Charlaine Harris owns all these characters and the little world they live in. She does not, however, own the red planet.

A/N This is the 1st chapter of a short story chosen by my contest winner SemiramisII. It's going to be struturally a little different from my other stories. It's actually very simple. A day in the life of Bill Compton combined with some flashbacks. There will be some flipping back and forth. I hope that doesn't confuse anyone. It will be maybe 4 chapters, we'll see. You all know I have trouble stopping once I get started. LOL! The rating may change to M later too, I haven't worked that part out either. :)

enjoy.

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And so we talked through the summer night,
Of life and of love amid the stars;
And how our wrongs would be all made right
In the Planet Mars

_Albert Bigelow Paine

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Hello Anton,

It's odd sending an actual letter through the snail mail, but I understand your concern regarding our discussing the vampire program in email.

I got in touch with the expert I told you about and he added some useful items for consideration. Please realize, that for his personal safety, I cannot tell you who he is. Suffice it to say, his credentials are top notch. Once the vampires came out into the open, he changed fields and he's been studying their social structure and psychology. Obviously, they are unaware they are being studied and it needs to remain so.

He completely nixed your idea regarding having current astronauts turned into vampires. You and I both realized this would be an unpopular idea at best, but he presented other issues as well. From his studies he has found that the newly turned vampires tend to be emotionally unstable, often impulsive, and require monitoring, very similar to a newborn. He's also discovered that younger vampires possess a far greater need for blood than older vampires. No matter their age when turned, they often resemble teenagers emotionally which would be impossible to overcome with training.

Also, newly turned vampires typically stay with their makers for up to five years. The Maker is a teacher and mentor amongst other things and valuable time would be lost before training could begin. And he could not emphasize this enough: we have to check out each vampire candidate's Maker. The Maker's have a lot of sway over their offspring, almost like a parent, but more so. He's still working out the specifics, but even with Makers and Children who don't even like each other, there is still a lot of influence. Therefore, he's suggesting that that any candidate's Maker would be interviewed for any negative opinions regarding this program and their Child's involvement. This would avoid any potential issues. Even better, if we find a suitable candidate whose Maker is finally dead. That would be ideal.

For different reasons, he feels that recruiting older vampires (ie: preindustrial time frames) would be a waste of time. While the older vampires are more emotionally stable, are very strong, and require less blood, there are other issues. The huge expanse of time they have spent living outside of human society has rendered a complete disabling of human values that cannot be recaptured. Quite simply, they can no longer think like people do. They don't even remember how. Also, he has observed less flexibility with regards to new technologies from this particular group. Like many older humans, they are more set in their ways. There is also a lower tolerance for disturbances in close group situations.

His suggestion is to recruit from a specific age group. This would be vampires who were still human just before, during, or just after the Industrial Revolution. The vampires from this time period are old enough to possess the necessary emotional stability. Their dietary needs are moderate. They also tend to be open minded with regards to new technologies relative to older vampires. He has theorized this is due to their experiencing unprecedented technological changes while they were still alive. Their flexibility and willingness to continually learn and adapt has followed them into their undead lives. In his opinion, the odds would be greater of finding suitable candidates from this group and would help prevent us from wasting valuable time.

You and I both know that in order for this program to succeed, we will need to avoid any major setbacks. Losing momentum could easily create the opportunity for a landslide of opposition that would prevent this program from even getting off the ground. My contact does agree that the positives far outweigh the negatives with respect to pursuing this line of investigation. Finding a suitable candidate will be daunting, but will also lift the goal of man walking on Mars from the possible to the probable. And that is worth finding out.

A couple other items:

He feels that the current psychological model for deep space human explorers can also be applied to vampires as well, ie: introverted natures, lack of needing constant new group stimulation, high tolerance for repetitive work, flexibility with regards to dealing with others in close quarters, positive attitude towards setbacks, and ability to figure out technical/mechanical challenges that may present themselves in the field with little or no assistance. In other words, the personality type that is becoming universally acknowledged as a good fit for this type of assignment. My contact participated in studies involving both the Concordia and Mcmurdo Station scientists in Antarctica. He has suggested that if potential vampire candidates are found, they should be sent to one of the stations to see how they handle close confined quarters with humans. This way, any overlooked issues may be addressed.

A potential roadblock is learning enough vampire physiology to be confident about sending them into space to begin with. It will be similar to what the scientists were dealing with back in the 1960's when they literally had no idea if man could survive outside the confines of our atmosphere. Unfortunately, there is no way to create a vampire dog or monkey to send first. And since vampires have been adamant about refusing all medical examinations…..he's not sure what will need to be done on this.

Like me, I'm sure you've heard rumors about secret bunkers in Area 51 run by the CIA and the FBI, but even if there are such experiments being done on vampires, the results may never see the light of day. Not to mention the repercussions from the vampire community could be catastrophic.

It is likely that NASA may need to work with the Japanese corporation that manufactures the synthetic blood the vampires drink. Sending all that liquid into space…well…I don't have to tell you what that would cost. When you're talking $8000 per kilo of weight just to go into space and over $300,000 per kilo to Mars…well... it's worth looking into.

The sunlight issue will need to be studied. Of course you know that our atmosphere and our planet's mass block most of the energy emanating from the sun, especially at night. But once any ship leaves orbit, it's exposed to additional radiation and energy (like solar wind) that normally never make it to the Earth's surface in dangerous amounts. A lot of research will have to go into this. Having a vampire astronaut melt like the Wicked Witch of the West in front of billions of people on NASA TV just doesn't bear considering.

Biting/feeding must be discussed, especially within the astronaut corp. If the synthetic blood turns out to be impractical to ship into space (a definite possibility) then it could come down to raising the calories allowed the human astronauts in order to feed the vampire astronauts. What will NASA decide? Will the astronauts on the crew tolerate being made a meal of in order to being a part of the Mars crew? You and I have met enough astronauts to know that most of them would sell their soul to Satan, as long as they can be a part of a Mar's mission. But the PR side of this for NASA would be complicated. With a number of the Right Wing religious type groups opposing vampire's right to exist at all, this could be a serious breaking point, especially when it's being budgeted. After all, every year there's some legislator who suggests that NASA is a waste of money. Those individuals will be the ones adamantly against this program.

These are amazing times we live in aren't they? Who would have ever thought we'd finally get the green light on sending people to Mars? And then the vampires emerging from the gray mist of history and myth…to join us in these endeavors? It gives me chills just thinking about it. I'm glad we've both lived long enough to see it. You remember our old Professor Swanbeck? I wish he'd lived to see this. He would have loved it.

Anyway, we'll discuss this more at length when you and Annie come down. The wife and I are really looking forward to it. I've got the chess board all set up. Don't think you'll be able to get one of those ancient Russian strategies by me again!

Take care and see you soon,

Ben

"Good afternoon Bill. It is time to wake up now"

Bill's eyes opened the moment the computer's voice spoke, reminding him it was time to get up. He didn't really need the alarm, but since setting it was a trivial thing, he'd decided to have the computer's reminder just in case. He stretched against the smooth sheets in the darkness of his quarters. They felt pleasant against his naked skin and he felt himself becoming erect. Human men weren't the only ones who got "morning wood". Rubbing his bottom into the firm mattress underneath him, he briefly debated touching himself. No, he would wait. There was a ship landing today, dropping off rich tourists, a few dignitaries, and a rotation of scientists. There was bound to be a few attractive humans on board. Humans who would want to share his bed and their blood with him, now that they were far away from Earth. A vampire his age appreciated anticipation.

"Caroline," he addressed the computer. "Open the shutters please."

"Yes Bill. I am opening the shutters now." The pale shutters, which resembled flaps of heavy sails for ships, began drawing across the wide window. An almost peachy light enveloped the white walls around him. He watched it creating shadows along the items in the room. He never tired of observing the light coming through his windows. Other than the visitor suites, which cost a fortune to stay in, he had one of the largest private window views on the station. The reward for having been on the station for so long and helping make it what it was today. The computer's soft voice continued," The shutters are now fully open."

"Thank you Caroline"

"You are welcome. Would you like some Syn-B or Syn- O today?"

"I'll have some O, please."

"It will be ready in approximately 60 seconds."

He lazily propped himself up on a couple pillows, listening to the soft hum and "sssshhhh" sound of the liquid food processor. It had been modified to mix the synthetic blood at the right consistency and the perfect temperature. Far superior to its predecessors, it was actually hard to tell apart from real human blood. Many of the young vampires literally couldn't tell the difference. Older vampires like Bill, however, could.

Normally, he'd already be up, partially dressed and checking his messages, but today, he could be a tiny bit slothful. He'd asked for the day off, which had shocked several of his coworkers into speechlessness.

The Psyrec Coordinator, Julie, had been thrilled since she'd been trying to get Bill to "relax" since she'd arrived on the station two Martian years ago. A warm and bubbly individual, she'd broken out into a huge grin when he'd told her. "Psyrec" stood for psychology and recreation which were her two specialties. She was responsible for the psychological welfare of everyone on the station and head of the recreation department as well. She answered to the head of the Medical department and had made it her personal mission to get Bill to take some time off from his work.

He smiled to himself as he remembered her reaction. She had practically bounced on her toes with glee, causing a couple other things to bounce as well. It had been quite distracting. He wondered what her reaction would be if she knew his wife from his human life's name had been Caroline. No doubt, she would be concerned and read something tragic into this. It would be difficult to explain to someone who wasn't his age. But, it was really quite simple. He had always liked the name Caroline.

Sliding out of bed, he padded over to the dispenser and waved his hand across the sensor eye. A little plastic door opened and his warm mug was ready. "Mar's Coolest Boss" was splashed across the front in garish colors. One of his younger human underlings had given it to him a few years ago for an old fashioned Christmas exchange. The young man had felt compelled to point out that Bill was indeed, literally…cool. And when the young man finished his rotation and transferred back to Earth, he'd spent his last night on the station in Bill's quarters finding out just how literally cool Bill was.

Smiling around his mug, Bill glided over to his favorite chair near the window. He'd spent so much time on this planet that he'd grown used to the lighter gravity. Humans found the gravity delightful, but vampire visitors were often a bit grumpy about it until they got used to it. He settled back into the chair and put his feet up on the window ledge.

A small stack of very old books sat next to his feet, ancient survivors as he was and remnants of a different time. Chopping down trees for paper was no longer permitted unless they were grown for that specific purpose. He gazed at the little pile. Each one had a memory attached, gifted from various visitors to the station. They had heard of his fondness for reading and old fashioned paper books, so they would present one to him when they arrived. It was a quaint custom, but he saw no reason to discourage it. And he liked the books.

"Bill, would you like to hear your messages now?" The computer asked. It was programmed to anticipate based on previous activity. Bill usually listened to his messages while drinking his first Syn after waking.

"Yes"

"Would you like me to prioritize the older messages or the immediate ones?"

Normally, he would handle business related messages first. But today, since he was "off", he wasn't going to worry about it. There was a rumor that Julie had threatened his team with bodily harm if they bothered him today with anything less than a life or death emergency.

"No, I will listen to the personal ones first."

The computer pondered this change in routine for a second. "There are three packets of personal messages from Earth. Do you have a preference of which ones you would like to hear first?" There was a constant stream of information being sent back and forth between Earth and the Mar's station. Personal, non urgent messages were not a priority and as such were "bundled" into virtual packets by the communication's computers back on Earth. Once transmitted to the Mars primary communication computer, they would be checked for any possible threats, then dropped into his personal mailbox.

"No…ah…yes…are there any from Eric?"

"Do you mean Eric Northman, Eric Skarsgard, or Eric in the geology pod?"

He'd forgotten they had an Eric on the station now. "Eric Northman is the one I meant."

"Checking. There are no new messages from Eric Northman at this time."

Bill took another sip of his drink and frowned. He hadn't heard from Eric in over …what ..3 weeks? A tiny twinge of concern flickered in the back of his mind as he shifted in his chair. When was the last time it had taken this long for Eric to send a message? Typically, he'd get at least one packet a week in his mailbox. And in that packet, there would always be at least one message from Eric. Sometimes, the message would be quite extensive with news and information of goings on with the vampires on Earth. Other times, it might only be a brief message saying all is well. But there was always a message.

Bill didn't send responses all the time. He tried to remember when he'd last sent a message back with questions or any other information. Maybe he should do so. It would be polite and if he still didn't hear back? He shifted in his chair again and ran through a list of the various vampires he could check with about Eric's current situation. While he had many vampire acquaintances, were there any he trusted?

No, not really.

But, he wasn't going to worry. That would be a waste of time. He was sure Eric was fine, probably just too busy to send a message. Eric hadn't survived this long for anything to happen to him now. The possibility that Eric no longer existed refused to settle into Bill's mind. He wasn't going to waste his day off fussing over something silly.

Speaking of silly, he truly hoped that Julie hadn't taken any close looks at his file lately or she might realize why he'd chosen today to be off. Back on Earth, give or take a dozen hours or so, it was his birthday. God forbid if Julie found out. She would insist on a party… or worse… a SURPRISE party. Fortunately, he was pretty sure that no one currently on the station even knew when his birthday was. And he wanted to keep it that way. He wanted to relax and perhaps reflect a little today, that's all.

Tipping back his mug and finishing the last of his drink, he stood up and stretched. The fine Mar's dust was collected around the edges of his window. He'd have to have that taken care of since the dust was bad for the window joints. Actually, the dust was bad for just about everything, but it wasn't an emergency and he could handle it tomorrow.

The solar collectors in the distance shifted slightly, following the dim later afternoon Sun in the sky. The little sweeper "bots" bounced around them like grasshoppers. The bots were simple, cat sized robots that were programmed on a very basic level and their only job was to keep the collectors free of the infamous Mar's dust. Humans found them very amusing since they were programmed to go to humans for help if they were damaged or needed maintenance. They would make a high pitched plaintive sound that never failed to elicit an "AWWW" from female observers. The fact that they had been designed with a "cuteness factor" added to the effect.

One time, after a bad dust storm, Bill had gone out to the collectors and been swarmed by the bots, all demanding his attention. It would have been impractical to work on them out in the field, so he'd headed back to the station with the bots trailing after him like lost puppies. Once he got out of his space suit and into the station, he'd found out that many of his coworkers had been watching from the observation lounge's big window, laughing their butts off. The next day, a crude sign with "The Pied Piper Lives Here" was attached to the door of his quarters.

He liked being on this side of the station, facing some rock faces and the equipment that kept their settlement running. Most people wanted to be on the other side of the station which faced a more "scenic" view of some mountains, the horticultural dome, and no functioning mechanical devices.

Three tall wind turbines rotated a little further in the distance, almost blending into the landscape due to the rusty Mars dust that covered every square inch. Turbine number three's rotation appeared slightly off. This would need to be handled in the next couple weeks. No! No, he was not going to worry about work today. He was going to relax.

He lifted his bed into the closet against the wall, closed the doors, shutting the bed inside, opening up some floor space and making the room feel almost spacious. Shoving the mug back into the machine to be steam cleaned, he started pulling on some clothes.

It was nice not having specific plans for the day, no schedule to keep. Maybe he should have followed Julie's advice and done this a while ago. He would have a nice relaxing birthday with no fuss or drama.

In the next 12 to 24 hours Earthtime, it would be April 9th, 2840 A.D.

He would be one thousand years old.

TBC

A/N Little different huh? One thing you can always say, I don't follow the crowd...at least..not very well anyway. LOL!