Page 50 of The Red Woman on Mars

Vivian walked to the center wall to view a long, rectangular page of cream-colored paper posted behind glass. The text was crisp and legible with no signs of decay.Article I: All Martians are entitled to the fundamental rights of water, food, air, and energy.Vivian reached out a hand, hovering over the glass above another.Article VI: No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.

America used to revere documents like this, kept behind glass. Back when it was the United States of America, not a fractured group of semi-independent regions barely agreeing to govern as a loose federation. But here on Mars, the ideas behind these documents were real. Or they should be. Her finger strayed to the word “servitude.”

Were the Red Mothers in servitude?

No, of course not. She knew the basics of the history of American slavery, at least as much as her censored education allowed.Her experience was nothing compared to those horrors. But was Xavier right? Was the Red Mothers initiative an echo of earlier forms of bondage throughout Earth’s history?

“Are you interested in law, dear?” the reference librarian asked.

“I think I am,” Vivian said slowly.

“I love hearing that. Please, let me show you everything.”

CHAPTER TWENTY

15 Sols to Presentation Day

“And here is our lettuce farm.”

Vivian stared at the heads of lettuce stretching in rows down the long greenhouse. She remembered the first time she’d eaten Martian lettuce, devouring chicken pita sandwiches with Luz. This was the place where that lettuce had grown.

Standing at her side, Ren glanced at the clock above the back wall and stifled a yawn. “Very nice.”

Never mind him, Vivian thought. She moved through the rows of vivid green, breathing in the humid, earthy air so different from the rest of the dome.

Their Earther tour guide, Alvin, gestured her to look below the trays of lettuce heads to the filtration system. “Mars has spent two hundred years developing the most efficient approach to growing food.” His voice held the barest hint of a familiar drawl that made Vivian almost taste the salty sea air of her childhood. “Hydroponics results in larger, faster yields with less water than soil gardening. The system recycles water efficiently by using a pump that pulls water from the reservoir into a tray and then slowly drains through the porous substrate, back into the reservoir.”

She crouched down to examine the pump. “Like a Martian shower?”

Alvin’s eyes lit up at her interest. “That’s right. Only, the water circulates over the course of days, not seconds.”

Ren remained some distance away, arms crossed and tapping his foot. When Vivian caught his eye from across the greenhouse, he dropped his hands to his sides, as if to hide his impatience. He was trying. Vivian should give him some credit. After all, he’d agreed to escort her here even though he clearly didn’t care about food production. Ren was a decent man. A decent choice.

Her parents needed to pay rent on a trailer in three weeks.

Vivian touched her chest involuntarily to Xavier’s letter hidden in her clothing and felt the comforting crinkle of the real paper. He’d asked her to burn it, but she couldn’t muster the strength to do so.I love you against my will and my reason.She rubbed one shoulder and tried to push away the memory of Xavier’s glowering brown eyes, inches from her own. And that smile that had slipped out when she’d teased him about his written apology. He wasn’t an option for her. She had to be practical.

An Earther woman in gray coveralls entered the greenhouse. “Counselor Nakamura, sir? The plant manager would like a word, if you are amenable.”

“Certainly,” Ren agreed, a note of relief in his voice. “Vivian, I won’t be long. Please do not hold the tour on my account.”

Alvin stared after him. “Never thought Counselor Nakamura had any interest in food production. His family is more focused on the mining industry. Does he mean to invest?”

“I … I couldn’t comment on Ren’s investment decisions,” Vivian said diplomatically. “But he’s here today because I asked him to bring me.”

Alvin jerked up his chin. “Whatever for? I assure you, Mars will feed your future children quite well.”

“I needed to understand. How is the government here able to feed everyone on the dome? Aren’t there lean times?”

“Why would there be?” He shrugged. “There’s no weather or seasons under the domes. Few pests. When there’s the occasional mold or disease outbreak, we isolate it and stamp it out.”

Vivian looked around the productive greenhouse with sudden frustration. “Then why can’t we do the same in America?”

“You know, when I first arrived, I asked myself that question every day.” Alvin ran his hand through his graying blond hair and grimaced. “Now? I think the answer is simple. Political will. In Arcadia, providing for the basic needs of everyone is baked into the foundations of the government. In America, not so much.”

“How long have you been here?”

“Oh, nearly nine years now. I left when my university closed in Savannah.”