Aster Theilen, late the consort of the Mayor of one of the five largest Domes
on Mars, was the one woman who stood the best chance to make changes. The first
change would be to somehow inspire the rest of the planet to donate their
hard-earned, hard-inherited credits to support children and young adults who
had been an experiment in genetic engineering. The Martian Child Foundation worked tirelessly to provide for
children who were supposed to be the future of Mars – who ended up being an
embarrassment to all Humanity.
She looked up toward the surface of Mars. Opportunity was largely underground
with fields, research, recreation and manufacturing under the Dome but still on
the surface. In the center, a vertical shaft plunged nearly a kilometer into
the crust of Mars. The first five hundred meters of the shaft was wrapped in a
gently sloping ramp, broad and nearly transparent to allow the light from the
surface – magnified by Solar collectors – to stream to the floor far below.
Coming down from the Administrative Offices, Hanam vo’Maddux had stopped to
snipe at Aster a bit. The woman was crazy jealous of Aster. vo’Maddux
thought that SHE was the woman for Mayor Etaraxis. In fact, Aster was certain
that the Mayor’s head of security thought that she was The Woman for
Opportunity. Mayor-for-life seemed to be the title she was angling for.
Aster sighed. She didn’t exactly love the Mayor, but it was clear to her
now that she didn’t exactly hate him, either. He was a product of the
environment; a politician no different than the first politician on Earth to
climb out of the primordial ooze and tell a group of people what to do. But
there were some things he was right about. She stood a bit straighter as the
group of children made their way down the ramp. The children’s query marker guru smiling, laughing, and doing his
darnedest to keep the passel of multi-toned kindergartners under control turned
to walk backward and waved to her. The children did the same, smiling and
waving with every bit of energy a kindergartner could muster. Every one of them
was an orphan of a system that had created then discarded them. “No different
than anyone else,” Aster muttered to herself.
Squinting, she imagined what a swirling mass of children would do to woo
the local politicians –especially if they were mixed with the local wealthy. “Sometimes
it’s hard to tell if there’s any difference.” Frowning, she pulled out her
tablet-computer and lifted an image from the screen to make the air glow in
front of her.
There’d be no trouble finding a venue – all she had to do was mention the
Mayor’s name. She could have any place she wanted. But she needed a place that
wouldn’t intimidate the children, either. And something elegant. The event
could echo the Solstmas Ball – but be for common folk as well.
Common folk – what if she ran two events, one for the elite; one for
normal people like herself and her father. She could certainly be a both
places. In fact, she might use one place on the surface, one place underground.
The children could start above, playing in one of the gigantic parks...
By the time she’d started texting the appropriate people, she was
humming. When she got to the Mayor’s office, FardusAH was hard at work. When
she looked up and saw Aster, she wiped he hand through her workscreen and said,
“Your Majesty!”
“I told you to never call me that in public,” Aster said with mock
severity.
FardusAH grinned and said, “Of course, Your Majesty.”
A vividly purple Artificial Human, FardusAH had become one of her few
friends in the Mayor’s Office. She’d be the
perfect person to bounce ideas off of. And the PERFECT person to
institute a bit of rebellion into an otherwise staid occasion. Aster said, “Listen,
I have some...things I have to run by you…”
FardusAH’s eyebrows rose as she said, “Some ‘things’, eh, Your Majesty?
These I can’t wait to hear!”
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