Deep Underground


    Sarsaparilla is now claiming to also be in direct speaking terms with their Angel of Death!"


    discussions about the ethics of what we do. Save that for our spare time!"


    can we do?" said Prakash.


    your account, dear leader."


    sometimes results in something new and useful."


    did not tolerate any competing interference from human''s puny medical instruments.


    Lenny: Sitting in his office


    This Teylon business is getting ever so complicated.


    How did it end up like this? Thirty years it''s been. Three whole decades ago it started.


    Yeah, I remember. I got that email from Laura, who at that stage I hardly knew. And one thing led to another...


    Flashback time for Lenny: The initial discovery, thirty years ago


    Probably just another change in the rock composition. This mob is pretty hopeless, all of this effort based on some dubious gravitational anomalies. If I had known just how sketchy their evidence was, I would have never bothered. Really, they’re a bunch of amateurs, hoping to hit the jackpot.


    Sigh.


    Ten more metres and the drilling rig is out of its range. I can pack up and go back to my normal job. I must remember to cover my tracks well, if they go on doing this sort of thing they are going to get caught - bloody Terrence thinks he''s a computer whiz kid, but he''s left whopping big traces of his computer hacking all over the place. Its only because Mars is going through a phase of shaking off it frontier town mentality that nobody has bothered tracking down such things. And bedding Laura is nice, but I wouldn''t want to be shackled to her on a long term basis - a man needs a bit of variety you know!


    Ah, why has the load dropped off - don''t tell me that there is yet another drill shaft breakage - oh, it''s not.


    This bunch of clowns really did hit the jackpot. And, who knows what that orange speck is, but to just charge off and announce it to all and sundry was a totally stupid idea. Just as well I managed to talk them out of it. I already have them listening to me, I should be able to set myself up as the leader. This is the once in a lifetime chance to make it big! So it looks like I''ll have to stick with them, after all. And as far as company goes, Laura is not bad at all. Not bad at all. I mean, if I need some variety, I can always sneak it on the side.


    Lenny:


    Arnold:


    These sorts of meetings really give me a headache.


    How did I end up like this?


    Flashback time for Arnold: Getting a lot more than he bargained for


    Right! This is coming along nicely; I''ll just put the screws on for the final effect.


    You stupid fool. I own the logistics company involved with that market. It was obvious to me that there was going to be a collapse. Eventually.


    And, of course, sneaking that bug into your accounting computer was a really worthwhile investment.


    Make him despair. Make him grovel.


    This is kind of fun.


    But, from a purely practical point of view, it is a waste not to put those two kids through university. Mars needs all the highly skilled workers it can lay its hands on.


    And, of course, ''Men ought either to be indulged or utterly destroyed''.


    There''s no point in grinding him down, he might one day find the strength to attack me.


    And I can''t go around killing everyone, people will eventually start connecting the dots and it could become a real nuisance.


    He''s actually saturated his shirt, he''s so frightened.


    A perfect situation for ''Appear weak when you are strong.''


    I''m certainly in a strong position here. If I appear to be considerate and generous, he''ll be a loyal worker for life.


    OK! Let''s finish this off.


    Lay on the fake generosity and kindness with a trowel, yep, he''s taking the bait.


    Yep, his kids will get totally immersed into the social life of their new school, and I will make sure that he only gets promotions to other positions at the same location, so even less chance that he might come across some facts here in Verdant that reveal how he was hoodwinked.


    And, meanwhile, his company is an excellent fit for my proposed logistics expansion!


    Time to wind this up and get him out of here.


    Thank God that is over. He practically shook my hand off.


    OK, let''s relax for an hour or so, and just browse the latest snippets of information my little bots have found on the web that might be of use to me.


    So, a group of people from the Sanitation Department have backdated the hiring of some currently unused equipment.


    That''s - interesting.


    A pretty amateurish attempt at covering their tracks, I must say.


    But, why would they do such a thing? I mean, either you hire the machines outright, or you steal them outright and sneak them back afterwards. But to do this half-arsed thing...


    So, what if they wanted to do many searches, and could only pay for one of them? Which means that the last one succeeded? And now they want to publicly claim the results?


    Hmm - They hired mining equipment. So they''re after minerals of some sort. Maybe they found a deposit of gold or platinum.


    If they have, I want a part of it!


    Time to open some gentle negotiations!


    Bloody hell, I certainly got a lot more than I bargained for.


    I had better think things over very carefully.


    And I think Lenny knows exactly what I am.


    Arnold: Finishing his coffee


    Sigh.


    Better get back to work, or otherwise this fucking Teylon business will be the death of us.


    What a mess.


    I can’t even find the energy now-a-days to quote my favourite authors.


    Terrence:


    Yeah, that’s right, that meeting we had a few years ago to decide how to continue the Star Ship program.


    Flashback time for Terrence: Recruiting a star ship captain


    So, that group trying to construct the star ship totally stuffed things up and went bankrupt. Exactly as Arnold had predicted.


    Well, here goes.


    sometimes making deductive leaps of logic on problems that the conscious mind finds intractable?"


    Terrence: Still in his office


    The Artifact: the source of our powers, the source of all of the espers on Mars.


    The Artifact: which we found and kept to ourselves.


    Ah, yes, how excited I was at the thought of the power I would have, how well I would live.


    I kept thinking of all of the wealth that would come from owning the means of access to the ability to implant Esp powers.


    But, really, my dreams of living like royalty were nothing but dreams.


    It''s not all that crash hot being here. We live in total secrecy, we get no recognition from the public at large, most of the privileges we have are really just responsibilities.


    This all sucks.


    I really haven''t achieved all that much, have I?


    Arnold had to go over my attempts to hide the backdating of our rental. And then, both he and Lenny were the ones who completely removed any traces of our renting after we found the Artifact.


    I managed to get the Artifact to work, but it''s only at a very basic level. And I keep getting hints of a deeper, more sophisticated control interface, lying behind those simple numbers we enter to get it to function. But I can''t quite see it. Most likely that girl Adalace will eclipse me there.


    I control the technical side of things, but that''s not all that special.


    History isn''t going to remember me as anything more than just one of the gang that found the Artifact.


    But, at least, history will record me as the one that chose Tau Ceti.


    Let''s hope that it''s the correct choice.


    Let’s hope I am remembered for at least one thing of importance.