The twelfth installment of my NaNoWriMo challenge: My Sister's Keeper, chapter fifteen. Words uploaded so far 19,400. total written is 24,100.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
They rode on the new Mars transportation system back to the main city area. Smaller versions of the Earth to Mars shuttles, they were the beginnings of the new Mars – a design years in the making starting to show fruition. At this time all they do is link the new construction area with the Mars' main urban hub, but as usual Esha had plans – big plans – for a roll out of these, to link various housing and working hubs spreading out from the central district. But first thing first, as she was want to say.
Designed to carry several hundred people at a time, today it found itself ferrying a significantly smaller load. Esha, Penny, a couple of security personnel, and the driver – the purpose of their trip being a quick visit to see the unfolding New Chapel development. Or so everyone thought. Everyone except Esha. It had certainly included enough of a scheduled stop to garner how the development was unfolding. And it was coming along at a pace that pleased Esha. It was a desperately needed urban structure. But Esha's visit held deeper significance.
“Did you know that New Chapel is being built on the original first settlement?” Esha asked Penny.
“No I didn't,” she replied. “I didn't notice any old buildings or structure. Is there anything left of them?”
“No, the site was abandoned over twenty years ago. The structures were never maintain after that. Nothing actually remains, except the remains of the old chapel.” Esha explained.
“That explains the name, I suppose.”
“It does, indeed.”
“And where was the old chapel? Is it within the new dome construction?” Penny asked.
“It's actually underneath it. They've designed a museum of sorts for it to sit within.”
“I don't recall Logan mentioning it.”
“He didn't. I checked the model for any indication. I have a well placed source within the construction team who has been keeping me well informed. But I needed to see for myself.” Esha said.
“Why didn't we go and see it?” Penny asked, becoming more curious about Esha's true agenda for the trip.
“I've seen video footage of it, so I know what it looks like. And I didn't want to alert Logan to anything. We did get some useful information from him. We didn't completely waste his time.”
“We did, didn't we,” Penny agreed. “I think the botanical gardens were a great idea.”
“Agreed. We'll support more of those in a heartbeat.”
Penny paused to look out the windows, as the shuttle flew back to the main city. The passing landscape made her think of the hardships the early settlers must have faced. No urban establishments had been set up in those early days. They had a few crude Earth-like structures built, and a a heavy reliance on their breathing equipment. The landscape was beautiful, Penny thought. But so harsh. From inside the comfort of the shuttle it could be appreciated and even admired. But it could kill a human in minutes, if they were left unaided. She wondered how she would have coped, if she had have found herself as one of those first settlers. She returned her attention to the conversation with Esha.
“Why does that old chapel interest you?” Penny asked. “Is it purely from an historical perspective, or does it hold deeper meaning for you?” Penny knew that Esha was one of the early settlers to Mars. But how early she relocated here was a mystery to Penny. And what, if any, was her connection to this place.
“I was here, back in those early days.” Esha explained.
“I did not know that,” Penny said. “I understood that you arrived on Mars along time back. I just never knew when, exactly.”
“There were a few people that arrived before I did. But not many. I came out here with my husband and two children. This was where we were based, together with the others.”
Penny eyes opened wide at the news that Esha had a husband and children. That was news to her. “I didn't realise that you had a husband and children.”
“Had being the correct tense,” Esha replied. “They all died.”
“I had no idea, I'm so sorry.”
“It happened a long time ago. And that old chapel - the one I have been talking about - that is their burial site.” Esha explained. Penny started to grasp the deeper significance of what this trip had been about. New Chapel wasn't just a brand new construction to showcase Mars' manufacturing capacity. It was actually a shrine – to her husband and children. And you think you know someone, Penny told herself. For all her hard edged appearance, and her tough talking political nous, when you strip back all the rhetoric Esha was as vulnerable as the rest of us, Penny thought. Were there two sides to her, and was the tough talking ruthlessness just a pretense, a cover to keep people at a distance? Penny was starting to feel that this trip had taught her more about her boss than all the previous years of working for her.
“Do you mind if I ask what happened?” Penny asked Esha.
“There was a failure in the settlement's air supply system. I was out on a scouting mission at the time, so I had a portable supply. By the time I got back it was too late. There was nothing we could do for them. We did try. There were four of us left, until they sent the next lot of settlers, but that was months later. We had moved to a new location by then. Not far from where the main settlement is now.”
Penny watched Esha closely, hoping to see some display of emotion. But she is so cold, Penny thought. Nothing, like she is explaining an historical event to me. But I don't disbelieve her, there is something to it – to her – perhaps it's the eyes, she thought. Whatever it is, there is a truth there, but she has her emotions buried under a mountain of rock. What happens when a crack appears in that emotional covering, she wondered. Will Esha even be able to cope?
“How many people know that story?” Penny asked, curious as to why she had never heard about it. “I thought the first settlement was the one you mentioned just before, the one near the main city.”
“Enough people know it,” Esha explained. “It isn't a state secret. But it ruined the other three. They've never been the same since. In a way I am the only survivor.”
“Are the other three still on Mars, or did they return to Earth?”
“They all remained. They worked hard, building the new settlement. But they were never the same after that. In a way I can't blame them. It nearly broke me too. But I was determined that if it was a battle between me and this planet then I would win. I would help conquer and tame Mars. I am still very much determined to accomplish that task.” Esha explained, giving Penny a deeper insight into just where that political ambition came from. It's Esha versus Mars, she thought. And we're all just here for the ride, at least until one of them breaks.
Penny started to wonder why, after all these years, Esha was now starting to reveal a deeper aspect of herself. She was starting to unravel a part of her core, and share it with Penny. It had never happened before. And I don't mind it at all, she thought. Has she had an epiphany? Does she finally trust me, as a friend and confidant? Or will she just wake up tomorrow as if nothing happened and return to business as usual? Penny smiled to herself as she thought about just how difficult a woman Esha was to pin down.
“I don't know what it is, but I feel a change is coming,” Esha said, as if answering Penny's inner silent question. “Perhaps the New Chapel construction will help to finally lay some ghosts to rest.”
“If nothing else you are completing the settlement they began all those years ago,” Penny said.
“It's a grand settlement too, isn't it?” Esha said, starting to sound quite pleased with herself. “I've always loved the main city we built. And of course it has expanded somewhat over the years as we added new extensions. And as we developed new technologies to deal with the Mars terrain. But the New Chapel site holds a special place in my heart, as you now understand why. Those lives lost may become forgotten over the years, but their legacy is what I hope to preserve. And I just had to see it for myself, what was being built there. To make sure their memory wasn't being insulted.”
“And are you pleased?” Penny asked.
“I am. And once we fill it with new people, with all those new children, and helping to establish new families in that city, it will truly represent what that old settlement was aiming to achieve. Maybe then I will feel like I have achieved something.”
Penny started to feel it too – the change Esha spoke of. Perhaps it was just her enthusiasm for the new city, and what she hoped it would achieve. Or perhaps it was something more. A burial of the old, a healing and renewal of sorts. A chance to welcome in the new. Perhaps Mars truly could be the new centre of human activity after all. Penny started to wonder whether Esha was in fact more of a prophet than a politician.
Chapters One and Two (Part One)
Chapters Three and Four (Part Two)
Chapters Five and Six (Part Three)
Chapter Seven (Part Four)
Chapter Eight (Part Five)
Chapter Nine (Part Six)
Chapter Ten (Part Seven)
Chapter Eleven (Part Eight)
Chapter Twelve (Part Nine)
Chapter Thirteen (Part Ten)
Chapter Fourteen (Part Eleven)
This fiction is my own work, written for Steemit
Image Credit: Unsplash.com
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