"So, what was the mood out there?" asked Lloyd. He looked up from the bewildering array of data feeds he had been studying on the rudimentary holo-table that had been set up.
Marcus shrugged. "If shit goes down, they’ll help us, as always. But not with any sort of conviction. There are plenty who see us as just causing trouble."
Lloyd shook his head. "I can't say I blame them. It's hard enough just to survive these sols, let alone take on the ever-growing arrogance of Montecristo."
"We need get the word out to the people," said Anka. "Not just in this sector, but all over Syrtis. We need the people to really see what's going on. We need to get it out on the grid, let everybody hear what these guys have been doing to us."
"Nobody is going to give a shit," said Marcus. "That's just pointless propaganda. Let's face it, we've been forced to play our hand too early, and we've failed. All we've succeeded in doing is to embolden Montecristo. Now it's only a matter of time before they come for us."
"What about Gizmo?" Mia sat on an old crate, nursing her bruised and battered body. "It should have recorded everything up until its power cell was pulled. If we could access the datastack and broadcast it, that might move people to take action."
"Nice idea, but not so simple as it sounds. We don't have the spare parts to get it operational again." Lloyd shook his head.
"We don't need it fully operational, we just need to access the data," offered Mia.
"Again, not so simple. For one, that droid operates on older, more esoteric protocols than most stuff we have now. Secondly, everything in there will be encrypted. Even if we could access the data, it would take a considerable amount of time to make sense of it. And time is one thing we don't have."
"What about trying again?" said Anka. "Going back to the Leighton waystation and getting what we need?"
"Not without Gizmo." Mia shook her head. "It was the only reason I could get in, get past the security, and find where they were storing the components. It's not possible without it, especially now that they know. The place will be locked down tight."
Anka slumped down on a crate beside Mia. "So, what do we do?"
"Make no mistake, that bastard Baptiste is smelling opportunity, and he's coming for us. So, I say we stand and fight. And there are others in the sector who will stand by us—we can be sure of that." Lloyd was not giving up.
"Yeah, screw them." Marcus raised his plasma weapon in the air.
Mia sat there and wondered where all this was heading. They were all gunning for a showdown, and now was as good a time as any, as far as Lloyd and his crew were concerned. But was this just gung-ho naiveté, or did they really stand a chance of turning the tables on Montecristo?
There was already a flurry of activity as the crew got to work. Marcus and Lloyd gathered around the holo-table and started studying the layout of the sector. Anka sat down at a comms desk and started contacting other groups, warning them of a possible attack.
Mia sat for a moment watching all this activity, feeling somewhat at a loss as to where she fit into all this proto-revolutionary fervor, when Lloyd came over and sat down on a crate opposite.
"You don't have to be part of this, Mia. You can take the rover and get out of here. Follow the edge of the city until you pass this sector. You can re-enter Syrtis somewhere well away from here. Try to make your way to MLOD HQ."
"And then what? Frazer was an MLOD agent and it didn't work out so well for him. Do you think I'll be any different?"
Lloyd looked vaguely apologetic. "But you're from Jezero. Baptiste won't try anything once you’re back out in the open."
"Maybe, but I still have to deal with the fallout from ‘going rogue.’ There would be plenty of opportunity in that situation for something unfortunate to happen to me."
They sat in silence for a moment before Mia rose and moved over to the small handcart full of weapons. She picked one up and examined it. "You know, Lloyd, sometimes the only way out...is to go in deeper." She flicked a switch on the weapon; it made a high-pitched squeal as it charged. "I can't go forward and I can't go back, so it looks like I'll just have to go through."
15
Riot Droid
Mia didn't do waiting very well. Without something to keep her mind and body occupied she would find herself receding into her thoughts. This was dangerous territory for her, as the longer it went on, the darker her mood got. So it was, after several hours of hanging around in the maintenance hangar, watching the others make preparations for their defense against Montecristo’s security, she felt a growing sense of fatalism well up inside her.
In the face of the worst dust storm ever recorded on Mars, slowly etching humanity off the planet, what were we doing? she thought. Using it as an opportunity to screw each other over. And for what? Power? Control? Money? Or maybe all of the above?
What was the point of even fighting, of trying to do the right thing? She wasn't even sure what the right thing was anymore. Doubling down and throwing her lot in with Lloyd and his band of revolutionaries?
She needed to do something, anything to get her mind away from its ceaseless descent into darkness.
During this time, more people arrived. Several small groups came and discussed options and strategies before leaving again. Some remained, eager to throw their firepower in behind Lloyd and the others. It was as she watched all these comings and goings that she began to realize the extent—and depth—of feeling amongst the citizens of this sector. They saw it as a fight for survival. It wasn't just the endless dust storm that they were fighting, but also those who would use it as a tool in their lust for power—at least, that was how they saw it. Mia realized how isolated Jezero was from these people. Back there, in the shiny corridors of power and the manicured tourist parks, no matter how bad things were, it was nothing compared to this.
For the people of this sector, their greatest fear was that they just didn't matter. They didn’t trust Montecristo's slow takeover of power, seeing them as duplicitous and motivated solely by the advancement of the corporation they represented. They feared that as soon Montecristo gained control, the people of this sector would be expendable, nothing more than an inconvenient roadblock to the mercantile ambitions of the corporation. As for Jezero, the MLOD, and the institutions of law and order, they saw them as the willing levers of power that the corporation sought to assimilate and ultimately undermine. In short, Montecristo didn't give a shit about anybody but themselves.
Mia understood now the root of their animosity toward both her and Gizmo that first time she entered the sector and started snooping around. What she also didn't know back then was how deep this rage went. Looking around her now, she could see that it was all coming to a head. Perhaps she played some part in that—perhaps her actions were the catalyst. But it was coming, with or without her. This sol was inevitable.
"Incoming," one of the techs shouted out, jolting Mia out of her reverie. "Two groups... Looks like they have at least six riot droids with them."
The tech, along with several others, were sitting at a cluster of data screens and holographic displays. It had been all set up over the last few hours as the group made their preparations for the forthcoming confrontation. On the holo-table, a sizable 3D schematic of the entire sector blossomed out. Mia could see red dots illuminating the locations of two separate intrusions, moving slowly along a wide thoroughfare that bisected the sector. They were coming in from either end.
Lloyd came over and studied the schematic. "Okay, tell everyone to get ready... And can we get video on this?"
On screen several feeds materialized, displaying a cohort of twenty or so heavily armed security personnel in each group. Ahead of them, several riot droids formed a line across the route as they moved.
Then, at around three hundred meters from their position, both groups stopped moving. Mia watched in tense silence with the rest of the crew, waiting for the next move. But nothing happened.
"What are they doing?" said Anka. "They're just sta
nding there, doing nothing."
"Boss," one of the techs called over to Lloyd. "Looks like we have a request for comms coming in."
"From which group?"
"It's not any of us, Boss. It looks like it's from the MLOD."
"What the hell do they want?" said Marcus. "And how did they get our channel?"
"What do you want me to do, Boss?"
Lloyd thought for a moment. "Put it on speaker."
"This is Chief Joshua T. Becker of the Mars Law and Order Department. Who am I speaking to?"
Lloyd exchanged a few glances with the rest of the group before replying. "Lloyd Allen. What do you want?"
"I imagine that asking that you all put down your weapons and give up this pointless exercise would be a complete waste of time, so I'm not going to bother."
"You would be correct. So, like I said, what do you want?"
"Is the MLOD agent Mia Sorelli there with you?"
All eyes turned to Mia, and there was a moment's silence.
"I'm here," Mia finally replied.
"Poe Tarkin, Director of Planetary Security, has pleaded your case with us here in Syrtis. And it is with deference to him and the council in Jezero that I am willing to offer you a way out of this."
Again, all eyes turned to Mia.
"Go on."
"We have agreed to give you the opportunity to leave here and turn yourself in. You don't have to die here with the rest of these scum."
There was a momentary pause as Mia considered her response. "And what happens then?"
"You will of course be put on trial for your part in this...charade. But at least you have the chance to get out of this alive. It's the best we can offer, and you need to thank Director Tarkin for arguing for this, since you...eh, were a high-ranking MLOD officer."
"I see. Tell me, Becker, do you know why I was sent here, to Syrtis?"
"I don't have time for this, and frankly, I don't care. I just need an answer."
"To investigate the death of Agent Dan Frazer. And do you know what I found?"
"Save it for your trial, Agent Sorelli."
"I found that the MLOD here in Syrtis are a bunch of spineless cowards."
"Right, I've had enough of this. It seems you've spent too long in the swamp of radicals. You've become brainwashed into their paranoid reality. You've exactly three seconds to decide."
"Tell Director Tarkin thanks, but no thanks. I'd rather take my chances here."
"Your loss. Goodbye."
The comms went silent, and for a moment all eyes again looked at Mia. This time it was with a new sense of admiration.
"They're on the move," the tech shouted out. "Droids in the vanguard."
Lloyd glanced at the video feed. "Okay, it's time to hit them."
The tech sent the command out to units farther up the street.
Suddenly, the wide doors of two industrial units flew open and the carcasses of old rovers were shoved out, forming a barricade. The same action was also being performed simultaneously at the other end of the street. Fighters massed in behind these and unleashed a barrage of fire at the oncoming riot droids.
The screen was filled with the incandescent blue rage of multiple plasma blasts dancing around the droids’ hardened outer shells. One staggered, then righted itself before two more direct hits finished it off and it crumpled to the ground.
The security guards, who were content until this point to let the droids do all the work, now started returning fire. Mia could see one rebel down, lying motionless, while a second was been dragged away by a comrade.
The barricade was now taking a sustained hammering as the attackers tried to provide cover for one of the riot droids to move in closer and start to shift the rover carcasses.
Lloyd turned to Marcus. "Time to get down there and lend a hand. We don't want them breaking through."
"Too right." Marcus was studying the feeds intently.
"Take everyone you can."
"On it."
With that he signaled for the fighters who had assembled in the warehouse to follow him. Mia checked her weapon.
"Not you, Mia," said Lloyd.
"Why not? I can fight better that most of your people, from what I've seen so far."
Lloyd cast her a wry eye. "I don't doubt that, not for a minute. That's why I want you here, in case things get hairy." He smiled. "I reckon you would be pretty handy in a tight spot."
Mia put her weapon down and moved over to get a better view of the feed, now that most of the fighters had cleared out of the hangar.
Already, the droid had reached the rover barricade and was starting to shift it. Its metal hands clamped onto the frame, ripping at it as it tried to find purchase. Two more droids moved slowly in behind. A fourth, farther back, seemed to be out of action. Behind that, the security detail advanced, keeping low and tight against the side walls of the street.
The battle at the other end of the sector was faring better. Only two droids were in use there, and Mia got the sense that Montecristo's strategy was to keep them just busy enough to commit fighters and stop them from reinforcing the main assault.
Lloyd was getting anxious. Mia could sense it in him—the intense stare, the twitchy body movements. At this rate, she might get her wish, as the fight looked like it was coming to her.
There was a sudden, intense burst of fire from behind the barricade as Marcus's people moved in to reinforce the position. The droids halted, and the attackers began to move back.
A side door opened down the street a little way in front of the makeshift barricade. Mia could just make out a small object being thrown out. She assumed it was a grenade of some kind. It arced through the air and landed on the back of the droid that was trying to disassemble the barricade. It stuck onto its casing like a magnet. For a moment nothing happened, and the droid, realizing something had attached itself to its back, tried to remove it. But before it could, it simply crumpled on the floor.
This seemed to be the signal for a renewed barrage of fire from the fighters. The two remaining droids started to retreat; the security detail behind them did likewise. After they had retreated to around a hundred meters from the barricade, the fighting stopped. Mia could see that the contingent at the other end of the street had also retreated.
There were whoops of joy, and some fighters even clambered up on the carcass of the rover to shout taunts at the attackers.
"They backed off," said Mia in a surprised tone.
"For the moment." Lloyd was more circumspect. "They'll be back, and soon. That was just the opening salvo."
"What was that weapon that took the droid down?"
"Ahh, a localized EMP—electro-magnetic pulse weapon—of my own design. Highly effective against these droids." Mia could see he was impressed with himself. "Takes out the control circuitry, leaves the power source intact."
Mia turned back to the video feed of the celebratory rebels, but her attention was focused on the fallen riot droids. Two were down, now just crumpled heaps. There was something reminiscent in their design and construction that reminded her of Gizmo, and G2 units in general.
"Those droids." She pointed to the image on the monitor. "What type of power cell do they use?"
Lloyd glanced at her and then back at the monitor. He remained silent for a moment, long enough for Mia to think he may not have heard her. He turned around and gave her a considered look. "It might be possible. It might." He stroked his chin for a moment.
"They use an old-school, low-energy nuclear reactor—a LENR. Very similar to your own droid, Gizmo."
Mia moved in a bit closed and studied the fallen robots. "Are they too damaged, or would the power source still work?"
"That one there should be okay." He pointed to the droid nearest the barricade.
"Is it worth trying to get it?"
"Hmm." He started stroking his chin again. "Possible. But to what end?"
"If we can get Gizmo working, even just enough to get access to all its recorded dat
a from Leighton, then we could broadcast it, people would see and hear the truth, and we could change the tide of opinion, start a goddamn revolution."
"I think Chief Becker might be right about you. All this talk of revolution sounds like you've been spending too much time with the wrong people." He gave her a smile.
Mia shrugged. "Just tell me you can do it. Can you get Gizmo working?"
Lloyd glanced back at the monitor. "Hmm...maybe. We need to drag that thing back in here and hope it doesn't wake up in the process. Then I can see if it's possible."
"Get me comms with Marcus." Lloyd called over to one of the techs, then turned back to Mia. "Just so you know, even if we get this thing in here, there are still no guarantees. I'm going to need time, and that is in short supply."
"I understand, Lloyd. But we’ve got to try."
16
Jezero
The first skirmish had not gone the way Vance Baptiste had hoped. True, it was just an initial encounter, a probe to test the resources and resolve of the rebels. But he had clearly underestimated what it would take to dislodge them from their warren. Yet it was not something that couldn't be overcome by simply throwing more at it. That had been his initial strategy—go in hard and heavy. But it was Chief Joshua T. Becker's desire to keep it under the radar as much as possible, coupled with Orban's desire to minimize collateral damage, that persuaded him to take the softly-softly approach. Now, though, all gloves would be off. He needed to resolve this situation and quick, because word had gotten out and other sectors were getting more agitated.
Orban's avatar brought a 3D map of Syrtis up on the holo-table in the operations room on board Baptiste's orbital. "We have several outbreaks of violence across the city. Nothing major, just minor skirmishes and altercations." He pointed to several sectors in turn. "It looks like word has gotten out about the fight going on in the maintenance sector, and some folks are using it as an excuse to cause trouble."
Baptiste grunted. "All the more reason to get this situation under control as fast as possible. So, no more dicking around, Orban. We go in hard and heavy. Get it done."
Colony Mars Ultimate Edition Page 79
