“Anyone could say that,” Ewa answered out loud. Her words sounded muffled in the cramped tent.
‘Do you remember the operation you had during your training?’ the pen in her hand asked.
Ewa, you’re crazy, she warned herself. Stop talking to yourself. But why should she? She thought about what she still had to face. The MfE initiative had banished her. She couldn’t go back there, and she wouldn’t see another human face as long as she lived. How long could she make it without someone to talk to? She might be introverted and content to be on her own—but loneliness would bother her as well. Wasn’t it preferable to at least talk to herself some?
The operation, she thought. Yes, she recalled what had happened. They had wanted to check on the implant that she had been using for a long time to prevent epileptic seizures. It had been doing a good job. Before their launch, the clinic had wanted to examine it one last time. Had something unexpected happened during that operation?
‘You haven’t been alone since then,’ her pen wrote in her journal.
“What do you mean?” she asked.
‘Your implant isn’t what you think it is, not anymore. At that time, they installed an advanced BCI, a Brain-Computer Interface, in your brain.’
“Don’t be ridiculous,” she said. “It was a routine checkup.”
‘Who conducted it?’
Ewa couldn’t recall. After breakfast, they had given her a strong sedative. “A doctor?” she asked.
‘No, a robotic surgeon.’
Of course! Now she remembered. The implant was situated at the center of her brain. The doctor had entered the data into a robot. She could still see the doctor’s face behind the pane of glass, his outstretched thumbs doing the programming.
“That’s standard practice for brain surgeries,” she said. “Completely normal. Don’t feed me any of that nonsense.”
‘The robot did more than the doctor had programmed it to do. It installed the BCI. And me.’
Ewa read the lines and felt her anxiety increase. She would try to give herself the slip if she could. The monologues hadn’t been such a good idea after all. The conversation was starting to frighten her.
“You are me, and I am you. And I’m done with this pointless conversation. I shouldn’t have listened to you to begin with,” Ewa declared.
She snapped the book shut and clipped the pen back onto it. She waited unwillingly for her fingers to start defending themselves, like her legs had done when she had wanted to head south yesterday. But nothing happened. She was in complete possession of her faculties. She was in control.
“I rest my case,” she said aloud.
There wasn’t another living creature for a hundred kilometers around, but she suddenly felt exposed, lying naked here on her back. She tried flipping over on her side and curling up in a fetal position, but the pain in her shoulder was too great. She reached into her backpack and wrapped her fingers around a towel that she pulled out and used as a makeshift cover.
5/25/2042, Spaceliner 1
Terran Carter was printed in simple script on the label affixed to the door of the neighboring cabin. Was Arial responsible for that? He belonged to the company’s upper admin. He never spent money on non-essential purchases, and if even something so trivial as a font could be used free of charge, then the marketing department wasn’t allowed to spend money on special ones. Rick ran his finger across the sign. It was paper, and the name had been printed by a cheap inkjet printer. Some intern must have produced this sign.
He didn’t recognize the name of the cabin’s resident. Terran, a resident of Terra. That fit brilliantly with this journey, at the end of which they would all become citizens of Mars. They had trained in teams of ten, so that no one except the supervisors knew the names of all the passengers.
Where was Terran right now? Was he in his cabin? Probably not. Most of them were floating in front of the view windows in the common room, where they couldn’t get enough of the sight of Earth. Rick had spent a few minutes there, too. He had needed confirmation that he had actually made it this far. The launch had been awe-inspiring—that feeling of soaring upward into endless space, and that final sense of all weight dropping away. However, he was very visual. He had needed to see Earth 400 kilometers beneath him.
Last night he had dreamed about Robert. In his dream, he saw his rival sitting in an electric chair. His ten children were gathered around him, weeping bitterly for their father. Rick had only peered briefly through the execution chamber’s keyhole, but the children had caught sight of him, causing them to point at him and scream all the louder. The adult viewers, including the President of the United States, had simply ignored the children’s shouts.
Rick laughed. How ridiculous. He pushed against Terran’s door and it opened. He really shouldn’t have been surprised by this since his own door didn’t lock, but he was still a little startled. This was probably due to the fact that there didn’t seem to be any obstacles to his plan. He looked around. After making sure no one else was in the corridor, he quickly slipped into the cabin. It looked just like his, albeit very messy. They had only just launched, and Terran’s quarters already looked like... He couldn’t come up with a comparison. What did people say? It looked like... whatever. He flicked a hand and waved the thought away.
He floated over to the back wall and examined the photos Terran had taped up there. He saw a young, black family with two sweet children; an older couple standing stiffly, hand in hand, next to an ugly fountain; a dog that looked like a dachshund-spitz mix; and a really fancy vintage car, probably a Tesla roadster. The older couple might be Terran’s parents, while the family belonged to his sister or brother, and the dog had probably once been Terran’s.
Rick tried to imagine the man himself. He was likely in his mid-20s and a graduate from an elite college. He might have purchased the roadster as a reward for finishing his degree. He must have had the dog since childhood, and it was now living with his parents. His siblings were five to eight years older than he was.
Case closed. He now knew everything about Terran and no longer needed to chat with him. But that wasn’t enough. If Rick didn’t want to be the low man on the totem pole, he would need information. He had learned that throughout his career. He reached into his pocket and pulled out something that glinted. It was about the size of a coin, though a little thicker. He had managed to bring twenty of these useful devices on board. They would record what was said in their vicinity. Each of them contained a transmitter that he could activate from a distance of two or three meters, enabling the transfer of the data to his own tablet. A more extended range would have been noticeable. And the battery wouldn’t have lasted as long either.
Rick scanned the room. Where could he hide this? He should have prepared himself more ahead of time. Terran was bound to return to his cabin soon. He feverishly considered his options. He would make a lousy spy. But then he discovered the chest under Terran’s bed. When he pulled it out, he realized that it was filled with clothing. Rick tore off a piece of tape from the roll he had brought along and pressed it onto the device. He knelt beside the bed and reached as far back under it as possible. He then fastened the listening chip to the underside of the bed frame.
Done. He pushed the chest back under the bed and stood up. Had he left any traces behind? He didn’t see anything. He floated back to the door and pushed it open. Damn it. A woman was coming down the hallway. He had to act like normal. He hadn’t done anything, was just dropping by his neighbor’s cabin for a chat. The woman, who looked like she was of Asian descent, nodded cheerfully at him. It was true that they were all friends here on board.
He smiled at her and even squeezed out, “How are you doing?”
She either realized that he didn’t really expect an answer or she hadn’t heard him. Either way, she swam on through the weightlessness.
“The meeting is about to start,” a female voice announced through the loudspeakers.
Rick had almost nodded off
. He had imagined the first day on the ship would be more stressful. Apparently, he wasn’t really needed anywhere at this point, but that was probably to be expected as long as the company still had eyes on them. Since a large engineering team was responsible for the ship, the two men on board wouldn’t be needed for a while. But that would change once they left orbit.
Rick got up from his bed and left his cabin. They were meeting in the common room. Apparently all forty crew members had shown up. Which of them might be Terran Carter? He counted five black men, a surprisingly small number. The selection of the crew had obviously not been driven by diversity quotas. One of those five men had to be Terran. He studied one after the other and finally settled on the man on the right edge of the group. He looked like a nice young man from here, just the kind of person who would drive a vintage roadster and hang up photos of his parents, siblings, and dog. He couldn’t make out the name tag on the guy’s suit from this distance, so he would need to take care to say hello to him after the meeting.
A man in a business suit was speaking into a microphone. “I’m pleased you are all here.” He had floated above the others.
If that isn’t a symbolic gesture, I’m not sure what is, Rick thought. Although the suit was clearly custom made, it looked odd. That must have had something to do with the weightlessness. As the CEO, it would have been better to opt for an athletic suit up here in space. His advisors should have told him that.
“I’m sorry to disappoint all of you, but I’m not coming with you to Mars,” the man continued.
“Booooo,” the crowd replied.
“But I can promise you one thing, I will come and visit you.”
“Ahhhhh,” shouted the crowd.
“In about four years,” the man explained, “when the first human city on another planet is ready.”
“Ahhhhh.”
“In the meantime, I will do everything humanly possible to provide you pioneers with the best support imaginable. Every six months, a ship just like this one will be launched. By the time I get there, our small city will already have over two hundred residents—and that doesn’t even include all of those that will be conceived and born on the Red Planet.”
“Ahhhhh.”
“Speaking of new citizens and babies, I have the special honor of announcing a new program today, an initiative that is the brainchild of my own wife. Unfortunately, she couldn’t be with us today because the doctors advised her against a trip into space. She is pregnant, which is why I will be staying with her, of course.”
“Ohhhhh.”
This was news. The head man himself was going to be a father!
“We would like to guarantee that the first new citizen, the first person to be born away from Earth, has a remarkable life. When either he or she reaches majority age, that person will receive ten million dollars from our personal wealth.”
“Yeeeaaaa!” the crowd shouted.
“And in the years leading up to that, we will support the parents with a monthly subsidy of $15,000 for the care of their child. Naturally this offer is open to parents of any gender. I simply ask that you read the fine print for the full details on this program. Each of you will receive a brochure outlining the particulars.”
“When can we start?” called a man with an Irish accent.
“Well, the ship will be in transit for about six and a half months. As far as I’m concerned, you can start right away. But you should probably wait until you get back to your cabins.”
Loud laughter from the crowd.
“Besides that, I expect that all of you will be ready at four AM to depart. The ship has already been fueled, and all we’re waiting on is a few final diagnostic checks. And then you—sadly, without me—will fire the engines and leave Earth orbit and head for Mars. I wish you all a good flight—and a perfect new beginning in the first Mars City.”
The crowd applauded. Rick joined them, but his hands didn’t make any sound. The boss had just announced a fantastic PR stunt, but Rick didn’t stand one chance in a million. During their training, two or three couples had formed, and they were going to get started right away.
A woman in a blue uniform now spoke up. “As the boss already said, we’ll be departing at four o’clock. I would like to now welcome our special guests, our first ten passengers.”
The woman gestured at a few people in the front row. The passengers had booked their passage like the immigrants had once done on the great steamers of the past. Rick had heard that a single ticket had cost five million dollars. The official price had never been revealed.
“Please treat them as what they are—our guests. They will also be working around the ship as volunteers, depending on their skill sets, but they will report directly to me as Commander.”
Ah, so this was the commander. She gave the impression of being competent enough, but she didn’t seem all that awe-inspiring. Was this an optimal precondition for such a long journey?
“And with that, I release you for what’s left of the day. Those who have work to do know who you are, and the rest of you can enjoy your time off, even if you haven’t reached your minimum number of hours.”
The crowd clapped, but not as loudly as before. Rick turned around and searched the room for the young black man. He didn’t see him, but caught sight of a different man heading his way. He was about 1.9 meters tall with broad shoulders. He had the nose of a boxer and the hands of a builder. The tag on his uniform read, ‘Carter, Terran.’
The man was coming straight at him. He stopped right in front of him, gazing at Rick’s tag. Had he picked up on something?
“Hi, Rick,” he said affably. “How are things going?”
“Good, and you?”
“Very well. Maggie told me that you wanted to see me?”
“Yes. We’re neighbors, and I thought we should get to know each other.”
“That’s a great idea,” Terran said. “I had met up with a few colleagues before the meeting, which was why I wasn’t there. What’s your job up here?”
“I’m a propulsion system engineer,” Rick replied.
The man jokingly punched him in the side. That was going to leave a bruise.
“No kidding! Me, too. That makes us coworkers. Here’s to a happy collaboration!” Terran held out his large hand.
Rick felt a flash of concern. The man could undoubtedly crush his hand. But he had to be polite. He took Terran’s hand and shook it. “To happy collaboration!” he said, gritting his teeth against an involuntary reaction.
Sol 66, Mars surface
Great. A steep, several-hundred-meter ravine fell away in front of her. Ewa had reached the edge of a canyon. The northern plains were mostly flat. So why had she run into such a chasm out here? She stood at the edge of the cliff. A few rocks freed themselves and slowly tumbled downward. She waited for the typical noise, but nothing happened. She remembered then that the atmosphere was too thin for that.
Ewa estimated the distance to the bottom, maybe four hundred meters. Compared to the southern rift system, which was several thousand kilometers deep, this one was child’s play. But she was alone, and her strength was waning. Besides, her spacesuit wasn’t made for climbing expeditions. Should she try to detour around the obstacle? She looked around. The canyon ran in both directions, all the way to the horizon. Best case scenario, a detour would add one day to her journey, a day she didn’t actually have. She would have to cross it.
What was that on the floor of the valley? What looked like fog was spreading across it. She had never seen fog on Mars. It must be some kind of carbon dioxide fog, since it was much too cold for fog formed from water droplets. Would this potentially impact her climb? No. The fog wasn’t thick enough to cause her to lose her orientation down there. She examined the walls of the cliff. The incline was too steep at this point, but she might be able to make it down at the spot to her right, about half a kilometer away. It would only be a few hundred meters, and the gravity on Mars was kinder to her than that on Earth.
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She set off. If only Theo were here! Of all the MfE crew members, she missed him the most. If Theo were with her, she wouldn’t lose any time climbing down. He exuded confidence and safety. That was just what she needed right now. She had to admit that even the few hundred meters frightened her. The view from up here into the valley resembled the perspective from the top of one of those mega skyscrapers, looking down to the ground. She had once hiked to the base of the Grand Canyon, but there had been trails there. She was the first—and probably also the last—person who would be here, at least for a long time.
Ewa reached the access point she had seen before. It looked as if this had once been the bed of a stream that had flowed into the valley. The ground beneath her feet was loose and gravelly. The cut had to be ancient. Although erosion on Mars was a much slower process than on Earth, the walls were no longer as steep as they had been at the time of the canyon’s creation, when Mars had been more active.
Ewa turned so that her left side faced the valley. She would attempt the descent in a protracted, serpentine manner. After half an hour, she turned around a hundred and eighty degrees. This was working well. One of her feet occasionally slipped, but she was always able to steady herself again. She kept her eyes pointing upward at the top of the wall to keep from feeling dizzy because of the height. She soon reached the halfway point.
When she came across a stone the perfect height for sitting, she took a break. The remaining distance to the canyon floor no longer bothered her so much. The fog had vanished, much to her disappointment. She would have liked to observe the phenomenon up close. Ewa checked the time and her step counter. The descent into—and the climb out of—the ravine would cost her a half day’s walk. She couldn’t afford that, but what else could she do? If only she had a vehicle! The descent was no longer as steep as it had been. Was there any way she could construct a sled? She needed a metal plate that could hold her.
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