Two officers arrived at the quartermaster’s desk behind her.
“Hello,” one shouted, “we’re supposed to pick up some kit? Special operation or something?”
The quartermaster’s assistant returned with Maya’s kit and placed it on the desk. “Hold your comdevs over here, please,” she said to the two officers, “for sizes, etcetera.”
Maya took her kit and strapped herself into the body armour. She slung the rifle over her shoulder and placed the tactical helmet on her head. It offered a head-up display, analysing whatever was picked up from the helmet mounted cameras and overlaying what its AI decided might be tactically useful information over the wearer’s view. To test it Maya looked at the two officers who were now checking their weapons and putting on armour. The HUD immediately told her their names and ranks. It informed her that they had no criminal records, and that their weapons were registered to Venkdt Security.
She flipped the visor up so her face was fully visible and walked down to the transports waiting below. As she neared the transports a man and a woman approached her.
“Commissioner Foveaux,” the man said, “we have fourteen officers here beside us and we’re expecting the rest very soon.”
“Good,” said Foveaux. “I want the most heavily armed in the first transport with me, less heavily in the second and so on.”
“Very good, Commissioner,” said the woman. “Where are we going?”
Foveaux fixed her with a gentle stare. “I’ll come to that in a minute. What’s important is that we look scary and capable.”
“Yes, Commissioner.”
“Can you do that?”
“Yes, Commissioner.”
Foveaux spoke to the man. “Let me know when the rest are here and I’ll begin the briefing.” As she was speaking another transport pulled into the bay. Two officers got out of the front and walked to the rear doors. They opened them and ushered out a group of worse-for-wear party-goers who appeared to be chained together. Behind them two more officers emerged from the transport. “Ind-dep-end-ent Maaars!” one of the party-goers bellowed. An officer prodded him in the ribs with a night-stick.
“Keep it down,” he said, as they marched the revellers through the building for processing.
The stragglers seemed to arrive as one whole group. Maybe they’d met up at the refectory or had all just come off duty together. As they gathered by the transports, fiddling with their weapons and armour, Maya called out, “Listen up! Gather round me here.” Officers duly congregated in a semi-circle about her. She waited for them to settle down.
“We are going over to the garrison. We are going there so I can negotiate with Colonel Shaw about the garrison’s status now that Mars has gained independence. I expect Colonel Shaw will be resistant to any arguments I have to make. So be it. The reason we are going in force is twofold. Firstly, I want to show the colonel that we have force of arms and are a more than equal match for the forces under her command. Secondly, I want to deter the colonel from resisting the changes that have recently taken place by denying our authority. I short, I don’t want her to try to arrest me.
“This will be a delicate operation. It will be a show of strength, not an attack. Realistically, I don’t expect the colonel to accede to our demands. I do expect her to have plenty to think about once we have left. Questions?”
A hand was raised. “What do we do if they, you know, get rough?”
“Any sign of trouble we pull back. I’ll say it again; this is not an attack. If things start to escalate we pull out immediately. But all the while we’re there we need to look serious and we need to look plausible.”
“When are we going?”
“Now.”
The garrison was housed in a three storey building which was mostly underground. It was built into the rock, the rear side of it ending in a solid wall of Martian permafrost, but the front side facing an open area, like a standard office building on Earth. The open area served as a parade ground and training area, as well as a transport hub. Above this area was a huge vaulted Perspex ceiling, criss-crossed by the beams and struts supporting it. The technology was pre-dome, though the building was actually newer than that.
The garrison had two approaches, one from directly in front and one from the side. Foveaux’s forces came from the tunnel to the side. Exiting the tunnel the three transports found themselves in a wider space with a perimeter wall and an entrance to the compound beyond guarded by two USAN troops.
Maya got out of the first transport and approached the guards. “Can we come in? I’d like to talk with Colonel Shaw.”
“Do you have an appointment, Ms?” said one of the guards.
“I don’t,” said Maya, “but it’s urgent. Could you get the colonel out here for me?”
The guards conferred, then one wandered away a short distance, mumbling into his comdev. The other spoke to Foveaux. “We’re trying to get hold of the colonel for you now, Ms. Would you mind waiting back in the transport?”
“I would, actually,” said Foveaux. She walked back to the lead transport and banged on the side. The back doors opened and officers spilled out. She repeated the operation on the other two transports until she was surrounded by armed officers. As planned, the most heavily armed were at the front. The guard now mumbled something into his comdev. He conferred a bit then put the comdev away.
He approached Foveaux. “Ms, could you please have your people wait in the transports?” he said. If he was nervous, he wasn’t showing it.
“We’re fine, thank you,” said Foveaux.
The guard backed away without argument, once again speaking into his comdev. The other guard approached him and spoke quietly into his ear. He nodded, and the two guards went back to their positions either side of the gate. The second guard shouted to Foveaux, “The colonel will be with you presently.” He went back to guarding, looking bored.
Ten minutes later Colonel Katrina Shaw left the garrison building and strode toward the gate. She was flanked by her subordinate officers, Majors Edley and Bowers. Behind them were at least a dozen armed soldiers of the USAN. They carried their sub machine guns in their hands, marching in step with their commanding officers.
Shaw was an unusually tall woman, and broad. She had swimmer’s shoulders and her dark hair was closely cropped. She had strong features. Within a few seconds they were at the gate. Shaw gestured to the guards, who raised the barrier, and she walked through to meet Foveaux. Her phalanx of guards remained inside the compound, two deep across the entrance.
“Colonel Shaw,” she said, “you must be Maya Foveaux. We’ve talked before, nice to meet you finally. What can we do for you?”
Maya had planned to offer Shaw her hand, but reacting to Shaw’s tone, she felt disinclined to do so. “I’m here representing the new Martian Security Service. I’d like to discuss the handover of security operations.”
“‘Hand over of security operations,’ well, well,” said Shaw. “My commanding officer hasn’t informed me of any such handover, so until I have a signed order from her there isn’t much to discuss.”
“Your commanding officer won’t know about it because the decision came from me. We’re taking over your operations. That’s just how it is. I’d like it very much if you’d work with me. You and your people have a wealth of knowledge and other resources that could be of great benefit to our new service. We can work out terms and a timetable and do this in a civilized manner. I can offer a job to any of your people who want one.”
Shaw shifted her weight from one leg to the other. “And on whose authority are you acting?”
“The authority of the people of Mars and President Elect Charles Venkdt.”
Shaw nodded. “I’m an officer of the USAN Army. It says so right here on my shirt,” she said, pointing to her shirt. “We swear an oath of allegiance to our country, and we answer to our commander-in-chief, President Cortes.”
She took a step closer to Foveaux. “I do not recognise the authority of Ch
arles Venkdt, so unless I hear otherwise from my superiors I will continue to run this garrison as the USAN has ordered me to.”
She turned to walk away but Foveaux called after her. “How long have you been here? Nine years?”
Shaw stopped and turned back. “It’ll be ten, next spring.”
“You like it here, right? You’re settled. What’s back there for you? I know most of your men and women do a tour or two and rotate back, but not you. You’re one of us, Katrina. A Martian. Help us build the new Mars.”
Shaw eyed her suspiciously. “I’d prefer you to address me as Colonel Shaw,” she said, “and I will not be able to assist you building a new country.” She spat the words out contemptuously. “My loyalty is to the USAN, under whose president I serve. Until I receive the order I will not arrest you for treason, sedition or a hundred and one other things I could think of. Until then, get your goddamned tanks off my lawn. Because I promise you this; if you want a real live shooting war I’ll give you one.” She turned and disappeared through her armed escort, who remained at the entryway staring out at Foveaux’s Martian Security Service personnel, who stared back. There were maybe ten metres between the two groups, both carrying arms, both staring silently across the border between Martian soil and the one remaining vestige of the USAN’s authority on the Martian surface.
Foveaux waited a while. She hadn’t expected the meeting to go in her favour but she was disappointed with Shaw’s entrenched attitude. Still, a point had been made. The garrison was contained. Shaw must know for sure now that she was outnumbered by the MSS and lacked popular support in the wider community. It would keep her at bay but Foveaux really needed the garrison to be totally neutralized. She would have liked to have Shaw on-side, and on a more prosaic level she wanted the garrison building itself. She could work on that later.
Foveaux banged the side of a transport with her fist. “Okay people, load up,” she said. Her officers dutifully trudged to their transports and climbed aboard. Foveaux saw them all in before she took her place in the first one and led them back through the tunnel.
By the time she got back to her office it was late. The signing back in of all the kit and the debrief had taken longer than necessary. It was gone 02:00 in the morning when Foveaux sat back in her chair. She felt exhausted. Maybe it was the long day, or the adrenaline from the stand-off with Shaw. There was a slightly dreamlike quality to it all, like it maybe wasn’t actually happening. It seemed too fast, too crazy.
She thought about what she would need to do next. Her first priority was to get the MSS fully established. Lacking the garrison building she would have to run it all from Venkdt Security for the time being. She worried about how that might look, what with the conflict of interests. She reasoned that she might get away with it for a few months. Everyone was so giddy with independence fever they would hardly notice. Maybe she could ask Venkdt for a new site. He might have some warehouses or disused facilities that could do the job for a while.
She felt confident with her personnel. They had done well, doing exactly what had been asked of them. She had worked with them a long time and knew they could be trusted. The work ahead was going to be tough, but she felt assured. The only cloud on the horizon was Colonel Katrina Shaw and the USAN Garrison. She kept mulling over what her next move might be. Shaw would have to leave the garrison at some point. There were no flights back to Earth for nearly two years. Was she really going to sit it out for that long? Maybe she should have tried a more diplomatic approach. Shaw was the key. Maybe she would work on Shaw. She made a note on her terminal: ‘Invite Colonel Shaw for dinner.’ “Scratch that,” she said aloud to the terminal. “Invite Colonel Shaw for breakfast.” She then set to work on some documents and did not fall asleep until well into the night.
Katrina Shaw was a career soldier. She had signed up when she was twenty-one and fresh out of school. She had done officer training and risen quickly through the ranks, eventually attaining the position of colonel. She had been posted around the world and had requested to be considered for the Mars job should it become available. The stars aligned for her and, coming off a posting to Australia, she left for Mars in 2231.
She was well suited to the post. Though fascinated by military matters her strengths were man-management. The role on Mars was an odd one for the army. It was part symbolic and part police force. Shaw found it interesting, and she liked the smalltown feel of the place. The only thing she missed was the horses. There were some on Mars, but a trot around a dome was a poor substitute for the wild rides she had taken across the New Mexico deserts when she was a girl. She still rode occasionally, either in a dome or an IVR, but she sometimes longed for the open spaces.
Shaw arrived at Foveaux’s HQ at 07:00 in the morning. Foveaux was asleep at her desk. She woke with a start and leapt up. “I’m so sorry, Colonel, I must’ve fallen asleep,” she said.
“No apologies necessary,” said Shaw. “What is it?”
“I just thought we should talk, woman to woman, without the theatrics.”
“Okay. I’m listening.”
Foveaux gestured to a sofa. “Please, sit down,” she said. They sat on the sofa.
“I know you’re in a tough position. I want to help you negotiate a path through it in a way that’s best for you and best for us.”
“I thought I was coming here for breakfast,” said Shaw.
“Of course,” said Foveaux. She spoke to her comdev. “Can we get some food in here, please? Two breakfasts and some coffee.”
“Yes, sir,” came the reply.
“You’re in a tough situation. You have to hold your position as instructed, even though you know it’s pointless and won’t achieve anything. We will prevail, eventually, with you or without you.”
Shaw had a quizzical smirk on her face. “I guess you’re going to advise me on what I should do next?”
“Yes, I am. This doesn’t have to be a fight. If you join with us you can bring all of your subordinates with you. They won’t be committing treason, they’ll just be following orders.”
“I thought I made my position clear last night.”
“You did, abundantly so. That was before you knew about this.” Foveaux tapped her comdev and her terminal screen was displayed on the wall. A document there showed precise battle orders for an MSS attack on the garrison. There were diagrams, times and troop numbers. Shaw studied the plan carefully then turned to Foveaux.
“First of all, that’s a terrible plan of attack. I can see you’re a goddamned amateur at this and you’re right about needing help. Secondly, this is obviously a bluff.”
“Well,” said Foveaux, “we can debate the first point, but you’re right on the second. It’s a bluff. But what if you decided to take it at face value? Surely capitulating in the face of such insurmountable odds would be the honourable thing to do. You would be able to justify surrendering your forces in order to save them from a massacre. They would be answerable to you and off the hook for any charges that might get thrown about at a later date. And you would be able to justify your actions as the only course you could take in order to avoid unnecessary loss of life.”
Shaw thought. “I don’t think I could convince a court martial that I found these bullshit plans in the least bit plausible.”
A droid entered the room with the breakfast. Shaw poured herself a coffee. “And if I can’t do that it leaves me on the hook for all of it. Treason, Commissioner Foveaux, and by a commanding officer no less.”
“Surrendering isn’t treasonous and I’d make sure there was plenty of evidence that you were acting under duress, with no other reasonable option open to you. In ten, fifteen years this will all be a distant memory. They’ll forget all about it - maybe even give you a medal. Help me build the MSS. Don’t stand in the way of history.”
Shaw took a long draw from her coffee. “Thank you for breakfast, Commissioner Foveaux. I wish you the best of luck in all your endeavours.” She held out her hand. Foveaux took it and sho
ok it firmly. “I’ll look forward to the attack,” she said, and winked. She stood and went to leave the room. Maya stood too.
“What if we do attack?” she said.
“Now why on God’s green Earth would you do that?” said Shaw.
“To make it look plausible,” said Maya.
Shaw stopped in the doorway. “You’d do that? Bring two opposing forces together and risk a real live shooting war just to make it look like you mean business?”
“If I have to, yes,” said Foveaux. “Do I have to?”
Shaw stepped back into the room, square on to Foveaux, eye to eye. She was close enough that Foveaux could see the fine downy hair on her cheeks. “Commissioner,” she said, “I sure as hell hope you’re a better reader of people than you are a military tactician. Do what you need to do, but make damn sure you do it right.” She turned smartly on her heel and left.
Shaw’s office was located on the second floor of the garrison building. She had a window overlooking the parade ground below. The window was open, allowing her to hear the bangs clearly.
She had been seated at her desk discussing procurements and leave provision with her two senior officers, Majors Bowers and Edley. The two issues were pressing since the disputed nature - disputed by them, anyway - of the planet threw up many concerns in these areas. Shaw had elected to presume that the garrison’s personnel were effectively under house arrest. Venturing out of the compound and into the city seemed foolhardy. It could be read the wrong way by the MSS or lead to conflict with overzealous Martian citizens. All leave would have to be cancelled and reallocated later. Shaw was trying to figure some sort of additional compensation and distraction as she didn’t want her charges going stir crazy.
Procurement was the other pressing issue. The garrison was in the habit of sending transports out to the ports and warehouses to collect goods as necessary. They would now need to arrange deliveries. It would also be worthwhile stockpiling as much as they could in case any developing situation demanded it. Could they do that without raising suspicion? And what about the funding? Payment was usually made directly from Earth. What was the situation with that? There was lots to discuss and the meeting had been dragging on for most of the afternoon.
Ephialtes (Ephialtes Trilogy Book 1) Page 22