The Fall: Crimson Worlds IX by Jay Allan Read Free Book Online Page B

the average temperature had increased by 40 degrees Kelvin.  It was now possible to survive outside for limited periods with proper cold weather gear and an oxygen tank.  Vance had done it himself, feeling a rush of pride in what the Confederation had managed to achieve in its 130 years of existence.  He knew he wouldn’t live to see running rivers and cloudy skies, but he hoped to take a walk outside one day before he died, unaided by breathing equipment and feeling the cool air on his bare face.
    He looked up through the dome.   Phobos was almost full, casting a faint glow across the sandy dunes, but Deimos had already set, and its light was gone from the night sky.  Mars’ two moons were small, but they were beautiful, he thought, somehow at home in the velvety night sky.  The fact that he knew both of them housed extensive military and intelligence bases marred that serene image somewhat, and he momentarily longed for an age when Mars was safe, when her security no longer required people like him to stand on the line and hold off those who would see the Confederation destroyed, its people reduced to abject slaves.
    He didn’t know if that day would ever come.  He knew what Erik Cain would say, but he found himself grasping at faint hopes for the best.  Vance had lived most of his life certain he’d never meet his match in cynicism, but that was before his path had crossed that of the grim Alliance Marine.  Cain didn’t believe in much, nothing really, beyond the men and women who served at his side.  He tended to expect the worst from everyone else and, more often than not, he had been right.
    Vance was a cold man in many ways, and he was often seen as aloof and humorless.  It wasn’t entirely a fair assessment, but he’d accepted it as part of the life he’d chosen to lead.  He could have enjoyed a luxurious existence running his family’s massive business empire, but he knew his beloved Confederation existed in a dangerous universe, and he’d sworn to do whatever was necessary to ensure its survival.  That often meant taking dark actions, and sometimes people died because of what he did.  Often, in fact.  It was part of the job, something he’d learned to live with, however uncomfortably.
    His father had also been a loner, and he’d died when Vance was still a child.  It wasn’t until years later he learned his father had perished in the service of Mars, leading her intelligence agencies as he himself would one day.  His family was one of the wealthiest on Mars.  Indeed, they were one of the richest anywhere, but he learned it also had a long tradition of service to the Confederation, a history he chose to continue.
    “Mr. Vance?”  The voice came from behind a row of small trees, evergreens imported from the Pacific Northwest on Earth.  The trees were almost extinct on their homeworld, but the Confederation’s domes harbored samples of many plants no longer found on Earth.
    “Yes, Jaquin, it’s me.”  Vance held back a sigh.  He’d arranged the meeting himself, but now he was resenting the intrusion into his quiet time.  It wasn’t rational, but he’d begun to think about how little of Roderick Vance truly remained beyond the servant to duty.  Quiet, introspective moments had become precious to him, and he’d come to guard them jealously.  He knew he wasn’t likely to have much time to himself in the near future, not with the disasters unfolding all around him.
    He quickly put aside such thoughts and forced his mind back to the present.  If the Mars he dreamed about was ever to exist, Vance knew it had to survive first.  He had to stay focused, do what duty called on him to do.  His toils would buy the Confederation the future its people deserved, and generations of Martians would have a chance at life and freedom.
    He turned to face his agent.  Jaquin Diervos was one of his most reliable men, just back from a long and dangerous mission.  “What do you have for