Colony Down: Battlefield Mars Book 2 Read online

  “Captain Rahn?” a voice said in his earpieces.

  Archard looked down.

  An officer and a corporal in combat uniforms, both fully armed, were staring up at him. Their Individual Combat Weapons were unslung and in their hands.

  “I’m Lieutenant Burroughs,” the officer introduced herself. She had dark hair that stuck out from under her helmet, and green eyes. “This is Corporal Arnold. We’re to escort you to the Security Center.”

  “Sir,” the corporal said. He was in his twenties, a huskie with broad shoulders and an easy smile.

  Their friendliness alleviated a little of Archard’s concern. “A pleasure to meet you,” he said. “Your major had me thinking I must be in hot water.”

  “I wouldn’t know about that, sir,” Lieutenant Burroughs said.

  “I should be going directly to your chief administrator,” Archard said. “His name is Reubens, correct?”

  “That is his name, sir, yes,” Lieutenant Burroughs confirmed. “But our orders are to take you to headquarters and nowhere else.”

  “Don’t you people know what’s happened at New Meridian?” Archard said. “The colony has been overrun.”

  The lieutenant and the corporal glanced at one another, and Arnold said, “Sir?”

  “By indigenous lifeforms,” Archard elaborated. “The only survivors are myself and the five people in the tank.”

  “They are being escorted by Sergeant Kline,”

  Lieutenant Burroughs said. “As for the rest of it, that’s for you and the major to work out. All I know is that I’m to take you to the Security Center, and you are not allowed to talk to anyone along the way.”

  “Wonderful,” Archard muttered.

  Burroughs gave an apologetic shrug. “I’m sorry. But those are my instructions.”

  Archard vented his frustration with, “What in the hell is going on?”

  “I’m sure I don’t know,” Lieutenant Burroughs said. Turning, she beckoned. “If you would be so kind as to follow me.”

  Archard noticed that once he passed Arnold, the corporal fell in behind them, effectively placing him under guard.

  “Lieutenant, did your major prohibit you from talking to me, too?”

  “No, Captain, he did not.”

  “Then answer me this. Am I to take it that the colonists at Wellsville have no idea New Meridian has fallen?”

  “It’s news to me, sir.”

  “To both of us, sir,” Corporal Arnold chimed in.

  “No broadcasts about the attack? No satellite images relayed? Nothing at all?” Archard pressed them in disbelief.

  “Sir, so far as we’re aware,” Burroughs said, “New Meridian is perfectly fine.”

  “Look at his battle suit, Lieutenant,” Corporal Arnold said. “It’s dented and sputtering and giving off smoke. He’s been in a battle, all right.”

  “That’s not our concern, Corporal. We’re to take him to headquarters and that’s all.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Corporal Arnold said.

  Archard smothered an impulse to curse a mean streak. He would save his anger for Major Howard. Then, by God, he would get to the bottom of this. Or else.

  Dr. Katla Dkany fidgeted in her chair and drummed her fingers on the small table in the waiting room where she’d been brought after the tank arrived at Wellsville’s U.N.I.C. headquarters.

  Katla was furious. A Sergeant Kline and another trooper had escorted them there, and Kline had brought her to the room. He’d refused to answer her questions. His final comment as he shut the door was that Major Howard would arrive shortly, and her questions would be answered.

  That was over half an hour ago.

  Katla got up and began to pace. She was conscious of the security camera in a corner of the ceiling, and glared at it to let them know how mad she was.

  She had paced for a good ten minutes when the door opened and in strode the commanding officer of the colony’s United Nations Interplanetary Corp detachment.

  “Dr. Dkany. I’m Major Dwight Howard.”

  Katla disliked him at first sight. He wasn’t much over a meter and a half tall and had to be at least five kilograms overweight, most of it around his middle. He was also balding and had a florid face. In his hand, of all things, was a swagger stick.

  “Have a seat,” Major Howard said, gesturing at her chair with the stick.

  “No apology for keeping me waiting?” Katla said.

  “I assure you it couldn’t be helped,” Major Howard said. “We had to land the Thunderbolt and I had to report to my superiors. As it is, we’re showing you the courtesy of talking to you before any of the others, including Captain Rahn.”

  “I’m flattered,” Katla said dryly. She remained standing and folded her arms across her chest. “Who’s this we?”

  Moving side, Major Howard smiled and indicated the doorway with the swagger stick.

  In walked a thin man of forty or so in an expensive suit. His face was familiar. Katla had seen it on occasion on newscasts involving Wellsville. “Chief Administrator Reubens?”

  “In the flesh,” Reubens replied. His voice was a reedy rasp that matched his physique. “Please do take a seat. We have a lot to discuss.”

  Reluctantly, Katla did as he wanted. But she sat rigid with her arms still crossed, and archly said, “I can’t say much for your colony’s hospitality. I could use a hot meal. I could use a bath. I could use a change of clothes. All of us could. Yet you had us marched in here like we’re criminals or something.”

  “Please, my dear…” Reubens began.

  It took every ounce of Katla’s self-control not to leap across the table and smack him. “I’m not your dear. I’m a fellow professional and I’ll be treated as such.”

  “I’m sorry, doctor. A slip of the tongue,” Chief Administrator Reubens said.

  “Explain to me why we’re being treated this way. Explain why I saw no sign that your colony is preparing for an attack. Better yet, explain why Wellsville never responded to our emergency calls for help. Or why no one wants to know the details of what happened at New Meridian.”

  “Doctor, please. You really must calm down,” Reubens said. “I hope I haven’t made a mistake in talking to you first.”

  “How so?”

  “I thought that you would be the most…” Reubens paused as if trying to come up with the right word, “…amenable. You are, after all, a physician and an exobiologist.

  You’re more intelligent than they are.”

  Barely able to conceal her sarcasm, Katla said, “I’m flattered you think so.”

  “Good. Now that you’re being reasonable, we can proceed.” Reubens folded his pale stick fingers on the table. “I will tell you everything you want to know.”

  “I can’t wait,” Katla said.

  CHAPTER 9

  Winslow roused from another bout of deep despair to regard the two creatures who were approaching. One was the towering yellow Martian, the other another of the small kind, like him.

  “Greetings. The next phase of your assimilation will now commence.”

  Winslow couldn’t get over how the words formed in his head without the yellow Martian making a sound. Although that wasn’t quite right. They didn’t ‘form.’ They were inserted into his consciousness in a way that translated them as words so he could understand. Arcane science? A natural consequence of whatever they’d done to him? He didn’t know and didn’t care. He yearned to have his old life back, not this unending nightmare. I would rather be alone, he thought.

  “Alone is not good. Alone, you are sad. Alone, you do not partake of the joy of the Unity.”

  You talk about that a lot, Winslow thought. What is it?

  “The Unity is us,” the yellow Martian replied, and motioned at itself and the other Martians and Winslow. “The Unity is you.”

  I do not understand, Winslow admitted. Please leave me be, he thought.

  “You must be assimilated,” the yellow Martian insisted. “Your receptors must b
e fully attuned to the Unity so that what one sees, you can see. And so that you can better share your own flow of consciousness.”

  If you say so, Winslow thought halfheartedly.

  The yellow Martian’s appendage dipped toward the other Martian. “This is Nilista. She has volunteered to help you.”

  Martians have names? Winslow thought in surprise. It had never occurred to him to ask. He was too mired in his own misery.

  The towering creature’s eye stalks lowered until its eyes were on a level with Winslow’s. “We do not call ourselves Martians. We do not call our planet Mars. To us, this is our Birth World. To us, we are the Unity. We also have discreet identities, as you of the Blue World do. And we have gender differences. In a few respects, we are much alike, but in most we are not.”

  You call it Birth World because it is where you are born? Winslow thought.

  The yellow Martian looked at the other one and they both quivered.

  What? Winslow said.

  “Do not take offense, but you of the Blue World can be most obtuse.”

  You were laughing at me?

  “You find it strange we have a sense of humor?”

  I find everything about you and your kind strange.

  “We of the Unity are of more than one kind. We are born into many castes. You have much to learn, Blue Worlder. All of which will be imparted in the fullness of time. For now, Nilista will share what you might deem the basics.” The yellow Martian straightened, wheeled, and departed.

  Winslow fixed his multifaceted eyes on his counterpart. As near as he could tell, it was like him in every respect.

  So your name is Nilista? And you are female? Can you read my mind like the banana does? Winslow figured that since they possessed a sense of humor, he might as well make a joke.

  The female extended her front appendages, pointed at his grippers, spread her own, and motioned.

  Winslow gathered he was to touch his grippers---he tended to think of them as hands---to hers. With a mental sigh, he complied. For a bit, nothing happened. He could feel her hard skin, if that is what it was, pressed against his. Is this supposed to do something? he asked.

  Suddenly, as if a light switch had been thrown, Winslow’s consciousness was enveloped by another. He experienced a pleasurable sensation of warmth.

  “Greetings. I am Nilista. You are aware of me?”

  Yes, Winslow thought. He wanted to add ‘God, yes’, but didn’t.

  “I am to be your assimilator. Together, we will attune your receptors to the Unity. When we are done, you will be of the Unity and in the Unity, yet you will be you.”

  Will it hurt? Winslow thought.

  “Pain is not part of the process, no.”

  And I will still be me?

  “Your awareness will be your awareness, yes.”

  Nilista, I…” Winslow thought, and stopped.

  “What?”

  I don’t know if I want to do this. I want to be as I was.

  “Impossible. I am sorry. But you will learn to accept and relish the new you.”

  I just don’t know, Winslow thought sorrowfully.

  “Will you try? Will you bind with me? So that you might feel the fullness of the Unity?”

  For you, I guess, okay, Winslow thought. The moment he did, the feeling of warmth increased. He had a sense that he had pleased her.

  “I admire the strength you show. This cannot be easy. We will bind, and much will be made clear.”

  You keep using that word. Bind how? Winslow thought.

  “We will have sex.”

  “Before I begin, you must give your word that what I say will not go beyond these walls,” Chief Administrator Reubens began. “In fact, before you will be granted permission to leave this facility, you must sign a non-disclosure agreement. Should you violate it, you will be immediately imprisoned without recourse to due process.”

  “What in the world?” Katla blurted.

  Reubens leaned back in his chair. “You want to know what is going on, don’t you?”

  “Very much so,” Katla said.

  “I happen to think you should, at least enough to set your mind at rest. And to help you fully appreciate our position, and why we’ve done what we did.” Chief Administrator Reubens studied her intently. “Do I have your word that this will stay strictly between us?”

  Katla hesitated. She had a sense she was being manipulated. Yet, if she refused to go along, they would leave her in the dark.

  “Try to understand my position,” Reubens said. “The information I must impart is designated Ultra Top Secret. Which, need I point out, is far above your clearance rating. Technically, I’m violating regulations. My superiors might not be pleased.”

  “Why go out on a limb for me?” Katla asked.

  “I consider it the lesser of two evils,” Reubens said.

  “If I don’t, you’ll go around telling everyone about New Meridian, and before we know it, we’ll have discord on a wide scale.”

  Katla saw right through him. “You’re doing this in your own self-interest.”

  “Not only mine personally, but Wellsville as a whole. The welfare of the colony must always come first.”

  “I don’t like being forced to do something against my will.”

  Reubens shrugged. “Your choice, Doctor. But know this. Should you decline my offer, you will be held in a detention cell until the next supply ship from Earth arrives, and be sent back.”

  “You can’t deprive me of due process,” Katla bristled.

  “On the contrary, under protocols established by the United Nations Interplanetary Council, I can.”

  “I’ve never heard of any such protocols.”

  “They were quietly promulgated at the highest levels, and just as quietly signed by the countries involved.”

  “By quietly you mean secretly.”

  Reubens smiled slyly. “What will it be? Your decision. Yes or no?”

  Knowing, Katla decided, was better than not knowing. No matter the cost. “I give you my word.”

  “Excellent.” Reubens looked over at Major Howard. “Leave us.”

  “Sir?”

  “You heard me, Major. Be sure the door is shut. Have security turn off the camera and the recorder. And be quick about it, if you would, please.”

  Major Howard snapped to attention, pivoted on a heel, and briskly walked out.

  “We’ll have to wait a minute or two, I’m afraid,” Reubens said apologetically to Katla. Twisting around, he stared up at the camera. When the green light on a small display turned red and then went dark, he nodded and turned to her again. “Now then. Where to begin? I would imagine you have a host of questions.”

  “Ten or twenty,” Katla said. “Why didn’t you send help to New Meridian? Why didn’t Wellsville and Bradbury respond to our emergency calls? I happen to have been at Captain Rahn’s side when he sent out six or seven distress signals, and I know he sent out more. Not one was answered.”

  Reubens shook his head. “No, that’s not where we should begin. To make this easier, we should go back in time to before the arrival of the first colonists.” He bent toward her. “You see, my…” he was apparently going to say ‘dear’ again but caught himself, “we have always known Mars is inhabited.”

  CHAPTER 10

  Dr. Katla Dkany was so shocked, the most intelligent response she could make was, “What?”

  “We have always known. By ‘we,’ I mean a small cadre of higher dignitaries at the United Nations as well as certain leaders of a few of the larger countries. Plus various scientists involved in projects related to the colonization.”

  “All along?” Katla said.

  “Since the early NASA days of rover exploration,” Reubens clarified. “Those feeds were carefully controlled. We never let anything slip through that we didn’t want the public to know.”

  “Back up,” Katla said. “Are you telling me that rovers were sent down into the Martians’ underground cities?”

&nb
sp; “Hardly,” Reubens said, and chuckled. “We would have lost contact. But the rovers did occasionally catch images of Martians outside of caves or where have you. Not many, but enough that it was long suspected a flourishing population of indigenous life existed.”

  “And none of the powers that be thought it was important enough to tell the people?”

  “It was the discovery of the century. Of the millennium. Hell, the most important discovery ever.”

  “Then why?”

  “Think, Doctor,” Reubens said. “What would have happened if NASA announced to the world that our next-door-neighbor was inhabited?”

  “Celebrations in the streets?” Katla said.

  “Possibly. Or perhaps condemnation. Our space program, after all, was geared toward putting colonists on Mars as soon as we were able. Imagine the hue and cry if the public had found out about the Martians. It would have been the Native American situation of early America all over again. There would have been protests. Widespread civil unrest. Riots, perhaps.”

  “You’re exaggerating.”

  “Am I?” Reubens said. “You know very well that at the very least there would have been U.S. congressional investigations. Intelligence probes by different governments. Our Mars program would have ground to a halt while the court of public opinion debated the ethics of colonizing a planet that was already occupied.”

  “The governments and the corporations involved couldn’t let that happen,” Katla guessed. “Not after all the money they’d invested.”

  “Really, Doctor?” Reubens said. “You do our leaders a great disservice by reducing it to dollars and cents.”

  Katla sneered in scorn. “Are you trying to tell me they kept it a secret to protect the Martians?”

  “It wasn’t a matter of protecting but learning all we could. Initially, we didn’t know the extent of the situation. We honestly had no conception of how developed they are.”

  “Initially?” Katla repeated.

  “Well, of course, once Bradbury was established, we secretly sent special ops teams to gather more intel. That was when we learned the truth.”