[ WP ] We finally get men on Mars and they discover an old Soviet flag placed down decades ago . The Soviets won the space race but for whatever horrifying reason did n't say anything .

> `` Do we tell them?'' 
 
 I stared. I stared at the only thing different for miles. In a frozen wasteland of boulders and dirt, it's not hard to stand out. 
 
 > `` Unbelievable.'' 
 
 As I clambered up the mountainside my mind flashed back to grammar school. The United States and the Soviet Union had been at war for the better part of half a century, a conflict spanning across continents, politics, economics, science, ideology, and space. 
 
 That and apparently planets. 
 
 I stared. It was n't hard to make out the'ole hammer and sickle. A relic from a war that tore my country apart. I felt the material through my gloves, it had held up well through years of storms. I dropped my parcel and dropped back. 
 
 > `` Kim, blow it.'' 
 
 Before my eyes an unheralded accomplishment of mankind, one that took us nearly a century longer to achieve, was incinerated in an instant. I began my ascent for the second time. 
 
 Damn, this was a good spot. The cosmonaut who picked it knew his stuff. 
 
 As I fixed my charge to the ground, I remembered how I'd dreamt of this moment. Setting the red, white, and blue colors to be displayed for all to see, I thought I'd be proud of what we'd achieved. If only we had been first. 
 
 I thumbed my radio to address the world that awaited me back on Earth. I held the bitterness on my tongue. 
 
 > `` Supreme Leader, we have made the first step for man on Mars.''
