Part 29 (1/2)

Another beautiful b.l.o.o.d.y sunset spread around them. Only a day ago, as Mars counted time, they had sat and chatted with Jim. Good conversation on Thursday, dissection on Friday. The autopsy said that he had died of a heart attack. A fine doctor she had turned out to be. But what exactly had brought on the attack? Mitral valve prolapse never led to cardiac arrest, not that she knew of. She was at a complete loss, and Gary and Bill were both asking her for her professional opinion.

Gary climbed out of the grave he had just finished digging and stood next to the dark green plastic bag that held Jim's body. Gary glanced at Bill, who waited inside his suit, stonefaced, at the top of the hole, his back to the setting sun.

'Why don't you begin, Jessie,' Bill said.

His wife opened the book and - her gloved hands turning the pages with great difficulty - settled on a selection. 'This is one of the Psalms,' she said. 'I think Jim would like it.' She cleared her throat. ”The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want...

”He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil...”'

She finished the Psalm, and added, 'We'll miss you, Jim.'

Jessica handed the open book to Lauren. The pages were yellowed with years. It was ironic, Lauren thought. Gary was trying to convince her there was a devil loose on the planet, and maybe he was right. But she didn't believe there was a G.o.d here. If he did exist, he couldn't have anything to do with Mars. She knew there was no one to hear their prayers. Shaking her head silently, Lauren gave the book to Gary.

But I did love you, Jim. I always will.

Gary thumbed through the pages angrily, but couldn't find what he was looking for. He slammed the Bible shut. 'I'll say my own prayer.' He addressed the red heavens. 'If you're there, G.o.d, and you do care about us, please watch over Jim's soul. I believed in him. I think he helped me believe in you. He was the best of us all.' Gary spoke quietly to the plastic bag at his feet. 'He was my best friend.'

There followed an empty silence. It was always a one sided conversation when you talked to G.o.d. Gary thrust out the Bible to Bill. 'Here,' he said bitterly. 'You're our commander. You're the one who should be saying these things.'

Bill took the book without any sign of emotion. He spoke to the rectangular hole in the ground. 'Our loss is great. Jim was rare among men. All his life he accomplished what he set out to do. He let nothing stand in his way. He was brilliant, he was kind, but above all else, he was courageous. We can take a lesson from the example he set, to perform our duty without hesitation, and let nothing stop us. Our thirst is great but soon it will pa.s.s. We will complete our explorations and leave this world. Tomorrow Jessie will accompany me under the ground.'

Jessie.

The last rays of the sun licked their commander's back. A gust of wind came up and sprayed snow in the air; it settled on their faceplates like dirt thrown in their faces. Bill searched the Bible. 'But for now we must say goodbye to our friend,' he said. 'I would like to say the Lord's Prayer. ”Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on Earth, as it is in heaven...”'

I will show thee the condemnation of the great harlot, Lori, who sits upon many waters. With whom the Kings of Earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the Earth were made drunk with the wine of her immortality.

Lauren did not recognize the voice in her head. It was not the voice of her own thoughts, nor was it Bill's voice. Yet it flowed in rhythm with Bill's words and it seemed to express a part of him that was still hidden, but a part which was becoming clearer with each pa.s.sing second, as the light steadily faded.

”'Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespa.s.ses, as we forgive those who trespa.s.s against us, and...”'

And I saw Lori drunk with the blood of saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus...

' ”Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil,”' Bill said. '”Amen.”'

Amen. And f.u.c.k you, sweet Lori.

Lauren was having difficulty breathing. Her lungs felt as if they were filled with burning ash. Yet there was a cold spreading inside her, too, like frost growing on a cracked window in an empty house. The sun had set. Bill closed the Bible and stared at her. The ceremony was over. She was glad it was over.

'That was very nice,' Gary said sarcastically.

'Yeah,' Jessica agreed blankly.

Bill nodded, still watching Lauren. Finally he spoke, 'It's late. We have shown our respects. You will bury the body, Gary. The rest of us will return to the s.h.i.+p.'

'I'd like to stay,' Lauren said.

'Fine,' Bill said, 'Let's go, Jessie. We have much to accomplish tomorrow.'

As they turned and walked toward the Hawk, Gary reached for the laser he had earlier lain beneath Jim's body. In seconds he had released the safety and leveled the rifle at Bill's back. Lauren closed her eyes, and heard Gary pull the trigger.

But no devastating beam of energy spurted forth. Lauren opened her eyes and found a shocked Gary examining the laser. Bill had turned and watched him patiently. Jessica stood to Bill's left, to the left of the ozone, not understanding that anything unusual had just happened.

'Is something the matter, Gary?' Bill asked.

'No.'

'Something I can help you with?'

'No,' Gary said.

'Good,' Bill said, taking his wife's hand and turning away again. 'You need not bury him deep.'

Jessica and Bill disappeared inside the Hawk. Lauren stepped to Gary's side. He had thrown the laser to the ground.

'You missed,' she said.

'The laser's broken.'

'Obviously.'

Gary knelt and took hold of Jim's legs. 'I didn't particularly like Bill's last remark,' he said. 'Give me a hand, Lori.'

'OK.'.

'We have a deep hole here,' Gary said. 'He'll rest peacefully. Nothing will disturb him.'

Lauren nodded, and took hold of the shoulders.

'We don't have to worry about Jim,' Gary said. 'I know we don't have to worry about him.'

'Yeah,' Lauren said. Still holding his legs, Gary jumped into the grave.

'The b.a.s.t.a.r.d overloaded the laser,' he said. 'He's the one we have to worry about.' Gary quickly slipped Jim's body into the ice-rimmed hole, setting it down gently, and then climbed out. He began to scan the area.

'What are you looking for?' she asked.

'Jim won't hurt us,' he said for what seemed the tenth time. 'But I think we should get a big rock.'

'What for?' Lauren asked.

'It's good to be careful. I'm looking for a boulder that we can roll over the grave.' He got angry when she shook her head as if he was crazy. 'Just help me, G.o.dd.a.m.nit! We don't know what's going on here.' He turned away. 'We don't know nothing.'

The steps echoed from the control room to the bedroom where Lauren lay staring at the ceiling. According to the engineers who had built the Hawk, it was impossible to hear footsteps from one deck to the next. Lauren figured Bill must have gained two thousand pounds.

Jessica was asleep on the other bed, her system fortified for a long excursion in dreamland with two grams of phen.o.barbital. Lauren had contemplated taking a pill herself, but only for a tenth of a second. In her right hand, under the covers, she held the razor-sharp scalpel she had used during the autopsy on Jim.

The door opened. Lauren jumped, but it was only Gary. He sat at her feet, and the bedroom door shut automatically behind him. He wore a pair of red shorts and nothing else. His muscles looked remarkably tan and supple considering that he hadn't exercised in the sun in months.

'Can't sleep?' he asked.