Battleground Mars

Chapter Nine


Granat watched and waited with his tiny force. He snorted, three men for such an important task. He was more worried than he’d care to admit over the failure of communications with Elysium Base.
“Dagan, have you tried to make contact again?”
“Yes, Commander. Still nothing.”
“And you’re sure the equipment is working properly?”
“Certain.”
He grunted. “They must have a problem at their end. The relief ship is due to arrive soon, it may create difficulties.”
“It could, yes. Their standing instructions are not to land unless they receive a coded clearance. We can perhaps send the clearance from our vehicle. Our communications equipment can handle it.”
“See to it, Dagan. The last thing we want is to be stranded here without resupply.”
He left his man and climbed outside the transport to stand on the surface, but Dagan followed him. The human’s base seemed to taunt him, standing there with just the small amount of damage caused by the suicide bombing. It was true that their drilling and mining operations had stopped, but he wasn’t sure quite how much damage had been done. Was it enough to force them to abandon the planet altogether? He doubted it. He needed to inflict one more defeat on them, he was sure it would be enough. And he wanted that human, the one he’d seen staring at him from a distance. He assumed he was their military commander. He always seemed to be directing those battles that had done so much damage to the Taurons. Yes, he would finish that arrogant dog together with his men and then they wouldn’t object to letting him have the rest of the troops he needed to finish them off. How could he persuade them to come out to do battle? That was a puzzle. Until to his astonishment, he saw the buggy emerge from the outer airlock and start towards them. Perfect!
As soon as they emerged, they saw the monsters waiting a short distance from the base.
“How’re we going to handle this?” Saul asked. “I’d advise against a frontal attack.”
He was grinning, but the others looked alarmed, as if he’d been considering it.
“I’m hoping to fool them with the drilling equipment. If they think we’re going out on a normal drilling operation, they may fall for it again. But I’ve got another idea too, a kind of plan B. Let’s see what happens.”
They drove out onto the plain, giving the Taurons a wide berth.
“I don’t get it, this is screwed. They’d be crazy to go for this.”
Rahm nodded at Saul. “Exactly, they would be crazy. So they won’t believe it. That puts us in their rear so that we can attack them without warning.”
They continued until the Tauron transport was out of sight. Saul had dropped off, armed only with a laser rifle at the top of a small crater than gave him a goods view. They stopped and waited for him two miles further out; when he arrived he was smiling.
“They were having some kind of an argument down there. The big guy got the better of it, but I’ve no idea what it was all about.”
“Any guesses?” Rahm asked him.
“Well, yeah. I reckon the small monsters wanted to go after us and finish us off, but the big guy wants to stay staking out Mars Base. I guess he’s convinced it’s a trick, and he thinks we’re coming back.”
“He’s right. Just not in the way he thinks.”
They circled in a wide loop around the base to come back at a point three miles behind the Tauron transporter. It hadn’t moved. The four aliens were still standing, motionless, watching the base. Rahm grinned.
“Here we go.”
Josh stopped at close to the main building, directly between the aliens and the base. It was like waving a red rag at a bull. After a brief conversation the Taurons piled into their transport and drove towards Josh’s vehicle. They stopped fifty yards away and climbed out.
“Go,” Rahm shouted. “Full speed, get down there and we’ll take them now. Brad, as soon as we’re in range, attempt to knock out their transporter.”
They reached within five hundred yard, four hundred, three hundred, the laser cannon spat out its vicious hail of death and they all saw the Tauron vehicle buck and sag as the heavy round smashed into it.
“Keep firing, Brad. Make sure of it.”
“I’m on it.”
He fired a long, continuous burst that almost demolished the vehicle. It was as if the fire had hit something vital in the guts of the vehicle. Rahm grinned mirthlessly as the Taurons looked at their transport.
“That’s a punch in the guts for them. Can you hit them, Brad?”
“No, they’re too near Josh and his men. We’ll have to get closer.”
Rahm kept the buggy moving at top speed until they were on the Taurons, who were running towards Josh’s men, intent on their deaths. It was as if they were aroused to a white hot killing rage by the actions of the humans. Not until Rahm’s crew started shooting did they realize the danger and halt. They were unarmored, but not unarmed. The Taurons backed away and took cover behind their damaged transport and started shooting. One of Josh’s crew fell with a cry and then they were all behind cover, all except for Brad.
“Get down, Brad, you’re a sitting duck up there,” Rahm shouted.
“No way, it’s time to make these bastards pay for what they’ve done.”
Rahm jumped up and climbed onto the frame, wincing as the Tauron blasts smashed past him.
“Brad, get this f*cking gun off its mountings and get under cover.”
The big man nodded and started to unfasten the clips that held it. As it came free the big gun tumbled into his arms and he went to leap off the buggy to get into cover. Rahm was right behind him, as they jumped he saw Brad stagger and slump to the ground, Nathan was waiting to help and took the big man in his arms, Josh’s crew carefully lifted down the gun and began to set it ready to fire. Rahm dropped next to Brad.
“Are you hit?”
“Yeah, nothing serious,” he replied, his voice hoarse and dulled with pain. “I’ll be able to shoot the cannon, don’t worry.”
Then he slumped, unconscious. Rahm checked down his pressure suit, there was a bloody slash in his side. Because of his portable air scrubber, he wasn’t losing air. But the climate of Mars was invading his suit, and he was slowly freezing to death.
“Kacy, get over here. Can you patch this and get his life support working again.”
She ducked as a barrage of shots lanced past here, six inches above her head.
“Yep, I’ll see to it, just take care of those Taurons. They’re getting closer.”
He looked up. The aliens were working closer to them, rushing from cover to cover. They’d realized that the laser cannon was out of action, the rifles were a deterrent but not enough to kill or seriously wound them. They were born warriors, trained to instinctively seek out and exploit any enemy weakness. There wasn’t much time. Rahm called Josh over.
“Can you get the laser cannon back in operation?”
Josh looked at it dubiously. “I don’t know how we can hold it. The cannon needs to be fired from a mounting. I know Brad could manage it, but I doubt we could.”
“Josh, if you don’t do something fast they’ll be all over us. Look at that big bastard.”
They looked up at the huge alien, who was moving from cover to cover, but not running, he moved more slowly, with a degree of disdain for their puny efforts. While they watched he took two hits from the laser rifles, he barely flinched.
“I see what you mean.” He looked around. “The drilling tower, we can use the alloy, it’s only a tripod after all. If we use the top piece and mount the gun on that, it should hold it. The clamps are all the same, they’re the universal ones we use on the base.”
“For Christ’s sake do it, Josh. Get it firing.”
The crew leader called to one of his men and together they ripped the top of the drilling tower out of the buggy and set it on the surface behind the cover of the vehicle. They began to mount the laser cannon, as Rahm went to rally his troops. The Taurons were almost on them. Saul and Nathan stood together and unleashed a long, furious burst at almost point blank range that knocked down one of the Taurons, he fell to the dusty surface, his body at last split open with the intensive gunfire. But the other three were more than a match for them.
Josh’s remaining three men were still firing while the crew leader and one man assembled the cannon. Their rifles spat out repeated bursts at the attack of the monsters, but the enemy had somehow sensed that they would be the weakest link in the human defenses and worked their way around to attack them at almost point blank range. Two of them found a narrow fold in the ground and were able to use it to worm their way towards Josh’s men until when they stood up they were only ten yards away. They roared their thunderous battle cry as they started forward, rifles firing constantly. The two defenders were torn to shreds by the continuous and unexpected heavy fire. Before they could get over their frozen shock, they were shredded by the blasts.
“They’re almost behind us,” Saul warned. “We need to move to a better defensive position.”
Rahm looked around. They’d almost readied the laser cannon. “Negative, Saul. The cannon is here and the girls are here, as well as Brad. We need to keep firing and hold them off.”
Out of the corner of his eye he saw the huge, alien brute watching, not even bothering to take cover. He felt enraged.
“Saul, Nathan, with me. Let’s get these ugly bastards.”
He charged at the two Taurons, who were advancing almost without care for any cover, so easy had been their victory. They brought up their rifles to fire, but this time Rahm, Saul and Nathan were ready for them and their combined rifle fire smashed into them. The three men kept their triggers pressed down and the fire was so intensive as they walked forward that the Taurons were unable to respond. All they could do was cower from the shots. At first, the laser blasts just hacked into them, causing little or no serious wounds. As they got closer, the gunfire started to tell and they watched the laser strikes begin to cut into the thick, Tauron flesh. They kept shooting and the Taurons sagged to their knees, still the fired, still they walked forwards. Until they reached the monsters themselves. Even kneeling, dying, their heads were at shoulder height. They put their rifle barrels to the squirming, ugly heads and fired, and fired again until at last the monsters collapsed. Their bodies lay ruined and broken in the Martian dust. At last the crew stopped firing and looked around for other targets.
The two surviving Taurons were more cautious, standing behind cover. One of them was the giant. Josh had the laser cannon ready and sent a burst towards the transport that smashed holes and knocked chunks off its body, but the armor protected the two aliens behind it. To his horror he heard a radio transmission from Dan Weathers.
“Rahm, we’re on the way back. What’s the situation there? I can’t raise them at Mars Base.”
“No, don’t come back here, Dan. The power is out at the base, so they’re out of contact, all they need from you is to get those air scrubbers working.”
“Of course they need them working, but there’s a problem at their end inside the base, that’s’ why we decided to walk back and fix it ourselves. We’re nearly ready to start up. We’ll be there in a few minutes.”
“Dan, no! The Taurons are attacking us, they’re…”
He saw movement and looked across the plain. Two figures in pressure suits had just come into view. Dan and Pete, walking back from the cave. He looked at the two Taurons and saw to his horror that they’d seen them too, for they were staring in their direction. Then the giant started walking towards them.
“Josh, for Christ’s sake, stop that bastard, he’s going after Dan and Pete!”
Laser cannon bursts struck all around the Tauron, but he was almost out of effective range, the shots bounced off his armored hide.
“Dan, run for it, the big Tauron, he’s seen you!”
He saw the two men start to move away, but they were too slow. The giant alien didn’t appear to be making any effort to move fast, yet he was still catching up with the two engineers. He saw the big Tauron turn and look towards him, then carry on marching in the direction of Dan and Pete.
“What the hell is he up to?” Saul asked. “It’s almost as if he’s daring us to try and stop him. The bastard is almost human.”
But Rahm knew exactly what that look meant. It was the most atavistic of man’s impulses, the beating of the chest. The urge to see the opponent’s blood spilled in the dust.
“He wants to fight.”
“The hell he does. I’ll go over there and blast him a new hole in his ass.”
Saul picked up his rifle.
“He doesn’t want you. He wants me.”
“He wants to kill all of us, this isn’t personal.”
But Rahm knew it was. There had been something drawing him to this moment ever since he’d arrived on the planet. Perhaps some deeper destiny had propelled him in this direction ever since that time on Earth when his project had been destroyed. Or maybe it was this hostile planet that seemed to curse every creature who set foot on it, human or alien.
“I have to go. He’ll kill Dan and Pete, which means we’ll lose any hope we have of recovering our life support systems.”
He could see Gabi looking at him from where she was sheltering behind cover with Kacy. She’d heard it all, of course, over her helmet speaker.
“Rahm, no. He’ll kill you.”
Her voice was strained, if it was possible to hear tears, he heard them now.
“If I don’t do this, Gabi, we all die. I don’t have a choice.”
“There must be some other way. It doesn’t have to be just you.”
He checked over his laser rifle and stood up. It did have to be him. He knew that there was no other option. If he didn’t face the giant alone the creature would continue on its path and kill the two men. He reached up and switched off his helmet communications. He didn’t want any distractions, for he had a tiny chance to pull this off. A very tiny chance. He thought of David and Goliath. That hoary old tale from the almost forgotten Bible myths. Was it true? Maybe it was, for many of those old stories were reputed to be taken from fact. And many from fiction. He recalled the tale, where a youth named David had fought Goliath, a giant many times his size. David was armed only with a slingshot, yet he managed to kill Goliath. Maybe history, or myth, would repeat itself today. He switched his headset back on.
“Keep and eye on that other alien, I’m going after the big one.”
Without waiting for an answer he switched his communications off. It was time to go hunting.
The alien saw him coming and waited. Yes, Rahm hadn’t made a mistake, for this was exactly what the creature was challenging him to do. He reached a spot within fifty yards of the Tauron and watched. The creature was watching him too. Rahm realized he was talking to it. He felt stupid. He may as well talk to a rock. Except that rocks weren’t psychotic aliens trying to kill you.
“What do you want, you ugly bastard? Are you going to make the first move? How do you fight on the planet you came from?”
Still the creature waited. He fired a casual shot from his rifle that hit the giant squarely on the chest. It flinched, but there was no sign of a serious injury. So how could he take it down? He stared at the monster, searching for a weakness. He pulled out his laser pistol, the best weapon for close in fighting. The creature was moving towards him now, he fired off a shot and saw it strike the chest again, yet the giant didn’t even flinch. Showing its contempt for the puny handgun, it strode towards Rahm. He dodged a massive blow that smashed past him, but the monster caught him with its foot and sent him crashing to the ground. He was reminded that even though Mars had only a sixth of the Earth’s gravity, his inertial mass was the same. The fall knocked the wind out of him but he managed to stand up with his pistol still in his hand. But he’d lost the rifle. It was the only weapon that had any chance at all of doing serious injury to this Tauron giant. He ducked under another huge blow and then backed away. The creature had its eyes fixed on him, but behind it he saw Dan and Pete reach the safety of Josh’s buggy. They had the other Tauron to deal with, but they also had the cannon. The Tauron came for him again, moving fast on its long legs. He tried to dance back, but he nearly blacked out when another blow smashed into him and sent him flying across the dusty surface.
Rahm shook his head again to clear it. The giant waited for him. He understood the reason.
“Yeah, you big ugly bastard, you want to make this more of a game, don’t you? Well f*ck you! I’m not going to play it your way, you ugly mother. He stood up again and looked at his fearsome opponent. Damnit, where was its weak point, its Achilles’ heel? He searched the massive body. Of course, the eyes. If he could blind the thing, it would be almost helpless, and he could finish it off at will. The alien started forward again, Rahm whipped up his pistol and sighted on the right eye. He pulled the trigger three times, saw his shots strike on the forehead, but the creature had a reflex that whipped down an armored covering over its eyes as soon as the shot was fired. The strikes hit armored tissue and the giant was nearly on him. He ran, as fast as he could, to the shelter of a small formation of rocks. They were about twelve feet high, he was able to leap to the top, twist and fire a long burst from his pistol that hit the Tauron as it leapt at him. The forward momentum of the beast increased the impact of the shots and this time he saw the creature start to bleed from a wound just above the groin. But it wasn’t enough, for the Tauron took hold of him, clamped a claw over his gun hand and started to pull. At first, Rahm thought the creature was trying to take his pistol. Then he realized that it wasn’t the gun it was after, it was the whole arm. He pulled back, but his hand was locked in a vise-like grip. The giant had the other hand fastened on his shoulder, and he felt his body beginning to stretch beyond its limits. It was like being tortured on a medieval rack. He looked up, to see the Tauron head looking down at him. There was no passion, nothing that resembled human emotion. No hate, no rage, it was an organic killing machine, nothing more.
He felt his consciousness failing, no, please God no! Don’t let it be like the last time. But it wasn’t like before, this time he was about to be torn limb from limb. This wasn’t some figment of his imagination of overheated brain, it was real. He was out of options, and he knew that he’d failed. No, quitters failed, and he wasn’t about to quit. There had to be something. He still had a free hand and his pistol in the other. He started at the face again, the thick, reptilian lips behind the breathing mask. The life support, yes, he wore a breathing mask similar to those the humans wore. Could he hit the breathing mask? If he aimed and missed, it would know what his plan was. It was a once only chance, he couldn’t miss! He had to get close, so close that he couldn’t miss. He moved his hand over to his locked hand and removed the laser pistol. The creature brought its face lower and lower, closer and closer to Rahm’s own. Then he brought up the pistol within one inch of the Tauron’s breathing mask and fired, again and again and again. At first, there was no response. Then the creature dropped him and put its claws to its mouth, as if to try and repair the ruins of its life support apparatus. Fighting to stay conscious, Rahm stepped away from it. Then the monster looked at him, even without any expression the meaning was clear. It knew it was going to die, but it would not die defeated. It started to move forwards, towards him. He jumped down from the rocks and started to run towards the crew who were still sheltering behind the vehicle. They saw what was happening and started towards him, he could see the shadow of the monster as it lumbered after him. If it got its hands on him, it wouldn’t hesitate to use its last breaths to kill him.
He took a quick glance over his shoulder, it was gaining. Even without life support, it was using its incredible strength and willpower to overtake him. He ran on, Saul was leading the crew that was running to his rescue. They would be able to use their laser rifles at short range to damage the creature more, until it breathed its last breath. They weren’t going to make it. He touched the switch that turned on the comms system in his helmet.
“I’ll try to swerve, as soon as I do, shoot the bastard.”
“Understood.” Saul’s voice was calm, strong, and competent. He saw the toolpusher stop the onrushing charge and they brought up their rifles. He had to wait, for he’d only get one chance. Then he felt the creature’s paw on his shoulder, a swipe that had been miscalculated. The next one wouldn’t be. He swerved and rolled over in the dust and sand, praying that he’d done enough.
“Shoot him, shoot the f*cker!” he screamed. Even as he shouted, he heard the laser bursts hitting the Tauron. He twisted his head around to look. The bursts were still hitting him, and now that the vital elements of life were seeping out of the creature the shots were taking their toll. Cuts and then gaping wounded opened up on the body, the head, and the limbs. The creature was being destroyed piece by piece. Yet still it kept on, crawling towards him like a deranged creature of the night. Something that the young and the not so young would have nightmares about. It wouldn’t give up, not until the body’s resources were exhausted beyond the capacity of the mind to keep pushing it forward. It reached him, and as he watched a huge, iron-like claw clamped over his leg and pulled him towards it. There was a blinding flash and he looked up to see Gabi standing over them. She’d pushed the barrel of a laser rifle into its mouth and pulled the trigger repeatedly. The creature finally slumped to the ground, motionless. She knelt by his side, shedding tears inside her helmet.
“I thought you were dead, I was so frightened,” she whispered.
He hurt and ached in every bone and fiber of his body, but he reached up for her.
“I would have been if it hasn’t been for you. Thank you.”
“Thank me later,” she murmured.
He was sure he knew what she had in mind. “I will, don’t worry.”
The rest of his crew clustered around him.
“A good job, Rahm, but let me do it next time. You were too slow,” Saul smiled.
“Don’t worry, the job’s yours.”
A sudden thought came to him. “Saul, the engineers, Dan and Pete, are they ok? And what about that other Tauron? Who’s watching it?”
“It’s ok. I left Nathan to keep an eye on things. They’re all fine, I’ll…”
His eyes widened as a heavy burst of laser cannon fire lit up the Martian plain. The surviving Tauron was edging towards the base. Then it dropped into a shallow channel in the plain and disappeared from sight.
“Nathan, plug that bastard before he gets near enough to do any more damage,” Saul shouted. But the gun stayed silent. Then Rahm saw them, two bodies, cut down by the burst. Dan and Pete.
“Nathan, what the hell happened, what’s going on here?”
He heard a triumphant shriek that caused them to shiver.
“What do you think, Rahm? I shot them.”
He had the cannon aimed in their direction, but no more shots came.
“But why, they didn’t do anything to you, they were trying to save us.”
“That’s what they did, Rahm. I don’t want you to be saved. I want you to die, out here.”
He sounded insane. They exchanged glances. “Why, Nathan. Why are you doing this?”
“You never knew who I was, did you, Rahm?”
“No. Tell me, Nathan, who are you?”
“Christine’s brother, that’s who.”
“Christine Blake?” He thought of his fiancée, her body left broken and ruined after the raid on Earth. Suddenly, the adrenaline left him and he felt tired and drained.
“I still don’t understand. She was killed by terrorists, Nathan. I assume your name is Nathan?”
“No, it isn’t. My real name is Liam, Liam Blake, but that would have given the game away. I used a false name to get a job on your crew, it was so easy. I knew who killed her, and I knew who stood by and did nothing while the terrorists rampaged through your research station. You’re still a coward, Rahm, a coward who let my sister die. Now it’s your turn.”
“Look, what about the others. Whatever you think I did or didn’t do, it’s not their fault. Let them get back inside the base.”
“And do their best to prevent your death? I don’t think so. No, they’ll have to join you as you die out here, gasping out your last breath and knowing that it is the punishment you deserve.”
Rahm saw the Tauron again, and the creature had almost reached the base. When he stood up, they could all see that he was clutching a packet of explosives.
“Nathan, the Tauron, he’s about to blow the base.”
“Of course he is. I saw him go for the explosives and I let him do it. They’re warriors, Rahm, not like you. They don’t fear death. I know that he’ll blow himself up and finish off the base at the same time.”
“But, you’ll be finished too, you’ll die with us.”
“No. Once I’m satisfied that you’re beyond help, I’m going the same way as that Tauron. I died a long time ago, Rahm, when you let them kill me sister. Did you ever take the trouble to find out about her parents, our mother and father?”
“No, I didn’t.”
“My mother killed herself a month after Christine’s death. My father hit the bottle, within six months he was dead too. It was a broken heart. So many deaths, Rahm, and the one person behind them all is you.”
“The folks inside Mars Base didn’t do that to you,” Rahm shouted in desperation.
Nathan shrugged. “I’m not leaving them to save your skin, Rahm. It’s not what I wanted, but they all have to die. They have to.”
“Like you killed Jacques Fechter?”
He looked startled. “How the hell did you know?”
“Kacy worked it out. She went through all of the logs for the night he died. The only person who wasn’t accounted for was you. We still weren’t sure, but I guess it’s obvious now. Why Fechter?”
“I had a scheme to plant an explosive device on the buggy. I was going to make an excuse and stay inside Mars Base next time you went out, it was all so easy. He found out what I was doing. I knocked him unconscious and took him outside, then stripped off his life support gear. After that, I decided to make it more personal. I wanted to see your face when I pulled the trigger.”
“He’s mad, as crazy as a coot,” Saul murmured.
Rahm saw a slight movement, halfway between the base and Nathan’s position behind the laser cannon. The alien was returning! Apparently, it had decided that the suicide that Nathan envisaged was the path it has chosen. It was easy to forget that the creatures were incredibly intelligent, more advanced in physics than the human race. They were more than capable of making reasoned choices, of knowing how to detonate simple explosives. And how to sell their lives dearly when they knew that all was lost. Saul saw it too, he touched Rahm’s shoulder and was about to say something when Rahm shook his head. They watched as he came nearer, then the explosives detonated and yet another huge hole was blown in the side of the base. But they had neither the time nor the freedom of movement for that. Nathan still crouched behind the cannon, threatening to blast them into atoms if they tried to attack his position. They held their breath while the monster crept closer and closer to Nathan. In the distance, they could see movement around the damaged skin of Mars Base. Figures were trying to patch it, to stop any more of their precious air escaping. They couldn’t have much left now, a few hours, maybe even minutes. Then the creature sprung.
Nathan Wenders screamed as the claw slashed through the skin of his pressure suit, through his own skin and emerged dripping with wet blood.
“The gun,” Rahm shouted. “Get the gun, it’s the only way we have of getting the creature.”
Saul and Josh were running for it, whilst the creature and Nathan struggled. Rahm saw Gabi and Kacy running, powering towards the damaged Mars Base. Gabi’s voice came over his headset.
“We’re going to try and get the scrubber started, Rahm. If we can get that damage patched and the scrubbers working we might have a chance.”
“Good luck,” he called to them. He said nothing more, in his opinion there was so little air left on the planet that whatever they did, it would not be enough. He was still bruised, but he hauled himself painfully to his feet and walked over to help Saul. But they had it covered. They were running towards the cannon. While he watched, the Tauron roared and tore Nathan’s arm from his body. It was Nathans’ turn to scream.
“Rahm, stop it, for God’s sake, not this. Kill it! I don’t want to die like this.”
There were no more screams. The monster took hold of his head and wrenched it off, a bloodied, ghastly trophy. Then it looked at him, almost like a look of triumph. Saul was behind the gun, and Josh was helping him swing it around to bear. The Tauron charged the awesome power of the gun. It must have known that it was a suicidal rush. Or perhaps it was the way it chose to die. Saul fired and kept the trigger pressed down. The bullets scythed through the alien at close range, ripping and tearing its body into bloodied ruin. Then they ceased fire.
“The dome, we have to try to save it,” Rahm reminded them. They ran automatically, it was doubtful that the others had worked out how impossible the task would be. Nonetheless, it was a task, better to die trying than to quit. Kacy was frantically keying commands into a console, she turned to him.
“Rahm, we need to get the scrubbers started. Take Gabi and get out to the cave.”
“She knows how it’s done?”
His technician fixed him with a fierce stare. “She’d f*cking better, or we’re all finished.”
He shouted for Gabi, recalling that he’d never heard Kacy swear before. At least she’d get a couple of good ones in before they died.
Gabi ran up to him. “Are you ready to go?” She was looking at his wounds at the same time.
“Yeah, we can take Josh’s buggy. Can you start the scrubbers?”
“Maybe. Let’s get there and I’ll find out.”
He looked into the next room. Ryles was there, kneeling in front of a makeshift altar. He was praying!
“Ryles!” he roared. The man jumped with fright and came towards Rahm.
“What is it? I’m praying for all of us.”
“Pray I don’t kick your ass all the way back to Earth. Have you got any portable scrubbers left?”
The man looked guilty. Rahm didn’t wait for a reply. He pulled out his pistol and rammed it in the man’s belly.
“Issue them now, Tobin. We’re going to get the scrubbers working! We’re not having people dying before we do. If I come back and find one person without breathing equipment, I’m going to blow your balls off. Then I’m going to send you to the Taurons for you to become their whore, Move!”
He ran off, both girls laughed.
“Would you have done it?” Gabi asked as they ran towards the buggy.
After a few moments thought, he replied. “No.”
She looked at him, beginning to grin, but he cut in.
“He hasn’t got any balls; they’d have to take him as he is.”
The leapt into the buggy and he gunned it all the way to the cave. They rushed inside and Gabi began work on the equipment, he stood back and watched.
“Do you think this’ll work?”
“I’m checking the way Dan and Pete set it up, theoretically, there’s no reason why it shouldn’t.”
She looked puzzled, though.
“What’s up?”
“I don’t know.” She hit a series of switches, with no effect. She hit them again.
“It should work, it really should.”
She was close to panic, a young woman on her first Mars mission, flung into a responsibility that was far beyond her skills and experience. Except that she was the only one.
He kept his voice calm and soothing. Panic would not help her.
“Think. Could Dan have rigged it the wrong way around?”
She shrugged. “I don’t see how. This stuff is all pretty standard.”
He heard the rising despair in her voice.
“But it isn’t standard, is it? This equipment was the older stuff that was going back to Earth for overhaul.”
It was as if he’d switched on a light. She smiled at him. “Rahm, you’re a genius. Of course, this older stuff is wired the reverse way to the newer equipment. They brought in some weird new health and safety law. If Dan didn’t know that, he would have got the wiring all in reverse.” Her face clouded. “But it’ll take hours to check it all through and work it out.”
“Gabi, do it. Don’t check anything, don’t work anything out, there isn’t time.”
She still looked uncertain. He glared at her.
“Gabi, they’re dying. F*cking do it!” he roared at the top of his voice.
“Oh, right!” she leapt at the violence in his voice. “I don’t need to disconnect, I can reverse the setting from the panel.”
She keyed frantically until the panel lights changed from lines of clear green to lines of threatening red.”
“Is that it? It doesn’t look right.”
“No, it’s the reverse of Dan’s settings, but that’s how it’s done. Shall I try it?”
He was careful to keep any irony or exasperation out of his voice. “Yes.”
The machinery clanked into life, and she turned to him with amazement on her face. “We did it, Rahm. It’s working.”
He gave her a gentle hug through their pressure suits. “There was no ‘we’ about it. You deserve a medal for all the work you’ve done to get this working. Let’s head back and see if there’s still time to turn things around at Mars Base.”
“Yes, we need to be quick.”
He was alerted by a strange sound in her voice. What is it, Gabi?”
“I’m nearly out of air, Rahm. I’ve only got a few minutes, no more.”
He almost threw her onto the buggy and raced back to Mars Base. Both inner and outer airlock doors were open, he drove through, but there was no power to close them behind him. Drillers were lying around the floor, gasping out their last as their sets slowly ceased to supply the life-giving air. Saul appeared in front of him.
“Saul, the scrubbers are working, get Kacy to divert some of the supplementary power we used in there to power up these doors, we need to seal the base.”
“I’m on it,” he shouted as he dashed away.
Rahm picked up Gabi and dashed through to the crew locker he used. He wrenched open the lid and rummaged underneath the tools and equipment. He came out with something that in this place of death was worth more than its weight in gold. He unsnapped Gabi’s supply and snapped on the replacement. He switched it on and was rewarded with the sound of her sucking in air. Her eyes had been closed, they opened now.
“Is it working yet, have we got air?”
“Not quite, this is the last of the portable scrubbers, I kept it.”
“Why?”
“For you, Gabi. I’m not going to let you go, not this time.”
She shook her head, but said nothing. Then a wonderful thing happened. Kacy had tapped into the supply from the cave, the emergency lights started to come on, then some of the main lights. Saul found the door switches and closed the airlock. Kacy came in, smiling.
“That was good work at the cave. If you hadn’t done what you did, there’d be no power and no air. As things are, we should be re-pressurized within two hours. The patch they put on seems to be holding.”
“So what do we do next?” Gabi asked.
Ryles entered the garage from a side door. He was clutching a heavy bag.
“That was good work everyone. We should be able to get things back to normal before long. Provided the Taurons don’t attack again.”
“They’re all dead, Tobin.”
He looked at Saul with a stupid expression. “Dead, what do you mean?”
“Dead as in we killed them all. I guess it was while you were praying.”
“So I guess my prayers were answered,” he smiled weakly. “I’ll make sure to mention the help you’ve given me in my report.”
They were all surprised that it was Kacy who lost it. She stormed up to him and delivered a beautiful punch that connected with and audible ‘crack’ to his jaw. He was flung to the floor like a sack of potatoes.
“I’ll have you sacked for that, you can’t do that to me,” he shouted. He got up, still raving. “I’ll sue you for every penny you’ve got, so you just wait until we get back to Earth. I’ll…”
“What’s in the bag, Tobin?” Rahm asked quietly.
“The bag? Oh, yeah, some of my personal equipment, it’s private.”
Rahm snatched it off him and checked inside. There were two portable scrubbers.
“No, Rahm, I can explain, honestly, look…”
This time Rahm hit him. Hard. His nose burst, sending blood trickling down inside his helmet, underneath his mouthpiece.”
“Save it, Ryles. You’re fired.”
“You can’t fire me.”
“I just did. We need a man to run this place, not a whore’s errand boy like you.”
They left him babbling on the floor while they did a round of the base to check the integrity. To their surprise, the damage inflicted by the Taurons had been repaired with patches that promised to hold. At least, long enough for the relief ship to arrive. There were nine more bodies, and all of them had succumbed to lack of air. Four were in the sick bay. Rahm had brought the two portable scrubbers, but it was too late. He gave them to Doc Price.
“Damn, these could have saved two of those lives. Who had them, Ryles?”
Rahm nodded.
“I’ll make sure he goes to prison for this when we get back. It’s as good as murder. I assume we have a chance of getting back?”
“A good one, Doc. Look after your patients. They’ll be able to breathe better soon.”
It took less than two hours to pressurize the dome with breathable air. After an hour and a half Kacy was able to take the readings that indicated they could remove their suits and masks.
“I think we’re over the worst, we have enough life support to survive until the relief ship turns up. I think we’re going to live. It could have been a lot…”
She’d turned around and seen that she was talking to herself. Gabi and Rahm had disappeared. She understood. They’d spent so long staring at the many different, cruel faces of death. When the danger receded, basic human instinct was, well, basic. She felt lonely. If only she had someone here inside Mars Base that she could call a friend. More than a friend, she wanted a date. A partner, a squeeze, it all added up to the same.
“Kacy?”
She turned to speak to Saul. “Yes?”
“I’ve got a bottle in my cabin, do you fancy…”
She hugged him to her. “Whatever the question is, the answer is yes.”
“Anything?”
“Anything.”
They lay in Rahm’s bunk, watching the dark surface of Mars. The sky was brightly lit with stars, more than they’d ever seen in their lives.
“I never thought we’d get there,” Gabi said.
“Even with your ideas about the air scrubbers?”
“It was more of a guess than anything. It could have gone either way.”
Well, it didn’t.”
They lay there in the post-coital silence that is enjoyed by all lovers.
“Rahm?”
“What?”
“Those stars, one of them is moving.”
He jerked upright. A ship was descending from orbit, as they watched it reached a point about a mile above the surface and hovered there. Watching. Listening.
“Taurons?”
“I reckon,” he replied. “Damn, I thought we’d done enough for this trip.”
The ship hovered for five more minutes. They were long minutes, enough for them to conjure up fantasies of legions of aliens landing and storming Mars Base to wreak revenge.
“Should we alert the others?” she asked tremulously.
“What for? Let them relax. We can’t deal with a ship like that. It’s leagues ahead of our technology. If they land several hundred monsters and piles of military equipment, we’re done for. We may as well go up to them and say, ‘take me to your leader.’
“Or eat a laser pistol.”
“Yeah, that would do it.”
Then the ship accelerated away, within seconds it had disappeared into outer space.
“What are they up to?” Gabi mused. “It’s not like those creatures to turn around and go home. They’re tough, always spoiling for a fight.”
“Standing orders.”
She looked at Rahm. “What the hell’s that supposed to mean?”
“A while back I was looking at the ship’s instructions for the first mining colony on Mars. The investment in the vessel and the equipment was astronomical. They always worried that someone could have got their first, that Mars could have been occupied by a force that was militarily superior to our own. Orders were to evacuate rather than slug it out and lose everything. I guess the Taurons looked at it the same way. When their scanners failed to pick up any signs of their people, they pulled out.”
“That’s crazy,” she exclaimed. “It doesn’t make any sense. Let’s face it, we were lucky, they’re way ahead of us in every way.”
“That’s true,” Rahm grinned. “But do they know that?”
She nodded thoughtfully. “I guess it’s possible. Let’s just hope they don’t change their minds and come back.”
“If they do, we’ll beat them again. And anyone else that comes after them.”
“You’re very confident. You think you’re that tough?”
“No, absolutely not. I agree. It was touch and go this time. But it’s the whole of the human race I put my faith in. Just being physically strong isn’t the whole answer. History is littered with battles when understrength, poorly equipped armies defeated enemies many times their size.”
“Like David and Goliath?” She was smiling broadly.
“Yeah, that story was in my mind. You know what I thought about the original fight, the one in the old bible?”
She shook her head. “Is this some kind of deep philosophy thing?”
“Quite the opposite. It just occurred to me that Goliath was one dumb sonofabitch not to have learned to use a slingshot when he was a kid.”
“What should that giant Tauron have learned, what did he miss?”
“That’s easy. To stay out of my face.”
They reached for each other, in a celebration of the life that had returned to Mars Base. And to them.
Postscript


“It’s a good offer, Rahm. A further two year contract at fifty percent more than you earned last time.”
They were in spacious, modern company headquarters. Like much of Houston, Texas, the building high enough to almost touch the clouds. Outside, it was all dark, smoked glass and sculptured granite. Inside, there was a soaring atrium with a bank of elevators. They’d been ushered to the one on the far left, marked ‘Private’. The elevator almost broke the sound barrier as it rocketed up to the forty-eighth floor. The executive floor, with carpet thick enough to lose a small dog in its pile. Everywhere was dark oak, polished brass and original artworks on the walls.
He shook his head. “I’m sorry; I thought I made it clear. I’ve already bought a place and I’m well on the way to starting my own operation.”
The general manager shook his head. “I’m real sorry to hear that. We could use you up there, both of you. Ma’am, couldn’t you persuade him?” He thought for a moment. “I could make that a straight hundred percent more than last time.”
She smiled. “I’m sorry, but I know his mind is made up. I’m not in a hurry to go back either, we’re going to make a go of things on Earth.”
“If your mind is made up, there’s nothing I can do. Call me if you ever change your mind.”
The interview was over, they stood and shook hands. They reached the elevator, when the door opened a familiar figure stepped out.
“Hey, you two, are you here for a new contract?”
Rahm shook his head. “No, we’ve decided against going back to Mars. How about you, what are you up to?”
He was a small man, and most people would describe him as weedy. “Haven’t you heard? They’ve given me the contract to manage the next Mars Base relief. I’m due to fly out in just over a week.”
“Did you ask them to try and recruit me and Gabi?”
He grinned. “Yeah, of course I was behind that. I told them how helpful you’d been when I had to take over after Jacques died and they agreed that we should try and get you on board.”
Rahm stared at Tobin Ryles. Some people could fall into a barrel of pig shit and come out smelling of Chanel Number Five. He was one of them. They wished each other luck and pressed the button to take them back down. A limo took them out to the airport where they boarded the company jet for the journey back to New York. They had another surprise waiting for them when they landed at JFK. Saul Packer was waiting for them, together with Kacy Lakkin. After the hugs, kisses, and greetings, they took a taxi into the city and found a restaurant. They finished a fine meal, carefully avoiding any talk of the bad times on Mars, and remembering the good times. There were few good times.
“You remember when you punched that little bastard, Tobin Ryles?” Saul smiled as he pictured the scene. “Christ, he was a useless waste of space. We should have sent him to the Taurons as a peace offering. They could have eaten him for breakfast.”
“He’s the next Mars Base manager.”
“Tobin? You’re kidding me?” He looked at Gabi for confirmation.
“It’s true, Saul. They think he’s some kind of a hero.”
The big man shook his head. “I thought I’d heard it all, but that beats all. So, what’re you two up to now?”
Rahm indicated that Gabi should answer.
“We’ve bought a place in the foothills of the Appalachians. According to our surveys, there’s a good chance we can exploit a hefty chunk of mineral resources underneath our ground.”
She looked around the restaurant, but there was no one near. Then she glanced at Rahm for permission. He nodded. If they couldn’t trust these two, they couldn’t trust anyone.
“We think there’s a good chance we’ll find trevanium if we go deep enough.”
“No shit!” Saul was impressed. “That’ll have a packet of trouble. There’ll be no need to rip the stuff out of Mars.”
He was smiling as he thought through the consequences. Then his face changed. “Christ, the company.”
“Yes, the company. They’re not going to like it. If we find more trevanium than expected on Earth, it’ll hammer their share price. The value of their operation on Mars will plummet.”
It was obvious that neither of the women understood the implications.
“What exactly are you suggesting? The company will just have to take the loss and accept that times have changed,” Kacy exclaimed.
Saul took her by the arm. “Normally, I’d agree with you, but the amounts of money involved are enormous. We can’t rule out some kind of threat.”
“You mean they’d try and sabotage any kind of competition?”
“That’s exactly what I mean.”
“It’s ok, Kacy,” Rahm gently interjected. “We’re not too worried. We’ll make preparations, so if they do try anything we’ll be ready for them.”
“Jesus Christ, they’re worse than the Taurons. At least they weren’t threatening their own people.”
He thought of the huge alien monster that he’d destroyed at the end. Could anyone be worse than that monster? Yes, they could. If it was one of your own kind, someone you thought you could trust, and they betrayed that trust, it would be worse.
“You’re right. Saul, Kacy, we didn’t ask you to meet us in New York City just to share a meal and talk about old times.”
“We assumed you didn’t,” Saul replied. “What’s going on, have you hit some kind of a problem?”
“Kind of. Our new company, we need personnel.”
“You want to hire us?”
“Hire you? No, we want you to become partners. There’s no one either of us would want more than you two, and no one more suitable to help develop the new company.”
“What would we have to do?” Kacy asked.
Rahm nodded to acknowledge a shrewd question.
“Initially, you and Gabi would work to develop technical solutions to exploiting mineral sin out of the way places, like Mars, or maybe the Antarctic. My thinking is that the way forward is robotics, those are not places where I’d like to send a man. Or a woman, come that.”
“Sounds good, and I’d agree with you. What about Saul?”
“Saul and I would head up the actual mineral recovery operations. We’d also have to deal with any enemy action that comes out way.”
Saul smiled. “You want me to crack some heads?”
“That’s a part of it, yes. You don’t have to decide right away.”
He exchanged looks with Kacy. “It’s not a problem. We’d both like to sign on the dotted line.”
“Your word is good enough for us, Saul. Welcome to RKSG Mineral Research Inc.”
“RKSG?”
“Rahm, Kacy, Saul and Gabi.”
“Right.”
That night in bed, Rahm sensed Gabi’s unease.
“What’s up, I thought you’d be happy about having them on board.”
“I am. What worries me is that we could be getting into some scrapes with the company. Especially if they see us in direct competition with them. We saw off the Taurons, but it came very close. The corporation is much closer to home. The Taurons fought according to their concepts of honor. These people won’t.”
He thought of the caliber of people who ran the mineral exploitation operations for the company. People like Tobin Ryles.
“No, they won’t. So it’s up to us to show them that they can’t have it all their own way.”
“Like we showed the Taurons?”
“Like we showed the Taurons, yes. The funny thing is that if they’d left us alone, we would have left them alone and there’d have been no trouble.”
“Perhaps you could remind the company of that.”
“I will. And if they don’t listen we’ll do it the hard way. Just like on Mars.”
He fell asleep dreaming nightmares of hard, lizard skinned monsters. Of the battles they’d have with the tough, clever creatures. In his nightmare he saw Ryles leading a Tauron warband, come to destroy their mining operation. Except that Ryles looked different. He was bigger, more powerful, his skin scaly. The clash was violent and bloody, at some stage Gabi went missing. What was even worse, he froze. It was worse than being killed. It was a living death, one he would have to live with every waking moment. Oh God, no, surely the Taurons haven’t taken her! He woke up with her at his side, her face creased with concern, his body soaked with perspiration.
“You were shouting my name, are you ok?”
He gulped with relief and lay back on the bed. “Yeah, sorry, bad dream. I’m ok now.”
As he dozed, he was mentally ordering stockpiles of weapons and ammunition, security systems and communications. Ready for the next time. But Gabi had a more practical suggestion.
“You’re going to have to do it, you know.”
“Do what?” But he knew exactly what she meant.
“The brain scan. You’ll always be wondering until you do.”
“And if it shows nothing wrong, that I just froze with fright when those bandits struck in Afghanistan?”
She stared at him, looking deep into his eyes. “It’s really easy. The Rahm I know is the bravest, most courageous person I could hope to meet. That person wouldn’t be scare of a simple test. He’d have the strength and honesty to want to face up to the truth, and then deal with it.”
He was silent for many minutes. Then slowly he nodded. “You’re right. I’ll take the rest. The result makes no difference, because what is important is the future. You and me.”
“And RKSG Mineral Research Inc,” she smiled. “But that’s enough introspection for one day. We’re not due anywhere today, why don’t we take advantage of a morning off.”
As she reached for him, he felt almost a physical force as something left him, a shadow on his mind that had been a cold companion for so long. The following day they went to file the papers that would establish their new company. Saul and Kacy met them in downtown Houston an hour before they were due to file. Saul drew Rahm to one side.
“There’s one thing I wanted to clear up first,” he muttered in an uncertain voice.
“What’s that, Saul?”
“It would make a difference on our company stationery if we had a real, live, genuine doctor of engineering. Is there any way you’d consider letting us use your title for company business?”
His answer was immediate. It was the last part of his old self that he’d kept hidden.
“Dr. Rahm it is, Saul.”
The toolpusher’s face transformed into a huge grin. He was aware of what lay behind that decision. He dragged him over to the girls.
“Hey listen, we’ve got a new name on the board of RKSG Mineral Research Inc.”
“Who’s that?” Gabi asked, suspiciously.
“Dr. Caleb Rahm. In the flesh. I reckon that calls for a drink before we go in.”
Rahm saw the glance that Gabi gave him. Yes, she’d been right, what happened in the past had been put safely where it should have been a long time ago. In the past.