Warrior Chronicles 2: Warrior's Blood

by Shawn Jones

  He took Kim’s arm again. They met a few people along the way, but most of them were still too apprehensive of Cort to approach them.

  --

  Keen sat across from the man in the armored suit. “Mr. Addison, It’s clear that we need you. By our charter, we can only refuse criminals. Anyone else who wants to come here can. You don’t have that problem. You can shoot a transport out of the sky. So that means the people who come for you have to come through our colony. And we’ve seen how that ends. I’m at a loss for a solution.”

  “It is a problem. I see that. The only solution I see is to prevent Atlantica from sending armed men to attack me.”

  “Any ideas how we do that?” Rhodes asked.

  “I have lots of ideas, but they all end in the restriction of freedoms for your colonists. You could also implement a two stage disembarkation protocol. When newcomers arrive, connect their modules to empty ones. Use the empty ones to search everyone and seize weapons or contraband. You would still have the problem of sleepers, though.”

  “Sleepers?” Rhodes was taking notes.

  “People who come here and blend in. At a predetermined time, they act on previous instructions. Or maybe they earn your trust and get jobs that put them in position to feed information to others. Get the idea?”

  “Yes,” Keen said, “what do we do about them?”

  “You don’t. Unless you control the screening process on Earth, you can’t. It’s like manufacturing. Unless you control every stage of the process, you can’t control quality.”

  “That can’t happen. We don’t have the authority. Again, our charter.”

  “Then you are stuck.”

  “What would you do if an unauthorized vessel arrived at Aeolis?” Chief Rhodes asked.

  “I have the weapons necessary to defend our installation. And the legal right to use them. You lack both.”

  “Can you provide us with better weapons?” Keen asked.

  “Absolutely not. With just the weaponry I have in this room, I can wipe out this entire colony. And I’m an expert at their use. I wouldn’t even consider turning your people loose with them. Cort could see the disappointment on both men’s’ faces.

  “It’s not just about us, you know,” Keen said. “With us guarding this site, you would be safe from any type of incursion, then.”

  “Not true. There is always the Argyre site. If populated, it would be ideal to launch an attack on either colony. It’s offline, but land a few modules there and they have a staging area. For now, anyway.”

  Rhodes looked up from his notes. “What do you mean?”

  “Argyre is a threat to both of us. You haven’t known me long, but you’ve known me long enough to know that I don’t tolerate threats to my people. In this case, we have a mutual threat. I am going to deal with it.”

  “I wish I could think like an Earthling and tell you that’s a bad idea, but I do not think it is. It does take away the only remaining evacuation site, though. How will we deal with that?”

  Keen spoke. “We cannot deal with it. We would have to agree to help each other in the case of an emergency.”

  “Considering you assisted me in the commission of several hundred crimes against your alliance charter this morning,” Cort began, “I think we’ve crossed that bridge. Gentlemen, here’s the deal. I’m not giving you weapons, but I am your only defense. You have people that I need. You can replace them. I can’t. So we have to compromise. All of my family members are going to be asked to move to Aeolis in a few minutes. If you fight that, I won’t help you again. And I’ll take anyone who wants to go anyway. So it’s in your best interest to help me with staffing and equipment, and it’s in my best interests to ensure your safety. I have options. You don’t. But it would be safer and easier if we were in agreement.”

  Keen said, “I can agree to that. And after the last few months, I think my people will too. But they will vote on it. I am not Taps. I govern by consensus, not decree.”

  Rhodes looked up again. “Mr. Addison, how did you separate yourself from Atlantica oversight?”

  “For that you need to talk to Dar.” Cort was standing now, showing that this meeting was coming to an end. “But I would support your move to independence. Which means if you want it, I’ll defend you. But you need to be self-sufficient. Once you sever those ties, you’re on your own when it comes to gear. Since you can’t export back to Earth, you have no currency to bargain with. I don’t have that problem. Between the two trusts supporting my colony, there is about half a percent of the total wealth in Atlantica. But again, talk to Dar about all that.”

  --

  There were a hundred or so adults in the auditorium. No children were here, but there were some adolescents. Cort was at a lectern in the CONDOR suit, with Kim sitting to his right. Keen was at her right. A vid was being sent back to Rhodes, and from him it was being sent to Aeolis.

  “I am Cort Addison. Some of you have read about me since you were a child. Some of you have not. But I assure you, I am who I say I am.” Cort took the CONDOR helmet off, revealing the scar that defined his face. He spoke for almost an hour before asking if anyone wanted to move to Aeolis.

  --

  “I didn’t think they would all want to go,” Keen said as they watched Cort’s family walk out of the room.

  “I knew they would. Since I arrived in this time, I’ve found that part of the Addison genome doesn’t seem to have diluted at all. We have an independent streak. Being under obligation to Earth is not ideal to them, even if the Martian frontier is.”

  “I didn’t believe you were really from another time. Now that you’ve shown us your face, I’m not so sure you are as insane as I thought.” Keen watched as Kim handed the helmet to Cort. “You were smart to ask them not to say anything about your appearance.”

  “Everyone, even Earth will know soon enough. I just want it to be on my time, not theirs.” Cort lowered the helmet into place, twisted it, and walked out of the room with Kim and Keen and continued in the suit’s authoritative voice, “Keen, I know you have thrown your lot in with me, but the fact is, you are going to have to do so publicly. And soon.”

  “I know. Earth may cut us off. We are somewhat self-sufficient, but we will grow much more slowly if they do. I’ve been thinking a lot about that.”

  They reached Keen’s office; Kim hesitated at the door as the two men walked inside. Cort turned and said, “Kim, you have a new job while you are still here. Call it ‘Personal Assistant’, ‘Secretary’, whatever. But you are my right hand at Aeolis. When I am here, you will be with me. All the time. You will also coordinate the moves for our people. I want Keen to assign someone as your counterpart as well.”

  Kim was taken aback. “Me? Why?” She stepped into the office with them and the door slid closed.

  “Because you trusted me at a time when you didn’t trust any man. That is important. And it means I can trust you. What is your professional background?”

  Kim and Keen laughed. “I just assumed you knew, based on the job you gave her,” Keen said. “She’s a logistics specialist. She was in charge of new arrivals. Equipment and personnel.”

  With the door closed, Cort took his helmet off again. “See? Kismet. Okay, Governor Keen. You have a new security protocol. If you want our help, you will follow it. I’m not taking over for security for you, but you are following my plan. I may also supply the team that handles it. But one of your people has to be in charge. I don’t want it to look like an occupation.”

  “Rhodes will like that very much. I am in agreement. The last few months have shown that we cannot effectively protect ourselves,” he said as he looked at Kim. “Mrs. Point, I’ve never had the chance to tell you how sorry I am for what happened. I lost two good men trying to stop those monsters. But you lost much more.”

  Kim’s eyes were watery but her voice was strong as she said, “After my husband died, I didn’t have anything else to lose. So they only took my body. Mr. Addison gave me back my hope
today, though.”

  “When it’s just us, my name is Cort. Save the Mr. Addison crap for the others.” Cort touched her hand.

  Kim was still amazed at how she could feel his compassion through the armor. It was ironic, considering how he dealt with problems.

  Five

  Atlantica Science Headquarters, Earth

  “Dr. Pan, we don’t like what is happening on Mars. It looks to us like this ‘Addison’ is hell bent on taking over the Oxia Palus colony as well. Two months ago, Governor Keen retracted his request for additional security. Now, according to your latest report, the official population has dropped by over two hundred in the last year. Can you explain that?”

  “Yes, General. I can. You allowed your personal interests to interfere with colony operations,” Lee Pan said. Pan was the Director of Off-Earth Sciences, the department which oversaw the Oxia Palus colony, as well as space station and satellite sciences. “You had no right, and very questionable authority to send over one hundred armed men to my colony.”

  “Governor Taps req...” General Taps started, but Pan interrupted him.

  “General, your brother violated the colony’s charter regulations by imprisoning Rand Gaines. Atlantica law is very explicit. Any colonist is expunged of all crimes, real or perceived, upon arrival at Oxia Palus. They may not be detained unless found guilty of a crime on Mars. Further, your brother was probably guilty of election fraud in the first place. That he requested additional security from you before the first incident involving Mr. Addison, and not through official channels, is indicative that he wanted an iron fist to enforce the legitimacy of his election.

  “Doctor, I am offended that you would imply I used my position to furth...”

  Pan stopped him again. “Shut up, General. Regarding Mars population, it has only declined because of the deaths of your men. Colonists who have chosen to move to the Aeolis site are still Atlantica citizens, and are still officially colonists. So far as we can tell, only Mr. Addison is not a citizen of our alliance. Governor Keen is acting within his jurisdiction to provide security for the colony. Either by use of our military personnel, or by other means. In this case, he has chosen ‘other means’, and we approve. There has not been a single serious offense on the colony since Mr. Addison’s people took over security.”

  Pan stared at the general. “Of course prior to Mr. Addison’s actions on behalf of the colony, every serious offense on the colony in the last year had been committed by your security people and ex-governor Taps’ staff. Governor Keen has our full support. Unless you have other business, General Taps, you are dismissed.” Pan stood and pointed at the office door. “Good day.”

  As he walked out of Pan’s office, Taps was fuming. He keyed his comm, said, “Activate ‘Ares Vanquished’. Now.” and placed the device back in his pocket.

  --

  A year on Mars lasts six-hundred and eight-seven Earth days. Because their orbits are different, the distance between the two celestial bodies varies from fifty-five to four hundred and one million kilometers. Accordingly travel time between the two planets varies greatly. Even from one day to the next. When the first Diomedes mission launched, the travel time to Mars would take twenty-three weeks. It would take twenty-five weeks for the second launch, and twenty-six for the third. The modules each targeted one of the three colony sites. Diomedes One was assigned to the Aeolis site, with the mission goal of disarming the facility completely. Diomedes Two would assume control of Oxia Palus. If both were successful, Diomedes Three would establish a stronghold at the Argyre evacuation site. If either of the first two missions were less than completely successful, module three would land and reinforce them as necessary.

  All three launches would replace already planned supply missions. Fortunately for General Taps, none of them were scheduled to contain personnel, so he was able to replace all three cargoes with his own modules fairly easily. Under the guise of government secrecy, Launch Coordinator Alt didn’t even question the orders.

  “And Mr. Alt, I don’t need to tell you how important it is that no one knows about the changes in cargo modules.”

  “Of course not, General,” Alt said. “The first launch will be in three days time, with the other two launches following every thirty-six hours. That window will allow us the time to reset the tethering satellite and refuel the cargo flights.”

  “Very well. The safety of the cargoes is paramount, so while I would prefer to launch more rapidly, I accept your safety windows. Thank you.”

  Aeolis Colony

  “Dr. Wills,” Cort said, “I have the rails aligned, begin module descent. Is the training group in place?”

  “Yes, Cort. Three of our people and the trainees from Oxia Palus are with me. Once I open the module, they will conduct a mock customs search.”

  --

  Five hundred miles above the colony in geosynchronous orbit, Diomedes One rotated its gravity plate and began to apply its gravity well to the top of the module. Its onboard computer began to decrease its pull on the freighter module and the module descended, perfectly balanced between the gravitational pull of the gravity plate and the planet below.

  “Okay people, game time. Neutralize any threats, then secure the area. Disruptors on setting two. Once we have a beachhead, we will send squad two to the control center while squad three confines the prisoners. Brace for touchdown.”

  --

  Cort pushed the module into place after it landed on the rails. The magnetic locks engaged and while Cort inspected the module exterior, Dr. Wills began making the power and environmental connections. The first indication something was wrong was that the interior of the freighter was already pressurized. This module wasn’t scheduled to have perishables, but Dr. Wills didn’t know that. He didn’t mention it to Rand in the control room, so Rand didn’t halt the connection procedure and double check the manifest.

  --

  Inside the freighter module, the lieutenant ordered the lights shut off.

  --

  “The exterior is clear, Doctor. I’m on my way in, open her up,” Cort said.

  “Activating the airlock now. At least we won’t have to wait for it to pressurize,” Wills said over the comm system.

  Rand was watching from the control room. This was a cargo module, it shouldn’t have been pressurized. “Wait! What do you mean, Doc?” But it was too late.

  Cort felt the hair on his neck stand up as he listened to the exchange. He considered ripping the terminal airlock off the freighter module, but the damage to the rest of the colony would be extensive. It would also mean certain death to the people standing between the intruders and the rest of the colony. He was powerless. For now.

  “Intruders! Crewmembers down! Corridor four, terminal section! Facility lockdown!” Rand screamed colony wide. “Evacuate corridor four!”

  Wills felt the disruptor hit. With the original synthetics in his system, he was instantly paralyzed. Even though he couldn’t move, he could still watch all of the customs trainees drop in front of him. The regular Aeolis security people were armed and brought their disruptors up and fired.

  Sergeant Mai saw a trooper go down. The idiot must not have activated his suit’s energy cage. Without power, the suits were useless and unable to deflect the disruptor blasts. Fortunately, he would be fine when he woke up, and he was the only one to make the mistake.

  Some of the members of the Addison pack who had former military experience had been trained and cleared to deploy the old style chemical propellant weapons Cort had brought with him. Two of those men, Dave Gaines and Mike Rage were playing dominoes in the cigar lounge. When the lockdown sounded Dave asked Rand not to block their route to the combat area. They stopped at the main armory cabinet and grabbed assault rifles and sidearms. Kay was in the control room now, and started operating the airlocks as the heavily armed pair passed from section to section.

  “Dave, this is Addison. Pin them down with suppressive fire while Mike gets our people out. Kay, disconnect a
ll power and environment from the terminal module. Once they have our people out Mike, you will have to disconnect the maglocks and the physical connections. Then these bastards are mine. Rand, warn Rhodes. They aren’t just stopping here. Total lockdown until our arrival. Then jam all communications.”

  Dave began firing three-round bursts down the length of the two modules, careful to fire over the head of Mike Rage, who was crawling down the corridor.

  “Prowlers, now!” Sergeant Mai yelled. Lieutenant Marks was down. One of the bursts from a colonist weapon had killed him. Another man was injured too but still moving. Blood was everywhere.

  Mike pulled Dr. Wills out first. He didn’t feel paralyzed though. Maybe they just stunned him. Next he pulled out the trainees. Finally, he got to the last of the Addison crewmembers. Halfway back to where Dave was covering him, he took a Prowler hit to his legs. The heavier disruptor left him twitching on the floor of the module. The man he was dragging back had already been immobilized with a level three disruptor hit. In sleep mode, his synthetics completely deactivated. He died a moment later.