Chapter 1

Texarkana, Earth

Thursday, March 15, 2136

David Reed stood at semi-attention in front of his boss Michael Dalrimple, Plant Manager of Alexander Industries Red River ammunition manufacturing facility. The factory just west of Texarkana, in the Texas subsection of the state of North-Southern on the North American landmass, manufactured a small portion of the ammunition for sale to civilians and 25 percent of all the ammunition used by the WestHem Marines.

As general operations manager of the plant, David was responsible for all the ammunition manufactured in the plant. This included, the ammunition manufactured for the WestHem Marines. He quickly reviewed all his and his employees' actions for the last few days. He could not come up with a reason for the summons to Mr. Dalrimple's office.

As usual, David was trying to show absolutely no emotion. He was firmly convinced that showing any emotion was an invitation for disaster. Only cold, reasoned logic provided any protection from the dangers of the world.

Finally, Dalrimple broke the tension by saying. "David you have done an outstanding job as operations manager over the last four years and you deserve a reward. The assistant plant manager position at the New Pittsburgh ammunition plant will open in two months and I put in your name for it."

David noticeably relaxed his shoulders at this statement. Then he started thinking, New Pittsburgh, now where in the world is New Pittsburgh? For the life of him, he could not remember a New Pittsburgh anywhere in North America. Come to think of it, he could not think of one in South America either.

Just then, Mr. Dalrimple's voice cut through his thoughts. "Top management accepted my recommendation and you leave for Mars Monday morning."

Now Mr. Dalrimple had David's full attention. "What? How?" David asked.

The older man just chuckled and said. "The Company will buy your house for 110 percent of fair market value and deposit the money into the same account you use for your pay. The deposit should be in the account before your shuttle lifts from the Dallas/Fort Worth air and spaceport on Monday.

"Now take the rest of today off to pack. The movers will arrive to start packing your furniture tomorrow. It will be on the same ship as you."

In a daze David responded, "OK"

"They tell me that it's a 28-day trip to Mars this time of year. If you wait three weeks for the next ship, it will be a 33-day trip. The company needs you there for a one week orientation from the person you replace. Then she can return home."

Sounding very sincere Mr. Dalrimple continued. "Just remember David, I retire in five more years. Do a good job on Mars and you can be the plant manager here after I retire. Don't think of it as an exile, think of it as an opportunity."

From that last remark, David could tell that he had not completely kept his emotions out of his face. He did think of the assignment as an exile from Earth. In Alexander Industries, almost all assignments to Mars were the corporate equivalent of being sent to Siberia.

The one exception was the Plant Manager at the Martian armored vehicle plant. That plant manufactured all of Alexander Industries extraterrestrial armored vehicles. The plant accounted for 15 percent of Alexander Industries gross income and 18 percent of its net income.

David put on his best Team Player face. "Mr. Dalrimple I do not know how to thank you." But I will find a way sooner or later. "This promotion is the best thing that has happened to me in years." David lied.

"Now if you'll excuse me. I need to clear out my office, pack my clothes and straighten the house before the movers arrive tomorrow."

"No need to thank me, you earned it." With that, Mr. Dalrimple dismissed David.

Returning to his office, David was so deep in thought he did not even see his secretary as he passed her on his way into his office. The whole time he was trying to decide if this was really an advancement or the end of his career. David was so engrossed in his own thoughts he did not even remember to tell his secretary goodbye.

Quickly, David started separating everything into three groups: pack to ship, leave for the new operations manager, or throw in the trash. A lifetime of mementos lined the shelves and walls of his office, including his engineering degree from the University of Texas, his Certified Mechanical Engineering certificate from the WestHem Society of Certified Mechanical Engineers, and a commendation presented to him four years ago for reorganizing the production line. That commendation resulted in David's promotion to his current position.

What he didn't have on the wall was his divorce decree ending his three-year marriage. At twenty-nine, almost thirty years old, David was divorced and not even dating anyone. The divorce decree became final just after his twenty-fifth birthday and he never quite recovered from the bitterness of finding out his wife despised the ground he walked on.

She married him straight out of college for his earnings potential. Sheila, his ex-wife, decided after less than three years that David would never make senior management. So she left, to hunt for a husband who needed a trophy wife.

Well, now David had more interesting things to worry about. Should he pack all his furniture or should he replace some of it on Mars? What clothing and accessories would he need for the trip? What is the maximum allowable luggage for the trip?

His personal computer beeped announcing the arrival of his tickets and itinerary for the trip. Leave Texarkana airport at 7:45am Monday and arrive at DFW airport at 8:42am. That gave him three hours to go from the airport side to the spaceport side before his flight left for orbit at 12:02pm. David decided to eat lunch during the flight since it lasted an hour and forty-five minutes, before docking at Orbiting City of Departure. The last leg of the trip was a 6:00pm departure from the Orbiting City of Departure on the space liner, "City of Detroit."

"WSS City of Detroit", Earth Orbit

Monday, March 19, 2136

Sitting in the business class cabin aboard "WSS City of Detroit", David quietly reviewed the events of the last five days. Returning home after receiving the news of his promotion and move, David contacted Interplanetary Lines. The company controlled 28 percent of all WestHem interplanetary passenger travel and owned the "City of Detroit." The company specialized in transporting passengers and small containerized freight. They did not compete in the bulk cargo business.

Business class passengers could carry up to 100 kilos of personal items including shaving gear, toiletries, clothing, and reading material. Alexander Industries was paying to ship everything else in the cargo hold.

After arranging his travel plans, he contacted his parents at their home in Plano just outside Dallas. Plano was where David's parents had raised him. Like most of the residents of Plano, David's parents were professionals. His Father was a doctor and his Mother was a corporate attorney for North American Instruments.

Like his peers, David had attended a private school insuring his admission to the University of Texas. No one from a public school in the state of North-Southern attended college. If they were lucky they could buy their way into a technical school and get a factory job. Still, that was better than being trapped in public housing for the rest of your life.

David still remembered the call to his parents. It was like a good news, bad news joke. He started off by telling them he had a promotion and they both congratulated him. Then he told them the new job was on Mars. His Mother summed up both his parents' feelings by saying, "You're going to be trapped with those horrid greenies for five years. David what did you do to make Mr. Dalrimple that mad at you?"

That was a question David still did not have an answer for. In fact, David could not figure out if Mr. Dalrimple was mad at him or actually thought a promotion managing greenies would enhance David's career.

David's Mother was sure his career was over, but his Father thought David could still salvage his career by developing political relationships within the company. His Father did not know how you could do this from Mars. Although, he was sure there had to be a way to do it. As the old saying went: if "I owned both Hell and Mars, I'd rent out Mars and live in Hell."

The one upside was David did make a nice profit on the sale of his house. With it being a company required move, he did not even owe income taxes on the gain. If he had just decided to sell his old house and move, the tax would have been 45 percent of the gain.

The packers arrived Friday morning while David was still trying to decide what to keep and what to throw out. Their arrival made up his mind for him; anything not already in the trash was packed. It helped that Alexander Industries agreed to ship unlimited cubage and weight. They even packed his collection of non-electronic history books.

Few people knew that David had an extensive collection of hard copy books. The collection focused on the English Civil War, the American Revolution, the American Civil War, and World War III. He considered these events the major turning points of western civilization. If the Federal Law Enforcement Bureau ever found out about some of the books in David's collection they might pull his security clearance. In fact, the WestHem Government would ban some of these books if they knew there were still copies available. Those books now had new dust jackets with approved titles on the outside. No need to make the FLEB's job too easy.

David had packed his clothing for the trip Sunday. He remembered to take six suits and fifteen white shirts for the spaceship's dinning room. Fortunately, the ship had complete laundry and dry cleaning facilities. Monday morning just after 6:00 AM he arrived at Texarkana airport for his flight to DFW. Now Monday afternoon he was sitting in his cabin on the "City of Detroit."

Although, it was only 300 kilometers from his house in Texarkana to his parents' home in Plano, David did not have time to go home for even a short visit prior to leaving. That was a function of the time line for space travel. All WestHem civilian spaceships traveled in convoy with WestHem military ships. This protected both food transports and passenger ships from EastHem marauders. The next convoy leaving for Mars after this one would not leave for three weeks.

The public address system on the ship played a three-tone sound, followed by the Chief Steward's announcement that the ship would depart in 15 minutes and all visitors needed to leave immediately. The Chief Steward then announced that they would serve dinner at 1900.

David checked the ships schematic to locate the business class dining room. The ship had two other dining rooms; one for the premier class passengers and one for the interplanetary class passengers. As far as David could see, interplanetary class with its tiny cabins and triple bunk beds was just a fancy way to say steerage. If David ever reached the level of division manager, he might have a chance to travel in the luxurious cabins of premier class. At least the food in business class was supposed to be as good as premier class but with fewer choices.