Noctis hab-jumpers tumble stolen rover down slope
Hanging out upside down
LABYRINTHIA, Jan. 23 - The stolen rover being driven by three alleged hab-jumpers was heavily damaged when it rolled down a steep slope in Noctis Labyrinthus, volunteer pursuit crews reported Saturday after reaching the site.
While signal data from the rover indicates that environmental systems are functioning, the men have not replied to repeated hails from pursuit crews, Noctis Councillor and Supply Capt. Icario Fletcher said early Saturday as his 10-man rescue tractor was making a slow descent down the 1,900m slope toward the shelf where the rover was lying on its roof.
“They have lights, power and air at least, but we won’t know if any of them were injured and how badly until they talk to us, or we can get into the rover,” Fletcher said. “If they’re still strapped in, they’ve been hanging upside down since Wednesday.”
The rover sent out an automatic emergency signal after rolling down a large part of the slope about 225 km west of the Noctis Grange Hall, Survey Mars reported Wednesday (Jan. 20).
The rover, which had been reported stolen from Ares Port, rolled more than a dozen times before crashing to a halt on a shelf near the bottom of the slope, Survey Mars Geographer Stella Regina told the Chaos Courier.
“We’re keeping an eye on it from orbit, but they haven’t reopened comms so we haven’t heard anything from them,” Regina said. “And yeah, they’re wheels up on the shelf.”
If the three men were wearing their harnesses when the rover rolled, the potential for initial injuries is much less, Regina said.
“They’d likely get a little dizzy from the rolling and bouncing, but they should be okay,” Regina said. “Rovers are built to take a lot of punishment, but people aren’t really built to hang upside down for all that long.”
Five Noctis pursuit crews, three of them volunteers, set out after the rover after the attempted takeover of a family hab about 120 km west of the Noctis Grange Hall, at the eastern edge of the Labyrinth near the western end of Ius Chasma.
The three men allegedly tried to take over a family hab more than two weeks ago about 120 km west of the Grange Hall but fled when the family returned, sealed the emergency hatches and turned down the heat.
Pursuit rovers corner suspects
The family of five returned on Jan. 6 from the New Annos celebration at the Grange Hall when they found the men inside their hab.
The men refused to leave until the family fired a few warning shots at the men’s rover from a mobile laser drill.
“The laser drill was very persuasive,” said Candice Talia, who lives in the new hab with her husband Hobart and three children. “They weren’t really expecting that, and they took off pretty quickly.”
The family hab was not seriously damaged, Talia said by radio.
“They left a bit of a mess inside and damaged an interior hatch, but we fixed that,” Talia said. “But, like everyone else out here, we want to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
Three tractors, including Fletcher’s and another official Noctis crew, were pursuing the men from the north, while two volunteer pursuit crews have reached the scene from the south.
“We asked the volunteers to not take any action until we arrived, so they’re just standing off to block any further travel by the rover,” Fletcher said. “It’s not going anywhere at the moment.”
If the men request help, the volunteers will provide aid, Fletcher said.
The men will likely be turned over to Tithonia Superior Court to face charges on the theft of the rover from Ares Port, Fletcher said, and unspecified charges from Noctis over the attempted takeover of the family hab, which while fully functional remains under construction.
The hab, which is tunneled into a low crater rim, lies in a major east-west graben (channel) that opens north of the Grange Hall, and is planned to be the first of a new settlement.
That’s typical of Noctis where one or two families usually build an anchor settlement that draws other families that build their own and connect them, creating a small village.
“We’re the last house in this valley, two sols west of the closest village,” Talia said. “Some of the bigger villages have emergency shelters, but we don’t, so we essentially leave the garage door open just in case.”
Earthlings may have to wait
Nearly 1,500 ready to make the move
MELAS CHASMA, Jan. 19 - Nearly 1,500 potential immigrants have been vetted on Earth, but the number who actually come to Mars will depend on how many the Valles Marineris cities are willing to sponsor, an official with the former Mars DevCo told local councillors in a remote holo meeting on Tuesday.
Martius Endeavours plans to bring in 500 new workers for its surface and orbital operations in two spaceliners that are scheduled to depart Earth orbit in just over 400 sols and arrive in early January 103 after a flight lasting about 250 sols.
“The workers we plan on bringing have either signed contracts or will soon,” Martius Endeavours Transportation Chief Hartley Adams said in the meeting with councillors from the Tithonia, Ius, Candor, Coprates and Melas.
“We can forward the information on the thousand others to the City and other councils as soon as you determine how many you want to bring in for your own operations and which specific skills you are seekin,” Adams said.
The possible interruption in immigration follows the sudden handover three weeks ago of oversight for residential settlements, development and recruitment of workers from Earth to the Tithonia and other local councils across the Valles Marineris.
The workers Martius is bringing in on the next fleet for its own operations represent both workers filling new positions as well as those replacing workers who are returning to Earth with the June cargo train in 340 sols.
That’s less than half the number the corporation brought in for industrial and orbital positions on the last Earth fleet, which arrived Nov. 30, or 95 sols ago.
That fleet carried a total of 2,500 immigrants, just under 2,000 of whom took up positions on the surface. Of those, roughly 1,200 are now considered City workers rather than corporate employees, Adams said.
The others took up positions at Ares Port itself, in the nearby Martius industrial facilities or in research and scientific posts, some of them sponsored by governments or other organizations.
“Everyone else is now a City employee, however, you wish to categorize that,” Adams said.
Those City workers serve mostly in support positions, such as residential, health, education, environmental, farming, power and construction.
“That covers pretty much everything you need to live on Mars,” said Tithonia Councillor Tiberia Hernandez, head of the City personnel committee.
Almost all of the Ares Port and industrial workers live in the City, and Martius is reimbursing the City for their room and board, though that contract has not yet been finalized.
Who pays the fare, and how?
The question that Valles Marineris councils need to answer is under what terms they they would bring in immigrants.
The corporation would only negotiate an overall agreement on transport and won’t consider individual deals with each of the cities, Adams said, adding an agreement would have to be reached in about 100 sols.
“We have ships set aside, and if we don’t fill them, we’ll put them into other service as soon as possible,” Adams said.
Each starliner can carry 250 passengers, but can be reconfigured to carry cargo.
The corporation will consider trade agreements or loans to offset the estimated 300 kilocredit per passenger cost of the inbound trip
“We’ll all want to avoid going into debt with the corporation,” Ius Councillor Brynn Gibby said, drawing quick agreement from other councillors.
Gibby and City Councillor Hernandez were named to identify the crucial positions that must be filled for each of the Valley cities, and to report back to the joint councils.
“We’re pretty much self-sufficient and our growth is either natural population growth or people moving in from the City,” Gibby said. “So, it’s a different proposition for Ius.”
“Still, we may need or particularly want certain skills, which is true of the other chasmata as well,” Gibby noted. “And, some of the people that have already been vetted by the corporation may specifically want to come to Ius or Candor or Corprates or another chasma.”
Immigrants who want to go directly to chasmata outside the City would need to have skills that fit the needs for the particular chasmata.
“Melas specializes in water mining and refining and aquaculture, so we might look favorably on someone with really outstanding skills, Melas Councillor Vita Ravenhill said.
Coprates Councillor Perseverance Mendez asked whether the corporation was planning to transport people who are paying their own fare, whether to come as an immigrant or as a shorter term resident.
“While the corporation has considered space cruises, we haven’t seen enough demand for it,” Adams said. “It’s a very long journey with a very long layover. If you came on the November fleet, you’d be waiting an Earth year to return with a total travel time of a year and a half.”
Faster rockets under development may make that prospect more appealing, but very expensive, Adams said.
“You’ll have to really want to come to Mars and be willing to pay a lot for the experience,” Adams said. “We don’t see any discount cruises anytime soon.”
Geryon holds a welcome party for air shuttle
Air Mars shuttle drops in to Ius
IUS CHASMA, Jan. 22 - Travelers on the first regularly scheduled Valles Marineris air shuttle flight were treated to a lively celebration Friday evening at the Geryon Agore after skipping from Coprates to Melas and then Ius all in one day.
“Martian cities have been separated by long distances and slow travel for too long,” Ius Councillor Gemma Ayr told the crowd at the welcome party on the terrace at the Geryon Agora Friday evening.
The one-day flight compares to the 25-sol land trip between Ius and Coprates, said Ayr, who joked that she’d been chosen for the welcome speech because of her name.
“This brings Martians closer together, and will increase trade and travel between cities,” Ayr said. “Today’s flight brings us fresh food from Coprates farms and something to enjoy with them from Melas.”
In addition to four dozen passengers from Coprates and Melas chasmata, the shuttle brought in fresh vegetables and fruit from Coprates and ale and frozen fish from Melas.
“Rick’s says they’re the first brew pub on Mars, but we’re going to compare notes,” said Leda Hadar, manager of Melas’ Bottom of the Sea Cantina, who flew in on the Friday shuttle, bringing barrels of their trademark Ancient Ocean Ale. “We’ve been brewing our own ale for some time now, but only people in Melas knew that.”
The best tomatoes and coffee on Mars
Coprates has been leading the Valley cities in agricultural innovation, creating fruits and vegetable varieties that are both hardy and tasty, Coprates farmer and Grange chief Muriel Poona said.
“We’ve got the best tomatoes, but you won’t know that until you taste them,” Poona said. “And we’ve brought you some today.”
The celebration featured Ius electropop group the Rayguns and the Marteño sounds of Las Panteras de Marte, which feature singer Monique Solis, guitarist Hernando Senatobia and accordionist Ignacio Beck.
Friday’s shuttle flight also carried legendary Mars builder Jeremiah Volcan, who is advising the Ius Council on its Geryon expansion project, which will add housing for 10,000 more people at Geryon.
Ius currently has about 23,000 residents, with 11,500 living on Geryon Montes and the rest on the lower slopes and chasma floor.
Volcan is building a vertical city in a pit crater in the Shalbatana Vallis, northeast of Orson Welles, whose terminal is serving as the spaceport for the air shuttle.
The Class 4 shuttle drops down from orbit to Welles on Friday mornings and returns from there on Tuesdays.
On Fridays, the shuttle flies from Welles to Coprates, Melas and Ius, and returns Monday to Candor and Coprates. Tuesday it goes to Welles back into orbit.
Air Mars co-founder and Coprates Councillor Rhian Llewellyn said the group plans to build lighter, larger shuttles and offer more frequent flights.
Those shuttles will enable Air Mars to also land at Tithonia, which currently relies on the Ares Port spaceport about 50 km west of the City.
One of the first crops from the intensively gardened Shalbatana settlement is coffee, and Volcan brought a half pallet of it, shared among Coprates, Melas, Ius and Candor.
Coffee afficionnados can try out the Shalbatana roast at the Café du Mont on the Geryon Agora.
“We’re building a new Mars and we’re going to need coffee to get it done,” Volcan said.
Oudemans seeks closer Noctis ties
LABYRINTHIA, Jan. 23 - A group of long-time residents of Oudemans Crater came to the Grange Hall here to make an in-person pitch for closers official ties with Noctis Labyrinthus at the council’s regularly scheduled meeting on Saturday.
“The corporate reorganization has kind of left long-time Oudemans residents in a quandary,” Oudemans Station manager Dalton Steele told the council. “We’re only a couple hundred people, but we’re more or less permanent residents.”
The residents work as support staff for Oudemans Station and have built farms to supply the station as well as survey and supply train crews.
The community provides temporary housing for visitors as well as supplies for long-distance supply trains, survey and mining crwes.
“We’re not quite as big as the Noctis truck stop, since we’re a little south of the main route through Ius Chasma, but we’ve been doing it just as long.”
The community is seeking to be represented by the Noctis Council for interchasmata matters and in dealings with Martius Endeavours.
Steele pointed to the joint Orson Welles-Shalbatana Council which includes one representative of the Jeremiah Volcan settlement in the Shalbatana Valley.
“We’d want a seat on the Council. We’d be okay with not voting on matters that don’t directly concern us, but we do want to have a bit more backing behind us,” Steele said.
- Mirihi Merced, City Correspondent (In Noctis)
WestHill Pulsars outshine Hab1 Rockets in City Marsball debut
TITHONIA, Jan. 21 - The Hab1 Rockets took a last minute lead over the WestHill Pulsars Thursday, only to fall behind a half-minute later in their Marsball City League opener.
Trailing by one point with 1:04 remaining in the fourth period, Rocket forward Ronaldo Sepulveda put the Hab1 team ahead 72-71 with a two-point comet from 11 meters.
The joy lasted only 28 seconds as his teammate, defender Constantine Lazar cratered, costing the team three points.
The Pulsars hung on for the remaining half-minute to clinch the win over their City rivals with a final score of 71-69 in front of 317 spectators at the new Terrace One Arena in Hab 3.
“It was a great match, and we just held on for the last minute,” Pulsars Captain Jerome Takahashi said. “It was all about teamwork.”
- Deroy Duval, Sports Correspondent.
Arrivals
MARS CAROUSEL, Jan. 20 - The private explorer scout Fortuna arrives in Mars orbit Jan. 40 after a 3 annos (5 year) exploration of the asteroid belt, particularly Vesta, the second largest asteroid after Ceres.
Capt. Bartolomeo Vasco radios that he is seeking to return with a larger ship to establish an exploration base on the asteroid.
Calendar
Valley councils to discuss Earth immigration strategy
Representatives of all the Valles Marineris Councils wil hold a holo meeting to discuss strategy for managing immigration from Earth and potential terms for an agreement with Martius Endeavours to manage recruitment and transport immigrants. Local council halls, live on council video. 18:00 Tuesday Jan. 26
City Council to take up proposal for elected mayor, City reorganization
The Tithonia Council will discuss a proposal for an elected mayor, the status of the city reorganization and a profit-sharing plan for city residents in the new relationship with Martius Endeavours. Council Hall. 19:00 Council Hall. Hab 1 Terrace 8
Valley Liaison meeting held off sine die
A joint meeting of all the Valles Marineris Councils to discuss the appointment of a Valley-wide liaison to manage inter-chasma affairs will be rescheduled to a later, unspecified date.
Dance at the Cubbies
City Residence hosts a weekly dance party outside the Cubbies, or contract worker dormitories Friday, Jan. 29, Cubby Terrace at 18:00 Friday. Hab 1 Terrace 3. All resident are welcome.
“The Lost and Found”
Quirky scifi threedee. Find out where single socks wind up and other odds and oddities, from human to alien Stage 3 Hab 1 Terrace 8 Jan. 28-34, 18:00, 20:00, 22:00
City Social
Mix and mingle with new arrivals and old hands. Acoustic music by acoustic duo Harris and Fitz. Hab 2. Terrace 4, by Tithonia Gardens. Friday 17:00
Dance in the Garden
The Rosettas bring their Marsbeat sound to the Bamboo Garden. You'll dance and have fun. Terrace 2 HabTube 3 Saturday 1600-1800.
Marsball Week 2
Hab2 Dust Devils vs Hab 3 Quasars. 20:00 Thursday Hab 3 Terrace One Arena
- Merry Grace, lifestyle correspondent
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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)
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Photomosaic: Viking Orbiter: NASA/JPL-Caltech