The White Elephant of Panschin

Twelve Happiness Luxury Hotel

     From what he could observe, the rows of seats, carefully divided into sections for the different classes of passengers as evidenced by their design – actual chairs, benches with backs, and plain benches, accessorized by a range of padding from thick to non-existent - were clean of terraformers. Probably, Airik surmised, this was due to the bodies of said passengers wiping them clean when they sat down and got up again. It was a reasonable assumption since little cleaning and removal of terraformers had been done anywhere else. The floors were clear but that was undoubtedly due to constant foot traffic wearing away anything that tried to grow.

     He walked over to the first-class seating, conveniently both the closest waiting area and the one most likely to be kept up properly. If terraformers were here, they would be present everywhere in Panschin. Airik crouched down to check a first-class seating chair-back. Its upholstery of green brocade leaves remained bright but as he neared the underside where only the most scrupulous janitor would clean, the fabric pattern disappeared under a layer of lichens.

     Airik frowned. It had not occurred to him that Panschin, a city of domes and tunnels, would provide some of the best remaining habitat on Mars for terraformers, wherever there was any sunlight to fuel its growth. There wouldn't be much competition from other plants here, nor insects to eat them. He took a deep breath -- drawing the train station's air into his lungs -- then blew it out slowly. Then another. Then another, each time assessing what he sensed. The air was subtly different in how it felt, tasted, smelled, from what he remembered of the train's air. That air had been changed repeatedly, even when the windows weren't being opened by the passengers, freshening it every time. It was the next best thing to being outside.

     This air now. He wrinkled his nose, then coughed. This air, Airik breathed in and out again, this air reminded him of being underground in a mining tunnel. It wasn't stale but it had an odd, off tang and it was more still than even the calmest day could be. It had plenty of oxygen as the terraformers were doing their job but it wasn't like being outside. Hmm. An interesting consideration and something he had not thought of when researching Panschin. None of the literature had mentioned it; not in the boosterism pumped out by the Chamber of Commerce and also not within the more scholarly literature the Panschin Department of Mining had sent him.

     What else did he not know about Panschin?

     Airik ran his hand over the station wall behind him. It too had a thin film of lichens covering it, although it looked like the wall had been regularly swept down based on the skeletal patterns their remains made against its pale gray surface. Hmmm again. He looked up again at the skylights and light fixtures. How fast did the terraformers grow? Those areas had to be swept down regularly as otherwise, based on what he knew, the terraformers would completely block any light in their desperate attempt to survive. Hmm. What would it be like to live surrounded by terraformers thicker than they were anywhere else on Mars? How did they keep the domes clean? This would be something else to observe while he was visiting the city.

     "There they are. At last," Upton said, breaking his reverie.

     Airik turned to see a large, smartly painted and gilded vehicle pull up to where his party was standing. The name and logo of the Twelve Happiness Luxury Hotel were emblazoned in scarlet on both sides and across the front in big, impossible to miss letters, contrasting strongly with the metallic, highly reflective silvery body.

     To his surprise, it was powered electrically, something he would not have expected as horses, even in Barsoom, were so much less expensive for an individual vehicle. This vehicle was as ostentatious as possible, demanding envious, resentful attention from anyone it passed. Who could afford to waste electricity on transportation that didn't move dozens of people at a time?