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Such sexual matters were ultimately trivial, though. The crew’s most important distraction was their logs. These became increasingly important to them the farther they traveled from Earth. Communication, even in language, is far more than the tool Martians thought it was; it is a sense as much as sight or taste, and its denial deforms the person, as with starvation. There was no match on board the Investigator for the emotional highs and lows engendered by even flippant comments from anonymous Martians back on Earth. The one exception was Franklin, who in his genial good nature, remained most excited by the adventurous nature of the expedition.

Given the important role these logs played in the lives of the crew, it is not surprising that the tension between Back and Hood revealed itself in this medium as well. Back began anonymously posting exceptionally derogatory comments on all Hood’s entries. Inevitably, Hood discovered who was posting the awful comments, and true to form, authored a very lengthy description of Back’s person which was by no means complimentary. The matter quickly escalated.

I am surprised that I have as yet had so little occasion to speak of the second Chinese astronaut, Lu. No doubt he dwelt in the impressive shadow cast by Ge Ge. Lu was a quiet man, but he read a comment where Back challenged Hood to a duel, and rushed to Richards with the information.¹

The modern reader will no doubt be mystified by this ancient custom. These duels were much anticipated events where the adversaries analyzed each other’s histories in order to discover rude, insulting, or insensitive statements and acts in order to publicly shame them for such. In many cases, these duels resulted in the assassination of a public persona, and the loser often was forced into a life of disgrace and isolation. A duel between two of the members of the expedition would have been very embarrassing.

Richards acted swiftly. She approached Back and Hood and informed them that she was aware of their intention to duel, and that if they proceeded, she would alert Barrow, who would certainly remove their access to their logs. Richards did not attempt to involve Flinders because it seemed likely that he would encourage the two, welcoming the embarrassing publicity. As I have said, Flinders was the most advanced thinker among the Martians.