Battleground Mars (15 page)

Rahm helped them load up the last of the crates. He and Saul had smashed the alien scanning equipment to little pieces, so they wouldn’t use that again to spy on them. Then they’d gone to urge the others on to greater speeds. The proximity of Taurons was a powerful motivator, they almost ran up and down the crater slope in their rush to finish the job and get back to Mars Base. What they carried was too precious to take any chances with. They could live without food for a long time, water for a short time. But air was something else. Without it they were lost. They returned without further incident, everyone was waiting for them when they drove into the garage. Fechter was at the front of the crowd.

“You got everything?”

“We did, yes. It’s ready for the engineers to take to the cave and start installing it. Gabi will go with them, because she’s the only one here with any knowledge of this machinery, how it all works and goes together.”

“I’d appreciate that, Rahm, if it’s ok by you.”

He wondered what the manager meant, then remembered that they all knew about her sleeping in his quarters. Did they think she was his property?

“Jacques, it isn’t my decision. You need to run it past her, not me.”

“Yeah, sure, I will. Good work, again. This could save us all from disaster.”

“Right. Another thing, we killed a Tauron scout. The probably know what we’re up to.”

“What do you mean?”

“They’re not stupid! Did you think that just because they look like funny monsters they haven’t got any brains?”

“No, I guess not, but they’re not like us. I mean…”

Rahm felt an overwhelming sense of weariness. History was packed with tales of men who had drastically underestimated their enemies. They all suffered the same fate, overwhelming defeat.

“Look, they’ve developed faster than light travel, so that they can travel from their home system of Alpha Centauri. That’s a huge leap, one that we’re still centuries away from making. They’re much cleverer than we are, and much more powerful in terms of their physical strength. They also appear to have a warrior cult, they’re prepared to fight and die for what they believe in, for their race. That makes them the most formidable and dangerous enemy the human race has ever met.”

Fechter’s face had drained as Rahm forcefully drove home the points, one by one.

“So you’re saying that they’ve got us beat?”

“No. We can beat them, but we have to remember that they’re clever and tough. As long as we keep that in mind we can do it. We’ve got something they haven’t a human consciousness, a history and a tradition of developing a just and fair society. We’ve got checks and balances, and we’ve got principles, trust, and a lot of things that go far beyond their blind, martial obedience. We need to play to our strengths, that way we can give them a good kicking every time it comes to a battle. We fight it the human way, not the Tauron way.”

Fechter nodded. “I’m not sure I agree with everything you’ve said, but it’ll do for now. Most of it makes sense. So what do you suggest we do next?”

“Kick their alien asses all the way back to where they came from. But first, let’s get the scrubbing machinery installed so that we can all breathe properly.”

Just then the alert sounded, and the overhead speaker system began blaring out the details of the attack.

“Warning, alien attack imminent, enemy massing five miles from Mars Base.”

Rahm looked at Fechter. “How did they get this close, Jacques? Why didn’t you have militia guards posted?”

“I thought we needed to conserve air, I brought the sentries in,” he replied weakly.

“How the hell did they get that close, I thought you were supposed to have militia guards posted out there,” Rahm snarled.

“I was, but I brought them in to conserve air,” Fechter replied weakly.

They rushed to the militia control room and eyed the screens. In fact the enemy was nearer to four miles away, there were almost a hundred of them. They looked to be well armed and well equipped. And they were setting up a defensive perimeter ready for a siege.

Jacques Fechter had the look of a man who had already lost the battle. Rahm ignored him. Gabi stood close by. He turned to her.

“Gabi, would you go and round up the engineer’s team to get out to the cave and install that new equipment. Find Dan Weathers, he’ll know what to do.”

She nodded and ran off. Damian Hacker bustled into the room.

“What gives?”

“You’ve seen our friends out there?”

“Yeah, I was just doing the rounds of our defenses.” He turned to the Base manager. “Jacques, what’s the plan?”

The man looked confused, tired and beaten. “You’d better ask Rahm,” he said.

“Sir, I’m your second in command, if anyone is to direct operations on Mars Base it should be me.” They looked around so see that Tobin Ryles had appeared, like the evil genie. Fechter walked away and left them looking at each other uncertainly. Ryles adopted a determined expression.

“Right, that puts me in charge. Damian, what are you dispositions for your militia?”

The military man looked at him with contempt. “Fuck off, Ryles, and stop being such an ass. You wouldn’t know a military disposition if it bit you on the bum. Rahm, I suggest we put together a plan before these ugly bastards get any nearer.”

Rahm nodded, the little deputy manager ignored and forgotten. “I’d suggest you set up a defensive line, I’ll organize the engineering party to get out to the caves. We could do with a couple of your men to look after them. We don’t know what we’ll find out there.”

“It makes sense, but if those bastards attack I’ll need every man. Can you send a couple of your men with them? Someone who knows their way around a laser rifle.”

He nodded. “Right, I’ll send Saul and Kaz. They’re the best I have. We’re not doing any drilling, so I guess it won’t make any difference.”

They split up to make a start. Ryles watched them go with a look of smoldering anger on his face. Hacker noticed it and made a mental note to warn Rahm. Without doubt, the guy was planning on causing trouble. In Mars Base, with the Taurons outside and their air running low inside, it could be a recipe for disaster. Then he went looking for his men, it was time to prepare to kick some alien ass.

Dan Weathers barked orders to his engineers and they loaded the crates into their maintenance buggy. They suited up and climbed aboard, Gabi made to join them. Rahm stopped her.

“Whatever happens out there, Saul and Kaz will keep their eyes out for you. They’re the best, you can rely on them.”

She smiled. “I know, but don’t worry, I’ll be fine. We’ll install the new equipment and get straight back here.”

“Do you have any idea of how long it’ll take?”

“We’ll have to work through the night, so we’ll be back by about midday tomorrow. I wish I could kiss you before I go.”

He grinned. “I’ll take a rain check on that one. Just come back to me.”

“I will.

She climbed aboard. Kaz and Saul went past him. “She’ll be fine,” Kaz said.

“Yeah, I know.”

The buggy drove into the airlock and the inner door closed. The air equalized with the outside and they drove out onto the Martian surface as the outer door opened. Then the doors quietly closed, sealing them away from the hostile Martian environment. He also felt a sense of loss. That Tauron spy on the edge of the crater made him feel more and more uneasy. Without doubt they’d seen what they were doing, the nature of the cargo they had recovered. That meant that they guessed they were running low on air. They weren’t stupid, as he’d told Jacques. They’d put two and two together, working out that the cessation of mining operations and the mission to recover the air scrubbing machinery told of a desperate and dangerous plight. They must know that if they could stop the humans from repairing their air scrubbers, the planet would almost certainly be there’s. The more he thought about it, the more certain he became. Until he couldn’t take any more inactivity and he went to find the rest of his crew.

They sat around the table, Rahm with Brad, Nathan and Kacy while he explained his fears.

“Are you really sure about this?” Nathan asked. “I would have thought the best thing would be to go to Jacques Fechter, he’s the Base manager. He’ll need to take action.”

“Jacques has given up. I would guess it’s some kind of a mental collapse.”

Kacy sighed. “So all that’s left is that little creep Tobin Ryles to run things around here?”

“That’s about it.”

“So what do we do?”

“I want to mount a pre-emptive strike against the Taurons that are out there. If we hit them before they hit us, it’ll keep their minds away from what we’re trying to do with the air scrubbers.”

“You think they suspect?” Kacy asked, appalled.

“I’m sure they do.”

“Jesus Christ. They’ll go after the engineering crew. Isn’t Gabi with them?”

He nodded.

“Is that the reason, Rahm? Why you’re so worried.”

“If they hit that crew for any reason, we’re all finished. So yes, I care about Gabi, but it’s more than that. They could do enough damage to kill us all, and then we’ll just run out of air.”

“I guess you’ll need more people then, Rahm.”

They looked around. Josh DeVries had come up to their table, together with his crew.

“You’re ready to throw in with us, Josh?”

He old driller nodded. “If those lizard-heads attack the engineering crew before they get the air scrubbers back on line, we’re all dead, isn’t that what you said?”

Rahm nodded.

“Well then, we ain’t going to sit here and wait for the end. We’re with you. We’ve still got the laser cannon mounted on the buggy from when we came in from that last operation. I guess we could put it to good use. Where are Saul and Kaz?

He told them.

“So you’re two men short, all the more reason you’re going to need us. We’re in.”

He thanked them and they began making preparations for the foray. Night was drawing in and they decided that they’d have to wait for daylight. In the dark they could easily blunder into a Tauron warband, they needed to see where they were going. He had a couple of shots of Bourbon, but kept his consumption to a minimum. Whatever else, he wanted a clear head to the morning. He woke to a clamor in the Base, people were running along the passageways and the alarm was sounding its strident warning. He rushed out and grabbed the nearest passer-by.

“What the hell’s going on? Is it a Tauron attack?”

The man turned a frightened face to him. Rahm ignored him and rushed ran into the control room. What gives?”

Josh DeVries was already there. “They tracked the engineering crew part of the way out to the cave. They’ve shifted half of their troops in ambush, they’re cut off.”

“Are they still safe?”

“So far, yes, but they can’t complete the job.”

“Jesus Christ, why not?”

For a moment he had nightmare images of Gabi having been killed or wounded.

“The scrubbers require grafilek crystals to complete the process. When the old machinery broke down the old grafilek gradually decayed. Without some new supplies they can’t bring it online.”

“Do we have new supplies here on Mars Base?”

Josh looked nervous. “A little, but not enough. The only place we have any more, anything like enough to make it work, is…”

“The portable air scrubbers.”

Josh nodded. “Exactly.”

Jacques walked into the control room and there was silence. He’d obviously had a night’s sleep and looked much better. Probably the doctor had given him something too. He shouted for their attention, although he had it anyway.

“Listen up. We have a situation here. The engineers…”

“We all know the situation, Jacques. The question is how we resolve it.”

“I’m sending an armed squad to force its way through, they’ll take all the grafilek we have. I’ll have to have those portable units, Rahm.”

They looked around as Damian Hacker entered. Rahm walked over and brought hi up to date with what had happened. The security chief squashed Fechter’s plan flat.

“You send out the last of our grafilek, Jacques, and you’re risking everything on one throw of the dice. We need to engage the Taurons and get the material through to the engineers as a separate operation.

“But, that’ll divide our forces, I can’t possibly agree to that.”

“It’s that or die, my friend.”

“We’re going out there, Jacques,” Rahm said quietly. “Whether you like it or not.”

When the arguments died down, Fechter finally agreed to the sense of their plan. Damian Hacker was to lead a squad of twelve men, drawn from his militia and those miners who had military training. Rahm would lead the squad that made for the cave with the last of their grafilek. They handed out the portable air scrubbers to those men going out on the surface, there were pitifully few left to cannibalize for the remaining crystals. They carefully took them to pieces and extracted the crystals and put them in a sealed container with their reserve supply.

“Will it be enough?” Josh asked. “It doesn’t look very much.”