Finches of Mars by Brian W. Aldiss Page A

some of ‘the gallant’ Barrin’s possessions had gone missing.
    The Terrier and the Grey Wolf, ignoring the medal, had in fact taken hasty possession of Barrin’s rather old-fashioned shrieker. It contained the Terrier’s parting advice to Barrin as the latter had prepared for his journey back to Mars. Directed at Barrin, it had been given as an off-the-record talk, with a small audience of trusted colleagues. It had taken place before that routine committee meeting which had turned out to be Barrin’s last.
    They played the recording to a select few on the UU Council.
    Tibbett’s talk had begun with an item he thought wiser to keep restricted for the present:
    â€˜So far, governments have mainly regarded the UU as something of a derisible exercise, an eccentricity that could not be maintained for long. But, there are also some cautious signs of approval because, during a time of severe recession, the Mars expedition brought employment and a modicum of life to a sluggish economy.
    â€˜I have to warn you that opinion in Washington has shifted under the new President. Planners, military men and others are considering bringing UU under government control. Don’t you hate planners? Don’t you hate military men? We are doing all we can to disabuse them, short of cutting the President’s throat …
    â€˜Remain constantly aware that the UU is not a united body but a series of wise or ambitious or just plain crazy heads of educational establishments. You are not dealing with a church, a united body, although of course we think highly of the UU. The Principals of some universities, pleading poverty, wish to withdraw their support; they claim they gain nothing in the way of knowledge as a return. Some wish to prune their contributions, or to send their subscriptions less frequently.
    â€˜A learned if short-sighted man from Stockholm suggested we should turn to governments for a hand-out. While we would appreciate a hand, we are old enough to savvy that some hands have a vice-like grip. You will understand, my dear brave Barrin, that the last thing we want is governmental involvement, which would probably transform our quiet assembly of towers into a military outpost.
    â€˜In some cases political motives predominate which have little to do with us. In some cases, the Indonesian universities for example, they entered the union for complex reasons beneficial to themselves, having suffered badly from fault-line disturbances and consequent earthquakes and tsunamis. You might find it expedient to mention this case, stressing that on Mars you do not suffer from fault lines. Tsunamis too are singularly lacking.’
    He smiled but the audience did not find the remark very funny.
    â€˜Take what advantages you can out of our situation. In particular, the news that we live in a binary system has caused the population at large to take a new view of our cosmic status. In fact, a change of umwelt.
    â€˜You must nevertheless continue to emphasise the rigours of life on Tharsis, and above all how you are now, and shall be for a while, entirely dependent on the UU’s many scientific and humane contributions. If you can do that, it would be wise also to stress how you are working towards independence—positive night soil strategies, for example, with potential for growth of potatoes—so that the UU consortium do not convince themselves that their contributions will prove unending.
    â€˜Recall too that the towers often send out expeditions over the surface of Mars, in search of previous life forms.’
    A pause followed while Barrin gathered himself together.
    â€˜How do you advise treating the religious question, should it arise?’ Barrin asked from his wheelchair. He looked a sick man, quite unfit to make a journey to the Moon, never mind back to Mars.
    The Terrier paused to blow his nose, perhaps to delay answer.
    It was an opportunity for a humourist in the audience.