From Everest to the Stars (2: Not On My Mountain)

Chapter 2: Not On My Mountain

Sir Alistair Rothschild began a series of video calls, connecting to a high-speed satellite dish from inside his tented dome at the Everest base camp.

“Lord Ashworth, it has been way too long,” Rothschild started, speaking in a slow, grave tone.

Ashworth was a plump man from Manchester who was a key patron of the “Global Peaks Preservation Society”.

“Alistair, I have seen some news about Everest. It seems disconcerting, to say the least. It can’t be true, can it? A massive observatory on the South Summit?”

“A monstrous observatory,” he corrected, sharing Ashworth’s indignation. “I saw the entire thing: the drilling, the heavy equipment… I’ve already gotten multiple posts going viral. They keep calling it eco-friendly, but I think we both know it’s one step towards a complete capitalist takeover of the summit.”

“Horrible. Just horrible. We can’t have one thing left untouched by greed.”