EarthFall

Chap 25 Home sweet home.

One week later.

If he was being completely honest with himself, the last week had been the best week of his life. He had done nothing but eat and collect new foods, explore fantastic ecosystems, and make love every night. He hated to see it end.

He looked out the door of Maia's ship as it folded up into itself slowly. It might be the last time he would set eyes on Earth again. He stared out at the green field, then up at the blue sky, as the door slowly drew closed.

Carson sat shirtless still, in his trousers holding his rifle. He had decided to let Abel wear Talsons exo-suit, the only spare they had. The others had argued against it, but Carson's gut said it was the right thing to do. He had spent enough time in that thick, black onesie.

"You know where we're going?" He asked one last time.

"Yes." They had given her Chief's command codes, and she had used them to gain access remotely over Mar's network, in order to accurately make the jump calculations. And so by extension, she had access to the surveillance Cameras. She angled her screen up at them and displayed a familiar picture. It showed a military armory, Carson would have recognized it even if there weren't the words HUD LEVEL 3 stenciled on the walls.

"This place, correct?"

"Yep. How old is that footage?"

"The transmission delay is currently 24 minutes from here to Mars."

Time to pray no one was there now... He looked around at his Crew. They all nodded with grim determination.

"Lets go." Carson said.

"Lets..." Maia said.

The door began to roll down, revealing dark, red, rusted stone walls. They stepped out into the dirty Armory. It was disorienting. His mind told him it made no sense. That he was going crazy. But it was undeniable. They were on Mars.

"Ok. Everyone knows the plan. Maia stays with the ship, but will be in contact through our Comm's, so make sure they're on at all times. Me and Brianna will look for Doc. You guys go up near the surface, and try to make contact with the civilians. Load up on supplies, we meet back here in 1 hour. And remember. No casualties if it can be helped. Grab some stun grenades, just in case."

They moved quickly, grabbing grenades and fresh charge cells from the Armory. After they had stocked up, Tucker, Cornelius, and Abel all grabbed large sacks of produce, slung them over their shoulder.

They boarded the elevator, and began the journey upwards.

"Do you read Maia?" Abel tested the Comm's. Her voice came across crisp and clear.

"I read... you Abel. Wave at the camera."

Abel looked up at the Camera on the elevator and waved. He imagined the heart attack Talson would have had if he knew what Carson used his command codes for.

At the first stop, Carson and Brianna stepped off the elevator. They saluted the boys as the grated door closed.

"One hour!" Carson shouted up at them as the elevator began to rise, taking them out of sight. He sighed, thinking of someone else wearing his face up there. Hopefully they behaved and stuck to the plan.

"Come on. Let's get moving." Brianna said.

Carson grunted in agreement and they set out through the corridors.

They got lucky, and didn't run into anyone on the way to Doc's quarters. They arrived shortly.

BANG BANG BANG Carson knocked on the steel door.

"Who in god's maroon Mars is up at this... Come in!!" They heard the doctors shout from inside.

Carson signed Brianna with his hands "I'll go in first. No arguments." Then he pushed the door open.

The doctor was fussing with something, some kind of ancient firearm. A projectile weapon, if Carson wasn't mistaken.

When he saw Carson walk through the doorway, he suddenly raised the pistol at him.

"The hell is this? Am I slated for cleanup? I'll have you know I've made preparations!"

Carson put his hands up in the universal sign of surrender, and very, very slowly reached into his pocket. He pulled out the battered Rosacea he had been holding onto for the past week.

"You said you wanted one, right?"

Doc's eyes widened. He lowered the relic and set it on the table.

"A Rose by any other name..." He said. Then he walked over to Carson, and embraced him in a giant bearhug. He noticed Brianna behind Carson.

"Goodness! How many of you are there? Come inside! Come inside! They had said you all died, that the air was too toxic and they hadn't prepared the respirators in the suits well enough to handle it. That's what's going all over the news right now."

They stepped into his quarters and shut the door behind them.

"Did you know?" Carson asked quietly.

The doctor sighed and raised his glasses, rubbing his eyes.

"I know you shouldn't be here. That HUD Command was determined to cover up any existence of the Clone programs. So how did you get back? How many are there?"

Carson ignored him.

"Did you know about Earth?"

There was no sign of recognition in the Doctor's eyes.

"What is shipment Z?"

Doc narrowed his eyes.

"What did Talson tell you?"

"He said you were one of the good ones." Carson replied. Doc looked down at his feet. But then he nodded his head slowly.

"Talson said that, did he? So... I assume he's no longer with us."

Carson nodded.

The Doctor shook his head solemnly.

"Shipment Z was the last batch of clones from Titan to be delivered. I don't know where. They were... they were all young clones, 11 years of age. I tried asking what they were going to do with them, if there were going to be any more missions to Earth. They answered by wrecking my laboratory equipment on Titan and telling me I should take a long vacation. That was a week ago."

"11 years old? And you have no idea where they were taking them?" Carson asked.

"No." Doc shook his head regretfully.

"Commander Hail Woodspen gave the order. He handles all the Human cloning affairs. Along with everything else, in HUD Command, apparently."

"Commander Hail... if anyone knows the truth about Earth, it's him." Carson said. Brianna nodded in agreement.

"What truth? What do you mean? How did you get here?" Doc asked.

"The Earth is a literal paradise now. We made friends with the Ai that made it that way, and it teleported us here."

Carson said simply.

"Impossible... the radiation... it should be hundreds more years before... What Ai?? You say you made friends with it??"

The Doctor narrowed his eyes in absolute, utter disbelief.

Brianna reached into her bag and held out an Orange.

"Try this." She said.