MCM DISCOVERS ALIEN LIFE!
INTELLIGENT EXTRATERRESTRIALS ON MARS
Aliens "not of Martian origin" says Xenobiologist
Two species and numerous technological artifacts discovered under ice
Diva Kuki, Chedrin Base, Mars/2058 12 13I wish this could be a live report, but unfortunately the Earth and Mars are now separated by nine light-minutes, which means that you’ll receive this message nine minutes after I send it. It’s a symbol, in a way, of the isolation that all of us face here.
It’s ironic, then, that amid this isolation we have discovered at long last that we are not alone in the universe. The astonishing finds at Erskine Glacier, at the edge of the Martian arctic region, demonstrate beyond a doubt that an alien intelligence inhabited Mars at one time, and is almost certainly still here.
Bjorn Mabuti, Wong Jingwu, Hector Hernandez, Thomas Selkirk, and Leng Kuang, scientists and engineers on the crew of the International Mars Colonization Mission, together with world-renowned
Chilean biologist Dr. Alejandra Domanova (at right), were on a routine mission to Erskine Glacier, near Mars' northern polar cap, to install a water mining and processing plant. However, on 1 December, they came across a peculiar radio signal emanating from the ice some five kilometres to the northwest. Believing it to be the signature of a lost twentieth-century space probe, they investigated further, and discovered an obviously artificial doorway into a vast complex of ice caverns filled with a wizard’s workshop of intricate machinery, whose purpose and use are still unknown. There are also several large alien lifeforms within the caverns. Communication has so far been impossible, and Dr. Domanova's investigation of these beings nearly cost her her life, and has in fact already claimed the life of one of the aliens.
The encounter between the MCM crew and the alien lifeforms was brief, dramatic and unfortunately violent. One of the larger aliens - a creature that Dr. Domanova has dubbed Limaciformus allocotophagus - attacked the crew and injured Dr. Lenng. The group only escaped when an automatic door at the entrance of one of the caverns closed on the alien, decapitating it. The incident, disturbing as it was, was merely an opportunity for the irrepressible Domanova, who preserved the creature's head for dissection.
"There are two species of aliens at least," says Dr. Domanova. "The one whose head we have preserved is quite large - about ten metres by three. It looks a bit like a cross between an earthworm and a slug, but of course is quite different from either. The other is smaller than a human being, and bears a superficial resemblance to Earthly arthropods." She has named the smaller creature Arachnomoeus allocotus.
Dr. Domanova stresses that these two species are almost certainly not native to Mars. "We have seen no other evidence of complex life-forms here," she said. Asked where the aliens originated, she could not say. "We know that the structures beneath the ice, which include sophisticated machinery of some sort, were created by intelligent beings, most likely by one of both of the species that we have found. It's probable that whoever constructed the caverns was capable of space travel." However, Dr. Leng, the planetologist who was injured in the encounter, dissented. "It has happened before on Earth that archaic forms of life have been preserved in an isolated ecosystem," he said. "It remains possible that this is a relic of an ancient Martian civilization that has disappeared elsewhere. After all, the ice layering in the caverns indicates an age of approximately 1.5 million years."
The two alien species are wholly different from any form of Earthly life, even on a basic biochemical level. "They have a completely different form of DNA," says Dr. Domanova. "Rather than our familiar four-base DNA, they have five. I've tentatively named the chemicals Guandine, Maahesine, Tuine, Tyrine and Areine, from the names of Mars in five ancient languages. They don't have the same pairing system as our DNA, either: theirs is far more complex."
Where have these creatures come from? What is their relationship to us, and to each other? How long have they been waiting under the ice of Mars, and for whom, and why?
We are not alone in the universe. Humanity's oldest question has finally been answered. Ironically, the answer leaves us with more questions than before.
Ting Chen, Ulaan Baatar/2058 12 12 Russifyuzhon, Guoji Youli squabble in Mongolia
This ageless city, where modern smartbuildings still rub shoulders with nomads' yurts, is now playing host to a duel between energy giants Russifyuzhon and Guoji Youli. The prize: the power rights for a maglev line linking Beijing with Krasnoyarsk.
"The greater part of the line will pass through Mongolia," explained Gantug Erdenebayar of the Mongolian Ministry of Transport. "However, we have not yet decided who will provide the considerable electric power that is required."
Marketing representatives of both corporations are present in Ulaan Baatar, of course, but so are hundreds of other employees, ranging from construction workers to consultants.
"There's only one sane way for this to go," said Yevgeny Halmann, a brawny security consultant for the Russian power conglomerate. "Russifyuzhon is going to get the deal. Guoji Youli may have the capability to provide the power, and the services to maintain it, but they're not good at protecting their assets. We are."
A Mongolian government official, who asked not to be named, worries that the dispute might turn ugly, as many of the corporate consultants are armed. GY and Russifyuzhon employees have clashed before over markets, most notably in Nepal in 2052, when several dozen people were killed.
Emily Neaff, New York/2058 12 13 Food Riots in NY, LA Containment Areas
The Containment Areas in inner-city New York and Los Angeles exploded with rioting today as critical food shipments failed to arrive for the third consecutive day.
Thousands of residents, charging that the government had abandoned them to starvation, torched federal and state vehicles and tossed firebombs at the partitions separating the Containment Areas from their parent cities.
"This is just wrong," stormed Celeah Kingdom of the NYCA. "So all right, we can't afford police and fire protection, we make our own arrangements. So they don't let us vote, well, who needs it? But everybody needs food, don't they? We pay for the food we buy, but what do we do if it ain't in the stores?"
A federal official, questioned on the failure of the shipments, cited the breakdown of local infrastructure during the War and its aftermath. Though she declined to be identified, she stressed that the current problem is a temporary one, and would be alleviated when the new rail lines into the Areas are completed next month.
"That's a lie," was the view of Keith Delacour of the LACA. "Temporary? The War's been over for fifteen years! They're just hoping we all die so they can forget we existed. Hell, they got enough money to build cities on Mars, they got enough to feed us."
The Containment Areas, regions of several American inner cities that were separated from their municipalities by a special law in 2044, are considered by the American government to be "local autonomies," with few responsibilities to their state or federal government, and correspondingly few government services. Critics have suggested that the Areas, which have the highest crime and poverty rates in America, are convenient dumping grounds for those the government finds troublesome.
First flight of Mars Shuttle
Diva Kuki, Chedrin Base, Mars/2058 12 13 Col. Korolev's presence controversial
The Mars Shuttle Enkidu, the first of a series of hypersonic vehicles meant to be the workhorses of the prospective colony, was launched by electromagnetic accelerator today on a maiden voyage aimed at deploying a fleet of Martian observation and navigation satellites.
Major Thomas Selkirk, who commanded the mission known as MSM-001, piloted the shuttle into a textbook orbital insertion and released the satellites.
"When they are online," enthused payload specialist Craig Dempster, "they will not only provide us with near-constant weather maps of all parts of the Martian surface, but also give GPS coordinates for ground and air travel on Mars."
Mars lacks a strong magnetic field like the Earth's, so traditional magnetic compasses are useless here.
An unusual aspect of the flight was the presence of Lt. Col. Fyodor Korolev as backup pilot and security officer. Col. Korolev was suspended from his post as executive officer of the MCM pending the resolution of accusations that he committed war crimes during the Russian occupation of central Asia in 2037. His replacement, Chinese engineer Dr. Wong Jingwu, when asked for comment on Korolev's presence on Enkidu's first flight, said that his skills were deemed necessary and that the lack of skilled pilots since Captain Bradwell's disappearance made Korolev indispensable. Asked whether she had any concerns about the public's reaction to the placement of Col. Korolev in a position of responsibility, she replied, "A man is innocent unless proven otherwise."
US Government angry over Bradwell
Alan Waterhouse, Geneva/2058 12 12 Missing pilot "must be found" - Turnbull
In an unexpected visit to the International Mars Colonization Agency in Geneva, the American Secretary of State, Aleefia Turnbull,
today called the leadership of the Mars Colonization Mission into question over the status of missing pilot Captain Warren Bradwell.
"[Mission Commander Lata] Durrani has declared that Captain Bradwell is presumed dead in an explosion, but his body has not been recovered and I have not heard any concrete plans for locating it," Turnbull told a gathering of mission planners, IMCA officials and the international press. "I question Commander Durrani's will, I question her ability to lead, and I question her role in the mission." The government of the United States is "incensed" by the lack of effort to find Bradwell's body, she said. The Secretary indicated that an all-out effort to recover the pilot was the only way in which the mission could hope to regain the confidence of the United States.
"Captain Bradwell must be found," Turnbull told reporters. "The American people have been major contributors to this mission, in terms of both money and expertise. We will have our voice heard and we will not allow an American citizen to be callously abandoned in the frozen wastes of Mars."