Sandehi Gellibrand had been exceptionally busy. His peers, of course, had all had a difficult role in forming the first vanguard onto the Red Planet. However, he fancied himself having arguably the most brutal role of all.
At the eleventh hour, he had made the acquaintance of a young man by the name 'Árni Þór Reynisson'. The youthful gentleman made a striking impression walking into the conference room, and his unusual background had immediately caught Sandehi's interest. The two seemed to have a commonality, in bending pragmatism to social goals, if from two different perspectives, and they struck up a bargain to work together.
As it happened, Arni had been accustomed to careful, practical planning. He was quick to recognize the value in Sandehi's decision to begin his expedition by ensuring food security; unlike Sandehi, however, he took a more entrepreneurial eye. They struck up a deal in-perpetuity - Sandehi would supply Arni with food, and in return, he would receieve a slide of the industrial output from Arni's Commonwealth.
The brutal landing on the treacherous crags of Tharsis Montes were not a surprise to Sandehi, or the new residents of 'Charity' - the colony's biodome, even if they were unwelcome. Colony Secretary Pierre Montesquieu had checked and double-checked what seemed to be every tiny fastener used on the biodome, and finally, that wonderful phrase - "cleared for operations".
What Pierre did not expected was Sandehi's masterstroke. Unlike Arni, Sandehi had cut his teeth in the world of cooperatives; for a multi-national, risk management was the name of the game. But Sandehi knew that in the early days of a cooperative, one had to leave questions of sustainability to the workers - it was for them to grasp their own fate. His job was simply to introduce to them all the opportunities they could have.
In a flippant personal call, Sandehi proposed that Arni cooperate with him to build Mars' first spaceport. They had earmarked several years for their own industrial colony to be brought to operations, but that was merely because it would take them so long with their meagre funding to begin ore production - it would be occupied and powered. And so Sandehi managed to convince Arni to promise him rental of the facility, provided that its output went exclusively to the construction of the spaceport.
But this meant Sandehi would need to produce the necessary ore himself. No matter, he had friends in Lunapolis who would no doubt jump at the chance for glory. It was not a moment sooner than the ISA had sent him the necessary processes to call in his discounted prefab from the Republic's industrial planning program; his reply had been so sudden that it was seen by the same clerk.
And they met his wildest expectations. Their projected output, as an experienced (if disgraced) cooperative with years of collective experience and a dedication to their craft, would be twice that of any ordinary team. Colony Secretary Rafael de Silva was a noted civil libertarian and a brilliant geologist.
Then his second problem. Having seemingly secured the ore necessary to pursue his spaceport, he would need to power it, and he was bankrupt. This too, was simple to solve. The RoE had promised him credit and he had happily taken it. Why not take more from the megacorps? The terms of the loans were far harsher for the moment, but he would have to make do.
Returning to the original problem, he had the option of purchasing a powerplant from Earth, but he was wary of landing such a facility on Tharsis Montes. He would far prefer to have it couriered, and he knew of a solar power cooperative from Australia that would consider relocation to Mars - equipment in tow, under their secretary Annabel Broadworth. By building an industrial colony, he could put them to work whilst using the other half of his ore production.
This, it seemed, would be his work of art. Where some sought to conquer Mars as individuals; as many men against nature, Sandehi needed only one community.
2051 Mechanics
2052
The Board of the Martian Cooperative Federation, it had been decided, would be set at five for the time being. It was to be headed by the President, Sandehi Gellibrand, who thus chaired the board. As the vice-chair, they decided to introduce a new role, which came to be held by Cynthia Jennison, originally responsible for coordinating the arrival and integration of the new colonists. The new role was the Chief Executive. Cynthia was now responsible for the technical and managerial aspects of life in the Federation, representing the business interests of the colony, to temper the strategic vision of Sandehi and the representational role of the three secretaries.
Their first meeting was simply to ratify the agreement with the Commonwealth, a simple process that was passed without debate. They also ratified the servicing of colony's debt, a substantially more tense undertaking, yet equally quiet. Thought it too was unanimous, in particular Rafael de Silva had argued passionately for taking a more militant stance against the colony's creditors. Cynthia talked him down from the edge, pointing out the sheer quantity of debt, and the likely severe ramifications of default. For the value of the colony's debt, it would be possible to fund and deploy an entire invasion force, spearheaded by at worst three different consortiums and the Republic of Earth itself. Though he had eventually seen sense, it boded poorly for the relationship between the two.
For their part, the other three fostered a comfortable working relationship between themselves, letting their sympathies rest in the shadow. Annabel, when pressed, could be heard tentatively lodging her support for the more realistic and pragmatic Cynthia, whilst Pierre, being a true believer from Sandehi's first Martian cohort, caught himself daring to look at the shadows of Tharsis Montes as if on the other side was all the armies of Earth, though he never let himself think the scenario through to the inevitable end.
2052 Mechanics
2053
"And since ordinary matters are concluded, there are two special matters to discuss."
Sandehi allowed the conversation to linger, as the boardmembers passed around dossiers, making side comments and posing questions both rhetorical and literal. They had made it a habit to eat in the boardroom - though CoopFed had already accounted for most of its food supplies, it still produced a very welcome surplus, and its economy of scale allowed for it to enjoy some luxuries, like good herbs and spices.
Today, they were considering the mass wave of volunteers to clamour for transit to Mars, offering themselves up as sacrifices free of charge. A welcome boon.
On financial grounds, Cynthia Jennison had argued for Tharsis Montes to better use its vast energy reserves. Having already overseen the completion of a geothermal power source, Cynthia pointed out that they would be able to survive an additional year purely on the additional funds brought by the wealthy Nipponians - and, if that was not enough, that their work in a media colony funded via a loan would in fact pay an overall profit when accounting for their funding.
Pierre, however, argued passionately for his countrymen, pointing out that with the text of the agreement with the Commonwealth, they would in fact face a food shortage were they to take on the Nipponians. If they were to build another biodome before being able to operate any more colonies, then surely they should take the chance to secure the sought-after French agriculturalists?
This proved to be a convincing argument, although Sandehi bemoaned the fact that his grand ideological project would be put off indefinitely. Annabel was quick to remind him that part of the reason for doing so was to pursue his own wish for rapid expansion.
Cynthia was to take the lead on the second matter at hand - maintaining a spaceport. Building a hydrogen fuel plant well in advance of supplying an export schedule meant that they could stockpile fuel, the only resource trivially stored, using their excess energy and excess water produced by their ice drill. This was quickly accepted by all present, noting that they were quickly reaching the limits of what could be achieved by the colony without technological innovation.
2053 Mechanics
