Last Life (Lifers Book 1)

by Thomas,Michael G.

  The tech finished resealing the skin, and he climbed off the bench. His limbs felt better, and he was able to walk at a more normal pace. He left the room, and Rose was waiting for him. She took him to a small cave equipped as a primitive dining room. They’d carved small ledges in the rock for seats. In a larger niche, they’d placed a water barrel. She filled two plastic cups and handed him one.

  “How did it go?”

  “Fine, no problems.”

  “Yeah, right. Tell me the truth.”

  “It’s a patch up job. He said don’t fight any wars.” A chuckle, “Not much chance of that. They’ll find this place, and it’ll be soon. When that happens, it’ll be one mother of a fight.”

  “Cage, it’s critical we beat them. Is it possible?”

  He thought about the small robotic crawlers sniffing through the tunnel system, destroying obstacles, like an army of the dead; throwing themselves to destruction in order to kill, and keep on killing. Drones overhead, with sophisticated systems to analyze the series of detonations and determine the rebel location. The brutal military strength of RedCorp, waiting above with their technological might, waiting for the rebel location, to unleash their overwhelming forces to wipe out the subterranean dwellers. The robotic advancements used by RedCorp filled him with a deep, dark bitterness. He could fight people, soldiers, and even military vehicles, but these small robotic weapons were a step ahead of his capabilities.

  No wonder they always had the advantage over us. They’re not a few years ahead. We’re a generation behind them.

  His eyes wandered, and he found Rose looking back at him.

  “I doubt they have a chance. I’m sorry, Rose. We came here to get answers, and instead we discovered Rob might have survived the airburst, but now? Who knows?”

  Cage was very rarely prone to despair, but she could tell he was right on the edge.

  “If he’s alive, he could be anywhere deep inside the RedCorp system, probably in a cell. I spent three years in one of those cells, a deep, dark hole.”

  He took her hand, doing his best to reassure her.

  “Rose, I know how much you want to find this guy, and see if it’s him. I just don’t know how we can do that.”

  She was silent for a minute, and he felt her hand tighten on his, and then release him. She shrugged off her backpack and reached inside. “While you were undergoing treatment, I spent some time analyzing the files I copied from Green Bank.”

  He found it hard to keep a straight face. Here they were, in a deadly situation, and she was still looking for answers. He couldn’t but admire her.

  “Did you find anything that pointed toward Rob?”

  “No, I didn’t. I haven’t yet managed to decrypt any of the data, but one thing is clear. There’s a strong link between Green Bank and Mars, an actual strong data link I mean.”

  She could see he looked a little confused.

  “This link is specifically between Green Bank and RedCorp. You recall those secondary, smaller dishes? They’re not using them for observing space.”

  “They’re not? Then why are they there?”

  “According to my data, they have been using them for periodic burst transmissions from RedCorp facilities on Mars back to Green Bank.”

  “You’re sure?”

  Rose nodded repeatedly.

  “There’s always traffic between the colonies using disruption tolerant networking, and my tracking tools have detected no change in the use of bundle protocol. It’s…”

  She stopped upon seeing the look of utter confusion on his face.

  “I’ve lost you?”

  “Uh, about five minutes ago.”

  She smiled, instantly putting him at ease.

  “We use this as a high bandwidth system to swap data back and forth between Earth and Mars, as well as other long-range communications. DTN and BP are used for ultra-long-range communications. It’s a system designed to work with substantial delays or lost data packets. Developed in the early twentieth century for interplanetary data communication, and first used on Mars, actually.”

  He smiled as she spoke. He knew she was quite an expert in her field, but when she spoke at length, he could both see and hear her passion for the subject.

  “All of that is perfectly normal, except for the spike I keep running across.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “There’re always problems communicating over such a huge distance, but this system is the biggest I’ve ever seen outside of state constructed facilities. It creates reliable and direct data stream between two specific points. Green Bank and RedCorp when the planets are in alignment. There’s so much data capacity, you could virtually run Mars from Earth, remotely. Control everything, even adjust the time on the clocks if you wished, it’s that powerful.”

  “And?”

  She smiled.

  “It’s off the grid, and running on systems flagged for other uses. Whatever it is I’ve got here, it’s huge, connected to some pretty important corporate departments, and most of all, all of it’s secret. I see nothing connecting this infrastructure to anything PanAm controlled. It’s all off-book.”

  “Why would Earth need a secret secondary channel?”

  Again she smiled at his inability to grasp what was happening.

  “Cage, communications are a two-way thing. If they could administer Mars, in both a military and a civil sense, it could work the other way.”

  “You’re saying Earth could become a colony of Mars, that’s impossible.”

  “Why?”

  He hesitated. “Because, well, they’d know about it. Know what was going on.”

  “Yes. They do know the system is there, but they have no idea that groups on both planets have a massive backchannel setup, and it’s getting lots of use. The system is in use right now.”

  “You’re saying…people on Earth are colluding with RedCorp and the Martians, to allow a takeover, they’ll run Earth? You got all of that from a data connection between two planets? Couldn’t it just be for benign uses?”

  “There’s no other explanation,” she said firmly, “I don’t think you appreciate the amount of data I’m talking about. At least one faction is up to something behind the backs of state and military.”

  Jamison chose that moment to enter the room, along with Anna Ortiz, his second-in-command. “How you doing, Cage? Our tech said he was able to fix you up.”

  “He did a good job. I’m mobile again.”

  “He said it’s temporary. It won’t last.”

  “It’ll do for now.”

  “It may have to. They’re still looking for us. We thought they’d give up, but they haven’t.” He switched his gaze to Rose. “I’m sorry, but I was outside the door, and I heard what you said. Is it true, you think they’re planning to take over Earth?”

  “I wouldn’t put it exactly like that.”

  Ortiz stared at her. “So how would you put it? Exactly.”

  “I’d say it’s already happening. The volumes of data are so huge, there’s nothing else would explain it. Not a complete takeover, not yet, but it’s building up to something very similar. It’s like a…like a corporate takeover. Like a head office to a distant subsidiary.”

  Ortiz shook her head. “I don’t get it. What would they want from Earth?”

  “Power,” Jamison said the one word with vehemence, “They want to have it all.”

  “They want to own all of Earth?”

  “More than Earth, but that’s the first stop. Earth still has the most powerful military structure, outside of Mars.”

  “It’s not Mars,” Rose interjected. They stared at her, waiting, “It’s RedCorp. That’s where the dataflow leads, to RedCorp.”

  “Bastards,” Jamison spat, “They’re the greediest, most vicious entity in the known worlds. If they win, we’re screwed. They can come after us, and they’ll wipe us out.”

  He stopped and looked up to the roof. Above them, somewhere on the surface, the small explosi
ons had restarted. ‘Boom, boom, boom,’ and with each detonation, dust and particles of rock showered down over their faces. All upturned, watching and wondering.

  “They’re getting close,” Ortiz murmured, “It’s a much more extensive operation than we realized.”

  A man rushed into the room, his expression filled with fear. “Ray, we got problems. The crawlers, they’ve penetrated to the outer tunnels. They’re closer than ever. If they keep going as they are, they’ll find us. We gotta move.”

  The leader nodded. “Copy that. Andy, we need to stay calm. Tell them to start getting ready to move out, but keep it calm.”

  “Where are we going, Ray? This was supposed to be a permanent base.”

  He sounded tired. “We’ll find another permanent base. Valles Marineris, we can locate new tunnels, start again.”

  “Valles Marineris! Ray, you know how far that is? How do you know we’ll even find enough tunnels to accommodate all of us? Isn’t there another group living below Valles Marineris? They won’t be happy to have our people descend on them. There won’t be enough air, water, and as for food! Forget it. Have you thought this through?”

  “Andy, give the order, get them packing their things. I’ll worry about the folks at Valles Marineris.”

  The man nodded and left. Jamison slumped. “I’m sorry, but he’s right. We’ll do our best to escape, but there are difficulties if we go to Valles Marineris. Not that there’s an alternative. The bastards have beaten us; we can’t counter their technology. There’s no other way.”

  “There is another way.”

  They looked at Cage, and Ortiz flared, “What would you know? You just got here.”

  “War is war. I’ve fought on Mars, and I know about their technology. What I’m saying is leaving this place could be the biggest mistake of your lives.”

  “War is war,” she snorted, “What does that mean? What’s this other way?”

  He stared at each of them in turn. There was a noise from outside the room, people listening in, and murmuring to one another. He didn’t care.

  “What it means is this. Leave here, and they’ll follow, and sooner or later they’ll catch up with you and destroy you. You asked what’s the other way. It’s this. Fight them. You call yourselves ‘Justice’? Fine, if that’s what you want, go out, and fight for it. If they won’t give it to you, you’ll have to take it.”

  The murmuring noise stopped. It was as if a crowd of people sucked in a large breath simultaneously and held it. A man entered the room, scowling, a big man. Cataldi, the hardass company commander. He ignored Cage and stared at Jamison.

  “Colonel,” he spat out the single word. Cage hadn’t heard him using anything other than his first name, Ray. The military title wasn’t a politeness. It was said as an insult, to make a point. To remind him of his responsibilities, the ones he was in process of failing at.

  “Our people heard what this crazy guy is saying. We long ago agreed that to go out and confront RedCorp would be tantamount to suicide. I hope you’re not listening to this crap.”

  “What’s your suggestion, Don? They’re gonna find us, mighty soon.”

  A sigh. “We agreed! Stay underground and reach Valles Marineris. Colonel, we must start moving now.”

  Jamison nodded. “Ortiz, what do you say?” They all flinched as nearby a series of surface detonations brought down more dust and rock chips on their heads. The rock floor shook beneath their feet. “Jesus, are they looking for us, or trying to bury us?”

  Cage grimaced. “That’s what they are doing, but as they focus on a likely target, they’ll use heavier charges when they get closer. I’m sorry, but they’re close. We don’t have long. Fight or keep on running; those’re the choices. These charges aren’t to kill us, they’re to flush us out, like game to the hunters.”

  “Or die,” Cataldi snarled, “Don’t forget that one, Cage.”

  “Or die,” he agreed.

  “Ortiz, you didn’t give me your opinion,” Jamison waited.

  “The group at Valles Marineris is stretched. They don’t have the spaceport to raid for supplies like we do. Food, water, air, there isn’t enough. It’s a hellhole down there.”

  “We’d have to ration it,” Cataldi grumbled.

  “They already do, and they’re starving. Yet if we try to fight it out here, we’ll lose. We can’t go head-to-head with RedCorp, not in open battle. That would be suicide.” She looked at Cage. “You understand what I’m saying. We just don’t have the means to beat them. We don’t even have enough people to fight. It looks like we’re going to need Valles Marineris.”

  Jamison stared at him. “You see what we’re up against. We’ve always known it would come to this. It’s just come sooner rather than later.”

  “I understand. How far is Valles Marineris? How long to reach it, underground?”

  “You wouldn’t get far on the surface. How long? I’d say four hours, if we hitch a ride on the pneumatic freight rail system. We’ve done it before, and if we tried walking through the tunnels, we’d never make it.”

  “I’d say that’s about the amount of time we have left before they locate us and arrive in force. Four hours.”

  Jamison looked tired. “Sounds about right.” He was seeing the lives of the people who followed him ripped apart, “Four hours. We don’t have a choice, do we?”

  “Can you contact the group at Valles Marineris?”

  A shrug. “Sure, we have communications links to all four groups on Mars.”

  “Contact them. Bring them here, every man who can carry a gun. Bring all of your troops together and fight. Your army is divided, and that’s a surefire way to lose. Put every man into the field, a single, unified force. Then you can hit them.”

  A silence descended on the room. Cataldi broke it. “You’re outta your damned mind.”

  Jamison seemed to sway, and Cage understood. He was visualizing the end. The end of everything they’d worked and fought for, women, children, husbands, fathers, and mothers, all facing an imminent and terrible death.

  Ortiz was immobile, her face frozen, thinking. When she spoke, her voice was trancelike, as if she was forcing out each word, each syllable.

  Pronouncing a sentence of death?

  “He’s right.”

  “Damn right,” Cataldi muttered.

  “I meant Cage. He’s right. We’ve been living like moles for years, and where did it get us? Our people are dying, each and every day, dying in useless raids to steal some food, or a few oxygen bottles from a landed lighter. We’re living on the crumbs from RedCorp, and the end has to come soon. Either way, I say let’s finish it now. It’s our best chance, an overwhelming attack; one they don’t expect. They think they’re hunting us down like dogs, so they’ll be confident, and they’ll take chances. Imagine, hundreds of fighters, thousands, if they all arrive. Hit them everywhere, where they’re least expecting it. They’ll be deployed in the field, waiting for those damn drones to pinpoint our location.”

  “Can we win?” Jamison’s voice was no more than a whisper.

  “Yes.”

  “Cage?”

  “Yes.”

  “Don?”

  “They’ll murder us.”

  He thought for a few seconds, and he straightened. He was back. The old Colonel Ray Jamison, leader of the Justice Movement, a fighting man. “Maybe they will. And maybe they won’t. We fight. Ortiz, send out the messages, and get ‘em here, every man and woman that can use a weapon. Four hours, that’s what we have. Don, can we hold for four hours?”

  “This is crazy.”

  “I hear you. The question I asked is can we hold.”

  A pause. “Maybe. Just about.”

  “Pass the word. Send the civilians deeper into the tunnels and prepare to deploy. We fight. God help us.”

  A woman poked her head around the door. Eyes staring, terrified. “Ray, they found us.”

  “Crawlers?”

  “Not yet, our sentries said they're Red
Corp troopers with a bunch of MPs. The estimates are around seventy or eighty troops, and they’ve joined forces with RedCorp. So far, they’ve broken through into an auxiliary tunnel, but it won’t be long before they’re here. Our sentry guns activated, but they knocked them out in seconds.”

  She panted before continuing.

  “We have ten minutes at most before they’re on top of us.”

  “Get everyone moving. Don’t stop for anything. Ortiz, make sure those messages go out. Don, we’ll have to pull back to a more defensible position where we can hold them for four hours. Cage, you and your friends can join them. I’ll stay and make a rearguard with Ortiz. You up for it, Anna?”

  Her eyes were shining. Part fear, part elation. The moment had come. “Damn right I’m up for it.”

  “Cage, you…where’re you going?”

  He was walking out the door, and he stopped to reply. “I’m going out to meet them. I never was much for defense. They’ll be expecting to see people running, so when I pop up and start blasting, they’ll think twice before they come charging in.”

  “I can’t allow it. They’ll turn you into dust the moment they see you. Cage, even you can’t fight off seventy or eighty troops and survive.”

  “Colonel, I’m on my last life. Once the battle starts, all it needs is a couple of hits in the wrong place and I’m finished. I’m not going out with my back to them. If they bring me down, it’ll be face-to-face.”

  The Colonel gave a shake of his head. “There must be another way. The idea of you going out there alone, it’s hard to swallow. We need you.”

  “He won’t be alone.” Rose put herself between them, “I’m going with him.”

  “Rose, you can’t do this. You’ve come all this way to get answers. Now you’ll die, and for nothing. You’re not coming.”

  “I lost Rob, and now you’re about to go up against these animals. Besides,” she grinned, “I can shoot, along with the next person.”

  “What about Rob? He could be alive.”

  She shook her head. “I doubt that. I can’t explain it. Somehow, I know I’m not going to see him again. I feel he may be alive, but not alive.”

  She looked up at him. “He could be dead. If they took him, it wouldn’t have been for any good reason. I just know I’ll never hear his voice again.”