The Beckett
By
UCSBdad
Disclaimer: A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, I did not own Castle. Rating: K Time: A century or so in an AU future.
Author's note: This is a sequel to chapters 751, 908 and 956 to 957 of After a Deadly Affair. Kate Beckett is the chief, and only, law enforcement officer at the small scientific colony on Mars. Author Rick has come to Mars ostensibly to write about the colony but actually to see his daughter, Dr. Alexis Castle.
"Castle! What are you doing?"
"I'm picking you up."
Kate managed an eye roll and a glare simultaneously.
"I can see that. Why are you picking me up?"
"To carry you over the threshold."
"No one does that anymore. And certainly not here."
"Kate! We're the first couple to ever get married on Mars. This is historic. It has to be done right."
Kate sighed and allowed her husband of four hours to carry her into his quarters.
He gently put her down.
"There. Welcome to your new home, Mrs. Castle."
She smiled and kissed him. "Thank you, Mr. Beckett. It's lovely."
In truth, Kate knew Castle's place very well. She blushed slightly remembering just how well she knew the bedroom and the bathroom. The only bathroom with an actual bathtub on Mars. Everyone but Rick Castle had a tiny, cramped, four meter by four meter cubicle for quarters, even married couples. Kate's quarters, just across the hall from Rick's had a microwave oven to prepare the freeze dried foods the rest of Mars lived on, while Rick had a real kitchen and food sent from Earth just for him. And those he shared with, of course. Kate had been unable to resist real coffee and real ice cream, even though, at first, she hadn't liked Castle. She had had a tiny bathroom with a shower just barely large enough to turn around in. As she was rather slim, she had always wondered how some of the larger people managed. Not that she asked.
Castle had come to Mars ostensibly to write a series of puff pieces for the scientific colony on Mars to help popularize the colony. Actually, he had come to see his lovely and brilliant daughter, Dr. Alexis Castle. As a wealthy author, he had insisted on bringing as much of his life style as possible with him. His quarters were twenty meters by twenty meters and included all the comforts of home. He had to pay for it, of course, but that hardly bothered a man of his wealth.
As a mystery writer, he also had brought along a complete crime scene kit, something the tight-fisted bureaucrats on Earth had denied Kate, insisting there was no need for such expensive gear on Mars. Although she had sent three murderers back to Earth, she was still dependent on Castle for so many things that Earth refused to provide.
"Now I'm going to make my lovely bride a wonderful wedding dinner and then we'll get a good night's sleep before we head off on our honeymoon."
Kate laughed. "We may not get much sleep, and I don't think we have to worry too much about our honeymoon. Where would we go except to another dome here in Mars Science City?"
"We'll go to Dome 24." Castle replied with a smirk.
"You think so? And just how will we get in? No one has been allowed in. It's to be closed up and tended just by robots to be sure everything works perfectly after the installation crew leaves."
Almost everything on Mars had to be sent, at great expense, from Earth. Food was very expensive to ship as it was high in volume, even when it was freeze dried, dehydrated, or whatever. Dome 24 was the first of the new farm domes that would eventually feed the twelve thousand people on Mars.
The science colony was full of people with multiple PhDs and plenty of post-doctoral research. They had no time to take away from their very expensive projects to grow food, so a completely automated farm had been set up. Martian soil being sterile, Earth soil, complete with nitrogen fixing bacteria and all that was needed to provide fertile soil had been sent to Mars to be mixed with Martian soil and fertilized by human waste.
"I find your lack of faith disturbing." Castle said in an odd, low voice. "It's been five and a half months since they closed off Dome 24. The plan was to keep it closed for six months."
"So?"
"So, who's got two books on the Greater New York Times' best seller list? I'll even give you a hint. It's someone on Mars."
Kate tried not to laugh and to look very serious
"Oh! Is it Professor Mangin with his papers on the Martian magnetic field?"
"Beckett!"
"I know. It's Dr. Samantha Palmer and those cute, if very filthy, limericks she wrote about you."
Castle shook his head.
"Computer, where are my books on the Times' best sellers list?"
"The same place they were when you asked that question twenty-seven times yesterday." The computer said in Kate's voice.
Kate couldn't help laughing. "Got much of an ego, Castle?"
"Computer! Answer the question." He barked.
"Number three on the list is Princess Ares and the Canal Monster, a science fiction story set tens of millions of years ago when…."
"Enough." Castle cried. "And what's number one?"
"Number one is Cold Heat, in which Marshall Nikki Heat and her husband…."
"That's enough." Kate said. "Everyone knows you're a wealthy best-selling author."
"And the Mars Scientific Colony has seen its approval rate rise by fifteen percent since I started writing from here. This year's budget passed on Earth with hardly a quibble. When I asked Ray Chavez, the Chief Operating Officer, if we could stay in Dome 24 for a couple of days, he was happy to oblige."
"What's in Dome 24 to make it so attractive?"
"Lake Athena, fifteen entire acres of water for us to swim and frolic in. Plus we can nibble on fresh fruits and vegetables, as long as we don't nibble too much. And the bright lights in the dome will give us a suntan that'll be the envy of all of Mars."
Kate thought for a second.
"Castle, that's really sweet of you. What do you say we skip dinner for a while and let me be cute for you?"
"Always."
When they were packing for their short honeymoon the next morning, Kate made an awful discovery.
"I don't have a swim suit. I mean, who'd bring a swim suit to Mars?"
Her husband smiled and held up a very small bikini.
"I just happened to have this in case I met someone on Mars I wanted to marry and take swimming on our honeymoon."
Kate looked at the suit.
"It's in my size. Exactly." After a beat, she added, "If awfully small."
He shrugged. "I know a guy. He sews as a hobby. Just don't wear it in the field of vision of the airlock cameras. I don't want all of Mars lusting over my wife."
"Are there any other cameras inside?"
"No just the ones to monitor who goes in and out. The place is filled with all sorts of other sensors, of course, to keep track of the food. Make sure nothing's rotting or something. But no one will see you if you skinny dip."
Every airlock had such cameras. In case of some sort of disaster, they needed to keep track of where everyone was so as not to waste time searching for people who were already safe. There had been no major disasters on Mars, but the planet was a forbidding environment. A number of people died each year for one reason or another. There were other cameras. Mostly they were in labs watching over experiments to keep track of what went wrong, or right.
As they left their quarters, Castle cleared his throat loudly. "Ahem! Have you noticed your former quarters?"
Kate saw there was a new sign on her door.
Katherine Houghton Beckett Castle
Captain, Greater New York City Police Department
Chief Law Enforcement Officer for the Planet Mars
Marshal of Mars
"That's your new office, so you won't have to go all the way to another dome to work."
"Castle, that's so sweet." She stood on her tiptoes and kissed hm.
"I was going to add, and possessor or the most perfect ass in the solar system, but…."
"You remembered I still carried a gun?" She finished for him.
"I thought it was self-explanatory."
"Let's just go on our honeymoon."
About half of the domes were connected by tunnels between them. However, Dome 24 was one that hadn't been connected yet. This meant that they needed to wear their environment suits to get to Dome 24.
Once inside, Kate looked all around her.
"This is so beautiful." She gasped.
He nodded. "Close to 15000 square meters of floor space makes it the largest dome on Mars, but it still won't be big enough to feed all of Mars, especially since we keep getting more people."
Castle walked her down the walkway and pointed out the different plants. "We have corn here and over there are potatoes. Just ahead is wheat. Beyond that is the apple orchard and to the right are oranges. If you look above us, you'll see the scaffolding that holds the second, third and fourth decks. The second deck is mostly green veggies, the third has coffee and some other totally unimportant plants and the top deck has the chickens and pigs."
"We're not going to be drenched in pig and chicken shit, are we?" Kate looked a bit worried.
"Everything is collected and recycled."
"So if everyone will have fresh Mars grown coffee, how are you going to keep me, Mr. Beckett?" She teased.
Castle goosed her. "I'll think of something."
Once near the center of the dome, Castle stopped. "Ta, ta, ta, ta, tah! And here we have the beautiful Lake Athena and our deluxe accommodations." He pointed to a large tent pitched by the lake.
"Why do we need a tent inside a dome?" Kate wondered.
"The lights in the dome are on 24/7, and they're really bright. So, it'll be nice and dark in the tent when we go to sleep."
"Not too dark, I hope. I wouldn't want to lose you."
"Never."
"What's first?"
"We should take the elevator to the top of the dome. This is the tallest structure on Mars. You can see for miles. Although all you can see is Mars."
Heading for the elevator Kate almost stepped on something that looked like a mechanical spider.
"What's that? One of the robots?"
Castle pulled out his tablet. "Correct. To be precise, it's one that checks on potatoes, carrots and other veggies that grow underground. There are a bunch of different kinds here. They've been programmed not to bother people."
They went through the entire dome, then swam, ate and once in their tent they made love.
The next morning Castle was making breakfast.
"Is there anything you'd like, Mrs. Castle?"
Kate thought for a moment.
"I'd love some fresh squeezed orange juice."
"Okay, as soon as I get the bacon done, I'll go get some oranges."
"Don't bother. I can do it." Kate took off towards the orange trees. She was back quickly with no oranges and an odd look on her face.
"I'm afraid the honeymoon is over, Castle. There's a body behind the orange trees."