Hello :)

Much to my surprise, someone was upset about me referring to Astrid as Astrid the Fair but Frightening. I was accused of being sexist but as I said, I was surprised because many famous people in history were known as 'The Fair' including both men (Fredrick Duke of Austria (1314-1330) and Philip IV (1268–1314) King of France to name two) and also women like Helena of Hungary, the 11th century Queen of Croatia. I assume the angry person won't read the rest of the story so will probably never see this explanation, but I feel better for writing it.

Chapter 77

Arrivals and Departures

Cid and Jack intended to take one of the trucks on a trip to San Diego early the next morning, so Jack got up just before sunrise to help load up some tool boxes. They planned to drop off some workers at the Raider Ship and then bring back some more supplies for their journey north. He also intended to pressgang two people from the One and All crew with some specialised skills. With the work almost done, Jack was pleased to see Cid's daughter Haley bring him a plate of breakfast.

"Just what I needed, thanks" he said as he took the plate.

"Since I was making some for Dad, it was no trouble to make a little more" Haley said as she sat down on the trucks tailgate.

"You should tell Cid to make his own breakfast" Jack tried to be humorous.

"Maybe, but I like to spoil him a bit since... well... since Mom died."

"Oh I'm sorry" Jack half froze "I didn't realise. If I may ask, how long has it been?"

"Only a few months" Haley explained "Someone was using a cutting torch on an old pickup truck frame inside the bunker... we think they must have hit the fuel line. We lost three people in the explosion."

"Including your mother" Jack nodded.

"Yes" Haley sighed "It's been hard, but it's not as if we're the only people to lose someone close to them these days."

"I'm sure she'd be proud of the way you take care of things in her absence."

"Thank you" Haley gave a shy smile and returned to the house.

As soon as Jack had finished eating, they started the west trip because Cid was still hoping to leave El Centro in the Bull Ant before lunch, and it also gave him the opportunity to clear up some niggling questions he had.

"Tell me Jack... why did you suddenly spring this whole 'chance to get off the planet' thing on us last night? Sorry but it all sounded conveniently suspicious to me since you were surrounded by a group of angry farmers at the time."

"It was something we'd planned to tell you all eventually but considering how our first meeting had gone, I agreed with Reed when he said we should wait until we gotten Henry and the Professor back again. None of us had any idea the appearance of the food packs would cause such a fuss and when I had to explain where they had come from, it seemed like the right time to tell you the rest."

"I'd like to think you were going to tell us eventually, but... it's just so hard to trust anyone" Cid shook his head.

"I'm sorry but you'll just have to take my word for it. Sarah Spencer told us she would work to save as many people as she could, but it would be a very slow process in the beginning. When Mars Colony was started, only four people took the first trip but when they had completed construction of the initial infrastructure, about twenty colonists were sent on the next trip. With more people to continue base construction, it wasn't long before they could start sending larger numbers until they had about two thousand on Mars. Sarah said it would be the same with her asteroid plan so she didn't want too many people breathing down her neck during the first phase."

"I suppose I can see her point" Cid admitted "Especially after what happened last night."

The wind blowing to the west carried with it the red Martian dust thrown up by the wheels of the huge transport vehicles as they slowly made their way to Base Two. The driver of the lead vehicle leaned back in his seat and dozed as the automated tracking system guided the futuristic wagon train across the surface of the hostile planet. With Base One several hours behind them, everyone on board knew they would not set eyes on another human until they finally succeeded in reaching their destination; and they were all wrong.

A small four seat buggy raced up the side of the vehicle train and turned across its path causing it to halt abruptly, and sending the driver lurching forward. Now wide awake, he quickly took in the scene in front of him while reaching for his radio mic but before he could depress the talk button, he noticed the crazy driver of the offending vehicle in front of him holding up a sign with big black letters reading "DON'T USE RADIO; STOP AND I WILL COME ABOARD."

"Uh... okay" he spoke into the mic before he realised what he'd done.

"Base One to Surface Rover; did you call?"

The driver looked at the mic and then to the man in the buggy who seemed to be having a severe panic attack.

"Err... sorry Base One, I just leant on the radio by mistake" he replied.

"Copy Rover; Base One out."

With a minor disaster averted for now, the buggy driver brought his vehicle around to the left side of the main transport and reversed it towards the airlock

"Do you want to tell me what is going on?" the transport driver asked when the airlock opened.

"I've been sent to pick up Talon Descott" the newcomer revealed "The Deep Council Investigation Team want to question him; but it must be kept secret for now so they can chase up some leads without interference. Needless to say, don't mention anything about my being here over the airwaves, until you hear from Marshal Baron or Gretel Descott."

The new leader of the Base Two Security Team did not feel comfortable about any of this, but the written orders the buggy driver brought with him were clear and so with no further delay, a quite nervous Talon Descott was soon on his way back to Base One at high speed. Not wanting to bring attention to himself and his important passenger, the buggy driver avoided the Main Vehicle Docking Station and proceeded straight to one of the Processing Robot Maintenance Hangers. Once the vehicle had passed through the airlock, Talon was instructed to put on a full body hazard suit and keep the reflective visor down. When he was ready, the buggy driver gave him an empty sample case to carry during the last leg of his trip. The two men then switched to an internal electric cargo mover and proceeded deep into the complex.

The last time Talon had been on a vehicle like this one, April had been driving with all fury, but this time the pace was quite sedate. A yellow light flashed to warn people about the non-existent hazardous material Talon supposedly carried, so everywhere they went, people just stepped aside to let the vehicle pass unimpeded. Eventually they arrive in a very quiet section of the base where Talon was taken to meet with those who had sent for him. As he removed the helmet from the hazard suit, everyone could see a certain amount of fear in the young man's eyes.

"Sorry to put you through all this, but we wanted to talk to you without anyone else finding out about it. Do you feel ready to answer some questions?" Victor Kittredge asked.

Talon looked I around the room before giving his answer.

"Before I say anything, I want to speak with my mother... alone."

"That's understandable" April nodded as she lead the others into an adjoining room.

"What's going on Mother?" Talon asked when the door had shut.

"I don't understand" Gretel responded.

"Why did you send me away in the first place? Was it to keep me quiet or... to keep me alive?"

"Keep you alive? What are you talking about?"

"You must have had a reason for sending me to Base Two" Talon said accusingly.

"Darling I didn't send you" Gretel replied "You were chosen to be a part of the Base Two contingent by the Head of Security and I thought it would be good for your career; what's wrong with that?"

"I'll tell you what I think is wrong; I noticed the other people sent with me, were the ones who had a different opinion about Mrs. Dias, to the one you held It looked to me as if you were trying to get rid of anyone who may be on her side" Talon spoke with a bluntness his mother had never heard before.

Gretel was about to put her son straight when she suddenly stopped to consider his accusation further. It was true she did not hold April in high regard and knew there were others who felt the same. It could be true that several someone's on the Deep Council had decided to make life easier for themselves by shipping out anyone who openly disagreed with them, but she did not like the idea of her boy being included in the group of dissenters.

"Believe me Talon, I had nothing to do with it but I promise you this; I will look into it thoroughly."

Gretel started to walk towards the door intending to call the others back in, but she stopped again when she heard Talons next question.

"Mother... are you a member of the Deep Council?"

"You shouldn't ask questions like that" she warned.

"Are you saying I could turn up dead too?"

Gretel took a deep breath, continued to the door and called everyone back. When they had all returned to the room, the questioning began with an explanation from April.

"We managed to get most of what you shot in Leonard's sitting room, but it appears that your communicator had all its files wiped remotely before it was finished downloading. Ruth and I watched what we had but did not notice anything incriminating, so we assumed what you wanted us to see was on the part we did not have."

"Did you see the coffee table?" Talon asked.

"Err... yes" April thought back to what she had seen there.

"Let's bring it up on the screen and have a look" Gretel suggested.

Even with the video image in fast forward, it was still very disturbing to see the two dead men once more.

"Okay stop it there" Talon called out when the table appeared.

"What are we looking for?" Sierra asked.

"Well this is obviously the altered copy" Talon noted "As part of the investigation, I copied my file onto the main security computer for my superiors to see. But when I saw it with their verdict of suicide, I knew I had to get the original to Mrs. Dias s soon as possible."

April took out her tablet and began to play the part of the recording she had managed to download. When she stopped the image at the same point as the one on the larger screen, the differences became clear.

"The first report I saw, noted that all signs pointed to there only being the two victims present in the room, but I noticed the table had three circular marks where three shot glasses had been placed. The same three marks, along with some spilled whisky... or vodka, I don't know what they were drinking... anyway as I was saying, the same three marks were on the kitchen bench top."

Marshal fast forwarded the image to reveal a bench top as clean as the table.

"We didn't get that far with the download" April admitted.

"It may not matter because you saw the difference on the coffee table" Talon reminded them "When I saw the official copy of the evidence, I could see it had been tampered with so I knew I had to get the original to Mrs. Dias as soon as possible because all the evidence clearly pointed to murder."

"Even thought there was some tampering with the video image, you seem to be making a very large assumption about it being murder" Gretel suggested.

"There's more" Talon continued "The report stated Klein and Topolski had each consumed a special pill. These pills were sent with Florian Klein and his three companions when they arrived as the first people on Mars. Many supplies had already been sent and construction robots had been working for many months, but there was still a slight risk that more supplies would not arrive in time; so rather than leave the first construction crew to die of starvation or asphyxiation, they had these pills to give them a peaceful death."

"Suicide pills? And Florian still had them after all these years?" Victor noted.

"I'm not finished yet" Talon interrupted. "I looked up the pills on the medical database and discovered each one consisted of a fast dissolving outer layer with a powerful sedative, as well as an inner core containing a painless poison to stop the heart."

"I am not enjoying this" Sierra admitted "Can you please get to the point?"

"The point is this; I noticed the recording I shot showed a container with four pills, but the official evidence copy shows the container to be empty. Also those pills were meant to be painless but I think it is plain to see Florian Klein and Leonard Topolski died in great pain. I think it is obvious that there was a third person there who poisoned Klein and Topolski. Whoever it was in the room with them, was not properly prepared and they had to work fast. Later when I had time to think about it, I started to wonder if Mrs. Dias and I had arrived sooner than expected; that could be why the place had not been cleaned up."

"The killer could have been hiding somewhere in one of the back rooms" April added.

"A definite possibility" Talon agreed.

"The Deep Council must have known Florian was about to give up their names" Victor noted.

"But how did they find out" Sierra asked and all eyes turned to Gretel Descott.

"You're a member of the Deep Council; did you call and tell them?" April asked openly.

Gretel grabbed April by the elbow and dragged her into the next room. Some of the others tried to stop her but April waved them back.

"You have got to stop accusing me of being on the Deep Council" Gretel hissed. "Can't you see my life would be in danger? "No matter what you may think of me, I swear to you; I did not call anyone and tell what Florian was planning to do."

Without letting April respond, Gretel strode back into the main room and made a loud declaration.

"I am not, nor have I ever been, a member of the Deep Council no matter what April says."

"Alright I admit they could have found out another way" April said as she followed Gretel back in.

"They could have had the place bugged" Ruth shrugged.

"Or Marshal could have notified them" April added and received a very dirty look from the Mars Leader.

April turned off the image of Leonard's coffee table and sat down in the nearest chair and heaved a heavy sigh.

"There is no doubt about it in my opinion; Florian and Leonard were killed to prevent them from revealing the names of the Deep Council members. My investigation into their activities was never meant to get anywhere and was only meant to keep us busy while they attempted to consolidate their control over the new Mars Citizens Council. I must admit I do NOT feel safe here anymore and so as soon as we can organise it, Saffy and I will be leaving Mars and going to the Orbit Station. Welwill not be coming back as long as the Deep Council remains in control."

"Considering all we have done to help you, I think Jarred and I are also in danger and had better come along" Ruth added.

"Count me in too" Talon Descott declared as he stood up.

Working on chapter 83 at the moment and still can't see the end in sight. So apologies to those who just want to find out how it ends, but to those who like longer stories... hey, good news!