by T S Paul
Matthew Dorr was the newest lieutenant in the Command Center. He was newly graduated from OTC, the officer training command. He could trace his family tree to the Primus herself. He was a distant nephew, three times removed. Or at least that is what his official paperwork said he was. The Dorr family was spread far and wide across the planet. From time-to-time the family lost track of its relatives.
Such was the case with the real Matthew Dorr’s parents. They were geologists by trade and were lost in the Valles Marineris. The canyon was over 3000 kilometers long. The search parties were just about to give up when they detected an energy spike. Young Matthew Dorr was found with the bodies of his parents half buried in the Martian soil after a small avalanche buried their camp. Matthew was fourteen at the time of their deaths. Or at least the real one was. Cabal agents killed the small family and switched the son. Special explosives triggered the slide burying and hiding the murders. The replacement Matthew had spent four years of his young life learning to be Matthew Dorr. The now grieving son was toddled off to the Military academy to earn his keep.
Flash-forward over a dozen years and Mathew was the newest mole inside the most restricted place on the planet. His original orders were to get inside and start leaking information. Those orders were about to change. All the Cabal cared about now was revenge. Kill the leaders and the ambassadors with extreme prejudice.
Lieutenant Dorr made his way through the complex of halls and corridors on his way to his quarters. Along the way he passed numerous security patrols and several cats. The cats puzzled him. Mars recently stepped up their counter-intelligence. They were finding enemy surveillance devices and agents at an increased rate. His handlers in the Cabal were screaming at him to discover how they were doing it. The only thing different inside the complex were the cats. He reported it as such. That caused more questions to follow. How do you train a cat? Where is the training facility located?
He looked. He really did look. As far as he could tell there were no new complexes or facilities inside the base. Now he had new, more disturbing orders. On his lunch break he ventured out into the grand marketplace. There were several street food vendors that served the most delicious squab on a stick. He may be Matthew Dorr, but he didn’t have to eat like him. The food was the only thing he remembered from his previous life. He would never admit it though. The handlers would not be amused. On his way back to the base entrance he saw the dead drop signal. Abdul the rug merchant hung a specially designed rug outside of his shop whenever they needed to contact him. He sighed. It would have to be tonight. Matthew hurried back to his desk.
The Inner Circle must be out of their minds! Matthew had seen the Primus’s security detachment. Hell, even the Hong Kong ambassador’s force frightened him. This was supposed to be an information gathering mission! His training did not cover assassination. Matthew’s current job was to analyze and report on the gravimetric sensors buried around the outside of the base. It was a very minor starter position within the command structure. Matthew shamelessly used what little family influence that he possessed to get the job.
The Primus’s quarters were even more protected than the command area so they were out of the question. The only place that she and the rest were vulnerable was inside command. Explosives were out, too many sensors. A direct attack or a lone-gunman scenario was impossible and not survivable. Matthew enjoyed living. His only option was to sneak a team inside. His position yielded very little power but he could request repair teams. Causing a malfunction was possible. The repair teams could be replaced by trained Cabal strike teams. He just needed to plan his own escape from the attack.
Matthew contacted his handlers and told them his plan. They were impressed by his initiative, but they modified his plan just a bit, anyway. A misdirection would be prepared. His job would be to trigger the sensor malfunction and call for repairs. Three teams of ‘repairmen’ would then need to be let inside the base and directed toward the target.
~~~
A series of early morning explosions rippled across Dilmun. The Martian Capital police, fire, and security teams scrambled out of their barracks and responded to the new threat. Several explosions happened very close to my Embassy. Dar’s special teams were already in defensive positions in case it was a distraction before an attack. So far they looked like terrorism and not specific targeted attacks.
“Dar, I almost forgot. Amalie notified me that she needs us at the Command Center. These attacks are not just here in Dilmun, but all across Mars. She said to keep your eyes open for her motorcade.”
“Do you mean the motorcade accompanied by the Martian Security APC’s? That is already here. I was just about to ask them why they were here? Sergeant Carter has them lined up with the laser batteries. Hon, this is not something to forget to tell us! We could’ve fired on them!”
“Sorry, Dar. It won’t happen again.”
Dar just shook her head. She loved Athena but sometimes her head was not in the game. “Alpha to all teams, stand down. I repeat stand down. Friendlies inbound.”
She hit the trigger for the gates and stood watch as the armoured cars stopped just inside the gates. Per procedure her team began scanning the vehicles for bombs and other devices. Gaston Pickleberry stepped out of the lead vehicle. “Dar, let me guess, she forgot to tell you?”
“What gave it away?”
“We had alarms going off inside the cars. What were we targeted with?”
“Nothing good. So what is going on?”
“Over a hundred bombs have gone off across the planet. The majority of them here inside Dilmun. The Primus wants her granddaughter with her where it is safe.”
Dar shook her head in protest. “Gaston, we can protect her here! I have three armed and armored teams ready, willing, and able to die to keep her safe!”
“Don’t you think I know all that? However, you proved to the planet that this place is vulnerable. You attacked it yourself and got in.”
“We have upgraded and changed the procedures since then, but you have a point. I will go get her and we can get loaded.” Dar stepped away from the little man and came to the main building.
To her surprise I was standing in the foyer watching her. “Hi sweetie!”
Dar approached me and gave me a kiss on the cheek. “I thought I was going to have to drag you out kicking and screaming.”
“I only do that at night, with you!” I smiled. “So were you really going to carry me outside over your shoulder?”
“Whatever I have to do to protect you, I will do. You should know that by now.”
“The is true. You like to do things to me. I mean for me. And I sooo like to confuse you,… Dara!”
Dar froze in her tracks. She hesitated for a moment then spun around. “Where did you hear THAT name?”
“It’s in your records.”
“No, no it’s not. I made sure it was erased! Now how did you find it?”
“It was in your records.”
“Damn it! I paid that hacker good credit to fix…” She realized what she said and shut right up at my expression.
I gave a little giggle. “You missed one. The Imperial census records from the year of your birth.”
“Census records? How did you… Wilson! You tell that little pest of yours that I will get him. Somehow, somewhere, I will get him back for this!”
“Calm down, Hon. He was just having fun. There is a lot of worse things he could have done. You know how he is.” She was really mad. Dar was cute when she got really angry.
“What else did he tell you?”
“He mentioned your family and your sisters. Hon, you’ve never mentioned your family to me.”
“My family thinks I’m a disappointment.” She hung her head.
“I joined the Imperial Marines instead of the family trade. Because of that I was told to come home after I had proven myself worthy.”
“Worthy of what? You family sounds a bit off.”
She laughed. “Yes, you could say that. Amazonia cust
oms are unique in the galaxy.”
“One day you will take me home to meet your family.”
She winced. “That might not be a good idea Athena.”
“You will, I promise you! Or we will have another talk Dara Jane!”
“Damn it! Not that one too!”
Dar pushed me out the door and into the waiting APC. Off to grandma’s.
Chapter 14
The domes version of night had fallen by the time we reached the main entrance to the palace complex. The Martian streets were in turmoil no matter which direction we went.. Random bombs were still going off in the strangest of places. All the security forces were in agreement, there was some sort of misdirection in play. But no one knew what was about to happen.
Because of the urgency we used the front door to the complex. In all the times Dar and I had been in this building we never visited this room. The entranceway was huge! The walls were lined with statues and historical displays, each a part of Martian history. A wide, intricately carved stone staircase wound up to the higher levels. I heard Wilson in my hear say. “Where’s Scarlet O’Hara?”
“Scarlet who?” I was too late. He was either gone or ignoring me again.
Gaston escorted us past the guard station and through a set of double doors. In front of us was a pair of lifts. We took the one on the left and descended into the real base. I just had to ask. “Gaston, why in the year I have been here, have we never taken this route before?”
The little man thought for a moment. “I really don’t know. Your grandmother likes to do things covert. She rubs off on you sometimes. I prefer the back way that front room is gloomy.”
“Good enough.”
“You know she enjoys having you and Dar around, don’t you? She has plenty of family; but none are close in any way.”
“We enjoy having her in our lives. It gets pretty boring in the Embassy sometimes. Besides, who else can say they have lunch with the most powerful woman on Mars?”
The little man laughed as we got off the lift. He smile and replied. “I can say that too Athena, but she usually makes me go get it first.” We both began laughing at that point. I liked Gaston.
We turned down the last corridor to the command center and we were passed by a trio of security officers and two CATTs. I could hear Wilson chortling in my ear. They did a good job but the little rat made credits every time a new CATT was activated. Sometimes I think I’m in the wrong business.
The Command Center was busier than when the Earth ship was up in orbit. Every screen was filled with graphic scenes from the many terror attacks. Amalie was at her normal place, the center of the room, she was talking to one of the rescue teams. She turned in my direction and I could see tears in her eyes. I rushed over and gave her a big hug. I whispered in her ear. “Grandmother, are you alright? I’m here for you if you need me.”
“Thank you Athena.” She returned the hug and then stepped back from me. Spotting Gaston she began to speak to him. “Gaston, organize our best forensic analyst and get over to the Viking public school. Terrorists set off a mini-fusion bomb in the school a short while ago.”
“Were there any injuries?”
“Yes. A school music concert was being held there. The students had held fundraisers to be able to have the Unknown World perform there tonight.”
“Those bastards! Was anyone hurt?”
“Several of the children were hit by flying debris and plasma burns. The lead singer Bethany Ann was injured. She nearly lost her left eye. She will have extensive scarring there for years to come. Plasma is nasty stuff.”
“Grandmother they are targeting children now! We need to stop these Cabal bastards!”
“We will Athena. They made a mistake targeting innocent civilians. Many still support them amongst the older families. That will change now that their true colors have been revealed. Come along now.” She led us over to her office. Her living quarters up on the higher floors were still being renovated.
~~~
Matthew Dorr had to close his mouth he was so surprised. His handlers were definitely smarter than he was. The decoys actually worked! The Hong Kong ambassador was standing right there. He needed to send the signal. Carefully, he inserted a portable drive into the computer system. While upgrades were made every year to the system, its core was still over a century old. There were many workarounds available. The drive downloaded into the system. He quickly removed it and stashed it back in the flower pot on his desk. It was supposed to activate within sixty seconds. He put his head down and tried to focus on his job, sixty seconds later the alarms began to go off.
“Sir, I have a cascade failure of the gravimetric sensors in sector eight and nine.”
Matthew’s supervisor was Commander Ritus. The commander was new to the sensor section. His last position was in the quartermaster corp. He studied and passed the correct tests to move up in both rank and position. Reading the values and signals that the sensors displayed took intensive training and careful study. Study that the commander didn’t bother to do. The manuals were still sitting unopened in his quarters. Arthur kept telling himself that this position was only a stepping stone so he refused to study anything. Arthur looked up from his control panel when Matthew reported. “What was that Lieutenant?”
“Sir, there is a malfunction in sectors eight and nine. One of those explosions may have disturbed the diamatic altimeter and it will need to be reset. When one of those is damaged it can cascade and upset the entire section as this one has done.”
“Is it something we need right away?” What his lieutenant was saying sounded expensive. If he remembered correctly, his department did not have that large of a budget to begin with.
“Yes, Sir! We have to have those sensors in place they tell us if someone is approaching the base or even digging down to place a bomb or something.”
“Bombs! Fix them.” Explosives frightened Arthur, so did guns but he would never admit that here.
“Thank you, Sir. I will call maintenance and have them sent out a couple of crews. May I use your authorization for the job? That way you get the credit for the repairs?”
“Yes, Lieutenant Dorr. Go ahead and order what you need.” The commander replied over his shoulder as he had already turned back to the monitor and the dirty vid he was watching.
Matthew smiled to himself. Way too easy. Now for the tricky part, his handlers thought that this might work; but it was left to him to make it happen. He put in the work order using Commander Ritus’s authorization code. Making it a rush order he ordered three crews to sectors one, two, and three. Matthew checked the commander. He was still enraptured by the vid he was watching. Matthew punched up the real-time vid of the first three sectors. He could see the repair crews beginning the dig to replace the sensors. Using a work around that he used occasionally Matthew rerouted a recall notice with instructions to not replace the sensors. He then made up orders sending him outside to supervise the installation. He printed out hard copies of all the orders and left his workstation.
There were two light maintenance doors in the complex. The repair crews went out door two. Matthew intended to bring the other crews in door number one. There were only two guards, but he needed to fool them to get out and then back in.
“Halt! Lieutenant, you need orders to proceed any further.”
“Of course. I have hard copy orders right here. Commander Ritus is sending me out to supervise the sensor replacement job. At the last minute he changed his mind and now wants me to inform the crews to come back inside. Command is a mad house right now, and he said he didn’t want to bring down the wrath of the Primus.”
The guards checked the orders then punched up Commander Ritus’s code verification in the system. Everything matched to their satisfaction. “You can go Lieutenant.”
He smiled at them. “Thank you. I will be coming back in in just a moment with the three crews that went out. See you in a bit.”
The guards electronically opened the door for Ma
tthew. “Lieutenant, just press the buzzer and we will open it again for you.”
“Thanks again.” Matthew walked through the door. The area was surrounded by a large fence that was supposed to be patrolled at certain intervals. He scanned both sides of the door and took a few steps to the side to avoid the door camera. Where are they! He was getting really nervous. He could hear jingling and looked over his shoulder. Three squads of ‘repairmen’ were jogging around the corner. “What the hell?”
“Sorry, Lieutenant we got lost.”
“This is a hell of a time to get lost! Now did you lose your equipment too?”
“No.” One of the men unzipped his coveralls, Matthew could see he had on a both a vest and gun holsters.
“Now everyone follow me. Pretend that you are angry with me for pulling you off a job. Whoever is at the end of the line will have to take care of the guards. There are two. They are lightly armed with only sidearms.”
