Colony Three Mars (Colony Mars Book 3)

by Gerald M. Kilby

  The both looked at her in silence.

  “I’ll take that as a no, then.”

  Lane simply nodded.

  “Oh, a bit of news for you. Xaing Zu Industries just landed on Mars.”

  “When?” said Chuck.

  “About six hours ago. The news just came in, direct from Colony One. It’s on their feed.”

  “How is that going down with them?” said Lane.

  “Hard to say, it was just a one line announcement.”

  Chuck jotted down a quick calculation on the tablet he was holding. “If that’s the case then COM will be… let’s see… fourteen days behind, give or take.”

  “Should that not be sols?” Lane gave him a sideways grin.

  “Sols, days, who cares. It just means we’re going to be very late to the party.”

  “Well, that might be a good thing. Plenty of time for the other guests to get acquainted.”

  Chuck laughed. “Ha, that’s one way of putting it. I would say, at this rate there may be nothing for us to visit, even if we do get the go ahead.”

  Lane said nothing, just extracted the cigar canister from his top pocket again and repeated the same examination procedure as before.

  “You’re not thinking of lighting that up in here?” said Dr. Foster.

  Lane just gave her a sideways smile.

  “As the medical doctor assigned to this mission I would be negligent in my duties if I didn’t inform you that inhaling tobacco smoke is a serious health risk.” She sipped her coffee.

  “I would say that going to Mars is a serious health risk.” Lane held up the cigar. “This, on the other hand, is an art form.”

  Before the merits of cigar smoking could be discussed any further, an alert flashed on the main lounge monitor. They all stopped talking and focused on the screen. A head and shoulders materialized. It was Jake Lester, from the legal team, sitting at his desk back on Earth.

  “Good news, the mission to salvage the ISA Odyssey Mars transit craft is a go.”

  The executive lounge on the AsterX mining station erupted into cheers, and high-fives, and hugs.

  “Do we get to land?” Lane broke away from the celebrations and directed his question to Jake. There was a slight time delay as the message wound its way back to Earth.

  “Yes.”

  More cheers and air punches ensued.

  “There’s just one caveat.”

  They stopped, and looked at the screen.

  “You must do everything you can to bring home the ISA crewmember, Dr. Jann Malbec.”

  7

  Search

  After a brief period of stilted pleasantries, the Xaing Zu expedition was assigned to an accommodation pod and left to themselves. Nevertheless, the pod was monitored by hidden cameras that fed back to the workstations in the central dais of the biodome. Gizmo had been charged with the task of monitoring their activity. So far, it all looked to be innocuous, at least on the surface. During the sols that followed, the Chinese settled in to a routine of survey and analysis of the colony’s biology and infrastructure.

  They had initially left two of their crew still onboard the landing craft, and from Jann’s discussions with their commander, Jing Tzu, she ascertained that this was to ensure the craft was manned and ready to take off at any time. Of the six that now resided in the colony Jann had reckoned that two were geneticists/biologists and the rest seemed to be more military. This latter group spent their time surveying the facility, checking layouts, airlocks, power, operations, life support and a host of other inventory tasks. The biologists had taken up residence in the medlab where Jann had given them some space to work in. She had also gone into great detail with them about the various genetically engineered biomes that populated the colony and made it function. But it was clear to all that what they were truly looking for was the genetic understanding of what gave Jann and all the other colonists their remarkable healing abilities and youthful demeanor.

  The Chinese, to their credit, had tried to work within the restrictions placed on them by the colonists, but with each passing sol they pushed at the boundaries. There had been a lot of friction and even a punch up or two, but for the most part they tried to do what they came here to do without killing anyone, at least so far. Nonetheless, time was running out for them. No doubt there were powerful people behind this enterprise applying pressure on Jing Tzu to come up with the goods. And the situation was going to get increasingly more difficult for all concerned once COM set foot in the colony. Because as soon as that happened, they would legally own it, and everything belonging to it. Jing Tzu and Xaing Zu Industries would be booted out and their mission would fail. All this Jann knew, but she also knew that a cornered rat was a dangerous animal, ready to strike out. And Jing Tzu was being backed into an impossible corner.

  Jann was currently in the medlab, checking on a new data set she had recently received, when Jing Tzu entered. He looked over at one of the Chinese techs and said something in Mandarin that Jann could not understand.

  “You’re wasting your time, you know.” Jann directed her comment at the commander. He looked at her with an air of disdain.

  “I keep telling you,” Jann continued, “the knowledge you’re looking for no longer exists.”

  “So you keep saying.” Jing Tzu finally managed.

  “Yet you keep looking. And now time is running out, isn’t it?“ Jann was baiting him.

  Jing Tzu stood for a moment and considered her, then sat down on the other side of the bench where Jann was working.

  “You could help us. You could let us conduct some tests on the colonists here.”

  “That’s not going to happen. You know that. If you were to start that, then all hell would break loose. Remember these colonists have already been through one tough fight to get their freedom so they don’t take kindly to being pushed around. As it is there are those who are itching to kick you all out onto the planet’s surface and leave you there.”

  Jing Tzu sighed. “They must understand that we are here to help you. We are not the enemy.”

  Jann laughed. “Bullshit. You’re here for one thing and one thing only. We all know that.”

  “Then help us.”

  “By letting you experiment on the colony population?”

  “Just tests, to get an understanding of the underlying physiological changes that have occurred here.”

  “You just don’t get it, do you? This will not help you find what you are looking for. The Janus bacterium that causes this… physical transformation was eradicated a long time ago.” Jann waved her hand in the air. “Which is lucky for you because if it did then some of your crew would be raging psychopaths, out to kill everyone in their path.”

  Jing Tzu abruptly stood up and pointed a finger at Jann. “You are a fool if you think this is all there is to it. COM are landing in less than a week, don’t think they will be as accommodating as we are. You are going to need some friends when they get here, because they are going to find it with or without your help. So I suggest you go and think about that for a while.” He walked out of the medlab leaving Jann to contemplate the shit storm that was coming down the track.

  This encounter with Jing Tzu had left Jann feeling distracted, but she tried to put it out of her mind and focus on her work. For a long time she had been cataloging the many GM bacteria that were utilized within the colony environment, everything from soil processing to fuel manufacture. A good deal of this work had been done already, with the help of scientists back on Earth. Jann had built up an extensive network of academics interested in the development of the Mars colony. She had just received a theoretical analysis on how a particular bacterium could be modified to improve CO2 breakdown. She tried to reread the paper but could not keep her concentration for long.

  It didn’t help that Nills had had to return to Colony Two. Some technical emergency with one of the thermal heat exchangers that only he could fix. Perhaps that’s what made her so tetchy, made her bait Jing Tzu like tha
t. Nills had left that morning, on the bed, flying off across the crater in a cloud of dust, leaving Jann to contend with the ever invasive investigations of the Chinese crew. He vowed to return before COM landed, as that would be a pivotal moment. In accordance with the ruling from the International Court of Arbitration, once they set foot in the colony it would automatically return to their ownership. Since the Chinese were currently operating under the public domain legality that had been established by the ISA, they were going to get booted out by COM—first item on the agenda. How would they react to this, considering the pressure they were under to source the Janus bacteria? This was a question that greatly troubled the entire colony. Would they go quietly? Would they try and negotiate with COM? Or would a fight begin? And where would the colonists fall in all of this? What would happen to them?

  Her thoughts were interrupted by Gizmo whizzing into the medlab.

  “Jann, could you possibly spare me a moment of your time?” Jann looked at the quirky robot. She understood what it was really saying to her. I have something important to reveal, in private, away from prying eyes.

  “Sure. Let’s take a walk.” She rose from her workbench and they headed out of the medlab towards the biodome. They zigzagged their way though the rows of hydroponics and finally entered one of the food processing rooms. These were small landers attached to the main biodome used for sorting and packing of harvested produce. They had chosen this place because of its isolation and also because the processing machines made quite a racket when switched on. Jann closed the door behind them and looked over at Gizmo.

  A light flickered on from Gizmo’s breastplate and a video image was projected on the wall. It was an aerial view of the surface of Mars.

  “When Nills was making his trip to Colony Two this morning he detoured over the Chinese lander. This is what he saw.”

  Jann watched as the craft came into view. The video was taken from quite high up, Nills had obviously decided to be as unobtrusive as possible. Then it zoomed in on the base of the craft. On the surface two small mobile units could be seen parked close to the foot of the craft. Mounted on these were what looked to Jann to be artillery weapons.

  “Nills reckons that these are PEP’s. Pulsed Energy Projectile weapons, with considerable range. He asked me to contact him as soon as you have seen this video. I will try and make the connection now.”

  A new picture-in-picture image was projected on the wall. It was Nills facing the camera.

  “Jann, you saw that, did you?”

  “Yeah, what do you make of it?”

  “It looks like you were right. They’re carrying a lot of very sophisticated weaponry.”

  “Jesus, they’re armed to the teeth.”

  “Yeah, so I’d say they’re here for the long haul. They’re not leaving without a fight.”

  Jann looked at the grainy image for a moment, digesting the implications of this discovery. Xaing Zu Industries had come prepared to battle it out if necessary. And it was safe to assume they had even more weapons, probably handheld.

  “Nills, you’d better get back here as soon as you can.”

  “Yeah, once I can get this heat exchanger sorted out.”

  “Okay, but don’t leave it too long. We need to formulate a plan on how best to deal with the possibility of a firefight between COM and the Chinese.”

  “I know.” Nills signed off and Gizmo stopped the projection.

  “Have you had any luck hacking into their comms, Gizmo?”

  “None. Other than I established that their systems are encrypted using quantum entanglement.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “It is impossible to crack.”

  Jann considered this for a moment. “We have grossly underestimated them, Gizmo.”

  “It would seem so.”

  “It now looks like a war is about to start.”

  8

  Fire

  Lieutenant Dan Ma of the Xaing Zu Mars mission scanned the row of EVA suits that hung from makeshift hangers along one wall of the accommodation pod that the colonists had assigned them. Having located his suit, he reached into the side section and released the clip on the concealed compartment. He withdrew a small electronic unit and flicked the switch. All cameras and audio devices within this general area would now be jammed. It was a precaution, but one worth taking. Next he withdrew a bulkier unit, examined it, and placed it carefully inside the pocket of his flight suit. With COM due to land very soon, and their own mission no further along in accomplishing their primary objective, it was time to take assertive action.

  It was mid-afternoon and the colonists were busy with their various tasks. Mostly they would be in the biodome tending to food production. It seemed to be their primary job, that and the maintenance of life support. In many ways, he admired them. Particularly considering what they had already been through. To survive up here, on this godforsaken rock, took a special kind of person. One who understood the fragility of life, who tended to its needs with diligence and dedication. Nothing was ever taken for granted. You survived by the sweat of your brow. It was life on the edge, one false move and it could be extinguished in a heartbeat. But time was running out, and there was no more room for sentimentality.

  Some of the colonists eyed him with suspicion as he passed. They did not like them being here. He couldn’t blame them, if they only knew what was in store they would have never let them inside in the first place. He ignored their looks and continued deeper into the biodome. Over the last few sols he and his team had planned for this moment to have the maximum effect. They had poured over the facilities schematics, probing, testing, finding the perfect spot to install the device where it would give them the best chance of success. They had ascertained that the optimum location was at the very far end of the biodome, beside a number of the food-processing pods, where a lot of storage crates had been stacked.

  He had to circle around a few times so as to ensure the area was empty of colonists when he arrived. On the third approach he got his chance. He ducked in behind the crates and withdrew the device from his pocket. He set the timer and then carefully placed it near the center of the stack. Job done, time to leave. He absolutely did not want to be here when this thing went off.

  Nills had been away for several sols, and still not returned. So, with the imminent arrival of COM, Jann was getting anxious. She sat at the workstation in the medlab trying to concentrate on her work, something to take her mind off the uncertainty that lay ahead. She was alone in the lab, save for Gizmo, who was preparing DNA samples for her. A tediously repetitive task that the robot was ideally suited for. The Chinese had brought a DNA sequencer with them and Jann had decided to put it to good use. She had struggled with much of her analysis through lack of this type of equipment. Now that it was here she would make good use of it. The Chinese lab techs were not around, the place was hers. Xenon had observed them leaving Colony One early that morning, ostensibly to retrieve more supplies from their craft. They would need to be checked and searched on return, before anything was allowed into the facility. Xenon had been designated to this responsibility, one in which he was admirably suited due to his imposing physique. He would ensure that no weapons were brought on site.

  But, there was still no definitive answer from COM as to their expected landing time. They were already in orbit, and had been for some time now. But they were being very circumspect in their communication. The colonists had planned to meet them on the surface, a welcoming party of sorts, like they did with the Xaing Zu mission. But, COM were not interested in this, in fact they seemed openly hostile to it. This irked Jann no end. Who did they think they were? They had an arrogance that implied that the colonists were not important in the Colony One Mars consortium’s worldview. Jann reckoned that this was probably true. It angered her, and the more she thought about it the angrier she got. Who the hell did they think they were? How were they even allowed to set foot on this planet after all they had done? The destruction of the or
iginal ISA mission was due, in no small part, to the treachery of COM and its agent Annis Romanov. Not to mention the horror of the cloning tanks in Colony Two being a result of their vision for genetic research. Although, one could argue, that COM was not in direct control of the insane Dr. Vanji. Nevertheless, once they were aware of what was going on up here, they openly embraced it.

  But what angered Jann the most was the fact that the courts on Earth saw fit to hand it all back to them. It was a morally repugnant concept to Jann, which reinforced in her the feeling that Earth had abandoned them, once again.

  “Jann… Jann.”

  “Uh… Gizmo, sorry, I was just… somewhere else.”

  “Your hand, it is bleeding.”

  “What?” Jann looked down. She had been so distracted by her thoughts that she had accidentally cut herself with the scalpel. She opened her fingers and let the blood drop on to the workbench. She wrapped a bandage around the hand to staunch the bleeding. “Any word from Nills?”

  “None. Would you like me to open a communications channel with Colony Two?”

  “No. It’s okay. Leave him be. He’ll contact us when he’s ready. Although he’s cutting it fine. COM are due to land soon.”

  “Very well.”

  Jann was just finished tending to her hand when an ear-splitting klaxon blasted out from all corners of the colony facility.

  “What the hell is that?”

  “Fire alarm. Emanating in the biodome, far end, near the food processing pods.”

  “Shit, fire… come on, let’s go.”

  They raced out of the medlab heading for the biodome. Fire in an enclosed environment such as Colony One could be disastrous if not extinguished quickly. If left to grow, it would suck in all the oxygen, and had the potential to seriously compromise life support. Every colonist and astronaut’s worst fear was fire. You died, not from burning, but suffocation.