Martian Republic: The Fateful Secret

Chapter 13: Negotiation

Location: Enceladus

Timestamp: 6pm, +8 GMT

"Okay, okay! Don't rush me!" yelled Zijing in exasperation. "Just let me finish!"

Concerned about the Explorer being remotely controlled from Earth, they had asked their software engineer, Zijing to block every single system except the data transmission system from any external sources. Bringing the systems offline had been easy but it wasn't so easy to put firewalls in place to prevent them someone from hacking in and retaking control. Fortunately, the Explorer's software had built-in firewalls in case hacks happened. Unfortunately, they were by default disabled and difficult to enable and configure.

"You'd better make it quick," said Mike.

"You're rushing me again," whined Zijing. "I told you guys no rushing!"

"Okay fine–"

"Got it," said Zijing. "Nearly done. Just one more little thing to do."

A minute later, he finally announced that it was done. The six astronauts looked at each other. This was potentially one of the most, if not the most significant moment, in human history.

"Establishing contact with Bosporos Planum base on Mars and Mission Control on Earth," said Mike as he selected a few icons on the holocomputer.

They had decided to do the meeting in the lab as it was the only room equipped with a meeting table. The table had a holographic projector in the middle and holographic cameras that allowed anyone on the receiving end to view full colour holograms of the six astronauts.

On the hologram, the icon of Mission Control flashed green. The face of Dr. Edwards, the head of the Enceladus Exploration Program came online. The icon of Bosporos Planum base on Mars flashed green and the weary faces of Zerve and Amy appeared next to Dr. Edwards.

"Today we stand before the emergence of a new era. The era of unsolicited access to the edges of the galaxy and possibly beyond. But in order to usher this era in properly, the right way the technology needs to be shared among the human race. Despite vast geographical and cultural differences, Martians and Earthlings must come together to hasten their progress."

Everyone took a moment to digest Mike's short speech. Then Dr. Edwards spoke.

"We Earthlings scrapped together resources and brainpower to get you to Enceladus. Why are the Martians involved? They didn't contribute anything!"

"Yes we did," spoke Zerve in a hard voice. "The hydroponics systems on the Explorer? They were developed and perfected on Mars. And you stole that technology from us. The in-situ oxygen and wastewater recycling systems? You hacked into our databases and took that info a few years ago. There are also a bunch of other stuff like the artificial gravity system and the data transmission systems. The only reason the Enceladus mission is a success is because you stole intellectual property from us."

"What evidence do you have?" Dr. Edwards burst out.

"Data logs in here," said Amy firmly, holding up a chip. "And explain why you sabotaged our bases here, caused our most important refinery to blow up and delayed our helium-3 supply run?"

"There are a lot more sabotages that have been carried out over the years to stall Martian progress and guess what? We have evidence. But we're not going to expose it if the data about the hyperdrive is shared. You know, from my sources on Earth, I found out something funny. You were planning to steal more intellectual property – this time from the aliens and keep it from us even though we indirectly helped you gather them. I'm sure even most Earthlings wouldn't approve of that."

Beads of sweat could be seen trickling down Dr. Edwards' brow.

"But we're open to a compromise," said Amy with a warm smile. "If you stop sabotaging Martian bases, initiate contact as humans and not as Earthlings and share the hyperdrive data, we'll keep quiet about everything."

Secretly, Amy and Zerve did not have as much evidence as they claimed to have. While they had minimal evidence related to the hacking of Martian databases, they did not have any evidence whatsoever of the sabotages carried out. Still, the mere threat, especially balanced against the sheer importance of the hyperdrive was enough to force Dr. Edwards into compromising mode.

He began to tap on his mahogany table, his body stoic, as if the entirety of his body had been petrified save the index finger on his right hand.

Amy, as if she were in a trance, stared fixedly at the screen of her SlatePC, too cautious to move even a centimetre. It was as if the air had turned to glass. One move, and she would be cut.

"Okay. We have a deal," he finally said after a tense minute. "The hyperdrive data will be shared on your terms. We can begin the data transfer processes now."

Zerve and Amy heaved a huge sigh of relief.

On Enceladus, the six astronauts looked at each other.

"Do it," said Mike. "Together as one, we will herald in a wave of innovation and a new era."

Zijing tapped on an icon projected into the air in front of him.

INITIALISING DATA TRANSFER PROCESS...

TRANSFERING DATA | PROGRESS 3%

As soon as the progress hit 20%, Zijing paused the transfer.

"Mars, Earth, are you receiving any data?" he asked.

"Yes," replied Zerve and Dr. Edwards in unison.

"Continue the process," urged Aarav.

Zijing resumed the data transfer process.

"Done. The data are transferred," he said after a minute.

The six astronauts looked at each other. Their job was done. Whatever that transpired next would be beyond their control.

"We did it," Amy whispered as her eyes began to heat up. "We saved Mars today."

"Thank you for the data," said Dr. Edwards. "I promise that Earth will meet the conditions of this agreement. Goodnight, Martians."

They exchanged goodbyes and Zijing ended the holocall.

"Well," said Mike. "Let's just call this a day, shall we?"