Old Mars

The next thing he knew, someone was ringing the office doorbell, which was hand-operated by twisting a knob and did not rely on the nonexistent utility power. He blinked the sleep from his eyes and sat up. The windows were even darker than before—night had fallen. He lurched off the bed and stumbled to the office, where the lamp had faded almost to nothing. Pulling the flash out of his pocket, he went to the door and pulled it open.

It was Jacky, with her own flash held beside her hip. Behind her, a few soft lights in the buildings across the street were the only other illumination. “Still interested in chicken?” she said.

He blinked a few more times and realized he was very hungry. He nodded.

“Come on over,” she said. “I’ve got beans and tomatoes, too.”

It sounded great. “I’ll be there right away.”

Three other people were gathered for the meal. Dave knew them all—old-timers, friends of his father. He didn’t know if he should tell them his father was dead. He decided he couldn’t face that conversation yet, so instead, they traded some small talk, including some about Earth, then Dave excused himself and paid his bill.

“Going out to help your dad, are you?” Jacky said as she took his creds.

“Where’d you hear that?”

“Rekari’s boy stepped the mast today. That means a launch. Pretty convenient.”

“Well, maybe I’ll go for a sail,” said Dave. “Just to see how things have changed in two years.”

Jacky laughed. “Nothing ever changes here.”

Dave pointed over his shoulder in the general direction of the canal. “There’s the wheat.”

“It’s like the cycle of the seasons,” said Jacky. “It gets a little warmer, the water rises, it gets a little colder and it falls back. There won’t be any wheat.”

Dave shrugged. “Wheat means new settlers, new homes. There’ll be things to see.”

“And lost cities to hunt.” She winked at him and turned to another customer.

He was still tired after eating, so he decided to go back to bed, and when he finally woke, just before dawn, he felt better. The shower was unusable due to the lack of power, but there was a bucket in the side shed, and he was able to scoop up water from the canal, dissolve a disinfecting tablet in it, and sluice himself off. He changed to some reasonably fresh clothes from the duffel and tucked the sunstone under his shirt. By then, Jacky’s place was open for breakfast, and her flatbread and peanut butter tasted very good. Dave went out feeling ready for just about anything.

About a hundred meters down the street was Mike’s Power Shop. He had a few motors in stock, adaptable to boats for people who thought sails were too slow—there were always a few, especially newcomers. Newcomers were more likely to have money, of course, while those who had been on Mars awhile had a tendency either to tap their relatives for help or to offer barter. Mike was more than happy to sell his best for Earth creds and to throw in a full charge. He loaned Dave a cart to take it down to the Martian quarter.

Burmari was waiting for him. The boat was already on the slide that would carry it into the canal, the sail was mounted but still tightly furled, and the brackets for the motor had been installed.

“It will tolerate a motor,” said Burmari, “but it will not move as beautifully with one.” Martians did not care for motors; they weren’t using any when the first Earthman arrived, though most archaeologists believed that their ancient ancestors must have had them. How could they have achieved such a high civilization, they argued, without that kind of power? But Dave always remembered that the ancient civilizations of Earth had used the power of human and animal labor and nothing else. And the pyramids still stood—he had seen them with his own eyes.

“It won’t move as beautifully,” he agreed, slipping the motor into the brackets and closing the latches. The screw rested just below the surface of the water. “But sometimes it’s all right to sacrifice beauty for speed.”

Burmari’s polite expression did not betray how little a Martian would believe that.

Rekari emerged from the house at the far end of the arc. “Did you sleep well, David?”

“Very well,” said Dave.

“And when do you wish to begin the journey? As you see, the boat is quite ready.”

“We have to lay in supplies.”

“The work of a morning for me,” said Rekari. “Is that possible for you as well?”

“I’ll find out.”

“If so, we can leave after the midday meal.”