Possible War on Mars ©2014 Walt Barrett
Earth Century 31
Earth Century 31
Segment
11
On
the way up to the war room Jennifer said, “The only real value that
Mars has for us is the rare materials that we mine there. There is
no atmosphere for humans to breathe and not enough gravity to hold
the atmosphere even if we made one. It's very expensive to keep
humans alive on an airless planet and also we don't want to pollute
our own atmosphere with the toxic gases from the ore smelters so we smelt the ore here.”
Molly,
still trying to get over the incredibly wild idea that she would be
going to Mars at all asked, “Then why are we even going there?
Can't you mine the materials here?” Jennifer said, “No, we cannot
find any of the materials that we need to build the high voltage
circuits for the cosmic particle amplifiers that we use to make
power. We use very rare metals and the blue crystals.” Molly asked, “Well
if people cannot live there how do you find all these materials and
then mine them and load them on space ships to bring them here?”
Jennifer replied, “Everything including the metal refining and
smelting is done by advanced robotic machines there on the Planet
because it's so much less expensive in the long run not have to
maintain life support systems. Machines don't need an atmosphere to
operate and by smelting and refining there we save a great deal of cargo space and weight.”
They
entered the war room. Admiral Cruz was talking informally with a
group of officers sitting around a large conference table. Cruz
stopped in mid sentence and said,
"Captain Starfield and Cadet Sterling, welcome. Now that we are all
here I will brief you on the situation. We have extensive mining and
smelting operations on the planet Mars and we have lost contact with
the robot ground operations and the orbiting security ships.” Admiral Cruz continued, “Mars is one of our prime sources of the
giant blue carbon crystals that we use in our water recombining
machines and in our power generators. There's something going on there and we
have to take a galaxy class battle cruiser to be on the safe
side and see what's going on. Does anyone have any questions?”
Jennifer
asked, “Could this mean that we are going to be at war Admiral?”
Cruz said, "There's always that possibility, unless it turns out
that there has been a major power breakdown and if that's the case
we'll have to repair it.”
Admiral Cruz stood up and said, “Captain Starfield will be the mission
leader and if that is all then we'll get on with the preparations.
We leave in one week and in the meantime Captain Starfield will
return to 1910 and put the Molly Stirling replacement Android in
place. That will be all for now people.”
Jennifer
said to Molly, "Lets go to patrol cruiser and make sure it's
fully
stocked, armed, and ready. After we return the Molly Android we will
bring my cruiser here and store it on board in the main hanger.”
Jennifer
said, “My patrol cruiser is parked right nearby and we can
transport over to save time. We can have the Molly Android
transported directly to my patrol cruiser from the Android Works.”
They
transported directly to the control room of Jennifer's cruiser where
they were met by an Android crew member.
Jennifer
Said, “Molly, this is Lieutenant Greg. He is my first officer and
you will find him very helpful.” Molly said, “Hello Lt Greg, it's
very nice to meet you.” Greg Replied, “And you the same Cadet Sterling.”
Jennifer
said, “Greg knows everything there is to know about all the
spaceships in the fleet. It is built into his circuits as we have
built it into your brain upgrades. As we travel he and I will
familiarize you with the entire ship including how to navigate and maneuver it.
We
are waiting for Molly's twin Android to arrive from the Android Works
and then we will be setting course for Earth, 1910, the night that we
picked her up. Make the time 8 PM. Please see that everything is
ready.”
Jennifer turned to Molly and said, “Now Molly, Your Android copy will be arriving soon. It's going to be like having an identical twin sister. Don't let that throw you. The only difference is that she will have all of your memories since childhood, she will know all of your secrets and she also will have all of the advanced circuits that the rest of us have built into our brains. When she walks down that hill back to the farm your family will never tell the difference from you. She will be you. She knows when to get up in the morning, exactly what she is supposed to do and where to walk to get to work. She already knows everyone that you know and by their first name. She also can do your job better than you can and she never gets tired. I want the two of you to spend some time together so she can study the finer details of your voice and mannerisms."
Jennifer turned to Molly and said, “Now Molly, Your Android copy will be arriving soon. It's going to be like having an identical twin sister. Don't let that throw you. The only difference is that she will have all of your memories since childhood, she will know all of your secrets and she also will have all of the advanced circuits that the rest of us have built into our brains. When she walks down that hill back to the farm your family will never tell the difference from you. She will be you. She knows when to get up in the morning, exactly what she is supposed to do and where to walk to get to work. She already knows everyone that you know and by their first name. She also can do your job better than you can and she never gets tired. I want the two of you to spend some time together so she can study the finer details of your voice and mannerisms."
Molly,
being a very bright person said, “Don't worry, I understand
completely. This enhanced brain treatment that you have given me is
excellent. I could never go back to the way that I was."
Jennifer
said, “Great, Your new twin will be here in about an hour. In the
meantime you can get some rest.”
Next
Molly's Android goes back to 1910
Molly's Family Farm in 1910
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