Contest time: Who knows the source and significance of this chapter's title? The prize is a free trip to Mars on the MTV in 2085. (terms and conditions apply)
Chapter 84
It's Only a Motion Away
It took Luis and the Kindermans over an hour to connect the rear section of the MTV to the opposite hub of the Orbit Station so while they worked, April took Calla and her children out to the still stationary artificial gravity ring so they could all get to know each other.
"Then I suddenly realised that I was way smaller than Doctor Spencer, therefore I would be light enough to co-pilot for Blue and help save the day" Calla bragged "So I told them they should send me instead."
"And if I remember rightly, Sarah and your mother both gave you the same response" Blue smirked "Oh hell no!"
Everyone laughed at Blues impersonation of Calla's mother, even though no one but Calla herself knew what she really sounded like.
"Mom never really wanted me to go, but I eventually managed to convince her not to stop me."
"I owe your mother a lot" April said sincerely.
"In the end Calla didn't do much" Blue smirked "She was essentially a convenient arm extension."
"An arm extension who saved your butt with an inflatable life raft" Calla shot back as she and Blue started laughing again.
April's eyes lit up as she observed the easy rapport these two had with each other, but Calla stopped laughing and turned slightly red when she noticed the knowing smile on Blues mothers face.
"So how did you two meet" April asked.
"And was it love at first sight?" Saffron teased.
Abigail gave her baby sister a very angry look for spoiling the moment, with her still very immature ways.
"More like near death at first drop" Blue replied.
"Y-yeah... but looking back, I'm glad I didn't stab you in the neck with that screwdriver" Calla tried to laugh again, rather uncomfortably.
"Stab him in the neck!?" April gasped.
"Our first meeting was an adventure in itself" Blue admitted "so maybe we should tell you that story later, during some of our inevitably boring trips through space."
"We've got so many stories, we could probably monopolise the after dinner conversation all the way back to Earth" Calla agreed, relieved that the subject had been changed.
Blue was trying to think of a question he could ask about life on Mars, without drawing anyone into talking about all the recent upheaval. He was having a lot of trouble coming up with anything, but he was let off the hook when a mild notification alarm sounded a few seconds before the Gravity Ring started to turn once more. It took a short time to slowly come up to speed but when it did, Saffron started to feel very uncomfortable.
"I know we've been weightless for the last several hours, but is returning to normal gravity supposed to be this difficult?" she asked "I feel like I weigh a ton."
"You're just not used to an Earth level of gravity" Abigail smiled at her sister's discomfort."
"Earth gravity?" Saffron gasped "Why would you want to put up with that?"
"You'll get used to it Saffy" Abigail smirked "and you'll get stronger too... eventually."
"If I don't die first" she overreacted.
"You're overreacting dear" April said but she still contacted Luis in the control section.
"Don't forget you've got a pregnant lady and a little Martian girl up here" April stated bluntly into the comms system "Do you think you could give a break with the gravity levels?"
"Sorry dearest, I wasn't thinking" Luis admitted "I'll slow the ring and wind it back to one third Earth normal, then bring it up gradually over the next few days."
"The next few weeks!" April insisted.
"Like I said, the next few weeks" Luis thought it wise to agree.
Redding's order to assemble came as quite a surprise to everyone concerned, residents and guards alike. The youngest member of the earthbound Deep Council was now fifty four years old but the oldest was in her early eighties, although she kept her exact age a closely guarded secret. No one was sure why Redding wanted everyone to wait outside in the main corridor and a few even dared to question the entire situation. All mumbling ceased though when the man himself opened the door to his private garden and stepped out.
He paced along the line of people, staring into their faces with what could only be described as seething hate. Many of them wished he would say something, but they soon changed their minds when he did.
"It seems your friends on Mars have forgotten exactly why they are there" he began "and that makes me wonder if you remember why you are here."
Redding kept pacing as he paused, giving everyone time to think; time to remember why indeed they were there.
"Maybe you think it is because you are being rewarded for your loyalty; maybe you are saying to yourselves 'We helped Prime Governor Redding to achieve his goals, so now we get to live out our days in luxury without risk of being killed by an unexpected meteor', but you'd be wrong."
As Redding gave his venomous speech, Neville Sage watched and listened with great interest. The Prime Governor had always been a selfish man but Sage had never realised just how self centred he was. Past friendship and past assistance meant very little to this man with his 'What-have-you-done-for-me-lately?' kind of attitude.
"What many of you fail to realise is that you are now, and have always been, MY HOSTAGES!" Redding shouted in rage "Your children and grandchildren whom I saved by sending to Mars knew what was expected of them. Mommy and Daddy, Grandma and Grandpa back on Earth would be well taken care of as long as we do what Emperor Redding demands of us."
These last words came as a complete surprise to just about everyone. Nobody had ever heard Redding refer to himself as Emperor before, but it certainly did not seem out of character; it just didn't appear that he had much of an empire.
"This is the problem though" Redding continued "It seem like your precious offspring must have forgotten what is important after all this time; and what is important, IS ME! I did all this; I spent my entire life setting up this whole business of de-populating the Earth and creating a new hierarchy. All the Martian Government had to do was let my Grandson Talon take his rightful place as leader when he was old enough, and they all would have remained as the new ruling class forever."
It was true they all knew Redding wanted his Grandson to grow up and become the leader of the Mars colony, but everything else the self proclaimed Emperor had said made very little sense to them.
"I'm sorry sir, but what do you mean by de-populate the Earth?" someone actually dared to ask.
"What do you think it means? It means I'm turning this planet back into a paradise by getting rid of all the excess people."
With that statement it became clear Redding must have gone completely mad. It sounded like the sort of thing he would do if it suited him, but it was clearly well beyond his power to achieve. As Reed Branson stood amongst the contingent of guards, the only explanation he could think of, was this crazy man must be going senile and actually believe the universe was bending to his will.
"But it was all for nothing" Redding continued "because I just received word from my daughter on Mars that the Deep Council have been changing everything. They must have thought I wouldn't find out; they must have assumed that I had died a long time ago, BUT THEY WERE WRONG!"
"What happened sir?" one of the so called hostages tried to make Redding get to the point.
"I'll tell you what happened" Redding said in a sweet voice that worried everyone.
The old man walked away from the group so he could look at them all at once.
"THEY WERE SLOPPY; THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED! Their existence was discovered and so they started to ad lib their own script and thanks to their foolish actions... MY GRANDSON IS DEAD!"
Redding let his head fall as the words hit home to those in front of him.
"My Grandson is dead and he never had the chance to rule; he never had the chance to start his own family and keep my dynasty going."
Fear began to take hold of the entire group; hostages and guards alike. Very few of them really knew what Redding had been up to and nobody knew his entire plan. But now everything had fallen apart for the old man, they were all unsure what he would do next. Most hoped he would simply give up, crawl off back into his garden and die, but their hopes went drastically unfulfilled.
"As you can imagine... I don't really need you as hostages anymore" Redding said softly.
"Does err... that mean we can go now?" someone was foolish enough to ask.
"Oh I'm afraid it doesn't work that way" Redding smiled in a way that made everyone nervous. "When a hostage is no longer needed... they are executed."
A loud murmur ran through the group as they all took a step back.
"READY YOUR WEAPONS!" Redding ordered his guards.
The men who served Redding had always enjoyed the power they wielded over the bunker, the El Centro farm district and Raiders of Sacramento; but none of them had ever expected they would someday be called upon to execute a large number of relatively innocent people. Every man did as he was ordered, but each moved slowly hoping beyond hope that what was happening would not reach it horrific conclusion.
"Excuse me sir" the Colonel stepped tentatively forward "Sorry sir but... is this really necessary sir?"
To Cook's delight, Redding did not explode at the question.
"These fools here may not have known it, but I had an arrangement with the other fools on Mars and they knew what would happen if they dared to cross me. Now you have known me for a long time, haven't you Colonel Cook?"
"Yes sir."
"And you know that I don't make veiled threats and then change my mind later, do I... Joshua?"
"N-no sir" Cook was worried; Redding have never used his first name before.
"Then your choices are to carry out my order, or go stand with the hostages" that unnerving smile returned to Redding's face.
"Understood sir" the Colonel saluted and joined his men.
"Raise you weapons" he ordered.
Each man did as he was told but they all moved with painful slowness and Sage had the feeling most of them would fail to pull the trigger when order came to fire.
"Oh for heaven's sake" Sage sighed and strode over to Redding "Let me do it sir; it's plain to see they don't have the stomach for this."
"Alright Sage; but are you sure you want to shoot all of them... one at a time?"
"I just want to get this over with" Sage replied as he walked to the first guard.
The man offered his rifle but Sage shook his head and pointed to the man's side arm. Once he had the pistol, Sage checked the clip. Realising there was not enough ammunition, he took clips from the pistols of the two nearest men.
"When you ready sir, just tell me who you want me to start with."
Redding gave that horrid grin again and pointed at the wrinkled old woman of indeterminate age. Reed Branson desperately tried to come up with a plan to stop Redding but as he was not yet permitted to carry a weapon himself, his options were limited as Sage stepped to one side and raised his pistol. The other hostages all looked away and many of them started to softly cry. Even the guards lowered their eyes from the gruesome scene and then they all jumped as the crack of the gunshot echoed down the wide corridor.
Everyone looked up to see the old woman still standing there, shaking like a leaf. All eyes then turned to Sage, only to see he too had turned to the left before firing. A few meters from the end of his smoking barrel, the man who had recently proclaimed himself Emperor fell dead to the ground.
I'm thinking of including a next story teaser after the last chapter. What do you think; good idea, or just plain cruel?