Free On Mars Pathfinder (The Mike Lane Stories Book 1) by Jim Melanson Page A

appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means.” The lobby team argued from the position that this would allow an enemy from beyond Earth orbit to establish a colony or base of operations anywhere in our galaxy, including our solar system, or even our own Moon. The military lobbyists worked around the globe. It was an easy sell for military ears; they pushed for larger countries’ military establishments to talk sense into the politicos of the day. Finally, after several months of discussions and private talks, with the assurance there would be no media coverage of the changes or which Country had voted for them, a closed session of the United Nations General Assembly passed the edits to Article 1, and the complete withdrawal of Article 2.
    With that fait accompli , our own Corporation was now free to pursue its goal, without encumbrances by any Nation State or treaty of law.

 
    Descent Day: T-Minus 90 Seconds
    Eight and a half months later I was orbiting Mars and ready to descend to the surface. All the indicators are green, all the readings are nominal. I cast my eyes around the Lander cabin to make sure everything looked secure. I felt like I was in my uncle’s old Woody packed with suitcases, bags, and odds and sods on moving day. Every available surface had either canvas bags, or heavy duty plastic equipment boxes strapped, lashed, and tied in place. I had three large duffels, and two plastic foot lockers that were filled with personal clothing and other items. Getting those on board had been a bit of a battle, but eventually I played the, I’m going there forever and giving up my life on Earth card. I won. I got to take some stuff from home.  In that “negotiation” I also won a commitment for just over a half cubic metre of space in every supply mission that they would fill with whatever I asked. They said they would do it for me, but they could not do that for the following colony ships. I said that was okay, I’m going to be the first man on Mars. I’m a special case. Besides, I planned to use that for tastes of home that would help keep me sane. There was no Dépanneur on Mars , how the hell else was I going to get any Twinkies there? I chuckled to myself thinking thankfully that there were no garbage bags full of bedding or clothing, and that I didn’t have to stick my arm out the portal and hold a mattress on the roof.
    I had brought a lot of stuff in the Lander with me because I had to make up the weight of the three people I didn’t have on board. There was even about 20 kilograms worth of scientific experiments for some university students I had befriended in the Swedish town I had been living in. There was even a rumour circulating in the rocket assembly building, that there were two cement bricks in the Lander to make up the weight difference. The configuration of the Lander was for four people to descend to the surface of Mars, so it had to have the same mass as four people.
    Audio and video transmissions with Terra were delayed about 18 minutes and a few seconds each way with the current position of Mars in its orbit. In another four months, Mars would be at apogee, and transmission time would be 22 minutes. I wasn’t able to hear Mission Control counting down or providing a running narrative. When I left Terra there had been a lot of chatter for me to listen to. Now it was silent, except for the ever-so-slight hiss of air in my helmet. Everything concerning the actual descent had been programmed into the Lander’s navigation computer. It would have been nice if the computer could carry a conversation with me but hey, this is real life, not science-fiction. All it could do was respond to direct requests and alert me to preplanned events. I found that silence was kind of creepy, yet the moment was still very exciting!
    The “Go-No-Go” button winked at me. It was time to put on my big boy panties. If I didn’t press the button in time, I would be