Sankov said, “I’d be sorry to hear that, Assemblyman. It looks as though Mars didn’t have as many friends as we thought we had. We wouldn’t like to lose one. But if Hilder wins out, what’s he after, anyway?”
“I should think,” said Digby, “that that is obvious. He wants to be the next Global Coordinator.”
“Think he’ll make it?”
“If nothing happens to stop him, he will.”
“And then what? Will he drop this Waster campaign then?”
“I can’t say. I don’t know if he’s laid his plans past the Coordinacy. Still, if you want my guess, he couldn’t abandon the campaign and maintain his popularity. It’s gotten out of hand.”
Sankov scratched the side of his neck. “All right. In that case, I’ll ask you for some advice. What can we folks on Mars do? You know Earth. You know the situation. We don’t. Tell us what to do.”
Digby rose and stepped to the window. He looked out upon the low domes of other buildings; red, rocky, completely desolate plain in between; a purple sky and a shrunken sun.
He said, without turning, “Do you people really like it on Mars?”
Sankov smiled. “Most of us don’t exactly know any other world, Assemblyman. Seems to me Earth would be something queer and uncomfortable to them.”