life on Mars/ part 9

life on Mars/ part 9

fiction
Edward w Pritchard


Using up the standard stories about restricted security over a visit by the Pope, American Presidential inspection tour and suspected outbreak of plague [again] authorities here on Mars banned private low-flying helicop trips for the month of July by "executive order". No further information was given.

My younger brother called me frantic to help him. He had leased an expensive Tesla helicop for his vitamin sales business and with the ban on civilian use of private flights in the month of July, 2034 my brother was losing 800 euro's a day in lost sales and daily rental of the leased vehicle. Knowing I chronically needed money my brother approached me to do some old fashion " blockade running " to get the leased Tesla Helicop from West sector to East sector which was exempted from the ban.

Security was tight, tight, tight in West sector. Ground troops home honor guard, level 7 drones and high flying Boeing's guarded airspace. West sector Mars was on lockdown again.

I used the old fashion bush jumping technique of flying from Hospital to hospital delivering sterile water and  insulin to work my way across West sector. About twenty kilometers from the border to East sector my luck ran out and I was grounded by one of the new Drone 9 detector class.

My brother got a 5,000 euro fine which took him all of three weeks to pay off when he got back about his vitamin D business. Me, I got thirty days re-documentation and  confinement, ethics and responsibility, [ again.].

 After a  few months of being mad at me Bro sent me a bottle of home planet 2016 Scotch whiskey as apology for his temper; we are family after all.

I still have not paid my re-documentation court costs of 179 euro's. There never seems to be enough money to pay all of one's expenses here on Mars. It's the same wherever you are in the solar system I suppose. Hard to get ahead in life.