The Swarm Awakens: Book One of the Redemption Series

By Jodie Rye

A routine trip to Mars, ends with Bethany Sommers being trapped in Cryosleep and floating through endless space. Centuries later, the crew of the salvage ship Cassandra’s Redemption, led by Captain Johnathan Stark, make a chance find and revive Bethany from her long slumber.
While she slept, the universe became a far different place to the one she left behind. Mankind has long since gone to the stars and the Earth she once knew is a distant memory. Separated from her family, she turns to the only person she can trust. The alien construct, Xartax.
Together with new friends, she starts to unravel the secrets of her past, that will ultimately lead to her future. What happened on Mars? And what is the mysterious mission Xartax has asked her to help him complete? And why are there so many shadow organisations after the crew of the Redemption?
To defend her friends, Bethany must unleash a terrible weapon. A power she fears to control, and yet cannot avoid. Her bond with the alien construct is tested to its limit when she must fight to save her friends.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jodie Rye
• Release date: Jul 27, 2017
• ISBN: 9780994598301

Book preview

FOREWORD

As I came near to completing book two in the Redemption Series, I stopped to take a look at my first novel and felt that there were some consistency issues I had to resolve, and, dare I say it, many errors to correct. So, as I have raced to finish book two, I have devoted several weeks reviewing book one and completed this third edition edit.

Little has changed as to the content, but I have added some essential touches to give the novel a better feel and hopefully make it easier to read. Most notably is the new cover design, I was never happy with the original which I paid a lot of money for. The new cover is my own design, using third party stock art, special thanks to the associated artists and Can Stock Photo for making the artwork available.

If this is your fist time reading my work, I do hope you enjoy and join the many others who are eagerly awaiting my second book. For those who can’t get enough or want to find out more about the Redemption universe, you can check out the Facebook page at www.facebook.com/redemptionseries .

Happy reading and feel free to comment and pass on suggestions. Please remember to leave a review for my book at your favourite retailer.

DEDICATION

For my family.

You have been the drive of my motivation.

Thanks for sticking with me when

others would have given up.

Table of Contents

Foreword

Dedication

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Mars

Chapter 2 Flicker Flicker

Chapter 3 Tunnel One Zero Five

Chapter 4 Salvage

Chapter 5 A Plan for Escape

Chapter 6 Cutting the Thread

Chapter 7 Armageddon

Chapter 8 Adrift

Chapter 9 A Sea of Stars

Chapter 10 Mars Taxi

Chapter 11 Bethany

Chapter 12 Lost in a Dream

Chapter 13 Recovery and Repair

Chapter 14 To Act Without Honour

Chapter 15 The Things We Hear

Chapter 16 A Father’s Embrace

Chapter 17 A Girl in a Pink Top

Chapter 18 Thanks, Guilt and Anger

Chapter 19 Run You Fool

Chapter 20 Rules Must Be Broken to Survive

Chapter 21 The Weapon

Chapter 22 Forbidden Technology

Epilogue

Appendix

Sky Runner

Star Chart

Galaxy Chart

A Preview to The Rising Swarm

Sneak Peek at Book Two - A Pink Rose

About the Author

Other Books by this Author

Chapter 1

Mars

Terraforming Mars

The war of 2217 ECE left a lasting reminder of the destructiveness of mankind. By its end, the atmosphere of Earth was so full of toxins that its very ability to support life was in question. Faced with a real survival problem, humanity began looking for alternatives. Mars was a likely candidate, but its lack of a breathable atmosphere quickly ruled it out.

The arguments ran to and fro about how an atmosphere could be maintained on Mars. One side believed it was very simple, it was just a matter of chemistry. There was enough water trapped under the surface, all they had to do was apply an electric current and produce as much oxygen as they needed. The other side was quick to point out that they would be producing a flammable by product in the form of hydrogen, not to mention that the sun would eventually leach away any atmosphere without the protection of a magnetic shield. Eventually, the problem boiled down to one thing, without a magnetic shield to protect the atmosphere, Mars would never hold a self-sustaining colony.

After twenty years of trying to find a solution, the scientist eventually gave up. With more pressing matters of survival, every effort was thrown at removing toxins from Earth’s environment. But the effort was to no avail, it seemed that all they were doing was buying time.

It was not until 2302 that a young engineering student came up with a workable solution for giving Mars a breathable atmosphere. The idea in principle was very simple, and yet it had many experts go away scratching their heads wondering why they had never thought of it before.

If Mars no longer had the ability to produce a magnetic field of its own. Then why couldn’t man just engineer an artificial one. The plan the engineer came up with was to bore a series of tunnels that would encircle the planet. Within each tunnel, they would lay a tract of super conductive coil. When complete and powered, the project would create an artificial magnetic field that would encompass the planet. At first many believed the plan was crazy, believing it was not technically possible and the cost to be astronomical. But as the specialists went away and reviewed the idea and checked the engineering behind it, many believed it could work. Slowly the idea gained traction and, within two years, Earth Gov had given the project the green light.

At the age of just twenty five, the young engineer became the lead architect in a multi trillion dollar project to give Mars a new magnetic field.

Abstract from the book Why the Mars colony failed. 25 GE, Thomas Delaney.

***

Mars High Orbit

March 22nd 2322 Earth Common Era

After seven months of speeding through space, the transport ship Columbus arrived at Mars. Just a few short days before, Calvin, the ships AI, woke the crew from Cryosleep. Calvin had completed his programmed tasks and already the counter weight tether had been retracted and the Columbus was on the correct trajectory for its breaking manoeuvre. The crew ran their pre-engine checks before firing up the main engines. Using a combination of the planets gravity and the ships engines, they brought the Columbus into high orbit around Mars. From here, they would dock with Mars station.

Captain Cullen looked up from his reports to the ships chronometer. Cullen was on his fourth Earth Mars run, the repeated trips were already starting to take a toll on his body. He lifted his hand and scratched his short brown hair.

Better wake the VIP doctor, Cullen said to Lieutenant Hienova. He requested to be awake for the docking.

Lieutenant Hienova unbuckled her harness and floated towards the hatch. What of the girl? she asked. Like the rest of the crew of the Columbus, Hienova was a skinny anaemic person who looked undernourished, one of the side effects of prolonged Cryosleep. Her hair was brown and cut short, her features gaunt with pronounced cheekbones. She would have looked pretty, if she didn’t look like she was starving, as it was, her pale complexion gave her a zombie like appearance.

Wait until micro gravity is restored, Cullen said. No telling how she will react, seeing it’s her first time.

I guess you’re right, it’s not a mess I want to clean up, just the smell of the Glu-clyxen vomit is enough for me, Hienova said.

The Lieutenant opened the hatch and disappeared below. Cullen returned his focus to the reports on screen before him; they had used up sixty percent of their fuel reserves and would definitely need to top up their tanks before returning to Earth. The Columbus had left Earth rather urgently seven months before, the VIP apparently couldn’t wait six months for the next optimum flight window. Because of that, the Columbus had to burn more fuel than normal to reach its destination. Cullen was glad he was not paying the cost of this trip.

Captain, any idea why this VIP had to get to Mars so urgently? his co-pilot asked, voicing his own thoughts. Cullen looked up at his co-pilot Jengenny Sing; the young Lieutenant was dark skinned and looked to be of Indian descent, something Cullen had never bothered to confirm. This was only his second voyage, so his face still had a fair amount of body fat.

No idea Lieutenant. I just follow orders, Cullen replied.

It’s strange, I’ve never heard of Earth Gov breaking protocol on launch windows before, to launch a non-scheduled flight months out from the next window. There must be something big going on, Lieutenant Sing continued.

Best not to ask questions Lieutenant. We just do as we are told. Worrying is well above our pay grade. Cullen said, hoping his lieutenant was smart enough to mind his own business. The captain looked back at his console. Do you have that docking solution calculated yet? Cullen asked.

All worked out, Sing replied. We’ll be in coms range soon, I’ll have station control confirm before we come in to dock.

Twenty minutes later the Columbus had caught up with Mars station and was tracking for docking at collar six. Lieutenant Hienova returned with the VIP, a rather pale looking man in his early forties with reddish brown hair and hazel eyes. His complexion was normal for someone who had just come out of Cryosleep. It appeared he had come straight from the Cryosleep chamber as he still wore the standard issue jump suit.

Trust you are feeling well Inspector Sommers? Cullen asked.

I’ll be okay, thankyou Captain, Kyle replied. But please Captain, just Kyle will do, I never was much for titles.

In that case, I’m Cullen, this is my co-pilot Sing and my second Hienova you’ve already met. Cullen said, introducing his team. My navigation officer Chen is still in Cryosleep, he’s had a rough trip this time around so we decided not to wake him. You can sit at his station.

Thank you, Kyle shook hands with Jengenny, then paused as he noticed something through the canopy. Is that Mars station up ahead? Kyle asked. In the distance, near the horizon mark he could just make out the centric rings of Mars Station.

You certainly have keen eyes, Cullen replied. Yes, that’s Mars station. Beautiful sight don’t you think?

In a way, Kyle said, almost dismissively. So much has changed since I was last here. Last time it only had four rings.

Gee, you haven’t been here for a while then, Cullen said. The company had to extend it twice to cope with the inbound traffic from Earth. When the second station project was canned, they had no choice. We’ll be docking at collar six; you might want to be seated for that, don’t want to collide with walls and such. Cullen advised, a slight smile on his lips. Kyle pulled himself over to the navigation chair and strapped himself in. Hienova did the same at her station.

Slowly the Columbus caught up with the station and Kyle watched as Cullen’s crew brought the ship in to dock. He could see another five transport ships, sister ships to the Columbus, already docked. The twelve rings of the station all rotated around a central hub with enough angular momentum to generate point three of normal Earth gravity, a close match to Mars normal. Once the Columbus docked, a locking clamp moved into position, securing the transport to the station. Thrusters on the docking ring fired and the Columbus, along with the ring, began to slowly spin around the stations central axis. Slowly the ring gained angular momentum until it matched that of the rest of the station. This would provide sufficient gravity for the crew to carry out most tasks as they would on Mars.

***

Bethany awoke from Cryosleep to a world of pain. Her lungs hurt like she was drowning, and yet she had a sudden urge to throw up. She leaned to the side and expelled the fluid from her lungs and stomach alike. After seven months of Cryosleep, her body was expelling the antifreeze drug Glu-Clyxen. No one had told her she would feel this much pain when she woke up.

Again, her body was racked by convulsions as more fluid gushed from her lungs. This happened twice more before she could lift her head back up. The canopy of the cryo chamber was fogging up with her perspiration and the air now stunk of sputum. This was the ugly side of space travel.

She lifted her hand and wiped the condensation away. Through the crack, she could see the concerned face of her father. Her red hair was damp and clinging to her face, she had to wipe it away to see more clearly. Doing so forced her to blink several times, her hazel blue eyes seemed to glint each time. She smiled weakly at her father, he had said he would be there for her when she woke up.

The canopy opened and she took a deep breath of somewhat fresher air. It may be recycled, but it smelled a whole lot better than what she had been breathing. She reached out with her left hand and grabbed her father’s hand and held it tight. The Cryo chamber was a reclined bed that sat on retractable rails. When the bed was not in use, the chamber was retracted back into the wall, allowing the space to be otherwise used.

How do you feel? a woman asked from nearby. She turned her head and could see the doctor standing on the other side of the bed.

Better, that was painful, Bethany replied.

That’s normal I’m afraid, nature did not intend for humans to be frozen. Pain is the penalty we pay for defying nature I guess. Considering the alternatives, we should count ourselves lucky we survive the process, Hienova said. Can you tell me your name?

Bethany, she replied, unsure why the doctor had asked. She was sure she had told the doctor her name before leaving Earth.

And where do you live? doctor Hienova continued.

Bethany frowned, she did not understand the questioning. I don’t understand, why do you need to know that? Bethany asked.

Just answer the question. Where do you live? Hienova pressed, a trace of impatience in her voice.

Forty-One Mason Street Geelong, Bethany answered without thinking. No, that was not right, she no longer lived there. I mean, that’s where I used to live. We now live at 52 Crescent Way Cape York, she corrected. Can I ask why you are asking these questions?

Yes, you can, but first, who’s is the Chancellor of the Earth Gov Assembly? the doctor asked.

Bethany was puzzled by the question, she thought about asking why, but the look on the Doctor’s face made her think twice about that. She had to think hard about her answer, politics was not something she followed very well. She could remember the last chancellor, his name was Coldwell, but he was replaced recently, now what was her name? A name came to her but she was not sure if it was correct. Still, it was worth a try. Is it Chancellor Longmire? she asked.

The doctor smiled. You have a good memory Bethany. I’m happy to report that you have woken up without any obvious memory loss. The three questions are normal Bethany, we ask them of everyone to make sure they haven’t suffered any memory loss. If we find you have problems answering any of these questions, we know to put you under observation to make sure the memory loss isn’t a sign of anything worse to come, Doctor Hienova explained.

Oh, Bethany said, feeling a little silly. I’m sorry, I didn’t understand why.

It’s okay, you’re not the first person to wake up and give me trouble when I ask these questions, Hienova replied.

Bethany turned back to her dad. Are we at Mars yet? she asked.

We are in orbit; actually, we just docked at Mars station not more than thirty minutes ago. As soon as we both can get cleaned up, we can have a meal. Later we’ll board the drop ship for the surface. Till then we are stuck on board the station, her dad replied.

Kyle pressed a button on the wall and a section opened out revealing several storage cabinets. He found Bethany’s backpack and packed her things back in the bag, including her holloband. Lieutenant, is there someplace we can have a shower? Kyle asked.

Only on the station. Might be best if you pass through security and then go down to the communal showers. It is the first place we will be heading. By ‘we’, the doctor meant herself and the crew. If you will excuse me, I have to go assist with the revival of our Navigator. When you are ready, I’m sure Calvin can assist you with entering the station. Hienova turned to leave.

Thanks Lieutenant, Kyle said to her retreating back.

She has a strange bedside manner, Bethany said once the doctor was out of earshot.

She’s a military doctor, they rarely have any personality, Kyle replied. Come on, time we got moving. We both stink and need a shower.

***

The journey to the surface was not something Bethany wanted to repeat in a hurry. She knew she would have to endure worse on the return to Earth. Mars only had a weak atmosphere, but it was enough to make the ride turbulent. The light meal they had eaten on the station had threatened to reappear, and it was by willpower alone that she had stopped it from visiting. Eventually the drop ship passed the turbulent zone and began flying through the atmosphere under its own power. Bethany looked out the window, but there was not much to see, Mars was just a red planet. One hundred and fifty years of human occupation had barely put a mark on the planet’s surface. The colonists had learnt quick that building in the open was not ideal, the violent storms made short work of any construction. It was below the ground where mankind had started to make a mark.

The pilot brought them in to land in the shadow of Olympus Mons, the giant mountain created by a long extinct volcano. There, at its base, the mining city of Olympus had been constructed. It was also where Kyle was to meet with the subcontractor about construction delays.

Since humanity had first put boots on the red Martian soil, teams of scientists and explorers had worked hard to tame the harsh living environment. Most of the colonists lived below ground, there they found shelter from the sand storms and freezing temperatures of the surface. Over the years, industry had poured tons of carbon chain gases into the atmosphere, serving to trap the sun’s heat and raise the surface temperature, going from an average of minus fifty to minus ten. More was needed if man was ever going to walk the surface without the aid of a respirator or thermal heating, and this was why Kyle had made the long journey from Earth.

Once the drop ship landed, the pad dropped down into the facility below. As they descended, airtight doors sealed shut above them, and once they closed, the chamber began to pressurise while the pad continued to descend. A welcoming committee was waiting for them in the underground hanger. Kyle and Bethany were greeted by the facility manager, Hendrik Kloppers. A short skinny man who looked uncomfortable wearing a business suit. Bethany noted his deep blue eyes, a colour you rarely saw with black hair.

Inspector Sommers, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I trust your journey here was uneventful, Hendrik said, speaking with a slight German accent.

As good as can be expected, Kyle replied. This is my daughter Bethany, she will be staying with me. I expect you were informed she would accompany me.

Yes, Earth Gov said were bringing family. We have prepared a suite for you and your daughter, Hendrik said.

When can I begin my inspection? Kyle asked. I’m eager to see why construction is so far behind schedule.

I have organised for a tour of the facilities tomorrow. After that, I’ll have my chief engineer accompany you on your inspection. He can better advise you of the technical difficulties we have encountered in parts of Olympus Mons, Hendrik said. Now, if you will come this way, we’ll get you signed in and issued with identity passes. Hendrik pointed the way to the only exit. Kyle went to get his bags when Hendrik stopped him. I’ll have someone bring your luggage.

Very well then, lead the way, Kyle said. He turned to Bethany. Leave your backpack, he instructed. Bethany retrieved her holloband and followed her father. Hendrik led them through the exit hatch and down a dimly lit, concrete lined corridor and then through a second hatch door. What lay beyond truly amazed Bethany, it was a city below the ground. A massive airtight cavern had been hollowed out of the larva rock and the city of Olympus built within its confines.

At the entrance to the tunnel was the customs office, where Kyle produced their identity cards confirming their identification. The customs officer then took their photo, finger prints and a blood sample. The justice system on Mars was very efficient, all citizens had their DNA on record, it proved to deter violence and if there was a crime, DNA evidence would immediately point to the culprit. They were issued with passes for the colony and then Hendrik ushered them into a taxi that would take them to their hotel.

The mining company spared no expense on the hotel rooms they were assigned. Kyle and Bethany had adjoining rooms with an internal door for shared access. They quickly made themselves comfortable, with Bethany choosing to run a bath, a luxury she was not expecting. She checked it was okay to do so with reception before turning the water on, oddly, they didn’t seem to care what their VIP guests did. It was probably all in her mind, but she could still smell the taint of bile. She relaxed in the bath and enjoyed the hot soapy water, at one point she even lied back and indulged herself with the bath’s inbuilt spa function. Somehow, she found the bubbles tickling her back very relaxing.

Washed, she dressed in a nightie and sat down to watch a movie. Her dad came and joined her later and they sat and watched the holovision until it was late. It was the first time the two of them had sat and relaxed for some time. Bethany snuggled up to her dad and enjoyed the rare moment. She fell asleep with her head leaning against his shoulder. Not having the heart to move her, Kyle stayed and watched the end of the movie.

***

The next day Bethany and her father were met early by Hendrik for the tour of the completed tunnel work. By the end of the second hour, Bethany had seen the inside of enough tunnels to last a life time. Her father however, was an engineer by trade and took note of every detail. She could tell he was impressed by some of the engineering the Martian mining team had done, but for her, it was just boring concrete, rock and dust.

To her great relief, they got on board an electric car and Hendrik drove for the rest of the tour. She took the opportunity to take her holloband out and catch up on her studies. She put the band on her head and turned the device on. The system had been powered off for some time and took a few minutes to initialize. When the hollo grid finally came up she was greeted by her ageing AI Melna.

If Melna was human, she would look to be in her late sixties. For some reason the education department felt that students responded better to an older person of authority. So, the education program installed on her holloband used an elderly woman as her instructor. Bethany had come to like the ageing AI, if ageing was the correct term since AI’s technically could not die.

Melna greeted her with a welcoming smile. It has been a long time since I saw you last, Mistress Bethany, Melna said.

I’ve been travelling, Bethany replied. I thought I told you about that?

You mentioned something about a trip, but I had no idea you would be gone for two hundred and twelve days, Melna said.

Sorry Melna, I should have been more specific. My trip has been to Mars, Bethany replied.

Well that would explain the length of absence. So how was your journey to the red planet? Melna asked.

Uneventful. To be honest I was in Cryosleep for most of the journey, Bethany said.

It must be exciting for you? Melna asked.

Kind of, Bethany replied. There is a lot to see, and yet some of it is really boring.

Well, whenever you are bored, there is plenty of homework you should be doing, Melna said, hinting that there was work that Bethany should have done.

Bethany spent the remainder of the tour sitting in the back of the car doing her homework. Hendrik stopped several times, and at each stop the two men would get out to inspect the tunnel work, leaving Bethany to her studies.

At the end of the day, Bethany and Kyle were returned to their hotel room. Tomorrow her dad would be given an in-depth inspection with the lead construction engineer. So far, her father seemed satisfied with what he had seen, at least he seemed to be. To Bethany it was just tunnels dug in the ground, but to her father, those tunnels were part of the realisation of an idea he had put forward twenty years ago to help with the full colonization of Mars.

They sat down in their hotel room and ate a meal together while watching an old Sci-Fi classic movie on the holovision. It was about Mars and an ancient race of aliens that had been living under the surface of the planet and the first human colonists inadvertently declared war on the aliens. Most of the film was about hapless colonists being captured and experimented on. But in typical movie fashion the human race won the day by wiping the aliens out. Bethany wondered if first alien contact would ever be like that.

After the movie, she had a shower and went to bed, still thinking about aliens with multiple arms and legs conducting strange experiments on humans. As usual, her imagination ran away from her, manifesting in the worst possible alien she could think of, and the thought gave her nightmares. For the next few hours she tossed and turned, unable to sleep.

It was two in the morning when she gave up trying, she sat up in bed and reached out for her holloband. If she couldn’t sleep, she would catch up on social media and her friends. She spent the next hour checking her email and replying to her friends back on Earth. Now that her holloband had been turned back on, the hollonet had rerouted her email so she could retrieve it from the Mars network.

***

Bethany’s dad woke her at seven in the morning. They had to be at the excavation site by nine am. She showered, dressed and then joined her father at the dining table to eat breakfast. Bethany was still getting used to the idea of being a VIP, everything was brought to them, including breakfast.

She was still tired from the late night, she had eventually fallen asleep around three. It was unusual for her to have so much trouble sleeping, although, she did go thought a period of insomnia after her mother died. There was a time where she was afraid to go to sleep, she kept having the same recurring dream of holding her mother’s hand as she died, except that she couldn’t hold her hand as it was always just out of reach. Eventually she was put on medication to make her sleep, along with six months of therapy.

Breakfast was almost a banquet of eggs, bacon, toast, jam and even cereal with milk, all considered luxury items on Mars. If she had known how much the citizens of Mars had to pay for such items, she would have thought twice about eating any of it. Fresh meat and dairy were a luxury hard to find in the Mars colony, and nearly all luxury items had to be shipped from Earth.

Most of the colonists existed on a diet of soy bean products and other staples that were easy to grow under artificial light. It would still be many years before crops could be grown on the surface. There had been attempts at creating large green houses under plastic domes, but after many of them were destroyed by dust storms, agriculture moved underground where the environment was easier to control.

While meat was rare, there were a number of animal farms, mostly cows for milk production. For the most part, animals were just seen as another mouth to feed, something that consumed oxygen and produced more carbon dioxide to process. The cows had been introduced to help with crop diversity, they were seen as a way of dealing with excess plant matter from the soy bean production as well as other crops and they provided a valuable source of fertilizer. Milk was just a bonus.

Bethany helped herself to a slice of toast and poured herself a glass of milk. She munched her toast while listening to the morning news playing on the holovision.

Are you going to be alright by yourself today? Kyle asked.

Bethany looked up from her half-eaten toast. I should be; I have plenty of study to work on, she replied.

Kyle smiled, I’m sorry this is so boring for you sweetheart. I’ll make it up to you when we get back to Earth, he promised.

Bethany shrugged her shoulders in the way she did when she discussed such matters with her father. She knew her dad’s job was important. It’s okay dad, I understand, she said. Besides, I have lots of work to catch up on.

Kyle did not buy that for one minute. You can stay in the hotel if you like. I’m sure we can organise for a chaperone to show you around, Kyle offered.

No! Bethany said quickly. The thought of spending the day with someone she did not know scared her. I’ll be alright, it will just be like things were back on Earth. Find me a quiet room and I’ll get some work done. That way we can have lunch together.

Kyle thought for a moment, he had an almost sad expression on his face. You know, sometimes you remind me of your mother. Stubborn and unwilling to let me out of your sight. But, I guess after what has happened I can’t blame you. Alright, we’ll stick with the original plan. I’ll organise a quiet room at the construction site for you to spend the day in, Kyle said. He had hoped that Bethany would learn to relax a little and explore the world. He was sure she would have a great time if she took the tour.

Bethany finished her toast and milk in silence. Since her mother died she had become attached to her father to the point where she rarely let him out of her sight. The doctor said that separation anxiety was normal for a child who had lost a parent, the thought of losing the other parent was too much. But in Bethany’s case, she had also lost her brother Kane. That only worsened her anxiety. Kyle was aware of her condition and did his best to be there for her, back at the base he was rarely twenty metres from her at all times. In the first year after his wife died, Bethany had endured panic attacks if she lost sight of him for too long. The doctor had said to give it time. Eventually she would get over the loss and stop blaming herself.

While it had been hard on Kyle to lose his wife and son, he had tried to be strong for his daughter, worrying about her needs had helped him keep it all together.

***

Chief engineer Thomas Delaney arrived at the hotel at eight thirty in the morning. Delany stood at almost six feet, his hair was brown but had recently been bleached white. He had a warm smile that was offset by his deep set brown eyes. He advised the front desk clerk he was looking for Inspector Sommers. A few minutes later Bethany and her father came out of the elevator and into the lobby where Delaney was waiting for them. Bethany thought he looked the part, he was dressed in construction overalls and was carrying his hardhat. Given the location, It was hard to mistake who he was. You must be Chief engineer Delany? Kyle said as the man approached.

And you must be Inspector Sommers, Delany replied.

Please, call me Kyle, Kyle said.

Hendrik said you didn’t like titles. In that case call me Tom, everyone else does, Tom said.

Good to meet you Tom. We were expecting to be met by Hendrik, Kyle stated.

Hendrik asked me to pick you up on his behalf. He said he had urgent business to attend to, Tom explained.

I see, Kyle said. He hoped this was not a sign of how he was going to be treated on this visit. Well, hopefully you can get me up to speed with the problems you have been having. I still don’t understand the cause of the delay, or why the Olympus tunnel has been diverged by five degrees around Olympus Mons. Kyle said.

We’ve encountered rock the likes of which we didn’t expect. After we broke the tenth set of drill teeth on it, we chose to divert around it. Just cutting through ten metres of rock cost us ten times what we spent drilling the rest of the tunnel. I’m sure that five degrees of deviation won’t cause a problem in the grand scheme of things, Tom explained.

We’ll see, Kyle said. It is possible we may have to deviate five degrees on the other side and lay another track of super conduit to compensate.

Let’s hope not, Tom replied, he knew that his boss would not be happy to hear that plan. I’m sure you will get a better idea of what is required once we get down to the construction site. He stopped to look at Bethany. Is this your daughter?

How remiss of me, Kyle said. This is Bethany, she will accompany us out to the construction site, I’m hoping you have a quiet room she can use while you show me around.

Thomas shook Bethany’s hand. I was told you might tag along, we’ve cleared out one of the conference rooms for your use. I hope you will be comfortable there, Tom said.

I’m sure it will be fine, Bethany replied. I don’t want people fussing too much over me.

No trouble at all Miss Sommers, we just ask that you observe safety protocols while you are on site. Don’t go off wondering on your own unescorted, the construction site is a dangerous place, Tom warned. He lifted his hand indicating they should follow him. Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to get moving. I have to take you down for the safety induction first, that takes two hours unfortunately, company policy I’m afraid. Tom turned and led the way to his electric car.

Bethany put her backpack in the trunk along with her father’s briefcase. She sat in the back seat, while her father sat in the passenger seat next to Tom. Unlike Earth cars, the electric car was a self-drive. Bethany had found it a bit of a novelty to watch Hendrik do the driving yesterday, today it was nothing new.

Tom drove through the streets of Olympus city until they reached an exit tunnel leading deep into the red rock walls, there he pulled up at the security station, just outside the mouth of the tunnel. A guard came and stood by his window, waiting for him to wind it down.

Morning Jake, Tom said as the window retracted into the door.

Good to see you again Tom, who is this with you? Jake asked.

This is Inspector Kyle Sommers and his daughter Bethany. VIP’s from Earth Gov here for an inspection, Tom explained.

Ah, so you are the VIP’s we have been told to expect, Jake said. He looked from Kyle to Bethany. I’ll need your ID cards please.

Kyle reached into his pocket and produced his identity card for the guard to review, Bethany did the same and passed it forward. The guard check the documents over before handing them back.

Suggest you take the One Zero Six tunnel today; the One Zero Five is blocked for maintenance, The guard explained.

Again, I thought they fixed it for good last time? Tom said, exasperated.

Jake shrugged his shoulders. Not sure what the problem is this time, Jake said.

Well, it’s beginning to look like something I’ll need to step in and fix, Tom said. "We can’t have any of these tunnels out of action for prolonged periods. I’ll look into it Jake and make sure they fix it for