Sub Martis: Dome Lowell

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How on Mars do you make a living, even if you have a degree? Welcome to the world of Sub Martis... After two and a half Martian Years of study, mat-students Copper Milkstone and Linen Lyrican of Lowell College, University of Mars need to pass final Assessments and find well-paid employ. With futures to plan, jobs to get and worlds to conquer, a chance meeting with downtrodden Majorelle inspires the effervescent Linen to interfere not in only in Majorelle’s life but in the prospects of Lofty, the shy, short, lonely, one-legged ex-mining proprietor of their favourite watering-hole. With the alarmed Copper inadvertently helping, the Pub-Assist Office less than useless, various year-mates arranging pairings and Copper’s caustically inquisitive landlady Ma Kellyn never far from the door, things are hectic. And then there are fam-unit mate Maressan, the Divine Thulia, barkeep Malachite and Lofty’s dog Osterley, who begs from the customers and pees in strange places... And where does Auntie Major Elle Chryse Moritz fit in?

Nostalgia for what’s gone and final grading in hand, Copper sets off down an avenue as yet unexplored. But unwilling to lose her best friend and using her own inimitable brand of strategy, Linen is taking steps to ensure that she and Copper set off to map out their futures together – which are destined to lead further and deeper into Mars than either could have imagined...

And then there is the Lexis according to Sub Martis, an A to Z providing the answers to most of the questions you ever had about Mars but were afraid to ask, such as: What do the symbols that make up the Pioneer Martian Flag represent? Why is the crest of the University of Mars a mortar board and a pair of crossed shovels? Who was Curiosity Lyrican Lear-Grange? And just how do you make a Snowpebble cocktail?

This is Life on Mars but probably not as you expected...