Redspace Rising by Brian Trent

Author:Brian Trent
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: science fiction; gothic fantasy; flame tree press; military scifi; space opera; Mars
Publisher: Flame Tree Publishing
Published: 2022-07-28T09:38:44+00:00

Chapter Twenty-One

Solstice

There was a temptation to stay, submerged in the fog like some relic tossed into the sea. Which, all things considered, was about right.

For several minutes, I sat cross-legged on the canyon floor. Watching the sandships glide overhead, as if I were a marine biologist studying a pod of whales. Mars didn’t have whales; our imported sea-life were fish and mollusks and crustaceans existing mostly in underground pools and household aquariums.

Sitting there, alone in purgatorial gray, I dialed back my combat suite and steeped in merciful solitude….

*Harris? Are you receiving?*

I sighed as Celeste’s link appeared on my HUD. “Go,” I replied.

*What’s your position?*

“I meant ‘go’. As in go away, Segarra.”

A shape blotted the fog, less a whale than a manta making a slow, pelagic circle.

*Harris, I’ve got an EVAC in your general area. Signal your location, okay?* A hesitation. *Mazzola’s been air-lifted to Bickford Memorial. He’s in critical condition, but they’ve got the best trauma ward on the planet.*

With a reluctance as heavy as iron slag I sent up my MPS location. Immediately, the manta-shape dipped below the fog-line and painted the canyon with floodlights. Dredging myself to my feet, gripping the cryobag that held Debbie Drost’s head, I approached the hovering craft.

“Bickford?” I asked, climbing aboard. The EVAC was empty, lacking even a human pilot. “I was born at Bickford. Surprised it survived the nukes.”

Celeste’s signal transferred to the ship’s audio system, sounding tinny through the wall speaker. “Well, it’s in the heart of a mesa. The first colonists knew how to build things to last.” I heard her take a breath. “Hey? Sorry about my attitude earlier.”

I shrugged, realized she couldn’t see the motion, and said, “No worries. The mission comes first, right?”

“We’ll do everything we can to save Mazzola.”

“Okay.”

The EVAC soared out of the canyon. I leaned against the cool window, affording myself one final view of Noctis. Crooked black shapes, foggy channels, and sandships now as small as guppies. I strapped myself into a harness and said, “Take me to Bickford Memorial.”

The speaker crackled. “Your presence is requested at the House of Laws.”

“I decline the request.”

“It’s Solstice Eve, Harris. David wants you at the party. Lots of food, drink, VIPs. I’m there now, actually.”

I glanced at the blood-spattered cryobag. “I’m not bearing the kind of gift that goes under a tree.”

“Leave it on the copter.”

“Not really in the mood to celebrate, Segarra.”

“Come on, I’ll buy you a drink.”

“I’m covered in dirt, blood, and phosphire. I’d need a change of clothes.”

“I’ll buy you that, too.”

I let out a weary, musical sigh. Should have stayed in the canyon, where I could continue imagining a life as a marine biologist. Instead, here I was talking to invisible goddesses and being whisked off on magic chariots.

“Okay, Segarra,” I relented, stretching my wounded leg. My knee was warm where the medpatch nanites busied themselves weaving new cartilage and muscle. “A drink and a change of clothes, unless you want me showing up to David’s looking like a butcher. Do you need my measurements?”

“I’ve seen your DNA and neural patterns.

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