Chromium

Harriet lifted her head from a pile of papers as her assistant Joe walked into her office with a solemn face.

"Boss, the price of chromium went up again."

"That's exactly what I don't want to hear. I have enough problems keeping my steel production running smoothly here on Mars without having to deal with price hikes. Is Earth running out?"

"They developed a recipe that uses it in an anti-aging cream… said it prevents free radicals. Now it's all the rage, and they don't want to send it here to us anymore. There won't be enough to go around."

"Oh, please," Harriet groaned. "What will those silly Earthlings come up with next? Don't they remember us out on the final frontier?"

"They say there must be deposits on Mars… and it's up to us to find them."

Harriet crumpled up a memo and lobbed it into the wastebasket.

"I'm not ready to raise prices all down my supply chain just to be able to afford Earth's chromium."

She opened her laptop and pulled up a topographic map of the red planet, waving for Joe to come around her desk and study it with her.

"Those ice deposits at the South Pole… has anyone ever excavated under them?" Harriet tapped a pen on her screen.

"I don't think a mineral analysis has been done recently." Joe rubbed his chin and leaned on the desk. "Our technology has advanced to the point where we'd be able to detect chromium ore if we could get a ground scan. But the ice is closely guarded by the government. It's our sole independent source of freshwater beyond recycling."

"Governments be darned." Harriet pushed her chair back. "If Mars had an independent supply of chromium, we'd be a lot better off than if the price of stainless steel skyrocketed based on the beauty whims of Earthlings."

"Tell that to President Vuhon."

"I will, actually."

***
"What would you rather have: fresh water or stainless steel?" President Vuhon folded his arms and glared at Harriet. "If we started a chromium mine at the South Pole, the glacial deposits would be contaminated and destroyed."

"What about Greater Sholek on the western mountain range? Where the iron mines are. Why hasn't anyone checked for chromium there?"

"We don't have enough funds to back the research teams to go over there. Listen, we'll just subsidize the increased cost of imported chromium, ok? That way you don't pass it on to consumers."

"Oh, that makes sense. You can't afford to see if we have our own, but you can afford to get ripped off by the Earthlings. Then you'll have to raise taxes, and no one will reelect you."

Vuhon squirmed in his seat.

"You realize how many years it'll take for us to find out, get a mine started, get a refinery going? By the time we do, the price will probably have gone down again and we won't need it."

"Prices never go down once they've gone up. They'll invent another excuse to raise them soon enough."

They argued like this for at least an hour, until finally,

"Look, I'm not donating to your reelection campaign until you get an exploration team together and find some chromium! We can't be dependent on Earth's supply. What if those silly Earthlings blow themselves up in nuclear annihilation? Isn't that why we colonized Mars in the first place? What kind of president are you if you don't look out for your people and cultivate the resources of your own land?"

President Vuhon was squelched.

***
"I hope this isn't a wild goose chase." Joe navigated the fourwheeler across the rocky wilderness of uncolonized Mars west of the town center. "Are you sure you know what we're doing?"

Harriet held a pair of binoculars to her eyes and scanned the territory.

"The team concluded this was the most likely area to have chromium. We'll get more specifics once they conduct the ground penetrating radar scans."

BANG!

A tire blew out. The four-wheeler tipped precariously on the edge of a yawning canyon.

"Yikes!" Joe swung the steering wheel, narrowly missing the canyon.

He stopped the vehicle and got out to change the tire. Harriet watched as he stumbled on the rough ground.

"Be careful out there." She called over the radio.

"I know what I'm doing—whoa!" Joe tripped and went flying a couple feet, sending up a cloud of red dust.

Harriet leaped out to help him up. She stopped short and bent over to pick up what he'd tripped over.

"Well, what gives? What're you staring at?" Joe brushed himself off, glaring at the lumpy rocks in her hands.

"Joe, this is it! You've bumbled into a chromium deposit!" She held one up to the sunlight, letting the silvery veins catch the gleam. "Our independence from Earth is now greatly advanced."

"Seriously? Whaddya know. I'm a hero."

"Sure, why not." Harriet chuckled and took a picture of the ore she held.

Word Count: 827.