mostly – liking them.
“How’s it going?” said Maguire, leaning in from behind. “You feel at home yet?”
“You know something, Dave? I actually do,” he said. Errant thoughts of a naked Suzanne aside, he was enjoying himself. “I’m enjoying myself,” he said, “for the first time in quite a while, I have to say.”
“I told you, so I did. This is a good family we have up here.”
“Seems to be, it’s a big relief after the reception I got at Canyon City.”
“Ah, all bureaucrats and dead-eyed pioneer types there, most times. Would you believe there was an actual knifing there the other week? The fun’s out in the bases and plants. The city’s well up itself. Calls itself a city, for a start. And it’s not just us out here. There are a number of other research teams out around here, nearly all Marsform.”
“Except for the Chinese,” said Kick.
“Except for the Chinese. And the Indians, but now they’re a blast. They come round once a month to raid our veggie patch. Great curry night, it is.”
“What’s his story?” Holland nodded down the table to where Ito sat eating his dinner methodically, a book open in front of him, the only one not involved in conversation.
“Ito? Ah, don’t mind him, he likes to keep himself to himself. We’ll bring him out slowly, don’t you worry.”
“It is hard on them, the Japanese,” said Suzanne. “It’s hard to know what to say to someone whose entire country has suffered something like that. I suppose that’s why he came. We leave him alone. He works sometimes with me in the greenhouse; he was a gardener in his spare time in Japan before...” She smiled briskly. “And so he is here. He can be quite charming.”
“I’ll bet,” said Kick. His wife hit his arm, only half playfully. For once, he said something sensible. “He’s here because of that. I’ve worked with a lot of them, the Japanese, off world. They’re all on the run from the ruins.”
“There’s the Titan colony,” said Holland. “I hear they’re regrouping up there. Making a fresh start.”
“Aye,” said Maguire doubtfully. “Maybe. I hear something strange is going on there. I hear they’re building a shi –”
“I have been to Titan!” declared Stulynow, who had apparently been to every place in the Solar System you could find human boot prints. “If you think it is cold here, my friends, think again.”
“Why did you come, John?” asked Kick.
People caught on to his question. This must be the question on the base, for conversation stilled down the table.
“Oh, I’m sure he doesn’t want to be talking about that,” said Maguire.
“I don’t know.” Holland poked at his potato. There was no meat. They had chickens here, he’d heard, for the fertiliser, and the eggs, but eating them was strictly forbidden. “No, I really don’t. A fresh start, I suppose, is the most honest answer I have. I got divorced, it took it out of me. And when I was thinking about what I should do next, I thought... I thought that I didn’t like Earth very much any more. Too much VR, too much AI. I wanted to go somewhere where there’d be no bloody machine telling me what to do. And the mess we made...” He shrugged. “Fresh start for me, fresh start for Mars.”
“There aren’t many AI, here,” said Maguire. “Our Cybele is it, in these parts. Oh, there are a few, but they’re mostly near-I or dumb ones; aides, not overseers. Personally, I think they’re frightened. No Grid, y’see, so much of what they are is drawn off the Cloud. Up here, no Grid, so they’re just themselves. Like us, and they don’t like that much.”
“And Marsform! They do not like them,” said Stulynow.
“The company is run by AIs,” said Vance.
“Now let’s not discuss company policy like that tonight,” said Orson.
Stulynow ploughed on. “True, but many of us do not trust them, and this includes the board. They and NASA bought six of the Class Fives. Four went crazy with
“How’s it going?” said Maguire, leaning in from behind. “You feel at home yet?”
“You know something, Dave? I actually do,” he said. Errant thoughts of a naked Suzanne aside, he was enjoying himself. “I’m enjoying myself,” he said, “for the first time in quite a while, I have to say.”
“I told you, so I did. This is a good family we have up here.”
“Seems to be, it’s a big relief after the reception I got at Canyon City.”
“Ah, all bureaucrats and dead-eyed pioneer types there, most times. Would you believe there was an actual knifing there the other week? The fun’s out in the bases and plants. The city’s well up itself. Calls itself a city, for a start. And it’s not just us out here. There are a number of other research teams out around here, nearly all Marsform.”
“Except for the Chinese,” said Kick.
“Except for the Chinese. And the Indians, but now they’re a blast. They come round once a month to raid our veggie patch. Great curry night, it is.”
“What’s his story?” Holland nodded down the table to where Ito sat eating his dinner methodically, a book open in front of him, the only one not involved in conversation.
“Ito? Ah, don’t mind him, he likes to keep himself to himself. We’ll bring him out slowly, don’t you worry.”
“It is hard on them, the Japanese,” said Suzanne. “It’s hard to know what to say to someone whose entire country has suffered something like that. I suppose that’s why he came. We leave him alone. He works sometimes with me in the greenhouse; he was a gardener in his spare time in Japan before...” She smiled briskly. “And so he is here. He can be quite charming.”
“I’ll bet,” said Kick. His wife hit his arm, only half playfully. For once, he said something sensible. “He’s here because of that. I’ve worked with a lot of them, the Japanese, off world. They’re all on the run from the ruins.”
“There’s the Titan colony,” said Holland. “I hear they’re regrouping up there. Making a fresh start.”
“Aye,” said Maguire doubtfully. “Maybe. I hear something strange is going on there. I hear they’re building a shi –”
“I have been to Titan!” declared Stulynow, who had apparently been to every place in the Solar System you could find human boot prints. “If you think it is cold here, my friends, think again.”
“Why did you come, John?” asked Kick.
People caught on to his question. This must be the question on the base, for conversation stilled down the table.
“Oh, I’m sure he doesn’t want to be talking about that,” said Maguire.
“I don’t know.” Holland poked at his potato. There was no meat. They had chickens here, he’d heard, for the fertiliser, and the eggs, but eating them was strictly forbidden. “No, I really don’t. A fresh start, I suppose, is the most honest answer I have. I got divorced, it took it out of me. And when I was thinking about what I should do next, I thought... I thought that I didn’t like Earth very much any more. Too much VR, too much AI. I wanted to go somewhere where there’d be no bloody machine telling me what to do. And the mess we made...” He shrugged. “Fresh start for me, fresh start for Mars.”
“There aren’t many AI, here,” said Maguire. “Our Cybele is it, in these parts. Oh, there are a few, but they’re mostly near-I or dumb ones; aides, not overseers. Personally, I think they’re frightened. No Grid, y’see, so much of what they are is drawn off the Cloud. Up here, no Grid, so they’re just themselves. Like us, and they don’t like that much.”
“And Marsform! They do not like them,” said Stulynow.
“The company is run by AIs,” said Vance.
“Now let’s not discuss company policy like that tonight,” said Orson.
Stulynow ploughed on. “True, but many of us do not trust them, and this includes the board. They and NASA bought six of the Class Fives. Four went crazy with
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