Scout asked, “How do I know I can trust you? You chased us millions of kilometers across the void of space to wage a war. Why would you want to call a truce?”
General Rich responded, “I can’t win this war. I’m losing a thousand men for every one you lose. I’m spending way too much time and money pursuing you. I could fight this war for a million years and lose.”
Scout smelled bullshit. He needed to call Rich on it, so he thought for a moment.
Scout replied, “Won’t your cohorts at DeNoPE have to approve your decision?”
Rich said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
The smell of bullshit was getting stronger by the second. Rich knew exactly what he was talking about.
Scout said, “Don’t play stupid with me. We’ve known about DeNoPE for a while now. The only thing we don’t know for sure is the membership.”
Rich said, “I can neither confirm nor deny the existence of any such group.”
A typical politician, Rich never tipped his hand. Even in defeat, he was noncommittal.
Scout said, “Let me confer with my people and I’ll get back to you. Call me back in one hour.”
Rich said, “Will do.”
Scout said, “That’s your first test of trustworthiness.”
Scout ended the call and got the smell of bullshit out of his nose. He also tried to ignore Jordan’s stare. Jordan angrily stared at Scout because he knew that Rich was a monumental liar.
Jordan snarled, “What the hell makes you think that you can trust that asshole? Don’t you remember all the shit he’s put us through? And what’s this bullshit about not knowing what DeNoPE is?”
Scout replied, “I don’t trust him. I know he’s lying about everything. I need to confer with the group before I demand his unconditional surrender.”
Jordan said, “I hope you really mean that. This guy will stab you in the back just for turning around.”
Scout replied, “I’m aware.”
Scout and Jordan continued their journey to Freedom’s spaceport in silence. Jordan was stewing that Scout was even considering a cease-fire, and Scout didn’t want to give Jordan an excuse to explode. Jordan could occasionally fly off the handle when he got angry.
When they arrived, Scout told the group about General Rich’s offer of a cease-fire. The group was torn about what to do.
Scout said, “I don’t trust the General, but I want this war to be over so we can move on with our colony.”
Jordan said, “I know that this asshole can’t be trusted. I’ve worked for him; he’s a horse’s ass.”
Jordan was still hot, and he bounced around the room like a pinball. The rest of the group could tell he was angry, but they were used to his outbursts.
Kathy said, “But any chance to end the war is worth pursuing.”
Jordan threw his hands into the air and let them fall wildly. He was obviously not going to calm down.
Jordan snapped, “Not if the end of the war isn’t really the end. He’ll sucker punch us and destroy any chance for our survival.”
Notah said, “I think we should at least hear what he has to say.”
Jordan said, “I think you’re working for him, you piss ant.”
Notah flinched, but Jordan wasn’t threatening him. Notah was conditioned to react to Jordan by taking a defensive posture.
Scout snapped, “Jordan, we’ve been over this. Notah proved his loyalty to us.”
Jordan said, “I’m sorry, Scout. I’m just a little on edge right now. I don’t know what his game is, but the General’s jacking with us.”
Becky said, “I think we should try to stop the bloodshed. I’m tired of killing people.”
Jordan said, “We’re all tired of killing, but we might all be killed if we trust General Rich. He’s pure evil.”
Scout said, “He offered a cease fire. I’ll counter with asking for his surrender.”
Kathy said, “What if that makes him angrier? He might escalate the fighting.”
Jordan said, “If that’s what happens, then he would’ve double crossed us anyway.”
Scout said, “I’m the leader, so I’ll present our demand to General Rich when he returns my call.”
Kathy asked, “Why don’t you call him?”
Scout answered, “He blocked his number when he called me earlier.”
Lane asked, “So how does that make you think you can trust this asshole?”
Jordan said, “It’s just more proof we can’t.”
Scout said, “We should get ready for the mission in case we need to keep fighting.”
Lane said, “Of course we will. This jerk off can’t be trusted.”
The group loaded their weapons and prepared their ships for the next battle. As the group finished their work, Scout’s phone rang again. Once again, the number was blocked.
Jordan grabbed the phone from Scout and answered, “Unblock your number, you asshole. Stop being a coward and fight this war like a real man.”
Jordan ended the call and threw the phone at Scout. Scout caught it and reprimanded Jordan. Moments later, the phone rang again and the number was displayed.
Scout answered, “General Rich, I’ve conferred with my colleagues. We demand your unconditional surrender.”
General Rich said, “I’ll surrender once we negotiate the terms of a treaty.”
Scout said, “Withdraw all your troops from the surface and pull back your ships. Then we might have a starting place to negotiate.”
Jordan shouted at Scout, “You’re actually going to trust this horse’s ass! You can’t trust him.”
Lane added, “Don’t do it! He’s going to double cross you and kill us all.”
General Rich said, “I’ve given the order. My men should be clear of the planet in a few hours. I know you don’t trust me, but I can’t go on with this war. It’s just too bloody and too costly.”
Jordan sent a reconnaissance team to verify that General Rich pulled his forces from Mars. They sent him reports every ten minutes.
General Rich’s forces started to leave the planet. The ships in orbit waited for ground troops, and left orbit once the troops boarded. All the ships moved to a position far from Mars to await farther orders.
General Rich called Scout again once his forces withdrew from Mars. He knew he had to convince Scout to trust him. He would lose too many more people if this war didn’t end soon.
Scout answered, “Hello, General. I see your forces have been withdrawn.”
Rich responded, “I want to show you I’m serious about ending this conflict.”
Scout asked, “So does that mean that I have your white flag?”
Rich said, “What the hell does that mean?”
Scout answered, “In old times, when one wanted to surrender, they would raise a white flag.”
Rich said, “In that case, yes, you do have my white flag. I surrender. You win.”
Scout said, “I’ll order a cease fire so we can negotiate a treaty. If you’re lying, though, expect a quick and merciless attack.”
Rich replied, “You can bring a small armed contingent when you come. My people won’t be armed.”
Scout thought, “Yeah, right, you piece of shit. I know you’re a liar.”
He said, “I’ll do that.”
Rich said, “The negotiations will be quick. You‘re probably going to get everything you ask for. This war is very unpopular. The corporations of Earth and the public want a quick resolution.”
Scout said, “You mean that the corporate backers and DeNoPE want a quick resolution.”
Rich said, “That’s also true.”
Scout asked, “I thought you could neither confirm nor deny the existence of DeNoPE?”
Rich answered, “I’ve given up the façade. I told you, I’m giving up.”
Scout said, “When do you want to meet to negotiate the treaty?”
Rich said, “As soon as possible. Where do you want to meet?”
Scout r
eplied, “I don’t want a meeting on Mars. That would allow you and your men in my territory again. I also don’t want to go to Earth. That would allow you to betray me and have me arrested.”
Rich asked, “So where do you want to meet?”
Scout replied, “On your lunar base. The moon is still neutral, so neither one of us can betray the other there.”
Rich said, “Okay, when do you want it?”
Scout answered, “When the orbits of Earth and Mars are closest. That’s right about now. I intend to take an entourage and have an armed escort to ensure my safety.”
Rich said, “I’ll also have a small, unarmed entourage. I’ll see you on the moon.”
Scout said, “Don’t think we won’t make sure they’re unarmed.”
Rich said, “I fully expect you to.”
Scout hung up the phone and tried not to notice Jordan’s intense glare. He was clearly upset with Scout’s decision.
Jordan shouted, “I can’t believe you’re going into his territory to negotiate. We should stay here. It would be a position of strength.”
As Jordan yelled at Scout, his arms were flailing in the air. He was speaking passionately about his distrust for his former boss.
Scout said, “I don’t think so. We don’t want to invite them back into our area. We’ll be safe.”
Scout tried to ignore Jordan’s continued exaggerated motions. He looked like a caricature, and it was becoming hard for Scout not to laugh.
Jordan said, “If I die on this mission, I’ll never speak to you again.”
Scout replied, “Well, obviously!”
Jordan said, “We’d better survive this ‘negotiation.’”
Scout said, “We will.”
Jordan said, “I certainly hope so.”
Chapter Forty-Seven
Negotiations
Scout was joined by Kathy, Jordan, Becky, Lane and Notah on his side of the negotiating table. General Rich was joined by the Operative and several dignitaries from DeNoPE. The President of North America, The King of Latin America, The Prime Minister of The United Kingdom, The Premier of The European Union, The President of Australia, and the Premier of the Asian Assembly were on Rich’s side of the table. Scout looked across the table and noticed that The Operative looked very familiar. He couldn’t figure out why.
General Rich stood at the podium on his side of the table. Both sides of the table had a podium at the center position.
Rich said, “We’re here to negotiate a peaceful resolution to our conflict. There’s been entirely too much bloodshed.”
People were murmuring, “And massively expensive to continue.”
Rich replied, “Yes, the war is costing a fortune.”
The Martian side of the table glanced at each other. They didn’t expect to hear anything true at this meeting.
Rich continued, “We’ve both lost too many people. We need to resolve this conflict before we lose anyone else.”
Scout stood and said, “We could’ve started here instead of waging a bloody war. Everyone has differences, but a rational person doesn’t kill people for disagreeing with them.”
Rich said, “Or your group could’ve tried to form your colony legally.”
Jordan said, “I know as well as you do that our colony would’ve never been allowed to form. Don’t forget that I know you better than anyone.”
Rich replied, “There’s nothing stopping anyone from starting a colony on another planet.”
Jordan said, “Except that the corporations are still in charge. They have to sign off on it. We both know that’ll never happen.”
Rich said, “How do you know? You didn’t even try.”
Jordan answered, “Because you’re in charge. Everyone knows you’re the chair of DeNoPE.”
The President of North America replied, “He has no authority to accept or deny any application for anything. I don’t even know what DeNoPE is.”
Jordan said, “Bullshit! I know you know about the Developed Nations of Planet Earth conglomeration. He’s the driving force behind the entire bureaucracy. Everyone knows he’s the chair of DeNoPE. The secret’s been out for a while. Even if we didn’t know about it, the present company would be a dead giveaway. Corporations come to him before they even bother with you. That’s one of the reasons your government’s so corrupt.”
The President of North America said, “I’m not corrupt. I think my record shows that.”
Jordan stood and pointed at the president. He was about to explode again.
Jordan snapped, “Don’t give me your political rhetoric! You know as well as I do that you have no power. All the power rests with corporations and the military.”
Scout added, “That’s why they call it the military-industrial complex.”
Rich stood again and said, “I’m not corrupt, either.”
Lane stood and screamed, “Liar! You are the most corrupt person in the history of Earth.”
Lane wasn’t quite as flippant as Jordan when he got angry, but he wasn’t calm, either.
Rich asked, “Are we going to stand here and throw mud at each other, or do you want to resolve the conflict?”
Rich was having a hard time staying calm. He wasn’t used to approaching negotiations from a position of weakness. If he reacted in the usual way, he’d have no chance to gain the Martians’ trust.
Scout responded, “You must understand that we don’t trust you.”
A wave of frustration fell on General Rich. He pulled his hands down his face in an attempt to calm himself.
Rich said, “No one at this table trusts anyone from the other side. That’s why we went to war in the first place. But now we’re willing to find a diplomatic resolution.”
Scout asked, “So are you ready to hear our conditions for a treaty?”
Rich answered, “We’re ready.”
Kathy, the best diplomat in the group, was elected to put forward the group’s conditions. She trembled as she walked toward the podium.
She said, “We’ll agree to a treaty with the governments of Earth only if they accept our conditions. The first condition is that we may still trade with Earth. Although we don’t use money, we can still trade in a barter system.”
Rich said, “So you’re saying you want to trade products with the very companies you fought so hard to escape.”
Scout replied, “We still need some things that only exist on Earth. We’ll need to extend our fresh water supply as our population grows. We’ll need some raw materials that don’t exist on Mars, and we’ll have certain wants that we can’t meet on our own.”
Kathy added, “The water in particular could be mutually beneficial to both of us. Earth has a serious problem with global warming. The oceans have already risen three centimeters over the last century, and it’s only going to get worse. We need more water on Mars, and you can get rid of some of your excess.”
Rich said, “But it’ll cost money to transport all the excess water from Earth to Mars.”
Kathy said, “That’s the very reason we gave up money. There’s so much society can do once their freed from the shackles of currency.”
Rich said, “Still, it’s odd that you want to be independent from Earth while still relying on it.”
Scout said, “Any new society needs help in the beginning. It takes a while to become completely self-sufficient.”
Jordan added, “While we’re on the subject of trade, I wanted to ask about future technologies.”
Rich asked, “What about them?”
Jordan said, “I think it’d be mutually beneficial if future innovations were shared between worlds.”
Rich said, “I don’t see that happening.”
Jordan said, “Don’t be so hasty. I propose to have an agreement that every new technology created by The Martian Republic gets sent to your patent office for review. In return, you would do the same.”
Rich asked, “So, we’d be sharing patents, and either of us would be free to reproduce that patent?
”
Jordan said, “I thought I’d get your attention. Every time your patent office, or any DeNoPE member’s patent office gets a new patent, you send us either a prototype or a patent filing. We, in turn, would do the same. That way we’d both stay current with all technologies.”
Rich said, “And neither of us would have a tactical advantage. There would be no secrets between us.”
Jordan said, “That’s an added bonus.”
Rich said, “We’ll have to confer for a moment about this one. We didn’t expect this.”
Everyone on Rich’s side of the table got up and left the room. They went to an adjacent room to discuss the first term. There was a great deal of distrust among the people in the room, but they finally came to a decision about forty minutes later.
Rich stood at the podium and said, “We decided to accept your first set of terms. The patent sharing will be particularly useful. However, trade will be determined on a case-by-case basis. We’ll go over the particulars of your terms at a later stage of the negotiations.”
Jordan said, “The first thing we’re going to want to know is how you made those shields on your resupply ship.”
Rich said, “Your pilot already figured it out. You can only disable them if you understand how they work.”
Jordan said, “But we’re going to want the plans and a prototype to really understand the technology.”
Rich said, “You shall have it.”
Kathy returned to her podium and said, “Our next demand is that Mars’ space begins at the midpoint of the journey from Earth to Mars. It will end in the center of the asteroid belt and include both Deimos and Phobos.”
Rich said, “Accepted. Our maps already had a very similar set of borders.”
Kathy said, “Well, that was easier than I expected. So the next thing we want is that other planets belong to no one. Anyone may begin a colony on another planet without interference from either one of us.”
Rich said, “We can agree to that so long as we can colonize another planet and assist the colonists.”
Kathy said, “Only if either of us may assist other colonies.”
The King of Latin America asked, “So these colonies may be controlled by entities from Earth?”
Scout replied, “These new colonies may form a small empire. However, no one should hold more than five colonies at any time.”
MARS: Baroque Revolution Page 23