The Martian Lie

Interludes

Interludes

I – The Worried Father

Henry O'Hara received the call at noon on a Tuesday, after his daughter had been gone for six weeks. Five weeks longer than she claimed she was going to be gone; five weeks since everything he so firmly believed about her was shattered.

His little girl was a liar - that much was certain.

He had tried mightily to get it out of his mind in the past 35 sols. Had thrown himself into his work. Had begun training for a marathon in the evenings. Cooked new recipes for dinner. Cooking always made him forget his worries.

Except now he just remembered the evening while he chopped onions and she told him she would never go to Earth to mingle with those savages.

He was yet again reliving this when the clock struck noon and his telecommunications screen lit up simultaneously with the riiiing of a telephone. A real telephone had never existed on Mars, or even on Earth for hundreds of years, but old habits die hard.

Bureau of Interstellar Affairs lit up on the identification portion of the screen, and a very grim looking man's face lit up the rest of it. The man was sitting there in the awkward pose someone always gives when they know they are about to be seen on screen but it hasn't happened yet.

Bureau of Interstellar Affairs? Henry O'Hara wondered about this. He couldn't place that particular Bureau; had never heard of it, in fact. That didn't mean much - there was a lot of bureaucracy in running an interplanetary utopia. While he was told he was important, indispensable even, he suspected he was just a cog in a gigantic machine he didn't fully understand.

"Answer," He commanded the computer. Having been transfixed by the sheer randomness of this phone call, he hadn't thought about its contents yet. If he had, he would have realized immediately that it had to be about his daughter.

"Mr. O'Hara?" The grim face didn't become any friendlier when it spoke.

"Yes sir. Here sir." Henry felt the need to be formal to this face.

"I'm afraid we have some bad news."

"About?" Although even as he said this, the puzzle pieces came together. Interstellar - Bad News - Official Looking Man. In fact, they came together very similarly to the ones in Callie's head when she realized there was a rebellion on Earth - one she was caught inside of. They were more alike than they cared to admit.

"I regret to inform you that your daughter and her tour group have been apprehended by Earthling rebels. We are taking the situation very seriously and will be rectifying the solution shortly."

"What do you mean, taken?"

The man cleared his throat and gave what seemed to be a rehearsed speech. "Sir, it seems there is an underground rebellion of sorts on Earth. It became apparent to them there were Martians in their midst, and they took them in for questioning. Unfortunately for them, they are not nearly as well-equipped as us, and they should have known better. We have pinpointed the students' exact locations and will be apprehending them back to Mars as soon as humanly possible."

Henry did not know what to say other than thank you, so that's all he said. The man was already ending the communication as he said that.

Later, as he thought about it, he realized he didn't have much in the way of detail. Only a reassurance it would all be taken care of for him, just like everything else in his life.

None of this sat well with him.

II – The Scorned Mistress

Roark was in love with Sienna, but he couldn't marry her, although she begged for it. Please baby, make an honest woman of me. She would say it with a smile, hair falling about her face while she looked down at him, before she gave him exactly what he wanted without the honesty.

And he wanted to, honestly. But she was a daughter of a man who worked on Supply Line 1, a lowly coal-miner. How could he explain that one to the public? Some would likely find it romantic, the other average working men would for sure. But the people he needed to impress? The ones in high places whose backing he needed for his plan to eliminate the Martians? Not so much.

He would never marry her, but he would keep her around because he loved her. If she ever betrayed him, he would lose his mind. She was good for his ego. She listened to him and accepted him for who he was. She, beautiful, and continually saying things like, you've had such a hard day, what can I do for you? He had fallen for it all hook, line, and sinker.

"Bell questioned one of the Martians today. I watched through the two-way mirror."

"Oh?" She murmured, stroking his arm, inviting him to say more.

"Yeah, she was insolent. Just kept claiming she was on tour. Said she wasn't trying to get any special information. Says her people have no ill will toward us."

"Is she lying?"

"I wanted to give her a chance to tell the truth on her own before I figure that out. Bell wouldn't have the heart to do it, but I could manage." He said this pointedly, referring to a conversation they had had awhile back when he explained to her the torture methods countries used to use on their enemies and why certain circumstances necessitated them.

"You would do that? Those methods haven't been used in centuries. The scrutiny it would invite if the public found out?"

"They won't find out. I have my ways. I don't know how else to accomplish it."

"Whatever you think is best, love."

He stared into her eyes and stroked her hair, so glad she understood. Not everyone was like her.