Fear God and Dread Naught by Christopher Nuttall

officially approved ... as far as anyone outside the charmed circle knew, she’d done nothing even remotely wrong.  But it would remain in her file for the rest of her life.
     
    “I’ll ask him,” she said, reluctantly.  “I’ll see you on the bridge.”
     
    Mason nodded and left the compartment, the hatch hissing closed behind her.  Susan sighed and tapped her console, requesting a direct link to the planetary surface.  There was a good chance she wouldn’t get it - the military communications network was presumably very busy - but it was worth a try.  And luck was with her.  Five minutes later, her father’s face appeared in the terminal.  He looked older than she recalled, his face carved with new lines that worried her.  He’d clearly been very worried about her.
     
    “Father,” she said, feeling another lump in her throat.  “I’m fine.”
     
    “Susan,” her father said, gruffly.  “What happened?”
     
    “It’s a long story,” she said, tapping her ears to indicate that they might be overheard.  If the Admiralty had doubts about her, they might just be listening to the call.  “But I’m fine now.”
     
    Her father looked at her for a long moment - the same look, she realised with a shock, he’d given her when she’d asked his blessing to apply to the Academy.  He'd known she was an adult, he'd known she was responsible ... and yet, she was still his little girl.
     
    “I hope you’re right,” he said, finally.  He trusted her, she knew.  He might have his doubts - and his fears for her - but he trusted her.  “Now, who’s been feeding you and why haven’t they done a good job of it?”
     
    Susan sighed and settled in for the long haul.

Chapter Five
     
    Mars, Midshipwoman Georgina Fitzwilliam thought, was meant to be red .
     
    And it was red, she knew, outside the dome.  Outside the areas that had been steadily - and ruthlessly - terraformed into a new home for the human race.  There were no Martians to object, no native life to be displaced ... the humans who might have objected, once upon a time, had bowed to the harsh truth that the human race had only one true homeworld in the entire galaxy.  And even after the tramlines had been discovered, the terraforming project had continued, combining genetically-engineered plants with asteroid water and a giant orbital mirror to heat the planet. 
     
    And there are even humans who are adapted to live on the surface , she thought, as she stared up at the dome.  They’re the real natives now .
     
    She smiled to herself as the fake sunlight beat down on her nude body.  It couldn't pass for the Maldives, where she'd spent a couple of happy summers during vacation from school, but it was close enough.  Water - warm water - washed against a sandy beach, framed by palm trees and illuminated by sunlamps bright enough to give her a tan.  It looked like a piece of heaven, removed from its rightful place and embedded in the red dust of Mars.  And, best of all, no one knew who she was.  To the resort staff, she was just another midshipwomen splurging on a fancy holiday before returning to her ship.
     
    And we will have to go back soon , she thought, as she sat upright.  We can’t stay here forever .
     
    The thought made her scowl as she peered out over the fake ocean.  A couple of young men were swimming through the water, both ignoring her presence.  Mars, surprisingly, had a more hedonistic population than Earth, although perhaps that was no surprise.  The early colonists had all been nationalistic, part of a rush to claim as much of the planetary surface as possible, but the later colonies had a more independent bent.  And several of them were even giant experiments in alternate living.  She’d even heard that one of them was a solely nudist colony.  Visitors left their clothes - and their dignity - at the airlock.  She’d been tempted to visit, but apparently they were very careful about just who they