Martin and Etan had been gone long enough that Brittany had given up listening for radio signals quite as often and had taken to looking for projects that would distract her from worrying.  As she walked through the hatchway into the com mod Brittany twirled her index finger about the braid that hung just over the corner of her left eye.  She turned to go to the main console and was puzzled by the flashing indicator. 

      Brittany hit the comlink on her sleeve, "Rachael, Kei, get down here now!"

      Brittany fit her headset on and listened, Martin's stressed voice was suddenly the best thing she had ever heard.  "Mars Base One this is Trailer One away team do you read me?  Mars Base One this is away team, do you read?  Mars Base, do you read, Brittany, anyone?"

      "this is Mars Base, I read you," Brittany spoke into her headset mic.

      "We are presently five clicks southwest of the base coming in at our maximum speed, Etan is seriously ill, do you read me?"

      Rachael and Kei both came into the Mod.  "Etan is ill?" Brittany asked, more to announce it to them than to question.

      "I don't know how to explain right now, if Rachael is there we need her to be ready to meet us as soon as we reach the base.  Etan has been ill, vomiting, fevered, in pain for at least eight hours already.  There doesn't seem to be anything else I can do for him."

      Rachael picked up a headset, "Martin, we're glad to hear from you, stay calm, you should be here in just a few minutes.  Are you feeling ill yourself?"

      "I feel fine," Martin's voice came through the speakers and headphones.

      "Can Etan speak to me?"          

      "No, he stopped speaking, he doesn't seem to focus on what's around him."

      "Has he eaten?"

      "He ate an apple or two and some dried meat yesterday, then he woke up sick."

      "Where did you get apples?" Rachael asked.

      "From the people in Sinai," Martin said, "I can see the base from here."

      "I'm on my way up to med bay," Rachael said.  She gestured for Kei to follow as she continued talking.  "Did you eat any of the apples or meat?" Rachael asked.

      "Yes, also yesterday."

      "Do you know what he ate before that?"

      "I don't know, he had breakfast at the household of Sadian."

      "Martin!  Did you say Sadian?" Rachael demanded."

      "Sadian, she is one of the people in the underground settlement we were taken to, Etan ate breakfast at her house, but I ate at Io's house."

      Already Rachael was at the hatch to the surface.  "Help them up to med bay as soon as they're through the airlock," Rachael said to Kei.  "Martin, you must get him up into the airlock, don't worry, I'll help him."

                      ?                ?                ?

      Kei and Martin lifted Etan onto the examination table, left him curled in a ball, helmet sealed on.  Rachael removed his helmet from him and examined Etan's eyes.  "He's been poisoned," Rachael said.  "You were given a communication device of some kind."

      "Yes," said Martin removing the portable unit from his shoulder where it had hung from a woven strap.  "I didn't try to contact them, I was too busy trying to care for Etan and raise you at the base."

      Rachael wiped Etan's face with a cloth, began unzipping Etan's suit.  Already the room had filled with the smell of his sickness.  Etan lay twisted on the table, undressed to the waist now, arm hanging toward the floor.  He seemed to speak, but was incoherent.  "Leave us, Kei, tell Brittany we'll let you in later.  Martin, just stand over here and try to work the device."

      Kei left, held Brittany from entering as he did.  Martin unfolded the sections of the device.  He looked over its controls, read the message that introduced the unit.  It took several minutes for Martin to get the machine working.  Rachael kept busy cleaning Etan, getting him covered by a clean sheet and examining him for signs of poisoning. 

      "I think—" Martin began.

      "How may I help?" asked the tall blonde woman suddenly projected life size in the room.  She was a hologram, an extension of a computer operating system. 

      "Claudia?" Rachael asked, she recognized the figure in burgundy velvet gown just as she had recognized the name Sadian.  Claudia was right now back on Earth, looked exactly the same as this because she was a Vampyre.  Sadian was Claudia's granddaughter and Rachael had thought her long dead.

      "Hello, Rachael," the hologram seemed to speak, "Can I be of help?"

      "I need to communicate with those in Sinai, with Sadian."

      "A line is being opened, audio and video links now active...I'm waiting..."

      Sadian's face appeared on the device's small flat screen, looked curiously into space.  "There is a lens," she said.

      "Fuck the lens, Sadi, I thought you were dead, and this young man may be if you don't talk to me.  You're a Jewel, but you're Darkling, so's Etan, either way people will be pissed if he dies."

      "Etan die, what's wrong?"

      "He's been poisoned.  Martin tells me breakfast was served at your house to the boy."

      Telepathy did not transmit over satellite link but Sadian did seem genuinely concerned and surprised.  "Please, Rachael, do what you can for him, I will see what I can find out then call you as soon as I know anything more."

      "You do that, Sadi," Rachael grumbled.

                      ?                ?                ?

      They looked up at once, Caith and Maudlin and Eleria, knowing.  From Sadian the angry telepathic slap came.  And then the information: Etan is poisoned and very ill.  Caith's eyes fell wide, her mouth opened in a scream.  She dropped the plants she had been collecting in her skirt and skittered down the steep hillside toward the lake where Maudlin gathered plants from the dark soil at the foot of the trees in their contrived rainforest. 

      A stream of curses in German verrückt eifersüchtig hündin. 

      "You switched the plates!" Maudlin screamed as Caith came to the soft strip of soil beside lake and waterfall.  Caith ringed Maudlin's neck in her hands, Eleria was jumping from a rock ledge. 

      "Poisoned him!" Caith hissed.

      "I didn't," Maudlin laughed.  It was a horrible sound, hysterical.  Caith drown the mad laughter, she shoved Maudlin back into the water a few feet below. 

      Eleria was with her now.  "What was it?" Eleria demanded.  "Sadian needs to know!"

      Maudlin coughed water, glared hatefully at the twins as she tossed her wet hair behind her.  "I didn't poison him, it was ergot and cotton root on Caith's plate," Maudlin confessed.

      "Ergot and cotton root?" Caith asked.

      "Abortifacients," Eleria whispered solemnly.  "Ergot also causes hallucinations in some preparations."

      "You poisoned me?" Caith screamed, "I switched plates to protect him and it was my plate you drugged?  How can you be so hateful?  I didn't even have sex with him, Maude!"  Caith sank to the ground.  "He's very ill and out of his mind because you can't stand to see anyone else have normal children!"

      Eleria bent and held Caith close to her as she watched Maudlin climb from the water.  "It was insane and jealous what you did.  She didn't even have sex with him.  she's on the pill, we both are.  It was stupid, petty and pointless, and worse you'll cause them to distrust us all!"

      Maudlin stood over them, dripping.  "They'd be better off.  You think I don't see what you would do?  Seduce the lot of them."

      "Is it so evil to make an honest effort to attract a man?" Eleria asked.

      "I feel sorry for you that you didn't take ergot and cotton root yourself when you were younger," Caith said, "It is not my fault that our family were the only people on the planet until recently.  It's your own fault you couldn't keep your legs crossed."

      "You're spoiled little brats.  We didn't have these gardens and sea, lake and river when I was your age.  None of us had formulated the pill yet.  We all thought it would be like that forever.  You don't know what it's like to see your babies grow up so simple!  Do you fault me for all of us being here?  It was the humans that did this to us!  And you want to make friends with them, to carry their children?"

      Eleria pulled Caith to her feet.  They were calmer now.  "Maudlin, the family needs new blood desperately, whether that be Etan or any of the humans is really up to them.  It was still petty and horrible what you tried to do and did."

      "You have injured me, Maudlin!" Caith said.

      "Your boyfriend will get over it," Maudlin sneered, "now, can I attempt to salvage the plants you've scattered everywhere?"

      "Sure, and collect my share as well, to make up for injuring me today," Caith demanded.

      "Of course," Maudlin said, bent to collect the many scattered medicinal plants.

                      ?                ?                ?

      Rachael and Etan were alone in the med bay.  It appeared another was with them, a hologram of Claudia was projected before them, Rachael had recognized her and it seemed Etan did.  "My Lady," he said, "Lady Claudia, how did you get here...someone was asking me about Claudia, the one they named after you..."

      "He had been poisoned with ergot and cotton root," the hologram appeared to speak.  "Our herbalists recommend a tea made from borage leaves and flowers to restore the patient's health."

      "How much ergot?" Rachael asked.

      Sadian appeared on the screen again.  "I'm very sorry, Etan ate from a plate that was meant for someone else, I feel badly about this.  I understand he ate two latke laced with the drugs."

      "We don't have borage, but I'll be able to treat him with our medicines now that I know what his problem is," Rachael said.  "Sadian, how long have you been on Mars?"

      "Roughly sixty years.  I really am sorry Etan was poisoned, my granddaughter is, unfortunately, mentally unstable."

      "You have a granddaughter?" Rachael asked.

      Sadian's face smiled across the screen.  "Come visit us Rachael, my father would love to see you."

      "Trip's there too?"

      "Of course, but you take your time with Etan and listen to Martin's stories.  You are all welcome to visit us."

      "Sadian, have you seen another human?  Etan and Martin were looking for him when you must have found them."

      "Another human out here?  No, just your two that Iolanthe brought in from the tunnel."

      "We will talk later," Rachael said flatly, she glared at the hologram standing near her then as she gave Etan an injection of a sedative.  "Claudia?"

      "Yes, how may I help?"  she asked.  The voice and mannerisms were exactly like the Claudia Rachael had known. 

      "You are some kind of holographic interface?  And this remote device here is linked to a mainframe?"

      "My name is Claudia, I am an AIMSO: Artificial Intelligence Mainframe System Operator.  The portable terminal and holographic figure it may project are just some of the tools that can enable you and I to interface.  This terminal is enabled with access level 50.  By addressing my hologram you can access all information in the C Bank including agricultural,  general medical, zoological, Earth Historical and Martian Aregraphical databases.  You also have limited access to D Bank databases that contain specific data on Areian Cultural projects.  You have access to voice, video and facsimile mail and real time satellite communications with Sinai area terminals.  Presently you also have access to network wide shared programs running from B Bank drives, each of these appears as an icon on your terminal screen.  When you address my hologram I am able to interact with you in many areas of interest and societal roles, and I am always learning new things."

      "Claudia, can you tell me about the constructions that have been completed in the Sinai area?"

      "Of course, Rachael, I can give you any general information about Dens A through F and our two newly constructed tunnels."

      "Not now.  Can you tell me about the people that live there?"

      "I can list terminals you have access to contact.  If you give me a name I can tell you what household that person is part of and how they may be contacted."

      "How do I shut you off?"

      "To deactivate the holographic projection use voice command SHUT OFF."

      "Shut off," Rachael said.  She looked down at Etan, he was lying very still on the table.  "Try to rest, Etan, it should pass shortly."

      "C'n I see Brittany?"

      "Sure."  Rachael went down into the mess where the others were gathered.  Martin had changed into his own clothes and was telling Brittany and Kei what he had seen in Sinai.  Rachael went to Brittany quietly and asked her to go up to Etan.   "He's been given a hallucinogen along with poison that causes muscle pain.  The dosage is making him sick and slightly fevered.  See if you can talk him down."

      Brittany left just as Martin was explaining that he had seen only two of the dens in his coming and going but Etan had seen more.

      "Etan will probably be all right in a day or so.  Sadian claims the poison was in some potato pancakes served at breakfast and they were not meant for Etan.  It seems the small terminal there will be a good place to start before any of us try to make another visit.  When Etan is feeling a little better we all need to talk."

      "Kei was just telling me that you did not hear from Xian either.  I think he must be dead.  We saw him disappear in a sand cloud just before we fell into the Hellas tunnel."

                      ?                ?                ?

      Sadian and Astoric came together down one of the spiraling narrow roads that most commonly appeared in the dens.  They were on bicycles, native design, frame and wheels of hollow magnesium pieces, tires of heavy wire mesh or composite of rubber and metal that withstood shocks and cold temperatures.  The gears were designed so as to give large amount of resistance to the pedals so that legs got a workout even in the low gravitational pull of Mars but the wheels big so as to cover a lot of distance with each revolution. 

      They circled several times around the lush green grass, orchards, low flower-covered hills, snake of brilliant blue river water and thin woods of fifty year old trees that marked the very edge of the den floor.  There was a small cottage in the woods and a tent in the hills.  And in the very center, in the bend of the river, at the end of a worn path that moved over footbridge to meet the road scattered with leaves at the edge of the wood, was a single stone house of simple two story construction.  This was E Den and the house was called The Redstone, as there were old townhouses in New York City called brownstones.  Sadian and Astoric parked their bikes on the concrete walk before the house.  They went up the stairs and opened the unlocked door painted bright red and constructed of layers of metal and wood. 

      It smelled sweetly of smoke inside, of incense or honey dipped clove cigarettes.  Mara was in the parlor mending a shirt with Easterwine's baby girl, Elise, playing with some handmade dolls at her feet.  Their greetings were all silent.  Sadian and Astoric were there with other purpose.  They went through the narrow hall to the paneled wall that enclosed the space beneath the staircase.  A touch in the correct place on the wall and a door sprung open.  Entering this Sadian and Astoric found the hidden staircase that descended into the basement and this tiny antechamber enclosed by thick metal walls. 

      They went down the stairs, following the dim bluish light ahead and the eternal electric hum.   Behind them two layers of doors automatically closed.  They were in the basement.  And across the large clean chamber of static control floor padding, various levels of false walls and false floors and enclosed rooms behind Plexiglas a barefoot man sat in a comfortable swivel chair upholstered in black and white splotched cowhide with his heels up on the desk before him. 

      This was their father.  This room of computer memory banks and system peripherals was were he spent almost all of his time.  There had been years that he helped his family in the construction, when he wore special suits against cold and air pressure and lifted rock and large prefabricated building components.  But now Trepidation had become something of a hermit.  And Claudia, his creation of wire and silicon and optical media, named after his mother saw more of him than Mara did some days.

      Now these two of his four children came to him.  As they came closer the chair swiveled slightly and Trip, as he usually introduced himself, regarded them lovingly, one foot now propped up on a nearby device cabinet so that he appeared sprawled before them in black boot cut jeans Blath had made, shoeless, shirtless, rings of silver decorating all his fingers, several toes and each nipple.  His hair was blonde, as Astoric's was but worn in dreads now, his eyes vibrant blue and showing the signs of his habit of smoking marijuana more for recreational purposes than medicinal.  Trepidation had a slight scar on his left shoulder from long ago suffering a bullet wound and a thin scar on the right side of his jaw from some fifty year old construction accident involving the shattering of a badly formed metal girder in the awesome Martian winter night cold.

      He had the Claudia and Thierry holograms both running so that the two separate mainframe computers networked together though working on trillions of operations every moment of the day or night allowed him to view interaction between the two AIs that controlled each system of machines.  Trip's mother Claudia had built and designed Thierry and sent him into space with them.  It had taken Trip a number of years to build and program Claudia, but now she made Thierry seem obsolete, a discarded prototype.  Once Thierry had managed all their systems, now Thierry had been seriously cleaned out and modified a bit and was mainly used by Sadian in her laboratory, where his hardware was. 

      It became apparent to Astoric and Sadian both that their father had the AIs working on simulating actions Xian had or would take, and the two holograms, particularly convincing as lifeforms in the precise lighting surrounded by many directional sound speakers were debating Xian's actions.  At the moment the tall blonde fanged woman and the even taller burgundy haired man dressed in tight black vinyl pants and turquoise frock coat were agreeing that available information suggested Xian may have found his way to the now vacant Hellas settlement. 

      "So, you found him?" Sadian asked.

      "Looks like it, if the two of them agree on anything it has to be true."

      Sadian grinned.  Her father and she had both known these two figures in real life.  The holograms were only projected by AIs programmed to simulate the real people as far as they possibly could.  Effectively each had the amassed knowledge of either Thierry Wolfgang Pelolobo-Jewel or Lady Claudia Von Goth nee De Paris, otherwise known to hackers, Vampyres, or programmers as Quick.

      "Aren't you going to ask about the visitors?" Astoric asked his father.

      Trip shrugged one shoulder, laughed.  "Wanna tell me?"

      "Etan Goth-Jewel, he's Teena Marie and Ethan's son, pretty quick with information systems the crews communications specialist and we're pretty sure Rachael's emergency blood donor.  And Martin Hamad, a bright young Geologist from Tanzania and representative of the African League to the crew, grew up quite well known to the family of Brittany Jinnah-Jewel and Malik Josef Jewel.  Their daughter, Brittany is also a member of the crew, their astronomer.  Martin is an easygoing guy, doesn't much like to be kept out of the loop though.  Etan got on famously with Caith.  Got along a little too well, Maudlin poisoned her, but Etan ate the food.  He should recover."

      "Yes," said Trip just as prerecorded images of Martin and Etan came up on several monitors about the room.  From here Trip could see most of what went on throughout the dens and the stations that kept the dens running.  He could not view the insides of homes however.  "He's pretty cute, isn't he."

      "Doesn't cancel the fear like his grandfather Tris did, in fact he could feel it."

      "A shame," Trip said.

      "Yes," Sadian said.  They looked to Thierry. 

      "I still think Etan is a good match for Blath, she's one sixteenth angel being my granddaughter.  A child of theirs could bring out an excellent combination, the Shi Vampire traits, the jewel family's predisposition toward psychic ability, angelic longevity and immunity to the fear, and Goths aren't very bad looking, at least the ones in our family."

      Trip laughed at the Thierry hologram.  The AIs sometimes disturbed Mara but never ceased to amuse Trip when acting as the real person would.

      "But he seems to like Caith, and Blath and Theodoric have been monogamous for ages, they're in love," Sadian told Thierry.  These were the sort of conversations they had in her lab.

      "Engineer it.  Ask their permission if you must," Thierry said.

      Trip laughed again, "Bastard, Thierry, your engineering is what got us all in this position."

      The hologram smiled smugly.  Like the Claudia AI he knew he was artificial, but both were programmed to act as if they were the real Thierry or Claudia, to be responsible for their past actions.

      "A little engineering may not be out of the question," Sadian announced, "but unlike my work with the animals which Thierry assists me in we will have to ask permission.  My mother loves me, but she did not want a child at the time I was given to her.  I will not force parenthood on anyone with or without their knowledge of it.  I will not do to anyone what Thierry did to my mother and will always regret what happened to Salome."

      "It was a shame she died," Thierry admitted, "But her sacrifice gave us Astoric, a half-brother by your same father, Sadian.  And without Astoric, you could not have had Valor."

      "As I said, Thierry's engineering got us all into this," Trip said with less humor than before.  "If you want to talk genetics, cloning, or women's health you've an entire lab for that.  Right now we've more immediate concerns.  I'm not sure I want humans on Mars at all. This group here has some influence on whether or not more come."

      "You must be cautious," Claudia said, "If you make them welcome you may make yourselves vulnerable to a repetition of the events that concluded in your leaving Earth.  If you are aggressive toward these few humans or you make them disappear more will come, more heavily armed.  It is the nature of humans to want to take vengeance.  All your decisions in this area are complicated by the fact two are Jewels and one is Darkling.  It is not yet clear to me whether they were selected with knowledge of our location here in order to tempt us into passivity or because our secret allies there wished to gift us with their company.  I am certain their selection is not chance."

      "They thought we were dead," Sadian said.

      "I know that Shade, Steven, Thierry, Bathsheba and Athene know our exact location and they are all immortal.  A few others knew we lived, but not where or how.  Perhaps Claudia has access to our radio dishes, I no longer know if those Japanese and American military personnel that knew of the flight to Mars live."

      "It is a logical deduction that at least one lives and is in power or that at least one passed on their knowledge, because Xian came to the planet knowing.  I am certain now he is in Hellas.  Someone is attempting to alter climate control at one of their stations.  By the way someone should check out DeSal.  I'm picking up slightly elevated salt content in the pipes between the DeSal station and the waterfall.  If levels continue to increase rainforest biome flora and fauna will suffer." 

      "Astoric," called Trip, "Assemble a team to go check out the sitch at Hellas.  Caution is advised, Xian's American military.  Let's try not to let this information leek to the Earthlings."

      "I'll send Iolanthe and Ebrian along with Blath and Lade," Astoric said.

      "Shall I inform them to meet you?" Claudia asked.

      "Yes, thank you, Claudia, have them meet me in A Den."

      "Have we heard from the weird sisters yet?" Sadian asked.

      "I have spoken with them," Claudia said, "shall I relay the content of their message?"

      "In a moment," Trepidation said.  He smiled up at Astoric, "Check with your son about the gear."

      "I'll see ya later," Astoric said then kissed Sadian goodbye.

      She and their father watched Astoric leave.  When the doors were sealed Sadian went to Trip and stooped down before him.  "What didn't you want Astoric to hear?"

      "We heard from Athracht, Easterwine and Blaith.  They've been hiding out in Hempshire since the humans were up at their Cydonia settlement.  Blaith went back up there for a while.  They'd dug up Yrieix's body."

      "That's horrible."

      "I just figured we didn't need Astoric to know they'd desecrated his grandson's grave yet."

      "He was my grandson too," Thierry said.

      "Mine too," Sadian said, "but I know how Astoric liked him and gets a bit more sentimental over bodies than we do."

                      ?                ?                ?

      Etan was feeling better, he wasn't tripping so bad, and since the drugs were wearing off he wasn't vomiting all over himself.  Of course having Brittany there allowing him to play with her hair helped.  She was leaning across Etan, smiling down at him as he tugged at her braid. She'd already noticed he now had two.  She'd touched them, known so many things about Caith. 

      And now that he was feeling better Etan couldn't resist the temptation to contact his new friends in Sinai.  He called for Claudia and she appeared.  Etan, Brittany, how may I help you?" 

      "She looks very familiar.  Is she a Vampyre?  She has fangs."

      "I am an AI based on Lady Claudia Von Goth."

      "She was our very first First Lady of Goth," Etan said.

      "Oh, it's Quick.  I know her.  My grandmother was a good friend of hers."

      "I was friends with Victoria Jinnah and Lady Valerie Von Goth," Claudia said, "Can I help you with anything?"

      "I'd like to speak to Caith."

      "I'll see if she's available."

      "So, how was it over there?  Martin told us what he saw, says they have a miniature Tanzania."

      "Yes, they have dens.  Caith lives in B Den.  A Den looks like Goth.  C Den has a small sea in it, like you see at large zoos or theme parks.  I don't know if Martin knew this, or if he told you, but they are all Jewels, Britt.  Those people there are our family."

      "I didn't...how?"

      "I'm not sure," Etan said. 

      "I have Caith for you via audio video," Claudia said.

      The young woman appeared before them on the screen, tiny but sharp in its clarity.  She was tan and golden blonde, looked slightly like the hologram nearby.  "Etan, I hoped you would call us, I'm so sorry...I thought Maudlin poisoned your plate." 

      "I'm feeling better."

      "Is this Brittany?  You must be, because I know what Rachael looks like, and you seem like you could be Brittany.  My mother Sadian very much would like to meet you, and I would too."

      "Yes, I am Brittany.  I see you have a lovelock too."

      "You can see Etan has two."

      "How fortunate my mother raised me in Islam and Etan's a Goth," Brittany said with a laugh.

      "Hmmn?" Caith asked, not understanding.

      "According to the Islamic faith a man may have more than one wife, like they may in Goth...though my grandmother was a rebel, rather had two husbands."

      "Ah, I get it."  Moment of silence.   "Can either of you come visit?"   

      "We really need to talk to our team," Brittany answered, "I must admit I am curious to meet you.  Etan has just told me that you are Jewels."

      "Maybe you shouldn't tell the others," Caith said.

      "I know how you feel," Brittany laughed.

      "I have to go, I'm still studying to become a herbalist.  I feel so bad that I couldn't tell that plate had been poisoned.  Eleria and I need to go to a coven meeting too, before fixing supper.  We're having fish and chips."

      "I'll talk to you when we have made a decision.  Caith?"

      "Sure, Etan."

      In a moment the screen went blank and Rachael came up into the room.  "It's time for us to talk," she said.

                      ?                ?                ?

       They were four, split between two enclosed vehicles and a motor bike.  Iolanthe and Ebrian were within the larger vehicle, something they had created while on walkabout before settling in Hellas only several years ago; its frame was that of a NASA designed rover but they had modified it with enclosed cabin and spiked wheels.  The couple were able to go without helmets and portable air supply if the chose.  Just behind Blath followed in a one passenger electric car with pedal driven backup drive, she had to wear helmet or airmask while driving because the extra equipment would weight it down, this car was designed for fast tunnel trips.  Lade rode ahead on motorcycle, she was in impact resistant pressure-simulating suit and sealed helmet, her personal helmet having the outward design of stylized eagle head. 

      They had only dug out the tunnels recently.  Iolanthe's household had begun digging on the Hellas tunnel as soon as settling there and made frequent trade trips back and forth.  The Cydonia tunnel had only been fully completed after the earthling's arrival, it had been dug as far as their newest base of operations, the underground crop fields at Hempshire, from the dens at Sinai, but had not been dug at all from Hempshire to Cydonia at all until the earth ship was picked up by long range sensors.

      One day the tunnels might be pressurized but it was too immense an undertaking for now, all the Areians were more concerned with monitoring the delicate balance of their artificial biomes so that the food chain did not break down.  Right now they were most concerned with a soldier from Earth loose in one of their settlements. 

      Sixty years their people had been on this planet and they had never had an enemy other than the environment.  It was rare they had serious difference among themselves and when they did punishments were swift.  As the four raced through the Hellas tunnel, Maudlin was back in Sinai closed in a sensory deprivation tank, everyone's minds closed to her. 

      They were coming to Midway, a small rest stop between Hellas and Sinai right on the meridian, in the region of Noachis.   It consisted only of two antiquated lander modules that had already been worn and aged while being dragged on sled runners while the Hellas group had spent a year or so in nomadic exploration of the planet.  Lade came to the marker beacon, signaled to slow and then stop by her bike's instrument panel.  The hatch in the tunnel wall was open. 

      Her heart sank immediately, her legs weakened.  Lade went through the hatchway into the airlock, the opposite hatch was also open.  Lade entered the first of the two welded together old modules.  The simple cots and table were there, the emergency communications gear, stored portable air tanks, food containers: all gone.  "Xian's been here, he's blown our entire air supply!"

      "t'stores?" Iolanthe came over their com link. 

      "Everything's cleaned out."

      "Bastard," Iolanthe cursed. 

      Lade heard the faint noise of the vehicles carried through the thin air and her helmet.  She went back into the airlock.  The others were just coming from their vehicles, Blath in red pressure sim suit and helmet shaped like a smiling devil's face with two small horns.  Iolanthe and Ebrian had custom fashioned helmets as well, when their number had grown they had no choice but to devise and manufacture new suits and helmets and they had done so with style.  Iolanthe and Ebrian both had light blue suits and sleekly shaped blue helmets with silvery mirroring on the thin wide visors. 

      "Isa compressor intact?" Ebrian asked.

      "Haven't checked," Lade admitted.  They all went inside, closing the exterior and interior hatches as they went.  Iolanthe and Ebrian had been here not long ago, were familiar with Midway's inventory. 

      There was a large compressor fitted into the rear mod that sucked in air from the surface.  It was shut down, its control panel smashed.  "We have to repair it," Iolanthe said, "We don't know what we will find ahead, we need to refresh the air tanks.  There was a bike here, radio, food, water tanks."

      "We don't have time," Blath said, "This only makes it obvious he intends to cause us trouble.  He's already been alone at Hellas too long."

      "We don hava choice, we can't last without t'supplies," Iolanthe argued.

      "Can Ebrian repair the compressor?" Blath asked.

      "Yes, in time."

      Blath nodded.  "We'll leave Ebrian with some air food and water, and the electric car.  We can take the mini and the cycle on to Hellas with the few extra tanks we have.  With luck we'll have Xian captive on the way back and can stop here again to get air and water, if the compressor is working again."

      Iolanthe stood in thought.  "It is a risk, but the other choice is to spend time waiting here or to go back to Sinai.  And I would think that if Xian is at Hellas Station he wouldn't have found all the stores or destroyed them yet."

      "Let's get going," Lade said, impatient to be underway.  She glanced at her wrist.  "I've got a tock and a third left on this tank.  That's 80 minutes driving at decent tunnel speed, say 70 kph...I can drive 94 klicks give or take on this tank."

      "It is around a hundred klicks from here to Hellas station," Iolanthe said.

      "How many tanks are still full?  I can switch as soon as I get there."

      "Let's just go out and see," Blath suggested.  The three women went back through the air lock to the tunnel.  Lade had one filled tank strapped to her bike, good for six tocks, or about 7.8 earth hours.  Blath was carrying two spare tanks in her car totaling 11 tocks, one tank had been used shortly.  There were several in the mini. 

      "I think we're fine," Blath said, "the mini can support Iolanthe and I during driving time.  We'll have plenty to get back."

      "We'll cut it very close if we have Xian on the way back and Ebrian hasn't fixed the compressors."

      "Tell him we'll call and check on his progress.  If he's hasn't completed the repairs he should return to Sinai in the car with what he has," Blath said.

      "Let's go," Lade suggested again, "I'm wasting air."   She hopped onto her bike and started its engine. 

      "We'll be behind you," Blath said to her daughter.  "Be careful."

      "I'm not stupid, I won't be going into the station without you." Lade radioed, already racing through the tunnel.

                      ?                ?                ?

      Martin and Carlo sat at the small coffee house table with the newly acquired portable terminal accessing one of its networked drafting applications to draw up plans for constructions.  Martin and Carlo had their own computers but were eager to experiment with what the natives had, out of curiosity.  The others were in the room with them, Rachael off in a dark corner sipping something from a mug; not coffee, they thought, but mentioned nothing.

      Kei was sitting on a mat on the floor snacking on some fruit while tinkering with one of the ants.  Etan was reclining on the sofa he had just constructed.  Brittany came from her kitchen with a new container of coffee.  She served the other three, then sat on the floor herself to drink coffee while listening to the conversation with interest.  "Tell me what you think of the coffee, they gifted us with the beans but I wasn't sure if I should try a blend or not."

      The coffee seemed good and strong to all, of tolerable quality.  "You should think of something to give in trade," Rachael said quietly.

      "Now listen," said Carlo, "if terreforming is to ever be accomplished there must be settlements that are protected from the environment while the terraforming is in progress that are able to support the populace.  Their den plan is solid, six large excavations two kilometers deeps and a kilometer in diameter, roughly, all sunlit from above.  The bottommost areas would get sunlight only a small part of the day, they must have mirrors, or artificial lamps."

      "I don't think all their habitats needed light at the bottom.  Their computer tells us that one is water, another is cold and snowy.  The rainforest habitat has a lake at the bottom—"

      "well, it is true in Earth rainforest that the upper canopy is so dense that much less light gets to the forest floor, the lake being at the very bottom would not require light, might even be a very interesting habitat to study, rich in silt mineral deposits, dark, cool, like subterranean lakes."

      "And this F Den that we have not seen, they apparently do have mirrors and lamps there.  It is entirely devoted to growing quick harvests of  staple crops," Martin pointed out.

      "That is what our settlement will need, some form of greenhouse which supports large crops.  Either in hydroponic tubes or in processed native soil."

      "The area we are in has some wide shallow craters that would be good sites for the building of large scale greenhouses, I think," Martin said.

      "would require large facility for production of uniform supply of glass and metal components," Kei offered, "a factory of that nature is the first step."

      "We can get the bugs started on an underground factory and processing plant," Carlo explained, "we can start with the excavation and surveying, the marking out of the site.  When the materials are ready it won't take long to assemble."

      "You will be working the bugs hard," Kei said.

      "It's what they are there for," Martin said.  "Once we have the greenhouse and factory we can start on so many other projects.  This first building is really an excellent example of the sort of residences or businesses that we can have here on Mars."

      "If the locals don't mind," Rachael said.

      "What's wrong?" Kei asked.

      "I'm only playing devil's advocate.  They were here first, the have sent two of our crew home to us with gifts, peace offerings.  But I know them, they are smart.  They have more at stake here presently.  They would be fools not to defend their hold on the planet."

      "How can anyone own a planet?" Carlo laughed.

      "The same way anyone owns any piece of land, they claim it and fight off all takers, or even those who were there before.  What race or nation hasn't slaughtered a few natives somewhere in their history?"

      "My culture is a mix of many influences, we have from these what was best and most beautiful, I cannot judge anyone's actions of long ago in the context of present time," Carlo said.  "Surely these Areians would want to terraform Mars as much as we do.  And apparently they are long lived. What did you say they were?"

      "On Earth they were named Shi Vampires.  Many humans called them Shiv, but it was considered, at the time, rather derogatory.  The official story was that all of their kind had died.  But obviously they were sent here and have multiplied."

      "Ever wonder why we would be sent here if they knew there were already inhabitants?  And we were not told?" Etan asked.

      "Your Xian, he knew," Kei said to Rachael.

      "Yes.  And to answer Etan's question, I'm afraid that at least some powers on Earth told Xian but sent us uninformed because Xian was instructed secretly to kill them.  Whatever the eventual result will be Xian was lost in a storm, and I personally doubt he or any of his superiors foresaw how quickly their number would grow.  A settlement of the size you describe is not build by or for a handful.  There are many more than you have seen."

      "I know I don't have your expertise, in military matters, or in geology or terreforming, but I think the best thing we can all do is just tell NS1 that Xian was lost in a storm and we don't know anything else.  Meanwhile we continue with our mission as best we can, we build the prototype structures, build the factory and greenhouse.  And when the time comes we are scheduled to leave then we worry about how many Earthlings will be coming here.  There's no one to say we can't visit or trade with the natives, if we aren't even supposed to know of them.  So, I say we do so, with an open mind, for as long as things are still peaceful."

      "Not my own thoughts, but a sound plan, Brittany," Rachael said. 

      "Yes, it is sensible to keep an open mind.  Do not lie to anyone, but do not complicate matters more than we have to either," said Carlo.

      "I agree then," Kei said.

      "I also," Martin said.

      They looked at Etan.  "You kidding?  Build the factory and greenhouse, build as much as you like.  I'll do my part.  But I definitely want to learn more about what's already here.  There's other settlements we haven't seen at all and haven't been allowed to access information on...you think we could hack their system?"

      Rachael laughed out loud.  "Lady Claudia Von Goth a.k.a. Claudia Klein DeParis a.k.a. Quick was only the most talented hacker I ever heard rumor of, and they have an AI of her programmed by her son, apparently, and he was pretty quick himself.  She had him play various logic games and puzzles and solve mazes when he was a child, one of the mutant traits of the Shi vampires is that they regenerate cells as Vampyres do, even brain cells.  He's got to be eighty years old by now, and he's been learning and learning without degradation of his faculties!  Go ahead and try!"

      "They grow as humans grow, but once reaching adulthood do not age in the same way?  Do not become debilitated with the passing of time?" Carlo asked.

      "Exactly!" Rachael said. 

      "I can see why many people would seek to control or to kill them," Kei said.

      "Now, mind you, I know some of them, loved them dearly, but I warn you, they must have a terrible suspicion of all humans, especially military.  Brittany's suggested plan is a good one.  Let's just not be fools any more than they would."

      "If we don't do anything stupid to piss them off there won't be any reason for anyone to be made fools," Etan said, "can't we just accept their friendship?"

      "I'm curious about them," Carlo said, "But I need to know what it is they do offer."

      "Well, I suppose that's fair," Etan said.

      "So, when do we get to see what they are offering?" Brittany asked.

      "I suggest we get the bugs programmed and get the preliminary work done on the building plans before any of us leave," Rachael said.