I've got a bit of a problem (although I dare say you all may disagree with me). Still a long way from the end of this story and I've already got ideas for four new stories. I need to write more and play computer games less. The only thing I can guarantee for sure is that the next two stories will have a lot more dragon in them.

Chapter 68

Where Do We Go From Here?

April Dias tried to get some work done, but it was very hard for her to concentrate; she was sick and tired of being kept at Base One when she really wanted to return to her real work; setting up the biological systems at Base Two.

Her youngest daughter Saffron had finally settled in with her new classmates, most of who thought she was a really cool now she had a self centred guy almost twice her age cry with only one punch. April pushed her keyboard away and leant back in her chair with her hands behind her head. Giving out a loud sigh, she wished something would happen to change the monotonous rut her life had fallen into.

A knock on the door was not really what she wanted, but under the circumstances it was better than nothing.

"April, my dear lady" Professor Leonard Topolski grinned like a Cheshire Martian.

"It's so good to see you Leonard" April smiled "Come on in and tell me what brings you all the way here from Base Two."

"I would say Surface Rover brings me here, but that is too old joke" he said in his broad clichéd accent.

"Been here long?" April started off with some small talk.

"I arrived two days ago but before I came to see you, I wanted to talk first with Klein along with a few others."

April could hear a slight nervousness in Topolski's voice and she had a very strong feeling she knew precisely why it was there.

"Leonard... you're a member of the Deep Council aren't you" she accused.

"Guilty as charged" he admitted "but before you hit me in head with locomotive, please listen to what I have to say."

"I don't want to hit anyone Leonard... well... a few maybe, but I'm just so fed up with the whole thing. It almost feels like half the base personnel conspired to stop the other half from finding out the truth."

"Hardly half the base" Professor Topolski explained "Closer to one per-cent... maybe two."

"Then why does it look like so many people are taking the side of the conspirators?" April argued.

"Don't be so naive April. Without warning you revealed to the entire population of Mars, all of their private conversations have been listened to in secret. Some people cannot remember all the things they may have said and so they are very nervous about what may come out. The rest can remember what they have said, and they are absolutely terrified."

"I never thought about it quite like that" April pondered.

"You must not feel guilty my dear" the Professor grabbed her shoulders "It is natural for the receivers of very bad news to be upset with messenger, but I know you did the right thing. Florian, myself and a few others tried to warn Deep Council many times about what would happen if we were discovered, but most of them enjoyed the power they wielded far too much and so they would stick fingers in ears and sing Birdhouse in your Soul... figuratively speaking, so they could ignore our concerns."

"So where do we go from here?" April asked with genuine concern.

"There could be way to restart governance of entire Mars project, but everyone has to agree and that is the hardest thing of all to achieve" Topolski noted "There are those who will demand punishment for what they see as obvious crimes of Deep Council, but most members are not prepared to stand and be judged."

"Do they really expect a choice in the matter?" April asked accusingly.

"I know you don't agree, but Klein was right not to reveal who Deep Council members are. Bear is dangerous animal at the best of times; but when cornered..."

"I think I see your point" April admitted.

"We have to find balance everyone can live with and as you are the one who has lost the most because of what Council has done, I want you to be the one who is the new voice of reason. I want you to stand up in front of entire population again, and present the case for Deep Council to be given mercy."

"YOU WANT THEM ALL TO GET OFF SCOT- FREE?" April gasped.

"Of course not" Topolski tried to calm April down "but they don't wish to go through any form of trial."

"Do you really expect me to care about anything they may want?"

"Instead they propose you lead an enquiry into the whole matter. The people of Mars trust you April and oddly enough, so do the members of the Deep Council. They believe that if you look into the whole situation openly and on behalf of the entire population, then justice will be seen to be served and we can all move on."

"I can't believe what you are telling me Leonard" April began to pace back and forth "Just who do these people think they are, expecting me to come to their defence when I'm the one who wants to bring them down?"

April looked at Professor Topolski like he was a cat being scolded for stealing the hot dog from the bun.

"Alright I get what you're saying Leonard, but not all of them could be like you and Florian" April said accusingly "And no matter what, all of you have to take some responsibility for the way this whole situation has unfolded."

"That's the point April; many of us had nothing to do with how Mars was set up. But we are painfully aware of how we allowed this horrible situation to develop. We know instead of keeping quiet, we should have been standing up and bringing it all to a stop many years ago. We never had the luxury of finding out how bad everything was all at one time. Most of us were brought in at the edges and told very little at first. As time went on, we made some policy decisions that seemed a little off, but not criminal by any means. Before we knew it, years had passed and we had allowed ourselves to become so closely tied to the whole deception, that there seemed to be no way out. Florian was definitely the one most vocal about brining change to the way things worked inside the Deep Council; over five years ago he wanted us to shut it all down, stop covertly controlling the Citizens Council and destroy all surveillance information."

"And why didn't you?" April huffed.

"There were threats" Topolski admitted "Those who had done the least criminal acts were told if truth were revealed, they would be punished just as much as those who had done the worst of it. That was when the Deep Council actually began to rule itself with fear and from that point, there was no going back."

"So figuratively speaking, you and your friends decided to ask me to try and make you look slightly less guilty to the people of Mars by separating those who destroyed our democracy, from you who handed them the grenades they used to do it" April accused.

"Surprisingly... no; it is not the people like Florian and me who wish you to do this enquiry, but those who carry the most guilt."

Topolski was right; April was surprised and became even more so as he continued.

"There is hope that the citizens of Mars will take this into consideration; Mars governance, as it had been before you exposed it, was almost entirely set up from Earth before the first construction crew arrived; and mostly by people who never even came to Mars. That group was lead by Prime Governor Redding and the only ones from the initial group to settle here on Mars were Neville Sage and Olive Roux; and they were not even on the Deep Council."

"I have no hope of getting any information from Earth about what you're telling me, so what do they expect me to do?" April could not believe she was considering the odd request.

"If you agree to do as asked, two others will join you on enquiry panel. Any who wish can put their names forward and you can make short list of people you trust. Finally there will be open vote to choose who from your list will join you. Hearings will be open for all to witness, but each Deep Council member will only be identified by code number."

"They can't expect to remain hidden forever" April barked "I wouldn't stand for it and neither will the people of Mars."

"It will just be for giving of statements" Topolski explained "Each person wants to be judged only on their testimony and accounts of other witnesses; not on who they are."

"What you are asking for is ridiculous Leonard" April argued "What difference does it make if we find out who each one is before the enquiry, or after it is over?"

"Difference is this April; you are bound to look differently on same confession, depending on if you like or don't like person giving it. Imagine if person confessing was Florian Klein... or Olive Roux; even I do not believe you would treat them the same. Each Deep Council member must be judged on their actions and reasons alone."

"Not on who they are" April repeated.

"It really comes down to what is more important to everyone; keeping base going strong, or getting satisfaction of revenge and letting whole thing fall apart."

"You can't say for sure everything will fall apart Leonard" April stated.

"But I believe risk is very, very high" Topolski insisted.

It wasn't the most comfortable bed he had ever slept on, but after yet another full day of work, Reed Branson was just happy to lie down and close his eyes. All the unimportant things, like taking off his boots, could wait until later for all he cared. It no longer even bothered him that the bed was just one of many in a large dormitory like room.

"Only one more day to go" Shifty noted as he approached.

"I really hoped something would have happened by now" Reed sighed without opening his eyes.

"I guess you'll just have to spend another month with us being ignored by everyone."

Shifty's observation seemed right on the money. Reed had spent most of the week making himself very unpopular by trying to organise a large group of people into a regimented workforce, who did not want him to organise them into a regimented workforce. His plan to become one of the guards seemed like a good way to infiltrate the bunker and find his friends, but he was not yet getting the desired results. Fortunately for Reed, he could see a new opportunity approaching from the main door.

"Someone's coming; time to ad lib again" Reed noted quietly.

"Can't you understand that this is the way we like to do things" Shifty said clearly for the benefit of those walking up behind him, who he pretended not to notice.

'Oh I understand it just fine" Reed went along with the deception "but that doesn't mean I have to like it."

"But if only..."

"Take a walk Shifty" a deep voice boomed.

The young man sprang to his feet and spun round to see the guard who had given him the fuel and bullets in exchange for Linton Adisa and Henry Dias.

"Ah... hello sir" he stuttered "Right away sir."

As Shifty made a quick exit, Reed pulled himself up off the bed and stood half at attention.

"No please... sit down" the man smiled "I only want to chat."

One of the two guards standing behind the man grabbed a nearby chair and placed near the bed for their leader to sit on.

"My name is Joshua Cook" he introduced himself "People call me the Colonel but it's just an honorary title. If I understand correctly though, you are a genuine Captain. Was it Army... or Air Force perhaps?"

"Sorry to cause confusion sir but I was only the Captain of a sailing ship" Reed admitted "I was never in the military."

"Fair enough" Cook turned to glare at the man on his left, who turned away looking embarrassed.

"Still... I assume that means before you became the Captain, you were once a humble sailor?"

"For quite a while sir" Reed nodded.

"Yes; I've been told you have not been particularly impressed with the way our friends from the outside run their little community" Cook continued.

"Oh I've got nothing against them, they seem like good people. But because they lack a real command structure, there are too many inefficiencies holding them back. I know it really isn't any of my business, but I do find it all very annoying."

The Colonel considered what he'd heard for a few seconds and then got to his feet. At first Reed silently cursed himself for not holding Cook's interest for very long, but then the no nonsense leader threw him a bone."

"If you're interested, there may be a different job that would suit you better. Was there any one else on your ship who would think the same way?"

"Most of my crew are just like these farmers; survivors looking for a better life. There was one man though, who was once in the US Navy; Jack Sumner is his name and he helped me run the ship with genuine efficiency."

"Jack Sumner" Cook repeated "I'll keep an eye out for him."

Shifty waited till all three men were out of sight before slipping back towards Branson.

"How'd it go?" he asked eagerly.

"I think I was expecting too much" Reed replied "The Colonel hinted about something in the future, but he didn't really say what or when."

"Maybe next month" Shifty said cheerfully.

"Yeah that's okay for you and me, but will it be too late for Henry and the Professor?"

But at that very moment, Professor Adisa sat with a very smug look on his face. Redding always liked to be one or two steps ahead of everyone around him, but all that changed when Linton and Henry had become permanent residents in the massive bunker.

"What did you just say?" Redding suddenly realised he had just missed something very important.

"I said checkmate in three moves" Linton repeated.

Redding looked down at the chessboard and contemplated whether or not it was worth the effort of going on. In the end he decided it was not, so he reached out and tipped his king onto its side.

"Things might go better for you if you let me win once in a while" Redding sniffed.

"Is that what all you're other so called friends do for?" Linton smirked as he reset the board.

"They do if they know what's good for them" Redding mumbled as he walked over to the window.

"You would soon find me just as boring if I caved in" Linton noted "Another game?"

"You've got to be kidding me" Redding shook his head.

"We could always have a game of Go" the Professor offered.

"Why would I want to play that pathetic Japanese version of tic-tac-toe?"

One of the greatest strategy games ever devised and Redding calls it pathetic. Professor Adisa could not help but smile and sigh at the same time because now he would have to find a completely new way to annoy his host. Not a very nice thing to do, but these days it was the only source of fun he had available to him while he bided his time in this strange but pleasant prison.

I see the stores have Christmas decorations for sale already and we haven't even had Halloween yet. I'd better take time to make up a batch of Yak Nog or two because it needs plenty of time to ferment.