Harmonic Tales vol. 1

 

Harmonic Tales vol. 1

By Christian L Adams

Introduction

All these stories take place in the same universe. Our universe, in fact. The big difference being that it's 100 years later, give or take. Humanity has long since figured out faster-than-light travel.

FTL travel is done through established gates with fixed locations.

Earth has become a paradise, only fit for the wealthy. The lower classes have long since been shipped off.

On Earth, the Liechtenstein Monarchical States have become a global economic superpower.

Mercury has gone through a civil war, and is now split up into countries with their own ruling bodies. The first of its kind outside of Earth.

There are power plants on Venus, harnessing volcanic energy for profit. People rarely venture outside of the huge shielded cities.

There's a giant space colony named Harmony, and it contains hundreds of millions of people. It's run by the Harmonic Colony Government.

Gargantuan ships capture asteroids and haul them back to Mars for mining. Mars is the last foothold for the United Humanities Military Organization.

The World Strider’s Guide to Milky Way 2112

Welcome! Whether you're a first time space traveler or a seasoned world-strider, this guide has something for you.

United Humanities

United Humanities, commonly referred to as the UH, is a governing body based out of Earth. Their jurisdiction on Earth is somewhat limited however. They are more like an association made up of hundreds of participating nations that have contributed to the colonization of space.

Japan and Mars

Japan had a particularly influential contribution to the settling of Mars. Japanese culture can be seen in nearly every aspect of life on the red planet.

Liechtenstein Monarchical State's and Harmony

The Liechtenstein Monarchical States, made up of Germany, Switzerland, France, Austria, and Italy, had an initial contribution to the construction and settling of Harmony.

Harmony is an enormous space colony. It's design is that of eight rotating, donut shaped discs revolving around a center column. The eight discs make up the eight districts. The edges of the disks are populated by buildings and landscapes.

They look like typical city blocks except that the sky is just the vast, starry expanse that we all know and love, separated by a “glass” ceiling.

United States and Mercury

The US saw something of a second industrial revolution, but on another planet entirely. Mercury became a hotbed for manufacturing and mining after immense funding and resources came from the United States government.

However, following the Mercurian war for independence in 2112, the United States no longer governs over any of the nine cities on Mercury. In fact, Mercury has been split between three different groups.

Annabelle Excavations, originally a mining company, took control of a half dozen mines in the south Western hemisphere. They also control the cities of Henry, El Diamante, and Chiicago.

Rock Hard Manufacturing, a subsidiary of the largest company on Mars, Astro-Miner, retained control of the manufacturing empire New Neo New York II. Along with a few outlying areas, that's the extent of their control. Now, this is nothing to sneeze at because New Neo New York II is the third largest city aside from those on Earth. If you count it, the space colony Harmony is the largest, and Asuka, Mars is the second largest.

The largest amount of Mercurian land is owned by a woman named Beatrice Thompson. An elusive figure, she's made public appearances only seven times in the last eight years. The actual cities are run by Thompson Corp, her company. These cities include Lost Angeles, Seattle VII, Memoriam, Gregory, and Hell.

African Republic and Venus

Boundless natural resources from the African continent provided the African Republic the resources to win a bid for the settling of Venus. Volcanic activity presented a bigger issue than once thought. There are only two locations on Venus with substantial human populations. Those would be the sprawling, shielded metropolis of Neo Mombasa and the city with the more archaic barrier, Duo-Lagos.

The HCP

The Harmony Colony Police are an organization independent from the UHMO in every way. Early on, during construction even, the leaders of the massive colony received almost no support from the Earth based group. They quickly decided to go independant. The UHMO didn’t stop them because their leaders all agreed that it was a doomed project to begin with. They were wrong.

Traveler's stops

Traveler’s stops can be found just about everywhere. At last count there were 44 locations just in orbit above Mars. They offer food, beds, fuel, and just about anything you would want or need for a trip through the Milky Way. They heavily resemble a truck stop from the early 2000s.

Ship manufacturers

Shamir, based out of Mercury. Makers of fast, military style ships.

Bertholdt, based out of Mercury. Makers of heavy duty freighters, shippers, and haulers.

Carpenter, based out of Mercury. Makers of civilian-centric vehicles like public transportation and low altitude personal cruisers.

Raven, based out of Mercury. Makers of large military vessels and command-style ships.

Bridge-Lum, based out of Mars. More of a lifestyle type brand. They make low powered, single seater ships and ground vehicles. They also make heavy motorcycles and bikes.

Haneko, based out of Earth. Makers of fast, racing ships. They are very stylish and very sought after. It's extremely difficult to even get ahold of a totaled Haneko. 45% of Hanekos end up totaled at one point or another.

We Found Her on Deimos

About four days ago, my crew and I were exploring a deserted outpost on Deimos, one of Mars' moons. We were about to leave when something flashed across the sky and crashed about 200 feet from the ship. Now, the women on the freighter Celeste love a good mystery so of course we checked it out.

Despite the initial courage, the closer I got to the crater the more anxiety nagged me. I told the crew to stay back and approached alone. I don't know what I expected, but it wasn't that. In the center of the crater laid a woman, and she was still breathing.

Nothing was really out of the ordinary with her. She wore jeans and a t-shirt, nothing crazy. I figured she had fallen from a ship… somewhere. It only made sense.

We carried her back to the ship and I put her in my room, I opted to sleep with the rest of the crew. Yesterday she woke up. And what proceeded threw me for a damn loop.

First, she raided the kitchen, opening and snacking on everything. Dana the cook tried to say something but received a glare so intense she's been in bed since.

I ripped the box of crackers from her mitts and demanded an explanation. "Are you a world strider or something?"

"Do you have any Vega's Venusian corn chips? Those are my favorite." She gazed longingly at the box in my hands. "Wait, you don't know who I am? Me? Edria?"

"What the hell are you talking about."

"It feels like everyone in the Milky Way has brain damage, I swear. This is by far the worst pantheon I have ever been a part of."

"Also, stop eating all the food. It has to last three weeks."

"But I'm hungry."

Then, a flash. I was back in the doorway. The crackers were back in her hands like the prior minute never happened. It shook me bad enough that I let her eat and left to sulk around the bridge.

The tiny bridge was as noisy as ever.

"Liz, you have to do something about  our gluttonous guest," shouted Ames over the noise of the ventilation.

"I know."

"What?" Ames pulled out her left earphone. She wore them to try and prevent the various spacecraft noise from aggravating her tinnitus.

"I said I know."

"Oh." Our reliable pilot turned her attention back to the controls. "Good. I just hope she doesn't eat my seaweed snacks."

An alarm sounded and the dashboard lit up like a Mega Christmas fern in January. That is, an Earth January. January on Venus, for example, is 7,290 Earth days long. I don't know who decided on that but I can't say I understand it. I'm not even sure why it's still called January at that point.

Looking out through the window, I saw what I thought was a pirate vessel. But no, that would have been okay. What was actually out there was a marauder ship. Marauders didn't raid, they slaughtered.

Before I knew it, they fired, and the Celeste was nothing more than gnarled pieces drifting in space. I began to suffocate. Then, a flash. I was back on the bridge, I could breathe.

The marauder vessel was still there. But more notably, our guest was next to me.

"That looks bad," she said before eating a chip. She noticed my worried expression. "Don't worry, they won't fire for another week as of right now."

"What the hell did you do?"

She smiled and took a bite from an ice cream sandwich. "Here's the deal. I need to get to Earth, as soon as possible. Can you take me? Of course you can. Will you take me?" She laughed. "Of course you will, because if you don't, you get to go through… that. Again." She pointed at the enemy ship. "For real this time."

I looked out at the marauders. I had no choice. "Okay. But just so you know, going to Earth isn't easy anymore."

"That's fine."

"What are you going to do?" I asked.

"I'm going to take care of your problem."

Roybissen the Breaker

"Hey Roy, you'd better see this."

Three days ago a spacer watched a man plummet to his death from a ship flying over his camp. Three days ago I was put on this case. Probably because I'm good at my job. We were currently investigating a brewery out in the Mars wastes.

The victim was identified as 28 year old James Carpenter. An asteroid miner from New Phoenix. The office dug around a bit and found that he may have been involved in cult or cult-like activities.

My partner and I are Breakers with the UHMO. That's the United Humanities Military Organization.

I joined my partner. "What?" He pointed in the closet. Looked like there was a hatch in the floor. "Open it."

My partner obliged. It took a little effort to pry but it popped right out. We climbed down a rickety ladder and found ourselves at a door. I knocked. No answer. I kicked that shit right off the hinges and entered the den with both my guns drawn.

It was some kind of degenerate worship room, and I'm sure drugs were involved too. It was filled with men and women dressed in formal attire. Sickening. Going with protocol, I used my knowledge to profile the biggest potential threats. My partner and I unloaded our magazines into the room.

It was damn loud. There were a lot of gunshots and there was a lot of blood. After about 76 expended rounds, the room was still.

Some might say our methods are extreme. It hardly matters now, due to my expert investigating.

We poked around the bodies, not finding anything in particular. Until there was a clatter behind the bar. We turned to see the bartender rising from behind the counter, hands in the air.

"I surrender, I don't have any weapons. I'm just the bartender," he stuttered.

I hopped over the bar and pressed both barrels against his chest. "What do you know about the murder of James Carpenter?" I shouted.

The bartender sputtered out a "what?" Clearly not understanding.

"You have eight seconds to tell me what you know."

"I don't…"

"One."

"Nothing! I know nothing."

"Two."

"Please!"

I pulled the triggers, and the body slumped against the wall as I holstered my service weapons.

"It's a bust?" My partner asked.

"It's a bust. Let's go."

We left the brewery and got back in our four-door, low altitude cruiser.

My name is UHMO Breaker first class Roy Roybissen. My job is to look for, find, and break the bad guys. Some might call me extreme but to tell you the truth there are some days where I feel generous.

First Time? In Space, I Mean

The robotic voice on the Interstellar Transit Authority's speaker crackled to life.

"We've reached the ITA transfer station and spaceport. Please remember all your belongings, and have a safe ride."

Ella grabbed her single bag and slung it over her shoulder. People slowly filed out from the rear door of the passenger vessel. As she stepped out of the door, she gazed at the stars above her. The giant shield surrounding the massive station seemed like it wasn't even there.

She'd never seen half as many stars in her entire life.

"Move, damn it." An arm pushed her aside to make way for the rest of the passengers.

"Sorry!" She said, but whoever pushed her was already lost in the crowd.

"Miss, get behind the yellow line." A transit officer shouted at her. She looked for a yellow line and saw it a few feet away. She stepped across it.

Her first impression of space was an impatient traveler and a rude security guard. Her next impression would be better. As she wandered through the crowd, she stuck out like a tourist. At least until she found an information window.

"Excuse me."

She surprised the hell out of the young ITA worker.

"Oh! Yes? Can I help you?" She asked.

"Sorry, it's just that I have no idea what I'm doing."

"Leave it to me!" She shouted.

She swung open the window and climbed out. Ella got a good look at her. This woman was so vibrant her demeanor could light up the cargo bay of a 2090 Bertholdt shipping vessel, and that was a dark ship.

The worker showed her around for a bit and explained when flights came and went. After a while she started wrapping up.

"And that over there is where the traders dock. They have facilities for sleeping and eating and stuff."

"Traders? I see."

Ella got closer to the trader docks and overheard a couple of women arguing.

"Sam, I'm telling you, no one wants to fly around with us and wash dishes. It's a horrible job." The tall woman was arguing with a much shorter woman.

"What's it going to hurt to just ask?"

"You want me to go up to strangers and ask them to wash dishes on my ship? That's stupid. I'm supposed to just go up…" the woman started walking over to Ella. Quickly she was right next to her. She pointed at Ella and turned to the shorter woman. "...to random people and ask?"

"I mean, sure?"

To prove a point, she turned to Ella. "Hey, you want to work in the kitchen on my ship? The job sucks, the pay isn't great, and you will definitely get cabin fever."

Ella blurted out an answer, "okay."

Both women froze.

"What?"

"Sure."

"You're serious?"

Ella just nodded. She rarely could say 'no' to someone who needed help.  

"Uh… okay…" There was a very long, very awkward silence. "Well," the tall woman began. "I'm Ruby, this is Sam. Welcome to the Melodrama. When can you leave?"

Ella didn't have a whole lot going on. "Now, or whenever."

Ruby smiled.

Deployment

The Private across from me offered a drag from his cigar, which I gladly accepted. It was a special Venusian blend, you could really taste the volcanic spice in the neo-tobacco.

It was six months into the civil war on Mercury. I had enlisted hoping to get a relaxed tour on Mars or something. But no, a damn war had to break out. Everybody talks about the scumbags in the UHMO but no one really brings up how absolutely bonkers some of these enlistees are.

They're a far cry from the people of the early 21st century, people from Earth. In fact, I could count on one hand the amount of Earth folks I'd met since leaving. Nobody ever left that place. Sometimes I missed it but there's something real, something raw about being out in the universe like this.

Except for this damn war. Everybody knew the UHMO could have stamped out this rebellion early on. However, they didn't because they thought it would drum up sympathetic press for them. Not to mention that the known leaders of the Mercurian Independence Army were all security personnel the UHMO trained and employed at one time or another.

There was one tiny, shining light in the darkness however. That would be Blair Thompson, a fellow member of the 212th 4th squad. At first I just thought she was cute. But when I saw her fix the cathode tubes of a 2106 Shamir scout ship I developed a different set of feelings.

She was cool, and I wanted to be friends with her so damn bad.

"We're here." Sergeant Martin stopped the transport. The back door groaned open and we stepped out into the morning light. After about 500 consecutive hours of darkness, it was just barely warming up.

Morning on Mercury was kind of nice because it lasted for about 293 hours. Which means 293 straight hours of just breakfast foods if you wanted. I told this little anecdote to Blair one time and she laughed. Nice.

Blair and I were assigned as a duo and ordered to recon a group of buildings down this city block. We entered the first location, a small convenience store. The transport left us. We chatted a little while looking around.

"So, what do you think about all this?" I asked.

"Don't know, seems pricey for Vega's Venusian corn chips." She held up a bag of the volcanic flavor. I couldn't tell if she was messing with me or not.

"No I mean in more broad terms. And I don't like that flavor anyway."

"Too spicy for you?" She gave me a smirk. "But yeah, as for your other question," she paused. "Promise not to report me?"

"I swear."

She thought about it. "It sucks."

"Is that it?"  

"It sucks, this war sucks. At least I haven't had to kill anyone yet. I might kill a pirate or marauder someday. Maybe. But I haven't yet."

"I see."

"I grew up on Harmony, fixing ships. I'd rather be doing that."

"Harmony?" I had never heard of it.

"It's the giant colony out past Earth. It's got a higher population than Mercury and Venus combined how have you never heard of it."

"I don't really know things."

There was a lot of noise outside so I went to investigate. Someone was shouting.

There was a crash and a clatter as a trio of grenades came through the front window. I dove behind some shelving, just praying that I wouldn't die. They detonated, and fragmented snacks rained onto me.

"Blair!" I yelled. "Are you okay!?" I drew my weapon, a brand new, unused M2112 pistol, and chambered a round. Once I was on my feet, I could vaguely see armed combatants entering the store. I opened fire and most of them ducked back outside. "Blair!"

"I'm okay!"

We ran into the back room, expecting some kind of exit. A rebel followed us and was about to take my head clean off when Blair fired her gun and dropped him in the middle of the hallway.

After that she just stood there. I had to grab her, otherwise she would have kept staring at the body.

Our vague resemblance of luck wouldn't last. Another fighter ambushed us around the corner and fired his shotgun directly at Blair. I reacted quickly and shot him down.

"Blair, come on." I looked down, and almost puked. Her arm was gone. From the shoulder down it was fucking gone. Whatever was left of it was splattered against the wall.

...

At least a week later, I was sitting in the infirmary. The curtain around Blair's bed was drawn. I still talked to her through the sheet. She had lived.

I couldn't and still can't imagine what she went through physically and mentally in that week. I don't want to sound selfish but if the way I felt about it was even comparable, it was 100 times worse for her.

"I brought you something to eat, if you're interested." There was a long silence, and I almost gave up.

"What is it?" She asked.

"Eggs, some cold toast, and I have some hot sauce. I don't know how you feel about that but you seem like the hot sauce type."

She slowly drew back the curtain. I finally got to look at her after a week. She looked… better. Which wasn't saying much. She was heavily bandaged and missing an arm.  

"You can start by giving me the sauce."

Hey! Hey! It's Mae!

"Hey! Hey! It's Mae! I'm here with Kendall Mendel, one of the first colonists on Mars! Ken, can you tell us what it was like to settle Mars back in the 2050s? I'm sure us space kids would love to hear about it!"

"You want to know what it was like settling Mars in the 2050s? Well, the biggest thing we were thinking going into it was wow, Mars. You see, back when I was a kid all you had was the internet to look at Mars. But the internet on Earth back then was so fast, none of this Mars-net nonsense. Out here it takes 10 seconds to download photos of my grandkids. They don't make technology like they used to. When I was 15 I bought a computer with 32gb of RAM and a 4tb ssd. Guess how much it was? 700 dollars! A steal back then. Now folks have more computing power in their eyes! Speaking of, have you ever seen someone with those enhanced eyes? I remember the first time I saw someone like that. They walked into my store early in the morning. The bright orange glow scared the heck out of me! Almost as bad as when I was pulled over by that UHMO officer for going 80 over the speed limit. I was coming from my farm out in the valley to New Phoenix. Which back then was a city of only 40,000. Nowadays you could fly 50 miles above the dang place and not be able to see both ends, north or south! It's grown so much. Just like my grandkids. The oldest one is 22, he's fighting in the war! I'm glad I didn't settle on Mercury. They gave me two choices and I picked Mars. When they told me a day on Mercury is 58 Earth days long I said heck no! You think I want to be cold for days on end? Here it's only cold at night. It's so warm during the day though, doesn't matter the season. Researchers are saying that the atmosphere is degrading. They haven't replaced it in a while." He cleared his throat. "What was the question?"

"I was just asking what it was like to settle Mars," Mae said.

"Right," Ken said.

"Right… anyway! This is Mae, reporting for Channel Theta news! It's day 114 of summer and it's a hot one out there! Stay safe, and have a great night!"

The cameras clicked off.

"Your coat," Mae's assistant handed over her jacket.

"Thanks Dan. I need a drink." Mae said before lighting up a cigarette and leaving the crew to pick up the set.

A Story About a Guy Who's Kind of a Jerk But He's on a Mission and He'll Be Damned if He's Late For His Sister's Wedding

I slowed the throttle on my 2102 Haneko Kokoro. For those of you completely out of the loop, it's a converted racing ship. This one was driven by Kyle Menagerie at the 2096 Del Venusia. He came in third which is pretty good.

Way below me there was a fueling station and recreation area. Who would ever want to recreate in the Mars wastes is beyond me. Even the thought of getting red dust on my clothes made me sick.

I landed my ship in a spot close to the doors, popped the glass and stepped out. When my genuine 100% raccoon skin boots hit the dirt I shivered. These were not cheap boots, kind of a status symbol. It's what set me apart from people like this.

I pushed the doors open and stepped inside. Lowering my sunglasses I was astonished. I had never seen so many carb loaded foods before in my life. People like myself tended to dine on finer things like raccoon steaks. Raccoon products were sort of a trend at that time. The raccoons on Mars got big enough that they had different cuts and everything.

"Where is the tea?" I asked the cashier. He just gruffly pointed to one of the drink coolers. I pulled out a tall can. 'Montenova orange tea'. Why this tea was in a can, I didn't know. The only thing I ever purchased in a can was raccoon shoulder for my cat.

I placed it on the counter and asked the worker for directions. He took a long drag off the Nudeport in his mouth. Nudeports were a popular neo-tobacco brand, advertised as being 3% safer than traditional cigarettes. I wouldn't know, I only smoked cigars from Earth.

"You want to get to the New Phoenix spaceport?"

"Yes, and I'm in a hurry."

A golden tabby hopped up onto the counter. The guy petted it's head as he thought. "Well, if you head about 360 miles to the South Southwest, which shouldn't take long in your Haneko there, you'll reach Taschi Station. From there you can buy a map unit for the surrounding area." He took another drag.

"How much will that cost me?" I asked.

"You got a 2102 Haneko racer and you're worried about price?"

"I'm a frugal man."

"If you say so. But from there it's about a 670 mile ride to New Phoenix. You're gonna want to be on the West side though, so I would circle around the city to avoid traffic."

"That's it?"

"Yeah."

"Appreciated, I thank you for your help." I cracked open the can and took a sip. For something with this much sugar it wasn't bad.

"What are you traveling so far for? If you don't mind me asking. You don't seem like the road trip type."

"My sister is getting married."

"Ah, that's nice. Is it a big family thing?"

I didn't know how much to divulge, but I wasn't thinking straight at the time. So I just laid it all out. "No, just their closest friends. I'm actually going there to beat the shit out of her fiance. And maybe throw him off a bridge."

The Clerk laughed. "Really? He a bastard or something? Cheat on her?"

"I won't get into it, but something like that."

"Well, you do you. And if you gotta beat town for aggravated assault or some such, just come back to me, I'll help you out." I thought he might be joking, but I couldn't quite tell.

"Thank you." Little did I know, a few days from then I would be taking him up on that offer.

"What's your name?"

"Leslie."

"Good luck with your trip, Les." I dropped my change into the jar and left the store. As the door was swinging shut I heard the man talking to the cat. "Doesn't seem like a bad kid."

An Enigmatic Case

Last Tuesday, at about 3pm a young woman stumbled into Blair's shop. She seemed panicked, but she wanted to hire us to investigate something. Some sort of clandestine organization. She called earlier and asked me to meet her on the 12th floor of the Fujiwara building.

"Blair, I'm out."

"See ya, Walt. Good luck."

I wasn't feeling good about this job.

Spring of 2115, three years after the war ended Blair and I opened a sort of detective agency and ran it out of her garage on Mars. This was way in the outskirts of New Phoenix. The two closest things to us were a fueling station to the North and a raccoon ranch owned by a guy named "Filthy" Johnson to the South East.

I went around back and hit the remote for my 2088 Carpenter compact cruiser. I called her the Inter-Stella, or just Stella for short. She was painted a dull orange, having faded over the years.

I popped the glass and climbed in, tossing my bag on the passenger seat. Click. Click click. The engine roared to life. I twisted the throttle and took off into the sky, leaving a cloud of red dust in my wake.

There was really nothing to look at so I watched my tiny tiny maple tree soak up the sun on the dash. Her name was Juniper, despite it being a maple. The former owner (Blair) named it that and it stuck.

It was about a 15 minute trip into the city. I had no trouble finding the Fujiwara building. After landing on the roof, I jimmied open the building access and climbed down four stories.

"Walter?"

"Uh, you can just call me Walt." The young woman stood waiting for me in the open, empty expanse of a forlorn office.

"Thank you for meeting with me."

"Sure." She looked nervous, and I had no idea what to say.

"Here, I need you to have these." She handed me an envelope holding what felt like photos. Pretty antiquated. "I'm not going to be around much longer, I'm trusting you to finish this."

This was the point where I felt like I was being pranked. The mystery, the enigmatic dialogue. It was pretty stupid.

"The job, sure." At that moment the woman collapsed. "Are you okay?" I stooped down and offered her my hand before I saw the blood pooling from her head. Oh shit.

I sprinted up the stairs two at a time. Four floors never felt this far away. I didn't know where the shooter was and I wasn't too excited to find out. Once I reached the roof I dove to the ground and crawled to Stella. There was a little something I needed in the left side compartment.

Now, I had my former service weapon under my arm but that wouldn't do a damn thing against a shooter like this. Thwack. I hit my ship and a classic wooden rifle dropped from the compartment. I had a meager scope attached for times like this.

After a little peak over the guard wall, I saw nothing. Not a person in sight. I was kind of glad because I wasn't a sniper. With wind speeds and such I had no idea what to do.

There was nothing but silence. I waved the butt of my rifle in the air. Nothing. I figured he had left, but you can't be too careful. I got back in my ship and got the hell out of there.

A Year, Maybe Forever

A blonde, Swiss woman scrubbed away at the kitchen floor. On her hands and knees, scraping grime from the linoleum. This was her three month anniversary of joining the shipping vessel, Melodrama. And honestly, she preferred this over the alternative, going back to Earth.

Three dull knocks drew her attention to the door. She looked up and met the strong eyes of a tall woman, her hair dyed black.

"Busy, Ella?" She asked.

"I'm just about done," Ella replied.

"Good."

The tall woman set a six pack of bottles on the counter. She turned away and lifted herself up next to them, until she was sitting comfortably on the stainless steel, her feet a few inches off the ground.

Ella got to her feet and threw the filthy sponge into the sink. As she washed her hands, she turned to the woman.

"How's captain-ing?"

The captain cracked open a bottle with her teeth.

"You know how it is, 'Ruby, we're out of toilet paper, Ruby, we're over budget this month, Ruby, the spark plugs are ancient, we have a 12% chance of blowing up on the landing pad every time we start the ship.' Just the usual bullshit."

"Yeah…" was all Ella could say. She was horrible at responding to people. Even though she loved to listen, she never knew what to say.

"Gage isn't pushing you too hard, is he? I told him to go easy on you. Next time he makes you stay up scrubbing the floors you should tell me, I'll give him the what for." Ruby said.

"No, it's okay. Really. I'm just paying my dues. And I can fight my own battles." She looked to Ruby, who was listening intently. "No offence. But I'm 19, I don't want to be a spoiled Earthian anymore."

Ruby could see a little bit of passion shine through her crew member, and so she prodded her a bit.

 

"Well, this is a good start, but what else are you going to do about it?"

This got under Ella's skin.

"I spent 18 years on Earth, I did great in school, despite people bullying me over my eyes." Ruby looked at Ella's face. Her eyes were artificial. Fully functional, but they glowed orange with the lights dimmed. "Earth life was one thing, but this…" she motioned toward an empty kitchen, but more so the ship and space life in general. "This is different, this is real."

"And? You think you're ready for what's out there? Space pirates? Corrupt governments? Isolation?" Ruby cracked a smile. "Death?"

Ella realized what she was doing, and calmed down. "I'll cross those bridges when I get to them."

Ruby motioned to the counter next to her. "Come on and sit."

Ella sat and her captain put her arm around her. Ruby would refrain from physical contact if it weren't for a couple of nights ago. Ella wandered into the lounge after everyone had gone to bed, she was a night owl. Ruby was there, reading the news.

They talked, and Ella in one of her many long and one-sided conversations admitted that the one thing she missed about Earth was the physical contact from her siblings. Ruby just hugged her, and Ella ended up falling asleep on her shoulder.

Ruby handed her a bottle. "How long do you plan on being with us?"

"Don't know. A year, maybe forever."

"Flattering, but I don't think you want to be here forever. There's so much more for you to do."

"Regardless, thank you for giving me a chance. I hope I haven't let you down."

Ruby smiled.

"Hell no."

Unemployment

It wasn't the first time I was out of a job, but it was definitely the hardest. It had been three weeks since I was removed from my position on the UHMO ship Escape. Three long, useless weeks. Mostly spent kicking around greasy diners on Mars, burning any money I had left.

The reason I was removed from my position wasn't really my fault. At least I don't feel it was. There were a lot of shady dealings going on behind the scenes there. I kept my nose clean and looked the other way until they threatened my 16 year old cousin Hailey.

She was working as an intern on the ship. In her free time she would go down to cargo hold 2B and read books. Sometimes I would hang out with her and drink my coffee.

Well, one day she caught a pair of mid level officers committing inventory fraud. I walked in right as they grabbed her collar. I lost it, and beat the hell out of them.

But it was my word against theirs. Who would you believe, the two officers in their second tour? Or the schlubby security guy? An easy choice, for the committee at least. It didn't matter how many hijackers or mutinies I dealt with while I was there. It didn't matter because I wasn't one of the 'boys’.

Crash. The sound of a dropped platter pierced the rhythm of the diner. I looked in the direction of the noise. Shit. It was the Air Turks, a cruiser gang known for commotions. I carefully gathered my few belongings and went to get up before I was interrupted.

“Malcolm Lavinsky?” I looked up and made eye contact with a clean looking gentleman. He wore a black suit, open jacket, no tie, and matching slacks. He slid into the booth across from me.

I usually sat in the corner for a reason, so people couldn't sneak up on me like that. Guess it doesn't make a difference when you're lost in the cup of coffee in front of you. “You are Malcolm Lavinsky, am I wrong?” He said.

“I am,” was all I gave as an answer. I couldn't for the life of me figure out why someone would be looking for me. This guy could have been serious trouble. I started feeling a little anxious.

“Oh good.” He drew a business card from his jacket pocket and slid it to me. “My name is Morgan, I'm here on behalf of my boss, Mr Anderson.” I took a look at the card.

Kenneth Anderson

Owner and chief operator of KA Industries

Bringing quality, affordable living to the inner solar system.

He sounded like one of those secretive philanthropists.

“How do you know me, Morgan?” I asked. He showed me my profile on his datapad.

“This is you, right? Malcolm Lavinsky, born Summer 2088. Former rank 1 security officer onboard the UHMO ship, Escape.”

“That's me.”

“My boss is looking for security for an event he's throwing. He's looking for people that take issue with the UHMO.”

I looked at his boss' card again. It was worth checking out, right? It would probably be better than this.

"The UHMO, huh? I have plenty of issues there."  

Adrift

I looked out the window of my small ship. It took all my energy to do so. Six days without food. Eight days set adrift. There was nothing to be seen anymore, except for stars. There was nothing. If I had a way to end my own life I would have done it already.

Eight days prior, I attempted to dock with a monastery ship. One of those that offer food and lodgings so long as you attend morning mass. Unfortunately it was attacked by marauders.

They didn't destroy the ship, I don't think they could have anyway. These were fighter monks. However, I was caught in the crossfire while trying to get away. A bolt hit my ship and I lost control over the throttle.

 For hours my ship rocketed into the emptiness until I ran out of fuel. It was only days later that I gave up hope.

I prayed to anything and everything. Even if there's no God or Buddha, even if there's no Cygnus or Terazu, there must be something.

Before I decided to sleep, the goal being not to wake up, I pulled out my datapad and began recording.

"Roger Mullen, civilian, eight days ago I was sent adrift. If anyone finds this video, please let the UHMO know. My will can be found in my direct archive. Please tell my wife and daughter that I love them." I ended the recording. "Shit. Damn it."

"Language!" Scolded the woman in my passenger seat. I could only stare at my guest. A light haired woman wearing jeans and a t-shirt was sitting next to me. As far as I could tell she was real. At least the chewing sounds from her gum were. She shrugged. "Do you need help or not?"

After careful thought I replied. "I've been alone and starving for eight days. I've already come to terms with my mortality. To get help now would feel like a betrayal. I wouldn't want to betray the reaper."

"Woah. Okay Debbie downer, I didn't ask for your monologue. I want to know if you need help."

"Okay, yes. I'll take some help."

"Can you say please?" She asked.

"Are you serious?"

"Nah, I'm messing with you," she laughed. "Where do you want to go?"

"Anywhere but here? Does that work?"

"Alright, directly into the sun, you got it." She laughed some more. "Again, I'm messing with you… unless you'd be interested?"

"Please just send me somewhere with civilization."

"Sure, sure, coming right up. One last thing though. If anyone asks you to rate the service, can you give me a good rating? I need it right now, my numbers are down. Name's Edria." She snapped her fingers.

Just like that I was floating right outside of the space colony Harmony. A voice crackled through my comms.

"This is port officer Dawkins, mind if I ask where the hell you just came from?"

"I need some help, and then I'll answer your questions. I need a tow, and I need some food."

"Okay, I'm sending a tow right now."

Whatever that little encounter was, alien or not, it was helpful. I'll give Edria that.

Cleanup Crew

"Are we off the record?" I asked.

The corporate lady stopped chewing her pen. "Off the official record."

"Okay, here goes, then…"

"You would not BELIEVE some of the things I've seen. I don't even know where to start. Maybe… here, the telepathic mold. Now, I'm not really clued in on these things, they just send us in to clean up.

Now this one time, we were dispatched to cut and burn a facility on Mercury where the big wigs were growing telepathic mold.

Yeah, it begged us not to burn it and everything. Begging turned into threats. Threats turned into spores. Bad stuff. Jim spent a month in therapy and he can still hear it sometimes. Not a mental thing either, the spores in his lungs are still taunting him. All of this is thanks to the Experimental Science Division.

I bet you're already thinking that that's pretty bad, but I'm getting there. Wanna hear about the time traveler or the alien boy band first? I know you picked the band but I'm saving that one for last. Yeah, we had a little issue with a time traveler… allegedly. The UHMO Experimental Science Division likes to screw around with wormholes and stuff. It's how we got FTL travel.

But one time a very medieval looking guy walked out of the damn thing at 11am on a Tuesday. The researchers were sitting around drinking soup or whatever nerds eat for lunch. Quinoa? Who knows. Not me.

You know what this guy said as he eyed the computer equipment? 'This isn't Rahstora.' Yeah, unbelievable. Nice guy though, his name is Edward, he's in my squad now. Although he won't use anything but a sword.

Now for the alien band. Yeah like a music band. Ever hear about the Voyager golden record? Some kind of music thing a bunch of space guys shot into space like 140 years ago. Well these guys found it.

As far as aliens go these ones look a lot like us except there's enough room in their mouths for the four wisdom teeth. That's about it. But yeah, this band heard the music on that record and their style is described as 'Chuck Berry mixed with Azerbaijani folk music.'"

I looked up from the floor at the corporate lady across from me. "That's about it. I would get into the god stuff but I have a shift in an hour.

She stopped chewing on her pen. "It's okay, you have the day off."

"Oh," I was a little disappointed. My brain was already aching and I didn't want to go any further.

"Go ahead."

I thought. "Okay, there's three of them I think. Or that's all they've found. I think there's a bunch more."

"Have you met any of them personally?"

"Just Edria, she's kind of rude."

Transmission

I was idly flipping through audio channels on my ship the other day. It was a long trip to Harmony and I had the old girl on autopilot. There are thousands of channels, I sometimes just put numbers in at random.

I found a really interesting one though.

"You're listening to Jupiter radio, the only radio station coming at you from beyond the field. You know who this is, I would tell you my name but it's unpronounceable to humans."

The DJ paused and shuffled her notes.

"Well friends and neighbors, we have an eclectic mix of music and news for you today. I have a story straight from the Cygnus system, breaking news in fact."

This was entertaining fiction. I had to admit, she had me hooked.

"King Terazu-nakai of the Cygnus terminal was killed today during a premeditated oxygen attack. The Cygnusians are looking for retribution for this heinous act." Then, a phone rang. "Yes, hello?"

She took a phone call live on air. Unprofessional to say the least.

"Well friends and neighbors, that was my producer, he has informed me that agents from the great divide are on their way to the station. Yes, that great divide." I heard what I assumed was a gun being loaded. "Remember, be safe and I'll be back on the air… whenever you need me."

There were faint gunshots in the background before the broadcast fizzled out.

I smiled at the creativity before punching in another random sequence.

Above Summerland

I sat on the fire escape above the bar I worked at, Summerland, soaking in the city's rhythm. I took a sip from the slowly warming can in my hand. This was New Phoenix. I hadn't been on Mars for more than a few years but the monotony of life made it feel much longer. Like I was born there.

I really thought I would be there forever. I didn't want to think about that. The life I was living was, for lack of a better term, melancholic. It was a word my friend had just taught me.

In any case, I wanted to leave but where would I even go?

The window next to me slid open. I was preparing to apologise to whoever owned this apartment, which was dumb on my part because the bar owned it. Instead, a woman crawled through the window. She slumped on the escape across from me and cracked open a drink. "Cheers."

"Cheers." I took a sip. "What are you doing here?" I asked. She held up a fixed blade knife. The thing was probably six inches.

"I jimmied the lock."

"No, not how. Why."

"Oh, right. I thought I would pay a little visit to a dumpy little bar. But no one was there. Horrible service. One star."

"You know Lynn has threatened multiple people for that kind of thing."

"I could take her." Honestly? I believed her. Except Lynn always carried. Now I had to think about it. "Daria?"

"Me?"

"Yeah, you. Don't you want to hear about my leg?"

I eyed her right calf. It was working again. "Saito fixed it?"

Mandy put her foot on the railing and pulled up the cuff of her capris, revealing the sleak, high tech prosthetic. "Good as new."

"What's the over-under on how long that one lasts?"

She laughed. "I hope it lasts a while. Saito gave me an earful."

The door to the bar below us opened and my boss, Lynn stepped out. "Daria?"

"Up here."

She looked up at us and waved. "Hey, break's over. Hey Mandy. You know I keep telling Daria to stop harassing customers but she doesn't listen.

"It's okay," Mandy replied. "The second she steps over the line, I have this." She drew the knife again.

I got up and popped open the window. "Gotta go, you joining me?"

"Yep."

We crawled through the window and made our way back down to the bar. For a 96 degree summer day I was feeling pretty alright.

Beyond the Field

Attn: John

Note: this is the script for the May 12 show. Please please please don't mention the Cygnus thing. It's a sensitive subject right now and we don't have all the details yet.

From, Programming Director Erin Bengal

Script:

*Theme song fades in*

Good day, beings. This is John Kefka coming to you from beyond the field. It is currently May 12, 2115, 8am Earth time. I have some headlines for you today, but first:

*Theme song fades out*

Beyond the Field is brought to you by Nudeport tobacco, proudly holding up Earthly tradition while being up to 3% safer than traditional cigarettes.

Now let's get right into it.

Late last night the body of a woman was found in the unused Fujiwara building in New Phoenix, Mars. We reached out to lead investigator Scott Wantson from the United Humanities Military Organization but we received no response. A UHMO rep did make a statement on the matter.

Quote: "our investigators are working diligently on this case. We ask for the public's cooperation and for them to respect the privacy of the victim's family." Unquote.

When another reporter in the crowd asked if there was a possible link to the Order of the Stars cult the rep declined to answer.

In other news, the CEO of Channel Theta News, Doc Murdock is under fire for allegedly embezzling funds from the network to use on highly illegal raccoon fighting. He had this to say on the matter:

Quote: "I never used money from the 2115 winter budget to fund something as ludicrous as raccoon fights. And if I did I wouldn't be sorry because those monsters deserved it." Unquote.

Murdock was sweating so much that multiple times during the statement he had to be wiped down by his assistants.

This is John Kefka of Beyond the Field.

We have an interview lined up with a man claiming to be the third coming of Renaissance painter Michaelangelo this Wednesday.

That's it for our program today. You've been listening to Beyond the Field at 8am, make sure to catch my twice weekly show on Wednesday and Saturday at 4pm Earth time and my daily show at 8am Earth time.

For those of you within the field, good day. And for those of you beyond the field, good luck. Kefka signing off.

Compound

"There's another tank out there now."

I continued loading my rifle as Gregory repeated himself.

"I said, there's another effing tank out there now."

"I heard you."

"Then say something."

"I did."

Gregory sighed and continued buttoning his jacket.

"We're so done for. We're so screwed, Josh. God damn it."

"Relax."

"Relax? Why?" Gregory froze as he realized what I meant. "Are you serious?"

"Yes."

"You're not…"

"Yep."

"You… it… we don't even know what it is!"

"I know enough. It'll save us." I was, of course, referring to the device we stole from the UHMO during our last raid.

I peeked out the shutters again. It was hard to see, both through the darkness and the clouds of red dust. I felt fine. No, actually, I felt great. Confident for the first time in years. As the leader of this outfit I was good at hiding it.

We descended back to the ground floor to attend to the rest of the outfit. Mostly kids, 12-20 years old. Sick to God damn death of the UHMO.

I stood in front of Molly. She was one of the older ones, 17 or 18 years. When her brother was killed in a "botched" raid by the military, the first thing she did was knock on my door.

I handed her my spare rifle. "It's got five rounds, good for about 500 yards, don't squeeze the trigger too hard."

"Got it, Josh." Her voice was hoarse from inhaling the dry Mars air.

"Oh, and you aren't going to need it."

She looked down at the rifle, confused. Then, she smiled and looked back at me. "Send 'em to hell, and maybe back."

"'Back' would be a worse fate." I cleared my throat. "We're going to the 4th floor."

The 4th floor was the last before the roof. It was also where my ship was bade.

I beckoned the kids onto the ship and started warming up the engines. "I'll be right back."

Climbing the stairs to the roof, I pulled the device out of my coat pocket. I didn't know what it would do, just that it would be bad. Well, for us it would be good.

Looking over the barricade, the UHMOs speakers crackled to life.

"Josh Meyer. This is the last time we'll say it. Give up," shouted the coarse captain.

I could see the bright lights of New Phoenix in the distance.

I smiled and pushed the single button. There was a flash of light. Though it wasn't blinding, it's just as if everything turned white. It flickered out and the darkness took over. Pitch black.

There was the squeal of an engine, and as the light from Deimos slowly came back, I saw the scout ship crash into the blockade. It erupted into flames. The only way that would happen is if the electrical safety measures weren't working.

There was a massive explosion as I saw the newest tank shoot straight up into the air.

Holy shit.

I hoofed it downstairs and boarded the ship. Once my hands were on the controls I engaged the locks and gunned the engines. The ship shot through the wall to the outside through drywall and shards of glass.

We shot over New Phoenix, high above the city. The kids gazed down at the lights. I felt awful but it would be the last time they'd see them. We were headed to Harmony.