Glory on Mars Read Online Free Page B

rest of
your lives there? I'd like to hear from each of you... Miz
Brown?"
    "Earth's a fragile orb. Something catastrophic could
happen - natural or manmade. I'll be making life
multi-planetary."
    James couldn't resist adding something.
    "If dinosaurs had a space program, they wouldn't be
extinct."
    "Noble, but, Miz Brown, is there nothing
personal?"
    "There's the opportunity for transcendence, to grow
spiritually, and gain a greater appreciation of life."
    Claude got a faraway look whenever he answered this
question.
    "To gain new knowledge."
    "How about creating wealth? An entire world of
untapped resources? You're a geologist - isn't that what you do?"
The jowly man was persistent.
    "Geo means Earth, so I'm a lithologist now - I study
rocks on Mars." Claude shook his head.
    "And - no. One reason that people are fascinated by
Mars is that it's beyond our current culture. Earth can't make a
profit from it. It makes no economic sense. We go for science."
    James was their most popular spokesman. He kept a
little speech ready.
    "Humanity evolved in Africa - so why aren't we all
still there? I think it's because of what we are - what we do. We
wander. We explore.
    "Half a millennium ago, Europeans set out to conquer
the Earth for gold, glory, and god. Well, Claude wants to study
Martian rocks - that will be our Martian gold.
    "Liz is called to carry life to a barren world, a
sacred obligation to god.
    "But me and Emma..." Here he turned to her.
    "We're in it for the glory. The pure, glorious idiocy
of the challenge."
    Emma smiled into the room's cameras, ignoring the
tension in her body.
    "Yeah - my walkabout bots are so unconventional - I
couldn't find anyone else willing to pilot them on Mars."
    That got a laugh, as always. But it was a relief when
the conference ended.
    They walked straight down the carpeted hall to a
large ballroom. Emma paused at the door to look around. There were
spaceport officials and Colony Mars executives glad-handing
significant donors. The ground-support team members were milling
around quietly, easy to pick out in shirts striped with two shades
of blue instead of the settlers' blue and red.
    A Colony Mars official gestured the crew to join him,
grabbed a microphone, and the crowd quieted. After a short eulogy
to Ingra, he called for a minute of silence.
    When the minute passed, he raised his fist
defiantly.
    "Ingra's sacrifice is not in vain. On to Mars."
    "On to Mars!" The crowd shouted back to him and the
party began.
    Someone pushed a flute of champagne into Emma's hand.
She abandoned her usual restraint, had a second glass of champagne,
and switched to tangy margaritas when waiters brought out platters
of cheese-stuffed jalapenos.
    "Settlers, we need you at the front of the room." The
climax of the evening was coming. An officious looking man in a
suit waved his hand solemnly and the crowd parted, letting Emma
walk to the front of the room with her crewmates.
    "These are the final Colony Mars contracts," the man
said. For an oddly archaic effect he held long paper pages over his
head. Liz pushed forward to sign first and the rest of the crew
queued behind her. Emma scribbled her name awkwardly with a pen.
She understood there was no chance of returning from Mars,
understood her survival was not guaranteed, and relinquished her
right to sue Colony Mars for any reason.
    "Okay everyone. Gather round." The support team lead
hopped up on a chair and swayed precariously. "It's time for the
electronics swap."
    Unexpectedly, Emma felt a wave of panic battle the
tequila in her bloodstream. She'd had phones and tablets, games and
links for as long as she could remember. But batteries were a
luxury on Mars, used only for necessary applications. All her
earthly devices would be left behind.
    One by one, with laughing and back-slapping, the crew
of Settler Three relinquished their devices. Contact lenses were
popped out and pads were dropped into a box.
    "We don't leave our intrepid settlers out of