After the meal, they made themselves comfortable on a couch and two armchairs. Ellen and Mike sat down next to each other. Rick wasn’t surprised. He offered cigarettes and Cuban cigars, but the two visitors declined them. The Senator excused himself, saying that he needed to check on his aunt. Rick was just fine with that. The man had fulfilled his purpose.
“Thank you very much for the friendly reception,” he said as an opener to their important conversation. Ellen and Mike watched him attentively. Rick was happy since they seemed to know how meaningful this conversation was for all of them.
“Since you,” he nodded in Mike’s direction, “reached Mars 170 days before we did, we plan to honor the new chronology that you have started. As far as I know, you have now reached Sol 170. We will adopt this calendar as well. I hope that you interpret this gesture as indicative of the fact that as newcomers we wish to constructively contribute to the shaping of humanity’s future on Mars.”
Rick mentally patted himself on the back for putting this so well. He had drafted his first sentences several days ago, and had practiced them over and over again.
“With that in mind, please don’t misunderstand the offer that I would like to make to you now. I am absolutely clear on what all you have achieved here, in part through the use of our resources. Considering the equipment and provisions that our two ships have on board, as well as the sheer number of expedition members that we have, it would be completely inefficient for you to continue your efforts with your limited resources.
“This is why I would like to invite you to become part of Mars City. You wouldn’t need to leave your bases to do that. Diversification is always smart. You could continue to maintain your internal structures, but you’d be outposts of a large, strong society. And I would promote the two of you as my representatives.”
Ellen and Mike looked at each other, their eyes reflecting skepticism. Ellen’s expression contained borderline disgust. However, they didn’t say anything, which was a good sign for Rick. He hadn’t expected them to agree at the mere introduction of the dangled carrot.
“Consider the numerous machines and instruments located in the bellies of our two ships. These would undoubtedly improve the lives of your crews,” Rick said. “But also give some thought to what could happen if the two of you refuse to cooperate. This planet’s resources aren’t limitless. I would be forced to declare you and your crews as our enemies, effective immediately. You could never expect any assistance from us, and we would lay claim to the resources that Mars does have to offer as a precautionary measure for the future. How many of you are there? Twenty, divided between two locations? What do you really think your chances would be against us, realistically speaking?”
Rick leaned back into his chair. The stick was now lying on the table, too, as was appropriate. He didn’t think much of unspoken threats.
Ellen and Mike still didn’t say anything. It was tranquil in the room except for the buzz of the life support system.
“We will first need to discuss this offer at our bases,” Ellen finally said, and Mike nodded in agreement.
That was precisely what Rick had expected. People were so easy to manipulate. Only one final thing was missing to convey the necessary pressure to his offer.
“While I couldn't understand your rejection of my offer because it would be inefficient, I might be able to see where you were coming from. Some people are afraid of change. However, if I don’t receive affirmative responses from you within the week, I will have to insist on the immediate return of the two stolen pieces of equipment. In this eventuality, I would also demand that you hand over the thief, a certain Ewa Kowalska, so that she could receive a fair trial here.”
Mike swallowed.
Bullseye, Rick thought.
“I won’t make it back to the base in less than a week,” Mike said.
“I hadn’t considered that. Beg your pardon,” Rick said softly. “I’ll extend the deadline to two weeks, but not one day longer!”
Sol 184, NASA base
On one point, the MfE and NASA astronauts were surprisingly unified. Except for Gabriella, nobody wanted to subjugate themselves to leadership under a despot. The question of joining up with Mars City was, thus, quickly clarified. The related threat to declare them as enemies had the opposite effect of making the crews all the more determined in their decision.
What was more problematic was the demand to deliver up Ewa. It wasn’t the majority who insisted on this, but the group in question was making it difficult for Ellen to make a decision, as she explained to Mike in their long radio chats before bedtime.
They had gathered in the conference rooms on each of their bases. They wanted to formulate a joint explanation that would then be sent to the administrator of Mars City, which was what they were now calling the expanding settlement around Spaceliner 1. Mike was sitting in front of the camera. Ellen had already told him that she didn’t have the full support of the MfE group.
Mike looked around. Sarah, Sharon, Ewa, and Lance were watching him expectantly. He could make out the MfE people on the screen. Some were smiling, while others had folded their arms across their chests. He held back a sigh, as he reached under the table and pulled out a piece of paper, his favorite document.
“Dear citizens of Mars Nation,” he began. “On Sol 92, we celebrated the establishment of our federation. All of you signed this.” Mike held the page up to the camera.
“It is an odd coincidence, but this day—today—is exactly ninety-two days since that moment. Does that mean anything? I’m not sure, but I do know one thing: Conceding to the demands of Administrator Summers would spell the end of our young nation. May I read to you what we vowed back then?”
He read a few sentences from their declaration. The most critical words were freedom, equality, and fraternity.
“What does that mean? It means that we wouldn’t just be giving up on our small nation if we allowed ourselves to be annexed by Mars City. I know that none of you want that. We would also be giving up on our values if we handed Ewa over as Summers has insisted. If she has committed a crime, then we should try her ourselves. But we won’t be handing her over—otherwise, we might as well just shred this piece of paper.
“In a moment, we will ask for your vote. Every Mars Nation member’s vote is of equal value. We don’t need an administrator to govern us. As you cast your vote, please think about this small, hopeful piece of paper, which represents the foundation of our society.”
Ellen smiled at him encouragingly.
They started the vote right away. Sarah, Sharon, and Lance voted, as expected, Mike’s way. Ewa abstained. Ellen then announced the results for MfE: three votes for handing over Ewa, the rest against it.
Mike was relieved. Now Mars Nation could send Rick Summers the response he so richly deserved.
Author's Note
Welcome back to Earth! I hope you’ve enjoyed our thrilling ride through the Mars deserts. Because the entire Mars trilogy was initially published one book right after the other/simultaneously, I couldn’t receive reader input during their creation. This is unusual for me—much more like writing for a traditional publisher. So I wrote for the reader in myself, hoping that what I like would also make a good story for you, my reader. I'm always grateful that you are here, and glad you have traveled with me through to the last chapter of Mars Nation 2.
How will the final installment play out?
As you have read, the Mars Nation settlers have a powerful new enemy. Will Rick Summers, Mars City Administrator, make good on his threats? While NASA and MfE attempt to maintain their own fragile peace, a new catastrophe arises—a disaster directly linked to the continued silence from Earth.
Mars Nation 3 will conclude the trilogy around Christmas 2019. You can pre-order it here:
hard-sf.com/links/818245
Before I let you go to your dreams again, I have to ask you one favor – if you liked Mars Nation 2, please leave a review at this link:
hard-sf.com/links/789996
Thanks a lot!
One more thing. Before I wrote Mars Nation, I decided to go to Mars for research. Not literally, of course, but I went to a place very similar to the Red Planet. It is a Mars simulation project called Amadee-18, set in the Omani desert. Here is a selfie I took in the expedition camp. Afterwards, I wrote about the simulation. You can find the text on the next pages.
Best regards from my nightly desk
Yours, Brandon Q. Morris
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Also by Brandon Q. Morris
The Death of the Universe
For many billions of years, humans—having conquered the curse of aging—spread throughout the entire Milky Way. They are able to live all their dreams, but to their great disappointment, no other intelligent species has ever been encountered. Now, humanity itself is on the brink of extinction because the universe is dying a protracted yet inevitable death.
They have only one hope: The ‘Rescue Project’ was designed to feed the black hole in the center of the galaxy until it becomes a quasar, delivering much-needed energy to humankind during its last breaths. But then something happens that no one ever expected—and humanity is forced to look at itself and its existence in an entirely new way.
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The Enceladus Mission (Ice Moon 1)
In the year 2031, a robot probe detects traces of biological activity on Enceladus, one of Saturn’s moons. This sensational discovery shows that there is indeed evidence of extraterrestrial life. Fifteen years later, a hurriedly built spacecraft sets out on the long journey to the ringed planet and its moon.
The international crew is not just facing a difficult twenty-seven months: if the spacecraft manages to make it to Enceladus without incident it must use a drillship to penetrate the kilometer-thick sheet of ice that entombs the moon. If life does indeed exist on Enceladus, it could only be at the bottom of the salty, ice covered ocean, which formed billions of years ago.
However, shortly after takeoff disaster strikes the mission, and the chances of the crew making it to Enceladus, let alone back home, look grim.
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The Titan Probe (Ice Moon 2)
In 2005, the robotic probe “Huygens” lands on Saturn’s moon Titan. 40 years later, a radio telescope receives signals from the far away moon that can only come from the long forgotten lander.
At the same time, an expedition returns from neighbouring moon Enceladus. The crew lands on Titan and finds a dangerous secret that risks their return to Earth. Meanwhile, on Enceladus a deathly race has started that nobody thought was possible. And its outcome can only be decided by the
astronauts that are stuck on Titan.
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The Io Encounter (Ice Moon 3)
Jupiter’s moon Io has an extremely hostile environment. There are hot lava streams, seas of boiling sulfur, and frequent volcanic eruptions straight from Dante’s Inferno, in addition to constant radiation bombardment and a surface temperature hovering at minus 180 degrees Celsius.
Is it really home to a great danger that threatens all of humanity? That’s what a surprise message from the life form discovered on Enceladus seems to indicate.
The crew of ILSE, the International Life Search Expedition, finally on their longed-for return to Earth, reluctantly chooses to accept a diversion to Io, only to discover that an enemy from within is about to destroy all their hopes of ever going home.
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Return to Enceladus (Ice Moon 4)
Russian billionaire Nikolai Shostakovitch makes an offer to the former crew of the spaceship ILSE. He will finance a return voyage to the icy moon Enceladus. The offer is too good to refuse—the expedition would give them the unique opportunity to recover the body of their doctor, Dimitri Marchenko.
Everyone on board knows that their benefactor acts out of purely personal motivations… but the true interests of the tycoon and the dangers that he conjures up are beyond anyone’s imagination.
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Ice Moon – The Boxset
All four bestselling books of the Ice Moon series are now offered as a set, available only in e-book format.
The Enceladus Mission: Is there really life on Saturn's moon Enceladus? ILSE, the International Life Search Expedition, makes its way to the icy world where an underground ocean is suspected to be home to primitive life forms.
The Titan Probe: An old robotic NASA probe mysteriously awakens on the methane moon of Titan. The ILSE crew tries to solve the riddle—and discovers a dangerous secret.
The Io Encounter: Finally bound for Earth, ILSE makes it as far as Jupiter when the crew receives a startling message. The volcanic moon Io may harbor a looming threat that could wipe out Earth as we know it.
Return to Enceladus: The crew gets an offer to go back to Enceladus. Their mission—to recover the body of Dr. Marchenko, left for dead on the original expedition. Not everyone is working toward the same goal. Could it be their unwanted crew member?
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Proxima Rising
Late in the 21st century, Earth receives what looks like an urgent plea for help from planet Proxima Centauri b in the closest star system to the Sun. Astrophysicists suspect a massive solar flare is about to destroy this heretofore-unknown civilization. Earth’s space programs are unequipped to help, but an unscrupulous Russian billionaire launches a secret and highly-specialized spaceship to Proxima b, over four light-years away. The unusual crew faces a Herculean task—should they survive the journey. No one knows what to expect from this alien planet.
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Proxima Dying
An intelligent robot and two young people explore Proxima Centauri b, the planet orbiting our nearest star, Proxima Centauri. Their ideas about the mission quickly prove grossly naive as they venture about on this planet of extremes.
Where are the senders of the call for help that lured them here? They find no one and no traces on the daylight side, so they place their hopes upon an expedition into the eternal ice on Proxima b's dark side. They not only face everlasting night, the team encounters grave dangers. A fateful decision will change the planet forever.
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Proxima Dreaming
Alone and desperate, Eve sits in the control center of an alien structure. She has lost the other members of the team sent to explore exoplanet Proxima Centauri b. By mistake she has triggered a disastrous process that threatens to obliterate the planet. Just as Eve fears her best option may be a quick death, a nearby alien life form awakens from a very long sleep. It has only one task: to find and neutralize the destructive intruder from a faraway place.
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The Hole
A mysterious object threatens to destroy our solar system. The survival of humankind is at risk, but nobody takes the warning of young astrophysicist Maribel Pedreira seriously. At the same time, an exiled crew of outcasts mines for rare minerals on a lone asteroid.
When other scientists finally acknowledge Pedreira’s alarming discovery, it becomes clear that these outcasts are the only ones who may be able to save our world, knowing that The Hole hurtles inexorably toward the sun.
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Silent Sun
Is our sun behaving differently from other stars? When an amateur astronomer discovers something strange on telescopic solar pictures, an explanation must be found. Is it merely artefact? Or has he found something totally unexpected?
An expert international crew is hastily assembled, a spaceship is speedily repurposed, and the foursome is sent on the ride of their live
s. What challenges will they face on this spur-of-the-moment mission to our central star?
What awaits all of them is critical, not only for understanding the past, but even more so for the future of life on Earth.
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The Rift
There is a huge, bold black streak in the sky. Branches appear out of nowhere over North America, Southern Europe, and Central Africa. People who live beneath The Rift can see it. But scientists worldwide are distressed—their equipment cannot pick up any type of signal from it.
The rift appears to consist of nothing. Literally. Nothing. Nada. Niente. Most people are curious but not overly concerned. The phenomenon seems to pose no danger. It is just there.
Then something jolts the most hardened naysayers, and surpasses the worst nightmares of the world’s greatest scientists—and rocks their understanding of the universe.
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Mars Nation 1
NASA finally made it. The very first human has just set foot on the surface of our neighbor planet. This is the start of a long research expedition that sent four scientists into space.
Mars Nation 2 Page 29