Welcome Aboard Air Marineris

We’ve come to the end of the beginning. If I go on, I will tell you more than you need to know, and much more than you want to know. Better to jump forward ten months and skip the hard work. It’s never dramatic enough for a good story.

Whatever secret the UN was keeping was still secret. Whatever source the magic radios came from remained unrevealed both in the news and the scientific literature. And there were other developments that arrived with no antecedent provenance. Neither aliens, nor unexplainable alien technology received even a whiff of publicity on the newspages. It seemed obvious that, if there were a secret there, it would never be voluntarily disclosed. It might seem curious that curiosity itself was in so little evidence. But the people who would notice that came from a relatively small community. Then, fundamental research, and all its practitioners, were being decimated. Without researchers, there were no questions about research. They had other things to concern them. Like their own uncertain futures.

We couldn’t concern ourselves with that. For us, the radios were an unalterable fact. As well, we were encapsulated in our own work. We were well along our route. Nothing significant, but well along, and we were working as fast as we could. We had done two hundred kilometers of primary track and one hundred and twenty kilometers of the twinned track with its extra tracks of bare pylons. We had two airships by that time, enough to accommodate two groups of ten constructors, and all the supplies we needed. We had planned another cargo ship and then our first passenger ship.

Factory production was well established. Janneke Lestari, who we called Hana, had come, and taken over the foundry from Lou. She was Jan’s find from Moon Tools. She set it up like a factory, not a specialist machine shop. She started saving us money almost immediately with that. She knew shortcuts that had never occurred to us. She seemed to have a supernatural connection to those machines. We were getting rails and pylons in quantity, and Lou was back at the smelter, making sure she had plenty of ingots to work with. We were then looking for still another pro to run that facility and set up a specialist alloying operation. We were hoping to work ourselves out of our secondary jobs and get experienced people we could count on for the long run the line was going to take.

So, things were going smoothly, except for the chronic specification problem Linus had created for us. Some of us had almost forgotten that, but it was hanging over me all the time. It made me a little ill each time we skipped the middle pylon. I wasn’t the only one who felt like that. But there was nothing to be done until we reached a crisis. Yours truly was going to supply that.

Of course, I was doing all the management work. There was no way that Linus was going to be able to supervise almost a dozen workers over the radio. I had expected that. No surprise. Fems are used to doing all the work when men get the credit. It was no different that time. Perhaps you think I’m too sensitive. Walk in my shoes for a day and then tell me so. That one time, however, it was an advantage. Linus, accommodating in his obsessive insistence, asked me at least twice a week to assure him we were following specification in every detail. He thought we were going to sabotage him. No need for that. He had that one covered without our help. And I, the helpful and cooperative underling, confirmed that to him unctuously each time. I made sure that each installation was meticulously logged with all the installation specs double checked. The overlay graphics did that and the icing on the cake each time was an audio from each of us to confirm that we had installed the components exactly as instructed.

It might not improve your opinion of me, but I enjoyed all that exaggerated servility. I had arranged with Linh to have everything recorded and stored, not only in the cloud, but on a physical drive right here. We weren’t going to lose anything. So, every time he asked that pointless question, I knew it was another shovelful for him. When the time came, the responsibility will rest on his shoulders, not mine. I wasn’t going to be in the crosshairs this time. I would be well out of the way. I’m just a worker. Just following orders, guys.

Bee raised questions about my uncharacteristic patience repeatedly, even before we got to two hundred. We were sitting in the cafeteria, having breakfast. We had gotten into the habit of doing that. Dini was so eager to get to her office every day, she passed up breakfast and let me get her a breakfast sandwich. That fast food is fattening. She was going to need to watch her calories eventually, or she wouldn’t qualify as petite anymore. Not that I minded that. In the meantime, she compensated by hitting the gym even earlier. I would see her for a few minutes in the evenings before she went to sleep.

The sun was coming in from the East and shining down the canyon, just like every other morning. Just then, it reflected off the reinforced glass walls of the Airway corridor. The thick roof with its poly shielding on top of the gleaming walls made it look like the roof was sitting in a pool of water. The sun dazzled the eyes. That long corridor allowed us access to the lines built well away from the walls. You need to avoid occasional landslides down the cliffs. They don’t happen often, but rock falling four klicks here can pack a punch. The limiting velocityis five times what it is on Earth. You don’t want to be under it.

“What are you waiting for Mo? Every day we build it out this way is another day we will need to do it over. Have you told anybody else about this, or am I just unconscious? As far as I am aware, only the originals know. None of these new people have any idea that they are wasting their time.”

“Well, they’re not wasting all their time. We may need to replace a few kilometers of rails and implant the extra centre pylons, but a lot of the stuff will be ok. It’ll take us a few tens of kilometers to get it up to speed, but until we get over two hundred per, everything will likely be stable. I intend to keep it at maximum only for twenty klicks or so. That’s what might be damaged. We need to have enough track to prove the point, after all. With all the people we have, and all the components Hana is making for us, it won’t be too bad to replace the rails we break. I’ve developed a protocol to do that and have it ready at a moment’s notice. I don’t plan to wait to make the repairs. And now we have a second ship and another set of rails to help with that.”

“What about the people? They’ll be pissed. I can tell you I don’t like doing work I know is going to need doing over. And what about the other damage we may do in the test? You know already the stress can be severe. Can you be sure that one of them won’t separate and throw the car? Then we’ll have to go out and scrape it up! We may not be able to do that with drones, Mo. What if we need to send people out there? Solar storms are not entirely predictable. It may come at an inconvenient time. We might need to wait to go out.”

“Relax, Bee. It hasn’t happened yet. Even bad storms are usually over in hours. The radiation is certainly bad for you, but it won’t kill you right away. We do have treatments. And you’re down here in the Valles, with twice the protection, and quite probably not in direct line with the Sun. We could do a few hours and rotate the people if we needed to. We just impose the limits for lifetime exposure. It’s a safety policy, not a death sentence.

“The likelihood of total rail failure on the first pass is low. We had that separation accident with the light rails. We are using the heavy rails here. I can’t guarantee it, but likely the worst we will get will be those stress cracks you can’t even see with the naked eye. They are very bad to get at all, but they won’t blow anything up.

“Bee, this is not our doing. We tried to avoid this. We told them about the failures we had at Borealis. We warned them. We quit to make the point. We can’t do more without undeniable evidence in the face of their refusal to face facts.

“Okay, you’re the engineer. Maybe I’m making too much of it. It just makes me feel bad, Mo. I am itching to do it right.”

“I’d never have thought I would need to tell you to be patient. I’m the headstrong one, remember? We have the extra materials, thanks to Hana. We will have four cars in all. A typical train for the initial period. I plan to load them and connect them like we would in regular service. I will put dummies in the passenger car. Since I am not risking people, I can send it out before it’s completed. A few seats is all it will need. No environmental system. I’m even going to forget about that, even though it would weigh quite a bit. If we can get them up to speed, and not break something, Linus is right, and I am wrong. How likely is that?”

“In view of the history we have written, impossible.”

“I don’t want to get rid of Linus, although that may happen. We could get someone worse. I just want him to go back to his designated job and stop playing engineer.”

We had gone to my alternate workstation set up with the ones of our new employees to talk. I was located toward the end of the cluster. The simple black chair and bare displayscreen seemed a soothing refuge compared to my place in the glare of Linus’ image in my own office. I must say I had long gotten tired of his icon hovering over the magic radio twenty-four seven. It was never turned off. I resented being observed all the time, as Klara no doubt did. But the restricted ambit of its viewing area neutered it. You could get away from it so easily.

Far from being the endless encouragement to loyal adherence it was intended to stimulate, it created a feeling of dull resentment. I suppose everybody in the sight of such aspiring imagery responds the same way. I don’t think it is the one of respect and obedience that it may be imagined to be. That image is, at best, the reminder of swift punishment for disobedience. Linus, notwithstanding his immediate perception of me, was still two hundred million miles away and emasculated by that physical distance. It seemed to me worse than pointless to maintain that flickering image over the radio. Someone’s idea of an effective threat, though.

I was always aware that I had to spend some time in my own office. I couldn’t escape criticism for laxity if I never went there. Even a field supervisor must visit her digs sometime. When I went back there that time, the screen immediately became active. Bee had come back with me because I wanted to show him how I had set up my constructor controllers. Linus had been waiting for me, probably for hours to make certain he didn’t miss me when I came. How touching that was! It occurred to me when I saw his darkened face that he had been sitting and simmering. His voice was angry.

“Monica, it has come to my attention that you are planning to run a stress test on the roadbed without instruction. You could cause a great deal of damage. That would be a very irresponsible act. I forbid you from any such thing. You are not to take any such action. That is a direct order from your superior!”

This angered me instantly. I rise to the bait, usually. But then I waited a moment and restrained myself.

“On what basis have you come to that conclusion, Linus? I have not mentioned any such thing to you. My reports do not mention anything of the sort. I have not had any such discussions in my office in the vicinity of your radio.”

He was angry, as I have said, and he responded immediately without pause.

“You were heard just this morning discussing that subject with Mr. Levski here. I know it!”

“Leave the test aside for a moment. By what right do you peep on us? We were told when we came here that one of the ‘perks’ of living here is that we would have freedom from surveillance. I know you people on Earth have come to love it. We think its intrusive. And it’s also illegal here to listen to a conversation without the consent of the participants. You are admitting to participation in a criminal offense. Linus. You want to say something else?”

He continued, heedless. He wasn’t really thinking at all.

“I heard you. We have a recording! You said you were going to do a test when you reached two hundred. You can’t do that!”

Bee was listening, and he had something to say.

“What we were saying when you committed that crime of illegal surveillance is irrelevant. That’s a crime. It’s set out in the code of criminal procedure of the Authority, Linus. It’s true you aren’t here to charge, but we could seize some of the property you used to commit your offense if you were convicted. The offense was committed here. We could take your magic radio.”

“That belongs to Starward Corporation. You can’t seize that! We own Mars!

“That is imprecise, Linus. Actually, Mars is owned by the UN under the space treaty and the Mars Development Authority, a public private partnership, is licensed to develop it. Starward doesn’t own anything here but its companies. They are private property. Our constructors are private property. Starward is the contractor. Even Air Marineris is a public utility that Starward is contracted to. Maybe the line hasn’t been commissioned yet, but that is arguable too. Certainly, Lowell isn’t private. The cafeteria where you committed your crime belongs to the Authority, and you don’t have any jurisdiction here. You may not even own the equipment you used in the crime. That’s another offense entirely. But we will seize it until we figure it out. Complicated, isn’t it?”

“You’re that lawyer, the executioner, aren’t you?” Linus was beside himself. He was getting more furious by the minute.

“As for the test, I am sure that the construction contract has the usual provisions. One of the universal provisions in construction contracts is the commissioning protocol that allows the client to test the installation before accepting it. Air Marineris transportation is free to satisfy itself that the construction meets specifications and is merchantable before it accepts it under the contract. Technically, it doesn’t have to pay unless it is so satisfied, except for stage advances specified in the contract. That’s where Starward, which has financed the project itself, comes in. It gets complicated there too. Bottom line is that we are entitled to stress tests as officers of the Authority. Care to examine our T/O?”

I figured I could handle that part of the analysis. Linus just couldn’t think of anything else to say. He sat there with his mouth opening. He wasn’t expecting any resistance. He was used to people following his orders.

“Both Boris and I are posted to the Board of Directors of Air Marineris. Starward suggested that.”

“Then both of you are fired from Starward Contractors!”

Bee again. He was in his element.

“Sorry, Linus, you can’t do that either. We told you before. There are labor laws on Mars. They were put in the Authority’s charter at the request of the International Labor Organization. They are standard provisions. You can’t fire hourly employees without submitting to a grievance procedure. Unfortunately, we are just in the process of appointing that committee, so you won’t be able to get a hearing for several months. You could give us formal notice of a request for hearing though. You must give it in writing and get an admission of service. As far as I am aware, there is no appointed agent for Starward to perform that function. That post is filled in consultation with the Mars Labor Union. That has no personnel appointed either, Linus. This is going to take a while.”

Linus disappeared. The default image came up over the radio. The conversation was over. Linus was going for help.