Red Zone - 25
A Novel
6
Once upon a once upon a once upon a time, there was an ocean. Lifeless, but not timeless, and running out of time. It never reached to light. Burned apart by rays from distant stars, it collapsed to ice, and then the warming came and it ripped apart massive ocean planes, and carved a valley that quarter-circled its globe.
And the scattered defeated remnants of that war between space and Mars, fought a summer spring ritual, bleeding out of the poles, to wrap the planet in winds. And So, for a billion and a billion and a billion and a billion in sally forth this ever war was waged. It ground the craters from the Late Bombardment down, it turned the wash of water, into a cauldron of sand. The deserts gripped the face of Mars.
Until the coming of Man, whose genes rewrite what war is to mean. Man brought lichen and clinging growth. Man brought fusion to rip the rock. Man rained comets down, the first reinforcements that water had seen in number, since the dawn of Martian days.
Until the coming of the hand, which could wrench a planet from the grip of space.
Scattered around them were glacial streams that were collecting into a river of ice, that flowed down into the growing seas. Seas armored from above. White Mars.
Venkatesh surveyed the sullen landscape, bristled with flecks of fallen iron, stars fallen fresh from the starfall, and from starfalls uncounted over this age of the galaxy. For the first time in many days, he could feel the weight of millennia that marched single file beyond the grasp of his imagination. And yet, that sense of age was, he knew, fictional, a century ago, this landscape was very different.
Mars is small to a modern tank we will be there almost before we can be said to be on our way. Someday there will be the stately airships of Earth and Venus, and even Jupiter, that slowly fly under deep power from place to place. As a creature of the military, he lives his life moving near the speed of sound. Men of Mach, his tankers joked. Yar, but really most of humanity moves by slow, collecting the energy of gravity, the tides, the winds, and the warming rays of the sun.
And that struck him.
“Tony. If it is alright with you, I would like to ask a question.”
“Sure Deesh, what's on your mind?”
“You studied at Tsinghua.[1]”
“Econology, as it turns out. Additional concentration in diplomatics.”
“So, your biology is probably better than mine.”
“Maybe.”
“Given a population, on the South Pole of Mars, with the present radiation parameters, and assuming a lack of biologics that you've observed, what would be the expected rate of congenital defects.”
“I could work out the Keane equations if you want. But what are you getting at.”
“How many were in the nursery?”
“That could be the transactinide poisoning, depleted uranium pile drivers give off a lot of ugly dust. That's why you need the biologics, for the pregnant women and...”
“Even with all of that, the colonist population of Mars, could it produce the rate we saw?”
The Jovians drifted into view.
“Not without some other effects. What's your point?”
“Think like a Terran for a moment.”
“Got a laser handy so I can knock out a few key parts of my frontal lobes?”
“Seriously, think like a Terran.”
“You seem to specialize in gaming things out, you tell me what's on your mind. I don't play guessing games the way you do.”
“No, I wouldn't imagine that you do.”
“So, spit.”
“The nursery we saw, that Keisha burned down. Those weren't defects.”
“What you are saying is wobbed Deesh.”
“They were experiments.”
The landscape was a blur on their screens, with displays holding freezes every second. Three of these flashed and then faded before he repeated it for emphasis.
“They were experiments.”
The clutter of spires near the base was growing dense again.
“You got a scenario Deesh? We are going to be in range of your station's defenses soon enough.”
“Yar. It crests horizon just about now.”
“I don't see anything.”
“This is Lt. Colonel Deeshandir Venkatesh, raising Phobos central communications. This is a priority message for Ambassador Ma-Vishwander.” He kept repeating the hail.
“Connecting to the Ambassador. There's a hold on you Lt. Colonel.”
“Diplomatic seal.”
There was a pause.
“That has not been held. Go ahead, Lt. Colonel.”
The landscape flowed by, in the distance they could see the 2km spire that marked the base, it seemed to grow shorter as they approached it.
“This is Ambassador Ma-Vishwander. You do realize you are reported dead.”
“That may not be an exaggeration, Pritha. The first question I have, is am I dead to you?”
There was a sigh.
“No Deeshandir, no. Are you alone?”
“No. The Jovians Marine you sent me is here.”
“Only one?”
“Sometimes quality is more important than quantity.”
She let out a merry laugh.
“That is the first time I have laughed in days. You know that there is a battle coming soon.”
“The same here. I need the station shutdown.”
“Major Kohli of the secret police has taken over, and there is a directive override.”
Of course, Kohli was the security chief, why didn't I think of that? You did. Several times, Venkatesh. I had to squish it. The sound of munching cereal echoed in his memory, harmless now.
I knew?
Of course, you did, it was obvious to you.
I should thank him.
Why is that?
Because of that, you had to keep hitting me, and that made you.
I think your head is going to hurt if I think about that.
“Pritha, my love. What can be done?”
“It is already being done. I have to clear this channel soon. Do you have something you want to tell me?”
“I am sorry.”
“You certainly are, the very sorriest husband I have ever had.”
“Can you forgive me?”
“No.”
“Then there is nothing for me after this.”
“I am not angry with you. Just disappointed. You were so badly used by her.”
“Is the word 'fool' enough? Or do I need a longer one to make amends for my crimes.”
“It was worse than a crime my husband, it was a mistake.”
The channel dropped dead.
“Quite the girls you find yourself attached to.”
“It was an arranged marriage.”
“Is that like an arranged accident?”
“You know the difference between a major mistake and a fatal mistake, Anthony?”
“Nah, what?”
“You gotta live with the major mistake.”
“You are living under thin ice, Deesh.”
“The base is quiet.”
The displays showed almost no flow of energy.
“It's a tomb Deesh. It's space: cold and dead.”
“It must be a trap.”
“But did your wife and her people set it? And who is it being set for? I would hate to be collateral damage in your marriage spat.”
I wish I had a better answer for this.
“I do not know. I am not even sure what it is we have accomplished.”
“Why you don't? Can I give you what I smell?”
“Most certainly.”
“I think that the Dominion intervened here for a reason. That reason has to be right out in front of us.
What I saw in that nursery of yours, makes me believe that the colonists were trying to grab land north to keep mining, and were trying to get into the biological engineering game. They were trying for real autonomy: geneering of troops, closed ecosystem, all of it. They need the whole planet because no one in their right mind would live here next to radiation and slag-spewing mining operations.”
“Mining operations which your people benefit from heavily.”
“There are no good guys in this. I'm a representative of my government.”
“I am glad you admit that. Your moralizing has been grating.”
“If so, I apologize. But you have to admit, the stench from here is sulfurous. And I've been to Io, so I know it well.”
“I agree, the morality of creating slave armies, and destroying memory and society is no longer something I can live with.”
“But once that was done, you, Alpha, the whole bunch of you, became expendable.”
“Admittedly.”
“So, the powers that be want to arrange a nice neat ending where you all kill each other off.”
“Two can keep a secret if three of them are dead.”
“Sure. So, I'm going to ask, how much do you think your wife loves you.”
Deeshandir stopped and thought.
“You are pretty tensed up Deesh.”
“When I was young the world poured into my eyes. I wanted to have. And I did not think what it would cost, it is as if I have been lulled by the noisy berceuse of the clatter of life. I saw crowded sights, and believed, that as long as the river flowed, that it was good.”
“And what does that have to do, with our problem at hand?”
“There is another world, beyond this veil, and I can feel it now.”
“I'm still not getting the high-existential poetry thing.”
“You don't present that image.”
“A planet is poetry, Deesh, and its ecologies are cantos in its epic wheel. Don't tell me I don't know poetry. I just don't know yours.”
“Don't know, or don't want to know?”
“Why compromise? I can do both.” Anthony's smirk was audible.
Deeshandir looked down and then back to the displays.
“It means that I think that our hopes rest, on whether Pritha remembers a hot day, near a muddy river, long ago.”
“None of us are all that old.”
“Everyone is old, from the moment they begin to forget.”
“Well, Deesh, your whole world is old, and the weight of all that legacy, is crushing you.”
“And it may save us.”
“Legacy marriage, huh?”
“The once and future love of my life, comrade in arms.”
“What made you decide that?”
“It was decided for me.”
The base was hugely visible.
“They should have started shooting by now Deesh. Your service always this unwilling to fight?”
“I don't know, I'm not the one with orders to surrender immediately.”
They slowed the tank, dust, and ice kicking up from the reversing of the flow, and crawled forward towards the docking bay grew to a maw. Still, there was no activity, even as the door slowly slid downwards, the weight of almost two centuries writ in its slow progress. The tank, following the exper, slowed to a stop. It was almost quiet, except for the slight vibrating of the base in the wind.
Wait, the wind had died as the sun came up.
There it was - a ping ping ping.
He pulled the emergency eject.
Blots exploded across his vision as shreds of harness scattered, and a cage dropped and formed around them. There wasn't even time to hope that the exper could adjust for the walls. He felt himself roll over a full time and stop dead and slam into the sides there were secondary bolt explosions as the bubbles deployed. His skull whipped on his neck and caused a pinching strain in it, and there were bumps on his shoulders, but otherwise, it was enough, it would do.
He pushed the cage and rolled out, just in time to see Alpha near the ceiling, pushing along the track the emergency extraction laser. He had driven it under his force into place, and he ripped the firing lever, there was a further shock of vaporized ceramic and metal. I think both of us got free. A rapid survey of the bay showed that Tony had made an incredible maneuver to jump out of the cage and land behind a wall of heavy boxes that contained tools and parts.
Alpha glared down at both of them, his face seemed to snarl. and leaped through an exit. The bay was small, the opening into the main vehicle pool dome was shut, and the ivory-white walls slanted in on them creating even greater claustrophobia. Deeshandir jumped up and was about to chase after when an arm caught him across the chest.
“Never fight a brick in a broom closet.”
Deeshandir saw the sense of this, Alpha was wearing light armor and had sprung an ambush. Deeshandir pointed to a hidden hatch, whose existence his mind had gleamed from someplace.
I'll open it for you. You are welcome.
Thank you Sairen. With mock gravity.
The hidden hatch slid open, and Deeshandir, and then the Jovians marine slid down after him. They were in a tight circular space, rapidly growing dark as the hatch slid closed behind them. There was a hissing sound and more explosive bolts firing, and a slight scent of bitter almonds. The hatch closed.
“Cyanide, Deesh.”
“He's on scenario. He's been thinking about this.”
“When did they pull the kill switch on the BE's?” Deeshandir concentrated and tried to focus on any scrap of information.
“Why do you ask?”
“Because, if it wasn't long ago, he had not had time for this planning. If it was, then he did.”
“So, you want to know.”
“If Alpha was in the know all along, or whether he's caught the way we are.”
“I would have to guess that he was caught.” They continued along as fast as their arms and legs could push until Deeshandir remembered that there was a button every 5m that would depress traction holds. When his fingers felt it, he touched it, and there was a bluish light around the bezel. I hope this is unmonitored. It depends on how long Alpha had to be ready for us. There was a churn of fear in his gut, and he felt piss rolling down his leg, and being absorbed by his suit, leaving only a shaming warmth, and a blushing sensation on his face from the shame.
“Your accent is coming back. I'm beginning to like the way you talk more.”
“Dominion standard not to your taste?” The exertion was taking more out of him than he liked. It would not do if they had to fight Alpha hand to hand. He breathed in hard as he pulled himself up again, looking forward to no more than the tent time. At the end of the gloom was an orange circle that represented the end of this repair tunnel.
“Ranks slightly above puke, but below vomit, on words than I care to eat.”
“Always make sure that if you have to eat your words, it is a healthy diet.”
They pushed their way along, the heaviness of his breath rushing through his windpipe.
“You holding out up there?”
“It is hard to focus. I feel like I should be able to, but I cannot.”
My vision is blurring. He could feel himself blinking repeatedly, and the drop-down to the under corridors of the base, which was only meters away, had become like an orange fog in his vision. He tried clearing his eyes, hoping that it was tearing up, however, there was no improvement. Of course, I have no more tears to give.
He focused and repeated over and over again: Be one with the pain. Each hand pull led to a burning along his back, and each foot push made his knees creak as the feeling of a hot spar of metal seemed to jam in on the side of the joint. One burn, one stab, one lurch forward. Be one with the pain. And indeed, it washed over him, bathing him with sweat, a taste that he had so seldom felt in battle when it was controlled by medicine and machine. Deeshandir, you are overheating.
I do not want to do anything about it yet.
It is affecting your cognitive abilities.
How do you know?
Your vision stream is soup. I'm blind. Can you fix it?
It is not something I can fix. Be one with the pain.
What do you mean? Be one with the pain?
It means not to mind it.
No brain, no pain?
No brain, no pain.
I can't pull it, sorry.
That's alright, you don't need to.
I don't want to die Deeshandir.
Be one with the pain. He blinked and tried to focus. I am not ready for it either.
You know Kohli isn't on the station.
How do you know that?
His dead man switch is very chatty.
Chatty?
Like half dead and just keeps sending out read information. It's kind of creepy like he's half dead.
Expers generally aren't alive.
His is more dead than most.
Perhaps he partially disabled it?
I don't know. But I can usually find him.
Good to know.
He reached the orange blur and touched the center of it. There was a short sense of falling, and for not the first time he thanked the low Martian gravity for its forgiving nature. There was still a thump. Behind him the Jovians grabbed by his hands and twirled out, landing firmly. A hand was thrust out and offered, and gratefully taken.
“So where is this Deesh? It isn't on the readouts.”
“The base is layers and layers, and the previous systems were not ever properly mapped.”
“You'd have thought you'd have gotten around to it.”
“Too busy building out.”
“So, do we have a plan, or am I just supposed to nuke'em till they glow, cut off their heads, and use them as landing lights?” Even at rest, the Jovan's stance was one ready for combat. While his tone implied he was leaning against a wall, his eyes were scanning was visible even through his visor.
“Alpha is our objective.”
“Alpha's running, he's not running the show.”
“Major Kohli, the former XO, is the chief of security, and is in charge.”
“So, where is he?”
“He isn't anywhere close.”
“You got a tick on him?”
“A what?”
“A tick, a trace. Something that gives him away.”
“Yes.”
“So, we make alphabet soup. What's after that?”
“We will have to get control of the base, that means going back to the command center.”
“Good with that. And your men.”
“I'll be able to raise HongJing and get my men back online. Those that are still alive anyway. They will then send down an avatar to incept those who signed for it.”
“Ghosts in the machine.”
“Quite.”
Deeshandir noticed that his breathing was almost normal. The withdrawal storm had passed.
“It would be at about that point that your people will probably want me taken into custody.”
“There's a war above us, or something close to it.”
“Right. Too bad though, affairs down here are reminding me more and more of home every minute.”
“Politics is a blood sport.”
“It is these days. Guess that means you'll have to find some way of dealing with the rebellion.”
“I will contact Keisha back at the command center.” “She can take care of herself. She always seemed like secpo[2] to me.”
“That is an interesting hypothesis. I wonder why I did not...”
Sairen, is Keisha working with Kohli?
Yes, I was supposed to squash that. That is why you heard crunches.
Unsettling.
“You are quite the boy, Deeshandir Venkatesh. Married to the ambassador overseeing some kind of covert crackdown, and swapping orbits with a spy who is double-crossing her people. Or perhaps a double agent.”
“We are going to need exponents soon to cover all the possibilities.”
“Well, you know what we joke on Jupiter.”
“What's that?”
“Ya know the difference between Schroedinger's cat and a woman?”
“What is that?”
“With the cat, you know where you stand after you open the box.”
“Alpha first, then we open two boxes, Keisha and Pritha.”
“That first one sounds like my job, you aren't quite up for going 12 rounds with maul, bark, and fugly.”
“It will take two of us.”
“Prob. Though I've gone helmet to helmet with a heavy before. So, if you were him, where would you be?”
“I would be in the reactor, where no one can use ranged weapons.”
“You think he's holed up there?”
“I am sure of it.”
“He'll have every step of the way trapped.”
“We will use the passive exhaust. He wants to rock, we will paper him over.”
“We won't have long there before the rads get us.”
“Nothing that six or seven weeks of genetic therapy will not rectify.”
The Jovians looked at him with renewed respect.
It took a long hour to slowly weave its way through the baffles and turns of the passive exhaust of the reactor. It was not overly warm, since its purpose was to sink heat in an emergency or generate it for some of the heavy weapons in the event of external attack. It was designed long ago, when safety came first, even at the expense of efficiency, and so it was not difficult to enter, nor to move along. It was, however, a tedious process to push through the flexible series of conductive walls, each one requiring no small amount of effort.
The radiation levels were, of course, elevated, as Deeshandir's visor counter reminded him. From time to time, he took a moment to count up the days in rehab that he was earning. Presuming, of course, I am not summary court-martialed for all of this.
Or just shot.
It is the same thing. Would you obey such an order?
That would be suicidal.
Does that bother you?
Of course, it bothers me.
Why is that?
You don't seem to take care of yourself very well.
That is part of the reason Keisha created you.
Well yes. She's going to have to kill you, but she doesn't want you to come to any harm until then.
That makes more sense than it ought to.
Finally, they turned a corner and stood in a ring around the base of the bottom of the reactor. Above them was the containment door, which, when opened, would flood heat into the passive exhaust, it was an old sliding system. Along the sides were several narrow sliding access doors, each wide enough for a single person to crawl up or down, they had a series of buttons on the side, rather than tablets. Between these were recessed sink coils, which would expand outwards if the exhaust were in use.
“Does that Terran norm finger groove work here?”
“It is too old.” He tried anyway, but the access doors remained shut. “And the code is too old.”
There is a backup code though. He stared at the buttons and realized that it was a very old puzzle, with sliding shapes that prevented a key shape from moving. Know how to solve the puzzle and the code was in front of you.
I wish I knew how to do this.
I can solve it.
Tell me.
It will just be faster if you give me control of your hand and finger. Hold them in place for me.
“Deesh, I'd be right in thinking that if I hear a servo whine from around that containment door, it would be bad.”
“We've been noticed.”
“Yes.”
He turned to look back and saw the Jovians spraying something from out of a port on his glove.
“Nano-grit. It won't stop these big servos, but it should buy you time.”
Could you keep focused on the puzzle, please?
My apologies.
I wish the reference universe were more malleable.
Reference universe?
Sphere speak.
You mean reality.
I don't know, I've never been there. And neither have you.
The Jovians were up in plenty of time, the second puzzle took longer, but the passive vent was only starting to grind open when the door slid shut.
It was a fast rush, and the door slid open, revealing a hexagonal control room at the base of the reactor. Unlike Shackleton, this was a mak, a reactor that ran in a circle, with the energy focused inwards. The control room sat above the reactor, while the area they had passed through was below.
Across from them was Alpha, physically breaking tablets and replacing them out of a stock he hand grabbed in one hand. The movement was repetitive and made him look like a windmill, spinning endlessly, while slowly working his way around the wall of the room. He dropped the rest of the tablets and spun to face the pair.
I thought he was up.
I timed it so you would both arrive at the same time.
Excellent idea.
Thanks.
“This is the part where you say that 'we meet again,' Alpha.”
Alpha turned his head with a fluid motion to focus on Deeshandir.
“I should have known they would not wipe you.”
“They did, I was unwiped.”
“Then I'll just rewipe the floor with your brains.”
“You tried to accomplish that once before.”
“There's a difference this time.”
The Jovians leaped. Trying to get close enough to use one of his bag of tricks. However, at the same moment, Alpha swiped his thumb along a small tablet.
“Blow it, Major Kohli.”
There was no warning, no precursor of sparks, merely a moment where the walls started to rush inwards in a fast implosion.
Then everything froze in mid-moment. Hanging were slabs of wall that had come loose. Floating were shards of instruments and innards of the control room.
I think I'm about to die.
[1] One of the best universities.
[2] Secret Police.