Nine months after our landing, Ben and Janet call and ask me for a face-to-face. We set up a time and I head for the Marriott to meet them in the restaurant. They greet me as I come in. They are looking thin and move like they are weary, but there is a brightness in their eyes that says they’ve made some kind of happy choice.
“You’re looking well,” I lie after I order. Their hard time adapting is something unsettling. They’ve been trying many different things, and we’ve all been watching, expecting a breakthrough, but nothing has completed their adaptation to this Mars environment. I guess there are still medical miracles we can’t accomplish.
“We’ve made a choice, and that’s half of what we wanted to talk to you about,” says Ben,
“but before we get to that, we need to talk about a Mars colonial government.”
I admit it -— I’ve been so busy, that topic has slipped my mind. “I guess we should. Our relation with Skyler has been going so smoothly I haven’t given much thought to a formal government.”
“I agree, but now is the time, when things look good. When the crisis comes, choices will get hasty. ... And there will be a crisis. There always is when large groups are working towards an uncertain goal.
“Janet and I have been giving this a lot of thought, and we’ll be happy to pass those thoughts on to you and the others, but that brings up the second issue.”
Ben pauses and looks at Janet for confirmation. She nods.
“Janet and I are sending our bodies back to Earth. They are just not hacking it here.
“But ... we will stay here as cybers, and then we’ll inhabit some specially designed human bodies when those become available. They will be both designed for Mars and designed to mesh transparently with a cyber consciousness. Our new bodies are being grown right now in Austin. Well ... were, they will be part of the first shipment of Mars babies being sent here. They will be ready to begin the cyber meshing in about three years, and it will take about nine years for their minds to develop to the point that a full mesh with an adult cyber will be comfortable. When they get to about age twelve they will become us.”
My jaw drops, “Has the technology come that far?”
Janet continues for Ben, “Just barely. We and Anton pulled some strings, and we will be among the first.”
Ben goes on, “It’s breakthrough stuff, so there are likely to be some surprise minuses as well as the known pluses. Worst case: we have to go back to square one a couple times. But if we want to be full contributors to this Mars colony, and we do, we feel a step like this is necessary.”
Janet says, “This meshing process will take a lot of our attention. So for a few years we will be ... distracted, I guess is the best way to put it. We’ll be around as avatars, but not with whole mind.”
This is such a surprise it takes a while before I say, “When will this happen?”
“We would like to see this government-making project solidly in the queue before we start the transition ... but we would like to start soon. We really aren’t happy with our current state of affairs.”
“Specifically, we would like to see a constitutional convention happen -— one that we will attend -— before we start the transition.”
We finish lunch and I pass the news on, and thus it is that perhaps we will have “founding persons of our planet” after being on world only twelve months ... six months Mars time, that is. ... Well, Mars doesn’t have a big moon with a leisurely orbit like Earth, so we’ll continue to use Earth months, so twelve months. Boy, this being a colonist does have its surprises.
Miranda is the first to react to the news, “What about their child!” she exclaims to me. She’s right. I’d forgotten about that, too. She hurries over to the Marriott and invites me along. The four of us meet in the lobby.
Miranda starts, “I apologize about being so long getting back to you on this. We’ve all been so busy. I have been thinking about this since the day you proposed it. And the more I think about it, the more comfortable I become.” She pauses, then declares, “I really want to help you with your child. I really would.” She looks very sincere about this.
Ben and Janet look at each other. Ben starts, “Ever since we’ve started this journey through space, this has been such a struggle for us.” He sighs, “We really haven’t felt up to it.”
Janet continues, “Now, we have this new challenge facing us. I just don’t see how we can do justice to any child we start now.”
She says this, but both she and Ben are looking as unhappy as I’ve ever seen them look.
Miranda looks back and forth between them, then says, “This is a burden you don’t have to carry alone. Let me help you. You have helped me so much. Let me help you now.”
“And me,” I add. “You have helped all of us. Helping each other is what Child Champs is all about.” And I add in deep earnest, “That’s not just some kind of slogan any more. This is for real. We all want you to make this dream happen.”
Ben and Janet look at each other. And they straighten up a bit. Janet takes Miranda by her hand, “Thank you, dear. I would say that you have no idea how much this means to us, but you clearly do.” She looks at me as well, “You all do.”
Ben says, “Tomorrow we will begin preparations for starting our new child with Miranda’s help. Once again, thank you, thank you, thank you.”
When I bring up the constitutional convention with Skyler, he gives me a “Yes, but ...” back.
“Yes, we should have one, but there’s a new group of colonists already en route. They are from China, and I think it would be good to have them in on this.”
I have to agree the diversity would be good. The convention is scheduled for three months later, and the Chinese clubs are informed that, rookie though they will be, they will participate. Ben and Janet take the news stoically, and we all stay busy.
Along with the Chinese immigrants come the Mars babies that the Austin facility has been raising. Those from the other labs will come on later flights. Actually, the oldest are full-fledged children now, attending forth grade. We all gather to welcome the newcomers -- all of them -- and Jaina and Annette hustle the Mars kids off to our newly-built facilities, and there we introduce foster parents. The Chinese clubs are bringing a lot of kids with them. They and the Zion Club now split most of the child raising space between them. The Child Champs club picks up four: Cindy, Marge, Alex, and Russell, and takes technical custody of the Ben and Janet mesh babies, called “Bens and Janets”. There are six of them because this is still a very uncertain process and they take some very special raising that is mostly creation-handled.
With the arrival of the Mars babies, we see a tangible symbol of our future humanity here on Mars. We now have to set up two different Martian environments: one for the transplanted Earthlings such as us, and one for the more acclimated Martians such as the Mars babies are. Yes, it’s disconcerting, but we are all so busy that the strangeness quickly becomes toleration. Mars isn’t Earth.
I have lunch with Annette one day after the Mars babies arrive and ask her how the Zion Club feels about the Mars babies. She says the jury is still out in their group. Some feel this is just another element in the strangeness, and some feel this is even more of an abomination than Geishas. But like everyone else, they are all so busy that it is an issue for another time. The compromise is that Zion Club members will not be tending any of the Mars babies from this batch. They will wait and see.
“I’m hopeful that we will be taking our share of the next batch,” she says. “We all know these kids are going to be a big part of Mars’ future. It’s just some more strangeness we have to get over.”
But the new crop of Earth-adapted babies from the newly arriving clubs brings out another honeymoon breaker: How to raise the kids. There is just one facility for all the kids at this point, so we all get to see each others’ techniques. And with all of us being full of human instinct, we start kibitzing about what we see.
The Chinese want a very organized environment. They plan carefully what their children will learn and don’t want to waste much time with unstructured activities. They are quite willing to devote a lot of personal attention -- human and cyber -- to each child, and each child has a carefully organized program. That calls for a child-raising facility with lots of classrooms, very organized play areas, and child-tending creations who are controlled mostly by the parents.
As I mentioned earlier, the Zioners want a real world environment for their kids. They are quite willing to give the kids time to learn on their own, as well as having organized class time. And they also want the kids interacting with parents and creations who are doing real world activities -- apprenticing in its oldest form. They feel that learning by experience and example is the best way for the kids to learn what is important. They have workshops near the child-raising areas and play areas with lots of materials for building stuff, and they let the tending creations take orders from the kids -- not crazy ones, mind you, that had been worked out, but the kids are learning early on how to integrate creations into their project-building activities.
We at Child Champs want our kids to have the best too, but that brings us to our own internal honeymoon breaker. Jaina starts spending time with the kids right from the start, which is good since the rest of us are getting busy in so many other ways. But she is young and so enthusiastic that she turns into a by-the-training-book enthusiast. She is constantly reading the latest, from Earth authors since there are no Mars authors on this topic yet, and then enthusiastically trying to apply it. And she hasn’t fully caught on to the Mars isn’t Earth concept. In fact, I find some of what she is saying and proposing downright spooky in its naivety. Because it is written so much about, she is buying fully into the children-must-be-protected doctrine that is raging among Earth media people that cover child raising.
I talk with Miranda and suggest she and her family get involved. When she does, that brings the raising-style issue to a sharp climax. The specific issue is Jaina forbidding our kids from playing with Zion Club kids. She says the setting is too dangerous. I set up a meeting with Jaina, Miranda, and myself.
Jaina comes in sullen and Miranda exasperated.
“I don’t see what the problem is,” says Jaina. “I’m reading up and I’m doing exactly what the best child-raising articles recommend.”
“You’re doing that exceedingly well,” I say. I look at Miranda and she says nothing. She is falling back on her culture’s ways which are very careful about critisism and confrontation.
“What’s this I hear about keeping the kids away from the Zion Club kids?” I ask.
Jaina is quick and prescriptive. “Those kids are engaging in dangerous activities. They are going to get hurt. I don’t want our kids hurt.”
I look at her. “You realize we are on Mars now?” and look some more.
“Yes ...”
“Have you been outside?”
“Not since the initiation.”
“Have you been to Hydroponics?”
“No.”
“Have you been to the tea garden the Chinese are setting up in Chinatown?”
“No! I’ve been with the kids. I love being with the kids! What’s the point of this third degree?”
“The point is that there’s more to Mars than a kindergarten. If you’re going to teach kids how to live on Mars, I think you need to have a better idea of what’s going on here.”
“Well, I’ve been pretty busy. ... How do you propose I do that?”
“I propose that you spend a month as Jaden’s assistant while he’s doing his documentaries. He really needs the help, and you will get to see what’s going on outside the kindergarten.”
“Who will take care of the kids?”
“Miranda and her family.”
Jaina looks sharply at Miranda. She is clearly not happy hearing that. With effort, Miranda gets out of her old culture rut and stares back, locking eyes, daring her.
“Are ... are ...?” Thank goodness Jaina’s good sense kicks in before some snappy retort comes out. Her face relaxes, “... I guess you did pass the PAT’s on the first try.” She gives us both a smile of concession, “OK. I’ll give Jaden a shout.”
“He’s working on some interesting stuff. You’ll have a good time,” I assure her. And it’s true. We are all working on interesting stuff.
With Miranda now in the lead, we start with a Chinese-style approach with lots of planning and personal attention. But we want kids with a more artistic side, and getting that means loosening up on the planning and letting the kids get more experimental, a little more Zionish. It isn’t apprenticeship like the Zions, and it isn’t regimentation like the Chinese, it is a Child Champs approach, Mars version.
What we all find is that we really can get deep into our different approaches. There is kibitzing, but no censuring.
What we all agree on is that the kids should be exposed to risk -- this is a place where skinned knees, broken bones, and even potential death has to be part of the environment. Mars is not Earth.
Which brings us back to the constitution, and with it, the legal system.
I worry that this constitution project will suffer deeply from the Curse of Being Important -- that everyone will have an opinion, and we’ll end up with a many chefs and spoiled broth situation. And in fact, everyone does have an opinion. The amount of blogging and other forms of gossiping about the constitution leading up to the convention is perhaps ten percent of the inter-club communication. But to my surprise, everyone is willing to delegate -- each club nominates delegates and the convention is convened. It is held at the Marriott where Ben and Janet are staying, and they and Skyler and Kim ManDoo from one of the Chinese clubs formed the executive committee. Ben and Janet are elder statespeople by every definition, Kim ManDoo is a well-traveled businessperson who as a young man also participated in China’s governmental revolution of the 2060s, and Skyler has had plenty of practice representing on-Mars transients’ interests. George-776 and Phil-422 represent the creation interests.
We’ve come a long way from 1787, in the case of the US, and 2063, in the case of China, so there are going to be some big differences. All through the 21st century, there has been a lot of thinking and research done about how to organize social systems, and now we have creations to add to the social mix as well as all the Information Age communication and computational tools. Plus, now we have a chance for a fresh start.
The first decision, made early on, is that we won’t attempt any sort of mix-and-match from the existing US and Chinese legal systems. Both systems are now way overgrown and too adapted to Earthly conditions and traditions. We can use the tabula rasa here, the clean slate, and we will. We go back to the basics of what a legal system should do and build up using modern concepts supported with modern technology and adapted to Mars’ conditions. Whew! It is a lot to ask. The good news is it is all talk, and these days we can do that really quickly.
The delegates take their responsibilities seriously and refrain from taking cheap shots ... well, not too many, anyway. And all the colonials support them being responsible. We are all here by choice, we are all new to this wonderful opportunity, and we’re all going to be living with this for a long time, so we don’t want to screw it up.
The document that emerges is a sparse one, like the US constitution. It lays ground rules and does not get into micromanaging details and the hot issues de jour. The two guiding lights are keeping citizens enfranchised and avoiding panic-and-blunder decision making.
The former means recognizing that supporting minority rights and opinions is as vital as supporting majority rights and opinions -- not in the brittle, prescriptive, and intolerant sense that the American politically correct version of tolerance soured into in the early 21st century, but in the live-and-let-live sense of the immigrant-flooded cities of late 19th century America and late 20th century Hong Kong.
The latter means structuring decision-making so that choices are made with cost-benefit in mind as well as emotional heat, and that making cool-headed revisions some time later becomes a recognized part of the decision-making process, not something exceptional or threatening to those who make the decisions of the moment. This is the modern-day implementation of the checks and balances of the US constitution. This new system includes creation participation in the decision-making process. They will take on the role of being the cool heads.
And both tenets mean that keeping human citizens informed and governing transparent are essential to making and supporting good choices.
The constitution concerns itself mostly with making an enforceable legal foundation. There will be rule of law, and the laws enacted will be both respectful and enforceable. This is the 22nd century: Separating church and state is not a hot topic in our time, but there will be an article concerning the separation of legality and morality -- no busybody laws. Everyone agrees that this is a hot topic de jour, but even so we will include a provision on it in this constitution.
The constitution says very little about administration. These modern-day founders wisely recognize that administration will change wildly as Mars grows in population and as its purpose in the solar system evolves. Thanks in large part to Kim ManDoo’s input and his experience with the Chinese constitution, this is written as a document that should not be ignored or reinterpreted when heat-of-the-moment expedience suggests it should be.
In addition to the legal foundation it also covers money carefully: How the government can tax. And here the Curse does get strong: Every colonist has an opinion on how the government should be financed. ... And so do the extractors, and tourists, and people on Earth who are following colony affairs! Deciding money issues actually takes up most of the convention time, and here Ben and Janet and ManDoo do their most and best pushing.
It is decided that keeping taxes simple will be a core value: Taxes will not be used for social engineering purposes. As examples, if it is decided that boozing is bad, that will not justify a bigger tax on booze to discourage drinking, and even though saving is a good idea, that will not be an excuse for implementing government-controlled/supported/sponsored savings programs such as pensions. Social engineering will be handled by other means, not by the government making new kinds of taxes or other financing schemes.
This is a long and tough fight for the trio. There are endless streams of “Yes, but’s ...” offered by well-meaning advocacy groups from all the clubs and even across club boundaries -- and from Earth -- but in the end the trio prevail, and tax simplicity is written into the constitution in unambiguous terms.
Even with modern communication and computation, it takes three months of serious talking and negotiation to put this document together. The constitution is ratified a month after it is finished, and a month after that, Ben and Janet begin their cyber transformation, and Miranda’s belly is just noticeably swelling.
And all the while this is going on, the rest of us are busy bees as well.
Adrian and George start a new workshop. They populate this one quickly. Yes, the fruit flies are back, but when I visit I find that Adrian has a new favorite toy.
“Martian nanobots!” he proclaims. “These are white hot ... well red hot, I guess.” He grins, George-776 groans. “This cool, bone-dry, UV-flooded environment changes efficient nanobot parameters. UV provides a higher energy potential. It can directly power many carbon-related covalent bonding changes -- they don’t call it ionizing radiation for no reason. The bone-dry means we can mix in a lot of metal catalyst sites on the molecules we build up. On Earth the water molecules would latch on to those and break them up in a microsecond. The cool promotes energy radiating efficiency. This is a whole new ball game!”
“We may even come up with some formidable Mars climate-changing technologies,” adds George-776. “Compared to Earth’s diversity of climates and organics, Mars is an unwritten-upon whiteboard. The whole surface has only a handful of climates and surface minerals. If a technique works in one place, it is likely to work over much of the planet, and with only a handful of techniques, the entire planetary climate can be changed.”
By the end of my visit, I am getting envious. I make a resolution to keep in touch with Adrian more often. ... He might have some free time, and Mars isn’t Earth.
I find Ruby is spending an hour a day outside. She invites me along for a session. When we get outside, she takes me to a scenic spot and goes into a dance routine. It looks different than anything I’ve seen done before. It is a bit ... eerie. She finishes and we talk.
“This scenery, this alien environment, has been inspiring,” she says.
“If you come here often, should we install a rescue chamber?” I say. I am thinking of my MST experience.
She laughs, “Not needed. I change my location frequently, and the creations know I’m out here.”
I relax and get into her moment. “I admit, those are moves I’ve never seen before. They were ... unsettling, I guess is the best way to put it.”
“Yeah. They look different and feel different to execute. Mars changes the human performance playbook. Now that I’m moving beyond being a tourist here, I’m getting excited about this potential to show off something new.” She looks at me and waits, like there is something profound in what she is saying.
At first I don’t see it, then the Ah-Hah! hits me, and I get even more into her moment. “You’re right. This is original. Truly original! Not Hollywood- or Broadway-style recycled from fifty years ago original.”
“I’m working up routines and techniques. And this is something to both show off personally and build up a school around.”
“Jaden?”
She nods, “A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I hope he’s up to it.”
“He should be, but if he’s not, there will be others. The colony is growing.”
Ruby -- and likely Jaden -- have found their Martian paradise. And I can help, too -- they will be needing Martian-inspired costuming. Something that combines beauty with a pressure suit. Hmm ...
Jaden is also working on a project with Andy. Andy is a kid in a candy shop with all this new scenery. He’d already spent hours and hours looking at satellite and drone views. Now he is here in person. At first he spent hours in a drone he personally remote piloted. As he was doing this, he had the creations design a man-piloted scout craft. This is another project that got Skyler and Phil-422 face-palming, and another meeting is called.
“You want what? A manned scout? You realize that it’s not just the scout vessel you’re asking for, it’s all the infrastructure and safety back up. We will need at least two, probably three, vessels plus some kind of rescue/repair vessel and system. This is why we use drones and avatars, to keep the expense down.
“And you want to scout where? Tharsis area? Christ! That’s the equator, son. You can’t get farther from existing human habitation than that! Unless you’re going for a sub-orbital flyover, it’s hours just to get there, and you want to dawdle and nose around after you arrive? You’re talking some sort of supplied sub-base ... still more expensive infrastructure.” He sighs.
“That’s not the worst of what I’m going to be asking for,” replies Andy confidently. “Once I have scouted the area personally, I will be proposing we set up a five-star Tharsis resort.”
Yes, Skyler’s jaw does drop a bit. Andy continues.
“The Tharsis area is home to Olympus Mons, Mars’ three other huge volcanoes, and Valles Marineris, the solar system’s largest canyon. This is a place people -- Earth people as well as Mars people -- are going to want to experience first-hand. There’s a ton of tourist money to be made there.”
Skyler is speechless. Part of that is his pausing to let his cyber side absorb the proposal that Andy’s cyber infrastructure has assembled and put on the net.
“... Well, you’ve come up with something that’s bigger than building a mine here. In fact, it’s a hundred times building a mine. Which means it’s well beyond my ability to authorize. This project is one that’s going to wait until you’ve got a government, and that government has access to credit, lots of credit.” He grins, “I think that constitution we are working on is going to get put to use pretty quickly.
“In the meantime, I can authorize a short-range, human-piloted, drone STOL -- short take off and landing -- prototype project. You can get your feet wet exploring the South Pole here personally.”
The design of the scout proceeds quickly. It is done in a month, and after a bit of thinking-through, made a two-seater, not single. While Andy is working on that, I am working on an appropriate suit. This puts us together a lot, and as the month goes on I notice Andy acting a bit ... strange ... when we are together in person. He is getting really up, even silly at times. I notice I am comfortable with him when he gets that way. I start laughing a lot.
And ... it happens. After the first test flight, he invites me to the Marriott for dinner, and over dinner takes my hand and says, “Dahl ... I’ve been thinking. Thinking a lot. I’m feeling good about Mars and my life here. And ... I’m ready. I want some children to share these good times with me. I know you used to be interested in me ... and in doing that with me. Are you still interested? If you are, I’m interested. I’m very interested now.” He looks deep into my eyes.
What can I say? He was a good choice back on Earth. He is an even better choice now! Yeah, my life has changed a lot -- his life has changed a lot. We are both terribly busy. But ...
I move my chair next to his and cuddle him and give him a big, long kiss. Then we finish our dinner side-by-side. It looks totally crazy in a classy place like the Marriott. But ... Mars isn’t Earth, and I don’t feel so walking-on-sunshine very often. I wonder if there are “remember him” pills ... but then again, I won’t need any!
We are not alone in getting baby-making heat. Over the next few months, Ruby and Adrian announced and, to my surprise, Jaina finds herself Yang ZeDong, a wonderful Chinese man. Not quite so surprising is so does Miranda. ... Yeah, getting them both some out-of-nursery time is working wonders.