Jill is a young female member of the Mars Exploration Service. She is also pregnant and will give live birth to a son in another one and a half Martian months. (They are approximately twice the length of Earth's.) The Women's Union is the strongest union on Mars and the "Powers that Be" decreed that artificial wombs would be the way for gestation to take place, the WU shut down the entire planet until they had won the right to choose whether or not to carry their child. Most Martian women choose the laboratory way, but a surprising number, like Jill, prefer to "old-fashioned" traditional way of having a baby. In any case, the MES insists that pregnant women not go out on survey missions. There are simply too many things that might go wrong a very long way from help. MES personnel who find themselves pregnant are transferred temporarily to desk jobs in one of the Martian settlements. They are also required to do the same during the first four years of their child's life, so that the pair will be properly bonded and so the child will have a measure of security in regard to their parent's presence in their life during their most formative years. Hence, Jill has been posted to Ganges Outlier No. Four, about 1,100 kilometers west of Ganges Station, the main population center of the Ganges Chasma area. It was her first choice, because her partner, Ken Ashid, owns a small bed-and-breakfast and is a permanent resident of the settlement. There are no dead-beat dads on Mars. All preganancies are registered as to the parents and living expenses for each child will be automatically deducted from all paychecks until the child reaches its majority. As I said, The Women's Union rules the roost on Mars. Ganges Four, as the residents call it, will be Jill's home for the next three and a half Martian years. She is not sorry to be pregnant, but she does miss the excitement of constantly seeing new country, and regrets that it will be so long before she can go exploring again. MES personnel are a restless lot filled with a keen wanderlust, so it is not surprising that Jill often heads out into the chasma floor wilderness at every opportunity. So many people constantly so crowded together tends to stress her out. Besides, on Mars as on Earth, walking is good excerize for women in her condition. The main function of the settlement of around 3,000 souls is to act as a resupply center for MES expeditions, miners, and other independent transcients and as a place to get needed repairs on equipment or replacements for items beyond fixing. Rest and recreation is another main source of income for the settlement. The small settlement even has a "red light" district with bars, legal prostitution, and even a small casino. Then there are several nightclubs, resturants, massage centers, and a number of virtual reality parlors, but no movie houses. Hi-definition 3-D Television and 3DVD holo discs are a better way to go in the still somewhat cramped living spaces of a Martian village. Ganges Four also is famous for its local dark brew, Chasma Beer. Two of the resturants are 5-star establishments as well. There is a small but excellent hotel, a larger and more spartan hostel, and a large number of bed-and-breakfast inns--several of which have an excellent planet-wide reputation and one that is rather notorious. Most of this MES outpost is below ground and many residents may not even see the spectacular outside enviroment for weeks or months at a time. If the visitor is spiritually inclined there are meditation centers representing most of the major faiths on Mars. Thanks for looking!