You'll never guess what I learnt today. If a person had legs like the back legs of a Flea, they would be able to jump over the Eiffel Tower. I must admit it would be a pretty impressive trick but it would not be good for a bus driver like me; every time I had to hit the brakes, I'd punch my feet through the firewall.

Also I already look ridiculous when I try to dance.

Chapter 19

Good News for Others

There were many things about the secret Deep Council even Olive Roux did not know. How many of them were there? How did they get control of Mars even before the first human had set foot on the planet? Were they all hidden in plain sight and were any of them also members of the Mars Citizens Council?

Sometimes the Deep Council would order her to push a certain line in Mars Base policy, and the people on the Citizens Council would be divided on the issue. Olive began to suspect those who supported her must also be Deep Council members, but then she noticed some of these people would not support her in other issues. Did this mean they were not in the Deep Council, or were they just trying to throw her off track? Sometimes it was just all too confusing.

"Florian Klein and April Dias are in my outer office requesting I reconsider the idea of a second Mars colony. They want to redirect the current load of supplies coming in from Earth to a suitable site" Premier Roux stated clearly even though she was alone in the room.

"Yes we are aware of the latest developments; what's more we are not happy with the liberties taken by Commander Sage" the electronically altered voice stated.

"Do you want me to continue to discourage the second base idea?" Olive asked.

"No; having multiple sites was always part of our plan but the risk of the second colony making unauthorised contact with Earth was just too great. We in the Deep Council believe the risk can now be managed satisfactorily."

"But I believe Linton Adisa will try to make contact again" Olive protested.

"Yes but with supplies from Earth coming to an end, we would be justified in not giving the second colony interplanetary communications, so the risk of him making unexpected contact with April Dias would be zero. We also intend to attempt contact with him first to ascertain his plans and state of mind. The mess Sage left us must be cleaned up and so the Council has decided to send the MTV on one final mission to Earth."

"But why sir?" Olives surprise was evident.

"We need information Premier. Sage may have been crass and tactless about the whole situation but just like him, we never believed the supplies from Professor Adisa's team would continue for fifteen years. To be honest it is astounding to know there is still any life on Earth at all, considering the years of bombardment they have suffered."

"So you want to find out the condition of the planet?"

"Precisely right Premier Roux. We need to be sure there will be no unexpected arrivals from Earth. A small unplanned population rise on Mars would be difficult to manage but if fifty or more suddenly appeared, we would not be able to cope at this stage of our development."

"Adisa says he has run out of equipment and supplies" Roux offered.

"And we must both verify this information and make sure there is no hope of him finding any more. Who was scheduled for the next flight?"

"Luis Dias and Jarred Kinderman, along with Trainee Abigail Dias."

"Have Sage replace Kinderman" the disembodied voice commanded.

"And what about young Abigail?" Roux asked.

There was a brief silence before Olive received her answer.

"We have decided she may still go; Luis Dias would not dare take any undesired action with his daughter's life on the line."

"Very good sir; I'll see to it.

"And make sure that idiot Sage does not let the name Linton Adisa slip out; we still believe he is the weakest link in our chain."

"Yes; I will be sure to make the situation very clear to him" Olive agreed.

Sitting quietly in the outer office, Florian Klein removed a small receiver from his right ear and contemplated it. He thought back to the fear and excitement he felt when he first landed on the red planet along with his three colleagues. Forty five years had passed and now he was the only member of the first construction team still alive.

"April, did you know there was a time when some people on Earth believed the Moon landings were faked?"

Florian's words caught April by surprise as she worked on her list of requests.

"Umm, yes I think I read something about it when I was studying modern history" she replied.

"None of the scientific evidence would convince these people; they thought it was nothing more than a big conspiracy to divert billions of dollars into secret government projects."

"Really? How interesting" April said politely as she wondered why Florian was telling her this.

"Scientific proof aside, there was one thing that should have convinced everyone the Apollo missions were fact and not fiction."

"And what was that Florian?"

"Men of a certain age my dear" Florian stated as if his words had great meaning.

"You've totally lost me" April admitted.

"It is very difficult to keep anything a secret forever because the older a person gets, the less they want to keep that secret. There were thousands of people around the world who worked on the Apollo programme and do you know how many leaked information about a secret conspiracy to the media? Can you guess how many made deathbed confessions about their role in covering it all up?"

"No I can't; how many Florian?"

"None April; none at all."

"So if no one who worked on the programme ever admitted it was faked, then it must have been real" April nodded.

"Precisely my dear."

The distinguished looking German suddenly looked very frail to April's eyes as his head dropped and his voice fell silent. She did not know what to say because she had no idea what was wrong, so April just reached out and put her hand on his. A few minutes later he finally spoke again.

"Not much longer and I will turn seventy."

"Not for a while yet" April smiled reassuringly.

"Nevertheless April, I am a man of a certain age."

Back at the humble Dias abode, Luis found it was not his day with the women in his life as his eldest daughter took her turn to vent her anger.

"I can't believe you didn't tell me about the mission being cancelled" Abigail sighed.

Luis had hoped he would not have to have this conversation with Abigail, but deep down he knew he couldn't avoid it.

"Has anyone ever said to you, the only reason you have made it this far as a trainee at such a young age, is because you are my daughter?" Luis asked.

"Sudhi does sometime, but he's just messing around; and he's jealous."

"How do you reply to his accusation?"

"I tell him I worked hard to get this far; also he has the same teachers and trainers I do, so he knows you have nothing to do with it."

"Exactly right; when it comes to Space Corps business, I am not your father but your superior officer and so I must act in an appropriate manner."

"But you if knew this morning the next flight had been cancelled, you could have told me" Abigail said accusingly.

"Your orders did not come through me; if they had I would have informed you straight away. I even asked your mother not to talk about it until you had received word officially."

"Mom knew too; you can talk to her about it, but not to me?"

"Your mother is not in the Space Corps and neither is your sister."

"SAFFY KNEW TOO?"

"Of course not and don't raise your voice to me young lady. I knew Saffron could not keep herself from telling you so I did not say anything to her. You have to learn April that we can not anticipate orders and act as we please. Our orders should have been posted at the same time but as you are a trainee, they would have gone down the line through your instructors first. You must learn to accept this if we are going to continue to work together."

Abigail did not want to accept it, but she knew she must. The young lady stomped across the room towards the door but stopped as her brain finally managed to lock up her emotions and take control once again.

"I'm sorry Dad; it's just the news came as a shock in the middle of a game."

"Then you have learnt orders can come at any time and could say anything; you must be ready to take it on the chin."

"I will; thanks Dad" she turned back towards her father "Permission to hug sir?"

"Granted trainee" Luis grinned.

Just like a perfectly timed movie scene, an incoming call signal sounded from the computer as soon as father and daughter had finished their dialog. When Luis took the call, Abigail noticed her father greeting the official looking face of Premier Olive Roux on the screen.

"I suppose I'd better give you some privacy" Abigail turned to leave.

"It's alright my dear; what I'm calling about concerns you too" Roux stated.

"What can we do for you Premier?" Luis asked.

"I have some good news and some good news for you" Olive smiled.

"I must admit that would be a pleasant change Premier."

"I have just ended a meeting with April and Florian; your wife was quite pleased when she heard I would be supporting her plan for the second settlement in front of the Civic Council later today."

"I am sure she was very happy to hear this Premier" Luis smiled at the thought of a happy April "If I may ask, what made you change your mind?"

"You may Luis; I had always hoped to send later supplies to a second colony but since the current shipment will be the last, it was a case of now or never."

"What's the other good news Ms. Roux? Abigail interrupted.

"I believe we need to find out what the current conditions are on Earth and this could be our last chance for many years to come. So your trip has been reinstated and repurposed as a planetary survey mission; find out what you can and bring us a complete report."

Olive Roux could see the glee in Abigail's eyes as the young girl bit her bottom lip.

"And yes Abigail, you are reinstated as a crew member too" Olive smiled back.

"To be honest Premiere, I don't think April will be happy about that last part; she was relieved to hear the trip had been cancelled" Luis admitted.

"You may be right Luis, but hopefully she will be so busy getting things ready for the new colony, it will take her mind off Abigail leaving."

"Don't count on it" Abigail noted.

Thanks again for reading; it makes life worthwhile knowing you're all out there... somewhere.