March 28, 2035
Earth Departure Minus Eight Days
12:00 Universal Time
The Oval Office
After a long day of working the successful space rendezvous, Steven Treadway was tired, but nothing was going to stop him from accepting the White House’s invitation to interview the President of the United States.
His employer, The Twitter & New York Times Company, paid for him to fly from New York to Washington, D.C., in one of the new Boeing Airvolt commuter planes. It was his first time to fly in one of these hybrid electric and aviation fueled aircraft since they went into service a few months ago. The propeller-driven airplane was powered by traditional aircraft engines during takeoff but switched to all electric mode once they were in flight. It was somewhat unnerving to hear the roaring engines suddenly stop midflight as the ultra-quiet electric motors kicked in. Treadway admired the smooth and quiet ride while they were at cruising altitude, but in the back of his mind he kept thinking something had gone wrong with the engines. Airplanes aren’t supposed to be this quiet, he thought.
A White House aide was waiting for him with a limousine at Reagan National Airport. The White House’s own camera crew and director were already setting up in the Oval Office, the aide explained as they were whisked through the traffic.
Treadway was greeted at the White House door by Ilona Klein, all smiles as she led him along the West Wing corridor.
“I’ve never seen you in a suit jacket before,” she said.
“I’ve never interviewed the President of the United States before,” Treadway replied. Still, he felt a little awkward in the suit and tie that his bosses had insisted on. “Show the proper respect,” they had demanded.
“Our camera crew has already set up,” she said. “You’ll be sitting on one of the sofas by the fireplace. The president will be on the sofa opposite, facing you.”
“Fine,” said Treadway. “Fine.” Yet he felt somewhat nettled that the White House had insisted on having its own crew record the interview.
Still, he felt a thrill of excitement as he stepped into the Oval Office and saw President Harper at his desk. I’m interviewing the President! He said to himself. Science guy hits the big time.
As the president got to his feet to greet him, Treadway realized that Harper was much shorter than he’d anticipated. Burly, though: he was built like a college wrestler.
The president came around his desk and extended his hand, all warmth and graciousness. Then Treadway shook hands with the camera crew’s producer, allowed the sound man to clip a microphone to his jacket’s lapel, smoothed his hair and sat down on the sofa opposite the President of the United States.
“Five seconds,” said the producer. “Four . . . three . . . two . . .” Then he pointed his trigger finger at Treadway.
He swallowed hard once, then began the interview, going through the first few lines on autopilot. The president smiled and nodded in the right places. Then Treadway asked:
“Life on Mars. Mr. President, you’ve staked your political career on this Mars mission. Why is it so important that we confirm the existence of life on another planet? More specifically, why is it so important that the United States do this?”
Harper smiled indulgently. “The discovery of life on another planet. When China announced that their Mars sample return mission had brought back organic chemicals found in the Martian soil, including amino acids, the building blocks of proteins, the world changed. We aren’t alone. We must go and confirm the Chinese discovery. Even more, we humans must go ourselves, with people and not machines, to find more samples, perhaps even living organisms, and then bring them back here for study. Once it is confirmed, it will be the most startling discovery of all time, don’t you think?”
“But why send people? Why not more robotic probes?”
The president replied, “Because human explorers are much more adaptable, much more flexible than robots. Machines can answer questions you know how to ask. On Mars, we’re looking at a new, unprecedented situation. There are going to be surprises—and disappointments, too, I imagine. Humans on the scene can deal with those unpredictable situations much better than machines can.”
“Despite the costs? And the risks?”
“One human mission will gather more information, make more discoveries, than a dozen robot probes. People are cost effective when you’re exploring a new frontier.”
“I know a lot of religious fundamentalists who don’t think so,” Treadway said.
The president grew serious. “Yes, there are some people who think that this contradicts the Bible. They accuse me of colluding with the Godless Chinese to perpetuate a hoax that will drive people away from the church.”
“Which is why they’ve opposed your Mars program.”
“Well, I believe that knowledge is always preferable to ignorance.” Before Treadway could frame his next question, the president went on, “And if we do confirm that there is life on Mars—even if it’s only some microscopic bacterial type of life—it’ll show that God’s creation isn’t limited to our one little world. It’ll show that God’s bounty is limitless, won’t it?”
Treadway hesitated, then replied, “I think I’ll leave it to the theologians to debate that one.”
Leaning forward to tap Treadway on the knee, President Harper said, “I know there are plenty of people who think that we shouldn’t be spending money to explore Mars. Who think we should spend that money here on Earth. Well, it is being spent here on Earth. We don’t shoot the money into space! It’s spent right here, on scientists and engineers, on technicians and mechanics and schoolteachers and truck drivers and grocery workers. It adds to our economy. And the knowledge we’ll eventually earn will bring an enormous bonus to our economy. You wait and see.”
Treadway felt puzzled for a heartbeat or two. Then he realized that this was the moment to end the interview.
“Well, I couldn’t ask for a better summation of your faith in the Mars program than that, Mr. President. Thank you very much.”
“Thanks for this opportunity to speak from my heart to the American people.”
And Treadway thought, too bad he can’t run again. He’d get my vote.