With that said, here is the beginning of First on Mars:
THIS WORK WILL ONLY BE AVAILABLE UNTIL September 14, 2007.
First on Mars (c) 2007 ThePete.Com (this is fiction)
The press went mad--it was the new era of space travel. Of course, the press only cared because the private company that was venturing to Mars was, well, paying them off. The SSI was, after all, a private company and could keep it's finances secret. This wasn't a government-run operation and there had been quite a bit of attention from the press before the cash started to flow thanks to the entire mission, up to launch-time being completed entirely in secret. When the mission launched, it was a shock to the American government and to everyone else, too.
Why was it a big deal? Because the private company was based in the middle of the United States of America, in an abandoned missile silo that was bought up by a front company that allowed Special Space Incorporated to move in and set up shop. Joy, Kansas, where the silo was located is mostly farm land so no one was around in the middle of the night when SSI would have their materials shipped in. As a result, starting ten years previously, the entire Atlas Missile silo was refitted to support the building and eventual launch of a space rocket--a space rocket tipped with the most advanced robotic probe ever devised.
"Look, it's not like our intentions were ill," Ground Mission Commander, Joe Keegan, explained in an interview after the launch. "We hired the best engineers and scientists to design both the ETM Space Rocket and the Martian Analyzation Neurobot."
"But you, yourself said the rocket was experimental," the attractive news reporter asked.
"Experimental, yes--but how else were we to test it? Ask for permission? No. There was no other way. The government moves too slowly. The opportunity was there as were the funds, so we took it. It's not like the Space Agency had any concrete plans to go to Mars on their own. It's not like they were using the planet." Keegan's argument was sound enough on it's own, but his his good looks, handsome attire and boyish charm would sell a cynic a bridge in Brooklyn.
"Some say that if you had only gone to NASA and told them that you had a space ship and a probe already built, they and the United States government would have happily allowed you to launch under their guidance."
"Oh, no--they would have made us do all the same tests we did on the ground all over again. That would have postponed the launch for years, possibly even more than a decade. I couldn't allow that to happen."
"You're partner, Kevin Walsh, how involved was he with this entire project?"
"All the way. It was his idea, I just got the money together. Sure, I had always dreamed of re-igniting the space race with the fortunes I made in the second great Internet boom, but he was the one who guided the mission on the back end. He over saw the construction of the Neurobot and the ETM Space Rocket."
"And his death--how did that effect both you and the mission?"
"I was horrified with his death, of course. But the show had to go on, as they say and as I'm sure Kevin would agree. And the mission is going on in his memory, dedicated to him. And when the ETM reaches Mars and when the Neurobot rolls out onto the Martian soil, I know that Kevin will be looking down on us with approving eyes. He'll be missed, to say the least."
"We're actually going to rename the landing area of the OTS module to 'Walsh Base' in his honor. I think it's the least we can do. And, of course, his wife Amy will be looked after forever."
Nine months later, the press was, once again, awash with the private Martian Mission news. Every headline on every website and newspaper proclaimed something about the approaching landing date of the OTS, or Orbit-to-Surface, module. Keegan made sure of that by utilizing his extensive wealth. Learning from the mistakes made by so many during the initial DotCom Bust, Keegan got out early, selling everything he had for tens of billions. That billions were now one fourth of the funds paying for the mission and the press putting it square in front of the public every day and night. The other money came from his anonymous backers. Keegan would never tell Walsh who they were and still wouldn't admit it. He would justify it to another reporter by saying: "That's the advantage of being a private company."
Read the rest of it here: http://thepete.com/thepetefiction.pdf
Remember, as with all ThePeteFictions, they'll only be up for a week, so if you're reading this after September 14, 2007, you'll have to hope ThePete got around to publishing this someplace else, like in paperback.
Orignal From: FIRST ON MARS a Short Story
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