 
# The Darwinian Extension: Completion

Hylton Smith

Copyright2010 by Hylton H. Smith

Smashwords Edition

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage or retrieval system, without the permission in writing from the publisher,

Promethean

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters and incidents are products of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.

The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Acknowledgement

The continued patience and support of Rhys J Smith and Anne Flint are an essential part of the entire trilogy

# Prologue

Roberto Xiang's funeral marked the beginning of the end of an era. It was attended by all of the astronauts who had been involved in the missions to Mars over which he had presided as Controller, and later as the Chief Executive of the Council for Human Exploration. His passing had hit Daniel Carvalho every bit as hard as it did his own family. During the memorial service, Carvalho reflected on just how much Xiang had influenced his career and indeed his life.

They had first met during the selection and training for the first manned mission on Copernicus. They had crossed swords initially because of his immaturity and naivety, but Commander Magnusson and Xiang had found the right balance of tolerance and discipline which brought out the best in him. Daniel recalled the unilateral act by Roberto in appropriating a pod to travel to meet Copernicus, with water to save the lives of the crew. He then 'became' the father figure Daniel had been deprived of when his real father perished in an air disaster.

In subsequent Mars missions Carvalho quietly gravitated to the senior presence of the Martian colony. He owed most of this ascension to his relationship with Xiang, in the way they were able to deal with rifts in the developing rationale, to steer the up-scaling of the colonisation. It was however a mutually beneficial bridge, Xiang was assisted on several occasions by Carvalho in overturning the conventional Terran wisdom.

This had ultimately led to Carvalho to negotiate a charter of independent citizenship for Martians. This was achievable because some of the Martians were non-human. The Continuance had been discovered on the original Copernicus mission and had become essential developers of the Martian terraforming advance. The Axis had lived on Mars for three thousand years, almost three million years ago. During that period they had observed evolution on Earth but maintained a policy of non-interference. They had built phenomenally sophisticated nuclear energy plants, manufacturing infrastructure and raw material extraction facilities. They had been driven away from Mars by a massive assault from Legionella bacteria. Having settled at an underground habitat on Europa, they kept a vigil on Earth life and maintained their Martian legacy until humanity discovered it. They then visited the now red and green planet to meet the species which had crawled out of the primordial soup they had observed.

The advanced intelligence of both the Continuance and the Axis had worried Earth politicians for a number of years, especially as Carvalho had invited the Axis to return to live on Mars. However this fear was eventually replaced by dependence on their continued help in driving back the ecological damage Earth had inflicted upon itself. The Martian society had demonstrated the multicultural harmony that Earth had only talked about. Ratification of the charter was the crowning achievement of Xiang and Carvalho in their long association. Carvalho could not hold back his emotions any longer. He welled up and visibly convulsed as tears flowed uncontrollably. Nobody had witnessed this side of his character before and they were confused, concerned and sympathetic in equal measure.

This special relationship must have figured in the offer to Carvalho of continuing the work as Xiang's successor. Carvalho knew this, and he also knew his now departed friend would understand why he refused. He sidestepped the honour by convincing the faceless ones that he had a lot more to achieve off-world.

Although the Earth's trust had been won by obtaining Martian technology and guidance, one area of trepidation still existed.

The accounts of the Axis inheritance of interstellar travel, courtesy of the Continuance, illustrated how it backfired spectacularly, and struck fear into Earth's governing elite. This was not however, the most significant hurdle to overcome. The Axis had also related a division in their ranks, with regard to deliberate modification of their physiology, in order to withstand the rigours of interstellar flight. This issue had been debated before the disaster inflicted by the spatial distortion which opened the wormhole. Four million perished on their home planet Nexus.

Subsequently they agreed to ban all such manipulation of cosmic forces. Groups of them, having arrived at three separate exits from the wormhole renewed communication. It reinforced this directive, and also declared that the alteration of their physiology should no longer be required. Their citizens had a free choice, to continue replenishment and live in perpetuity, or allow mortality to prevail after about 555 Earth years.

The unease which had already existed on Earth was now underpinned by a species which had 'been there and done it'. The issues were complex. Replacement of organs such as hearts, livers, cornea, kidneys etc. also had their detractors back in the twentieth century. Compassion for the suffering individuals had ultimately won through, helped by organ donor involvement. When the first brain, developed under the guidance of Alex 2, was available, a similar outcry surfaced. The additional complication was that a different person was being created. Alex 2 was the first generation replicant of Alex Redgrave – the science officer on the first Copernicus mission.

The replication occurred when red Martian crystals, nicknamed Scarlet O'Hara, switched to an amorphous form and accidently penetrated Redgrave's skin and then his bloodstream. These crystals had been prised from West Candor chasm, or as it became known – Pandora's Rift. The Cosmos had been seeded with these crystals billions of years ago and the Martian source had, because of the extreme cold, 'hibernated' for almost as long as the planet had existed. The warmer lab conditions had triggered a return to the active amorphous form and it had sought out a host which offered 'data' in abundance. The Continuance, as the species was known, replicated life forms as data cells rather than biological types. Being virtually exclusively inorganic, they had immense strength, immunity to radiation and no requirement for nutrients or breathable atmosphere. Their programming was simply to encourage and assist promising species. They were programmed by the Progenitors, highly sophisticated entities, residing in and controlling dark matter. Further replications could occur by design or accident, and with other species.

As a member of the Continuance, Alex 2, at that time, was still earning trust from the human race and this was to delay such transplants for several years. Resistance was eventually eroded and indeed helped by the new brain being artificial, and being capable of inheriting much of the memory of the outgoing defective one. This was something Alex 2 had predicted at the height of the resistance and it had been totally ignored. The remaining moral hang-up was not about the other modifications to rid the species of the need for digestion, waste management, oxygen dependency or temperature resistance. It was very simply put as the redundancy of procreation as we know it.

The Axis contributed to the debate, by revealing that the reason for trying to leave Nexus was instability in the orbits of three gas giants around one of the 55 Cancri stars. The impending cataclysm was preceded by increased radiation rendering the species sterile. While this made the initial decision to transform their biology to a primarily inorganic structure an easy one, time had altered that view for many of them. Their contrived procreative substitute was to sequentially replace the brain (artificial sphere in their case) then the carcass. This mimicked a new generation but the core memory had to be transferred. They concluded that although it was a technical achievement of the highest order, it did not deliver lasting satisfaction.

Having decided to terminate, many had now changed their minds since meeting humans. A sense of purpose had offered a timeout.

Earth objections finally rested on this single point of procreation. It embodied moral, religious and non-religious need for 'belonging', and this craving for purpose.

For Alex 2, purpose was difficult to grasp in this context. He was an agent of the Progenitors, the life form residing in dark matter. Their struggle was with balance in the cosmos, particularly with dark energy. A see-saw of gravitational tug-of-war with accelerating expansion had to be maintained rather than won. Winning in this case would be losing, as neither victor would be accompanied by a favourable outcome. Alex 2's point was that if the big bang was an accident rather than a masterpiece of design, then it was difficult to ascribe purpose to anything, let alone something as insignificant as deliberate mutation.

He had, in pursuing this line of reasoning, for once, assisted the opposition by being asked why he supported the 'purpose' of the Progenitors. The Earth discomfort was echoed by the Axis. The debate would not go away. Humanity also felt it had the dimension of time, unlike the Axis, to give appropriate respect to a departure of this magnitude for the species. It was for this reason that Daniel Carvalho knew that his dear friend Roberto Xiang would have endorsed his decision to remain a Martian.

# Chapter 1

It was almost a quarter of a century since the Copernicus crew first set foot on Mars. Carvalho was twenty-seven at the time; he neither looked nor felt fifty-one. Apart from a little grey around the temples, his thick black hair and athletic build would have placed him no more than late thirties. He had never married, convincing himself that he had no time for anything other than his passion of steering the colony to make the breakthrough – interstellar propulsion capability. Only now did he have some regret that he had no offspring, and this was gnawing at his disposition of the species in general.

The Axis technology and the Symbiants' implementation had transformed Mars into a pleasant environment. Symbiant was the affectionate term for the individual members of the Continuance. They had replicated various Humans and Axis personnel over the years and combined the inherited knowledge with their own prodigious capabilities.

The population of Mars was nudging sixty one thousand in 2057. The vast majority was human and many of those were Martian born. The Axis had decided in 2045 that they would consent to fabrication of totally 'artificial' citizens. The decision was taken because their numbers could otherwise only decrease – due to the mass sterilisation which had occurred on their home planet, Nexus.

Initially this had caused mild panic on Earth, but the influence of Carvalho had prevailed when he repeatedly stated that mankind may face precisely the same dilemma in the future. This gave breathing space to the Axis but re-ignited unrest concerning the 'spectre' of deleting humanity'.

The Axis infrastructure had ensured a high degree of Martian self-sufficiency. In fact Earth was in deficit with trade, especially synthetic food production techniques and sophisticated nuclear plant licences. The seeds of meritocracy sown on Earth when Alex 2 had returned with Copernicus had struggled to make an impact. The position of the consumer at the apex of the Terran pyramid had proven difficult to dislodge. The progress was slow and would remain so while promissory notes alone continued to drive investment.

By contrast Mars was a genuine meritocracy. Currency had never been employed; even trade with Earth had been on an exchange principle. If there was no immediate inventory or technology requirement it accrued against the next one to emerge. Luxuries were available, subordinated to necessities, and shared. Apart from particular remit driven accessories, citizens had an equal stake in the creation of 'a better place'. This was puzzling to many Earth citizens in view of the macro differences in the participating species. It also had a knock-on effect of increasing the waiting list to exit the home planet.

Carvalho was mulling over his forthcoming meeting with two visitors from Terra. Xiang's successor was Brady Logan, a former Governor of Oceania and before that C.E. of World Food Developments Inc. The second individual was an old friend in propulsion theory – Karel Sevicek. He felt there would be difficulties in spreading his time with them. Some delegation would be required and as he did not want Logan to suffer any distraction, he would assign Red and Dan to Sevicek and try to persuade him to take a later shuttle back to Earth.

When the Axis had accepted the invitation to move back to Mars from Europa, the message had been delivered by Al (an abbreviation of Always Precise – the closest translation of his Axis designation). Al was the leader of the caretakers on their 555 year cycle to maintain Martian legacy. The overall leader was the one who ratified the decision to return – his translated designation was 'Far Vision' and the obligatory abbreviation became 'Fav'.

The Axis spoken language had been too difficult for humans to master so the Axis had altered their voice apparatus with the assistance of the medical Symbiant, Pascal 2, first generation replicant of Pascal Dupree, the Copernicus Doctor. They had become fluent in human conversation, but retained pledges to preserve their own clicking language.

Carvalho had requested Fav to assign his foremost propulsion theorist to the meeting with Sevicek, and it was agreed. His reasoning was to provide counterbalance in view of the disastrous results of the accidental genocide of the occupants of Nexus. There was no critical urgency to blast out of the solar system, so it was important to keep safety as the overriding arbiter of experimentation.

On Earth the Council for Human Exploration was under considerable pressure to increase the rate of migration to Mars, by the governments of the big five. This was as much to help deliver election promises to their voters as it was to beef up the Martian effort. It could not be projected so truthfully in the murky world of politics. Carvalho knew this would be top of Logan's agenda if he had produced one. He didn't however want an uncontrolled Earth exodus to fracture the social and industrial accord on Mars. It would therefore come as a surprise for Logan to be confronted with Alex 2 and Fav as well as himself.

There was an even bigger surprise for Carvalho. The Terran phobia that had accompanied replication by the amorphous form of the red Martian crystals had been quelled over the years. Now Logan was about to arrive with a request for Scarlet to become part of the trading agreement.

This could become a thorny issue as over 80% of the resource had been consumed in building the giant and mini-domes as well as propagation of the immense forests around the planet. The atmosphere now had a micro-greenhouse effect and the surface temperature during the day often reached 9 degrees Celsius. The consequent water vapour retention allowed liquid water to weave its own ecological agenda. Oxygen level was at 7%, almost perfect for the Axis, although still a little thin for humans; it was at a similar level to that at Everest's Himalayan peak. The trend however was now partly self-generating and exponential change had been established. Radiation was still an issue. The remaining quantities of Scarlet had been extracted and cold-stored in a highly secure location. The notion that it would become a tool of profligate politicians, to bolster their economies by replicants displacing the lower paid, and creating an illusory hike in quality of living, was distinctly unacceptable to all Martians.

The arrival of the visitors' shuttle was officially an opportunity for Martians to take a vacation on Earth. There was no clamour for this; a few normally did take it, but considering the many who had left family behind it was a disturbing judgement of Terran society that most did not.

The visitors disembarked from the descent vehicle. Logan appeared much more relieved than Sevicek when they were greeted by Carvalho. A quick safety induction video was sufficient for Logan to recover his poise, and Carvalho explained the separate sessions, assuring Sevicek that they would get some one-on-one time in the evenings.

Although both men had heard of the advances in colonisation they were highly impressed with everything they saw. No fossil fuel was used for heating or transport. The appetising appearance of the cuisine was entirely courtesy of the Axis technology. The absence of money and plastic cards stood out. The recreation dome halfway between Marineris Central and Echus Chasma contained an impressive lake with water sports and street cafes. The PA system infrequently interrupted Echus 1 TV broadcasts. There was another social networking dome near the fissure on the road to Utopia Planitia, for buildings facilitating other leisure pursuits such as libraries, cinemas, dancing and restaurants. Other domes were under construction. Access between these distant points was by Axis-designed underground trains. They were incredibly high speed, high precision vehicles with virtually no sensation of movement.

The 'tour' ended with the phenomenal refurbished manufacturing operation at Echus Chasma. When looking at the spacecraft assembly lines and the sophistication of the robotics, Sevicek proclaimed that nothing he had seen of this on TV had prepared him for this moment. The meetings would start after sleep and breakfast.

# Chapter 2

The two Earthlings exhibited starkly contrasting appearances as well as agendas. Logan was a burly figure with over-subscribed and under-groomed nasal hair. His eyebrows were thick and joined up. Sevicek was on the scrawny side and sported designer cornea of blue-green. He appeared to be suffering nutrition deprivation and an overdose of VDU exposure.

Dan and Red introduced themselves to Sevicek and then explained that 'Jet' was the leading Axis authority on propulsion technology and spatial distortion. Dan was the first generation replicant of Carvalho himself, and Red was the second generation equivalent of Alex Redgrave – Alex 2 being the first. Redgrave was a saboteur aboard Copernicus and had committed a planned suicide on Mars to destabilise the confidence in the colonisation programme.

"I hope you slept well Mr. Logan. Sometimes the first night is a restless one, even for shuttle veterans."

The reply was cautious yet verbose. "Well, I took a while to settle – nothing to do with the accommodation though; I think my sleep aids are not so effective here. On the other hand I sometimes have trouble sleeping at home and......"

"Why don't I get Pascal 2 to prescribe something for you tonight? He's very good. Now, looking at the agenda you sent, I suppose it's prioritised in the order you wish discussion?"

"Yes, I have an additional item which is actually the most important. It was felt to be too sensitive to put it in a transmission."

"Ok," said Carvalho, "go ahead."

Logan wasn't at ease and nervously began. "There's a desire to add the red crystal to our regular trading list, in fact to raise it to the top. Please, before you respond, let me sketch in the rationale." Quite a pronounced silence prevailed then Logan admitted he was not necessarily a supporter of this request; he was a spokesman not an advocate.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" challenged Carvalho.

"It means there is a division of ethics involved. You must know from my predecessor that the Council has very strong objections to bringing the crystal to Earth, for any reason. The most influential nations – the Big Five however, remind us that in fact they fundamentally support that purist view, but practical considerations require flexibility. They also added that they didn't see any need to procrastinate over this, as the independent views of the Council are recorded and understood, but they pay our salaries and would like to continue that contribution. We have been 'warned' not to rock the boat."

Carvalho bit his tongue. He instinctively knew that it was a waste of time sharing his Martian perspective on this. He also wondered how much of Logan's selection had been influenced by this initiative. "I see. Well, I will of course need to acquaint Alex 2 and Fav of this and..." He was cut off. "That is another concern; they don't want to involve any non-humans in this trade. I'm not authorised to discuss this with anyone other than you."

Carvalho decided the moment had arrived. "With respect Mr. Logan, you have no concrete jurisdiction on Mars, or haven't you heard of the Mars Charter? Your predecessor not only accepted this – he embraced it. The answer to such a strident demand from Terran Capitalistas, whether directly or via a quisling conduit like you, is a definite negative. Does any of that seem ambiguous to you?"

No response. "Have I made myself clear?"

"Certainly," was the eventual reply, "I fear that it is so unambiguous that it won't be well received, and that may precipitate certain sanctions towards Mars."

Carvalho consciously reeled in his contempt. "Yes, I can appreciate that but we cannot pretend we will be inconvenienced by such petulance - in any material way. It would however be a dangerous route for humans in the long term, both here and on Earth. I urge you to return and convey my sincere wish for proper dialogue on all issues, especially one such as this. Without being apprised of the real reasons for such a volte-face, it's impossible for me to convey any genuine support to my non-human fellow leaders. Social cohesion is the bedrock of our philosophy Mr. Logan." A comfort break was appreciated.

Logan took a long time to return. It had given them both some time to think. Carvalho was reflecting on how Xiang had always managed to keep the populous onside even when the ruling class was troublesome. There was another factor at play now. As long as Mars was seen as the tottering infant and Earth as the tolerant parent, Xiang had capitalised on the moral persuasion at opportune moments. Now that the wayward, headstrong youth had outstripped the parents in technological and social development, such familial sympathy was evaporating. Carvalho deduced that governments and industrialists had grasped the significance of this shift and had decided to nurture it. He could imagine that religion would also be roped into the campaign at some juncture. The most surprising aspect of the request was the absence of discussion on safeguards and restrictions related to the use of Scarlet. The barons who had failed so far to locate red crystal of Earth origin would be either incredulous at such manna from heaven or involved somewhere along the line. When Logan re-entered he merely asked if this was Carvalho's final position on the matter.

The reply was calculated and less hostile but just as firm. "I consider the implications of such a proposal are far beyond the forum of a shopping list of trade products. I will travel to Earth to discuss the matter in a wider context. I suggest we plough through the rest of the agenda." Logan accepted the suggestion as it avoided him 'falling at the first fence'.

********

In splendid contrast the other meeting was proceeding well. In the preceding decades since the Axis arrived back on Mars, they and the Symbiants, had steadfastly repeated that the spatial distortion technology had been lost. There were however two positions on the matter. The Axis had known how to achieve this, but the fundamental principles had perished with their supreme leader on the fourth exodus ship from Nexus. They had not made the effort to recover the knowledge as the practice had been banned by their species. The Symbiants and Axis had been able to confirm that the knowledge was originally developed by interaction with the Continuance. There was circumstantial archive evidence that the Continuance had advised against use of the technique in an already unstable system such as 55 Cancri. The Symbiants stopped short of saying it would be acceptable in other locations but did hint that this technique was three million years old. Dan was careful to point out once again that their role was not to lead. "We can say that many things have changed – the location of wormholes, the respective balance of dark matter and dark energy, and the availability of new materials. Other things have remained as before; one of them is the alternative means to the same end."

Sevicek seized upon this. "You mean there are better ways to develop interstellar travel?" Dan required clarity in this dialogue. "The word 'better' troubles me. Better for what? Better for whom? There are many parameters involved, such as safety for personnel and environment, efficiency in energy requirement, control of displacement and destination. All of these questions are for the future because you have a formidable learning curve to negotiate before you can even begin to evaluate those parameters."

Jet had made no contribution so far. "Are you implying that we could assist humans and simultaneously find a safe means of returning to 55 Cancri to see if Nexus is still there?"

Dan avoided a direct kindling of hope. "Many things are possible within the laws of physics. It does not mean there is no downside. Your level of knowledge would indeed be helpful to humans, but you also need to progress significantly to engage meaningfully with your own questions." The discussion was a potential watershed in creating the context for an acceptable resumption of Axis interest, after a three million year break.

A timely entrance by Carvalho was courtesy of Logan needing to send a coded transmission to Earth on the status of the Scarlet proposal. He really wanted to be involved in this meeting rather than the one of political manoeuvring, and he was lifted by the précis given by Sevicek.

This was the first time they had met since university, although they had kept in touch. He knew he could trust this man, but also had to find an honest way of making him aware of the invisible overlays which were not exactly founded on integrity. In view of the emerging potential on propulsion cooperation from the Axis, Carvalho felt reinforcement of his suggestion to get Sevicek to stay, was justified. Sevicek welcomed the chance to remain involved and offered no hesitation in accepting the offer if Carvalho could clear it with the 'brass'.

"Let's discuss the detail in my quarters before dinner this evening. I'll arrange for Logan to meet with our social director and her staff. He may even learn something."

# Chapter 3

When he recalled Xiang's funeral there was a vivid recollection of Karl Koppelt, the retired Beijing Intelligence guru. He had shunned contact with him for over two decades, but Carvalho tried to focus on the bigger picture. Many times Koppelt had silently encouraged truce when their paths crossed. The aversion was rooted in the attempt by the then Confederation of Nations to neutralise Alex 2 in Beijing. Carvalho's replicant Dan, together with Commander Magnusson, had led the escape plan. Koppelt was instructed to intercept this breakout, and at one point his men opened fire on the escapees thinking that Dan was in fact Carvalho. The efforts of Xiang to repair the rift had been continually rejected even though Koppelt was acting under orders and was not involved in the direct instruction to shoot.

At the funeral Koppelt looked frail and in poor health. There was a haunting expression as he looked Carvalho in the eyes as if to say – 'this will be the last chance'. He decided to test the willingness to make amends by asking Koppelt's advice in identifying those at the apex of the Scarlet O'Hara agenda. He would have to be careful to avoid inviting any interest in why he was to make contact. He opted for the innocent – nothing to hide public route. He contacted one of Xiang's most trusted subordinates, Steven Brightwell. The transmission went immediately so he could gauge any reaction before his proposed visit to Earth, which he would allow Logan to disclose.

"Steven, I know you will understand how much I have agonised over the years about Roberto's attempts to get me to bury the past with Karl Koppelt. At the funeral I saw how weak Karl was, and out of final respect for Xiang, I know it's now or never. I'm expecting to be in Beijing in the near future and I wonder if you'd inform Karl that this has gone on long enough. If he wishes to make contact while I'm there it would be welcomed. I owe this to Roberto. I need no reply from you, I leave that to Karl. Many thanks for your help."

When Sevicek turned up for his pre-dinner refreshment he was really charged up about the Axis involvement in the push for new propulsion technology. "This is a complete surprise but will be a real shot in the arm for human research funding."

"I wouldn't be too sure Karel; it may not be all that you think."

Sevicek's brow furrowed. "Why? I would have thought you would be delighted."

Carvalho nodded. "I am delighted that the Axis will join the band, I'm just not sure that the audition will be appreciated as much by the judges as it is by you and me. I have had to add political acumen to my primary interests here in order to survive. The pressure has eased since we are now the net exporter of trade, but that doesn't mean it won't return under a different guise. The changes are sometimes subtle, for example, the scrutiny of migrants to Mars did not only deteriorate, but became directed to lower standards. We had to insist on replacing this Earth function with our own. You noticed on arrival that there was an obvious lack of species other than the Continuance, the Axis and Humans. There are no animals in the forests, no insects around the flowers. This is thought to be too dangerous at the moment but at least it was discussed. The shipment of infected humans and known offenders couldn't have been an accident. We've been meticulous in rehabilitating these individuals but then had to undertake our own screening. We had to ask the question why – that was a no brainer, but directing the question to the source of the problem proved impossible. This isn't some melodramatic claim. I'm merely making you aware of how bent and wide the 'straight and narrow' turf you walk actually is. Don't get your hopes too high, and I'm always here, even though we never had this conversation."

A deflated Sevicek followed Carvalho to dinner as he contemplated the next question. "So Karel, I assume you still want to stay on so we can progress this fine beginning?" The evening went with an abundance of pleasantries and little else. Logan whispered that he was still waiting for a reply on the Earth visit and had been told to expect one by morning. This, he said, was good news – with a wink.

Carvalho returned the gesture and thanked him for the facilitating role he was offering. He even sounded genuine. Logan, thankfully, called it a day first. Dan suggested to Carvalho that Yamamoto should be included in the meeting from now, as he had a lot to contribute. Yamamoto had arrived on Mars not long before the Axis return and was considered one of the most promising humans by the Symbiants. Alex 2 and Fav were invited to join Carvalho so he could brief them on his forthcoming visit to Earth. There was no way he was going to keep this from them. Fav was mystified in the same way Alex 2 used to be by 'human conformance aberration'. He was reassured by Alex 2 that he would gradually adapt to it over the next few years. Carvalho smiled at this charade of the blind leading the blind. He stopped smiling when Alex 2 changed the subject. "I have been reviewing Earth science progression via their archives and I have a question. A baby was born in Brazil, by the name of Evander de la Cruz. He lived in the 'no man's land' between the city and the shanty town. His father had apparently sworn to get him a proper education. He used his life savings to get him into a catholic shelter and the teacher immediately recognised the child had a better understanding of arithmetic than anyone else in the shelter, even boys six years older. He was referred to an independent panel and he was considered to be a prodigy. He was fast tracked and astonished the nation by achieving a graduation in physics when he was eleven. There were experts who recommended this boy to attend lectures on cosmology. He is now fifteen and has proposed some very unconventional theories. The world authorities are at present a little embarrassed that they admit his insights are based on valid assumptions but they cannot prove nor disprove them. I have seen abstracts and I can tell you that this boy is better equipped than any individual on Earth, or in the Axis ranks, to take the next leap of interpretation of cosmic observations. He is close. Maybe you have your next Einsteinian or Darwinian icon."

During the pregnant silence he added, "Perhaps we could invite him here and ask his consent for replication." Carvalho's smile returned at the ever-improving sense of humour from Alex 2. He was sure Evander de la Cruz would be asked to come to Mars one day.

Carvalho recalled that Xiang had often been successful in aborting draconian moves by the big five (China, India, USA, Russia and USAr) by having to acknowledge apparent leaks to the media. It was a reliable tactic, and protest by the population at large often delayed or killed off the rogue strategy. He would consider this when he arrived on Earth.

The boreholes in West Candor chasm, which Finn had been monitoring for over two decades, were showing lower pressure readings but the lava flows still occurred spasmodically. Finn was the replicant of the late Jussi Pykonnen, an Earth geologist who had died on Mars. Finn kept up the sample requests for analysis by Ari Nielsen, chief human scientist of the colony. Over the years there had been little out of the ordinary to report. However, most recently the trace presence of something different stood out. Nielsen was so disturbed by this that he was certain he was wrong - so wrong that his reputation would be compromised. He decided the safest way was to bounce it off Red and ask him to delete the conversation. He started by referring to heavy elements with an atomic number greater than 110. "None of these should be stable, naturally occurring isotopes – would you agree?"

"No."

"What do you mean - no?"

"You must be more specific about naturally occurring – such as where."

Nielsen was even more cautious. "Here on Mars."

Red replied instantly. "Yes that would be correct."

"So where would it be possible?"

The Symbiant smiled. "You know very well Mr. Nielsen that it could be found in star systems with a very large sun, binary stars or multiples. The prerequisite mass and electromagnetic energy could have been produced during their creation."

"Look at this," said Nielsen.

"Oh, yes – that is most interesting; I must speak with Alex 2 about it."

"Not yet....I want to ask you a few more questions. You are familiar with all of the Earth fascination with Element 115?"

Red looked at him intently and said nothing. Nielsen continued, "Some scientists believe that it would be the prime candidate to exploit Gravity A wave amplification if it was stable."

"Yes, so I understand," said Red, "but I feel there is a very simplistic assumption that it could distort the vast amounts of space suggested. I believe there is an accepted view that the only naturally occurring phenomenon capable of this would be a black hole. I might add that in case you are wondering if this would register with the Progenitors, I can affirm that you would be correct."

Nielsen pondered, and then asked, "What is it doing here?"

"I really believe we should ask Alex 2 to join us. I am not avoiding your question, simply making a recommendation as to how we should deal with this. He will be happy to delete the conversation too – if that is really what you want." Nielsen agreed.

When Alex 2 arrived there was a quick, silent technobabble session between the two Symbiants. Alex 2 turned to Nielsen and said, "We must ask the Axis to explain this."

Nielsen shook his head vigorously in protest. "I must ask you to...."

"I think you misunderstand Mr. Nielsen. The only feasible explanation is that they brought it with them."

It was Nielsen's turn to be lost for words. Alex 2 resumed. "We may find that they do not know why they brought it, but we must know if they did. You have made a significant discovery and it should not be wasted. Commander Carvalho must be made aware of the situation. It could be dangerous or extremely helpful, but it is not the kind of information which should just be filed away. I will speak to him about the urgent need to meet, but not debrief him until we all re-convene. Congratulations Ari Nielsen on your discovery."

"I must own up, Finn discovered it. I merely analysed it."

# Chapter 4

The answer from Earth was the one Logan had hoped for, and he was relieved to inform Carvalho of the confirmation. "Do you wish me to convey any agenda upon my return to avoid transmission leaks?"

Carvalho shook his head. "I think we all know the subject matter thoroughly; it is the consequences which we need to debate." He had no intention of disclosing his plan of being accompanied by Alex 2 and Fav. Logan said that he would like to spend more time at the Nuclear energy facility to get a better appreciation of the elegance of the design. Apparently there was still some resistance back home to employing an 'alien' technology which was not fully understood. Carvalho thought this would be a good way of occupying Logan's time until the shuttle was cleared for return. He stifled the temptation to suggest the resistance was more to do with financial neutering than any deficit in technical understanding.

He responded to Alex 2's meeting request. He had not yet picked up on Nielsen's jittery body language. "Wait, wait a minute, you are going too quickly for me. Remind me of exactly what the significance of Gravity A waves is."

"Sorry," gestured Alex 2, "Red will explain more."

Red started slowly. "All matter known to exist on Earth is considered to be comprised of atoms in which the gravity waves do not extend beyond the atomic perimeter. These you have classified as Gravity B waves. Theoretical ideas have predicted that certain heavy elements could involve Gravity A waves which are able to breach this atomic restriction. The theory goes on to suggest manipulation of this infinitesimal margin – amplification is one such candidate – could allow space/time distortion."

Alex 2 took over again. "One of the many difficulties with this notion is the half-life of the proposed elements, all of which are higher in atomic number than 110. They decay in the order of milliseconds or indeed fractions of that measurement. The conditions prevailing at the time of creation of your sun are not thought to favour stable isotopes of such potential. In contrast, larger or binary star systems are anticipated to have achieved this and should be considerably richer in more heavy elements than Earth. In summary this material analysed by Mr. Nielsen is, in the opinion of the Continuance, sourced from outside the solar system. We need to speak to Fav."

Carvalho looked confused. "Why?"

"Because we sometimes overlook the fact that 55 Cancri is a binary system." When Fav arrived and was apprised of the discovery he did not seem at all perturbed. "Yes we brought this material. We used it for emergency backup to power the screens you found in West Candor chasm. As far as I am aware they have not been required."

Alex 2 enquired, "This material occurs naturally on Nexus?"

"Yes," admitted Fav, "although strictly speaking there are two materials in a cell. One is a metallic element, the other is the tri-chloride; they produce a 'super cell'."

When Nielsen explained that the find had been via a lava flow and they were particularly interested in the oxy-chloride, Fav said that the lead containment box must have been breached. "We put one cell for each screen into recesses below them, and with automatic routing to the screen, in the event of the normal circuit suffering failure." A quick contact between Red and Finn confirmed that the borehole where the sample came from was close to screen 2.

Alex 2 suggested that they prioritised a search for and extraction of the rest. Carvalho interrupted. "I apologise for lagging behind here but what is the eventual significance of all this?" Alex 2 pleaded that the detailed discussion was held over until they had rescued as many lead boxes as possible. "Suffice it to say at this stage that the Axis method of creating a wormhole was the proverbial sledgehammer to crack a cosmic nut. This discovery could prove to be the artist's palette."

********

Carvalho, Alex 2, Fav and a very nervous Logan were approaching Earth orbit when the transmission came through from Red – 'thirty one boxes recovered'. Logan was more concerned about boxes being ticked and his failure to do so. The others were happy to hear Red's announcement.

Decontamination and quarantine for the respective species saw them re-united, which was not exactly how the 'welcoming' committee saw Logan. Carvalho was astonished to see Karl Koppelt in the background. It had been planned to have the typical Earth ice-breaking dinner before getting down to business. Carvalho met Koppelt's gaze and went to shake his hand. Karl was shivering with emotion; Carvalho thanked him for making such an onerous trip in poor health. He asked if Koppelt would join him in his quarters before dinner. "I would like to end this indifference of which I have been guilty. I only wish Roberto could have been here to see it."

Koppelt's voice was thin and he seemed to fight for breath with every word. "I'll be there Daniel, you can be sure of it." He handed his nurse his walking stick and tried to hug Carvalho. The gesture was devoid of strength but brimming with feeling.

Carvalho was immediately in demand. A clique of Council members, none of whom he recognised other than by their badges, seemed to surround him. He concluded they were second tier messengers. Boris Givet was first into action. "What do you believe your fellow travellers can contribute to our discussion, or are they here on another topic?"

"Why don't you ask them?" Before there was time to respond they were joined by someone Carvalho did recognise – Ayrton de Santos. He had steadily risen through the ranks under Xiang to Senior Scientist in Beijing. "Commander, it's good to see you again. I need to give you some information which has only been recently finalised but is highly pertinent to the meeting. Could you collect it after dinner?"

"Certainly. Where do I collect it?"

"I'll take you to the technical centre to retrieve it from the safe; it's rather sensitive." The fresh faced second tiers dispersed rather than be embarrassed at non-inclusion for this data. Koppelt arrived early. "Daniel, I've waited a long time to apologise and I......."

Carvalho wanted to spare the old man painful recollections and explanations but realised he really wanted to finally lay to rest what had not been said over the decades. It took Koppelt some time to recover composure to continue. "I know I didn't stand against the edict of the Confederation as I should have, and as Roberto did. I know that you know I was not present, when the commanding officer authorised his men to take down who they thought to be you and Magnusson. I would never have given such an order. He was not contravening instructions from the top, but was exercising his judgement in a military fashion rather than a security protocol. He was under my command and I spent too much effort and presence at the airport and border security points. I was wrong but I have always hoped you could see it didn't happen in the way it was portrayed by the media. I've regretted it deeply ever since."

Carvalho confessed. "I know. I've often questioned my own reaction. It may be one of those situations that can only be healed by the passage of a respectful period of time."

They talked for over an hour and Koppelt said he would love to continue but he was exhausted. Carvalho nodded and left him with a request. "Please stay in touch...and there is something you can advise me on." After a brief explanation he got to the point of needing help to ferret out the driving personnel behind the new interest in Scarlet O'Hara. "I know you are retired and all I'm asking is a recommendation from you. There's no one else I could trust with this request."

The old sparkle returned to Koppelt's eyes. "You shall have it Daniel, and you shall have it now. Xiang had an ally who helped me significantly in the Radmanov affair, hunting down the Russian oligarch who was determined to get the classified composition data of the crystals. This man I recommend is not front line, but is one of the best fixers in the business – nothing gets past him. He has been eternally grateful to Xiang for supporting the case for inclusion of the USAr into the big five. His name is Sadat, you'll receive a call from him; he is here but it's better that he calls you, even if he is in the building."

"Thank you Karl, I'm indebted to you." As he left, both Koppelt and Carvalho knew they would never meet again despite the medical advances in recent years. It was however not a sad goodbye.

********

Sevicek had not been asked to justify his request to stay longer on Mars. This did not trouble him but it was unusual. He was disappointed however, that certain avenues in the discussions had to be suspended until the team returned from Earth. They had not been acquainted with the repercussions of Nielsen's analysis, and Finn had been asked not to discuss the matter. The group continued to probe Jet about the mysterious missing black cube required to complete the production of the vessel at Echus Chasma. They believed he was not holding out on them, so the ideas moved on to how the damage might be avoided if ever it was tried in future. This was awkward for Red. Dan was still in 'we do not lead' mode, but Red knew what Dan did not – they were beginning to inadvertently stray on to the territory of Nielsen's discovery. He decided it was legitimate think-tank methodology. Yamamoto was the catalyst and fastened on to Jet's assertion that the 'Master of Fate' who had championed the design had ignored advice from his alleged replicant, his Consul – who was apparently never seen again. "If this Consul was a true representative of the Continuance and advised against a development he had helped foster, there must have been a branch of possibilities somewhere."

"I don't follow your reasoning," said Jet.

"I do," enthused Sevicek, "if the entire research was to lead to a 'no go' conclusion the Consul would not have endorsed it in the first place."

"Thank you Karel," said Yamamoto with a broad grin, "there had to be an alternative route to a less controversial design. Is that a reasonable assumption Dan?"

Dan nodded his head slowly. "It is reasonable if the events actually happened the way we believe they did; that is also an assumption." Yamamoto would not let go. "I think we should forget the black cube and go right back to detecting and characterising wormhole phenomena. The progress on a suitably advanced interferometer is impacted by the low priority it has been allocated. Let's get Nielsen in here."

"Wait," said Jet, "we have lots of evidence of failed and aborted attempts to locate other, potentially more controllable portals. I believe you will repeat this frustrating experience with this interference apparatus. We concluded that the creation and collapse of a wormhole entry will always be accompanied by destructive energy."

Nielsen came anyway and indirectly backed Jet's view, relating the results of the LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna) mission in the earlier part of the century. "Even with three vessels separated by five million kilometres, triangulating data on gravitational waves, the results were inconclusive."

Red wanted to keep the positive momentum of the discussion going and felt he had to be honest. "I would like to support moving the discussion away from actual wormhole detection. I want to be sure you understand and accept what I am about to say. A discovery has been made which will be useful in guiding you to more fruitful areas of cosmology. We can only discuss this with the agreement of those of our colony who are at present on Earth. They would be talking about this now if they had not committed to that trip. It was only a question of timing and proper security. In view of the way the discussion has developed I will transmit a coded request to Alex 2 for agreement to update you and thus refresh the agenda. You must respect the need for discretion on this. Do I have that?" Nielsen squirmed but followed the others in affirming the consensus.

# Chapter 5

When Ayrton de Santos ushered Carvalho to the Technical Centre he appeared a little uneasy. The contents of the dossier explained why. All those years ago when Mike (the replicant of Michael J Park, Beijing geologist) had retrieved all accessible red crystal from selected Earth sites he had asked Xiang for a detector. He had suggested that there must be a way to detect antimony deposits with a device rather than laboriously collect samples and then analyse them. This had not been approved for obvious reasons. This dossier however, described the one which had been recently developed.

"Ayrton, I must ask who authorised this?" Sheepishly, the Brazilian shrugged his shoulders. "I was given the blueprint with the Council seal and asked to execute the prototype. I don't know who actually raised the blueprint."

Carvalho's mind raced. "This will, if it goes ahead, compromise the current security of Scarlet. I include Mars in that. Once this exists there will be temptation and bribery to contend with. I'm dismayed, and I would expect you to be."

"Indeed I am, Commander. The blueprint already existed, so they could have got many people to fabricate it. I felt it was better that it remained in Beijing for now."

"But you told me that it will be openly discussed tomorrow." De Santos drew a deep breath. "Yes. I have been informed through an unofficial channel that you will be faced with the choice of agreeing to trade crystal or by default be party to the decision to employ this instrument on Earth."

Carvalho was not totally surprised by this kind of tactic. Dealing with it would be a different proposition. He was now more concerned than ever about the backlash on Mars. At least he could still rely on Ayrton de Santos when he was back there. He now had the unenviable task of briefing Alex 2 and Fav on yet another layer of human duplicity.

********

In the midst of the briefing he took the call from Sadat. This man prudently saved him from having to explain the request, Koppelt had advised that. He indicated that he was already aware of splintered actions in recent months and was unofficially on the case. All he wanted to know now was how to keep Carvalho up to speed in a secure manner. Carvalho said he would check this out with De Santos. If he was willing, there would be a legitimate need for dialogue between the Brazilian and Mars, the political updates could be buried in technical minutiae. Sadat agreed and would wait for the contact from De Santos.

Returning to the briefing on the 'Scarlet-detector', there were very different reactions. Alex 2 was predictably dismayed and counted this as another entry in the column of an unpromising species. "I cannot envisage my return to this planet; the Continuance needs to concentrate on Martian issues."

Fav was new to the 'Medusa' nature of human politics. He therefore looked at this purely as a problem to be solved. "I have heard that any remaining crystal on Earth would probably be difficult to access, is that correct?" When this was confirmed he asked, "Is your main concern that which remains on Mars?"

"Yes," said Carvalho, "and the possible corruption of humans on Mars to look for it."

Fav continued, "Why don't we put it in orbit? The Axis and Symbiants can do this without any human other than you having knowledge of it. We can construct a small craft at Echus Chasma as part of propulsion research and use it as a delivery vehicle before returning to base."

Carvalho and Alex 2 looked at each other and nodded. They knew it was still possible to find small quantities on Earth but the new detector was only capable of giving a clue via antimony presence. Such a search would take a lot of effort and money. This would give breathing space prior to the anticipated demand for the Martian source. By this point it would be claimed that it had been consumed, and there would be no problem in openly accepting an inspection committee to verify this.

The transmission from Red had come through and he made the point that if Fav had readily acknowledged the Axis possession of the new material identified by Nielsen, then it was likely to be common knowledge in their ranks. If this was so, it would be unfair to hold back the discussion on Mars with the others; they should be encouraged to go ahead, albeit with appropriate security arrangements. After all they were scheduled to discuss it upon the return of the trio currently on Earth. He was given the green light.

********

There were three hospitals on Mars; one at each of the main 'urban' areas of Valles Marineris, Utopia Planitia and Echus Chasma. They were virtually exclusively used by humans but the staff included Symbiants and Axis personnel. The Axis 'patients' did have wards but they resembled auto repair shops more than medical facilities. They were for minor problems, with the main care centre remaining at the sphere unit in Echus Chasma.

Although Pascal 2 was nominally the overall director of medical practice, the hospitals operated under the management structure headed by Stella Aragones. When Carvalho returned one of his first scheduled duties was to officially open the newest facility in Echus Chasma. The hospitals had a different emphasis on disciplines in which they specialised. This one housed the most controversial one of artificial organ transplant and synthesis. It had been chosen because of its proximity to the sphere centre and the expertise of the Axis robotics and micro-engineering skills, including nanotechnology.

Carvalho was sensitive to the increase in acceptance of synthetic organs, especially in assisting difficult brain surgery of the biological one while the function was maintained by the manufactured one. The sensitivity was there because the Martian capability far outstripped that on Earth. Requests were sometimes made for treatment of Earth dignitaries and yet the science was transferable but not taken up. This was a worrisome trend.

Dr. Aragones was thirty-five and had volunteered for Mars migration because she could not obtain a satisfactory separation from her husband. When she had interned in Madrid she had stood out academically as well as being swept off her feet by the leading neurosurgeon in Spain. Although there was eighteen years between them they married after a short engagement. The relationship blossomed then began to drift. Carlos travelled and lectured around Europe, while Stella remained in Madrid. It soon became evident that despite earlier declarations, he did not want children, he was happy with a trophy wife. After two years the physical side of the marriage had all but petered out. He maintained that he was always too tired or too tense after operational procedures. He then complained that she was too demanding. When he returned one day from Geneva she asked him if he minded her going out with a friend, for dinner and a show. He had no problem even though she was honest, and said it was with a man. This became a common occurrence, and she asked if he no longer cared, or did he have another woman? He didn't have any interest in other women and he cared deeply for her. He blamed the conflicting demands of his career and his wife for his declining interest in sex. The casual relationship she enjoyed became physical, and for a while things were better, especially when Carlos genuinely expressed happiness that she could keep the marriage stable by having affairs. She felt she had the best of both worlds and the affairs almost reached double figures when a problem emerged. She had been offered a top job in Lisbon and he didn't want her to accept it. When she recalled what she had done for his career this broke the trust. He would not accept a divorce with attendant publicity. They agreed a financial split and a rather belated post-nuptial agreement, which was then backdated. She had always been adventurous and decided to apply for the senior Martian post knowing that Carlos would never come after her. She was happy and independent again. She was well respected on Mars and thrived on the responsibility.

********

When the meeting started Carvalho recognised most of the Council members but none of the big five government representatives. Logan did the obligatory welcoming stuff and made everyone aware of the prioritisation of the item on trading red crystal. The Chinese government delegate assumed centre-stage and commenced with a diatribe of wholesome reasons for the benefit of humans, which in reality disguised intentions to exploit Symbiants. Carvalho cut in, "I would first like to hear why this has so suddenly become urgent when it has always been shunned, and indeed outlawed."

There was a brief hiatus while a small group of delegates conferred. The Chinese spokesman started again. "We have now had two decades of observation and increasing trust in the altruistic nature of the Symbiants. We want...."

"Why then have you not asked for any to come from Mars and cooperate with you on important projects?"

The South African Council member, Andre de Visser echoed this sentiment. The Russian government delegate followed this up by voicing concern over private abuse of the crystals by the super-rich – they had not forgotten the embarrassment they narrowly avoided over oligarch involvement. After quite some discussion it seemed to indicate that China, USA and three Council members were the drivers of the proposal.

Alex 2 rose to his feet and gained attention and silence. "Ladies and Gentlemen, you may have overlooked one small point. This 'trade' you are requesting is indirectly one of offering infrastructure for 'people'. Is that ethical? I am so concerned by such a precedent that I can state I will not be returning to your planet after this meeting and I will do everything in my power to prevent such a covert advance to 'slavery'. This decision, in all honesty, has been brewing for some time. This current proposal is one more serious indictment of Earth society's lack of promise. You will note that I did not say human, as the humans on Mars do not suffer from these multiple personality disorders."

Carvalho effectively finished the meeting by asking what the Council and the government delegates expected their new friends (pointing to Fav) to make of all this. The parting shot was delivered as though he was amazed that nobody had bothered to ask if there was any crystal left on Mars. "We've consumed all but a few reference samples on the various forestation and dome projects." The lie was intended to flush out any challenge to this. The bluff continued. "You may send an audit team to check this for yourselves, but the answer would still be negative if we had tons of it. If and when you definitely decide to pursue this strategy – and I have studied the detector you asked De Santos to outline for me – you need to think of how any success you may have on Earth will create temptation on both planets. Temptation can flourish because of perceived opportunity; it doesn't have to exist. Please think hard on this." The meeting purpose was completely shredded and the participants quietly prepared to disperse.

One last thing the trio wanted to achieve was a genuine registration of the intent for the Axis to put a geothermal orbiter in place. Carvalho asked for order and gave the floor to Fav. "Thank you. I had hoped this would be a project in which we would leverage mutual benefit. Our ability to determine sub-surface deposits and potential problem areas was in existence on our first colonisation of Mars. It was essential in our choice of underground locations. Re-establishing the facility will help mining and related searches. I do hope that the results from the devices will attract interest from Earth. We would be happy to share this technology and assist in any way."

Carvalho congratulated Fav on a brilliant double bluff to justify putting the crystal in orbit. Alex 2 said it had given him a temporary pain in the registry.

# Chapter 6

Red disclosed Nielsen's analysis to the group. Jet, as expected, gave the same explanation as Fav had done. Dan grasped the significance. Yamamoto and Sevicek wondered what all the fuss was about. Red resumed, addressing Jet, "Does the oxy-chloride occur naturally on Nexus?"

"Yes, the oxy-chloride does, sorry, did exist, Nexus may be gone. I don't know of other halogens."

Red probed further. "Fav said it was a tri-chloride. Was the separated element stable or did you have to find a way of doing that?"

Jet said that he had no knowledge of any need for stabilisation and suggested Fav had erred - he was sure it was oxy-chloride but he would check this in the archive. Nielsen was next. "I think you are correct, my tests showed only two chlorine atoms, not three. However, I'm still puzzled. We've known for some time that there is a decay process of certain elements above atomic number 110, to Seaborgium 106. Even though this is a more stable trans-uranium element, it still decays in minutes. Red has reminded us that although we have no such naturally occurring isotopes, stable or otherwise, your binary system may have produced them during its creation. There has been fascination on Earth about element 115 and its potential access to gravity A waves, but it has to be created synthetically. The same is true for Element 118, which decays in rapid steps to Element 106 – Seaborgium. It has been further theorised that stable versions of some of these elements are possible via 'islands of stability'. Do you know whether this is a feasible explanation for this discovery?"

Jet seemed to be trawling his memory for an age. "I cannot think of any particular research on this. We just accepted it was there, like iron is on your planet, and we exploited its property in electronics. Islands of stability is new to me."

Nielsen prevented Sevicek from interrupting. "We have synthesised element 118 on Earth by bombarding Lead 208 with Krypton 86 in a particle accelerator. The first point in the decay chain with an extended half-life is element 106. The observation suggests that there may be some way to synthesise it to achieve the predicted islands of stability."

He was looking at Jet and Sevicek said humbly, "Could the conditions of formation of the oxy-chloride not offer this stability and access to Gravity A waves?" At last Red said, "What an intriguing idea."

Nielsen stuttered, "You mean that this compound, having achieved stability may itself be persuaded to demonstrate controlled periods of instability by subtle encouragement?"

"Something like that," said Sevicek.

********

When the distillate of this reached Alex 2 from Red it created a new urgency. He reminded Carvalho of his mention of Evander de la Cruz. "The content of the recovered lead boxes and the 'stumbling' discussion around islands of stability has conspired to make it prudent to meet this young man. You are the expert on double-dealing and decoy tactics. We need to speak to him without any presence of Earth-based humans. What do you suggest?"

"Mmm, I need to speak to a countryman of his before we leave, maybe he can help, I'm sure we can trust him."

Alex 2 shook his head. "No we can't. I am talking about developments so significant that we have to keep the subject matter from all humans here and on Mars, except the think-tank members, until we have proved or disproved the theory. If you are worried about the temptation that Scarlet O'Hara will create, then multiply that by a suitably ludicrous number, if this knowledge enters the public domain. If we can't speak to him in a secure way I would rather leave it for now."

Carvalho was hooked. "How about I go back to see Logan and suggest that in order to avoid further dichotomy, we try to foster better relations, by offering prize tours to Mars for their most deserving young people. Earth can select them on their criteria and we would give them the red carpet tour. I can tell Logan he's the first to know but if this does not meet with favour from the rest, I'll suggest it to the media. I will keep emphasising the need for harmony in the hope that these narcissists believe that this is Mars realising their humble place in the greater scheme of things."

Alex 2 asked to be excused for a registry clean-up. "I was sure I could count on you. Would that suggest that I am correct in assuming that my appreciation of the art of speculation has just been up-valued?"

Logan wasn't entirely comfortable with the suggestion, and less so with being the messenger. He saw it as a no-win situation. If the Council agreed, they were signing up for the long term, and whatever came with Mars winning the hearts and minds of their best young talent. If they didn't act it would be distorted through the media to bring pressure on the Council to explain the lack of investment in the youth of the planet. Two sides of the same argument, he thought. He also concluded that this was simply Carvalho's crude way of tit-for-tat with the Scarlet issue.

The media interest was always intense with Martian news and this was no exception. Carvalho had taken the precaution of transmitting the suggestion simultaneously to the broadcasters and the Council, to give the latter deniability of the first approach. It did nothing to further Logan's image in the eyes of the Council Executive. The idea caught fire and the Council now had to decide whether to allow Martians to organise the selection or feign enthusiasm to retain that function. They didn't really have a choice; they would retain the selection control. It was better this way for Mars; they just had to wait long enough to see if Evander was chosen.

Ayrton de Santos agreed to act as the transmission point between Carvalho and Sadat. It was time for the trio to return to Mars.

********

One of the Indian government front line dignitaries was going through admission procedures at Echus Chasma General. He had been scheduled for some time for correction of brain cancer. It was declared inoperable by Earth medics and this prognosis had been endorsed by Pascal 2 and Dr. Aragones. However, so much had been learned from Axis databases, the pioneering work of Sophia Scillacci, and Isaakson on Earth, that it was referred to the Indian ethics committee. It would mean that he would become the first Terran resident to become totally and perennially dependent on a completely synthetic brain employing alien technology.

The decision to proceed had been debated to the point that his time was almost up. He decided to resign and used influence to get migrant approval for his family. The implications of the outcome were manifold. This procedure had been successfully conducted on three Mars based humans by Pascal 2, and without attracting much attention on Earth. This was different. Singh's condition was much worse than the others, and the media were all over it. Carvalho had accepted Mr. Singh's request on the condition it was performed by the newly-arrived Dr. Aragones, with Pascal 2 in attendance.

Mr. Singh had been introduced to Stella Aragones by Pascal 2 and she explained the various phases of dual connection of the two brains, the extent of this parallel phase for transfer of data, and the eventual disconnection of the malignant one. He would be conscious at this stage and consulted about this last step to ensure he was comfortable with the irreversible decision. If his organic brain had been in normal health, there could have been a possibility of bypassing it without disconnection, before deciding to rely on the 'implant'. He acknowledged the risk and agreed to proceed. Stella had issued strict instructions that no Martian or Earth media personnel were to be admitted to the hospital, and agreed that there would be a daily update on the progression of the patient's condition.

********

Just prior to leaving Earth Carvalho had been asked when he thought the first selected candidates could be accommodated. "We see this as your opportunity; we're already considering rolling this out for Martian youth. As you may appreciate we do not yet have the same demographic balance as Earth, but we believe it would also have a broadening aspect for the youth of both planets to share perspective. I suppose we are ready when you are. In fact I have asked our TV people to contact you in the media here to collaborate on the issue. We think this should be a blank canvas." This was well received.

********

The discussion group on Mars grappled with the new information for days without further progress. They had accepted that the Axis had nothing further to divulge; their understanding of fundamental physics was nowhere near their flair for practical engineering. Earth physicists were, according to the Symbiants, more creative in this discipline and did not have so much catching up to do. Full realisation of this helped carve out a different approach. Once more it was Yamamoto who postulated looking at the puzzle the other way around. "If we agree, that not only does this Seaborgium exist in stable form, but it interests the Symbiants like nothing else has for years, we must be close. Forget for the moment how we tease Gravity A waves out. Assume we have them – how do we sustain sufficient amplification to create the discrete spatial distortion we are led to believe is necessary to avoid devastation?"

Nielsen's face brightened but nothing was offered immediately. Then it came. "What if we thought about one action achieving both aims?"

"Go on," said Sevicek.

"I'm just saying – it's possible that two separate steps are counter-productive."

"Great," laughed Yamamoto, "that's like saying we need a magic wand without having a clue where to look."

Nielsen protested. "Just be quiet for a moment. I'm wondering about replacing the bombarding idea with a field generator. It would be more controllable and could encourage asymmetric behaviour of the bonding between the three atomic configurations of Seaborgium, oxygen and chlorine." Yamamoto was quick to notice the Symbiants were silent; that was a good sign. Nielsen resumed. "Jet, can you confirm your claim that the stuff we have in the lead shielding boxes is definitely Seaborgium Oxy-chloride?"

"Yes, I checked it again yesterday."

"So you agree we have one atom of Seaborgium, two of Oxygen and two of Chlorine?"

"Yes."

Nielsen's voice was a little shaky. "I seem to recall that this was the first trans-uranium element to be named after a person. I'll check later but I'm pretty sure its discoverer was Glenn T. Seaborg. He felt it was a greater honour than actually receiving the Nobel Prize."

"Jesus Christ Ari, we are rigid with anticipation; are you going somewhere with this chemistry lesson?" asked Sevicek.

"Oh yes, I'm positive that the existence of this compound was predicted decades ago. Anyway, as we now have the proof, I would like to check my theory out with a prominent expert in the most fundamental laws of physics. I can see that if we could produce this asymmetry in a 'gentle' way rather than with cyclotronic savagery, we will have oscillations that may infrequently, infinitesimally and very, very briefly stray outside the atomic perimeter of the Seaborgium. It may be that the molecule Sg-O2-Cl2 is actually the solution and not the puzzle. Of course the odds are more in favour of me being sectioned prior to long term therapy." The discussion was pretty muted after this crescendo of expectation. Yamamoto looked at Red and merely asked, "Well?"

Red returned the question. "What kind of precision would you need for such a field generator?" Yamamoto was jubilant. "That's good enough for me guys. Let's get some sleep."

# Chapter 7

The Council began to consult all nations on how to best organise the scheme Carvalho had dropped in their lap. They gave loose guidelines on age limits and recommended all disciplines should be included as long as the achievement was outstanding. It wasn't to be a competition, but an ongoing opportunity for young students to further their experience. It was suggested that it may become an integral part of bringing talent to the fore in the education policy. This of course went far beyond Carvalho's suggestion and he wondered if he had created a millstone around his own neck. The media loved it, as it had the potential for sensationalism, corruption, massive public interest and envy all rolled into one. A deadline for the first batch of twenty-five was set.

********

Varanda Singh was ready to undergo phase one. The connection of the artificial brain was a long and critically precise operation. His family was able to observe this part of the procedure from a remote viewing screen. His wife could not summon the nerve to do so, but his two daughters were curious. They took turns to keep their mother up to date. Pascal 2 had decided to accept Dr. Aragones' invitation to attend in view of the publicity the event would generate. He agreed to be the media focal point to give bulletins, allowing Stella to concentrate on the task without distraction. Although everyone knew Mr. Singh would die without this last hope, the ethical brigade would be baying for a re-think if anything went wrong. The questions would include the wisdom of challenging God's design by incorporation of alien components, even if they were inorganic materials, which were spread throughout the cosmos.

After fourteen hours the point had arrived at which they could compare the readouts which signified the new device was functioning correctly. Mr. Singh would be stimulated to be brought out of his anaesthetised state. The tension and fatigue were diffused when he smiled, and he was encouraged to wave at the camera to let his family see this surgery had been completed successfully.

********

During the return from Earth Alex 2 was able to bring the other two up to date with the think-tank theories. Carvalho looked confused. "I'm not sure what reaction you expect from me, but I can't see precisely where this takes us. I mean from a practical point of view."

Alex 2 looked at Fav. There was no spark there either. "I believe the outcome of these ideas will depend upon exposing them to your best physicists. They are unfortunately on Earth. Nielsen has made some excellent proposals but they have to be complemented with expertise or demonstrable creativity in quantum mechanics. A leap of faith is not enough. The problem of exposing this to Earth politics right now would, in my view, be inadvisable to court. I return to young Mr. de la Cruz. I am convinced he is not inhibited or deterred by the opinions of so-called respected authorities. He also does not represent a risk if we can get him to contribute to our team without a chaperone. Speculation is still a troublesome activity for me, but in this case I am betting on him. If I am correct we would avail of the Axis precision of implementation without alerting any political interests. Let us hope he is selected to come here."

Carvalho was deep in thought. He asked Fav if he could independently mastermind getting the remaining Scarlet O'Hara into orbit. He gave him the location coordinates for the stash. He turned to Alex 2. "I don't want any hint of Evander de la Cruz coming here being seen as our intent; there would be the obvious mud-slinging and we may put him and his family in danger. Surely we can continue to throw ideas around until the Continuance can 'assist our promise'?"

"Yes, we could do that and I can refer our team to some of the concepts Evander has postulated. It may help."

********

Fav's instruction to Jet meant the discussion team was missing Axis input. He had to make haste in fabricating a carrier craft for the crystal before retrieving it. The cargo discharged into orbit from this vessel needed to double up with the geothermal probe discussed on Terra.

He decided that it would be best to employ two. One would be the genuine article, the other a shell of identical appearance but containing only crystal. The delivery craft would therefore need a more complex design than Fav had envisaged.

Mr. Singh was doing well and was able to tell his family that he had less discomfort than he had known for many months. He was once more talked through the next steps and he indicated he was ready. His wife and daughters could not hide their anxiety but he re-assured them by stating the obvious – there simply was no choice. His enthusiastic demeanour prevailed as they left the theatre. His disfigured brain was disconnected; it was the point of no return.

********

Sadat's digging had more or less confirmed Carvalho's preliminary judgement that a Chinese/USA initiative was powering the interest in crystal. He did not attach much significance to the individual Council members' voting reasons. The trade between the big five had thrown up a trend of increasing dominance of oil supply in the mix. Resource and population numbers clearly illustrated that Russia, India and USAr had leverage - too much, especially for China's liking. The new Axis type Nuclear Power units provided some mitigation of oil dependency, but across the five it compounded the trend. There was also the social acceptability of nuclear processing; it was contested more vigorously in China and USA. The projected needs for oil gave no comfort to the two in highest trade deficit. It was presented as a confidence builder – if the Symbiants declared these power stations clean and safe, they could illustrate this by building and running them. The underlying reason however, according to Sadat's ferrets, was the increasing mistrust of Martian philosophy. If Earth had as many or more Symbiants, it would be a deterrent and reminder of the purpose of the Mars charter. That purpose, as perceived by Terran powerbrokers, to further the space programme as set out in 2033, was in assisting the correction of planet Earth's ailments. It was a subordinate role and the charter was to improve local Martian decision making – not for the tail to wag the dog.

Sadat passed this general picture through Ayrton de Santos as agreed. The message ended curiously with well-wishes for Varanda Singh. Carvalho was not quite sure what to read into this.

********

The musings of Evander de la Cruz did inject new strands to the think-tank. He had expressed the view that mini-distortions of space could be achieved if the medium itself was considered as discrete packets rather than continuous. The trigger would have to reflect such a pulsed requirement, matched to its target volume of influence. Not more, not less, but exactly equal. He further believed that moving from one packet to the next would demand velocity to be slow enough to enable differentiation of the phases - volume 1 and volume 2..... to volume 'n'. The synchronisation of all parameters (packet volume, trigger pulse, velocity, and finally field switching) would probably be beyond current human capability. This, he suggested should be seen as a challenge, not a disqualification of the theory.

This ignited a barrage of questions. Nielsen deflected them. "He goes on to conceive an object producing a controlled distortion, and the extrapolation of the vector directly ahead as a 'series of rooms'. The first room collapses toward the object which then confronts the second room. The velocity of the object is critical but requires low thrust if the target volume is modest. The distortion collapses behind the object to complete the individual packet cycle. The time taken for this atomic space plough to reach a destination will depend upon the size of the packet and the acceleration curve produced by the stretching of subsequent packets to maintain the cycle. We are dealing in cycles of milliseconds, so it is quick. He claims the energy required to open and close these packets will not be at a level which would cause significant local disturbance. It does not demand brute propulsion capability as it is the space which contorts to the atomic music. Although it is a sub-light speed process it will closely approach this barrier in potential. He laments that human synchronisation deficiencies are not the ultimate disqualifiers. The lack of stable Gravity A wave generating elements or compounds, he says, does not seem to be within our grasp at present."

The questions had been supplanted by silence. Red was first to fill the vacuum. "This is quite a crude theoretical claim, but there is the kernel of direction to be admired. The only aspect which I would say he is categorically wrong about is the non-availability of Gravity A waves."

Yamamoto asked why Earth cosmologists had not taken the idea forward. Red said that they were currently engaged in trying to extract proof or otherwise from his calculations. "We have only seen his words so far, not his numbers. They would be helpful." They had something they could get their teeth into again.

Stella Aragones welcomed Mr. Singh back into consciousness. The family was ecstatic and although he was groggy he smiled and waved to the camera which he 'remembered' without thinking about it. The next big test was the extent to which he had successful transfer of longer term memory. Apart from slower speech he appeared normal. He was asked if he wanted to briefly see the family and he failed to hold back the tears. Their fears were replaced by joy when they heard him say their names and birthdays. The savaging by the ethics society would have to wait until he was recovered sufficiently to appear on Mars TV.

# Chapter 8

Carvalho, Alex 2 and Fav had returned to a buoyant think-tank. The Commander pleaded for them to keep the bottle corked another couple of days so he could carry out the official opening of Echus Chasma General and its new neurosciences wing. He had never met Stella Aragones; Pascal 2 had done the interviews and Carvalho had been engaged in other projects as well as being the best customer for the Earth-Mars shuttle.

The hospital was the latest one to become operational and was heavily influenced in design by the Axis medical staff, because of its proximity to the most densely populated area by their species. The humans liked it, ironically because it did not look like a hospital. The neurosciences wing was positioned almost as an adjunct to the Echus sphere assembly complex. Carvalho was introduced to the staff by Pascal 2. During the tour most of his questions were answered by Dr. Aragones, and he was impressed by the lack of statistics and blah-blah. He got a real feeling of dedication without the box-ticking flavour.

"Excuse me for asking if the question is premature, but can you say anything yet about Varanda Singh?"

She replied, "You can ask him yourself, we will pass by his ward soon." She offered no detail. When they did arrive the family motioned to leave. "No, no please sit, this is a flying visit." The patient looked at Carvalho and greeted him with a reassuring account of the last meeting they had attended in Beijing. "My family and I will be forever grateful for the care and courtesy we have been shown Commander. I know how much media focus there will be on this milestone of human transplant surgery, but your people here made us feel as though I was here to have my tonsils out. I don't want to embarrass Dr. Aragones but you have to be so proud of her, and when I am up to facing the media hounds I will be telling them so."

Carvalho promised to keep the media at bay to give him and the family a proper recuperation period as prescribed by Dr. Aragones. The tour concluded and a short speech from the Commander was the prelude to cutting the official ribbon and subsequent declaration of purpose. He asked Stella Aragones to keep him personally up to date with any difficulty she may have with media persistence, and when she felt it would be appropriate for him to meet with Singh again. He congratulated the entire staff – Human, Axis and Symbiant for their efforts in making this a flagship facility.

As he was returning to Marineris Central with Pascal 2 he found his attention to the Symbiant's dialogue wandered. The more worrying symptom involved waves of 'butterflies' – churning through his stomach. Stella Aragones had impressed in more ways than professional acumen.

Carvalho's concentration returned when Alex 2, Dan and Red informed him that the think-tank was skirting around a significant breakthrough in theoretical terms. Alex 2's pronouncement that there was some risk of this leaking out did stick in the Commander's mind. "I'll have to ask them to pledge confidentiality if you think we are that close. I don't like doing this as it makes us look as bad as the ones we criticise, but I fear they have raised the stakes to the point where we have no choice."

Alex 2 nodded. "And although we are close, it is not close enough without Evander. It is one thing to see the concept; it is entirely different to be able to take it forward in both theoretical and practical terms. That time interval concerns me – if the think-tank fails to make another leap it may cause frustration and discussion outside the group."

Red intervened. "I believe we have a little more time than we think. If we concentrate on a practical aspect which has not yet come up, but has to be solved, it should delay unease with the overall puzzle. I am referring to the discovery of Seaborgium Oxy-chloride. It is of course radioactive. We have to design a module which provides access yet containment in a way which functions safely. Also, nobody has raised the probability of hard objects in the trajectory between origin and destination. The entire concept would be judged obsolete if the projectile we create hits orbiting bodies or debris with no means of avoiding them. This is not a ship steering past a problem; it is space and all its content rushing toward it. It is a fundamental problem which must be examined at this juncture before getting too excited."

There was no disagreement. Carvalho asked Red to set it up accordingly. He was adamant that he would not enquire into the scheme which may or may not involve Evander at this time.

********

China and the USA had increased the pressure to test out the antimony detector in view of the Martian declaration that only tiny samples remained of the mother lode. They did suggest taking up the barbed invitation to conduct an audit, espousing the need for the public to be sure that the current phase of replication was at an end – it was a convenient duty.

The Council provided the log of Xiang's employment of the group of Symbiant's cleaning up all known Earth deposits two decades ago. The American government spokesman seized upon this. "What happened to those extracted deposits?" After much paper-shuffling and pointing of fingers Logan announced that the only person Xiang would have confided in was Ayrton de Santos. A break was called until he was wheeled in. "They have been in the underground vaults since Mike brought them here."

The Chinese and USA delegates conferred. Arnold Rodham proposed a motion to release some of this to implement the programme which had been approved to replace old redundant power plants with the new, clean Axis variety. Before the rest could respond De Santos held up his hand. "You can't just requisition this material; you may not recall that Mr. Xiang had suggested and presided over a law being brought in to prevent the use and/or distribution of the crystal, until such time it was seen fit to repeal this legal protection. This is still in force and must be the subject of a legal review if your request remains active."

Logan looked embarrassed but reluctantly waved the paper De Santos had furnished and promised each participant a copy. "I'm afraid Ayrton is correct, we have to receive a written request for the Council to examine the new criteria, and if it is convinced of the validity of further examination, the legal phase can be initiated."

Rodham was exasperated. "Do you mean we are hamstrung by our own bureaucracy?" Logan wasn't having a good day. "Mr. Rodham, you must remember we have these checks and balances for good reason. It may be frustrating but it is also responsible."

Rodham would not quite let go. "So how does this affect any crystal we discover on Earth?"

"Exactly the same," said Logan.

"Then I propose we start looking in locations as yet unchecked and deposit any finds with the rest until we have cleared any legal hurdle." This carried the vote but it had not deflected De Santos' concern; these finds could be any quantity and different to what was subsequently deposited. There was scope for deception. He would need to alert Carvalho.

********

The Axis project for placing geothermal imaging gear in orbit was proceeding well. The plan had been slightly revised. The craft would now be unmanned and remain in orbit after releasing the cargo. This change was drafted in after Carvalho had the De Santos alert regarding the more aggressive approach from the Chinese/American 'alliance' and the confirmation of an audit. A second craft would be held in reserve in the event of the auditors requesting first hand observation of the data collection originally offered by Fav. The first craft would shepherd the crystal and the second used for close inspection of the genuine monitoring equipment. The change would continue to restrict Jet's involvement in the think-tank.

The call was not expected so soon. "Commander, it's Stella Aragones. I sensed that your implied desire to speak to Mr. Singh again was on a professional basis as well as his medical progress." There was a silence. "If that is the case I would advise about ten days more recuperation. Of course if it's purely concern about his handling of the media I won't allow that for at least a month."

"I see. Well, can I just visit him and check with you, to assess whether you will be advocating more such procedures, or even some with more radical techniques? I know that this milestone is not new for the Axis, but it's a very significant potential advance in social acceptance of 'tinkering' with human longevity. Unfortunately I have to deal with this aspect and I've always found that being prepared is critical. I want to support your work in the best way I can."

She was caught a little off-guard. "Ah, in that case you can visit – let me see, yes, I can make some space the day after tomorrow."

"Excellent, just tell me the most convenient time and I'll be there."

********

The first cut at giving the media a date for the initial group of youngsters setting off for Mars was ambitious and directly proportional to the clamour to get it off the ground. It was to be only five weeks away. The assessment criteria had been designed to cover as many branches of education as possible. Arts, social studies, engineering, science, sport, philosophy, medicine and ecology were prominent. The candidates were, as expected, being whittled down by a committee with a spread in geographical origin, culture and field of expertise. It was a weekly event – finding out who had been excluded, it was good TV. Evander had made the first two cuts and the commentators rated him a certainty.

The decision to challenge the statute which Xiang had worked so tirelessly for was now public knowledge. Just as a shark can smell blood from miles away, the crystal saga had already flared the nostrils of some very effective predators.

********

Fav and Jet were inspecting the new craft when they were approached by 'Doc'. He was one of the totally artificial individuals created to increase the Axis contribution as the Mars population had expanded. He had been given the remit of studying and recommending ways to reverse engineer the now sterile reproductive system. This had been suggested because of the new relationship with the Symbiants, and Pascal 2 had endorsed this enthusiastically. Doc ventured a suggestion. "I have studied the historical data very thoroughly and I would like to make a proposal." Fav gave Doc encouragement to continue.

"In the old text there are many references to something which I believe is important. The modifications we have made to our voice apparatus to enable human sounds is admirable but has had an effect which has not been noticed. Our colour display of feelings prior to spoken language is under threat. Because we have the engagement of the processing unit instantaneously the colour display becomes redundant when we converse with humans and Symbiants. My research has indicated that one of the primary reasons for the evolution of the colour communication was for attracting potential reciprocation partners. It had a sexual driver. I realise this appears to be an insignificant issue, but if we are able to reconstruct the genetic code from whatever source, the reproductive elements will have this built into it. We give ourselves an additional problem if it disappears."

Fav waited, and thinking he had concluded his report asked, "What is your proposal?"

The reply was immediate. "As most of our technical, leisure, and exploration conversation is with human language, I am proposing to make a wristband with which humans and Symbiants can engage in colour display. The speech will remain unaltered. I would make it simple to use, only four general colours – yellow, green, violet and black, all operated by buttons. They do not have to use it; it would be very helpful if they did on occasions." Fav and Jet flashed yellow-orange bands and Doc trundled off. Fav would introduce the idea to Carvalho.

# Chapter 9

When Carvalho arrived Stella Aragones was just finishing her rounds. "Commander, you're punctual. Please let us visit Mr. Singh first; I have left his check-up until you came." He smiled and followed her. The unbuttoned white coat did not prevent him from appreciating her languid stride and the weird aroma of a 'clinical perfume'. She was tall, on the slender side, and her speech was accompanied or corroborated by almost ballerina-like hand movements. It reminded him of his youth in Portugal when all the young women seemed to talk with their hands. "How is Varanda?"

"He's progressing well. The anti-rejection fluids have to be reduced yet, but so far so good. He tires quickly at the moment if he has to cope with multiple conversations in the vicinity but that will self-tune in due course. We have to remember the years of trauma he has suffered."

Carvalho greeted the patient and had a short chat with his family. When they retired to Stella's office she seemed a little nervous. "I wasn't sure what to read into this part of your visit. Do you expect problems from Earth?"

"I've come to understand that Mars is always news back there; just like the stock market and the weather, it is on every bulletin. Everything we do or don't do is magnified for public consumption. In this case I'm anticipating the headlines being about our right to play God. It's really the first major concession to 'Synthumans' as one religious group has labelled Mr. Singh. I have to admit I have questions about how far we will proceed in the path the Axis took. Having said that, I grew up thinking that hearts, lungs and the many other substitute functions we had developed were routine, and the ethical aspect did not arise. There were those who protested and it took several years for that to recede, but this is a bit more complex for some. Even if I disagree with them I feel bound to keep listening. I want humanity to be absolutely cognizant of the need to take progress in sensible steps. For example the reaction in some Earth citizens may be to follow Varanda and apply for Martian status. That demand would be best handled in digestible volumes. I'm more interested in what next?"

"Well, I suppose you have reviewed this with Pascal 2, so I assume he has mentioned that he is working with the Axis in trying to restore their reproductive system." Carvalho nodded.

Stella continued, "I believe that we could benefit from similar studies. Sooner or later this will surface with a vengeance. The plight of the Axis is a very strong argument if they believe that the whole exodus from 55 Cancri has been unfulfilling because of inability to procreate. They knew they were infertile before they left, they just thought survival was more important. If we can learn from their current work, we may be able to diffuse some concerns the ethical lobby has."

"Exactly what do you mean by 'learn from'?"

"Help the Axis together with Pascal 2, so that if we can demonstrate success as reported through a species which has experienced this the hard way, it's an equally strong argument to be considered."

Carvalho beamed. "I'm relieved to hear we are on the same wavelength Doctor." She was smart as well as attractive. He was intrigued by this woman.

There are sometimes moments when you will never forget where you were at the time. Carvalho was really enjoying Stella's company when Alex 2 made contact. "Reuben de la Cruz has been on Earth TV, helping the police with information about his son. Evander has been kidnapped. There has been a ransom call demanding an exchange within one week. We have also received a transmission from Ayrton de Santos; it is marked for your eyes only and urgent attention."

"I'm on my way," said Carvalho. He apologised to Stella and said he hoped to be back when she was happy for him to speak with Singh on a professional basis.

********

The kidnap had caused the youth project to be put on temporary hold. Intelligence personnel and police had their ideas but little else. It was believed that the offer of Evander's life in exchange for all of the Beijing red crystal was typical of organised crime rings. The detail which worried them was the accuracy of the quantity they knew existed. The call had threatened Evander's termination if the quantity varied from that figure. It wasn't easy to see how they knew this without inside information.

Logan was in a spin. De Santos was mystified. China and USA were asking for assurances that it was classified as terrorism and that 'we don't give in to such people'. Protection was hurriedly arranged for the other four who had been assigned guaranteed places in the target twenty-five.

********

When Carvalho got back to Marineris Central Alex 2 brought him up to date with Earth broadcasts and his concern deepened when the transmission from De Santos merely said he had no idea how the information could be so accurate, but a friend from the Middle East had a theory. He needed to speak to Sadat, and realised something that he had known for some time would catch Mars out one day. The shuttles had schedules dictated by Earth needs more than Mars and they were all back there. He had resisted building craft solely for Martian requirements. That would have to change. He contacted Fav and explained why he needed his help again. Having discussed the type required, the second craft for the geothermal orbit plan was modified to have inter-planet capability, but for three personnel only.

He would not avail of this for the trip, which he needed to make for contact with Sadat. The next shuttle to arrive on Mars was not scheduled to take off for eight days.

It was difficult to focus on the enthusiasm of Alex 2 and Pascal 2, and their respective progress on propulsion theory and restoration of reproductive capability. He didn't seem to have much difficulty with his own enthusiasm for Stella's proposal on helping with the latter. He rebuked himself for trying to justify this when it was obviously a serious physical and emotional attraction.

********

Logan felt that he was out of his depth. He was causing more panic than calm by his frenetic 'order followed by counter-order' personality. He had been on a downward spiral since day one of his short tenure. Things were about to get worse.

It seemed as if everyone on the planet had an idea on how to deal with the kidnappers. Reuben de la Cruz was unhappy that with only four days to the deadline there did not appear, in his opinion, to be a coherent plan. The alternative was that he had simply been bypassed. Ayrton de Santos had been asked to prepare the crystal for urgent shipment if all else failed. When he confronted Logan with this strange instruction he was amazed at the response. "Mr. Logan, I can get the crystal ready as requested, but even if we ignore the small matter of the legal aspect, when and to where is it likely to be shipped?"

"We don't know."

"I thought so. You are aware that it is to be kept in cold storage and secure containers."

"Oh yes, is there a problem with that?"

De Santos replied with deliberation. "Well, if the kidnappers have made such a point about the accuracy of how much we have, and the consequences of a shortfall, how do you think they would check all of these containers – there are more than two hundred. How long do you think it would take at the rendezvous?"

"Oh, I see. Don't worry we aren't going to give it to them."

"So how do you get them to hand over the boy?"

Logan shuffled. "We are not the experts on dealing with kidnappers who are likely to be part of an organised crime ring. I am therefore not privy to the mechanics; I just have to supply the decoy crystal."

De Santos winced. "Decoy?"

"Yes. Look, the FBI is the most experienced in this field. It is felt that this crime ring is probably operating out of South America. First of all, the boy is Brazilian and the drug trade is rife in the continent. On top of that the bureau believes the only way they could know how much crystal we have is via a mole. They want the intended preparation and shipment to be verifiable by this insider, and that would apply even if we were going to deliver it. If the kidnappers were to suspect it was not going to be shipped it would pose further risk to the boy. How they will handle the actual exchange is a closely guarded secret. Now can you just get the damn stuff ready to go?" De Santos gestured affirmation.

He also felt Carvalho should know of this. When he got back to his office he had a visitor. Sadat apologised for appearing without an appointment. "Forgive the sudden urgency but I have no means of direct contact with Commander Carvalho to deliver some information. Now that I understand he will not be able to be here before this kidnap deadline I would like to speak with him."

De Santos reminded him of time delay and said, "Speak means transmission. Am I allowed to know the subject matter?"

"That is your choice. You can transmit my message if you wish."

The message content disappointed the Brazilian. It suggested immediate contact with Singh, and in particular to ask him about 'Condor'.

********

When Art Legrange alerted Carvalho to the incoming personal message from a Mr. Sadat, he reacted quickly. Having read it he speculated that the open, direct communication may be about the kidnap. He explained the situation as best he could to Stella, recognising that Singh may not be ready, but Evander was running out of time. She astonished him. "I understand Commander. My first responsibility is to my patient, however you trusted me to perform this operation when you could have instructed Pascal 2. I therefore reciprocate this trust in your judgement that Singh's stage of recovery is subjective, but the boy's predicament is not. You may speak with my patient if you allow me to determine when he has to rest. Would that be acceptable?" It was acceptable.

# Chapter 10

When Red had thrown the navigation hurdle to the group they moaned but did not challenge the imposed detour from the more interesting discussion. They knew this was not only valid but a prerequisite to the project; if this was not addressed now it was a 'theory killer'.

They threw ideas around and none of them relieved the frustration. Yamamoto said, partly in jest, "I suppose we'll have to go back to charting the high seas of the cosmos." Red asked him to enlarge on this.

"I wasn't entirely serious, but I suppose I was suggesting if all else failed we could try to take account of known criteria such as planets, the asteroid belt and comets. There are calculations to determine if they will be in our way when 'they arrive at us', so we choose our departure to a desired point on that basis. When it comes to unknown space we have to do what the ancient mariners did until their maps were reliable – take it in steps. We scan, we calculate, we move that part toward us. I suppose it would also give us an acceptable way of up-scaling the whole concept if and when we have one. It's just a thought. Hey, I didn't expect you to take it so seriously." They did take it seriously enough to say they should continue to develop it further. Red and Dan agreed.

The conversation with Singh caused a domino effect. The mention of the word Condor caused pupil dilation and an enquiry as to where he had heard it. Carvalho said it was a source he could not reveal but one who had recommended this meeting. "I'm acutely aware of Dr. Aragones' concern about any conversation which may impact your recovery, so I would....."

Singh waved his hand in what Carvalho thought was protest, and Stella was ready to call a halt to the session. Then he spoke quietly and calmly. "It will be a relief to get this off my chest but I must ask the doctor to allow the two of us to discuss this in private. Five minutes is all it will take." Stella did not like this at all, but complied, with the caveat that it was not a second over five minutes.

"Commander, what I am about to say is known to a handful of individuals and I could therefore guess who directed you to me. The meetings of the 'five' have recently become fractious. The Chino-American position has become more and more arrogant, and demands on the others to comply with their reasoning are now at crisis level. You are aware of one attempt to obtain red crystal from Mars. The next in line is to seize that in Beijing's keeping. This ultimate route, in the event of the others failing is utterly unacceptable, but could materialise if the kidnap situation I have followed on TV goes wrong. Without India, Russia and USAr knowing precisely why this is so important to them we are at a loss to explain their behaviour. If all other sources prove negative they have demanded agreement to recover substantial quantities from your domes, by force if necessary. The smoke screen is one which they have allowed and encouraged to justify their interest; it is Symbiant assistance in building infrastructure, but it is still a smokescreen. That is all I have. You would be well advised to get back there and glean more from your contact."

Carvalho stared blankly and was still in 'stasis' when Stella returned. She was happy that no beeps had occurred and Singh was still calm. Carvalho thanked Mr. Singh and Stella, and then departed in considerable mental turmoil. During the journey back to Marineris Central he wrestled with the threat then gravitated to any influence he could have on the kidnap scenario. He couldn't share the bombshell with anyone.

He contacted Fav to make sure there was no way he could perform a miracle with the new craft. "I am afraid not Commander. While we are speaking can I ask a favour?"

"Go ahead."

He told Carvalho of Doc's wristband request. This kind of request put everything into perspective for Carvalho. In one location there was common purpose, in the other there was an overlay of divisive politicking.

It was a long shot but he contacted De Santos. When he had been brought up to date with the Brazilian's chat with Logan, it gave Carvalho the final push. "I was wondering if you still have the means to contact Pascal Dupree, the doctor from Copernicus, who took a post in Sudan?"

"I believe we may have; I can check." The time delay was frustrating. "Ok, please try to get him to Beijing. He has some Scarlet. Ask him to bring it with him; it is a matter of life and death."

"May I know what this is about? I've never met him and he might be reluctant to drop everything and arrive on my say so." Carvalho pondered. "Yes of course. When we returned from the first Mars mission Pascal Dupree had stowed some crystal to take to Sudan. In order to improve the chances of getting it past the checks in Beijing he asked Indira Banjani, Natalia Balinsky and yours truly to take some through for him. We all made it but then got separated, and we were individually accompanied by security to our departure points, as there was a hunt for Alex 2. Later the three of us posted our samples to him in the secure containers – mine from Portugal and theirs from USA. Now listen carefully. In view of what you have just told me we need better odds in saving Evander's life. If Pascal Dupree can replicate again, and I convince Logan that he could orchestrate the exchange with the kidnappers via that Symbiant (as there is no knowledge of others on Earth) it would pretty well guarantee success. No other Earth inhabitant could meet them alone and have the odds in their favour. The risk of not delivering the crystal or substituting a dummy version and being found out is not an option. Can we do this?"

'Jesus Christos,' thought De Santos, it could work. "I am more confident in this plan than the FBI approach Commander, but how will you sell it to Logan? And then he has to convince the Bureau?"

"Logan is in over his head in this job, I don't see him passing up this chance to gain esteem. The Bureau will be more difficult but you can agree with them to release the crystal, with the penalty of a lawsuit if they do not return it in full, after the exchange. After all, it's still in reality under a legal embargo in the vaults. It may give Logan the power trip he is looking for. In order to avoid him suspecting collusion I will, if he goes for the Symbiant idea, refer to you on the legal threat. However first things first, you need to convey this to Pascal Dupree. I'm sure he will want to help and declare that it was the last of his crystal. It would be best if he performed the replication in Beijing from the coordination standpoint with the FBI, as they will not relinquish total control."

"I'll get on to it immediately Commander, I'll clear it with Dupree and then simply wait for Logan to contact me."

********

Ayrton de Santos had managed to convince Dupree of the veracity of this ridiculous request primarily because of the even more ludicrous Russian roulette the FBI seemed to accept with a boy's life. In addition, an awkward blend of anarchism and morality had always been his hallmark. He had agreed to travel to Beijing with the last dregs of his stash. He left his young 'son' to continue the aid to his Sudanese flock. De Santos was reflecting on how his activity had recently changed from boffin to political agent. The next jolt came from Sadat. "I have to speak to... er sorry, transmit to Commander Carvalho again. This is of the utmost urgency."

De Santos was struggling with who knew what, and had to resist the urge to follow his scientific discipline and record observations. He also did not want to have Logan walk in on any irregular meeting or transmission. Sadat was insistent that somehow this had to happen. "I'll get back to you within the hour Mr. Sadat."

He decided to try to precipitate something with Logan by personally taking the shipping detail for the crystal, which required a signature. "I'm still not happy about this but it is your call and your signature. It also needs to have your seal of office stamped here and here." Logan looked flushed and agitated. "Please sit down Ayrton. Do you know the whereabouts of a Pascal Dupree? Apparently he was the medical presence on Mars a long time ago."

"Dupree, er vaguely, that was over twenty years ago. I seem to recall he went to somewhere in Africa after the crew returned. Why do you ask?"

"We may need to speak to him, but first I want to run something past you."

Logan's massive ego surfaced and rapidly gathered pace. He spouted off about a discussion with Carvalho which had sparked an idea he had put to the Commander, to curb the reckless intentions of the FBI. De Santos had to concede that this buffoon had missed his calling; he did have a sprinkling of that Hollywood dust. Maybe he should be sprinkled with a different dust – maybe not, one of a kind was enough.

"So, what do you want me to do?"

Logan's smile was sickening. "Let him know that we know he has some illegal crystal and we urge him to report here immediately with the entire quantity. We will acquaint him with the plan when he arrives."

"If I can trace him I'll pass this on if that's really what you want."

"Is there something bothering you Mr. de Santos?"

"I'm assuming you appreciate that he took this crystal before the law was passed to make possession illegal. Then of course there is the small matter of extraditing him from Sudan – how much time do we have?"

Logan had lots of practice at backtracking. "Yes, that is a valid point. What do you suggest?"

"Well, make him feel an important part of helping bring down these apologies for human beings who are holding the boy."

"Mmm, yes, could you attend to it and let me know his response? There is another matter. We need to ship the crystal to wherever but have it returned if the exchange is favourable so I won....."

De Santos corrected him, "No sir, if you are talking of the legal position, the FBI does not get off the hook that easily. There must be prior acknowledgement from them that the crystal is being passed into their care on the condition of safe return. If the entire quantity is not returned they face a legal suit until it is. I would have thought they knew that."

"Of course, thank you for reminding me. They must see the benefit of my plan. Thanks."

# Chapter 11

Doc had distributed his wristbands and they were received warmly by the humans, whereas the Symbiants could not get too excited about them. He attached a note to each one suggesting that if ever humans altered their physiology there may be a way to link a display to the brain.

Stella informed Carvalho that she was prepared to allow the media to speak to Singh. "I'm satisfied that we can claim the procedure was a success in medical terms. However I'm no politician so I would appreciate your handling of that side of things, if you have time."

"Of course I have. I hope this isn't an intrusive suggestion - would you like to discuss the double act, and rehearse each other's signals so that we can recognise them - over dinner?"

She didn't hesitate. "That would be very helpful, I don't want to put my foot in it, and your guidance may help, but I can't promise that it won't happen – as you know I get a little protective of patients; people have referred to it as tunnel vision."

Carvalho felt a rush of stomach churning but was able to maintain a professional voice. "Excellent, can you suggest a restaurant near the hospital so you don't have to travel. It would also give me a chance to talk to Singh before the vultures descend on him."

"Yes, I'll make a reservation. Bye."

********

Sadat was even more urgent this time. "Mr. de Santos, if you cannot help me contact Commander Carvalho I will have to trust you to convey the information I have yourself. We must stop this kidnap trade."

De Santos thought this was a bad sign - maybe a problematical impending disclosure. It was worse than that. He had for some reason thought Sadat knew of the new plan. "Why, and how?"

"We have recently had a visit from a top General in the Chinese military. This was a long-standing arrangement but it has taken on new significance. As you know North Korea has the last vestiges of a communist state run by a dictator. They have pursued a headlong disregard for world pressure to cut their nuclear arsenal. The USA and China have been the most outspoken critics. The Chinese General visited us to speak first hand to our military as we have the most recent experience of a conventional war – in 2018 with the Zionists. The General – I need him to be nameless for now - asked to speak to our government and ended up with me. He is supposed to be responsible for building a camp on the North Korean northern border to discourage growing defection of the Korean civilians. The Americans have responded to a request to do the same with the permission of South Korea on their border, and they agreed. The Americans asked about the eventual repatriation and were assured by the Chinese that they could pass all detainees to them by sea, and they would oversee the return of all defectors. The General has since been informed that these captives are to be secretly replicated with crystal and briefed before return, to conduct a guerrilla war against their own forces. They know the dictator would stop short of employing nuclear armaments in his own country and against who he believes are his own people. The General was told that it only needs a few milligrams of amorphous powder for each one. They believe there will be sufficient to produce an indestructible army of hundreds of thousands from less than 1% of that number of originals. They will invade at the appropriate moment and install a puppet regime in the name of stabilising the region. He believes the Americans are not in on the second part of the objective but is unsure whether one or both could be involved in the kidnap exchange. The General and his family have asked us for asylum. You must agree this is vital information which the Commander must have. One thing is certain - whether it comes from the Martian domes or Beijing vaults they are determined to obtain the crystal at any cost."

The Brazilian initially responded with sarcasm. "This is a ridiculous claim; it can't be serious."

"That was my first thought but he showed me detailed plans. The replicants are to be deployed in alternate waves. The leading ones engage the N.K. military in conventional guerrilla strikes and the secondary detachments clean up any dismembered replicants which have suffered explosive damage severe enough to preclude regeneration. They know about things which I did not, such as the replicant physiology – sentinel cells and first tier registry links to these cells to repair damage. They must have inside information. The second wave is to return these damaged parts to cold recycling points behind the line of incursion to enforce crystal reversion. The recovered crystal will spawn new replicants to join the next offensive wave. This may seem like a crackpot idea to the likes of us but they are convinced they can succeed. You may think that it is also a 'crazy' objective to complete this phase and end up with all of the planet's red crystal ready for use on what next? It is almost too far-fetched to believe – a bit like suicide bombers without the suicide. If the Americans have been deceived it could well mean that the problem becomes even more serious if and when they find out."

De Santos was not a risk taker by nature; he was a competent scientist whose brain had been showered with political involvement, none of which was of his own choice. Sadat needed to know of the Pascal Dupree charade and Carvalho needed to know of this latest fantasy war. He wanted out of this ring of intrigue. He set up the most secure transmission link possible via an initial message to Art Legrange to get Carvalho alone to be ready to receive. When this had been achieved he made it clear to Carvalho that Logan did not know what Sadat was about to deliver. He also asked to be relieved of any further involvement in the politics other than carrying out direct orders.

The revelation did not impact Carvalho as it had the Brazilian. His first thought was to carry on with the Pascal Dupree plan, and Sadat agreed. It would be helpful to know if the FBI reacted to this in any particular way and whether there was any indication of them being part of any other agenda.

De Santos duly informed Logan that Pascal Dupree was standing by for Beijing airlift from Sudan. He was more than happy to assist in the effort to free Evander de la Cruz. Logan preened at his opportunity to manipulate the FBI with 'his' plan. They did not exactly protest and even saw some merit in the idea as well as the apportionment of failure, if that occurred. They did insist on maintaining the coordinating role – Dupree's replicant would be instructed by them and nobody else. This decision left Carvalho and Sadat thinking that they either had no part in any 'Chinese whispers' or they were unknowingly being used by their own government to acquire the crystal. It was a priority to find out who the kidnappers were. The FBI knew this would be possible by replicating captured individuals at the exchange and interrogating them.

********

Carvalho's date with Stella was a welcome if brief respite from the political intrigue. He asked her what had made her apply for the Martian post. At first she hesitated, explaining that it was a long, boring story and somewhat painful. His total acceptance of that and a swift change to the matter at hand, Mr. Singh, strangely disappointed her. She had never really got close enough to anyone to regurgitate and hopefully cleanse herself of the baggage of the failed marriage.

They quickly came to an accord on exactly how to handle all possible probes by the media and Carvalho produced a surprise for her. "I've just heard from Sophia Scillacci and Eidur Isaakson – the two specialists who combined the human and Axis knowledge to produce the design for the procedure carried out on Singh. They will be on a parallel broadcast to ours; the link up may at least help move Terran resistance to this science into a more objective forum. They are thrilled with your success and send you their warmest congratulations. They'll visit you on the next shuttle on which they can secure places."

"Really, I feel honoured. I have somehow looked at them as mentors even though I've never met them."

Carvalho reassured her, "They are very impressed with the way you handled this potentially explosive case. Apparently the debate has bubbled under the surface, just waiting for failure. You were under a lot of pressure; their praise is merited." She was a little flustered and self-conscious and returned to his former question. "My determination to detach myself from the issues surrounding the case was aided by my reasons for wanting the post. Since you did ask, I needed a new beginning – professional and personal. Clearing my head meant exactly that – everything. I just had the perfect focus to help annex my recent traumas. As I said earlier I don't want to bore you with detail but I now feel that my decision was vindicated."

"I can't imagine it would be more boring than returning to my hotel accommodation and evaluating the latest pressure reports from the boreholes." She truly smiled for the first time in his presence. It was two hours later when they said goodnight. She was besieged by conflicting cerebral and emotional messages. 'It's too soon; this has happened to me before; it's good to feel like this again; I must combat arousal; I've just started this job; he may not feel this way about me'.

# Chapter 12

The call came closer to the deadline than expected for Reuben de la Cruz. "Put your negotiator on the line." He obliged and handed the handset to Marvin Kinsey. "Yes. Kinsey here."

"Listen very carefully. You will deliver the goods exactly 24 hours from now. Set your timepiece. The delivery point coordinates will be the last thing I tell you – be ready for that. You will use a helicopter to deliver the cargo and upon our signal you will lower it with a winch. The chopper remains in the air until we have visually verified the cargo. It then leaves and returns in 12 hours to pick up the boy, if the tests prove we have the correct material. The coordina....."

Kinsey interjected. "No."

"We do not have flexibility on this."

Kinsey was adamant. "We don't either. You check the material, we check the boy. It could be anybody. We send one unarmed man down with the cargo to verify the boy as Evander de la Cruz. You do not take away the crystal until we do that. Once we have his signal, our man is winched up, and only then do you take the boy and a sample of the cargo for test. When you are satisfied, the boy is lifted and the cargo is yours. There is no trade if we don't have this assurance."

There was anxiety in the other voice, the conversation had already lasted longer than planned and they knew a trace was in progress. "You must not attempt to land, and we will only signal for your man to descend to within two metres of the surface so we can check he is not armed with weapons or detonators. If he is clean he can then make landfall and confirm the boy's identity."

Kinsey agreed to this but did not have one piece of vital information. "Very well, we agree to the procedure but as you know the cargo is in Beijing and the timeline is too tight to reach some destinations with certainty. We would appreciate a 36 hour deadline."

"That is not our problem; negotiations are over." Kinsey's tracker was almost there. "What if there is an....."

The voice delivered the coordinates and said there would be no further communication just as the triangulation was complete. The call was made from a mobile device located in Chile. The Fed officials were discussing the mechanics and were already on the line to Beijing when one of the agents tapped Kinsey on the shoulder. "Sir, these GPS coordinates are over the Brazilian rainforest, and the really bad news is that there is nowhere to land a chopper within two hours flying."

"Shit," yelled Kinsey, "now we are totally dependent on this Beijing guy to take them all down without any heat. This is not going to end well."

It was at least a tight enough timescale to get everyone focussed on just getting the crystal to the Brazilian military base with Dupree and replicant in time for transfer to a neutral helicopter. They could not risk arming the helicopter itself. They did have tear gas grenades. Kinsey remarked, "They must be on the ground at or near the rendezvous point already; the Chile contact would be a safeguard against a call trace. I really hope the guy Beijing is sending with the crystal is as good as they're telling me he is."

********

Carvalho and Stella fielded the questions from the media satisfactorily but Singh stole the show. He was articulate and didn't condemn the Earth medics who denied him the operation – he merely said he wanted his children to grow up in Martian society. He was very convincing with some of those who had armed themselves with questions to test his memory transfer. This also made the job of Scillacci and Isaakson much less controversial. It was a small step forward for mankind. After the bandwagon dispersed Singh asked for his family to visit and when they arrived, it was an emotional scene.

"Ok you heard it on TV, you wanted to stay and I have told everybody we will. So, ask the Commander to point us to the right person and get searching for the accommodation which will be prepared for my homecoming."

Stella had to ask the over-exuberant children to avoid hugging their father too tightly as he was a little more fragile than he appeared. Carvalho was scheduled to return to Marineris with the kidnap saga coming to a head. He began making his excuses to Stella so she took the initiative. "Could you use some company? I know this is a tense time for you; you were very supportive of me in a similar situation and I'd like to say thanks."

His smile registered no further need for words. He nodded wistfully and squeezed her hand. She whispered, "I assume there is accommodation available at Marineris?"

"I'll check it out now, but don't worry, if there isn't, I'll ask one of the Symbiants to vacate a room and sleep outside. They're pretty much immune to one night in the freezing cold. Just joking Doctor - or can I call you Stella?" She coyly said she needed to freshen up and pack a change of clothes. He didn't ask but she had already arranged for colleagues to cover her shift for the next day.

********

Touchdown in Brazil did not leave much time for briefing before Kinsey informed the helicopter pilot of the plan. He had decided to travel himself as he didn't like the look of this ageing replicant. This took the helicopter closer to the weight limit than they would have liked. As they boarded, his appraisal of the geriatric hit-man was revised a little when he moved the cargo with impunity to make room for the FBI 'supremo'. He then asked, "How do you want me to refer to you?"

"Apparently I have been bestowed with the name Dupe - presumably suggesting I am to surprise the kidnappers."

They were nearing the area of the coordinates and Kinsey had become a little more comfortable with Dupe. The replicant had grasped all the instructions offered immediately, and questioned some of them. He had one suggestion which appealed to the FBI man. "As we cannot land, and both the boy plus crystal are at risk after they have confirmed its authenticity, I would like to reduce that vulnerability."

"Aha," said Kinsey.

"Well, although we do not know how far they have to travel to the 'test lab' they have specified that we return in 12 hours. This makes me think that this rendezvous point is not as inaccessible as we believe."

"Go on."

"We can mitigate this possible risk if I leap out of the helicopter approximately one mile from the hover point. The forest canopy will restrict their view of this. Do not be concerned, I will not be damaged by this and I will be at the rendezvous by the time your discourse with them results in the signal for you to descend and check the boy. As you ascend and they watch, I will despatch multiple tear gas grenades around the clearing. Being unaffected by it myself, it will be a simple matter of snatching the boy and taking him to temporary safety before rendering the kidnappers unconscious, as well as vision deficient. We have the elements of surprise and distraction; I am very quick in executing such basic manoeuvres."

Kinsey was not convinced and still felt there was danger of the boy being harmed by some trigger happy thug. He said, "I'll stick to the original plan."

Dupe said, "Have you considered how they are going to get the bulk crystal out of there?"

"Yes, but it has a tracer."

"And you don't think they will check for one?"

Kinsey was jumpy. "How do you believe they will attempt to move it?"

They were now approaching a circling attitude to the point. Dupe said, "I do not have to believe – my vision apparatus can detect the clearing. There is a very large Brazilian flag on the ground. There is a shape underneath this flag and the wooden platform on which it is draped. The shape is that of a helicopter housed in an excavation. There are eight armed personnel in the vicinity."

In a flash Kinsey realised the danger of his own plan. These guys would allow verification of Evander then when the FBI chopper retreated for 12hrs, they would load up, disappear with the crystal and the boy. "We go with your suggestion, I pray you live up to your promises." He asked the pilot to slowly decrease the circling radius to allow Dupe his exit and then acknowledge the kidnappers' gesture to winch the cargo on to the flag.

The eight individuals on the ground backed off into a circle whose circumference was close to the edge of the clearing. The winch was ready to go as the hover position stabilised. The crystal was lowered very slowly as any snagging could bring down the chopper. Dupe had arrived and with the noise level as cover he quickly leapt behind one of the thugs, snatched the automatic weapon while simultaneously delivering a fatal blow to the head. It was done in a flash and the rest appeared spellbound by the lowering cargo. Dupe retreated to the camouflage of the forest with the corpse. This was a deviation from plan and Kinsey was furious but helpless. The group started to move forward toward the grounded cargo and did not notice one of their ranks was missing. Kinsey was near to cardiac arrest when he saw Dupe appear again. The noise and air turbulence was making it difficult for those on the ground to communicate with each other. Dupe seized his moment. They had left Evander tethered near the perimeter and the replicant was able to discharge the grenades between the boy and the remaining seven adversaries. It would produce a wall of smoke and lachrymatory gas but not before the tether had been disengaged and the boy whisked to the cover of the undergrowth. The next few minutes were surreal. As the kidnappers turned their attention from stripping the packing of the crystal to the billowing smoke, and could no longer see the boy, they lost it. Advancing into the mist while discharging their weapons without knowing what was going on – they started to cough, and breathing was very difficult. They individually and unconsciously retreated into a tight group. Before they decided to unleash a hail of bullets on the helicopter, Dupe hurled a tree he had uprooted, at them. In pinning them against the cargo another two were killed. The rest were immobilised, and Dupe collected the weapons, threw them to the edge of the clearing, and beckoned Kinsey to descend. By the time he had grounded, Dupe had piled the injured on top of one another despite their protests of agony. He directed Kinsey to the boy and asked him to bring one of the weapons to the centre. While Kinsey stood watch, Dupe cleared the crystal out of the way to allow the helicopter to land. By the time it had, he had bound the captives together with creeper from the forest. His demeanour was unchanged when he addressed Kinsey. "I believe we are supposed to replicate some or all of these people and interrogate the synthetic versions. As the crystal has not yet turned to the amorphous form that is not possible. We also have a weight restriction on our helicopter. I suggest you take the boy and the crystal back to the military base. I will follow with their helicopter and the prisoners."

Kinsey felt a bit redundant and didn't bother to ask if Dupe could pilot the machine, and whether he could find his way back. The kidnappers didn't feel up to challenging the plan.

# Chapter 13

When the news reached Carvalho he was visibly relieved and Stella guessed as much from his body language. He breathed deeply. "It was mainly my idea to try such an audacious rescue of the boy, but I also felt pretty helpless at not being able to participate. Anyway, he's safe for now."

Stella squeezed his hand and took advantage of the emotional moment with a very light kiss on the cheek. The tension gave way to passion and she led him to the sleeping quarters. He could not really believe this was happening so soon, yet it felt right. The passion alternated with tenderness for most of the night.

When breakfast beckoned they were in sleep deficit and they were both contacted by their respective 'offices'. Normality began to kick in and as she was about to embrace the sonic shower, Carvalho started to mutter that he had not intended to take advantage....

She put her finger across his lips and added, "Shhh."

As she showered he was transfixed at the image of her through the 'not quite transparent curtain'. Even though he was still in a heightened state of emotional abandon, he could not believe he had connected in this way with this breathtakingly beautiful woman. As she left the cubicle she realised that breakfast was not on his mind. He pulled her gently into a long silent embrace.

Having 'come down to Mars' somewhat and looked at his agenda, Commander Daniel Carvalho felt life might never be the orderly routine he had previously settled for.

Stella told him she had the day off and would not be a distraction. She would explore Marineris as she had not had time to do so until now. He left to attend a fuller briefing of events from Alex 2.

********

Once back at the military base Kinsey had two priorities. The immediate safety of Evander was first and then information which could be extracted from the five captives. Reuben de la Cruz was adamant that Brazil was not an option. He made a good case for him going to Mars. His argument was simple. The reason he was abducted related to massive publicity the selection programme had handed to the perpetrators. "So why not send him early? The rest of the programme has been put on hold. I do not want to have my son become a prisoner of constant security." It was perceived as a reasonable suggestion and would help diffuse anxiety with the other candidates who may have been selected.

Kinsey wanted more information about replication. Having seen Dupe's performance he briefly wondered about his recruitment for the Bureau, but dismissed it on grounds of his failure to stick with the agreed plan, and how fussy the Bureau hierarchy had become since merging with the CIA. His main concern was about what to do with the replicants after the extraction of data. Pascal Dupree then suggested they could possibly extract sufficient information from the three corpses, to convince the survivors it was futile to hold back. The crystals were dusty now that they had been out of cold storage and at high ambient temperature for some time.

The corpses gave up details of Bolivian and Venezuelan nationals and the recruitment 'agency' location residing in Caracas. None of the bodies appeared to be the leader from the scant data retrieved. The bluff commenced.

Kinsey addressed them together at first. "We already have information on who you are and the people who have engaged your services. It is now a simple matter of taking your individual statements and bringing the appropriate charges. If there is any discrepancy in your accounts then we will proceed to replicate you in turn to confirm the liars. That will affect your eventual sentence. Be sure you think about this because we don't entertain second chances or claims of convenient recovered memory. You have twenty minutes in your separate interview rooms to make sure you know exactly what you want to say, before we start recording."

They recognised the futility of trying to broker a deal. The revelations were interesting. Only the leader really knew what Kinsey was after, but he was nervous about the discrepancy of the others apparently knowing nothing other than what the corpses had already offered. Kinsey told him to concentrate now on answering questions. "Who contacted us from Chile and presumably briefed you on our demands to alter the proceedings?"

"He was the one pulling the strings with the men in Caracas. His identity is only known to them – they were to pay us."

Kinsey continued, "You say you have worked for the Caracas connections before, in what respect?"

He shifted uneasily in his seat. "Always to do with recovering goods not paid for, or the individuals responsible for the default. We have never been involved in abduction of children or cargo other than coca."

"Why was this so interesting to you?"

"The money was way above what we would normally receive in a year."

Kinsey decided to leave it there for now. He had the names of the Caracas brokers and called in the appropriate backup. The targets would know by now that their operation had gone wrong. He guessed that the man in Chile would want to know why but may not try to make contact with them. Time was critical.

Meanwhile Logan was sickeningly and falsely modest about his brave decision to take the nucleus of a hint from Carvalho and authorise such a daring plan. It was not long before the political Chino/American position adjusted. He received a congratulatory call from Arnold Rodham detailing his relief at the successful outcome insofar as both the boy and crystal were back in safe hands. The Chinese were nervous about the vulnerability of the crystal while it was sitting in an apparently lawless country. They were seeking assurances that it would not fall into the wrong hands. They told him that their legal challenge had been prepared to effectively relieve Beijing of its custody. Logan was more concerned about the latter than the inconsistency of the two responses.

His preening continued while he informed De Santos of the Chinese legal threat. Being circumspect, the Brazilian asked him about the American response. When he heard nothing of an impending legal counterpart he decided to pass this on to Sadat.

********

Alex 2's briefing of Carvalho on the 'rumble in the jungle' was concluded and they were discussing what may happen to Pascal Dupree and his new sidekick Dupe. Carvalho indicated that as soon as he got to Earth he would make sure that Dupree was happy with all aspects of the post-episode fallout. They were a little concerned that Dupe would be the focus of attention from disreputable organisations and the political hierarchy. They were interrupted by Legrange who had received a transmission from Logan, it said, "Commander, I have a request that the young man – I forget his name, well the kidnapped boy – should come to Mars on the next shuttle. It is felt, and I agree, he is still a target. I realise this is short notice but I am sure I can count on you to respond positively. I will assume this is acceptable unless I hear to the contrary. I appreciate your part in this important saga."

Carvalho was pleased to let Alex 2 read it. There were signs of a smile from the Symbiant. It was however somewhat eclipsed by that of the Commander, after he counted the number of times Logan had used the personal pronoun 'I' in the short transmission. The message also stressed the deadline of the shuttle's scheduled departure being imminent.

The spirits of the think-tank participants were lifted by Evander's planned arrival. They had come to terms with the downside of the new spatial manipulative concept of travel. It was indeed analogous to the ancient mariners having to chart areas of avoidance for future reference. Sandbanks, rocky outcrops, rogue tides were all factors which only became negotiable once the charts were produced. They had a head start with all the probes which had been deployed over the years and the Axis had even more accurate data as far as the Kuiper belt. The wormhole transit from 55 Cancri was not helpful as the internal conduit was free of 'debris'. The asteroid and Kuiper belts would have to be charted with normal propulsion to fill any gaps from probe data before moving on to the Oort cloud. The charts would have to contain a feature the old sea dogs would have had some trouble with. Planetary bodies, comets and rogue asteroids would all need to be the subject of a very reliable algorithm. The Symbiants conceded that as the comprehension was up to standard, the laborious calculations would fall to them. The group was on the verge of running before they could walk, by suggesting a prototype design should be produced. Alex 2 deflated the new shoots of motivation when he said the theory was not yet sufficiently 'complete'. "Producing gravity A waves, even if sustainable, does not in itself embody control. It is worth considering the multi-faceted semantics of the 'umbrella of control'."

********

Sadat made contact with Arnold Rodham. The conversation was driven towards the new perception to which the security of the crystal had risen in view of the failed kidnap. "The USAr is becoming increasingly nervous of the proposal of the Chinese and yourselves to prematurely employ it, albeit for worthwhile causes, now that the 'underground' interest is so manifest. We cannot speak for the Indian and Russian governments or any others, including the European block. We have however received sentiments of their unease."

He was about to call for an open discussion when Rodham intervened. "We have also reviewed the situation and although the intentions we have are still necessary, we want to think this through further. I'm afraid however, that the Chinese are intransigent to modification of the timescale. We support your notion to return to the table to debate this."

Sadat was temporarily wrong-footed but managed to digress while he gathered his thoughts. "I know your man Kinsey has yet to run the trail back to the originator of the crystal acquisition attempt. Will he be sharing this with us if it comes to light before the proposed review? It could be vital in making progress."

There was no sign of withholding information in Rodham's reply. "Of course, when he's sure the case will not be prejudiced by premature disclosure I'll get him to brief the entire group."

The shuttle had left with Evander on board and a second high profile earthling for a synthetic brain operation. Since Varanda Singh's successful procedure and decision to settle on Mars, there had been more pro-campaigns than those of the 'anti' variety. This individual had not yet been named in Earth media as it was likely to spark a bushfire of new concern. It had been decided to wait until the procedure had been completed before disclosure.

The refitted Columbus had a newly promoted Commander. Hector Morgan was South African born, and of mixed race. His early aptitude had culminated in his acceptance at Oxford where he read physics and mathematics. His initial employment was in the robotics industry. He had subsequently been offered a senior management post in the European Space Agency. Having completed several missions and improvements to orbiting space stations he was recruited to the Beijing space research arm. He quickly established himself as a leader and wanted the real test. He was to be given the First Officer role on this mission, but the nominated Commander had developed a rare form of cancer and needed treatment to begin immediately. At such short notice the decision went to Morgan. No one was surprised.

The crew members were all human and reflected the trend for the shuttles to provide expertise in medicine, science and most of all engineering. The available cargo space was taken by supplies and equipment for the same disciplines. It was a highly compatible crew and Evander's presence added a touch of notoriety. The young man was riding an adrenaline train.

********

Stella had returned to Echus Chasma but her thoughts lingered in Marineris. They would be in touch continually. Jet had better news for Carvalho about the new interplanetary craft. Reprogramming the robotics specifically for a small vessel would reduce the build time by an estimated ten days and delaying concurrent work on the second craft and geothermal orbiters would move it up another week. It could be ready for trials a few days before Columbus arrived. Carvalho pondered the alternatives. As much as he wanted to welcome Evander de la Cruz, there were pressing issues on Earth, and it would do no harm to surprise them with another practical announcement of independent shuttles, as he docked.

Although there was a media blackout of Stella's new transplant patient, she had to be forewarned and supplied with medical data. Nine year old Sabine Cheverry was the daughter of the Euro President Armand. An inoperable aggressive tumour had grown exponentially since recent diagnosis and medication had barely effected retardation. The newest treatments with specific targeted drugs were not working and had confused the medical profession. She would live months at most. Now it became clear why the shuttle departure had been brought forward. There was however no room for her parents, and she was to be cocooned, sedated, and then be the subject of medical monitoring from none other than Sophia Scillacci. This mission of mercy had all the ingredients of high currency in the media and beyond, when all was revealed. Scillacci did not need a second to decide, she had wanted to return to Mars to meet the Axis in person and continue her study of their physiology which she had initiated with Pascal 2 all those years ago.

# Chapter 14

The Caracas connection had not been easy to run to ground. Of the three names they had been given, only one seemed to be on the intelligence radar. Kinsey's agents were fortunate that this man was in Manila at the time of the project failure. This target left hurriedly when the news broke, but not quick enough to avoid being tailed. He had decided to lie low in Singapore for a week. The Bureau had a network of contacts which made observation pretty much undetectable. Since its amalgamation with the CIA in 2041 the jurisdiction issues were gone and the organisation had earned an improved image in the USA and abroad. This allowed more surveillance by indigenous personnel and attracted high calibre recruits. Manolo Suarez was feeling comfortable that he had eluded detection. He was to enter the Caribbean islands by sea from West Africa, where there would be 'no questions asked'. Once there he would take a cruise ship to Panama and be collected. It was therefore a surprise when he was collected by Kinsey and even more confusing when he realised that those in his own employ had been similarly 'jumped'.

It became clear very quickly that he was made of sterner stuff than the hired help. He was immune to the threat of replication. His cronies were more accommodating but didn't offer the desired information until one of them broke ranks. They all knew they faced lengthy incarceration, and this foolhardy young man gambled. During the second round of isolated questioning he asked for a discussion on plea bargaining. What he had to offer was the whereabouts of the wife and family of Suarez, as he had the task of guarding them frequently. He figured that this would allow Kinsey leverage on Suarez. He didn't know that when he was in Manila, Suarez had issued orders for his family to be moved.

When this was discovered, the remaining two heads of the organisation had been informed of the search for his family. It was how things operated; they approved his family's elimination. Those in captivity now knew they were also on death row and there was no point in being freed unless the two Padres had been neutralised.

There had been a breakthrough in Chile. Since tracing the call from there to set the kidnap rendezvous, the airports and sea ports had been watched. A week after Suarez had departed from Singapore a man with a Philippine passport had flown from Santiago to Buenos Aires, and then taken several trains north. He was currently heading back to the Argentine capital, possibly because he had heard of the Suarez family demise. He was apprehended in a remote station in Argentina.

********

Stella was only just coming to terms with the fallout which could come from the impending procedure on Sabine Cheverry. The most uncertain factor was the amount of collateral damage that may be caused if her brain deteriorated more rapidly than predicted during the shuttle journey. Even if Stella was successful with the implant, memory and motor functions could be lost. Carvalho was toying with shelving his intention to travel in the new craft before Columbus arrived. Stella told him she did not want that; Pascal 2 and Scillacci would be on hand to assist and she preferred not to have any distractions, and he was becoming a big distraction.

Only two were to be in the craft. Carvalho had asked Alex 2 to join him as there could be some far-reaching decisions taken which could affect all species. The Symbiant agreed even though his preference was to stay and nurture the incoming Evander de la Cruz. By the time they had set off and informed Earth of their earlier than anticipated arrival, the news of the Suarez family massacre had reached them. Alex 2 was unusually 'emotional', and reminded his companion how unwell this made the Continuance feel. "I never cease to be amazed at how many times I say 'I never cease to be amazed' by your species. We are about to talk again to their guardians about the ethical and deeply religious concerns over extending the life expectancy of willing individuals. This has generated more protest than this family being brutally murdered because they may know someone's name. Human society is a contradiction in terms. If I had known of this prior to setting off I would have declined to come with you. You need to prepare yourself for what I will now say when we arrive. In summary your promise is more than counterbalanced by your inability to see beyond your own image of yourselves. I am talking about a flawed hierarchical system within a political mirage. I will be advising all Symbiants of a change of priority. We need to concentrate all encouragement on the Axis. They do not offer the same potential as humans but they also do not offer the same weaknesses. I am sorry to say that this will be accompanied by a rescinding of the human option to regress Symbiants to crystal. That will be transferred to the Axis. We will of course be happy to continue with individuals of your species who are not afflicted by myopic obsession with human rights; fortunately those on Mars already qualify. Sadly, there will be those on Earth who do, but they are victims of circumstance, they do however have the option to leave. You should know Commander that I had a similar discussion with Xiang many years ago, and without more people like him there is little prospect of change."

This was a sobering message which Carvalho knew had justification. He also knew how the reversal of Symbiant voluntary hibernation would be interpreted. 'I told you so – this was the agenda all along' – sprang to mind.

Evander was to have a tour with the new arrivals before his anticipated introduction to the members of the think-tank. Sabine was to be prepared for surgery as soon as possible and was whisked to Echus by train before too many prying eyes could speculate. It would be done in this order as Evander had become a minor cult figure since his rescue, and most of the assembled crowd and media would follow him.

********

The Philippine national insisted he had nothing to do with any of the events surrounding the kidnap. His story was adjusted to explain the Caracas contact numbers in his mobile communicator – he had relatives there who worked the Caribbean cruise ships. Kinsey said that was interesting. "So why did you turn around and come back to Buenos Aires?"

"I have been there and to Chile on business, which I thought was concluded but I got a call from Buenos Aires to say the printing machine I had set up for the passport office had malfunctioned again."

This guy was either very good or genuine. When asked if anyone in the passport office could verify this he began to digress. "You must understand this is a highly sensitive and confidential business contract, I cannot just give out their numbers like this."

They examined his brief case and found no link to printing equipment and decided to contact the Philippine police. He had many passports and names. They were delighted to hear of his description and whereabouts as he had been on their 'wish to interview' list for over three years. Their intelligence people believed he was in China and were now even more interested to see him. It was a long shot but Kinsey asked, "Is there anything you can tell us about why you want to see him?"

It was not within the Philippine police power to jump the queue, the intelligence squad would get first shot and they could not comment before that. Kinsey however, milked their enthusiasm to get their hands on this man. "It may be some time before you get your chance. He is mixed up in the Evander de la Cruz saga. He will be here until we convict him. However, if your people want to come to Brazil I'm sure we could try to arrange for you to have interviews with him. I'll leave it to you; my contact details will be forwarded to you for your verification with my organisation."

********

Carvalho asked Alex 2 to keep his intended speech until the very end of their visit, and the Symbiant readily agreed. His logic was that delivering this withdrawal notice could only make the objective of the trip more difficult, unless the agenda had preceded the declaration. The atmosphere was downbeat with just the two of them on board, and although such silence did not trouble Alex 2, Carvalho tried to lighten the mood by asking what contribution Evander could make. "Undoubtedly he will have a decisive one. He has already demonstrated in his challenges to aspects of uncertain proofs that the challenges themselves are invalid. He can expect the same from some of the think-tank members, but they are not threatened by his precociousness, and will possibly see the point."

It was obvious that this was about as much as he was going to give away. Carvalho went on the offensive and switched the discussion to what really bothered Alex 2.

"I've had some reservations myself about the extent of modification of our physiology. You may recall that I said at the time we produced the charter, this moment of helping individuals with no other hope, would determine the timing of substitution of the brain by synthetic equivalents. I'm equally certain that resistance to other modifications will be broken down in the same way, to the point of humans being more inorganic than they ever thought would be acceptable. The real difficulty will arise when we tackle the issue of procreation. Of course if an individual has to sacrifice this for some life-saving cure of a terminal condition, it will occur. This is very different from taking a vote on mass sterilisation. Even the new-found promising species, the Axis, have illustrated their dichotomy on the subject. I have to ask you if your frustration with humans is partly because we haven't been stampeded into compliance, as they were by the instability of their solar system. Their initial decision to undergo modification was made very easy by the radiation blight of their ability to procreate. Yet if you assess them now, they all regret it to some degree. Perhaps your patience with us and faith in us would be restored if it was possible to preserve procreation above all else. I'm not disputing your logic, as many human individuals will go with you on this. It's part of our diversity. I'm suggesting that causing hostility will produce the situation you predict. Is it not far more promising to exceed that expectation by tackling the issue which could unify? I must add that it might make the Continuance more promising, even in the eyes of those for whom you have little respect."

He did not foresee silence as the sequence in these discussions. It was mind-boggling to think of how many bits of data had been processed by the Symbiant before the reply did come. "This is a promising line of reasoning. It has been increased in priority."

********

The welcome gathering was in full swing as the crew emerged, and there was a lull before Evander's face was recognised through the panel of his helmet. They followed him to the reception dome. It took a further twenty minutes for the stricken, anonymous patient to be transferred to the train and it sped off to Echus Neurosciences. The theatre was ready and the new unit pre-prepared. Scillacci wanted to check for herself that the sedation had almost expired before a new anaesthetic was employed. Only then did she embrace Pascal 2 and introduced herself to Stella Aragones. The monitoring equipment showed brain function had not suffered major attrition but the pressure caused by the tumour was intense. Stella was affected by this; she had not seen anything quite like it before. Regaining her focus, she began the routine. The incisions made for access had to be spaced to allow for removal of this horrendous growth. The first stage was achieved in a little over double the expected time. It was now going to be a nervous period to see if there would be any degradation during the parallel phase. There were moments of fluctuation in the readouts, then a clear warning of faltering cerebral activity. Although there should have been longer before disconnection and the patient being made aware of the next step, the situation precluded that luxury.

Stella quickly conferred with the others; they agreed it had to be done now. It seemed to go well until the time period for natural return to consciousness had passed. The hope was that the prior sedation had extended this inactivity. Again they conferred and the decision was to wait another few minutes before considering stimulant. The worry deepened and the shot was prepared. It was Scillacci who suggested a small increase in the amplification in the data signal strength between the synthetic versions of the hippocampus and neocortex. She was confident this would not overload the new unit, and would be less risky than a third chemical infusion being added to the cocktail. The next four minutes seemed like an eternity; then she stirred. They had the morphine drip ready to combat her discomfort and it fed gently into the child's already congested metabolic traffic. Her eyes opened hours later and there was reason for temporary relief. This was the longest procedure Stella had performed and it was more draining because there was no break to digest progress.

The next morning concern returned because although she was conscious she did not respond too well to questions. In the tension which followed, it was Pascal 2 who remembered he must address her in French. "Sabine, c'est vous?

"Oui Monsieur, ou est Maman, et Papa?

The two women looked at each other and found it difficult to hold back the pent-up emotions. They asked Pascal 2 to keep talking to Sabine while they went for coffee and discussed her recovery programme. Stella said she would be happy for Scillacci to supervise this because of her vast experience of recuperation therapy on Earth.

# Chapter 15

The intelligence people from the Philippines arrived. Kinsey was not going to allow contact with the target until he knew more about their interest in him. It was all prefaced by 'off the record' claims, but a clear pattern of selling information to the Chinese was the guts of it. Most of it was commercially sensitive stuff which disadvantaged the Philippine government, but recently there had been evidence of meetings with the Chinese military. It was at this point he took permanent residence there. The picture had then become hazy until he had been accidently caught on a news camera depicting unrest at the Korean border and the difficulty the Chinese had in stemming the flow of migrants into their domain. Philippine contacts in South Korea were then able to infiltrate camps being set up to deal with this problem. The presence of high-ranking Chinese generals was considered strange. "Then there was a change in pattern. Our elusive pimpernel began a cycle of travel from the North Korean border to Beijing then to Caracas. At no point could we intervene. All of our applications to confront him were politely refused. This is all we can tell you. We have waited a long time to speak with him. We appreciate your help. Can we begin?"

Kinsey nodded but insisted on being present with a translator. "I am afraid we cannot have outside presence for much of what we need to discuss. As we suspect there are connections from this man to figures in our government, and overseas agents of other countries, it is a sensitive situation."

Kinsey understood and knew he had got about as much as possible without going into speculative internal politics. He also felt there were sufficient links to the picture which Arnold Rodham had briefed him on, regarding possible American involvement in Korea. He made the call to Rodham and expressed the view that it may be beneficial to keep this guy in Brazil for a while after interrogation by his countrymen. Rodham squirmed a little over this but agreed that it was a kidnap on Brazil's watch. "It is indeed troubling that this man has been linked to the three locations involving - the boy, crystal, and an area of proposed USA-Chinese cooperation. I must air this with my Chinese counterpart."

Kinsey replied, "That may be premature Mr. Rodham. There seems to be more than coincidence here. If you alert anyone in the Chinese hierarchy who could be complicit in any or all three events we would be shut out. I anticipate the Philippine guys will not be interested in the same stuff we are, so it might be better if we hold him here on a kidnap charge with only minor personnel until something breaks. I advise patience."

"Very well Marvin. I'll be in touch."

********

After the hullabaloo Evander returned to being a prodigy in physics compared to the boy celebrity. The introduction to the think-tank went well. Having got up to speed with the various aspects of the programme he ventured his first contribution. "I had no idea you had found Seaborgium Oxy-chloride in stable form. This changes lots of thinking back home." Red asked if he could be more precise.

"Well, following this discovery some people who have dismissed certain possibilities will have to move aside to allow others to collaborate on a new gateway. I know tapping the theory and creating experimental proof will be challenging, and worse than that – very expensive, but it is great news."

The group realised that the young man had no concept of the difference between the consumer-driven restraint and a meritocracy prioritisation. Nielsen said, "We don't have committees presiding over costs here Evander. It's simply a case of whether it is important to our society or not."

"Wow, you really mean we could get started on verification?" Red confirmed to him that the objective of the group was precisely such evidence.

Evander injected a dose of realism. "I know there will be problems with inducing Gravity A waves, and more in harnessing them. We will need a field generator of incredible accuracy and yet flexibility. Velocity control of the source of the waves advancing to the discreet boundaries of sequential collapsible quanta of space has to be developed yet, and then there is the greatest challenge of all."

He had their attention. "Go on," said Sevicek.

"Well our objective depends on creating, maintaining and disabling infinitesimal parameters. The changes must be sequenced and therefore queued with matching precision. The current computing capability is like something from the industrial revolution, compared to what we need to handle the measurement, evaluation, and instruction of a closed loop control system. Dealing with the very small needs appropriate care. If we don't have this we will report failure, when we can't actually see what we are doing. Every staggering sized batch of bits of data will occur in milliseconds and if we can't keep up we can forget it."

Evander did not have any immediate suggestions to remedy this; he merely said it was the road block. The pregnant silence was turning to despair and nobody had challenged what he said. Yamamoto always had the tendency to think out of the box. "Dan, can't you do that?"

Dan protested that his time should not be directed to the limited extent to which the human data processing design could be optimised. "It really needs to be thoroughly overhauled before significant progress can be achieved."

"No, no you misunderstand," said Yamamoto with a broad grin, "I mean you can do it; you can be the interface."

Dan stunned everyone, including Yamamoto by declaring, "Oh I see, yes that would work."

This was confusing to Evander, whose direct experience of the Symbiants' capability was sketchy. The others thought it was another example of the improving sense of humour of the Continuance. Yamamoto asked for clarification. "So you become the ship and the ship becomes Dan?"

"In terms of the control Evander has pointed out – yes that would be possible. It would serve as a short term means of proving the entire theory of successive spatial quantum collapse transport."

********

Sadat decided to contact Kinsey rather than Rodham. He opened cautiously. "Mr. Kinsey I realise your investigation has to be kept under wraps to a degree. However I may have some information of interest to you, but I will only know for sure if you can confirm something for me."

Kinsey said nothing. Sadat ventured more. "It is known that you are looking in Caracas – the grapevine tells us that much. I have also had unconfirmed reports that you are detaining a citizen of the Philippines. If this is the case it may dovetail with a person I am trying to trace. If it is one and the same then I can offer you some connection which will either surprise or embarrass your government. Subsequent action on my part would not occur. If it is the same person I will leave it to you. If it isn't, my search continues. Is this a reasonable suggestion?"

Kinsey was intrigued and yet considered the odds. "Let me get this right. If I confirm the 'name' you have matches a guest we may have, you will give me important information which you believe I don't have, but someone in my government might; if I can't confirm we are both seeking the same man you never made this call?"

"Correct."

Kinsey agreed. Sadat spoke two words. "Hugo Ayala."

Kinsey took his time and asked Sadat to continue. As unbelievable as the story was it now had to be checked out and maybe Ayala did have to be extradited to the USA. "Thank you Mr. Sadat. Can I expect your mystery General to remain with you for the foreseeable future?"

"Indeed you can, he does not want to go anywhere."

Kinsey had to think about how to approach Rodham.

********

Carvalho and Alex 2 were about to dock. They anticipated that the successful procedure on Sabine Cheverry would rise to the surface of all agendas now that is was public. He had already been asked if he could take Madame Cheverry back with him to reunite her with the girl. Alex 2 had in the meantime agreed to postpone his mothballing of Symbiant assistance to humans for now, and would confine his speech to the urgent need for more transparency on exactly where humans could dedicate effort.

Carvalho said that a helpful first step would be to get rid of Logan. He was the worst kind of conduit. Alex 2 chided the Commander for not taking the post himself. It would be tricky to engineer his departure overtly but maybe he could be persuaded to fall on his sword. Alex 2 concurred but said he would leave this to those with the aptitude for such circuitous plotting.

********

The think-tank was back on song and Evander had made such an impact that they insisted Jet rejoin them from the orbiter project. The young man's ideas and concerns were laid out and ranked. He wanted the Seaborgium Oxy-chloride to be deposited on a flexible but extremely durable material. His concern was the uniformity and ability to achieve the thinness with acceptable tolerance. He was also concerned about the deformation and rebound capacity of the carrier material. As the velocity required was pedestrian while the technique was employed, he favoured 'electronic' means as he was concerned about the accuracy of alternatives in both delivery and response to the closed loop criteria. The field generator would have to partially reflect the distortion pattern of the deposited Seaborgium Oxy-chloride. The gradient management would be critical here but he was less concerned about that specific aspect, than harmonisation of both of the non-linear parabolic distorting surfaces. As this corralling of the Gravity A waves was the 'dog' and the rest were the 'tail', it was obvious that it had to be at the front of the vessel. The radioactive shielding at the back of the prototype unit, for the rest of the ship would need to be substantial. He was not concerned about this as he had seen the Axis achievements in robotics. He said this was a preliminary list but it covered the critical areas. The matter of fact way he referred to the concerns didn't really register with the humans and Jet, but they were not lost on the Symbiants.

His final offering was that he would like to see a demonstration of the computational prowess of the inorganic species, because, if this was lacking the rest was meaningless. Red promised him such an opportunity.

********

Kinsey left Brazil to speak to Rodham in person. A phone call would not betray body language in the same way. He also wanted to be ready with extradition procedure if that proved necessary. When they met he started with the search for the other two Caracas connections and indicated that it may be prudent to give the impression that the trail had gone cold. The name of the man in captivity meant nothing to Rodham. A swift change in emphasis to the possible Chino/American strategy caused Rodham to go on the defensive. "Look, there is a serious threat in North Korea and for once we are considering a supporting role to help convince the UN that they must address this powder keg in a far more responsible way."

Kinsey probed. "Oh, I see, is that why this loose alliance has also broken off from the 'five' and demanded access to crystal?"

"That is a totally separate issue. It has been a shared view of ourselves and the Chinese that we must accelerate change to greener and cheaper power. The potential of these replicants offers a fast track. We have however had second thoughts on that feature following the kidnap. We had not previously witnessed their phenomenal physical attributes. This episode has spawned a rethink. We still want to avail of this Axis technology but now favour human construction and operation."

"Who are we?"

"Well it appears the Chinese enthusiasm for the original plan is undiminished – so 'we' means the USA is realigning with the others."

Kinsey chose this proclamation to confront him with the Sadat assertion. Rodham was temporarily lost for words. He seemed genuinely confused then angry. "How would they hope to get away with such a subterfuge?"

"Well you would be complicit by default, and if no UN forces were involved, they would presumably deny any such preposterous claims from North Korea, as being typical of such a delusional dictator. It could work if the conflict was short. The alternative explanation may lie in the fact that historically the Chinese themselves did not have an unblemished record in human rights. They have demonstrated with their own citizens, a blatant disregard of external criticism. We may think they have undergone a moral shift when actually they just have more pragmatism."

Rodham was now angry. "This, if true, is not merely pragmatism – it is barbarism. It must be halted, but with absolute discretion. I'm personally going to meet with my Chinese counterpart to carefully explore the veracity of this claim."

Kinsey was satisfied for now. "Will you initiate the extradition request?"

"Maybe we should bottom out the truth first."

There was no deflecting Kinsey on this. It was important to file for this even if it would be rejected. "I see it the other way Mr. Rodham. If you confirm what I believe you will discover, it will be dangerous to have this Ayala left with the Brazilian security unit. The same logic was used to get Evander de la Cruz out of there and safely to Mars. It needs to be done now." Rodham conceded.

# Chapter 16

It was a source of tremendous satisfaction for Stella to see Singh observing one of his own children playing with Sabine even though they both had limited English vocabulary. Singh also conversed with her after visiting hours and they compared notes on how it felt knowing they had a box in their head instead of a brain. Sabine amused him by insisting she had never seen a real brain so she was more comfortable with a box. Her complete recuperation would be quicker simply because of her age-related regeneration capability. Although all was going well on Mars the issue had intensified on Earth as Carvalho and Alex 2 were coming out of the new and less stringent quarantine. Finally it was accepted by Earth medics that the risk of straying from ethical practice was potentially higher going the other way – and polluting Mars. Stella hoped that the debate would give way to a compromise road map of development. Scillacci suggested this was a forlorn hope. Her recent experience with Isaakson in the manufacture of the synthetic brain had attracted protest, some of it turning to vandalism and violence. "I believe, as the Commander does, that the furore over the individual organs will subside. It is the unknown which causes the extreme reaction. The invasion of medical advance taken as a whole, and ultimately being prejudicial to procreation, is the common denominator of the different protest groups. There is a rising supportive lobby, even before Sabine's case, that we have to help sufferers. We need to tap into this, and the best way to do it is to take it head on and get started with helping living, infertile individuals by being able to correct or replace their reproductive system. We know that all other transplant breakthroughs have overcome the hurdle."

Stella thought this had merit and although it would be controversial on Earth it could be given a much greater priority on Mars. There was an important step which would test this view. Neither Singh nor Sabine were candidates with new brains that were imminently about to procreate. It would be interesting to have evidence, whatever it showed, regarding the exact effect, if any, on the procreation capability of a brain box parent. Pascal 2 theorised that the more logical, less emotional synthetic architecture could ultimately reduce sex drive. Replacing the reproductive system would be a feat of considerable achievement, but futile if the cerebral 'sex organ' was lacking potency. Scillacci was right – now was the time to find out. She would speak to Carvalho as a matter of urgency when he returned.

********

The sight of Logan at the quarantine exit did not fill Carvalho with confidence. "Commander it's good to see you. Hello Alex 2. We need to bring you up to date with the latest developments here. The meeting schedule has been brought forward a few hours due to the level of unrest which has spread around the world. You know we have pulled the whole subject of physiology modification to the top of the agenda."

"Yes I know you've done that, but it isn't what we want to do. If Earth struggles with this subject we accept that, and we will respect it. You can continue to send us patients who cannot be treated here or stop sending them; in the words of my friend here 'it is for you to decide'. We are here for other more pressing issues. The kidnap and its implications for red crystal affect all of us. The threat that certain government-led initiatives could result in enforced reclamation of the crystal from our protective domes is offensive to us. Then there is the item of most importance - the intended use of the life form resulting from replication. We were expecting some discussion on new propulsion research and our decision to build a Martian fleet. Finally there is the overall trading accord; as we are in trade surplus we may need to review the situation depending on the outcome of the other discussions. So, we do not want to take up your valuable time on a point which is entirely your own to determine what to do. If you're requesting a delay to the rest of the meeting until you have finalised your course of action on physiology, then that's perfectly acceptable, just let us know when you are ready."

Logan squirmed. "You may have misunderstood; there is an element of Mars being part of the problem. We have to clarify this and there...."

"No Mr. Logan, I've made it perfectly clear. If we are unfairly perceived as part of the problem we will defer to your wishes in our relationship with you on the issue. What we do on Mars with our own citizens is our business. If it is that which worries you we may need to put the Mars Charter at the top of the agenda. We are not going to discuss your complexities on physiology – that would be intrusive. Now please let us know when you want to begin with the real agenda. We will rest until then."

Logan wandered off unhappily and was not comfortable with the prospect of informing an angry band of so-called decision makers of the rebuff. It would be interpreted as a weakness in his authority which would ignite debate over his suitability for this office. His tendency to bluff his way out of these situations wasn't going to wash this time. Alex 2 congratulated Carvalho. "Commander, I believe we are both learning much about one another on this trip."

********

Red asked the Axis, via Jet, if there was any way they could speed up the remainder of the orbiter programme so they could start modifying the robotics for the Quantum Spatial Distortion (or QSD) prototype. He shook his head but said they could begin with some components. The technique to deposit the Seaborgium Oxy-chloride could be done in the sphere assembly line. The same might be true of the field generator depending on the detailed schematic Evander had in mind. By the time they had results on these the orbiter programme should be concluded. The shielding, both behind and in front of the QSD unit could be formed in the carcass modification line.

Red settled for that and asked Evander to make haste with the field generator design as his time on Mars could be limited.

********

Although Logan had delivered the response from Carvalho, both he and the 'edict' were brushed aside by the rest of the Council executive and the government representatives. When Carvalho and Alex 2 had taken their seats Arnold Rodham opened proceedings. "Despite your reluctance to debate the emotional reactions here, following a medical procedure you performed, we will begin with that item."

"Have it your way," said Carvalho, "but we will not contribute. That would be like you interfering with our decision to continue such research and application. You should be glad we don't want to muddy the waters."

Rodham was undeterred. "But you are involved Commander, you have performed these procedures on two Earthlings, and whatever the fallout is from them, you are implicitly involved. As we understand the situation Singh will stay but Madamoiselle Cheverry will return. They are both high profile individuals and there is a growing undercurrent of accusation that only such people will avail of the treatment. This could be a big problem."

Carvalho could hardly control his feelings. "What you're really saying is that you allowed the two individuals to apply to us for help. You could've done it here; Dr. Scillacci and Isaakson are more than capable. You had the choice – refuse permission, do it here, or ask us to help you out of a difficult situation. Now that we've done so, you feel you may have chosen wrongly and want us to be dragged into a debate on something we've already chosen to pursue. You can't be serious. As I told your messenger, we'll simply comply with what you decide on Earth. Obviously if you opt in future for more procedures we can only accommodate a certain flow rate."

There was a huddle, then a break. The resumption didn't herald a better accord. Rodham declared, "If you persist with this line we feel we have no choice but to ask for the same neutrality on the potential employment of replicants in up-scaling the new Axis energy plants. Indeed we want your cooperation in supplying the crystal for such ventures. We note your previous claim that you only have samples but this is a distortion of the reality. You may know of the legal challenge by the Chinese, and the Beijing declaration that until the current law is rescinded we can't avail of that source. However there is a counter-claim that you, as the finders of some of this collection, can waive objections for use of that portion, which the Council stubbornly pretend they have sole rights for. Your agreement would give us a two-to-one majority over the Council. This would be helpful to us as you've used the crystals for many projects and profess no harmful effects have ensued."

Carvalho rose to his feet and stared into Rodham's eyes. "The difference between the locations with respect to the Continuance, which is who the crystals are, is one of perception. We have always considered them to be citizens and never asked them to do anything which they don't want to do. They are part of our charter. Here they're viewed as machines or raw materials without being recognised as life forms – is that not how slavery came into being? I've heard that there may be a contingency plan to deplete our domes if you fail with other avenues. You may say that they are imprisoned life forms, but as soon as the Martian climate becomes more hospitable to the Continuance they will turn to amorphous form and proceed with their remit. Also the domes were their idea."

The sombre atmosphere became gladiatorial; Rodham claimed he was speaking for the five. "You're backing us into a corner with your convenient definitions. However you are human and you must choose whether you turn your back on your species or extend the arm of cooperation. Earth's need is great right now."

Carvalho had reached a point of no return. "How many times do you have to hear something before you listen? Our policy of non-interference on the issue of red crystal on Earth is twofold. It is for the legal teams here to resolve. The discovery on Mars and its custody ceased to have legal ownership when it was agreed to bring it to Earth. Secondly, the bulk of what is in Beijing is from Earth deposits, and my great friend Roberto Xiang drafted the law to protect it from such purpose as you have in mind. Even though it concerns me that this law may be repealed, it is for you people to decide. I'm not turning my back on my species; you are twisting our policy to your own ends."

The Chinese representative now joined the discussion. "Commander, this elevation of replicants to one of equality gives us a problem. It is one of those situations when you are for or against something. If you really do not support the hand that has fed the Martian expansion it could produce a very difficult trading situation. We cannot continue such support in the face of dissociation and apathy. We may have to withdraw. You could also find that any remaining replicants, such as the one who assisted in the kidnap saga will no longer be welcome. They are seen as your spies."

"Very well - my parting sentiment is that we may suffer short term inconvenience from your withdrawal of trade agreements, but it is you who will suffer in the long term. I was going to brief you about our intention to build a Martian fleet to service our own travel schedule requirement. As you have not denied the rumour of our crystal domes being part of your intended hoard, I would advise you that the fleet will now take on other functions, such as the protection of our citizens and infrastructure. Finally, if you do not want Dupe, who we refer to as a Symbiant, to remain here, he is welcome to come to Mars. That would however leave no space for Madame Cheverry. We'll now take our leave of you as the emotional nature of this gathering is not conducive to rational discourse."

Alex 2 followed Carvalho out of the chamber and they headed for the office of Ayrton de Santos.

# Chapter 17

Carvalho wanted to contact Pascal 2 from the office of De Santos to urge full speed and resource on to the fleet he had threatened to build. The two vessels shepherding the orbiters were part of it but now it appeared they may need weaponry. Alex 2 suggested that he prepare the transmission in Axis written form so they would understand the urgency and it would be safe from prying Earth eyes. They also wanted to tip off Dupree that Dupe may be the subject of investigation, so they could be prepared in advance. De Santos was becoming increasingly paranoid about being linked with Martian agenda. He asked if they would make this their last request of him. Carvalho and Alex 2 were pretty much isolated and decided to leave as soon as Madame Cheverry could be ready.

********

Upon hearing the request relayed on from Pascal 2, Fav declared that the Axis would not participate in building, installing or operating weapons which could be used on another sentient species. They would simply build the desired number of craft. This complicated matters in a major way – not just the issue of the hardware, but the shape of life to come if the humans and Symbiants decided to continue with such policy.

This new directive for more patrol craft impacted the experimental QSD research, and increased frustration that they would miss out on maximising the input of Evander before his return to Earth. He allayed those fears however, by insisting Mars was where he wanted to be. He was sure about this even though he was told how this would be interpreted on Earth. Sevicek tried to explain. "You may wish that but you are perceived as a valuable asset and it may appear you are being held against your will."

Evander replied, "My father will understand and he will assure everyone that it is my wish and therefore my choice. Unless you want to deport me I'm staying."

********

Sabine's mother was relieved to be on her way at last. Carvalho realised that with so much turmoil in recent weeks the craft they were travelling in had not been given a name. He mentioned this to Alex 2, who suggested 'Prodigal' – reflecting the reception they had received in Beijing. "I hope you can understand a little better now why I want to concentrate on the Axis and humans on Mars. I have suspected this day coming for some years now, even though it has relied upon applying logic to an unpredictable data set. I urge you Commander to begin more dedicated research in a number of areas."

"Let me hear it."

Alex 2 chose his words carefully. "First we need to pin down interstellar travel. The think-tank must become an action programme now. Second, despite the furore on Earth, travel capability may or may not demand some physiology modification, albeit not the drastic kind the Axis required for wormhole creation. Lastly, an alternate communication technique is paramount, as it will provide the important opportunity to contact Epsilon Eridani, Gliese, and 55 Cancri. We should know whether it is possible to find out if there are still survivors on the Homeworld or not."

Carvalho frowned. "If I was a fly on the wall listening to this I would think you were preparing to evacuate Mars."

"Not evacuate Commander, merely taking out insurance. We could not transport the entire population in the first instance, and they would not all want to go. I am suggesting some humans would, and possibly all Axis and Symbiants, when they hear the full briefing from our abortive meeting. Mars is too close to the whims emanating from your blue planet to feel comfortable."

Apart from the obligatory social inclusion of Madame Cheverry and news from Mars, this subject would dominate the remainder of the journey.

********

Kinsey had not received the extradition request for Ayala. He knew Rodham was on his way back from Beijing and he would have to confront him about it. His office claimed ignorance of such a request. This wasn't a good omen as far as Kinsey was concerned; there was too much circumstantial information in his experience for it all to be coincidence. He decided to do more digging. He had a contact in the military who could investigate the claim, but it was too risky to make overt enquiries. He arranged to meet with his contact to minimise the exposure of such a potentially damning internal scan.

They met in Monterey, a plausible vacation spot, as they both had relatives there. They walked as they talked and the initial reaction of his mole was that there would be no burrowing on this one. "Are you mad Marvin? This, if true, will go right to the top. People disappear when the stakes are this high. If there is no substance to it the outcome is not so bad, you just don't have a career anymore."

"Yeah, yeah – you're right but if what I have told you is just the iceberg above the waterline, the USA is being set up for a fall it is not aware of, or worse still, we're complicit in a horrendous plot which is known to others, who will blow the whistle. Can you imagine the internal strife that will cause? It will go on for years and weaken our vigilance on important tasks. We simply can't afford to amble along in neutral. There is of course an alternative scenario. The Chinese don't normally form such alliances – we could be sucked into aggression in yet another country where we don't belong. The foreign office believes that China definitely does not want North Korea to either collapse or fall to western inducement. They have a natural border with the Koreans and it is natural to police it. We will be seen to have applied pressure on Seoul for our own ends. This accord with China on Axis nuclear power generators co-development has a whiff of the same aroma."

Kinsey said he did not want to coerce anyone to get involved, he had even questioned the wisdom of doing so himself. He left it with Tom Bedford.

********

Red had informed Alex 2 that they had already tried to advance the QSD theory into a practical evaluation programme, but the limitation was Axis contribution in personnel and manufacturing capacity. He added that Fav was prepared to ask his citizens if any of them were willing to consider replication to boost this effort. Fav was not hopeful on this as some of the Axis had already begun to question the wisdom of entering another phase of false hope. This was tempered a little with unease over implied intentions of Earth humans. Red did report that progress was being made where concurrent effort in the sphere line was underway.

Evander was apologising to Jet for underestimating the new levels of precision they had achieved with the Seaborgium Oxy-chloride (SOC) deposition process. The reply was typically modest. "I think we may have more difficulty with your field generator. The shielding is ready, but the incremental distortion of the parabolic deflector is not yet up to expectation."

"Even so it's a better first attempt than I imagined, we aren't too far away, but I know what you mean, achieving the final, albeit small improvement may be tricky."

Meanwhile Dan and the humans on the project were involved in the fabrication of interfacing the Symbiant with the output data of the QSD unit. They had come up with the idea of linking data feed directly to some of his sentinel cells and temporarily re-routing the feedback to the controls of the QSD, rather than clutter his own tiered registry. By contrast with the deflector pessimism, they were supremely confident of success.

Unknown to anyone but Stella and Scillacci, Sabine Cheverry's box had developed a fault. She was suffering intermittent, short bouts of memory malfunction. Unlike the human brain, it was not experiencing a deteriorating condition. It was a specific 'bug' which was nevertheless causing panic in the moments either side of the glitch. The two doctors had different ideas on how to tackle the problem. Scillacci advised reset to defaults and temporary disabling of minor functions, then re-establishing them one at a time to pinpoint the rogue sub-routine. Stella thought this would be a long-winded, invasive procedure and suggested Pascal 2 may be able to diagnose more sympathetically by connecting to the box in some way. When asked about it he agreed, and informed them that Dan happened to be working on a method with similar objectives of closed loop control. He would import those modifications from Dan to his own architecture and attempt to identify the problem.

********

Tom Bedford had spent a few restless nights thinking about Kinsey's allegations. He convinced himself it would be better to know if there was something awry even if he kept it to himself. He was attending a retirement dinner for Field Marshall Osborn and knew there would be high-ranking officers present for his send off. There would be wine flowing and he could tap any alcohol-fuelled indiscretion. It would be made easier in the absence of politicians and civil dignitaries. This was a closed fraternity.

Rodham had apologised to Kinsey for the lapse of memory concerning the extradition request and promised to rectify the error imminently. It didn't sound genuine. Kinsey decided to speak with the Brazilian authorities about better security for Ayala. They wanted to know why he had made such a sudden appeal. When he fed them a line that his people had overheard plans in Venezuela about assassination attempts, he was sure it was about their captive. He didn't want them to hand over Ayala, just make him completely invisible. They agreed. Kinsey was now relieved, as after consideration about the extradition application, he suspected Ayala might not be safe in the USA.

This nagging doubt was reinforced by leaks about the fiery meeting with Carvalho, and speculation over the apparent hardening of the Chino/American accord. Rodham had left Kinsey with the impression that the opposite was likely. He couldn't trust Rodham.

Carvalho was thankful that Mars had instituted its own screening of migrants some time ago. With the latest entente un-cordiale he would have been concerned about informants being smuggled in. His thought process was interrupted by an incoming transmission. He shared it with Alex 2. It covered two very different subjects. While performing routine maintenance the Axis had discovered a communication from Epsilon Eridani at the Echus Chasma plateau. It had been there for weeks. This in itself was not unusual but there was a reference to a new transmission system. Whereas all previous communication had taken over ten years to reach its destination this was expected to take less than one year. Exactly how much less was not certain because of anticipated disturbances in sub-space. They had sent another message one month later. Both were marked with their respective transmission times and a detailed explanation of the technology was embedded in each.

The second item concerned Madame Cheverry. There were adjustments planned for Sabine's box and alternatives were available. She would be briefed upon arrival and advised of the benefits of both so she could decide. Both subjects were reported in a matter of fact tone and gave little cause for concern.

********

Pascal 2's survey of the box had revealed an oversight in the design approach. Singh had no sign of the data blackouts which afflicted Sabine. Pascal 2's interface had certainly identified the corrupted software link, but it had also shown that in a young developing physiology the brain requires accommodation potential for that change. It was obvious in hindsight. The boxes had been produced to templates associated with the specific brain at a specific stage. Singh should not need this leeway as his development was more or less complete. "The problem is easy for me to fix but there are issues arising. Human procreation, in copying the respective genetic coding, can and does make errors and certain genes can be switched on or off. Such errors are believed to be responsible for mutation sometimes leading to new species. The same can occur in electronics hardware but the effects may be different. There is a mistake in Sabine's buffering routine between the transfer to and from long and short term memory. This has been exacerbated by additional traffic and transfer discrimination as she develops from a child to adolescence and will continue beyond that. So we have a software error and hardware under-specification. It produces a dilemma. If the quick fix is chosen, the problem will likely re-occur. Even if it does not, it will severely test the hardware, maybe to the point of failure. At the very least it places a cap on her adaptive learning potential." Stella asked what he would recommend.

"I believe the parents should have input here. The optimum recommendation in a technical sense would be to modify the box to remove the error and upgrade the hardware to cater for the anticipated needs. My own dilemma would be in deciding what her future potential would have been without the box and the tumour, compared to what it could be if the limiter was removed."

Scillacci shifted uncomfortably. "Do you imply that if it was the former we may have to upgrade or change the box several times until she is an adult?"

"Probably."

"And if we remove the limiter?"

Pascal 2 was now a little nervous. "There is a reasonable possibility that by your standards she would become a 'genius'." Both women sat down to consider the implications of manufacturing prodigies. Scillacci was first to speak. "Oh no – this will ricochet around all of the protest groups and we may face problems on Earth, our research will come under serious attack."

Stella highlighted the opposing view that unlimited potential should become a choice. "Rich and famous individuals have always dragged these dilemmas into legal admission, but here you don't have to be rich or famous."

# Chapter 18

Rodham was still stalling on the extradition papers when he received a call from Kinsey to inform him of Ayala's escape. "How the hell did they allow that to happen? You can't trust these people. Is he still in Brazil?"

"I don't know, but if we had received the papers a couple of weeks ago I don't think this would have happened. I'm making discreet enquiries but I'm not hopeful. There is some concern that he may have been sprung by the two Caracas names we have been looking for."

Rodham was furious. "Looking for but didn't find Mr. Kinsey. The Bureau has not improved its image over this one. There will be demand for accountability."

"Yes, that's why I was calling you. You need to prepare yourself for a witch hunt. The media scent blood."

"My dear fellow, you......"

"I've made the request for the papers three times and I have retained copies. You need to look elsewhere to divert the blame. The media know the score, I can't understand how. By the way we have made progress on the Caracas duo; if you had let me finish I was about to tell you that, still it did let me know how much I could depend on your support."

********

Carvalho took Sabine's mother to the Echus Neurosciences Wing and asked Alex 2 to brief Fav on the adversarial meeting; he would bring Pascal 2 up to date at the hospital. Stella was waiting for Madame Cheverry as they had ruled out Scillacci's option. She gave Carvalho the detail and he said he would like to talk to Pascal 2 while she acquainted the mother with the recommended way forward.

Pascal 2 was even more resigned than Alex 2 to annexing further assistance to Earth inhabitants. "It is simply a matter of logic to me Commander. They are not ready for it."

"I'm coming around to that way of thinking myself; however there is now a veiled threat of escalating action, if my gut feeling is reliable. You know the Axis better than Alex 2; do you think we can change their minds about defensive weaponry?"

"That is a futile hope. They have already had their consultation process and it was unanimous. They may also have new priorities after this recent Epsilon Eridani communication. They will almost certainly be intensified if the second one arrives on time." Carvalho nodded in a resigned but frustrated manner. "Ok my friend. Let's get to the patient."

A tearful mother was coming to terms with the condition of her daughter when Pascal 2 mentioned that it was an extremely routine matter to simply fix it. Her demeanour altered when he sketched in the option of stage-wise upgrading of the box. It ratcheted up several gears when he hinted at her possible ascendency to the cerebral elite. She had of course understandably marginalised the perception others might display at this tinkering with God's children. When that sunk in she wanted to confer with her husband.

It was explained to her that time was important as they needed to minimise the overloading of the capability of the box in an uncontrolled manner. She reacted to this pressure by accusing the medical personnel of an oversight - which they should have been aware of before the procedure was commenced. Carvalho stepped in. "Madame, only a few weeks ago your daughter had been written off by the best doctors on Earth. We have responded to that death sentence by giving her a new opportunity. That procedure could have gone wrong or possibly her brain could have been too damaged for us to succeed. Hindsight is always something we learn from – we accept that, but please apply proper perspective to this situation. Instead of preparing for a funeral of a little girl, you are faced with either preserving her life with or without some limitations of cerebral maturity. I can understand your desire to speak with her father but delay may deprive you of the choice you currently have. Pascal 2 will talk you slowly through the prognosis of each option again in your own language." She wiped away the tears and disappeared with the Symbiant.

Carvalho asked Stella and Scillacci to fill in some of the detail on the 'genius' option. Pascal 2 had suggested that in addition to the identified problem, the cooling method for the box was 'clumsy'. It required a tiny vent in the skull, which would be a haven for infection with the insert, which was supposed to prevent re-growth and eventual closure. He preferred a departure from the registry design to something more like that of the Symbiants.

He asked, "How do we expect to achieve this in the time we have?"

Scillacci said he had better sit down. "His idea is ingenious but raises even more moral dilemmas. He wants to take a new box and make a parallel connection with the existing one Sabine has. No disconnection of the first box is required; it is to allow active copying of the one she is using. Once that is complete we connect a third box to the second one, and at the same time Pascal 2 bridges the second and third with some of the amorphous form. He assures us that it will only replicate and modify box number two; it will assess the one Sabine has as identical and decline further interaction. He maintains that while he is bridging the others, the replication process will, as it did with humans, copy everything, including the faults, then disable or replace functions with 'Symbiant type' improvements. It would be a 'super intelligent capacitor' with the efficiency of their architecture, giving indefinite life of the box and without the need for cooling etc. It would also be a procedure without sedation and discomfort for Sabine. How do you feel now Commander?"

"A little stunned I must say Sophia."

Scillacci frowned. "If she chooses this route the saga will change status from hot potato to supernova."

Stella joined the dots first, as she was not concentrating solely on the certain outpouring of protest. "Am I missing something, or are we pioneering a possible meld of human and Symbiant capabilities? It's different from my understanding of replication. It retains its organic metabolism, including procreation but advances intelligence potential toward that of our inorganic brethren."

Carvalho surprised both women as he leapt from his seat, briefly but passionately kissed Stella and declared this a remarkable insight. "I'm returning to Marineris immediately, please thank Pascal 2 for his guidance, he'll know what I mean."

Scillacci asked if he was not going to wait for the Cheverry decision. He claimed it would make no difference to what he had to do next, but requested Stella to let him know the outcome. When he had left Scillacci turned to Stella and remarked, "Nobody has ever managed to evoke such a spontaneous gesture of affection from the Iceman since I have known him. I hope he didn't embarrass you."

'If only you knew' - thought Stella.

When Carvalho reached base he sought out Alex 2 and began the interrogation: "Pascal 2 is about to put into operation a medical procedure which could well change everything. I've been informed he has the consent of the mother. I want to ask you a couple of questions and I appeal to you not to reply in the 'assisting promise' mode."

"Go ahead."

When he had summarised the 'brainchild' of his fellow Symbiant, Alex 2 concurred. "It would appear to be the best option."

"I need to know if the new QSD projected interstellar capability will demand anything like the reinforcement of human physiology that the Axis needed to survive their journey."

Alex 2 replied instantly. "No, because it is space which is deforming in front of the unit; the vessel will only ever travel at modest velocity. The stresses will be considerably lower than the method by which the Axis left their home. Of course there are still effects such as protracted periods in space to think about, but there will be remedies for them. I believe I know where you are going with this Commander. I am also pleased to say I was pretty sure you had all bypassed this branch of logic a couple of years ago. It is fortuitous that Pascal 2 was presented with an emergency, which allowed him to elucidate sufficiently to jog your own hippocampus/neo-cortex connection."

Carvalho thought 'so far - so good'. "Now we can contemplate interstellar travel without sacrificing the ability to procreate. My second question relates to the degree to which this hybrid Human/Symbiant being will reflect the respective characteristics of each species?"

Alex 2 did not disappoint. "If you are referring to specific attributes like hibernation, there will be some cross-inheritance. Your metabolism will respond to 'shut down' stimuli and gradually adapt to more efficient ways of handling this new source of data. The storage and retrieval of all data will be enhanced. However, you need not worry about turning to crystal – you have not got sufficient inorganic back-up for events like this. You may have to produce an exhaustive list of areas of concern for me to give reliable predictions. I can say the effects will be minimal. I hope I have managed to avoid too much generalisation in attempting to answer your queries."

Carvalho was not going to repeat the urge for a second passionate kiss in one day; he had his reputation to think about. He contacted Stella to check the status of the meld and was informed that Pascal 2 was almost ready to begin copying. He half-apologised for any embarrassment he may have caused. "Yes, it was out of character according to Dr. Scillacci. I refrained from telling her that was not my experience, as I think she harbours desires for you."

********

Tom Bedford had managed to 'squeeze the lemon' by talking budget constraints for the military. As this was part of his remit he knew he could raise the emotion bar by a throwaway remark. The increase in consumption of old brandy always lubricated the abandonment of protocol sufficiently to expose some indiscretion. It was always justifiable as it was within house, and for a good cause – correcting the mindset of the bean counters. General Phelps bristled at the cuts in overseas operation of land forces. Bedford said, "We have been gradually reducing this allocation for a number of years General, in line with withdrawal of forces, to the point where we contribute more political support than occupation. I thought you were totally on board with this."

"I am," insisted the angry heavyweight, "but we have to make exceptions for unforeseen circumstances. This bloody madness in Korea has to be serviced; otherwise we cannot deliver adequate protection of our serving personnel."

This provoked some Generals to quietly disperse and others to pursue the mention of Korea. Bedford left Phelps to limit the damage on his blunder and align himself with the 'deserters'. He had to lead, and whispered, "He has crossed the line this time, absolutely nobody else should know about this. Of course we have a secret contingency for this, but we can't have that in the wider military domain." This bravado opened up questions about how much, when, distribution and timing. Bedford continued, "I'm sorry gentlemen, but I'm only prepared to deny or not deny specifics, otherwise I would be no better than Phelps."

It came out piecemeal, but in detail which ruled out the allegation that Kinsey's scenario had no substance. Bedford broke the huddle by backing toward the exit and proclaiming he could reveal no more. The rest descended on Phelps to condemn his loose-tongued bellyaching and predicted dire consequences if this leaked out.

********

Pascal 2 reported success with Sabine's correction procedure and her mother was relieved. She had also demonstrated some recognition of how disclosure of this might affect her daughter throughout the rest of her life. She had asked for confidentiality; she was certain that on reflection her husband would want this too. She refrained from any other message to him than - all is well with Sabine, she sends her love and we hope she will be released from hospital soon.

This request for respecting doctor-patient confidentiality was welcomed, and was the green light for Carvalho to explore the breakthrough on Mars. He wanted to present it as if the idea had just materialised during discussion with Pascal 2 about researching reverse engineering of the Axis reproductive system. It was bending the truth, but he felt it was worth it to protect Sabine, and Pascal 2 agreed. Even Alex 2 feigned ignorance of any previous discussion when Carvalho presented the concept to the reformed think-tank.

Many questions rained down on the idea, especially how to evaluate it in practice, how subjects would be chosen or allowed to volunteer. It was an edgy session yet positive. When Carvalho repeated his question to Alex 2 about the implication for the QSD project, the Symbiant delivered the prediction again, and this was the ignition of a clamour for more information. Alex 2 stared in silence, amazed at the different reception this would have had on Earth. Politicians and those with religious beliefs would be horrified at these irresponsible scientists, and in turn those scientists would be scathing about such restrictive governance. It made him wonder, which was a strange feeling for him, whether he would encounter this at some stage with the Axis.

Carvalho held up his hand. "This is so important for all three species living here on Mars that we must take it slowly, and incorporate the views of each, to provide appropriate safeguards for our growing numbers. What we can rule out is anything other than individuals who volunteer, but even that should be within the accepted principles of their species. This meeting today is only intended to scratch the surface of an opportunity which Pascal 2 has presented."

Carvalho made contact with Stella and asked if she would like to disappoint Dr. Scillacci and join him for dinner. She declined. "Commander, I don't want to do that, she has already invited me, and we need to cooperate with her on many projects. I'm sorry."

His elation from the think-tank meeting was abruptly guillotined by the officious tone of her rebuttal. "But I could be persuaded to let my hair down after dinner. You know where my quarters are. I certainly need to relax after the last couple of days."

The orbiters were ready for launch. Carvalho asked Pascal 2 to keep a little red crystal back for impending experiments; it would need to be kept in a place inaccessible to human inspection. A drill hole deep in Pandora's Rift would be suitable. This also meant that all attention could now be diverted to QSD prototypes. The mood was upbeat despite the mixed signals coming from the blue planet.

********

The ripples from the military retirement party had compromised the assumed closely guarded plan to assist the Chinese. Bedford had informed Kinsey of the imminent disinformation of the cover up, and the polarised positions of the military and politicians which had now fermented. "There's no doubt that Rodham is up to his neck in this, but he has been clever enough to structure levels of deniability. My little charade, if it achieved nothing else, has united the ranks of the armed forces. They strenuously deny any knowledge of a 'replicant' strategy, and if it was to be true, they would veto any involvement in Korea. The deal-making politicians are now scrambling to distance themselves from any negotiations with the Chinese, which they allege were brokered by Rodham. Unfortunately there is no hard evidence he was involved, but their own travel history of several visits to locations near the Chinese border with N. Korea doesn't look good. In contrast he appears in Beijing at dates exclusively linked to meetings with the five and the Council. My prognosis at this stage is that the media may see to it that involvement in the plan is denied, then abandoned, commensurate with a few decapitations. Then we will see the wrath of an oriental nation scorned. That nation would have no option but to treat it as typical American hallucinatory politics. Keep your Chinese General safe Marvin, he will be hunted down, but I suspect Ayala might be first."

# Chapter 19

Pascal 2's procedure had pitch-forked all things related to reproductive systems to the top of the list. It was also the only project which could derive no major direct benefit from Symbiant or Axis experience. The Axis had altered their physiology after being afflicted by sterility and the Symbiants had no predictive modelling to draw on. Carvalho wanted the best compatible team on this. It had to start with Pascal 2 and Doctors Aragones and Scillacci. The top Axis medical presence was represented by the entirely synthetic Doc, and Mac, which was the obligatory human abbreviation for 'Make Conform'. He wanted to be part of the team himself because of the potential flak it might attract. He felt his time would be more profitably invested in this than the fruitless cackling Earth agendas.

They started out with a refresher of Doc's work to date. He admitted that he had not made much progress after discovering that remnants of sexual drivers remained in their colour displays. The missing link was living, unmodified Axis individuals for study of the structure and functionality of organs, albeit sterile ones. The archives had been helpful in a data compilation sense but no real research had been done after the radiation exposure because the exodus predominated. The human situation offered only a starting point, to determine what results would occur with alteration of genetic code. The human option was obviously the only viable one of a pre-existing, working template from which to reverse engineer and modify if necessary. That was, of course, if replication was not considered procreation.

Stella asked Pascal 2 if there was any way at all he could comment on whether progress on human fertility improvement would be a 'transferable' methodology to begin investigation of Axis restoration. He said there were no statistical probability analyses available to him, and the lack of specific raw data would be a problem. However, he asked everyone to retain the word 'reproduction' in their dialogue. It could be semantically sandwiched between procreation and replication. It should not be forgotten that part of the reason they were having this very discussion was because of the Continuance characteristic of reproduction of a component and not necessarily retaining the entire system. "I believe we should look at all individual steps as either, candidates for the most appropriate terminology, or combination of those three terms. They are not mutually exclusive. I would have to ask all other Symbiants to be sure, but there appears to be adaptive evidence in this community of the Continuance. My personal experience definitely shows developmental characteristics in the language we use with humans and Axis. There are some perceptible redefinitions of criteria in my tiered registry. If that proves significant it would surely give more probability to adaptation in the other species if there is a subtle means of altering bits of genetic code. The requirement to do so would be more acute than the environmentally triggered alterations, as perceived changes. Some qualitative evidence of this may surface sooner than we think, if Sabine does show minute changes in her development other than cerebral advancement. I am referring to transition from child to puberty. In conclusion I would place a strong emphasis on both human and Axis sentience having arrived, courtesy of a massive contribution from the reproductive system, as one of the major drivers of inherited characteristics. One of Darwin's consistent messages was that, in humans, successful propagation was inextricably linked to cerebral advance." After quite some deliberation over his self-confessed limitations they made order out of it all.

First, a thorough, up to date library of human research and application of fertility treatments would be made. This would include the use of drugs but the main focus would be on identification and correction of miscopied or rogue genes. A separate study of cases of recent failure and their mechanisms would be catalogued. This was to include archive genetic data for the Axis; on the basis that DNA research had shown with embryos of different species there was a remarkable percentage of commonality in early stages. Humans even had substantial chunks in common with plants. The developing embryos went through processes of switching on or off requirements for limbs, wings, etc. The reproductive systems were in this jigsaw, and it was felt necessary to compare all possible data for the Axis at every stage of embryonic growth.

The link between sex and the brain had to be more explicit than current knowledge. The framework of observation and experimentation would need to include volunteers who did have or were going to have cerebral implants to help complete the study. The most controversial point came at the end. There would have to be differentiation tags for those who needed implants from those who desired them. Any such programme depended on the subjects of procreation itself, and therefore would take years to gain statistical momentum. It had to start somewhere and could not be forced to suit objectives. The cooperative programme was named 'Genesis Pool'.

As it was mainly derived from extrapolation of observational data initially, it would remain low key in publicity terms. At the end of this first session, Pascal 2 requested Doc and Mac to devise an automatic computer comparison, of embryonic humans studied alongside the known Axis data, at absolute age and corrected lifespan equivalent ages.

During their next assignation Carvalho had fortuitously heard Stella stray from a professional commentary on the aims of the programme, to dismay that she had not contributed any conference of genetic code in a personal sense. He was intrigued and could not help thinking it may be too late for such plans of his own. He simply expressed the identical sadness. The long silence hinted at a profound difficulty for either of them to take the next step. He was scared to let the moment go and at the same time terrified of rejection. He was amazed at his inability to reconcile his clear, decisive professional ability with an immature, reticent emotional disability. "Stella, I apologise."

"What for Daniel? Have I missed something?"

"No, it is for what I'm about to say rather than what I have failed to say. I've known you for only a few weeks and at the same time, it seems like it has been for all my life. It's the latter which makes me sure that I'll never be the same again now that it has happened. I also know how ridiculous it is that my professional persona sees this disregard for respectable periods of relationship building, when my off-duty character sees it as irrelevant. I don't want to be without you ever again, time won't change that."

She was choked with emotional turmoil and found herself saying, "Daniel, I haven't dared to say what I feel. You've just said it for me."

********

The media had got their teeth into the plethora of rumours of American support for an inhuman campaign in North Korea. They seemed to have an unusual uniformity of sentiment compared to their normal competitive takes. All were scathing about the Korean internal manipulation of their people by the dictatorial elite, but that did not justify the type of alleged response. They also seemed to have conformed to the tactic of a 'serialised' indictment rather than explosive revelation. The resulting jockeying for safety within the administration predictably began with subordinates to the hierarchy accreting blame and 'resigning', but the intermediaries decided that this cleansing would only ever terminate if 'a particular head had a long drop into the basket'. The President's closest aides were at first monitoring this but advised a tipping point would require a sacrificial lamb. As the intermediaries were now unanimous in their testimony Rodham took the lonely walk to the customary severance.

It shook America more than the rest of the world; nevertheless it all had a crippling initial effect on the trade deficit. Rodham's successor, Hal Devonshire, wasted no time in accusing China of failing to disclose their real agenda, which was now known to be that for which the United States was being wrongfully accused. This breaking of ranks spawned a contest of claim and counter-claim. Behind the scenes Kinsey was trying to break the lock-jam of insult Ping-Pong without personal intervention, by a negotiated appearance of Sadat's hidden General at a United Nations court of appeal. Although the initial response was frosty, Kinsey reminded Sadat that he was the first to express concern and the Americans had done the honourable thing in cleansing their own government. "This was also a risky business for me, to snowball your allegations from utter bizarreness to credibility. I'm sure there is also mileage for the USAr being perceived as instrumental in overseeing integrity. China will eventually lose this case and much influence with it. You should consider this Mr. Sadat, where danger lurks – there is opportunity in the vicinity for those who can see it."

********

The broader human population on Mars had become a little uneasy about the deteriorating situation in 'diplomatic' relations with Earth. This had not been helped by the potential destabilising effect of the spat between the USA and China. They were nervous times. The Council was also suffering loss of confidence – it had been perceived as weak in allowing the rift with Mars to escalate. Logan was the antithesis to Xiang; he created chaos rather than calm or stability. His 'blowhard' persona had been exposed repeatedly. He was however not someone who would resign. The political and diplomatic shambles was too good an opportunity to miss for his required exit, but they needed a successor in the wings, in order to avoid the creation of a speculative vacuum.

Various names were aired to fit the modified profile. Earth now depended quite heavily on trade with Mars and it was felt that someone who had a basic understanding and experience of the Martian psyche would be helpful. They also wanted a strong interface with the big five to offset a return to a culture of unilateral interests. They deliberated over the five becoming six, as the European Bloc had finally begun to overcome the excesses of wasted decades of the Brussels-led politically correct era. President Cheverry had managed to galvanise the disparate nations to a common consent to tear up the old Lisbon Treaty and re-establish a sensible balance of local and national representation.

He was proposed as Chief Executive with the Assistant's role being offered to Anatoly Rebrov, the Commander of the Darwin mission to Mars in 2034. There was pragmatism in such a blend, but it would also shift the political/technical relationship to deal with the hard line governments such as China. They were both sounded out and when agreement had been reached Logan was dispatched without ceremony.

This was good news for Martians too, Carvalho in particular. Both new incumbents had pencilled in a visit to Mars in the near future. It would allow Cheverry to see his daughter at long last, and Rebrov was itching to see the new propulsion research.

********

Evander had transmitted his request to his father via Ayrton de Santos and received the anticipated encouragement to fulfill his ambitions. It would be one of Cheverry's first tasks on Mars, to assure the young man that his extended stay was a valuable investment for Earth science.

The progress of the QSD unit was slow yet rewarding, though not entirely without frustration, most of which was down to Evander's perfectionist attitude. Sevicek and Yamamoto were continually asking for mock field testing of components. Evander was stringently expressing the view that they would fail, he didn't need to test them in that way, they were simply lacking accuracy. His lack of practical experience was cited as unhelpful. Eventually Carvalho privately suggested to him that it might be good psychology to waive his objection so that the others could grasp the margin of failure. They were obviously not capable of visualising it the way he did. The young man shrugged his shoulders in mystified compliance. Red and Dan helped by admitting they knew how he felt and that he was correct in his insistence on more precision.

The promise of a thaw in the Earth-Mars relations caused Carvalho to abandon his position on weaponry for the little fleet. The number of craft would remain at five, including the one already operating. He decided to offer the existing one for the forthcoming visit of Cheverry and Rebrov. He could spare Dan to pilot this, as the QSD progress rate would allow it. This was a much appreciated gesture and had the advantage of limiting the visitors to two. If Sabine was well enough the whole Cheverry family could travel back to Earth in the next Earth shuttle. This was also part of his thinking, insofar as it would ensure a reasonably good grounding in Mars society instead of the habitual whistle-stop tour.

# Chapter 20

When President Cheverry saw his wife and daughter he was informed about the unorthodox procedure by Madame, and it took some time before he fully understood the reasons for her need to decide in haste. It became a little clearer when Sabine addressed him in English. She was far from fluent but that would happen within weeks; she barely knew fifty words in English prior to the switching of the box. According to her mother she was devouring all kinds of information from the Echus libraries. She had requested lessons in the Axis written language as she was fascinated by their incredible journey. Armand Cheverry put his concerns into perspective. He was well aware that this news would be controversial if it was disclosed now. On the other hand his daughter had moved from a terminal condition to one of outstanding promise.

Rebrov was excited to meet up with Carvalho again. "Dan brought us up to date during the journey. This QSD research looks to have real promise. It will be a shot in the arm for propulsion development on Earth – that is, if we are still talking to one another."

Carvalho expressed his relief that the Council had seen the merit of drafting Mars expertise into the executive. "I only hope this Cheverry guy complements this decision with an objective handling of the five."

Rebrov was optimistic. "I have followed his career from the moment he took over the mess that was the EU. He slowly but firmly weeded out the parasites and trough feeders. He is currently on the brink of taking the big five to six, yet he has accepted this remit with the Council, on the eve of his greatest achievement. I know he will be objective and he has the political nous to deal with the renegade elements of governments. I am really looking forward to working with him and the Martian charter."

This was a relief for Carvalho. "Ok let's introduce you to all the think-tank members, including Evander and Jet. The Axis capabilities might be just what it takes to make this QSD theory work."

The second message from Epsilon Eridani had come through. It had been received fractionally ahead of expectation and contained a log of the most recent contact information from Gliese, which indicated they were busy trying to install the new technique.

The situation in Epsilon Eridani was good. They had made significant progress in medical research to improve the immunity of the remaining organic node constituents to the various hazards on their planet. Unlike the Axis in the solar system there had been no request to allow termination, but they still craved procreation. Apparently the Gliese based Axis had discovered materials and methods to improve existing data handling devices by massive leaps. The common denominator was, however, the issue of their redundant reproductive systems. The latest updates for the new communication technology were appended. The Mars-based Axis were discussing whether the advance in data handling would lead to more radical means of data encryption which would allow further improvements to the transmission speed. They seemed to be interested in this because the communication had also indicated that the Gliese planet had the most favourable environmental living conditions and the Epsilon Eridani population would consider going there but for the lack of safe means of transport.

Stella and Pascal 2 were trawling databases for the most up-to-date research on human cloning and stem cell modification. They were aware that some papers on these subjects had been censored or truncated in view of new laws and increasing protest. The stem cell avenue was of most interest, the cloning aspect was purely for descriptions of methodology and lab conditions conducive to success. As they were concentrating on embryos they felt this was valid indirect research. They expected to see minute changes between humans who settled on Mars and those born there. The data already existed but it had not been collated and presented in this way before. The small statistical population of Mars, now sixty two thousand plus, would require caution in claiming correlation or trends in these comparisons, unless they were irrefutable. The stem cell work performed on Mars since the pioneering days of 2035 had an even lower statistical significance, primarily because almost all migrants were declared to be models of health as a condition of passage. The very low incidence of procedures mainly involved treatment of conditions such as developed cancer and diabetes. That was why Earth records were valuable. They were both agreed that stem cell design would be the main thrust of practical work, while data was accumulated on the genetic transfer to offspring. That was underpinned by the assertion from Doc and Mac that the Axis still had the potential for benefit from designer cells for their remaining organic nodes.

Cheverry asked to meet Carvalho for a private discussion. He had mulled over his return in terms of timing and agenda. "Commander, I know I'm scheduled to return via the inbound Earth shuttle, but since witnessing my daughter's progress I would like to change that. Having discussed the situation with my family we'd like Sabine and her mother to remain here for a while. I feel if we are to progress such compassionate procedures on Earth I must be honest in declaring this one when I get back. That would I believe carry a risk to the family, it's sad but that is how it is in the society we live in. I need to face this down before they do return, and in that respect I'm asking a favour of you. Can you take me back instead of waiting for the shuttle?"

Carvalho appreciated how difficult the decision must have been for him and agreed to personally pilot him to Earth. "We can spend the journey getting a feel for one another's objectives and hopefully build up accord."

"I am truly grateful for this gesture. Would it help if Rebrov stayed on past the next shuttle? I think it would be helpful for him and the Council to have an on-site perspective of Mars while we consider some of the policy revisions which I have in mind, and they are desperately needed." Carvalho was hopeful this man could help restore respect between the two societies.

********

The stand-off between China and the USA was deepening and threatened to delay bringing Europe into the fold. The vacuum left by Logan's departure and the new incumbents being on Mars didn't help. De Santos was even more edgy than before. One specific item worried him continually. Since the kidnap, the red crystal had duly been returned to Beijing vaults. The legal case had been more advanced in China than elsewhere, even before their spat with the Americans. It was now in the process of submission as a unilateral action. There were also rumours circulating about a backup plan to seize it if the legal action failed. The uneasy truth was of course that with Beijing being located within Chinese sovereign territory, it would not be a difficult task to execute enforced surrender of Scarlet O'Hara. The Security personnel and Intelligence garrisons would be swept aside without much protest.

This concern cascaded to the political will the leaderless Council would be able to summon, to resist the legal threat. He had witnessed the posturing before; the committee mentality was so hard-wired into these people that consensus almost seemed like failure to them. They preferred the tortuous route of 'Procrastination Avenue' to 'Unanimity Boulevard', with little regard for time or external actions which could render their voting obsolete. De Santos was not a risk taker, so it was quite a surprise that he took it upon himself to transmit the need for action to Cheverry.

Hal Devonshire had asked Kinsey to go to Beijing to assess the situation while he tried to rally the other nations to avoid being distracted from the process of delivering entry of the EB (European Bloc) to the 'Inner Sanctum'. His message was that it was even more important in view of the fracture of Chinese-American relations and the legal challenge by China. Devonshire was not having the initial impact he would have liked when he took the call from Sadat. "After long deliberation we have asked our guest General from China to throw some light on the allegations and counter-allegations from both your government and the Chinese. He is understandably nervous but realises that this may be a crucial moment for the world, and his own country's place in it. He first reported this to us weeks ago and I passed a summary of what he revealed to Mr. Kinsey. He is now ready to appeal to all of his countrymen, and particularly the army, to force the regime to back down from their denials. He has listed the other military personnel who can confirm what he has said. He does not want that list to be revealed unless there is no other way to stop the invasion of North Korea. He does however fervently believe that the UN owes it to the rest of the world to give the North Koreans an ultimatum on the nuclear disarmament issue. Failure to comply would then give legitimacy for military intervention by UN forces."

"Is he prepared to deliver this to the world in a personal broadcast from the USAr?"

"Yes, but he would like some assurance of coordinated response as a condition of doing so. I can see his point. Can I leave it with you? It should help get the EB back in focus."

"Yes of course, and thank you for your part in this Mr. Sadat."

********

When the think-tank resumed with Rebrov included, the request startled everyone. Yamamoto referred to the ongoing production of the fleet. "Why can't we use one of these craft to test our prototype? That is, when Evander is happy of course. If we wait until we have designed and constructed a leviathan like the Axis ships for mass transport, and something goes wrong, the time and material cost will be punitive. Our target could be the Axis settlement on Europa. It wouldn't take long to get there, it is charted by both humans and Axis, and unless I'm mistaken there may be other messages there, as the Epsilon Eridani guys would only have sent them here if they didn't receive a reply from Europa. So, how long did they wait, and has Fav sent any messages to them which may not have arrived there yet? The reason I ask this is because there may be direct messages from the Gliese system with more detail on the improved data handling paradigm claim. It's surely worth checking out." He was smart enough to know the Axis on Mars would support this. "The engineering aspects would have to be checked carefully to see if the prototype will fit the existing structure of the fleet craft or if changes are needed. Come on guys, this has the possibility of multiple payoffs."

The muted support was to be referred to Carvalho. Evander looked as if something was troubling him. He later explained that it was the current design capacity of only three personnel. "At present we need Dan to be the control interface, and the Axis will want to go. Who will make up the crew?" He was adamant that someone who really understood the concept should be included. He would have preferred a vessel with much greater personnel capacity.

# Chapter 21

Carvalho and Cheverry were nearing the space elevator. The Commander had agreed with Yamamoto's logic but also accepted Evander's point in the event of problems and being stranded. He asked for the QSD carrier vessel to be revised to accommodate five people. This would take another two months but he felt this was not critical in the overall timescale.

While Cheverry was getting up to speed on the impending appearance of the Chinese General on TV, following Hal Devonshire's efforts to whip the UN into their tortoise-paced action, Carvalho was left with the opportunity to meet Kinsey. The American was also keen to meet as he had by then discovered the Symbiant's involvement in the kidnap was not Logan's brainchild. Carvalho was keen to know how they would protect Evander if, hypothetically, it had been made clear that his father may at some time want him to return. Although he was winning new friends in the physics community since the Seaborgium Oxy-chloride discovery, he was still legally a minor. Kinsey was equally concerned. He jokingly said, "A few of those Symbiants would be handy. The Brazilian authorities are helpful but are besieged by corruption. It is unlikely they would agree to pass him into someone else's care. What about taking his family to Mars, if they would go?"

"I think that might be interpreted the wrong way unless they volunteered themselves. I merely bring this up because as you know better than I do, that there is tension between nations here as well as between Earth and Mars." It was not lost on Carvalho that Kinsey was currently operating out of Beijing and the American was careful to avoid discussing the Commander's observation.

It was unexpected. Carvalho had not picked up on this during his trip with Cheverry. The new Chief Executive had infused terror into the rest of the committee by issuing an ultimatum to China, and the General had yet to make his broadcast. Cheverry wanted it that way, to have the final impact, if all else failed. His speech was succinct and left no room for buying time. He started with a scathing criticism of North Korea. He also understood the feelings of both China and South Korea, both having borders with the unruly neighbours. He even expressed some understanding of misguided American participation in wanting to see the UN nuclear accord respected. He didn't have any sympathy for the UN itself. They had demonstrated vigilance but nothing else other than rhetoric, and were part of the problem. "We at the Council for Human Exploration are charged with improving the options for mankind's survival over the long term. It is therefore with regret that we feel we have to stray into politics to preserve that aim. We recommend the following immediate actions.

1. America withdraws from any involvement in Korea.

2. China limits its own action to repatriating migrants who penetrate their border.

3. South Korea does the same.

4. The UN delivers a fixed deadline for decommissioning and inspection of the requisite nuclear warheads.

If any of these specific actions are not implemented we further recommend the respective consequences.

1. Mars suspends trading with America.

2. Mars suspends trading with China and they face expulsion from the current five.

3. South Korea faces UN sanctions, and the trade licence with Mars is revoked.

4. North Korea is subject to a world trade embargo, followed by temporary occupation to allow UN-led enforcement to decommission the warheads.

If this list of repercussions fails, the Council for Human Exploration disbands and the Martian cooperation is lost. These proposals may seem draconian to some. They are offered solely to avoid decades of effort and investment being squandered, and the 'Salvation' programme initiated in 2033 being butchered by the species who inaugurated it. Finally there is a broadcast planned to categorise the recent allegations over the Korean plans, into absolute truths and lies. If assurances are not received to accept the first list of proposals, the broadcast goes ahead. The second list of proposals is then effective. Failure to achieve a satisfactory level of support will then trigger dissolution of this Council."

Cheverry had taken all sides by surprise to avoid more fence-sitting. Carvalho's inclusion on behalf of Mars was no different, but he at least saw the merit in banging heads together. He wasn't sure that everyone would see it that way. The Council members themselves were first to respond over non-consultation. The delegation was simply asked if they agreed or disagreed with the proposals. If they agreed he would apologise in good time, but crisis management was just that – time was not a luxury. If they did not agree with the proposals they were asked to say so and he would not have to be fired, he would walk. They had to have their period of reflection, in other words to see how it was received elsewhere. He had gambled on this too. The other recipients from whom a response was demanded would perceive this as unanimity in the Council, and make their judgements on that basis. The broadcast would only go ahead if Sadat had a signal from Kinsey to do so. Cheverry had been busy.

Carvalho could now appreciate Rebrov's confidence in this man, and it became obvious how he had dragged a virtually bankrupt EU into the real world. He pondered the timing of his return. He would exercise flexibility; it may be beneficial to stick around to see initial reaction.

********

A discussion within the 'reproduction team' branched off unintentionally into the semantic conveyance of procreation to each species. It was not frivolous, more to ascertain weighting factors of the populations in general with regard to family, spiritual beliefs, and forces or instincts of natural selection. It emanated from Doc, and his particular objectivity as a totally synthetic being. The programming feat which produced him had unconsciously instilled a desire to 'belong'. He was not showing emotional discontent, it was more akin to ambition. It was not necessarily focussed on sexual partners or offspring, just something which he felt he did not have. He cited the Axis trauma of almost disastrously achieving with science what the gas giants were threatening with cosmic aberration. That feeling of futility light years away from the catastrophe had haunted them for millions of years. "I believe that this longing for procreation being satisfied, may not be as fulfilling as they expect. Individuals have to die and resultant generations achieve distance from the direct experience to slowly extinguish the longing and replace it with more positive personal goals. Merely having more offspring will placate only part of the anger and guilt." He suggested that the human situation was different as they were not yet facing sterility except by their own hand. He wondered if they really needed to reverse engineer their reproductive system, or seek relative immortality just to service objectives of interstellar exploration. The new proposals for this were going to be far less demanding of their physiology than first expected, so 'why fix it if it ain't broke?' His main thrust was that from a vantage point of a sentient, immortal being, he embraced the concept of death, as it would give more meaning to his life. It would focus on satisfying the longings within the maturing period and a balance of inherited experience would pass to any offspring - if only he was capable of having any. He wondered if this made sense to the gathering, bearing in mind this was 'easy for him to say'.

Pascal 2 could not repress a 'kindred smile'. Mac's colour display betrayed his feelings of agreement without having to offer further confirmation. Stella and Scillacci declined immediate comment by mannerisms rather than speech, and the silence prevailed. It seemed to have created a pleasant paralysis when Pascal 2 suggested a break.

Doc was semi-apologetic when they re-convened. "I did not mean to be critical of our objective. I wanted to consider the benefits and weaknesses of the component targets, compared to simply trying to correct malfunctions. It occurred to me that the Axis situation represents a deeply wounded species, and humans only think they feel unsettled. Superimposing my own perceived 'Utopian' existence adds caution. Maybe we need to concentrate all initial research on restoring only Axis reproduction capacity while they wrestle with immortality. Remember, after much debate about this prior to meeting humans, then a change of mind by some, a total rethink caused me to be designed. There is some illogical component in that sequence. In the meantime human progression has some way to go and therefore some time to reflect before confronting such crossroads." After the meeting Scillacci beckoned Pascal 2 and Stella.

"This all sounds quite logical and yet takes in emotional considerations. My question is about Sabine; where will this kind of synthesised 'cross breeding' stand when her modification is no longer a closely guarded secret? I would have thought the Axis would be most interested in such a possibility, as they are already synthetic in the sphere department and would not have hang-ups about enhancement."

The others acknowledged this observation, and that it would possibly clash with Doc's suggestion to invite the grim reaper into the cultural mix.

********

The cracks began to appear. South Korea believed they could sustain their own border integrity without American help. They certainly did not want to lose a trade licence and joined the condemnation of the UN. They went a step further and questioned why they had continued to subscribe to this toothless fraternity. America then had no reason to resist the proposals and also put the boot into the UN. The Chinese were as usual in favour of small steps, especially if they were concessions. They started with a tirade of accusations at the UN, for completely abrogating their responsibilities. This situation would not have arisen but for that. They were campaigning for a heavy rap over the knuckles for this 'eunuch'. The Chinese delegate to the five called Cheverry. "Mr Chief Executive, we are grateful for your intervention. It has reminded us that we must extract more from these UN people or withdraw our subscription. We will support your initiative to do that."

"That is good to hear but we would like all parties to commit to the proposals. In your case we need the assurance that there will be no other action against North Korea than defending your borders. This way we will force the UN to belatedly take responsibility. A retraction of certain denials over the American position in the Korean plans would also help transparency for contributions to UN peacekeeping forces. The broadcast may embarrass you if it needs to go ahead."

The Chinese delegate stalled but promised a second call before a final position was expressed. They knew their General had gone AWOL and could now guess he was the broadcast, but wrongly assumed it would be from America. It was a classic case of what is to be gained compared to what will be lost, and whether there will be another time to make the original gains if this concessionary route did not deliver. The call came barely two hours after the conclusion of the first one. "Mr. Cheverry, we have agreed with your proposal. The one caveat is in regard to potential failure of suitable UN intervention. I am merely pointing out the obvious; if this plan of yours does not succeed we still have to deal with the Korean problem and it will not require American troops. We do not acknowledge that our denials of American insinuations were unjust. This was not part of your proposal, and is a request we cannot comply with. You must decide if this broadcast will prejudice your proposal or otherwise."

This was good enough. Any lingering doubts the Council executive had were brushed aside and the UN were to be approached for their reaction to the plan now that the others were on board. The anticipated UN posturing was accommodated by Cheverry just long enough for the interruption to be considered as impatient rather than rude. "Yes, believe me, I do sympathise with all the complexities you have enumerated, but this does nothing to dilute the tension of a situation which could lead to nuclear strikes. I put it to you that this is exactly the kind of mediation your organisation was conceived for, rather than debate the interminable statements of intent, which have possibly been taken forward to a resolution, which in turn is awaiting ratification before proceeding to a form of words which will offend nobody. Oh incidentally, by this time they will also be guaranteed to have no impact on the issue whatsoever. The deadline must be agreed or you are now solely to blame for any encouragement that this would give to North Korea to intensify the problem. There is also the mood of the nations who have already agreed to the plan to consider their future contribution or continued membership. I fear you are presiding over whether you have anything to offer anymore - anachronistic judgement awaits, the danger does not."

# Chapter 22

It had to happen sooner rather than later, even in the midst of the ongoing dragooning of the UN. Cheverry had to disclose the truth about Sabine's operation, true to character he preferred to avoid deluding himself that there would be a better time. It would not derail the progress so far and he wanted it out of the way. It was more likely to affect his perception in the public eye about his relationship with Mars as well as his leanings on ethical boundaries. He informed Carvalho and suggested he held back making it public on Mars until he was to deliver the news to the Council.

Carvalho was pleased that he stayed on. This man had the hallmarks of the strong leadership which had been missing in the short period since Xiang's passing. Carvalho had offered to deliver his own take on the decision which Madame Cheverry had to make, but it was gratefully put on hold.

The new C.E. of the invigorated council said he may need more tangible support from Mars on other issues in the not too distant future. It was pledged and with that accord Carvalho wanted to contact Karl Koppelt to thank him personally for setting up the connection with Sadat. De Santos apologised. "I'm terribly sorry Commander - you must not have been informed. Mr. Koppelt passed away last week at his home in Switzerland. A transmission of a message he sent to us just prior to his death was forwarded for your personal attention. It must have crossed with your visit here." Carvalho made preparations to leave.

As he was prohibited by safety considerations from making the trip alone he thought about the options. There would be a long list of migrant applications. Instead of plucking the one at the top of the list he wondered about re-uniting Reuben de la Cruz with his son, not as a migrant but on the same compassionate short stay basis as the Cheverry family. This was also justification of the need for several independent Martian craft. As this would take a few days to formalise he transmitted the need to lift the blackout of the procedure Pascal 2 had carried out on Sabine. Alex 2 was asked to make the community at large aware of this to fit with Cheverry's announcement.

********

When it did ricochet around both planets the reaction was predictably different. On Earth it fuelled both sides of the divide on medical ethics, but gained Cheverry respect in being open about it in a personal address and not dodging the difficult questions. Together with his swift action in the Korean crisis his standing in opinion polls improved markedly. It did ultimately have an indirect watering down of the ethics lobby protest. On Mars it was hailed as a mercy miracle and unsurprisingly inspired one radical suggestion. Yamamoto wanted to have this 'treatment'. It was the first time the ethical dilemma had reared its head in their society. This uncertainty was distinctly in the human camp. The Symbiants had no gain to consider, and the Axis interest was currently only at fascination level about the potential it had to offer.

Stella and Scilacci were inundated with requests to see the little girl who had been saved by the operation. They had to give thought to using the medium of TV to satisfy the clamour and minimise exhaustion for Sabine. The young lady herself was thrilled and said she would be confident about her English, but also wanted to make visual aids for the Axis in their own symbols. She had developed a sufficiently rudimentary understanding of that language to enlist Symbiant assistance to prepare them.

Finn's report of a mini-eruption in the chasm almost went unnoticed, but not quite. A large crack had widened suddenly to allow lava to spew into the chasm bed. It had not lasted more than a few minutes but had partially covered seven screens and obliterated two others. At the point of the eruption the chasm floor was raised several feet by the cooling lava. Finn advised creating more boreholes and enlarging the existing ones after some rock-splitting and analysis of the emergent lava.

********

The UN had been humbled into what they considered a foolhardy timescale, but for others it was more like one of Nero's longer concertos for the violin. Their pleas to world governments to assign troops to the 'Korean Question' were pledged in overwhelming numbers and jolted them further from their comfort zone. At least this got the hermit North Korean hierarchy to buy time by asking for a diplomatic summit with them. The five reacted by insisting on being represented, to avoid the Corinthian culture of the UN being hoodwinked into a plethora of empty pledges. The EB was to sit in too, reflecting the proportion of military backup it had offered. Cheverry was vindicated by his sheer doggedness in seeing this through. He asked for Rebrov to return to help author a new chapter of Earth-Mars ambitions. He had also managed to settle De Santos without ever knowing there was a problem.

Kinsey was relieved enough at the tension reduction to return home, but only after making an official inspection of the returned crystal. Unlike the boffins in Beijing he checked every single container. He brought De Santos to explain variations in the appearance of roughly thirteen containers. It was an almost insignificant quantity but something or someone appeared to have tampered with them.

The labelling indicated that they were all from Earth origin and analysis showed evidence of layers of what appeared to be 'fossilised' bacteria. There was good evidence historically that certain bacteria could survive inactivity, even in space, for long periods. The worrying element here was that in the short period the crystal was not chilled, there were tell-tale signs of some amorphous re-crystallisation. It was not yet known if there had been interaction.

De Santos said he would draft in expert microbiologists to examine the samples and contact Alex 2 to see if there was historical information of their replication and any advice he may have.

********

When Yamamoto was asked why he was so keen to have a hybrid box he replied honestly, "Why are any of us here? We all have in one way or another dared to leave Earth when billions won't. The call of new frontiers is not too common now, but when it happens, you either respond or decline. Nobody has queried why we want to test out the QSD technology, yet it has more potential to kill us by failure than the technique which actually saved the child's life. I am attracted to an opportunity to understand as much, and more than Evander does about cosmology, to improve my memory and data recall to a much higher order. I'm not considering this because it also potentially gives me a brain of greater longevity than the one I have. I would want this even if the reverse was true. It's about quality of life, not quantity. We all have our different opinions on what constitutes quality, mine is maximising my comprehension of whatever is out there."

This was seen by the Martian TV audience, including Scillacci, and she remarked to Stella, "I didn't expect my prediction of this to surface so soon, and Yamamoto has thought rationally about it. Commander Carvalho could be riding into a storm."

Alex 2 responded to De Santos immediately. "Indeed we have interacted with microorganisms on Mars and most were brief and of little significance. However there were instances in which the bacteria would show instant promise, and subsequent alteration of their infection (or survival techniques from their position) of other primitive species. We can't say for certain, but this may have caused extinction of lines of evolution which could have developed into much more promising and complex life forms. We cannot exclude the scourge of Legionella which afflicted the Axis and caused their retreat to Europa. There is historical record of our interaction with Legionella but the mechanism of their virulence billions of years later with the Axis is too sketchy to assess what contribution later mutations had. In summary you cannot ignore the head start we gave them, even if it appeared minor at the time. I suggest after your experts conclude their evaluation, you destroy the contaminated samples in the hottest furnace available."

********

Carvalho and Reuben de la Cruz were on their way and it proved to be a very enjoyable journey. The Commander was more relaxed about Earth relations now and Reuben demonstrated an extremely rounded knowledge in classical history and basic sciences. It was easy to see how this patient man with no formal education had recognised the need to ensure his son did not miss out. He was also a very unassuming man, and surprisingly it was always Carvalho who brought up Evander's name. "Don't you wish he was back with you and the rest of your family?"

"Of course, but he has been frustrated by not being taken as seriously as he would like by Earth physicists. He feels his age is used as a buffer to exclude him from certain fraternities. I can't comment on the validity of his claims, as the subject matter is beyond me, but he is obviously enjoying a meaningful relationship with your people, and for me his happiness comes first. I am sure he will return sometime; hopefully this will not result in another situation like the kidnap."

Carvalho responded sympathetically. "He is well respected on Mars, not just by his Earth peers but the Symbiants and Axis science specialists. I have to tell you that such an accolade from the Symbiants is rare, and I know how stimulating the interaction has been for Evander. Although it may appear selfish we would love him to stay as long as he wants; he's making a hell of a contribution. This will not go unnoticed by those on Earth who have downplayed his theories."

Reuben was almost embarrassed with pride in this testimonial for the young man who had spent much of his short life surviving the perils of shanty town lawlessness.

********

Yamamoto's declaration had provoked much discussion on Mars and most of it was not angled to whether or not such techniques should be allowed, but to who should qualify for them. It was accepted that some would not wish to avail of the transitory novelty of becoming a genius. It could then be a potential fork in the evolutionary development of the population. Although it may be perceived as distant 'threat', the origin of separation into sub-species could be in the process of being sculptured here and now. It did have the effect of ascribing escalating importance to the data collection by the team studying reproductive mechanism and genetic conference. It also had the makings of fostering a 'schizophrenic' society if it was not handled in a transparent way. This was true of the human contingent but did not yet factor in the Axis population.

# Chapter 23

With the pledges in place the UN duly stipulated a deadline for inspection in N. Korea. The other implication of this clearly carried a refusal to meet the Korean delegation, as they had previously requested. It did not go down well. The dictator maintained that this would not have happened with other fledgling nuclear powers and therefore they declared the inspection invalid. The political tennis continued for several weeks and this precipitated China to act over the increasing number of refugees pouring over the border. Interrogation of these unfortunates revealed practices of torture inflicted for non-conformance to state laws. The claim was, that apart from the 'laws' being unjust, they were introduced in such quick succession and without detailed explanation that nobody knew they were contravening them. Instead of returning these people China changed tactics. They insisted the UN came to see for themselves the atrocities the North Koreans were handing out to their own people.

A side strategy to this was the granting of a corridor of protected territory for these new conscripts to the Chinese army. The message soon spread back to their homeland and the outflow intensified.

The UN reports confirmed that the time had come for the regime to be checked in more ways than warheads. Troops under their command and requisite air/naval backup arrived. This thrust would be from South Korea and the Chinese were granted independent control of their regular armed forces plus the trained refugees from the Northern Korean border. The problem for the North Koreans was the assistance and local knowledge offered to this incursion by the revolutionary mood of disillusioned citizens. It spread like wildfire and the eventual result would have two possible outcomes. The dictator would convince his closest security forces of the absolute need to discharge nuclear warheads on the mutinous plebs or he would be assassinated to bring the occupation to an end.

********

Stella was convinced that the human reproductive system would take generations to begin to respond to even substantial genetic code insertions. Natural selection worked by tiny steps over long periods. She therefore proposed to Scillacci and Pascal 2 that they should examine ways of programming stem cells with more powerful ability to react to specific stimuli and accelerate mutation. They would then be employed at the interface with code modifications.

The research would be compatible with finding a reliable template for grafting into the Axis physiology, to respond more quickly to any new 'restoration' breakthrough they applied.

Pascal 2 agreed. He felt that extrapolation of logic to the mechanisms of human gene transfer, would mean that initial offspring of parents with and without code change would probably result in minute measurable effects in the targeted characteristics, even though the other attributes could follow normal processes.

Colour of hair, facial features and skin pigmentation would be largely unaffected in the result. The reproductive equipment would, at generation 1, possibly only inherit partial deviation from parents. He concurred with Stella's theory that highly responsive stem cells would encourage the closest approximation to the capabilities of the functions of the modified genes. "It would also be more acceptable to those of your species who worry about 'replacing your humanity'. It becomes a learning module instead of an alien implant." Scillacci was not convinced, yet receptive to the research direction.

The modified five-seat craft was progressing well and Evander was happier with the latest efforts to achieve the necessary precision for the QSD project. He was actually coming round to the idea of a 'short' trip to Europa and hopefully back again.

The whole Martian spearhead – technical, medical and social was the talk of the domes, restaurants, libraries and the urban centres of Valles Marineris, Utopia Planitia and Echus Chasma. That was until Finn's lava rocks which had been regurgitated from deep inside Mars had been analysed. Those which had survived transformation to liquid within the lava contained pockets of Carbon. When the news broke that it was a certain form which sparkled, it was slightly unfortunate that an irresponsible journalist immediately reported the find to Earth. Mars did not need the sleazy commercial impact of readily available diamonds in the Chasm. It had the potential to change the relationship between the planets indefinitely. The very least it would do was attract avaricious, shamelessly self-centred individuals to apply for migration under false identities. It would also be a difficult task to avoid splintering of the meritocracy on Mars; some would see an opportunity to return to Earth with an investment haul to set them up for life. The net migration balance could change dramatically. The means of getting to the bottom of the Chasm and back would tap the ingenuity of humans, and the time down there finding the sparklers in the solidified lava would risk exposure to further eruptions.

********

There was apparently a third alternative in North Korea. Their top military junta of an increasingly restless army requested the leaders of the invading pincer forces to assist in a bloodless coup. The dictator was already detained in a secure underground location and his future would be in the hands of an international court of inquiry. It all sounded too good to be true. The UN coalition forces were winning the conflict hands down and it would see an accelerated conclusion. It was Kinsey and Devonshire who raised the question of who was in control of the warhead launch procedures. These military leaders were negotiating for immunity from prosecution by delivering their leader on a plate. If they didn't get that they could sign off with nuclear strikes. It was felt to be a precarious situation. The advice was heeded and there was a request to meet these brokers to discuss terms in exchange for subsequent, secure air passage through the conflict zone.

Ayrton de Santos had wasted no time calling in the microbe expertise. The general conclusion was that there was no discernable mutation of the bacteria in the samples of Scarlet. They were split on whether it was necessary to destroy what was essentially a life form to get rid of a few bacteria. De Santos thanked them and returned the containers to the cold vault.

********

Carvalho and Reuben de la Cruz arrived to an unprecedented Martian media reception. The journalist who had acted independently was criticised by his peers for the unilateral act of sensationalism, which was universally described as one of moronic selfishness. Until now the society on Mars had witnessed almost zero crime, and even then the recorded incidents were trivial. There had been no need for a 'police force'.

Reuben was still taking in the landscape which no TV or photographs could really capture with the same impact. Out of the crowd stepped Evander and the emotional reunion was complete. There was the 'official' part to get through before they would have time alone, and Reuben simply could not take in all the names of those individuals to whom his son introduced him. Carvalho had other pressing matters but said they would only be discussed when the De la Cruz family had escaped the spotlight.

The first item he wanted more detail on was the discovery of the presence of diamonds in the Chasm. When he was told that Alex 2 had posted two Symbiants to patrol the lava extrusion area in shifts, he was a little calmer. The request of Yamamoto had not been withdrawn and had to be considered. The stem cell research proposal needed ratification. Both should have Axis input. The first trials of the QSD unit were looming. He was also acutely aware of the clamour for more information on the tinderbox which was North Korea. All of this had to be prioritised but there was one Martian event on which he had not yet been briefed. It would not change the pecking order of the others but it would introduce another perspective to his vision of the future. Stella was pretty certain she was pregnant.

He suffered a temporary loss of context; who he was and how this had all come about. The opposite and equal Newtonian reaction gave new perspective to the priorities he had just inherited. For decades he had been in a position of influence and responsibility, personal sacrifice and evaluation of the big picture. It felt strange to have the 'addiction' somewhat marginalised by this unashamedly personal joy. It did have the effect of resurrecting one of his most effective principles of management. 'Do not turn a decision into a problem'. It prompted him to ask Stella to live with him.

In tackling the mix of Martian decisions and problems he initially met with Alex 2 and Fav. He began by expressing the view that all of the items in their own way could affect the relationship with Earth. "It is the one outside our ability of influence which may have the most devastating short term disruption. The North Korean problem we can only monitor and react accordingly. I believe the interplanetary news is the best way for our citizens to maintain interest. What more can you tell me about the diamond find?"

Fav replied, "We have increased data now from the geothermal orbiter, and there are considerably higher numbers of hotspots than when we were last here 555 years ago. The one in Candor Chasm also appears more active than Finn anticipated. This of course does not directly relate to presence of this particular form of carbon."

Carvalho asked their views on 'management' of the situation. Fav was not aware of the potential the human race had for killing one another over such materialistic ambition. "If we can get Alex 2's guards to extract more rocks, and confine the testing knowledge to Nielsen, we may be able to diffuse the interest by 'disappointment' that the strike appears to be an isolated find. We will need much more careful scrutiny of migrants even if this ploy diminishes the number of bounty hunters. I'm sorry but I have to ask you both to keep me up to date with any increase in reported attempts to find diamonds by groups or individuals already on Mars. I'm hoping, more than expecting this issue will not force us into considering law enforcement of the Earth variety."

They acknowledged the fragility which the whole community would inherit if humans fractured the trust because of personal greed. They moved on to Yamamoto's request. It was more difficult than simply endorsing a policy of free choice. It could be, depending on the data collection and analysis of the next fifty years, a huge success or an unmitigated disaster in terms of a cohesive society. It was complicated by a factor which had been anticipated. The Axis section was physically dependent on human research to improve their slim chance of restoring their reproductive ability. Having been through many phases of transplant practice, their society had dealt with it in a more coherent fashion than humans were expected to manage. Even so, they weren't all of the same opinion on the benefits. The recent declaration by Doc had found sympathy with many of them. Embracing death had almost become an evangelical desire. This simple request from Yamamoto had the power to cause multi-faceted demands from both races. A clear and unequivocal 'yes or no' was not possible yet, but it was highly unlikely that anything was about to happen to make it easier in the medium term. One thing was certain, whenever such a request was granted it would create a fork in the social homogeneity in one or both species' evolutionary path. This was clearly not just a decision. To avoid turning it into a problem it almost demanded a type of referendum. The contemplation of a police force and a referendum in the same day did not sit well.

The research direction with stem cells gave the option to ask for delay on the Yamamoto case for two obvious reasons. It could theoretically overtake the box as a more natural enhancement technique, and the inability of the box to pass on genetic adaptation to offspring needed careful deliberation for any volunteers. Secondly, the Axis community was not split over the priority if a simple choice was on the ballot. Procreation would win every time. It was a decision to endorse and resource that research.

Finally the QSD trials were mostly anticipated with wonder by a minority. The rest were getting on with settling on this planet, not contemplating moving house again so soon. The logic applied to the Axis and human population. There were some quarters of concern about what exactly success of mastering interstellar travel would mean for them. It was however felt important to avail of the knowledge, and limit the horizon at present to Europa. The date was agreed.

# Chapter 24

The N. Korean chief of staff, Kim Hun-Yeong, had accepted the invitation of the UN. Accompanied by three subordinates, he arrived at the designated point in the occupied territory. It was quickly established that the dictator's state security arm numbered several thousand, and they had the initial activation codes for the warheads. The man himself was supposedly the only one in possession of the confirmatory codes. Kim however believed this to be a convenient myth, as it was one of the intelligence division staff of the state security who designed and implemented them. The security people and the military did not see eye-to-eye on many issues. The inhumane treatment of the populous was fashioned by the dictator but carried out by security forces. The army had been gradually moving toward a coup prior to this conflict but could never get the dictator isolated from them. When the incursions began these security people retreated into an ever tighter ring of the Capital with their leader. "We then knew our chance would come. It was however, actually handed to us after all this time. Security insisted on him being kept in a well-fortified and remote bunker which was known to only a few people. We were asked to relocate him there and await further instruction. We reported a fake 'espionage' event, saying that someone must have leaked information, as a special operations unit raid was able to extract him and disappear into the night. We protested at the Security Arm's decision to implement this strategy and saddle the Military with what should have been their responsibility. We added that it was our prime responsibility to contain the conflict and we were stretched to the limit. We are supposedly cooperating with them in looking for him. They do not know we are here, but will suspect something if we do not return very quickly. We can currently guarantee you that we will cease our military defence and the dictator will be handed to you. We cannot guarantee what the Security Chief will do with regard to the warheads. However if we are to retain any kind of stability after you achieve complete occupation we need to avoid starting an open conflict with our security people or that could well set off a chain reaction to what you are trying to avoid. We must find a way to continue the deception until you can perform your neutralisation of their headquarters. We would have to arrange to be betrayed by another leak. The element of surprise is with you, we can give you the coordinates and then we would suggest taking them out with missiles. We assure you that we will not activate intercept protocols. Gentlemen, we have no flexibility here if there is to be an infrastructure left to begin rebuilding a humane regime. It is your decision."

The UN bought this only because the alternatives looked bleak, even if military control was achieved, at the price of some foreign city and its residents being annihilated by a crazy loyalist of the dictator. The coordinates were handed over and they were assured that if the target security H.Q. was levelled by a night strike, the codes for the warheads would evaporate with them. Kim assured them that as of now they would begin pulling their forces back from the front.

********

The date for the Europa trial had to take in the alignment of the planetary bodies. The distance, depending upon their individual orbital positions could be anywhere between 344 and 744 million miles. At 'velocity' close to the speed of light this would reflect a journey of some 31-67 minutes. So in terms of time it was not a significant difference. The position of other planets, moons, comets and asteroids had to be checked against this straight line route, and if there were any on intercept course they would have to break the straight line by dropping out of QSD and detour to a new direct course. The first consideration was the asteroid belt. This doughnut shaped rock pile was estimated to be 67 million miles thick. Many unmanned craft and probes had passed through this region without coming near to a collision but it was still too much of a gamble. The Axis charts accumulated on the journeys between the two bodies indicated that the statistical mean inter-asteroid distance was probably similar to that of the Earth and its Moon. None of this type of data could eliminate the risk and nobody knew what would happen to the solid bodies during the distortion process. It was decided to break the straight line by hurdling over the doughnut fence and opt for the two-stage journey. The exercise did illustrate the myriad of calculations required for such voyages.

The five selected to go did not contain any real surprises. Yamamoto, Jet, Red, Evander, and Dan employed as the interface. Red was nominally in command as he could conduct technobabble with the interface. The others were hopefully relegated to being observers.

The two Symbiants guarding and 'mining' the lava eruption in the Chasm had unfortunately unearthed diamond clusters in significant quantities and size. They were to be stored in a maximum security vault which the Axis had agreed to fabricate from some of their more impregnable materials and with complicated symbol access codes. The media were kept out of this agreement. The Axis did not really understand the fascination even though it had been explained several times. They had come across diamond before and used it in a purely functional sense but found other 'alloys' of naturally occurring materials and synthetic modifiers were superior. Their confusion lay in the human value ascribed to it as a symbol of affluence.

The thrust on stem cell research could benefit from laboratory species which multiplied very quickly and offered multiple generations within a few years. This was considered to be a possible way of confirming the theory of stepwise transference of change more quickly. It should then be possible to record behavioural change, to a discernable altered state in the offspring. They needed to know if this was valid, and if not, a different approach would be required. The problem was importation of a suitable species from Earth and the containment or return of the increasing numbers. It was Scillacci who gave it the name of 'Frankenstein Pest'. They decided an escape-proof exclusive domain would be necessary. The Axis offered information about an unused excavation for an intended hydrogen capture plant which had been shelved. It was remote and could be made into a prison/fortress depending on whether you were looking in or out. The choice of species could exacerbate the already daunting task of getting Earth to agree to this, especially when the ultimate purpose was revealed.

Stella had not taken long to join Carvalho in Marineris Central. It mutated from a rumour on Mars to headline news on Earth. There was the predictable criticism from some, over such a leader setting an example of non-matrimonial co-habitation. It was not all from Earth. It was also yet more idiosyncratic fodder for the Symbiants and Axis to digest. When it was obvious to others that Stella was pregnant the ripples receded, at least on Mars.

The tension surrounding the launch of the QSD craft was one which was totally predictable. Analogous in some respects to the design of the parachute, it could only really be tested fully in its intended medium. The parachute developed from multiple disastrous opening failures, to very reliable precision landings on a saddled horse, through design improvements generated by fatalities. This partially explained the crew's relative body language of excitement, fear and confidence, in varying amplitudes as pre-flight checks registered. Once Dan was hooked up irregularities were harmonised to conformance and it was time. The gathered crowd wasn't sure what to expect in terms of visuals on special screens. The craft was high enough in the ionosphere to make it difficult to see with the naked eye. The layman's point of view had been condensed to one of two possibilities – instantaneous disappearance followed by either telemetric success or oblivion.

Dan verified sequence initiation, then parameters locked, and finally but suddenly trajectory confirmed. It was then a different experience for each species within the crew. It was a surreal visual interpretation by the human eye. The Axis seemed to resolve the imagery into frames with frequent blanks. Red had less distortion but 'sensed' through his sentinel cell/tiered registry slight displacement of time. They all resisted trying to discuss this as Dan was spewing out values and criteria which were out of specified range then correcting this by declaring conformance. It took 13 minutes to reach the prescribed way point and the craft dropped out of QSD.

The people on Mars greeted the report of success on stage one as a bit of a non-event and some even dispersed.

There was a planned break at the way point. Dan concluded that the flirtation between out of tolerance and conformance was a concern for long travel periods. He described his part of corrective loop modification as something he had heard humans describe. It was more like LSD than QSD; he thought it might be an equally addictive experience. "It must be close to data assimilation Nirvana."

The break was very short but did give a breathtaking overview of the asteroid belt. It seemed as if they were hovering over a monstrous but silent motorway with millions of differing sized vehicles along thousands of lanes, without any collisions.

The re-engagement of QSD propelled Europa toward them and it arrived in fractionally over twenty-three minutes. While Dan was achieving final data upload and Red was preparing for normal thrust orbit insertion manoeuvres, Jet was asked to keep visual attention on the surface for familiar landmarks in case the conventional electronics had been affected by the journey of the 'station to the train'. He also asked for timepiece synchronisation repeat checks to compare with those on Mars when they returned.

Separation was achieved and Jet confirmed the terrain for landing corresponded well to expectation. The descent was uneventful and still the only two individuals not to speak were the humans. Evander was preoccupied with Dan's assertion of problems with long journeys, and ascribed it to better control requirement of generation and amplification uniformity of gravity A waves. It was puzzling to him however as to how such a finite need for precision could 'almost work perfectly'. He had been confident it either worked or it did not. Yamamoto was still recovering from an introspective comparison. This transposition of over 352 million miles had taken less time than his schoolboy journey from one Tokyo high speed train stop to the other. He would soon revert to norm.

# Chapter 25

The Korean Security H.Q. had been flattened but the information coming from Kim was not good. The top official had been in hospital visiting his sick mother at the time of the strike and had subsequently disappeared. It was unlikely that he had the codes on his person, and probable that they had been destroyed but they could not rule out backup at his home, in a secure government deposit facility, or even the possibility that he memorised them. This would be a nervous time and he would be sufficiently shaken to act irrationally. They had to find him. The UN did not disclose details directly to the contributing nations, but their forces knew something was up as they were proceeding unopposed to the Capital city.

*********

After much trawling for suitable candidates the first choice was Marsupial Dasyurus Viverrinus. The two deciding factors were its potential genetic overlap with the original Axis template, and it had a gestation period of 8-14 days. When Pascal 2 asked if the women thought there would be full cooperation on Earth they both shook their heads. "Pity, could they do the research we need on Earth if we submitted the plan?"

Scillacci was on the verge of laughing this off, when Stella remarked that one of the features of their reproduction was that it was very common for many more young to be conceived, than there was room for them in the pouch. When this was coupled with an important parental involvement with the young, it could be argued as compassionate. "It's a long shot but worth a try. We would need someone there to espouse this aspect, to allow a few to come here. The converted hydrogen plant would cater for many generations and they would have no predators."

They would ask Carvalho to consider this. The Axis leader was particularly enthusiastic and this could also be seen as reciprocal help for their massive contribution to Martian and Earth industrial infrastructure.

********

The news of the diamond discovery had more than quadrupled the applications for migration, and they had already been excessive. Forged documents had almost become an industry rather than a clandestine operation. Scrutiny had deteriorated even further – the agency responsible was creaking under the weight and it began to get ugly when processing by Mars was slowed by lack of time to discuss individual cases with Earth counterparts. A halt was called by Carvalho until he could recruit additional experienced people in this kind of screening from Earth. There was a labour shortage in every facet of Martian expansion. If they could not avail of these extra personnel he would reserve the right to alter the desired profile of candidacy significantly. Although he knew this would buy a little time he was not prepared for the outcry it actually caused on both planets.

********

The descent to Europa had 'broken the dream' and they were covering the terrain very carefully on foot. It was not too far to an entrance to the Axis underground city. Once Jet had entered codes and access was available they were confronted with another example of scale the Axis had engineered into this abandoned metropolis. It was much more sophisticated than anything on Mars and was ridiculously large for the seven hundred occupants it used to have. When asked about this Jet's reply was quite graphic. "At the time we were suffering from the emotional withdrawal from Mars, and we had been given hope that our people in Gliese had made a breakthrough, which could restore our ability to procreate. After scaling up their trials the Gliese Axis found that over 97% of offspring delivered were still-born. It was not an infection or malfunction of the reproductive process alone, it was a case of the embryos having functions missing. The remaining 3% lived as disfigured young for no more than a few days. As you can imagine, during the time we were waiting for schematics to arrive over that distance – more than twenty four years, we had built a city of the future."

The sadness was absorbed by the whole group. They followed Jet slowly to the nearest message receiver complex and after further authenticity checks he turned and smiled at Yamamoto. "You were absolutely correct Kipchoge; we do have much more detailed information on the data processing breakthrough than we received on Mars, from Epsilon Eridani. There is also Astrometric data here to show.... no, it cannot be true. Excuse me please I cannot.." They could see from the intense bright yellow colour display that this must be even better news. It was indeed but it was also news, part of which they could have had from current human cosmic databases. The Gliese Axis had summoned up more 'courage' than the others to build large radio telescopes and study the Cosmos again. Perhaps their relatively favourable planet ecology and atmosphere had fostered more curiosity than despair compared to their brethren, especially the Martian variety. The readings they had sent were not really a surprise to the others. The gas giants in 55 Cancri had slightly different orbits compared to what they knew three million years ago. The Gliese Axis had not reported this until they were certain that the new orbits were, although eccentric, stable over many cycles. They had felt sufficiently confident that the cataclysmic events during the wormhole opening, and colossal release of energy, must have affected these planetary bodies. The message went on to say something which Earth science could not be certain about. Nexus was still there and had a much steadier orbit than before. It wasn't possible to be more precise at this stage; they would apply their new data technology to building a ring of massive telescopes, with a radius of two thousand miles and link the output to harmonise the data to simulate a telescope dish of such proportion. If it was described by the Gliese Axis as massive, the others knew it would be big. With the new Epsilon Eridani communication system they would be able to offer more frequent updates. This fantastic news was going to put more strain on Martian staffing of projects and this one could well be about to increase in priority. The Earth database was never accessed by the Axis as it was not set up to compare current information with the instability of three million years ago. Nobody had made the link until now. The destruction of Nexus was an 'assumed fact'.

The ghost town was very interesting considering the relative time periods the Axis had been on Mars compared to Europa. Although everything was deactivated there was far more sophistication in transport, art, cultivation of geometric shaped plants from Nexus, and everyday maintenance robots which looked more like humans than Axis. All 'entertainment' complexes were communal rather than individual. This included computing, libraries, image creation etc. which were annexes of the impressive education establishments. They had steam rooms, fountains and the lighting was automatically dimmed and brightened to simulate day and night. The energy for all this was a mix of nuclear and geothermal sources. Jet wanted to take a couple of library sources of the 'false dawn' procreation technical detail and conclusions for Pascal 2, Stella and Scillacci. He thought it might help avoid further disappointment.

They left orbit and returned by the same route. On checking their timepieces there was the anticipated difference with Mars clocks which equated exactly to the time of the trip. The reception back at Marineris Central was much more upbeat than the departure. The news of successful near light-speed travel without physiology tinkering was a very strong card to deliver to Earth.

********

North Korea was effectively under occupation by UN forces. The Head of Security was still in hiding and this was the only reason for holding back on announcement of installation of a North Korean temporary military governing body, supported by UN officials. This was not satisfactory, as the people wanted to know what was going on, particularly with the dictator. They had to hold the declaration until all silos contained only disabled warheads, and this was a slow meticulous process. It was nearing completion, but unknown to the comparatively loose new military command structure, one of the maintenance men was, although carrying accreditation, also a zealous supporter of the previous regime. He had agreed to cause a distraction while the heavily disguised Head of Security initiated launch of at least one warhead. The zealot compromised multiple warning circuits and the alarm chorus was deafening. Panic ensued and the man with the codes slipped through. He intended to deliver a message and a warhead to Seoul.

********

The information Jet handed to Pascal 2 would require translation by the Symbiant. It did provide highly specific information even if it was on what should be avoided. The most useful part was the research which should have been more thorough on the connectivity of the reproductive organ management to the node control protocols. It stopped short of making guesses at what might have worked. It was strange that this had never been mentioned by either Doc or Mac, especially as the former was a walking encyclopaedia on all things Axis medical. The answer arrived almost as they asked the question. The Mars Axis had consciously programmed out of Doc's architecture the episode which had finally crushed their hope. There was one other area which could be important. The statistical data showed over a very long period of time, since the proximity of two events, the reproductive organs themselves had changed. The events unsurprisingly, were the radiation sterility era and the 'age of the sphere'. The organs had reduced in size and component structure. The male organs had virtually disappeared and the accessibility to 'eggs' was shrunken in the female and would be obstructive to 'male swimmers'. The repetitive changing of spheres and carcasses every 555 years did nothing but reinforce this trend.

********

Carvalho transmitted on to Cheverry the good news about QSD transport to Europa, but left the Gliese message with the Axis for now. This was purely out of respect for the Axis and to give time for them to digest the fallout from it. The Commander instinctively asked how Earth had taken the news about Sabine's hybrid box. "I hope your fears over her safety have not materialised."

The Frenchman found it hard to gauge the mood of the protest lobbies right now as their eye had been taken off the ball by forecasts of crop failures and crippling synthetic food price increases. Carvalho asked if he was prepared to front the Mars request for a limited number of Marsupial Dasyurus Viverrinus. "We're excited about restoring the Axis procreation potential and these mammals will help significantly. It comes at a good time insofar as we have passed phase one of QSD travel without considering human modification; both Yamamoto and Evander as yet have no side effects. You mention possible food shortages. Another observation on Europa shows the Axis technology has more capabilities in this branch than we thought. They were only on Mars for about three thousand years and the city on Europa makes their Martian achievements, which impressed us, look like a kid's attempt to build a campsite. I remember when we first invited them to return to Mars they highlighted one of their requests for more variety in their food than during their Martian spell, which was exclusively cellulose. We didn't realise then that this was for assistance in providing raw material and not technology. They have means on Europa to lower synthetic food costs drastically on Earth. As we have a meritocracy here we haven't focussed on cost. I see this as a chance to improve relations by helping one another, or am I being naive?"

Cheverry welcomed this as a very positive reminder for certain Earth attitudes of what can be delivered by rational investment off-world. "Thank you Commander, I will get back to you on the Marsupi....., I dislike acronyms but can we make this an exception and refer to them as MDVs?"

# Chapter 26

He felt he could handle the adverse reaction his re-classification of migrant standards had received on Earth, but the disquiet on Mars was a concern. The objections were mainly centred on the work/leisure ratio. Compared to when they first arrived most migrants had seen a diminishing amount of time spent with their families. The project lists had increased dramatically and the workers felt they needed an influx of labour, albeit of the right calibre, to restore family life. It was, after all, in a meritocracy, not a case of more work – more financial reward. Carvalho could see the argument and pledged to review the temporary on-hold status. This did carry risk of undesirables squeezing through the net and had the prospect of a 'policing culture' arising by default. He stressed this point, and said if it did arise the people should remember that it had been predicted as a possible consequence of relaxed immigration criteria. The waiting list already required more than eighty-eight Colossus trips, and it was expected to continue to grow.

********

The panic in the silo did not prevent a call to Kim Hun-Yeong to apprise him of the multiple alarm warnings and the concern that they might have been deliberately triggered. There was camera evidence of a maintenance man at that control section at the time of the warnings. He was being interviewed as they spoke. "Sir, we cannot get any information from this man, this is behaviour which his superior claims is not normal. The Section Leader believes the various alarms should have had specific intervals related to their functional output and build-up of dangerous conditions. We have initiated checking out all personnel in the silo and all exits are secure. If the Section Head is correct in his assessment, resetting the warning data feeds should indicate they were manually triggered and that would mean they pose no risk in themselves. However if this was deliberate it raises the probability of a saboteur."

Kim was sufficiently detached from the scenes of panic to consider that there had never been such an incident before and this one was almost immediately after the Security H.Q. had been taken out. He asked his subordinate to save precious time by abandoning interviews and simply herd all personnel into neutral areas. Then the interviews could resume. By this time the saboteur had been able to input the array of codes necessary for opening the silo doors, raising the warheads, setting targets and activation of firing response software. The countdown had started to include detonation parameters. The Section Leader was now relaxed about being ushered into an interview area. Unknown to him the maintenance man had not discriminated in the alarm sections he triggered and some of the functions would be restored before others, thus affecting the saboteur's intended input.

The panic intensified when the silo doors opened and people began climbing out of the mayhem. The Section Leader reported to Kim's subordinate that there must be sabotage, as override controls were locked out. "Sir, we have to assume now that we can't stop this launch sequence in time and we do not know its destination so... just a moment... our Electronics Chief has determined it is intended for the capital of South Korea. We must warn them. We have been advised our last chance is to break into the hardware complex and destroy the entire interface with the software."

One of the saboteur's many inputs that would be ignored by the system would cause interruption of certain implementation sequences but not others. Kim was transfixed. Would Seoul have enough time to scramble intercept missiles, and if they could, where would the problem be exported to? He asked his subordinate, "Do you know which specific functions are still active and unstoppable, and which are not capable of being reset to default?"

"We are currently on that task Sir, as there is a time lag from alarm initiation to acceptance of reset protocol. Because of cascaded system checks, our man has so far found it difficult to break these automatic loops. We are concentrating all manpower not required for guarding personnel to breaking into and disabling the hardware. This is however not without risk, and the Section Leader cannot supervise both activities simultaneously."

At missile velocity it was a short trip to Seoul as this silo was near the border. Information was trickling in on the functions disabled unintentionally by the maintenance man, and the destruction of the hardware fortress had been delayed by the need to find employees with retina recognition authority clearance. Explosives were out of the question and brute force was painfully slow. Kim's subordinate was trying to coordinate this frenzy of activity. "Sir, we may have to evacuate the silo, time is our enemy now. I realise this means our saboteur will be presented with a chance to escape, but I will endeavour to....."

The line went dead after what sounded like static bursts. The warhead had detonated. The coordinates input priority had been unavailable to the saboteur after the bungling of his maintenance man, and he had opted for a time to detonation, unaffected by other sequenced parameters.

Although this was a 'remote' area for North Korea, the population density was sufficient to account for deaths of hundreds of thousands of civilians. Even greater numbers were badly injured, and unknown proportion would perish with radiation burns and sickness.

There would be questioning by the people, even those at the most severe receiving end of the dictator's whims, as to whether this sacrifice could ever be justified for this method of getting rid of him. In contrast, the well-publicised efforts of North Korea's military to neutralise the warhead, and give advance warning to prevent it effectively destroying their neighbour's capital, had a profound influence on relations of the two countries. It would become a beacon for the two nations to herald an era of understanding, tolerance and re-construction. The wider global emphasis on such cooperation began to overtake entrenched agendas and religious differences. It would not last forever but it was not to be a wasted lesson.

The relationship between the planets would see more coherent strategy outlined for a while. Although it could be viewed as a cynical piggyback ride on sentiment, it would also allow the MDV campaign by Cheverry to gain approval. This period would not witness a reduction in the migration applications, quite the reverse, the nuclear catastrophe, whoever was to blame, had managed to make people seriously afraid, and caused the existing mistrust in government to enter a new stage of fragility.

********

The Korean experience prodded the remaining members of Reuben's family to enlist for aspirant Martian citizenship. This was good news for Evander as he had only bad recent memories of Earth. He was an accepted member of a stimulating group and there was meaningful work to do instead of trying to merely prove or disprove abstract concepts.

Sabine was also progressing well. She was beginning to be able to converse in Axis 'click' and spent much of her time in their libraries. Her human school curriculum was no challenge and she could complete two hours homework in less than twenty minutes. She was beginning to show interest in Evander's project. The most intriguing aspect of her promise was her rudimentary ability to understand some technobabble via a link to one or other of the Symbiants who were conversing.

The 'farm' for the MDVs had been constructed and the first arrivals were eagerly anticipated. The Axis had re-configured some of their own food output production to emulate the Terran diet, which they preferred.

The suggested improvements in QSD gravity A waves were proving elusive and it was decided to concentrate more effort on construction and evaluation of the Epsilon Eridani communication rig concurrent with the Gliese data breakthrough.

The Martian population was now approximately seventy thousand and although the self-generating oxygen level had not reached optimum for humans it was breathable in short spells. It had progressed to highs of eleven percent, as this was commensurate with the recent volcanic activity creating more water from trapped ice. This cyclical treadmill was capable of creating but not sustaining small clouds.

It occurred to Scillacci after looking through the data on gradual change of the Axis reproductive organs, that nobody had really thought of them as male or female. This was partly due to their translated names and abbreviations. Far Vision (Fav) and Always Precise (Al) gave humans no indication and they had never asked. They would have to do this if the project was to proceed to voluntary treatments. It would be helpful just to know the ratio of male to female individuals and the normal number of young per birth, when they were fertile. This could be important because the MDVs, as the chosen species to study, had multiple young per birth. The DNA comparison needed to be made at the outset.

# Chapter 27

Stella and Carvalho had decided not to know the sex of their first child. She was going to ease off the workload at the hospital and spend more time on the MDV project, leading up to the birth. Scillacci had agreed to cover her normal duties at the neurosciences wing and was assisted by a new arrival from Earth – Jonathan Munro, an ambitious young surgeon from the Isle of Skye, off the west coast of Scotland. His reputation was chequered, he was considered as academically brilliant but almost dismissive of moral roadblocks which he considered as derived from human spiritual self-delusion. He would enjoy some interesting discussions with Scillacci.

********

The more stringent checks on migrant applications had identified many irregularities from the passport biometric chips. Most were people with a good reason to elude law enforcement officers and a few were so desperate to improve their prospects they had spent their life savings on forged documents. One individual had caused the system to display a match to someone registered by Interpol. Further detail was requested via the menu and there was a link to Kinsey. The individual 'corresponded' to a person who had recently died. He was detained, while Kinsey was alerted, and the photo, plus other details were transmitted. The man was more nervous than disappointed. Kinsey's checks confirmed that one of the henchmen of the Caracas duo who organised Evander's kidnap had since been officially registered as deceased. The certificate was issued only weeks after his escape from the Brazilian prison, and was stamped with the 'official' Caracas registrar's seal. Kinsey was on the next available plane.

The UN personnel in North Korea were now mainly aid workers. The response from around the globe had been phenomenal. Medical care was under strain despite South Korea and China opening their hospitals to the needy. Many of the dead were only registered as such because they were missing and had been so close to the blast that they must have been vaporised. The injured, and those with radiation sickness, were moved as far from the fallout zone as their condition and logistics would allow. The nation most generous in their contribution towards social recovery was Japan, whose reminders of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki events were hard-wired into their response, even though there were no living witnesses of the actual atrocities. It was a truly bizarre paradox that those who were at the forefront of condemnation of North Korean foreign policy were at the heart of the aid and reconstruction effort.

********

The pictures which did get transmitted to Mars were sobering enough for the humans, but the effect on the Symbiants and Axis was one of utter and absolute confusion. Neither species could begin to reconcile this incident with the reported chain of events leading up to it. They wanted to understand more about it, to hopefully fit it into their previous knowledge of humanity. Carvalho couldn't help. His shame registered more with the Axis and their accidental genocide on Nexus, but Alex 2 could only admit to further decline in interest in helping humans. He quietly stated that the position he had rescinded some time ago about not returning to Earth, should be re-instated. Carvalho agreed with him this time around.

The MDVs had actually conceived during the flight. The females had been treated in order to display more frequent mating scent, and the males had been kept busy. It had been planned but they had become unruly and two males had perished as a result of competing for the pleasure. It was as well they were nearing orbit.

********

Kinsey arrived and viewed the detainee through a one way glass partition, but did not recognise the individual. He had brought all relevant Brazilian interview data and photos which were of the alleged deceased. The confiscated passport showed evidence of tampering, and clever forgery, but they had not been able to, or thought they did not need to do anything with the chip. Kinsey had confirmed with the Brazilians that the original owner of the passport had been deleted from their criminal database and this applied to other South American countries including the subject's own, Venezuela. Because the Brazilians were absolutely sure that the body they saw when it was recovered in Caracas was genuine, Kinsey assumed a hit was the most likely explanation. Having appeared after a jailbreak and then used for extraction of information about the elusive head duo, would have flagged him as a conspicuous liability. The question facing Kinsey was whether this meant the new owner of the passport was working for the Caracas consortium. It would have been necessary to allow the passport to be available to Caracas and Brazilian police for verification of the death, before returning it to his family. He needed to get one of his people to tease this out of his family. First however, he needed to check their bank accounts for any unusual deposits.

While he waited for this he felt it was worth providing the Beijing authorities with questions for a second interrogation, while he continued his voyeuristic assessment. The man had claimed to be joining an old friend on Mars during the first interview. Now he was asked to give details of this friend so that this could be checked with Mars. It was put in such a way as to make him think there may have been a technical glitch in the passport biometric readout. They had to be sure that's all it was, and the quickest way was to get his friend to vouch for him. If it depended on debugging the passport chip it could take weeks. Anyway this would be done retrospectively by holding on to his passport and it would be forwarded to Mars when the fault was rectified. The man looked relieved and gave the name of his friend.

Kinsey had confirmation of significant deposits spread across the family members' accounts, so he called off his men without alerting the family to his suspicions. He decided to ask Carvalho's cooperation in running the entire ring to account rather than take this detainee out of it. It would also help identify further Martian diamond prospectors. They allowed the suspect to migrate. Carvalho saw the sense in this but realised it was the next step to a police or intelligence organisation on Mars. It would also reinforce the unpromising trend of humanity from the increasingly critical eye of the Continuance.

Kinsey had conveyed to the Commander his feeling of connection to the money men behind Evander's kidnap, and the possibility they were after crystal and diamonds. It would be worth Carvalho's people keeping a discreet surveillance on the detainee's nominated friend who had vouched for him.

********

The MDVs were transferred to their domain. The Axis had done a great job in preparing the habitat. It had been decorated with familiar items such as plants, and a water feature. Colour displays of the Axis variety were dotted about and subtle background sounds played at random intervals. These sounds varied from simulated insects and birds to passages of Axis clicking. There was an outdoor pen which would be available for short periods in the thin but breathable atmosphere.

The female which had become pregnant was about to deliver and when she had fully recovered she would be sedated for the 'bits' of genetic code insertion. Pascal 2 would perform the procedure, and she would hopefully become the most intelligent MDV in history, and have offspring to compare with the ones she had just delivered.

Stella was nearing that time herself and Carvalho was becoming more nervous by the day. He wondered what his parents would have made of this grandchild being born on another planet. He reflected on whether he would have been here at all if his father had not been the victim of an air disaster prior to his ambition of walking on another world. He rewound his memory even further and recalled his grandfather repeatedly saying, 'We have no control over our allotted time; we can only decide what to do with it'. What would he think now that humans were teetering on the brink of immortality, at the same time as the Axis race was contemplating the reverse journey?

# Chapter 28

Two years had passed since Daniel Carvalho's son was born, and Stella was pregnant again. Little Fernando had been given his grandfather's name. Daniel had never been so content despite the massive changes these two years had brought.

He was no longer 'Commander'. The import of some of the window-dressings of democracy had fostered elections. His first election had been accompanied by the title of Guardian. There was an elected structure reporting to him and the populous, with no other career function.

The population had almost doubled and now stood at one hundred and thirty-two thousand. The immigration system had become porous to 'undesirables' and the predicted Police Department had emerged. Diamond prospecting was voted as legal.

The planetary conditions had also moved on. The oxygen level gain was tapering now but had reached 14.7%. This gaseous environment had its own vote on how things would change direction. Humans only needed to carry emergency breathing masks as their respiratory systems had begun to accommodate lower levels than Earth. Some Axis individuals however, were beginning to sporadically lose balance because of the enrichment of the vital gas. Ecological shifts had seen mean temperature increases, and although daytime often achieved ten degrees Celsius peaks, night never got above zero. Clouds produced the odd drizzle patch of a couple of minutes and water was beginning to settle in lower ground in small quantities. These were the forerunners of streams and maybe rivers.

The trend, particularly the temperature rise caused the Symbiants to offer a warning. The red crystal shell on the outside of the domes would soon begin to 'dust', as the threshold of amorphous transformation approached. As the dust storms were lower in intensity if not frequency, and the Axis technology had gifted them superior construction facility, it would be prudent to take down the domes and move the crystal to cold, secure storage. This was a sad but sensible suggestion. The Symbiants were once more astonished at the human clinging, sentimental nature in the face of logical alternatives. For those humans who had planted the first colonisation seeds this was emotionally traumatic. These domes saved equipment and lives during those early dust storms. If there had not been the danger of accidental replication and a new market for the stuff, they would have been voted to be protected structures.

Other areas of change included the construction and operation of the Epsilon Eridani communication system and the fantastic data handling package from Gliese. This meant that frequent updates were possible and none more important than the progress on Axis reproduction related studies on Mars. The ring of gigantic telescopes was feeding data which would help chart the space between the four locations in much greater detail. Four because Nexus had not only survived but amongst the 'noise' emanating from that direction were faint signatures of radio waves. Because of this the other Axis outposts were hungry for information on the QSD progress.

It was not disappointing news they were sent. Evander had managed to convince the doubters that the amplification aspect of the gravity A waves was optimised and it was frequency modulation which caused Dan's concern about long periods of operational stability. The proposed changes had placed unprecedented demands on Axis abilities, but they all knew by the lack of critical comment from the Symbiants that it would work, long before they confirmed it by several round trips to Europa. Each trip brought technology enhancing cargo to Mars. The landscape – visual, ecological and political had moved in 'tectonic' proportion.

On Earth the change was just as important. The Korean disaster was in a moderately advanced stage of infrastructure repair. This particular holocaust had changed the shape of world politics, religious tolerance and had also rejuvenated desires to reel in consumerism. It was said that these idealistic distillates from such wake-up calls had historically only produced temporary solidarity. This macro pledge to finally legislate for such cultural responsibility was in stark contrast to the other end of the social scale. Criminal activity saw endless mutation to new ways of disenfranchising vulnerable people. It was a close second to the other war; the one in which the viral and bacterial onslaught was strategically out-gunning human defence. Although there was acceptance that at the point of a singularity the laws of 'our' physics broke down, there was also irony in a Darwinian law's indisputable corroboration; the top species remaining on the planet was losing its grip on the interpretation of those laws. Mars was the acknowledged fountainhead. Natural selection and its constant demand for adaptability had become something which no longer applied to humans.

Kinsey had been correct; the ring on Mars led him to the head of the snake. The Caracas hub was operating out of Panama. Closing down the consortium eventually involved some two hundred and thirty personnel there and the five members of the Martian ring were deported back to face trial at the same time.

The changes on both planets were only a prelude to what lay ahead. This was as much due to the differing objectives of the Martian species as it was to the transference of Earthly ailments to Mars. The rapid population growth had brought harbingers of disease hitherto controllable on the now predominantly green planet. Just as the ecological trends had presented a favourable environment, the migration levels synchronously delivered the necessary fuel. There were budding colonies of insects and microbes appearing 'out of nowhere'. They soon demanded deliberate import of predators. Only humans thought they had the divine right to manipulate the laws of natural selection in this way and be intransigent to their own increasing desire to outstrip any need to adapt.

The next election confused the other species, especially the Axis. They only expected their leaders to change if they had done something seriously wrong or died. The fascination for a new broom because of a perceived need for change was new to them. Carvalho was pretty sure the opinion polls were indicating such a crossroads. The fact that he was expecting to welcome a new family member into Martian life began to predominate his thinking. Discussing it with Stella, he decided to step down. He still wanted to be involved in the sciences, particularly propulsion, and he felt he had earned extra leisure time to enjoy life, in this rather pleasant place to live, in which he had been a key figure during its creation.

The research on MDVs had been quite a success story. The DNA overlap with the Axis was encouraging, and the study of the successive generations had indicated promising transference. Compared to the control group which had been unmodified, the mitochondrial population from the female with the code change had striking differences. There were obvious behavioural trends, but most interestingly there were clear signs of the 'mutations' progressively mimicking some inorganic architecture. Pascal 2 firmly believed that this would ultimately mean the function of engineered advances would be 'absorbed' into the organic structure. The parallel experiments with the 'super stem cells' with higher adaptability quotients had begun. They already indicated a compounding effect with offspring of the same female. It was time for Axis volunteers to have a Pascal 2 modification and to accept MDV reproductive marker cells plus super stem cell grafts. This would test out rejection criteria and feasibility of kick-starting recovery of their own damaged system. The super stem cells in this case were cultured from their own nodes.

All of this fermentation of physiological and social change dovetailed with the information about Nexus and QSD advance. The three way communication with their brethren resulted in new hope. They would work toward building a vessel, capable of taking those who wanted to return to the Homeworld.

Yamamoto had waited patiently for a 'box implant' but now that there was a call for volunteers from the Axis for fitting of Pascal 2 genetic codes, he wanted reconsideration of his own request. He also wanted it to be while Carvalho was still in office.

After many sessions with legal people, who seemed to breed quicker than the MDVs, it was sanctioned in a very convoluted form of words which basically said only two things. First there was no reverse procedure, and the understanding that this was a one-off concession, no further procedures could be granted until there was thorough evaluation of benefits and side effects. This was spelled out in legal jargon, employing four lawyers and 8,400 words.

This was rendered redundant after Pascal 2 had convinced the bureaucrats that the code approach was not only better, it was reversible. He claimed that as medical Symbiant he had retained the human physiological designs and data, although he did not employ them himself. He had developed a hybrid form of code which offered compatible insertion of Symbiant 'genetic framework' with the human nucleotide/codon counterpart. He claimed this would have more potential than the box and would have the additional advantage of transference to offspring. The procedure was set up. The Axis had many volunteers and proceeded without the need to consider red tape documentation.

The candidates to take over from Daniel Carvalho added to the declared intent of the Symbiants to concentrate efforts on the Axis. Torsten Kohler was one of the aforementioned lawyers and, Hendrick Koole had been the social director for Mars/Earth, continually travelling back and forth. He had only migrated permanently to the planet eight months ago to head up an entertainment chain. This was where his previous experience had been. The Symbiants could only interpret this as more bureaucracy and less progress. The new polls put Koole ahead.

Sabine and her mother had now started their journey back to Earth. She was not yet twelve but had prodigious talents in languages, music and science. Her father was sure the two years had dulled any lingering antagonism toward the 'elite' treatment, but encouraged her musical ability – he was still thinking as a politician.

Two Axis volunteers were chosen, for each procedure of cerebral and reproduction code enhancement, and Yamamoto was scheduled immediately afterwards. Stella had been asked by Pascal 2 to document the latter. Doc and Mac would do likewise for their citizens. Scillacci had a more general interest and would watch all three. There were no complications and recovery of total consciousness from the milder anaesthetic was remarkably quick for the Axis. Yamamoto took much longer. There was a lot of interest from the populous and the media were already gathering to transmit to Earth live updates with the new speedy 'Galaxy' communication system.

Yamamoto was still drowsy the next morning but said he was fine. He could hear clicking in the next room. He remembered about the Axis and asked how they were doing. Pascal 2 said, "Ask them yourself." He ushered them in. They displayed their colours and said they hoped he was feeling good. They told him that they had already had new sensations. "The first one was a realisation that we spoke to each other in your language. That does not normally happen; we revert to clicking between ourselves. This was no effort. We normally have to think about everything in your language. Pascal 2 says this is due to better data organisation." The second volunteer added, "I am aware for the first time that my sphere is under-utilised. This is not a consideration I have come to, I actually feel it. It is very strange but not unpleasant."

Yamamoto said he hoped he would also experience these changes in perception. Pascal 2 reminded him that the human brain was even more under-utilised than the Axis sphere. They wandered off for their first battery of tests.

Yamamoto was able to have visitors. The whole team arrived and was allowed to see him as a group as long as he promised to admit when he was tired. Nielsen simply said, "Well?"

"I honestly don't yet feel what the Axis boys told me to expect, maybe it takes longer for us." Red nodded and Yamamoto smiled. "I guess that is a bright yellow, in Axis colour code Red." The Symbiant returned the smile.

Evander asked him when he was to be released. The patient replied, "They've told me there is a mountain of tests to do over the next couple of days, so we'll see then." Sevicek could not resist testing him with a memory-checker from a previous disagreement they had. Not only did he recall it but repeated it word for word and still insisted he was right. Sevicek was astonished.

Dan asked if he had slept well with the changed code, which could demand activity. He was about to reply when the Axis returned and were clicking as they entered. It was his first feeling of change, he understood snatches of it and he had given up trying to learn it over a year ago. The retrieval of things he already knew felt effortless. He now had higher expectations of being able to understand new concepts which had eluded him previously.

The group left him in good spirits and he kidded the two Symbiants that their secret language of technobabble was about to be exposed.

# Chapter 29

When Carvalho came to the counting of the votes he was quite emotional about the handover process. His association with Mars had started three years before the historic Copernicus launch in 2033. It was all he had known for most of his life. It was not a case of retiring in the normal sense; he was just starting a family. He knew that there was basically no sentiment in politics, but this was Mars not Earth. It made him reflect on what had really been achieved here. Of course there was the technology and the pleasant red and green backdrop. The landmark discovery of not one but two new life forms was an experience to treasure, but one of them was contemplating moving away again and the other was likely to follow. He could not help feeling that just a little bit of the Axis decision reflected concern over the abstract imports from Earth. It became one of those 'what if' introspective moments for him. He hardly heard Koole announced as the new Guardian. He realised he was feeling sorry for himself and at least was able to wipe the self-indulgence away by recalling the reaction of the Axis people when they were invited to come and live on Mars. Next to the moment when he knew it had to be Stella, it was his favourite time on the planet. They were times of innocence and selflessness. They were the culmination of the pioneering of terraforming the planet, now they appeared to be terrorforming it.

He managed to get through an impromptu speech instead of the one he had prepared. When he shook hands with Koole it felt like he was asking him to cut the ribbon for the opening of a new supermarket. The emptiness would subside at a similar rate to grief at the passing of a friend.

Stella was aware of this and yet could not really help; it was an intensely personal thing. She knew that there were other ways in which she could encourage his energy and talent to fill part of the vacuum.

The leader of the Epsilon Eridani Axis was frustrated at his technical organisation's lack of progress to a testing date for the QSD vessel under construction. This was especially annoying when the Gliese fraternity had already performed this with success. The latter had reported a desire for over sixty percent now intent on a return to Nexus, with such a safe means of propulsion. This in turn produced a trumpet call for the Martian Axis. They had only prepared for some twenty-six individuals for the first trip, now they were inundated and the number had passed four hundred.

Alex 2 met with Carvalho and confirmed that the dome demolition had commenced and that the Symbiants involved would be responsible for transferring and guarding the crystal. "I also wanted to let you know that all members of the Continuance are saddened at your withdrawal from the leadership of your people on Mars. It is the closest interaction to friendship we have known. You have always demonstrated the promise we first encountered when Alex Redgrave was replicated, and you have always defended our position to your own species. It is doubly difficult for me to have to inform you that all Symbiants prefer to go with the Axis when they leave. I need not elaborate again on the criteria considered which led to this conclusion, but they are different when compared to the choice afforded to some of us when Copernicus and Darwin returned to Earth. Back then it did not seem to matter and we willingly complied with your suggestion. This does matter and it is a decision we hope you will respect."

Carvalho had suffered a lot of emotional turmoil in recent days and yet he was always consoled by the presence and future plans for his family. This was somewhat different. The affinity he had forged with the Continuance would leave a more significant gap than merely 'retiring'. "I'm for once lost for words. I suppose when I got used to you having been around for billions of years before you woke up to us, I expected you would always be around during my lifetime. All of a sudden the achievements on Mars which you have been largely responsible for, seem less important if you are going to leave them behind."

Alex 2 smiled and tried to reassure him that they would still be able to contact one another. "Maybe some of the human population on Mars will want to take a step into the unknown with us. I have heard that Yamamoto is already talking to the Axis about this. Is it something you would consider?"

Carvalho took a deep breath. "If I was in Yamamoto's position I certainly would, but that isn't the case. Stella is pregnant and I must put her and Fernando first. I can't see her wanting to take our family off on a forty something light year trip in such a confined environment. What kind of childhood would we be offering them? As exciting as it might be for all those like Yamamoto in our species, I must rule it out. I must also confess however, that I would have liked to see first-hand how the Axis procreation programme will end. It would in a strange way give me more satisfaction to see that restored than all of the technical 'miracles' we've presided over here."

One of Hendrick Koole's first actions was to announce a major overhaul and investment in the entertainment 'industry'. He didn't specify what he meant by the word investment. It was difficult to think of it within a meritocracy in any other way than equating to effort and expertise. The numbers of migrants to fulfill his claims would be at the expense of continuing to tackle the deficit on accommodation and infrastructure of essentials. Entertainment was important for the social welfare and that lesson had been learned decades ago; it was not quite as important as getting the balance of skills right. He hadn't figured the loss of the Symbiants into how many humans would be required just to match the current workload. It was worrying that it was such a popular policy.

Yamamoto had asked to see Evander for a one-on-one prior to his discharge from hospital. The two of them talked about the Axis plans to leave and the implications for transport. Evander updated him. "The communications from their other domains have claimed reliable evidence of radio wave output from Nexus. They are convinced this means that there were survivors from the cataclysm three million years ago. If the orbits of all planets in 55 Cancri are as stable and accurate as the Gliese telescope ring suggests, it could well be true. The desire to return there from all three locations is now nearing unanimity. All Martian Axis will go, and the few remaining undecided in Epsilon Eridani look like following the trend. There is more reluctance from Gliese but we are still talking over ninety percent. Fav believes the clincher for total abandonment of all outposts will be success of the procreation programme. They feel that would make the long journey one of new purpose as well as closure over the historical miscalculation." Yamamoto was keen to know more. "How will they transport them, many small vessels or a few bigger ones?"

Evander seemed edgy. "They are considering building an interstellar town."

"What?"

"They believe, and that means all three communities, that they must treat this as a minimal social need. It is a strange argument but they say all the technical achievement over the last three million years has brought little lasting satisfaction. There is no other cause than correcting the errors of that time which could galvanise the species again. They will not listen to my concerns about scale – they accept my calculations, they just say they will be overcome."

Yamamoto laughed. "You're winding me up, right?"

"Not at all, the plans are serious. They have set a five year timescale and all locations have agreed to launch probes triangulated to Nexus. This will begin immediately and report back necessary information on obstacles where QSD dropout would be needed. The succeeding launches will be to give us an accurate means of determining the best departure time in terms of minimising the number of stops – a time dimension planner. I can't get them to accept that if it isn't possible to reach that scale of transport, five years or five million would make no difference."

"So have you given up?"

"There are calculations which suggest the concept itself is valid, but the accuracy of the components and control mechanisms are out of reach. Building the town with its social amenities and artificial gravity is actually the easy part. It is similar in a way to Einstein's difficulty being with the infinitesimal rather than the infinite."

Yamamoto asked, "Could I see these calculations?"

"You don't believe me?"

"No, of course I believe you; I'm fascinated by the challenge and I'm also keen to see if my decision to have this operation will prove to be the right one."

The Axis volunteers (both female), who had been subjected to the MDV marker transplant and the super stem cell graft were under continuous monitoring for even the slightest change in data. After several weeks the stem cells had achieved improved compatibility levels with the marker and no problems were reported with their link up to the node. This pattern was expected to accelerate to a point where hormone treatment could begin. One of the females' translated name was unusual, even for the Axis, 'Pre-Sphere Cleric' indicated her profession and it was then explained that they always changed from their given name at birth to one of their choice at reaching a maturity stage of life called the 'Pssarr Vccejjk' - for which there was no known translation. The Axis had chosen females with stringent criteria, as they were free to mate with many males but have a lasting relationship with only one. This was introduced long before the radiation scourge, because of an increase in male infertility related to a particular type of infection, for which there was no preventative medication. This was subsequently remedied - also well before the radiation damage. The period between the successful increase in birth rate and the Age of the Sphere was not long enough to foster a return to true monogamy, and the issue became irrelevant when the planet-wide radiation surge neutralised the species. They had experienced thousands of years of this 'polygamous crusade' and it had become an established social freedom. Scillacci said, "It would have been helpful to know this before we started the programme. We would have asked for more initial procedures to be considered, and especially males."

Stella had winkled out of Carvalho why he was a little downbeat and he was able to share his emotions in a way which he truly appreciated. She astonished him by saying that a lot of things could change in the planned five years to the rather ambitious project. "One of those changes could be that it takes twenty years. You may find Alex 2 and the others are here longer than they expect. We must find ways of absolutely maximising our time with them and that applies to the children too. By the way I found out accidentally today that the one about to arrive is another boy. I overheard one of the staff discussing the scans, nobody's fault. So we may have another rocket engineer."

A Martian 'consortium' had somehow gained inside information from the geothermal database which pointed them to a region of potential diamond presence. They had asked to be excused their normal duties for a prolonged period to check it out. It was the very first contentious decision facing Hendrick Koole.

# Chapter 30

The second boy was given the name of Stella's father, Rafael, and they decided to move from Marineris Central to accommodation on the outskirts of Echus Chasma. The children would have more space to play and Stella was close to the neurosciences wing. Carvalho was also close to the Symbiants who were now virtually all working with the Axis. The think-tank had also gravitated to this region. All of these considerations were positive factors, but there was one overriding negative which had precipitated the decision. Marineris Central had become unruly, the 'policing' was disorganised and naive. Diamond prospecting had been successful and its extraction was controlled exclusively by criminals who had breezed through the corrupt screening department. Koole was secretly threatened into compliance and informed that his demise would follow any defection to Earth.

The tipping point of lawlessness had been reached ridiculously quickly after Koole had approved the consortium's gap vacation to find the diamonds. No one was surprised, and even Cheverry had admitted the migration should have been suspended until Koole was replaced. This would have to happen but the corruption networks needed to be dismantled first, and an effective law enforcement organisation put in place. It was not going to be easy because any Earth-imposed regime would contravene the Mars charter.

Yamamoto had not disagreed with Evander's pessimistic prognosis but was able to debate other approaches with him. His new comprehension of fundamental physics had astounded his peers, other than the Symbiants. The other female Axis volunteer, with the translated name Proof Seeker, had shown similar inheritance; her obligatory abbreviation was Rose. Evander was pleased to have meaningful discussion and argument with the two of them. The common denominator in even beginning to contemplate the 'city ship' was fabricating a QSD unit big enough to distort the space around it. The existing units needed to be increased from eight metres in diameter to three kilometres, to match the aspirations of the Axis. The blueprint stage of this city ship had passed into detailed schematics. The Axis dismissed any doubts that this could be achieved. The first action was to encourage more technical volunteers for the Pascal 2 code procedure and draft them into the plan as soon as possible. These new intellectuals would oversee the construction of the most sophisticated robots they had ever built. Then the components would be manufactured and the eventual assembly would take place in orbit by the new robots. They could not see what all the fuss was about. They were much more concerned about social breakdown as there had already been incidents of Axis mutilation by unknown means. The suspicions were focussed on humans, after corpse exposure to the amorphous form by Symbiants.

This worrying trend triggered the abandonment of the Utopia Planitia settlement and it effectively polarised the population into only two centres of production. They had been virtually joined up by the habitat development to accommodate the migration increase. Now they were experiencing receding boundaries. The Echus region had seen gravitation of the early human citizens of Mars together with many new arrivals who feared the developing culture in Marineris. The bulk of manufacturing facility was in Echus and this imbalance would become an acute source of tension. The Symbiants had garnered and stored the red crystal in a totally inaccessible place to humans. The Echus society had approved multiple replication procedures of both human and Axis species to have their own 'indestructible' protection force. The swing of fear ensured the Marineris inhabitants now felt vulnerable.

While this festering dichotomy reached a phase of stand-off, communication with Earth had resulted in a decision to occupy the Martian domain to re-establish a cleansed government. It became necessary to liberate Marineris by several colony ships, containing detachments of military forces.

This sudden and violent eruption of criminal society had meant that lessons were delivered to both planets. The threat was always there. The Korean situation had certainly ensured Earth had acted promptly and the Martian voters realised the folly of not protecting the meritocracy they had enjoyed.

Cheverry had acted with his usual adroitness and convinced Kinsey to become temporary Governor of Mars until there was clear evidence of restoration of values. His experience in intelligence work was a key facet of his appointment. The Mars Charter was in hibernation and the citizens accepted the rationale for such draconian action. The sorting of wheat from chaff in Marineris resulted in deportation of the latter back to Earth. A tangible relief came at last.

The crisis would have many legacies. One stood out above all others. Several humans asked to join the Axis pilgrimage. It was not so much an unfulfilled pioneering longing, as it was fear of the extremes of their own kind.

The numbers were not significant enough for any redesign consideration and the vetting was thorough. The Symbiants were involved in this and seemed distinctly uncomfortable with the process. When it was complete Fav spoke to the group and recalled the unconditional offer those humans had made, for the caretakers to invite all Axis citizens to live on Mars. He said one of the most important humans was missing. Carvalho received a specific delegation to ask his family to honour them by agreeing to visit their homeland.

He was shaken by this gesture and began protesting that his family came first and that he would not survive the journey at his age, and all manner of other reasons. It was Stella who interrupted him. "You were always the one who said people should look for reasons to accept a challenge or new experience, rather than ones to turn it down. Deep down, you know you would go if we hadn't met. I knew this sort of thing came with the territory with you Daniel, let's do it."

Without speaking he embraced her, and Fav, and Alex 2, and the entire delegation of some twenty-seven individuals.

In a way, this truly overt declaration of affinity by respected members of this particular group filled a void. He hadn't shown outward signs, but the disappointment at recognising the Martian society would vote him out had gnawed at his gut. He had resigned in order to avoid the public confirmation, but only now did he feel that elusive 'belonging' again.

When Kinsey arrived he wasted no time seeking out the Ex-Commander. He wanted to hear his version of why things went wrong so quickly. He also wanted people to know from day one that this was a state of emergency, and not how they could expect to live their lives from now on. Armed with Carvalho's experience, translated into his own words, he addressed the Marineris group first. "The communities will remain as they are at present until the accord returns. The Echus production facilities will recommence supply to you. The gradual re-occupation of the accommodation which was abandoned will begin when this supply chain has been operating successfully to the satisfaction of all. We want to install these basic necessities and build on that. Don't underestimate the effort it will take to recover the trust, patience is needed. All antisocial behaviour will be considered as justification for a place on the next shuttle back to Earth. This is simply because we will not have prisons built here to house offenders, and therefore pollute the new resolution to get you back to why you came here in the first instance. As from now the scavenging of diamonds is not permitted until your new government is elected. It is not anticipated that a single 'Guardian' concept will suffice any longer. A group format is encouraged, albeit with a figurehead, the door to corruption must be kept closed by vigilance from more than one person. I know you will recognise that I've discussed much of this with Daniel Carvalho. His experience and understanding are invaluable to all of us. It's hard to imagine such anarchy would have flourished on his watch."

There was sincere support for this last comment and also the ban on diamond hunting, which many felt had kick-started the fermentation within individuals and cliques, subsequently taking advantage of the compliance of others.

Carvalho saw this address on TV and was more relaxed than at any time since the fateful appointment of Hendrick Koole. It also meant he could continue his family's intent to leave without remorse. He detected a connection between Cheverry and Kinsey which would see this through in a sympathetic but effective manner.

# Chapter 31

It was amazing what had been done in the year since the official Axis declaration of their new journey of hope. Most important to them was the progress on multiple volunteers who had undergone the MDV marker/super stem cell grafts. The hormone treatment had ceased because the reproductive system had responded and production of the hormone was being taken on by the nodes. Those individuals with Pascal 2's code, in addition to the grafts, had shown even quicker adaptation. The more efficient passage of information and its reinforcing effect with reduced number of mistakes had seen an increase in the size of the male organs. There was some concern on what to do with the burgeoning number of MDVs; they had shown trends in reproductive fertility which when used to extrapolate similar early ones with the Axis, indicated their valuable contribution had been made. This would be discussed at length in the future.

The component manufacture for the city ship had advanced to the point where orbital 'warehousing' was being investigated. Yamamoto had actually begun to outstrip Evander in terms of finding solutions to the road blocks, which presented themselves with consistent regularity. They still had to crack the nut of how to construct the giant deformable parabolic Seaborgium Oxy-chloride dish and field generator. They had however, with Symbiant help and Gliese data handling concepts, built a prototype interface which had promise in making Dan redundant.

The social reintegration of humans from Marineris and Echus had gone well and Utopia Planitia was re-occupied to deliver more raw material and synthetic food. Kinsey was a regular visitor to all locations and had begun to encourage thoughts and meetings on how the new governing body would be set up and function. It was made slightly easier than it might have been, as all Axis and Symbiant citizens would be leaving, but their rights needed protection until then.

Among the humans who had signed up to go with the city ship were Nielsen, Sevicek and of course Yamamoto. It had occurred to Nielsen in particular, that even with a journey not afflicted with QSD dropout it would take over forty years to reach Nexus. They may not survive. This was not a new discovery but his thoughts were influenced by the majority of Axis who had already undergone Pascal 2 code installation. If he was to consider this procedure it would be better done now rather than during spatial distortion unpredictability. Yamamoto wondered why it took them so long to think about this. "The brain has become the most common human organ of failure which leads to quick death, since almost all others have a successful history of transplantation or replacement with synthetic types. Pascal 2's code is the gateway to extended life for us. The hybrid Symbiant/Human architecture gives not only corrective benefits but that of longevity. For those who worry about procreation the evidence has already predicted that our DNA, and the characteristics of the code, will eventually be copied in organic and inorganic form with some workable ratio of each. What is there to think about?"

Nielsen bounced this confident Yamamoto précis off Stella and Carvalho. She did not argue with the general principles and admired Yamamoto's uninhibited decision to do this. "It has to be left to everyone to reconcile their fear of death with that of 'not being completely human'. I tend to agree with Kipchoge that many of us have something which could be classified as non-human, whether it is a brain or IVF treatment. Actually, I've been meaning to discuss this with everyone who has signed up for the trip; I just didn't know how to approach the subject."

Evander and his family would return to Earth when the city ship had left. He wanted to confront those authoritarian views which declared his ideas as unlikely outcomes for the equations which he employed.

The model of the city ship was on display in the Echus library. It looked quite ugly and unimpressive from the outside as it failed to capture the scale. The interior however, more than compensated; it was a masterpiece of planning. It really was a large village in terms of size and facilities. There was a central village green area with plants and seating around a small lake. Provision had been made for a miniature version of the library the model was standing in. Although food replication technology was basic, it was decided to make the consumption areas communal to make it a more social activity. Physical activity was encouraged by peripheral 'grassed' areas with a variety of machines, which all had an entertainment aspect, again to keep social contact as a high priority. The street lighting had the usual Axis subtlety and delineated night from day on an arbitrary basis. Waste management was an engineering and chemical plant of ingenious design. The accommodation was very comfortable yet functional and it was generous in terms of space. Life support was based on the original design with which the Axis had first reached the solar system but with many refinements to accommodate human need for higher oxygen levels. Recycling was a key component of all this. Carbon dioxide would have to be extracted and channelled to a reaction chamber with waste. Purpose designed nanoprobes were targeted to catalyse multiple stage reactions to recover the liquid purity and yield to an overall 98%. The required extraction of this water came first, followed by closed chamber vaporisation of the solids through an ionisation splitter. Gaseous absorption vessels pulled the correct ratio of constituent atoms to the electrolytic molecular condensers, again driven by nanoprobes. The Gliese data control principles fed the products in the desired proportions to the life support regulators. This recycling of waste and respiratory exhaust was tested out in the laboratory, and success exceeded expectation; this allowed the planned reserves of solidified water and oxygen to be stored at acceptable levels without excessive space requirement.

The progress at the other Axis outposts was also impressive but it had been agreed that the Martian city ship would be first to launch and report progress coordinates to trigger Gliese then Epsilon Eridani exodus.

Meanwhile the structure of the Martian government was beginning to take shape. A council of elected representatives would themselves elect a leader and a new constitutional document would be forged, not to replace the charter, rather to extend its intention and strengthen the laws to avoid any such circumvention which caused the eventual recent anarchy. The very first item was to address the need for infrastructure, including law enforcement, to be in place ahead of new immigration. Until that was the case the current block on further colonists would stand. This would work for a while as the resourcing of the Axis projects had disappeared from the list.

Cheverry was continually questioned about what would happen to trade agreements with Mars when the Axis and Symbiants were gone. They made the point over and over again that the Council for Human Exploration had initially and continually been bankrolled by the major nations' contribution. Despite assurances that the infrastructure would remain, and it more than outweighed the other contributions in value, there was unease. The dominant nations felt there would be far lower output and efficiency from the facilities without the Symbiants in particular. Cheverry knew this was bound to re-ignite the subject of red crystal, especially the destiny of the stock from the dome demolition. It was a sensitive subject and he needed to speak to Kinsey and Alex 2.

Evander and Yamamoto were in a circular maze about the QSD unit. The Axis had committed to building the entire system on the massive flat, smooth base at Echus Chasma cliff face, if that was necessary. Their only comment was that it would be very difficult to get it into orbit already assembled. They had developed a better way of getting the Seaborgium Oxy-chloride layer as thin and accurate as required. By asking the Symbiants to use a passive diluent to disperse the radioactive material, and casting it as a self-levelling compound on to a laminate of the original plastic base, it gave better control. The second constituent of the laminate was underneath the plastic carrier and was composed of variable but controllable conductivity cells. The alternation of resistance in these cells created an effect similar to electrophoresis. The difference was the additional repulsion of the diluent. The net effect was a very consistent and accurate cleavage of the two materials. The added benefits compared to the initial deposition method were that the layer could be thinner, thus saving Seaborgium Oxy-chloride consumption – there was a finite supply on Mars. Secondly the thinner and more accurate deposition should avoid the need to mess around with frequency modulation to achieve stability on the long journey.

The deformability conundrum was raised again, this time by Rose. Her approach was somewhat different to the others. She was drawing on pragmatism rather than an elegant breakthrough in physics. "We know the eight metre units work. We believe we can extend this to circa fifty metres before we anticipate difficulties. I suggest we consider building interlocking pentagonal units on shafts with controlled extension, retraction and angular modes - to produce the deformed templates. If we make them thirty metres in diameter we need ten thousand. The new deposition method gives us advantages in accuracy and we should not compromise that if we can help it. Furthermore it will solve the problem of hoisting a three kilometre unit into orbit. The assembly will be less risky with smaller units. Our Axis precision will make such an operation feasible. What do you think?"

Evander was thinking it through. Yamamoto was more interested in extending the pragmatic approach by asking Rose to suggest such a concept to Red. "If it won't work he will help explain why not, if it has merit he'll just nod and smile."

Evander had considered the gains from the deposition accuracy and the possible compensating loss of accuracy at the edges of each pentagon and its neighbour. Although the deposition improvement may not require frequency modulation in the field generator for a single unit it could make it more important than ever for interlocking ones. It would have to become a compensator rather than a pure front line parameter.

Yamamoto jumped in again. "That will require a whole new design for your field generator Evander."

"I know, but without it I don't think there will be enough stability to maintain QSD."

"Ok Rose, explain your idea to Red and just wait for his response. He'll probably bring up Evander's concern. Then tell him of the new proposal for the field generator. If he just goes along with your idea then ask him about accuracy at the interlock points. It's possible that one gain balances another loss."

Rose caught up with Red and did as suggested. The Symbiant was expressionless. "Why did you choose a pentagon?"

"Well, I began with the idea having deformability in the small units, and for best conformance to the desired deformation, a circle was chosen for the eight metre unit. However when a circle offered no interlock potential I dropped the approach of deforming each component unit."

Red asked, "Why not a triangle, rectangle or hexagon?"

Rose was a little confused. "Well, if the longest side of any geometric shape will be limited to thirty metres, I simply looked at the areas covered by such candidates and the angles to which they would conform with one another when the specified deformation template was realised. I rejected triangles and squares on the area basis; we don't want to increase the number of units unnecessarily. I did not like elongated rectangles for the angular conformance aspect. The less number of sides we have to interlock the simpler the engineering and data processing demands. The pentagon seemed reasonable. Why do you ask?"

Red smiled at last. "I just wondered how much it had to do with your familiarity with the number five."

Rose responded by saying that the fabrication hardware was geared to the base five but that could be altered if there was a better choice. Red didn't think that was necessary but confirmed Evander's worry about uniformity of performance at the interlocks. When Rose admitted this and offered Evander's commitment to re-design the field generator to compensate he replied, "I don't see why that would not work but it will be a very lengthy and complex job. Four more years will be sufficient."

# Chapter 32

Halfway through the allotted five years the city ship had edged fractionally ahead of schedule. The social situation on Mars in general was better. Kinsey was ready to hand over to Alexandra Vogel. Many were surprised that a female had been elected after such disrespect for the law had just been eradicated. The Martians felt strongly enough judging by the margin of her victory. She had been a disciple of Cheverry in his time of transforming the initial standing of the EU, to what it now enjoyed. This suggested a good relationship with Earth and her reputation was one of a compassionate listener but a tough cookie when lines had been crossed. She was elected from a group who had been chosen to truly restore the meritocracy and the consequent demand for individual integrity through respect for others. In her acceptance speech she warned the electorate that she would not be sidetracked from this, no matter what. Some of her elected support group could have a tricky time surviving the rigours of her pledge.

Not only had the Axis project prospered in technical terms but the very first test tube 'baby' had been brought into the world. It had been touch and go but so far it had survived the necessary correctional surgery. The female Pre-Sphere Cleric had eggs fertilised in the lab by many males who had shown progressive restoration and independence from hormone treatment. Only a few proceeded to an embryo and all but one of those had terminated. The survivor had to undergo continual monitoring, but had sufficient genetically transferred organ capability, to mark the birth as an incredibly humbling moment. Pascal 2 had set out the critical stages and life support was gradually withdrawn. After months of being dependent on external stimuli the infant was stable. Pascal 2's prognosis was promising and if he was proved correct he said the infant's own offspring would take a small step to the re-genesis of the Axis. His basis for this was the slight adaptation which was clearly visible in the baby compared to her mother. The mother had not yet been given a name by the humans, it was to be Peri.

Echus Chasma was ablaze with monochrome yellow that day and for many to follow. Fav called for a commemoration of this birth and informed the other outposts that Peri wanted the baby's name to reflect the milestone. 'Renewal' became the popular choice. Fav then asked what abbreviation the humans would choose, he guessed Rene, predictable and correct.

The entire community shut down city ship operations for two days to celebrate. They apologised to the human onlookers that this involved rituals for which there was no easy explanation. It was clicking and hopping to the spectators, maybe singing and dancing to the participants.

This had a knock-on effect to the human crew contingent of the city ship. Stella had held discussions about the Pascal 2 code several times in the previous year. This Axis event prompted her to gather their feelings on the subject. Most had no children and felt it was a straightforward decision to go ahead with the switch. Carvalho was typical of the hesitant remainder in deliberating. Stella had consistently told him she was not trying to influence him or the others unduly. She had decided to opt for the procedure and was confident that her children would benefit from it once they arrived on Nexus. She emphasised the effect she thought their childhood, youth and part of middle age would have. "They'll feel that their life is just starting in some ways and they will want more of it in their new surroundings. They'll also have grown up with humans and Axis for whom it is the norm. They won't be encumbered by the expectations or customs of the society we know. I want to see those times with them. It's that simple." Carvalho looked hard at this remarkable woman and said, "Put me on the list."

His concession to the procedure influenced the others and they followed suit. Pascal 2 set up the schedule and Stella asked for a reshuffle. She had persuaded her husband that they should have another child when only one of them had the new code. This would give the first conference in the family of the Pascal 2 hybrid characteristics. Carvalho insisted that he went first. "If there's a choice, we already have two rocket scientists; maybe we want to increase the possibility of another, just joking." It was agreed.

The intention of the Symbiants to take all Scarlet O'Hara to Nexus didn't go down well on Earth. The Martians were not too disappointed, most were in favour of the decision. Alex 2 reminded Alexandra Vogel that Beijing had its own horde. China had raised a legal challenge to commandeer this. "What happened to that?"

She was silent for a moment. "It must have dropped down their priority list following the Korean disaster. I'll find out."

The reply was evasive according to Cheverry. "They insist that they had helped to pay for the discovery of the Martian source and as such have claim to at least part of it."

Alex 2's riposte was laden with sarcasm. "Indeed. Well we actually occupied Mars over four billion years ago so I suppose we could claim it is our sovereign territory and the crystal with it."

********

Cheverry smelled some irregularity here and checked with Ayrton de Santos. The Brazilian said there had been no further action on the legal side and it may be related to the bacteria which affected some of it.

"Bacteria?"

"Yes, Kinsey found some containers were infected with these bugs, but most of the experts said they saw no mutation and in any case the affected lots could be incinerated."

"Experts?"

"Yes, they came from reputable universities and industry. We did nothing, just left the affected quantity in cold storage to avoid amorphous dusting."

Cheverry asked to inspect the cache and when De Santos opened the vault there was nothing inside. He began to stutter some sort of assertion that this was impossible when he was interrupted. "Maybe you have your explanation for the Chinese non-pursuit of the legal case."

De Santos recovered sufficiently from embarrassment to utter, "Does that mean they knew it was gone?"

"That's what we must now find out."

********

The think-tank had commissioned a new eight metre QSD unit with Rose's concept. They would use another trip to Europa to check it out. They replaced the former unit from the five seat chassis and Jet offered his place to Rose, the rest were the same. Fav wanted them to bring back more Seaborgium Oxy-chloride as this new vessel had made the reserve from the Pandora's Rift screens a bit too close for comfort. Yamamoto dropped out to make room for this, stating that Rose's unit would work, otherwise the Symbiants wouldn't have 'sanctioned the trial'.

The ride was even smoother than the last one and they communicated the news to Mars from Europa. It was settled. Ten thousand thirty metre units would be commissioned. On gaining Europa capture Rose noticed a new impact crater. It was quite some distance from the city but there were unusual volcanic signs in many surrounding areas. The landing phase indicated substantial cracks in the terrain which weren't there last time. The entrance to the city would not respond to the codes or lasers. Rose said it was hopeless trying to open this gate, but the other entrances were a long way on foot and the terrain was dangerous, and there was the extreme cold. She then recalled there was an emergency code to activate the Protector robot inside. This would send the colossus to manually break the gate down. It would of course only obey if the power had not been interrupted. She input the symbols and although the control panel indicated the message had been sent, there was no audible confirmation of the robot's approach. They waited several minutes and they concurred they would have to get back to the ascent cabin; the suits could not handle these temperatures for long. They started back when an almighty shuddering crack was followed by the heavy horizontal entrance gates assuming an open position. They quickly entered the city and then a communal building with its acceptable 'off peak' two degrees Celsius. They rested a while and then looked outside to see small cracks in the roads and fallen signposts. They checked the city map and decided it was going to take them circa eighteen minutes on foot. It would be risky on the trams even if they were operational. Red suggested he should go alone as he did not have short-term difficulty with the cold, and he was not affected if the lead containers for the radioactive material had been compromised. "Oh, and I will not have a problem with their weight."

He departed and found the bad news immediately. There was radioactivity in the store but most of the containers were hidden by the ceiling having fallen in. He technobabbled Dan and asked Rose to check what the potential shortfall was supposed to be before he started to remove the rubble. It equated to three containers. After several minutes of carefully removing debris he saw that there were only two un-breached lead containment vessels. They would have to leave all the others behind because the non-Symbiants would receive lethal doses in minutes. He decided that if two were not enough another trip with empty containers from Mars would be necessary. The two secure containers were processed through the scrubbing apparatus.

They ascended and returned with the unpleasant information that their Europan settlement would need serious repair. It had the effect of increasing the Axis determination to complete the Nexus project ahead of time.

********

Cheverry asked to see the security camera archives for the cold vault which had housed the crystal. He and De Santos painstakingly viewed them for every shift over the last two years. The pattern which emerged was one of dayshift perimeter checks and nightshift checking of the content. The night checks were always done by the same guard. There were only a handful of personnel with retina scan access, and he was one of the few. The content checks stopped about nine months ago. On scrutinising his personnel file they found that he left the organisation at that time. It didn't take a genius to figure this out. Zoom facility quite clearly depicted that his oversize uniform trousers appeared distinctly different on exiting the vault.

De Santos muttered under his breath. Cheverry turned. "What did you say?"

"He must have had an accomplice."

Cheverry looked puzzled. "Do you mean internal?"

"Both really, I already suspected the Chinese lack of pursuit of the legal route was strange, but the guard would have to get the containers through the scanners to get them out. He could not have stored the accumulating quantity here without suspicion."

When they checked the personnel records again there was another departure in the same period and she worked on the exit scanning channel.

This was an embarrassing mess especially as no follow-up checks of the bacteria contamination had been done. In ignorance, the perpetrators could unleash a pandemic as well as a horde of replicants. De Santos was in the firing line. There was one man Cheverry could trust on this and fortunately he already knew about the bacteria, as he had discovered them. It was fortuitous that Marvin Kinsey was back from Mars.

# Chapter 33

With barely fifteen months to departure the assembly of the main framework of the city ship was well underway in orbit. Because humans and Symbiants had contributed so much to this being possible, via the QSD research and the ray of hope for restoration of Axis procreation, they were asked to name the vessel. They eventually settled on 'Phoenix'. The Axis had to hear the story as they had obviously never encountered anything remotely like a real or mythical version. They were enthusiastic about the symbolism and commissioned one of their engineers to transform a human drawing into a two metre-high 'bronze', which was actually another type of durable plastic, and yet it was incredibly realistic. It would accompany them to Nexus. The other outposts would make copies, and all three were to be erected on the Homeworld when they arrived in circa half a century.

Carvalho could now understand the pedantic pursuit of perfection Evander had insisted upon when designing the QSD unit. His Pascal 2 code also gave him a closer insight regarding Stella's work with the Axis reproduction project. That programme had moved on. The firstborn, Rene was now completely independent of monitoring probes and tubes, and developing well. She was the delight of the Echus community. Others had followed and the laboratory techniques had improved to give higher embryo survival rates. The situation with human genetic adaptation to the code would be allowed to develop at its own pace except for super stem cell grafts to the parents. Stella's procedure was scheduled for three months after the imminent birth of their third child.

Epsilon Eridani had experienced some teething problems with trial flights in the small QSD version. Now that Evander was satisfied about all design aspects, and had gone back to Earth, the Symbiants took over the task of advising on such problems; it was always done together with a code endowed Axis technician to ensure avoidance of semantic errors in their language. This had become crucial as they had developed 'dialects' in each location after three million years. Reports were due from Epsilon on whether the recommendations had fixed the problem.

The predicament of the MDVs had been resolved. They would be taken to Nexus in recognition of their part as the blue touch paper in igniting progress to reproductive recovery. They would enhance any surviving fauna on the planet. The atmosphere on Nexus had to be a concern for all travellers except the Symbiants. The artificially Axis controlled internal Martian environment had been set at nine to ten percent oxygen, three million years ago. This was lower than their natural environment on Nexus at that time. It was lowered due to the initial difficulties in Martian sequestering technology. They had acclimatised over the millennia just as humans and MDVs had, to the current Martian levels of circa seventeen percent. The concern was more about whether the Nexus atmosphere had survived and if so what the composition would now be. When the Axis had left it contained 15.22%. The fact that Gliese had picked up radio waves gave some basis for thinking that it had been a mass but not total extinction event. If this was so, there should be a reasonable level of oxygen. Nevertheless contingency preparations were being made to sequester oxygen to storage if the levels were too low to breathe. The mass of red crystal was also important in the event of lack of forestation. Alex 2 pointed out that it would be advisable to determine if there were survivors, or search if not, for any crystal deposit.

********

Kinsey had not taken long to pull in recruits who could 'blend' into the investigation. Hong Kong had become a fertile source of double agents. The trail of the two officers who had left Beijing in quick succession had long been cold. This was good news in a way because the extremely belated discovery would serve to make them think they had already got away with the theft. It wouldn't seem feasible to them, or particularly their employers, that such significant implications could be covered up. The new Hong Kong recruits would start at the family villages of the man and woman. They had photos which had been doctored to include themselves and the thieves together in casual dress at a holiday resort. The ploy would be a reunion bachelor party before the life-changing betrothal.

********

Alexandra Vogel had formed opinions about her 'cabinet' members. It was simply based on focus of the task at hand. She gave no weight to esoteric self-career massaging or social fantasy. Even as early as this she knew there would be casualties. It was only a question of how and when. One of them needed urgent consideration. Dwight Wynyard was a bellicose idealist who always sought debate and sometimes admitted that this was the essence of every decision in government, even the colour of the toilet paper. Whenever he was reminded that attention to detail is sometimes preceded by identifying direction, he inevitably dragged any such notion into a treacle swamp of minutiae. His remit was ill-fitting with his ability. Vogel decided to ask for the help of Cheverry. Wynyard was invited to a course in Beijing, which was a study group, expressly evaluating the reconstruction progress in Korea. They had no power, they didn't implement; they were to make observations but not clutter the vision with highly specific recommendations. It was perfect – a gathering of erudite intellectuals without the burden of responsibility for achieving anything. While he was gone she asked Varanda Singh if he would help out. His experience would be invaluable, and would give the electorate and the rest of the cabinet a taste of what life could be like without Dwight.

The new arrival in the family was a girl and Stella wanted to name her after her grandmother Anna. They eventually gave her two names, Anna-Severine, as her other grandmother was French. The checks to log her differences in genetic pattern from both of her parents would wait until they could observe behavioural and aptitude data to compare with any inferences. Carvalho and Stella had agreed that they didn't want to extend the family any further.

The constituent QSD units were accumulating on the flat plain adjacent to the silo doors. It was becoming a hazard, and the receiving framework was prioritised to be made ready for the hull section to head skyward for fitting to the skeletal Phoenix.

Yamamoto was now pretty fluent in comprehension of spoken Axis, but could not vocally master the complex clicks. This frustrated him because it was a voice apparatus hardware problem and not a cerebral software deficiency. It did help foster a kindred appetite with Rose for further refinement of the interlock 'dead spots'. The project as a whole was reaching a critical point of the splitting of resources between Robots and supervision, orbit and planet-side, and Symbiant/non-Symbiant. The last mentioned was becoming highlighted in the critical path analysis because of the almost infinite need for interdependence of data streams for the plethora of functions aboard Phoenix. It threatened delay and that meant a lot of revisions which could also affect the other outpost schedules.

********

The families were cooperative with the Hong Kong agents up to a point. They were taken in by the charade of being ex-colleagues, and one family reacted well to a request. The agents had asked for a recommendation for hotel accommodation to continue their endeavour before reluctantly giving up on their friends. They were invited to stay overnight with the family. During the evening a fair amount of home-made wine was imbibed by the father and after his wife retired to bed he erred. "There was some kind of problem at the H.Q. before he left, and it was not his fault but he was fired. He said he was blamed for a system failure that was not down to him. No matter how much he argued that it was not human error they needed a scapegoat. He said that the tribunal for unfair dismissal was as corrupt as the management, and the story was twisted further to his disadvantage. You must know of his frustration, or did you only get the management version of events?"

One of the agents shook his head. "No, this happened after we left but we heard about it, and we know this system was always causing problems. They are just covering their own poor workmanship. Another thing we found was that after we left, it still followed us around. I had many instances in my new job where I was asked questions about my qualifications and whether I could verify them for the third or fourth time. It's creepy when you find out that someone is trying to discredit you just for leaving. I wouldn't be surprised if your son has the same problem."

The father hesitated then whispered, "He can't get a job here now, that is why he said he was going to have a brand new start. He left for a new career in Australia six months ago."

The agent bluffed again. "Wow, I guess that rules out our bachelor party. It's a pity when it comes to this, anyway I would send him some wedding cake if it would travel, still never mind.... or I can drop him a post card telling him he missed a hell of a party. Better than that can you write and let him know we miss him?"

The inebriated old man was flattered but offered the address instead.

********

Varanda Singh fitted in like an old pair of slippers. He continually talked to citizens at their place of work and was a very good facilitator for Alexandra Vogel, in pushing through action rather than rhetoric. He found it refreshing, having experienced similar frustration to the new Governess when he was in office on Earth. Many important measures were set in motion while Wynyard was amongst his like-minded talking machines, and the returning son would not feel very prodigal when the time came. A very well-accepted function was that of the police. Vogel was disinclined to disband this just because it had been misdirected. The new Patrol Service, as it was called, was charged with asking citizens if they needed help or advice. The staffing was such that an officer could remember the names of the citizens in their patch. There were as many women as men and any incidents of unacceptable behaviour were dealt with swiftly. Unlike a neighbourhood watch scheme, the patrols took responsibility, rather than citizens themselves having to divide the community by 'telling tales' on one another.

The judiciary was expected to deliver reprimands which were seen to be deterrents, not just to discourage re-offending, but as a lesson for others to contemplate. Varanda Singh's feedback into this was vital. He was perceived as indispensable.

# Chapter 34

The sky appeared to be full of the Phoenix. With less than six months to go the entire framework was orbiting and 'coming to life'. The major hold-up and safety concern was that the QSD units were accumulating faster at Echus than they were being fitted in orbit. The Symbiants were handling all the radioactive exposure phases until the shielding was in place. The shielding could not be fitted until the units were in place on the hull. This meant that Echus was gradually experiencing higher radiation levels. The humans and Axis had Hazmat suits but they hindered flexibility and accuracy of some tasks. The Axis opted for more replications and it was only ten days before the work flow chart got back on track.

This in turn got more efficiency from the robots and the ambitious schedule looked like it would be met. One legacy from this mind-boggling project was the bequeathing of the prototype eight metre five seat QSD craft to the humans remaining on Mars.

Following the final replications it was time to get the red crystal into orbit, and the storage area aboard Phoenix could then be welded shut until arrival on Nexus. It was a Symbiant only task, but this had been planned and did not have adverse impact on the overall progress.

********

Kinsey decided to accompany the Hong Kong agents on the flight to Melbourne, after a protracted period of surveillance and interception of mail. This was to scare them into moving if their parents had disclosed the bogus visit of the agents. They had asked for advance cooperation with the local security people who had confirmed that the two suspects were living as a married couple. The rather lavish property was rented and their bank accounts showed regular quarterly incoming payments from a Swiss bank, which had different names as account holders. The eventual confrontation took them totally by surprise and they were edgy because they did not yet have Australian citizenship. Kinsey said Beijing may back-off to a degree in exchange for information on the whereabouts of the crystals, and their sponsor being revealed. They had some private conversation in Chinese and then stated their position. "We refute these allegations completely and we ask for the protection of the Australian authorities."

The Australians said nothing at this stage. Kinsey nodded and said he would apply for an extradition order to be considered by Melbourne within forty-eight hours. "We of course will stay with you for however long it takes to get this done."

The Australian chief said, "We want to conduct our own inquiry into possible fraud as there is no tie-up of data with your Swiss bank."

The duo reverted to Chinese again and then asked what evidence Kinsey had. They were outraged. The American produced the video footage showing the male's repetitive timetable into the vault and the female's disabling of the scanner to fit with his daily exit. Kinsey challenged them. "Do you seriously believe we didn't know what you were doing?" He then bluffed. "We kept records of the disappearance of the crystal, but decided to allow you to continue, so we could let you lead us to the head figure, knowing you were hired help. We expected you to have contact with him when we watched you here. We've waited long enough. You two are going down either here or back in China or both, we're cutting our losses. You have one final chance to cooperate." They wanted to know what helping Kinsey would entail.

"We don't know until we hear what you have. If you give us the name we want, and appear in court, we may exercise some leniency with respect to your breach of security with Beijing. If you don't deliver this directly or indirectly you are on your own. I can't speak for my Australian colleagues, but you may wish to contemplate whether this is a safer bet than incarceration in China. Anyway, you are the best judge of that."

The male said, "He is not Chinese."

"Ok, we have a start, proceed."

The female asked for a couple of minutes to confer once more in Chinese. They then turned to Kinsey and asked about protection.

He knew he had them. "I can't even discuss that until I know we have our man."

The male said they didn't know the man at the very top. They could reveal the one who first approached them and his contact who they had met twice. They believed he was directly linked to the boss. Kinsey said this was disappointing and it was not enough in itself to trade. The female broke ranks. "We know an address of this second man; we had to go there to receive instruction about the repeat shipment of samples. We had to keep these to parcel size quantities for courier delivery. It was a warehouse." The male nudged her to indicate enough. Kinsey responded. "What is the name of the first contact?"

They knew he was not a threat to them personally. The Chinese name meant nothing to Kinsey. They said he still worked in Beijing. At this point Kinsey said, "You can come in now."

The two Hong Kong agents entered and Kinsey handed them the recorder from his trench coat. The replay enabled the 'private' chat to be translated. The interrogation resumed. "Ok, so you have inadvertently told us that we are looking for a Russian in London. Does the name Korolev mean anything to you?"

The couple sat down. The fear in their eyes was all Kinsey needed to proceed to the known address of Mikhail Korolev. This was of course the same Russian who had set up Beth Eisentrager to steal the composition of the crystal while on Mars. Korolev had also arranged for Sergei Radmanov to eliminate her once cleared of Beijing jurisdiction, but this had backfired when he was detained on Mars. Kinsey recognised Radmanov's name from the Hong Kong translation, even though the reports of his initial brief was thirty years ago. He left the Australians to keep the couple in custody, and said Beijing would forward the extradition request imminently, but they would be relaxed about the timing as long as the 'refugees' did not evaporate.

********

It appeared as if there would be a small surplus of Seaborgium Oxy-chloride after all, so another trip to Europa was not necessary. The Axis idea of having built a warehouse with thrusters to transport components to orbit, and then have robots take inventory as they needed it, had been very efficient. This was especially true for the ten thousand QSD units. It was therefore a setback when a malfunction occurred with a robot approaching the warehouse. Another was about to close the doors after exit while carrying a unit, and the odds against what happened were very long. At precisely the same time, each entered the code for opposite instruction. The approaching robot's detector had not picked up that the door was already open as the out-coming thirty metre QSD was blocking the receiver device at one side of the doors. The feedback caused repeated attempts and the exiting one turned to re-enter. The other one now tried to enter and collided with the rear of the first one. The QSD unit was not damaged but slipped out of the robot restraining arms and all three spun off into their individual orbits. An emergency team was activated to attempt recovery and it was only then that a technobabble message from Dan had alerted his fellow Symbiants that he had been in the trajectory of one of the robots and was clinging to it. It was decided to go after Dan and the QSD unit with manual control of two other robots after attaching extra cushioning to the arms.

The QSD unit was the first to be located and the matching of attitude and trajectory before capture took some time. To the onlooker it was a slow motion space ballet. When Red had helped guide this recovery robot to its target he let go, and this presented a relatively easy capture. The subsequent pursuit of the two damaged robots was the trickiest of the recoveries. As they were the same mass the approach and final positioning prior to the 'grab' was ultra-critical. With Symbiants at the controls it was precise, but still a long drawn out capture before Dan was reunited with his rescuers. The damaged ones would be returned to the surface once the warehouse was empty. This whole distraction had caused four full days hiatus. Without the technobabble facility Dan may have reverted to crystal, but there was no discussion amongst them when he returned. They simply resumed the work schedule.

********

When Kinsey arrived in London he was accompanied by the Russian Internal Security Chief. The British police had provided backup squads, but they were not required.

Radmanov was taken first and forced to accompany them to Korolev's residence. They found the oligarch in poor health and he was being attended by his private doctor. When they cautioned him then explained how they had flushed out his foot soldiers in Melbourne, he raised a smile. Kinsey began his deliverance of consequences, and the whereabouts of the crystal being the only possible bargaining chip he had, when Korolev asked them to sit. The oligarch could only speak a few words at a time. "Gentlemen - you have no proof - of your allegations - and the time it will.....will take you, to indict me, will exceed my life expectancy. Please check - this with the doctor."

Kinsey allowed him to talk to the Security Chief and the doctor in their mother tongue, whereupon they discovered he was in the final stages of prostate cancer. Korolev summoned up the energy to speak again. "Radmanov will answer your - questions, I, I have no - further comment. You must do - with me - what you will." He then faded into semi-consciousness.

Kinsey insisted they continued the interrogation in the oligarch's presence. Radmanov said he was not prepared to answer further questions without a British solicitor. He was allowed to make the call and it would take two hours for the expensive individual to arrive. Kinsey decided to fill in the time by outlining exactly how the Chinese duo in Melbourne had provided Radmanov's name and address, and how he was described as the contact via a third party in Beijing. He claimed that they were all in custody and willing to testify. Radmanov simply refused to say anything until his solicitor arrived.

The delay had given Radmanov time to think. When his solicitor did make an entrance he insisted on the proceedings being recorded and began testimony with a declaration that any previous questioning by Kinsey and the Russian Security Chief were inadmissible and highly irregular. Kinsey began again and was interrupted several times by the solicitor requesting details or proof of allegations. They were getting nowhere. Kinsey's parting shot was in relation to the current legal status of possession or distribution of crystal and the penalty it carried. "You have chosen not to cooperate. I think that may prove unwise. We will bring a case in Beijing with our witnesses and you will have to attend. If you are obstructive in this investigation it won't be helpful if you are later convicted. You should perhaps bear in mind that crystal has disappeared – fact. When it does hit the open market it will be signalled openly by the observation of replicants. We then have another line of enquiry. This kind of operation always flushes out the hive, and when we find the Queen, plus favoured drones, the penalties will become even more severe. We'll leave you now and rest assured you will hear from us. We've already asked the British Home Office to hold you here while we proceed to court submission."

As they got up to leave there was a quick conference between Radmanov and his lawyer and the recorder was switched off. Kinsey was asked to wait. A couple of minutes later the legal man re-started the recorder and said his client was prepared to cooperate to the extent that he knew of rumours of such a project, but was not involved in any illegal activity. His remit was other business with the oligarch in London. It was a registered import company with warehouse premises and was fully legitimate.

They would happily submit the documentation to inspection immediately. Radmanov said if the oligarch was involved in such alleged possession he would never have disclosed it to others in his standard lines of trade.

Kinsey accepted the offer to examine the books and requested copies, which were given. He eventually concluded without saying so, that they were taking advantage of Korolev's impending demise, and the investigation that it would trigger in Russia. He knew the planning for such a circumstance would have been long in the pipeline and constructed to resist legal challenge for years.

It would be better to wait for the inevitable emergence of replicants to make the next move. He reflected on whether it was good news that the Chinese government looked as if they were not involved, or bad news that the crystal was in an underground market place. Then he remembered what Ayrton de Santos had reportedly said to Cheverry, namely that the Chinese withdrawal of the legal challenge probably indicated they knew the crystal had been stolen. Maybe they knew who stole it.

# Chapter 35

The recovery of the robots in the collision had only taken four days but the repair took more than two months and this had caused slippage of the schedule. As close as they were now to the planned departure date they had to concede to a small deviation from expectation. The main construction was finished but the internal fitting out was behind, especially with the complex recycling plant. Phoenix was roughly barrel shaped. The two tapered ends were asymmetric. The fore section was not much less in diameter than the widest central girdle as it had to securely house the QSD units, which would exceed the girdle diameter. The aft was approximately sixty percent of the mid line girdle and was truncated to give the optimum configuration for spatial recovery behind the vessel. The artificial gravity was operated by revolution around an abstract central line passing through the centre of each barrel end. The main hatch was in the aft end and there were emergency ones around the rotating periphery. It wasn't a beautiful sight but it wasn't one to be ignored.

The other outposts were informed of the slight adjustment of departure and reported they were actually more behind plan than Mars, and could only make up some of the deficit. Gliese was six weeks off plan and Epsilon Eridani was over four months. They would have to recalculate QSD dropout consequences nearer the new target date.

Stella had recovered well from the procedure to take on the Pascal 2 code and had resumed work with the Symbiant. Sophia Scillacci had opted to rejoin Isaakson to further research on human cerebral conference. She retained copies of all the accumulated data on the Axis/MDV project, as it seemed unlikely that the Martians would need it again, because of the impending exodus across the galaxy. She felt a little demotivated that many years of work would just gather 'computer archive dust'. Retirement in a couple of years had some appeal. Pascal 2 had insisted that the medical station aboard Phoenix was the last to be fitted out because of the possibility of damaging the essential equipment. Nielsen's laboratory had similar 'fragile' status for the analytical stuff and was next to last. He had heard much about other naturally occurring materials on Nexus from the Axis. They had different analytical techniques, but comparing notes whetted his appetite, as they might at last understand the molecular structure of these extremely durable plastic construction constituents, if they had the starting material. He was also trying to weed out which Martian samples he would take as there was severely limited storage in the lab unit. He included some striated rocks which the Symbiants had collected from the fissure between Marineris and Utopia Planitia. If they had detoured from the bridge-building to pick up rocks he felt that made them worthy of investigation. To his constant frustration neither his nor the Axis equipment revealed anything of significance in the available results. He was hoping that the Epsilon or Gliese Axis had developed new equipment which would yield something meaningful.

********

Kinsey considered another undercover operation but decided to go directly through official channels. The Chinese admitted that they took their foot off the gas with the legal route once they knew the crystal had disappeared. Kinsey politely enquired how and when they had come by this knowledge. "We didn't know ourselves until relatively recently."

The inscrutable committee on the opposite side of the table looked at one another in consternation. They finally conceded they knew from a Beijing journalist. Kinsey said that could not be the real source. "The archive video evidence shows that only a limited number of internal personnel were involved in the actual theft. There was perhaps one other involved for outside contact. Your journalist must have got the information from such a source. Why do you think he didn't go to print with such an embarrassing scoop? It was even more tempting when you consider our chief technical people didn't know it was gone."

More eyeballing amongst the Mandarins produced an unusual response. "We demanded proof. We told him it was a very delicate situation since he had contacted us first. We wanted to know why. He did not elaborate. We told him he must inform Beijing as this would affect our country from both the Council and Government standpoints, in the eyes of the world. When we heard nothing more we assumed it was an unsubstantiated claim, but he was re-assigned to London. He is still there as far as we know but he has not contacted us again. It now seems a strange coincidence that we have been sent mail from him suggesting we contact a person in the security department of the Council for Human Exploration." The name was the same one which Kinsey was given by the Melbourne duo. He instinctively pulled down the shutters and thanked them for their candour. He promised to get back to them when he solved the mystery.

The man was, according to De Santos, in the purchasing department for the technical arm of Beijing. He was a senior officer and as such had many overseas contacts. He travelled widely and frequently to suppliers and was used to being 'entertained' at their expense. There were lucrative contacts on offer and he had a big say in the commercial aspects of all certification approval. A check on his bank details unsurprisingly revealed nothing substantial in the way of deposits. A regular item was coded as interest payment, and although it topped up his monthly income, it was unremarkable except for one thing. The decoded reference was from an account in the Cayman Islands. Further tracing of this account revealed it held a serious level of capital, and this was mounting each dividend period from a dazzling array of stock investments. They needed to see how these large blocks of holdings had been acquired before they questioned him.

********

Carvalho was watching the two boys sailing their model ships on the lake. They were powered by chips and controlled by remotes. He was reflecting on how Alexandra Vogel had managed to bring back the air of positive expectation to the human settlement on Mars. A firm but gentle grip on the problem areas had been the central plank, and now a brisk support for new social interaction was emerging. He was really pleased about this change as he had not wanted to leave the planet thinking it had all been for nothing.

His psychological condition was on the rise. He was, however, not feeling his normal energetic self. Lethargy was something he always said was his only allergy. He belatedly asked Stella to run some checks on him. She was livid when the results came through. "How long have you been having this tiredness?"

He was not a good liar and she scolded him for not responding to the symptoms earlier. "Ok Stella, you are the doctor, now what has got you so mad?"

"You have Angina, and it hasn't just appeared."

He squirmed. "Does this affect the trip?"

"Is that what you call it, a trip? It's not a ride to Pandora's Rift. It is a forty something year physical and mental challenge. You really must have more exploratory tests, but I would have advised a normal patient to withdraw. It can be treated in a number of ways up to and including transplant or implant assists, but we don't really have time. The short recovery period could kill you. I believe we have no choice but to cancel."

He sat down with head in hands and apologised. "I've had twinges for years; I thought it would pass as usual." Stella said she wanted to ask Pascal 2 if he concurred with her recommendation.

The Symbiant said that it was a chance worth taking. Delivering nanoprobes into the bloodstream to target the accumulated swelling of the inside of the coronary artery might just relieve the pressure. If this could allow a significant increase in blood flow to the heart it could easily be repeated at intervals throughout the journey. "Then we can determine if a bypass is necessary and advisable." Stella agreed. She knew it was not without risk but she trusted the Symbiant and Carvalho had set his mind on going.

She told him of the proposal and insisted he didn't do anything strenuous between now and the completion of Pascal 2's treatment. "And that includes playing with the boys. I'm finishing up my involvement with Echus Neurosciences anyway, and I've pulled that date forward to tomorrow. There's no room for discussion Daniel." She was conscious of this being the first time she had bullied him.

He was quietly relieved but now more concerned about the time he may have with his family. He hadn't forgotten the panic in Stella's eyes when she first confronted him. He silently rebuked himself for not reporting it earlier.

********

Kinsey was armed with the financial data when he went to Beijing. There was no confrontation. The target had taken accrued vacation time. His colleagues said he had taken a flight to San Diego and was to board a cruise liner for his Alaska dream holiday. Kinsey thought this had to be checked out immediately. His people came back with negative results; there was no biometric registration from his passport to say he had flown anywhere. The same was true of ports and land border checks. He was uneasy so he initiated re-checking his financial status. It was as he suspected; the bank accounts and stock portfolio had been liquidated. There must have been contact with Radmanov.

When he got to London again Korolev had passed away, and his body was in preparation for shipment back to his homeland. Kinsey asked respectfully to see the corpse and was satisfied. Radmanov had evaporated with no forwarding information. Apparently the UK operation was to be wound up and the remaining asset base transferred to Moscow for forensic financial analysis.

Kinsey accepted the trail had gone dead. The only realistic way to pursue the crystal now was to wait until replicants were reported. Failure did not sit well with Marvin Kinsey, but there would be a slip-up sometime and they had to stay alert for signs of it.

Cheverry had been informed that Varanda Singh had been a godsend for Alexandra Vogel so he moved to part two of the plan. Wynyard was invited to his office and relentlessly flattered by the Council C.E. Being told he was literally being head-hunted by a new liaison section within the Beijing strategic planning operations, for the next phase of exploration, massaged his Jupiter class ego. "This is head in the singular, it is irregular to produce a short list of one prior to interviewing, but we are all of one mind. Heading up this venture comes with a weighty responsibility but the package is commensurate with the seniority. I realise it's out of the blue but the plans are sensitive and we favour this approach. I hope you will consider this with some urgency as in the event of your acceptance, I know I will face a fight with Vogel to release you."

Wynyard asked all the questions a supreme narcissist would, and could not contain his cerebral orgasm when the answers were those he wanted to hear. It was indeed a challenging and motivating remit. It would also be re-merged with the executive structure within two years and Wynyard would not last that long. Liaison is a word to beware in corporate or governmental structure; it should be listed in the rat-race dictionary as a synonym of 'fall guy'.

********

The handover programme of the entire industrial Axis infrastructure, including the nuclear power plants was almost ready for the final sign-off. This was to be the subject of an interesting discussion between Earth and Mars in the coming years, as the trade agreements would need review. The appearance, illegal or otherwise, of Terran Symbiants when there were none left on Mars could be a destabilising asymmetry. Alexandra Vogel had been informed by Cheverry in strict confidence that this could happen soon. She was disturbed sufficiently to ask Carvalho if he could use his fabled persuasive powers with Alex 2 to leave a small quantity behind if an emergency scenario developed. He had forgotten that she would not know about the retention quantities from the lab which were put into orbit during the previous times of threatened hostility. "I can do better than ask Alex 2. We provided such a cache some years ago. Very few people knew about it, and nobody from Earth has been told. One of your orbiting geothermal monitors does exactly what it is supposed to do. The other is identical in appearance but contains only red crystal. We are only taking the recovered haul from the domes. Consider this our special parting gift. I mean this seriously Alexandra, because I know your first thought may be about protection, but if you also think about what this planet was like when I first arrived, you now have the means to that very support. The Symbiants have been the major reason why you see what is here now. Think about it. Knowledge back on Earth that you have 'retained' Symbiants will induce respectful caution from them where it may not have been otherwise considered."

She was relieved. "I really wish you were staying Commander. The people tell me every day what it was like when the Axis first arrived and the cooperative altruism which abounded. I will definitely bear in mind your advice. I don't suppose there is any chance that you will change your mind?"

"You just referred to me as Commander and that in itself reminds me that it's time to move on. However, I would not have wanted to miss those days – problems and all. It is important to me that the planet is in good hands and I can now rest easy on that score."

Stella was fidgety with the notion that he was talking 'business' - and the Pascal 2 nanoprobes had not yet shown significant de-furring of his coronary artery. She wanted to avoid stress and politely interrupted to tell him that Pascal 2 was waiting for him. Vogel thanked him again and excused herself.

Carvalho said he had thought Pascal 2 was not scheduled until tomorrow. She nodded and said, "I didn't want you to be drawn into things you can't influence. It's a classic way of building stress. I hope it didn't sound rude." He winked and replied, "No, she was about to leave, which was disappointing as she kept addressing me as Commander."

The sarcastic response was, "Maybe she's also attracted to men in uniform. That was how I first saw you, I noticed she was flushed."

"Not much gets past you Stella. Just as well I wasn't persuaded to stay." She feigned a fist and walked back to the children.

# Chapter 36

As the days were being chalked off they were entering countdown mode. Yamamoto and Rose were already in orbit checking the QSD interlocks. They had already been told by Jet that this had been done but it made no difference, they wanted their own measurement criteria and the subsequent evaluation. The assembled units were not shielded and posed a risk in mobility while wearing Hazmat suits. Jet complained, "The Symbiants did the assembly work and if they have signed off on the precision, I really can't see why you need to do this."

Rose seemed ready to agree but Yamamoto stuck to his request. "You forget that we have acquired much from the Pascal 2 procedure which entitles us to perform checks in a comparably accurate way to the Symbiants, yet dispassionately, as we have not had to adhere to their rigid assembly schedule. This unit array is the only component which can get us to Nexus, but if it makes you more understanding I'll ask Red to give his input on our request."

"I would appreciate you doing that."

Red arrived, listened and then agreed with Yamamoto. "The ongoing checks while assembling will be sufficiently accurate for each neighbouring pair. It would be useful to compute the accumulated maximum tolerance repetition in multiple directions to see if the final diameter data reflects uniformity in each direction. The prototype was only one unit so we did not have this concern. Yamamoto is justified to see if there is any gain/correction pattern and whether adjustments are necessary. However, I also accept Jet's worry about the risk of moving around in these clumsy suits. We will do the checks as Yamamoto and Rose have outlined. They should have been included in the design." Yamamoto and Jet nodded in concert and the new delay this would cause was put down to correcting an oversight.

Pascal 2 had good news for the patient; the furring was receding and this, together with medication, had completely removed the symptoms. The nanoprobe dredging would continue until departure.

The interior of Phoenix was a spectacle. Unlike the feel it had before fitting out, the curvature of the 'horizon' had softened and didn't convey such intense 'hamster wheel' imagery. The village was beginning to bloom. There were at least as many workers in orbit now as there were on the surface, and it gave some impression of how the populated barrel would look. For some, mostly human, the degree of imagination and ambition in this project hit home, in a way that the plans or even the view from the surface could not capture. This new perspective also brought with it the full realisation of living almost half a century in a barrel, a kind of macro claustrophobia. When Carvalho informed Alex 2 of his gift to Vogel the Symbiant said, "I suppose we could say that is one benefit of stranded development."

"What do you mean?"

"Well if they invoke replication, for reasons other than defence or purely construction potential, the new individual manifestations of the Continuance will have a fresh start. To use your own semantics they will not carry forward 'baggage' from those of us who will leave for new pastures. Promise will be evaluated again. They are not from crystal which has already been involved with humans and do not yet have all the data sources I do, to influence them. Having a second chance is not unusual for us. It is more a case of what your species will do with it. It is a beneficial situation for both those who are leaving and the ones who remain." Carvalho smiled and could not resist a jibe. "I don't know whether humans or Symbiants are ahead in adapting to one another's logic." Alex 2 said he would defer judgement for some time. "At the moment you must be well in front."

********

It had taken less time than expected. A privately funded American aeronautics conglomerate had struck a deal with a Venezuelan oil company. The deal had mutual benefit of moving asset wealth into new industry. The Venezuelan government had seen this as bringing their economy up a few notches and gave approval to the plan. Holidays on Mars would not require the stringent migration rules. A new space elevator was announced and was to begin construction very soon. A blip in Kinsey's personal radar homed in on the finalisation date, and the first booking information would appear within six months. This had to be it. He would be interested to check out some of the workforce if the ludicrous targets were anywhere near being realised. His experience on Mars had given him some idea of what Symbiants could do. The financial funding would be transformed by free labour and technical capacity, let alone the concepts they would surrender to the transport crews. It would be a reasonable bet that Radmanov would be buried somewhere in this venture. Patience would be needed and he would keep this to himself for now. Trust could result in betrayal, and the quarry's escape. His best weapon, he decided, was their Achilles' heel – technobabble. It would require acquisition of some crystal for this purpose. He had to go back to Mars. He suggested to Cheverry that a final visit to see if Alexandra Vogel needed any further support would be prudent. "It would give her and the Martian population the comfort of knowing they are doing so well that we are pulling back, yet available when they need us. It is a timely morale booster which would not have the same impact by merely transmitting the sentiment. Walking amongst the communities would invigorate individuals – a personal pledge."

Cheverry liked the idea. He wanted Kinsey himself to make the offer, to be seen as exactly that. It would be perceived as an 'order' if Vogel had the same question from himself. "She would not feel comfortable refusing me but doesn't have that constraint with you. That is a really good idea Marvin."

********

It was time for getting the heavier personal belongings into their place within Phoenix. The last of the domestic robots were also ready for orbit and assignment to the accommodation units. It was a hectic task and one without the elegant programming capabilities of the main robots. Individuals do not have a clear overview in these situations and the humans were much worse than the Axis. It was just as well there were many more of the latter. It amazingly didn't involve an accident. There only remained the checklists and testing of all facilities other than the QSD array. That would only be tried completely once they could leave. The individual parameters were checked in isolation from one another and all passed the stringent specifications. The orbital population density was now decreasing as many made their final descent to make preparations for the moment.

Fav had received more bad news concerning Epsilon departure. Bearing in mind the time lag in receiving this, it was pure guesswork as to whether they could recover the lost time to meet even the revised schedule. As neither they nor Gliese had Symbiant help, the process was longer and more dangerous. Fav's message indicated that the various steps in getting the radioactive QSDs to the required Epsilon Eridani orbit had caused an increasing number of individuals to be exposed to unacceptable levels of radiation. These were accidental breaches of the protective clothing in the main. They had called for a halt until they could produce more robust protection. It had produced a dip in enthusiasm for the project. Gliese had not suffered such failure and had sent details of their suits. Hopefully this would get the confidence back before the Epsilon Axis got too far behind the others. They had a slight advantage insofar as they were building a smaller vessel; they had only Axis personnel and their settlement had shrunk over the millennia to four hundred and seventeen individuals. They were considering lowering the refinement of the interior to make up time. Fav sent his support transmission stating that they would receive it after his departure. He sympathised and advised them not to compromise the comforts of a very long journey for a few months delay to their own departure.

********

Alexandra Vogel was positive about Kinsey's trip. She also responded in the affirmative to his request to be picked up by the small QSD craft which had been to Europa and back. He wanted, if possible, to say farewell to Carvalho and this craft was the only way he could get there in time. He knew he could trust this one person who would also be able to help. Once Phoenix was gone, nobody on it, including Carvalho, could blow the plan. He was now aware of the orbiting crystal but didn't want that because it would require all kinds of convoluted justification. He hoped to persuade Alex 2, through Carvalho, to deploy one Symbiant for a return to Earth with him as reverted crystal. Self-replication would occur once he was safely alone at his home. This would give him the perfect situation and access to remote technobabble. He knew of Dupe because of his involvement with the Evander kidnap, but again it would involve spilling the beans prematurely. This was the safest way. He would promise the Symbiant could return to Mars not knowing Alex 2 would advise against that. The craft was despatched to collect him.

Stella had noticed little things about Anna-Severine which, in isolation did not mean too much, but when combined began to draw a picture. The higher level of data processing capability, even in a small child, was showing earlier ascent to many functions. Crawling, walking and talking were the easiest to assess. There were also hints of colour recognition and identification of shapes of household items with similar shapes in her children's books. She kept it to herself for now, as she did not want the little girl to be perceived as 'different' just yet.

********

As Earth and Mars elliptical orbits could place the planets anywhere between thirty and two hundred and fifty million miles apart, it was fortuitous that they were presently only separated by forty-nine million miles. It was not a big distance for the QSD craft. Without stops it was estimated to take under four and a half minutes. Now Kinsey really saw what the American-Venezuelan investment was about. The need for another space elevator on the other side of the world had commercial implications of quicker docking and turnaround. If the Beijing one was interested in the revenue potentially on the table, it could be mutually beneficial. Cutting down the time on thrusters to dock from QSD dropout was commercially crucial. It also suggested that there may be more elevators in the pipeline. This would need to be matched on Mars in the fullness of time.

This particular trip would see QSD dropout targeted away from a direct line to Earth atmosphere. Disturbance of the ionosphere was to be avoided and the time taken to reach the space elevator was going to be considerably longer than that to traverse the void between the two planets. Rather like domestic inter-city Earth flights which are effectively doubled by waiting for luggage.

When he did arrive on Mars Kinsey apologised to Vogel by saying he wanted to say goodbye to Carvalho first, and then devote as much time as she felt appropriate to the tour of her communities. He got quite a surprise at Carvalho's response to his request. "I can't subscribe to such off-hand, demeaning employment of Symbiants. To me they are friends and deserve respect. I can't stop you from asking Alex 2 but I will certainly let him know my feelings. I do however want to help; perhaps we should talk to him together."

When Alex 2 arrived he was not as negative to the proposal and in fact thought the American-Venezuelan plan showed forward thinking. He accepted that it should not be so dependent on Symbiant presence. "I will speak to Pascal 2. Only the Continuance individuals and Carvalho know that he has one container of amorphous powder which can be used for emergency treatment of traumas to our sentinel network. The Ex-Commander has obviously forgotten about his approval of this for 'impending experiments' and its secret burial at the base of Pandora's Rift. We readily endorsed this subterfuge some time ago." Carvalho acknowledged his oversight. "This purpose can be seen as analogous to your immune system. It is for unforeseen events only. If you require only your own replication we can let you have the tiny amount to achieve it. I would suggest we encapsulate it into the frame of your spectacles so that no inadvertent trigger initiates the process. This will also get it through Beijing customs and avoid the cold plasma decontamination sweep which would be detrimental to the amorphous form. They will ask you to remove your spectacles, so you will not arouse suspicion. I believe this alternative method will fit with Daniel's moral stance." They shook hands and Kinsey left.

# Chapter 37

Completion

With the final ascent to Phoenix scheduled the next day, Carvalho walked alone amongst the various buildings and forests which had been constructed and nurtured since 2033. He was thinking that this would be the last sunset he would see for a very long time, maybe the last ever.

He contrasted it with the very first. Back then, with no atmosphere and only red dust, it was a sinister yet inspiring sight. The orange glow of the watery sun seemed to suck the red chromatic content from the surface as the land blackened. The current landscape was one of fading light dispersed by wisps of cloud, and green swathes punctuated by red highways. The silhouettes of buildings were the sole reminder of civilisation. It was the stuff of schoolboy comics, and promised so much in terms of a new frontier. The memories now flooded back. The bizarre replication of Alex Redgrave and resulting lifelong friendship which developed with Alex 2 were right at the forefront of almost everything which had been achieved since then. The arrival of the Axis had also been a high point. The mission objectives were taken over and enhanced by these events. He felt a sudden sadness at the prospect of the imminent departure of the entire contingents of two from three species. Mars would revert to a human colony when it could become so much more than that. He was having second thoughts and this (he admitted to himself) was quite natural. However, looking forward had always been his way, and his contemplation re-focussed on his family, who injected precisely such excitement about the new phase for their little clan. The other humans who were departing were similarly preoccupied with saying farewell to friends. Many words were spoken, but everyone consciously avoided 'forever'.

The other two species were busy and as expected the Symbiants were in a purely business-like mode, whereas the Axis contingent was in emotional overdrive. Although the Cosmos may not have any purpose whatsoever, they had somehow extracted such abstract mental fortitude from millions of years of abject misery. Some may have argued that this was indeed proof of divine intervention; others would dismiss such claims as proof of self-delusion.

Alexandra Vogel had consulted with the people and it had been agreed that the ascent and disappearance of Phoenix into collapsed 'ether' would be observed by all. It would become a day to reflect upon and celebrate well into the future. It took on the mantle of something more significant than the end of an era, but what?

********

Kinsey's replication enabled him to instruct his double to take a vacation in Venezuela and communicate silently with an increasing number of the Continuance on the project. Regular updates confirmed everything he had suspected. The Venezuelan replicants were not privy to who was pulling all the strings but they did know where they had been replicated. The problem was that different replicants had data pinpointing different locations. It could only mean that the main horde was continually on the move. The dots on the map and the times of replication had no pattern or predictive trend. Containing this was not going to be easy if he kept the evidence to himself. If he was to reveal some or all of it, who could he trust? He decided to stay in monitoring mode.

********

The habitat commissioning tests were complete and systems had been fired up one by one and were now completely online. It was a slightly dewy dawn and the ascent shuttle was ready to signal the exodus. As expected, the Axis penchant for precision had familiarised every individual with their time slot and maximum 'luggage' allowance. Nervousness had begun to supplant other emotions. The completion of the boarding of the Axis left a stranded clutch of brave humans huddled on the ascent pad. They waved to thousands of spectators, and the rest of the population was transfixed by the TV cameras. It was surreal – they were going to somewhere which had no context of imagination. It was difficult even with the Pascal 2 procedure, to relate hundreds of thousands of millions of miles to recognisable numbers of light years. It had to be 'measured' in percentages of one's life.

Embarkation was complete. Inside the barrel new accommodation was being hurriedly organised into homes. Dan was preoccupied with finally disconnecting himself from the parameter interface. He was to be replaced by a Symbiant installation designed by Rose and Yamamoto. This did not lend itself to proving except in the moments leading up to QSD start up. Dan would then take up a parallel connection to give the final green light and hopefully he would be happy to disconnect and let the so called 'Hub' fly solo.

The robots were deployed to make their final sweep for removal of unwanted scraps of materials and assembly tools. They made the final descent in the warehouse unit and left Phoenix as the lone orbital object.

The landside audience knew what to expect – a countdown followed by nothing. The normal gradual shrinking of a conventional departing vessel gave the eye the illusion of an extended farewell. This was to be one of 'here – blink – gone'.

Rather than convey verbal sentiments Carvalho had, with the help of Symbiants, arranged for a monument to be carved with an inscription and erected at Pandora's Rift.

It read:- The first human colony on this planet was founded in 2033. We came to realise within a short time of such a proclamation that we were not the first. The Continuance had been here for over four billion of our years. This discovery allowed our hopes of making the new domain habitable, to be realised. Their influence accelerated the taming of the hostile conditions, and we could begin to expand our fragile foothold, to an environment which appealed to colonists. The social cohesion necessary for making habitats into homes came quicker than expected. The same can be said of evidence of a second species which had inhabited the planet three million years before. The Axis left many iconic examples of their tenure and yet it would have taken much longer for appreciation of their heritage to be available without the guiding hand of the Continuance. When we finally met their caretakers, who unstintingly maintained their many legacies, they agreed to return from Europa to compliment the transforming of Mars into a desirable residence.

The technology developed by unprecedented cooperation of three species allowed hitherto unthinkable challenges to be contemplated.

The Quantum Space Distortion discovery has enabled near light speed displacement. The progress of medical invention has made it possible to transplant or modify the last remaining human organ to be included in the aims of extending life expectancy. The work on gene correction and stem cell influence on the sterile Axis reproductive organs has set the path to restoration of procreation.

This has been a major constituent of hope that Phoenix will rise again on their home planet of Nexus. It has also factored in the decision by a small band of humanoid colonists, who shall be known from now as the Sapients, joining in their pilgrimage. This connotation represents not only a desire to remain in the triad of species but a voluntary acceptance of modified cerebral enhancement which is expected to produce over time a branch in our species. Humans remaining in the solar system have been left the means by which they can choose to follow this path if desired. The branch between Humans and Sapients began but does not have to end here. It is consistent with criteria which confer the definition of a Darwinian Extension – A Conscious Adaptation of the Species. The existence and departure of the Phoenix is to be known as Completion. This nomenclature was chosen to mark the heralding of a new epoch.

The unveiling of the monument had been scheduled to occur just before the last external hatch on the giant vessel was closed. Observance of this historical précis was hoped to serve as a social bridle for those remaining. Painful lessons learned had been deliberately omitted; the inscription was to be a lasting emphasis of triumph over adversity.

The event itself was indeed a non-event. The substantial halo around Phoenix assumed a refractive quality and even the briefest blink would cause the onlooker to miss the exact millisecond of retinal deception.

********

The real atmosphere inside Phoenix was now in the control of the Hub. The emotional atmosphere was one of muted respect by each species toward the other. The Completion seemed to apply more to inhabitants of the solar system than to these pioneers. The Completion for the travellers had already transposed into an Initiation.

# Epilogue

It would prove to be a journey comparable to creating a mediaeval cathedral for the Sapients. It would consume a major part of their life, to the exclusion of any other purpose or occupation. It would be played out within a discrete community, and like the cathedral craftsmen they would be a minority in their social enclave.

Divorcing purpose from hope, the Axis would regain a long-corroded interest in sexual behaviour and a gradual shift from laboratory controlled offspring to natural conception. The star in their horizon of hope, by contrast, was to walk again among those from the trunk of their evolutionary tree. They considered themselves to be a branch of that trunk.

The Symbiants appeared to be immune to all of this non-productive, abstract deliberation. That was to last only part of the way. Via the secure technobabble they had admitted to one another that a surge occurred in first tier data registry. Discussion for once could not be described as orderly and totally free of speculation. The word Progenitors was repeatedly mentioned. Unlike a hive mind, it was a case of being relieved that others had experienced identical symptoms with the surge.

The discussion was interrupted by a second less uncomfortable disorientation. Data now existed concerning the Master of Fate and his Consul. They could only deduce that it had occurred because they were heading to the source, the residue of the 55 Cancri cataclysm and the energy signatures which had left evidence of such undesirability.

This was information they did not need to share at present. That could change.

