Colony Two Mars: A SciFi Thriller (Colony Mars Book 2)

by Gerald M. Kilby

  They checked their weapons, flipped down their helmet visors and moved out of the rover.

  They kept low behind the rocky out-crop and followed the same path that Jann had taken previously. After a while they started to work their way up the side of the crater rim. They went in single file, Nills leading, picking a path up to the airlock that Jann had used. They stopped for a moment. Nills seemed to be studying the terrain.

  “The path should lead to another airlock, further up.” He pointed off towards a gentle rising slope, strewn with rocks and boulders. “Stay close, keep each other in sight. If anyone falls behind, just shout out.” He moved off, the others followed. They picked up the pace, all the time climbing higher until finally they came to a clear, level ledge. Just ahead, built into the cliff face was the airlock. They approached it slowly, with caution.

  “So far so good.” Anika’s voice echoed in Jann’s helmet.

  “Let’s hope there isn’t an army of Hybrids waiting for us on the other side.” Lars shuffled in behind Anika.

  “There may be a few, so be ready.” Nills checked his rail-gun. “Okay then, let’s go.”

  He tapped on the airlock control panel and the outer door opened. They piled in, the door closed. “Well this is it.” whispered Lars as they faced the inner door, weapons ready. The airlock pressurised and the door slid open to reveal an empty, dimly lit tunnel. They breathed a collective sigh of relief.

  “There should be a storage room up to the right, we can get out of these suits in there. We’ll be able to move better, follow me.” Nills led the way along the tunnel. It was little used. Jann noticed their footsteps leaving prints in the thick layer of dust along the floor.

  “Here it is.” Nills use the barrel of his gun to poke the door open. It was pitch black inside. Gizmo activated its headlight and spread the beam wide it to give 360 degree illumination. It was empty save for some low bench seating along the walls. Above these were tall empty racks.

  “What is this place?” said Jann.

  “Originally it would have contained EVA suits. To be used in an emergency by the miners working here. Anyway, it’s a good place to dump these, come on let’s hurry. Lars, keep an eye on the door while we get sorted, then we’ll cover you.”

  They wasted no time in divesting themselves of the heavy suits and, when ready, Nills explained their options.

  “This tunnel leads to the upper gallery around the top of the main cavern. Mostly this will be deserted save for the atmosphere recycling plant on the far side. That will have at least two, maybe three, Betas working in it. If we can get there, without being spotted, then we can alert them and get them to spread the word that Dr. Jann Malbec has returned. I suggest we get the Betas to assemble in the garden in the main cavern, that’s where we’ll have the most numbers. We’ll need to get down there somehow and rally them, even if it means fighting our way there.”

  No one spoke. “Anybody got a better idea?” No one did. “Okay, then, let’s go.”

  Nills led the way and they moved out in silence, Gizmo took up the rear.

  After a short distance the tunnel opened onto a wider gallery running left and right. Nills and Jann took up positions on either side of the tunnel’s end and peered around each corner. It was dark so it was hard to make anything out further than a few metres. “Can’t see shit.” Jann whispered. Nills nodded to his right and stepped out in to the gallery, keeping his back to the wall. Anika and Lars followed, Jann and Gizmo took up the rear.

  Jann peered behind her in to the darkness and thought she saw some movement. Then she heard a thut. Lars screamed and collapsed on the ground, grabbing his leg as blood oozed from the wound. Another thut and the rock wall beside Jann’s head exploded into a hundred fragments. She loosed a spear into the blackness, aiming at nothing. Anika fired off a bolt before she too got hit. She spun around and went sprawling across the dirt floor.

  “Shit, get down, down,” Nills shouted at Jann as he tossed a grenade into the gloom and hit the deck. There was a blinding flash as the explosion shook the cavern. The shock wave lifted Jann off her feet and sent her tumbling down the gallery. Rock and debris rained down all around her. Dust billowed out filling the space.

  “Christ, thought Jann, “We’re being buried alive.”

  After a few stunned moments she felt Nills’s hand on her shoulder. “You okay?”

  She spat and coughed. “Yeah, what the hell did Gizmo put in that?”

  “I don’t know, but any hope of stealth is gone, it must have taken down half the roof.”

  Jann spluttered, and spat again, trying to get the grit out of her mouth.

  The dust began to clear a little and Jann could see a huge mound of rock blocking both the tunnel entrance and the galley walkway. “Christ, they’re going to be all over us in a minute. We’ve got to move.” She stood up and turned to see Nills kneeling over Lars. He was flat on his back, a pair of cold dead eyes staring up. He looked up at Jann and simply shook his head. He then turned to where Anika was lying. Her hand twitched, then moved, then she sat up slowly, feeling her chest as she rose. She dug a hand into a top pocket and pulled out a battery pack with a two inch long metal spike from a rail-gun embedded in it. “Shit, that was close. She threw it on the ground and stood up. “Lars?”

  “Dead,” said Nills.

  “Lars, no, no…”

  “Come, there’s no time, we’ve got to get out of here.” Jann grabbed her arm and began to pull her along, then she stopped. “Shit, where’s Gizmo?” She looked around and scanned the mound of rock that used to be the gallery roof.

  “He must have got buried when the roof caved in,” said Anika.

  “Fuck no, Gizmo.”

  “Forget it Jann, come on let’s get to the processing plant.” Nills shouted.

  Jann looked back at the last resting place of the eccentric robot. She had had a love hate relationship with it for more than three years. But now that it was gone, she felt like she had lost yet another true friend.

  “Jann, for fuck sake, let’s move.”

  CHAPTER 21: Revolution

  Dust filled the air along the gallery. Every few metres light from the main cavern penetrated through long slits cut in the wall. Each slit had an extractor fan attached, making it one big air recycling duct, running most of the way around the upper level. The light flickered and danced off the walls and floor as the blades rotated.

  Nills stopped suddenly and put his fingers to his lips. “Wait, hold up, I hear something,” he whispered.

  Jann could hear it too. Footsteps, running, coming toward them fast. Out of the gloom two figures burst into view, Anika fired off a shot, but missed. Her bolt clanging off an extractor blade. The two figures stopped dead in their tracks. She was about to fire again when Nills shouted.

  “Wait!” He ran forward. “Alban, sorry, are you okay?”

  The figures stood wide eyed. “Nills?”

  “Yes, it’s me.”

  “Nills, oh my god, we thought you were dead. What’s going on? What are you doing here?”

  “We can’t talk here, Hybrids will be coming.”

  “Those bastards, they’ve killed at least ten of us so far.”

  “Can we get to the recycling plant without being seen?”

  They didn’t reply. Instead they just stood there, wide eyed, dumb.

  “Alban, can we get to the plant?”

  “Dr. Malbec. You have returned.” Alban stepped back and bowed, as did the other.

  Jann came forward. “Yes, I have. Now, we must get try to the main cavern without being seen."

  “I know a way. Come, quick… follow me, hurry.”

  The recycling plant was one of two situated around the upper gallery of the vast main cavern of Colony Two. Their purpose was to regulate CO2 and expel any excess out into the Martian atmosphere. It also maintained the level of moisture and humidity in its local area. There were several of these plants, working independently, to create different micro-climates depend
ing on the vegetation it was supporting. Dust and particulate matter was also extracted. The main difference between these air recycling systems and those used back on Earth was these used genetically engineered bacteria to get the job done, instead of using a chemical process. The room was sizable but tightly packed with tanks and ducting, like the bowels of an oil refinery.

  “This way.” Alban led them through the maze to the far end of the room. He stopped in front of a large vertical duct, and started to unbolt an inspection panel. “This leads down to the main cavern level. It’s a tight fit but you should be able to shimmy down. We’ll take the stairs, we can start to spread the word.”

  Jann stuck her head in through the gaping hole in the front of the duct and looked down. It was dark and the sides were lined with a thick layer of fine black dust. “It’s a long way down. Got any rope?”

  “No, sorry, you’ll have to brace your back against one side, feet facing the other and step down that way.”

  Nills was now poking his head into the duct and looking down.

  “How many Betas can we count on to join the fight?” said Jann as she shouldered the small cross-bow.

  “I’m not the only one in the colony that’s sick of Vanji, and his experiments to create a master race of Hybrids. But a lot will be frightened, some are emotionally fragile. You know this Nills, you don't need me to tell you.”

  “So, Vanji is behind all this?”

  “You better believe it. Him and those weird Hybrids of his.”

  “So, how many can we count on?” Nills had brought his head out from the duct opening.

  “Hard to say, there’s at least thirty that I know of would definitely take the opportunity to get rid of him. Others would follow if Dr. Malbec is in the mix, maybe sixty would fight.”

  “That’s more than enough. Do you know where everyone is located?”

  “At this time, the bulk will be in the main cavern. Vanji and the remains of the council are up in the chamber, big meeting.”

  “And the hybrids?”

  “They’re all over the place. Although, I know a cohort were heading for the entrance cavern a while ago.”

  “The entrance?” said Jann. “Any idea why?”

  “Nope.”

  “Is that unusual?”

  “Very, never seen them do that.”

  “We need to get moving before this place is overrun.” Nills clambered into the duct. “It’s a bit tight in here.”

  “That’s probably a good thing, stop you falling too far when you slip,” said Anika.

  Jann was last to enter the duct. Nills went ahead, then Anika. As soon as she was sure of her footing, Alban closed up the inspection panel and the space became pitch-black, save for a very distant light, far below.

  They moved slowly, feeling their way. Every three metres or so, the ducting was clamped together, affording a little ledge to place the edge of a foot. In other places it was joined by more ducts heading off at right angles. These junctions gave them a little more respite from the long slow descent. Jann could hear Anika grimace as they moved, her injured leg was taking a lot of strain. In the distance they could hear the muffled sounds of running and clamouring voices. The Hybrids were racing up to the gallery where the explosion took place. So far no one opened the inspection panel above Jann's head. They kept moving.

  After a while, Jann’s back and thigh muscles ached from the constant pressure being put on them, she didn’t know how much longer she could keep this up before starting to cramp. The descent was torturous. Finally Anika stopped moving, and whispered back at Jann. “I think we’re here.”

  They waited.

  The plan was that Alban and his colleague would go down to the main cavern via the stairs and spread the word. Then they would make their way to the access panel and open it. But it was still sealed shut. Down below, Jann could see Nills checking all around him, looking up and down. Maybe he had missed the opening.

  He froze, then quietly looked back at them and put his finger to his lips. He un-shouldered the rail-gun and faced it towards the access panel. Jann could hear movement outside, then scraping on the duct walls, finally light flooding in. Nills clambered out.

  A few minutes later Jann was sitting on the floor beside a side wall of the main Colony Two cavern. It was an out of the way place, concealed at the front by a waist high row of hydroponics. She rubbed some feeling back into her legs.

  Alban had now been joined by several other Betas. Less than Jann had hoped for, and with nothing useful as weapons. “Trouble,” he said as they all crouched down.

  “Define trouble?” said Jann.

  “Apparently they were expecting you… thought you would arrive by the main entrance, so a heavily armed Hybrid group are over there.”

  “Shit,” said Nills. “How did they know we were coming, I thought Gizmo jammed the perimeter scanner?”

  “Kayden,” said Jann.

  “Kayden?” Nills looked at her.

  “Yes. Before we left Colony One, when I went off to say my goodbyes, he asked me how we were going to get in. I told him your crazy plan, you know… charge into the main entrance and start shooting.”

  Nills scratched his chin and thought about this. “Why would Kayden tip off the Hybrids. I mean, he’s planning his exit off this rock?”

  “How else would they know?”

  “But, say even if he wanted to, how would he make contact?”

  “There must have been comms between the two facilities, in the past. Maybe he got it working?”

  “It doesn’t make any sense.”

  “There’s obviously something more going on than we can see yet, Nills.”

  A few more Betas arrived. One knelt down and whispered to them. “Armed Hybrids are moving out from the entrance cavern.”

  “Shit, we don’t have much time then.” Nills poked his head over the row of vegetation, looked around and sat back down. “Okay, here’s the plan. Over at the far end of the cavern is a wide stairs leading up to the council chamber. We need to take that, and fast. Once we have it Jann can rally the rest of the Betas from the council balcony, overlooking the whole cavern. We’ll go first, those with weapons directly behind, the rest of you spread the word. Any questions?”

  They all looked petrified.

  “Ready?”

  “Let’s do it,” said Jann as she hefted a spear.

  They moved off, crouching down, using the vegetation for cover. They zig-zagged their way through the central cavern, extracting astonishment and shock from the Betas they happened upon en route. Some simply stood back, but others merged in with the mob that was forming in behind them.

  Then it all went to rat-shit.

  From both left and right two pairs of Hybrids appeared and started firing. Jann, Nills and Anika hit the deck, but the Betas behind were not so fast. Three went down in the first volley, two more with the second, by the third they had all scattered in to the dense vegetation.

  Jann was pinned down behind a low grow-bed. Nills and Anika were a good five metres away also unable to move. “Nills, cover me,” she shouted. He nodded back and started firing. Anika joined in. It was blind, no accuracy, it was just to draw fire from the Hybrids.

  She peeped out and gauged the distance to the nearest pair. She hefted her spear, stood up and threw it at them. It arrowed through the intervening space, skewered the left arm of the first one and embedded itself in the chest of the other one directly behind. Jann dropped down again and looked over at Nills. He gave her the thumbs up, and started firing again. She joined in with the cross-bow. Another Hybrid was hit and went down, the fourth one decided not to hang around and backed off.

  Behind her, the fallen were being dragged back to relative safety by their comrades. Some screamed in agony, others were dead. It was a mess. If she didn’t do something now they would lose all momentum. She stood up and raced over to them.

  “Listen, you all know who I am. I’ve come back to help you find your way.” Heads moved out
from the undergrowth where they were hiding, she was connecting. “For too long you have lived in the dream world of your past, locked inside the memories from your Alpha.” She opened her arms to them. “But, you are more than that, you are your own people, the first true Martians. This is your place, your home, your paradise. A heaven on Mars that you alone have built.” More moved out from the undergrowth to listen. She continued, “There is no greater place here on this planet, not the surface dunes, not the great canyons, not even Colony One. This is your Eden, your birth-right. It’s time for you to take it back and claim it as your own.”

  By now a crowd had gathered and Jann could feel the mood changing. Their fear was subsiding, she could feel desire growing in them. She pressed on.

  “We storm the council chamber and hold Vanji to account for his actions. We take back what is yours, we do it now, and we do it quick.” She raised a spear high above her head. “So who’s with me?”

  But, before the crowd could react two small canisters clanked and rolled across the floor, smoke hissing out from their sides. “Shit,” thought Jann, “Gas.” She reacted instantly and ran. But the Betas weren’t so fast. They began to cough and splutter and hold their throats as they scattered.

  “Dammit,” she had lost the moment. It was going against them, if she could not rouse them to action then there was no hope. She looked back up to the council chamber balcony. A Hybrid was holding another gas canister, pulling a pin from the side, getting ready to throw it into the dispersing Betas.

  “Fuck this.” Jann judged the distance, it must be a good forty metres, it was literally a long shot. She hefted a spear above her head and just when the Hybrid was distracted with the pin mechanism, she fired. It shot through the space with impressive speed, arched slightly as it traversed the cavern. The Hybrid looked up just in time to feel it bury itself in his skull, straight through his right eye. He tottered, one hand reached up as the other dropped the canister on the balcony floor. It rolled back into the council chamber as he fell.

  A cheer went up from the Betas. Jann seized her moment, turned around and raised another spear high in the air and shouted. “Who’s with me?”