The Martian Lie

Chapter 1

Mars – 3045

Chapter 1 – An Elaborate Scheme – Callie

When I was a little girl, my dad always told me never lie, and it's one of his directives I've always gone along with.

Until now.

I am in the midst of an elaborate scheme and it is making my skin prickle with anxiety. Having the importance of never lying told to me since I was tiny puts me in the position of being anxious now that I am definitely lying. Therefore, I decide to go for a walk along Valles Marineres to calm myself down. Something about nature always has that effect. Probably it is because Valles Marineres is so vast - bigger than my problems. Also, I reason that if humans managed to turn it from a giant, red canyon on a dead planet to a beautiful river valley teeming with life, then I can certainly solve my own insignificant dramas.

I sit on a bench, overlooking the valley. It's safe from this vantage point. No chance of falling into the quick, straight current below and and drowning. Upon careful thought, it seems silly the sightseeing platform and benches were so far from the river. I could have been right next to it and I wouldn't have fallen in - there is a force field surrounding it. The first settlers put it up after they lost a little boy into the river. Once someone falls into the manmade river, they can't be saved. It's too straight, too deadly fast, too efficient. Best not to take chances with any human lives. Other onlookers sit on nearby benches, looking down as well. I wonder if they are planning on lying to the most important people in their lives as well. Probably not, but when I feel a certain way I tend to think everyone else does, too. More likely, they're just musing on the perfectly lush green trees. Perfect because they were grown under the watchful eye of the first botanists and never subjected to natural disaster or disease. The perfectly lush trees in perfectly straight lines, leading down to the straight river. My view of nature.

It is a stunning sight to behold. A testament to man's abilities. Or, one man's - The Father. He started the terraformation. If I was even one one-hundredth of the human being he was, I could certainly become the architect of my own life.

Unfortunately, no matter how much I contemplate the vision before me, my mind isn't getting the message that my problems should be rendered insignificant. I guess humans truly are inherently self-absorbed. Which is precisely why we came up with all the rules. The rules I study at Valles Marineres University. The rules keep everything in check. Two Planets; One Mankind and all that. How Mars and Earth coexist.

Earth.

Ugh. This isn't working.

I give up and exit the sightseeing area and head back up the path to the station where driverless shuttles are waiting to pick people up and take them to their various destinations. Unlike the imperfect combination of busses, trains, personal automobiles, and planes I have studied that pass for transportation on Earth, the driverless shuttle system is a perfectly efficient convenience. I press my fingerprint into the pad on the nearest shuttle and the door snaps open.

Welcome, Callie! A computerized voice says.

"Thanks". I mutter. It's hard not to say "Hi", even when you know it's a fake voice.

I am Calanthe. Calanthe Agatha O'Hara in full. It was fashionable at the time I was born to name one's children anything of ancient Greek origin. My parents' generation, along with their own parents, were the first humans on Mars. Freshly migrated, they felt the weight of their role in human history on their shoulders. Understandably, they felt god-like. Ironically, everyone here hates Earth and everyone who remains there. But trends are trends and tend to ignore logic. I went to school with Delphinias and Homers. I was the only one who chose a nickname, Callie, and stuck to it. I found the whole idea of associating myself with an ancient society who worshipped Gods and Goddesses a little bit silly; no one else thought anything of it. I've always been a little bit different.