Notes:

Something awesome about having some IT help is a bunch of long term things are getting done. About time. I've been spending my whole day putting out fires.

It is funny in a novel having the protagonist tell you what a bastard they are. Planting evidence, thievery, larceny, murder and every other damnable thing after another leads them to an impossible but interesting life.

They can't shoot microwaves in to the soil of Mars at the frequency of a ... microwave oven and watch for a hot spot? It is my understanding that this would cause water molecules to heat up? Perhaps they are afraid of all the metal in the soil. Perhaps they don't want to be accused of genocide by the intergalactic council.