Chapter 5—A New Home
All she could recall was opening her heart to the wise old man about the men she'd loved, which was cathartic for her as she realized that she'd been bottling a lot of things up. She wondered what he would have said to her, if he'd been any more than a figment of her imagination. It was a while since she'd received wise counsel. Perhaps she'd conjured him up as a representative of Mars to show that her intentions, at least, were true.
Jacqui found that some of the work she was doing to discover the resources of Mars was not to see if the planet could support human-life, but rather if a profit could be made from it. There was talk too of using Mars as a strategically advantageous jumping-off point for military expeditions into space.
Man was colonising a new world, having ruined his home-planet, which didn't bode well for the future of Mars. But Jacqui thought that as with the beginning of a love-affair, all we could do was to travel hopefully—to be a friend to ourselves and the person we were becoming involved with in a loving relationship. It was all about intent. Had the human-race done enough healing of its own wounds, caused by irrational and selfish behaviour, to behave in a responsible and loving manner towards a new planet? Jacqui didn't know.
So much of the funding for her work came from commercial enterprises. She looked at the red planet logo on Enfield and on her uniform sometimes, and wondered how long it would be before both were plastered with company names and advertising slogans.
Jacqui found herself gazing reflectively at Mars, comparing it to how once unspoilt desert landscapes on Earth looked, before they were plundered for their resources. Earth's biggest problem had been unchecked population-growth, which led to the decimation of the planet just to keep people alive. With one third of the remaining population being held in the suspended animation of being cryonically frozen, there was already talk of future breeding-programmes on the new planet. This would involve genetic-modification of cells to produce human-beings better able to withstand the conditions they encountered on Mars.
At present, it was the inhospitality of Mars which was its salvation. She would be dead by now if it weren't for Marcie rescuing her. Would the story of that come out, and be used in some way to promote their bravery? She'd been approached by a film-production company to cooperate with a project for a movie telling the story of her life, starring some actress she didn't know. Jacqui felt uneasy about the idea, knowing that films rarely told the truth, preferring to concoct fresh legends.
She didn't want to become any more of an icon for something which she wasn't sure would be healthy and respectful to the planet and towards the early colonists. She could just be a harbinger of toxicity. But what could she do about that? Once-divided nations and political factions were now all following a broadly-Green manifesto towards righting the wrongs on Earth and developing Mars. But Jacqui knew that 'development' inevitably meant altering the natural world, and once that process was set in motion then desecration often resulted.
Why was she being so gloomy? Near-death experiences certainly made one ponder the point of things, and she'd known a few of them. Instead of feeling joyful at surviving she was always brought up short to ponder about if she'd been wasting her time up to now, and whether she would continue to do so—which was itself a pointless frittering-away of life. She should remember the wisdom of Kierkegaard, one of her favourite philosophers on Time, who thought that: 'The most painful state of being is remembering the future, in particular one you can never have.'
Who knew what would happen on Mars? But she believed in the limitless space of the human-heart, otherwise she wouldn't be here, so things could be made to work out for the best. Jacqui pulled herself into a kneeling position, careful not to dislodge the IV tubes and looked out of a port-hole.
She could just see the black silhouette of Enfield marked-out against the paler night-plain. Her bike was undoubtedly the most-travelled motorcycle in the universe, and was waiting to do more sterling service tomorrow. She could only try to make sure things were right for whatever future emerged from her work.
In the meantime there was a hot meal to eat, and two companions who cared about her to enjoy being with—life went on, taking her with it. She remained a traveller in time and space—a buoyant speck of nothingness hoping for something good to be created.
The End
About The Author
Paul Whybrow has a young head on old shoulders.
Ex many things, including being a teacher, counsellor,
librarian, dispatch-rider, milk-man, postman, bar man,
house renovator, classic vehicle restorer, courier,
van driver, factory worker, project manager,
live-in carer for the elderly, editor, photographer,
volunteer at a community centre, play-schemes,
homeless campaigns and nature conservation projects.
I wrote non-fiction magazine articles for ages,
but turned to creative writing in the summer of
2013. I've been my own boss for a long time,
which means I'm working for an idiot and the
pay is lousy—but the holidays are great.
Paul Whybrow has a good heart inside a battered chest.
* * *
Also by Paul Whybrow
Novellas
* A Man Out Walking His Dog—A tale of mistaken identity.
* Burpwallow Holler—Loyalty in post Civil War America.
* Quarry—A gangster becomes prey in a lethal reality TV show.
* Ghosting—How a lonely biologist finds peace with the ghosts of her life.
* Is It Her?—A new start is offered to a grieving widower.
* A Blue Tomorrow—Temptation and new beginnings on a farm.
* Hearts On Tour—Small town friends support one another.
* What Would I Do Without You?—A newly-single wife begins life again.
Short Stories
* The Moon Is Out Tonight—Two soul-mates separated by circumstance.
* Due-Date—A soul in limbo is given a new job.
* Jacqui In Space—A 20th century explorer on 22nd century Mars.
* Over And Out—Things come to a head on a 50th wedding anniversary.
* In The Graveyard At Dawn—A boy and his dog among the graves.
* Soul-Swapping—Moving souls, a demon tries to get back to hell.
Song Lyrics
* 12 Country & Western Lyrics—hope, regret and seeing things as they are.
* 13 Kinds of Blue—trouble's your only friend, ain't it?
* A Dozen Pops—love in a bubble always goes pop.
* A Dozen Rocks—head down boogie along the highway.
* Box of Love—songs of love and hope.
* Howling For You—the sadness goes on and on.
Poetry
* Love Stages—Love affairs seen at different phases.
* Love Begins—The thrill of the new, the nervousness and delight.
* Love Ends—What do you do when things go wrong?
* Love Hopes—How would you like love to happen?
* Love Wishes—In an ideal world your affair would be like this...
* Nature's Ways—Aspects of the natural world, happy and sad.
* Modern Times—What it means to live in the 21st century.
* Old Age Navigation—Ageing stinks, but it beats the alternative.
* Darkness—Written from the endless night of the soul.
* Darkness Darkness—We all have our dark side—how's yours?
* Loneliness—The poverty of the soul, when you're alone.
* Solitariness—The richness of the soul, when you go solo.
* Poems To Ponder—Thoughtful and amusing poems for children.
> * Witches' Knickers—Silly and nonsense poems for young readers.
* Hold Onto Yourself—Funny and warm poems for youngsters.
* What Do You Like?—9 Erotic Poems
* Building Story House—10 Poems on creating stories
* Lost Among The Words—10 Poems about Writing
* Friends And Other Confusions—10 Poems on liking others and yourself.
* Chasing Big 'O'—9 Erotic Poems
* Squeeze It—10 Poems on Creativity and Setbacks
* We Stop Ourselves—10 Poems on Creativity, Doubt and Self-Belief
* Love Scenes—10 Poems about love
* Free To Fly—10 poems on getting through
Novels
Coming soon:
* The Perfect Murderer—a novel about a serial killer, who makes no mistakes.
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* * *
Connect with the author
https://paulwhybrowblog.wordpress.com
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