Alpha Guard - Chapter Four
A sci-fi thriller novel, most easily described as Jack Reacher in space.
Hello alpha-readers, welcome to chapter four of Alpha Guard!
If this is your first time visiting, here’s a quick rundown of what’s what…
My name is Samuel George London and I’m a writer from Hampshire in the UK. Usually, I write comic books, but this is my first novel. And just so my fellow Brits know, I’m writing in American-English because the main character is originally from the US.
Alpha Guard is a sci-fi thriller novel, most easily described as Jack Reacher in space, but the short synopsis is as follows:
Even after 300-years of colonization, Mars is still a tough place to live - unless you can afford to live in Dome One. However, when the wealthy need to visit out-of-dome, they hire bodyguards known as ‘bugs’ to protect them. Alpha Guard is the best bug on the Red Planet, and when he's hired to escort a VIP around Mars, his skills are tested to the absolute limit.
So, in a nutshell, if you like books by Lee Child, Andy Weir, Mark Greaney and Blake Crouch you will (probably) enjoy reading or listening to this story. And if you haven’t read or listened to chapter one yet, you can do so by clicking here.
I’ll be publishing Alpha Guard on a monthly basis, chapter by chapter, right here for free. So, please be sure to subscribe to stay notified when new chapters are posted.
I’ll never put a paywall on chapter posts, but if you’d like to, there is an opportunity to upgrade to paid. However, it’s only to fuel my caffeine habit. So, please only part with your hard earned cash, if you can afford it.
There is an audio version of this post available, but to give you a heads up, the chapter reading is by an AI voiceover via ElevenLabs. However, when I eventually publish Alpha Guard as a polished novel, I will be hiring a human to read the audiobook.
If you prefer to listen rather than read, Alpha Guard is also available on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon Music, Audible or wherever you usually download your podcasts.
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Happy reading and please let me know what you think in the comments.
Ciao for now,
SGL
The interchange from Highway Two led us into a central tunnel, which snaked underneath the residential levels above. Branching off both sides were multiple parking lots. Each leading to a different part of the city. Although there were fifty-thousand people in New Jezero, only about five percent owned a car. Still, that was over two-thousand parking spots plus extra to future proof the city. This made the garage network vast.
Driving past the turnoff for my duplex apartment, we arrived at a private parking lot directly below the Guardians Council Chambers. After going through an automatic car scan with a heavy duty security barrier, we reached our destination. It was a very open lot over two levels with plenty of space between cars. Each spot was reserved where we were on the bottom level. I recognized a few names on the parking plates as Guardians, but most must have been for administrative staff.
According to my HUD, our designated spot was right in front of the elevator. And as it came into view, standing there on her own, in an all black business suit, was Prime Guardian Silvia Jacobson.
Amrita suddenly sat upright and asked “What’s she doing here?”
Without skipping a beat, Eric quipped in my ear, “Probably to see if she can get her ex-lover back.” I reacted with a laughing emoji, which got a wink in return from Eric.
While the car reverse parked itself, I properly replied to Amrita’s question, “After what happened on the highway, she probably wants to check you're okay.”
Sinking back into her seat and crossing her arms, Amrita stated, “Well, I’m fine. You can tell her to go back up to the Council Chambers and follow the original plan.”
“Sure thing,” I said, “sit tight. I’ll be back in a minute.”
After closing the car door I turned around and was immediately met by Jacobson’s seventy year old sharp blue eyes looking down at me. Like all her fellow native Martians, she was tall and thin. But unlike those in the pods, she had a New Jezero accent. A mix between American and British, it was similar to the Mid-Atlantic accent you hear in those really old films. “Alpha Guard, I need to speak with Amrita,” Jacobson demanded.
She spoke to me like an android. So, I returned in kind, “I need to do a security scan.”
She gave a crocodile smile for a good second before taking a step to the side with an exaggerated gesture of her arms and said, “By all means.”
Walking into the middle of the lot, I launched two micro-drones that flew around the perimeter in opposite directions. A minute later they came back to report everything was safe. However, I remained curious about Jacobson’s unexpected appearance.
Striding back across the lot toward her, I just came out with it, “Why are you here Ms. Jacobson? This wasn’t part of the plan.”
“What happened on the highway shocked everyone and I was asked to make sure Amrita’s okay.”
Noting the disassociation from herself being concerned for Amrita’s safety, I replied, “You can tell the Council she’s safe and sound.”
“Thank you but they’d like me to speak with her directly before we go up to the Chambers.”
“Ms. Andras wants to stick to the original plan. So, please make your way back up the elevator.”
From her slightly greater height, Jacobson thrust an index finger into my chest and attempted to berate me, “Nobody tells me what to do in my city! Especially not a good-for-nothing bug!”
Staring down at her finger then back into her eyes, I calmly said, “I suggest you take a step back and breathe before you speak again, ma'am.”
Then from behind I heard, “I agree.” Glancing at the rear view camera in the corner of my HUD, it was Amrita. She was a good half-foot shorter than Jacobson, but it didn’t phase her. She marched past me at a good clip, put her hands on her hips and went at it, “Even after thirty years, you continue to resent me for marrying Tristan. And now you take it out on someone who has nothing to do with your envious imperfections. It appears that the Guardian education program can’t rid someone of all their negative attributes.”
Having gone red in the face with embarrassment, and on a pale-skinned Martian it’s more than obvious, Jacobson rushed over to the elevator, stepped in and disappeared behind the closing doors.
It took a full year of working the lava tube farms before I was eligible for a few vacation days. I’d saved enough money to get a bus ticket to New Jezero and two nights in the cheapest hotel I could find. Eric offered to upgrade me but being a proud twenty year old, I refused.
Once I’d dropped my bag at the hotel, the first thing I wanted to visit were the Guardians Council Chambers. Right next to New Jezero Park, it was what you’d expect a government building to look like. Big stone steps leading up to lots of Roman columns with the Martian flag on top.
Seeing the flag waving in the wind, it was the first time I felt more Martian than Earthian. The flag had a black background with a red circle in the middle and two red crescent moons toward the right hand corner. Of course, since we were inside a crater wall, the flag wasn’t actually waving in the wind. They’d just rigged it to look like it was proudly flying on a steady breeze.
The Chambers were modeled on the Capitol Building in D.C. but it was about a tenth the size. I remember being blown away by the Capitol when I visited as a kid. But entering the Chambers lobby from the steps, I was underwhelmed. To be fair, there were quite a few more challenges to build something like that on Mars. So, I shouldn’t have had the same expectations.
What did impress me though, was the tour guide. A tall, thin middle-aged woman with sharp blue eyes and pale skin. She introduced herself to the group as Guardian Silvia Jacobson. I was surprised she was doing tours. However, she explained all Guardians did this to stay in touch with real people. I bought it at the time but looking back, I suspect it was voter research for the upcoming Prime Guardian election.
It takes forty years to become a Guardian. Even then it’s not guaranteed. At the age of ten, children born on Mars with high academic and emotional intelligence are offered a place on the Guardian educational program. Over those four decades they are taught and tested on everything from ancient philosophy to modern economic theory. Then at the age of fifty, if candidates meet all the necessary standards, they’re put on the next voting ballot to potentially join the Council.
In Jacobson’s case, she was voted in as a Guardian in her first qualifying year. Then after that first term, she ran for Prime Guardian and won that too. All the news channels said, “She’s a prime example of what Martian society is capable of.” Unfortunately, the pun was always intended.
On my tour of the Chambers, Jacobson was friendly and never snapped at anyone for asking stupid questions. And there were plenty of stupid questions. Twenty years on, it appeared things had changed, albeit behind closed doors.
Arriving in the lobby from the private elevator, there were hundreds of people behind a semicircle of waist-high barriers to greet Amrita. On our side of the barriers and right in front of us was Jacobson with some TV cameras.
“Thank goodness you’re okay, Ms. Andras,” she said with a pristine smile and arms out wide to embrace her for everyone to see. Little did they know what had just taken place in the garage below.
After Jacobson’s overzealous hug, she started introducing Amrita to her subordinate Guardians. The first ten were from New Jezero and the remaining twelve were from Dome One. For me, this was a stark reminder that the pods didn’t have any Guardians representing them. Even though they were the ones harvesting all the food from the lava tube farms and collecting all the resources from the mines, the pods were basically left to fend for themselves. I guess every great civilization is built on the back of an expendable servant class.
Traveling down the line of Guardians, I could hear the media vultures from across the lobby shouting some uncomfortable questions for both Amrita and Jacobson. For once, they were all respectable questions. But for the time being, I had to focus on protecting Amrita.
“Rear left, rear left,” Eric yelled in my ear as he enlarged the view of my rear left camera on my HUD. It was a young man who’d jumped the barrier, running toward us with something in his hands. I turned around and shouted through my loudspeakers, “STOP WHERE YOU ARE!” The lobby went deathly silent and the young man stopped in his tracks.
I started stomping toward him but felt a slight pull on my shoulder. It was one of the Dome One Guardians. An averagely tall guy for a Martian with salt and pepper hair called Pandu Vishwan. Looking at me with his hand still on my shoulder, he said, “Let me handle this.”
My first thought was to rip this guy a new one. But with everyone watching, I thought it better to let it play out. After all, he wasn’t my client and if he got hurt, that was his own fault.
Calmly striding over to the young man, Pandu asked, “What have you got there, friend?”
The young man was shaking as he lifted the object in his hands and replied, “Ms. Andras must have this.”
From what I could see, it was just a scrapbook. Zooming in, the front cover had what must have been an AI image of him and Amrita kissing in the shape of a heart. This was some straight up stalker shit.
Pandu took the scrapbook and told the young man, “I’ll make sure she gets it, but for your own safety you need to go back behind the barrier.” And just like that, the young man ran back to the barrier, hopped over and vanished into the crowd.
While all the other Guardians were backslapping Pandu, I launched a micro-drone to locate the stalker, but it had no such luck. I did take some photos for further investigation later though.
Eric chimed in, “You should check out this Pandu guy’s profile.”
Quickly texting back, I replied, “Display on screen.”
“What’s the magic word?” Eric was a stickler for politeness when it wasn’t urgent.
“pls”
“Is that a word?”
“PLEASE,” I texted through gritted teeth.
“Politeness is a sign of dignity, not subservience, laddie. Here you go.”
Alongside his Guardian mugshot, the profile on my HUD read, “Pandu Vishwan is a first term Guardian of Mars for zone three of Dome One. Born in Jezero (aka the pods), his Indian parents worked multiple jobs to pay for his private schooling, which resulted in Pandu being enrolled into the Guardian education program at the age of ten.”
After the backslapping ended, Amrita pulled Pandu into a conversation and began walking to the next item on the itinerary in New Jezero Park. Being just a few yards behind them, I was able to hear their conversation through my shotgun microphone.
“Thank you for de-escalating that situation, Pandu.”
“My pleasure, but shouldn’t you be talking with Prime Guardian Jacobson?”
“She can wait. Right now, I want to speak with you about the future.”
“The future?”
“Tristan disagrees with me, but I think the pods can be saved. Perhaps if they had a voice on the Council, there wouldn't have been any violent dissidents hunting me down today. Plus, there’d probably be less crime and drug use too. What do you think?”
“Seems logical to me, but getting it through the Council will take a long time.”
“The beauty of my position is that I don’t have to wait. All we need is for a trailblazing Guardian who knows how hard life is in the pods to propose the motion publicly. Say, during my speech at the clock tower in about ten minutes?”
Pausing for a moment, Pandu turned around to look at the Martian flag on top of the Chambers behind me. I could see from his look that he was in deep thought. He turned back to face Amrita and replied, “It’d be an honor, Ms. Andras.”