Mia moved out of the rover and into the tunnel walkway. As she walked, lights automatically came on to illuminate the area. Gizmo shut down the rover and followed along behind. The tunnel finally opened out directly into the main dome. At the far end a man sat at a table, eating. He lifted his head up for a moment as Mia and Gizmo entered, gave a vague nod as a greeting, then went straight back to his food.
Mia reckoned that this guy didn’t look like a talker. It would take a bit of work to pry him open.
“Greetings, Earthling.” Gizmo waved.
Oh shit, Mia groaned to herself.
The guy stopped mid chew and stared at the droid with his mouth open. Even the G2 unit at his side swiveled its head around to investigate.
Mia laughed nervously. “Eh… just ignore him, he’s… eh… a new model. Takes a bit of getting used to.”
“He?” Said the guy.
Mia laughed again. “It’s a long story. I’ll tell you some other time.”
This explanation seemed to satisfy him as he shook his head. “Weird droid.” And went back to eating. Mia kept moving, hoping to make it to the accommodation module without any more drama.
This was a much smaller dome connected to the main dome by a short tunnel. It had six sleeping pods, three on either side of a dividing wall that bisected the space. She saw the red occupied sign on the hatch of one of the pods, and assumed this was where the guy eating must have bagged. She went to the other side and commandeered a pod. It was tiny, just enough room for her and Gizmo to squeeze in. She sat on the edge of the bed and turned to it.
“Is there some part of act like a dumb G2 robot you don’t understand?”
“My apologies, it just slipped out.”
“The whole point is not to draw too much attention to ourselves. Otherwise people will get suspicious and I’ll get nothing out of them. Okay?”
“I understand. I will endeavor to be as dumb as possible from now on.”
Mia spent some time getting moved in and cleaned up, partly because she needed to and partly because it would be the normal behavior of a courier after a long day cooped up in a supply rover. She sent Gizmo off to unload the supplies with strict instructions not to speak to anyone, or anything, for that matter. Now she was ready to tackle the driver of the AsterX ore-carrier.
When Mia returned to the main rest area, he was still there, looking at something on his slate. He glanced over at her, she nodded a hello. He reciprocated and went back to his slate. She headed for the galley and loaded up a tray with what looked to be a chicken curry and a fruit juice, then brought it over to his table.
“Mind if I join you? First sol on the job, still finding my feet.”
He looked up and hesitated, then gestured at the seat opposite, “Sure, go ahead.”
Mia sat down diagonally across from him, so as not to be too in his face, give him some room. “I assume that gigantic machine is yours. Must be a challenge driving that.”
He cocked an eyebrow in her direction. “You get used to it after a while.”
“Been doing it long?” Mia was pushing it now, taking a risk. He could easily not reply or give her a monosyllabic answer. He put his slate down, looked at her for a moment and started talking.
“Two years on the ore-carriers, three more driving rovers before that.”
“Wow, so you must have been all over the planet.”
“Most places. I’ve been over to Elysium I don’t know how many times.”
“What’s that like?” Mia was busy shoveling chicken curry into herself. She’d not realized how hungry she was.
“It’s a very long journey. Nearly two thousand kilometers. It’s a ten sol round trip.” Then he got into his stride. “But it’s very flat, not like this route. Once you get out of Jezero and into Isidis, it’s wide open space all the way to the foothills of Elysium Mons.”
Mia responded with her best wide-eyed rookie look, enthralled by the knowledge of the wise old master.
“I’m surprised they gave you this route first. It can be very tricky.” He began to relax.
“Yeah, I had a bit of concern, considering what happened to that guy a few days ago.” Mia wondered if he would take the bait.
He did. “Poor bastard.” He paused for a moment, then leaned in and spoke in a low voice. “You know he was one of the clones?”
Mia decided it might be better if she hadn’t known this fact. “No, I didn’t.”
“Yep, weird. I mean, what’s a clone doing working as a courier?”
“They don’t normally do that?”
“No. Why would they? They run the place up here so, yeah, it’s a bit strange.”
“Maybe he just wanted to take in some of the scenery?”
He grunted. “Maybe. But why work for MASS? I mean they hate those guys.”
“Really?” Mia’s eyes widened.
He sat back and considered her. “You don’t know much, do you?”
Mia gave her best rookie shrug. “No, I’ve only been here a few months.”
“And they let you be a courier on the Nili Fossae route? Jezero, they must be scraping the barrel. Eh… no offense.”
“It’s okay. None taken.” Mia let some time pass in silence as she cleaned her plate. “So, what do you think happened with the rover?” She tried to get the conversation back on track.
He lazily shrugged his shoulders. “Hard to say. They don’t tell me shit around here. But what I heard was the fuel tank exploded. Just one of those things. He got out, apparently, but his suit was too badly damaged to make it back here. You have to feel sorry for him, even if he was a clone. I mean, all they want to do is go back to Earth.”
This was news to Mia. “Earth?”
“Yeah, it’s all they ever talk about—well, some of them.”
“And this guy, did he want to go back?”
“I didn’t know him that well, only met him a few times—here, actually. Last time I saw him he was sitting where you are now, going on and on about how he was going back to Earth. Which is complete bullshit, considering they’re forbidden from going.”
“Really?” Now Mia was getting very interested. “Why not?”
“Jeez, lady, you really are just off the boat. You’re clueless.”
But before Mia could perform another one of her best oh great and wise master, please enlighten me looks, Gizmo whizzed in and stationed itself beside the table.
“I have transported and made secure all provisions from the supply rover. How may I now best facilitate in unburdening you from need and want?”
The guy let out a long guttural laugh and slapped the table. “They really stuck it to you good with that one. That must be the dumbest G2 unit I’ve ever heard.” He leaned across the table to Mia. “Listen, here’s a piece of advice. Take that unit back and tell them you want one of these standard units.” He waved in the direction of his own unit. “Totally reliable, never gives any bother.” He looked at Gizmo. “This one’s a complete dud—big time.”
“Thank you,” said Mia. “I’ll be sure to mention it to them when I get back.”
At that, he stood up. “It’s getting late. Time for me to hit the sack.” He reached over to Mia with an outstretched hand. “Good talking to you. Might catch you again, on down the trail.”
“Yeah. Goodnight.”
He left with his G2 unit in tow. When she was sure he was out of earshot she glared at Gizmo.
“What? said the little droid. “What did I say wrong now?”
Mia fought her exasperation. “It’s okay, Gizmo. Never mind.”
“It appears that my act has been very convincing.”
“Yeah, but not quite the way I had in mind.” Mia began digesting some of what the ore hauler had said.
“Gizmo, tell me what you know about the… eh, Pioneers. And why they want to go back to Earth so badly.”
9
Distraction
Dr. Jann Malbec stood looking at the broad expanse of the Jezero Crater from her li
ving quarters high above the city skyline. She had been watching a new colonist ship coming in to land at the spaceport. She always found it fascinating to watch these gigantic ships slowly maneuver their way from orbit to a vertical landing, shrouded in a vast plume of dust as they touched down. Onboard would be nearly a hundred people: new colonists, contractors, tourists and a cohort of representatives from various Earthbound corporations that were here to cement their new concessions ahead of the decennial celebrations. Over the next few weeks this same ship would be refueled and resupplied and would lift off again with a much smaller passenger manifest back to Earth. Her musing was broken by a pinging sound from her slate. She fished it out of a pocket in her robe and tapped an icon.
“Just letting you know, the council session is starting in fifteen minutes.” It was Werren, her aide.
“Thanks, I’ll head down shortly.” She put the slate back in her pocket and took one last look towards the spaceport. The plume of dust had settled just enough that she could make out the upper section of the giant ship standing proud in the morning sun, like a twenty-first century monument to humanity’s scientific greatness. She turned away and made for the lift.
In the central dais of the bio-dome many of the councilors and aides had already assembled. Some were seated while others congregated in knots of conversation, gathering like-minded political positions. They were the old guard, of which Jann was one, comprised mainly of Pioneers and others from the time before Martian independence. In fact, many of them were instrumental in achieving this autonomy. Then there was a grouping that was generally described as the new guard. These were mainly colonists that had arrived over the last decade, as well as representatives of MASS. They had new ideas and new visions for the development of the colony. For a long time the balance of power lay with the old guard, but they had been losing ground for some time, and that loss of influence had been gaining traction as they approached the decennial celebrations.
But Jann was okay with that—mostly. She had never been someone who desired power, it had been thrust upon her by virtue of her exploits, not by any political maneuvering on her part. She also understood the need for change. What she and her compatriots had done to forge the colony out of the chaos of corporate manipulation, fiscal greed and the pre-revolutionary genetic experimentation, had been to create this very situation. One where the foundation was laid down for the next generation to have a stable, normalized, cohesive environment—free from extraneous influences.
But all change brings with it an equal measure of uncertainty. As the hour neared when the exclusive rights granted to Lane Zebos and the AsterX mining company would come to an end. New Earthbound corporations were lobbying hard to be included in the next round. These had all found more sympathetic ears with the new guard than that of the old, who were reluctant to change and happy to maintain the status quo. But now the new generation of power brokers were in the ascendance. They knew their time was coming, and soon.
In this mix was MASS, a UN agency granted rights to conduct scientific studies of Mars. Their odd, semi-autonomous mandate came about from Earth’s exploitation of Mars’s need for energy. Shortly after independence it became evident to the then council, that to expand they were going to need more than just solar panels. Nuclear power was the obvious choice but this meant kowtowing to the UN on Earth, many of whom were still angry at having been forced, as they saw it, to grant independence to the colonists on Mars. This same cohort now saw their opportunity to row back on that agreement. A torturous negotiation ensued with neither side looking like backing down. But in the end, a compromise was reached.
It was agreed that a new, non-profit, UN agency would be set up to have oversight of all nuclear projects on Mars. In return this agency would be granted full and unrestricted access to the planet and its moons for the purposes of scientific investigation, the primary objective being the search for life. They would also be allowed seats on the Council of Mars, with full voting rights.
So began the rise of MASS as both an industrial and political power. With the decline of the old guard and the new young guns not yet fully formed, MASS had reached a point that saw them control the balance of power.
Jann scanned the assembled gathering looking for Nills. He promised her he would be here, but she couldn’t see him anywhere yet.
“Where’s Nills?” She turned to her aide.
“He’s running a bit late.”
“Ahh… Dr. Malbec.” Robb Hoburg sidled over and offered a hand. “Looking as youthful as ever.”
“Thank you. The wonders of modern science.”
“Speaking of science, our erstwhile MASS colleagues are treating us all to a detailed explanation of their terraforming experiment.”
“Interesting.”
“Well, I for one am ready to kill myself now rather than suffer through another science lecture.” Robb rolled his eyes.
“Yes, they do love their science. Almost as much as they love themselves.”
“Now, now, Dr. Malbec. Cynicism is best left to those of us who are old and tired, like my good self.”
“Not too old and tired that you can’t fight for the cause anymore I trust.”
“Ahh… I fear our sol draws near, Jann. That time when we are made redundant and put out to pasture.”
“Well, we still need to get through these decennial celebrations first. After that I think your prophecy might be accurate.” Jann glanced at a small knot of councilors huddled together in hushed conversation. “I see Yuto has acquired some new friends.”
“Yes, the Mazen Corporation. They’re here, like all the others, to lobby for access rights. Be prepared for a request for your vote.”
“Why so, do they not have enough?”
“It seems they have fallen out of favor with MASS, so may need a backup plan.”
“And you, Robb. How are you voting?”
“You know me, Jann. I have a simple rule. Anyone MASS takes a dislike to I regard as fine upstanding citizens.”
“Good to know. I’ll keep that in mind for the future.”
“You’re assuming you and I have a future.”
Jann considered this to be an odd remark for the old councilor. True, he seemed tired and cynical lately. But he was not a fatalist. This was new. What was also new was the presence of the AsterX CEO, Lane Zebos. It was rare that he showed up in person, generally leaving such formalities to one of his minions. Perhaps he too was putting on a show of defiance in the face of the seismic changes that were about to occur. Of all the stakeholders, AsterX was the one who would lose the most, now that their exclusive contract was expiring. The chime sounded, signaling all present to take their seats so the session could begin. Jann moved towards her place, nodding her acknowledgment to those who wished to catch her eye before kickoff.
The preliminaries passed quickly, as they always did, and then it was on to a number of issues requiring a vote by show of hands. But none were contentious so this too passed without incident. Once the business of decision was concluded the council finally moved on to the meat of the session, which was the agenda item labeled any other business. If there were snakes in the grass this was generally where they would show up. Jann nodded to Robb Hoburg, who stood and took the floor.
“Councilor Hoburg has the floor,” said the Chair, formally signaling that Robb could speak his piece without interruption.
He cleared his throat. “With regard to the unfortunate death of Jay Eriksen, a longstanding and esteemed citizen of the colony, I wish to inquire of MASS as to the specific nature of this tragic accident.” He sat down.
Evon Dent, the most senior director of the Mars Alliance Scientific Survey stood. “I would like to take this opportunity to express our sadness at the loss of such an upstanding and committed colonist. We will all feel his loss. His body was released this morning in preparation for his internment in the colony mausoleum.”
“Duly noted. But can you enlighten the council as to the manner of his death?”
Robb prompted.
“We have not concluded our investigations but initial indications would seem to suggest that the fuel tank on the rover was faulty, which caused it to rupture and subsequently ignite. The result was a catastrophic loss of rover integrity.”
“You mean it blew up?” said Robb.
“That is our general conclusion.”
“And do you know what caused this?” Robb continued.
“We are still investigating it, but our initial findings indicate a fault was introduced during the last full service on the rover, conducted, I might add, by the AsterX maintenance team.”
“That’s horseshit.” Lane Zebos stood. “Show me the evidence.”
“I’m afraid the rover was too badly damaged,” said Evon.
“Hand it over to us then, if you can’t find anything. We’ll get to the bottom of it.” Lane was getting more animated.
“I’m sorry, but this is being viewed as an internal matter for MASS.”
“More horseshit. This is a colony matter, you can’t just keep us out of it.”
“Agreed. The colony will be updated in due course once our investigations are concluded. But it is up to the council whether they share this information with AsterX, especially considering your rights are soon to expire.”
“What are you hiding, Evon? What game are you up to?”
“That’s enough, Mr. Zebos.” The Chair rapped hard with his gavel. “This is not the time nor place to cast irresponsible accusations. You are disrespecting the decorum of this council.”
Lane scowled, sat down, and glanced at Jann.
The Chair continued, “That said, Mr. Zebos does have a point, in that this is a colony issue. The death of a colonist makes it so, but the death of a Pioneer makes it doubly so. This cuts us deeply and as such this unfortunate incident needs to be brought to a satisfactory conclusion. So with that in mind, when will your investigation be completed and a report drawn up?”
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