Mars has been terraformed. Geese fly past!
There is an inn called "the Mariner," with a "...corroded simulacrum of the space probe ..." (p. 137) above its door. Inside, someone plays a whining "lodestar set." (ibid.) Days are long so that what would be evening entertainment on Earth starts in daylight. A typical "Martian," human inhabitant of Mars, is dark-skinned, tall, lean and barrel-chested.
Mars has not one police force but several police agencies like Church: Investigators and Guardians and the Neopinks Agency. The Interplanetary Shippers' Association, suffering from asteroid piracy, considers transferring its contract from Neopinks to Church.
Police agencies? Piracy in space? Read on.
4 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
What interested me was the mention of the "Neopinks Agency," which plainly referred to the Pinkerton National Detective Agency founded by Allan Pinkerton in 1850. I was surprised to find out it STILL exists, as a division of the Swedish company Securitas AB. So what we see here shows us the Pinkertons still active in the future, on Mars.
I'm not sure what you meant by the stress you placed on "Police agencies? Piracy in space." Human beings what they are, imperfect and flawed, I fully expect crime to exist in the future and "agencies" will be needed to check it. Perhaps the fact these police agencies seem to be private corporations is what startled you?
And piracy exists right here and now on EARTH as well. Esp. in the waters off the Horn of Africa and the straits of Malaysia and Indonesia. Therefore the idea of space piracy in the future does not seem that implausible to me.
Sean
Sean,
Yes. A plurality of private police agencies is unusual.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
If my somewhat vague recollection of "The Innocent Arrival" and "The Moonrakers" is correct, the colonized Mars of that story has a strongly libertarian minded society, and such cultures are likely to minimize the size and scope of the state as much as possible. Possibly having private companies police crime as well.
Sean
Sean,
That is the explanation.
Paul.
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