Moving Mars by Greg Bear Read Free Book Online Page A

names, lifting her slate and letting each speak and be recognized in turn.
    I looked to my right and saw Charles standing beside me. He smiled, and I returned his smile and put a hand on his shoulder.
    Will someone take this outside and shoot it up to a satcom? None of the cables or repeaters are working, thanks to you folks. Ochoa gave her slate to a student, who left the dining area to get to the glass roof of the administration upper levels.
    Now, some background, since I doubt youve heard much news recently.
    Nothing useful, Oliver said.
    Right. I hate to tell you this, but you didnt do a thing for your cause by acting like a bunch of Parisian Communards. The Statist government planted its own bombs months ago, political and legal, far away from UMS, and they exploded just two days ago. We have a bad situation here, folks, and that explains some of the delay in getting to you. The constitutional accord is off. The Statists have resigned, and the old BM Charter government has been called back into session.
    The battle was over. But we were small potatoes.
    Ochoa concluded by saying, You folks have wrecked university property, youve violated laws in every Martian book I can think of, and youve put yourselves in a great deal of danger. What has it gotten you?
    Fortunately, it probably wont get you any time in jail. Ive heard that former Statist politicos are shipping out by dozensand that probably includes Connor and Dauble. Nobody in their right mind is going to charge you under Statist law.
    What did they do? Charles asked.
    Nobodys sure about all that theyve done, but it looks like the government invited Earth participation in Mars politics, sought kickbacks from Belter BMs to let them mine Hellas
    Gasps from the assembly. We had thought we were radical.
    And planned to nationalize all BM holdings by years end.
    We met these pronouncements with stunned silence.
    We stayed in the old dorms while security crews from Gorrie Mars BM checked out the entire university grounds. New rails were manufactured, trains came in, and most of us went home. I stayed, as did Oliver, Felicia, and Charles. I was beginning to think that Charles wanted to be near me.
    I met my family in the station two days after our release, Father and Mother and my older brother Stan. My parents looked pale and shaken by both fear and anger. My father told me, in no uncertain terms, that I had violated his most sacred principles in joining the radicals. I tried to explain my reasons, but didnt get through to him, and no wonder: they werent entirely clear to me.
    Stan, perpetually amused by the attitudes and actions of his younger sister, simply stood back with a calm smile. That smile reminded me of Charles.
    Charles, Oliver, Felicia and I bought our tickets at the autobox and walked across the UMS depot platform. We all felt more than a little like outlaws, or at least pariahs.
    It was late morning and a few dozen interim university administrators had come in on the same train we would be taking out. Dressed in formal grays and browns, they stood under the glass skylights shuffling their feet, clutching their small bags and waiting for their security escort, glancing at us suspiciously.
    Rail staff didnt know we were part of the group responsible for breaking the UMS line, but they suspected. All credit to the railway that it honored charter and did not refuse service.
    The four of us sat in the rearmost car, fastening ourselves into the narrow seats. The rest of the train was empty.
    In 2171, five hundred thousand kilometers of maglev train tracks spread over Mars, thousands more being added by arbeiters each year. The trains were the best way to travel: sitting in comfort and silence as the silver millipedes flew centimeters above their thick black rails, rhythmically boosting every three or four hundred meters and reaching speeds of several hundred kiphs. I loved watching vast stretches of boulder-strewn flatlands rush by, seeing fans of dust topped by