EarthFall

Chap 23 Kill count

They walked for some time in circles around the field of the cave's mouth.

"How do you know of the Cyanococcus, if you never had any special studies assigned?" Carson asked.

"The what?"

"Blueberries."

"Oh, Gaia has knowledge of all the Old World names. He teaches them to anyone interested in learning them. He doesn't visit the encampment so much lately though... I think the soldiers' reverence makes him uncomfortable. They treat him like a god. Anyways when I came across my first bush, I loved them so much that Gaia offered to grow some mushrooms with a similar taste for me. Apparently, this elevation is too high for the real thing."

"Why do you call yourself Abel?" Carson asked.

Abel was quiet for a moment.

"After sabotaging a number of missions bent on destroying Gaias biofactories, it was apparent that I was dealing with... clones of myself and previous team members. Through my Command helmet, I learned their names and titles. Command likes to change the middle name of each batch, and leave the rest the same for simplicity's sake."

He shrugged.

"Abel was my middle name. No other clones shared it. What's yours?"

"Ezekiel."

They walked on. Abel soon turned into a fountain of curiosity when Carson mentioned Mars.

"Are there really women... prostitutes on Mars? Do they really... sell their bodies to the highest bidder? Are they... suitably protected from unwelcome clientele?" Abel asked nervously.

"Yes. The ones I've encountered seem quite happy. There are a number of failsafes protecting them from exploitation, including personal guards and silent alarms that are keyword activated from the rooms."

"You've been there personally?" Abel asked, his eyes growing wider.

A memory from years ago popped into Carson's head. Terson Stormwhile, their toxicology expert and the best Cook Carson had ever known, screaming at the door of the come-easy. It had been a long night of drinking, and they were broke, but that didn't stop Terson from wailing on the steel doors of the Brothel, exclaiming that she wanted "some dick", and she was entitled to it as a representative of mankind and as a military member of Mars Command.

It had taken some smooth talking to convince her to retire for the night to the lower levels. Smooth talking, and promises of pooling their allowances together so that she could get twice the amount of dick next month. She had passed out in the elevator, and they were forced to carry her to her chambers, dodging the patrols along the way.

The next morning, she listened to the story in disbelief.

"I don't appreciate these wild accusations, Cadets." Was the last thing she had said before they showed her the pictures they had taken, posing with her in various ridiculous positions. Photographic evidence was important, at times like that. Trust was, after all, a very important thing to foster in such a small crew.

Carson smiled. It had been a simpler time. Then he answered before he could get lost in his thoughts.

"Yes, I've been there." He answered. "Have you never been with a woman?" Carson asked suddenly out of curiosity.

The explanation was depressing. Apparently, Abel and his crew were treated like soldiers without leave. Worse, they were isolated from real people, so that they only socialized with themselves. Any fraternization, even between Men ended with the person in question disappearing, never to be found again. Abel's team had 4 disappearances when they were teenagers. No one tried to get intimate after that, he explained.