From the desk of Frank Dawson

Foreman - Reclamation, INC.

Sometimes, I wonder why I ever came to this bleedin’ rock.

Then I remember I didn’t really have a choice. I made the most of it, though, and it beats rotting away in that prison. Come to Mars and make a new life for yourself is what all the slogans said. I didn’t really believe any of ‘em, but I guess I have to admit I was wrong.

It’s hard watching the money roll in knowin’ that it’s just goin’ straight to the collector. Sure was dumb of me, rooting myself into debt like that, but… a man’s gotta do what he’s gotta for his family. Which is why I’m here now.

Only reason I’m recordin’ this crap is because they told me I needed to keep track of progress. Loada bull if you ask me, what they really should be lookin’ at are results. But, whatever.

I started by pickin’ out a spot in Nirgal Vallis. Solis Planuum didn’t have any carbon and the boys decided it wasn’t a great place to try and make cash for ourselves. I trust ‘em and their instincts. We ran into problems when we couldn’t get the contractors we needed, though. We’ve got a lot of great workers among us, but we can’t run everything ourselves.

Since we couldn’t get a farmer or a chemical engineer, we went for an...alternative approach. Don’t much like dealing with pirates, but sometimes when you can’t make what you need, you go to someone who can get it for you instead.

We scouted a spot with plenty of carbon. Of course, it was right in the middle of a crater, so that made building it a real pain, but at least there was some water close by. The team’s geologist told me that this place used to be a riverbed. Didn’t feel like it, though, since there wasn’t much other water to be found for miles.

This fancy lady showed up in an orbital tower last week. I heard Rubini call her the ‘princess of the ivory tower’ once, which sounded pretty dumb to me. I was surprised to see her, since I thought she was makin’ her business on Io, but it turns out that the chemical processing was a lot more lucrative for her here. Much as I wanted to compete, I didn’t have the carbon - or the engineers - to keep up with chemicals.

Everyone says they’re here to help the colony - it’s a loada propaganda bull. They’re here the same as me - to make cash off ‘em. If I can, I’ll take advantage of makin’ cash off the others, too. The water monopoly I managed to hold the first couple of weeks on this damn rock were worth the investment. Water’s hard to get, but everyone needs it. I shared to the tune of about a $600k profit. Not too shabby, really.

Anyway, tired of wastin’ time recording this instead of doin’ work that needs doin’. Mars wasn’t my first choice for a business op, but I guess it’s turnin’ out to be pretty profitable for me and Reclamation.

And if I have anythin’ to say about it, it’ll stay that way.