Classical: MARS: Book 3 of MARS

by Matthew Ellis

  Iskin said, “Rich might have something for us, maybe a spy satellite or an actual spy.”

  Kidd said, “Let me talk to Notah first. He might be able to access the Martian satellites.”

  Kidd went to the vehicle, where Notah was waiting. He was desperately trying not to do anything to commit to one side or the other because he was conflicted.

  Kidd asked, “Hey, Notah, do you have access to the Martian satellites?”

  Notah was relieved. He didn’t have that kind of access.

  Notah replied, “Sorry, I don’t. Scout trusts me, but not with anything that could lead to me giving you information.”

  Kidd said, “Well, then we’ll have to hope Rich has something for us.”

  Notah said, “Call him and see. I’m not supposed to do anything to help you, and I’m pretty sure the government is keeping tabs on my actions.”

  Kidd said, “It sounds like they don’t really trust you.”

  Notah said, “Scout does, but he’s the only one I’ve thoroughly convinced.”

  Kidd went to his vehicle and closed the door. He called Rich.

  Rich said, “I hope you have good news for me.”

  Kidd said, “I can’t get used to this instant communication. Anyway, I wish the news was better.”

  Kidd explained the situation to Rich, and asked for access to any information he might have.

  Rich said, “I wish I could help, but the treaty was very clear about spy satellites. I had to take everything with me at the end of the war. Anything I left was destroyed after the war.”

  Kidd said, “I thought you might have some access to their satellites.”

  Rich said, “You’re more likely to get access to those with Notah.”

  Kidd said, “He said he doesn’t have access.”

  Rich said, “I don’t think that’s true. Try the vino.”

  Kidd said, “I thought we weren’t allowed to do that.”

  Rich said, “Make sure to use the amnesia pills, too.”

  Kidd waited until night. He abducted Notah and injected him with sodium pentothal.

  Notah asked, “What are you doing to me?”

  Kidd answered, “Don’t worry about it. You won’t remember any of this tomorrow.”

  Notah said, “I’m not going to tell you anything.”

  The abduction went on for four hours, and Kidd asked a lot of questions General Rich didn’t authorize. If Notah remembered anything, Kidd would be in serious trouble when he returned to Earth.

  The next morning, Notah woke and stared at his arm. He wondered why there was a small hole in his skin.

  “There’s no insects here, at least none I’m aware of. Maybe I cut myself in my sleep and didn’t feel it.”

  Kidd ordered, “I have a location on the ship. We’re going to go get it.”

  Notah asked, “How’d you find it?”

  Kidd answered, “I have my ways. It’s nothing you need to worry about.”

  The group loaded their equipment and headed toward the ship.

  Notah wondered, “How the hell did he find it so fast? I hid the fuck out of that ship.”

  The ship was fifty kilometers from the former colony, so it took about three hours to get there. When the group arrived, the ship looked abandoned.

  Jacques called her team, “Let’s go investigate. Have your weapons drawn and be alert!”

  Kidd said, “Everyone else, wait for the all clear.”

  Jacques led her team to the ship. They surrounded it and Jacques tried the door. It opened.

  Jacques walked into the ship with her weapon drawn and said, “Surrender now, and no one gets hurt.”

  No one answered, so she signaled for her team to enter the ship and search. They walked in, and searched every compartment. They found no people, but there were many clues.

  Jacques said, “All clear. Let’s gather this stuff and start putting this together.”

  Everyone but Notah went into the ship and gathered its contents. They took it back to their vehicles and started trying to figure out where the fugitives went.

  Kidd said, “I found something. They have a map.”

  Jacques said, “All we found was some food and water.”

  Kidd said, “That’s important, too. Test it to see how old it is. That’ll tell us when they abandoned it.”

  Jacques said, “I’ve already done that. Everything ‘s still fresh, so they probably aren’t very far away.”

  Kidd said, “Let’s figure out where they went and go catch these assholes.”

  They spent the rest of the day poring over the clues and determining where the fugitives were hiding. They came up with a plan and put it into action.

  Section IX:

  Classical

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  It’s Time

  Kathy felt a sudden pain in her belly, and her water broke. She called Scout to take her to the hospital.

  Scout asked, “Are you ready?”

  Kathy answered, “It doesn’t matter if I’m ready or not. The baby’s coming now.”

  Scout said, “Then let’s get going.”

  They got in the truck and Scout drove to the hospital. When they arrived, a team of techs took them to the labor ward.

  Dr. Black asked, “How far apart are your contractions?”

  Kathy said, “About every five minutes.”

  Mark replied, “Then we don’t need to rush you to the delivery room yet. Let me know when they’re closer than two minutes apart.”

  Scout said, “We’ll do that.”

  Mark reprimanded him, “Kathy’s my patient, I want her to tell me when she’s ready.”

  Scout said, “It’s my baby, too.”

  Mark snapped, “Until you’re pushing a baby out of your body, let Kathy deal with it.”

  Scout started to speak, but noticed Kathy’s face. She was staring at him with laser eyes.

  Kathy said, “It’s not bad enough you haven’t wanted to be intimate with me. Now you want to steal my thunder.”

  Scout had no response for her, and kept quiet. The next three hours were filled with silence except for the occasional screaming when Kathy’s contractions were too painful.

  Kathy told a nurse, “I need Mark. I think it’s coming.”

  The nurse went to fetch Dr. Black. He returned a moment later.

  Kathy asked, “Where’s the doctor?”

  The nurse answered, “There’s another emergency, but he’ll be here when he’s available.”

  Kathy said, “Is it anyone we know?”

  The nurse replied, “No, it’s a new arrival.”

  Kathy said, “I can’t believe he’s the only doctor available to deal with emergencies in Freedom. We need to recruit more medical people.”

  Scout said, “We have more than one doctor, but it’s someone he knows. The nurse said he’d be here soon.”

  Thirty seconds later, Mark Black walked in the room. He took Kathy’s vital signs and examined her.

  Mark said, “The baby’s on its way.”

  Mark, a nurse, and a tech took Kathy from the room to the delivery room. The baby’s head was already visible by the time they arrived.

  The doctor guided Kathy through the delivery. Scout was watching the birth from behind the doctor. Kathy was pushing and screaming.

  Mark said, “Just one more push, and she’ll be out.”

  Scout said, “You can do it, babe!”

  Kathy gave Scout an evil look. She needed him to support her, but she didn’t need that to take the form of a ridiculous cheerleader.

  Dr. Black said, “I’ve got her.”

  He handed the baby to Kathy and a scalpel to Scout.

  He asked, “Do you want to cut the umbilical cord?”

  Scout grabbed the scalpel and cut the umbilical cord. Kathy looked at him with confusion. He looked proud of his daughter, but he’d practically ignored her for the last nine months.

  Dr. Black asked, “Do you have a name for this beautiful person?”


  Scout started to answer, but Kathy stopped him.

  Kathy said, “Her name is Elizabeth, but we’re going to call her Zabet.”

  Dr. Black asked, “Zabet?”

  Kathy answered, “Yes, it’s the middle of the name. Everyone named Elizabeth is Liz, Lizzie, Betty, Beth, or some other part of the ends of the name. The middle is never used. Besides, she’s the first Martian. At least, we thought she was when we came up with the name.”

  Dr. Black said, “That sounds like a perfect, beautiful name for a Martian lady.”

  Dr. Black held her up so the camera could take a picture for the record.

  He said, “This is Zabet Ellison. Welcome, Zabet.”

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Campaign

  Jordan was trying to break the lock on the documents related to the fugitives’ case. Scout and Kathy barged through the door with Zabet.

  Jordan asked, “Is this your daughter?”

  Kathy replied, “Of course it is. I don’t go around kidnapping children from Freedom.”

  Jordan asked, “Can I hold her?”

  Scout sarcastically said, “I don’t know if I can trust you not to hurt her.”

  Jordan said, “I’d never hurt a baby, especially your baby.”

  Jordan took Zabet out of the car seat and held her in front of his face. He told her how pretty she was, and then cradled her in front of him.

  Scout said, “You’re a natural holding a baby.”

  Jordan said, “I know. I always wanted one, but it wasn’t in the cards.”

  Kathy said, “You never know. Your life’s not over, so it might still be in the cards for you.”

  Jordan replied, “I doubt it. I swore off love years ago. It requires you to let people get close enough to hurt you.”

  Kathy said, “You can’t be a stoic forever. Eventually, you’ll find someone who makes you feel like it’s worth the risk.”

  Jordan said, “I doubt it very much.”

  He put Zabet back in the car seat and walked to the bathroom.

  Kathy asked Scout, “What did I say that upset him?”

  Scout replied, “It happens every time he thinks about his marriage. He has to cry, but he doesn’t want to ruin his tough guy image.”

  Kathy said, “I see right through that image. He’s a human being just like everyone else on Earth, Mars, the Moon or wherever else we decide to live.”

  Kathy went to the nursery to feed Zabet. While she was going to the nursery, Jordan came out of the bathroom.

  Kathy said, “I’m sorry if I upset you.”

  Jordan said, “It’s not your fault. It’s just something I need to get over.”

  Jordan went to his desk and started to work, but Scout was staring at him.

  Jordan asked, “What the hell do you need, Scout?”

  Scout replied, “It’s been a long time. You need to move on and let your heart out of that wall.”

  Jordan said, “The wall stays up. It’s hard to break a heart with a wall around it.”

  Scout said, “So you think, but that wall happens to be made of glass. We can all see right through it.”

  Jordan said, “Just because I built a wall for protection doesn’t mean I have to be hard. I can be a softy and still maintain my stoicism.”

  Scout said, “If you believe that, I can’t change your mind. Your argument has no basis in logic, so there’s no logical way to counter it.”

  Jordan asked, “Did you and Kathy come here just to antagonize me after showing me the baby?”

  Scout answered, “Of course not. I think we need to go over our re-election campaign.”

  Jordan tried to concentrate on his computer screen, but found it difficult with Scout standing directly in front of him.

  Jordan asked, “Why?”

  Scout replied, “So we’re on the same page.”

  Jordan said, “I mean, why do we need to campaign? No one’s even mentioned challenging us in the next election.”

  Scout said, “That’s irrelevant. We need to show the people of The Republic of Mars how we expect a campaign to be run.”

  Jordan said, “We can put that kind of thing in the constitution. We deliberately made room for alterations.”

  Jordan typed on his keyboard, because he didn’t want the computer to confuse his conversation with Scout as instructions.

  Scout said, “Putting things in the constitution doesn’t show people what we expect. It just lays groundwork. It’s much more effective if people ‘see’ what the founders really wanted.”

  Jordan said, “I don’t even think we need to campaign, though. We have something like a 95% approval rating.”

  Scout said, “I still want us to do a few ads together. That way we’re covered in case someone does decide to challenge us. We’ll also be showing people how to campaign properly.”

  Jordan said, “You already mentioned that. We had a whole conversation about it twenty seconds ago.”

  Scout said, “Why do you always feel the need to be a smart ass?”

  Jordan said, “It’s a conditioned response to dealing with stupidity.”

  Scout said, “I’m not stupid.”

  Jordan said, “No, but you’re acting stupidly. We’re going to run a campaign for no good reason.”

  Scout said, “If you’re still with me, you’ll do it.”

  Jordan said, “I don’t like being compelled to do shit I don’t want to do.”

  Scout said, “Please, just do it for me.”

  Jordan said, “If it’ll make you shut up about it, I’ll do it. But I’m only doing three ads, and maybe two public appearances.”

  Scout said, “You won’t regret it. People in the future will have our example, as well as the written words of the constitution, so there’ll be no doubt about our intentions.”

  Jordan said, ‘I think you misjudge human stupidity. They’ll find anything they can to convince everyone that we meant something else when it doesn’t line up with their beliefs.”

  Scout said, “I really hope that’s not true. I hope the people of Mars are always smarter than the sheep who trust in DeNoPE.”

  Jordan said, “I wouldn’t get my hopes up on that one.”

  Scout said, “I’d better go check on Kathy and Zabet.”

  Jordan said, “That’s a good idea. It’s more important that you’re a good dad and husband than a good leader.”

  Scout said, “I think they’re the same thing.”

  Scout went to the nursery. He found Kathy feeding Zabet and sat next to her.

  He asked, “Is there anything I can do?”

  Kathy replied, “You can burp her in a minute.”

  Scout said, “That sounds like heaven.”

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Intelligence

  Scout and Jordan sat with John and Wendy to discuss the impending situation with the refugees. They were going to get caught, but they wanted to have a plan to rescue them without arousing the suspicions of the DeNoPE delegation.

  Scout asked, “I understand you have a plan to rescue the refugees when they’re caught by the DeNoPE delegation. Can you share the details of your plan with us?”

  Wendy said, “Our plans need your help. We’ll consider it the first test of our alliance.”

  Scout said, “Please tell us what you need.”

  Wendy said, “We need one or two of your ships to act as a decoy until the rescue is complete. We’ll also need them to destroy the Earth ship once it’s complete.”

  Jordan objected, “That’ll start a war! We can’t openly fire on a ship on a ‘peaceful’ mission.”

  Wendy said, “We can make it look like your weapons fired to protect the ship from a terrorist. These fugitives are believed to have ties to terrorist organizations, so it’ll be believable.”

  Jordan asked, “How do you intend to do that?”

  Wendy said, “Our technology is very advanced. We have a lot of time on our hands to work on new inventions, and we take a lot of ins
piration from old science fiction.”

  John added, “It gets better on our side, but we need to know that you’re willing to do your part and trust us. Otherwise, we’ll have to rescue them the hard way and the negotiations for an alliance will be much harder.”

  Jordan said, “If you can do what you say you can, we’re in. I don’t want DeNoPE to have any victory on Mars, and I’m all for sabotage if we don’t get caught.”

  Wendy said, “Then let’s talk about the plan.”

  Scout said, “How do you intend to get the refugees off the ship?”

  Wendy said, “We have a cloaking device on our ship. It bends light around the metal so we look invisible. The only problem is that the generator only lasts three minutes, so we have to move fast.”

  Jordan asked, “Do you intend to dock with their ship while cloaked?”

  John said, “Not exactly. Their ship’s airlock will trigger an alarm if we do that. We intend to use more forceful means to gain access to their ship.”

  Scout asked, “Once you’re inside, how do you intend to get the refugees out?”

  John answered, “Just know that we have access to some pretty potent chemicals and some very good camouflage.”

  Jordan said, “It sounds like you’re experts in covert operations.”

  John said, “We had to be during your war. We didn’t want the soldiers to discover us. They would’ve captured us and taken us to Earth. This is our home, and it’s the only home we know.”

  Jordan asked, “Speaking of covert operations, I need some information about their case. I understand the charges are trumped up, but what do you actually know?”

  John answered, “We saw the news feeds coming through just before all this happened. When we found the refugees, we decided to do some investigating. We found the truth was exactly what they told us.”

  Jordan asked, “How did you get access to the internet or news signals? DeNoPE has restricted access to all information about these people.”

  John said, “It must’ve been just before the restrictions went into place. I don’t think they knew we had access to anything.”

  Scout said, “They don’t even know you exist.”