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"Crucifixus Etiam" is a 10,000-word story by Walter Miller, about a terraforming construction worker on Mars. The story was first published in the February, 1953 issue of Astounding Science Fiction.

Spoiler Warning: Plot details and/or information about the ending follow. If you wish to enjoy the work first, stop reading here and return at another time.

Plot

Manue is a laborer who signed a 5-year contract to be a construction worker on Mars, hoping to save enough money to set himself up nicely on Earth. Once there, however, he quickly becomes disillusioned by his contract and by the whole Martian terraforming project. He has trouble breathing the thin Martian atmosphere at night, and fears that after 5 years he may not be able to reaclimate himself to Earth’s atmosphere. He also realizes that terraforming Mars will take centuries, and will not benefit anyone currently living. He thinks the real motivation for the project is simply to provide a demand for terraforming expenditures. In the end, Manue must ask himself if he will be a sower or a reaper, and realizes that his lot in life is to be a sower.

Additional Notes

This story has been reprinted in, among other places, Isaac Asimov Presents The Great SF Stories 15 (1953). Asimov guesses that the title of the story means "Crucifixion Again", but he admits that he's not sure.