Red Dust of Mars

by Christopher Wills

  “I believe so. Thank you, Gunny.”

  “Don’t thank me sir. I don’t make decisions. That’s your job.”

  Jethro visited the sick bay. Maddy was there with Snoopy who looked like a dog now. One of the medical orderlies loved dogs and gave Snoopy a shampoo. Conrad looked more cheerful and was sitting up in bed although he was still in pain.

  “Conrad.”

  “Jethro.”

  “I’m taking six Marines out to look for the Major. We’re going straight in and out.”

  “Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”

  No, not really.

  “Absolutely. You’ve got Maddy and plenty of video. If I’m not back in…” Jethro looked at his communicator. “Eleven hours. Fire the ship up and get the evidence back to Earth. Don’t wait for us.”

  “If that’s what you want to do Jethro. But be careful.”

  “I will. Look after Maddy whilst I’m gone.”

  “I don’t think she needs looking after.”

  “No. You’re right there.”

  “Jethro?” Maddy asked. “Please don’t go. I don’t want to lose you.”

  “Maddy. I have a job to do. Come here.”

  He gave her a big hug which felt good and was returned in full.

  chapter 20

  The News

  Ted: “…and to finish off for today we have the first of a two part series. Alice?”

  Alice: “Yes Ted. Today we welcome Californian fisherman, Juan Gler. May I call you Juan?”

  Juan: “Hi Alice. I’m a big fan of yours. You can call me whatever you like.”

  Alice: “… oh, um, ok. So what are you going to talk about today, err Juan?”

  Juan: “Well Alice. Shall I call you Alice, or can I call you darling?”

  Alice: “Alice. Call me Alice. Ted can you help please?”

  Ted: “Sure Alice. Didn’t you have to do that thing in the office?”

  Alice: “What thing?”

  Ted: “You know. That thing?”

  Alice: “That thing. Why didn’t you say so? Thanks Ted. Yes, I must go and do that thing. I owe you one Ted.”

  Juan: “Oh. Bye Alice.”

  Ted: “Well Juan. What are you going to show us today?”

  Juan: “I’m going to show the viewers how to prepare a Humboldt Squid steak for cooking.”

  Ted: “Take it away Juan.”

  Juan: “The first thing if you have a fresh Squid is that they can take a long time to die. So I suggest putting them in a fridge for 24 hours before you prepare them.”

  Ted: “Good advice Juan. You don’t want to have to chase them round the kitchen with a sharp knife in your hand.”

  Juan: “No, you don’t. Make sure you have a preparation area because it gets messy. I suggest a large wet table with a couple of very sharp knives and a Kevlar glove to protect your hand.”

  Holds up left hand for camera. Two fingers missing.

  Ted: “Wow, you lost those two fingers preparing Squid?”

  Juan: smiles. “No Ted. A shark bit them off but it makes the point.”

  Ted: “Oh. Sorry to hear that. So what next?”

  Juan: “First I split the Squid open and take out the internal organs and cartilage like this.”

  Ted: “Eow.”

  Juan: “Then I turn the Squid over and pull the skin off like so.”

  Ted: “Go on…”

  Juan: “Now I cut out the cartilage and remove the last bit of membrane here.”

  Ted: “Is that finished Juan?”

  Juan: “Almost Ted. Now put the meat in a bag and batter the Squid like so.”

  Ted: “That looks fun Juan. Why are you doing that?”

  Juan: “It’s because the Squid is rubbery but this tenderises it.”

  Ted: “The whole thing looks pretty simple.”

  Juan: “It is. A pity that Alice couldn’t be here to see it.”

  Ted: “Thanks Juan. Security will escort you from the building.”

  Juan: “What? Oh OK. Tell Alice I can go round to her place any time she wants me to show her how to do it.”

  Ted: “Sorry about that folks. Remember, we deal in facts on this news channel. We don’t make this up.”

  chapter 21

  They flew north on their hoverbikes and approached a rise, beyond which, was the first and biggest city of Mars, Uruk.

  Jethro stopped the team and went ahead with Gunny to recce the situation. When they reached the brow and looked over Jethro was stunned.

  The protective dome was gone and the city was being bombed towards rubble. There were teardrop shaped space ships hovering over Uruk dropping what looked like balls of light and when each ball hit the ground, or a building it exploded, either wrecking whatever it landed on, or creating a massive crater. On the ground there was mayhem with the small Mars attack craft, flying tanks, trying to fight against the alien craft but the alien teardrop craft seemed impregnable and the Mars attack craft were dropping like flies being zapped by a giant electric bug zapper.

  Almost half the buildings were reduced to piles of stone and brick and metal and amongst the rubble were giant mechanical bots sifting through and dismantling everything, sorting the different materials into piles.

  Also on the ground they could see spiderbots patrolling through the streets firing at everything that moved. Back from the city on the western side in the sky were gathered some giant teardrop shaped craft, much bigger than the ones attacking the Mars craft. They were in a formation and appeared to be waiting. Jethro counted twenty of these giant craft and they were supported by many of the smaller craft buzzing around them like flies round a smelly corpse, presumably in defence mode in case something tried to attack these larger craft. Jethro assumed the larger craft held many more spiderbots to finally quash any resistance in the city if they were needed.

  “Bloody hell,” said Gunny.

  “Copy that,” agreed Jethro.

  This is suicide. We should go back to the ship. Those were our orders.

  In the Eastern side of the city Jethro could see what were probably the government buildings. He deduced this because some looked like replicas of buildings in Washington. There was a Capitol building, a Library of Congress building and a few others that Jethro couldn’t name off the top of his head. These buildings were mostly still standing but that was probably because most of the defence appeared to be centred around them.

  The spiderbots were heading towards the Eastern side of the city and from what Jethro could see the Martian forces had not yet worked out how to stop the spiderbots. Jethro was watching a wholesale slaughter of humans by the aliens.

  Jethro signalled to Gunny to withdraw and they lowered themselves down the slope.

  “What do you think Gunny?”

  “We have to try sir.”

  Jethro was glad Gunny agreed with what he was thinking. It might be stupid but the Blackbird had evidence so they could return to Earth whether Jethro succeeded in finding the Major and his team or not. Maybe he was wrong and he was disobeying orders but Jethro felt he couldn’t turn his back on the Major.

  They returned to the team. Jethro checked his communicator. Departure time, or D time, was ten hours away. Minus one for travel meant nine hours to get into the city and get out again. He tried the communicator to get hold of Major Misere but no luck. When they got closer they might be able to use its tracking ability to find the Major and his team if one of them still had a communicator working and switched on.

  When Jethro addressed the team he didn’t need to put on his grave face because it was the only face he could muster. “The Blackbird leaves for Earth in ten hours, whether we are on it or not. So ten hours from now is D time. I’ll send the countdown to each of your communicators.”

  He did so then continued. “You can hear the battle going on, so you don’t need me to tell you it’s mayhem down there. It’s possible the Major and his team are in an area to the East. We’ll skirt round to the East and enter the city. If t
he communicators tracking works, we’ll head for the Major. If not, we’ll do a search. If we don’t find the Major or any of his team by D minus four hours, we leave the city and head back here. This is Evacuation point one. We leave our hoverbikes here. Mark it on your communicators.”

  He waited whilst the team programmed in the point.

  “Whatever happens. Whoever is here, even if you are on your own, at D minus two hours you move south back to the Blackbird. Is that understood?”

  The team nodded and noted the time on their communicator.

  “The team will stay together. Operational state red. Shoot to kill. Engage as necessary. And remember the spiderbots can only be stopped from behind.

  “Are there any questions?”

  “Sir?” It was Trooper Heinmann.

  “Yes Heinmann.”

  “Can we rescue anyone?”

  He shouldn’t even have asked that question because he should have known the textbook answer was no. Jethro was not a textbook officer but on this occasion, there was a bigger picture. Until they found Major Misere, Jethro was in command and they had a mission to complete.

  “No,” Jethro replied without being too hard on her. “We have two goals. One, to get Major Misere. And two, to get all the data we have back to Earth. Anything we do that might jeopardise those two things could cost the Earth.” Jethro almost said it could cost the human race but he didn’t want to be quite so dramatic.

  Jethro sent out a Point and led the remaining team to the East, keeping the high ground between them and the city. When they reached the right place, he prepared the team to go over the top. The plan was to not openly engage the enemy unless they were in the way or preventing them from doing what they needed to do. He didn’t want to draw attention to his team. He made the team check their guns again. Set to kill.

  chapter 22

  The team reached the Dome line. Gunny pointed at a pile of smouldering rubble. It was one of the Dome power stations. The aliens must have some understanding of human technology to have known that was a way to take down the protective Dome. The Dome was designed to protect from the temperature extremes on Mars and provide an air breathing atmosphere, rather than be part of a defence system.

  The team headed toward the Mars government building. Jethro was amazed at human folly. The government building was almost an exact reproduction of Capitol Hill in Washington United States of America where the Earth government sat for three months every year. It must have cost a fortune to build it here on Mars.

  Most of the alien attack was still taking place in other parts of Uruk so the team were able to infiltrate in relative safety. The streets were deserted with no traffic to hinder them.

  “Sir?”

  “Yes Heinmann.”

  “I think I have the Major or one of his team on my communicator.”

  Jethro rushed forward. Yes there was a definite blip on her screen to the left of the Capitol building. He signalled for the team to head left and soon after, he also received the blip on his communicator.

  The streets they had reached started to contain rubble. Some of the buildings they were passing had bomb damage but not much and Jethro had yet to see any people. They must be hiding in the buildings or basements. Did these buildings have basements? He could see discarded vehicles at the sides of the roadways. Most were pointing in the direction the team were heading. Was there a central meeting point? There was so much Jethro didn’t know about the city of Uruk.

  He could smell burning through his breather. It wasn’t strong but enough to remind him that they were wearing Mars surface breathers which allowed a tiny amount of filtered molecules in to let them breath in any smells which could act as a warning. Ahead of them was a large multi story block of a building. In the United States capital, Washington it would be one of the three Library of Congress buildings, but would they have a library of books on Mars?

  Jethro stopped his team and they took up defensive positions. On his communicator map he could see that the Major or one of his team were holed up in the second of the Library of Congress buildings. On Earth this building was the Jefferson building and had a large circular reading room at its centre. Jethro had visited it whilst doing his Space Marine officers training course. He assumed on Mars there would only be digital copies of books.

  It looked like the blip was in the reading room.

  They reached a door at street level which looked secure.

  “Shouldn’t we go to the front entrance sir?” Peck asked.

  Good question. But it was D minus eight hours and Jethro didn’t want to waste any time.

  “We go in here.” Jethro tried his universal electronic pass but it didn’t work on the door. He was just about to blast it when Brains put up a hand.

  “Allow me sir.”

  She had a box in her hand connected by cable to her communicator and pointed it at the door key box. The door swooshed open.

  I must get Brains to get me one of those.

  “Come on.” Jethro jumped into the doorway.

  There was an air lock so only two of his team could fit in at a time. When the outer door closed behind them the inner door opened and they were in the building. The rest of the team followed. Jethro made a mental note to get Brains to get him one of those key things.

  The team spread out.

  “Set guns to stun. Operational code Yellow. Do not engage unless absolutely certain your life is in immediate danger. I don’t want us killing our Martian hosts.”

  Jethro saw on his communicator that the air was breathable so he removed his mask and breather which was a relief. The rest followed suit. He looked at his map and headed for the stairs running up one flight. They were now on the same level as the Reading Room.

  “Lower your weapons but keep them to hand. I don’t want to start a war with Mars.”

  Jethro saw some people heading towards them.

  “You! What are you doing in here?” Two women and one man all were wearing white linen coats.

  “Reporting to my Major. He’s in the Reading Room.” Jethro read that from a sign on two large oak doors.

  “Sorry Soldier.” The impressive looking woman who asked the question apologised. “I hope he’s OK.”

  “No problem Ma’am.”

  “You’ll have to go in from the other side and you’ll have to leave your weapons out here. No weapons in the Reading Room.”

  “Yes Doctor Aguilar. Thank you.” Jethro had no intention of leaving his weapon but he also had no intention of upsetting the woman who carried the air of someone in charge. He read her name from the badge on her breast pocket; her first name was impressive, Vesuvia.

  She led them along the passageway round to the other side and Jethro saw armed guards at the door. He knew his team could take them out if necessary but it wasn’t necessary. He handed his weapon over to Gunny.

  “Take the team over there, Gunny.” He pointed to what looked like a reception area. “And try not to upset anyone.”

  “Sir,” replied the smiling Gunny.

  Jethro approached the door.

  “Halt.” He stopped.

  “Do you have authorisation to go in there?”

  Jethro showed his Universal Pass, but the soldier shook his head. “Sorry sir. This does not permit you to go in there.”

  Shit.

  Jethro could easily get past him but he was only doing his duty and Jethro didn’t want to start an international incident. But he had to see the Major, if it was the Major, in the Reading Room.

  chapter 23

  Jethro was going over his options.

  “He’s with me soldier.” It was Doctor Aguilar.

  “Sorry ma’am. Just doing my job.”

  “And you’re doing it very well thank you.” She took Jethro by the arm and led him through the large double doors into the Reading Room.

  It was no longer the Reading Room. The first thing Jethro noticed was the smell. It smelled like nothing else although he recognised a hint of cooked
pork meat that he had once experienced at a neighbours farm where they kept pigs. But that was only a brief taste of the smell because when it fully hit him it was both nauseating and sweet and slowly turned into something nose curling and disgusting when he registered the true source of the smell. It wasn’t barbecue meat. It was barbecue human flesh.

  “Are you OK Jethro?” asked Doctor Aguilar.

  “Yes Ma’am. Err.. Doctor Aguilar. It’s the smell.”

  She smiled. “You get used to it. And call me Doc. It’s easier.”

  There were four concentric circles of desks. Each desk was covered with a large white sheet and on each white sheet lay a body, most of them looked like soldiers, and some were surrounded by medical orderlies. There was an electronic machine with a screen beside many of the bodies and various tubes and leads and tools were plugged into the machines at one end and plugged into the bodies at the other end.

  All around the room Jethro could hear the fizzing sizzling sound of lasers in action and his eyes were distracted by the flashing lights of the lasers. They were being handled by medical orderlies and Jethro worked out that was where the barbecue meat aroma came from. Medical orderlies were removing limbs and parts of limbs and cauterising wounds. The taxes of battle.

  “Put these on.”

  Doc handed Jethro a pair of protective goggles. Everyone in the room was wearing goggles, including the patients, the patients who still had eyes.

  “What is the name of your friend?”

  “Major Misere.”

  She was looking at a list. “Ah yes. Major Misere. Follow me.”

  Jethro followed her to the other end of the magnificent room, skirting around the outside. She led him to an alcove and there was the Major, minus one leg.

  “I’ll give you five minutes. I’ll be around. Come and get me before you leave. I need to talk to you.”

  “OK Doc. Thanks.”

  She left.

  “Sir.”

  “Jethro what are you doing here? You need to leave.”

  “What’s going on sir?”

  “Forget about me and my team. I’m the only one left. Get your team together Jethro and get back to the ship and leave for Earth. Now.”