Jezero

By Allen Stroud

Sixth episode in the Fractal mini-series, building on the heavily-praised worlds of Fearless and Resilient set in 2118AD, now accompanied by an awesome soundtrack.

The aftermath of the destruction. Phobos Station rains down on the settlement as colonists rebel from the oppressive corporate regime. A survivor escapes, fights back and tries to get off planet, uncovering more about the mysteries of Mars.

FLAME TREE PRESS is the home of new fiction at Flame Tree Publishing. It brings together powerful new authors and the more established; award winners, exciting, original and inclusive voices.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Flame Tree Press
• Release date: Feb 9, 2024
• ISBN: 9781787588295

Allen Stroud

Allen Stroud (Ph.D) is a university lecturer and Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror writer, best known for his work on the computer games Elite Dangerous by Frontier Developments and Phoenix Point by Snapshot Games. He was the 2017 and 2018 chair of Fantasycon, the annual convention of the British Fantasy Society, which hosts the British Fantasy Awards. He is he current Chair of the British Science Fiction Association. His SF novels, Fearless, and Resilient and titles in The Fractal Series are published by Flame Tree Press.

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ALLEN STROUD

Jerezo

THE FRACTAL SERIES

6 of 6

flametreepress.com

FLAME TREE PRESS

London & New York

Prologue

The Mars colony is potentially the greatest opportunity for humanity’s expansion beyond Earth.

The first colonial transport arrived in 2065 AD. The huge Gateway was the biggest ship ever commissioned. It took five years to assemble in Earth orbit before leaving for the red planet.

The colonial mission was a partnership between nations and corporations. Investment returns were planned to come from the raw materials mined from Mars and its satellites. Companies sent delegates who were prepared to be pioneers and then represent their interests.

A new entity, Mars CorpGov, was created to oversee the entire project. This is a corporation with the powers and authority of a nation. This was a new government model. The leaders of the mission would be able to devise a new method of administering the colony. A variety of existing systems was examined, and elements of each incorporated into the new Martian model.

Landfall occurred in 2066 AD. To start with, the mission took ownership of the research facilities already built on the planet. Construction began immediately on the first Jezero dome and once it was complete, the new nation raised its flag.

To begin with, there were five citizens of Mars. Everyone else who came to the planet was granted temporary citizen status as part of their contract to live and work in the settlement. That process has continued to this day.

Occasionally, individuals are granted full permanent citizenship status. This occurs rarely.

Currently, there are fifteen permanent citizens of Mars.

Chapter One: Madiro

I’m in my office when they arrive.

I can hear them in the hall. The shouting, the thuds against the walls. Sound carries, even through walls designed to contain atmospheric pressure. Over the years I’ve been here, I’ve become more sensitive to those noises. The unmistakeable tones of speech, the inflection, tempo and volume carries, even if the words do not.

They are looking for me.

I’m in the toilet cubicle, sitting on the extractor, with my feet planted firmly against the door. I have a portable screen hooked into the security tracking feed. The bio identification monitors worn by every individual living on Mars mean I can see all the people who are in this building, the colony administration office for the Jezero municipal dome.

Shit, there are a lot of people out there and they are very angry.

* * *

The path to colonising Mars began with state corporation partnerships.

Ingenuity and innovation found reward in the private sector. The dreams of the rich and wealthy found and fuelled the creative minds of engineers, physicists and architects who were capable of seeing the prize, breaking it down into a set of achievable projects. First there was Earth Orbital, then Luna, then Phobos and then Mars.

The initiatives didn’t stop there. Marketing and promotion sold the dream. Images of frontier America from the previous millennium, when Europeans were seduced into crossing the Atlantic. Commercial colony projects went further, out to Ceres, then Europa.

The profit margin for corporations depended on keeping control of costs. Human beings are a massive expense for a colony project, so any way in which the price of keeping them could be kept down would help.

When I came to Mars, I experienced first-hand the way in which the corporations implemented their financial strategy.

Every individual sent to the colonies incurs a transportation debt. The real-time fuel, air, food, water and construction costs racked up would be more than a lifetime of work on my salary. So, the debt is calculated based on weighing up a number of other factors too. Like the essentiality contribution of my professional role to the Mars colony. I can add some other mitigators, particularly if I volunteer extra time to support the colony, or train as a first response medic or fire marshal, etc.

However, even with all those extra factors, the sum of money owed to the Mars CorpGov conglomerate by every colonist is huge. More than ten million US dollars.

It’s hard to live with a debt like that over your head.

* * *

I can hear glass breaking.

These offices are repurposed compartments from colonial transports. Most of the infrastructure of the Jezero dome is decommissioned material from ships used to get us here. That means the walls are tough – designed for vacuum – and regularly checked, in case of a depressurisation of the dome.

The glass viewing panels on doors are made of thick toughened transparent layers. They don’t break easily.

The voices are closer now.

The digital floor plan on my screen identifies six individuals in the corridor outside my room. I don’t recognise any of the names on their tags. There are no authorised security personnel in the vicinity. I’m on my own.

"Where are they? Where are they!"

I know what these people want. I work for Mars CorpGov as an administrative executive. I represent the organisation here in the dome, acting as a spokesperson for—

Go through the files! There’s got to be something we can use against these assholes!

Wait. There’s someone in the back room!

I go cold inside. They know I’m here.

I’m staring at the door. My world has narrowed to that metal-and-plastic panel. I’m willing it to hold, to stay shut and keep these people out.

The door handle clicks. Someone is trying to get in. There’s a grunt, then a shuddering impact against the panel. The lock holds, but I feel the blow in my legs. I shift position, trying to wedge myself against all the bolted-down fixtures and fittings.

Over here! Over here!

Another blow. The panel shivers but doesn’t open. I taste blood in my mouth. I realise I’ve been holding my breath and biting my lip. I force myself to breathe and clench my teeth, pushing hard against the door.

Silence outside, then there’s a noise. The flip of a switch and the hum of electrical ignition. There’s a scraping sound and I can see droplets of moisture on the white plastic of the lock plate. I realise what they are doing.

They’ve got a cutter.

I scrabble back, trying to make myself as small as possible. It won’t help, but it’s better than getting my feet burned.

Dark heat scoring appears around the door handle. A minute later the panel cracks. There’s a grunt, another blow and the door bursts open.

Got you, a man says and grins.

* * *

I remember being five or six years old and refusing to eat my dinner. My mom got angry and that frightened me. I hid under the table. Looking back, that probably should have been the moment where my parents chose to de-escalate the situation. A calm voice and soothing words would have brought me back, but that’s not what they did. Instead, my father grabbed my legs and pulled me out from my hiding place.

That’s pretty much the same thing that’s happening now.

I kick out and try to hold on. My fingers are wrapped around steel pipes at the back of the extractor. But