Prelude to: Those Who Gorge on Pluto’s Feast

I decided to re-focus my efforts on my science fiction, horror novella / novel idea. So I’ll be using 3ww and # flash Fridays to flesh it out. This week’s 3 words are: grasp, dread and pacify.

Enjoy.

Prelude to: Those Who Gorge on Pluto’s Feast

Victor Vaudeville hated, no dreaded, Mars. The gravity was too weak. The days were longer and the constant tang of iron in the air bothered his sinuses. As Iglesia Corp’s senior public relations person, it was his job to improve their image and the Halo tech 4.1 was their best bet and his last chance.

As he rode in a rickshaw-bot, he reviewed Dr. Julia Raymond’s resume and statistics on his PDA.

Born June 5, 2077 on Earth, Vail Arizona. No siblings or listing of parents. She graduated top of her class at Lunar Point Military School specializing in astronomy in ’99 and her doctorate in Cartography in ‘01. She was published Stellar Cartographer with a tendency to take chance.

A dishonorable discharge from the United Fleet.

Incident: Classified.

He flipped to her service picture. A mulatto woman in dress uniform with straight shoulders, no smile and tightly cropped hair stared back at him.

The rickshaw-bot turned a corner and the clear dome caught his eye. In the Martian sunlight, tinted dunes and jagged hills stretched out in all directions. Strong winds summoned dust devils that twirled to an alien tune.

The rickshaw-bot came to a stop in front of a two-story terracotta restraint called The Oasis. Sitting outside, sipping from a tea cup was Julia. She wore the traditional EVA suit and poncho. A first glance, she seemed to have kept up on her physical well being, hopefully her mind was still as sharp.

#

Julia watched the rickshaw-bot from the corner of her eye. A man with blonde hair parted to one side, clean shaven, wore a dark pinstriped business suit complete with a cotton blue power tie approached her.

“Dr. Raymond?”

“Welcome Mr. Vaudeville. Please…. “She gestured to the empty chair opposite her.

“Thank you. And thank you for meeting with me.” He said as he sat down.

A series two bot walked to the table. The series two were humanoid bots. They had thin skeletal structure, chassis and frozen smiling face with dark camera eyes. The walking dead, she thought.

“Welcome to The Oasis. I am S-5 and I will be serving you today.” Its camera eyes survived table. “Sir, would you like a drink?”

Victor smiled at Julia. “Cool water, ice with a twist of lemon.”

“Yes sir. Would you like a refill Madame?”

Julia pushed her empty tea cup forward.

“I’m all set for now.”

The bot left and Victor placed his napkin on his leg.

“Order whatever you want. This is on me."

“You mean Iglesia”

“Of course.” Victor smiled his perfectly white teeth. “I’ve reviewed your resume and military record with the U.F. and I think you’d make a great candidate for our Halo project."

“I thought you need a Stellar Cartographer.”

“We do. As you know, Iglesia Corp is putting up a half billion credits to ship who maps or clears a path through the Kuiper Belt.”

“and a Stellar Cartographer would be essential.”

“Of course. We are also sponsoring a ship called the Pathfinder and we would like you on it using our latest Halo tech.”

“I thought Halo was off the market because of all the deaths related to your tech.” Julia thought for a moment. “Didn’t the Press coin the phrase Halo Burn?”

Victor adjusted in his seat. He didn’t realize she knew this much out here.

“That was years ago. Now we screen potentials both physically and mentally thoroughly. Besides this would give our ship an advantage no other ship could have. A human mind interfacing directly with scanning, maneuvers and navigations. Not to mention direct access to the Hive-bot interface. ”

Victor held out his PDA. “Holo-project file H-1.” A simmering image of a see-through skull with a brain, complete with stem, hovered about his PDA. Two silver quarter sized objects repeatedly placed themselves onto the temples.

“The operation is an outpatient procedure. We have the facilities here on Venture and you can be off-world by the end of the week.” He smiled thinking he pacified any of her fears.

Julia knew he’d grasp for anything to convince her to take the job. Maybe this was his last chance like hers for redemption.

“O.k. I’ll do it.”

Victor slid his business card across the table. “This is my Martian I.P. address if you need me. On the back is the address for the procedure. You won’t regret this, Julia.”

“I already do.” She said to herself.