Shadows of Mars (Broken Stars Book 1) by I.O. Adler (best inspirational books .TXT) 📕

Chinese resupply ship between Earth and the moon were also destroyed. There’s not much here the public hasn’t already guessed, except that this wasn’t a sun event. This came from almost the opposite direction. We lost your mom and a lot of good people that day.”

“Why wouldn’t anyone talk to me?”

“Because some of the big brains at NASA and the Russians and the Japanese think they saw something just before it happened. The Mars orbital pinged an unidentified inbound object. We received a message from the astronauts on board. We confirmed it, had them triple-check what they described as a radar signature which had changed course over an hour. It could only be a guided object of some kind and wasn’t anything sent from Earth. The object appeared near the moon Deimos. And then the event happened. We made first contact and it knocked us out of space and wrecked half the planet.”

Carmen took a moment to absorb the story. While her earlier distrust lingered, after what she had seen she didn’t doubt any of it. And if this was what Agent Barrett was willing to share, what was he holding back?

“My mother was on the orbital, wasn’t she?”

He nodded. “So when a message from Sylvia Vincent appeared, we hoped it was a prank. But with that sphere sitting in the middle of a ruined restaurant here in sunny California, you can bet we’re concerned. So if you have anything else to add, tell me now.”

Carmen met his gaze. “I saw my mom. She’s alive. And I think she’s in trouble.”

Chapter Twelve

Agent Barrett showed no visible reaction as Carmen did her best to explain what had happened on board the spaceship. Hearing herself tell the story out loud was crazy. She’d be locked up or accused of lying at the very least. But with Jenna still trapped in the sphere and her mom out there somewhere, possibly injured, possibly dead, she couldn’t hold back.

“Tell me about the relationship you had with your mother.”

She was immediately suspicious. “Why?”

“There’s a lot to unpack here. If this isn’t your mother, then who is it and what do they know about us and about you? But if it is your mother, she’s returned to Earth with alien technology far beyond anything we currently understand.”

“Can we worry about getting Jenna out of that sphere first?”

“We’ve got a lot of trained and intelligent people working on that. You didn’t see your mom off on launch day. Why not?”

She remembered the day clearly. Still felt the burn of guilt of allowing her own bitterness and anger to rule her as it had. “We had been fighting. It wasn’t anything new. Mom wasn’t around during most of my high school years, ever since being selected as a mission alternate. She and my dad split up. His health wasn’t good, but my mom wouldn’t help. He needed care. I had to drop out of college to look after him. I’m going to need to check on him soon.”

“There’ll be time for that. So you didn’t accept the invitation to watch her leave.”

“My sister tried to get me to go. She was still married then. But she was on her whole ‘forgive everyone their trespasses’ phase. I wasn’t ready for that yet.”

“You resented your mom for joining the mission?”

“We weren’t speaking then. She had already back-burnered her family. And now she was asking us to join her for a photoshoot and a teary goodbye? I watched the departure online to make sure she was gone.”

Barrett was momentarily distracted by a message on his wrist device. He dismissed it. “Our transcripts show you and your mom messaged each other during the mission.”

“Jenna got a call twice a week. I got one about every month. Mom never gave up. I answered her most of the time.”

“But you never initiated contact.”

“I was pissed. Does that answer your question?”

“Not entirely. After the Big Wipe, you never stopped pestering NASA, your congressperson, and anyone else you could call or write about what happened to her.”

“Do you have parents, Agent Barrett?”

“This isn’t about me. But yes, I have both a mom and a dad.”

“Then unless you’ve turned out to be everything they hoped for, you have to understand.”

He blinked a few times as if processing the comment. “What would you say her state of mind was?”

“When are you talking about? During the mission? Before it?”

“Both.”

“Mom believed in excellence and never falling short. She held herself and us to that standard.”

“Did she have a temper?”

“Ask NASA. They do their psych evaluations, don’t they?”

“I’m asking you.”

“She got angry and not just at me. She and Jenna had some knock-down drag-outs, especially when Jen started going to church and preaching. Mom didn’t want to hear any of it.”

“Did she ever hit you?”

Carmen shook her head and broke eye contact. The doctor had left. Peter was asleep. She was alone with Agent Barrett. Alone with him and the small camera he wore on his suit.

“What kind of question is that?”

“Can you answer?”

“What does this have to do with anything?”

“If what’s out there is your mother, then we need to know what it’s thinking and what it’s feeling.”

“You keep saying ‘it.’ My mom’s a real person. I spoke with her. She’s alive. But right now I’m tired, hungry, and my sister’s trapped inside that machine.”

He looked like he was about to reply but then he got another call and walked to the opposite side of the tent. Carmen shivered. It was too much to wish for that this was all a bad dream.

Agent Barrett muttered a curse and hurried down the plastic corridor leading to the restaurant. Carmen followed him. He met with two of the spacemen, who fell in behind them as they hurried through the