The Homestead Read online

  The Homestead

  by

  GR Higginbotham

  This book is dedicated to the memory of my grandfather,

  Michael Montgomery Watts, whose passion for the written

  word has spread down through the generations of my family.

  Grandpa, I hope this book would have made you proud.

  And more importantly, that you would have liked it.

  Chapter 1

  The screams were almost certainly reaching down the hall. Maybe even to the floors above and below. Dr. Moses Truman was trying to concentrate on the flesh he was slicing open in spite of the screaming. In order to do that, he had to keep his mind blank. Instead, found himself trying to decide why the gentleman in front of him made the move from Earth to Mars. If the older man would sit still, he would already be finished lancing the boil on the bottom Ezra Coates’ foot. The man kept screaming at the illuminated ceiling even though his foot was numb. Some people just couldn’t handle seeing themselves cut open. The screaming was why Moses never heard Rebecca Martinez open the door to the treatment room.

  After only a few months of showing him the ins and outs of his new home on Mars, their relationship had grown to the point that she could safely drop in while he was working without being an unwelcome disturbance. Somehow she was always able to tell when her presence would be intrusive and stay away when needed, or if she could add a pleasant distraction to an otherwise undesirable situation. He wondered if their rapidly developing friendship was due to their shared sense of not belonging anywhere. She was from Mars, and surrounded by people from Earth. He grew up in two countries, Uganda and the United States, had one parent from each, and never felt at home in either place.

  When Moses finally looked past Ezra into the hallway he saw her leaning into the room from the doorway. She winced as if she was the one being lanced, and somehow managed a smile at the same time. The fact that she was oblivious to her youthful beauty made her even more attractive. As always, she wore the same drab gray uniform that all ICE personnel were forced to wear, and kept her long black hair in the regulation pony-tail. After making eye contact with Moses to communicate that she needed to see him when he finally finished his procedure, she slipped back out of the room. Mr. Coates never even knew she was there.

  As he applied the bandages to the old engineer’s foot, Moses rattled off instructions about coming back in two days for cleaning and dressing changes and then left the treatment room to allow the poor fellow to recover his masculinity and take his time hobbling out into the main reception area of the doctor’s quarters. Everyone waiting there would be watching to find out who made all the fuss.

  Rebecca was waiting for him in the first private exam room down the hall. She had a gray file folder on the rolling table in front of her. It was the same shade of gray as her uniform and almost everything else the International Conglomerate of Entities saw fit to put a color on. If you could even call it a color. It was more like an absence of color. Moses was glad that they did not require their civilian contractors to wear it as well.

  Looking up as he approached, she gave the toothy smile he had gotten to know over his time in the habitat. As his liaison officer, Rebecca was his primary contact, answering all of his questions about Homestead IV as they came up. This was a vital service since he was not able to receive a full-blown orientation like the rest of the residents here. Due to the circumstances surrounding his assignment, he had arrived four years after the rest of the habitat’s civilian residents and six years after the ICE employees began their time here. As a result, he was spending a lot of time with this younger woman who was so patiently waiting for him to sit down across from her. Or perhaps not so patiently waiting. He noticed her leg bouncing up and down under the table. The contents of the cabinet behind her were rattling in sync with her rhythm.

  “Is everything OK?” He asked as he took a seat opposite her at the small table, wheeling his stool around to face her directly. He had never seen her so distracted in their short time together. For being in such a hurry, she didn’t seem to be very eager to answer his question. She was clearly considering her options when she turned the file around on the tabletop to face Moses.

  “I just need you to take a look at this file when you get the chance. Could you do that for me? I requested it from a friend in Station II the day you arrived and it finally came in. I’m not really supposed to have it, so don’t tell anyone. OK? Let me know what you think. I could really use your opinion.”

  She looked worried and embarrassed at the same time. Her normal confidence had been replaced by timidity. Suddenly her face switched gears - all her concerns forgotten as she entered liaison mode. “How is your second full day of work going?” He could tell she was genuinely concerned. Since the facility had been without a doctor for five months they were eager to put him to work.

  “I guess it’s going well,” he said. Moses wasn’t one to open up and share things with other people. He had always been on his own, and had grown to like it that way. But for some reason Rebecca had managed to bypass a strictly professional relationship, extending it into friendship. That wasn’t a thing he was accustomed to.

  “It’s pretty clear that not many people liked Dr. Lamar. I didn’t have half as many waiting on me yesterday while he was still here. It looks like they all came out of hiding as soon as he went back to Station II. Was he really that bad?” The one day he had worked alongside the company doctor from Station III, he had grown to understand why people were glad that the nervous little man’s temporary assignment to Homestead IV was finally over. Moses wasn’t great with his own interpersonal skills, but he could engage with a patient and listen. Lamar never stopped to listen and demanded compliance from his patients.

  She gave a small laugh and shook her head. “He’s not a bad guy. It’s just that the standards of good interpersonal interactions are a little different for a guy who has spent his entire life in ICE. They just weren’t used to his efficiency.”

  “Efficiency is great, but how am I going to see all of these people in one day?” Moses wasn’t really worried, but he enjoyed baiting Rebecca. He knew she regretted not allowing him more time to get acclimated to Homestead IV before plunging him head-first into a sea of waiting patients who were all desperate for a doctor with a good bedside manner. He wasn’t sure she could tell he was just joking so he managed to put on a big goofy grin to clue her in on the joke. She didn’t bite.

  “Stop it.” She said, getting irritated. Her eyebrows shifted higher and closer together. “You know I’m worried about you. It’s my job to make sure you adapt well and can adjust to life here with little to no hiccups. How will it look if my first assignment ends up cracking at the seams in his first month of working?” Rebecca had grown up here on Mars; she was one of the first wave of children produced by the early Homesteaders. A real Martian. Moses had often heard her joke that nobody cared about the twelfth person born on a planet. Surprisingly, she had decided to join ICE when she reached the required twenty-one years of age. Not many Homesteader children made a move in that direction. They usually just moved to Earth and settled down.

  “Don’t worry about me. I’ve got this covered,” he said with a little regret for having tested her. “I can handle the work load. No problem. But you better let me get back to them before they figure out that I’m not treating any patients right now while they are stuck out there waiting. It will look even worse if your first assignment gets mauled by an angry mob.”

  She finally laughed at one of his jokes and got up to leave through the back entrance with what looked like a little more of her normal confidence than before. “Just let me know after you get a look at that file. I’m really interested to hear what you have to say.”
/>   He nodded assent and headed out front to the waiting area where an assortment of injuries and illnesses awaited him. With no insurance and no appointments, there was little need for a receptionist. At least, he hadn’t thought there would be. Maybe he could mention that to Rebecca the next time he saw her. If the crowds were like this he would need that help after all. It was going to be a long day. He didn’t even think about the file she left for him in the face of the impending workload.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  After what felt like an endless array of coughs, sore joints, back aches, and mucous, Moses was able to breathe again. He was exhausted. Physically and mentally worn out. For a while he couldn’t even distinguish peoples’ faces while speaking to them. He just saw a collection of orifices and maladies that he would eventually have to investigate. He felt bad for the ones that didn’t make it through the queue today, but felt confident that he could get through the rest of them tomorrow.

  He took another deep breath and then forced himself to stand up from the rolling examination stool he had landed on earlier. He had lost maybe twenty minutes to sweet, mindless staring. Now the minuscule creaks and tweaks that seemed to start the day he had turned thirty-eight years old began to creep into his awareness. The act of bearing weight forced his mind to acknowledge that he had pushed himself too far for one day’s work. His physician’s mind instantly began to diagnose the effects of anti-gravity over the four month voyage here paired with the return of gravity on his frame over the last several weeks back on a giant ball of dirt and gas. The artificial gravity on the transport vessel was great, but didn’t even come close to the real thing. He stopped himself as soon as he noticed what he was doing - he had just managed to transition out of doctor mode, and now found himself trying to diagnose his own problems. He couldn’t afford to lose time getting back into and then out of doctor mode again. Best to stop before the change was non-reversible. He needed sleep.

  Moses allowed the ceiling tiles to rest as he made his way out of the clinical area of his quarters. The door to his personal area was discrete, although not hidden completely. There was no real reason to hide the doorway from his patients. But it was also nice to have some degree of privacy. At least it was subtle enough that children wouldn’t be roaming around his living room while their parents failed to monitor them wandering around the clinic.

  On his way down the hallway he remembered the gray file folder still sitting in the first room down the hallway. With great effort he turned around and walked back in the direction of the first exam room. What miracle happened that kept that from getting lost? He went back and grabbed it before shutting down completely for the night.

  After showering, he ate a meal brought by the homesteaders on level twenty-something, he wasn’t sure which one. It was matoke, rice, and goat meat. It was very considerate: their trying to prepare him a meal from his home in Uganda. But Moses had given up the flavorless foods of his home ever since he had moved to the United States, instead opting for the international cuisines that the US claimed as their own. Ones with spicy flavors or savory seasonings. It irritated the hell out of his parents. Every time he visited they still insisted on preparing the “classics” in hopes of reclaiming his childhood love of those foods. It wasn’t like he had to force it down - he was grateful and even nostalgic at times about his childhood tastes - it just wasn’t his favorite.

  He was finally able to collapse into the only chair in his living area as he reached for the folder on the table next to it. Certainly it could wait until the morning. He had no idea what it contained or why it was so important to Rebecca. But he knew she wanted his opinion, so he opened the folder.

  Inside he found the report made by Dr. Lamar concerning the death of Homestead IV’s previous physician. Curious. Why would Rebecca even ask him to look at this? Moses knew how Dr. Epps had died before he ever even applied to the Homestead program. Everyone did. It made international news when he passed away. In the entire history of the Martian terraforming operation, Dr. Epps was the only person to die on Mars. Several had become ill while working here and been transported back home. A few of those died in transit. Apparently even cancer could chase you at least short distances across the solar system. But when the otherwise healthy Dr. William Epps died of sudden cardiac complications in his sleep, Earth was shaken.

  The questions from the news networks back then came immediately to Moses’ mind, and kept coming for some time. How could ICE let this happen? Didn’t the Council give health screenings to the people allowed to work on Mars? Who took care of the physicians in the Homestead habitats? Was something wrong in the habitat itself that would spread to others?

  It was this last question that really got under the publics’ collective skin. The questions that grew from that unsettling one were what prompted ICE to conduct a full-scale analysis and public report of Dr. Epps’ health before leaving Earth, and leading up to his demise in Homestead IV. If it spread and wiped out one habitat, what would stop it from spreading to the rest of them? Was this lethal factor one born of Earth, or one grown here on Mars?

  The public had grown weary of news from Mars over the long course of the project. Knowing that people were inhabiting another planet and actively trying to make that planet even more habitable had just become another normal part of life. The idea that the large amount of money and resources devoted to that project might be poorly invested was a new one. If the terraforming failed, or if the brave people working on it were to die needlessly, then the nations and corporations that made up ICE may have to consider deploying those resources elsewhere.

  The results of ICE’s internal audits bore no great revelation. There would be no confirmation of everyone’s deepest fears. Just a sad truth that no amount of testing can predict every possible health threat a person will face in the span of a lifetime. There was no family history that pointed at potential for fatal heart rhythms. There was no passed over scan that would have revealed a defect or complication in his breathing or heart beat. It turns out that sometimes peoples’ hearts just stop working correctly. And that was what had reportedly happened to Dr. Epps.

  Tempted to close the report and go to sleep, Moses forced himself to give it at least a cursory review. Maybe something would jump out at him. What was Rebecca expecting, anyway? He couldn’t imagine there could be anything new in this report. He was surprised to find that the deceased doctor’s middle name was Jefferson. He didn’t recall that making any of the obituaries or homages that circulated in the weeks following his death.

  The middle name was about as far as he got before finally succumbing to sleep. There was nothing he could do to stop it from taking him. The combination of a hard day’s work, a heavy meal, and sitting still worked together to claim Moses for the rest he so badly needed.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Moses watched Rebecca struggling with her frustration with him over lunch on level 33. She was working on getting him to visit every level in the habitat; people wanted to meet their doctor. This usually involved having a meal together to show off the local cuisine to him, as well as showing him off to the residents of each section. “How is your soup?” she asked, trying to remain civil. He could tell she was upset that he didn’t thoroughly inspect the file last night. “The farm on this level grows excellent produce because they are so close to the surface window. They say the artificial sunlight works just as well, but I think the levels in the top third of the hab benefit from the direct sunlight coming down from the pyramid.” She was referring to the uppermost section of the massive habitat, most of which lay underground in a gigantic pyramid. Just the very top levels broke through the planet’s surface, made entirely of clear but extremely strong materials that amplified the natural sunlight coming through into Homestead IV. “The lower two-thirds are just too far below ground to get enough natural light.” She watched him eating, too annoyed to pretend like she cared for his answer.

  “It’s great,” he said, smiling be
tween spoonsful just to annoy her some more. He didn’t know what exactly was in the file, but he had every intention of going over it with her before going back to work. “It has a really good blend of flavor and honesty.”

  “What? Honesty?” She had a curious look on her face, replacing the growing scowl.

  “Just seeing if you were really listening.” He laughed. “Look, I’m really sorry I didn’t get a chance to read this last night,” he pulled the file from his bag, “but I was just too tired. Why don’t you tell me what’s in it? Save me the time.”

  She looked down at her uneaten food. When she brought her eyes back to Moses she was tearing up. “I don’t know how to read that stuff. I barely know how to do my own job. I want your opinion because it doesn’t make any sense to me.”

  “What doesn’t make sense?” He hadn’t realized how important this was to her.

  “Any of it! The medical terms they use and the fact that Epps is gone.” She was just managing to keep from yelling, but Moses could tell it was close. There were tears beginning to work their way out of her eyes. “Please, help me.”

  Moses held her gaze for a moment longer. She was grief-stricken. Where was all of this hiding over the previous three months? Up until now she had been full of jokes and laughter, excited at her new job with ICE as the official trainer of new personnel. Now she gets one file from another facility and everything changes.

  “Let’s look at it together now,” he said, opening the folder and seeing what lay beyond the middle name for the first time.

  The contents were significant. He was surprised to find not only Epps’ medical records for his time on Mars, but also an autopsy report and analysis by Dr. Lamar conducted at ICE Station III. This was before the substitute doctor moved to Homestead IV to cover their civilian medical needs until a replacement could be found. There were also copies of transmissions back to Earth informing ICE HQ about the death, as well as HQ’s response.