Vigilance

Why would you emigrate from the comfort of your home to the more stark, closeted accommodations of a Mars colony? Freedom. Why would you put up with the ever present threat to your life posed by equipment failures, resource shortages and Mars' own killing radiation and thin atmosphere? Freedom. Freedom from increasingly authoritarian powers on Earth. And what is the cost to you of that freedom? Vigilance. Vigilance unto death, because the powerful can't abide freedom for such as you. "Vigilance" is a story in the Future Chronology Series. This series of short stories published by Hiawassee Publishing ranges from near future stories to far millennial stories, from familiar Earth-based settings to distant worlds. This is hard science fiction old-school. "Vigilance" is now available along with four other stories in the collection "From the Earth." Excerpt: Suddenly John found himself on his back with his chest hurting. He sat up slowly and looked around. The EV was several meters away from him, and there was a cloud of smoke rising above it. Rothmeyer was off to one side in pieces, he couldn't see his dad. John arose and looked down at his suit, it was darkened across the chest area and his ribs ached but the suit hadn't breached. He began walking, then running towards the EV. He arrived at the EV and began yelling for his father before he realized he hadn't switched on his mic. He switched it on and ran to the other side of the machine. There some meters away was his dad face down. John ran and kneeled down beside his father. Before he turned him over John noticed his dad's back rise and fall. He was breathing. John turned his dad over and was shocked by the condition of his suit. The outer layers around the stomach were vaporized. All he saw was a thin inner layer that the nano-machinery embedded in the suit had quickly replicated. The environmental system was working to replace lost air and maintain body temperature but it couldn't keep up with the demands placed upon it much longer. John had to get his father to Candor City as soon as he could. John yelled through the comm-link, "Dad, dad, can you hear me?" His father didn't respond. John immediately lifted the unconscious body, bent and draped it across his shoulder. He began running towards the nearest rock outcropping. He placed his father against the rocks facing the setting sun. It was the best he could do for now. He plugged in his Annie to his dad's suit and checked his vital signs and saw they were stable though far from normal. He needed to contact Candor as soon as possible, but how? John thought. End excerpt. See the author's blog at https://futurechronology.blogspot.com for more.