Wire leads to a biological scanner had been attached to the Martian and several scientists were monitoring the hookups.
The yellow Martian’s most notable feature was the enormous bowl-shaped carapace that crowned its body. The bowl shape and size suggested the creature possessed a brain of considerable intellect. At the moment, its long eye stalks were extended and its multifaceted eyes were fixed on General Constantine Augusto.
Captain Archard Rahn was distinctly uneasy. Over twenty people were crammed into the cell, and a pair of BioMarines stood guard at the door. But Archard had a sense that the Martian was only interested in the general. The creature must know Augusto was in charge. Perhaps by simple deduction, since the general was the only one barking orders. Or was it something more?
The head of the Science Center, Dr. Clarence Huffington, brought over an e-reader and showed it to Augusto.
“There’s not much to report, I’m afraid, General. We haven’t been able to take a blood sample. The thing’s shell is too thick for our needles to penetrate.”
General Augusto gave the readings a glance and thrust the e-reader at the scientist. “We’ve only just begun, Doctor. An hour from now we’ll know a lot more.” He turned to his aide, Major Fogarty. “Have a power saw and a drill brought down.”
The major whisked out.
“Look at it,” General Augusto said. Striding over, he placed his hands on his hips and glared up at its compound eyes. “If this thing thinks it can drive us from Mars, it has another think coming.”
“We’ve tried communicating, with no result,” Dr. Huffington said. “And yet…” He looked at the bowl-shaped brain and stopped.
“And yet what?” General Augusto prompted.
“Nothing,” Dr. Huffington said. “Jitters, I suppose. I’ve never examined an alien life form before.”
Archard cleared his throat. “If I may make an observation, sir?”
“That’s why you’re here,” General Augusto said. “You’re the only real expert we have on these things.”
“I wouldn’t go that far,” Archard said. “But I did have the impression they communicate differently than we do.”
“How so?”
“When I stumbled on their underground city, one of them spotted me. The moment it did, every last creature stopped what it was doing and turned and stared. It was as if they shared some sort of mental link.”
“Telepathy?” Dr. Huffington said. “You’re suggesting they can read our minds?”
Archard shrugged. “I don’t know about ours but they appear to be able to read each other’s.”
“That’s ridiculous,” General Augusto said.
Dr. Huffington knit his brow. “I wouldn’t be so quick to jump to conclusions, General. Bioenergy research on Earth has conclusively proven that certain plant life is able to communicate on a primitive level.”
General Augusto glared at the Martian. “So what if it can read ours? All I care about is picking that big brain apart so we can find out what makes them tick. I’m looking for a weakness, Doctor. Something we can exploit to our advantage.”
“I’ll do whatever you ask of me,” Dr. Huffington said. “But it will take time.”
General Augusto placed a hand on the Martian and the creature gave a slight shudder. “As docile as this thing has been, we have all the time in the world.”
“Peculiar, that,” Dr. Huffington said. “It didn’t resist at all when it was shackled.”
Archard’s unease grew. “That doesn’t fit what I know of them, General. They’re extremely aggressive.”
“The lobsters and the crabs, maybe,” General Augusto said and gave the yellow carapace a smack. “Their leaders, not so much.”
Just then Major Fogarty burst in. “General!”
“You’re back already?” General Augusto said. “Where’s the drill and the saw?”
“We’re getting reports, sir,” Major Fogarty said excitedly. “Seismic readings that have been growing in strength.”
“Seismic readings from where?” General Augusto said.
Major Fogarty pointed straight down. “From under the colony, sir. And the strongest readings…” He hesitated, his gaze resting on the yellow Martian.
“Spit it out, damn you,” General Augusto said.
“The strongest readings, sir,” Major Fogarty said, “come from under this very building.”
34
“Your idea is insane,” Trisna Sahir said. She was holding her daughter Behulah in her left arm and clasping Piotr Zabinski’s hand with her other.
“I’ve been through this horror twice,” Dr. Katla Dkany said. “I’ll be damned if I’ll suffer through another one.” Poking her head around the corner, Katla took stock.
Bradbury’s Emergency Shelter was a block west of the Admin Center. Intended as a refuge of last resort in the event of a calamity, the shelter contained rations and air tanks and whatever else the colonists might need in a crisis situation. It also kept spare EVA suits.
That last item interested Katla most. To reach the drop ships, they must exit the dome. And they dare not step foot outside without a suit. To do so meant instant death.
Normally, the Shelter was as quiet as a cemetery back on Earth. No one ever had occasion to use it. It wasn’t even manned. Or locked.
At the moment, though, several soldiers were standing out in front, talking.
Katla pulled back before they saw her watching them.
“Is something the matter?” Trisna asked.
“They might have posted guards.”
“Good. Then we can forget your crazy idea,” Trisna said. “Even if by some miracle we gain access to a drop ship, who is going to fly it? I can assure you I’m not. I wouldn’t have the first idea how.”
“It can’t be that hard,” Katla said. “The systems are mostly automated.”
“Mostly?”
“Besides, I might have misspoke,” Katla said. “We don’t to steal one.”
“Praise Vishnu. You have come to your senses.”
“We only need to sneak on board.”
Trisna sighed and bowed her head. “Why are you my friend? What did I do to deserve you?”
“I beg your pardon?” Katla said.
“Nothing,” Trisna said. “I suppose sneaking on board is wiser than trying to fly one. The punishment for being caught should be much less.”
“That’s the spirit.”
Katla peeked out again and was delighted to see that the troopers had gone off down the street. Plucking at Trisna’s sleeve, she said, “Quick. Before anyone else comes by.”
Entry was gained by tapping a code into an access panel, and the code was plainly stamped for anyone to use. Katla punched in the mix of numbers and letters, the panel light turned green, and the door opened with a slight hiss. She pulled Trisna in after her as the overhead lights automatically came on.
“We’re in!”
“Lucky us,” Trisna said.
The EVA suits were on racks near the front. Beyond were scores of shelves piled high with supplies.
Anxiously, Katla inspected the suits. They were older models, the kind colonists used in the early days. Bulky, but serviceable. She was afraid there wouldn’t be any small enough for the children but on the last rack were several that would fit Behulah and Piotr.
“We’re in luck.”
“If you want to think so, fine.”
Katla turned. “We have to work together, Trisna, or we’ll never make it off-planet. And unless we do, we’re as good as dead.”
“You don’t know that.”
Katla gestured at Behulah and Piotr. “It’s not just us we have to consider.”
“I know,” Trisna said, and gave her daughter a tender kiss on the cheek. “They are why I am here. Were it just me, I would let you go your merry way and come visit you in prison.”
“Funny lady.”
“I didn’t mean it to be.”
It took much longer than Katla liked to shrug
and tug into the EVA suits and to figure out the control pads on the sleeves. Then each air tank had to be checked to verify it was full.
Finally, they were ready.
“We’ll carry our helmets,” she said. “It might look suspicious if we put them on before we reach the airlock.”
“How do you know they will even let us through?” Trisna said.
“I’ll say ‘pretty please.’”
“I must say, it is a shock to have known you so long and only now realize you need counseling.” Trisna grinned as she said it.
Katla peered out the window to be sure the coast was clear. “Stay close. And whatever happens, don’t become separated.” She held out her hand to Piotr.
“Hold tight to me,” Trisna said to Behulah. “And if I set you down and tell you to run, do so.”
“Yes, mother.”
Katla went out first, looked both ways, and motioned. Smiling, she adopted a casual air, strolling along as if she didn’t have a care in the world.
Trying hard to imitate her, Trisna said, “How can you be so calm? My brain is screaming at me to forget this madness and go have some tea.”
Passers-by paid no particular attention. EVA suits were common, after all.
Katla came to an intersection and turned right onto Carter Street.
“Where are you going?” Trisna said. “I thought you were heading for the airlock.”
“The main airlock will have soldiers going in and out,” Katla figured. “We’re better off using the smaller lock on the south side.”
“You know best,” Trisna said in a tone that hinted she had her doubts.
“I hope we get there before all hell breaks loose.”
“Ever the optimist,” Trisna said dryly, and suddenly stopped. “Wait. Do you feel that?”
The ground under them was shaking. The tremors weren’t strong enough to cause them to lose their balance but the effect was unnerving.
“Katla?” Piotr said fearfully.
“An earthquake, do you think?” Trisna said.
Before Katla could answer, the ground shook even harder, and from the bowels of Mars there issued a loud rumble.
35
There were days when Private Everett missed the hills of his native Kentucky so much it hurt. Days when he wondered what in the world he was thinking when he volunteered for duty on Mars. Sure, he earned three times his pay grade. But it hadn’t been just about the money.
He’d always liked to explore. When he was a boy, the Kentucky backwoods had been an unknown realm rife with adventure. He’d always hankered to know what lay over that next ridge, over that next hill.
He supposed it was only natural that when he grew up, he hankered to see what lay on the next planet.
Still, at moments like this, he could kick himself for being so naïve. Twice now, through sheer, dumb luck, he had managed to survive the destruction of a colony. But no one’s luck held forever. The third time might be the end of his string.
As Captain Ferris studied the screen graph of the seismic activity their sensors were picking up, Everett gazed longingly at the golden domes they were protecting. He wondered where his friends were; Private Pasco, Dr. Dkany, that Hindu gal, and Captain Rahn.
“Picking up motion, Captain!” the tech trooper announced.
“Underground?” Captain Ferris said.
“No,” the trooper responded, and pointed toward the stark Martian terrain beyond. “Out there, ma’am.”
Without being told to, Everett scrambled up the trench and poked his head over the rim.
Private Keller joined him. “Do you see what I see?”
Private Everett frowned. How could he miss it? A gigantic cloud of dust was rising all along the far horizon.
“A dust storm, you think?” Private Keller said.
Everett pondered. Dust storms weren’t uncommon. Instead of wind, it was the sun that caused them. The atmosphere was so thin, that when the sun warmed it, it caused the air to move, whisking up a lot of fine dust in the process. But in this case, he said, “No.”
“Why not?”
“Too much, too fast, over too wide an area,” was Everett’s assessment.
“Dust storms can be that big. Bigger even,” Keller said. “Remember the global ones?”
“Yeah,” Everett said. The last superstorm, as they were called, had been three years ago. “This feels different.”
“You can feel dust?” Keller teased.
Everett realized Captain Ferris was beside them and was impressed. He hadn’t heard her come up.
“I think Private Everett is right.”
Sergeant Kline materialized at her elbow. “So the dust is rising in a giant circle with us in the middle? You know what that makes us?”
“What?” Private Keller said.
“The bullseye.”
Everett swore. “The critters have skunked us and made our drop ships next to useless.”
“Oh, hell,” Captain Ferris said.
“Ma’am?” Private Keller said.
“He’s right again,” Captain Ferris said. “All that dust would wreak havoc with the drop ship engines. They won’t be able to provide air support.”
“It will also mess up our sensors,” Everett said. “Bigtime.”
“Hell, hell, hell,” Captain Ferris said.
“Wait a minute,” Private Keller said. “Are you two saying that the Martians are doing it on purpose?”
“That would be my guess,” Everett said.
“No need to panic,” Captain Ferris said. “We have enough firepower to mow them down right and left.”
“You really think so, ma’am?” Private Keller said.
“They can’t get anywhere close,” Captain Ferris predicted. “We’ve overlapped the field of fire of our gun emplacements so that each supports the others to either side. It would take a zillion Martians to break through.”
In the short time they were talking, the cloud had grown twice as large.
“More motion, Captain!” the tech specialist hollered.
“Out there?” Ferris said, nodding.
“No, ma’am. Under our feet.”
“What?” Captain Ferris jumped down to the bottom of the trench and moved to the tech’s station.
Everett nudged Keller and followed.
The sensor screen displayed a legion of huge shapes deep underground. Shapes that were crisscrossing back and forth in a definite pattern. The seismic indicators were going crazy.
“What the hell are those things?” Captain Ferris said. “There must hundreds of them.”
An icy chill swept through Everett. “Those are Martian borers, sir. The creatures that make their tunnels.”
“And they’re digging away at the dirt under us?” Captain Ferris said in alarm. “Do you know what that means?”
The ground began to rumble and shake.
36
Captain Archard Rahn’s worst fear was coming to pass. The Martians were attacking the third colony. The floor and walls had begun to shake and he was certain it would only grow worse. “General, we have to get out of here.”
“Nonsense,” General Augusto said.
The entire cell gave a lurch and Archard nearly lost his balance. It was if the floor were falling out from under them. A second tremor made him realize it wasn’t the floor; it was the entire building.
“What’s going on?” General Augusto demanded. “Speak to me, Fogarty.”
The major was listening to his commlink and had paled. “It’s the Martians, sir.”
“What about them, damn it?”
“They appear to be digging away at the dirt under us.”
A third, more powerful jolt, sent Archard to one knee. His EVA suit absorbed most of the force, but the pain still made him wince. Others weren’t so fortunate. A trooper pitched face-first against a wall and left a bloody smear. A scientist fell onto the monitoring console, his hand gave a loud crack, and he cried out.
“It’s happening all o
ver Bradbury,” Major Fogarty said. “The Martians are undermining the entire colony.”
For the first time since Archard met him, General Constantine Augusto was too shocked to speak. With a visible effort, he gathered himself and activated his own commlink. “This is General Augusto to all units and personnel. We’re under assault from below. Troopers not assigned to specific posts will report to U.N.I.C. HQ, ASAP. All others, defend and protect.”
Major Fogarty made bold to grab the general’s forearm. “We should leave, sir, as Captain Rahn suggested. Immediately.”
“I’m not going anywhere without my prisoner,” Augusto said.
The creature, Archard noticed, had turned its eye stalks toward the floor. The implication was like a blow to his gut. “General!” he shouted to be heard above the rumbling. “You have to head topside! The Martians are coming after you, personally!”
“Nonsense, Captain,” General Augusto said. “They don’t know who or where I am.”
“Yes, they do,” Archard said, gesturing at the yellow Martian. “Don’t you see? It can communicate with the rest of its kind.”
“We haven’t established that they are indeed telepathic,” General Augusto said skeptically.
“Accept that they are,” Archard urged. “And leave. Please. Before it’s too late.”
The building shook to the most violent quake yet---and the floor began to slide out from under them. Slowly but steadily it was sinking into the ground.
Major Fogarty turned to the BioMarines. “Get the general out of here! Now!”
Moving was difficult. Archard started toward the door but it was like walking on the deck of a pitching boat.
The BioMarines, though, didn’t seem to be affected. They sprang to either side of the general and seized him by the arms.
“What in God’s name do you think you’re doing?” Augusto bellowed. “Release me this instant!”
The tall form of KLL-1 filled the doorway. “No! Bring the general. We must keep him alive at all costs!”
“Let go of me, damn you!” Augusto raged. “This is rank insubordination!”
Species War: Battlefield Mars Book 3 Page 10