Emergency Meeting

DATE: Year 308-B, Sol 476

LOCATION: The Old Hotel, New Paris (Mars)

The worse the news at an NEC emergency meeting, the better the food and amenities. There had been more and more emergency meetings to the point where they’d lost meaning. Real emergencies were handled in special extraordinary meetings.

Vanderpool stood on the balcony of the domed Old Hotel, one of the oldest extant structures in the New Paris Colonies. Below him, the pressurized city was a grid of red dust and expensive glass.

Inside the ballroom, the delegates of the New Earth Consortium were arguing about water again. One of the aquifers had dropped another five percent. How to cut the rations required a lot of negotiations.

-Getting some air? a voice said to Vanderpool.

Vanderpool turned. Standing in the shadow of the archway was Denny Denbigh, the Chief of Staff for the NEC President. He held a glass of real wine.

-Just watching, Vanderpool said, gesturing over the balcony. As a Director of the Earth Zionist Movement, he wore the simple, homespun wool of his order, but it was tailored by the best weavers on Mars.

-The agrarian bloc is ready to riot, Denbigh said. If the President doesn't announce a solution to the water crisis by tonight, the coalition falls. I’ll need a new job.

-Chaos is bad for business, Vanderpool noted.

-Speaking of chaos, Denbigh said, lowering his voice. -What happened on Venus?

Vanderpool didn't blink.

-I thought that was a training accident.

-Warden May is making noise at Checkpoint Zero, Denbigh said. He claims MTC ships fired on your refugees after the arrived in Venus. But it was some kind of refugee scheme?

-They’ve got one of our rogue captains, Clinton.

Denbigh leaned in.

-If that story breaks while we’re fighting over water, the administration collapses.

-It sounds like you’ll need a tribunal to figure it all out.

A third man stepped onto the balcony. He was large. It was Senior Vice President of External Affairs Grove of the Martian Trading Corporation. The MTC didn’t usually send such high ranking officials to emergency meetings. He was here for the two of them.

-We can't have a tribunal, Grove said. The market is too fragile.

-You can fix it, Vanderpool said. We don’t have to lodge a formal complaint about the refugees, right Denny?

-The MTC was using the EZM, Denbigh began, to funnel people to Earth. How do you think that’s going to go over? And you’re not going to complain?

Grove looked at the EZM chief commissioner. He hated dealing with the Zionists, but he needed them.

-The MTC is prepared to make a… philanthropic gesture, Grove said to Denbigh. To help with the current crisis.

-Go on, Denbigh said.

-We will fully fund the South Pole Terraforming Refurbishment, Grove proposed. It’s an EZM-backed initiative, isn't it, Vanderpool?

-It is, Vanderpool nodded. Restoring the ice caps. Lots of good jobs for restless fanatics.

-It’s expensive work, Grove corrected. -We build the pumps, we supply the power. We pay the workers. The water turns back on within the year. The President announces it tonight. He saves the harvest.

Denbigh’s eyes lit up. He looked at the ballroom. A solution to the water crisis would make the President a hero.

-That would save the administration, Denbigh admitted. And in return?

-The NEC clears the docket, Grove said. Classify the Venus incident. Some of the charters will get mad at you but it’ll blow over. The Venus Sky Cities haven’t sent a representative to an emergency meeting since the A.

-And the witnesses? Denbigh asked. Warden May has two men in custody. Captain Clinton and Commander Doremus, one from each of you.

-Release them, Grove said. -Release them, both, to our custody. We will conduct an "internal review."

Vanderpool smiled.

-That works for the Movement, Vanderpool said. Captain Clinton is a rogue anyway, lacks spirit.

Denbigh finished his wine. He looked at the screaming delegates inside, and then at the two men offering him a lifeline.

-I’ll draft the Presidential Order. The water pumps for the pardon.

This cost us a lot, Grove growled to Vanderpool as Denbigh walked away. The Board of Directors isn’t going to like it.

-They’re going to have to wait, Vanderpool said coolly.

-The EZM hasn’t gotten a deliverable to Earth. That was the whole point

-Go ahead and file a complaint with the NEC, Vanderpool laughed. You’ll have to wait.