The Invasion of Mars IV

Nobody can hear a scream in the vacuum of space, or so they say. The same goes for rock music, but I’m the kind of woman who’d try it anyway if I ever get off this doomed mining planet.

My dream has always been to travel and explore new planets, which makes getting stuck here sting even more. I pushed that thought out of my mind and focused on the beautiful piece of machinery before me.

The ultra-expensive black performance hoverbike roared to life beneath me. Before today, I’d only fantasized about riding one of these. It belonged to a rich kid who evacuated on a private luxury ship last week.

The emergency warning blared from the hoverbike’s speakers announcing the mandatory evacuation of Mars IV due to the immediate threat of a Tenarkan invasion.

After a few weeks of hearing this message nonstop, the awful pulsing screeches were seared into my brain along with the monotone nasal voice describing where to board a free shuttle to Central Planet, the unoriginally named location of the central government of the Newrome Empire.

Unfortunately, it was also the planet that my immediate family was banned from entering.

It only took a few seconds for me to punch the access panel and override the emergency system message. My shoulders relaxed as my sanity was restored.

My best friend Raf always had a sharp mind for business opportunities, so when the mandatory evacuation was first declared, he put out an offer to transport vehicles to secure underground storage. I thought the price was insane, but he was instantly swamped with clients desperate to protect their expensive babies. Despite the overall decline in the planet’s mining production, there were still a lot of rich old families who’d cashed in on their mineral rights over the years.

To me, this was a great way to get paid to test the performance limits of some very expensive machines I’d never be able to afford.

Nothing was going to ruin my mood right now, not even the stupid Tenarkan invasion. I checked the closures on my black jumpsuit, gloves, boots, and helmet. The red dust around here is no joke, especially at high speed.

I cranked my favorite classic rock song and drove out of the mansion’s massive garage to find Raf. It was time for me to beat him in another race back to town.

A few years ago, I discovered a whole playlist of these blazing rock songs saved in the memory of an ancient rover that was used when this planet was first explored. The museum shut down after visitors lost interest in the history of the planet and the rover was sent for recycling. Recycle bins were my treasure troves.

Raf’s dad caught me picking through the recycle bin behind his mechanic shop when I was ten. When he realized I was building robots from discarded parts, he took me under his wing. He taught me everything he knew, and it wasn’t long before I surpassed him. I’ve just always loved taking things apart to figure out how they work and reconfiguring them to do what I want instead.

Raf pulled up next to me in a shiny red speedster. I switched the hoverbike into performance mode, which overrode the safety limits set for non-genetically upgraded humans.

The gravity on Mars IV was higher than Central Standard Gravity, but I received a set of genetic upgrades as a baby to help me adapt to this planet. The upgrades did many things, including making my muscles and joints stronger, especially my heart.

Genetic upgrades were still controversial, especially within certain religions. People who weren’t upgraded typically used mechanical assistance to get around, including my parents. Raf was upgraded like me, but it was so expensive that neither of us ended up with siblings.

I flashed a rude gesture at Raf to signal that I was ready, and we both took off. Our engines roared as we raced through the deserted red rock canyon toward town.

The canyon route was usually jammed with mining transports slogging their way to the port to unload iron ore into massive trans-galaxy freighters. Today we had the twisty canyon to ourselves, and we took full advantage. Nobody said we couldn’t have fun while moving clients’ vehicles. Besides, we could blame any damage on the Tenarkans if they ever showed up.

I threw my weight into the curves and goosed the throttle to pull the bike through the turns, easily beating Raf for the third time today.

The sleek hoverbike hit its maximum speed on the straight shot into town. There was less red dust in the air since the mining operations shut down for the evacuation. Air quality was at an all-time high. The craggy mountains far to the east were even visible. Everything was beautiful just for a moment. I cheered as sheer joy bubbled through me.

This was my kind of freedom. I longed to zoom through space and explore the beauty of new planets and new landscapes.

I sailed right through all the traffic lights. Of course, I looked to make sure nobody was coming. I’m not a complete heathen.

Inside the underground storage facility, I hopped off the hoverbike. I took off my helmet and shook out my short brown curls. Maintaining long hair on a planet where water is scarce is too expensive and way too much hassle.

Raf arrived a few moments later. He climbed out of the speedster and shook his head. He kept his blonde hair short in a buzz cut.

“Relle, you’re a maniac. I thought you were toast so many times back there.”

“Sucks to be slow, loser.” I stuck out my tongue at him.

He laughed and ruffled my hair. His honey warm laugh always made everything feel okay even when it clearly wasn’t. He’d always been handsome, but he was like a brother to me.

Raf looked at his list. “Those were the last two vehicles we needed to pick up. I just transferred you your share of the fees. Thanks so much for your help. I never could have collected these in time without you.”

I verified receipt of the funds in my account. “You can always count on me, especially when it pays this well.”

He put a hand on my shoulder. “The last evacuation shuttle is tonight. Will I see you there?”

I tried to laugh it off. “My father thinks the whole invasion is a conspiracy.”

“Oh boy. What did Charlie tell him this time?”

Charlie was our weird neighbor who always fed my father the latest conspiracy theories and got him all riled up.

“Get this. Charlie said the mines are drying up, so the government sold the planet to the Tenarkans. The problem is that they can’t afford to relocate the population and still make a profit on the deal. Pretending there’s an invasion lets them declare a disaster and tap into emergency funds that won’t impact their profit.”

Raf laughed. “That sounds so insane that it could be true. It would explain why our military isn’t fighting back.”

“Not you too, Raf! The news clearly said the military is too far away to make it back here in time to defend us.”

He grinned. “Maybe it’s all propaganda.”

I elbowed him in the ribs. “Stop it.”

“Fine.” His smile faded. “But seriously, Lunarelle. What are you going to do? I hate the thought of leaving you behind.”

His hazel eyes had a hint of green that they only got when he was upset. He’d even used my full name, which was a code between us that something was important.

I caved and told him the truth. “Look, my family is still banned from Central Planet so we can’t board the shuttles because our passports are flagged.”

Raf’s shoulders slumped. “You’ve never told me why your family got kicked off Central.”

“Politics. When my father’s older brothers fought over the emperor’s throne, he backed the wrong one.”

“The emperor exiled his own little brother’s family all the way to an outer planet over that? How heartless.”

“Heartless is a good description for the royal family. I’d disown most of them if I could. I’m only alive because of my grandmother’s protection. She still has some power as the Empress Dowager.”

“Then can’t she unban you for an emergency?”

“My mother tried to contact her several times, but she hasn’t responded.”

“You should come with my mom and me. You can’t be here when those freaks arrive.”

I kicked at the omnipresent red dirt with the toe of my black boot. “What do we even know about the Tenarkans? We barely talked about them in school.”

“My dad had a friend who traded black market goods with the Tenarkans. He said they worship technology and have become more machine than human over the years. Rumor has it that they take enemy soldiers as slaves and make them into war machines to fight for them.”

I shuddered just imagining it. “Machines are my jam, but I really don’t want to become one. Hey, maybe they need a mechanic more than a new robo-slave.”

Raf frowned. “You’re not taking this very seriously.”

“I’d rather joke about it than cry.”

Raf bit his lip and looked away, his eyes a murky green now.

I followed his gaze. Dark clouds gathered on the horizon.

“Great,” I said. “There’s a wicked storm moving in to add to the drama.”

Raf snorted. “Just watch. The last shuttle will get delayed until the Tenarkans arrive.”

I elbowed Raf. “Don’t jinx it. I’m sure you’ll be fine. How long is the trip to Central anyway? I haven’t done it since I was a baby.”

“Three months each way with hyperdrive, but I doubt they’re forking out the money to use it.”

“True. Free shuttles probably don’t have much of a fuel budget.”

Raf fidgeted with his gloves. “If things stay peaceful, maybe you can keep my dad’s shop going. You’re a way better mechanic than me anyway.”

His dad recently passed away after the higher gravity took a toll on his heart. Neither of us were used to him being gone yet. He was more of a dad to me than my biological father.

“Absolutely,” I said.

A long awkward moment passed in silence. Goodbyes are the worst.

I hugged him and tried to sound cheery. “Well, have a good trip. I hope this whole thing blows over and we can laugh about it later when we’re old and gray.”

“I hope so too.” Raf hugged me tight. “If my dad was here, he’d thank you for all your help in the shop over the years.”

I smacked him lightly on the shoulder. “Hey, no mushy stuff.”

“He was really proud of you, whiz kid.”

Whiz kid was his dad’s nickname for me. I choked up.

“Be safe, Rafael.” My voice came out in a broken whisper. I held out my fist.

Raf bumped my fist and I put my helmet back on before the tears spilled down my cheeks. I hopped on my beat up hoverbike cobbled together from a bunch of different scavenged parts and headed home.

After a block, I stole a glance back over my shoulder. Raf was still standing there watching me go. I couldn’t shake the sinking feeling that it was the last time I’d ever see him.

Impending doom hung in the air, making everything feel even heavier than usual on the ride home. The constant screech of the evacuation siren blared from anything with speakers. Red emergency lights blinked all around in random patterns like demented fireflies.

Our house is easy to spot at the top of the hill. It looks like an overbearing wedding cake lording over the town full of sensible red brick homes built from local materials.

My father grew up in the Royal Quarter of Central Planet where all the houses are white palaces teeming with decorative pillars. The Royal Quarter takes the concept of the Newrome Empire way too seriously.

When our family got exiled to Mars IV, my father used up most of his savings to build a house like the one he grew up in. Unfortunately, the imported building materials that are fine for Central Planet don’t hold up well in the harsh dust storms on Mars IV. The upkeep costs of the monstrosity bled him dry.

But none of that really matters anymore. After the last shuttle leaves tonight, it will be just my family and the stray dogs left to face the Tenarkans. Sadly, the number of stray dogs swelled after many were abandoned during the evacuation.

There weren’t a lot of options left. I could put my head in the sand like my parents and pretend the invasion wasn’t real or I could try to fight back. My stomach turned at the idea of placing my fate in the hands of the Tenarkans and hoping for mercy. I had to at least try something even if it failed.

There was no way I could repel an invading force all on my own, but maybe there was a way to slow them down.

I thought back to a prank I pulled in middle school when I tampered with the gravity index number on the basic planetary information used by universal automated navigation systems.

The best prank I could come up with at age twelve was to overwrite the actual gravity index with a higher number. The incoming ships that relied on automated navigation systems floated around like hot air balloons before they landed manually. Raf and I laughed so hard that our stomachs hurt for days.

Sometimes keeping things simple was the best approach. I could do the same thing again and delay the invaders for a little while. But what if I did the opposite and set the gravity index lower instead?

If I got lucky, maybe a few ships would approach their landings too fast and get damaged. It would be worth it to mess up their invasion plans even a tiny bit.

Stupid family politics trapped me here. I'd rather die fighting than wait to be slaughtered.