and pointed at my hands. I shook my head and mouthed ‘later.’ The Admiral’s second officer looked at our group and stepped forward. “Lots of excitement. I am Gaston Pebbleberry aide to the high command and all around finder of lost things. Follow me please we have much to see and do. Are you all married or do you require separate rooms?”

“We need separate rooms please. Preferably a group of rooms or a hall all to ourselves.” The Captain looked a bit shocked at the marriage question.

“Very good, follow please.” We approached the crowd and they parted to allow us through. As we passed I noted several different styles of uniforms. There were men and women in flowing see-thru shifts, toga’s, and a few completely naked but for collars and chains. This was going to be a real adventure.

They gave us a wing to ourselves. As soon as Gaston left, I had Wilson scan for listening devices and hidden cameras. I excused myself and went to the lavatory. “Wilson, did you find any bugs?”

“Nothing that I could sense. Be careful though. I managed to break into the primary systems of this base. They are using an archaic code that I have only run into at Sam’s salvage yard.”

“Sam’s… Damn it Wilson! That
was
you that set off those giant robots. You told me that it wasn’t you. You lied to me!”

“Athena, I promise, I did not lie to you. You asked if I was controlling those ‘killer’ robots. I said that they had a will of their own. They did, sort of. I reprogrammed them but they were almost ‘conscious.’ Old Earth science was simply awesome. Those two predated colonization. Imagine what Earth could have done if the Cyber Wars had never happened.”

I thought for a moment. “OK, you did not technically lie to me. But it was still almost a lie. You can tell me the truth, you know. I won’t be too judgmental. Did you catch what was on the crystal?”

“No. The message was in a runic alphabet. It must be some sort of private language. I can’t find any trace of it in my databases. This is a very interesting place.”

“Stay out of trouble, please. They may have AI’s or giant robots here.”

“I’ll be careful, I promise.”

“I need to get back out there. Be good.” I rejoined the others in the main room.

Immediately the Captain began to question me. “Commander Lee… Athena. What exactly is going on? What is that crystal? Why did they react like they did?”

I shook my head. “Captain I have no idea why they reacted like that. My father gave me this thing a few days before we shipped out.” I removed the crystal from my pocket and showed it to him. “My mother was originally from Mars. Dad explained how he had met her. Before she died she gave him four of these. One for each of us children. The only instructions that she left was to bring them if we came to Mars, and to only give them to a Government Official, no one else. I had… a friend try to crack it but the code was like nothing he had ever seen before.”