Mars Needs Women

Chapter 2 - Escape

After meeting the Broker, we got herded into five red buses, and the electric motors whirred as we took off. Sitting next to a window and beside Riya, I got a chance to do some sightseeing. The main road was paved, but most side roads were graveled, like back home, and the trucks moving on them kicked up dust clouds.

Ares Central was the biggest city on Mars, although tiny compared to Earth's overcrowded mega-cities. The city surrounded the space elevator terminal, which, for some reason, had to be on the equator — something about physics. Just about everyone coming or going passed through here.

Near the space elevator were mainly big warehouses. Men and loader-bots scurried about, moving around gray plas-steel crates like squirrels with acorns. I supposed most off-world freight went through here, too.

Most of the buildings had reddish-brown adobe-type walls with arched plas-steel supports, some fairly big. But when I saw one being built, I understood why. A big moving nozzle on a bridge crane squirted out adobe goo like a giant 3D printer. Must be how they built things around here.

I saw dome-roofed houses made of the same stuff, most with gardens behind, but we never drove among them. Instead, we stopped at a boxy multi-story building with a front door overhang. Must be where they'd put us up. Riya and I shared a little dorm-like room on the third floor with communal facilities down the hallway.  

After dinner, when the sun hung low, I got an itching to look around. We weren't supposed to leave the premises, but since when did I follow rules?

"No, thank you," Riya said with a yawn when I invited her to go along. "I am going to bed early, so I will be rested when I meet my new husband."

Didn't know what that meant. Might be she hooked men fast.

Sneaking like a barnyard fox, I slipped outside into the twilight. The setting sun painted a right pretty picture across the high clouds — my first Martian sunset.

There wasn't much happening as I walked along the street. Crossed paths with a few Martians, and they seemed friendly enough. Most of them were men, like the brochure said, and some of them did the wandering eye thing as I passed — had to admit, it made me feel good, but I wasn't looking for any attention.

After a ways, I came to a well-lit tavern called the Red Dawn Pub. It was built in the same adobe-style as the other buildings, except for big front picture windows. I peeked inside.

Now, I ain't the kind of gal who normally walks into bars alone, but this joint seemed safe. The people inside, working men and women I gathered, looked like they were having a good time drinking, socializing, and playing bar games. Weren't crowded, but not sparse either. I had a few credits to spend and a cold beer sounded good, so I wandered in the open door.

It had a classic pub feel, more family like than some of the sleazy places back home. A square-shaped polished fake-wood bar surrounded with padded stools took up the middle space. Inside the square, a couple white-aproned bartenders filled drinks, while a cute barmaid with a tray held high shuffled drinks out to the crowd. Several round tables with chairs took up most of the remaining floor space. In the back, people lined up to play on two old-fashioned dart boards.

I never go looking for trouble — okay, maybe sometimes I do — but trouble's always looking for me.

Working my way around the tables, I caught a tall, blonde-haired man eyeing me up. Before I could move away, he put a hand against the wall by the front window, blocking my path. Another hand blocked by retreat, pinning me in. He had a rugged, muscular handsomeness by some standards, but totally lacked in the charm department. 

"Hey, darling," he said with alcohol enhanced bravado. Two henchmen dudes with mindless grins took positions beside him. "You're new here, aren't you? Let me show you around?"