Battleground Mars (23 page)

Then they all turned to look at Rahm, he felt their eyes boring into his back.

“We’ve got a problem,” Saul finally stated.

“Only one?”

They all laughed. At least he’d said the right thing. They were beset with problems, and things looked as if they could only get worse. Unless they fought.

“None of this changes anything,” he murmured, as much to himself as to his crew. But they were all listening, so he decided to keep going and explain the ideas that were forming in his mind.

“We need to make sure that Dan and his technician are safe. We’re not going to do a Tobin Ryles and abandon him.”

They nodded their agreement.

“Nobody thought you would abandon anyone,” Gabi murmured softly.

“Second, we’ve got the means to keep our life support going on the planet. Most of what we need we’ve already taken off the Taurons, at least until that last raid. It just means that we need to replace out losses and take what we need from them to keep us going.”

They all nodded with enthusiasm. After all, it made sense. Every time the Taurons hit their life support, take back what they needed.

“It’ll be harder than ever this time,” Saul countered. “We’ve given them a bloody nose enough times that they’ll be watching for us. We could walk into an ambush again. We can’t afford to lose any more of our people.”

“You’re quite correct. That’s why we lump the whole problem together. The Taurons. I say we destroy them now, wipe them out utterly. Or at least that they run back home defeated.”

“I’d like to see that,” Brad called down from his station high up on the frame. “I’ll send something for them to remember us as they leave. Something that’ll put a sting in their tails.”

They drove on to the cave, this time there was a new mood in the group. They’d suffered so many blows of late that the idea that they’d get back at the Taurons fired their enthusiasm. Until Dan Weathers pointed out the problem in clearer detail.

“It’s like this. We’re running out of time. Mars Base is down to five days of life support. That’s the maximum amount of time you have left to beat the Taurons. It ain’t going to happen.”

“We still have the thermite,” Gabi pointed out. “If we can get inside their base and plant it, the blast would wipe them out.”

Dan looked thoughtful. Finally he nodded. “I’ve just been working it all out. Yes, it would certainly destroy most of them, maybe all. But how would you get to their base? Ask the nearest Tauron?”

No one laughed.

“I can find the Tauron base.”

They looked at Kaz. “Go on,” Rahm encouraged him.

“We brought back the recording from the ambush in the Nepenthe Valley. After you’d gone I watched it again, several times. Then I enhanced the video and just about made out a dark shadow in the distance. It was halfway up Mount Albor, in the center of the Elysium region.”

They waited. “A dark shadow, what do you mean?” Kacy enquired. As a technician, she liked neater descriptions.

Kaz appeared to ignore her. “What drew my attention to it was movement in and out. It’s a cave entrance.”

“And you think it’s the Tauron base?”

He nodded. “Yes, I do. We’d have been cleverer if we’d put Mars Base in a cave, it would be less vulnerable to attack.”

“We didn’t know they were so hostile at the time,” Kacy objected.

“We’ve know for several years. I’d guess it was a tug of war between money and men’s lives. The money won. But anyway, that’s where I believe the base is situated.”

“Then let’s hit the bastards.” Saul exclaimed. “It’s time to show them that we don’t take kindly to these attacks.”

“As long as you remember that you only have those five days, Rahm,” Dan said. “Any more than that and Mars Base will be Mars Mausoleum.”

They split the equipment and crew between both the buggy and the Tauron transport parked inside the cave.

“It’s a waste of time leaving it here,” Dan said. “They’re not prepared to re-connect the scrubbers to Mars Base, so we’ll leave everything on standby.”

“You’re coming with us?” Rahm asked, surprised.

“What the alternative? Stay here and die, or die outside of Mars Base, trying to gain entry. No, we’re with you. Right, Pete?”

Pete Rostov, the elderly base technician and Dan’s principal assistant nodded. “Right.”

He continued carefully loading the equipment onto the transport. He was as old as Dan, perhaps even older, calm and phlegmatic, and they all knew that Dan relied on him to get the job done when all around was falling to pieces.

“A man of few words,” Dan smiled. “But one of the best technicians in the business. If anything goes wrong, Pete will get it fixed.”

They finished loading, climbed aboard the vehicles and Rahm led the way out of the cave. They set out across the plain of Xanthe, for the long journey past Schiaparelli Crater that led through the Nepenthe Valle. From there it would be a short drive up into the foothills of Mount Albor for the attack on the Tauron base. When they reached the Nepenthe Valley, Rahm called a halt. It was time to decide exactly how they would pierce the Tauron defenses.

“You’ll need your entire crew,” Dan said as he looked through their supplies of thermite. “I assume you have to get inside the base and plant this little lot, and then get out before it goes off?”

Rahm nodded. “It’s simple, but I can’t think of anything better. There is one flaw to the plan. If any of the Taurons are outside the base, they’ll miss the blast. But I figure we’ll have to deal with that when we get there.”

“Agreed. Pete and I will watch your backs, so we’ll need to borrow your buggy with the laser cannon.”

“If any Taurons return you’ll find yourself with a heap of trouble, Dan. I don’t like to say this, but you’re both...”

“Too old? Maybe, but the way I see it, you haven’t got many choices. It’s the senior citizens or nothing.”

Rahm nodded. He turned to his crew.

“Kacy, did you and Gabi finish preparing those charges?”

They both nodded. “These’ll take the top of that mountain off. We added a little something to boost the explosion.” Kacy replied.

“We used some of the spare laser cannon modules,” Gabi grinned. “We won’t need them now and they’ll triple the force of the blast when they detonate.”

“So we need to be a long way away?”

“A very long way away. Another planet would be a good idea.”

Another planet. There was only one other planet with any kind of colonization and that was Earth itself. Home. A place where they could be away from the threat of choking to death from loss of air, or of freezing to death when the electrical supply failed. With an effort, Rahm brought his mind back on the job.

“We’ll go straight through their front door, no stopping. Saul, we’ll need everything transferred to the transport. Dan, make sure that you and Pete are familiar with the cannon. Look after the buggy, remember, it’s a long walk back to Chryse Gulf.”

He nodded, and they set about transferring their equipment. Saul drove the unfamiliar transport with Dan bringing up the rear in the buggy. Ahead of them they could see the Tauron base, or what they hoped was the Tauron base. A dark smear in the face of the rock, they all prayed it was more than that. Until they got closer and saw movement, a Tauron transporter driving out of the mouth of the cave and setting out across the Martian plain.

* * *

Inside the transporter, Granat was thoughtful. Every trooper he’d asked to become a suicide bomber had declined. Even when he’d shouted and raged, they’d ignored him. One even had the temerity to suggest that he should have the honor for himself. That trooper would learn to show more respect to his commander. Perhaps a spell of sentry duty in the most frozen, exposed part of Mars would encourage him to show more respect next time. Neither would they allow him to take more men. In the end, he’s left their base with only three troopers to accompany him in the transport. Even the vehicle they’d given him was the oldest one they had, and it was prone to constant breakdowns. He’d complained to Tabor when they exchanged messages, but the Lord of the Universe simply said, “If you’re planning on turning it into a mobile bomb, why would you need anything better?”

Dagan sat next to him in the body of the transport. Even he had refused the suicide mission. The dog would not even show a little gratitude for the promotion he’d given him, worthless creature.

“We’ll have to time the charges to explode as the vehicle hits, Dagan. It’s not as reliable as having a man aboard to manually explode them, but it’s the best we can do.”

“Yes, Sir. It’s a good solution.”

“Not if the timing is less than perfect,” he growled.

Dagan didn’t reply. When Commander Granat was in this mood, it was best to say nothing. More than one man had been knocked to the ground with one blow from that might paw. Most did not get up.

* * *

They reached the plateau on the route that led to the cave entrance. They could see it clearly, about half a mile away. Since that transporter that had left, there’d been no movement. Rahm contacted the transporter by radio.

“Dan, we’re going in, we need you to mount picket on the outside. If any of our ugly friends turn up, you know what to do.”

“I’ll be there, don’t worry.”

Rahm hit the accelerator and the transporter surged forward. Closer, closer to the entrance, then he swerved the control stick over and entered the dark cavern. They were in. Almost immediately they encountered a Tauron walking nonchalantly towards them. He wasn’t startled by the sight of the familiar vehicle and Rahm took the opportunity to mow him down. The vehicle ports were open and one of his men fired a long burst into the body as they drove past, hurtling further into the dark cavern. Lights started to come on, as they approached they switched on automatically and extinguished as they went past.

“Is everything ready in the back? We need to dump the explosives and get out.”

He heard Gabi’s voice. “We’re all set. Are you planning to reverse all the way back out of here?”

He recalled that he’d seen nowhere for them to turn. There must be a wider cave further in, they had to reach it. Two more Taurons appeared, staring at the charging transport. They too were swept under the wheels of the rampaging vehicle and finished off by the laser bursts from the rear. They ran out into a huge, open cavern, dozens of transports were lined up. Some of them had Tauron attendants working on them. In a lower cavern to one side their drilling equipment was stacked up. Rahm slowed down, the longer they could keep from being discovered the better. His hopes were dashed when there was a shout from behind. One of the Taurons had not been killed, he staggered into the main cavern, covered in green blood, one of his arms had been ripped from his body, yet he pushed forward. He shouted in a keening, wailing series of tones, a language they had no hope of understanding. It only took the enemy a few seconds to sound the alarm. The cavern filled with the echoing wail of an emergency siren and troops started to rush in.

“Gabi, the thermite. Pass one forward. Saul, toss the charge towards those monsters and get inside the transport for cover.”

Saul didn’t reply, just scooped up the charge, opened the port and leapt out. Rahm saw him heft the satchel towards the advancing Taurons and duck back inside.

“How long is the fuse?”

“It’s set for five…”

The explosion was shattering, a ball of fire filled the cave, and they even felt the heat inside the transport. When the smoke cleared, all evidence of alien life had been swept away like leaves before a gale. The floor was littered with dead Taurons, scorched and charred by the force of the enhanced thermite explosion. But there was no time to waste, for they had no idea of how many more of the enemy was secreted in the dark recesses and tunnels that led off the vast, main cavern.

“Jesus Christ, they sure hit the mark. How many more of charges do you have?” he asked Gabi.

“Another six, that’s about it, there’s not enough thermite for any more.”

He calculated rapidly. There was still that transport they’d seen leaving. “We’ll set five, timed to go off in, shall we say, thirty seconds?”

“That’s cutting it too fine. If they ambush us in the tunnel we’ll be stuck when they explode. Five of those charges will be like a thermo-nuclear explosion, so we need to be a long way away. We need to set it for three minutes.”

“Three minutes, then. Hurry up, we need to get out of here before they bring in more troops, they must have people heading this way along the tunnels. And Gabi.”

“Yes?”

“Make certain the detonators are tamper-proof, do whatever you need so that they can’t stop the explosion.”

“It’s very dangerous, if something goes wrong…”

“We have to be sure. We’re going to finish these bastards, it ends here.”

“I’ll do it. But we’ll need to get out as soon as the countdown starts.”

“Don’t worry, just say the word and it’s full speed ahead out of this cave.”

He turned the vehicle around, Kaz and Nathan helped them carry the charges and set them inside one of the transports, while Saul and Rahm kept a watch for the enemy. Gabi called across to him.