Martian Settlement: The Fight For Mars

Chapter 2: The Gathering

A distinct, vaguely melodious chime sounded throughout the whole settlement, through every dome. Their training taking over, every single Martian stopped whatever they were doing, be it fixing a faulty device or teaching a class of 10-year olds and filed into the main hall, nicknamed the "agoraphobia inducer". Head-of-Settlement Jack Harrington stood on a stage in front. When the entire settlement, 1,203 people to be exact had arrived, he began talking,

"Fellow Martians," he began, his voice being picked up by hidden microphones embedded near the stage, translated into ones and zeros, sent to speakers via fibre optic, and blared out.

"We are on the brink of an interplanetary crisis. This morning, I received a message from Jordan Hesley, second-in-command of TESAMAS that came attached with a file containing detailed plans of sabotage and felonies against our humble settlement. I don't have a better way of putting it to you. I will now reveal the hard truth that I have learned.

The corporations that have benefited from the mining of Mars have insinuated themselves into TESAMAS. With the Martian Environmental Treaty being planned and discussed, some of these corporations, to fuel their greed have tried to intervene at every corner. We cannot trust TESAMAS anymore. Though a majority of people in TESAMAS are still, I should say, good, it has too much influence from the greedy corps. There is only one thing we can do to protect ourselves and this settlement. To be more self-sufficient."

"I've got a question for you," said Darrius, the head of agriculture. "With the growth of our settlement, we would need an extra farm to provide enough food to be self-sufficient. Is there a way that a farm can be fitted into the new dome, scheduled to start construction next week?"

Jack turned to face Lucy 45, head of engineering and maintenance. She was the daughter of an unknown mother who had tried to get rid of her by sending her to Mars alone when she was just six months old. Her mother had escaped the Andromeda 3 right before take-off, purposely rendering her and her daughter to be forever separated by 220 million kilometres. When people had found her and tried to ask her what her name was, all she said was 45. Thus, they had given her the random name Lucy and the surname 45 for registration purposes.

"Is that feasible?" he asked.

"Yes," answered Lucy. "There is already a small agriculture area in the blueprint. To fit a full-sized farm inside would not require too much tweaking. The offices and recreation area can be scaled down a little."

"Also," said Jack. "Can you start construction earlier, like tomorrow?"

Lucy stared into open space, looking disoriented. Those who knew her well would conclude that she was calculating the chances of success of the dome construction with the application of an accelerated timescale. She reached a conclusion in a matter of seconds.

"It is doable," she said.

***

Location: Unknown

The warehouse was dark. Despite its massive size, most would feel claustrophobic as they walked past cluttered workstations and overstuffed storage racks. All energy for the warehouse was provided by solar panels outside and a tiny hydroelectric dam. The warehouse's water supply came from the river nearby.

The warehouse was designed to be totally hidden and cut off from the outside world, which was perfect if you were building a prefabricated mobile Martian base inside.

Mike Marcus, CEO of Igneon Mining, strode through the warehouse. He had flown all the way from London, where Igneon's headquarters were located, to this hidden warehouse smack in the middle of a dense jungle just to oversee the construction of his precious mobile-base.

The Martian settlement was too sneaky to be left on its own after the bastard Jordan Hesley had revealed to the settlement his plans to "influence" the Martian Environmental Agreement. He was sure that they had some idea about his nefarious projects on Mars now and possibly evidence too. He needed to gain a foothold on the planet. He needed to be able to spy on them from close-range, not just relying on intel from TESAMAS contacts and spy satellites. He needed to know what they were doing, above all.

Or else, he thought. This will be my third failed business venture.

A man wearing coveralls and a helmet walked towards him. His name tag read "Roger".

"Sir, the mobile base is almost complete, and I have made some tweaks to the design that will decrease the duration of construction while not adversely affecting its reliability and effectiveness. I have opted to send it to LEO (Low Earth Orbit) on the single-stage-to-orbit Invar StarCross booster that we purchased from Invar Aeronautics in 2061. According to my calculations, the approximate mass of the base as well as the xenon propellant required should be within the limits of the StarCross," said Roger. "The mobile base will also be fitted with ion-engines powerful enough to send it to Mars in just two days and break out of LEO."

"Okay then," said Mike. "When do you think the mobile base will be completed?"

"Optimistically, the base can be completed in two days, on Friday. However, for more realistic projections, add an extra four days, meaning it would be completed next Tuesday."

"Next time, just get the info out. Don't equivocate," said Mike. "You and your co-workers will get your expected bonus if the base is completed on schedule."

Roger walked away, back towards his workstation. He walked into the mobile base. It was built in the tuna-can style of early Martian expeditions. However, on the inside, it was vastly different compared to its predecessors. Instead of advanced lab equipment, it was fitted with spying equipment such as high res audio amplifiers that can detect sounds from up to 6 kilometres away, radio arrays that secretly listened for transmissions and autonomous spy drones that had motors muffled so much that all they produced was a soft whirr, one as quiet as the buzzing of a bee. Solar panels spanned the entire roof of the base, making sure to provide enough energy.

However, the downside was that it was only large enough to house three people and supplies to keep them alive for three weeks as it wasn't big enough to fit a sustainable hydroponic farming system. Whoever they sent there had to get the job done as quickly and effectively as possible.

He continued what he had been doing before Mike arrived, wiring the solar panels to the batteries. He slid the wire through several wire holders and connected it to the power control computer that had taken a whole morning's work of programming.

Next to him, a fellow co-worker was completing the radio arrays.

"Nearly done," said the worker, brushing her hair out of her face. "I think we can get the base done in two days."