Old Mars

After that, there was a gathering of the rest of Rekari’s family from every point on the arc, his wife, his younger brother and his wife, and their two children. A table and stools were brought out, and cups of an herbal drink that both humans and Martians liked, mint-flavored and faintly alcoholic. Dave could see the curiosity on the faces that surrounded him, but only the nephew, who had been little more than a knee-high nuisance when Dave left, was impolite enough to ask about Earth. Settling himself with a cup, Dave talked about the cities, the crowds, the school, and his teachers, trying to give an overview of the experience, and they seemed willing to listen as long as he wanted to go on. Eventually, though, Rekari called a halt, saying that Dave was too tired to keep talking. Adult Martians were generally good at reading humans—much better than humans were at reading them—but Dave actually felt less tired than before his meal. But he knew that if anyone had answers to his own questions, it was his father’s Martian business partner.

“I think we should speak in the office,” Rekari said, raising a hand in a gesture that meant to wait a moment. He ducked inside one of the cottages and came back with a green Martian lamp. There wasn’t much left of the old civilization, but the sun-loving lichen that the ancients had either discovered or created were still around, and they could be persuaded to give a little light back for a few hours every day if you knew exactly how to treat them. Rekari had tried to teach Dave the trick, but he had always ended up overfeeding them, which stifled their light.

“I have a flash,” Dave said, patting one of his jacket pockets.

“I’m sure you do,” said Rekari, but he took the lamp anyway.

In the office, Rekari closed the front door and set the light on the long table that served as a desk and a display surface for maps. He brushed the dust from his usual chair and sat down. Dave took his father’s chair and waited. He knew that Rekari would eventually get around to telling him what he wanted to know, and there was no use trying to rush him. Martians always took their time.

Rekari folded his long fingers on his knee. “Did you find school on Earth to be useful?” he asked.

Dave had spent his undergraduate years at Syrtis University, where his teachers were all his father’s former students, and he had been satisfied at the prospect of earning his doctorate there. But his father had insisted that the Earth experience would make him a better archaeologist, even though on Earth he would be working at digs that had already been thoroughly explored by several generations of Ph.D. candidates. In the end, he realized that his father had been right. The range of knowledge of his teachers on Earth was astonishing, and they were more than willing to mentor the son of Dr. Benjamin Miller.

“Yes,” Dave said. “Extremely useful.”

Rekari’s hands moved in the Martian sign of approval. “Your father was pleased that you went. One of his old friends there wrote to him and said you were doing well.”

Dave waited.

Rekari seemed to be studying him. At last, he said, “Your father was ill.”

Dave felt a chill run up his back. It was bad news, then. “What do you mean?”

“His heart was not functioning properly.”

“He seemed fine when I left.”

Rekari made the Martian negative sign. “There were pills to help, even before you left.”

Dave frowned at him. “You should have told me.”

“The doctor said there was nothing to be done beyond the medication. A procedure on Earth might have helped, but the doctor was not certain your father would survive the journey. And your father did not wish to waste the ticket on himself.”

“I would have given it to him, gladly.”

“He knew that.”

Dave sighed heavily. His father had always been so stubborn. “You really should have told me.”

Rekari’s voice was low. “That may be, but he did not wish it.”

Dave understood, but it was so frustratingly Martian. They had immense respect for their own elders, and that spilled over to the humans they knew best. You just didn’t cross an elder if you were a Martian. That was why Rekari had gone along on so many expeditions even when he didn’t believe they would result in anything.