by Alec Taylor
“Yes, of course, and nobody was suggesting that. We just need a little more influence.”
I made a mental note to come back to that topic later with June—I was interested, though it still didn’t sit right with me. However, I needed to stay focused on Imani’s murder.
“Did anyone react badly to her talking about independence?” I asked.
“Yes, after she sent a memo about it to the JOSEV Executive Committee.”
“What?” I asked, genuinely surprised. “When was that?”
“Um, about an Earth-year ago. She showed it to me before she sent it. I thought it was brilliant, and I told her she didn’t need to change a word. Do you want to see it? I think I still have the draft in my personal files.”
“Yes, please.”
She looked it up and shared it with me.
“Go on, read it now. It’s okay—I’m not going into work today. I don’t want any more sympathy.”
9. THE LETTER
JOSEV Executive Committee & Board,
I am writing to propose a small but important change in the way we manage the colony on Mars. As a General Manager who has successfully completed five Earth-years of service and consistently delivered above expectations, I am confident that you will appreciate my unique insight into the ongoing needs of this community.
I personally made a valuable contribution to the successful delivery of the main objective of the first fleet and colony: to establish a sustainable and productive base for the harvesting of fuel on Mars. We knew the sacrifice we were making and we knew that it would be extremely challenging work here. Fortunately, we came through that first Martian-year with a highly successful outcome: we exceeded our production and construction targets.
In the subsequent years, we have banded together as a community, have continued to rapidly expand production and explore this new world that we are inhabiting. We have been lucky that we have had so few injuries and deaths—only accidents and human error have so far harmed anyone on this planet.
However, I am concerned that, without a minor but significant change in the decision-making and management of the colony, the risks to human life and the opportunities lost will gradually increase to an unsustainable level. I believe that decisions affecting the design and maintenance of the colony could be more robust—we should allocate more time and resources to the monitoring of air pressure in the colony, and on modelling and optimising the designs of the main outer buildings. We have had three catastrophic blowouts of greenhouses since the first fleet and have not reviewed and improved the basic design of the structures. The response determined by JOSEV was to create windbreaks around the greenhouses, but these unfortunately cast shadow over the crops and can create vortexes of dust that settle on the structures during storms. As you know, last month we lost a greenhouse full of fully grown crops. It had a major impact on plastic production and could have been avoided if we had simply applied additional bracing to the segment rings. Luckily, we avoided any impact on the isotope harvest.
I believe a review of all colony structures is an urgent imperative and think it is an example that highlights a potential, broader opportunity to improve decision-making across the entire colony and planet. Our community has a unique environment, challenges, and history. We have earned the right to have a small level of self-determination. The loyal and grateful people of Mars deserve some local government.
We would not seek any influence over the system for harvesting Helium-3. The scope of local government for our colony could extend only to non-harvesting systems: safety and colony infrastructure, ongoing exploration of the planet and the search for signs of previous life, etc. I’m confident that not only would it not have a negative impact on harvest production, but that in the long run it would improve the yield, as the risks of catastrophic failure would decrease, and the morale and productivity of the people in the colony would improve.
Our local government could consist of a simple democratic vote for an annual representative and local executive committee, which would have delegated authority to make autonomous decisions for the community (within a tightly defined scope) and dispense the associated resources of the colony as appropriate. I believe it would also make sense to implement some kind of constitution or charter, in order to put some basic human rights and responsibilities in place for everyone living on Mars. The key steps to make this happen could be as follows: the creation of a sub-committee to define the model and develop the charter, a series of ‘town hall’ meetings to discuss the idea and identify potential models for local government, and production of a proposal to the joint venture.
While I would personally like to lead the initial sub-committee, I would excuse myself from eligibility for the representative leadership role, given the conflict inherent in my proposing it to JOSEV.
Please let me once again express my gratitude for the opportunity to be part of this amazing venture, my request for an urgent review of structures in the colony, and my hope of enhancing the way of life for the people on Mars, without detracting in any way from the capture of value by JOSEV.
Kind regards,
Imani Bahar
General Manager, Organic Manufacturing, JOSEV Mars Colony
*
I finished reading the memo and looked up at June. “Wow.”
Imani suddenly didn’t seem like a traitor to JOSEV or Earth. She was trying to respectfully change from within and through appropriate channels. And she made a strong case.
“I know,” said June, biting her lip and holding back tears.
“It didn’t work.”
“I know,” she said and smiled for the first time in days.
“June, if I use this, I might have to say where it came from…”
“That’s okay. Use it. I’m not pushing the ideology, anyway—just sharing a draft memo with you.”
“She sent the memo to the entire Executive Committee and the Board?” I asked.
“Yes. And also to Karl and all the other colony General Managers.”
“How did Karl react?”
“It was the only time I’ve heard of him losing his temper. She said he stormed into the lab and yelled at her. Then he realised that her team were all watching and moved the yelling to his office. She said that she reasoned with him, pleaded with him, and even appealed to him as a friend, on a personal level. Apparently, after a while he received a message—from Earth, I guess—and suddenly became completely calm. Imani was so shocked by his initial reaction that she apologised, although she never backed away from her proposal, and Karl seemed to accept it eventually.”
“Pete must have received Imani’s memo, too, but I haven’t heard about it.”
“I’m not surprised. I think Karl shut it down very quickly, and none of the General Managers wanted to stick their necks out to back her, at least not at first. Why would they, anyway? It’s in their interests to keep the status quo.”
“I wonder if any of them think she was right. Or if they thought she was dangerous?”
“Eli thought she was right. You could ask the others.”
“So did JOSEV ever respond?” I asked.
“They sent her a formal written reply thanking her and saying that, after careful consideration, they had decided not to adopt her proposal at this time.”
“That was it?”
“Later, Karl asked Eli to perform a review of the outer structures.”
“Eli. Because he was the General Manager of Colony Development. He had also received her memo.”
“Uh huh.”
“Do you think Karl or JOSEV were genuinely worried about structure safety?”
“I don’t know. I suspect that by then Eli was agitating as well and maybe there were others. Anyway, that’s how we ended up with the new tube-within-a-tube design, which we’ve been using for new structures and are gradually retrofitting into the old ones.”
“Well, it’s a bit bizarre,” I said, “and would have annoyed some people, but I don’t think i
t would be life threatening for Imani. She wouldn’t have been a concern after they shut her down.”
“You do know how much the harvest is worth, right?” asked June, and I nodded. “And putting it in writing was confrontational because, from that point on, there was written evidence that could be found if something really bad went wrong due to structure design. She forced them to respond, and nobody likes to be forced.”
Still, I thought, the memo and Imani’s political views didn’t seem adequate motivation for anyone to harm her, let alone kill her. Sure, JOSEV had been angry, but they could do what they wanted and always had. I couldn’t see them reaching across the solar system to kill her, and I didn’t think anyone would have cared enough after she had been ignored.
“You’ve been very helpful,” I said and stood up. “If you think of anything else that might help, please give me a call.”
She stood up and looked into my eyes. There was both fierce strength and beautiful fragility in hers.
“Mike, what are you waiting for?”
“Um, what do you mean?” I asked, surprised.
“You’re polite and friendly, but I can tell you’re holding back. I don’t know if it’s your job or just how you’re reacting to being here, but you’re like a robot. I don’t care what your job is, you don’t have to shut everyone out. In fact, this place will crush you if you’re alone. Eventually you’ll need to open up, or you’ll die inside.”
I thought about telling her that I couldn’t afford to be in a relationship because of my role in the colony. I had another reason as well, but that was a secret I was never going to tell.
“I know you like me,” she continued. “I can tell. And you must know I feel it too.”
I hadn’t been close to anyone since high school, since my brother died. Partly it was self-preservation—if I didn’t care for anyone, if I wasn’t responsible for anyone, then I wouldn’t get hurt.
“You’re allowed relationships as well, you know,” June continued. “Maybe, with your job, you need somebody more than anyone else.”
I looked into her dark, worried eyes.
“I’m sorry,” I said finally. “I just can’t be in a relationship now. Not here, on Mars, in this colony. Not while I’m in Security. And definitely not now that we’re handling a murder investigation.”
It sounded hollow and petty.
“I guess that’s right,” she said with a sigh. “Anyway, I’m going to be sad for a while now.”
“I’m sorry,” I said and put my hand on her arm. She leaned forward and gently rested her head on my chest. I held her for a moment and my heart thumped in my chest.
Then she stepped back, smiled faintly, and said, “Okay, officer. You can go now.”
*
Pete and Glen were waiting for me back in the office.
“Where have you been?” asked Pete, his brow furrowed.
“Talking to June,” I said. “Imani’s friend.”
“Why?” he asked.
I was still reeling from the conversation with June and Imani’s memo, so I just looked at him blankly.
“Save it,” he said after a moment. “We need to brief Karl. Glen, you can stay here.”
Karl had obviously been waiting impatiently but didn’t want to show it. He was intently staring at the screen on his desk and, as we came in, he held up his hand in a stop-and-wait gesture. We stood in the doorway, waiting for him. Jan was working at his desk, ignoring us.
Finally, after a while, Karl pointed at the chairs in front of his desk.
“We need to resolve this situation quickly and efficiently,” he said. “JOSEV is shocked by the events of the last two days and they require a speedy resolution.”
I expected Pete to explain that investigations take time, but he didn’t say a word.
“It’s only been a couple of days,” I said. “Two people are dead, we’ve only spoken to a couple of witnesses, we haven’t even had the full autopsies back from Chris.”
“I understand that, but is this situation not already clear? We know that Eli was unstable. Of course it is terrible tragedy, and Imani was very popular so we will need to have proper funeral, but we can relax knowing her killer cannot hurt anyone else.”
“It might look that way,” I replied patiently, “and you could be right, but when a human life is taken we need to perform a proper and thorough investigation.”
“Are you too close to it to see?” asked Karl, eyebrows raised. “Perhaps you have been affected by what you saw yesterday.”
“Maybe I am too close to it,” I said, “but that’s my job and that’s the stage of the investigation we’re in. Right now, all we have is a hypothesis that we need to confirm. We need to collect conclusive evidence. We need to prove that he was guilty.”
Karl was leaning forward with apparent concern, and when I said we needed more evidence he tipped his head back and to the side.
“Do we really need to collect more evidence?” asked Karl. “Has not everything that we have already collected so far showed that Eli killed Imani?”
“Well, we can’t actually place Eli at the scene of the crime.”
“He was one of only a handful of people that we cannot place anywhere at the time, because his suit was not transmitting,” said Karl.
“That’s true, but I’ve been thinking about that. I think that may not be as helpful as we hoped; it may just be a coincidence. Somebody could have borrowed or stolen a suit, disabled its transmitter, and then returned it without it being discovered. It would be easy to do. Also, my gut is telling me he didn’t do it. He said he was innocent out at the canyon, even when he had nothing to lose. He was upset about her dying. That’s why he killed himself.”
“If you are enough upset to take your own life, of course you can take another life as well,” said Karl with finality.
I didn’t think that was logical at all, but didn’t want to directly contradict him.
“Maybe,” I said. “But what if someone else had some other reason to kill her?”
“But he ran!” exclaimed Jan from behind us, obviously listening to our conversation.
Karl ignored him and asked, “What better reason?”
“She had some unusual ideas about the future of the colony,” I replied.
Karl glanced at Pete.
“I don’t see how that could be a reason,” replied Pete. “She was a loyal and highly competent leader, doing a good job and looking out for the colony.”
“But the memo she wrote to the Executive Committee…” I said, leaving the statement hanging in the air.
Pete took a small sharp breath, “How do you know about that?”
“June showed it to me,” I said, almost wincing at having to mention her as the source.
“We implemented her suggestions,” chimed in Jan from behind us. I turned around and saw he was smiling triumphantly, as if he had just won game show contest. Karl glared at him, which wiped the smile from his face and he looked back down at his screen.
“Not all of them,” I replied. Obviously, Karl had shared some of the contents of Imani’s letter with Jan, but not all of them and probably not the proposal for a local government. Jan didn’t say another word after that.
“Actually,” I continued, “there was one argument she alluded to, which the current situation highlights. We have no constitution and no law here. I’m looking for a suspect, collecting evidence, building a case, preparing for a trial, but the truth is we have no infrastructure to support any of that. No legal framework.”
“Mike,” said Pete softly, “we simply don’t need that now. You’re wrong about that. This situation doesn’t highlight the need for legal bureaucracy, because the criminal has already taken care of himself.”
I was briefly lost for words. It didn’t matter that the main suspect was dead; we still needed justice and to know the truth. The situation was a perfect example of why we needed laws and infrastructure—it clearly highlighted that if we did have to catch a cri
minal we had no legal way of doing it, regardless of whether the suspect was already dead.
By now they were all looking at me and I was on my own. Karl’s face had become a blank wall, Pete was calmly trying to close the case, and Jan was glowering in the corner. Everyone thought it was over, except for me. My professional integrity and personal remorse over Eli’s death drove me to dig in and keep arguing, more than I had ever done before. I needed more time. Thinking on my feet, I decided to try to cast doubt over their conclusions and point the finger at alternative suspects.
“You know, I’m wondering about Hu, Imani’s roommate,” I said. “I haven’t been able to talk to her properly because she’s out in the field. She must have been in their room when Imani left. Maybe she spoke to Imani. Maybe she can confirm that it was Eli, or give us any clues about what happened. Maybe it was Hu that killed Imani. I think she didn’t like her—she already implied that on the phone. Perhaps she hated Imani, maybe so much that she wanted her dead.”
Karl raised his eyebrows and Pete seemed to briefly consider what I was saying, so I focused on Pete and said, “Surely we can’t close the file and turn in a report without at least interviewing her roommate?”
Pete took a deep breath and then said, “Yeah, I suppose that’s right.”
Pete nodded at Karl, who looked down. I could see a faint grimace tug at one side of Karl’s mouth, but when he looked back up his face was steely and blank again.
“Fine,” said Karl firmly. “I do not need to tell you we need stability now. We need to finish this quickly and neatly. JOSEV needs us to provide, with no interruptions or distractions.”
Then Karl looked directly at Pete and said, “You will close the case quickly.”
“Yes, sir,” said Pete. “Okay, Mike. Get on with it quickly—no more diversions. Go and interview Hu.”
10. HU
Hu had been nominated by China and came to the colony six Earth-months before I arrived. She had a ridiculous academic record, the kind that is hard to comprehend—perfect scores at school and in several university degrees. She had worked briefly for a government institution that had interests in mining, manufacturing, infrastructure, and public services. Her job titles were vague, which I thought was either a problem with translation or her employers being deliberately secretive about her roles. She almost seemed supernatural, though I had seen other similarly impressive bios, particularly for Chinese colonists—it was as if the superpower had been grooming people to send to Mars.