NationStates Jolt Archive

A staticky radio message radiated from several cities of southern Kasei. A similar message made it's way to public bulletin boards and I2 messaging systems.

We, the people of the cities of Hekate, Taueret, Aton, Gand Akwelec, and Kitar do hereby declare our independance from the Traitorous Regime of the House Royen Eniqcir-na. We shall no longer be held to the laws of Kasei, but to our own codes, nor shall we be known as Kasei, but by the name of Aitr-na-Bhairíanol. Gaiíb úta arca! Gaiíb úta arca!

<Reverse-temporal transmission>
<FROM: House Crzleidzí, Epsal-na-Narbhal>
<TO: House Royen, Flagstaff>
My dear Martin,
It seems things for you have gotten a bit more out-of-hand than was expected. But I may be able to offer an explanation. We have it from a reliable source that the recent unrests may not be entirely self-organizing. It seems that the in-laws are getting restless, if you know what I mean. We are looking into it as discreetly as possible, but until we can get to the bottom of this, it might be best for you to get out of the country. The rebels may have more resources than meets the eye. Perhaps you have noticed the movements in orbit?
-Inbhailígh
<END>

<Satelite Relay>
<FROM: House Royen, Flagstaff>
<TO: President Atef Al-Zief, Sunset>
We request sanctuary.
-Martin Royen
<END>

<Reply Transmission>
Done.

Preferred extraction method?

Multiple options avaliable.

Numbers?
<End Transmission>

<Reply Transmission>
Preferred extraction method-
Aerial or aquaeous. Pickup at crater seaport.
3 Persons.
<End Transmission>

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In southwestern Tempe, Coriolanan Crawlers were intercepted by Konan Entopters. After a brief radio exchange, two Crawlers turned back, while the third was escorted back to Kono.

<Reply Transmission>
Dispatched.
<End Transmission>

----

As soon as the transmission came through a Venture B ran a quick scan of the port and the surroundings and the DA-102's dropped for the surface along with a orbital light freighter painted and ID'ed to the same front corporation. Ten minutes later the assault shuttle dropped as well, slowly heading toward a military base to the south of Flagstaff where SDF marines were being cross-trained. Their flight plan was described as a personnel transfer - just enough to arouse suspicion as well as belay it.

Martin, Audrey, Calypso, and Gansarek stood on the cold windswept platform floating in the middle of Crater Bay, sitting right over the submersible docks. Seeing their method of transportation coming along in the distance, Martin turned and walked back to the elevator in the center of the platform, giving a final bow and blown kiss just before descending below the surface, leaving Lady Aydrey, Mistress Calypso, and Officer Gansarek waiting for the pickup.

As the fighters approached they slowed silently on their gravs and dropped to the waves. The light freighter set down with a splash by a loading dock, and crates soon started moving in and out. Then the fighters one by one glided over to the platform, their canopy's sliding aside to reveal the pilot and an empty co-pilot seat. Boarding steps slide open as the pilot looked over to their charges. Each was dressed in the flightsuit and helmet of a corporate flier - but unlike most corporate types in Sunset these were thin and non-descript. Each had a flight helmet on the seat next to them though that bore the familiar SDF logo. With Audrey leading, hugging a fuzzy coat, the trio approached the fighters and climbed in one-by-one. Gansarek carried a thin black briefcase; Audrey and Calypso carried only slightly larger suitcases. Gansarek and Audrey both extended hands to greet their pilots- Calypso, on the other hand, simply sat, suitcase on her lap, hugging her own fuzzy coat. Meanwhile, down on the seafloor, in what was the original Federation of Law And Government compound before the waters covered it over, Martin stood in Traffic Control and observed the Sunset vehicles departing. As soon as they were off of the radar screen, he spun on his heels and made for the War Room.

The pilot turned for a moment to Calypso. "Good afternoon M'am. You can stow your case behind the seat if you wish. I'd advise putting the helmet on so you can hear what's going on and use the external cameras."
"Good? That's not exactly the word I had in mind. Any day that you have to flee the country because your home might become a bomb target is not a good day in my book."
"Sorry M'am."
"No need to be... I'm just bitter."

As soon as the passenger was seated the canopy slid back into place, hiding them from view. As soon as all were loaded they headed up, and south into a standard equatorial orbit. There they mixed with the mass of ships before landing at a starport in the west. The three were met by a senator and taken via private maglev to the Peace Dome. There had been some changes over the years - long rows of windows now wrapped around the middle of the kilometer wide cavern.

"These suites are prepared for the senators and president in case of planetary bombardment. They are quite comfortable - my wife likes to take a monthly 'test run' of the facilities. You have access to the city above, but I would suggest that you make use of room service until things get sorted out."
"Much thanks, senator. Very nice. I don't think it'll be a problem to to avoid the city for a while...." With a final handshake, Audrey entered the room with Calypso, who immediately plopped down on a couch. Keeping a military appearance, Gansarek walked down to his own room.
Closing her eyes and leaning back into the cusions, Calypso almost- but not quite- felt glad to be here. At least the furniture was comfortable. At a poke from her mother, Calypso opened her suitcase and started setting her meager- in volume, anyway- belongings.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Now, what I don't understand is why we haven't heard from Hathor. You'd think they'd be the first to break away."
"Well, m'Lord, we have been out of communication with them for quite some time, terrorist attacks and all."
"Aye, but the rest managed to get their message through, and if they're working together...."
"It is a quandary."
"Yes. Well. I'd best be getting to writing a reply for Inbhailígh."

<Reverse-temporal transmission>
<FROM: House Royen, Flagstaff>
<TO: House Crzleidzí, Epsal-na-Narbhal>
Inbhailígh,
You know very well that I will not leave. I have, however, taken the precaution of arranging a transfer to Sunset for Audrey and Calypso. I can't direct my people hiding out in another nation- the original Federation for Law And Government Staff Offices should suffice. If the enemy breaks in here, we have a far worse problem than a civil rebellion. Which, I fear, is what you were hinting at. The in-laws are restless, are they? Dear me, and I can't even watch their ships in orbit, for fear that they may take it as a subtle retaliation, should you be right.
-Martin
<END>

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cnhle sat around the "fire" in parka and breathing gear, rubbing his gloved hands together.
"Well, what else can we do? Roam the Blue Plains* for the rest of our lives, hoping that the government will sort itself out, and ending up not knowing which nationality we are in the end?"
Silence.
"We can't approach the cities of Aitr, as they're the ones who expelled us in the first place. We can't approach Kaseian cities because they are under martial rule. We can make stops at the occasional small town, but that comes with its own risks. If we want control of our lives, we will have to take it, not wait for it to be given back to us, for that may never happen! We have only one choice, and we must be unified in that choice. If the caravan breaks up, we won't even have each other, and then in what a sorry state we shall all be!"
Silence.
"Yenep co kwi! Gaiíb úta arca! Words to live by."
"And what if we don't live?"
"The alternative to victory is better than to live an empty and insulting life."
"But such as you describe is beyond our capability! We are only one caravan!"
"Then let us bring it into our ability! We can find others, and gain strength, until we are ready. And until the day that we retake what is ours, our lives will be made full by the preparations. As long as we are out here, let us make the most of it. We can spend our time studying the Aitë movements. We can become experts on their habits, while organising the land beyond their protective cities, taken from us I might add, to our advantage."
"Perhaps. But the manpower you hope to acquire has all left for the Menelmacari and Sunsetti borders."
"Then we will have to go after them, won't we?"
Silence.
"I will go." It was a new voice.
"I also."
"And I."
Cnhle smiled. Perhaps not everyone was so indifferent.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Father."
"Yes, Galan?" The Steward looked up from the newest pile of papers on his desk.
"How are the Royens?"
"Why do want to know?"
"You already know why I want to know."
"Yes, I suppose I do. Martin is in the Flagstaff bunkers, Calypso is at an 'unknown location' in Sunset, along with her mother."
"I see. And it is possible to get the necessary military clearances to take a trip to Sunset, yes?"
"You don't need to ask me that. Master Galan has military clearance for anything he wants. How he can apply those is the issue."
"Please. I know you can see through my diplomatic circumlocutions better than that."
"Yes, Galan, you may take a shuttle. Just don't get yourself killed. Your mother would never forgive me, and Aidean certainly wouldn't make a good replacement heir."
"Thank you. I shall be back in time for the ceremony."
"Well, that's a given."
Master Galan spun on his toes, and walked out.

An hour later found him on a maglev to the local spaceport, carrying only a very sparse amount of luggage. Being as, in this case, the 'local spaceport' was the National Capital Spaceport, Galan had the luxury of the Elevator. A short constant-gee trip up to the top put him on an A/B Shuttle to Mars, ETT 6 hours, followed by a final transfer to the Phoenix-class Pagag. A bit of name-dropping and radio tag later, another shuttle was on its way straight down towards a Sunsetti starport.

The door opened. To the tune of John Denver, no less.
"Ai, Calypso, the places we've been to!"

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Finally taking a break, Martin leaned as far back as the chair in his makeshift office would allow. A few moments later, he sprang back upright. "Well, that's break enough for now, what've we got?"
The latest makeshift secretary dropped a pile of papers on the desk. "Backlog diplomatic files."
Martin picked up the pile and began leafing through. "Ah... these are all land requests."
"That would be correct, sir."
"Ah. I see. Nothing else?"
"No sir."
"Ah. Mind if I ask you something?"
"Um, no sir, not at all."
"Good. Do you think this is a coincidence?"
"What, sir?"
"I said, do you think this is a coincidence?"
"Er, no, I meant what is a coincidence?"
"Well, you know, all of these land requests coming in just as soon as we get tied up with a rebellion on our hands?"
"Probably, sir."
"Hm. I suspect you're right. Well, carry, dismissed, go do whatever your actual job is."
"Oh. Um, this is my actual job, sir. I got bumped from cargo inspection."
"Oh. I see. I guess I'll finally have a steady secretary, then?"
"Yessir, seems that way."
"Well, good. Have a seat."

[OOC: Tag because I'm not sure what you want from this. I am highly interested in plots 1 and 2 by Menemacar, Tiburon, and the like, and I will pay top dollar for them. Now, would you like my leaders or whoever to roleplay this request...or...what?]

http://207.44.246.95/129/44/upload/p802678.png

[EDIT: Added Pic for clarification]

OOC: Tag, and I reinterate SB's question. But I am highly interested in plots five and six. Oh, and also, are you selling Santa Barbara's two near Auman, or is that through him?

Santa Barbara doesn't own space 2, that appears to be Beverage Concerns.

And Santa Barbara Noachia isn't in Eniqcir hands anymore, and I don't think it's for sale.

Edit: Thats all probably pretty obvious, just pointing it out. And <tag> at the same time.

Santa Barbara doesn't own space 2, that appears to be Beverage Concerns.

And Santa Barbara Noachia isn't in Eniqcir hands anymore, and I don't think it's for sale.Quite correct; White numbers 1&2 are territories too small to write the name in. Green numbers are mine for sale.
Tag because I'm not sure what you want from this.... Now, would you like my leaders or whoever to roleplay this request...or...what?'Tis to be tie-up thread, general goings on in & around Kasei. At some point in all the tumultuous goings on, everybody is going to end up being contacted IC in some manner, primarily in response to the land requests. Other events going on at the time may cause negotiations to be sidetracked into other matters, however, presenting opportunities for much politiking and money saving. A little bit more bridge&background is in order before the first replies are out, though....

IC:

"Of all the songs and all the artists you could possibly have picked, why John Denver?" Calypso smirked.
"Well, I know not of many other songs mentioning your particular name that are at all flattering."
"Perhaps; you shall just have to write a new one then."
"Yes. Well. Perhaps we should start over. Just a minute."
Galan took a step backward, closed the door, waited a moment, and then opened it again, leaning casually in the frame with a panpipe.
"Oh Galan, my darling, what a surprise!" Calypso, hair waving theatrically, veritably fell into Galans arms.
"Might've been overdoing it a bit on that time. Third time's the charm?"
"No need, no need. Suffice to say this whole family is expert at understatement, I'm surprised, and how the heck did you get here."
"Mysterious, aren't I?"
"As always." Sly grin.
The door shut again, this time with Prince Master Galan on the inside.

"Well, tell me your name."
"Ithiel, m'lord."
"Well, Ithiel, we'll probably want to get these taken care of as quickly as possible, before any more trouble crops up. What's the comm situation?"
"We have contact with Pagag, and Darmhir landlines are still down."
"I see. Externals?"
"Cables through Acidalia, you mean? Internat networks?"
"Yes."
"I think we can jack into one of those."
"Good. Never did like those things, major security risk they are, but I suppose they'll have to do. If you wouldn't mind, I'd like you to look at all the oceanlovers in the stack, and get a re out to 'em. Make sure to say that they'll need secure transport to Flagstaff. Very secure transport."
"Of course, m'lord."

(FYI, yes, that was a hint for everyone who wanted ocean territory to start arriving at Flagstaff.)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cnhle's convoy was locked down for a while, a nice tent city set up as makeshift base of operations. It wasn't a lot, but it would have to do for now. 7 autocycles were available, one of them a two seater. It would be best to send people out in groups of four.

After carefully tracing the maps, marking out the safest and fastest routes to allow them to check the most probable areas for other convoy trails, the first group was ready to go. Water reclamation suits, extra fuel cells, spare solar panels, spare oxygen bottles, and, ah... 'food'. Edible nutrient filled sludge, anyway. Spirulina might taste like crap, but it would keep them alive for a very long time.

The group of four autocyclists slid down their windscreens, double checked the seals on their suits, and kicked the start pedals. Leaving behind a thin trail of dust, four 3-meter rings sped out across the red landscape of Lunae Planum.

Sandra sat in the First Class section onboard a small sleek spacecraft drinking Armenian cognac and sipping a as it slowly made its descent to Flagstaff Airport, after landing Sandra walked through the corridor of the tarmac a little tired from the trip with her servant in tow with her carry-on luggage... she looked around until she seen the limoussine driver with the hand-written sign saying "Sandra M. Devnostraeva"
Afetr being driven to the nearest hotel in the area she left a memo at the concierge to have all calls taken down for her while she was gone and went to her room to take a shower and change her clothes.

After changing she went back down to the lobby and found another limoussine driver to take her to the nearest casino. After arriving at the first casino in the area she opened her flip phone and dialed Eniqcir's secretary "Can you tell the leader of House Royen that Sandra M. Devnostraeva of the Californian Sovereign Democratic-Socialist Federation is here in the city and wants to negotiate terms on acquiring some land on Mars." After ending the conversation she returned to her night of gambling.

"The shortness of life cannot dissuade us from its pleasures, nor console us for its pains."—Marquis de Vauvenargues

This has been an official tag by the Five Civilized Nations.

California would like to purchase the area of ocean front property in the northwest, as well as a portion south of Santa Barbaran Noachia...

http://www.pacifier.com/~cziller/mapofmars.gif

bump... and tag for the time being

"The Aumanii government would like to take this time to announce the expansion of its borders 200km into the unclaimed desert to the north of our nation. Population concerns and a lack of arable land have forced us to make this decision. As we are reasonable people, we are willing to compensate to Eniqciri handsomely for the land in the form of economic aid packages. Thank you all and have an excellent day."

~General Luthor Stromm, Aumanii Exterior ministry.

OOC:

I reckon I needs it...

OOC: I reckon you've got much less people and much more land than me already.

This has been a Soundly Governed tag from the glorious forces of Tsaraine!

(OOC: Tag by DS for the Martian Orcas.)

*Ring*
Darn phone.
*Ring*
"Oh, shut up, I'm coming!" Martin picked up the strangely antique receiver. "Lord Martin Royen, provincial ruler of Kasei, yadda yadda yadda, whaddaya want. Oh! Igraine, yeah, yeah. Look, why are you calling me? You coulda just sent a message with Ithiel. Oh. right. OK. Well, you can handle that! I'm busy keeping those darn Caínírréaénu from blowin' us to smitherenes! Oh, psha, I am not exaggerating! Hey, you're the Secretary of Kayohelsee for a reason, y'know. Just take care of it. One more on the list shouldn't be a problem. Good, élla."
*click*
"Ah... let's see, what else is there to take care of... Oh, right! Ithiel!"
The door creaked open just a smidgen.
"Aye, m'Lord?"
"Got another job for you. See if you can hack a return to this dispatch from the Aumanii. I think Igraine would appreciate it if you could get them here within the sol."
"Aye, m'Lord."
The door shut.

General Stromm,
You are invited to send a representative to Flagstaff to discuss the terms of the transfer. Telepresence is acceptable, but recent problems with the internal information system may make it prone to delay or temporary signal loss. We suggest for reasons of convenience that your representative arrive at the Crater Bay omniport within the following sol.
Secretary Ithiel,
House Royen,
Kasei

At the hotel desk, a message was waiting.
M. Devnostraeva,
An escort will be waiting in the lobby at 1300 hours, with transport to the Old City.
Secretary Igraine,
Kaseian Office of Land Claims

The Tsarainese Dragonfly-class autogyro was an odd thing, a design obsolete on Earth but resurrected here on Mars as an exercise in technological daydreaming for some designer back in Nova Reio or the Eyrie.

At the little aerodrome at Kel Arikhant the microfusion reactor (the same design, descended from the Treznorikh model, which was found everywhere from Haunt-class flyers to Eidolon-class carrier flyers) had been switched on, splitting water in the ballast tanks into hydrogen and oxygen, and using the lighter-than-air hydrogen to inflate the four long, wide rotors of the 'gyro.

Of course the hydrogen in the baloon rotors would not have been able to lift the Dragonfly alone, but then the two stern propellors - conventional bladed things - had begun to spin, the forward propulsion spinning the rotors and sending the craft rattling down the runway and into the air in a very short time. Normal autogyros, the Arikhenikh Communion knew, were short-takeoff vehicles as it was, and the baloon rotors of the autogyro shortened that distance still further.

Now the plains* of Southern Eniqcir slid past beneath Ktiryar's eyes as the Dragonfly (this one was D-001, one of only five in existence) sped the Ea onwards towards the Eniqciri city of Flagstaff.

"Ea khor, we are coming into view of Flagstaff now," the copilot reported over the intercom. Ktiryar accessed the Dragonfly's sensors through his DNI and saw that this was indeed so, and heard the communications radio search through the frequencies for Flagstaff traffic control.

"This is the Second Dominion aircraft D-001, now requesting landing clearance...

OOC bits:
*From the various maps of Mars I've been collecting, Southern Eniqcir looks like plains to me. If I've got this wrong, I can correct it.
I realise that the blimp-autogyro-thing described here is most likely entirely impossible. But I like zeppelins and autogyros and I like the Dragonfly too, darn it. :)

(OOC: Aye, 'tis plains. Rather dangerous plains, but I'm not in the mood to play that sort of incident, so I'm just assuming that they magnificently avoided trouble.)
Delta-null-null-one, cleared for landing on platform 2, runway 1. Please follow the blinkenlights, over.

The waves were calm today, making landing easy on the floating platforms. Two thickly dressed brownsuits stood on the runway, waving lighted bars to direct the autogyro on final approach and taxiing. When the vehicle came to a stop, one moved on to another runway, while the second was joined bya bluesuit and walked towards the autogyro.

The baloon-rotors crumpled and withdrew as the hydrogen was pumped back into the ballast tanks with the oxygen, and converted back to water via electrolysis*.

"We have arrived, Ea khor," the copilot said.

"Excellent," Ktiryar replied. "You will remain with the D-001; Aidetu, you're with me."

The Rukine Knight nodded, and settled the helmet of his environment suit down onto his head. The two of them went into the tiny rear airlock, and out onto the floating platform.

OOC: *I think it's electrolysis that makes hydrogen and oxygen into water, but High School chemistry was not a subject I paid attention in. It may be the reverse. In any case, there's some method by which H and O become H2O, and it has taken place here.

The Rukine Knight nodded, and settled the helmet of his environment suit down onto his head. The two of them went into the tiny rear airlock, and out onto the floating platform.
The brownsuit stowed its lightstick in a pocket before extending a gloved hand.
"Welcome to Flagstaff. If you'll just come right this way, please."

The second brownsuit quickly returned with a small articulated tarmac taxi. With everyone aboard, it drove across the unused sections of the platform to a small blockhouse near the center. The brownsuits opened the door and stood aside for the Tsarainese and bluesuit to enter before following.

Once inside, the bluesuit removed her hood and oxygen mask, and unzipped her heavy coat, revealing the standard dark blue velvet unifrom of the Eniqciri diplomatic corps. Lastly removing her right glove, she extended the same hand.

"Secretary Igraine, at your service. It'll be, oh, 2, 3 minutes till we reach the bottom of the elevator shaft."

OOC: *I think it's electrolysis that makes hydrogen and oxygen into water, but High School chemistry was not a subject I paid attention in. It may be the reverse. In any case, there's some method by which H and O become H2O, and it has taken place here.Aye, 'tis the reverse. H2+O -> water is just regular boring oxidation.

Ktiryar removed his own helmet, and motioned for Aidetu to do the same.

"Markhreif Ktiryar-Radukh ea Seingult, of the Arikhenikh Communion, at yours," he replied. "And my bodyguard, Rukine Knight Aidetu."

OOC: Good to know. That damn map is making my browser go sideways-scrolling. Argh.

With a *bing* the elevator hit bottomand the brownsuit reopened the doors, now leading not out onto the landing platform but into an arched corridor.
"Ah, here we are. The room we want is fairly close by. In terms of travel time, anyway. This way."
Igraine led the way into the corridor, making a quick left turn into a small alcove. She slapped a shiny black panel on the wall. "Blue canary." At the password, the wall of the alcove retracted, revealing a tiny room, just large enough for about ten people.
"Don't worry, this isn't the conference room, just in case you were wondering. But it'll get us there. Cora, K.O.L.A., corridor 12."
The door slid closed.
Complying...
Following the robotic voice, a small but steady acceleration began, but could hardly be noticed after the first second or so as the floor tilted ever so slightly to match the new net gravitational force. After about a minute or so, the door slid open again into a nearly identical hallway, except that this one had a heavy door opposite the transport car. One of the brownsuits pulled it open with the hiss of a soda bottle being opened, and led the way into a 4 by 5 meter room, centered around a dark wooden oval table.
"Please, have a seat."

Ktiryar did so, Aidetu sitting down on his left.

"So," Ktiryar began, "We suppose that you have perused the report of the Mr. Hathcar who approached us at Maraldi? We trust he did make a report?"

"Not quite. Hathcar did make a report, but not direct to us. I have reviewed the report from Central Noachia. It's quite apparent that you aren't going to be leaving Maraldi, but that won't be a problem since I intend to come to an agreement for the formal transfer of the crater that is acceptable to both of us. Maraldi crater is, as you obviously know, not yet developed, so you can get it pretty cheap, and depending on exactly what you intend to do there, we can probably knock down the price even further."

"What we intend to do with the crater? Nothing extraordainary, I guess - further development is scheduled, both above and under the surface. There are Construction planners talking about tenting the two smaller craters on the Southern rim, and Terraforming Corps people talking about flooding the crater to make a lake, but" - Ktiryar shrugged - "Those are pipe dreams. You may rest assured we do not intend to construct missile silos or the like - the Tekhat Maraldi is primarily a political presence - it is much too small to be a military one."

OOC: There's a nice pic of Maraldi Crater here (http://www.roving-mouse.com/planetary/Mars/Atlas/features/maps/m/maraldi.jpg). The big crater is obviously Maraldi, and the one directly south of the crater center and the little one to the right of that are the ones there are plans to tent. The big one off on the left side of the picture isn't actually claimed by Tsaraine.

"Well, that's reassuring. Actually, I meant more along the lines of do you intend to make it primarily residential, or include agriculture."
"If you do intend to grow anything, the regolith will have to be processed. Flushed of salts, injected with biotics and such. Flooding it is actually not so far fetched as you may think- It'll take a while, but once we complete climatological engineering in western Noachia, rainfall should fill it in naturally. And again, if you want to grow things there, a pipeline would have to be built or water brought in by some other method to flush the regolith, and leaving enough extra to create a lake wouldn't be too much trouble."

"In terms of cost, if you have the resources to do all of this yourself, we can put it up for around a centiounce per hectare. This money would go directly to the construction of further pipelines and maglevs, which would be provided to you at no extra charge if you want it. A new pipeline to bring in fresh water for soil processing would actually run extremely cheap, around eleven ounces platinum, since there is already a stub line running just north of Maraldi to connect the future trans-Noachian line to. The water itself would then run around two centiounces per kiloliter, so the total cost would be a direct function of how much land you would want to convert, or how big of a lake you'd want. Finally, biotic gell injection typically costs 3 centiounces per hectare."

"On another note, Maraldi is not exactly in the tropics. We can't be sure right now what the Duma will allow as far as climatological and atmospheric engineering, but as it stands, it will likely remain a very cold place. We've managed to circumvent that problem in the few farms scattered about Aonia and Noachia by placing greenhouses, or in some case just open fields, underneath reception grids for microwave powersats. You get heat and electricity all in one. Building such a ground station runs between ten and thirteen ounces platinum. You can get sporadic coverage from the powersats already in place, or pay another two ounces for a dedicated powersat, unless you put up your own, of course, in which case it would be free. The actual electricity gathered comes free of charge, so you'd break even in a few years."

(OOC: 1 ounce platinum ~= $372 USD)

"Primarily residential, then, by your definition. We hope to make the population agriculturally self-sufficient, or as much so as possible, with extensive use of hydroponics. That worked for several decades in the homeland, after all.

"We certainly weren't planning to cultivate plants in the open - it is more hostile than Earth tundra, after all! Any agriculture would be underground and out of sight.

"Yes, we noted the pipeline to the North - in fact it may have been the spark for the lake plan. Your prices to extend that pipeline South to Maraldi are indeed rather generous.

"However, your prices for the water are, unfortunately, unworkable. With a depth of one kilometer - Maraldi is some ten kilometers deep from crater wall to lowest point - we'd be needing some seven thousand, eight hundred and fifty-three cubic kilometers of water - 7,853 billion kiloliters. That would make a total cost of 15,706 billion centiounces! At such a cost, it would be cheaper to ship in ice asteroids from the Kuiper Belt!

"We cannot pretend to know the nature of your "biotic gel", but certainly the Terraforming Corps can handle it. There are terrestial lifeforms which thrive in hypersaline* environments, after all, and even ones which thrive in hyperirradiated environments - the latter are responsible for the greening of the Obsidian Wastes in recent years. And salinity is actually a positive in that project - saline water freezes at lower temperatures, after all.

"As for the climate, we can cope with it just as it is - low atmospheric pressures and very low temperatures are both found on Earth's Southern polar cap, and several nations survive quite well there. The background solar radiation is also no threat to we Tsarainese - the presence of the Wastes above our cities forced the development of many methods to protect against radiation hazards.

"As for power supplies, we are already supplied with all we could require for the forseeable future. The six drone freighters which carried the majority of our equipment to Maraldi from Earth did so under the power of microfusion reactors, and when not required to shift spacecraft at high accelerations, those six reactors provide all the power a civilian population could need, and the waste heat can be dumped into the proposed lake - currently we radiate it into the atmosphere, but not only would the lake be an admirable cooling site, but the heat would help prevent it from freezing.

"In total the land area of the three craters - Maraldi and the two smaller ones on the Southern rim - comes to some 11,811 square kilometers**. As there are a hundred centiounces in an ounce, and a hundred hectares in a square kilometer, we may value it at one ounce per square kilometer - 2,862,899 tsai. Not bad, not bad at all."

OOC:
* A question - Where does your data on Martian hypersalinity of the rock come from? I had thought that most (all?) of the landers had landed in the Northern hemisphere lowlands, where they've recently found rather strong evidence for liquid water in the past (some form of mineral which forms in water). To me, at least, it would appear that said samples come from what is essentially a dry seabed. Lots of salt there. Have there been any samples from the Southern hemisphere? Or has the salinity been detected from orbit?

** For the two smaller craters I've been unable to obtain names or diameters, so I've been forced to estimate their diameters by eye from that photograph I linked earlier. I came up with 24km across for the bigger one and 8km across for the smaller one. The smaller crater isn't exactly right on the rim of Maraldi, but it can easily be linked by tunnels.

Igraine looked puzzled for a moment before a light turned on in her brain. "Oh! Did I say kiloliters? So sorry, that should be megaliters. I guess that proves I'm not an android." She ran fingers through her hair. "Crazy brain. Still, yes, it is a lot. Back in the old days, selling water to near everyone on a desert planet it would come in kiloliters. Water has always been a precious resource, and it will continue to be so in the deserts until the watershed is dug out. The cost of pipelines has always been very low, just enough to pay off the workers. It's the water that pays the bills. The pipeline will run two ways, of course, and you would be credited for anything you put back into the system, so your costs after the initial flooding should nearly break even, minus whatever is lost to the air. Flood the whole thing at once, and you'll run into price difficulties- but pump in a little at a time, and it'll go much more smoothly. Of course, this is all up for negotiation. The quoted price is only for purified freshwater that goes through the pipes. If you can get by with less than human-drinkable quality, which you probably can for most things, we can work out something more to liking, I think."

"Concerning the biotic gel, it's a fairly simple high-speed soil processor. We flood the target area, let it soak a few days, then drain it off and wait for it to dry. When it does, the mud contracts, opening up a network of deep cracks, into which is poured a protein gel containing various bacteria, algae, fungi, nematodes... microscopic soil components. A few days after that, it's covered over with a layer of humus mixed with worms, snails, spiders unless the client doesn't like them, and a few other organisms. A few days after that, it's ready to be cultivated. The process is designed to introduce an entire soil microecosystem at once, to ensure that no particular component dies off before the next can be introduced."
OOC:
* A question - Where does your data on Martian hypersalinity of the rock come from? I had thought that most (all?) of the landers had landed in the Northern hemisphere lowlands, where they've recently found rather strong evidence for liquid water in the past (some form of mineral which forms in water). To me, at least, it would appear that said samples come from what is essentially a dry seabed. Lots of salt there. Have there been any samples from the Southern hemisphere? Or has the salinity been detected from orbit?Kim Stanley Robinson, primarily. There may have been salt actually detected, but I'm not sure. When something's not known for sure in real life, I generally go with Stanley, and barring that just logic. The regolith may or may not contain a lot of sodium chloride- but it will contain lots of other salts and metals to be dealt with, and the global dust storms should distribute them fairly evenly.

** For the two smaller craters I've been unable to obtain names or diameters, so I've been forced to estimate their diameters by eye from that photograph I linked earlier. I came up with 24km across for the bigger one and 8km across for the smaller one. The smaller crater isn't exactly right on the rim of Maraldi, but it can easily be linked by tunnels.Good enough for me.

"Ah, megaliters. That brings the price down somewhat. But we definitely don't want to fill the lake with fresh; we have our own filtration systems, after all. A little salt-water lake will be perfectly acceptable. What is your price for the water "as it comes", then, sans purification?

"I'm sure our own Terraforming Corps can manage the biological side of things admirably; a simple marine ecosystem is not so hard to create."

OOC: That makes sense. I was wondering.

(Please excuse the delay. Something went wonky and wasn't letting me post under this nation. A thousand apologies.)

"Depends on method of delivery. It wouldn't bring the cost to you down very much, but I want to present all the options, so we could ship in a lot of hydrogen, and use that to generate truly pristine water and methane. But we've already established that don't need pure water. Cheap from our end, but the energy costs are fairly large."
"We can attempt weather modification, which would be priced at a few milliounces per kilowatt-hour invested, but quality can vary widely from nearly pure to heavy with dust, and will likely be somewhat acidic, and there're are many points of failure, so I wouldn't really suggest that either."
"We could also ship in loads of ice, but that would take a long time. I think that's about it. For the immediately practical options, anyway, except for one more."
"Now, it's not all that convenient for us, and would involve an addition to the cost of construction of the pipeline, but we could disconnect the stem line from the freshwater reservoirs, and pump straight seawater. Almost anywhere else, we'd use an aquifer, but your proximity to Argyre makes that more difficult than it needs to be. After you've got whatever initial amount you need, it would be switched back over to the freshwater supply. The extra pipeline costs would be for ensuring corrosion resistance as well as covering the costs of converting or replacing the pump station, as well as for cleaning out the pipes to resume freshwater transport afterwards, and would run somewhere around 220 ounces. I can probably knock the price of water in that case down to 350-500 milliounces per kiloliter."

"You mean megaliters again, surely? Either way, the cost remains prohibitive - at the very lowest you suggest three and a half million of your ounces per cubic kilometer!

"We are afraid that we shall have to look elsewhere for our water at present; however, we can issue you with a requisition form for the 11,811 ounces you wish for the land; it will have to be redeemed on Earth, however. We do not have such facilities at Maraldi yet."

"No, most definitely kiloliters. 'Tis a little more than an eighth the price of freshwater. When you want that much of it, everything is expensive. But, if you are unsatisfied with our offer, I won't push it. Just keep in mind, we'll still be available to serve your fresh water needs at any time in the future."
"If we're cutting out all of the extras then, that should be all. Said price for the land will be most sufficient."

"Excellent." Ktiryar took a pen from one pocket, and a thin sheaf of plastic from another.

"Right. Pay to; Eniqciri Office of Land Claims, amount totalling 2,862,899 tsai, for the purpose of; land transfer sale. Authorisation of Ktiryar-Radukh ea Seingult, Arikhenikh Communion, Markhreif Tekhat Maraldi."

Like old carbon paper, the pressure of the pen created a duplicate copy on the layer below. The technology was more advanced, of course, but the result was the same. Ktiryar peeled off the top layer and handed it to Igraine.

"Take that to the Diplomat Corps offices at Scheighu in Tekhat Scheighu and they'll transfer the funds. It'll be copied half a score of ways from here to the archives in Nova Reio, so it shouldn't matter if you lose it. All the same, we advise against doing so."

Eniqcir... I have been absent for a bit due to some technical difficulties... would I be able to check up on the status of my offer for those two parcels of land?