CHAPTER –51- Meanwhile on Mars and Arton

December 15, 2189: By the time the Dedov fleet arrived and made Mars
orbit the people on those ships were pretty hungry and tired. They had been
away from their homes for a long time. They had already been briefed as to
what they would find on Mars. Even knowing what to expect they were still
pleasantly surprised. Most of them were so thrilled to be on a stable planet with
plenty of room and plenty of food that they voiced few complaints.
It took the entire fleet two trips to Mars from Arton to evacuate all of the
Dedovians who wanted to go to Mars. It took the four Earth ships three trips.
The people arriving on Mars had also been briefed regarding the
conditions on Earth. Almost one hundred thousand of them expressed a desire
to move on to Earth. The ships that had brought them to Mars were continuing
on to Earth so, after seeing Mars many elected to continue their journey on the
ships once they had been provisioned. Meanwhile on Earth there were more
than 150,000 people who liked what they had heard about Mars and requested
that they be allowed to live there. The population of Mars was once again at
two hundred thousand With so many space ships now at their disposal the Mars
Runner was retired.
A Dedovian ship left Earth every Monday morning for Mars. A Dedovian
ship would leave Mars every Friday evening for Earth. Passage was free for
anyone who wanted to change residence or visit the other planet was welcome
to do so.
One of the Arton ships left Mars every three months for Arton. People
were also allowed free passage to and from Arton. Once Arton started
receiving regular shipments from Mars big changes took place.. City's were
springing up, stores and restaurants opened, corporations formed so that in
time Arton bore a quite similar appearance to Earth. The natives of Arton were
allowed to remain on the islands they had always lived on if they wanted to but
they could board one of the merchant trade ships and get off at any island they
chose. From any vantage point on any island you could see several nearby
islands. Just as there were no continents on Arton there were really no Oceans
either.