“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 on 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 crossbow.
“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 who 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, I’ve 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, it will stop you falling too far when you slip,” said Anika.
Jann was last to enter the duct. Nills went first, 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 meters 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 respite from the long slow descent. Jann could hear Anika wince as they moved, her injured leg was taking a lot of strain. In the distance they could hear the muffled sounds of running and clamoring voices. The hybrids were racing up to the gallery where the explosion took place. So far no one had 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 looked back at them and put his finger to his lips. He unshouldered the railgun and faced it towards the access panel. Jann could hear movement outside, then scraping on the duct walls. Finally light flooded 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. Fewer 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… they 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 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.”
“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 stair 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 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 crouched down and moved off, using the vegetation for cover. They zigzagged 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 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 into the dense vegetation.
Jann was pinned down behind a low grow-bed. Nills and Anika were a good five meters away, also unable to move. “Nills, cover me,” she shouted. He nodded and started firing. Anika joined in. It was blind, no accuracy, it was just to draw the hybrids’ fire.
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 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 crossbow. 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, she was connecting. “For too long you have lived in the dream world of your past, locked inside the memories of your alphas.” 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, “Ther
e 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 birthright. 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 will 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.
“Screw this.” Jann judged the distance. It was a good forty meters; 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, arching 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?”
There was no mistaking the answer this time, a roar went up from the assembled crowd. She had them. A wild, enraged mob ready to do her bidding. She caught sight of Nills. He gave her the thumbs up again. “To the council chamber,” she shouted and raced off across the cavern, the mob charging behind.
Jann, Nills and Anika led the way up the main stairway and into a broad hallway leading up to the council chamber. Already the effects of the gas were emptying the room. Hybrids staggered out, coughing and spluttering. But they were not going down without a fight. As Jann and Nills came out onto the central corridor they were met with a hail of fire. Nills yelled and clutched his right shoulder. He staggered backwards and fell back down the first few steps. They were forced back, behind the cover of the stairwell.
Nills grimaced in pain. “Bastards.”
Jann grabbed the satchel of explosives that Nills was carrying. She knelt down and rummaged through it. “Which are the flash bombs?” She held two up with different markings. He nodded to her left hand. “Are you sure?”
“No, I’m too busy dying here.”
“Fuck it.” Jann pulled the pin out and lobbed it down the hallway. A second or two later the whole space lit up with an incandescent flash. Smoke filled the corridor, screams echoed from the walls.
She turned back to the eager mob of betas crushing up the stairs behind them and raised her arms. “Quiet. Everybody. Stop where you are, wait.” The mob murmured and muttered as they settled down. Jann shouted back down the hallway, “The next one’s explosive. You saw what it did to the upper gallery, so don’t make me throw one down on you.”
The hallway was silent.
“The show is over, there’s no way out, except through us. So lay down your weapons and surrender. You have ten seconds.”
From far down the hallway Jann could hear voices arguing and debating. “Seven… six… five…”
“Okay, okay, we surrender.”
A cheer rose up from the mob.
“Send the hybrid leader out first. Hold your weapon in the air, high above your head.” Jann ventured a peek around the corner. Smoke and dust clouded the corridor and obscured her view, she could see very little.
Then, from out of the fog, a figure emerged. It was Xenon, the hybrid leader, arms in the air, weapon over his head. Jann held up a grenade, pulled the pin, but held the lever tight. She moved towards him.
“Any sudden move and this gets lobbed into the council chamber.”
Xenon moved slowly forward.
“That’s close enough.” A knot of betas had come up behind her. “Put the weapon on the ground slowly and step back. He did as she asked and she signaled to Anika to pick it up. Jann moved over to the entrance of the council chamber and shouted into the room.
“Everyone out of there now, weapons in the air.”
The guards filed out first, then the three geneticists. They lined them up along the wall, kneeling on the floor. The room was emptied, save for Vanji. He was still inside.
Nills had decided he wasn’t dying. He stood behind Jann, his right shoulder a bloody mess. “Vanji, Vanji.” The mob had started chanting, baying for blood. It would be a lynching and Jann could do nothing to stop it.
“You’ve got to get them under control, Nills.”
“Jann, you’re the one they want to follow now. It’s up to you.”
“Listen, gather up a few betas you trust and put these guys under house arrest. Then we go in together and deal with Vanji. Okay?”
Nills went off and talked to Anika. As they were putting a team together, Jann approached the hybrid leader. “The others, where are they?”
He did that same weird staring into space for a brief moment. “They have put down their weapons, they want a guarantee of safety.”
“I can’t guarantee that, but I will do my best.” She turned to the betas and spoke in a loud, commanding voice.
“Listen up. The hybrids have surrendered along with the remains of the council. We have won, this colony is yours now. The fighting is over, I ask that no more blood be spilled.”
“Vanji, we want Vanji.”
Jann raised her hand. “Nills and I will deal with Vanji. Then we will let a new council of betas decide what to do.” This seemed to placate the mob somewhat. She turned back to Anika. “Get a group down to the entrance cavern and disarm the rest of the hybrids. Put them under house arrest and let them stew for a while. No more killing… if you can manage it.”
She nodded, and started to organize the mob into group. They seemed to respond well to her directions. Perhaps it was a symptom of the life they knew here. The safest option was to follow rather than lead.
Jann turned to Nills. “Okay, let’s drag him out.”
They entered the council chamber. It was empty.
“Dammit, he’s not here?” Nills scanned the room.
Jann ran back out and grabbed Xenon by the shoulder. “Where is he? Where’s he gone?”
“You’re too late.”
“What do you mean, too late?”
“He’s left the planet.”
For a moment Jann’s world stood still as her brain tried to fathom this revelation. Slowly the wheels turned and she realized—she had been played all along.
“Kayden,” she said.
The hybrid leader smiled. “Yes, Kayden.”
“Shit,” said Jann.
22
The MAV
Jann stood over the hybrid leader in stunned silence. How could she have been so dumb as to give the launch codes to Kayden? She had never trusted him, she should have listened to her instincts. Too late now.
Nills slumped on the floor, gripping his badly injured arm. He was losing a lot of blood.
“Nills, shit. You need medical help.” She called to some of the other betas, “Get him up, quick.”
“I’m okay, there are others that need help more than me.”
“You’re not okay. You’ve got a three inch metal spike sticking out of your shoulder.”
Two betas came over and helped him stand up. “Come on Nills, let’s get to sickbay and get you patched up.”
Nills groaned as he was lifted. “That bastard Vanji. How did we not see this coming? He’s going to get away with it.�
��
“Maybe not,” said Jann
“What do you mean?”
“What other vehicles are there in the entrance cavern? Anything working?”
“Possibly some quad-bikes. Why?”
“Because there may still be time. Depending on the orientation of the Odyssey in orbit, it can take several hours before launch.”
“You mean they could still be on the surface?”
“Possibly. Listen, have someone bring my EVA suit to the entrance and get a mechanic to help me start one of those quad-bikes.”
She started to move but Nills grabbed her arm. “You’re not thinking of stopping them? That’s crazy.”
“Nills, do you really want him to get away with what he did here, all the recycling, all the torture?”
“No… but…”
“But nothing. Don’t imagine for one minute that he’s going back to Earth to put his feet up and retire. The knowledge he possesses has the potential to completely alter human society—and not for the better.”
Nills’ face melted into resignation.
“This was all planned, Nills. He’s been working on this for a long time. Someone, or some group on Earth is helping him. That’s the scary part. So he has to be stopped.”
Nills nodded and then embraced her with his good arm, in a tight grip. “I know. I just don’t want you to go and die on us now.”
Jann held his face in her hands and touched his forehead with her own. “It’s not about us anymore. It’s about humanity. It’s about all that is right. You once said that to me… a long time ago.”
Colony Mars Ultimate Edition Page 29