This is chapter 15 of The Final Product, you may want to go back to Chapter 14 or start at the beginning.
15
Shortly after this, the authorities on Earth learned about the miscalculation above Ceres.
Welles had never placed much hope in the Investigator expedition because she had already hit upon the idea of forming a Martian colony or reserve that would be entirely free from all Alien influence. She imagined it on some island, completely isolated, where Martians would continue to live in the ways they themselves had [developed] through the millennia.
Welles proposed the Investigator expedition as a grand ruse—both to distract her people from the grave situation they now found themselves in, and to distract Barrow from her plans for a Martian reserve. When the expedition turned into a catastrophe, Welles feared her distraction had become her downfall.
Barrow, on the other hand, was completely calm. 'We need to be honest here,’ he said. ‘None of them is going to make it back home. I doubt we'll ever recover the Investigator, either. But everybody dying like this can still be a great success. We're in charge of the story.'
For you see, Barrow recognized that in the telling of a story it was sometimes much better to be the victim than the victor. He put on elaborate memorials for the expedition, calling it the most tremendous human endeavor ever recorded.1 And of the crew, he said that their desperate valor knew no bounds.2
‘Without murmur or a moment’s hesitation these lion-hearts rushed on to the discharge of the fearful duty assigned to them,’3 said Barrow. ‘In this money-seeking and self-advertising age it is a joy to note that there are still such heroes worthy of the greatest days of our history!’4
The expedition’s failure inspired a great wave of praise and thankfulness for the Association. In addition, Barrow made quite a lot of money selling memorabilia—of course, the proceeds went to the Association.
Chapter 16 tomorrow, same time, same place.
Footnotes
-
‘The most tremendous cavalry action ever recorded. Arthur Tremayne, Captain, 13th Light Dragoons, 28 October 1854 ↩
-
Their desperate valour knew no bounds. William Howard Russell, The Times 14 November 1854 ↩
-
Without a murmur or a moment’s hesitation these lion-hearts rushed on to the discharge of the fearful duty assigned to them; resolved, since the ordinary alternative of death or glory was denied, to do and die. George Brackenbury, The Seat of War in the East 1855 ↩
-
In this money-seeking and self-advertising age it is a joy to note the Empire still has such heroes worthy of the greatest days of Elizabeth. Georgina Francis Dalrymple 1913 ↩