This is a story of the land on Mars, the love of it, and those who fought over it.

          - from the inside dust flap

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        For ten years, she had been without any feeling for Earth, neither like nor dislike. She just loved Mars, and everything about it, especially her home and family, and the sheer magnificence of the Leaf Valley region. She was determined never to leave Mars, not without a fight at any rate. But now she was beginning to develop a dislike for Earth and the aggressive ways of its peoples, the product perhaps of both the CIA's attempt to kill them ten years earlier, and now the probable attempt of the E.U. mission, disguised as a friendly good-will mission, to force them off the planet at gunpoint, or perhaps arrange for them to have an accident if they refused to go.

          - from Chapter Three: Preemptive Strike

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        Whatever might be said about the character of Captain Richard Derk, there was no doubt that he was a man of courage. Derk, like all his ancestors, when confronted with a situation where his very future lay on the line, even when the odds were against him, would wade into battle against any foe, with every ounce of strength and strategy at his command. It was not hard to imagine this determined Norman baron, armored in his pressure suit against the elements, sword in hand, slashing and cutting his way through the labyrinth dunes that lay between him and the governorship of the first colony on Mars.

          - from Chapter Fifteen: Go for Launch

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        Most places, the descent from the edge of the crack to the bottom was a sequence of alternating precipices and shelves, but not here. Here the shelves breaking up the precipice were practically non existent, so that there was essentially just one sheer cliff all the way down to near the pit bottom. The two geologists were well away from the ill-defined edge of the crack, and so did not give any thought to the dizzy precipice close by, and the awful drop into the pit. Neither of them had any intention of going close to the edge. Astrid and Vince concentrated instead on the gently sloping escarpment they were walking across.

          - from Chapter Sixteen: Snakepit Crack

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        This was a further blow to American pride. The U.S. had tried hard to be first to Mars to rescue the settlers, but had failed, and now the Europeans were going, with the prize was just sitting there, waiting to be snatched.
       The reaction of the U.S. President was 'over my dead body', or words to that effect. The projected ESA mission made him even more determined. He would not allow the E.U. to get control of Leaf Valley, even if he had to use the military to prevent it.
       And that is precisely what he decided to do, within days of the announcement of the ESA rescue mission. A secret military Mars mission, born of necessity, and the first ever, was in the works shortly after. It would be armed, and scheduled to arrive on Mars in 2048, but one month before the ESA mission. Neither NASA nor ESA was aware of its existence.

          - from Chapter One: High Stakes

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        "...We fight it. We defend our homes and this valley—our Plan A, the first line of defense. We start defensive operations tomorrow. The enemy's on our doorstep, poised to strike. But since we're outnumbered and outgunned, we may be overwhelmed, and may not be able to stay here ..."

          - from Chapter Twelve: Hostile Intent

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       Before long, the procession was progressing between the high escarpment walls that bounded the southern stretches of that great valley. The escarpment wall to the left was in shadow, while that to the right glowed bright orange.
        Although the escarpment walls on each side were as much as two miles away, so high were they that they shut out a considerable amount of the sky on either side. That morning, the massive walls seemed to sit watching, pondering and puzzled, silent monuments to the eons of time that had shaped them, and the eons yet to come.

          - from Chapter Eleven: Laid to Rest

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        ...There was only a jumble of mesas with a variety of shapes. Sometimes the nearest mesa wall was quite close, sometimes farther away. The terrain here was so complex it almost defied description.
       They did have a sense of that complexity from the navigation units, and were thankful for the road. Without it, they could not have found their way. They were now journeying through the labyrinth region of western Kasei Valley, a bewildering maze of small interconnecting valleys, all of them looking very much alike, and more filled with sand dunes than anywhere else on Mars. This was clearly no place to be after dark in open buggies, especially on a cloudy night, with no satellite link, nor any stars to help with navigation.

          - from Chapter Eight: The Labyrinth

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       Suddenly, the unmistakable fiery trail of an in-coming space vehicle appeared beyond the escarpment wall to the west. The twelve-man ESA lander was streaking across the sky, heat shield glowing, as it burned its way down through the upper atmosphere.
       The onlookers on the shelf watched in awe, as four large colored parachutes suddenly blossomed in the pink sky, further slowing the machine's continuing descent.
       Soon the lander was near enough for the onlookers to make out its shape. It was a squat cylinder, with six tall rocket cylinders equally spaced around it. There was a cluster of three rocket motors in each rocket cylinder.
       The onlookers now witnessed the spectacular sight of the lander approaching the Martian surface, with its silvery metallic surfaces gleaming in the sunshine, and three of its six rocket motor clusters blasting long jets of flame downward, powerfully braking the final stage of the descent. Each rocket cluster sent out its flaming jet, with exactly the right thrust, and at exactly the right angle out from the vertical—precision thrust vectoring—to keep the craft stable in the critical landing phase.
       Then, a hundred feet above the landing pit, the lander stopped for some twelve seconds, hovering, its rocket motors blasting.

          - from Chapter Two: Face to Face

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        [She] was not religious, but as a scientist, she had a profound knowledge of natural processes, particularly biological processes. She had also developed a deep understanding of Buddhism, particularly Zen Buddhism, through her curiosity, learning, and ten-year association with Dr. Sato. This knowledge of both natural processes and Zen had imparted to her a grasp of the mystery of human existence, the mystery of the human consciousness, of its coming into being and going out of being. It was a mystery that science and reason so far had been unable to unravel, and which to her was the basis of all religion.
       It thus seemed to her that the dead could best be honored among the living by allowing them to lie, prior to burial, in a special place set aside for the contemplation of this mystery. There was only one place on Mars where that was possible—the Zen monastery on Outlook Shelf.

          - from Chapter Ten: Aftermath

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        It did look hopeless. Still, she had great faith in her husband. She knew he could manage risk better than just about anybody, and, she felt certain, better than any of the twelve in the habitat three miles away. She knew that if there was any hope, it had to be with her husband.
        Perhaps it was just as well at that point that she had not grasped that although her husband might be a brilliant engineer, in matters of strategy he was no match for Captain Richard Derk. She would get a foretaste of that before the evening was out.

          - from Chapter Three: Preemptive Strike

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        The sight even impressed Jose and Monique. Nevertheless, both of them, largely because of their military training and cautious natures, remained uneasy about the further delay. Although neither of them voiced any additional objections, they were both keenly aware of their level of exposure to danger. They were to journey far from base with a limited air supply, in buggies with limited battery power. They both knew there was a distinct possibility of delays that could force them to deal with unfamiliar terrain in the dark, before reaching the northern entrance to Leaf Valley.
       Even these two could have no inkling, however, of just how well founded their concerns were. They were unaware of how treacherous Hazard Valley could be, or of just how dangerous was the labyrinth region lying in wait at the western end of Hazard Valley, through which the road passed, on the final stretch of their journey.

          - from Chapter Eight: The Labyrinth

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        ... Derk's face had changed completely. All the color had left it, and his brow was deeply furrowed. He did not sit down, but remained standing beside his chair, shaking slightly, and trying to reassert control of himself. He had obviously had a shock.
       ... Normally he could keep control of himself in an emergency, but the news he had just received was not merely bad. It was worse than anything he had ever envisioned happening.

          - from Chapter Seven: Forlorn Cry

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        Unfortunately, the rover's global terrain database for navigation could not help the unwary traveler much in the enticingly beautiful chaotic terrain of the labyrinth, and could even mislead. Many of the short labyrinth valleys, breathtakingly sculpted, looked very much alike. This fact, combined with the spectacular sand dunes on the valley floors, and either blowing sand and dust when there was a wind, or late morning and early evening ice mist when there was not, made it all too easy to mistake where you were, lose track of the way you had entered, and end up lost in the labyrinth. And because the many mesa escarpment walls easily blocked surface radio signals, you could not radio for help.

          - from Chapter Four: The Canyon Road

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        "It's unbelievably beautiful," said Sheila. "I always thought a really beautiful place had to be green, and rolling, with hills and valleys and lakes, and the sea pounding on rocks and beaches—"
        "You mean like Ireland?"
        "All right, I'm prejudiced," said Sheila. "I always thought a place had to be something like that to be really beautiful. But this is an altogether different kind of beauty, a rare red beauty, and so quiet and peaceful too."
        "I agree," said Don, "it's one continuous pleasure just to look at it. I could stay here forever."
       "But pleasure isn't the only feeling I get looking at it," said Sheila. "I also feel I'm like a fly that's just landed on an exquisitely beautiful spider's web—waiting for the spider to show up."

          - from Chapter Five: King's Ransom

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        "You knew. You knew it would knock me off my feet."
        "Guilty. But I thought it would be better if you learned from experience. Now you know why those military types knelt down and dug in last night to fire these weapons, and why they were out practicing first thing. It's much harder to fire a gun on Mars than on Earth. When the gravity's low, the turning force on the upper body, or the torque, when you fire a weapon, is much greater than on Earth. So it's easier for the weapon recoil to topple you. And this gun has a pretty good recoil force anyway—two hundred rounds a minute—almost like a small rocket motor. And our backpacks make the torque effect even worse."

          - from Chapter Four: The Canyon Road

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        "But if they come after us, they'll have to drive with their lights on, so I'll see them. They'll see my lights too, of course, but they won't know it's only me. You and Dr. Sato will keep at least two miles ahead, out of range. They won't want to shoot anyway, because they'll want the rovers undamaged. I'll just fire a warning nanobullet every so often. That should keep them from getting too close."
       "You think it'll be enough?"
       "There's a good chance. Anyway, it's all we can do. Without the nanoguns we wouldn't have a hope. Any pursuers in buggies will not be anxious to have a nanogun shell exploding above their heads. They dare not come too close."

          - from Chapter Seventeen: Fugitive Path

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        Astrid Larsson was primarily a structural engineer, but had significant expertise in geology. During the walk, even the normally imperturbable Swede sometimes got quite excited at what she saw. ...
       "I am certain the total deposits are enormous."
       "How can you be so sure?" asked Jurgen Eindorf.
       "The same way Columbus was sure he had discovered a large continent when he saw the mouth of the Mississippi River," answered Astrid.
       "Because only a continent could supply such a lot of water, I suppose," put in Claude Bertrand, the structural engineer, speaking with a strong French accent.
       "Yes," said Astrid....

          - from Chapter Five: King's Ransom

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        But far more significant for the settlers would be the long-term impact of the landing of Captain Richard Derk's mission. It would change everything. The old days, when the settlers had the planet to themselves, were now gone, never to return. Before very long, another Mars would be born of the agony they would have to endure, and the searing pain of that birth would reach across space and torment millions of people on Earth, high and low, rich and poor.

          - from Chapter Two: Face to Face

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        " ... They can be set off in the usual way, and I can set any one of them off, any time, by remote control. They're quite deadly, don't you think?"
        At that moment, there was an explosion, not far from the road, about half a mile ahead, on the right side. Rocks and stones flew about a hundred feet into the air, out of a huge dust cloud. Derk and Jurgen heard the muffled thump disturbing the thin air.
       "Quite," said Derk.
       "Oh, by the way, I wouldn't recommend trying to clear these mines. They're quite unstable. The slightest touch, you know. ... "

          - from Chapter Fourteen: The Fortress

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        Dr. Sato drove as fast as he dared, but at little more than twenty miles an hour. Any faster was too dangerous that night, given patches of ice mist, the rolling and winding road, and ugly, angular rocks lying on the canyon floor on either side. The hot air defrosters were full on, keeping the cold insides of the front windows clear of condensation frost from moist air inside the rover.
       The Zen master knew the lower reaches of this road intimately, and had a map of the terrain on both sides of the road inside his head. He could instantly recall the shape and size of every valley, canyon and mesa on each side of the road. He thus had no need for the terrain map and perspective screens on the dash in front of him, and these were turned off. He merely had to be mindful of the reading on the odometer, to know exactly where he was with respect to adjacent valleys, canyons and mesas—second nature to the Zen master, with his extraordinary Zen awareness of the planet.

          - from Chapter Nine: Distress Signals

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        Any other person, who had done what Astrid had just done, might have been sentimental at the sight, and could be forgiven for having a tear or two glisten the eyes. But not Astrid. She truly was a cold fish, devoid of sentimentality. She did have emotions, however, like any other woman. But she profoundly respected justice, and considered it, like the Greek philosophers of old, to be the basis of all that is right and good in society. She would lie, on the rare occasions where telling the truth would lead to injustice, and tell the truth, if lying led to injustice, as it usually did.

          - from Chapter Seventeen: Fugitive Path

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        Richard Derk too was mostly thinking about the garden compound, but along completely different lines—lines of power and control.
       He was a man who never did anything himself. He never used his hands for work, other than to hold a gun or drive a vehicle when he had to, nor did he ever do technical work with his head, which he reserved for strategy considerations involving people. He believed in using the hands and technical brains of others.
       He believed in commanding others, and in having them do the actual physical work. He was actually inclined to despise those who worked with their hands, as was common among those of his class. This did not mean he was ineffective, for he had the capability to select and surround himself with men and women who not only could but would do at his command.
       Every single person in his crew was highly effective, and could do things very well.

          - from Chapter Six: The Glass Compound

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       The cairn these three built that day remained standing, untouched for many decades, except by the abrasive, sand-laden, labyrinth winds. In time, a monument to the early explorers of Mars would be built on the spot, and would stand watch over a major transportation artery than ran down the valley, protected from errant dune tongues by huge glass sand guards.

          - from Chapter Ten: Aftermath

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        ... she knew she had just witnessed a nanobullet explode, and knew exactly what it was. Inside the large bullet was a tiny nanocomputer, a computer on a semiconductor nanochip that could explode the bullet after it had traveled a set distance. The bullet's shrapnel could thus kill an enemy sheltered behind a wall or rock. On Mars, a single exploding bullet could kill a dozen people by puncturing their pressure suits.

          - from Chapter Three: Preemptive Strike

Copyright (c) Thomas William Cronin, 2002. Reproduction by permission only.