Ares' Anger
()
About this ebook
A short story of the world's first Mars colony. The central characters are a product of the ghetto, Dexter Arnold and a Japanese woman from a well-to-do family, Tamiko (Tandy) Yoshiro. They don't really like each other but endure the training regimen as team. In which they sabotage each others' efforts until advised to learn to cooperate or be dismissed from the program. So a team they become, especially after an in orbit disaster results in them being the only survivors. Then they end up with the first colony on Mars. Bio-habitat exterior venture policies notwithstanding, Dexter ends up doing duties alone. Which would have been fine if he hadn't had the mishap of wrecking his rover buggy and having to walk back home. Which really wasn't so bad in itself. Except an out of season giant Martian dervish took dead aim at him. And all his colleagues could do is just watch the monitors as the drama unfolded. Except for Tandy who had an absurd pigheaded, orders defying idea for saving her out time partner. Not that the giant either cared or stopped its persistent mission to squash everything in its path. Dexter was just unfortunately at ground zero. So you have a mindless unstoppable monster, a trapped African-American and an insane and outmatched Japanese woman going head to head. There could be only one outcome as the roar of the dervish intensified as it towered over them, bullied them, ready to deliver a final blow. You just don't quarrel with a Martian giant. Even when you're a team that has each others back. Sometimes the best thing to do is run if you can. And if you can't well. . . .
James R. Womack
James Womack is a Deaf writer who writes mainly science fiction short stories. Sometimes he dives into contemporary shorts on touchy social issues. Mostly, he just likes telling stories that a bit off the beaten path.
Read more from James R. Womack
God's Son Not A Talisman Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPeculiar Pete: Courtyard Coward Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe legend of The Bogeyman Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAres' Anger Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Perils and Tribulations of Turncoat Paul Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJudas Iscariot: Blinded By The Light Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAre Christians Anti-Jesus? Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBullies with Badges: Harbingers of Terror Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe PlanetDeath Chronicles Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGiant Dreams and Dragons Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Ares' Anger
Related ebooks
The Far Reaches Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Inosculation Syndrome Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Celestials Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Lattice Of Space: Robot Series, #3 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsInterstellar starpilot: Human starpilots, #2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Adam and Eve Chronicles Book 2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJudgement Day: Ark Royal, #20 Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Mayflower II Colonists from Earth Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAnother Being Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNascha: Episode One - New Worlds Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSheppard's Quest Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBetrayal: Rise of Man, #3 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsProject Earth: Vice or Virtue Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Catalyst Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSeparate Yet Equal Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Transplants Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOut For The Count Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Quest for Light Speed Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFlipspace: Primalocracy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJohnny Winger and the Hellas Enigma Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsKrakenscourge: Voidstalker, #2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsStar Crusades Nexus: The First Trilogy (Books 1-3) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Apes Descendants Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsKEID: A Lost Civilization: The Fourth Oort Chronicle Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDouble Asteroid Redirection Test: Defending Earth from Asteroids Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSpace Zombies Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsI Have a Question: A novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWorldship Praxis Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Aliens Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Shadow of Zelos Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Science Fiction For You
The Silo Series Collection: Wool, Shift, Dust, and Silo Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This Is How You Lose the Time War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Kindred: A Graphic Novel Adaptation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Alchemist: A Graphic Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Psalm for the Wild-Built Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Flowers for Algernon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Institute: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Warrior of the Light: A Manual Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wool: Book One of the Silo Series Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Authority: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sarah J. Maas: Series Reading Order - with Summaries & Checklist Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England: Secret Projects, #2 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How High We Go in the Dark: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ocean at the End of the Lane: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Shift: Book Two of the Silo Series Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Contact Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bradbury Stories: 100 of His Most Celebrated Tales Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Troop Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Annihilation: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Rendezvous with Rama Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Light From Uncommon Stars Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I Who Have Never Known Men Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I Am Legend Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dust: Book Three of the Silo Series Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Frankenstein: Original 1818 Uncensored Version Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Animal Farm And 1984 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5We Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Ares' Anger
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
Ares' Anger - James R. Womack
Contents
Prologue
The Colonists
Mother Hen
A Martian Monster
Dexter and Tandy
Rescue
Prologue
Ahhhhhhhh! This isn't happening. This isn't . . .
A space-suited figure struggled to retain control of a vehicle that looked as if its assembly was incomplete.
Uh. Darn it, straighten out, straighten out!
Wire mesh, tubes, and a few cylinders seemed to be all that comprised the vehicle. It bounced out of control and threw up dust as its widely spaced serrated metal tires bit into the rocky and dusty surface. It spun around and became airborne. The driver, secured by an almost full-bodied safety net, uttered several expletives. Then he sighed as the vehicle came to a jarring rest on its side. The electric motor released a final whine before some loose part rattled inside it, then silence.
Rocks and dust, both the color of rust, covered the Martian plains. The dust-covered nearly everything and filled every crevice, like snowfall on a rock-strewn desert. It was so powdery in texture, it could be easily mistaken for snow were it white rather than red. Rocks littered the plains like toys in an eight-year old's bedroom. The driver climbed gingerly out of the overturned rover. He took extra care not to snag the all-important spacesuit on any jagged or protruding piece of the vehicle. A mistake that would spell instant death in the hostile, frigid, and thin carbon dioxide Martian atmosphere. The figure worked its way out of the wrecked buggy, checked his spacesuit for damage. Finding none, the driver stood fully upright. A name tag on the suit identified him as Dexter Arnold. Dexter Arnold threw his arms heavenward as if appealing to a higher power. He received no response so shook his head dejectedly. Dexter was
a geologist by training, but today he was just a stranded motorist a long way from home. He was one of a nine-person colony team. They were Earth's first attempt at colonizing another world. The colony lived in a structure of tubes and domes called a bio-habitat. Their stay on Mars began only seven Earth months ago.
Usually, Dexter would be just collecting soil and rock samples. Today, he was servicing and installing guideposts. Tandy was supposed to be with him, but she was assisting Rada regarding a glitch at the recycling facility. Dexter assured Henry he could do the job without a partner. Under normal circumstances, the always ultra-cautious Henry would never allow this. But all other teams were locked into different tasks. Standard policy was for all out-time be done with a partner for safety's sake.
Moreover, losing a fellow colonist wasn't an option. Total isolation from the remainder of humanity tended to family-ize people like nothing else could. The guideposts were an obvious necessity, however. As colonists, the team had to do more than colonize. They had to chart the surface of Mars for colonies that would follow them. This meant frequent ventures outside and in regions out of sight of the bio-habitat unit. Using solar-charged electric battery rover buggies permitted