Mars Born (Shadows of the Void Space Opera Serial Book 8) by Green J.J

Author:Green, J.J. [Green, J.J.]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: InfiniteBook
Published: 2017-03-29T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

Jas needed people. She actually needed Carl, but he was hundreds of miles above her somewhere among the unwavering stars in the inky Martian night, and he was probably tired of her and her endless dithering. Strangers would have to do. Voices, color, movement, laughter. She needed all these things.

She was back at the hotel after thanking Backra for her kindness and the stories she’d told. The evening was getting old. She should have gone to bed, but she knew she wouldn’t sleep. She wouldn’t be able to erase that charred room or Backra’s theory on what might have killed all those people, her parents among them, from her mind for a while.

Jas was also getting used to the idea that she was a natural. If everything that she’d been told were true, there didn’t seem much doubt about it anymore. She wasn’t sure how she felt. She hadn’t been disadvantaged. She’d been fairly successful in her life without any modding. Yet she also didn’t think she had much in common with underworlders as she knew them. Backra’s revelations had left her feeling like she didn’t fit in anywhere.

Jas smirked wryly to herself. Same as usual, then.

She called reception. The previous receptionist’s shift had finished, and a new face greeted her. “Yes, Ms. Harrington? How can I help you?”

“Can you tell me the closest bar?”

“Certainly. I’ll send directions to the closest establishments. Is there anything else I can help you with this evening?”

“No, that’s it.”

“Great. I’d like to remind you that the hotel’s main door is locked at midnight. If you arrive after this time, please contact the night staff via the security panel. Guests are not allowed to invite non-paying guests into their rooms after midnight. Have a good evening.”

The receptionist seemed to have an idea about why Jas was going to a bar, but all she wanted was to not be alone.

***

The Loop conveyed Jas to a bar within fifteen minutes. As she went in, she was relieved when no eyes turned toward her. If she’d done the same thing on Earth, she would have immediately become an object of attention. Here, she was just another lanky, red-haired Martian out for the evening.

The map the receptionist had sent her included seven or eight bars within the vicinity of the hotel. Drinking was a popular pastime on Mars. Buggy racing was another, Jas recalled. Out on the red, rocky, dusty plains, youths would ride their wide-wheeled buggies as far as battery life allowed, and sometimes farther, knowing they wouldn’t make it back. Like on most colony worlds, suicide rates among Martians were high, especially among adolescents whose parents couldn’t afford to send them to Earth for several years to harden and strengthen their bones. Doomed to life on all-but-lifeless Mars or another low-g planet if they were lucky, many young Martians simply gave up.

Scanning the bar, Jas noticed that a good number of young Martians also sought oblivion in alcohol. She wasn’t sure if the drinking age was lower here than on Earth, but some of the bar’s patrons were surely below it.

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