* * *
The Hringhorni reappeared in translunar space and braked for lunar orbit and a Central landing. It was hours ahead of the wave front following it from the outer system announcing Central’s annexation of the selected planetoids. Indeed, the crew had opportunity to land and have a celebratory dinner with the Sovereign and her business partners before the radio transmissions arrived. It wasn’t until the Earth had time to make almost a full turn before there was any response from any Earth agencies. April started getting the news feeds through her com filters that evening.
European News Agency: The declaration of ownership by this tiny lunar regime is a public relations ploy without any basis in reality. The laws and treaties of nations reaching into the previous century prohibit exclusive exploitation of heavenly resources. There is no support for this assertion of ownership and it will come to nothing when any of the major powers wish otherwise.
Reuters: The question unanswered by all the agencies reporting transmissions from the outer system claiming ownership of certain minor bodies is – how were these radio transmitters positioned, or is it a case of fakery by other means from a much closer source?
North American Coalition News: The claims by the Central government on the Moon are clearly illegal and void. No other acknowledgement is necessary.
Western Association of Chinese Territories: This pronouncement of the Central Dictatorship is simply an extension of their customary acts of banditry.
Eastern Alliance of Chinese States: The illegal claims of the Lunar State are in support of the outlaw Western Association and running-dog Western powers.
International Astronomical Association: It is expected that as the named bodies progress along their known orbital paths the apparent source of these radio transmissions will divulge from their seeming locations and reveal their true locations and distances. It is not within the launch capacity of any nation to have placed these signal sources on the claimed bodies, so it will be revealed as an elaborate fraud.
Asian Press International: Text message to account 1, Heather Anderson, LunarNet / Central. Inquiry for publication: Do you have any comment or reply to the accusations of your new territorial claims being in breach of established international law?
Reply received: Leges Humanae Nascuntur, Vivunt, Et Moriuntur
Oh that was snippy. April loved it when Heather got a serious snit on. She typed in a command. “Give me a random sample of North American news stories from the last twenty four hours.” Sometimes she did that simply because it made her aware of things that would never get through her own preconceptions when she set filters, and it was just entertaining. She’d tried reading English language news from other countries and found it perplexing and unintelligible.
Jackson, Mississippi: The state government of Mississippi has moved the state capital to Hattiesburg, following the annexation of its western territory and capital by Texas. The governor at last report was still in his Jackson office refusing to leave, and denouncing the lack of support from the Federal government to oppose the annexation of western Mississippi by Texas. A measure in the Mississippi legislature to declare Governor Heath has abandoned his position and is no longer a resident of Mississippi after thirty days has been passed over the objections of the Lieutenant Governor. The state Supreme Court is expected to hear the issue when they are relocated and can hear cases again.
Nevada/Oregon: Expired California driver licenses will not be accepted as ID for interstate travel controls to Nevada and Oregon. The oldest issued licenses are expiring and there is no functioning State Department of Motor Vehicles to renew them or issue new. The issue is expected to be less of a problem at the Nevada border as there is no current presence of Nevada police or agricultural agents. The Oregon border however is actively manned at major highways.
Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio: The trial of the leader of Buckeyes for Property Rights has been postponed after the disappearance of Mark Lawrence, the third judge to take the case on his docket. Previously Judge De Costa resigned rather than take the case after the disappearance of Judge Edwards, Judge Hastings, and the Cuyahoga County prosecutor John Fleming.
Charlotte, North Carolina: The Court of Appeals has ruled in Mecklenburg County vs. The Diamond Brokers, that the merchandise being delivered by the Charlotte Driverless Taxi Service in a vehicle electronically disabled by the Mecklenburg County Sheriffs was the responsible guilty party for the traffic offense committed and may be retained in forfeiture.
Tallahassee, Florida: The state has issued a ban on modular homes, or manufactured homes, commonly referred to as trailer homes even if never outfitted with wheels, overriding all local zoning. The bill was popularly known as the Tornado Magnet Bill. The legislature also made wearing purple shirts for jury duty illegal due to their association with jury nullification proponents.
Kidron, Ohio: Amish elders complain the requirement that horse buggies must carry equipment to stop and clean horse excrement left on public highways or use diapers is unsafe, burdensome, and discriminatory.
South Carolina: Legislators, unable to come to an agreement over a number of contentious issues, tabled them indefinitely on the last day and agreed to return the state bird from the Carolina Wren back to the Northern Mockingbird before closing the current session.
Atlanta, Georgia: The Peach House Theatre refused to rent the venue to the Canton, Ohio band Lucy Lips saying the group displayed salacious debauchery, suggestive lyrics and played with their shirt collars unbuttoned.
Seattle, Washington: City Council announced pommers would no longer be hired for city jobs, and those associated with them had no place in public service.
It sounded pretty much like business as usual to April. She had no idea who or what a pommer was, and wondered if in a couple decades Earth English and Spacer English would diverge beyond mutual understanding.
* * *
The next morning there was a message light blinking on Adam’s room com when his pad woke him up. The software turned out to be exactly the same as his previous room. He’d worried about that when so tired last night and it turned out to be a silly concern. He was told to expect a guide and orientation at 0900.
A guide at least sounded better than a guard, and o900 left him plenty of time to get ready, almost two hours. He usually had breakfast earlier, but they had fed him supper last night. He didn’t want call to ask about it and maybe start off with a reputation as a complainer.
There was a knock on his door rather than com message at exactly 0900. When he answered there was a new fellow he didn’t know in a plain khaki outfit that had the appearance of work clothing more than a uniform. It had flap pockets on the shirt and a stretch mesh belt, which was unusual for Mars. He had a bag that was clearly breakfast, because Adam could smell it, and a small duffel. Adam hoped he wasn’t a roommate and they wouldn’t have to do shifts like staying in cheap rental hot-slots.
“Good morning, I’m Gerald. I brought you breakfast rather than have you in the mess before orientation. These are what you will use for duty uniforms if you’d like to change,” Gerald invited, handing the duffle to Adam.
“Thank you. They left a supper for me when we got in rather late last night. I appreciated that and wondered what the arrangement would be this morning. I’ll eat this before changing so I don’t get anything on the new clothes. Sit where you please.” Adam invited with a wave of his hand.
The fellow was younger than him and unarmed, which was encouraging. He sat on the chair for the com desk and turned it to face the room. Adam emptied the duffle on the bed and examined the clothing. He had five identical outfits and one belt. They didn’t supply shoes and they had his size right. There were no rank markings to go with the pseudo-uniforms and no name tag. The odd thing was his outfits were noticeably darker than the other fellow’s.
The man waited patiently while he had the two breakfast sandwiches and coffee. It was the same he often had down to the coffee being black, so he wondered if his preferences
had been recorded and forwarded here. The odd thing was the young man seemed very formal and polite with him, like he had some sort of unspoken rank or status of which he wasn’t aware.
When he was done with breakfast he used the lavatory, but it was quite cramped and he changed sitting on the edge of his bed. “I’ll put these away when I get back. Would you show me where you take your laundry here? And will they do your personal things?”
“You don’t have to take your things in. Just leave them in the bag outside your door overnight. Your civilian clothing can be done, but the first tier workers always wear their issue clothing, even off duty.”
First tier, huh? Adam didn’t comment on that.
“I’m ready,” Adam told Gerald. He led the way out as soon as Adam stood.
“This is residence hall B.” Gerald informed him. When they came to the main corridor he pointed across. “That’s hall A. There are sixteen suites on each side, but they aren’t usually all full. That’s the way to transport and the way you came in last night,” he said pointing left.
“The lights were turned down and I was dead tired. It looks a lot different now,” Adam admitted.
“This is the way to the restricted area,” Gerald said, turning right. “I’ll drop you off at the entry. None of the support people wearing khaki can go in there.”
It wasn’t far until the corridor dead-ended. There was a large freight door and a man-door set apart to the extremes of the corridor width. Gerald used a intercom on the wall beside the man-door and got a garbled response Adam couldn’t understand. Gerald must have understood, because he said, “Someone will be right out for you,” and he left.
The fellow who answered the door was older with hair turning at the temples and a serious demeanor. He had the same light duty uniform with no insignia. He examined Adam critically and Adam had to wonder why? Certainly he had several photos in his file.
“I’ve seen your profile and talked to the Director about you. However, I run things my own way here, so I’m going to make you an offer again, if you are having second thoughts tell me right now. I’ll send you back to Pavonis Mons and they will probably send you back to Earth rather than reintegrate you there. Once you come in this door you’re committed.”
“Thank you for the offer. I’m confident of my decision,” Adam told him.
The fellow allowed himself a small smile. “Then I’m sub-director Hershwin. Follow me,” he said, and Adam noted he didn’t offer his hand.
There was a wall immediately inside, placed to obstruct the view from the main door. Hershwin walked around it and to a long counter that served as a common desk looking down on the interior of a large building, of a size to remind Adam of an aircraft hangar. It was about eighty meters to the far wall and it ran at least that far on each side to the right and left. The windows that looked down on it were tilted out at the top, in the form of a gallery, with ground level about ten meters down. However, there was no floor, and in the center the Martian soil was excavated lower in spots. There were lots of small lights overhead so shadows were minimized, and the lighting was not as harsh as usual for a warehouse or sports venue.
“I’ve found it better just to show new people what we are doing directly, rather than waste time trying to ease the shock,” Hershwin said.
And it lets you gauge them better to see how they react, Adam thought, because the man was still watching him closely.
The operation below looked like an archeological dig. There were stakes with bright cords and colored flags marking off areas, and walkways to avoid trampling other plots. In a few places they had gone to the trouble to cantilever a walkway in from the side to work an area without disturbing anything around it.
To the right was a jumble of shapes that reminded Adam of a very bad ground car wreck, comprised of twisted and compressed shapes that could have never been built that way. In front of them were shapes with flat surfaces and straight lines. There was a cable hanging down and Adam looked up and realized there was a gantry crane that could reach anywhere over the whole site.
“You’ve found a building!” Adam said, amazed. “There were actual Martians!”
“That’s the initial reaction about half the people have, at first glance,” Hershwin said. “It’s a very good guess and close. It’s a space ship, but definitely not Martian. Indeed, we seriously doubt it originated in this Solar System.”
Adam stood looking down at it for several minutes, Hershwin letting him think on it and absorb it.
“Alright, I already threw out one foolish guess. You’ve had much longer to think on this than me. If you have to even qualify that it’s probably not of this system it must be unimaginably old… so how old? Are there any remains? And what does this mean to us on Mars and the rest of humanity? Give me the benefit of your thoughts on it. You’ve had some time to consider all the ramifications. You didn’t build this last week,” Adam said, waving at the building. It was probably the biggest structure on Mars.
“Very good,” Hershwin said. “A few people have come unhinged when they saw this. One fellow had to be sedated and frankly, he’s still not right.”
“Maybe I’m too stupid to be properly shocked,” Adam said.
“Not stupid, but some have deep set beliefs. They harbor conflicting religious beliefs and assumptions of racial superiority. This is why it’s a secret. We expect revealing it would produce chaos in some parts of Earth. Markets would have no idea how to respond. Factions who saw it as blasphemous would lash out. Some would panic as if they were expecting them to come back as invaders any day. There are those that would probably destroy the site if it were within their power. I can assure you many would immediately declare it a fraud without stopping to consider it for a second,” Hershwin said.
“I can see some of that,” Adam admitted. He forcibly calmed himself, not to scream in Hershwin’s face what he really thought. Not everybody was a fool to come unhinged over such a revelation. It was hubris in the extreme to think you were the elite of humanity to take it upon yourself to hide such an important discovery from everyone. There were thousands of people in all sorts of specialties who could contribute to understanding this. Sometimes you just had to accept you were going to upset some fools and do it anyway.
But to say that would be the death of him. What he said was more measured.
“I’m not sure what I can contribute. I see the people down there are working in suits. I don’t have a lot of experience outside pressure, nothing like a construction worker. It seems to me you could really use an experienced archaeologist to supervise this just like any dig.”
“Anybody can learn suit procedures,” Hershwin said, and waved it away as irrelevant. “We do have a professional archaeologist telling everybody how to document things. Not only would it take an insane amount of air to put the site under pressure, it would have made building the cover much more difficult as it would need to be much stronger, and the breathable air might damage things that have been preserved. Its function right now is to hide the site from observation and keep new dust from being blown onto the site.
“You will probably be instructed how to help with some simple hand digging in time, but we need help with data entry, cleaning objects, documenting them and other tasks. We have a limited pool of talent to draw from on Mars and we are much more concerned with your psychological stability and your group motivation indices, such as loyalty, more than specific skills.”
“And the fellows in the khaki outfits like Gerald who described himself as support staff?” Adam asked.
“That’s exactly what he is. They run the food prep, housekeeping and do the things we don’t want to take time to do. We mingle some, but I suggest you limit your contacts with them in your free time. They don’t know exactly where they are or what we are doing. If you made errors and revealed too much to one of them you could put them in the position of not being allowed to rotate back to Earth. You’ve assumed that burden voluntarily, but it wouldn’t be a kindness t
o inflict that on them out of carelessness. That’s why we give you a visual clue with the clothing to know exactly who you are dealing with.”
“I understand. I’ll be careful of that,” Adam promised. “It seems to me the technology from an alien ship might be more economically disruptive than any psychological shock. It could wipe out whole industries employing thousands if not millions. Have you harvested any big tech surprises from the ship?”
Hershwin grimaced. “We have gotten a really efficient and compact design for a linear electric motor. The builders used them to open and close the internal hatches. The pilot was probably very skilled. He set the ship down on the surface instead of auguring straight in, but it slid over a kilometer and a half. There is a trail of shredded pieces, large and small, all that way, and then it smashed into a butte while still moving fairly fast.
“Picking up all the pieces along that path is an ongoing exercise, and the crumpled forward compartments are going to be the slowest thing to cut apart, layer by layer, photographing and documenting every removed part, no matter how mundane and insignificant it seems,” Hershwin said. “That remains our slowest operation carried out by an expert team assigned to that task alone.”
“I’m not ashamed to say I’m a little rattled,” Adam admitted. He refrained from asking more questions or repeating the ones Hershwin hadn’t answered.
“You’re taking it better than many,” Hershwin allowed. “Take the rest of the day off. Go familiarize yourself with the cafeteria and what few amenities we have here. There’s an exercise room and a clinic. Find out where everything is and be back at 0800 tomorrow. The door will be set to your hand, and we’ll show you a video history of the dig and what sort of work you can do.”
Hershwin walked him back to the entry and saw him out.
Adam did as suggested. Explored and had lunch. He didn’t want to rush back to his room and jump on the computer. That might arouse suspicions. When he did go back to his rooms he tried to download the latest movie. That got a no such page screen. He tried to connect to MarsNet home and got an administrator looking out of the screen at him.
Been There, Done That (April Book 10) Page 19
