*This is Chapter 3 of Who Brought the Steak Tartare?, you may want to go back to Chapter 2 or start at the beginning.

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When the crew was brought together for the first time, Barrow made extensive introductions, extolling the achievements of the various members, and finally concluding, ‘Well, there’s the team!’¹

‘And every one of us a genius,’ said Flinders. ‘How can we fail?’²

The reader may wonder what was said to these various luminaries to interest them in enlisting in such a dubious venture as ‘going to space, baby!’ as Welles put it. Welles consistently spoke of the expedition with such terms as ‘taking the fight to them,’ and ‘beating them at their own game.’ Barrow said that it was for the advancement of the Martian race, and that the expedition would be an achievement marked throughout history.

I believe it is unlikely such sloganism convinced these bright Martians to risk their lives. Instead, I believe that the motivation of these particular Martians, and perhaps of all the Martians of this time, may be found, ironically, in hunger.

How else are we to understand the gross neglect the Martians showed to their descendants? Not only were they neglectful in caring for the planet on which they lived, they let season after season pass by, refusing to address the dire consequences of their own actions because the benefit would only be reaped by their successors.³ I can only say that a hungry man cannot think on the future.

It was indeed a hungry time, as my subsequent story will show. You may have heard of the decimation of the Martians brought about by disease, lack of adaptability, by inherent laziness and indolence, or by other causes. You may have heard these things but you have never heard the truth, for all these apparent causes are but manifestations of the real destroyer, which was starvation.⁴

So, in filling their rosters, Barrow and Welles simply found people who were hungrier than most. And they were hungry, indeed, as we shall see.⁵ They sought those with the greatest hunger, thinking that their great need would help the Martians find their satisfaction. But the truth is, in the end, we are all eaten.⁶

Chapter 3 tomorrow, same time, same place.

Well, there’s the team. Pirates and cutthroats every one of them. Carl Foreman, The Guns of Navarone, 1961 ↩
Every one of us a genius, how can we fail? Carl Foreman, The Guns of Navarone, 1961 ↩
And they let season after season go by, reluctant to put in harvests which might be reaped by their successors. Mary Hartwell Catherwood, “The Wendigo” 1894 ↩
Perhaps you have heard of the decimation of the forest Indians, brought about by disease, lack of adaptability, by inherent laziness and indolence, or by other causes. You may have heard of these things but you have never heard the truth, for all of these apparent causes are but manifestations of the real destroyer, which is—starvation. Farley Mowat, People of the Deer, 1951 ↩
Find hungry samurai. Even bears come down from the mountains when they’re hungry. Akira Kurosawa, Seven Samurai, 1954 ↩
We are all eaten. Hal Borland, When the Legends Die, 1963 ↩

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Footnotes