The Mars Frontier Box Set, page 39
part #1 of Mars Frontier Series
"Charlie, I believe we have an operating particle beam ready to test. Thank you so much for all your commitment to the project. I'm sure we wouldn't be where we are without your focus and genius."
Molloy hopped across and gave her a high five. "Don't sell yourself short, Paige. It's your leadership that was the glue to our success. To be fair, I had my doubts we'd be testing so soon when the diagnostics failed the first few times. I was convinced we'd damaged some components two days ago."
"Congratulations to both of you," added Captain Bailey, who had been watching silently as they'd tried to troubleshoot the final issues. He could do no more than act as a spectator as they had made the minutest adjustments to the delicate equipment. "It's a fantastic effort for America. General Stockton will be immensely impressed when we report the good news to him later. What happens next?"
Paige walked up to him, keen to show what her new pet project could do. "The weapon is running on internal batteries at the moment. That's enough to power the console and sensors but that's all. As soon as Rashid connects us to the reactor, we'll have sufficient power to start the particle accelerator. With luck, we can commence some very low power tests this afternoon. That will enable us to perform calibration of the various components and shake out any unexpected anomalies. Once those tests are complete, we'll gradually increase the energy of the particle beam until it's at full power."
"Rashid said he'll have us connected within thirty minutes," replied Bailey. "We may as well take a break in the MEV and wait for his call. I don't know about you youngsters, but my legs are ready to collapse."
Molloy said, "You go ahead. I want to check the electron emitters one more time. I've learned you can never take anything for granted."
Paige understood there was no point trying to dissuade him. She'd known Molloy long enough to accept his pedantic eye for detail. She, however, was grateful for Captain Bailey's suggestions after spending three hours in her spacesuit. She was looking forward to removing her helmet and having some refreshment. She raced to catch up with the captain who was already climbing up into the MEV's airlock.
***
Georgia found Mancuso in the control room, transferring data from his tablet to the master computer. "You'll be pleased to hear your caretaker duties in aquaponics is officially over. Lexington's two horticulturists, Kelly and Dryden, have said you did an excellent job," she told him.
"At least the Kings have someone else to pester. I've enough to do, assisting with the unloading and storage of supplies. Don't get me wrong, Vicky Morris is exceptional at her job, but she's hampered by her injured foot."
"I know you'll give her all the help she needs. You like helping damsels in distress. You've helped me more times than I care to remember."
"That's because we're a family, Georgia. And families look out for one another." Mancuso paused for a moment, before asking. "I'm also concerned about you. What are you doing about the weapon over at Yorktown?"
Georgia frowned at the direct question. Mancuso never failed to surprise her but, other than Megan, he was the one she trusted to give her honest feedback and support. "I'm not sure I ever confirmed there was a weapon."
He returned her gaze, giving her a knowing smile. She knew it had been foolish to think that she could dupe him.
"Okay," she conceded. "On the basis that there may have been a particle beam weapon brought from Earth, something I can neither confirm nor deny, I have been told categorically by General Stockton that it is a tactical device placed here for defensive reasons only. And that is because our Chinese and Russian neighbors have done exactly the same thing and brought their own weapons."
"Which has pissed you off more. The fact that we now have weapons in contravention of all international laws or that you were lied to?"
"You know me too well, Joe. The military seems to be taking over and the politicians are paying attention. So much for a new start on Mars. And I knew absolutely nothing about any of this."
"Can't you prevent the weapons from being constructed and made operational?"
"How? If there's a viable way, please let me know."
Mancuso shrugged. "I imagine you'd need the agreement of all sides. Not very likely when trust is at an all-time low."
"Exactly. I've resigned myself to taking a back seat and hope the general and his advisers know what they are doing. But I will be ready to intervene if I have to. I have serious concerns that the situation will turn ugly."
"What about the Sentinels? Don't you think they'd step into to help?" suggested Mancuso.
Georgia moved to her favorite spot by the large window and sighed as she looked out at the plain disappearing into the distance. "No, we're being tested and judged by them. We're an interesting experiment, nothing more. They'll passively watch us blow ourselves up, make a few remarks on their notebook and move on to the next potential civilization. We're on our own. To be honest, I can now see the Sentinels' point. If they kept helping us out every time there was a chance of total annihilation, we would never learn from our mistakes. They'd be forever bailing us out."
"So, you're just going to stand there and do nothing, while the soldier boys turn this planet into a war zone. That doesn't seem like you."
Georgia didn't answer. Mancuso was right. She needed to do more. Somehow, she had let herself be convinced by Stockton and Bailey that the weapon was the right thing when she knew in her soul that it wasn't. She looked to the far distance and could just make out Yorktown at the end of the line of starships. Why wasn't she there now taking positive action. Instead she was making feeble excuses to Mancuso why she was allowing the weapon to be built.
***
Lieutenant Molloy completed a minuscule adjustment to the electron emitters. As he had suspected, there was a minor misalignment that could have caused degradation when the particle accelerator was switched on. He was now ready to join the captain and Paige for a short break before testing commenced. He was quietly thrilled to see what the weapon could actually do in field trials. If the computer predictions were accurate then a full power beam should be able to slice through rock like a knife through butter.
As he turned to walk toward the MEV, his peripheral vision caught a shimmering beam purple of light shine briefly onto the casing of the particle accelerator. The beam was narrow, maybe four inches across, and was oscillating. He noticed that whoever was controlling the beam was having problems with targeting and focus as it quickly darted from the particle weapon to the huge bulk of Yorktown, next to one of the landing fins. Behind that location was one of the fuel tanks for the main engines.
Molloy was instantly filled with panic. He understood instinctively what the beam was, even though it shouldn't be possible. "Captain," he shouted through his comms unit. "We're under attack. We need to get out of her now." Without hesitation, he sprinted toward the MEV, hoping they would have time to escape.
***
Captain Bailey stared out of the front window of the MEV as Molloy ran to the airlock. He spotted the beam directed at Yorktown and froze.
Beside him, Paige said. "That's impossible. There's no targeting technology that can provide that accuracy from orbit! It's impossible to compensate for the speed of the orbiting platform or changes in atmospheric conditions."
"There's no time to debate this now, Paige because we have visible proof that someone's achieved the impossible. We need to move away as soon as possible. Is Molloy on board?"
"Yes, he's in the airlock. How fast can this thing go?"
Bailey sat in the driver's seat to override the automatic controls. Deftly, he engaged reverse and felt the MEV begin to move.
"It's too late!" shouted Paige. She was watching the particle beam slice through the steel outer skin.
Bailey knew behind that location was one of the large fuel tanks. Although not full, there was probably still enough volatile fuel to cause significant damage if it ignited. The MEV would not protect them from the ensuing blast. What occurred next seemed to happen in slow motion. There was an explosion and a burst of bright orange flame erupted from the side of Yorktown. The explosion wasn't as intense as Bailey expected but then he watched with dread as the adjoining landing fin began to buckle. Its internal construction was compromised by the particle beam and had lost thee required rigidity. There was no way the three remaining fins could support the spaceship's weight and, as Bailey frantically looked up, he saw Yorktown begin to topple forward.
His right foot was already pushing the accelerator to the floor, but he applied more pressure in the vain hope of gaining more speed. Paige had now seen Yorktown falling in their direction and began to scream. Shutting out the noise, he opened a channel back to base. "Alpha, we're under attack. Please send help." That was all he was able to say before the full weight of Yorktown came crashing down on top of them.
***
Georgia and Mancuso stood in stunned silence as they watched from the control room as Yorktown fell slowly to the ground before being enveloped by a massive cloud of dust. Bailey's final message still rang in their ears.
"Joe, can you contact the MEV? We need to know what just happened out there."
Mancuso desperately tried all of the different comms channels, without success. "I'm sorry, Georgia," he said. "I can't reach any of them. All I'm picking up are other crew members calling in to report they saw Yorktown collapse."
Georgia took a few deep breaths to compose herself. What had Mac meant about being attacked? Who could have attacked Yorktown with such devastating effect?
"What do we do now?" asked Mancuso.
Without hesitation she replied. "We send out a rescue party. We have to believe there are survivors. I'll take Megan with me and two of Lexington's crew. Issue a report to Ground Control. Let them know what's happened and how we're handling it."
"Is it wise to leave the base when we don't know more information about the attack?"
Georgia was already running toward the door. She glanced over her shoulder and said, "probably not. But I'm not leaving three people out there to die. Keep monitoring all channels and keep me updated." Before Mancuso could reply, she was gone.
***
In the control room on Taipei, General Zhang was less than happy. "What went wrong?" he demanded. "It took too long for the beam to be penetrate their ship. We should have been able to pick out a second target."
Liu squirmed in his seat at the unwanted attention. "After attacking the Russians, we weren't at full power. Also, you need to take account of the greater distance between us and the target. Perhaps the atmosphere dissipated some of the beam's energy. But you saw that we destroyed their ship and their weapon. The Americans will be defenseless next time our orbit is within range."
The explanation didn't improve Zhang's mood. "When will that be, colonel? I want to commence the next phase of our mission and establish our base on the surface. It has been too long since I felt the soil beneath my boots."
"I understand, general. I'm a sure the crew feels the same. Please give me a few moments to work out the calculations." Liu pulled up a different screen on the compute in front of him and keyed in some numbers. Conscious that the general was watching him closely, Liu swiftly came up with the answer. "We will not fly over Alpha Base for another eight orbits. We could be in position in six orbits if we use some fuel to perform a course correction."
General Zhang considered the options. "Do we have enough fuel for the course correction?"
Major Huang shook her head cautiously. "It would be inadvisable as we wouldn't be able to rendezvous with Shandong for a further two days. We don't have the supplies to last."
"In that case," continued Zhang, "we wait but we make our next shots count. Is that clear? I want the Americans obliterated from the planet. Inform Shandong what we are doing and instruct them to maintain their course"
Colonel Liu didn't relish spending the rest of the day in the cramped confines of Taipei's control room, but the glory of the Republic of China was far superior than his own personal discomfort.
Chapter 23
Redmayne passed two bodies laying on the ground as he neared the airlock. Although their faces were constricted in agony, he recognized one of the Chinese scientists. Dark blotches on their skin evidence of where their blood had boiled in the ultra-low density atmosphere. He thought it likely they would have been alive for possibly thirty seconds after being sucked out onto the surface, their final moments a desperate yet agonizingly futile attempt to survive. Redmayne shivered at the thought that it could so easily be him lying there in the dust.
He could see where the roof of the command room was open to the elements. Shards of twisted metal rose into the air. Fragments of clothes had snagged on some of the metal and now hung limply. The roof was covered in debris. There was paper, chairs and even a computer console. They all revealed how catastrophic the explosion had been and made it all the more unlikely that anyone had survived.
Redmayne held his breath as he pressed the button to release the airlock door and was relieved to see the green light blink, allowing him to open the door. Stepping slowly inside, he noticed there was only emergency lighting. Taking a flashlight from a rack, he tried to open the inner door. There was some resistance and he had to push hard until there was a sufficient gap to squeeze through. His light revealed an oxygen tank had fallen and blocked the door. The whole corridor, in fact was littered with equipment and clothes. Cables were dangling from the ceiling and walls where the panels had been ripped off. It looked as if the base had been hit by a tornado.
He followed the corridor toward the control room, carefully stepping over the debris. The emergency lighting didn't offer much visibility, but his flashlight revealed enough. The further he walked into the base, the more evident that no one could have survived. The occupants had not expected the attack and there had been no time for anyone to act.
The former control room was unrecognizable. As the epicenter of the explosion, anything loose in the base whether it be clothes, furniture or people, had been sucked through the corridors, crashed into anything in its path before finally ripping through the roof. It was a total disaster zone. Equipment was destroyed or mangled, computer monitors shattered and a huge gaping hole looking up at the pale orange sky. Redmayne assumed that the power lines must have been cut in the explosion as none of the equipment appeared to be working. He found it surreal to see the room so dead when it was usually such a hive of activity. Under a fallen equipment rack were two more bodies on the floor. Redmayne knelt down in front of the first body and recognized it as Commander Koenig. The second was Romansky. Neither had stood a chance.
Redmayne carried on toward the living quarters. Safety doors that could have saved the crew were wide open. Two years of life on Mars has made us complacent, he thought. Such a waste of life that could have been avoided. Curtains, clothes, boots and personal effects littered the floors along with another three bodies. As Redmayne continued slowly forward, he knew his search was hopeless. He was the only one alive and the longer he remained in the base the more he was putting himself at risk of another attack.
Rounding a corner, he spotted a light coming from the emergency airlock. Against all hope, someone was in there. Redmayne hurried forward and looked through the glass window into the airlock. Inside was Professor Kozlovsky, who was sitting on a bench and sobbing. Redmayne tapped on the glass and pressed the intercom button, startling Kozlovsky. She looked up, wiping her red-rimmed eyes.
"My god!" she exclaimed. "I thought everyone was dead and I was going to die here alone. Are there any more survivors?"
"I don't think so," he replied. "I've only found you so far and the base is destroyed."
Anna started shaking uncontrollably. "What happened?"
"The base was attacked by an orbital particle weapon. I saw a beam aimed at the control room before there was a huge explosion caused by out gassing. I was at the solar farm when it happened."
"Who would do that?"
"I've been giving it some thought. It has to be the Chinese. I don't know why they did it but they're the only ones in orbit. It has to be them. How did you make it to safety?"
"Luck," she said quietly. "I was returning to my cabin after a shower when the decompression began and was next to this airlock. I thought it best to wait here to be rescued. Although I was beginning to wonder if anyone else had made it."
"I don't think it's a good idea to stay here. We need to get away before the base is attacked again. Is there a spare spacesuit in there?"
"Yes, but it's not my size. It looks like it was designed for a giant. I don't know if I can go outside. I'm scared."
Redmayne had sympathy for the traumas she was experiencing but he wasn't going to hang around. "I understand you're scared, Anna. But trust me it's not safe to stay here. We need to get to one of the landing craft and get away from here. You need to put the suit on now and come with me."
"I'm staying here. It's safer and we can wait for a rescue party."
"Who is going to rescue us. No one knows we're alive. There's no one on Moskva as everyone was at the base last night for the celebrations."
"What about the Americans? We can send them a distress call," Anna replied desperately.
"The comms here is smashed. The only way we can contact Alpha Base is from one of the landing craft. I don't think the Americans have the capability to reach us. Anna, our only chance is to get to the landing craft. So please move before it's too late. Otherwise, I'm leaving without you."
Anna considered her options before climbing into the spacesuit. Redmayne could see it was much too large for her and hoped that she would be able to move freely enough. It was a long walk to the Kiev.
