The Garden of Mars

Asha  Vaultiki glanced up at the shimmering dome protecting the city from the  harsh environment surrounding it. Man had moved out away from their  first mother, Gaia or Earth as most called her, and was now spreading  across a new home—Mars. The planet was named for the Roman God of War,  and the red soil was a reminder of the acres and acres of blood-soaked  ground that covered the Earth. She shook her head to force the images  away. Asha had left Earth to get away from those memories and the pain.  Memories of death. The pain of loss. She should have known better.

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In  the early days, being on Mars had given her some relief. Now as the  cities were taking shape and more people made the journey to a new home,  she found herself dealing with all the memories and the pain. She took a  deep breath and shook her head again to clear it as she continued to  gaze at the dome. The refractive nature of the structure created an  illusion of a blue sky—like Earth.

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“Asha?”

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She  turned at the sound of her husband’s voice. “Sabas.” She held out her  hand; even after all this time together she felt her face light up at  seeing him.

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“What’s wrong?” He put an arm around her waist and pulled her to him.

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“Just memories.” She turned to face him. “There are enough people here; they have brought the memories and pain with them.”

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“But  no blood has been spilled in this place. Those that come here are  seeking to build a new home, a place free of the conflicts of Earth.”

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Asha stepped back and shook her head. “It always starts with an ideal—then somewhere along the line it always seems  to go bad. Small groups can live up to the ideals we humans strive  for—large groups may try and some even succeed for a time, but at some  point, they will always fail. That is the curse they carry because of  our sin.”

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Asha  turned her attention back to the dome, ignoring the sigh she heard from  her husband. It was an old argument between and one that would not be  finished until they found a way to return to beginning.

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~ * ~

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“Sabas,  it’s time,” Asha said the next morning. She watched her husband  closely. His head dropped a little and she saw a slight frown on his  face. She knew he didn’t want to return to the beginning, but it was the  only way to remove the curse. There was a time he would have argued,  both against returning and that it would do any good. He claimed it  wasn’t a curse, that it was free-will and all their returning would  accomplish would be to remove free-will from man and that would be the  greater curse. As far as she was concerned—if that was the price to stop  all the blood being spilled—it was worth it.

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“I’ll make arrangements for use of one of the long range transport shuttles,” Sabas finally said.

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Asha  smiled and nodded. “Thank you.” She turned to look out the window at  the shimmering dome. Outside the protected environment, the terraforming  systems were still working to create a livable environment. Somewhere  on this planet, so far from their home, buried in the midst of the red  soil was the place where everything had begun.

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How  long she and Sabas lived together in that place while the rest of the  creation continued without them. How long before they—no, she—made the  decision that now controlled man in so many ways. Their sin was what had  stained the soil of Mars—like the blood that soaked the dirt of Gaia.  They had been sent forth because of that sin and she had seen the  consequences, felt the acid of bile burn her throat, smelt the metallic  scent of blood spilled and had her hands covered in the warm, sticky  coating of fluid that flowed from the body of her son as she held him  and his life ebbed away.

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She  wasn’t sure where they would be going, but Asha now understood the  place it all began was here on Mars and she would find it.