Into the Unknowable Ch. 05

Vashti was now alone in Timbuktu, owning only the clothes she'd been given by Vikram, whose build was the most like hers, and a few credits she'd been genuinely reluctant to accept. She had much less need for it than her companions could possibly guess. She also had no need for sleep or rest. She could eat anything: whether organic, metallic or even poisonous. And even if she wasn't sheltered from the elements by Timbuktu's huge overarching dome, the extremes of the desert climate were no trouble to her. She didn't even need to drink or breathe. But it was prudent to pretend to have such basic human needs.

She soon found others with whom she could enjoy both intellectual and carnal intercourse, and through these contacts she learnt new languages, new cultural habits and a greater appreciation of just how peculiar a woman as well-endowed as her was in this world. She also discovered how much humans were governed by their sexual desire, the males in particular, and how this could also prove to be extremely useful.

"Good news, Vashti," said the consul of the Mariner colony after her fifth or sixth visit to its modest offices in the outer suburbs of Timbuktu. "Or not good news, if you wanted to stay on Earth."

Vashti smiled at the tall dark-skinned man who wore the same military dress as did the other Martians who worked at the consulate.

"My visa's come through, I hope?"

"Not just your visa, but a fresh passport," said the consul. "You're right. Your records must have been lost for good after that horrendous bombing at the Tharsis record centre." He smiled at Vashti as he handed her the electronic documents with a holograph of her head and shoulders engraved on the front cover.

"Thank you, sir," said Vashti, who had already picked up the formal etiquette of her self-adopted home. "It's a great relief, I must say."

"Well, Earth's International Economic Union might very well be just as pleased as you, Vashti," said the consul. "They didn't really want the burden of accepting you as a semi-permanent resident. I must compliment you on your spoken Arabic, by the way. It's virtually impeccable. Not many people on Mars speak it."

"It's a beautiful language, sir," said Vashti.

"You speak it like a native of North Africa," the consul elaborated. "However, you are aware that just as there are no surviving records of you on Mars there is also no record of you having served your term of military service. I am duty-bound to ask you: have you ever been conscripted?"

"No, I haven't," said Vashti truthfully.

"That's a relief," said the consul. "I'd hate for you to have to serve a second time unnecessarily. You are aware, I hope, that you have five years of conscription awaiting you on Mars?"

Vashti smiled. All was going truly according to plan.

"I would be honoured, sir, to do my duty for the Mariner Colony and to avenge the slaughter of my family and friends in Tharsis. I am truly looking forward to giving those cunts from the Polar Regions a taste of Mariner lead."

"And not just lead," said the consul. "A few antimatter bombs wouldn't go amiss. I admire your attitude, Vashti. And I'm sure you'll do sterling service for your country and its people."

It was all Vashti could do to resist herself from saluting the consul.

"Thank you, sir," she said. "It's a duty I look forward to fulfilling."