The Mars House by Natasha Pulley
Author:Natasha Pulley
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
* * *
On the steps of the hotel they walked into a wall of people all yelling so many questions it was impossible to distinguish any single voice. All he heard was a swarm roar.
âGood evening, how is everyone?â Gale said, not even fractionally stirred by it.
There was a story from somewhere, about a king who had tried to stop the sea; January thought of it then, because he had a feeling that the sea would have parted for Gale.
âSenator, can you comment on what the Consul just said?â
âThe Consul has just announced that a fleet from Earth is coming here with uranium. And well they might; this storm is artificial, caused by the release of silver iodide, which does not naturally occur on Mars or anywhere. This is clearly a pretext by which to bring as many immigrants from Earth here as possible before the election, under the guise of help in an energy crisis.â
More noise than January had ever heard before. It had hurt less to stand right under the engine of an idling interplanetary liner. He felt painfully detached from it all.
âSenatorââ
âSenator!â
âSenatorââ
âMx Stirling?â
Gale pointed to that last voice, and January had a drab little tide of gladness when he recognised Professor Shang, wearing a badge that said they were reporting for, of all things, a neurology journal, and beaming out that same Paddington Bear warmth theyâd had in the interrogation room, still in that same purple scarf.
âMx Stirling, what do you think is going on?â
Gale was looking down at him, as suddenly silent as everyone else.
A quiet voice in his head said: You know, if you say, donât be silly, there are no crazy conspiracies, you could pull the rug out from under all this. Songshu is failing, aid is coming; whatâs the problem?
He could see the future, as clear as if it were playing across the inside of his new glasses. If those ships landed, more would follow. China and Russia and India and all the rest wouldnât want Tharsis to become American overnight. With them would come their governments. Tharsis would be a true colony again soon, and that would be that. People like Gale would never have any power again. People like Gale, sixth- or seventh-generation Natural, would find themselves at the very bottom of the pile, and maybe even forced out of the city. The world would turn upside down and everyone who had scraped along the bottom would have a chance to get to the top. The Senate would become Earthstrong heavy, cages would be here to stay, life would beâmaybe not brilliant, but better. The naturalisation centres would close. Perhaps funding would go to making more buildings like the Rings. He could go in shops. He could get work again, normal work. With the money he already had from his single month working for House Gale, he could start a dance company.
He wouldnât need to be tied to a nationalist who wanted him to wither away behind a fence.
He wanted to
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