Home Sweet Venus | By: James J Turner | | Category: Short Story - Sci-Fi Bookmark and Share

Home Sweet Venus



When the time finally reached 5.30pm, Andrew Lomas went out of the main exit at Thompson-Henderson Estate Agents and headed back to his flat. It had been a long tough day of answering calls, guiding people around medium priced city apartments and updating the Sphere site for the company. Work had felt stressful despite Andrew Lomas switching his mental capacities onto fast play from standard. Andrew had a large secret that was hard for him to keep; he was actually a Vesuvian ex-spy. He had been left to rot on Earth following the end of the Earth-Venus War in which millions of lives had been lost. As a result of Earth winning the war, treaties with the Vesuvian government had seen the governments of Venus pledge not to engage in any other communication of any kind with Earth for at least 45 years. The deal was the type made at diplomatic gunpoint. Andrew Lomas was still working as a spy in the Second City of Earth Zone 1 when the treaty was signed. If he had come out as a spy for the Venetian Government following the signed treaty there was a very high chance he would have been executed; as a result he understood that his stay on Earth would have to stay very secret. He knew that the V-Government would have made no efforts to get him back to Venus; it would have compromised the fragile basis of a new diplomatic agreement with Earth. So here he was stuck on this planet, trying to blend in like a normal human citizen whilst using his hybrid brain to gain some advantages in what remained of his life. Lomas was a spy without orders or objectives; since being abandoned by the Vesuvian government he had also begun to find himself contemptible towards the beings from his own planet. He felt aggrieved that his home planet reacted fairly quickly to the probes that were sent from Earth to Venus. Yes the probes were armed but that didnt necessarily infer that Earth would be a hostile force. Unfortunately Earth did of course turn out to be a greedy, hostile force. Lomas felt contempt for both citizens of Earth and Venus really. Bitterness had began to course through his veins like an angry stream of vitriolic bile. The beings on Venus were disloyal, pliable and contemptuous whilst the humans he had dealt with on Earth were all brain-dead half wits who could scarcely live their own pathetically dismal lives let alone try and control the more challenging environments of Venus. He guessed though that he hated humans more; it was after all this tediously primitive and stupid species that had initiated a war with the advanced intellects of the Vesuvians. In 200 years time he felt Venus would win any wars between them, but for now their technology simply did not match the advances of Earth. Humans were a lucky species because of the advanced treatment God had given them; not to mention the focus given to their base species of imbeciles due to the involvement of now the fallen angel Lucifer. That particular creature had proven to be both a blessing and a curse for Earth. Due to his presence more advanced species had taken it on themselves to offer methods for countering the now disgraced legal adversary of God. His presence however had also meant that any lingering disagreements with God now had a head-figure to turn to. By the time of the Vesuvian War however, on Earth Lucifer was just a secret memory really. Known about by those who foolishly turned to him, basically forgotten by those that didnt. The Vesuvians had watched the ongoings regarding Lucifer, but decided not to intervene. They could have however; despite not having the military technology to succeed against Earth, they could have used their advanced telepathic minds to try and counter the direction of the fallen angel upon his arrival in the chaos that exists outside of the realm of God. They could have prevented the fall of man. The Vesuvians however decided to leave Earth to its own devices, something Andrew Lomas had bet they were regretting now. Venus had intelligent life you see well before God had given Adam the chance to advance humanity in an Earthly paradise. There was some tension as to whether he could succeed on his own, which of course he didnt. His and Eves failure to obey the laws of God probably set the wheels of Earths destruction into gear. It wouldnt be the Vesuvians and certainly not Andrew Lomas that achieved this ultimate destruction.


Andrew Lomas was particularly contemptible of the people he worked with. They just seemed to represent the desperate, almost yearning idiocy of humanity. The people he worked with seemed keen to be more stupid and trivial by the day. Simple instructions he often gave, just for a few photocopies or for a couple of calls to set up some details with a client, almost always resulted in an abject failure to achieve the task. Alongside being lazy the people he worked with were clearly desperately dissatisfied for some reason. Not one single person he worked with seemed to have any sense of being complete as an individual. These people, despite being blessed with families, with cars, luxury holidays, expensive clothes and so on, just could not exist as satisfied beings. It was clear that they didnt possess a want for things; a want for knowledge, a want for family, a want of a new car. No indeed these people subsumed on need; they needed a husband, they needed a family, they needed a new hover car, they needed a new dress. Frankly he was disgusted, the people living on Earth in 2094 needed nothing. None of these things that the people he worked with were totally obsessed with were actually needed. There was no need as it were for nutritious food for anyone in Zone 1; there was no real need for a hover car in Zone 1 and there was certainly no need for luxury holidays for those in Zone 1. No, the real reason these people needed so much was that they were desperately trying to find brief solace in their ultimately dismal lives to displace the continued emptiness that came from ultimately being a species tarred with damnation. They had never really gotten over the problems of Adam, Andrew thought. Everyone still wanted the forbidden fruit to feast upon. Everybody still ignored the bounty of the Earth, to be tempted by a low life fallen deity. The morals of most human beings were very weak. Paradise had been an option but the ease in which the species were tempted was embarrassing. The Vesuvian species had a far closer understanding of God. Religion wasnt something that was desperately contorted by rival interests who would prove to be far more interested in power than redemption. Indeed there were no organised religions on Venus because the understanding of profound meaning hadnt been limited to certain religions or individuals. The beings of Venus didnt suffer due to conflictual religions, no rather they were blessed with a full understanding of meaning. The Vesuvians, for the most part gave themselves to God. There had been ancient tests and laws given to the earliest Vesuvians of course, most however had passed these tests. Andrew Lomas however was one particular Vesuvian still unfortunately stuck on a planet damned with existential failure. Everywhere he turned he felt disgust towards a species that had rejected God for the wares of a nobody. Lucifer would have been laughed off Venus frankly.


Andrew Lomas despite disliking most of life on Earth had actually found the process of integrating and succeeding their relatively easy. His burning contempt for the species was actually often curtailed and calmed by fellow workers or other people massaging his ego. Thankfully he had the latest social technique module given him prior to his now defunct mission. He was also fortunate enough to have high end charm uploaded to him. As a result, dealing with people for the most part was easy. He obviously hid his frustration at their failure to manage simple tasks. His thought patterns were also the result of premium downloads, this meant there was absolutely no chance for the thought scanners to read his mind to note he was actually a Vesuvian. Nobody he had met seemed to give any clue that they doubted his veracity as a human. The charm certainly helped; most of the time he just told people what they wanted to hear. It had certainly helped him sell a hell of a lot of homes in the Second City, generating some more than sizeable commissions. Despite some of the advantages of Earth, from today which was the 5th August 2081, it was now thankfully only one more week before it was possible to leave Earth and head for Venus. A new treaty had been agreed and some travel between Earth and Venus for tourists had finally been implemented. The Nexus Company was actually going to run a commercial Interspace Transporter route on a regular basis from Earth Zone 1 to Astera on Venus. He would actually be able to go home! He would be back with people who were concerned beyond the boundaries of themselves; back with minds that looked beyond animal limitations, back on a planet that hadnt rejected God. He was even looking forward to the task of dealing once more with the elders who had been in charge of his mission. Despite their disdain for his younger mind and their disregard for his differing views on subjects like interplanetary travel, they would still provide more interesting conversations than those offered by the monkey-brained selfish cretins that were so popular on Earth. That was all true, until Andrew Lomas met Zera.


Just one week before he had planned to leave Earth for Astera, Andrew met the most beautiful creature he had ever seen. She delayed, temporarily at least, his urge to return back to Venus. He had met her at a bar in the downtown area of Zone 1 after another long day at work. She had totally left Andrew Lomas totally stunned and silenced for once by telling him directly that she knew his secret. She was fully aware that he was a Vesuvian but still wanted to be with him. The measures given to have him integrate on Earth had obviously worked! He had known he wanted to spend time with this woman as soon as their eyes met at the bar. There was just something different and captivating about her. She seemed immediately different from all of the other women he had met on Earth. It didnt take him long to find out why that was; it turned out that she too was actually a fellow Vesuvian spy. She was actually a more advanced human replica than he was, Andrew was absolutely certain about that. After a while of getting to know one another following evenings out on the town together he had fully found out that his anatomy was thankfully functional for a  human. For a brief while he enjoyed the pretence of just being an average man having sexual relations with a woman; albeit one who was really an advanced Venetian spy. Their time together felt like time in heaven to Andrew. They were certainly compatible as a pair, sharing everything from desserts to fuel bills. He had been assigned relationships on Venus but somehow this just felt infinitely more compelling and pleasurable. His calm rational instincts were somehow caught up in the mangled mesh that formed their combined minds and bodies. They were begins closely attracted and drawn to one another. Oh, he was absolutely certain she was a Venetian, probably an android, but despite this he decided he would spend the week with her before offering her the chance to join him on the journey back to Venus.


The week they spent together had meant long walks holding hands in the park, fine meals enjoyed together at top restaurants like the Vitoria and late night talks about life and the stars. Both of them had good jobs and he had  decided to fully wine and dine this beautiful woman before at least one of them went back to Venus. He thanked God that he had least bought his own ticket already however; his conscious mind still told him not to remain on Earth for any reason due to the still lingering possibility of execution should they find out he was a spy. Whilst she had refused to take up his offer of joining him on the trip back to Venus, she still wanted to be with him during his time on Earth. Overall though Andrew Lomas still wanted to go back to literally his home planet. One woman could not make up for the negativity and limitations that were just too apparent on so much of the planet he had been marooned on. He wanted to return to challenging work, to a meaningful existence and to a proper and fulfilling worship of God. The rudimentary Central Religious Network that Earth had eventually installed had at least reduced religious conflicts and the tragic deaths that had happened due to misappropriation of knowledge of the divine, but it still didnt offer close enough access to God. Towards the end of his stay on Earth Zera had literally begged for him to cancel the  booking and to live with her at her apartment. Evidently she was totally besotted by the more advanced love and attention offered by a fully functioning Venetian man. Ultimately though Andrew wasnt remotely interested by the idea of staying on Earth. He wanted to get back to life on Venus and hopefully a decent job in domestic intelligence with the Venetian Army. He wasnt remotely interested in staying at all; until Zera told him that she was pregnant.


But thats impossible! he cried out
What do you mean? The test was decisive Andrew, they are 100% accurate you know

Yes I do know that babe. Oh wow, wow this just seems so unlikely.

You dont always turn on the anti-fertility scanners by the bed Andy

She was right of course, and he was an idiot.

Do you have to keep it? he felt dreadful the moment he said it.
How dare you? Of course I am going to keep it, I have a life growing inside me now which you had a real influence in creating.

She then went on at length as to why she wanted him to stay on Earth with her. Somehow she made the strong argument that him being a Venetian would actually be good for the future of the child and would increase its chances of economic and social stability.

So you want me to stay for the babies career then?
Dont be facetious with me Andrew. I want you to stay because I cant do this alone and you offer a lot of positive advantages that could help our child.

Andrew still tried to get out of it claiming that if they found out he was a Venetian then theyd him. She was unrelenting however, expanding upon the need for him and not another man to be prominent in the life of this child. Of course he relented after a couple of hours of persuasive argument. 

Ok Zee for the sake of you and the baby Ill stay here on Earth.

The designers from the Venetian army had obviously made him too damn human he thought. He had no idea that it was actually functional sperm he had coursing through him. As well as being an incredibly charming guy, he was now evidently a fully functioning baby making machine. He went for a long walk to try and settle his mind. The thought briefly entered his head that he could just abandon Zera and head to the flight for Astera anyway. His conscious however prevented him from leaving a vulnerable, pregnant woman to the various pressures and difficulties of life in the Second City. Whilst she had reinvigorated in him an understanding of the virtues and desires of being human, ultimately he still did not feel any form of life on Earth would offer sufficient fulfillment to him. It was going to be a long boring and challenging life simply trying to exist on Earth with a modicum of decorum and with the virtues he held dear. On the positive side as well though, the thought did also occur to him that he could actually be pivotal in helping with the emotional and mental elevation of a human child. The rewards however seemed and truly felt like a long way after the necessary and impending endeavour.


Watching the news stories of people travelling to Venus for the first time made him hugely depressed. All of these people had far less right than him to go to Venus. Hopefully though at least some of these primates should learn about culture and compassion he thought. It didnt seem a hugely likely occurrence frankly. He settled himself down on the sofa and finished off his latest beer. His mind had become foggy with thoughts about how he would have to be an adult human father now. He would have responsibilities and tasks; he would have to learn how to love humans and actually raise one to be loved and successful. All of these points began to depress him. His days at work began to seem that much longer. The people at work that much more dismally human. He despaired for humanity and he despaired for himself and his future child. Life felt like it was destined to be bleak; he felt as though he was an innocent being forced to eat from the tree of knowledge. He was felt he was being shackled by nominal manacles into the role of being yet another human failure. Frankly things seemed unpalatable considering he had earlier been fighting against these humans and their damn way of life and insulting versions of higher intellectual notions like democracy. He felt like a restaurant critic being forced to both eat in and praise the work of a chef that only used horsemeat. He felt like an individual who had fully allowed himself to be consumed by what he hated most; he felt like his entire being, his entire representation of matter had been irrevocably altered and he was now forced to live his life like some sort of human potato, forever denied higher end pursuits. He was to be just another creature of the bog, travelling slowly and painfully through thick and unavoidable shit.   


After a while of drinking beer and moping about, Andrew decided to go for a sunnier outlook on life. I mean after all he still had a fantastic standard of living, he was earning a lot of money and was in no conceivable way starving. He had all that he wanted at his total command and a beautiful woman of his own to boot. Sure one day he would like to go back to Venus and Astera but maybe for now he would be going on holiday there with his future wife and child. He could maybe start his own business and begin earning a lot more, he would maybe then try and buy some property on Venus and maybe the Moon as well. Sure humanity had got a lot wrong, but obviously it had done plenty right as it was still there and existing. It was later that afternoon unfortunately though that Zera revealed the full truth to him finally.

Sit down Andrew please, there is something you need to know
He began to feel quite distressed; was it an abortion she wanted? Was she leaving him? Did she want him to quit his job for the sake of the baby?

Look Im not pregnant
Ha! I knew you were too perfect to actually be a human woman he blurted out.

Yes about that she replied

What is it?
I really am a human, and I know youre not

Sure I know you know that. Hang on, what do you mean youre human, you just seemed so…”

Be quiet please Andrew. I work for the Network, for the Infiltration Division
Andrew Lomas felt like someone had dropped an anvil on the top of his very being.

Im sorry Mr. Lomas but there is no way you can be allowed to return back to Venus she calmly stated

What so you mean Im stuck on Earth?

Im sorry Andrew.

Those were the last words she said to him before she calmly pulled out an electric pistol and shot him in the stomach. He died instantly.


Zera then packed her bags and called the Network to assemble a clear up team. She thought that Andrew Lomas was the last of the remaining Venetian spies left alive on Earth. There was going to be a lot more thought scans however made by the check-out desk for individuals heading to Astera though. If any more were found she would be called on again.


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