John added, “And I want to keep it that way.”
Wendy asked, “Would you like to see our research?”
Jordan said, “I’d like nothing more in the universe.”
Scout said, “We used to just say, ‘in the world,’ but that doesn’t work anymore.”
John said, “Jordan, there must be something you’d like to see more than my research. All work and no play can’t be good.”
Jordan replied, “I do just fine with all work. If I wanted to play, I’d find a playmate.”
Wendy said, “There are plenty of women here in your colony, and more on the way.”
Jordan said, “If I wanted someone, I’d find someone. Besides, I’m gay, so I’d find a man if I wanted someone to play with. I don’t, so I won’t.”
John said, “Sorry, didn’t mean to get your feathers all ruffled.”
Jordan snapped, “Just show me your research.”
Wendy retrieved the research on the refugees and handed it to Jordan. He went over it and became very angry.
Scout asked, “What’s the problem?”
Jordan answered, “Just typical DeNoPE bullshit. Those people were framed. Take a look for yourself.”
Scout grabbed the research and read it. He was very upset after reading it, and it strengthened his resolve to rescue the refugees.
Scout said, “I hope we can make this work. Do you know how to disrupt their systems?”
Wendy said, “We learned all about their ships when we captured one during your war. We took it apart and learned everything we could about it. Then we figured out how to make our own ship and technology superior to it.”
Jordan said, “You’re going to make awesome allies. I hope we can share some of your knowledge in exchange for some of ours.”
John said, “That’s the ultimate goal of an alliance.”
They spent the next two hours going over schematics of the DeNoPE ship. They learned all the systems, defenses and communications of the vessel. They would need this information to defeat the DeNoPE delegation when the time came.
Jordan asked, “Do you have any alternative technologies that might be useful to gain entry to the ship?”
John answered, “We’ll discuss those with you on a need to know basis for the time being. We don’t want to give away too much, or there’ll be no incentive for you to sign our treaty of alliance.”
Scout said, “We’ll learn their secrets in good time, Jordan. Just as our secrets will be revealed to them. Be patient.”
Jordan said, “I’m not used to being patient.”
Scout said, “The time for impatience and war is over. One last secret battle with DeNoPE and we can have the peace we dreamt of when we started this colony.”
Wendy said, “I hope that’s what happens. We may not want to be part of your colony, but we want to be your friend rather than your rival.”
Jordan said, “It’ll be nice to have friends again. I’ve seen everyone as a potential adversary since I left the Army on Earth.”
John said, “We’ve never had a proper military. I hope you can share your training with us some day.”
Scout said, “Okay, that’s enough dreaming. We need to get back to planning this rescue mission.”
They spent the remainder of the day planning the mission. When they finished, Wendy and Andre returned to their guest quarters to discuss the situation.
Wendy asked, “Do you think we can trust them?”
John answered, “They’re a lot better than the other side. The people on Earth are so corrupt and greedy that it makes me ashamed to be the same species.”
Wendy said, “I know. Hopefully these people have values that are closer to ours.”
John said, “Let’s go tell the rest of the colony what we decided to do.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
Capture
Jacques found a set of footprints at the bottom of the crater near the edge. He called Iskin over to him.
Jacques said, “These must be our suspects’”
Iskin said, “How do you know that?”
Jacques replied, “What the hell else could they be?”
Iskin said, “They could be remnants from the war.”
Jacques said, “Mars may not have much in the way of weather to erode evidence of the past, but it does have wind. The fucking wind here is ridiculous, so any footprints from the war faded long ago.”
Iskin said, “Then we should follow them.”
Jacques said, “Of course we should. I know what the fuck I’m doing.”
Jacques led his team to follow the footprints, while Iskin told her team to keep Jacques’ team in sight. She didn’t want to have any of her survival team to get involved in an altercation with the criminals.
Jacques stopped suddenly. His team stopped behind his. He noticed the footprints were joined by a second set of smaller footprints. They continued for about two meters, and then split into two paths. Jacques followed one path, and sent three others on the other path.
His subordinate said, “I’ll radio you when we reach the end of the tracks.”
Jacques said, “Be careful. I think they split up to evade capture, but they might’ve split up to ambush us.”
The subordinate asked, “So I should assume they’re armed?”
Jacques replied, “Yes, but don’t fire unless they fire on you first. We don’t an incident with the Martian government.”
The subordinate said, “Understood, sir.”
At the edge of the crater, there were a series of caverns. The footprints ended near the entrances to two of those caverns. Jacques and his subordinate led their teams to the caves’ mouths while Iskin’s team remained in the center of the crater to provide support.
Jacques reached the mouth of the cave and activated her light. He walked into the cavern and discovered that it was not a simple cavern. It had rooms that split off from the main entrance, and each of those rooms had lots of places to hide.
Jacques told his team, “Split up. If you see motion, call the rest of the team.”
The team went in several directions and searched every nook and cranny of the cave. It took a half hour to thoroughly search the cavern. They found no one in the cave. The other team was equally frustrated.
Jacques said, “We’re back to square one. Where the hell are they hiding?”
The subordinate said, “We did find a phone in this cave. It’s dead, but maybe we can recharge it and get some information.”
Jacques said, “Good job. We’ll take it back to the camp. Let’s go.”
The teams left the caverns and joined Iskin’s team at the center of the crater. They went back to the camp, where Notah was waiting for them.
Notah asked, “Did you find anything?”
Jacques replied, “We need to borrow a phone charger.”
Notah said, “I’ll need to ask Scout about that. He has all our resources tagged.”
Notah went into a tent and closed it. He made a phone call to Scout and kept his voice lower than usual. When he emerged, he gave Jacques a thumbs up.
Jacques said, “Thank you.”
Jacques plugged the phone into the charger and then retired into a tent. The teams slept while the cars and phone charged.
The next morning, Jacques woke early so he could go through the phone. He searched the call history, the location data, and the web searches.
Jacques said, “I need to call Rich and find out what this means.”
He called Rich, and the General was excited.
Rich asked, “What do you have for me?”
Jacques replied, “I have a call history from their cell phone, along with the location data and web search history.”
Rich said, “That sounds awfully convenient. I’ll look into the leads, but take them with a grain of salt. The Martians might be trying to misdirect us.”
Jacques said, “It’s better than what we had yesterday, which was nothing. Besides, it could be a mistake on their part.�
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Rich said, “It could be, but I wouldn’t get my hopes up too high for that.”
Jacques asked, “How long should it take to run the data?”
Rich answered, “A couple hours. My team is really good at cracking cell phone data.”
While they waited, Jacques and Iskin played spades. They invited Notah to join them, but he didn’t feel comfortable letting his guard down to play cards.
When the data was done, Rich called Jacques.
Rich said, “I’ve finished the data check.”
Jacques said, “I know that’s awesome, but I just want to point out how awesome it is that we don’t have to wait 16 fucking minutes between sentences.”
Rich said, “That is pretty great. Now, do you want this data or not?”
Jacques said, “Of course I do. The sooner we catch these assholes, the sooner we can go home.”
Rich said, “It looks like the data is genuine. I can’t see any evidence of tampering, and even Jordan would leave something behind if he tried to alter the phone’s data.”
Jacques said, “So where do you think they are?”
Rich said, “It looks like they‘ve been following you. You found their phone because they got careless, but they’ve never been more than two kilometers from you.”
Jacques said, “So, they’ve been keeping tabs on us while we’ve been looking for them?”
Rich said, “That’s how it looks.”
Jacques said, “So, what should I direct our people to do?”
Rich said, “Tell them to search a two-kilometer radius from your current location. Don’t go in teams; you’ll have better luck if you split up. Divide and conquer.”
Jacques said, “Let’s do it.”
He issued the order to the search team to split up and search in a two-kilometer radius. Everyone got in their car and headed in a different direction.
Iskin radioed, “I see one of them. It’s the woman.”
Jacques replied, “That’s Elaine. Proceed with caution.”
Halley got out of her car and drew her weapon. Elaine had a weapon, but chose not to use it. She was going to trust Scout and his people to keep their promise to help the original Martians.
Iskin ordered, “Put your hands on your head and get on your knees.”
Elaine complied, and Halley arrested her. Iskin took her to the car and put her in the backseat.
Iskin radioed, “One in custody. I’m returning to base.”
Jacques said, “Understood.”
A few minutes later, one of the law enforcement officers caught Michael. That officer returned to base. Jacques ordered an end to the search for the day because it was getting dark, and it was going to be very cold once night set in.
When they were back at the base, the officers improvised a temporary holding cell. They put Elaine and Michael in the cell.
Jacques asked Elaine, “Where’s your boyfriend?”
Elaine said, “I don’t have to tell you shit.”
Jacques said, “Then I’ll have to beat it out of you.”
Elaine said, “My name is Elaine…”
Jacques slapped Elaine. Her lip split open and blood started flowing down her chin.
Jacques said, “Don’t try that name, rank and serial number shit with me.”
Elaine said, “That’s all you’re going to get from me.”
Jacques said, “We’ll see about that.”
Jacques pulled out his baton and started hitting Elaine in the groin. She doubled over in pain.
Jacques said, “Now do you feel like telling me where your boyfriend is hiding?”
Elaine raised her middle finger.
Jacques said, “I will break you, you stupid bitch. I will find out where Andres is.”
Iskin walked into the room and tapped Jacques on the shoulder.
She whispered, “Andres just turned himself in. If you stop now, I won’t report your behavior to our superiors.”
Jacques said, “The ends would’ve justified the means.”
Iskin said, “No, they wouldn’t. Let this go, and process the prisoner.”
Jacques said, “Yes, ma’am.”
Chapter Thirty-Six
Advertising
Scout sand Jordan went to one of the television stations in Freedom to record a campaign advertisement. The station manager led them to the conference room.
The manager asked, “What can I do for you, gentlemen?”
Scout answered, “We need to record an advertisement for the upcoming re-election campaign.”
The manager said, “That seems a little unnecessary. You have an approval rating in high orbit.”
Jordan said, “I told him that, but he’s dead set on leading by example.”
Scout said, “It’s important to the future of The Republic of Mars that we do this the right way. If they see us leading, they’ll follow our lead.”
The manager said, “Future generations won’t give a damn what you meant when you led. They’re going to care about their own agenda. They’ll even twist your words to do it.”
Scout argued, “That’s why we need to set the example early on. If they have the example, as well as the words, then they’ll have to follow it.”
The manager said, “That’s a nice fairy tale, but it’s not going to work the way you have it planned out in your mind.”
Jordan said, “I told him all of that, too. This guy just doesn’t listen.”
Scout said, “Look, I want to do it this way, and we’re going to do it this way. I want people to see how I want them to run for office.”
The manager asked, “Why don’t you just put it in the constitution?”
Scout said, “We’ll do that, too. But we need to lead by example as well as by legislation.”
Jordan said, “Let’s get this overwith.”
The manager took the candidates into a sound chamber with a green screen to record their ad.
The manager asked, “Do you know what you’re going to say, or do you need time to write a script?”
Scout replied, “I wanted to speak off the cuff.”
Jordan said, “I don’t think that’s a good idea. You’re going to be here all day trying to sound natural. If you had a script, you’d only be here for a few extra minutes memorizing it.”
Scout said, “You can write a script for yourself if you prefer, but I want to be myself.”
Jordan said, “You can be yourself and be scripted, as long as you write the script.”
Scout said, “Well, suit yourself. If you want to write a script, we’ll add your part once mine is finished.”
Jordan said, “That’ll look fake, and voters don’t like to see fake. They saw enough of that crap on Earth. Every politician on that planet is made of plastic.”
Scout said, “I don’t think that’s true. They all start out okay, but then they realize that they can’t afford to win elections without the support of the corporations.”
Jordan said, “I hope Mars never becomes a corporate wasteland.”
Scout said, “It better not, especially after all we lost to break away from that garbage. I want this planet to be a shining beacon in the solar system to show the rest of humanity how to build a better world.”
Jordan said, “You should say that in the ad.”
Scout said, “It’s pretty much what I wanted to say anyway. I guess if I script myself sharing genuine feelings, I’m not being fake.”
Jordan wrote the words that Scout spoke earlier and added a few things he wanted to say. He and Scout rehearsed the lines for a few minutes before asking for the camera to start recording.
The station manager asked, “Where do you want to be in the ad?”
Jordan said, “We don’t want anything with cheesy flags in the background.”
Scout said, “I don’t want any shots of Mars from space. It’s been done to death since we’ve been here.”
The manager said, “I have a nice shot of the new moon.”
Jo
rdan said, “That might work. We can showcase the good work we’re doing, and avoid any cheesy political themes.”
Scout said, “That’ll work. Put on the new moon.”
The manager asked, “Is it still called Phobos, or did you change the name?”
Scout replied, “We’re still discussing that. I want to call it Pho-Deim, but there’s some resistance to that name.”
Jordan said, “Mostly from me, because it’s a stupid name. I don’t see why we have to keep the names those objects were given on Earth to begin with.”
Scout said, “To make sure we can communicate with people on Earth about them. We can’t just go re-naming shit because we took over.”
Jordan said, “Like hell we can’t. I say we call it Martian Luna.”
Scout said, “That has a ring to it, but I don’t think it’s a good idea.”
The station manager said, “I can’t have you in here all day arguing. I’ll record the ad and change the name of the moon when you decide what you’re going to call it.”
They recorded the ad, and Scout went home. Jordan stayed to make a few stylistic choices in editing the footage together.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Expulsion
David Jamison went to Notah’s office at the capitol.
General Rich had said, “If anyone asks why you’re there, tell them you want to ask Notah a few questions about his experience.”
David didn’t want to obey the orders he received, but he didn’t see a viable alternative.
“If I disobey the General, he’ll have me killed. I just have to be careful not to get caught.”
People were ignoring him because he wore a red badge. Everyone assumed he was in the great hall to learn more about the Republic of Mars. He even asked one person for directions.
He asked, “How do I find Notah Yazzie’s office?”
The person answered, “It’s just down the hall on the left.”
He thought, “He didn’t even ask me why I want to go there. This might be easier than I thought.”
He continued toward Notah’s office. Jordan had a security camera trained on him.
Jordan thought, “This guy’s up to something. Why’s he going to Notah’s office? Everyone knows he’s busy with the DeNoPE assholes.”
Classical: MARS: Book 3 of MARS Page 17
