Battleground Mars

Chapter Eight


His crew stared at each other. The explosion had not only destroyed part of Mars Base’s life support. It had also destroyed the will to fight of the people left inside.
Then they all turned to look at Rahm, he felt their eyes boring into his back.
“We’ve got a problem,” Saul finally stated.
“Only one?”
They all laughed. At least he’d said the right thing. They were beset with problems, and things looked as if they could only get worse. Unless they fought.
“None of this changes anything,” he murmured, as much to himself as to his crew. But they were all listening, so he decided to keep going and explain the ideas that were forming in his mind.
“We need to make sure that Dan and his technician are safe. We’re not going to do a Tobin Ryles and abandon him.”
They nodded their agreement.
“Nobody thought you would abandon anyone,” Gabi murmured softly.
“Second, we’ve got the means to keep our life support going on the planet. Most of what we need we’ve already taken off the Taurons, at least until that last raid. It just means that we need to replace out losses and take what we need from them to keep us going.”
They all nodded with enthusiasm. After all, it made sense. Every time the Taurons hit their life support, take back what they needed.
“It’ll be harder than ever this time,” Saul countered. “We’ve given them a bloody nose enough times that they’ll be watching for us. We could walk into an ambush again. We can’t afford to lose any more of our people.”
“You’re quite correct. That’s why we lump the whole problem together. The Taurons. I say we destroy them now, wipe them out utterly. Or at least that they run back home defeated.”
“I’d like to see that,” Brad called down from his station high up on the frame. “I’ll send something for them to remember us as they leave. Something that’ll put a sting in their tails.”
They drove on to the cave, this time there was a new mood in the group. They’d suffered so many blows of late that the idea that they’d get back at the Taurons fired their enthusiasm. Until Dan Weathers pointed out the problem in clearer detail.
“It’s like this. We’re running out of time. Mars Base is down to five days of life support. That’s the maximum amount of time you have left to beat the Taurons. It ain’t going to happen.”
“We still have the thermite,” Gabi pointed out. “If we can get inside their base and plant it, the blast would wipe them out.”
Dan looked thoughtful. Finally he nodded. “I’ve just been working it all out. Yes, it would certainly destroy most of them, maybe all. But how would you get to their base? Ask the nearest Tauron?”
No one laughed.
“I can find the Tauron base.”
They looked at Kaz. “Go on,” Rahm encouraged him.
“We brought back the recording from the ambush in the Nepenthe Valley. After you’d gone I watched it again, several times. Then I enhanced the video and just about made out a dark shadow in the distance. It was halfway up Mount Albor, in the center of the Elysium region.”
They waited. “A dark shadow, what do you mean?” Kacy enquired. As a technician, she liked neater descriptions.
Kaz appeared to ignore her. “What drew my attention to it was movement in and out. It’s a cave entrance.”
“And you think it’s the Tauron base?”
He nodded. “Yes, I do. We’d have been cleverer if we’d put Mars Base in a cave, it would be less vulnerable to attack.”
“We didn’t know they were so hostile at the time,” Kacy objected.
“We’ve know for several years. I’d guess it was a tug of war between money and men’s lives. The money won. But anyway, that’s where I believe the base is situated.”
“Then let’s hit the bastards.” Saul exclaimed. “It’s time to show them that we don’t take kindly to these attacks.”
“As long as you remember that you only have those five days, Rahm,” Dan said. “Any more than that and Mars Base will be Mars Mausoleum.”
They split the equipment and crew between both the buggy and the Tauron transport parked inside the cave.
“It’s a waste of time leaving it here,” Dan said. “They’re not prepared to re-connect the scrubbers to Mars Base, so we’ll leave everything on standby.”
“You’re coming with us?” Rahm asked, surprised.
“What the alternative? Stay here and die, or die outside of Mars Base, trying to gain entry. No, we’re with you. Right, Pete?”
Pete Rostov, the elderly base technician and Dan’s principal assistant nodded. “Right.”
He continued carefully loading the equipment onto the transport. He was as old as Dan, perhaps even older, calm and phlegmatic, and they all knew that Dan relied on him to get the job done when all around was falling to pieces.
“A man of few words,” Dan smiled. “But one of the best technicians in the business. If anything goes wrong, Pete will get it fixed.”
They finished loading, climbed aboard the vehicles and Rahm led the way out of the cave. They set out across the plain of Xanthe, for the long journey past Schiaparelli Crater that led through the Nepenthe Valle. From there it would be a short drive up into the foothills of Mount Albor for the attack on the Tauron base. When they reached the Nepenthe Valley, Rahm called a halt. It was time to decide exactly how they would pierce the Tauron defenses.
“You’ll need your entire crew,” Dan said as he looked through their supplies of thermite. “I assume you have to get inside the base and plant this little lot, and then get out before it goes off?”
Rahm nodded. “It’s simple, but I can’t think of anything better. There is one flaw to the plan. If any of the Taurons are outside the base, they’ll miss the blast. But I figure we’ll have to deal with that when we get there.”
“Agreed. Pete and I will watch your backs, so we’ll need to borrow your buggy with the laser cannon.”
“If any Taurons return you’ll find yourself with a heap of trouble, Dan. I don’t like to say this, but you’re both...”
“Too old? Maybe, but the way I see it, you haven’t got many choices. It’s the senior citizens or nothing.”
Rahm nodded. He turned to his crew.
“Kacy, did you and Gabi finish preparing those charges?”
They both nodded. “These’ll take the top of that mountain off. We added a little something to boost the explosion.” Kacy replied.
“We used some of the spare laser cannon modules,” Gabi grinned. “We won’t need them now and they’ll triple the force of the blast when they detonate.”
“So we need to be a long way away?”
“A very long way away. Another planet would be a good idea.”
Another planet. There was only one other planet with any kind of colonization and that was Earth itself. Home. A place where they could be away from the threat of choking to death from loss of air, or of freezing to death when the electrical supply failed. With an effort, Rahm brought his mind back on the job.
“We’ll go straight through their front door, no stopping. Saul, we’ll need everything transferred to the transport. Dan, make sure that you and Pete are familiar with the cannon. Look after the buggy, remember, it’s a long walk back to Chryse Gulf.”
He nodded, and they set about transferring their equipment. Saul drove the unfamiliar transport with Dan bringing up the rear in the buggy. Ahead of them they could see the Tauron base, or what they hoped was the Tauron base. A dark smear in the face of the rock, they all prayed it was more than that. Until they got closer and saw movement, a Tauron transporter driving out of the mouth of the cave and setting out across the Martian plain.

* * *


Inside the transporter, Granat was thoughtful. Every trooper he’d asked to become a suicide bomber had declined. Even when he’d shouted and raged, they’d ignored him. One even had the temerity to suggest that he should have the honor for himself. That trooper would learn to show more respect to his commander. Perhaps a spell of sentry duty in the most frozen, exposed part of Mars would encourage him to show more respect next time. Neither would they allow him to take more men. In the end, he’s left their base with only three troopers to accompany him in the transport. Even the vehicle they’d given him was the oldest one they had, and it was prone to constant breakdowns. He’d complained to Tabor when they exchanged messages, but the Lord of the Universe simply said, “If you’re planning on turning it into a mobile bomb, why would you need anything better?”
Dagan sat next to him in the body of the transport. Even he had refused the suicide mission. The dog would not even show a little gratitude for the promotion he’d given him, worthless creature.
“We’ll have to time the charges to explode as the vehicle hits, Dagan. It’s not as reliable as having a man aboard to manually explode them, but it’s the best we can do.”
“Yes, Sir. It’s a good solution.”
“Not if the timing is less than perfect,” he growled.
Dagan didn’t reply. When Commander Granat was in this mood, it was best to say nothing. More than one man had been knocked to the ground with one blow from that might paw. Most did not get up.

* * *


They reached the plateau on the route that led to the cave entrance. They could see it clearly, about half a mile away. Since that transporter that had left, there’d been no movement. Rahm contacted the transporter by radio.
“Dan, we’re going in, we need you to mount picket on the outside. If any of our ugly friends turn up, you know what to do.”
“I’ll be there, don’t worry.”
Rahm hit the accelerator and the transporter surged forward. Closer, closer to the entrance, then he swerved the control stick over and entered the dark cavern. They were in. Almost immediately they encountered a Tauron walking nonchalantly towards them. He wasn’t startled by the sight of the familiar vehicle and Rahm took the opportunity to mow him down. The vehicle ports were open and one of his men fired a long burst into the body as they drove past, hurtling further into the dark cavern. Lights started to come on, as they approached they switched on automatically and extinguished as they went past.
“Is everything ready in the back? We need to dump the explosives and get out.”
He heard Gabi’s voice. “We’re all set. Are you planning to reverse all the way back out of here?”
He recalled that he’d seen nowhere for them to turn. There must be a wider cave further in, they had to reach it. Two more Taurons appeared, staring at the charging transport. They too were swept under the wheels of the rampaging vehicle and finished off by the laser bursts from the rear. They ran out into a huge, open cavern, dozens of transports were lined up. Some of them had Tauron attendants working on them. In a lower cavern to one side their drilling equipment was stacked up. Rahm slowed down, the longer they could keep from being discovered the better. His hopes were dashed when there was a shout from behind. One of the Taurons had not been killed, he staggered into the main cavern, covered in green blood, one of his arms had been ripped from his body, yet he pushed forward. He shouted in a keening, wailing series of tones, a language they had no hope of understanding. It only took the enemy a few seconds to sound the alarm. The cavern filled with the echoing wail of an emergency siren and troops started to rush in.
“Gabi, the thermite. Pass one forward. Saul, toss the charge towards those monsters and get inside the transport for cover.”
Saul didn’t reply, just scooped up the charge, opened the port and leapt out. Rahm saw him heft the satchel towards the advancing Taurons and duck back inside.
“How long is the fuse?”
“It’s set for five…”
The explosion was shattering, a ball of fire filled the cave, and they even felt the heat inside the transport. When the smoke cleared, all evidence of alien life had been swept away like leaves before a gale. The floor was littered with dead Taurons, scorched and charred by the force of the enhanced thermite explosion. But there was no time to waste, for they had no idea of how many more of the enemy was secreted in the dark recesses and tunnels that led off the vast, main cavern.
“Jesus Christ, they sure hit the mark. How many more of charges do you have?” he asked Gabi.
“Another six, that’s about it, there’s not enough thermite for any more.”
He calculated rapidly. There was still that transport they’d seen leaving. “We’ll set five, timed to go off in, shall we say, thirty seconds?”
“That’s cutting it too fine. If they ambush us in the tunnel we’ll be stuck when they explode. Five of those charges will be like a thermo-nuclear explosion, so we need to be a long way away. We need to set it for three minutes.”
“Three minutes, then. Hurry up, we need to get out of here before they bring in more troops, they must have people heading this way along the tunnels. And Gabi.”
“Yes?”
“Make certain the detonators are tamper-proof, do whatever you need so that they can’t stop the explosion.”
“It’s very dangerous, if something goes wrong…”
“We have to be sure. We’re going to finish these bastards, it ends here.”
“I’ll do it. But we’ll need to get out as soon as the countdown starts.”
“Don’t worry, just say the word and it’s full speed ahead out of this cave.”
He turned the vehicle around, Kaz and Nathan helped them carry the charges and set them inside one of the transports, while Saul and Rahm kept a watch for the enemy. Gabi called across to him.
“We’re all set, just say the word.”
“Do it.”
Two seconds later they were running back to the transport. They leapt aboard and he fed power to the engine and they charged out of the cave. Rahm kept his speed up as he threaded the transport along the narrow passages. The lights once more came on and switched off again with their passing. He breathed a sigh of relief as he rounded the last bend and saw the cave entrance framed in the distance. His sigh turned into a hard ball of dread in his stomach. The alarm had triggered a portcullis that had slammed down across the cave, part of their automated defense system. They were trapped. He sat in frozen shock. It was hard to believe that it was all about to end here, trapped by a primitive alien gate that they had insufficient time to open. He realized that Kaz was climbing out. He clutched a thermite charge.
“I’ll plant the charge, so make sure you reverse back enough to stay out of the blast area.”
“Kaz, no, you’ll be fried.”
But he was already running. He shouted back, “if it is God’s will that I die here, so be it. Go back, Rahm, get out of the blast radius!”
He reached the portcullis and started to set the detonator. With a heavy heart, Rahm reversed back down the tunnel. He drove around the first corner and two hundred yards along the tunnel, then the Tauron reinforcements arrived.
“I see them,” Saul said calmly.
Rahm heard the sound of the laser rifles as they opened fire. He looked around, he could see that all of his crew were shooting, Gabi, Kacy, Saul, and Nathan. In front of him, Kaz had finished and walked part way back. He came around the corner and checked his watch. Rahm watched him stand up, then kneel down and prostrate himself on the floor in prayer.
“Saul, close the hatches, it’s about to blow!”
There was just enough time to hear the clang as the shutters slammed down, then the thermite erupted and another fireball scorched the rocks around them. Their transport was lifted up and slammed back down, but they were safe inside its armored hull. The Taurons were thrown back down the tunnel, torn apart by the superheated explosion. Kaz had vanished, he was much nearer the thermite charge, and his body disappeared. But so had the portcullis. Rahm started forward and built up speed. Seconds later they charged out of the cave mouth. Dan and Pete were waiting in the buggy with the doors open, watching for signs of the enemy. Rahm called them on the radio.
“Dan, get moving, hurry, it’s going to explode. Get out of there, you’ve only got seconds.”
They slammed the door and followed as Rahm drove at top speed along the mountain track. They’d perhaps gone a half a mile before the charges blew. A vast tongue of flame spread out of the cave system and reached greedily along the track to consume them with its fiery breath. It came nearer and nearer, Rahm cursed that the buggy had no armor to protect them. Nearer and nearer the flame came, the crews held their breath as the vehicles attempted to outrun it. It hadn’t reached the buggy but they saw the smoke rising off the hull as the intense heat came closer. He could see the frightened faces of the two men urged their vehicle on, the beginnings of despair on their faces at being able to escape the devastating fire. For long seconds it was neck and neck and Rahm could almost share their acceptance of imminent death. But the Grim Reaper had not decided to call their names on this day. Gradually, inch by inch the buggy started to widen the gap as the fireball started to slow and the vehicle hurtled forward at top speed.
“They’re clear!” Saul shouted.
“Thank God. Let’s get back to Mars Base, they’re going to need us as fast as we can get there.”
“Have you forgotten that Tobin Ryles said that he won’t let us through the airlock? Are you planning for us to fight our way in?”
“If necessary, yes. No matter what Ryles says, we need to put our resources together to keep alive until the relief arrives. But that’s not what I’m thinking. That Tauron transport was heading out somewhere, they weren’t carrying drilling equipment. My guess is that it’s a war party, they’re on the way to Mars Base.”
“There’s no way they’ll hold of a Tauron warband. Jesus Christ, Ryles will be totally out of his depth, now that Damian Hacker is dead.”
“Exactly.”
They drove fast across the Martian plain, their war against the aliens was about to reach a climax. They were skirting the Cassini Crater, more than half way back and there was still no sign of the enemy.
“There’s something we haven’t thought of,” Saul said, breaking the silence. “We’re pinning our hopes on the relief ship. The Taurons get periodic relief flights, if they have one due soon, we’ve have a pack of ugly aliens fresh on the planet, gunning for our asses.”
“We have records of alien landings back in Mars Base,” Kacy said from in back of the transport. “I can look them up and form an estimate of when it’s likely to happen.”
“That’ll give us time to prepare,” Rahm nodded.
“If we can get into the base,” Saul reminded him.
They drove on, gloomily aware that if Tobin Ryles was still the panicked wreck they'd left behind, they'd find their problems were far from over. They were only ten miles away when a call came in.
“Mars Base calling mobile unit, this is the Base Manager. Please respond, over.”
They smiled at Ryle’s punctilious use of correct radio procedure. Rahm keyed the microphone.
“What is it, Ryles?”
“We’re in trouble. The Taurons attacked again, they managed to blast a huge hole in the side of the main building. They’re outside the base now, so I think they may be preparing another attack.”
“You think? They’re not out for a stroll, Ryles. What about casualties, was anyone hurt?”
“No, we were lucky. But we lost most of our remaining air supply.”
“How much is left?”
There was a silence for almost a minute. They heard Ryles arguing with one of the base technicians. Then he came back on the radio.
“Our best guess is twenty four hours.”
Rahm shuddered. It meant that they were close to death on Mars. Without air, or the means of scrubbing what they used, death would come sooner rather than later.
“Understood. When we get close, prepare to let us in through the airlock.”
“But, that’ll use four hours of our remaining air. We can’t do that.”
“You have to, Ryles. I’ll ask Dan to go to the cave to continue work on the scrubbers, he can take this transport and get everything up and running. That’ll take care of the worst of our life support problems. We need to enter Mars Base to re-equip and resupply.”
“What are you going to do then?”
“We’re going to go out and finish those monsters.”
Before they crested the last rise before Mars Base, Rahm stopped and they switched vehicles with Dan Weathers. The old engineer wished them luck.
“If you don’t stop those bastards, our work on the scrubbers will be pointless. We may as well all lie down and die.”
Rahm grimaced. “You’re on my team now, both of you. Ask my people, they’ll tell you that I don’t allow anyone to die until I say so. We’re going to live, all of us. We’ll kick these nasty bastards of the face of Mars, and get the trevanium mining back on course.”
Dan held out his hand. “Whatever happens, good luck. I’ll be happy to get home, trevanium or no trevanium.”
“We don’t need any luck, Dan. If we do our jobs, we’ll be fine.”
He shook hands with Pete and watched as they climbed into the Tauron transport and drove away to the cave. He turned to his crew.
“Let’s mount up, time to finish this.”
They climbed to the top of the rise and looked down at Mars Base. The damage was clearly visible, a hold ten feet across ripped into the side. The automatic airlock doors would have closed as soon as the air started to escape, otherwise the entire base would have become an air-starved vacuum within minutes. The Taurons were camped in full view, four of them stood next to their transport, gazing at the base. One of them was the giant.
“How the hell do we deal with something like that?” Saul asked. “He’s invincible, nothing seems to hurt him.”
“You’re right, he’s a big bastard. Cunning, too. Even though they’re looking away, I’ll bet they know we’re here, they’re waiting for us to attack. They’ll have something prepared for us, a surprise.”
“Like what?”
“Like I don’t know. That’s why it’ll be a surprise.”
“We could go straight in, head for the airlock.”
“And if they rammed us just as we went in, it could damage the airlock and no one would ever get in or out.”
“We could do what they want us to do,” Gabi said. “I mean, drive straight down there at speed and head for the base.”
“They’ll cut us off before we get anywhere near,” Rahm countered. “We’ll have to do battle with them, but we need fresh supplies from inside the base before we do.”
“I was thinking of an ambush, let them see what they want to see and lead them on to our own little surprise.”
“Tell me more,” Rahm said, beginning to smile as she explained what she had in mind.
They hurtled out from cover and straight down towards the Tauron transport. The four aliens looked around and jumped into their vehicle. The buggy swerved to avoid it as if they’d seen it at the last moment. Rahm brought the buggy in a looping, one hundred and eighty degree turn that took them away from the base and back up to the top of the rise where they’d come from. The Tauron followed, they were shooting at them now, determined to stop them before they could get lost in the endless craters and valleys that formed the surface of the planet. Four blasts flew past them, the fifth smacked into the back of the buggy. One of the girls squealed in alarm.
“Not long now, just a few more seconds.”
Rahm fought the wheel as they hit a rock, and they almost took off as they crested the top of the rise. He brought the buggy in another curving turn. Around the rock pile that concealed Brad and Saul with the laser cannon, unmounted from the vehicle and positioned behind a wall of heavy stones. They jumped out fast and waited behind the defensive pile with their laser rifles. The transport came at speed over the rim and headed straight towards them. Brad opened fire at point blank range, and they saw holes appear in the bodywork and piece of alloy fly off. The alien vehicle appeared to slow, as if they wished to give battle, but the withering fire of the humans was too much, they were out in the open, attacking a prepared defensive position. Whoever was in charge gave an order and the wounded transport limped away.
“Score one for the good guys,” Saul exulted.
“Yeah, well done, everyone. Let’s get that gun remounted and carry on to Mars Base. They may not be so eager this time to play games with us.”
The journey to Mars Base was uneventful. The Taurons were in full view, clustered around their damaged transport. They watched them go past at a mile distant, but made not further effort to attack. Rahm could feel the eyes of the huge alien boring into him. He had the uneasy feeling that one day soon he’d have to face that monstrous creature. There was something that seemed to link them together, some primeval warrior instinct. There would be no doubt about the outcome if it ever happened. Unless he could even up the odds somehow. But how?
Ryles was reluctant to open the airlock door.
“We’re on lockdown, Rahm, we’re conserving our air. I can’t afford to lose any more.”
“Ryles, you’ve got a pack of bloodthirsty monsters out here baying for your blood. Your only chance is to let us in so that we can re-equip and go out to finish them for good.”
“Or until their relief ship arrives,” Saul muttered beside him.
“Alright, I’ll open the airlock doors. I hope you’re right about this, if anything goes wrong I’ll hold you personally responsible.”
“So I guess I’d lose my contract,” Rahm replied.
“Oh yes, you can count on that,” the manager replied. “You’ll be finished here.”
They were still laughing as they entered the airlock. When the inner door opened and they drove into the garage they stopped laughing. The air was foul, barely breathable. The surviving crew was waiting for them to return. Some glanced enviously at the portable air scrubbers that they were still using. Rahm’s crew took off their helmets but left their suits on, they would not be here for long. Ryles bustled through the crowd and stood in front of them, he managed to look both belligerent and comic at the same time.
“Well? What’s the situation our there?”
He left it to Brad and Nathan to explain what had taken place at Elysium. The rest of them had more important things to do. Gabi led the way to the stores while Kacy went to check the records of alien landings. They had to almost kick the stores technician who was almost asleep. When he awoke his breathing was hoarse as he sucked in the foul air.
“We need supplies. Our laser rifles are almost completely depleted.”
The man waved at the racks of equipment. “Take what you want, I don't care. None of it matters now.”
Saul lifted him up by the collar. “Damnit, is this the way to fight? Don’t you want to live?”
“Live? Whatever we do, we’re done for, we’re almost out of air and the Taurons are camped outside. What’s the use?”
“The use is we’ve just kicked their asses, my friend. With a little more effort, we can finish them for good. Dan Weathers is at the cave restarting the air scrubbers, we can turn this around.”
The man smiled. When he replied his voice dripped with apathy. “You’re dreaming, all of you. It’s all very well while those portable scrubbers allow you to breathe. Once they’re exhausted, you’ll be like the rest of us.”
He looked closely at the indicator on Saul’s scrubber. “Yeah, I thought you wouldn’t have much left. According to that, you have less than twelve hours, and then you’ll be like the rest of us.”
They understood at once that they’d forgotten to do the most basic check of their portable sets. They checked their meters, and found they were all down to twelve hours. Saul was even less, little more than ten hours. But the big toolpusher shook his head.
“It makes no difference. We’re going to turn this around, I promise you that soon we’ll rid this planet of the Taurons and have our air supply working again.”
“Saul!”
He looked around. Kacy had entered the storeroom. “That’s not quite true,” she continued.
“What do you mean? We know about those four outside, are you saying there’re others that we haven’t taken care of?”
She shook her head. “Not exactly. What I am saying is that according to our records, they have a ship due to land here within twelve hours. They’re always on time, like clockwork. Unless something has changed, which I doubt, they’ll be landing a shipload of replacements and reinforcements in twelve hours time.”
The technician sneered. “See, what did I tell you? There’s no point, none at all. You may as well give it up and prepare to die. Take the easy way out.”
“What would happen if their ship landed and there were no Taurons on the planet? Just a hostile force of humans, all of them armed to the teeth. Just waiting to rip them to shreds?”
They all looked at Rahm. As usual, Saul was the first to digest and understand what he meant.
“They’d quite likely go home and find somewhere else to mine their trevanium. Or they’d negotiate with us.”
“So that’s what we’ll do. We re-arm, go out and beat up those monsters outside, and then we’ll prepare a welcoming party for them.”
“In twelve hours?” Kacy gasped.
“In eight hours, we need the rest of the time to get back to Elysium to meet them. Gabi, if you’ve got any good ideas, we could sure use them. Especially a way to deal with that giant monster.”
She smiled. “We could use one of their tactics, a suicide bomber, get close enough to him and then explode the whole package. Other than that I’ve no idea, he’s enormous. Everything seems to bounce off him.”
Something clicked in Rahm’s mind. “Gabi, prepare the package, just like you said. With one difference. I want some means of attaching it to his body.”
She understood immediately. “No, no way. You’re not getting close enough to attach a charge to him. He’ll tear you to pieces.”
“Just do it, Gabi. I’m not aiming to let him get near me. I’ve got an idea that just might work.”
She looked at him with an expression that was charged with doubt, but she turned away without another word and started to look for the equipment she needed. The rest of the crew took down recharged laser rifles and started checking them over. Brad came in to find spare power packs for his laser cannon.
“Where’s Nathan?” Rahm asked.
Brad shrugged. “No idea. He disappeared, I last saw him talking to Tobin Ryles.”
“Nathan and Ryles? That’s weird. I thought he couldn’t stand Tobin Ryles.”
He turned to Kacy. “That reminds me, did you have any luck with those logs?”
She drew him out of earshot of the crew. “There were a couple of interesting movements. Ryles was moving around the base in a rather odd way.”
“Ryles, yeah, that figures.”
“But there’s more. So was Nathan.”
He nodded. “Keep on it, Kacy. Maybe it was both of them.”
“No, my instinct tells me it was just one person. I’ll let you know what I find.”+
Rahm put it to the back of his mind, in their situation it seemed crazy that the murder of the manager of Mars Base was a secondary issue, but that’s the way it was. They loaded the weapons and equipment into the buggy. Gabi appeared with a simple but devastating bomb.
“It works like this.” She pointed to a piece of tape on the side of the package. “If you pull this, it will instantly activate the adhesive. The flat part of the bomb will stick to the first thing it touches. Be careful, it also activates the timer mechanism.”
“How long do I have once it’s pulled?”
“One minute. I couldn’t make it any longer. The idea is that it’s enough time for you to get clear, but not enough time for the creature to remove it. Even if it’s stuck to its stomach, it’ll still be almost impossible to take off.”
“You know that his monster is immensely strong?”
She nodded. “Yes, I do. But so is the glue. It’s the best I can do.”
He took the flat package off her. It looked so innocent, like a thin bundle of documents wrapped in a tough, flexible polymer case.
“We’re ready, it’s time to go out there and slay this dragon.”
“Is that what you see yourself as? A dragon slayer?”
“No, not that. I’m just the guy who’s sick to the back teeth with what that ugly brute has been dishing out for so long. He’s like the schoolyard bully, you know what I mean. He delights in causing other kids pain and misery. I know his job is to protect his planet’s interests, but he’s gone way beyond that remit. He made it personal, Gabi.”
“He’s still awfully big.”
“And so is your bomb.”
When they returned to the garage, the crew was ready. Rahm sought out Josh DeVries.
“I need your crew, Josh. We’re going out to finish off those monsters, so we could do with some help.”
“You want us to go out through airlock? Ryles will have kittens if we open it, it’ll cost a pile more of his air.”
“I know. I want you and your crew armed and ready, a half hour after we leave I want you to leave and protect the base from the outside.”
“We’ve got the base defenses, they don’t need us,” he objected. “If they try another suicide run, we can’t stop them anyway.”
“I want them to see you there. Thirty minutes, no more, no less. If Ryles gives trouble, you know how to deal with him.”
Josh raised his eyes to the roof. “My God, whatever you’re planning, I hope it works.”
“It’ll work. And if it doesn’t, there’s nothing to worry about, is there?”
“I hear you. Thirty minutes after you leave, we go out.”
“No more or less.”
He noticed Nathan returning, and they walked over to the buggy. Tobin Ryles was there too.
“We’ve heard nothing from the cave, Rahm. Could the aliens have discovered it?”
“No. We destroyed them, I told you. Until the relief ship arrives, the only Taurons left on Mars are those four out there.”
“So what’s up with them?”
“Maybe they just don’t want to waste their time talking to you.” Rahm had had enough of trying to shepherd the inadequate manager through the task of keeping the base running during the emergency. He didn’t smile, but neither did Ryles respond to the comment.
“Can you find out?”
Now he smiled. “Tobin, there are four angry aliens out there, desperate to finish off this base. Do you think they’re going to just let us leave here and drive to the cave? They want to slaughter us, they want to see our entrails scattered over the surface of the planet.”
Ryles nodded and walked away. Like the others, he was suffering badly from poor air quality, but he’d also appeared to be in the throes of a mental breakdown. Well, he never was much use anyway, so maybe they’d be better off without him, Rahm shrugged mentally. He put the man out of his mind and climbed onto the buggy.
“What’s the package?” Nathan asked.
“It’s the bomb. I plan to use it to kill that huge alien.”
He explained how it worked.
“Let me help,” Nathan offered. “I want to do more to rid the planet of those bastards, I don’t feel I’ve done enough.”
Rahm noticed that Gabi was watching them carefully, as if there was more going on than he realized. He’d have to ask her about that later. He shrugged and handed it to him.
“Knock yourself out. But don’t pull the loose strip, for it’ll activate the glue and the bomb.”
“It’s ok, I’m on it.”
Rahm ordered them to load up the buggy with drilling equipment. The crew almost rebelled at that.
“You’re crazy, you want to mine trevanium when we’ve got those monsters camped outside the base and only a few hours air left?”
“Trust me, it’s important we have this gear with us, and important that they see we have it.”
“So it’s another ruse, we’re setting a trap for them?”
Rahm nodded. “Something like that. We just have to hope that they haven’t done the same.”
They entered the inner airlock and waited until the outer door opened. Then they drove out, like medieval knights riding onto the battlefield.