Greenies

answer within twenty-four hours. That answer will be either yes or no. If you fail to respond to us or if you send me a message from some political underling or if you send me a message that asks for some modification of this deal, there will be no deal. Half of our food surplus should be more than enough to compel you to do as we ask and it is well beyond fair.

'Awaiting your reply, Laura Whiting.'

The first, instinctive reaction around the table was outrage. The council members erupted into a chorus of indignant exclamations, shocked words, and even a few utterings of politically incorrect profanity, the likes of which was rarely heard in such a setting. They could not believe that this Martian woman, this greenie, would dare talk to the ruling council of the most powerful nation in the solar system in such a manner. There was talk of simply abandoning the entire deal on that basis alone. The Democratic Republic of the Eastern Hemisphere certainly did not wish to do business with uncouth, uncivilized welfare scum who did not follow or apparently even know the most basic rules of propriety. It took several minutes for it to even occur to anyone just how magnanimous of a deal they were actually being offered.

It was one of the junior members of the council, the forty-five year old representative of the Zimbabwe region in Africa (though she had never actually been to Zimbabwe, which was one of the worst and largest slums on the planet), who finally ventured that maybe they should think about this for a second.

'They are offering us half of their monthly surplus,' she hesitantly said during a lull in the blathering. She blushed a little as she said this. As the newest member of such a powerful group of people, she was not yet accustomed to adapting a stance that was different than the majority. 'Maybe we should consider that factor for just a few moments.'

The table grew silent and all eyes turned to her.

'Are you saying,' asked Billings, 'that you would actually consider engaging in trade with such barbarians? With a woman who sends a message to us demanding that we bend to her terms? That offers us... us, an ultimatum?'

'Well,' she said, nervous but determined to stand her ground and make her point, 'I will be the first to agree that the way in which we were addressed by this Whiting woman is reprehensible. But on the other hand, we can't really fault the deal that she is offering now, can we?' She looked up at the ceiling, towards the computer audio inputs. 'Computer, what is the monthly food surplus from the WestHem colony of Mars?'

'On average,' the computer answered, 'the surplus amounts to thirty-six billion metric tons of various agricultural products. Would you like a breakdown by category?'

'No thank you,' she said. 'I believe I've made my point.' She looked back at the council members, all of whom were already softening their expressions. 'She's offering us eighteen billion tons of food products per month. Eighteen billion in exchange for a mere three hundred million tons of hydrogen. That is three tankers full of hydrogen in exchange for more than a hundred cargo ships full of food products. I don't know about your sponsors, but mine would certainly want me to give serious consideration to accepting this deal in light of the sheer amount that we're talking about. That is enough to boost our economy into the stratosphere. All of our national debt would be paid off, our deficit spending would come to an end, and of course our sponsors would benefit very highly.' As an afterthought she added, 'It would also serve to end much of the famine in the Africa and Middle East regions.'

Nobody cared too much about the famine, but the other points she had made most definitely struck a note with them. Suddenly, dealing with such barbarians didn't seem all that bad of a thing. But there were still a few problems.

'What will happen if we recognize Mars as an independent planet though?' asked Cassidy. 'There is still that issue to think about. Recognizing them and openly engaging in trade with them, especially for hydrogen, is likely to prompt military action by WestHem.'

'Yes,' agreed Billings. 'While this trade offer is intriguing to say the least, the risk of open warfare and even a nuclear exchange is considerable. I think we're going to have to try to persuade our Martian friends to accept trade without recognition. Again I point out that, Whiting's pretentiousness aside, it is we who are dealing from the position of strength.'

'They said they would not consider a deal without recognition,' the junior member interjected.

'She was posturing,' said Cassidy. 'They will lose their entire revolution if they don't secure a fuel supply. Do you really think that they're willing to risk that?'

'But are we willing to risk the loss of this once in a lifetime deal if it turns out that she is serious in her threats?' the junior member, more confidant now, demanded.

That silenced the table once more.

'Look,' she said, 'how serious is this threat of war that we're worrying about? Is it more serious than risking the loss of this unprecedented trade agreement?'

Billings considered that thought for a moment. He looked over at General Hans. 'General,' he said, 'I believe that this question is within your area of expertise. Suppose we do recognize Mars as an independent planet and suppose we do engage in trade with them. Would WestHem attack our supply ships? Would they be able to defeat our navy out in open space? Would they engage in a nuclear attack upon our cities?'

Hans, who was more or less neutral in the debate on trade, did not take long to answer. 'The loss of a third of their fleet to the Martians would seriously hamper their ability to fight a naval war with us,' he said. 'And in addition, the loss of their fast reaction division, all of the equipment for this division, and the commitment of so many of their other troops to the Martian theater would severely hamper their ability to make war upon us in a conventional fashion. On a strictly numerical basis, our fleet would have them outnumbered and outgunned quite easily. They will know this as well as we do.'

'I see,' Billings said thoughtfully. 'And what of nuclear attack upon our cities?'

Hans gave a slight shrug at this question. 'The use of nuclear weapons on a strategic basis is a political decision made by political leaders. Blowing up each other's cities and annihilating the population of this planet is a rather drastic step that I do not believe would be undertaken over so petty a matter as recognition of the Martians and engaging in trade with them. But, since I'm a simple military man I would defer an official opinion on that to you folks here at this table. I would however, think that the WestHem would be much more inclined to move in that direction if we were to aid the Martians militarily as well as in trade.'

'So you're saying,' Billings said, 'that you don't think that they would attack us in any way for simply recognizing Mars and trading food for hydrogen, but that they might if we send troops to help fight the WestHems off?'

'That is my opinion, Chief Councilperson,' he confirmed. 'For what it is worth.'

They ran the question by the National Security Adviser, who concurred with Hans in this assessment of the situation.

'So what do we wish to do here?' Billings asked his colleagues. 'Do we bow to the Martian demands and risk war with WestHem, or do we attempt to negotiate further with the Martians and risk losing the lucrative trade arrangement they are offering us? Which of these risks is the greater one?'

'I believe that we should take the deal that they are offering, on their terms,' said the junior member, who could almost feel her influence with the council growing by the minute. 'We stipulate to the Martians that the trade agreement will cover food for hydrogen only and that under no circumstances will we ever provide weapons or military assistance to them.'

Billings looked at her, knowing that what he said next would likely decide the matter. Sure, there would be a vote taken but generally his opinion was the one that swayed the momentum of the others. It really was an easy decision to make. If he somehow managed to fumble this opportunity, his sponsors would be very upset with him and would engineer his defeat in the next election. 'I believe that the lady from Zimbabwe is correct,' he told them. 'This opportunity for trade is simply unprecedented. There is very much to gain from accepting it and very much to lose by attempting to alter it. As we've seen by the events of the past few days on Mars, our greenie friends are unpredictable and do not always follow the rules of political logic. Though there is a risk of war with WestHem, both conventional and nuclear, that risk would seem to be small as long as we stick to the tenants of the agreement and do not stray into other areas. I move that we should accept the deal with the Martians as it stands, with the aforementioned stipulation of no military involvement.'

'Second the motion,' the junior member immediately said.

The vote was taken on the motion. It was unanimous in favor of it.