The Martian Lie

Interludes

Interludes

I. Sessions with the Sidekick

Roark and Bell sat across from one another at their morning meeting, just as they had for years. Bell would brief him on the day's shipments and any other housekeeping minutiae there was, and Roark would approve or disapprove depending whether or not it all fit into his vision. He was the dreamer, Bell made it all happen. Today felt simulatenously identical to every other, and different from every other. Identical because the roles remained, different because now they discussed a comet and interplanetary domination.

"So the comet will hit." Roark stated.

"That is the intelligence from NASA as well as the Martian Space Federation."

"And we have a spot." Another statement.

"Yes. The first 10,000 spots go to heads of state and their families. It will be announced tomorrow morning."

"And we have agreed to let the Martians go?"

"Yes. It was inevitable. Your spot would not have stayed secure if you were holding them hostage. The Martian officials would have suspected something was up. As it is, they have been told the tour group was given a special visit to the inner workings of Supply Line 16. The group was taken on a makeshift tour. It is reasonable to assume they believe it themselves."

"Quick thinking. Thank you."

"This brings us to the payload. I would advise you to disarm. Leave the planet pristine for our arrival."

"That would be the logical thing."

"Yes sir. ShalL I send orders?"

"No."

This is where their meeting took a turn, because normally they were like two sides of the same brain, working together and never disagreeing.

"No?"

"I have an idea. Let it go."

"What idea could you possibly have?"

"There's still time to manufacture a mass quantity of the vaccine. We do that. We can send the command easily enough. We take the vaccine with us. We only give it out to those who comply with our demands."

"A coup."

"Precisely."

"I don't advise it."

"But you'll go along with it. It will work, I assure you."

"It opens up a lot of variables, but I will authorize it to ship today."

"There are no variables that I cannot surmount. I will have 100,000 Earth residents with me to help. They are not used to conflict. They will crumble under the hint of conflict and discomfort."

"It's a possibility."

"It is a certainty."

Bell stopped then, knowing that Roark would not change his mind.

"One last thing."

"What's that?" Roark had been getting up, thinking his meeting was finished after making his demands known.