symbolic-gesture

The chapter focuses on Sax's reflections during a civil conflict involving the terraforming effort on Mars, highlighting the difficulty of mediation when deeply symbolic issues are at stake. Sax attempts to negotiate with Ann, a representative of the Reds, who demands the removal of the space mirrors, a major source of heat input for terraforming, as a concession to end the fighting. Though Sax recognizes the severe ecological consequences of this act, including triggering an ice age, he agrees to it in hopes of stopping the civil war and the associated loss of life.