Martian Settlement: The Fight For Mars

Chapter 3: Construction

Location: Martian Settlement, Acheron Fossae

Three huge mobile 3D printers were positioned on the ground just outside dome 8, where the massive new dome, dome 9, was to be built. It would have a diameter of 150 metres and a height of 65 metres, definitely larger than the other domes which only had diameters of 105 metres and heights of 50 metres.

The mobile 3D printers would move around, printing the dome using Kevlar and Plexiglass that was made mainly from exploiting native Martian resources. At the same time, two digging machines would dig a 6-metre deep trench of the same circumference as the new dome. When the dome was done, the mobile 3D printers' 3D printing systems would be taken down and replaced with gripping mechanisms, transforming them into cranes, which would lower the edge of the dome into the trench dug by the digging machines. Steam would be pumped through small pipes attached to the edge or "skirt" of the dome and freeze upon contact with the ice-cold Martian regolith, forming a permafrost cement that held the dome in place. Additional pins would be used to hook the tent to the ground as backup. A prefab tunnel would connect the dome to dome 8 while a proper tunnel was being built and the dome would be fitted with Sabatier and RWGS (Reverse Water Gas Shift) reactors as well as other life-support mechanisms. From then onwards construction would be just a matter of partitioning the dome into different rooms and fitting the dome with pipes and wires.

The plan was simple and straightforward, but by no means easy. Somehow, thought Lucy as she stared at the half-printed dome, something messy is definitely going to happen.

She then decided to help one of the technicians handling mobile 3D printer 2, who was having some issues with calibrating the position of the printer's tracks. She walked in front of the vehicle and waved at the techie. The techie opened the door and she climbed in, easing herself into the co-pilot's seat (drivers for Martian machines were often called pilots because the controls for those machines were often so complex and akin to that of planes on Earth).

"Having any issues?" she asked.

"Yep," said the technician, a young man named Wallace. "I just can't figure out how to calibrate the tracks and this thing just isn't moving where it's supposed to.

Lucy glanced at the screen on the dashboard.

"Did you calibrate the internal gyroscope of this thing?" she asked.

"No," answered Wallace, fiddling with some levers and buttons. "I thought they hardly ever have to be calibrated?"

"Yes, but that only applies if the gyro software in the system is updated to the latest version," replied Lucy.

She began fiddling through various digital documents on the screen.

"Um, it says here that the gyro software is only version 1804, whereas the newest is 1904. Looks like you'll have to recalibrate the gyros."

Wallace clicked the "home" icon on the dashboard and clicked the "settings" icon on the home menu. He clicked an icon labeled "gyro" and clicked "recalibrate". A short bar appeared at the bottom of the screen, detailing the progress of recalibration. He waited as the bar slowly grew until it reached the other end of the screen. The screen flashed green and a pop up message read "SUCCESSFULLY RECALIBRATED".

"Okay, let's see if it works," said Lucy.

Wallace fiddled with the control stick on his right. As if the chains that had been restricting the machine were unshackled, the machine moved swiftly and responsively, light to the touch, its advanced software making it a forgiving machine.

"Wow, thanks," he said, smiling at Lucy.

Suddenly, the walkie-talkie on her belt began buzzing. She climbed out of the 3D printing vehicle and pulled out her walkie-talkie. Unlike the stock crude versions that others toted, she had modified hers, swapping the boxy exterior with a curved, 3D printed one, making specific tweaks to the receivers to allow sharper and smoother sound transmission and even enhancing the software to block out the distinct "krrrrrrrsssssssssssshhhhh" background noise that was still imminent in today's walkie-talkies.

"Yes?" she answered, speaking into her walkie-talkie.

"Your expertise is greatly needed," answered the voice on the other hand. "Report to lab 3 immediately. You must assist Grayson Crowe in a very important task that must be carried out imminently."

***

Location: TESAMAS HQ, Houston, United States

TESAMAS head Andrea Griffin strode back to her desk. She glanced out of the window at the jungles that lay before her. Sometimes, she wished, Sometimes I wished that I were just a mere animal, not having to worry about making controversial decisions.

If she went ahead with the Martian Environmental Treaty, at least five major corporations would suffer severe losses and hundreds of jobs would be lost, but a planet would be saved and history would not repeat itself with Mars as it did with Earth. If the Martian Environmental Treaty didn't come to fruition, hundreds of new jobs would be created but another planet would be destroyed.

Tough choices.

The worst thing was that Mars was being mined for rare-earth metals, not renewable resources like wood, which meant that even if reduced, mining might one day deplete Mars as it had nearly depleted Earth, before the Kyoto 2035 protocol went into action.

She had seen TESAMAS, despite her best efforts, slowly drawn into the grasp of evil corporations. She respected her colleague Jordan's sacrifice, but in order to actually take action against any of those corporations or force them into signing a treaty you needed solid evidence. A hell lot of solid evidence.

Secretly, she truly wished that she could use superpowers to force the mining corporations on Mars to agree to the treaty, to hell with the loss of jobs. Suddenly, a realisation dawned on her.

She didn't need superpowers. She just needed solid evidence. She was pretty sure that the corporations were mining outside their designated areas and some were probably conducting nefarious activities. All she needed was to hatch a plan to collect evidence against them and use the evidence as leverage. With the evidence, they would have no real ability to deny signing the Martian Environmental Treaty or over-negotiate.

***

Things were different now. She had an idea.

But there's a problem. How can I get evidence?