{"id":67,"date":"2008-05-18T00:00:16","date_gmt":"2008-05-18T04:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/?p=67"},"modified":"2022-12-14T13:58:30","modified_gmt":"2022-12-14T18:58:30","slug":"a-man-called-mister-brown-mars-in-winter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/articles\/a-man-called-mister-brown-mars-in-winter\/","title":{"rendered":"A Man Called Mister Brown: Mars in&nbsp;Winter"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"serial-posts-wrapper\">\n<h3 class=\"serial-posts-heading\"><span class=\"serial-post-text\">Read more from this serial.<\/span><\/h3>\n<ul class=\"serial-posts\">\n<li class=\"serial-posts-list-item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/articles\/a-man-called-mister-brown\/\" title=\"A Man Called Mister Brown\">A Man Called Mister Brown<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"serial-posts-list-item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/articles\/a-man-called-mister-brown-ms-hitt\/\" title=\"A Man Called Mister Brown: Ms. Hitt\">A Man Called Mister Brown: Ms. Hitt<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"serial-posts-list-item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/articles\/a-man-called-mister-brown-mr-green\/\" title=\"A Man Called Mister Brown: Mr. Green\">A Man Called Mister Brown: Mr. Green<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"serial-posts-list-item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/articles\/a-man-called-mister-brown-the-ishtar-death-march\/\" title=\"A Man Called Mister Brown: The Ishtar Death March\">A Man Called Mister Brown: The Ishtar Death March<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"serial-posts-list-item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/articles\/a-man-called-mister-brown-camp-adonis\/\" title=\"A Man Called Mister Brown: Camp Adonis\">A Man Called Mister Brown: Camp Adonis<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"serial-posts-list-item current-inactive\">A Man Called Mister Brown: Mars in Winter<\/li>\n<li class=\"serial-posts-list-item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/articles\/a-man-called-mister-brown-to-the-underworld\/\" title=\"A Man Called Mister Brown: To the Underworld\">A Man Called Mister Brown: To the Underworld<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"serial-posts-list-item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/articles\/a-man-called-mister-brown-the-graves-speak\/\" title=\"A Man Called Mister Brown: The Graves Speak\">A Man Called Mister Brown: The Graves Speak<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n<p class=\"section\"><span class=\"dc\"><strong>T<\/strong><\/span>he <em>Babykiller<\/em> left Adonis eleven hours later with three passengers, its weapons functional and the cloaking system working \u2014 Mister Brown, Mr. Vaino \u201cGreen\u201d Fingers and Ms. Armini Hitt.<\/p>\n<p>Ten minutes after the departure, Commander Lyme began to realize that Hitt might have made a fool of him. But he could not alert the Fleet or the Agency without implicating himself in the plot. So nobody followed the <em>Babykiller.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Green piloted the ship, muttering wordless promises of revenge against Lyme, Hitt, Brown and the United Planets. Only when the ship had accelerated to 2G and the course to Mars had been set, did he seem to unwind.<\/p>\n<p>Green checked his face in a pocket mirror and felt his sore jaw. \u201cSon of a bot busted my jaw. Thank the Constant I heal fast. Those teeth will have grown back when we get there.\u201d From a compartment in the cockpit, he produced a small sunlamp and rigged it on top of his skull. Simulated sunlight fed his skin with energy and he relaxed. Green peered at the other two passengers. \u201cI\u2019m going to stay awake the whole trip so I\u2019ll be at full strength when we arrive. And I\u2019m going to keep an eye on you two. Even when I sleep.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In a passenger bunk behind the cockpit, Brown lay and rested on his coat. The coat released drugs into his skin to diminish the nausea and dizziness. One of the circular floor hatches slid open and Hitt climbed in. The acceleration did not seem to bother her. She tossed him a food pack.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot hungry.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSpace-sick?\u201d She climbed into her own bunk and regarded him with silver-colored eyes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<em>I<\/em> prefer to deep-sleep through my space trips. A person can go crazy on the long routes. Just look at Green.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hitt\u2019s eyes narrowed. \u201cI didn\u2019t go crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOf course you didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDo you think you\u2019re better than me, Brown? Better than a Cybe?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Brown scowled at her. \u201cI\u2019m not going to spend this whole trip arguing with you.\u201d The scowl went away. \u201cBesides, there are nicer ways to spend the time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou don\u2019t seem up to it,\u201d she said. \u201cI wore you out on Adonis.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The look on his face as he moved over to Hitt\u2019s bunk was ruthless. \u201cI\u2019ve learned to pace myself.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>After a while, he had her convinced.<\/p>\n<p class=\"section\"><span class=\"dc\"><strong>D<\/strong><\/span>uring the journey through space, the three passengers grew increasingly suspicious of each other. They made sure not to leave anyone else unguarded. Whenever anyone of them moved into the cockpit, the others checked that he or she wasn\u2019t trying to send a secret message to Mars or Earth.<\/p>\n<p>Green asked the greatest number of questions; every waking minute he tried to think of any way he might be double-crossed.<\/p>\n<p>At one point, Hitt said: \u201cIf you have to stare at me all the time, Green, at least stare at my ass or my tits, not at my eyes. It\u2019s less annoying.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d Despite his bushy eyebrows, Green\u2019s eyes appeared large and quite insane. \u201cAre you worried I might see what you\u2019re thinking? Maybe I can. There\u2019s no telling what abilities NeoMartians were born with. But you\u2019ve got nothing to hide&#8230; do you? Do you?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She turned to Brown, who was checking the ship screens for news on the war. \u201cTell me again, Brown, why I shouldn\u2019t toss him out the airlock.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause you can\u2019t afford to be wrong about what he knows.\u201d He put a second toothpick in his mouth. \u201cLooks like the war is escalating. The Terran Fleet just intercepted and blew up several ice convoys from Saturn. The Venusians are hopping mad and threaten to retaliate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Stinkers got nothing to hit back with,\u201d Green said. \u201cThey can\u2019t blockade and they can\u2019t get through the Terran defense ring. They\u2019re going to give in.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ms. Hitt pointed to the front viewscreen. It showed stars, and three bright dots: Mars and its moons. \u201cThat\u2019s space, Green. It\u2019s got no borders. No walls. The Terrans are acting tough, but it\u2019s they who are vulnerable. It\u2019s easier to drop things down the well, than up the well. It\u2019s Mars and all the Outer Planets against Old Earth. The others think she\u2019s too powerful, they\u2019ll gang up on her. She\u2019s had it coming for a long, long time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Both Green and Brown stopped what they were doing and glanced at each other, then the Cybe. Hitt sounded&#8230; odd. They said nothing for a while, and behaved more cautiously around Hitt for the remainder of the journey.<\/p>\n<p>It occurred to Green that underneath her controlled, synthetic surface, Hitt might be crazier than himself.<\/p>\n<p class=\"section\"><span class=\"dc\"><strong>T<\/strong><\/span>he <em>Babykiller<\/em> received clearance to enter the Martian atmosphere. Hitt only had to show her \u201cspecial letter\u201d from the influential Agency, and she could pass almost anywhere, except enemy territory. For the time being, Mars stayed neutral in the war.<\/p>\n<p>Hitt grew visibly tense. \u201cSo we\u2019re in the atmosphere. For the last time, I\u2019m not going to jettison you. Where is the graveyard? It\u2019s somewhere on Mars, right? Didn\u2019t take a brain-grid to figure that out.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI thought you\u2019d never ask,\u201d Brown said with a wry grin.<\/p>\n<p>Green searched his map display for the site the fugitive had described to him. He gave the map program a search command, adjusted it again, but got no result. \u201cI don\u2019t understand. It\u2019s gotta be there! An ice crescent shaped like the silhouette of a face! It can\u2019t be gone! It\u2019s the right time of the year!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI see.\u201d Hitt worked the controls, and an airlock door opened behind the cockpit. The air rushed out of the ship with a howl. Through the transparent interior wall, they could glimpse the wispy clouds of Mars speed by, and the parched reddish-brown landscape a thousand meters below. \u201cCan you fly, Green?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Brown said: \u201cWait. When was the shipment declared missing?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFo-forty-one standard years ago,\u201d said Green.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd when was the last time you were on Mars?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<em>Umm<\/em>&#8230; when I was eight years old?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMars is warmer and wetter now. The terraforming program is still running. Several landmarks have changed, new lakes and rivers have been dug out.\u201d Brown told the map program to show them large-scale changes in the landscape during the last forty years.<\/p>\n<p>Hitt studied the display, and shut the airlock. \u201cCan you see it now?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The NeoMartian\u2019s skin had turned a lighter green. \u201cYes. Land first, and I\u2019ll show you the exact location. Land near that tiny crater in the southern sector.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He pointed out a small, ancient crater in the southern highlands. Forty years ago, at the same time in the Martian year, ice and frost had formed a bright white crescent on the inside of the bowl-shaped crater. It had been visible from high altitude and on satellite maps. The inside of the crescent formed the silhouette of an old crone\u2019s chin, nose and lips.<\/p>\n<p>Now that crater had become a lake, three hundred meters wide, its surface covered by a circular sheet of ice. It was only one of hundreds of crater lakes where the Martians stored their water.<\/p>\n<p>Hitt smiled at Green. \u201cClever,\u201d she said. \u201cYou\u2019ll live to see the treasure after all.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She took the ship on a course toward the southern hemisphere. Then, unexpectedly, she switched on a panel in the palm of her hand, and said to it: \u201cMeet me at Lake Carter, these coordinates.\u201d She punched in a string of data with her fingertips, and finished; the panel faded from the skin.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho did you talk to? Who was that?\u201d Green\u2019s eyes went wide and frightened.<\/p>\n<p>The Cybe focused on the ship controls. \u201cThe hired help.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"section\"><span class=\"dc\"><strong>T<\/strong><\/span>he Lake Carter pumping station lay unmanned; drifts of snow and sand had gathered along its walls. Hitt landed the <em>Babykiller<\/em> on the side of the crater facing away from the pumping station, and went out first. She wore an overcoat and a power pack for her sidearm, and scouted out the area.<\/p>\n<p>Green and Brown had been on an aerosol drug regimen during their space travel, to get in shape for walking upright. Biosensors monitored their hearts and bodies for a few hours, before they received medical permission to go outside.<\/p>\n<p>Green couldn\u2019t wait to get into his suit and breathing mask. He ran down the exit ramp and onto the frosty ground; the air temperature lay around -60 degrees Centigrade. Green merely sniffed the thin atmosphere and put his face-covering mask back on. Brown saw the NeoMartian\u2019s ribcage swell visibly underneath the coat; they switched off the radio and spoke directly, in case someone might overhear.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSmell that fresh air, Brownie! That refreshing spice of iron! It\u2019s great to be home.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLook,\u201d said Brown, indicating Hitt. She came walking toward the ship without a breathing mask. Condensed vapor steamed from her nostrils. \u201cSo she\u2019s got some real flesh inside after all. She didn\u2019t breathe on me just for show.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019re putting me on,\u201d muttered Green. To Hitt he said: \u201cNow, my friend, comes the tricky part&#8230; the exact location of the graveyard. The man told me, \u2018<em>In one crater to the south lies a white crescent, shaped as the face of an old crone&#8230; on the crone<\/em>\u2019<em>s nose lies a graveyard. Only one grave, one name holds the Lost Ton.<\/em>\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hitt and Green looked to Brown for the next clue.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not saying the name until we get there.\u201d Out of old habit, Brown dug in his pockets for a toothpick but remembered the breathing mask on his face. \u201cHow do we get through the ice sheet? On the radar it was at least ten meters thick. There\u2019s a pocket of liquid water near the bottom, narrower than the ice. It is sectioned off in the middle by a wall that supports the pipes, &#8212; each section about fifty, sixty meters wide. The pumping station keeps the bottom minimally heated so the pipes won\u2019t crack. There\u2019s got to be mud too.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEasy!\u201d said Green, patting the ship\u2019s landing gear with his gloved hands. \u201cMy baby\u2019s cannons can melt a hole right through the ice&#8230;\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCan we use the pressure-suits from Venus underwater?\u201d asked Hitt.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ll only get stuck in the mud,\u201d Brown insisted. \u201cCheck the pumping station. Maybe we can pump out the liquid water and get a dry area to work in.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo, no!\u201d Green became animated. \u201cYou touch that station, you set off alarms and we\u2019ll have the entire MSF on our tails. We have to be discreet.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf we wait until spring&#8230;\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201c&#8230; the station will get manned again,\u201d said Green. He kicked a rock and muttered curses.<\/p>\n<p>Brown ignored Green\u2019s anger and moved close behind Hitt. \u201cYou\u2019ve prepared something,\u201d he said softly. \u201cI can\u2019t believe you were going to dig up the treasure with just us for help. Did you strike a deal with Mendez?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cClose, but no prize.\u201d She gestured casually toward the east.<\/p>\n<p>In the sky, seemingly out of thin air, appeared an airship, then another. Two huge saucer shapes with solar panels on top and gondolas underneath. The gas-filled airships lacked insignia, but their design was unmistakably Jovian. Green gaped at the sight; Brown made an angry grimace that passed for worry. The airships passed in front of the sun and cast shadows across the entire Lake Carter.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSay hello to my little friends,\u201d said Hitt.<\/p>\n<div id=\"serial-posts-wrapper\">\n<h3 class=\"serial-posts-heading\"><span class=\"serial-post-text\">Read more from this serial.<\/span><\/h3>\n<ul class=\"serial-posts\">\n<li class=\"serial-posts-list-item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/articles\/a-man-called-mister-brown\/\" title=\"A Man Called Mister Brown\">A Man Called Mister Brown<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"serial-posts-list-item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/articles\/a-man-called-mister-brown-ms-hitt\/\" title=\"A Man Called Mister Brown: Ms. Hitt\">A Man Called Mister Brown: Ms. Hitt<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"serial-posts-list-item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/articles\/a-man-called-mister-brown-mr-green\/\" title=\"A Man Called Mister Brown: Mr. Green\">A Man Called Mister Brown: Mr. Green<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"serial-posts-list-item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/articles\/a-man-called-mister-brown-the-ishtar-death-march\/\" title=\"A Man Called Mister Brown: The Ishtar Death March\">A Man Called Mister Brown: The Ishtar Death March<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"serial-posts-list-item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/articles\/a-man-called-mister-brown-camp-adonis\/\" title=\"A Man Called Mister Brown: Camp Adonis\">A Man Called Mister Brown: Camp Adonis<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"serial-posts-list-item current-inactive\">A Man Called Mister Brown: Mars in Winter<\/li>\n<li class=\"serial-posts-list-item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/articles\/a-man-called-mister-brown-to-the-underworld\/\" title=\"A Man Called Mister Brown: To the Underworld\">A Man Called Mister Brown: To the Underworld<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"serial-posts-list-item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/articles\/a-man-called-mister-brown-the-graves-speak\/\" title=\"A Man Called Mister Brown: The Graves Speak\">A Man Called Mister Brown: The Graves Speak<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Part 6 of the 8 part <em>A Man Called Mister Brown<\/em> serial by A.R. Yngve finds Vaino &ldquo;Green&rdquo; Fingers, Mister Brown, and Ms. Hitt as they arrive on Mars to find the missing plutonium. <em class=\"nobr\">&mdash; ed, N.E. Lilly<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":538,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3,5],"tags":[97,98],"media":[299],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1161,"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67\/revisions\/1161"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/538"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67"},{"taxonomy":"media","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?post=67"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}