Elle lay comatose and corpse-like. A doctor examined her, but she wouldn't stir. The once elegant bedroom had been ransacked and shot through with random holes.
The doctor tapped out a few notes, and he backed out of the room.
In his den, Mack lounged back, watching Martian rugby.
"Bastard! No! Get him!"
The tournament took up an entire illuminated wall screen. Beer in hand, he shouted at the botched plays and slow progress moving the ball.
In the doorway behind, the doctor arrived. Cautiously, he whispered into Mack's ear.
"What? What? Just fix her with pills!"
The man's face stiffened and jittered back and forth. "She's not responsive. It may not be medication she needs."
Annoyed at the interruption, Mack paused the game. "Where did you go to school? Do some research. Find a treatment. It's what you people do."
"She's resistant and inconsolable."
Mack finished his beer bottle and smashed it against the side wall.
"Quack! Get out of my way." He stormed out and marched over to the bedroom. Disgusted with the mess, he approached their bed. "Elle?"
No response. He shouted at the top of his lungs, "ELLE! ...What am I going to do with you?"
Elle stared up blankly.
Back in the doorway, the doctor's hand trembled.
Mack shook his head. "I did everything you wanted me to, darling. You are the First Lady of Mars. What more could you want, you, insatiable, bitch! Get out of this bed! And be happy!!!"
He stormed away.
The doctor fled to the hallway.
Mack turned back. "What more do you want from life! Tell me! Say something!"
Elle's eyes floated softly to focus on Mack's silhouette in the door frame. A single tear dripped down her cheek.
"She's spoiled I suppose, doc. Spoiled rotten."
Mack returned to his den and un-paused his rugby match. He flopped down onto his large easy chair, and he sipped a fresh cold beer.
"Give her your latest pill and call me when there's results. I have a planet to oversee. Not an easy job mind you." He dismissed the doctor with a flick of his wrist.
Captain Seton rushed in. "Prime Minister?"
"What!!!"
"We think the scanners are on the fritz."
"Why?"
"They're not sure if there's massive activity, or nothing at all. They're in complete flux. We don't understand why. It's the long range scanners―"
Mack hit the pause button once again. "Without the technicals. What does it mean?"
Seton shrugged indecisively. "Well, either our defenses are being jammed and there's a massive army approaching from the northwest―"
Mack laughed with abandon. "Well rest assured it's your equipment because we're invulnerable."
"Invulnerable? Sir?"
"I'll be quite unmolested until the very rocks and sand rise up against me. Ha ha ha..."
"We're running complete diagnostics as we speak, but it will take a few―"
