Part 11: Life On Mars

Byron paced his office. The operation couldn’t have gone any worse. That was true. But it wasn’t entirely his fault. He didn’t like having all of the blame heaped on his shoulders. He collected himself and turned to face the shadowy figure on the screen.

“Your intel was bad,” he said, as calmly he could muster, “I wasn’t prepared for a full wing of fighters, or for the heavily armed contingent on the Pillar of Hercules.” He clenched his fists until his knuckles popped. “I’ve been working for months to build my fleet up. We lost ten ships! Over 100 dead in space or on that freighter! It’ll take months, if not years to build our strength back to where it was!” he screamed, turning to punch the wall. “C’mon!”

“Are you finished?” the figure on the screen dryly asked.

Byron dropped into his chair. He felt finished. The anger was leaving him, slowly being replaced with the weight of what had happened. The process of rebuilding, the thought of it, made him feel exhausted. He slumped even further. “Yeah,” he said.

“Good. All of this angst will get us nowhere. We must deal with the consequences of your actions, and do so swiftly.”

“How bad is it?” Byron asked. If he could, he would bury himself beneath his chair. He wanted no part of what he was about to hear.

“Those Kilon Expeditionary vessels were combing the wreckage from your ships. They even managed to capture a few of your people who managed to survive the assault. They’ve been made aware of our activities.”

“Should we worry about them attacking the Rock?”

“No. Not for the time being. However, it may behoove you to consider relocating your operations. The mercenaries detained by the Kilons seemed to be short on loyalty. I warned you about filling your ranks with people who were not passionate to the cause.”

Byron sat up in his chair. The anger was coming back. “I needed people. Who do you think I find out here? These are scumbags, criminals, cowards. I do the best I can with what I have. It’s not like I’m sitting on some naval cruiser with soldiers willing to die for an ideal.”

Across the subspace channel, Commander Carter ground his teeth. He didn’t have time to argue. “This situation is far more complex than you understand. There are political realities that must be overcome. I’ve done everything I can to assist you. Our intelligence indicates the Kilon military command has been put on high alert.”

“That’s what we want though, right? Provoke them into revealing the truth of what they’ve done, to wake up the sheep on Earth.”

“In time, in time. But that time is not now.” Carter glanced at his watch. “I cannot talk more now. That data you secured from the Pillar of Hercules better have something valuable on it… or I may have to recruit someone more competent to run this campaign.”

“We will have something. I will see this through to the end, you can bet on that.”

“I have bet on that. Heavily. You must not let me down again. Transmission out,” Carter said, shutting down his communication screen.

Even through the encryption, Carter could see that his small dig had gotten under Byron’s skin. He knew his protégé all too well. He’d discovered Byron almost by accident. Carter was patrolling the edges of Martian space when he responded to a distress call. Arriving on the scene, he stopped a crew of smugglers from raiding the cargo of a small freighter.

Carter had arrested and detained the smugglers on his own ship, and was interrogating them on the way to the local starbase. They were the run-of-the-mill criminals, all but one. This one claimed that their crime had a nobler purpose, that they were striking at Kilon oppression.

For some reason Carter still doesn’t understand, he believed the kid. There was an authenticity in his passion. While he turned over the other smugglers, Carter kept the kid in his custody. He pressed him into service in the Martian Navy, taught him some of the basics. Rounding up a few likeminded backers, Carter released Byron back into the wild.

It’d taken years for Byron to establish his reputation on the Rock, and more time to assemble a small fleet. The past few months, though, Byron had a string of successes, and his team swelled in size. Everyone wanted to play for a winner.

Carter couldn’t ignore the successes. But this setback could destroy all of their work. Fortunately, Carter had not spent the past few years sitting by and waiting. He’d been rising through the ranks. He was now the attaché for Admiral Siderénios, and if wasn’t careful he was going to be late.

    Admiral Siderénios gazed out at the blue world beneath her. She never ceased to be amazed that a few centuries ago, it was all a red ball of dust. Today it was the most vibrant center of human activity in the galaxy.

That fact weighed heavily on her heart. She was staring down on Mars, the most heavily populated free human planet in existence. That had not always been true.

Mars was the first world to be colonized by man. The early terraforming, the first settlements, they were small steps to a larger future for humanity. Slowly at first, the Mars colony grew. As man discovered faster than light travel, colonies spread throughout the galaxy. But Mars was always first.

All children must leave the nest, and eventually Mars cried out for freedom from its Earth bound masters. The fight was vicious, and left deep scars. In the end, Mars had her freedom, but at great cost. Mars and her allies formed the Martian Confederation, and severed ties with Earth.

From that moment on, its path diverged from that of Earth. Mars closed itself to the galaxy at large. It traded with other civilizations, but in the military or political arena, Mars kept to itself, neutral in all events. When the Terran Republic rushed into the Kilon-Redipsilon War, the Confederacy strengthened its border defenses, but stayed out of the conflict.

It was the Venusian Crisis that began to change some minds. The Kilon Federation quickly and easily assumed control of Terran space, becoming the masters of Earth in the process.

While their isolationist stance stood firm, it made many people in the Confederacy uneasy that Earth was under the control of an alien master. Admiral Siderénios was one of those people.

As the Grand Admiral of the Martian Defense Fleet, she wielded great power and clout. But it was a power she lacked the ability to use. The Martian Confederacy had a weak central government, with power resting in the colonies and territories within its domain. So long as they respected the basic rights of their citizens, each territory on Mars or colony off world could govern as they saw fit.  

The only institutions of central power in the Confederacy were the Martian Senate and the Martian Defense Fleet. The Senate consisted of representatives elected from each territory and colony of the Confederation. No laws passed by the Senate went into effect until they were approved by two thirds of the territorial and colonial executives. Those executives were appointed by the territorial and colonial legislatures. The Martian Senate did have the power to deal with foreign powers, but that power was reined in by the veto ability of the territories and colonies. It was largely ceremonial and ineffectual.

Each territory in the Confederacy was required to provide soldiers, ships and crews to the Martian Defense Fleet, in accordance with the size of their population. The fleet was led by the Grand Admiral, who had the closest thing to central executive power that existed in the Confederacy. The admiral was empowered to do anything she saw fit in the defense of Mars and her colonies, as long as she operated within Martian space. She did have limited power to act unilaterally in an offensive manner, but any such decision would be investigated by the Martian Senate. Should the actions of the fleet be deemed unnecessary, the admiral could be subject to court martial with the ultimate penalty of execution for endangering the Martian people through careless military aggression. In the entire history of the Confederacy, no Martian Naval ship had ever ventured beyond Martian Space.     

Once a year, the admiral was required to report to the Martian Senate on the state of Martian defenses and the potential threats on the horizon. That day was today, and Admiral Siderénios was growing impatient waiting for Commander Carter.

Walking away from the view screen of her flagship, the MSS Ares, Siderénios scanned her bridge crew. None of them looked up from their jobs, but she could sense their unease. The admiral was upset. She was not someone who was made to wait. Her gaze settled on a young communications officer. She could see the beads of sweat on his forehead as she approached.

“Ensign,” she said, her voice cold and commanding, “contact Commander Carter, and tell him he had best have a good reason for delaying our departure for the Senate.”

“Y-y-y-yes Ma’am,” the ensign stammered.

“Belay that order,” Carter said as he entered the bridge.

Siderénios turned to face him. The ensign sighed, visibly relieved to no longer have attention.

“I apologize, Admiral, for the wait. I was just collecting some last minute intelligence from a failed pirate attack in Terran space.”

“You can explain it to me on the way to the shuttle. Walk with me.” Siderénios said, briskly charging  past Carter on her way to the door. He turned to catch her storming down the corridor.

 “How does this information concern me, or the Martian Senate?” Siderénios asked without turning to look at Carter.

“It was a large mutonium shipment.”

“Oh?” Siderénios cocked an eyebrow.

“There is a theory that the failed attack was part of a larger scheme to draw the Kilon deception out into the open.” Carter struggled to match the admiral’s pace without breaking into a run.  “The Kilon Expeditionary Force has been put on alert by this and a string of similar attacks throughout the past year. This last attack has drawn much into focus, for the Kilons, for us, and possibly even for the people on Earth.”

“Explain.”

“The Kilon censors have been putting out fires in the underground media on Earth all year, but dissent has been growing. This last attack made the headline news. It was spun as a random pirate attack, but it’s getting hard to deny that these attacks are something bigger.”

Siderénios stopped at the hatch to the hangar. Before allowing Carter to open it, she asked, “Has this information been added to my report?”

Carter opened the hatch and pulled out a datapad. “Everything is right here.”

“Thank you, Carter. I will review on the ride down.”

“In conclusion,” the Admiral said, addressing the members of the Senate Defense Committee, “piracy within Martian space is at a 20 year low, and the fleet is operating at full efficiency.”

“Thank you Admiral,” said Chairman Jones, “your service, as always, is greatly appreciated by the Martian people.” He raised his gavel to close the proceedings.

“Your honor,” Siderénios said, “if I may ask something of the committee?”

The Senator put down his gavel. “I’ll allow it, Admiral.”

“I formally request that the Martian Senate petition the Kilon Federation on behalf of the Terran Republic. There has been growing piracy in Terran space, and it does not seem that the Kilon Expeditionary Force can meet these threats. These threats to Terran shipping will grow to be threats to Martian shipping. The Martian Defense Fleet is more than capable of protecting the interests of all humans. We can ensure a peaceful transfer of power from the Kilon military back to the proper Terran authorities.”

Senator Jones looked left and right at the other members of the committee. He was met with blank stares and nods of disapproval. “Admiral, we will place your request under consideration.”

Siderénios exhaled. “Your honor, with all due respect, I know what ‘consideration’ means.”

“Admiral, you of all people understand the stance of the Martian Confederacy. We do not get involved in the affairs of others…human or not. The experience of the Terran Republic is a tale of caution that we would do well to heed.” He banged his gavel before she could answer. “This procedure is adjourned.”

Siderénios shook her head. “A storm is coming,” she said, quietly.

Carter began to gather the Admiral’s things when his HoloCom buzzed. He glanced down at the message.

Good news �"B

Carter smiled. He didn’t know what Byron had found, but after the fiasco on the Pillar of Hercules, it would need to be a tremendous find for it to be considered good news. “When that storm comes,” he thought to himself, “I think we’ll be ready.”