Mars Life

PREFACE

This is a work of fiction. I have striven to make the scientific background of this story as accurate as possible. All the descriptions of the conditions existing on Mars are based solidly on the observations made by satellites in orbit around that planet and rovers trundling along its rust red sands.

However, I have not been constrained by the facts. I have created a scenario to explain the current conditions on Mars that is purely my own invention. While many scientists hope to find bacterial organisms living deep underground on Mars, there is no evidence that the red planet was once inhabited by an intelligent species. That speculation can only be disproved by a thorough exploration of Mars, an exploration conducted by human beings, in addition to robotic craft.

The description of the greenhouse flooding on Earth is also based on actual climatological data, although I have accelerated the timescale somewhat. With a little bad luck, many of us will live to see such flooding. Alas!

The political results of massive greenhouse flooding will be, I fear, to accelerate a trend toward ultraconservative religion-based governments almost everywhere on Earth, a trend that is already evident in much of the world, including the United States. With coastal cities flooded, productive farmlands parched with drought, and the electrical power grid collapsed, millions will be displaced from their homes and their livelihoods. They will demand safety and order, even at the price of individual liberties. History has shown all too often that people turn to authority when faced with disaster, and willingly surrender their freedom.

BEN BOVA

Naples, Florida

July 2007