by gerald hall
As the last gravity shuttle full of refugees left Central Park, the jihadists continued to move through New York’s outer boroughs towards Manhattan. Sporatic firing continued to rain down upon the Islamist troops from the city’s many towering buildings. But the invaders would not be deterred. Their objective was the World Trade Center Building Number One. That behemoth structure was the tallest building in all of New York City and had replaced the Twin Tower that had been destroyed in a terrorist attack nearly fifty years earlier.
Likewise, another column of Islamist troops had penetrated the outer defenses of the Eastern Alliance capital. Now, they too were driving hard towards their objectives. Those objectives were the Alliance’s Legislature Building, the main military command center and the President’s residence which used to be the Virginia Governor’s mansion. The city’s defenders fought tooth and nail to stop the Islamists. But the sheer number of enemy troops simply overwhelmed the undermanned and poorly armed defenders.
At the Presidential Mansion, Alliance President Allison Harper stood in her private office going over some final details when Lieutenant General Terry Sharps was let in by a Secret Service agent. President Harper already knew what the general was there for.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, could you all give the general and me a few minutes in private please?” She quietly asked.
The dozen or so staffers and security personnel all left in less than a minute. Now, the only people in the room was the President of what little remained free of the United States of America and a very frustrated US Army lieutenant general.
“I just heard that you have taken yourself off of the manifest for the last shuttle leaving DC, Ma’am.”
“Yes, General. That is true. I am going to Washington by motorcade instead.” Allison calmly replied.
“We are running out of time. Even in our best case analysis, we are going to have Islamist troops on our doorstep in four more hours. They could be here even sooner though. That could put that Martian gravity drive shuttle in extreme danger. Madame President, we need to go now.” General Sharps insisted.
“No, General. This is one ship whose captain is staying with to the bitter end. You make sure that the others are able to get out of here safely. Then they will either go to our lunar base or to Hebes Chasma. Do not wait on me any longer either. You are to get our people out of here.”
“Are you sure that I can’t get you to change your mind, Ma’am? You have been one hell of a leader for us all.” The tall black major general asked once more.
“Some great leader. I led us to the most dramatic loss in all of American history. Sorry, General. This is the end of the line for me. But I’m doing to make damned sure that it will also be the end of the line for as many of those bastards as I can at the same time. You can be sure of that.” Allison grimly replied.
“Alright. It’s obvious that you are not going to give in on this, Ma’am. I will arrange for the remote control unit for the bombs is brought to you. My people will show you how to set them off when you feel that the time is right.”
“Thank you, General. Now, you better get going. I will take care of my part.”
“Thank you, Ma’am. God be with you.”
“God be with you also, General. It’s time for you to go now.”
Less than two hours later, the gravity shuttle Titan loaded the last person and was closing its ramp in preparation for departure. General Sharps took a last look in the direction of the White House through one of the vessel’s long range optical sensors. Even in the distance, he could see the large American flag flying over the ‘People’s House’. One last time, General Sharps stood at attention and saluted both the flag and the woman who led that great nation for the very last time. There were tears in his tired eyes as he felt the deck move under his feet as the gravity drives began to push the large ovoid craft skyward to safety.
Allison saw the gravity drive shuttle climb skyward with a weary smile on her face as she stood just outside the front of the White House. As the large craft silently began to shrink in the distance, she looked down to see a long column of trucks, tanks and other military vehicles streaming towards her. There had to be tens of thousands of jihadists in that one column alone. Allison already knew of the other columns going elsewhere in the Nation’s capital.
In her hand, she held a remote control that was connected to multiple thermonuclear warheads that had been removed from dismantled ICBM strategic missiles. The smallest of these warheads had ten times the yield of the bomb that levelled Hiroshima over one hundred years earlier. As she thought about all of the destructive power that she literally held in the palm of her hand sent chills running down Allison’s spine. She still wondered if she was doing the right thing or if it would all end up backfiring on the refugees on the Moon and Mars, much less those who have already found themselves under Islamic rule.
Allison was still terrified at the thought of what she was about to do. There were still hundreds of Alliance soldiers within the limits of the Alliance’s capital, desperately fighting against the jihadist warriors. These brave men and women were dying by the dozens every minute as the enemy forces overwhelmed them. But each meter of ground gained by the jihadists was paid for in jihadist blood. Every moment that the enemy was delayed was also paid for with the dearest currency, the blood of patriots.
Allison knew that they were all going to die, either in battle or by the device that she held in her hand. But at least the death that she controlled in her hand would be quick and relatively painless.
The last President of the Eastern Alliance fought against the urge to go ahead and press the button to end this battle, once and for all. But she knew that she needed to wait until as much of the jihadist army and especially its leadership was drawn into the killing fields that she had set up for them. Allison also needed to wait until the last gravity shuttle could get as far away as possible to ensure that they would not be damaged by the nuclear blasts and ensuing radiation.
She silently prayed for the next ten minutes as she waited. She could hear the amount of gunfire dying down as armed resistance to the invaders was being crushed by the masses of jihadi troops. Allison was startled out of her meditation by the sound of several armored vehicles and light scout trucks ramming through the fence surrounding the White House and racing up the lawn towards her. She could see a variety of uniforms, but several appeared to be officers, perhaps even senior officers. Allison knew that it was time now.
She then smiled and pressed the button.
A large nondescript moving van next to the Presidential Mansion was only one of nearly a dozen similar vehicles recently parked in various locations throughout Washington and Richmond. All of the vital places like the Pentagon, the US Capitol, the Library of Congress, the Treasury Building, the headquarters of the FBI and in nearby Langley, Virginia, the headquarters of the CIA had been put to the torch or blown up beforehand. Even the Smithsonian Museum had been set on fire before the Islamists could reach it. All of the Alliance’s key leadership buildings had one of these vans parked right next to it. Each vehicle contained a thermonuclear warhead and a receiver device hooked to the weapon’s detonator. Even among the ruins of Washington, DC, several more of these devices had also been hidden, including one next to the White House.
When the vans received the proper signal, they all detonated at once, instantly incinerating everything within a radius of several kilometers. This included Allison Harper and every jihadist around her.
Some of the refugees escaping Richmond aboard the gravity shuttle Titan were looking down towards the Eastern Seaboard through viewports shortly before they reached the Martian interplanetary transport. Suddenly, they saw a series of intensely bright flashes of light erupt in the approximate areas of Richmond and Washington. Afterwards, all that could be seen from space was a large red glow in the area from the firestorm that was enveloping the entire Beltway area.
Upon learning of what had just happened, many of the people onb
oard Titan openly wept at the fate of the capital of the last free nation in the entire world.
“It is such a tragedy, the loss of all that history down there.” General Sharps bitterly noted as he learned of the explosions. He always knew that it was going to happen. But he was still saddened that it occurred anyway.
“It was already lost, Sir. Those barbarians would have destroyed it all anyway, sooner or later. They have done that everywhere else that they have taken over too. Just think about all of the ancient churches in Iraq that ISIS destroyed or the Buddha statues in Afghanistan destroyed by the Taliban, not to mention all of the places of worship that Muslim invaders had forcefully converted into mosques.
But, it was still better that the destruction was done at our own hands instead. At least the damned jihadists won’t be able to parade around with the spoils taken from the White House or any place else in our nation’s capital. But we will rebuild all that we can of the beauty that our ancestors created wherever we end up at. That, I guarantee you.” Captain Terrance Atherton, Titan’s commander grimly replied as he watched the red glow from the nuclear firestorms that enveloped Washington, Richmond and the rest of the Beltway area.
Eventually, Titan docked with the Martian interplanetary ship Glorious along with two other gravity drive shuttles, Ceres and Io. These shuttles brought people from elsewhere in the Southeast United States along with a few people from Japan and the few tiny areas still holding out against the Islamists.
“We are going to the lunar base first to drop off some personnel and supplies. We are also going to pick up a few things from the lunar colony to take to Hebes Chasma. Then Glorious will be breaking orbit to begin its journey towards Mars.” Captain Atherton explained to General Sharps.
“Is Glorious going to be the last ship from Mars to visit Earth, Captain?”
“I really don’t know. I think that there are still some plans for periodic visits to the Lunar Colony. But there is no flights that are specifically planned to return to Earth at this point. Circumstances could change though. We will always have a couple of gravity drive shuttles onboard any large transport flight going to a significant moon or other planetary body to land equipment and personnel in any event.”
“This will not be the end of the fighting in North America, I guarantee you. There are far too many people who will resort to guerilla warfare to continue to resist the Islamists.” The general replied while looking back towards Earth in the distance.
“I know. But they still won’t have a chance in hell of winning.”
“It’s not about winning for them. It will be about never submitting to the invaders of their homeland, no matter what. In their minds, at least they will die free while still fighting the good fight.” General Sharps sadly replied, still staring back at the homeworld that he left behind.
There were no flights from Mars to Earth afterwards.
Chapter Forty Three:
AgroDome #5
Hebes Chasma, Mars
January 1, 2050
“It is pretty amazing that we have so many of our friends from Ashley here at Hebes Chasma.” Aaron Marcum said when he saw Benjamin and Lissette Barnes inside of the domed garden.
“Well, we are thankful to have escaped Earth with our mom before the fall of the Alliance. I just wish that we could have brought your mom and dad with us.” Lissette sadly replied.
“I know. But I feel that my parents will always be with us in spirit, no matter where we go. They made such a tremendous difference in so many lives over the years. I’m sure that they are in Heaven looking down and smiling upon us all for what we have done.
We know that your mom did the best that she could in trying to convince my parents and others to leave Ashley before it was too late.”
“Thank you. It is truly amazing what is going on with this world that we have come to. It is changing so dramatically already with the rising temperatures and increasing atmospheric temperature. We heard that there is already liquid water accumulating in a few of the deepest Martian ravines.” Lissette said, changing the subject.
“It is true. We do have a few shallow ponds beginning to form down in some ancient river valleys. There have even been a few rain clouds down there. Unfortunately, we do not yet get enough sunlight down there to be able to begin planting any crops. The air pressure is also still pretty thin, even in those deep ravines. I have been told that it is very much like trying to breath on the top of Mount Everest without an oxygen mask.” Aaron responded.
“That is still a remarkable accomplishment over the past thirty years where there was practically no atmosphere at all.” Benjamin interjected.
“Well, much of the credit goes to whatever caused the Third Event. Between the regeneration of the Martian magnetosphere and the melting of the water trapped within the Martian soil, that event has been the real driver of the change of the Martian atmosphere.”
It was still largely unspoken even among these close friends that Deborah, Aaron’s adopted sister, was the cause of that mysterious Third Event.
“Well, the additional water and methane from the asteroids that the Martian unmanned probes have redirected here hasn’t hurt the terraforming project either.” Benjamin replied.
“No, it hasn’t. But we still need a lot more carbon and nitrogen added to the atmosphere and the biosphere in general. The carbon, combined with the hydrogen and nitrogen, will allow us to create more biomass. Then, we will finally be able to move agriculture out of the domes here and onto the Martian surface.” Aaron said as he looked up at the dome structure overhead.
“Is there any chance of a runaway greenhouse ever occurring on Mars after you get beyond a certain point with the terraforming project?” Benjamin asked.
“No. I seriously doubt it. No matter how much additional water and nitrogen that we introduce into the Martian atmosphere, it is always going to be a bit thin compared to Earth, much less any of the larger planets here in the Solar System. Mars is just a bit too small to retain that many gases in her atmosphere with her gravity. In addition, we are millions of miles further away from the Sun than Earth. So we have a lot less energy coming in to heat up our atmosphere. We believe that we will reach a nice equilibrium eventually where the maximum equatorial temperatures will feel like a mild summer day in New England.” Aaron explained as a young woman walked up.
“Basically, what my dear husband is trying to say is that while we have a lot of work left to do here, eventually this world is going to be a wonderful place to live and raise our descendants.” Miriam Marcum cheerfully told everyone.
Fortunately, we have a common language, English. Although our polymaths all have quite a talent for speaking multiple languages. Of course, the version of English that we speak here is constantly changing as we adopt words or phrases from the other native languages that our colonists here speak. That is actually pretty much the norm for English historically anyway.” Aaron noted.
“That will help considerably in integrating all of these new colonists into the society that we are creating here.” Miriam concluded with a broad smile.
Chapter Forty Four:
Deborah and Peter’s Quarters
Hebes Chasma, Mars.
April 18, 2054.
The Resistance on Earth is having a very hard time of things right now. The Pacific Caliphate and Arab Brotherhood continued to consolidate their hold upon all of their conquests. While there remained several small scale active insurrections in various parts of the world, especially in the former Eastern Alliance in North America, the rural areas of South America and the jungles of Africa, these resistance movements were slowly being strangled into extinction.
While the people that had escaped to the Moon and especially Mars were very busy building upon their new homes, they had not forgotten the people that they had left behind. But with the last refugee ships having arrived on Mars several years earlier, there still continued many questions about what the last free human outposts could do to help the
ir subjugated brothers and sisters.
Arthur Wheeler and his wife Andrea came over to visit Deborah and Peter at their quarters. Peter greeted the couple at the door.
“Hello, Arthur and Andrea. How have you two been doing?” Peter asked.
“We’ve been incredibly busy. We’ve both had several projects that we have been working on simultaneously. But since we both finally had a little bit of free time, we decided to come visit.”
“Well, I’m afraid that you just missed Deborah. She is out with the twins right now. There are times where she just wants to spend time alone with them. So I get to catch up on some of my own personal hobbies when they go out.” Peter replied.
“Well, they are very special children, I’m sure. Deborah is also an extraordinary mother as well.” Andrea said.
“Yes. The kids certainly seem to have a special connection with their mother. Who knows what they are talking about or doing, for that matter? But I am OK with them having that time. Deborah and the kids all seem so very happy when they return home. It is also very evident that they are also very happy to see me.” Peter said with a knowing and perhaps slightly mischievous smile.
“So, how are you doing, Peter? I know that you basically left your entire family behind when you came to Mars with Deborah?”
“I’m doing alright, thank you. I lost contact with most of my family pretty early on since they lived out on the West Coast. I also lost a lot of family members during the nuclear autumn prior to the creation of the Western Republic. I still worry sometimes about the ones that might still be alive somewhere in what is left of our old country. But I know that there really isn’t anything that I can do about it. I do appreciate your concern however, Arthur.”