Life on other planets -- Fiction; Mars (Planet) -- Fiction; Science fiction; Space colonies -- Fiction
So Goat Hennessey was his father, apparently. And Old Beard, the real
Dark Kensington, vowed vengeance on Goat. Dark was able to view this
with equanimity. He no longer felt any admiration or affection for Goat,
whatever relationship might exist between them.
But, since he was Brute Hennessey and thus not old enough to be the real
Dark Kensington, how and why had he acquired the memories of Dark
Kensington? That question remained unanswered.
Phobos was setting for the first time that night when Dark reached the
great hulk of Ultra Vires, manipulated one of the airlocks and entered
its dark corridors. There was no light, and a test of the light switch
proved that the electrical system was no longer operating. But Dark knew
every inch of this place from early childhood. He felt his way through
the pitch darkness to Goat Hennessey's old bedroom.
Probing about in the darkness, he discovered that Goat's bed was still
supplied with mattress and crumpled blankets. This surprised him
somewhat, as any item of cloth on Mars had to be imported from Earth and
was far too valuable to abandon. But, apparently, these things had been
left temporarily in Goat's abandonment of Ultra Vires and would be
picked up by truck later.
Deriving a certain humorous satisfaction from taking over the master's
chamber, Dark curled up on Goat's bed and went to sleep.
He awoke the next morning with the glare of the desert sunlight
reflected into the room. He arose, stretched and yawned. The room was a
mess. Goat had left the bed clothing intact, but he had turned
everything else upside down in packing his personal effects to leave the
place.
There was still water in the reservoir, and Ultra Vires' plumbing system
was still in operation. Dark bathed. He felt ruefully at the thick
stubble of beard that had overgrown his face in the past few days, but
Goat had left no shaving equipment behind.
Dark made his way down to the big kitchen. There were supplies of canned
food there, and he found utensils and ate. He was hungry, but not
ravenous, and this surprised him a little, because he had had no food
since he started out afoot from the Canfell Hydroponic Farm, four nights
ago. But he was no hungrier than he would normally be after a night's
sleep.
As he ate, his eye fell on dishes stacked beside the sink. He was
startled to notice that water still sparkled on them.
He arose and checked them. Yes, they were still wet.
There were remnants of fresh food in the garbage can.
People, here? Camping out? Or, more likely, someone passing through the
desert who had taken shelter here for the night? But he thought he would
have heard the roar of a groundcar leaving.
Thoughtfully, Dark finished his breakfast. It occurred to him that
perhaps some members of the Phoenix had taken refuge here after fleeing
Mars City. But most of them did not even know of the existence of Ultra
Vires, much less its location.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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