December 39
"Three weeks to the new year." thought John, "then another three months and we're on our way." It was easy for his mind to wander; commenting code was not terribly interesting.
With the addition of another day, December was now 60 days long, and as the Earth pulled away it was bound to get longer. John thought this was a silly way to manage the calendar. "I wonder when we'll start bringing in new months. It's rather strange having one month twice as long as the others." He typed in the description of a global structure, what it was used for and where it was set. "Course Mars started out with 22 months, each 30 days long, so they had no qualms about adding more months as the planet's year grew longer. But when the calendar comprised 100 months, they stopped, and added days to the months as necessary." He scrolled down the page, looking for code that was not, in his opinion, self-evident. "I don't think the Martian months have names any more, or if they do, nobody uses them. People on Mars talk about the date 17/35, meaning month 17 day 35. I'll have to get use to that." He entered some comments at the top of a subroutine. "Maybe Earth should take a lesson. But why wait for 100 months? Just keep the original 12 and let them grow as necessary. But make them grow evenly. Don't pile all the days onto December! You have to build evenly in Monopoly, don't you?"
His musings were interrupted by the phone on his desk. The call came from his house.
"Hi Maggie, what's up?"
A male voice answered. "This isn't Maggie, and if you want to see her alive again, you'd better get home right away. Just you, no police, nobody else."
The caller hung up with a click. John sat stunned for 30 seconds, the phone in his hand, then he slammed it down and ran out of the office. He called a car and got home as fast as he could. Running inside the house, he saw a man with a gray jacket and gray hat sitting at the kitchen table, watching something that resembled a portable tv set.
"Come in." he called. "Glad you could make it on such short notice. Sit down." He turned the tv towards John. "There's your pretty wife, held in a frame at the focus of a parabolic mirror. It's kinda hard to see the reflections, but those are mirrors behind her and at either side. In front of her is a shade, blocking the sun. All I have to do is make a call and the shade slides back. It won't take her long to cook in this summer heat. Oh, and I've also arranged for some audio, so you can hear her scream."
John sat down, trying not to panic. "Act like a king." he thought to himself. Maggie was naked, staring straight ahead at the black shade. Sweat matted her hair and dripped down from her face onto her breasts. Even in the shade, it was terribly hot. A metal cage restrained her movements, and she looked like an animal caught in a trap.
"I can see that she's alive. What do you want?"
"I like that," laughed the visitor, "right to the point. For now I just want answers, and if even one of them is a lie, she's done for. Oh, and don't try anything; if my friends don't hear from me in a half hour they'll remove the shade." He leaned back in his chair as though he had all the time in the world. "My name is Hoss, and I'm Squanto's handler." He pulled out a rubber hand. "This is her handprint. I use it when I want to assume her identity. I also have samples of her voice." He put the fake hand next to the tv. "Well I hadn't heard from her in weeks, so I tried to contact her, and nothing. My fault I suppose, what with the holidays and all. I should have checked in earlier. Anyways, nothing. So I get in a car and pretend to be her. I've never seen so many preset destinations in my life! Apparently she had customers all over town. One of the preset locations was your workplace, the back entrance. So I look through her travel logs. The last trip she took was to that entrance. She can't leave on foot, not in this heat, so either she's been in that building for weeks, or she left as a passenger in somebody else's car, or she's dead."
"Thousands of people work there. How did you connect her with me?"
Hoss took out a copy of Squanto's money card. "I took a chance and called up her last transaction. Now I hate to tap into anybody's money card. They're really cracking down on suspicious activity. If I happen to use it, and she uses hers a few minutes later, and we're 100 miles apart, the system freezes the account, and we have a lot of explaining to do. So I don't like to tap into my clients' accounts unless I have to. Anyways, I took a quick peek at the last transaction, and it was a huge payment, to you."
"I'm impressed." said John. "Well I'll tell you everything you want to know, but I want her released." He pointed to the tv set.
"I'll release her when I'm good and ready. Now start talking."
"I took Squanto's money by force, then I killed her. I'll show you the transactions, but before I get into the details, there's something you should know." John pulled out her money card and brought up the logs. "I don't know if you realize it, but she was making millions."
Hoss took the card from John and looked through the accounts, just as Senator Hastings had done three weeks earlier. "I had no idea. Were all these people buying tickets to Mars?"
"I think so."
"You know, I was suppose to get 15% of everything she made. The little witch barely gave me 1%, not even that!" He slammed the card down on the table. "So you cleaned her out and killed her. Good. She owes me money, and you're going to settle the debt. I'll give you a total in just a second." He picked up the card and activated the on-board calculator.
"I've already spent most of that money," explained John, "and I think you should see where." He pulled out his own money card, typed in his access code, and showed Hoss the relevant transaction. "Millions of leppas to Senator Hastings."
Hoss stared at the transaction for over a minute. "You jump right to the top, don't you?"
"He said he liked my style. Said he might be able to get me a seat on the senate. Oh, and one more thing - he said anyone who messes with me or my family is in a world of hurt."
Hoss swallowed hard. He knew what the Senator had done to some of his enemies. "Excuse me for just a minute." He pushed a button on the front panel of the tv and spoke.
"Sam."
A voice answered from the tv set. "Yeah."
"Take Maggie back inside, get her cleaned up, give her a cool drink, and send her home."
"Yes sir."
"And tell her this was all a misunderstanding, and nothing like this will ever happen again."
"Yes sir."
Hoss turned off the tv. "She should be home in a couple hours, and I do apologize. I didn't realize..."
"Quite all right." said John. It was time to play the role of good cop. "Tell you what, to show you there are no hard feelings, let me give you at least some of what Squanto owed you."
"Oh no," stammered Hoss, "you don't have to do that."
"Just a little something." John types some numbers into his money card and laid his finger on the scanstrip. "But I'd like you to do something for me in return."
"Name it."
"We may be able to work together in the future, but for now, I need to understand what the Senator has in mind for me. So just leave me be for a few months. You can contact me again in May or June if you like." He passed the card over to Hoss.
Hoss smiled as he looked at the number in blue. "That will be fine." He typed in his account number and took the rest of Squanto's money.
John took his card back and put it in his pocket. What did he care about money anyways? Earth currency was worthless on Mars. Best to spend it now, to keep his family safe.
Hoss gathered up his belongings, including the small tv set.
"Don't forget the hand." John pointed to the replica of Squanto's hand on the table. "Wouldn't want any incriminating evidence lying about, in case the police come snooping around."
"Of course." Hoss picked up the hand and put it in his brief case. He stood up, adjusted his hat, and walked towards the door. Suddenly he turned back towards John. "What did you do with the body?"
"I drove on manual to a remote location and dumped it in a ditch. It will be well degraded by now, under the summer sun. Do you need it for any reason? I can show you where it is."
"No, just curious." Hoss went to the front door, called for a car, and drove away.
John sat on the livingroom couch and waited. An hour went by, then two. Finally Maggie came home and ran into his waiting arms. John held her tight, and noticed that her hair smelled clean. Apparently they gave her a chance to wash up before she came home.
Neither one spoke for almost 20 minutes, then Maggie began. "You put me in great danger today, and somehow you got me out of danger."
"That's right, and I'm so sorry."
"Is this likely to happen again? One of the men said it wouldn't."
"I don't think so." John told her about Hoss, and his reaction to the Senator, and Squanto's money. She listened without saying a word, then she stood up and headed for the stairs.
"I need to lie down. It's definitely been a day."
"May I come too?" John wouldn't blame her if she said no, if she wanted to be alone, but she surprised him by saying yes.
"But we're not going to do anything; I just want to lie down."
They crawled into bed, and John reached over to stroke Maggie's hair. She was the love of his life, and she almost died a horrible death because of his obsession with Mars. He tried not to blame himself, but it really was his fault. He thought about Elton, and Carl, and Julie; they were content to live here on Earth. They didn't need to run off to some other planet. Why couldn't he be like that?
His hand slowed, and then fell back against Maggie's pillow. They slept fitfully, as horrible men stalked them in their dreams. Finally Tamara touch Maggie on the arm. Maggie awoke with a start and almost screamed.
"Tamara." she gasped, trying to catch her breath.
"I couldn't find you, and then I came up and you were both asleep. Why are you sleeping in the middle of the day?" children ask the most honest questions, but they don't always get honest answers, and sometimes they don't get answers at all.
"We're all right." said John as he sat up in bed. "Is Mark downstairs?"
"Yes." answered Tamara.
"Well we'll be right down."
Tamara scampered back downstairs and Maggie turned to John. "Any ideas for dinner?"
"Maybe spaghetti." suggested John. "We have a batch of tomatoes that should be eaten." They went through the rest of the evening as though it were just another day in the Farsee household, and in doing so, it almost became just another day. The events of the morning were pushed aside, like a nightmare that is best forgotten, though the memory would continue to haunt their thoughts and dreams from time to time over the next few months.