"Although he has demanded control of Earth's systems of communication,
exchange, and security, I believe, ladies and gentlemen, that
Zimbardo's real object is not clear." The President was drawing
conclusions after a brief introduction of the facts. "It is impossible
for one man simply to become dictator of the entire planet, no matter
who he is or what engines of destruction he can call upon. I suspect
that his aim is other than he has announced, and I am determined not to
provide the access codes to our most sensitive systems."
There was a slight rustle of movement around the table. Whatever course
of action was to be decided at this meeting, calling Zimbardo's bluff
had not been considered by many to be a viable option. The President
continued.
"His ruination of the atmosphere plants on Mars proves that he is able
to direct asteroids to targets with high accuracy, and that we are
unable to detect them. Although the loss of the plants is a severe
blow, it is not crippling. They can be rebuilt in a few years. At
worst, the process of terraformation will be delayed for that long.
Replacement will cost about ten billion solars-obviously a huge amount
of money, but an amount that Mars can afford. The plants were over a
century old however, and in the long run replacing the plants will be
more effective and probably achieve the goal of terraformation faster
than if we had continued to use the plants that were destroyed.
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