Mars Colony Director's Address at the Outset of World War III

--TASA/UNCLASSIFIED--

SUBJECT: Mars Colony Director’s Address at the Outset of World War III

DATINF: 2115.08.09
DATCOL: 2194.06.14
*EXECSUM: The following is an audio recording recovered from Colony One by TASA Marine Corps personnel during Operation Plymouth. It appears to be a speech given by the Director of the Colony upon learning that World War III had begun. Acoustic analysis and metadata exploitation indicates this speech was given in the central atrium to an audience of between two and three hundred colonists.*
CONTAGS: MARS | MARTIANS | MARINER | COLONY ONE | DAHL | WORLD WAR III | TERRAFORMING | SAHB
TRANSCRIPT:
**Dr. Ryan Dahl, Ph.D. - Mars Colony Director:** Everyone, your attention please. Attention! This announcement concerns everyone on this planet. Make sure your colleagues at every outpost and workstation are tuned in. You know I’m not one for big speeches, so make sure you listen carefully. If your English isn’t great, turn on your translator and replay this over and over until you understand. If anyone misses this, pass the word.
[long pause]
Folks, there’s no easy way to say this… The rumors you’ve been hearing… are true. Last Sunday at 2410 Hours, we lost all contact with Earth. [Audible murmur among gathered crew] Houston isn’t responding. Beijing, Korolyov, Darmstadt… all quiet. We’ve checked and triple checked, and the problem isn’t on our end. We can still talk to ships and stations in our orbit, and they aren’t receiving word from Earth either. No new traffic has been detected en route to us. Earth has gone dark.
[Increasing chatter in audience]
We’ve been working to figure out what’s going on. Over time we’ve been able to rule out a number of causes. We’re fairly certain this isn’t a glitch in communication, a virus, or solar activity. There’s... one scenario I’m sure has crossed everyone’s minds. I know the… political situation between some of our homelands has grown tense. I can see it in some of you as I walk the halls. The tension that’s been building on Earth and Luna, the military buildup and posturing, the riots and clashes, the destruction of ISS 2 last month… all of that indicates a very real possibility that some or all of our nations have gone to war.
**Unidentified(U/I) Male Colonist 1:** Is Canada involved?
**U/I Female Colonist 1:** What about Russia?
**U/I Male Colonist 2:** Are [unintelligible] fighting in space? The moon?
[Other questions unintelligible]
**Ryan Dahl**: Folks, please! We can’t confirm any details. We don’t know how bad it is. We don’t know who started it or who’s involved. None of that matters now. What matters now is where we go from here. My father taught me to hope for the best case scenario while planning for the worst case scenario. The best case scenario is that this is a short affair like in ‘92... It might blow over in the coming weeks or months and operations will resume. We will keep trying to make contact with stations on Earth, Luna, or in orbit. We’ll sweep public channels for any information we can find. Expedition 121 will continue on their return trip to Earth. They will keep in contact with us and act as our eyes and ears as they get closer to Earth in the coming months. That’s assuming we don’t hear anything before they arrive.
The worst case scenario… the worst possible situation is that Earth has become embroiled in all out war. God, it feels wrong just saying that. We’ve gone more than a century and a half without a major world war… and the nuclear stockpiles that have been building… the devastation could be widespread.
We need to acknowledge this possibility… the fact is we won’t be able to count on resupply from Earth. Whether this is a few months or… the foreseeable future, we need to prepare to be on our own.
On paper we’re self-sufficient, but it’s a delicate balance. Our reliance on regular resupply is a crutch we need to quickly wean off of. We will have to manage resource consumption: budget food, water, fab mats and electricity. It’ll be back to Phase 1 living conditions. I know most of us weren’t even born yet, but we’ve heard the old-timers talk about life back then. If they could do it, we can too.
But if we’re going to be in it for the long haul, conserving our resources won’t be enough. We’ll just be biding time until essential systems break down. I don’t know about you, but that’s not how i want to go out.
[Murmurs of agreement]
We need to move ahead with Terraforming. We need to make this planet liveable. If not for us, then for our children. For the generation on ice down the hall from here, who will inherit Mars from us. For the future of humanity. It’s going to take everything we’ve got. Every ounce of energy and willpower you have, we need it. Mankind needs it. Mars needs it.
Every single one of you has a role here. I need everyone playing on the team, doing their part. That means we can’t let the specter of Terran conflict haunt us here. We can’t let grudges and nationalism divide us, millions of kilometers from any national boundary. Truth be told, I know it already has. I’ve seen the disciplinary logs. That ends now. Any hatred, any anger you feel towards your fellow man for what their countrymen might be doing on another planet, stow it or find some way to put it behind you. Look around you. Look at your fellow Martians. That’s right, Martians. You’ve earned the title. From this day forward, you are not Americans, or Russians, or Koreans, or whatever else. Mars is your home now. You live for Mars, you work for Mars, if necessary you die for Mars.
Don’t see this as betraying your old country. See this as honoring their legacy and preserving their history in the name of peace. Keep your culture, keep your history. Just don’t keep the baggage. Be the best your nation has to offer, like when you first signed on to this mission. A week, a month, or a year from now if we reconnect with Earth, I will make sure everyone who wants to go back is repatriated… but if we’re here longer, we need to focus on the greater good.
The Section Leaders and I have thought long and hard about this plan. We all agree it’s the best way forward in light of the likely disaster on Earth. This will only work if each of you is willing. If there are any objections to this course of action, voice them now. Otherwise we need to move forward and work together to weather this storm.
[Long pause]
Good. If any of you have a change of heart, my door will be open all week. Beyond that, I expect dedication to the cause. There will be difficult trials ahead and hesitation will cost us dearly. We will have another meeting later this week to formalize preparations. Continue to follow the guidance of your section leaders.
Yesterday we were working to build a Mars we can be proud to call home. We were bringing green and blue to the red planet. We were building an atmosphere we might one day be able to walk outside and breathe in without a suit. We’d one day clutch a fistful of fertile Martian soil between our bare fingers, and wash our hands of it in the Mariner Sea... None of that has changed. The only difference is that failure is no longer an option.

---Nothing Follows---