The First Expedition: Celebrating the Human spirit

This story was inspired by one of my earliest supporters, Ian Mendonca, whose now-defunct website DigiReader.com had reviewed a number of my novels. (Some of those reviews made it to his new site, iBme.)

Ian saw in my work, my attitude towards e-books, and my frequent discussion contributions, a chance to promote the both of us, and he asked to set up a discussion thread devoted to my novels. As an incentive, Ian wanted to gift subscribers with a short story from me, so he asked me if I could give them one. I didn't have one to give at the time, but I quickly thought of a good story to write.

The First Expedition is essentially a sequel to the opening chapter of The Onuissance Cells, wherein we learn that Midland Commander Matt Cartier has unexpectedly resigned in order to go on the second human expedition to Mars. I originally wrote that concept in order to provide a context for some background on the Onuissance—including a commentary on the past (our immediate future), in which America foolishly sends an ill-prepared expedition to Mars, with the resultant loss of all hands—and to provide a vehicle for the introduction of new Peacekeeper Commander Thomas Beak.

It was never my intention to follow Matt to Mars, nor to get into anything that happened to him afterward. More than anything, my intention was to show how foolish certain projected actions of the 21st century would turn out to be, part of the reason for the rise of the Onuissance Era to right all the economic and environmental wrongs of the Industrial Revolution.

On the other hand, I did leave a loose thread hanging there. Okay, it was practically a hawser of hemp. Anyway, when Ian asked me to write a story, that seemed the natural thread to tie up.

So, I got Matt to Mars. That was the easy part. More difficult was deciding what I wanted him to find. From the beginning, this was supposed to be realistic, hard science, so I wasn't going to show some hidden Martian menace. Instead, I presented an expedition that simply wasn't prepared for the rigors of the mission, despite the best efforts of an early-21st century NASA... as well as a country, so deeply mired in its own problems, that it was helpless to save them.

But most importantly, I wanted to show the true reason for going to Mars, the reason for the first, as well as the second, expedition: Because humans are an explorer species, and are willing to risk their lives in the pursuit of knowledge and experience. This drive spread humanity over every continent on the planet, got us to the Moon and to the bottom of the sea. It drives humanity on, even when there is little or no hope of returning. And when they do return, they have little trouble convincing others to go back with them.

This story is a testimonial to Humanity's ability to Strive, to Explore, to Risk, and sometimes, to Lose. And it is a testimonial to the fact that, even when we lose, those who follow can gain something from that loss.

This short story is free to download.