Red Zone - 5
A Novel
2
The corridor was unbelievably old, and it was in that era when circular was the default for walkways, the white vaguely glowing light from the walls created a pure cold atmosphere. It had had conduits, tubes, nano-lines, and waterways added to it, so it had lost the austere cleanliness of its designer's intentions, but the original effect remained. He reached a circular iris door, which popped open and into a room set in a sphere. There was a floor about one-third of the way up, but below this was life support and other necessary machinery. He startled.
“How did you get here? The door was locked.” Venky's voice betrayed an annoyance, he had been surprised. Not that he didn't know why: the intruder was a woman, the woman he had been fraternizing with for the last 60 days or so. She was impossibly long, as people who grew up in lower G often were, though of course, she had spent her childhood in a nursery that mimicked the effects of earthrise skin was a rich cocoa brown, and whereas most of the women in his life had been soft and round, she was long, and her curves flares. Her delicate thin nose accentuated the length and height she had. Her attire was a white articulated jumpsuit, which, he noted, clung in odd and alluring ways.
“There aren't any doors locked, not to me. Especially not your door.”
She looked directly at him, her eyes blinking with a feigned innocence as if everyone could simply walk into a military installation, into the crew zone, open a secure door, and wait for the soon-to-be commander responsible for one-sixth of the planet's surface to arrive.
“I was going to call my wife.”
Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. Wait, I didn't hear that, it must be a memory.
“She can wait, she's waited for a long time, and she's going to keep waiting. I only have you briefly.”
She spun on her hips and pulled her legs up to a cross, and then she placed her feet down on the floor and stood up with a complete mastery of the situation. He almost expected her to drape herself over him or touch him in some way. But, instead, she stood there staring at him, with a slightly challenging look on her face. He noted the way her cheeks curved outward to add to the already strong jaw she had, and how her full lips made her seem like she was a body in the sky. Moon faced his mother would have said, disapprovingly.[1]
“Aren't you going to hold me? I've been worried about you.”
She then draped her arms over his shoulders and looked into him, her hair in frilly, but natural, curls, that fluffed in the dry static laden air. Her face was not far from his, but not yet closed. But her eyes filled his field of view.
She stroked his cheek with the inside of a finger.
“I've always liked how hard your features are, how gaunt you are. It's strange to see that in someone from the Garden world.”
“It's strange not to see in someone who grew up in space.” His eyes started to water, and then he remembered how many pieces of the puzzle were left to do this day. He wanted a shot of oxy so that they could cuddle and feel a deep closeness and attachment, a warm gauzy furry intertwining. But then he'd be useless for the day.
“I have to go.”
“I know you do, birthday boy.”
“Don't remind me. You can't stay here, Kiesha.”
She smiled as she seated herself on the bet, and settled herself in.
“I can't leave either. For a while. Maybe I will be here when you get back. Bye.”
He managed to take his eyes off her, pop the outer armor, and swap tunics without noticing her. He quickly placed his hand on the biologics exper and felt that slight rush, like a strong breath of air on his palm, of adjusting chemicals. Less edgy attention, more recall. It took a few moments to hit his head, he felt like he was standing on top of a high mountain and could view downward. He withdrew his hand, turned, and left. He was out the door. He should have made his uniform more military, but, in the end, he knew it didn't matter.
Walking along the curved corridor, he tried to pry his thoughts away from her and on the task at hand: getting to the CO and starting the transition of command. He didn't even notice the short walk, and he was not overly surprised when the door recognized him and simply opened. He passed through and was equally unsurprised when it not only shut but sealed. Through the dome windows in the roof, there was an increased orange that reflected off of the spider web struts. Dawn was getting closer, but it would be a false dawn, at this latitude, on this day, the sun would barely crest the horizon and be visible for less than an hour.
The command quarters were somewhat newer, and also clearly a refuge from the pressures of the job, but also a fortress of status. Rank still had its privileges. There was an environment whose accouterments and pallet was entirely different from the white, glow, and metallic of most of the base:[2] the walls were a rich red that was nearly magenta, inlaid with holographic displays – these from an earlier era, and so maintained, to some extent, as tradition. Most of the data needs were served by the single 360 display, and of course, by direct memory transmission. However, the desk, that thousands of years old idea, was at the focal point, it was roughly ¾ of a circular and made of an organic material that held a teak-like color. On it were tablets with orders, approvals, and the other seals of the office. Once, people had wanted storage to be ever smaller, or even invisible. However, security needs had long since trumped this, and the ubiquity of computing power had long since put to rest any need to move the storage mechanism itself.
“Welcome,” and a pause, “Lt. Colonel Deeshandir Venkatesh.”
“My promotion is active. Thank you, sir.” He felt the wave of recognition of his new status.
“I just activated it. I wanted to be the first to congratulate you.” They exchanged salutes and his former superior officer stood, with a slight slump on this back, surveying the remains of handing over command.
“There will be a formal meeting later. But there are some important details that I need to make sure you know of.”
“I am grateful for the courtesy of Colonel Sunhil.” He spoke in his monotone voice, careful to avoid a trap.
“I didn't want you for this command, Venky, but I am going to do everything my duty requires to give you a good start on it.”
Venky hesitated, he was not sure whether to accept the informality of using a nickname, or the rebuke from the face of the words. He was far too practiced at army protocol to allow any more than the slightest wince to appear on his face.
“I am grateful for any assistance you can provide, sir.” In this he gave the words an up-and-down sing-song, hoping to lull Sunhil. Internally, he sweated furiously. This conversation was going someplace, and probably someplace he did not want to go without treading very cautiously.
“Don't get me wrong, I don't hold it against you. It is just that my time is ending. The epoch I was born in, raised in, and have lived in, is going to end. And I resent that.” Sunhil's face was impassive, his mustache, with handlebars that ran down the sides of his cheeks, was utterly placid. Not a facial muscle was twitching. What is he getting at? There had always been a stiffness between them, and it was wider than ever. Venky hadn't realized just how much naked ire was beneath the surface.
“I am not sure I understand what you are saying, sir.” At least, Venky thought: I didn't need to feign honesty.
“Mars was supposed to be a new garden world. Now, it is an armed camp.” Sunhil's tone was that of a commander lecturing an incoming crop of newly minted ensigns or junior lieutenants.
“I don't see what that has to do with me.” He shifted his weight, examining the fat face and mustache of his soon-to-be predecessor.
“In the normal course of things, I should have had my XO[3] replace me. But that didn't happen. They wanted you. Or rather, they didn't have anyone any better than you.” There was a distinct fall in tone to emphasize that last phrase. Venky felt judged, and unfairly so. But he choked back any desire to let emotion reign over him. “The upper echelons make strange decisions, sir.” No sense in generating any more antipathy than was already there.
“This one is very clear: they want a military man.” Venky's thought was immediate: Well, yes. That's not you. However, that's not a safe thing to say.
“You are lifetime sen.”[4] Better a compliment.
“And so is Maje Kohli, my XO. But that does not matter. I am going back to Hongjing.”
He paused.
“It is a staff position.”
Venky pondered what it meant for him to give up command, in order to go to a staff position.
“It is an opportunity for you to make Brigadier.” Well, probably not.
“I will never reach that rank. This will be my final assignment, and then will return to Terra to retire.” At least he is realistic.
There was an impassivity to his voice that held within it more sadness than tears. The service was his life.
His one-time commander continued: “They appointed you because you are one of the packs of dogs.” A clear reference to Admiral Kumar and his followers. “The reason for this is also clear, to me and everyone. They expect war.”
“We are warriors.”
“We are servants. The garden world is our mistress.”
“You don't like the White Mars plan? It seems to be the best option.” He noticed that his superior officer was toying with one of the tablets with his fingertips and had become agitated visibly. This was not that unusual: Sunhil was a more volatile man than Venky under ordinary circumstances.
“Hate isn't even a word that I would use. It betrays all that I have worked for my entire life.” “Those are extremely strong words.”
His soon to be former commander turned and looked upward.
“Join me?” And motioned to the small area around his chair which was able to elevate upwards.
Venky, with a certain amount of trepidation, did so, stepping on to the white outlined disc. It smoothly lifted into place, hovering a meter below the transparent part of the dome of the room. They looked outwards on the ice-covered land, an ice that was gradually advancing, both from the south and, as importantly, from the north.[5]
“Once, we were told that by the time I was old, I would see a Green Mars, walk outside under the sun, and feel a wind. It would be a cold wind, but truly, an excellent air. I would see trees, young and fail, but still, an excellent place to sit and write and meditate. I would hear birds. It would be the first new Garden World under the sun since the universe began. Even the moon would not be done as quickly, because of the problems. Venus will be far behind.” Sunhil swept his arm with the palm up across the north. “This place would still be dire cold, but the equator would be...” He trailed off.
“You know the engineering of that required more energy than the Dominion could produce. I heard. But this will bring the end closer, and less expensive. The great ice domes will allow life to be introduced sooner, and more people to come here more quickly.”
“It was the Jovians who decided this. They have the ability to generate the required energy.”
“They do not seem to be interested.” Why should they, they don't owe us because of our age.
“This is a Yuan Imperative. We could have just ordered them.” His face had grown slightly larger, indicating the wealth of anger beneath.
“Only in the most theoretical of fashions. We have already cut biologics to them, and it has not made them come to our viewpoint.” And in fact, they probably aren't taking this well. I wouldn't be I them.
“In a few years, they will.” His superior was almost glaring.
“And what if they do not give us years? I have seen a great deal of war, and, with all respect, I think that it would not be favorable to us to fight a war here, and now.” He stared out the window and realized his tone had grown more challenging than was, perhaps, advisable.
And then, just as quickly, his superior backed away. The veil, the veil over anger that Jupiter's Republic, or perhaps Republics, it was heard both ways, had not given him the garden world he had dreamt so much of. Instead, a vast sheet of ice was growing.
“There is a vast ocean beneath the ice, and it is alive. It will erupt and create a new world with startling swiftness.” He turned and looked at his superior, with a slight tilt of the head. A ghost of the sun kissed the horizon. The short day had begun.
His superior made a dismissive wave.
“Anyway, I tell you they have picked the right man for their job. It simply isn't the job I wished to do. I leave it in your hands.”
They descended from the height, looking at the light and blue tinge of the sky, for as long as they could.
“One more thing Venky.”
Venky, who had been surveying the instruments and tablets that would soon be his responsibility, looked up.
“Hmmm?”
Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. Wait, I didn't hear that, it must be a memory.
The superior continued: “There is a military liaison from the Federal Republics of Jupiter, a marine commander. Lt. Commander Berranstat. He will be arriving in two hours. I will have the information ready for you to absorb. It is, at the moment, extremely sensitive.” A wave hit, and Venky knew the memories were there as soon as he had time to recall them. But it would take time to integrate that into his sense of the world. It was like a jar filled, but ready to spatter everywhere if opened the wrong way. He recalled the day he learned to always open small containers of yogurt away from him. Opening reception memory was like that.
There was a look of surprise on Venky's face, he could feel his head go back in astonishment. Not time for that.
“I will tell you: this White Mars plan, is an attempt by Jupiter to turn Mars into an ice world, a cube-like Ceres, Europa, Ganymede, and Calisto. Once your ice sheet is made, it will never go away. Never. You will give your children, a garden of ice. A vast sheet of hell. I'll show myself out, the command is yours.”
Venky blinked as if hit in the face, but after that, he settled down.
“Thank you, sir.”
Sunhil touched his shoulder briefly and then saluted. There was no love lost.
He had something to think upon.
[1] “The mooning faced his mother.” Meaning not born on Earth.
[2] There is a low-slung feeling to the architecture here.
[3] XO for Executive Officer.
[4] Sen - Ground Forces, short for Sthalsena.
[5] The end plan is two oceans, a deep northern one, and a shallow southern one, named 北洋 and 南瀛 or “Beiyang” and “Nanying” respectively. This uses two different words for Ocean. Dominion Standard speakers have shortened these to Byang and Ning