The sound of distant thunder brought me to consciousness, and the tinkle of falling brass reminded me I was reloading ammunition when sleep found me. What does Cragg put in that stuff? I thought, running my fingers over a large tender knot on my scalp. I hate drinking.

Squinting through an open shutter on my dwellings, I examined bulky puffs building in the distance. It’s almost time. I wanted to get outside and watch.

I splashed my face a few times with water from a well stem in the corner of the main living area. Most dwellings depended upon bringing water from a community well stem. Settlements had two or three scattered throughout. Previous outcast, and Jazz, had built the camp over a cluster of the stems they found. Giving each home its own water source. I would miss it for sure.

Ignoring the prior evening’s argument and standing in my usual spot on the roof. “HAG, magnify,” I said, looking at the distant Pavonis Mons. The ancient volcano filled the skyline from thousands of kilometers away. At its caldera sat a colossal black spire. Sky cathedrals, looming machines built to create and maintain terraforming. The records I had discovered were vague, but the towers somehow used subterranean water and magma flows to generate thunderstorms and necessary gasses to sustain a minor atmosphere. The storms delivered rain across the dry planet. Providing the few forms of wild fauna, stem grass, wire brush, and the food fields. How it worked was mostly a mystery. But the tubes and vents spewing dense vapor visible from this far, even with the HAG’s help, meant they were huge.

The spire slowly vanished into the whirl of fog. In the Southwest, more cloud decks filled the sky. The cathedral atop Arsia Mons, another volcano, was in action as well. The two towering machines nurturing a derelict world for a thousands years untouched. It truly is amazing. I marveled at the reality of it.

I figured, for around nine days, it would be impossible to travel. The greenery would be a thick swamp and the prehistoric roads would be covered in deep water. It was the only time liquid stood on the planet’s surface. But as soon as that passed, I would make my move to the market. And from there, to find another settlement. Far past the red. Where people are smart enough not to love space rocks as though they were gods.

Timelessly, the bulging weather closed in and began releasing moisture. The soft sheets of droplets fell on my face and bare skin. Washing the night’s aches away. Then the first sky spark flashed, telling me it was time to go inside.

It was dark enough I engaged a lamp sitting back at the table, sweeping aside the loose ammunition. Out the window, there was no light in Jazz’s dwelling. He must have been more upset than I realized. Probably spend the whole rains at Cragg’s camp. The memory of him pointing his blaster at me caused my neck to heat. Screw him.

I nibbled on a food wrap and examined my dwelling for a distraction. The stools, tables, even the bed and wash space all made of stone or steel and other scrap material. There were books and pieces of posters I had collected everywhere. Old pictures of earth and its gorgeous landscape. Oceans of liquid blue water, and tall trees. Vegetation that couldn’t take root here.

As Jazz stated, this planet was stagnant. Everything had stopped progressing when humans returned to the star arks and left. There wasn’t much information on the act. Supposedly, when the largest sky cathedral on Ascraeus mons received substantial damaged during a battle. We turned from conquest to repairs, but the terraforming was diminishing faster than they could correct the destruction. So, like humans are best at, they ran away. Leaving only the Solarr in orbit. They’re waiting to see if the planet is stable. I just know it. No way we could keep the entire species on space stations forever. Unless they went back to earth? No, they couldn’t. With that thought and my breakfast finished, I got to work.

Packing went quickly. With little in the way of belongings, they easily loaded into a metallic saddle bag that mounted to one side of my by-wheel. The reflector armor I had picked up from the heathen woman didn’t fit me. That’s a bit of a downer. Guess I should have let her keep it. A quick image of the topless heathen popped into my mind. My cheeks burning, I tossed the blue vest in the corner. Jazz could sell or trade it to another outcast.

Time flew by fast as I sorted a rough plan using maps I had selected from Jazz’s stash of findings. None of them represented the planet as it was now. Some showed it as a barren red orb, visibly scarred. The others showed it when all three sky cathedrals functioned, half covered in greenery. The remaining livable zone was supposedly only a few thousand kilometers around now. I know there’s more. There must be. I thought, dotting a line across one map. I am going to find it.

The fifth day of rains brought the sluth. Long scaled wriggling beast. I stood atop my roof, watching the swampy rust and green-colored mearth furrow as they slithered towards the base of the dwellings. At twenty-five meters or more in length, they easily and often crept walls and entered homes. Their mouths with tiny rear facing teeth could expand to take in a man whole if he wasn’t careful. Or if you found yourself wrapped in their powerful bodies, you would listen to your bones crunch as they squeeze you to death. Both options were undesirable.

To avoid wasting ammunition, and perforating the dwellings, I used a small light-blaster instead of my contender. With combat enhancement, I easily hopped from top to top of the structures. Shooting the creatures down. People in the settlements have it easy. If they only knew. I couldn’t help but be bitter as I worked. The droplets now stung on impact as everything swirled and howled around blindingly.

All large settlements were ringed with a wall that raised from the ground during the rains, and when the sun sank. Made of pillars and interwoven cables that energized. Any sluth, spradin or unlucky beast that crossed, fried to a crisp. Somehow Owls and his sheep overlooked, as with many things, this ancient technology. It’s no different from the HAG. But they fooled themselves into believing the walls’ arrival each rain and night to be a gift from Diamos.

I fired a bolt of light, sending one creature sizzling to the muck below. The smell of its burning scales and meat mixing with the damp air. I wish they could understand. All the believers huddled in the few safe settlements. And the pontifex would travel between them, exile for some bizarre or even false reason, then leave. The poor soul exiled, if not taken in by a heathen gang or group of outcast, died. That simple. It was the same as being sentenced to a rapture. Nothing but a show of power and lies to keep the small population in line. In honor of moons, Diamos and Phobos. What a joke.

I flopped on my bed at the end of the seventh day, drained and soggy. Typically, Jazz and I split the work of dealing with the sluth. Without him, I had to stay in the storm awake for the last two days. I should have just let the damn things break in and nest in his sheets. See if he appreciates my help a little more. I sighed. He had gotten by for years before taking me in, and then took care of us both until I pulled my weight. Yeah, He won’t notice I’m gone.

I kicked off my sopped clothes then rolled under the scratchy bedding. Ignoring my wind worn skin that nagged with the physical contact. “HAG, current timestamp?”

“Five oh five, Martian fall,”

It’s a great time for a nap. Things should begin to dry in the morning. A yawn drug me into the dark of sleep, interrupting my thoughts.

The smell of stem grass and the food greens drifted from distant fields. I had slept through most of the following day after the rains, then I set full force on the task at hand. Now, the ninth day from the beginning of the storm, the sun shone bright, and the sky cathedral was simple giant spire in the distance, no longer canvassed by violent clouds.

I latched a second saddle bag to my by-wheel, then looked over the vehicle. It was my favorite way to travel. The two oversized tires and narrow design made the machines maneuverable and fast. An array of panels on the rear absorbed sunlight for energy. Others operated on liquid fuel. These units had more power and speed, but the fuel was near impossible to find. If not in a sealed vessel, it would rot and didn’t operate the combustion engines. As with my pistol, light power had rendered them obsolete in ancient times. But they were still around.

The air was thick after the rains. This chilled the normally constant temperature. So, a fresh pair of military pants and heavy-soled boots for my legs and feet. Long-sleeved white top that concealed my abnormal right arm. A sturdy jacket and then wrapping an ammunition and holster belt at my waist with a blaster. The bandolier of additional ammo over one shoulder and my contender pistol over the other. Fully outfitted, I let the door of my dwelling shut with a satisfying click.

My last trip through the encampment was slow. I looked over the structures with deep breaths as fourteen orbits of memories swarmed me. It had been rough with Jazz lately. But not always. We had spent years living and working together, looking for information on the HAG. learning about this crazy world we lived in, or rather, the one before it.

Glancing down the well-used path that led into the vast openness of Mars, I swallowed hard. I can’t believe he really hasn’t come back. The anger from our argument had long since faded. I had no intention of apologizing and I was going through with my plan. But I cared for the man. He was the only friend or family I had to depend on. Yes, I wanted to see my birth parents, but there were no false ideas about how that would go. And that’s if they were in German Olympus when I arrived. Jazz deserved my respect, and a proper parting. Well, it is his loss then. I’m out of here. The thoughts were forced.

I let the whirr of the by-wheel’s engine clear my head as the road took me further and further away. This chapter of life was over. Perhaps one day I’ll come back, after I find a place that is devoid of moon worshiping rejects. I allowed that to push me forward as I accelerated the cycle in a path to my future. Finally, it was time.