Green Mars Part 41

Antar had finished a short incendiary speech in Arabic while Maya was making her final push through the crowd, and Jackie was now up on the speakers' platform before a bank of microphones, making a speech that was amplified through big speakers on the pingo, and then reamplified by radio to auxiliary speakers placed all over Princess Park, and also to shoulder speakers, and lecterns, and wristpads, until her voice was everywhere- and yet, as every phrase echoed a bit off Table Mountain and Ellis b.u.t.te, and was welcomed by cheers, she could still only be heard part of the time. "...Will not allow Mars to be used as a replacement world... an executive ruling cla.s.s who are primarily responsible for the destruction of Terra... rats trying to leave a sinking ship... make the same mess of things on Mars if we let them!... not going to happen! Because this is now a free Mars! Free Mars! Free Mars!"

And she punched a finger at the sky and the crowd roared the words out, louder and louder with each repet.i.tion, falling quickly into a rhythm that allowed them to shout together-"Free Mars! Free Mars! Free Mars! Free Mars!"

While the huge and still growing crowd was chanting this, Nirgal made his way up the pingo and onto the platform, and when people saw him, many of them began shouting "Nir-gal," either in time with "Free Mars" or in the pauses between, so that it became "Free Mars (Nir-gal) Free Mars (Nir-gal)," in an enormous choral counterpoint.

When he reached the microphone, Nirgal waved a hand for quiet. The chanting, however, did not stop, but changed over entirely to "Nir-gal, Nir-gal, Nir-gal, Nir-gal," with an enthusiasm that was palpable, vibrating in the sound of that great collective voice, as if every single person out there was one of his friends, and enormously pleased at his appearance- and, Nadia thought, he had been traveling for so much of his life that this might not be all that far from the truth.

The chanting slowly diminished, until the crowd noise was a general buzz, quite loud, above which Nirgal's amplified greeting could be heard pretty well. As he spoke, Maya continued to make her way through the crowd toward the pingo, and as people stilled, it became easier for her. Then when Nirgal began to speak, she stopped as well and just watched him, sometimes remembering to move forward during the cheers and applause that ended many sentences.

His speaking style was low-key, calm, friendly, slow. It was easier to hear him. "For those of us born on Mars," he said, "this is our home."

He had to pause for most of a minute as the crowd cheered. They were mostly natives, Nadia saw again; Maya was shorter than almost everyone out there.

"Our bodies are made of atoms that until recently were part of the regolith," Nirgal went on. "We are Martian through and through. We are living pieces of Mars. We are human beings who have made a permanent, biological commitment to this planet. It is our home. And we can never go back." More cheers at this very well-known slogan.

"Now, as for those of us who were born on Earth- well, there are all different kinds, aren't there. When people move to a new place, some intend to stay and make it their new home, and we call those settlers. Others come to work for a while and then go back where they came from, and those we call visitors, or colonialists.

"Now natives and settlers are natural allies. After all, natives are no more than the children of earlier settlers. This is home to all of us together. As for visitors- there is room on Mars for them too. When we say that Mars is free, we are not saying Terrans can no longer come here. Not at all! We are all children of Earth, one way or another. It is our mother world, and we are happy to help it in every way we can."

The noise diminished, the crowd seeming somewhat surprised by this a.s.sertion.

"But the obvious fact," Nirgal went on, "is that what happens here on Mars should not be decided by colonialists, or by anyone back on Earth." Cheers began, drowning out some of what he said. "- A simple statement of our desire for self-determination... our natural right... the driving force of human history. We are not a colony, and we won't be treated as one. There is no such thing as a colony anymore. We are a free Mars."

More cheers, louder than ever, flowing into more chanting of "Free Mars! Free Mars!"

Nirgal interrupted the chanting. "What we intend to do now, as free Martians, is to welcome every Terran who wants to come to us. Whether to live here for a time and then go back, or else to settle here permanently. And we intend also to do everything we can to help Earth in its current environmental crisis. We have some expertise with flooding" (cheers) "and we can help. But this help, from now on, will no longer come mediated by metanationals, exacting their profits from the exchange. It will come as a free gift. It will benefit the people of Earth more than anything that could be extracted from us as a colony. This is true in the strict literal sense of the amount of resources and work that will be transferred from Mars to Earth. And so we hope and trust that everyone on both worlds will welcome the emergence of a free Mars."

And he stepped back and waved a hand, and the cheering and chanting erupted again. Nirgal stood on the platform, smiling and waving, looking pleased, but somewhat at a loss concerning what to do next.

All through his speech Maya had continued to inch forward during the cheering, and now Nadia could see by her vidcam image that she was at the platform's edge, standing in the first row of people. Her arms blocked the image again and again, and Nirgal caught sight of the waving, and looked at her.

When he saw who she was, he smiled and came right over, and helped boost her onto the platform. He led her over to the microphones, and Nadia caught a final image of a surprised and displeased Jackie Boone before Maya whipped off her vidcam spectacles. The image on Nadia's screen swung wildly, and ended up showing the planks of the platform. Nadia cursed and hurried over to Sax's screen, her heart in her throat.

Sax still had the Mangalavid image, now taken from the camera on the walktube arching from Ellis b.u.t.te to Table Mountain. From this angle they could see the sea of people surrounding the pingo, and filling the city's central valley far down into Ca.n.a.l Park; it had to be most of the people in Burroughs, surely. On the makeshift stage Jackie appeared to be shouting into Nirgal's ear. Nirgal did not respond to her, and in the middle of her exhortation he went up to the mikes. Maya looked small and old next to Jackie, but she was drawn up like an eagle, and when Nirgal said into the mikes, "We have Maya Toitovna," the cheers were huge.

Maya made chopping motions as she walked forward, and said into the mikes, "Quiet! Quiet! Thank you! Thank you. Be quiet! Be quiet! We have some serious announcements to make here as well." We have some serious announcements to make here as well."

"Jesus, Maya," Nadia said, clutching the back of Sax's chair.

"Mars is now independent, yes. Quiet! But as Nirgal just said, this does not mean we exist in isolation from Earth. This is impossible. We are claiming sovereignty according to international law, and we appeal to the World Court to confirm this legal status immediately. We have signed preliminary treaties affirming this independence, and establishing diplomatic relations, with Switzerland, India, and China. We have also initiated a nonexclusive economic partnership with the organization Praxis. This, like all arrangements we will make, will be not-for-profit, and designed to maximally benefit both worlds. All these treaties taken together begin the creation of our formal, legal, semiautonomous relationship with the various legal bodies of Earth. We fully expect immediate confirmation and ratification of all these agreements, by the World Court, the United Nations, and all other relevant bodies."

Cheers followed this announcement, and though they were not as loud as they had been for Nirgal, Maya allowed them to go on. When they had died down a bit, she continued.

"As for the situation here on Mars, our intentions are to meet here in Burroughs immediately, and use the Dorsa Brevia Declaration as the starting point for the establishment of a free Martian government."

Cheers again, much more enthusiastic. "Yes yes," Maya said impatiently, trying to cut them off again. "Quiet! Listen! Before any of that, we must address the problem of opposition. As you know, we are meeting here in front of the headquarters of the United Nations Transitional Authority security forces, who are this very moment listening along with the rest of us, there inside Table Mountain." She pointed. "Unless they have come out to join us." Cheers, shouting, chanting. ".... I want to say to them now that we mean them no harm. It is the Transitional Authority's job, now, to see that the transition has taken on a new form. And to order its security forces to stop trying to control us. You cannot control us!" Mad cheers. "...mean you no harm. And we a.s.sure you that you have free access to the s.p.a.ceport, where there are planes that can take all of you to Sheffield, and from there up to Clarke, if you do not care to join us in this new endeavor. This is not a siege or a blockade. This is, simply enough-"

And she stopped, and put out both hands: and the crowd told her.

Over the sound of the chanting Nadia tried to get through to Maya, still up on the stage, but it was obviously impossible for her to hear. Finally, however, Maya looked down at her wristpad. The image trembled; her arm was shaking.

"That was great, Maya! I am so proud of you!"

"Yes, well, anyone can make up stories!"

Art said loudly, "See if you can get them to disperse!"

"Right," Maya said.

"Talk to Nirgal," Nadia said. "Get him and Jackie to do it. Tell them to make sure there isn't any rush on Table Mountain, or anything like. Let them do it."

"Ha," Maya exclaimed. "Yes. We will let Jackie do it, won't we."

After that her wristpad's little camera image swung everywhere, and the noise was too great for the linked observers to make anything out. The Mangalavid cameras showed a big clump of people onstage conferring.

Nadia went over and sat down on a chair, feeling as drained as if she had had to make the speech herself. "She was great," she said. "She remembered everything we told her. Now we just have to make it real."

"Just saying it makes it real," Art said. "h.e.l.l, everyone on both worlds saw that. Praxis will be on it already. And Switzerland will surely back us. No, we'll make it work."

Sax said, "Transitional Authority might not agree. Here's a message in from Zeyk. Red commandos have come down from Syrtis. They've taken over the western end of the dike. They're moving east along it. They're not that far from the s.p.a.ceport."

"That's just what we want to avoid!" Nadia cried. "What do they think they're doing!"

Sax shrugged.

"Security isn't going to like that at all," Art said.

"We should talk to them directly," Nadia said, thinking it over. "I used to talk to Hastings when he was Mission Control. I don't remember much about him, but I don't think he was any kind of screaming crazy person."

"Couldn't hurt to find out what he's thinking," Art said.

So she went to a quiet room, and got on a screen, and made a call to UNTA headquarters in Table Mountain, and identified herself. Though it was now about two in the morning, she got through to Hastings in about five minutes.

She recognized him immediately, though she would have said she had long since forgotten his face. A short thin-faced harried technocrat, with a bit of a temper. When he saw her on his screen he grimaced. "You people again. We sent the wrong hundred, I've always said that."

"No doubt."

Nadia studied his face, trying to imagine what kind of man could have headed Mission Control in one century and the Transitional Authority in the next. He had been irritated with them frequently when they were on the Ares, haranguing them for every little deviation from the regulations, and getting truly furious when they temporarily stopped sending back video, late in the trip. A rules and regs bureaucrat, the kind of man Arkady had despised. But a man you could reason with.

Or so it seemed to her at first. She argued with him for ten or fifteen minutes, telling him that the demonstration he had just witnessed outside in the park was part of what had happened everywhere on Mars- that the whole planet had turned against them- that they were free to go to the s.p.a.ceport and leave.

"We're not going to leave," Hastings said.

His UNTA forces controlled the physical plant, he told her, and therefore the city was his. The Reds might take over the dike, but there was no chance they would broach it, because there were two hundred thousand people in the city, who were in effect hostages. Expert reinforcements were due to arrive with the next continuous shuttle, which was going to make its...o...b..tal insertion in the next twenty-four hours. So the speeches meant nothing. Posturing only.

He was calm as he told Nadia this- if he hadn't been so disgusted, Nadia might even have called him complacent. It seemed more than likely that he had orders from home, telling him to sit tight in Burroughs and wait for the reinforcements. No doubt the UNTA division in Sheffield had been told the same. And with Burroughs and Sheffield still in their hands, and reinforcements due any minute, it was not surprising they thought they had the upper hand. One might even say they were justified. "When people come to their senses," Hasting said to her sternly, "we'll be in control here again. The only thing that really matters now is the Antarctic flood, anyway. It's crucial to support the Earth in its time of need."

Nadia gave up. Hastings was clearly a stubborn man, and besides, he had a point. Several points. So she ended the conference as politely as she could, asking to get back to him later, in what she hoped was Art's diplomatic style. Then she went back out to the others.

As the night went on, they continued to monitor reports coming in from Burroughs and elsewhere. Too much was happening to allow Nadia to feel comfortable going to bed, and apparently Sax and Steve and Marian and the other Bogdanovists in Du Martheray felt similarly. So they sat slumped in their chairs, sandy-eyed and aching as the hours pa.s.sed and the images on the screen flickered. Clearly some of the Reds were detaching from the main resistance coalition, following some sort of agenda of their own, escalating their campaign of sabotage and direct a.s.sault all over the planet, taking small stations by force and then, as often as not, putting the occupants in cars, and blowing the stations up. Another "Red army" also successfully stormed the physical plant in Cairo, killing many of the security guards inside, and getting the rest to surrender.

This victory had encouraged them, but elsewhere the results were not so good; it appeared from some scattered survivors' calls that a Red attack on the occupied physical plant in La.s.switz had destroyed it, and ma.s.sively broached the tent, so that those who had not managed to get into secure buildings, or out into cars, had died. "What are they doing? doing?" Nadia cried. But no one answered her. These groups were not returning her calls. And neither was Ann.

"I wish they would at least discuss their plans with the rest of us," Nadia said fearfully. "We can't let things spiral out of control, it's too dangerous..."

Sax was pursing his lips, looking uneasy. They went to the commons to get some breakfast, and then some rest. Nadia had to force herself to eat. It was exactly a week since Sax's first call, and she couldn't recall anything she had eaten in that week. Indeed, on reflection she found she was ravenous. She began to shovel down scrambled eggs.

When they were almost done eating Sax leaned over and said, "You mentioned discussing plans."

"What," Nadia said, her fork stalled halfway to her face.

"Well, this incoming shuttle, with the security task force on board?"

"What about it?" After the flight over Kasei Vallis, she did not trust Sax to be rational; the fork in her hand began to tremble visibly.

He said, "Well, I have a plan. My group in Da Vinci thought of it, actually."

Nadia tried to steady the fork. "Tell me."

The rest of that day was a blur to Nadia, as she abandoned any attempt to rest, and tried to reach Red groups, and worked with Art drafting messages to Earth, and told Maya and Nirgal and the rest in Burroughs about Sax's latest. It seemed that the pace of events, already accelerated, had caught gears with something spinning madly, and had now accelerated out of anyone's control, leaving no time to eat or sleep or go to the bathroom. But all those things had to be done, and so she staggered down to the women's room and took a long shower, then ate a spartan lunch of bread and cheese, and then stretched out on a couch and caught some sleep; but it was the kind of restless shallow sleep in which her mind continued to tick over, thinking fuzzy distorted thoughts about the events of the day, incorporating the voices there in the room with her. Nirgal and Jackie were not getting along; was this a problem for the rest of them?

Then she was up again, as exhausted as before. The people in the room were still talking about Jackie and Nirgal. Nadia went off to the bathroom, and then hunted for coffee.

Zeyk and n.a.z.ik and a large Arab contingent had arrived at Du Martheray while she was sleeping, and now Zeyk stuck his head into the kitchen: "Sax says the shuttle is about to arrive."

Du Martheray was only six degrees north of the equator, and so they were well situated to see this particular aerobraking, which was going to happen just after sunset. The weather cooperated, and the sky was cloudless and very clear. The sun dropped, the eastern sky darkened, and the arch of colors above Syrtis to the west was a spectrum array, shading through yellow, orange, a narrow pale streak of green, teal blue, and indigo. Then the sun disappeared over the black hills, and the sky colors deepened and turned transparent, as if the dome of the sky had suddenly grown a hundred times larger.

And in the midst of this color, between the two evening stars, a third white star burst into being and shot up the sky, leaving a short straight contrail. This was the usual dramatic appearance that aerobraking continuous shuttles made as they burned into the upper atmosphere, almost as visible by day as by night. It only took about a minute for them to cross the sky from one horizon to the other, slow brilliant shooting stars.

But this time, when it was still high in the west, it got fainter and fainter, until it was no more than a faint star. And was gone.

Du Martheray's observation room was crowded, and many exclaimed at this unprecedented sight, even though they had been warned. When it was completely gone Zeyk asked Sax to explain it for those of them who had not heard the full story. The orbital insertion window for aerobraking shuttles was narrow, Sax told them, just as it had been for the Ares Ares back in the beginning. There was very little room for error. So Sax's technical group in Da Vinci Crater had equipped a rocket with a payload of metal bits- like a keg of sc.r.a.p iron, he said- and they had shot it off a few hours before. The payload had exploded in the approaching shuttle's MOI path just a few minutes before its arrival, casting the metal fragments in a band that was wide horizontally but narrow vertically. Orbital insertions were completely computer-controlled, of course, and so when the shuttle's radar had identified the patch of debris, the AI navigating the shuttle had had very few options. Diving below the debris would have put the shuttle through thicker atmosphere, very likely burning it up; going through the debris would risk holing the heat shield, likewise burning it up. back in the beginning. There was very little room for error. So Sax's technical group in Da Vinci Crater had equipped a rocket with a payload of metal bits- like a keg of sc.r.a.p iron, he said- and they had shot it off a few hours before. The payload had exploded in the approaching shuttle's MOI path just a few minutes before its arrival, casting the metal fragments in a band that was wide horizontally but narrow vertically. Orbital insertions were completely computer-controlled, of course, and so when the shuttle's radar had identified the patch of debris, the AI navigating the shuttle had had very few options. Diving below the debris would have put the shuttle through thicker atmosphere, very likely burning it up; going through the debris would risk holing the heat shield, likewise burning it up. Shikata ga nai Shikata ga nai, then; given the risk levels programmed into it, the AI had had to abort the aerobraking run by flying above the debris, thus skipping back out of the atmosphere. Which meant the shuttle was still moving outward in the solar system at very near its top speed of 40,000 kilometers per hour.

"Do they have any way to slow down except aerobraking?" Zeyk asked Sax.

"Not really. That's why they aerobrake."

"So the shuttle is doomed?"

"Not necessarily. They can use another planet as a gravity handle to swing around, and come back here, or go back to Earth."

"So they're on their way to Jupiter?"

"Well, Jupiter is on the other side of the solar system right now."

Zeyk was grinning. "They're on their way to Saturn?"

"They may be able to pa.s.s very close to several asteroids sequentially," Sax was saying, "and redirect their crash- their course course."

Zeyk laughed, and though Sax went on about course correction strategies, too many other people were talking for anyone to be able to hear him.

So they no longer had to worry about security reinforcements from Earth, at least not immediately. But Nadia thought that this fact might make the UNTA police in Burroughs feel trapped, and thus more dangerous to them. And at the same time, the Reds were continuing to move north of the city, which no doubt added to security's trapped feeling. On the same night as the shuttle's flyby, groups of Reds in armored cars completed their takeover of the dike. That meant they were fairly close to the Burroughs s.p.a.ceport, which was located just ten kilometers northwest of the city.

Maya appeared on-screen, looking no different than she had before her great speech. "If the Reds take the s.p.a.ceport," she said to Nadia, "security will be trapped in Burroughs."

"I know. That's just what we don't want. Especially now."

"I know. Can't you keep those people under control?"

"They're not consulting me anymore."

"I thought you were the great leader here."

"I thought it was you," Nadia snapped back.

Maya laughed, harsh and humorless.

Another report came in from Praxis, a package of Terran news programs that had been relayed off Vesta. Most of it was the latest information on the flood, and the disasters in Indonesia and in many other coastal areas, but there was some political news as well, including some instances of nationalization of metanat holdings by the militaries of some client countries in the Southern Club, which the Praxis a.n.a.lysts thought might indicate the beginnings of a revolt by governments against metanats. As for the ma.s.s demonstration in Burroughs, it had made the news in many countries, and was certainly a topic in government offices and boardrooms around the world. Switzerland had confirmed that it was establishing diplomatic relations with a Martian government "to be designated later," as Art said with a grin. Praxis had done the same. The World Court had announced that it would consider the suit brought by the Dorsa Brevia Peaceful Neutral Coalition against UNTA- a suit dubbed "Mars vs. Terra" by the Terran media- as soon as possible. And the continuous shuttle had reported its missed insertion; apparently it planned to turn around in the asteroids. But Nadia found it extremely encouraging that none of these events were being treated as first-headline news on Earth, where the chaos caused by the flooding was still paramount in everyone's attention. There were millions of refugees everywhere, and many of them in immediate need....

But this was why they had launched the revolt when they had. On Mars, the independence movements had most of the cities under their control. Sheffield was still a metanational stronghold, but Peter Clayborne was up there, in command of all the insurgents on Pavonis, coordinating their activities in a way that they had not been able to match around Burroughs. Partly this was because many of the most radical elements of the resistance had avoided Tharsis, and partly because the situation in Sheffield was extremely difficult, with little room for maneuvering. The insurgents now controlled Arsia and Ascraeus, and the little scientific station in Crater Zp on Olympus Mons; and they even had control of most of Sheffield town. But the elevator socket, and the whole quarter of the city surrounding it, were firmly in the hands of the security police, and they were heavily armed. So Peter had his hands full on Tharsis, and would not be able to help them around Burroughs. Nadia talked to him briefly, describing the situation in Burroughs and begging him to call Ann and ask her to get the Reds to show some restraint. He promised to do what he could, but did not seem confident that he had his mother's ear.

After that Nadia tried another call to Ann, but did not get through. Then she tried to reach Hastings, and he took her call, but it was not a productive exchange. Hastings was no longer anything like the complacent disgusted figure she had talked to the night before. "This occupation of the dike!" he exclaimed angrily. "What are they trying to prove? Do you think I believe that they'll cut the dike when there's two hundred thousand people in this city, most of them on your side? It's absurd! But you listen to me, there are people in this organization who don't like the danger it puts the population in! I tell you, I can't be responsible for what happens if those people don't get the h.e.l.l off that dike- off Isidis Planitia entirely! You get them off there!"

And he cut the connection before Nadia could even reply, distracted by someone off-screen who had come in during the middle of his tirade. A frightened man, Nadia thought, feeling the iron walnut tugging inward again. A man who no longer felt in control of the situation. An accurate a.s.sessment, no doubt. But she had not liked that last look on his face. She even tried to call back, but no one in Table Mountain would answer anymore.

A couple of hours later Sax woke her up in her chair, and she found out what Hastings had been so worried about. "The UNTA unit that burned Sabishii went out in armored cars and tried to- to take the dike away from the Reds," Sax told her, looking grave. "Apparently there's been a fight over the section of the dike nearest the city. And we've just heard from some Red units up there that the dike has been broached."

"What?"

"Blown up. They had drilled holes and set charges to use as a- as a threat. And in the fighting they ended up setting them off. That's what they said."

"Oh my G.o.d." Her drowsiness was gone in a flash, blown away in her own internal explosion, a great blast of adrenaline racing all through her. "Have you got any confirmation?"

"We can see a dustcloud blocking the stars. A big one."

"Oh my G.o.d." She went to the nearest screen, her heart thudding in her chest. It was three A.M. "Is there a chance ice will choke the gap, and serve as a dam?"