Under the Skin

A Mars-based journalist recounts a rescue of a remote Martian mining community after a power failure threatened lives and the supply of a coveted ore, prompting an international evacuation by rocket and land machines. Earth reporters press for photographs and detailed coverage, sending a young photographer whose sentimentality nearly compromises relations. The narrative examines cultural friction over Martian customs that keep women and family life private, the competing motives of curiosity, commerce, and compassion, and the professional and ethical dilemmas that lead the narrator to withhold the fullest account of events.