by Brian Smith
“We’re using the Security Annex building at the north spaceport complex.”
“Remember the last place we saw a bar fight?”
Harper laughed despite everything. “Yeah, mate.”
“I’ll meet you there sometime tomorrow morning or early afternoon,” Ashburn replied. “Watch your six, old man.”
“You, too, Dakota. Just like old times, eh?”
“Testify! When this is over, I’m going to need a long vacation—on Alpha Centauri.”
“Take me with you, mate. Out,” Harper added, killing the link and flipping up his snoopers. He winced and rubbed at his temples, trying to wish away his splitting headache. Way too much time under the visor tonight. When he looked up, he saw that Ayers was regarding him with an odd, slightly haunted look.
“Sounds like it was a long day for you, too,” Ayers said.
“That it most certainly was. It’s not over yet, either.”
She cocked her head at him slightly. “Maybe you can clear something up for me.”
“What’s that, love?”
“What, exactly, is an Omnisynth?”
Spaceplane Banth One
Oasis Spacedrome
Daedalia Planum Region, Mars
“What’s the plan?” Kusaka asked when the communication channel with Colin Harper was cut.
“Well, that depends. Are you sure about this?” Ashburn asked. “Kasei Echigo is nice and remote, but is your family going to be okay with having a spaceplane drop in on them unannounced?”
Kusaka smiled. “Under the circumstances, I think they’ll be fine with it.”
“Okay, then, it’s simple enough,” Ashburn replied. “We upthrust with no flight plan, headed in the general direction of Nuevo Rio—it’s not that far, really. Once we’re about halfway there, we darken ship, switch off our transponders, and go low. We could be tracked from orbit if anyone is watching, but we’ll stay below any surface lidar coverage. It’s not perfect, but it should keep us covert enough, long enough. With everything else that’s going on, I doubt we’ll be missed soon enough for it to matter. I’ll pass Thuvia the word that we’ll be off the grid for a spell, so to speak. In the meantime, can you get on the horn and try to contact trustee Vasquez at Chryse Planitia University? If the Crandall Foundation is somehow under attack, then all the board members are going to be targets. We should at least try to warn her. I take it you’ve still had no luck reaching Federov, Tsong, or any of the others?”
“No,” Kusaka replied quietly. “The Marsnet is confirming a drone-swarm attack in Kasei as well, targeted against Barsoom Traders. The reports are . . . well, I’m sorry, Mike-san.”
The color drained from Ashburn’s face. “Jesus. I wonder how many ships in the company fleet have Omnisynths aboard. Do you think Thuvia might be the only one that doesn’t?”
“I hope not,” Kusaka replied quietly.
“I’ll send out a general warning to the rest of the company fleet before we launch out of here,” Ashburn said grimly. “In the meantime, . . . Now what the hell?” he added, taking note of a service rover pulling up to the spaceplane outside. The door opened, and a single exosuit-clad figure emerged, trotting up toward the main hatch.
“Hey, Mike,” Hansen called from the back, activating the crew circuit. “We’ve got a visitor, captain! Let him in, or not?”
“Get an ID on him,” Ashburn ordered.
After a slight pause, Hansen got back to him: “He says he’s Carter Drayson, cap.”
On the flight deck, Ashburn and Kusaka exchanged disbelieving glances. “Speak of the devil and he shall appear,” Ashburn quipped. “Hey, Jen— Okay, let him in.”
When the inner airlock door cycled open a few minutes later, Ashburn and Kusaka were there to meet Drayson. Ashburn wasn’t playing around anymore—the first thing Drayson saw when he came through the lock was one of the advanced particle-beam weapons—being held on him by the man in the Barsoom Traders uniform with four stripes on the shoulders. Drayson slowly raised his hands in a nonthreatening manner and pointed toward his helmet seals. Ashburn nodded and Drayson removed his helmet.
“I’d ask where you got that gun, but I think I can probably guess,” Drayson said without preamble. “In a way, I’m glad. It means I probably have a whole lot less I need to explain. Carter Drayson, Chairman of the Crandall Foundation,” he added, looking at each of the three of them. “You two look vaguely familiar. Have we—?”
“At one of the annual symposiums, a couple years back,” Ashburn replied. “I’m Mike Ashburn, Barsoom Traders. This is Loadmaster Jen Hansen, also Barsoom Traders, and Kusaka Shiguro, Federov Propulsion. Welcome aboard Banth One, sir. What I’m going to ask next will seem a little odd, but—”
“I understand,” Drayson replied. “I bleed red, not glowing green—when I shuck this suit, you’ll see for yourself. Do you have an autodoc on this thing?”
“We don’t. Sorry. Just a first-aid kit.” Ashburn still hadn’t lowered the weapon. “Go ahead and strip down, Mr. Drayson.”
Drayson nodded and began to do so; the others could smell the blood before they saw it. Drayson’s underclothes were soaked liberally on his left side, and he raised his shirt to show that his torso was bandaged underneath. Ashburn finally lowered the weapon, convinced that he was truly human. “Did you just come over from the Crandall Annex?”
“No, I brought a hopper from Schroeter Habitat,” he replied. “As far as I can tell, the annex and the academy are quiet, oddly enough. Schroeter, on the other hand, has been bombed off the map—and the leadership of the United Mars Federation along with it.”
Ashburn nodded. “I can imagine. Who was it? The CFR? I seriously doubt the MIM bagged every naval vessel in Martian space when they took down the spin habs. If it was the MIM.”
“I don’t know who attacked whom, but whoever hit Schroeter didn’t do it half-assed,” Drayson replied, looking pale and shaken. “I was fortunate to get out of there before the first kinetic lances hit, and after the first one it was like a tungsten hailstorm from hell, let me tell you—each one hits with the force of a small nuke. It’s daylight at Schroeter right now, but you could still see the glow in the air as you flew away from it all. The only person with me was my personal assistant, an Omnisynth. She tried to stop me from leaving Schroeter and then tried to do me in when I wouldn’t relent. I think she knew what was coming, honestly.”
“Did you take out the synth yourself?” Ashburn asked.
“Had help from a bystander. It was pure luck,” Drayson replied. “She stuck me with a vibroknife and probably would have had me, but a good Samaritan witnessed it and was quick on the draw. Word to the wise: those things do burn brightly when hit.”
“What brings you to our humble doorstep?”
“I saw the Barsoom Traders logo on your spaceplane when I was landing my hopper. I haven’t been able to reach any of the other trustees and was hoping maybe you’d have some sort of direct line to Ty Forester.”
“Well, Mr. Drayson, it’s my sad duty to report that in addition to everything else going on, the Crandall Foundation and related entities appear to be under direct attack as well. I can tell you for certain that Ty Forester and Bill Campbell are dead. Dmitri Federov is MIA, and we have no information on trustee Vasquez—in fact, we were about to try to get in touch with her when you showed up.”
“No,” he said, going even paler than before, if it was possible.
“Yes, sir, I’m sorry, but it’s true. We’re preparing to get underway again. Jen, please grab the first-aid kit and do what you can to clean up Mr. Drayson a little more. While she does that, Shiguro-san can fill you in on current events, what we know, and our immediate plans. I think that for now you’ll be safest if you remain with us.”
“Of course,” Drayson replied brokenly.
“Good. We’re agreed, then,” Ashburn said. “In the meantime, we’ve got a lot to do and a lot to talk about.”
USS Reuben James
The Aster
oid Belt—near Vesta
“Message coming in, captain,” the rating at communications reported. “Relay from Vladivostok.”
“Route it to me,” Ford ordered.
A moment later Ford was able to bring it up in his snoopers and begin reading. He read it through three times, trying to wrap his head around it all and what it meant. The news about Halsey and Yang Liwei stations was no surprise, since they’d monitored the explosions through the ship’s telescopes. Armstrong Station at Luna had survived. It was obvious that someone had listened to his warning, but somewhere along the way wires had gotten crossed or someone had made a bad choice. Not surprisingly, he made the loss real to himself by thinking immediately of Cheryl Ayers, reassigned to the admiral’s staff on Halsey Station. She was gone now, along with tens of thousands of others, and he could only imagine that within hours or days the solar system would formally be at war with itself.
He was worried for Diane Hutton as well, but he was relatively sure that she was safe enough for the moment. New Arizona was the most “American” of all the U.S.-flagged settlements on Mars. It should prove a bulwark against any incursion, as far as he knew.
According to the message, it appeared that almost every unit in the 4th and 5th fleets that wasn’t deployed away from its base was either destroyed or damaged to the point of being mission-killed. The fleet-support facilities between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter now amounted to Kuznetsov Naval Station at Vesta, and that was it. Togo Station in the Trojans and its counterpart in the Jovian “Greeks” were gone, as were Jellicoe and Hood stations at Ell-4 and Ell-5, respectively. Refueling stations appeared to have been spared, and civil stations like Achilles and the Ells had been left unmolested as well. Militarily speaking, what had happened was a crushing defeat that would put Earth’s nations squarely on the defensive in the near term. Ford still wasn’t sure how the MIM had managed to pull it all off, but it was an effective demonstration that Mars wasn’t to be taken lightly.
In the meantime, they had orders. Ford accessed the 1MC so that he could address the crew.
“All hands, this is the captain. I want to inform you that our message was received by the fleet in time to spare Armstrong Station and our PEA allies at Kuznetsov Station nearby. It is my duty to inform you that the destruction of Halsey and Nimitz stations is confirmed, along with numerous units assigned to the 4th and 5th fleets. Updated casualty lists will be posted as soon as they are verified. This comes as a hard blow to every man and woman aboard this ship, especially given what we’ve already been through. There will be time to grieve and honor the dead, but until that time I ask that you look to one another for strength and support as we always have in the Reuben James family. Watch your shipmates and yourselves—when a shipmate is low, lift them up, and let them do the same for you. Together we’ll make it through these trials and those that stand ahead of us.
“We have new orders, straight from the top: we are to lay over at Kuznetsov Station just long enough to repair our propulsion system, then burn down-well for Armstrong Station at our best speed. Repairs to all ship’s systems will continue as best we are able, and I commend each and every one of you for your continued effort and devotion to duty. That is all,” Ford finished.
They were under light thrust, hard-docked to Vladivostok on a low-power burn for Vesta; it was the modern equivalent of being under tow. Their acceleration was limited to the amount of thrust asymmetry that could be offset by spinning the gyros of both ships, an asymmetry resulting from their combined center of gravity’s significant offset from Vladivostok’s thrust vector. It was slow going as a result, with about five and half days remaining to rendezvous.
Ford got up from his seat and made his way off the bridge without another word, retreating for a few minutes to the solace of his cabin. He wasn’t surprised to find that Gordon was right behind him, and he motioned the XO inside and gestured for him to close the hatch behind him. The hatch was barely closed before Ford slammed a fist down on his desk and swept everything off it in a fit of anger.
“What the hell happened?” he raged helplessly, maintaining enough self-control to keep his voice from carrying through the bulkhead. “We warned them! We fucking warned them!”
It was a question Gordon couldn’t answer, and they both knew it.
Chapter 16
Megaplex Daily Dispatch—Your Eastern-Seaboard Story Source!
Trending newsfeeds on the MDD:
-WAR! Government and military sources have confirmed that numerous military spin-ring stations throughout the solar system were destroyed yesterday in a coordinated surprise attack by Martian revolutionaries. At the same time, numerous attacks were carried out within the boundaries of flagged Martian territories, targeted primarily against government facilities and personnel. Losses have not been officially tallied yet but are rumored to number more than 450,000 across all nationalities. The Pentagon has issued a statement informing the public that specific casualty lists will remain confidential “pending notification of next of kin.” Reports that the U.S. Navy’s 4th and 5th fleets have been decimated by the attacks have not been confirmed, although unnamed sources at the Pentagon have said that “losses were significant.” Casualty estimates are expected to exceed the combined number of combat deaths suffered by the U.S. in all hostile actions since the end of World War II—and it should be emphasized that these are the casualty figures for the first day alone. The President spoke before a joint session of Congress yesterday, asking for a formal Declaration of War against the Mars Independence Movement, which until this time has been treated as a terrorist organization. This would mark the first formal declaration of war issued by Congress since the Western Pacific War, and it is expected to pass by a moderate majority.
-China counterstrikes! In a rapid response to yesterday’s unprecedented and unprovoked surprise attack against Earth-flagged stations throughout the solar system, surviving Mars-based units of the Chinese Federal Stellar Navy conducted an orbital bombardment of Schroeter Habitat, seat of the fledgling UMF government. The habitat and its environs are reported “entirely destroyed.” Gabriel Rogan, head of the MIM, denounced the attack as an “unprovoked massacre of a civilian population numbering in the tens of thousands.” He followed this up with a promise of reprisals and stated that “the Mars Independence Movement is prepared to step into the power vacuum left by the criminal destruction of the United Mars Federation government.”
-Trans-Oceanic Alliance defense provisions invoked! Yesterday the British Parliament was the first of the TOA signatory nations to invoke Article V of the TOA charter: the mutual-defense provision that states that armed aggression against one member-state is an attack on all. This was in direct response to the destruction of Hood and Jellicoe naval stations by the Mars Independence Movement, along with with significant losses to His Majesty’s fleet. Parliament’s move was quickly followed by confirmations from all spacefaring TOA members. Similar actions took place within the governments of the Pan-European Alliance. Calls have already gone out for mutual military cooperation between the TOA, CFR, and PEA as it pertains to defending the Earth from any form of direct attack and in dealing with the Martian crisis.
-Violence erupts on Earth over Martian independence! While spirited disagreement over the legality of Martian independence is nothing new, the Mars crisis has triggered violence much closer to home. A group of protestors gathered in Lefortovo Park in Moscow this morning, denouncing the position that the formation of the UMF violated the lunar and Martian treaties. They were confronted by an angry mob, many of whom suffered personal losses in yesterday’s events. Verbal exchanges quickly degenerated into physical attacks, forcing armed intervention by law-enforcement authorities. At latest count the riot has claimed three dead and more than thirty-six injured, some seriously. Similar clashes between protesters are being reported in various cities around the globe—more details as they become available.
-Mankind mourns Dr. Maria Vasquez. In a sadly ironic but unr
elated footnote to yesterday’s tragic events, Dr. Maria Vasquez, known to all mankind as “the woman who cured cancer,” was found dead in her home this morning, apparently of natural causes. Further investigation is pending, but at the moment Chryse Planitia University Security Division is stating that foul play is not suspected. Friends and associates are reportedly shocked and saddened by the news, stating that Vasquez had seemed to be in good health. The cause of death has not been made public. No other member of the Crandall Foundation Board of Trustees has been reached for comment; a spokesperson for the foundation at the Crandall Annex in Daedalia Planum on Mars expressed sorrow over Vasquez’s passing and informed the press that a formal statement would be forthcoming pending the notification of the remainder of the board.
-Editorial special: Earth First: Is fighting over Mars worth the risk to this planet? In the aftermath of yesterday’s devastating news, the overarching concern shared by citizens of all Earth’s nations is what, if any, existential threat exists to the cradle of mankind. Ever since humanity expanded into the broader solar system, mankind’s ancestral home has suffered from the disadvantage of sitting lower in the gravity well than its neighbors, most notably Mars and the asteroid belt. The potential for human-derived extinction-level events has been well documented for decades, but the eruption of mankind’s first interplanetary war brings that threat terrifyingly alive for us all. The question we need to ask of our leaders and ourselves is this: Can the species survive without Earth? While some would argue the point, the answer is unequivocally no. Mars is tiny in comparison to Earth in every way: in terms of physical size, gravity, population, and economic output. Where Mars enjoys a significant advantage is in the realm of technology, and apparently in its previously unimagined ability to match Earth militarily. Most of Earth’s military power is utilized to maintain the physical security of the planet itself: a shield against that destruction of life and civilization we are capable of wreaking on ourselves. If Mars can penetrate that shield and neither side is willing to relent, then the best we can achieve against them is mutually assured destruction, which will mean the end of the human race.
