Dontgonearthere
11-08-2008, 01:30
Martial colonists were suprised to discover something marginally more unusual than the typical human expects when drilling a scientific borehole. Namely, lots of a black, viscous substance known generally as 'oil'.
The team in question was beginning the initial phase of a 4km deep borehole into the Martian crust to assist with the terraforming program, hoping to discover data on previous Martian climates and perhaps atmospheric composition.
The drilling was cut short when, as one scientist put it,
"There was a sound sort of like a hundred cats being sick at once, then the drill exploded and it started raining black. And bits of drill. Johnson's really mad about that. Especially the piece in his shoulder. Government health insurance doesn't cover exploding drills, apparently."
Some time previously on Earth, when internal combustion engines were in common use, a substance referred to as 'gasoline' or 'petrol' was extracted from oil and burned to power said engines. Indeed, the substance was so highly valued that several wars were fought over it, most of which ended awkwardly around 2022 when methods for cheaply producing hydrogen became commonplace and a number of hydrogen engines were placed on the market. Most of the countries involved decided to pretend the whole affair never happened.
The land in question has been cordoned off so as to prevent the oil leakage from having an adverse effect on the sensitive Martian climate, which is only partially terraformed. A small museum has been established on-site detailing the history of oil, the internal combustion engine, and so forth.
Meanwhile, those who know where oil comes from have all gotten very excited that it exists on Mars and are creating a great deal of fuss about being allowed to examine the oil and the surrounding area.
The team in question was beginning the initial phase of a 4km deep borehole into the Martian crust to assist with the terraforming program, hoping to discover data on previous Martian climates and perhaps atmospheric composition.
The drilling was cut short when, as one scientist put it,
"There was a sound sort of like a hundred cats being sick at once, then the drill exploded and it started raining black. And bits of drill. Johnson's really mad about that. Especially the piece in his shoulder. Government health insurance doesn't cover exploding drills, apparently."
Some time previously on Earth, when internal combustion engines were in common use, a substance referred to as 'gasoline' or 'petrol' was extracted from oil and burned to power said engines. Indeed, the substance was so highly valued that several wars were fought over it, most of which ended awkwardly around 2022 when methods for cheaply producing hydrogen became commonplace and a number of hydrogen engines were placed on the market. Most of the countries involved decided to pretend the whole affair never happened.
The land in question has been cordoned off so as to prevent the oil leakage from having an adverse effect on the sensitive Martian climate, which is only partially terraformed. A small museum has been established on-site detailing the history of oil, the internal combustion engine, and so forth.
Meanwhile, those who know where oil comes from have all gotten very excited that it exists on Mars and are creating a great deal of fuss about being allowed to examine the oil and the surrounding area.