Sebastian of Mars Read Free

paw
itself.
    “You’ve shrunk the night and brought it
indoors!”
    He laughed louder. “You are certainly your
mother’s son. Again, not exactly. But we have been able to
duplicate the night sky, and project it for study on nights such as
this.” In the dark, he handed the instrument to me. “I hope you
enjoy it, when clouds or dust storms come.”
    “Thank you!” I said, and reached up to put my
paws around his neck.
    He patted my back and then straightened. “You
are getting too old for such displays of affection, Sebastian!
Before you know it, your body will change in ways that are
remarkable. Soon, you will not be a kit anymore. Now, a short
lesson. Point the instrument straight overhead, so that it projects
on the ceiling. And tell me which is the brightest star and what
its name is.”
    “It is spring . . .” I said. “Therefore, it
would be in the constellation of the Big Kite. Saurus! The King of
Cats!” I pointed toward a star toward the western end of the
room.
    “Very good! Now find the Great Ladle.”
    I did so, and we continued in this fashion
until I suddenly blurted, “But where is Earth and its moon? And the
other planets?”
    He walked to the wall switch and used it,
making the faux night sky instantly disappear. “They wander, and it
would be difficult to project their progress since it changes each
night. The same with our own moons. But we are working on it.”
    His face had assumed a serious demeanor. He
pulled Thomas’ stool close to my bed and said, “May we talk
seriously for a few moments, Sebastian? Or should I practice
calling you . . . Sire?”
    The ghost of his smile traced his lips.
    I must have reddened slightly, because he
quickly added, “You did the correct thing, today. I imagine you’ve
heard of Parum’s ambitions. Be assured that there are those of us
on the Council and elsewhere who oppose them. You have many more
supporters than your advisers believe. I would have to say you put
a scare into old Parum, who isn’t as smart or clever as he thinks.
He has been a good if not great regent, and I have the feeling his
time in that role may be coming to an end.”
    “You’re talking of my assuming the throne
early?”
    He nodded slowly. I noticed that he was not
concerned with lowering his voice, the way Thomas had been. “You
must remember, Sebastian, that I helped your mother write the new
constitution. She was a brilliant and far-sighted woman. She had
every intention of making sure the Second Republic of Mars was
successful, and impervious to the kind of corruption that destroyed
the first one.” I saw his eyes cloud.
    “Yet you are still worried?”
    He hesitated before answering.
    “I am not a little kit anymore, Newton.”
    Still he hesitated, and then he said,
carefully, “There will always be dangers, Sebastian.”
    “Then tell them to me.”
    I thought he was still studying me, but
instead I sensed he was studying his own internal catalogue. It
suddenly occurred to me who the real rulers and protectors of Mars
had been all these years of my growing up – not Parum and his
cronies but Newton, and Xarr, and probably others. Parum was the
face of Mars, but those like Newton were its beating heart.
    “Tell me,” I repeated.
    “I will tell you something frightening, and
then I will tell you something marvelous,” he said “You will
doubtless do nothing but learn such things in the next months,
especially if you do ascend early. But listen to this, because it
has import far beyond even our own republic or our individual
lives.”
    It thrilled me – and frightened me – that
there would be something more important than the Second Republic of
Mars.
    “What is it?” I whispered.
    “Just this,” he said. “I will frighten you
first, because you are your mother’s son and can handle dire words.
I spoke once with you mother of this, years ago. Do you know the
various oxygenation stations scattered around the planet, abandoned
in the dim past by the Old