Blue Mars - Kim Stanley Robinson [58]
Of course there were people who wanted a list of delegates, so that they knew who could vote, who could speak, and so on. Nadia, who was quickly taking on the role of chairperson, suggested they accept all requests to become a delegation from any Martian group, as long as the group had had some tangible existence before the conference began. “We might as well be inclusive.”
The constitutional scholars from Dorsa Brevia agreed that the congress should be conducted by members of voting delegations, and the final result then voted on by the populace at large. Charlotte, who had helped to draft the Dorsa Brevia document twelve m-years before, had led a group since then in working up plans for a government, in anticipation of a successful revolution. They were not the only ones to have done this; schools in South Fossa and at the university in Sabishii had taught courses in the matter, and many of the young natives in the warehouse were well versed in the issues they were tackling. “It’s kind of scary,” Art remarked to Nadia. “Win a revolution and a bunch of lawyers pop out of the woodwork.”
“Always.”
Charlotte’s group had made a list of potential delegates to a constitutional congress, including all Martian settlements with populations over five hundred. Quite a few people would therefore be represented twice, Nadia pointed out, once by location and again by political affiliation. The few groups not on the list complained to a new committee, which allowed almost all petitioners to join. And Art made a call to Derek Hastings, and extended an invitation to UNTA to join as a delegation as well; the surprised Hastings got back to them a few days later, with a positive response. He would come down the cable himself.
And so after about a week’s jockeying, with many other matters being worked on at the same time, they had enough agreement to call for a vote of approval of the delegate list; and because it had been so inclusive, it passed almost unanimously. And suddenly they had a real congress. It was made up of the following delegations, with anywhere from one to ten people in each delegation:
Towns:
Acheron
Nicosia
Cairo
Odessa
Harmakhis Vallis
Sabishii
Christianopolis
Bogdanov Vishniac
Hiranyagarba
Mauss Hyde
New Clarke
Bradbury Point
Sergei Korolyov
DuMartheray Crater
South Station
Sheffield
Senzeni Na
Echus Overlook
Dorsa Brevia
Dao Vallis
South Fossa
Rumi
New Vanuatu
Prometheus
Gramsci
Mareotis
Burroughs refugees organization
Libya Station
Tharsis Tholus
Overhangs
Reull Vallis
southern caravanserai
Nuova Bologna
Nirgal Vallis
Montepulciano
Margaritifer Plinth
Great Escarpment caravanserai
Da Vinci
The Elysian League
Hell’s Gate
Political Parties and Other Organizations:
Booneans
Reds
Bogdanovists
Schnellingistas
Marsfirst
Free Mars
The Ka
Praxis
Qahiran Mahjari League
Green Mars
United Nations Transitional Authority
Kakaze
Editorial Board of The Journal of Areological Studies
Space Elevator Authority
Christian Democrats
The Metanational Economic Activity Coordination Committee
Bolognan Neomarxists
Friends of the Earth
Biotique
Séparation de l’Atmosphère
General meetings began in the morning around the table of tables, then moved out in many small working groups to offices in the warehouse, or buildings nearby. Every morning Art showed up early and brewed great pots of coffee, kava, and kavajava, his favorite. It perhaps was not much of a job, given the significance of the enterprise, but Art was happy doing it. Every day he was surprised to see a congress convening at all; and observing the size of it, he felt that helping to get it started was probably going to be his principal contribution. He was not a scholar, and he had few ideas about what a Martian constitution ought to include. Getting people together was what he was good at,