From Frank’s journal…
This morning, I sat in Dome 2’s restaurant court, enjoying coffee. The Mars-grown beans are yielding a better brew nowadays. They’re on the verge of rivaling Earth’s beans. Earth coffee imports are already waning.
As the Mars-yearly sandstorm reached its peak outside Mars City, I had the rare opportunity to witness an electrical discharge, a phenomenon that Earthers call lightning. I had seen it once before, decades ago, when I was a teenager.
During the storm, Washington regulations forbid us from operating outside—no mining or flights—so everyone takes the sandstorm season for rest and relaxation. Vital Mars City services, such as environmental operations, run skeleton crews, but through conscientious scheduling, those personnel still participate in many recreational activities, including concerts, plays, and dinner parties.
Gretchen, MarsVantage’s Director of Archaeology, her archaeological team, and I departed from Bvindu Dome and arrived here at Mars City ahead of the sandstorms. We needed the downtime more than most. Government inspectors and auditors wandered around Bvindu Dome for a month, nosing about, praying to find any sort of violation to blow out of proportion to its seriousness.
No issues, not even minor ones, were found.
Sending the auditors and inspectors was the government’s move to wrestle control of the alien Bvindu technology from us. They failed! Not only do we run a clean operation—no cutting corners—but those intrusive inspectors and auditors didn’t know the proper questions to ask to learn of our truly interesting initiatives.
They left ahead of the sandstorm without any foundation for the government to nationalize Bvindu technology.
We had much to celebrate going into the standdown, until two days ago. That’s when Gretchen and I learned that an Earth reporter will arrive once the sandstorm subsides.
The timing is unusual—we never had an Earth reporter on Mars, not even after our discovery of the entire knowledge of an alien civilization in Bvindu Dome. Yet, now, when nothing particularly noteworthy is happening, we get a reporter.
Chuck, MarsVantage’s CEO, believes his presence is the next step in the government’s quest to acquire the Bvindu tech. While the government inspectors and auditors didn’t provide a foundation to nationalize the Bvindu tech, its media allies will utilize different tactics.
Someone in this quasi-conspiracy was too clever by half in choosing their reporter, James Wagoner. He’s Gretchen’s ex-husband, who typically reports on foreign affairs, especially armed conflicts. Because he lacks a background in science or technology, he must expect to use his knowledge of her to his advantage. Perhaps he’ll try to sweet-talk information out of her, but I doubt that. Non-renewing a marriage contract by email engenders little goodwill.
My guess, seconded by my colleagues in the Citizens in Freedom Committee, including Gretchen herself, is that James will attempt to push our buttons, particularly hers, to pry information from us. The Committee is formulating questions, twisted in the most condescending and unfair manner. Gretchen and I, as Director of Bvindu Practical Applications, will set aside time every day until James arrives to practice our answers.
We’ll be prepared. Beating back this pathetic attempt will take patience and subtlety. We’ll prevail in stymying Washington, leaving them wanting for a reason to nationalize the Bvindu technology.
From Frank’s journal, six weeks later…
I couldn’t have been more wrong.
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I’m an author living in northern Virginia with a wife and a cat. In the late ’80s, I worked on the International Space Station project. I recently retired from managing a group of software engineers to focus on writing science fiction and speculative fiction. Learn more.