Martian Settlement: The Fight For Mars

Chapter 1: Urgency

Location: Martian Settlement, Acheron Fossae

Nothing, thought Martian-head-of-settlement Jack Harrington, is as beautiful as the arid, life-ridden landscape of Mars. In the distance he could make out the figure of the great Olympus Mons that dwarfed all terrestrial mountains, looking ever majestic in the semi-darkness of dawn.

He began the well-practised routine of inspecting the exterior of the Martian settlement's Plexiglass domes, looking for chinks in the transparent armour that protected them from the harsh Martian environment. There were eight domes, each with a dedicated function. Domes 1, 2, 3 and 4 were used to produce oxygen, grow food and rear animals; 5 and 6 were living and recreation areas for Martians; and 7 and 8 were reserved for offices, labs and important life-support machinery. Next to dome 8 there was a small structure meant only for extracting water from a massive aquifer right underneath the settlement. On the other side of the dome lay a small transparent structure in the shape of a warped dome called the Biosphere, where a small forest was grown complete with animals, used for research and to replenish the air in the Settlement. All domes were heated via the sun utilising their transparency to artificially create a localised greenhouse effect by day and radioisotope generators by night.

Every Martian, despite their status, took turns to maintain and inspect the domes as a reminder that Mars belonged to all Martians equally. The Settlement had made great strides in promoing equality. In the Martian Settlement, everyone was given equal opportunity and privileges and promotions were one hundred percent meritocratic and did not depend on connections.

Jack finished inspecting the exterior of dome 2 and walked over to dome 3.

"Dome 2 exterior okay," he radioed in to Darrius Kiu, who was leading the daily inspections today.

"Proceed to dome 3," instructed Darrius.

Jack smiled as he began inspecting the exterior of dome 3. Darrius' playful and jolly voice always brightened up a dismal or boring environment.

Twenty minutes later, Jack finished the inspection and headed into dome 7, shedding his EVA (Extra-Vehicular Activity) spacesuit and hanging it on a coat-rack that was conveniently placed near the entrance. Due to advancement in spacesuit tech, 2060 era spacesuits were slender and flexible compared to the early Apollo spacesuit or even the Z2 spacesuits. They looked vaguely like a diving suit but had a "fishbowl" Plexiglass helmet and a plastic backpack that contained life-support systems including oxygen tanks.

He sighed and walked into his office. He sat down at his desk and booted up his SlatePC, a slightly old but relatively capable one that boasted a 48-hour battery life and a 1.5nm processor. It fired up in just ten seconds. He scrolled through his to-do list for today. Fortunately, nothing much. Finally some rest after two weeks of busy hell. Just then, he noticed that there was a message in his inbox from Jordan Hesley.

He clicked on it and glanced through the file attached to the blank message.

No rest after all.

This was important news, news that called for a Gathering. His hands, moving with delicate care, slowly inched towards the blue button on his desk. When pressed it would set of a distinct Gathering alarm blaring throughout the whole settlement.

He pressed the button.