Mars City parties for 99ers
What's next for those now off contract?
TITHONIA, Feb. 18 - It was a moveable feast for the thousands of ‘99ers’ whose 3-annos (nearly 5-year) labor contracts expired on Thursday.
The future is full of choices for the 2,783 Earth-born contract workers who arrived with the July 99 supply fleet and are now free to change jobs and leave their City habs.
Some are staying, some are leaving, but those questions were left aside Thursday as most focused on just having a good time to celebrate the 1,670th and final sol (Martian day) of their transportation contracts — not counting the half-annos credit for the voyage here.
City Residence sponsored celebrations all weekend from classical music by City Strings on Thursday to dancing on Friday and Saturday and a bit of opera on Sunday.
Now that the 99ers are officially ex-contract, some said they plan to move to other cities, from Ius to Candor and Coprates, while other want to remain a part of the future growth of Mars’ largest city.
“Some of those 16 hundred sols felt a lot long than others, but I love my work and I love it here with all the gardens and ponds,” geologist Drya Albion said Friday at the weekly City Social near Tithonia Gardens in the HabTube’s second section. “As a geologist, I get to go outside and explore more than a lot of other people, so I don’t feel locked into a small place.”
Over the last two annos, Albion’s work as taken her to a variety of places in the Valles Marineris as well as Noctis Labyrinthus and even Arsia Mons, the southernmost of the Tharsis volcanos to the west of the Labyrinth.
“That’s not to say that I wouldn’t mind visiting Ius and Geryon or Corprates for a holiday, but not till we have a quicker shuttle service,” Albion said. “I’ve had enough slow motion sightseeing.”
That’s not true for Ares Port supply specialist Ellison Jones, who says Friday marked the countdown to his new job with a cargo train running between the orbital shuttle port and all of the Valles Marineris cities.
“The most I’ve seen of Mars is the view from the orbital shuttle, and I can’t wait to get the ground-level view of the chasmata,” Jones said later at the Friday dance at the Cubbies, or contract worker dormitories, where the Rhumba Cats and City Samba kept almost everyone moving.
Jones picks up his position with the cargo train in 10 weeks, and expects to be on the road for more than 100 sols on his first trip to east to Ius and Coprates and back west toward Candor and Melas.
“I’ve been to Noctis a few times, but that’s just a few sols drive, I’m really looking forward to the long-distance drives and pretty much a tour of all the Valley cities,” Jones said. “I want to see the cliffs and craters up close. I want to just move around.”
That said, a friend pulled a smiling Jones out to the dance floor for some samba.
City girls plan to stay
The celebration got back into gear on Saturday afternoon with the Rosettas playing their Marsbeat tunes at the WestHill Sky Terrace at the top of the City’s original section, which looks out over the 4.8 kilometer habitational tube
‘Yes, I’m going to Geryon,” nutrition specialist Portia Damariscotta said between dances. “I have a few friends there and there just seem to be more opportunities. I’m a bit locked in to my job here, and I want to spread my wings a bit.”
Damariscotta has been negotiating a new job in Geryon, which is undergoing a massive expansion project, and plans to move as soon as possible once that’s locked in.
“To be truthful, I’ll move even if I don’t get this job,” Damariscotta said. “I’m dreaming of opening a little café of my own, whether in Geryon or Ius, and they’re just more open to it there than in the City.”
The new City Council has taken a more open stance toward private business, but the pace has been slow.
“I’ve been thinking about this for a thousand sols,” Damariscotta said. “Really, I’m just ready to go now.”
The biggest party took place Saturday night at the City Speakeasy and the terrace outside by the Bamboo Garden in Hab 3 where more than a thousand people, 99ers and others, gathered.
On a break between sets, Samba Marte singer Nia Lara said she was enjoying the party, but will have to wait 1 annos and 12 weeks before she goes ex-contract in March 103.
“I got here in September 100, so I have some time to go,” said Lara, a City Residence manager. “But really, I love it here in the City. Yeah, I’d like to travel a bit when it gets easier, but this is home.”
Atmospheric specialist and 99er Annis Nanrerl agreed.
“I’ll enjoy the freedom, but I’m going back to work on Tuesday,” Nannerl said. “I’m a City girl at heart. This City.”
Hotel on wheels gets ready to roam
Candor caravan couple take a detour
CANDOR CHASMA, Feb. 14 - While many Valles Marineris residents welcome the new air shuttle, those who crave a slower pace can now book passage on a dedicated overland passenger train service that gets moving next week.
“It’s essentially a moving hotel,” says co-founder Giorgi Andrio, a long-time cargo caravan engineer. “The rooms are small, but not as small as the spaceliners, and far more comfortable.”
Andrio is starting the passenger train with his wife, Katya Celestina, who handled cargo and scheduling for the caravan they ran for 10 annos with their two children.
“It’s really gotten started because of the Air Mars shuttle,” says Celestina. “It makes it possible to take the overland route to Melas, that’s 11 sols from Candor, spend a few days and take the shuttle back in an afternoon.”
The weekly Air Mars shuttle launched in January with weekly Friday service from Orson Welles to Coprates, Melas and Ius, and return service on Mondays to Candor, Coprates and Welles.
”We have the experience and most of the equipment, but we modified the cargo cars into passenger habs that can comfortably host two adults and a couple kids,” Celestina says. “We have the dining car, we call it the caboose, where guests can meet for meals.”
Until now, people wanting to take the land route between Valley cities had to take an empty crew berth on a cargo train, or take on a working slot.
“We had a number of quests who took working slots,” Andrio says. “That does help to overcome the boredom of staring out at the rusty dust as the cargo train crawls across the landscape.”
“But we realized that people have been here for a long time without seeing much outside of their home cities, and want a way to travel around,” Celestina says. “People can book habs for one leg, and take a shuttle back if they can get the reservations.”
The first train will have six passenger tractors each with four guest habs, using a design by Orla Calaveras, who with her partner Luis Roving shipped themselves in a cargo container aboard the cargo ship Pallene that arrived with the November fleet.
Calaveras, is now working as a designer with the O’Ceileachair (O’Kelleher) Group.
Rooms with a moving view
“Her habs seem roomy, despite the size, and they’ve got everything,” Celestina says. “Everything folds out and folds back in. You have a sitting room—with a view—and presto it’s a bedroom.”
All told, the six passenger tractors can carry up to 48 adults, plus children.
The caravan will also have four cargo cars, one of them self-propelled to serve as a back up tractor.
It’s not just the shuttle that made the timing good for the start-up, Andrio says. The couple’s two children have just taken up apprenticeships, one working in aquaculture in Melas, the other in construction in Coprates.
While the duo envision a regular route around the Valley, they say they can modify that to accommodate demand.
“It’s roughly a hundred sols round trip from Tithonia to Coprates,” Andrio says. “If demand looks better, we can space it out with repeat runs between say Tithonia and Ius/Geryon.”
They’re going to coordinate with the shuttle to the extent possible, and expect demand to actually increase as the new larger, lighter shuttles come into service sometime next annos.
“With Katya’s experience, we can sort out shuttle bookings for our guests,” Andrio says. “There’s a lot of demand for the shuttle but for people who plan ahead, it’s very doable.”
The passenger train departs on its first trip on Monday with the 11-sol trip from Candor to Melas, and than 14 sols eastbound to Coprates, where it will turn around for the westbound trip back to Melas and on to Ius/Geryon.
“We’ll stop for a day or two in each city, but we’ll take a longer break at Geryon,” Celestina says. “We want to see what’s been going on there.”
City Council swears in mayor, names new president
Council mulls City shuttle port
TITHONIA, Feb. 16 - The City Council swore in long-time council member Claude Paddingbury as Tithonia’s first mayor on Thursday and voted 5-0 , with one abstention, to elect Luca Matteo as council president to serve out the remaining term.
In addition, the Council set a Feb. 35 as the date for the election to replace Paddingbury as a councillor, just two days under three weeks. Candidates will have to register by next Thursday, Feb. 23.
“I’ve been working unofficially since Monday, but tomorrow, I can unlock my office,” said Paddingbury, who had served on the Council for nearly 12 annos after being first elected in 90.
“It is a great honor, and a humbling one,” Paddingbury said after officially agreeing to the terms of office. As mayor, Paddingbury is responsible for managing all city functions and reports to the City Council.
“I want to add that I see the whole city as my office, from the industrial area to the Sky Terrace at the top of WestHill to the end of the third habtube,” Paddingbury said. “Now that I have a full-time government job, I’ll try to be as available as possible.”
The only abstaining vote for Council President was Matteo, who was handed the gavel by Paddingbury, with whom he has often sparred verbally in council meetings.
City shuttle up next
“The next order of business,” Matteo said banging the gavel a moment later, “is a proposal by Councillor Joshua Asta to consider adding a local air shuttle port to Tithonia.”
The City currently relies on the Ares Port orbital shuttles run by Martius Endeavours, but does not have a separate landing place for the Air Mars intercity shuttles that began service in January.
“We can go up to the Carousel, drop down to Welles about 1,200 kims (km) east and then fly from there to the other cities, but we can’t fly to or from Mars’ largest city, which is strange, inconvenient and limiting,” Asta said.
Asta, who is also head of the city planning commission, suggested that Tithonia Building Chief Shigeru Kashira explore possible sites for a shuttle landing port, in cooperation with Martius, the corporation that built Tithonia and still controls orbital traffic from the surface.
“We could build a shuttle port designed for the newer light shuttles adjacent to the north end of the fourth section of the HabTube, whose overall structure is now being printed,” Kashira said. “Or we could build it between the Fabbrica (industrial area) and the City.”
A site near the Fabrica might prove more attractive for the Martius, since it would enable the corporation to more readily move people around the Valley, Councillor Beata Bakken said.
“We already have the tube to the industrial area, so it would be easy for City residents as well,” Bakken said.
As mayor, Paddingbury said he would volunteer to approach Martius officials on the matter.
“They’ll be wary of any impact on orbital traffic, and remain somewhat jealous of their prerogative over off-surface travel, Paddingbury said. “They might prefer to have it on the far side of our ridge.”
Asta noted that Ares Port is sheltered in a separate channel with 3,300m walls and would be well shielded form any local air traffic.
Separately, Councillor Herald Severus asked that in the conjunction with an air shuttle port, the city revisit a proposal to remodel a little used exploration station on a transverse slope about 30 km east of the City.
“We had proposed in September to remodel that as a holiday area for workers for short holidays outside the City in order to make it more attractive for trained workers to remain here rather than move elsewhere in the Valles,” Severus said.
The proposal got overlooked as the November elections approached. “It was a good idea then and it’s still a good idea,” Severus said.
The Council would revisit the proposal at next week’s meeting with a report from Mayor Paddingbury and Kashira, Matteo said.
Quasars put one in the win column against the Orbits
TITHONIA, Feb. 16 - Everyone’s a winner now in the City Marsball league.
The Hab 3 Quasars held on to win against the late-breaking Ares Port Orbits in front of a vocal crowd of 367 at the Terrace One Arena in Hab 3.
“The crowd was definitely a factor, Quasars forward Shivam O’Brian said. “We had a big Hab 3 crowd and they just kept us going through the fourth period.”
The Quasars improved their winless record to 1-2 with the 73-70 victory, while the Obits added another loss to make it 1-2.
The Hab 3 side put up an early lead and kept adding to it, putting them ahead by 11 midway through the third period.
The Orbits woke up when the Quasars built their lead into double-digits.
“It was then or never, and we started taking more shots and landing more,” Orbits Captain Jamie Xavier said.
The Ares Port side whittled the lead down to three in the last minute, but the Quasars got possession and kept it to score their first win.
At the end of the round three, four teams are tied at 1-2, with the Hab 1 Rockets in second place with a 2-1 record and the WestHill Pulsars leading with a spotless 3-0 record.
The Quasars will hope for momentum as they get a quick turnaround and will face the Fabrica Sprockets to kick off round four next Thursday, Feb. 23
- Deroy Duval, Sports Correspondent.
Calendar
Rest camp for City workers?
The City Council will revisit a propsoal to establish a holiday camp for City residents on a ridge overlooking the City and eastern Tithonia Chasma. Council Hall, Hab1 Terrace 8 Thursday 19:00
Noctis wants a shuttle port, too
The Noctis Labyrinthus Council will discuss building an air shuttle port near the Grange Hall at its fourth-Saturday meeting. Saturday Grange Hall 14:00
It’s a New World
City Strings plays selections from Dvorak’s New World Symphony. Mariners Hall. WestHill Terrace 4. Thursday. Friday 1300, 1600 and 1900.
Love is a rebellious bird
City Singers and City Strings join up as Opera Tithonia to bring selections from “Carmen,” including Habanera and Toreador. Stage 1 Hall, Terrace 8, HabTube 1, Sunday 15:00
“Winter is Calling”
A hard-edged detective sets up in the Belts. A Space Noir threedee. Stage 3 Hab 1 Terrace 8, Feb. 23-29, 18:00, 20:00, 22:00
The Rosettas
The Rosettas get the Marsbeat groove going. WestHill Sky Terrace. It's up at the top. Saturday 1600-1800.
Cubby Samba
City Residence hosts the weekly Cubby part with the Rhumba Cats. Friday, Cubby Terrace at 20:00 Friday. Hab 1 Terrace 3. All resident are welcome.
Ray Guns
Eclectic electric trio. Geryon Agora. Friday 21:00
Geryon Song Share
Acoustic players swap songs. Geryon Agora. Two sessions. Saturday 16:00, 20:00
Coprates Swing Session
Kick up your heels at Schiapparelli Hall. Friday 18:00
City Social
Mix and mingle with new arrivals and old hands. Hab 2. Terrace 4, by Tithonia Gardens. Friday 17:00
City Farmer’s Market
Saturday. Stalls available by appointment. Fabrica (Industrial) Tube Terminal Saturday 0900-1500
Geryon Stuff Swap.
Find your stuff a new home. Find new stuff for your hab. Two items per person. Geryon Agora. 13:00-15:00.
Marsball Week 10, Round Four
The Hab 3 Quasars open round four of City Marsball play against the Fabrica Sprockets. Both teams are 1-2. Thursday 20:00 Hab 3 Terrace One Arena
- Merry Grace, lifestyle correspondent
Classified Ads
SHIP REFITTING, BREAKING All craft, parts and refurb. PONTUS 100 751
BORING HEADS Diamond durable. Get the job done. CANDOR 286 49762
JUMP START. Tractor Repair. Mobile unit available. If we can reach it, we can fix it. NOCTIS 260-22098
DUST BUNNIES. Turn dust into dirt. Best for plants. MELAS 285-78329
SURFSUIT Refurbishing. Fabric and boot repair, seal replacement, visor refurbishing, comms upgrades. COPRATES 297-14210
SHUTTLE AGENTS, MECHANICS for InterChasma terminals. PONTUS 100 763
CARGO HANDLERS. Space experience required. Contract exemptions considered. PONTUS 100 419
WELDERS. Experienced welders seeking space yard qualification. Ex-contract only. PONTUS 100 639
CONSTRUCTION All specialties. Some outside. Ex-contract only. GERYON 278 68034
AG ENGINEERS Hydroponics, aeroponics. Ex-contract only. IUS 278-71892
APPRENTICES Recycling systems. 8 annos and up. IUS 278 98559
APPRENTICES Metal smith, forging, casting, 8 annos (14 years) and up. URBS 269-37728
APPRENTICES Fabrics production, design. 8 annos and up. URBS 269-98523
APPRENTICES Ceramics. 8 annos and up. URBS 269-98523
APPRENTICES Environmental systems. URBS 269 81447
SPACE CAMP. Get ready for orbital work. All ages. ARES PORT 268 00910
BALLROOM DANCING Let's Rumba! URBS 269 49144
YOGA. Get the kinks out. IUS 278-43256
DANCING. All styles for adults. Hab 3 Rec Center. URBS 269 10311
STRENGTH Training for trainers. COPRATES 295 04716
Send all correspondence to 'editor' at this site
The header photo is the iconic mosaic of the Valles Marineris hemisphere of Mars from 2,500 km above the surface taken by the Viking Orbiter. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)
The Candor Chaos Courier, Candor Chaos, Valles Marineris, Mars
The Chaos Courier gets you over the rough spots
Future News from Small Town Mars
Copyright © 2026, M. Fitzpatrick, all rights reserved
Photomosaic: Viking Orbiter: NASA/JPL-Caltech