Stella had winkled out of Carvalho why he was a little downbeat and he was able to share his emotions in a way which he truly appreciated. She astonished him by saying that a lot of things could change in the planned five years to the rather ambitious project. “One of those changes could be that it takes twenty years. You may find Alex 2 and the others are here longer than they expect. We must find ways of absolutely maximising our time with them and that applies to the children too. By the way I found out accidentally today that the one about to arrive is another boy. I overheard one of the staff discussing the scans, nobody’s fault. So we may have another rocket engineer.”
A Martian ‘consortium’ had somehow gained inside information from the geothermal database which pointed them to a region of potential diamond presence. They had asked to be excused their normal duties for a prolonged period to check it out. It was the very first contentious decision facing Hendrick Koole.
Chapter 30
The second boy was given the name of Stella’s father, Rafael, and they decided to move from Marineris Central to accommodation on the outskirts of Echus Chasma. The children would have more space to play and Stella was close to the neurosciences wing. Carvalho was also close to the Symbiants who were now virtually all working with the Axis. The think-tank had also gravitated to this region. All of these considerations were positive factors, but there was one overriding negative which had precipitated the decision. Marineris Central had become unruly, the ‘policing’ was disorganised and naive. Diamond prospecting had been successful and its extraction was controlled exclusively by criminals who had breezed through the corrupt screening department. Koole was secretly threatened into compliance and informed that his demise would follow any defection to Earth.
The tipping point of lawlessness had been reached ridiculously quickly after Koole had approved the consortium’s gap vacation to find the diamonds. No one was surprised, and even Cheverry had admitted the migration should have been suspended until Koole was replaced. This would have to happen but the corruption networks needed to be dismantled first, and an effective law enforcement organisation put in place. It was not going to be easy because any Earth-imposed regime would contravene the Mars charter.
Yamamoto had not disagreed with Evander’s pessimistic prognosis but was able to debate other approaches with him. His new comprehension of fundamental physics had astounded his peers, other than the Symbiants. The other female Axis volunteer, with the translated name Proof Seeker, had shown similar inheritance; her obligatory abbreviation was Rose. Evander was pleased to have meaningful discussion and argument with the two of them. The common denominator in even beginning to contemplate the ‘city ship’ was fabricating a QSD unit big enough to distort the space around it. The existing units needed to be increased from eight metres in diameter to three kilometres, to match the aspirations of the Axis. The blueprint stage of this city ship had passed into detailed schematics. The Axis dismissed any doubts that this could be achieved. The first action was to encourage more technical volunteers for the Pascal 2 code procedure and draft them into the plan as soon as possible. These new intellectuals would oversee the construction of the most sophisticated robots they had ever built. Then the components would be manufactured and the eventual assembly would take place in orbit by the new robots. They could not see what all the fuss was about. They were much more concerned about social breakdown as there had already been incidents of Axis mutilation by unknown means. The suspicions were focussed on humans, after corpse exposure to the amorphous form by Symbiants.
This worrying trend triggered the abandonment of the Utopia Planitia settlement and it effectively polarised the population into only two centres of production. They had been virtually joined up by the habitat development to accommodate the migration increase. Now they were experiencing receding boundaries. The Echus region had seen gravitation of the early human citizens of Mars together with many new arrivals who feared the developing culture in Marineris. The bulk of manufacturing facility was in Echus and this imbalance would become an acute source of tension. The Symbiants had garnered and stored the red crystal in a totally inaccessible place to humans. The Echus society had approved multiple replication procedures of both human and Axis species to have their own ‘indestructible’ protection force. The swing of fear ensured the Marineris inhabitants now felt vulnerable.
While this festering dichotomy reached a phase of stand-off, communication with Earth had resulted in a decision to occupy the Martian domain to re-establish a cleansed government. It became necessary to liberate Marineris by several colony ships, containing detachments of military forces.
This sudden and violent eruption of criminal society had meant that lessons were delivered to both planets. The threat was always there. The Korean situation had certainly ensured Earth had acted promptly and the Martian voters realised the folly of not protecting the meritocracy they had enjoyed.
Cheverry had acted with his usual adroitness and convinced Kinsey to become temporary Governor of Mars until there was clear evidence of restoration of values. His experience in intelligence work was a key facet of his appointment. The Mars Charter was in hibernation and the citizens accepted the rationale for such draconian action. The sorting of wheat from chaff in Marineris resulted in deportation of the latter back to Earth. A tangible relief came at last.
The crisis would have many legacies. One stood out above all others. Several humans asked to join the Axis pilgrimage. It was not so much an unfulfilled pioneering longing, as it was fear of the extremes of their own kind.
The numbers were not significant enough for any redesign consideration and the vetting was thorough. The Symbiants were involved in this and seemed distinctly uncomfortable with the process. When it was complete Fav spoke to the group and recalled the unconditional offer those humans had made, for the caretakers to invite all Axis citizens to live on Mars. He said one of the most important humans was missing. Carvalho received a specific delegation to ask his family to honour them by agreeing to visit their homeland.
He was shaken by this gesture and began protesting that his family came first and that he would not survive the journey at his age, and all manner of other reasons. It was Stella who interrupted him. “You were always the one who said people should look for reasons to accept a challenge or new experience, rather than ones to turn it down. Deep down, you know you would go if we hadn’t met. I knew this sort of thing came with the territory with you Daniel, let’s do it.”
Without speaking he embraced her, and Fav, and Alex 2, and the entire delegation of some twenty-seven individuals.
In a way, this truly overt declaration of affinity by respected members of this particular group filled a void. He hadn’t shown outward signs, but the disappointment at recognising the Martian society would vote him out had gnawed at his gut. He had resigned in order to avoid the public confirmation, but only now did he feel that elusive ‘belonging’ again.
When Kinsey arrived he wasted no time seeking out the Ex-Commander. He wanted to hear his version of why things went wrong so quickly. He also wanted people to know from day one that this was a state of emergency, and not how they could expect to live their lives from now on. Armed with Carvalho’s experience, translated into his own words, he addressed the Marineris group first. “The communities will remain as they are at present until the accord returns. The Echus production facilities will recommence supply to you. The gradual re-occupation of the accommodation which was abandoned will begin when this supply chain has been operating successfully to the satisfaction of all. We want to install these basic necessities and build on that. Don’t underestimate the effort it will take to recover the trust, patience is needed. All antisocial behaviour will be considered as justification for a place on the next shuttle back to Earth. This is simply because we will not have prisons built here to house offenders, and therefore pollute the new resolution to get you back to why you came here in the first instance. As from now
the scavenging of diamonds is not permitted until your new government is elected. It is not anticipated that a single ‘Guardian’ concept will suffice any longer. A group format is encouraged, albeit with a figurehead, the door to corruption must be kept closed by vigilance from more than one person. I know you will recognise that I’ve discussed much of this with Daniel Carvalho. His experience and understanding are invaluable to all of us. It’s hard to imagine such anarchy would have flourished on his watch.”
There was sincere support for this last comment and also the ban on diamond hunting, which many felt had kick-started the fermentation within individuals and cliques, subsequently taking advantage of the compliance of others.
Carvalho saw this address on TV and was more relaxed than at any time since the fateful appointment of Hendrick Koole. It also meant he could continue his family’s intent to leave without remorse. He detected a connection between Cheverry and Kinsey which would see this through in a sympathetic but effective manner.
Chapter 31
It was amazing what had been done in the year since the official Axis declaration of their new journey of hope. Most important to them was the progress on multiple volunteers who had undergone the MDV marker/super stem cell grafts. The hormone treatment had ceased because the reproductive system had responded and production of the hormone was being taken on by the nodes. Those individuals with Pascal 2’s code, in addition to the grafts, had shown even quicker adaptation. The more efficient passage of information and its reinforcing effect with reduced number of mistakes had seen an increase in the size of the male organs. There was some concern on what to do with the burgeoning number of MDVs; they had shown trends in reproductive fertility which when used to extrapolate similar early ones with the Axis, indicated their valuable contribution had been made. This would be discussed at length in the future.
The component manufacture for the city ship had advanced to the point where orbital ‘warehousing’ was being investigated. Yamamoto had actually begun to outstrip Evander in terms of finding solutions to the road blocks, which presented themselves with consistent regularity. They still had to crack the nut of how to construct the giant deformable parabolic Seaborgium Oxy-chloride dish and field generator. They had however, with Symbiant help and Gliese data handling concepts, built a prototype interface which had promise in making Dan redundant.
The social reintegration of humans from Marineris and Echus had gone well and Utopia Planitia was re-occupied to deliver more raw material and synthetic food. Kinsey was a regular visitor to all locations and had begun to encourage thoughts and meetings on how the new governing body would be set up and function. It was made slightly easier than it might have been, as all Axis and Symbiant citizens would be leaving, but their rights needed protection until then.
Among the humans who had signed up to go with the city ship were Nielsen, Sevicek and of course Yamamoto. It had occurred to Nielsen in particular, that even with a journey not afflicted with QSD dropout it would take over forty years to reach Nexus. They may not survive. This was not a new discovery but his thoughts were influenced by the majority of Axis who had already undergone Pascal 2 code installation. If he was to consider this procedure it would be better done now rather than during spatial distortion unpredictability. Yamamoto wondered why it took them so long to think about this. “The brain has become the most common human organ of failure which leads to quick death, since almost all others have a successful history of transplantation or replacement with synthetic types. Pascal 2’s code is the gateway to extended life for us. The hybrid Symbiant/Human architecture gives not only corrective benefits but that of longevity. For those who worry about procreation the evidence has already predicted that our DNA, and the characteristics of the code, will eventually be copied in organic and inorganic form with some workable ratio of each. What is there to think about?”
Nielsen bounced this confident Yamamoto précis off Stella and Carvalho. She did not argue with the general principles and admired Yamamoto’s uninhibited decision to do this. “It has to be left to everyone to reconcile their fear of death with that of ‘not being completely human’. I tend to agree with Kipchoge that many of us have something which could be classified as non-human, whether it is a brain or IVF treatment. Actually, I’ve been meaning to discuss this with everyone who has signed up for the trip; I just didn’t know how to approach the subject.”
Evander and his family would return to Earth when the city ship had left. He wanted to confront those authoritarian views which declared his ideas as unlikely outcomes for the equations which he employed.
The model of the city ship was on display in the Echus library. It looked quite ugly and unimpressive from the outside as it failed to capture the scale. The interior however, more than compensated; it was a masterpiece of planning. It really was a large village in terms of size and facilities. There was a central village green area with plants and seating around a small lake. Provision had been made for a miniature version of the library the model was standing in. Although food replication technology was basic, it was decided to make the consumption areas communal to make it a more social activity. Physical activity was encouraged by peripheral ‘grassed’ areas with a variety of machines, which all had an entertainment aspect, again to keep social contact as a high priority. The street lighting had the usual Axis subtlety and delineated night from day on an arbitrary basis. Waste management was an engineering and chemical plant of ingenious design. The accommodation was very comfortable yet functional and it was generous in terms of space. Life support was based on the original design with which the Axis had first reached the solar system but with many refinements to accommodate human need for higher oxygen levels. Recycling was a key component of all this. Carbon dioxide would have to be extracted and channelled to a reaction chamber with waste. Purpose designed nanoprobes were targeted to catalyse multiple stage reactions to recover the liquid purity and yield to an overall 98%. The required extraction of this water came first, followed by closed chamber vaporisation of the solids through an ionisation splitter. Gaseous absorption vessels pulled the correct ratio of constituent atoms to the electrolytic molecular condensers, again driven by nanoprobes. The Gliese data control principles fed the products in the desired proportions to the life support regulators. This recycling of waste and respiratory exhaust was tested out in the laboratory, and success exceeded expectation; this allowed the planned reserves of solidified water and oxygen to be stored at acceptable levels without excessive space requirement.
The progress at the other Axis outposts was also impressive but it had been agreed that the Martian city ship would be first to launch and report progress coordinates to trigger Gliese then Epsilon Eridani exodus.
Meanwhile the structure of the Martian government was beginning to take shape. A council of elected representatives would themselves elect a leader and a new constitutional document would be forged, not to replace the charter, rather to extend its intention and strengthen the laws to avoid any such circumvention which caused the eventual recent anarchy. The very first item was to address the need for infrastructure, including law enforcement, to be in place ahead of new immigration. Until that was the case the current block on further colonists would stand. This would work for a while as the resourcing of the Axis projects had disappeared from the list.
Cheverry was continually questioned about what would happen to trade agreements with Mars when the Axis and Symbiants were gone. They made the point over and over again that the Council for Human Exploration had initially and continually been bankrolled by the major nations’ contribution. Despite assurances that the infrastructure would remain, and it more than outweighed the other contributions in value, there was unease. The dominant nations felt there would be far lower output and efficiency from the facilities without the Symbiants in particular. Cheverry knew this was bound to re-ignite the subject of red crystal, especially the destiny of the stock from the dome demolition. It was a s
ensitive subject and he needed to speak to Kinsey and Alex 2.
Evander and Yamamoto were in a circular maze about the QSD unit. The Axis had committed to building the entire system on the massive flat, smooth base at Echus Chasma cliff face, if that was necessary. Their only comment was that it would be very difficult to get it into orbit already assembled. They had developed a better way of getting the Seaborgium Oxy-chloride layer as thin and accurate as required. By asking the Symbiants to use a passive diluent to disperse the radioactive material, and casting it as a self-levelling compound on to a laminate of the original plastic base, it gave better control. The second constituent of the laminate was underneath the plastic carrier and was composed of variable but controllable conductivity cells. The alternation of resistance in these cells created an effect similar to electrophoresis. The difference was the additional repulsion of the diluent. The net effect was a very consistent and accurate cleavage of the two materials. The added benefits compared to the initial deposition method were that the layer could be thinner, thus saving Seaborgium Oxy-chloride consumption – there was a finite supply on Mars. Secondly the thinner and more accurate deposition should avoid the need to mess around with frequency modulation to achieve stability on the long journey.
The deformability conundrum was raised again, this time by Rose. Her approach was somewhat different to the others. She was drawing on pragmatism rather than an elegant breakthrough in physics. “We know the eight metre units work. We believe we can extend this to circa fifty metres before we anticipate difficulties. I suggest we consider building interlocking pentagonal units on shafts with controlled extension, retraction and angular modes - to produce the deformed templates. If we make them thirty metres in diameter we need ten thousand. The new deposition method gives us advantages in accuracy and we should not compromise that if we can help it. Furthermore it will solve the problem of hoisting a three kilometre unit into orbit. The assembly will be less risky with smaller units. Our Axis precision will make such an operation feasible. What do you think?”