The hunt for the monster had occurred, and Sukebe had fled. The scientist had found himself savaged in the media, and few if any of them possessed the wit or drive to investigate the truth when the lie was so well received.
Of course, he knew all this because Sukebe had decided to flaunt what he COULD have done for Earth by starting the colonization of a neighboring world. Mars.
The first habitation had been lava tubes - ready made structures. Then had come the first of the Domes. Olympus Dome was one of the biggest. Pallet, located not far East of Olympus, was an ag-dome. It had a lake and fields and streams.
Sukebe had noted his supporters. Those who had still held that it could not be true that he had been planning all the outrageous things taken for granted by the press. Those who had opposed the woman whose personal agenda had been to rise at his expense he especially marked. When the time had come, he'd quietly contacted the largest groups and made them an offer. Many had taken him up on it.
As far as the rest of the world was concerned, some people had simply vanished with all of their worldly possessions. Until the green splotch on Mars was taken off the tabloid circles and into the scientific community, that was all the world at large had considered regarding that.
When it DID break, it broke in a big way. Pine forests were spreading on Mars? Where was the water coming from? Where was the heat coming from? Why had one mesa been resculpted into a parody of a human hand with half of a peace sign showing where telescopes from Earth could find it?
Then the spin came down, led by political cartoonists and commentary from the intelligensia, Sukebe had fled off planet. Unfairly using devices that had not been released to the general public, he had skulked off like a coward to hide from the rightful scrutiny of the authorities. The authorities in question pointed out that he had never had a trial and arresting him THERE was going to be a little difficult.
Water now flowed, part of the year at least, on Mars. The temperature was still cold compared to Earth but some pokegirls and some of Sukebe's "gadgets" had left Mars with an equatorial climate comparable to Norway or Sweden. Most of the life on Mars though - that was in the Domes.
Beyond the domes was Mars itself. A bit warmer, the atmosphere was thicker, and a whole lot greener than it had been. Still, it wasn't comfortable or particularly safe to go out there on the surface without some survival gear.
Sages, like Professor Oak, maintained places here in the Domes but spent most of their time out on their own. They'd have a Plant Type and a Water Type at the very least. From what Ash remembered seeing earlier, Professor Oak probably left the Plant and Water Type at his ranch. What the professor actually travelled with were a Fire and an Air Type.
Ash finally made it to the gate that served as the boundary between Professor Oak's Compound and the nearby groves.
Of course there were others there already. Ash remembered some of them. Gary - the stuck up and arrogant boy, chatting on a celphone with his cronies. Minsc - looking like he wanted to wad Gary AND his celphone up and insert them in the nearest trash receptacle. A few others he knew from years of school.
"Yo, Minsc, what's up?" said Ash, waving and smiling at the bigger boy. Pity Minsc had gotten brain-fried years ago by a rogue Psychic type.
"Minsc stands ready," said Minsc. As the gate began opening, he appended that. "Minsc gets moving."
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(Posted Sat, 24 Sep 2005 09:25)
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