by JC Hay
All the excitement lately has been about those seven planets
discovered in TRAPPIST-1, but thirty-nine light years is a long way to travel,
and if we want to spread beyond our fragile blue-green rock, we’re going to
need to look a lot closer to home. That means Mars.
I consider myself an optimist where Mars is concerned.
Despite humanity’s mostly bad track record sending stuff to our nearest
neighbor – we’re currently only at a 44% success rate overall – I think that
the time is going to come when we establish a long-term base of operations on
the Red Planet. Maybe not in my lifetime, but before the century is out.
That doesn’t mean I think it’s going to be easy – every
element of Mars seems to be designed to inhibit human habitation. From the
reduced sunlight (leading to a sense of perpetual exhaustion, at least for the
first generation of colonists), to the superfine dust that clogs even the
tightest seals, to the broader dangers of windstorms and radiation, Mars is not
rolling out a welcome mat for us.
The moon wasn’t in a hurry to welcome us either, but we
managed to make that trip repeatedly (not without risks, or deaths, but we did
it). Mars will be the same way. In my Corporate Services books, the colony on
Mars is in its infancy. Though we haven’t seen it in the books (yet), I’ve got
a clear picture of how it looks – domes of 3-d printed concrete, covered with
two-three feet of soil to protect the inhabitants from radiation and
micro-meteors. Those, in turn, connect together to form larger structures like
workshops and gardens, running of a combination of wind and reduced solar. It’s
not a utopia, but it’s enough of a break from the corporate wars that high-tech
thief Elise wants to head there as soon as her next job is done.
Too bad fate has other plans.
Dubai Double-Cross
From
the underworld of corporate infighting…
Heavily
modified and highly skilled, “acquisitions expert” Elise Briggs worked behind
the scenes of the corporate world’s espionage wars. Or she had, until her most
recent target turns up murdered and she’s forced to go on the run with the only
person who can exonerate her, the victim’s lover and personal assistant.
…To
the city’s glittering towers…
Plucked
off the street to be the plaything of one of the richest women in the world,
Na’im thought his life was finally complete; his obedience and the suite of
cybernetic modifications he carried were a small price to pay for life at the
top of society. Until his boss is murdered and his only ally is the
professional thief hired to rob them.
…They
can’t run from what’s inside
On
the run and running short on allies, Elise and Na’im are about to discover that
the murderer is closer than either of them suspect. If they plan to survive on
the futuristic streets of Dubai, they need to learn how to trust each other,
because when everything can be upgraded and emotions can be programmed,
sometimes all that can keep you human is your heart.
Dubai
Double-Cross is available now from:
Author Bio:
JC Hay writes
romantic science fiction and space opera, because the coolest gadgets in the
world are useless without someone to share them.
In addition to
Romance Writers of America, he is also a proud member of the SFR Brigade (for
Science Fiction Romance), the Fantasy, Futuristic, and Paranormal Romance
chapter, and a member of RWA’s PAN (the published authors network).
His Corporate Services series, a set of connected cyberpunk romances, are set eighty years in our future where the limits of humanity are being stretched and tested, and our hearts are the hardest thing to keep pure.
Find JC Hay online:
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Website: http://jchay.com
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I enjoyed your assessment of Mars. I'm working on Titan today. lol
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