THE WIZARD OF MARS



Chapter One 

Elli stared at the city beyond her. Tall gleaming structures clustered in the  downtown core with green rectangular park areas beyond it. Her hotel room  window offered the view in silence with the sealed glass, not allowing any  sounds to enter. She sighed, trying to capture one of her last views of Earth  before leaving for Mars tomorrow. 

She didn’t want to leave Earth but had finally run out of options. She had  lived the good life, partied too much and was now seriously in debt. When she was fined for damaging property during another one of her intoxicated states,  she reluctantly turned to her parents for help to avoid being placed in a  detention centre. Her last stay at the Arizona Detention and Behaviour  Correction Center was not a pleasant one. 

Thus, a few months ago she approached her parents grudgingly for money,  expecting a shouting lecture from her mother while her dad would look intently  on, disapproving in his eyes. At the end, she expected her dad to say something  like, “Princess, we will help you again but you have to change your ways.” Her  father, hard working but with a soft spot for his only daughter partly because he  was away so often, protected her from what her mother wanted to do with her.  Until this time. 

Her mother was silent as Elli made her request and her dad spoke in a firm  voice, a voice normally only her brothers heard. “Enough is enough. We will  take care of your financial issues, on one condition. You are well educated and  trained as a biologist. Skills you have never put to use since you left university  two years ago. As a condition for our help, you will accept a position I have  secured for you at BioGeo.” 

“BioGeo?” The name sounded familiar but she had stopped investigating  potential employers in her field of work, preferring jobs that didn’t require  much effort to do and easy to pick up after she was let go from the last one. 

“One of my associates on the board of directors has found an opening  for you.” 

“Oh, that’s nice.” Elli figured she could work there for a few months. The  money would be good but she didn’t like jobs that required her to show up  every day for work. Sooner or later she would want to take a few unscheduled

vacation days and that would mean the end of that employment. However, until  then her parents would believe she had finally decided to act responsible finally.  Losing another job would be unfortunate and she was pleased to do work as a  biologist, but sooner or later she would end up partying too long and miss too  many work days. 

“The position pays very well but you have to sign a contract to work for  them not less than two years. There are substantial penalties for not fulfilling  work related obligations.” 

Elli looked shocked, sitting up in the soft leather chair. “I don’t  understand. Is this some sort of government job?” She hadn’t heard of any of  friends having to sign a long term employment contract before. Well, there was  Miles Stewart who worked his way to be a starship officer, but no one else she  hung around with took work seriously. 

“Well, there certainly is a lot of government money where you will be  working.” He paused for emphasis. “Red City.” 

Elli gasped. “Red City? That’s Mars! No, please, don’t send me there. I’ll  never survive there.” 

Her dad shook his head. “Princess, you’re not surviving here. Mars is your  best hope to turn your life around. It’s either Mars or the detention centre.” Elli shook her head. “I don’t want to go.” She almost stood up, ready to  stomp out of her parent’s mansion. But in her mind a question came to her.  Then what? The detention centre and when you’re out in six months, you’re  still in debt and no place to go. She looked at her dad, at the face that clearly  loved her more than she deserved, and lowered her head in defeat. During her last month on Earth Elli began to talk to people as if it was  going to be the last time she ever saw them. She took pictures of people,  animals, buildings and anything that caught her attention. She gave away most of  her possessions, knowing how little she was allowed to take on the voyage to  Mars. And for the first time in years she visited her parents without wanting  something from them. The last weeks passed by too fast and as she sat in her  favourite bar on the final weekend, she reflected how odd it all seemed to her.  The extra drinks consumed were contributing to the haze in her mind, but she  thought the bar and its patrons all seemed surreal. Then it came to her. The bar  was like this last week and the week before. Next week will be the same. The  one place in which she spent most of her time would be the same without her.  Her contribution, other than financial, was none. In her twenty-eight years of  existence, her impact in the world was nil. If I was to die tomorrow how many  people would notice or even care? 

Her thoughts were interrupted by her sometimes bed partner, Steve. Big,  blond Steve put his arm around her shoulders and placed a shooter down in  front of her. 

“Here you go Babe. This is your party tonight. Gotta keep drinking.”

She gave him a smile and hesitated as she took the drink, her  thoughts far  away.

* * * *

Elli dressed casually in cotton slacks and a powder blue T-shirt with a rock  group's signature picture of a naked woman sitting on a spaceship emblazoned  on the back in gold paint. She punched the elevator button, wondering what  would take a full day to orientate those going to Mars the first time. 

She exited on the third floor and found the sign indicating she had to go to  the Marlborough Room. As she approached the room she saw a group of people  enter the room as the doors were opened, and it suddenly occurred to her that  she was dreadfully underdressed. Too late to go back and change. Damn, what  was I thinking putting this shirt on? Of course everyone here is professional and  just offered a big opportunity to go to Mars. Maybe I can hide at the back of the  room. 

Elli looked cautiously into the room. The ballroom had numerous round  tables, each with white starched tablecloths with eight chairs around it. On the  tables were name cards for each of the guests. She carefully moved between the  tables, looking for her name card. Some of the men in suits smiled at her while  some of the women raised their eyebrows at her. She felt warm and her cheeks  she knew must have turned red as she found her name, near the podium. This  feels like the dream where I suddenly find myself naked in a crowded room. 

An older woman in a long skirt that matched the vest she wore over her  blouse stopped by her table and sat next to her. She gave her a smile. “Relax  dear. You weren’t hired for the clothes you wear. If wearing a Quantum Stars  T-shirt to a business meeting is the worst thing to happen to you today then  you’re better off than ninety per-cent of the people in the world. That’s what I  always tell myself when I do something I regret. Welcome to Ann Soljan’s, ‘I  wish I had done that instead Club.’ ” She stood and went up to the podium  where she began to check various devices hidden from view. 

Soon the room was filled with seated guests and other members at her  table all exchanged hellos and smiles. Elli managed to return the smiles and  decided Ann was right. She wasn’t going to let this one mistake throw her off  all day long. 

Ann gave a broad smile and introduced herself as the head of personnel for  BioGeo. “The first thing you must know is how we get you to Mars. The lift off  from Earth is the standard REV liftoff using the Wardair Spacebus 100.” 

There were a few nods of approval. Elli knew the Wardair fleet had a  reputation for being the most comfortable and largest available. The REV liftoff  stood for Rail Escape Velocity, a method of accelerating a spacebus on a  monorail to a high velocity along a vertical slope. She knew passengers  preferred it to the old method of self-propulsion from the ground. REV was  quieter and gave a smoother, constant acceleration.

“From the spacebus you will be transferred to the Kumeu Starship. Due to the limited size of any starship you will not be allowed to carry on board anything  other than yourself plus the standard suitcase and carry-on bag that we provide.  You will note the suitcase and carry-on bag are straight forward metal boxes.  We use these so they will pack properly in the storage areas of the ship. When  you arrive on Mars there are shops that can sell almost anything you can buy on  Earth, so don’t be concerned about what you need to leave behind.” 

A woman sitting next to Elli whispered, “I’m leaving my husband behind  and have no intention of putting him in a suitcase. On the other hand maybe I  can buy a new one on Mars.” 

Elli stifled a giggle. “I hear there’s a good ratio of men to women on  Mars.” 

“Yeah, if you like brainy, totally focused on work men.” 

“Then I hope there’s a good bar there.” 

The woman gave her a smile. “I think we’re going to get along just fine.” Ann continued with her talk. “Now as for accommodation, and this  pertains to the majority of you here, will be living in Red City. Each single  person is given a well-appointed apartment. The rooms are not large as space is  still a premium on Mars, but you will have privacy if you need it. You can wear  what you want when off duty, but during work, you must wear the company  uniform. This is done to help protect you from the Environment but also to help  identify you as BioGeo employees. With thousands of workers on various  projects sometimes, you need to know who your co-workers are at a glance.  After a short recess we will talk about working outside on Mars.” Elli got up and walked with the woman who had whispered to her. Jill was  thin, an average height blonde that looked tired from too much stress.  “What’s your field? I'm a deep drill supervisor.” 

“Biology. What is a deep drill?” 

“We need to study core samples and I will help supervise the drill that can go  several kilometres below the surface.” 

“Hey, I might see some of your work. We get slices of core samples to  look for signs of ancient life. Some of the simpler life forms are the same as on  Earth. It looks like meteorites transferred life between the two planets during  their early stages. The more complex life forms are different though. ” 

“Really? How complex were the life forms on Mars?” 

“No one is sure yet as they haven’t been able to check much of the planet.  The biggest fossil they found so far was about half a centimetre in length. It  might have looked like a shrimp or other water creature. What every biologist is  hoping to find is the remains of a land living creature at least the size of your  thumb.” 

“Well I’ll keep you informed if any core samples I pull up look like they  have a piece of skeleton inside.”

Elli laughed as they walked back to the table carrying a cup of coffee each.  “That would be something.” 

When the meeting resumed Ann introduced Dean Edwards, a fifty  something man who appeared to have been a body builder at one time in his  life. Elli thought he was rather good looking despite being older and, as Jill  indicated, probably a nerd. 

“The transformation of Mars into a liveable planet again is progressing. I  won’t go into too much detail, but to make Mars liveable for human life we  need to make it warmer, with more water and higher oxygen. The ignition of  nuclear fusion deep in the core of Mars a few decades ago is paying off faster  than we anticipated. Mars now has a weak magnetic field and that is providing  protection against the Sun’s radiation. The warmth radiating from the interior  has freed some of the gases locked inside the ground and that has increased the  atmosphere pressure. In addition, water vapour has increased and some of the  frozen water below the surface has nearly reached liquid form. This is all good  news. All of these elements work with each other. Higher atmospheric pressure  helps trap in the sunlight, which warms up Mars, which produces more gases  and water vapour and then starts the cycle over again. Today Mars has an  atmosphere that is almost forty percent of that of Earth’s. The temperature at  Red City during the summer averages above the freezing point and can actually  be muddy in some areas.” 

Dean Edwards stopped and looked at the audience, looking quite proud. “So  for those working on Mars inside Red City, there are several things you need to  be aware of. The buildings are pressurized slightly and have a higher rate of  oxygen than the outside. They are also heated to nineteen degrees Celsius.  When you go outside you need to wear a thermal suit. The suits can keep you  warm enough except maybe during the coldest days on Mars. You will also  need to have an oxygen tank to supplement the low oxygen in the atmosphere.  Finally, you will always need to carry a water bottle. Mars is still very dry  compared to Earth and you will need to constantly rehydrate yourself.” 

Elli listened and heard similar information before how dry and cold Mars  was. She heard that one of the most important things to have on hand was skin  cream, otherwise you could look old on Mars in a very short time. At the lunch  break, she took a sandwich and a cup of soup and joined Jill at their table. 

“So Elli, do you have anyone special here?” 

She shook her head. “No one really. I guess I haven’t done too well in the  boyfriend department. Actually I haven’t done well in the friend department,  period.” 

Jill smiled. “A pretty girl like you? I thought you would have lots of  boyfriends and you seem friendly enough to cultivate friends.” “I think I spent too much time partying. I had a different set of friends  every weekend. Looking back I think that was the wrong approach to life.” “Perhaps. But why did you do that? What were we looking for?” 

“When I was young my parents moved around a lot so I never thought of  friends for the long term. I later resented my parents always changing locations and  I ended up being a real brat. I was hard to get along with and didn’t care if I lost  friends along the way. I kind of self-destructed.” 

“That is very sad. Weren’t you ever happy?” 

Elli smiled and closed her eyes. “I remember when I was pretty young,  maybe ten, and we were living in Northern Alberta. Right around Christmas, I  was playing outside with my friends when it started to snow with these big,  heavy flakes. We made snowballs, rolled around in the snow and had so much  fun. I will remember that day forever. A week later, we moved far away. I  never saw those friends ever again and never had snow at Christmas again.”

* * * *

Two days later, Elli stood waiting in line at the spaceport. The line  progressed forward slowly and she finally found herself standing in front of the spacebus door. Elli took a deep breath and entered the spacebus. She watched  as her carry-on bag was stowed in the compartment above her head by the  uniformed personnel and then locked into place. She took her seat and tried to  peer past the man next to her to see outside. She was pleased her parents had  come to see her off and was surprised her two brothers made the journey as  well. For the first time in years, she felt wanted by her family. I guess it takes  the prospect of me going away for two years for them to show they care. But  even as the thought finished in her head she knew that wasn’t fair. It was her  that had left the family, doing what she knew would upset them. I guess I really  was a brat. I wish I could live the last few years of my life over. 

The spacebus accelerated smoothly along the rail. At first there was a gentle rocking side to side but as the humming noise increased the spacebus  began to straighten out. In a few minutes, it was streaking down the rail and  began the steady rise above the ground. Near the end of the journey, the rail  turned upward to an angle of fifty-three degrees, launching the spacebus into  the sky. The sound of the engines intensified and Elli leaned back in her seat.  There was little to see out of the window and she concentrated on the video of a  show in front of her. She didn’t mind flying but disliked the constant push of  acceleration in her seat. Half an hour later, the engines suddenly went quiet and  the acceleration stopped. 

Elli felt lighter in her seat. The only gravity was the artificial field  produced by the spacebus using an inertial field. It wasn’t full Earth normal. That  required more power than was practical for a small ship, but it did stop  passengers from having a queasy stomach and headaches. 

Three hours later the spacebus came to the waiting starship. The Kumeu  was shaped like a white giant torpedo. Rows of windows covered the top half of  the ship while the bottom showed the outlines of various doors used to accept  supplies.
    Elli boarded the starship, following the other passengers through the  docking station. As she left the spacebus and entered the Kumeu she noticed the  increase of gravity to Earth normal. Her legs adjusted after a moment and she continued her journey. One of the ship’s crew placed a hand under her arm as  she made the transition, making sure she didn’t stumble. 

“Welcome aboard the Starship Kumeu. We hope you will have a pleasant  trip to Mars.” 

She thanked him, looking up at the tall, young officer. He responded by  giving her a warm smile, and she wondered what the rules were about crew and  passengers mingling. 

“Thanks. See you later?” It was forward enough that he should pick up the  hint but not too obvious if others overheard. 

She followed the cues on the walls and elevators to find her room. It was  located near the centre of the ship on one of the middle floors. She guessed she  was given only a basic cabin but didn’t really care. She didn’t intend to waste  much time in isolation. The cabin held a bed, normal in length but slightly  narrower. A combination desk, entertainment, computer and cabinet sat in one  corner. A single chair provided the remaining furniture. One wall had a large  viewscreen, currently showing a real time view of Earth. She knew that could  be changed to show a variety of scenes, to watch videos or to act as a mirror for  dressing. On the opposite wall, a door led to a shared washroom with a  neighbouring cabin. 

Elli dropped her carry-on bag on the bed, checked her appearance and  marched out of the room in search of the ship’s entertainment facilities. The Kumeu, like most starships, put a premium on storage space for  freight. Passengers were normally afforded only small quarters but were given  an illusion of extra space by arranging the entertainment areas efficiently. Most  of the lounges and restaurants were L shaped with mirrors and viewscreens  showing false images. Holographic ceilings and walls were also used to give  the impression of additional size, even in the walkways. Shops often had two  different entrances, one each on parallel running walkways. The walls had  narrow displays that would turn to show different items. There were also  exercise rooms, salons, “live” entertainment rooms. The live entertainment  usually consisted of a single performer in front of a holographic band. Elli strolled around the concourse, memorizing what each of the four  levels had to offer, before remaining on the highest level. She walked into the  Golden Sun Lounge and sat at the bar, a semi-transparent green plastic counter  that looked like floating seashells inside it. She ordered a drink from the  overweight, young bartender. He tried to engage her in a conversation,  admiring her form fitting blue shirt and short skirt. Her outfit was meant to attract others but he wasn’t what she was looking for. After a short  conversation, she swiveled her chair around and gazed. There were only four men and two women in the bar. She wasn’t surprised  by that. Not everyone headed to the bar as soon as they boarded a starship, but  she had hoped for more interesting patrons. The men looked a bit too old,  serious and likely married. Young, fun, single guys please. Or any two of those  three qualifications. 

Elli finished her drink and exited the bar. Now what bar would a guy go to? She pursed her lips as she checked the ship’s directory, and made a decision  based on the name of the lounge. She entered Elvira’ s, trying to look casual as she glanced around. The bar  was already half filled with music blaring. Elli made her way between tables,  ignoring a deep male voice offering her a place to sit down. She did take a  quick look behind her, checking out the table where the invitation came from.  The four men looked like workers with thick arms and weathered faces. She  frowned when she noticed three of them were wearing identical T-shirts with a  company logo emblazoned on the sleeve. 

The bar featured two topless dancers on either side of the room on a raised  platform. Elli watched them for a moment and guessed they were holograms,  mostly on the assumption real dancers would be too expensive. She made her way to a vacant table, sitting so she could observe the bar. A waitress wearing a  glittering bikini top and tight shorts took her drink order and sauntered away. 

I’ve been in worse bars. This is practically home to me. 

“Excuse me, mind if I talk to you for a minute?” 

She looked up at the big, older man. “What do you want?”Might as well  cut to the chase and tell him no. There’s a ring on his finger and I’m not  desperate yet. 

He pulled out a bar stool, sat and gave her a smile. “Don’t worry, I’m not  trying to pick you up. I hope you don’t mind if I give you a bit of advice, and  then you’ll scream.” 

“Sure.” She returned his smile. He didn’t look dangerous, other than being  big, and looked like a friendly sort of guy 

“You look like a newbie, that you’ve never been to Mars before.” “That’s true.” She shrugged. “But I’ve been in lots of bars before.” He grinned. “Well, I tell ya, I have a daughter about your age. If she went  to this bar I sure as hell hope someone would tell her what I’m about to tell you.  This ain’t no place for a lady. The guys here are all hard working, hard drinking  men. When they see a pretty thing like you, they’re like wolves. Almost any  woman you see here is in the business, if you know what I mean. By the way  my name is Hank Silvers.” 

“Elli.” She looked around. There were a lot of hungry eyes staring at her,  not blinking when she looked back.
    A tall, dark skinned man made his way to their table. “Hey Missy. Why  don’t you come and join us for a drink and maybe some dancing.” Hank tapped the table with the palm of his hand, getting the stranger’s  attention. 

“What’s your name?” 

“Jerome.” He looked at Hank suspiciously. 

“Well, Jerome, this is my niece and her daddy told me to make sure  she didn’t go and do anything foolish. That would include getting out of my  sight.” He crossed his arms. 

 Jerome looked back at Elli who was ignoring him. “Hey, no problem, Just being friendly”, As Jerome walked away Elli looked at Hank. “Thanks, Uncle Hank.” He chuckled. “Come on. I’m going to go to the casino but I can show you  a decent bar where you’re not somebody’s one nighter.” 

Elli finished her drink and allowed Hank to escort her out of the bar. “So  what do you do on Mars, Hank?” 

“I’m a water guy. We have to map out the frozen lakes and oceans below  the surface. When and if this rusted planet starts to warm up we better know  where there’s solid ground and where something’s wet or someone could  suddenly sink into mud.” 

“Is there a lot of water on Mars?” 

“Yeah, about the same ratio of water to land as on Earth except it’s all  hidden. How about you, Elli? Medical? Geology?” 

“Biology. I’m going to try to find some of the remains of creatures that  used to swim in those oceans.” 

He laughed a deep har har. “Well, if I find any radar images of a whale I’ll  give you a call.” 

He took her down one level and pointed at a lounge. “Rudy’s is an alright  place for you to go. Just remember that eventually you meet everyone on this  ship more than once and likely again on Mars. So don’t do anything with  anyone you might regret down the road ‘cause you’re bound to run into them  again.” 

“Thanks, Hank. See you around.” She gave him a smile before heading to  the bar. Nice guy. He was right about that last bar. Those guys looked a bit too  rough. 

Rudy’s was busier than the last bar but quieter. The music volume was  slightly lower and the patrons weren’t trying to shout to make themselves  heard. Elli walked around the bar holding a drink in her hand, weaving around  people and tables. She exchanged a few smiles with men and considered that  any of them would be interesting to talk to. She was considering her options  when she heard her name called out. She turned and saw Jill giving her a small wave from where she was sitting at a small table. Elli gave her a grin and  walked over to her. 

“Jill, what are you doing here?” 

“Trying to relax a bit and see if I know anyone here. I spotted a couple of  people I knew on my last assignment to Mars. How about you?” Elli sat and looked around the bar. “Just thought I’d check out the social  life here.” 

“Well I’m sure you’re attracting some attention with what you’re wearing.  You better be careful you don’t get more than you can handle.” “I can handle men.” Elli smiled. 

“A girl like you should be selective on who gets your company.” Jill gave  her a wink. “It’s more fun making them work for your attention.” “Hi ladies, can I buy you a drink?” A male voice, smooth and deep, announced his presence.

Elli looked up at the medium height, slightly underweight male. He was  approaching middle age but looked to be in good shape. He was looking mostly  at Elli, only giving Jill a quick glance. She looked at Jill who gave a small,  almost imperceptible shake of her head. 

“My name is Glenn, by the way. Two n’s.” He gave a smile like he was  revealing an inside joke. 

Elli returned his smile. “Maybe later, Glenn, with two n’s. We just want to  sit alone for a while, okay?” 

“Sure.” He put his hand on the back of an empty chair. “What are you  ladies talking about?” 

“How some men don’t pick up hints and ruin their chances for later.” Elli  removed her smile and turned to look at Jill. 

Glenn nodded and walked away. 

Jill chuckled. “You made that rather clear.” 

“Sometimes you have to be blunt with some guys.” Elli took a drink and  looked around again. She noticed several men were looking her way. “So what  is Mars really like?” 

“It’s growing in population, that’s for sure. Red City is the biggest town on  Mars and has about twelve thousand people. Most companies and governments  have their own buildings to house their workers and work areas. There are  shops as well, most of them subsidized or run by larger companies so that  people working on Mars don’t feel they’re isolated. Of course, there’s also bars  and other places where you can relax. Mars isn’t a bad place to spend time.  More work than play but it’s cold. Even with thermal suits on you can tell it’s  cold but that’s part of the deal making lots of money there.” 

“I gather there’s not much partying there.” 

“No, most people are serious about work and the companies want to make  sure their workers are being productive. It’s also dangerous on Mars not to  be fully alert when you’re outside working.” 

“I’m starting to think I may have to party alone.” Elli laughed. “I doubt that. You’ll definitely attract a few drinking partners.” Jill  finished her drink. “Come on, let’s get out of here and find a place to get  something to eat.” 

“What’s wrong with here?” 

“Too noisy. I want to talk to you about something.” 

They walked to an Italian style eatery, ordering food and wine.  “Enjoy the wine Elli. It’s in short supply on Mars.” 

“I thought there was lots of booze on Mars.” 

Jill shook her head. “It’s too expensive to ship alcohol to Mars when they  need the space on ships to transport so much other stuff. On Mars they can  produce other types of booze. Vodka and most spirits can be made on Mars  easily enough. Even beer can be made in small quantities. But wine is different.  You need to use grapes or other fruit which is not abundant in the Mars  greenhouses, and then some types need to be put in oak barrels. There aren’t any  oak trees on Mars yet.”

“So we can drink wine here but not on Mars. I better enjoy this.” “I wanted to get out of the bar. It seemed we were going to get a few offers for drinks and I just wanted to talk to you about a couple of things.”  “Sure. What did you want to talk about?” 

“I’m under the impression you like to party and like meeting new people.  That’s good, but think of Red City like a small town. You sleep with a guy and  pretty soon the whole town knows about it. It isn’t much different here on the  ship. If that guy who approached us happens to stay at Red City then you would  cross paths with him again. So I just wanted you to know to be careful with who  you get lucky with.” She gave a grin. “Just so you know I’m speaking from  personal experience.” 

Elli laughed. “I hope it was worth it.” 

Jill shook her head. “No, I’d have to say the night was forgettable but the  following weeks weren’t. I got propositioned a lot until word got around I  wasn’t about to sleep with half the town. I sure got a lot of free drinks though.”  She grinned. 

“Okay, I get the hint. I didn’t know it was so obvious I was interested in  meeting men.” 

Jill laughed out loud. “Okay, short skirt, tight fitting top, nice walk and  you’re looking all around the bar. I think every guy’s radar was picking up that  signal.” 

Elli’s cheeks reddened. “I suppose that’s true.” “Don’t worry about it.  You’re looking good and that’s a good thing. Let’s go to the Port Lounge.  They have a real time view of the Earth and I want to have one last look at it  this close.” 

The Port Lounge was filled with soft cushioned chairs, loveseats and  couches scattered about in the semi-circular room. Most of the seats were  positioned to see at least part of the huge viewing screen that wrapped around  one half of the wall. Currently the viewing screen was set to clear and showed  the Earth hanging against a backdrop of black space. 

Elli looked at a blue and white sphere. “Wow, that’s so pretty.”  “It makes my heart ache when I see it like that.” 

A waitress came by and took an order from them. 

“I can see why.” Elli admired the view and noticed how quiet it was in the  room. Low level jazz was being played through speakers and it was easy to  hear conversations. She saw Jill suddenly wave at a couple of men. They turned  and approached them, smiling. 

“Jill, are you in for another tour of drudgery?” 

Elli guessed the older of the two men appeared to be in his mid forties. He  was average height, medium build and Elli thought rather good looking with a  friendly face. The second man was considerably younger. Tall, slim with an  angular face he was also good looking with his short, dark hair. 

“Elli, this is Thomas Richards, a good friend of mine. I don’t know who  this other gentleman is.” 

Thomas introduced Riley Evans. The younger man looked at Elli, giving a quiet hello. She gave a friendly hello back and after they sat, asked them what  they did. 

Thomas chuckled. “We’re weathermen.” 

“Weathermen?” 

“It’s a less fancy name to describe what we do. Riley and I are climate  control engineers. We are trying to influence a positive change in the Marian  climate.” 

“How do you change the weather on Mars? I mean, isn’t it changing by  itself?” 

Thomas smiled and leaned forward. “To explain that simply, you have to  remember that Mars was essentially a dead world a few centuries ago. Of  course, if one looks even further back in time, a few million years ago, it still  had some life on it and a billion or so years ago it was a wet world with simple  life forms on it. Unfortunately, Mars was a bit too small to sustain an active  core in its center. The core cooled and that had a number of repercussions. The  magnetic field stopped, allowing radiation from the sun to hurt life forms,  volcanoes, and other gas producing natural phenomena went quiet and oceans  began to freeze solid without any heat from below to keep them liquid. Then there was the climatic event where an asteroid blew the atmosphere away in a  violent collision.” 

Elli grinned when Thomas said ‘blew the atmosphere away’ almost  making a comment. She wasn’t really interested in that much detail Thomas  was providing, but he had a nice voice for lecturing and clearly wanted to  describe what he did. She glanced at Riley, who was trying to surreptitiously  observe her legs as he sat with a straight back in the armchair. She pretended  she didn’t notice his interest and crossed her legs, revealing a bit more thigh in  his direction. Let’s see if that inspires you to make a move.

* * * *




Chapter Two 

Riley Evans wished he could talk as easily as Thomas was doing as both  women listened to him. He felt awkward as he sat in the background, trying to  steal a few looks at the young woman’s legs. It was a shorter skirt than he  expected to see on the starship and his heart thumped when he first saw her. He  never would have had the courage to go up to her as a stranger but now he had  an opportunity to talk to her, if only he knew what to say. He had never learned  how to do small talk or what to say to women. Now she crossed her legs and his  eyes traced a path from the bottom of her skirt down to her foot. Does she know  how beautiful she is?

Riley only half listened to Thomas. He knew all about the past climate of  Mars. He should, having finished at the top of the class in Climate Studies and  in Geological Disturbances, minoring in earthquakes. He was a certified genius and received positive reviews for several papers he produced. Smart, tall with  good looks he did attract a few women until they found out he was boring to be  around. Riley accepted the position for Mars partly because there were fewer  women there and his parents couldn’t pressure him to find a partner like his  younger brother and sister did. He also hoped that the women on Mars, if he  was lucky enough to meet one, wouldn’t mind talking about science. Too many  women on Earth he found were more interested in gossip than facts.

Now Thomas was mentioning how they placed fusion bombs deep within  Mars, right to the core. Riley knew the bombs were a marvel of technology at  the time. Shaped like a teardrop and the size of a blimp, each of the eighteen  burrowers slowly dug their way to the core of Mars. It was a slow process,  using a heated front nose, a constant low frequency to help break up rocks and a  spiral band to drag material from the front to the back. The burrowers were also  self-repairing and required enormous power to push their way through the solid  ground. The project took over two years to accomplish and several more years  for the results to be felt, but the core of Mars once again became hot enough to  turn the iron into a liquid state. Heat rose towards the planet’s surface making  conditions on Mars sustainable for primitive life. A weak magnetic field began  to protect the planet again from the solar wind. 

  “Volcanoes and geysers started to be active again and earthquakes were  not uncommon.” Thomas’s eyes gleamed as he spoke. Today we have warmer  temperatures, higher air pressure and some moisture content in the atmosphere.  As weathermen, we need to try to move the air currents to maximize their  warming effects. How do we do that you may ask?” Thomas turned and looked  at Riley. “I’ve been talking long enough. Why don’t you tell them?”

Riley stammered out his reply. “Well.. .that is. ..wind currents.. .they flow  opposite of the rotation of the planet and also north and south towards and from  the equator.” He took a deep swallow. “Regardless of their direction we can  change how they move by modifying the temperatures on the ground. To do  that we place large bands of black or white on the surface that cause a variance  in the air temperature. We also use satellites to focus the sunlight on specific  areas to increase the ground temperatures. Regardless of the methods we can  alter the flow of the air and how the winds blow on Mars.” 

Jill looked at Riley. “So that changes the climate on Mars?” 

“Yeah, it moves the warm air where we want it and later it can help  determine where precipitation falls.” 

Thomas joined in. “If there is one man who can make it rain on Mars, this  is him. He is a genius when it comes to climate control. We are lucky he chose  to work on Mars.” 

Elli gave him a smile. “So you’re the wizard of weathermen are you?”  Riley felt his cheeks turning pink. “I wouldn’t say I was a wizard, just a  scientist.” 

Elli giggled. “Sure you’re a wizard. I can picture you waving a magic  wand and changing the weather.” 

Thomas laughed too. “If only it was that simple.” He pointed at the  viewscreen. “That looks like Isaac Newton.” 

Riley was relieved the attention was directed away from himself and  looked at the torpedo shaped starship. He knew the ship was half again as big as  the Kumeu and was the newest of the starships, incorporating the latest  technology. 

Thomas continued to speak. “The Isaac Newton is also going to Mars,  though with a difference. Only the uppermost deck is used to carry passengers,  all luxury suites. The rest of the ship is carrying cargo.” 

Jill agreed. “Cargo is more valuable than people to Mars. Too bad. I  understand it will arrive at Mars in only a few days.” 

Riley spoke up. “At the present distance between Mars and Earth it will  take less than four days, something like forty hours.” 

Elli grinned. “Did you just calculate how long it takes another spaceship to  travel to Mars?” 

Riley squirmed in his seat. “Well, I just knew the time it takes the Kumeu  to journey from Earth to Mars is eight days and Isaac Newton can travel at  four points eight times as fast, so I just made a simple calculation.” 

She laughed. “You’re not just a wizard, you’re also a computer.” Riley wasn’t sure if she was giving him a compliment or not, but was glad  when Jill spoke up to take the attention off him. 

“It would have been nice to be on Isaac Newton and get to Mars that  quick. That’s what I call fast.”

Riley nodded, deciding not to elaborate that ships travelled between  planets by compressing space in front of them. The actual physical speed of the  starship was secondary to how much space was compressed by the inertial-mass  drives. I think Elli would laugh even harder if I said anything else. She’s gorgeous. I  wish I had a chance with a woman like that. 

Riley listened to the conversation, saying little. When he did make a  comment he saw Elli look at him as if she was trying to hold back a smile. Jill and Elli bid Thomas and Riley goodbye. Riley watched them leave and  stared until they were out of sight. 

“Got your eyes on that young lady?” 

“I wish.” Riley frowned. “I don’t have much of a chance with her.”  “Don’t sell yourself short. She did look at you a lot.” 

“I think she was amused whenever I spoke but not because she found me  interesting.” 

Thomas chuckled. “At least she knows you exist. Now you just have to  find out what she likes and do something about it.”

* * * *




Chapter Three 

Elli was enjoying her stay on the Kumeu, though she decided to follow  Jill’s advice and not spend the night with any of the men... yet. She didn’t lack  company. Wherever she went men would often start a conversation with her to  the point where she started to go to the Port Lounge just to be alone for a while. 

Elli sipped her drink as she looked at the white dots sprinkled against the  night sky. She thought about home and how far away it was now, both in space  and time. The stars reminded her of snowflakes and the winters she enjoyed as  a child playing in the snow. I remember sticking out my tongue catching those  flakes as they drifted down. When I get back to Earth, I’m going to take a trip  back to Alberta just to make a snowman again. 

A smile creased her lips and a few minutes later, she made her way back to  where the other bars were located. 

The sign at Club Nobel attracted her attention, advertising a music group  called the Tempests. She understood on a starship most music groups were  shown as a hologram, recorded previously on Earth. She knew the Tempests  had a history of wild concerts, playing hard music behind two female  performers and sometimes singers. While the music wasn’t bad, their main  source of notoriety was the antics of the women at the front of the stage. 

Elli made her way to the front of the bar where a heavyset man was  directing people to a woman operating a payment kiosk. She gave the security  man a bright smile. 

“Hey, what’s up?” 

“The Tempests are playing. Cover charge for them. The show starts pretty  soon.” He gave her a smile back and hooked his thumb toward the kiosk. “Well, I’m all by myself.” She gave a small pout. “Are you really going to  charge me to sit all alone? That’s not very nice.” 

“I have a job to do.” He looked at her as she gave him a wink. “Alright.  Just don’t say anything to anyone.” 

“Thanks Sweety.” Elli bounced into the bar and began to look around. She  said hello to a couple of familiar faces, men who had bought her drinks before,  and continued to look for the best place to watch the show. 

She spotted a familiar figure sitting alone at a table near the front but to the  side of the stage. Elli walked over and sat next to him. 

“Hi Wizard. I wouldn’t have guessed you for a Tempest fan.” It took a moment for Riley to recover as he stared at her. “Well, I’m not a  big fan. I like their music so I thought I’d take a look at them.” Elli grinned. “Yeah, like a long look at Sindy and Satin. Those two  blondes do attract a lot of attention, even when their clothes stay on.”

Riley looked embarrassed. “I didn’t come here just to see them.” She waved a hand in his direction. “Oh don’t act so innocent. Those two  are the main reason people come to see them.” She grinned at him. “I like  watching them and you being a guy I would assume doubly so.” She signalled for the waitress, ordered a drink and another for Riley. “I’m  buying this round since you managed to get a good table.” 

“Thanks, but you don’t have to do that. I’m glad to have your company.”  “Maybe I’m just trying to get you drunk and take advantage of you later.”  For a moment he looked perplexed and then grinned. “For you I can be a cheap drunk.” 

“What did you do today?” It may take a few drinks to loosen him up. He  acts like he’s terrified of me, or maybe it’s females in general. “Not much. I studied a bit about Mars and then went to the gym.” “Gee, brains and brawn. Women are going to be falling over you if you  keep that up.” She reached over and squeezed his arm. “Hey, there is some  muscle there after all.” 

“I’m trying.” He gave a shrug. “How about you? What did you do today?” “I slept in. I stayed up late last night, drank a bit too much and needed to  recoup some energy. I later went to a salon and got my nails done, and that was  my day.” She held up her hand to show off her fingers. “They did a pretty good  job but were a little pricey.” 

He carefully put his hand under her fingers and studied her nails. “They  look really nice.” 

“Looks like they’re about ready to start.” Elli pointed at the stage. He looked around the stage area. “Eight projectors. That should show a lot  of detail.” 

“Yeah, we wouldn’t want to have any blurring of the blondes or all you  guys would get upset.” Elli waved at the waitress to bring another round and  then leaned back to watch the show. 

The concert started with just the four men playing their biggest hit. Elli  watched the group’s leader. The muscular, dark skinned man didn’t wear a shirt  and was soon sweating as the song approached the end. 

The two women entered the stage from opposite sides as the next song  started. Sindy wore a green, skin-tight mini dress. She wiggled as she made her  way across the stage in the matching stilettos, giving Satin a hug and a long kiss  on the lips. 

Satin was the shorter of the two blondes, made more obvious by going  barefoot. She wore a white lace dress that reached almost mid-thigh, and a  white collar with a metal ring at its front. As Satin walked, a spotlight behind  her revealed she had nothing underneath the dress. 

Elli watched the two blondes sing together, occasionally putting an arm  around each other. She suspected their affection and sexuality towards each.

Another was just an act, just a way of generating publicity. She knew Sindy  always acted the dominant of the two, and would sometimes during a show pull  Satin’s hair back and grope her. 

Elli turned to Riley, partially yelling to make herself heard. “Do you think  it’s an act between Sindy and Satin?” 

Riley studied them for a moment. “I’m not sure. I suspect they swing both  ways. They refuse to discuss their relationship in public so it might be that  there’s nothing there at all.” 

“Which one do you like better?” 

“Sindy. She’s got more personality. Satin just accepts whatever happens to  her. She looks good, but probably doesn’t know much.” 

“So you like a woman with a bit of fire in her.” Elli nodded. “Good choice  about Sindy. I’ll bet she’s wicked in bed.” 

He grinned. “Yeah, I think she might be. I’ll give her a call and ask her out.” “If she says yes, give me a call too. We could do a threesome.” Elli saw  the surprised look on his face. Wizard, it wouldn’t be the first time for me but  I’ll bet it would be for you. 

Riley finally laughed. “Well, if Sindy doesn’t want to join us I guess there  would be just the two of us.” 

Elli laughed. “In your dreams, Wizard.” At least you’re thinking in the  right direction. A few drinks and you’re not so shy anymore. “So what do you  think they’re going to do this time? At their last show, Satin bared her boobs.  Do you think Sindy might pull off Satin’s dress?” 

Riley considered her question and shook his head. “No, because Satin isn’t  wearing anything under her dress. Bare tits are one thing, but the censors won’t  allow total nudity. Maybe Sindy will expose herself this time, though you never  know with those two.” 

After nearly two hours, the concert began to wind down. Elli watched the  two blondes dance with each other, wondering what they had planned. She  noticed Riley had slowed down on his drinking and was slurring his words  slightly. He hadn’t made a move on her yet but she considered he was still too  shy to do more than talk to her. Your loss, Wizard. I’m yours if you make a  move. 

The crowd suddenly reacted when Sindy began to pull Satin by the arm to  a chair. She sat and dragged Satin over her lap. Satin waved her arms and legs  but did nothing to stop Sindy from lifting up her dress and administering a  spanking. Her slaps were in step to the beat of the drums and continued to the  end of the song. 

Elli laughed. “I didn’t expect that.” 

Riley nodded. “A new act in their repertoire.” 

“That Satin pouts so much she deserved it. Hell, I’d like to spank her  myself.”

“Maybe you deserve one too.” 

“No doubt I do. I can be a brat at times.” She tossed her hair back. “Come  on, let’s get out of here.” Elli took his hand and led him to a coffee shop.  “You’re going to have a hangover if you don’t get some water in you.” She  walked up to the counter and ordered two coffees and water. 

“I don’t usually drink this much.” Riley plopped down in a chair. “I can tell. I do, but it’s nothing to be proud of if you can drink a lot.” She  smiled as he carefully took the glass of water. 

He took a long slow drink of the water and rubbed his face. “Part of the  problem is the low oxygen. The ship is gradually lowering the air pressure and  reducing the oxygen so that when we arrive at Mars our bodies won’t go into  shock. You could also suffer the bends if they didn’t do this gradually.” 

“Boy, you even think like a scientist when you’re drunk.” 

“Sorry. Just the way I am.” He hiccupped. “But when I look at you I’m not  thinking like a scientist at all. You’re very pretty and really nice to talk to.” Elli looked down at her coffee and then looked back at him. “I think  you’re okay too.” She stood. “Let’s get you to your room while you still can  walk.” 

She took his arm to help steady him, making the way to the elevators and  then to his room. 

On his second try, he managed to press his thumb on the sensor pad to  open the door and she pushed him inside. 

“You’re fading fast Wizard.” 

“Yeah. That last drink. ..done it to me.” He closed his eyes as he sat on the  edge of the bed. 

Elli shook her head. “More like the last three drinks.” She pulled off his  shirt, tossing it on the chair. She bent down, took off his shoes and pushed him  down on his bed. “Get some rest. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” She took one last  look at him before exiting out of the room. Not bad looking with his shirt off. I  hope he feels better in the morning but he’s not used to drinking much. 

Elli made her way to another bar, not feeling tired yet. She waved at a  couple of men she knew and then saw Hank sitting with a couple of other men. “Hi Uncle Hank. Can I sit here?” 

“Sure Elli. What are you drinking?” 

“Rum.” She talked about the concert she went to. “Really good show.”  Hank shook his head. “I don’t care much for that noise. You went alone?”  “No, I sat with a friend.” She gave Hank a smile. “And yes, he was a nice guy and didn’t try anything.” 

“Where is he now?” 

“He had too much to drink and is sleeping it off right now.” 

“Lordy. He has a date with a pretty girl like you and passes out? Either  he’s stupid or a light weight.”

Elli laughed. “Actually he’s a genius. He’s just not used to drinking.” One of the other men laughed. “Well if you ever need a drinking partner  who can last all night, you can always sit with us.” 

Hank shook his head. “No way Elli, too much drinking is not good for  you. You and your boyfriend don’t have to drink a lot to have a good time.” Elli nodded and smiled. Hank sure watches out for me. Wizard as my  boyfriend? Might be a possibility there.

* * * *




Chapter Four 

Riley moaned as he rolled out of his bed. What the hell was I thinking last  night? She must think I’m a real loser now. I had a chance with her and then I  passed out. Damn, she’s probably going to laugh the next time I see her. 

He didn’t want to do anything but hide in his room but knew he had to get  something to drink. Slowly and deliberately, he showered, dressed and ventured  out of his room. His notepad buzzed and he looked at the hand size device. A  message from Elli, asking him to give her a call when he managed to get up. 

Reluctantly he called her. “Hi Elli. Sorry about last night.” He looked at  the screen and it seemed she was feeling better than he was. 

“That’s okay. I’ve been there too. You need to get something to eat. I’ll  meet you at the Port Lounge.” 

Riley felt pleased. Maybe she likes me after all.Quickly he dressed and  made his way to the lounge. 

The Port Lounge was quiet, as usual. When he found Elli, he saw she  had already ordered glasses of water and juice. 

“Here, drink up. What do you feel like eating?” 

“Nothing.” He ignored the waitress that was ready to take his order.  Elli smiled. “Bring him the soup of the day and some toast.” 

Riley finished the juice. “I wish I didn’t drink so much last night. You  must think I’m an idiot.” 

“No, I think you’re really smart. I shouldn’t have kept ordering drinks.”  “Yeah, well I still drank them. Then I fall asleep before the evening is  done.” 

Elli grinned. “No problem, though the next time you pass out I’m going to  take off all your clothes.” 

Riley blushed. “Thanks for putting me to bed. I feel really embarrassed  about that.” 

“I didn’t mind.” 

Riley looked at his soup and took a hesitant taste of it. 

“How’s the soup?” 

“Not bad. I think my stomach can handle it.” 

She watched him eat as she stretched out in her chair. “So tell me. Just  how cold is Mars?” 

“Depends where you are and the time of the year. Red City is near the  equator so it gets warmer than the rest of Mars and this is summer there. The  last time I checked it hit five degrees Celsius. Of course it gets a lot colder at  night, maybe twenty below.” 

“That’s cold.”

“Well there are some areas that can get close to a hundred below. Of  course, that’s near the poles. Mars is still gradually warming up. The  atmosphere is thickening and that helps keep the warmth in.” 

“I heard that it’s hard to breathe on Mars.” 

“It is. The air is only half as thick as on Earth so you need to carry an  oxygen tank wherever you go.” 

“That doesn’t sound much like fun.” 

“I guess you get used to it.” 

Elli grinned. “Yeah, thermal suits and oxygen tanks. This is going to be a  lot of fun.” 

“I think you can make Red City a fun place all by yourself.” 

Elli sat up straight. “Wizard, did you just use a pick up line on me? You  work well with a hangover.”

* * * *




Chapter Five 

Elli made her way to one of the smaller lounges to meet Jill for lunch,  spotting her at a table near a holographic wall screen that showed a quaint  Dutch street. 

“Hi Elli. How’s the party girl doing?” 

She laughed. “Less partying now. This lower air and oxygen has tired me  out.” 

“Yeah, that will kill a lot of drinking. How’s the social life? Meet up with  any interesting men?” 

“A few. I have had some interesting proposals. Most of the guys have been  alright, not too aggressive.” 

“Anyone in particular?” 

Elli laughed. “Well, you won’t believe this but do you remember that guy  that came over to our table in the Port Lounge the first night with Thomas  Richards?” 

“Yeah, kind of tall, good looking young guy. Riley was his first name and  he was really shy.” 

“Right. Well I hooked up with him last night at Club Nobel, the Tempests  were playing there.” 

“That would be interesting. Two half-naked women dancing to music with  you two drinking. How did that end up?” 

Elli giggled. “I kept feeding him drinks to loosen him up and he ended up  passing out. He made it to the end of the show but I had to help him to his  room. Never even got a kiss out of him.” 

Jill laughed. “Wow, that’s unreal. A date with you and he ends up passing  out.” 

“He was so embarrassed. I made sure he had breakfast this morning but he  wasn’t looking too good.” 

“Breakfast? Did you sleep with him?” 

Elli shook her head. “No. I left him a message for when he got up. I  wanted him to know we had unfinished business.” 

“I should hope so. Just make sure you get a kiss before he drinks too much  next time. What’s he like? Besides the drinking issue.” 

“Nice. Smart too, not just academic but understands stuff. He just doesn’t  have any experience with drinking or women.” 

“I think you can teach him about both.” Jill laughed.

                        * * * *

Elli wandered around the ship, looking at clothes and beauty accessories.  What do I need to really get his attention? He might be shy but he hasn’t even  tried to touch me yet. 

Elli made a few small purchases and then called Riley. 

“Hey Wizard, how're you feeling?” 

“Not too bad. I’m just watching some boring video because I don’t have  the energy to do anything else.” 

“Want some company doing nothing?” 

“Sure. Wait, are you hungry? I haven’t eaten anything today other than the  soup.” 

“I could eat. Where do you want to go?” 

“There’s that pizza place near the Port Lounge.” 

“You always go there. Let’s try the Blue Plate Diner. It has good reviews.”  “It’s a bit formal.” 

“I know, but we don’t have many nights left on Mars and it will be good to  have dinner at a place where you don’t eat with your fingers.” “Alright. Want me to meet you there or at your cabin?” 

“Meet me there in an hour.” Elli hurried to her cabin, planning what she  was going to wear. Short skirt. He likes my legs. I wonder if he knows that  there is a dance floor connected to the restaurant? 

Elli made her way to the Blue Plate Diner, entering after checking that  Riley had already been seated. She smoothed down the black fabric of her mini dress as she stepped around the tables. 

“Hi Wizard.” Elli smiled as he looked up from the table. She watched his  eyes go quickly from her face to the V neckline of her dress, to her bare legs  and back to her face. 

Riley suddenly stood from his chair, almost knocking it backwards to the  floor. “Hi Elli. Sorry, I was daydreaming and didn’t see you come in.”  Elli sat slowly. “What were you daydreaming about?” 

“Martian oceans. I was considering the effect of an ocean on the climate  on Mars.” 

“There aren’t any oceans on Mars now.” 

“As the core of Mars continues to send heat to the surface the frozen water  locked in the ground will turn to liquid. Also the warming in the air will start to  thaw surface water. So we will have oceans again on Mars. I was trying to  calculate how that would change air currents.” 

“I was hoping you were having thoughts about me.” She gave him a pout.  His eyes widened. “I was thinking of you earlier but got nervous about you  showing up, so I thought about Mars.” 

Elli gave him a grin. “I was just teasing you, but it’s nice to know you  were thinking about me.”

They ordered an appetizer and main courses, plus a bottle of wine. Elli  knew he didn’t drink much but considered a couple glasses of wine might help  him relax a little. He’s as nervous as a teenager on his first date. Is it me or all  women that scare him? 

“So besides passing out, what did you think of the Tempest show?” Riley gave an embarrassed grin. “Yeah, sorry I did that. I liked the concert.  The music was better than I expected.” 

“And what about Sindy and Satin?” 

“They were interesting.” 

“Very. What did you think about their little special act?” 

“The spanking?” 

“Yes, the spanking.” Elli sighed. “I thought it was rather intriguing .  Actually rather sexy. You?” 

Riley nodded. “I found it interesting too.” 

Elli giggled. “Interesting? Now that’s an understatement. Careful. You  may give away your real desires there.” 

The food was excellent and Riley began to relax as he drank the wine. He  began to talk about other things besides Mars and science, recalling a vacation  he took with his buddies. “Turns out we had all this food, a camp stove and no  one knew how to cook. So we ended up going to town for pizza every night.” 

Elli laughed. “So what did you do with all the food?” 

“The part that wasn’t burnt we kept in the cooler for when we got home.  We had fun anyway and we got to try every pizza joint in town.” She stood. “Let’s dance.” 

“I don’t really dance.” 

She grabbed his hand. “Sure you do. Don’t you want to have an excuse to  put your arm around me?” 

Riley reluctantly followed her to the dance floor located between the  dining room and a lounge. A holographic band played in front of one wall with a  mirrored wall on the opposite end. 

Elli tried not to stare at him. His dance moves were almost mechanical,  though at least in time with the music. Elli felt comfortable with her own dance steps, turning in a circle occasionally as she shifted her hips around. After a  couple of songs, the music suddenly dropped to a slower movement. 

She spread out her arms. “Come on Wizard. You know you want to.” He swallowed and carefully put his hand on her waist. 

Elli noticed his slow dancing was better than his earlier steps but was  holding her too far away, almost as if they were ballroom dancing. Why the  space between us? This won’t do. 

She pulled at his shoulders, pressing their bodies together and heard him  take a sudden intake of air. Oh! That’s why the distance. He has a hard on.

Elli waited a few steps and looked up from his chest. “Wizard,” she  whispered, “do you like your women soft to the touch?” 

“Yeah.” 

“Women like their men hard to the touch, and you feel just fine.” She  continued to press against him, not allowing him to separate from her. The  dance was coming to a close and she looked up at him. Time to kiss the girl  Wizard. 

Riley leaned forward as he wrapped his arms around her torso. Slowly he  dropped his head and pressed his lips to hers. 

Elli thought the first kiss was a bit short, but he returned for a second kiss  immediately afterwards, pressing harder this time on her mouth. Nice kisser, at  least he isn’t trying to jam his tongue down my throat. 

He broke off the kiss and they headed back to their table, holding hands.  “Elli, thanks for the dance. Sorry I was reluctant. I know I’m not very  good at dancing.” 

“Your dancing was fine and your kisses were great.” 

He walked her back to her cabin and stood at her door, kissing her several  times as he held her. 

Elli was amused and disappointed he didn’t try to touch her anywhere,  almost ready to place his hand on her breast. He may have a heart attack if I did  that and I don’t want to scare him away. This is going a lot slower than I  expected.

* * * *

“So you finally got a kiss from him.” Jill laughed as Elli related the events  of the night before. 

“He was so careful how he held me, like I would break or something. I  really expected him to slide his hands around me a bit but he kept his hands on  my waist and back. I wore the sexiest dress I had but he protected my virtue I  suppose.” 

“And what virtue would that be?” 

Elli stuck her tongue out at Jill. “Hey, I’m going slow like you suggested  but this is getting a little frustrating.” 

“Good things are worth waiting for. I think Riley is a pretty good catch.  Maybe you need to hint more about what you want.” 

“Hint more? I did the grind of the hips on the dance floor, told him I like  men when they are hard and even told him I thought the spanking on the  Tempests show was sexy. Anymore hinting I would have to do a lap dance.” 

Jill laughed. “I do hope you don’t have experience in that area.” Elli grinned. “Let’s just say I know a lot of different dance steps.” “So what is your next dance step with him?” 

“I’m going to meet him at the Oasis Lounge. I’ll see where that leads us.”

* * * *

Elli spotted Riley sitting at a small table, watching a video displayed on a  wall screen. The video showed the coastline of an island taken from a moving  boat. She considered the video was meant to match with the decor of the lounge  but looked a bit silly in the middle of a starship. 

“Hey there, Wizard. Watching the home movie?” 

He jumped. “Oh, hi Elli. I was watching the clouds in the video, trying to  determine how they were reacting to a front.” 

She sat and shook her head. “Do you always look at everything as a  weather forecast?” 

“Sorry. I guess I got bored sitting here.” 

Elli felt puzzled. “How long ago did you get here?” 

Riley looked embarrassed. “I didn’t want to be late so I got here early.”  “Sounds like you got here way too early. Let’s order some drinks, we need  to celebrate.” 

“Sure. What are we celebrating?” 

“It’s a secret. I’ll tell you later.” Elli changed the subject, asking him about  climate control. 

“...so the biggest thing is to increase the humidity to the point where we  will get precipitation. Currently the only place where that happens is near the  poles and that’s snow. What we want is something to fall near the equator.  Even if it’s snow it will either melt or evaporate. In both cases it will help lead  to more precipitation.” 

Elli smiled. “You really take this climate change seriously.” 

“I have to. Climate change can make Mars habitable. That’s important.”  “You know what else is important?” 

“What?” 

Elli stood and went around the table to sit on his lap. She wrapped her arm  around his neck. “My secret.” She kissed his cheek and began to nibble at his  ear. 

“Secret?” he stammered out. 

“Yes, my secret. I’ll tell you what it is.” She kissed him on the lips.  “You’re going to get laid tonight. In my cabin. Now finish your drink and let’s  get out of here.” His skin suddenly felt warm under her arm and sweat broke  out on his forehead. “Wizard, I do believe you are getting a little excited here.”

* * * *

“So how was it?” Jill leaned forward as she grinned. 

“Well, he is tall and that seems to be his general proportions as well.”  “That sounds promising. I assume he was a little inexperienced.” “He was, but made up for it after the first round.” She sighed and closed her eyes. 

“Elli, you look like a girl that has been swept off her feet.” 

She blushed. “Na, he’s just another guy. Lots more of those on Mars.”

Two days later Elli stared at the white, thin clouds scattered over the  red surface of Mars. She leaned against Riley and whispered. “It looks  wonderful.” 

Riley swung his arm around her as they sat on a loveseat in the Port  Lounge. “It is an amazing planet. You can’t see it from here but in the northern  hemisphere there are a string of volcanoes that are erupting right in the middle  where there used to be an ocean. “ 

“Volcanoes? Kind of dangerous isn’t it?” 

“No, they’re not near any human settlements. But they are helping build  the atmosphere and warm up the planet.” 

“That’s nice. I like being warm.” She yawned. “Now that we have stared at  Mars for an hour, can we go to bed? We’ll be walking on the surface tomorrow  and will see it real close up then.” 

“Alright, but it’s not very often you get to see Mars and its two moons.”  “Yes, very romantic.” She grabbed his hand and tugged on him to follow her. 

Riley happily went with her to her cabin, hoping they could share  accommodations when they arrived on Mars.

* * * *



Chapter Six 

Elli smiled at Riley and then looked out the shuttle window. She squeezed  his hand as the shuttle vibrated and broke free from the Kumeu, spiralling  downward to the planet’s surface. She inhaled deeply from the thin plastic  oxygen tube that travelled from the orange tank attached at her hip to the head  band that held it in place above her upper lip. She understood the valve in the  tube released oxygen only as she breathed in and varied its supply according to  how deeply she breathed. The thermal suit she wore enabled her to survive on  the Martian surface for extended periods of time. 

Red City was not as she expected and composed of only clinical and  scientific structures. Instead there were also smaller buildings, joined together  that formed streets, looking like a small town only with the larger buildings  forming a ring around the outside. 

“It looks the opposite of a normal city that has tall buildings in the  centre.” 

“True.” Riley looked at the plastic sheet that showed the locations of the  different facilities. “The tall buildings are used as a buffer against the winds that still blow across the surface. Not much velocity but they carry a lot of dust.  Want to take a walk around? We don’t have to report for work until tomorrow.” 

“Sure.” Elli gave him a kiss. “Why don’t you show me the town?” Like all the residents of Mars, they moved slowly in the thin air. Elli found  the air cool, but not hard to breathe. The shops in the centre of Red City sold  small items and clothing among coffee shops and bistros. She browsed through  the shops and stopped with Riley to have tea. 

“Not too shabby Wizard. At least there is more to do here than just work.” “They’re adding more shops towards the south. The Martian government  believes they have to keep morale up and make lots of recreation available to the  workers. There’s less accidents and higher productivity if people have  something to do during their off time.” 

“So they aren’t doing this just to be nice?” Elli laughed. 

“No, but we might as well take advantage of it.” 

Riley led the way to a small bar where a double set of doors allowed them  to enter after a small blast of air greeted them. 

“The buildings on Mars are all pressurized. It helps keep the dust out but  also allows increasing the oxygen levels and humidity.” Riley pointed to a  small table to sit at by a window. Only a few other patrons were in the bar and  they didn’t come close to filling it up. 

The bartender, a man in his early twenties, brought them two ciders. “Here  you go. Two Martians made ciders.”

Elli looked at the pale drink and took a sip. “Tastes alright, though a bit  weak.” 

The bartender shrugged. “On Mars they like to keep the alcohol content  low. You’d never get drunk on this stuff on Earth, but here on Mars with the  lower oxygen it can have a stronger effect.” 

“It looks like being on Mars cuts down on drinking a bit.” Elli took  another small drink. 

“We can find other things to do to occupy our time.” He reached for her  hand. 

She gave his hand a quick squeeze and then pulled it away. “Look Wizard.  I really like you. You’re great to be around. But I’m not ready for an exclusive  relationship yet. I’ve had a lot of changes in my life lately and moving to Mars  means I had to give up all of my old friends. I need to adjust to being so far  away from home and I want need to meet new people.” She saw the hurt in  his face. “I still want to hang around with you but just not all the time.” She  gave him a small smile. 

“Sure. Hey, I gotta go and get ready for tomorrow.” He stood and quickly left. 

Elli sighed as she watched him leave.

* * * *

Elli entered one of the labs of BioGeo, and headed straight to her  workstation. As usual she was greeted by almost everyone. The men, she noted,  changed their posture as she walked by them. She was flattered by their  attention to her although none of them had made any advances towards her. The  lone other woman in the lab was not as friendly towards her as the men but  seemed resigned that Elli would attract all the male attention when she was  around. The other factor making her happy to go to work was that she was  accomplishing something. She realized she had an innate ability to identify the  small fossils that were processed through the lab and had flagged two new  species. The simple creatures were small and it seemed all meant to live in  water. All lab tests so far had shown they were distantly related to Earth life  forms, strengthening the theory that life had transported from one of the planets  to the other. 

“Elli.” John Reese, a tall middle aged man with brown hair, called her over  to his office. 

Elli took a drink from the water bottle that was always attached to her hip  and followed her manager. “Hi John. What’s up?” 

“I got a transmission from one of the exploration companies. They have  some images they want to send to us but this one guy, Henry Silvers, asks that  you get to see them first.” John raised his eyebrows. “Anything I should know  before I forward the file to you?”

Elli smiled. “Uncle Hank. He said that if he x-rayed any whales when he  was looking for water he would give me a call.” 

John laughed. “I don’t think we’ll see any whales, but let’s take a look at  what he has sent.” He played with a control on his desk and a wall in his office  suddenly became a viewscreen, showing the transmission sent by Hank.  Another touch on his desk caused the attachment to open. 

Elli gasped. “Wow. Look at that!” 

John nodded. “Unbelievable.” He stared at the white skeleton remains that  looked like it may have belonged to an eel. 

“It’s not a whale but still pretty amazing. That creature has to be at least  the size of my forearm. That easily makes it the longest Martian creature we  found so far.” 

“It does. Too bad it’s a few hundred metres underground. Going to be a  devil to dig up. Still, a big discovery. Congratulations, I’ll make sure your name  goes on the official records. Is Henry Silvers really your uncle?” 

Elli shook her head. “No, just a friend. He does make a good uncle  though.”

* * * *

Elli decided to send a message to her parents when she went back to her  apartment. It was only a one way conversation due to the time difference between Mars and Earth, but it was the only way to talk to her parents.  She eagerly told them about her work in the lab and the latest discovery. Then  she added a brief note that she had dated a few men including a young man that she  had met on the flight over to Mars. “He’s really nice, and we get along really  well.” She gave a shrug. “Actually I think you would approve of him which  makes me wonder why I like him too.” She giggled. “Anyway too soon for any  romance with them, but I wanted you to know I’m not out partying every  night but not being a recluse either.” Then just before she signed off, she added  quickly. “Love you both.” How often have I said that in the past few years?

* * * *



Chapter Seven 

The blast of warmer, higher pressured air hit her face as she entered the  bar. She did a quick scan, saw a few familiar faces and waved to a couple of co-workers. They looked like they wanted her to join them but she didn’t want to  become too friendly with people she was working with. A few too many drinks  and suddenly she might have an uncomfortable time the next day at work. 

Instead she wandered up to the bar and ordered a drink and leaned against  the counter thinking about whom she wanted to socialize with. Like most of the  crowd, she had changed out of her coveralls, selecting a t-shirt and a pair of  tight pants. She knew she was getting a few stares from the men, which was  why she was wearing the form-fitting outfit. It was also likely a few women  were giving her the evil eye. While she didn’t want to make any enemies, she  was determined to do what was best to meet some men. Don’t worry ladies. I’m  only after the single guys. Withdraw those claws. 

She slowly exhaled, feeling warm again. She didn’t wear a coat on her  short jog to the bar from her apartment, not wanting to cover up her t-shirt that  featured a lacy back. The minus five temperature outside chilled her a bit but  she didn’t want to have to worry about her coat as she planned to drift about the  bar. Two men for every woman. The odds are definitely in my favour. 

She didn’t expect to see Riley tonight. It wasn’t likely they would end up  in the same bar, though she suspected he would sometimes check a few bars to  see where she was. Elli still went out with him, even went to bed with him, but  she made it clear he was not the only man in her life and he better get used to  her being busy. Tonight she knew he was working late on a project, having to  travel several kilometres out from Red City, and wasn’t likely to be in any bar.  That made her feel a bit more comfortable in her mind as she felt guilty when  he saw her leave with another guy. 

“Hey Elli, are you going to nurse that drink all night?” Davis grinned at her  and pulled out a chair for her with one arm as he sat on another. Davis was  average height but built like a fighter with broad shoulders on top of a thick  body. His grin was lopsided from a scar along his jaw line. The two other men  looked at her as if she was holding a cold beer in a desert. 

“I’m planning on being able to walk out of here tonight, so the drinks are  going to go down slow.” She rested one hand on his shoulder, feeling the dense  muscle. 

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll carry you to bed if you can’t walk.” She laughed. “I bet you would. My bed or yours?” 

“Whichever is closer.”

“You’re bad.” Elli walked to another table and talked to four men and one frowning woman. Then she began to scout for her best opportunity that night.  After three more drinks, she found she had returned where she started.  “You came back and are still walking.” 

“Yeah. Just in case I decide I don't want to walk anymore I could use you  as a transport.” 

Davis gave her a quick introduction to his two friends and then ignored  them, turning his attention to Elli. 

Elli let him try to charm her, laughing at his jokes and occasionally  touching his arm. She kept her legs facing towards him and didn’t brush away  his hand as they rested on her thigh. Occasionally his fingers massaged her leg  and after a few seconds, she would stop him, knowing he would try again. 

“Well Davis, it has been good seeing you again but it’s time for me to get  going.” 

“Sure doll. I’ll walk you back to your place.” He stood. “Want my coat?”  “Then you’ll get a cold.” 

He shook his head. “Not me. Thick skin to go with my thick head.” Elli let him help her with the coat, losing her hands in the sleeves. “You  could put two of me in here.” 

“Double the pleasure then.” 

She laughed and stepped outside the bar. 

“Where do you live?” 

“Block C apartments.” 

“Okay, hop on.” He turned his back to her and bent over, holding his arms  out to his sides. 

“You’re crazy.” She jumped on his back, wrapping her arms around his  neck and he began to jog down the street. She suspected on Earth he might have  run but on Mars knew the limit of his lungs. Still she knew he had to be in good  shape to go as fast as he did. As far as carrying her, she guessed he barely  noticed her weight. 

It was only a five minute trip but as Elli laughed she looked across the  street. She gasped as she saw Riley slowly walking the other way, carrying a  case of instruments from his work in the field. Even at a distance, she could see  the profound sadness on his face. 

Davis didn’t seem to be aware of the change in her mood after they arrived  at her apartment. She invited him in, had another drink and took him to bed. She gave him a kiss goodbye in the morning, made herself a tea and stared  at a wall. She thought about calling Riley but hesitated each time started. By  lunchtime she was still alone in her apartment with a cold cup of tea, the  memory of Riley’s face in her mind. Sorry Wizard. I think I really screwed up  last night.

* * * *




Chapter Eight 

She spotted Riley sitting with a man that she instinctively knew worked  with him at climate control. Who would’ve thought all weathermen must have a  common gene? Riley didn’t seem to be talking or doing much other than  drinking tea. The small cafe was busy with people trying to grab a quick  lunch before returning to work. 

Elli slowly approached him from his side. “Hey there.” 

Riley looked startled for a moment and then looked up. “Oh, hi Elli.” She pursed her lips as she sat. There was still sadness in his face and she  wondered if he was going to get upset with her even more. “I was hoping we  could talk, maybe tonight if you’re free.” 

Seconds ticked by before he answered. “Sure. I’m free, as usual.”

* * * *

Elli stirred her drink and took a sip. She had given up giving him smiles.  His return smile looked more like a grimace than a look of happiness. The bar  was quiet with a few patrons eating snack food but she noted he picked a table  in the far corner. “How are you, Wizard? You look really sad and I’m worried  about you.” 

“I am sad.” He squeezed his hand into fist for a moment and then with  concentration opened his hand palm down on the table. “Elli, I just can’t go out  with you anymore. I want to but when I see you with another guy I think I’m  going mad. I know you like to date different guys but I just can’t...” His fist  returned. “I just can’t continue seeing you. Maybe we can be friends someday,  but right now it’s just too painful.” 

Elli ran her fingers through her hair and bit her lower lip. “Wizard, can I  have another chance?” She reached for his hand and uncurled his fingers. “You.  I will date only you until, well, whatever happens.” 

“Are you sure you want to do that?” 

“I said it and I mean it. I care a lot about you and want to take a chance on  you.” 

He finally smiled. “I’m all in.”

* * * *

Elli opened the door for Riley and invited him into her apartment. He was  acting reserved since their meeting in the bar. He still kissed her and bedded her  once more but it appeared he was holding back from getting too close to her.  She understood his reluctance and thought it would take a bit longer to relax  with her. When he invited her to go with him on a field trip, she jumped at the  opportunity to mend the relationship with him. Either things would improve or if  they didn’t, she wasn’t going to be alone long.
    He looked around and frowned. “You have a lot of stuff here. You may 

need a larger apartment soon.” 

“Maybe you and I can switch apartments.” Riley’s apartment was larger  than hers. He had hinted at one time they should move in together, as couples  qualified for an even larger apartment. But Elli was still reluctant about going  that step with him at that time. She knew if she moved in with him it would be  really hard to break it off with him and she still wasn’t sure if he was the one  for her yet. “I’m waiting for a promotion and then they’ll give me a larger pad.”  She grinned at him. “Relax, I like lots of stuff around me.” She checked her  water bottle and air tank to make sure they were full. Checking and double checking the water and air had become second nature to her. The monitor on  her wrist showed her vital signs and gave a warning when the blood showed  low oxygen or low hydration. 

Riley nodded. “Alright. Ready to go?” 

Elli headed towards the door. She was looking forward to going on a trip  with him to visit where a large ancient Martian lake used to reside. He needed  to set up test equipment and her BioGeo agreed to give her the time off to go  with him, providing she came back with some samples to test for extinct life  forms.
                               
                                    * * * *

The vehicle they signed out was a six wheeled all terrain enclosed truck. It  could be manually driven but normally was put in automatic mode, driving  itself to a designated location. 

Elli stared out the windows at the red landscape. “It looks so dead.  Nothing but red sand and rock.” 

“The surface looks that way, but underneath things are changing. Water is  starting to form under the surface as the frozen soil starts to melt again.” He  pointed to the sky. “More clouds now. The relative humidity hit forty percent  yesterday in Red City. The climate is changing faster now.” 

Elli looked up at a cloud. “It seems so low.” 

“It is. Less atmosphere means the clouds sit lower. We just need those  clouds to drop rain or snow. Then we may start getting streams and eventually  rivers again.” 

“Well, let’s not wait for the rain. I’m looking forward to going to the lake  and relaxing on the beach.” 

Riley laughed. “You’ll have trouble seeing the difference between the lake  and a sandy beach.” 

“Elli gave him a slow smile. “Don’t worry. My imagination will make it  feel just like a beach.”

* * * *

As Riley indicated the difference where the lake used to be and the shore  was almost nonexistent. Elli could see the difference after he pointed out the slight change in elevation at the ancient shoreline. “Okay Wizard, now what do  we do? Make sand castles?” 

“We drive out to where the lake used to be. I need to set up test equipment  and do some drilling.”

“Okay, I’ll bite. What are we looking for?” 

“The core is heating up and spreading heat upwards, thawing the frozen  water underneath. Satellites have detected water vapour above the lake during  the daytime, and at night, we have visuals of frost. There are a couple of  theories about this. One is that the water vapor in the planet is naturally  flowing to the low areas like the lake.” 

“What do you think Wizard?” 

“That water vapor is coming up from the lake bed. I have a theory  that the ground under the surface is saturated with ice and sand.” Elli grinned. “If I was to take a bet it would be you’re right.” 

“Thanks.” He looked at her. “You make me feel good.” 

“That’s because I...think you’re special.” Elli blushed and looked away. “I  want to walk around outside and see what it’s like.” I can’t believe I almost said  it. He’s getting out too. I hope he doesn’t follow me around like a puppy. 

Elli saw him approach and gave him a grin. “Nice beach sand, a little on  the red side but nice and soft.” She gave the ground a kick, sending a cloud of  dust floating away. 

Riley looked at the dust cloud fade away. “I guess that’s one of the few  things you can do on a beach here.” 

Elli looked around. “I know one more thing to do here.” She lay down on  her back and moved her arms from her sides to the top of her head as she spread  her legs back and forth. “Sand angels.” She got up and looked at the impression  she left in the sand. “I used to make snow angels when I was kid and I guess  this works pretty good too.” 

Riley stood by her side and squeezed her hand. “You do like the snow,  don’t you?” 

“Yeah, I miss the white stuff. Good memories I suppose.”

* * * *

The vehicle made steady progress across the flat ground. After an hour,  Riley stopped the progress. 

“This is as good a spot as any. Let’s unpack.” 

Elli jumped out of the vehicle, breathing in the cool air and wondering if  Riley had picked up her stumbled statement on her feelings for him. It would  have been nice if he just grabbed and kissed me. He’s just so polite and careful  with me, maybe too much. 

She watched him set up monitors, using a small mallet to pound the  sensors into the soft ground. She remembered him telling her they monitored  various air chemicals, temperature and humidity. Then he pulled drilling equipment out and set about assembling a tripod on the ground. A few minutes  later, he struggled to put a motor on top of the tripod and attach a drilling auger. 

“Okay, let’s see if I put this together right.” He pushed the button of a  remote control and the drill started to turn against the soil but didn’t penetrate  the surface. He stopped the button and looked puzzled. 

“Hey, Wizard.” 

“Yeah?” He looked back at her.

Oh my God. That’s a look of love. What do I do with that? “You have the  drill turning backwards.” 

He looked back at the drill and the remote control. “Well, that would  explain the lack of traction.” He grinned, pushed a couple of controls and the  drill turned in the opposite direction and quickly buried into the ground. 

Elli watched, glad of her jump suit that provided electric warmth against  the cool temperature to her body but found herself getting warmer. She looked  at her wrist monitor. I’m breathing in oxygen faster. Damn, I’m either running  uphill or horny. 

Riley retracted the drill and removed a cylinder, inserted another length of  tubing and started the drill bit on a downward plunge. He examined the clear  plastic cylinder he had removed. “Much like you would expect. But if you look  carefully at the bottom I think there are some white particles that may be from  life forms.” He showed her the tube. 

Elli smiled. The white specks were too small to say what they were but she  instinctively felt they were remains of shells of sea creatures. “I think you’re  right. Now let’s go deeper and see what else there is.” 

The next three cores showed more sand and white remains of Marian  life. The white deposits were progressively bigger and it was possible to  distinguish some small shells. 

“Wizard, this is amazing. I have never seen so many creatures in such a small volume of rock. This ancient lake must have been teeming with life at  one time.” 

He agreed. “Yeah, this must have been a hotbed of life. Let’s go for  another core.” 

The next sample showed creatures half an inch in length, making Elli  ecstatic. “Wow! Look at them all. This is absolutely amazing. The density of  life forms is amazing, equal to what you’d find on Earth.” She held an  electronic magnifier to the tube and gasped. “This is the find biologists only  dream of finding. Mars was not only alive but it was complex and dense.” 

Riley pulled out the last tube from the drilling equipment, the maximum  depth for which it was designed. This time he got excited. “Look!” She stared at the core, noticeably darker than the previous samples. He gestured at the core. “Ice! It’s wet! Water! This is where the humidity  is coming from. The ice is turning into water vapour before melting. This has major significance with climate change. Mars is going to become warmer and  more liveable than we thought possible.” He sat down on the ground staring  at the hole in the ground from the drill. “I can’t believe this.” 

“You were right about Mars. You’ve made history.” 

He nodded. “This was a wet world. It was alive.” 

“And maybe again.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“The creatures caught in the ice...when you unthaw them sometimes a few  return to life. The one cell creatures are very resilient.” 

“You’re right. We better store that sample carefully.”

“I’m going to celebrate this.” Elli undid her air tank and unhooked her  water bottle. 

“How?” He watched her unzip her jumpsuit. 

“I’m going skinny dipping in Wizard’s lake.” She took off her boots,  thermal socks, jumpsuit and her one-piece underwear. She stretched out her  arms and ran around him in a circle. “Yahoo! A lake on Mars with life.” 

Riley watched her as he pivoted, puffing as he gawked at her naked body. Elli filled her lungs with the thin Martian air, not too surprised that she ran  out of breath so quickly. She was surprised she didn’t feel the cold, not certain  if it was the sun or her own excitement that kept her warm. I need some air but  after wearing two layers of clothes everyday this feels good on the skin. I hope the Wizard does something other than gape at me. 

Riley strode towards her, wrapped his arms around her as they tumbled to  the ground. 

As he kissed her, Elli pulled down the zipper of his jumpsuit and fumbled  with the fly of his underwear. “I’m going to tell you right now, this ground is  fucking cold. Do it quickly.” She opened her mouth to his kiss and felt him slide  into her.

                                   * * * *

She grinned at him as they made their way back to Red City. “Hey  Wizard.” 

“Yeah?” 

“You do know I’m not wearing anything but this jumpsuit, don’t you?”  She unzipped the suit and moved a hand inside. 

He closed his eyes for a brief moment. “It’s on my mind.” 

“Then put this thing on autopilot.” She undid her jumpsuit and stepped  over to straddle him. “I like sex and a lot of it.” She kissed him long on the  mouth. “I would suggest if you want me, keep me satisfied.”

* * * *



Chapter Nine 

Elli returned to work early the next day, eager to test the samples she  received from the cores. 

John Reese walked over to her work station. “Quite the discovery at that  ancient lake site with that frozen water. I understand there are a lot of ancient  life forms there.” 

“I was hoping to check those life forms right away. Riley gave me a  sample to test here.” 

“Riley, is he your boyfriend?” 

Elli blushed. “He is.” 

“Well that was very considerate of him. Usually it takes weeks to get  samples and then degraded ones at that. You’re right that a small percentage of  simple life forms can be brought back to life after being frozen, and you have a  lot of samples there. So maybe we’ll get lucky.” 

She smiled. “That is good to hear.” 

He nodded and began to turn away. “Oh, one more thing.” 

She looked up at him. 

“There are a number of satellites around Mars taking various readings.” He  shrugged. “Also photographs.” 

Elli continued to look at him, wondering what he was getting to. He whispered, “Congratulations on being the first naked human on Mars.”  “Oh my God.” Elli covered her face with her hands. 

“Some may have already seen images, but I immediately had the images  filed under restricted access. I believe the government of Mars will not release  the images because they don’t want Earth to think we just party here. However,  there is knowledge that on Mars someone did enjoy an extra bit of freedom. Be  prepared for a few winks.” 

Elli watched him walk away. You mean I was the first to do that? I hope  they don’t put up a statue of me for that.

* * * *

“Elli, we’re so proud of you. And so happy you’re doing well on Mars.”  Elli’s father grinned after speaking. 

Her mother leaned forward towards the screen. “We’re also curious about  that young man you mentioned. What’s his name and what does he do on  Mars?” 

Elli listened to their questions and encouragement, received the latest news  on the family and then prepared her reply. They would get her video much later  but wanted to answer while their questions were still fresh in her mind. She told  them only his first name so they wouldn’t be able to do a data search on him and  told them only that he worked for the government. Then she went to bed,  wondering about his suggestion about sharing an apartment. It was strange that  when he first asked if she wanted to share an apartment she didn’t think it was a 

big deal. She had shared accommodation with other lovers before and initially  she considered Riley to be just one more. But the more she thought about him  the more she began to think that if she was to ever move out afterwards it  would be devastating for him. I’m not moving in with you Wizard unless I’m  absolutely sure. I just don’t want to hurt you that much.

* * * *

Elli walked past the gass and metal towers to the Fourth Rock, a favourite  bar for her and Riley. As usual, she checked the weather monitor located high  above the centre of town. She smiled at the new record high humidity of fifty six percent. Once every few weeks a new record was set on the Mars weather  station. Sometimes it was the humidity, sometimes the wind velocity and  occasionally a new temperature with the record now at fourteen degrees above  freezing. 

She was also the first member of an unofficial club called the Flash Club,  composed of a few humans that briefly shed their clothes outside on Mars. It  was not a club she was going to tell her parents about but a few of her friends  knew. 

Riley was waiting for her when she arrived and after exchanging a kiss  talked briefly about work. 

“So John told me the life we reactivated from the core sample is identical  to Earth life forms. Really ancient bacteria that still can be found in some areas  of Earth. I guess I don’t get to name it but do get the credit for finding it.” 

“I heard some more news. Apparently, some lichens were discovered on a  rock at about five degrees latitude north. Just a small speck of it really and were  red in colour so it was hard to see them, but they were alive. They couldn’t take  a sample for DNA testing as it was too small, so it could be actual Marian life  forms or contamination from Earth, but it was living on the Marian surface.” 

“Mars really is being terra formed right in front of our eyes. I wonder how  long before we can plant flowers and stuff outside the greenhouses?” “That might be a while and likely they’ll have to modify the plants to live  here, but it will happen.” 

“It’s going to have to. Did you know two more babies were born last  month? Both girls.” Elli grinned. “Women are going to take over Mars.” “I heard. The doctors are happy the babies are doing so well. They seem to  adapt to the Martian environment fairly well, though they are in protected  rooms with higher humidity and oxygen.” 

Elli nodded. “What do you think about having kids on Mars?” “I think if humans are serious about colonizing Mars then you have to be  able to raise a family here. It’s a bit scary, wondering how well they will adapt to the conditions on Mars. Weaker gravity probably will affect their bone  structure and end up making them taller, but who knows until they grow up.” “I  meant you personally.” 

“Oh.” He looked away for a moment before taking a drink. “I like kids, but  never thought of having any myself. I don’t know.” 

“Maybe it’s something you better figure out before getting too serious with someone. You know, it could be a deal maker or breaker.” “How about you? Do you want kids?” 

Elli shook her head. “You give me your answer first and then I’ll let you  know.”

* * * *




Chapter Ten

Elli felt the cool air on her face as she walked into the Fourth Rock. She looked around for Riley but didn’t see him. Working late again, I suppose. He said he was doing a special project but he sure puts in a lot of extra work. Maybe if I worked harder I would have never gotten into the mess I did. Of course then I would have been sent to Mars and met him. I guess I should be thankful where I am.

She crossed the bar and sat by herself to wait for him, suspecting he wouldn’t be much longer. Riley was rarely late for any appointment and seemed to have a built in alarm clock.

“Hi there. Haven’t seen you for a while.” Davis pulled out an empty chair and sat looking at her with a big grin.

“Hi Davis. I guess I’ve been busy. Also I guess I’m seeing someone, kind of exclusively if you know what I mean.”

“I gotcha. You’re out of the market. Figures, a girl like you is going to have lots of choices. Lucky guy to get you.”

“Thanks.” She blushed.

“Let me buy you a drink and then I’ll let you be.”

“Sure.” Elli listened to him talk about the latest shipment from Earth that contained more plants and animals.

“It’s the first stage of establishing life forms on Mars besides people.” “That’s good to hear. I would like to see some cats and dogs. That would be great.”

“Someday soon I would think.”

Elli looked up. “There’s my boyfriend.”

Davis stood. “I best be going then.” He turned and acknowledged Riley. “Nice catch, young fella.”

Riley sat. “Sorry I’m late.”

“That’s okay. I talked to some friends.”

He looked behind him at Davis. “Just a friend I hope.”

She leaned forward and rested her chin on her hands, elbows on the table. “Don’t start acting like a jealous Wizard or you surely will be.” She gave him a smile. “I told him I was exclusive to you but I’m not about to stop having male friends. Okay?”

“Alright.” His smile looked forced and unconvincing.

Elli listened to him talk about work, downed a couple of drinks quickly and finally relaxed.

“Do you feel better now?”

“Yeah.”

“Know I’m not going to run around when you’re not around?” “I trust you.”

“Good, because if you don’t trust me then it’s over. I absolutely won’t cheat on you but I can’t stand it if you think that I might.”

“I understand. Elli, I believe you.”

“Good, now let’s have a drink to celebrate our understanding. We are a couple, officially.”

He drank the next drink slowly but at the end, he was sitting up straight in his chair and looking determined. “Let’s go. I want some alone time with you.” Elli held his hand as they left the bar. She started in the direction of her apartment but he pushed towards his place instead. It was slightly further away but it seemed he was being direct. She liked him better when he was acting in control and let him lead her. His apartment was larger than hers was and less cluttered, making it look even bigger.

She took off her boots and coat as he retrieved two drink containers from the kitchen. She followed him to the living room and sat on the couch with him. He immediately put his arm around her and kissed her. Elli leaned into his arm, tilting her head back as he pressed forward.

Elli enjoyed his kisses as he kissed her neck and in a few minutes, they tumbled off the couch. He pulled off her shirt and pressed down on her. Using one hand, he gripped her wrists together and pinned them over her head. She felt his long fingers wrap around her wrists and didn’t struggle to free herself. His other hand slid up her ribs and she sighed.

“Wizard, you are acting rather aggressive. Are you planning to just have your way with me?”

“Are you objecting?”

“Not in the least.”

* * * *

“Hey Elli, how are you doing?”

Elli turned and smiled at Jill. “Hi, thanks for meeting me for a drink.” “Believe me, there wasn’t a lot of arm twisting there.” Jill laughed. “Good, but thanks for meeting me at the Twisted Lime Pub. I need to talk to someone.”

“What about?” Jill sat next to Elli on a barstool. She ordered a drink and stared at her.

“Wizard. I feel it’s getting a bit complicated.”

“Really? How so?”

“When I first met him I thought I would just have him as a boyfriend for a while and then move on. I used to do that a lot.” She gave an embarrassed shrug and smiled. “I had kind of a wild past.”

“I gathered that from our earlier conversations.”

“But the Wizard can grow on you, you know? Especially since you and Hank stopped me from getting an easy night on the starship.”

Jill laughed. “We were only protecting you from yourself.”

“Well I guess I needed that. But the Wizard is giving me these bedroom eye looks now. I turned down his offer to live with him and I think his feelings had been hurt because I still went out with other guys. Not so now, more flirting in the bar type of thing.” Elli took a long drink. “But a strange thing happened the other night. Without thinking, I asked him if he wanted kids. I couldn’t believe I asked him that. I mean that’s what you ask when you’re thinking of marrying someone and until that moment I didn’t think I was that serious about him. Then I kind of screwed up. I decided to pick up a guy in a bar and the Wizard saw us. I felt horrible afterwards and told him I wouldn’t go out with anyone but him from now on.” She took a drink. “It’s been good since and the other night the Wizard suddenly took charge. I mean he was physically in control and it was something I wanted from him. The trouble is I think he’s going to propose to me soon and I don’t know what to say.”

“Do you love him?”

Elli nodded slowly. “I think so.”

“He’s a real decent guy. As far as kids are concerned, you just know he would be a good father. If he loves you, just what is the problem?” Elli sighed. “I guess I always used to go for guys that were more a little rough around the edges.”

“You like the bad boys. Well, sweetheart, so do I. But sometimes you have to make a decision that’s best for you in the long run. If you let Riley go, you may regret it for the rest of your life. Do you really think there’s a better man for you out there?”

“No, I know I’m lucky he loves me despite how I treat him sometimes. I just wish he would do something wild or special and make me feel he’ll do something crazy to get me.”

“Christmas is coming. Maybe he’ll think of something.”

She grinned. “Knowing Wizard it might be wrapped in a weather map.”

* * * *



Chapter Eleven

Elli answered the door to Riley. “Okay, just how cold is it outside?” She began to do up the winter coat and looked at him suspiciously. “And why won’t you tell me why we have to go outside in the centre of town on Christmas?”

“It’s a surprise. Trust me, you’ll like it. Think of it as a special Christmas present.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “You already have gifts for me. Just how special is this gift?”

“It’s unique.” He gave her grin and escorted her down the hall and out of her apartment.

Elli closed up her coat and pulled the hood over her head. She didn’t mind the cold as much as some of the others in Red City, though she would be glad when summer returned again to where they lived. Riley had told her next summer would see higher temperatures with higher humidity and greater air pressure. He sounded excited to her when he said there would be actual rainfall next summer. She had giggled at his love for doing weather forecast months into the future.

She stepped out onto the main street, looking around at the coloured lights that had been attached to the outside of buildings. In the centre of an intersection, a green Christmas tree had been put together out of various materials. Elli knew it looked okay until one came too close to it. She waved at a co-worker she recognized as he passed by, heading to a small coffee shop on the corner. Despite the cold, there were a number of people on the streets, heading from one shelter to another. It seemed the strategy of the Martian government to make the town as social as possible was working, drawing people to the entertainment section regardless of the temperature.

Her wristband vibrated as she followed Riley down the street and she quickly glanced at the message. The red lettering indicated it was an announcement from the Marian Government Council. Usually it was warning of impending winds, the time of a general meeting or anything the council deemed important for all citizens. “Attention; there is a special event planned for Red City this evening. If you are able, please join us in the Entertainment Section immediately.”

“Hey Wizard, do you know anything about this special event?”

“Maybe a little.” He grinned.

“Liar. I bet you know what this whole thing is about.” She looked around the area but didn’t see anything special. She noted some dark clouds drifting above her in the sky. As usual, they looked low in the Martian atmosphere. They were a bit darker than usual but so far, none of the clouds had ever dropped more than a few feeble raindrops. The thirsty air seemed to gobble up any moisture before it reached the ground. She looked at Riley who was checking his hand held pad for information. “What are you checking?”

“Some minor variables. Humidity mostly.”

“It feels as dry as ever.”

“I mean relative humidity. The air is cold and can’t hold moisture as well right now.” He touched part of the pad and spoke into it. “Okay, it’s a go. Fire away.”

“Fire what?”

Riley just smiled and pointed to the south. “Watch.”

Elli slipped her gloved hand inside his arm. “This better be good after teasing me like this.”

The crowd around them turned to look at where he pointed. Elli wasn’t too surprised at the size of the crowd which had grown considerably in numbers in the past few minutes, knowing there weren't a lot of other things to do on Mars.

Then three small rockets with a blaze of light behind them rose into the sky, simultaneously entering a dark cloud now above them. Elli wondered if they were supposed to be fireworks, but if they were, the effect would be lost in the cloud. Then she heard several “whoops” emanating from the cloud. The noise caused the cloud to slightly change its appearance and for a moment, the cloud looked out of focus. Then as she stared, it began to change its colour slightly, becoming lighter.

Elli felt as puzzled as the others around her except Riley who was looking pleased with the chain of events. She turned her attention back to the cloud and was startled by what she saw. Her childhood became racing back and she was suspended back to a time when she lived in Alberta. It was a familiar sight that warmed her completely.

She yelled out, “Snow!” She lifted her hands high and danced in a small circle as the first flakes touched her face. The people around her began cheering and clapping as the snow lazily fell to the ground. A few people broke into singing “I’m dreaming of a white Christmas...”

“This is the best Christmas present ever.” Elli looked around to give Riley a hug and a kiss, but had to look down to find him.

Riley was down on one knee, holding a ring in his hand.

Elli gasped and covered her face with her hands. The crowd suddenly diverted their attention from the falling snow to watch his proposal. “Elli, each of these millions of snowflakes is saying the same thing, that I love you. And I’ll tell you a million times myself—if you want me to, but I love you and want you to marry me.”

The ring glittered as he held it carefully between two fingers. She knew the circle of people around her were waiting for her reaction. Elli felt a tear run down her cheek, and then another. She leaned forward and fell on top of him. “Yes, yes, yes, you crazy weatherman.” She heard applause as she kissed him.

* * * *

A year later.

Elli watched the rain fall, increasing the size of the water puddles spread about the flat ancient lake surface. “It looks like Wizard’s lake may actually

turn into a lake again.” Elli leaned against Riley inside the transport. “Maybe sooner than you expect. The ground is thawing underneath and as the lake fills up above suddenly the two will meet and an instant large body of water.”

“More climate change information. Wizard, you really know how to talk romance to a girl. Our first anniversary is in two weeks and I hope, for your sake, you will be able to increase your area of interest to something I like too.” Riley laughed. “I will do my best.”

“I know you will. I have a question for you.”

“Sure, whatever you want to know.”

“Over a year ago I asked you what you felt about kids. You didn’t really answer me at that time. I guess now I need an answer. You’re going to be a dad.”

He broke into a grin. “That’s great. When did you find out?”

“Before the tests confirmed it I knew. So... are you happy to be a dad? He leaned over and kissed her hard. “Only one kid?”

“There is a possibility for more.”

“That’s good because I sure like the thought of making more of them. Maybe someday we will come out here as a family and spend the day at the beach.”

Elli laughed. “That means I’m going to have to find a bathing suit. No more skinny dipping here.”

“No more wild girl running naked?”

“I’m a changed woman. You and Mars did that to me. But don’t worry, the wild girl will always be inside me. She’s just a little more responsible now.”

The End