《Defending Mars》


 Captives of a Red Planet – 01 – Breathe!

    Tory


    Grey and white walls, pipes, icons marking the walls, stripes lengthwise on the floor in three colors, red, blue, green.


    Where was she now?


    Tory Ciarelli stopped for a moment to think, to revisualize what the maps had shown her. She held onto the metal rung of the ladder, not yet daring to put a her foot down to the floor. Yes, she¡¯d found the hatch as expected, yes, had used her code breaking app to get through the security protocols. And was now, down three levels, seven hundred meters from the central hub, but on this level the markings had changed. This was it, the original base foundation of Cerberus Underhill, built a decade before by machines, robots, under remote supervision. Almost from another time it looked, certainly from before she was even born.


    Still, Tory had studied enough of what she could find by sneaking access to her mom¡¯s account and should be about seven hundred meters now from where she needed to be. The old lines that the second generation systems painted were still there, on one had bothered to remove them when they added the new coded guide system, that had to be it. So, all she needed to do was convert to what was above. She finally let go of the ladder and landed lightly a half meter down. Small and compact, Tory wasn¡¯t exactly heavy, and in Martian gravity even lighter. It was a feather fall, really.


    She glanced along the lines that stretched down the floor of the maintenance corridor ahead of her, then turned to look at where they came from behind her, calculating the direction she needed to go. Each had an arrow laser painted in every three meters. About ten meters ahead of her, the red turned left. Another ten and the blue turned right.


    The instructions in the first gen maintenance guide came to mind.


    On level two you follow the blue.


    Tory shivered. It was colder down here, since this level wasn¡¯t a place for people so much, more for robots so comfortable temperatures weren¡¯t maintained. It smelled different as well and the odor made her scrunch her nose. The living levels of the complex were filled with people, colonists and bornhere¡¯s, the air seemed organic, scented. The air here had a rusty metallic scent to it with a hint of mold. She hadn¡¯t added any layers, didn¡¯t think about the temperature down here. Well, once she got to the hub, there would be p-suit, and they had built in heaters. The best she could do was keep moving to keep warm.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    But the good thing was they¡¯d never track her down here.


    She wasn¡¯t carrying her spreader with her, or anything else which could be traced. Tory had also memorized the route to Cerberus Underhill¡¯s transport hub meter by meter, had always been good with the kind of maze the CU was, and had the color chart to help guide her if for any reason she felt she was getting lost. That talent had kept her from being locked down back home on Earth, no matter where her parents were posted by the Ares Combine, and with any luck, that particular talent would help get her back to where she belonged. Earth. Home.


    Behind her somewhere, metal slammed on metal? Another hatch? The sound made Tory stop, glance back over her shoulder worriedly. Could that be someone who would spot her, tell on her, or was it just a robot sent to seal a crack, fix a circuit . She started back down the corridor, taking off in a lope fast enough to hopefully keep warm herself.


    Tory wasn¡¯t used to the gravity on Mars yet, not used to weighing only a third of what she was supposed to, and skidded around the next corner faster than she¡¯d intended, light clumps of her hair slapping against her brow, her breathing starting to pick up from steady to a little ragged.


    She avoided slamming into the wall, but not slowing down turned out to be a mistake Tory didn¡¯t correct soon enough. Her breathing picked up. Before she knew it her chest was heaving.


    The thin air here hated her and her lungs hated it right back. Low in pressure like on a mountain top, not the oxygen mix her body craved combined and this air carried had trace particles it down right loathed.


    ¡°You have to take it easy for the first few months,¡± the school medtech had warned her after rescuing her from her first attack with swift use of an oxyinjector. ¡°Your body needs time to adjust to the atmosphere here.¡±


    Tory slowed right down, but it was too late. She was now gasping for breath, stumbling down the passageway, trying to concentrate on slowing her desperate heaving chest and failing miserably. She was still loping, being carried by momentum as much as anything, tried turning around the next corner, hit the pipes along the wall with her shoulder, bounced back.


    Three times since that warning she¡¯d suffered an pseudo-asthma attack, each as terrifying as the one before. One of the big excuses her parent¡¯s has used to come here was the polluted air back home, the wonderfully rich and warm atmosphere of Earth her mother had constantly complained about Tory¡¯s body loved. This air was too thin!


    She wheezed, choked, stumbled to what looked like a bench sitting near a four-way intersection and tried to calm her lungs by force of will. That wasn¡¯t working. No! She¡¯d finally made the decision to try to find a way back home, to her home, her real home and she might not make it anywhere, she might die right here!


    Calm down! Breathe! Please Breathe!

 Captives of a Red Planet – 02 – Sealed and coded

    Her lungs had stopped working, and were now burning with need yet refusing to accept what air she was trying to send them. Her chest was aching hard, her throat tightening painfully. Tory doubled over clawed at her neck, spasmed erect and then pounded on her chest to try to somehow get the oxygen in. If it could get hearts beating, it might be able to do something for her lungs. She hadn¡¯t dared bring an oxyinjector with her which would fill her bloodstream with enough oxygen to get her through the attack. But especially devices like that had trackers in them, too. Almost everything that mattered on Mars did. She felt herself crumple down to the floor


    Oh, no! I¡¯ve got to- to- breathe! I¡¯ve got to-


    Suddenly she was jerked up off the cold floor. A blue clad arm came around her chest, pulled her up straight. If she¡¯d had any sense she¡¯d have struggled against it, but Tory¡¯s mind was completely consumed with her need to breath, her chest was spiking with shooting pain and the corridor lights were strobing hard. She couldn¡¯t do anything but try to let out a silent shriek-


    ¡°Relax,¡± a gravelly male voice told her, his own seemingly labored breathing loud in her left ear as he added instructions slowly, calmly.


    ¡°Go limp, and take slow, even breaths..."


    Something popped over her mouth and nose. What came with it was cool, sweet and most importantly, rich air that forced its way down Tory¡¯s tortured throat and into her lungs. Too slowly at first. She sucked it in greedily, could feel her hot breaths meet the cool dense air in the mask the man was holding over her face. Her chest heaved again, gratefully this time, filling, cooling. The burning, stabbing sensation started to fade.


    ¡°Good,¡± the voice soothed. ¡°Keep going, slow and steady. That¡¯s right.¡±


    The arm didn¡¯t move from its place over her chest. Tory felt the need to reposition herself, since the way she was being held had become pretty uncomfortable, but she didn¡¯t want to interrupt the flow of the wonderful air. The moment her breathing was back to normal, she tried to pull away. In her effort the breathing mask fell from her face.


    ¡°I¡¯m all right now,¡± she insisted, pushing at the arm to further loosen its grip.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    It lifted away. Tory realized she was sitting down, on a bench of some sort, immediately twisted around to see who had saved her life. It turned out to be an old man, balding, with a trim white beard, wearing a blue maintenance workers uniform, one that was a bit tattered and bearing a few darkened grease stains.


    He was tall, even crouched down, his face was long, in fact his whole body was he began to sit up to his full height. He towered over her, must have been easily over two meters tall, but rail thin. Much taller than her tiny on Mars one point six.


    ¡°Thanks,¡± Tory said a little unsteadily still looking up into that wrinkled face of her rescuer, meeting his green-eyed gaze.


    She didn¡¯t get up, worried that she might fall down if she did.


    Those eyes were caught in a maze of wrinkles. He had to be a bornhere, probably the oldest she¡¯d encountered since arriving, the oldest native she had ever seen really . Tory hadn¡¯t yet seen any others who were more than middle aged.


    He nodded.


    ¡°It looked like you could use a bit of help,¡± he replied, lines on his face repositioning as his thin lips turned into a grin, ¡°Where¡¯s your oxyinjector? I thought all you newlanders were supposed to carry one. Especially down here. This is robot territory kid. The air¡¯s thin down here, even for someone like me.¡±


    The old man pointed at the oxygen tank he was wearing over her shoulder, like the backpack she was wearing.


    ¡°I guess that¡¯s something no one told me,¡± Tory told him.


    Of course, no one had told her. She wasn¡¯t supposed to be down here. Not that that rule had been drilled into like all the others about living in the Underhill had. All the hatches to the maintenance levels were locked, sealed and coded.


    Which made her wonder what this geezer was doing here. Her eyes went over his old uniform. It wasn¡¯t exactly like the one¡¯s she¡¯d seen since she¡¯d got here. The symbols, cut of the cloth weren¡¯t as sleek either. And again, none were as old as this guy. There was something suspicious about his sudden appearance, and so she slid along the bench back from him.


    ¡°What are you doing down here?¡± she asked. ¡°Is something broken?¡±


    Maybe in the air conditioning, Tory suddenly worried.


    He seemed to consider that question for a moment, as though needing to puzzle it out.


    ¡°I¡¯m not certain,¡± he offered, holding up a long finger, glancing up at the pipe lined ceiling of the corridor, before glancing back down at her. ¡°But it could be something. I¡¯ve been here a long time, and you develop a sixth sense for things going wrong, things breaking down even before they¡¯ve started to. Or you¡¯re probably dead, you just don¡¯t know it yet.¡±


    Was that it? Tory glanced around. Was there something wrong?¡±


    ¡°Is it the air?¡± she squeaked out, her gaze going to the tall man¡¯s air tank.


    He spared a glance at it, then turned is eyes back to her.


    ¡°No, no,¡± he told her. ¡°The air system down here is just fine. Sorry for scaring you. Nothing¡¯s wrong. It takes a while to get used to the air mix here for you newlanders. You¡¯ll get used to it.¡±

 Captives of a Red Planet – 03 – They never said you were dead

    ¡°Ha! Like that¡¯s going to happen,¡± Tory insisted, and then out of old habit, New Angels habit, worried over something else. Since he¡¯s had a hold on her for at least a minute, she checked her outfits pockets to ensure everything was still there. You never knew. But then pretended she hadn¡¯t. ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯m ever going to get used to this fake air. It¡¯s just not right. It¡¯s too thin and smells like it¡¯s something from a can. A can of stink.¡±


    The old man laughed, almost sounding like he was about to have an attack as well. For another moment Tory tensed to see if she was going to have to rescue him. But he survived the wheezing.


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s going to be a long time before it¡¯s going to be OK to breathe on the outside,¡± he told her. ¡°Just ask to spend more time in the hydroponics section, or the park. That will help your lungs adjust. You¡¯ll be fine in a few months, most are, the trick is to stop fighting it, and just be a Martian.¡±


    He finished the lecture with a hand gesture like he was trying to squeeze to ball in his hands. By now the old guy had moved around the bench, looping up the oxygen tube and mask back over his shoulder.


    She eyed his shoulder air tank jealously. One of those and she¡¯d be set. All she¡¯d been provided on arrival was that dumb totally trackable oxyinjector pen. and she¡¯d had to leave that behind as well as a whole lot of things that might have made her escape from Mars a lot easier. Damn firmware. Tory could work her away around all sorts of computer code, but those chips were all hard programmed hardened OS. They weren¡¯t writable, and therefore uncrackable, at least from what she tried so far.


    Still, she couldn¡¯t resist offering the old man some snark, given it seemed like they were in the same boat, with regards to the complex¡¯s atmosphere anyway. Tory would never ¡®be¡¯ a Martian if she could help it.


    ¡°Oh,¡± she replied, ¡°So ,how long did it take you to get used to it?¡±


    The old man laughed again, this time a high pitched keening, like he¡¯d suddenly sucked up helium or something. It was funny haha and funny strange at the same time, but not in any kind of threatening way but certainly a bit cray.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    ¡°No time at all,¡± he finally said with a smile hanging his loop of line and mask at his belt. ¡°But it¡¯s easier when you¡¯re born to it and not used to the thicker mush you are.¡±


    Born to it? Confirmation. But how could he be so old? There was maybe only one bornhere who she¡¯d heard about who could be as old as this guy was. But she thought he was-


    ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± Tory asked, trying to see if he was who she thought he was.


    ¡°Valentine,¡± he said. ¡°What¡¯s yours?¡±


    Valentine¡­ Thorn Valentine? Could he really be-?


    ¡°Tory,¡± she said. ¡°Are you the Thorn Valentine?¡±


    ¡°Yep,¡± he said, with a sharp nod, tap on his chest. ¡°In the flesh.¡±


    ¡°The first human being born on Mars?¡± she breathed. ¡°Aren¡¯t you kind of famous?¡±


    He opened his mouth, paused before speaking.


    ¡°That¡¯s probably true,¡± he told her. ¡°I was...¡±


    ¡°And you¡¯re still alive?¡± she asked. ¡°I mean, that¡¯s not how it sounded in the...¡±


    ¡°Uh... yeah,¡± he told her. ¡°Someone run that obituary again? I mean it was funny the first few times, and it is full of nice things to day, but those sort of things get old fast when you aren¡¯t actually dead and gone.¡±


    ¡°Well, in the intro to Mars it¡¯s all was, was, was,¡± she told him. ¡°I mean, they never said you were dead... I just thought...¡±


    He reached out and patted her shoulder. Tory didn¡¯t exactly want him to, but he had such a long reach with those spider arms of his that the only way he could avoid it was if she got up off the bench. And she didn¡¯t feel quite ready to do that yet.


    ¡°You weren¡¯t the first and you won¡¯t be the last,¡± he said smiling again. ¡°You didn¡¯t tell me your name did you?¡±


    ¡°Yeah I did, it¡¯s Tory,¡± she said, then immediately regretted reminding him.


    She should have invented a name so that he wouldn¡¯t turn her in. But it was too late and she¡¯d said it twice. How many Tory¡¯s could be in the CU? His reaction was a bit odd though, squinting his eyes at her as if he was trying to figure out himself if she was who she said she was. But that was crazy. Tory was sure they¡¯d never met, and it wasn¡¯t like she mattered or anything here.  Why should any old Martian care about a newlander?


    ¡°Huh,¡± he finally said. ¡°Cute. Not a name I¡¯ve heard in a while. You aren¡¯t named after anyone are you?¡±


    That was a weird thing to say. But then, Tory had met enough old people in her life, and they often behaved pretty strange, like they were from another planet, even back on Earth, especially if they were old. So, she just shook her head.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so,¡± she told him. ¡°What about you?¡±


    ¡°Born February 14<sup>th</sup>,¡± he told her, smiling again. ¡°So after St. Valentine, I guess. But enough about me, what about you, Tory. What¡¯s a newer kid like you doing in a place like this?¡±

 Captives of a Red Planet – 04 – Seems a bit risky

    Tory just shrugged.


    ¡°Come on girl, I just saved your life,¡± he reminded her. ¡°Had to be a good reason for me to have to do it. So, tell me, what¡¯s a kid like you doing running through the old maintenance level? Didn¡¯t anyone tell you these tubes are prone to buildups of bad air pockets, what with the CO2 and chlorine seeping in through the cracks. Cheap fuckers think it¡¯s OK since they only make people only come down here when the robots break down that they don¡¯t have to do anything about it.¡±


    I¡¯m not a kid, Tory was about to retort, but she held her tongue.


    She¡¯d already turned fourteen before being packed unceremoniously onto the ion-driven Ares-Burroughs IV with all those other colonists. Since then she¡¯d spent three months in space getting here, and three months so far packed under meters of red Martian rock like everyone else on this planet. She was practically fifteen by now.


    His foul mouth finally registered. Funny, everyone she knew on Earth swore all the time. but that sort of thing seemed frowned upon here on Mars. Lupo and Min would have been so suspended all the time here.


    ¡°We¡¯re building a new world,¡± her teacher told her. ¡°It should be better than what we all left behind on Earth. And that includes potty mouths.¡±


    One of the kids had even been sent home for swearing in class, even in the good way. Another reason to hate the place, Mars being way more strict than Tory was used to.


    ¡°I know that, they told us,¡± she told him, then trotted out some choice slogans she¡¯d been forced to hear over and over again and the endless instructional practically advids. ¡°But I figured that was just another lie, like ¡®Mars is a great place live¡¯ and ¡®Once you¡¯re here you¡¯ll never want to go back to Earth¡¯.¡±This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    He raised his white eyebrows. His whitish-copper wavy hair was longer than most people¡¯s here. Maybe his fame meant he could get away with it.


    ¡°Got it,¡± he agreed. ¡°Greenland all over again. But it will get better. A lot better. Count on it.¡±


    ¡°When?¡± Tory asked.


    Did old Valentine have some kind of inside information that no one else was talking about?


    ¡°Not sure,¡± he offered, staring kind of through her now. ¡°But I got glimpses of it. Beautiful, so beautiful. Like some kind of... paradise. Both ways. She showed it to me. You-¡±


    His gaze refocused on Tory¡¯s once again.


    ¡°It¡¯s going to be a great home, for all of us,¡± Valentine insisted with a wink. ¡°Trust me on that.¡±


    In school, both back on her real home and here, people said hundreds of years, maybe thousands before Mars would be any kind of paradise. Even if she was imprisoned here all her life, Tory knew she¡¯d never see that. And besides-


    ¡°This isn¡¯t my home!¡± she asserted. ¡°I want to go home, to my real home. And that¡¯s Earth.¡±


    A frown formed on his face.


    ¡°That¡¯s an awfully long trip,¡± Valentine mused. Well, duh! ¡°And a tricky, even if you can make it to a field and onto a ship. Elysium has some pretty serious security.¡±


    ¡°You have to start somewhere,¡± she said, realizing he hadn¡¯t made any effort to make a call, or even pull out the spreader cylinder he had hanging on his other hip, to even start. Valentine didn¡¯t seem too interested in anything but talking. Maybe... ¡°I¡¯ll walk if I have to. Elysium Field is only fifty kilometers south, right. That¡¯s got be nothing for someone me.¡±


    Tory¡¯d been scouting all over the Sunken Angeles with her friends, without her parents knowing it since she was eleven and exploring whenever she could. Fifty kilometers wasn¡¯t that far, especially in fractional gravity. Walking on Mars was like walking on a trampoline. She could just bounce all the way there if she had to. Too bad Greenie couldn¡¯t have taken her place. If anyone could take advantage of what Mars was it would have been him.


    He laughed a loud guffaw himself, and then turned serious.


    ¡°You¡¯re not going to get far without a p-suit, or an oxyinjector, especially if you¡¯re still planning on getting to the transport hub through these tunnels,¡± Valentine told her adding a wag of a finger for emphasis. ¡°Left yours at home, I take it? Seems a bit risky, given your... condition.¡±


    Tory scowled up at him. She hated that he was right.

 Captives of a Red Planet – 05 – I do not go blotchy and purple!

    ¡°Baked in tracker on everything, and hard quantum encoded,¡± she lamented, starting to feel anxious again, considering how long they¡¯d been talking.


    She should just go, but was still afraid he¡¯d tell if she just bolted, even if he really didn¡¯t seem to be acting like he cared. Was he just a lonely old man wandering around these tunnels in a dirty maintenance outfit more suited to The Under of her old world? If that was the case, maybe someone would be looking for him and might find her.


    She really needed to get moving, soon.


    ¡°You¡¯re really serious about this, aren¡¯t you?¡± Valentine asked. ¡°Outsmarting the entire Earth-Mars colonization infrastructure to get back to where you came from?¡±


    Tory nodded again.


    He narrowed his gaze at her, the nest of wrinkles around his eyes converging to the black shiny points of his pupils hidden in there.


    He finally nodded, walked over to nearby wall that looked different from the basic white and gray, 16x16 different colored square panels instead, snorting and muttering to himself.


    ¡°...just like you...¡± was all the caught.


    Tory wondered if she should trust him, not to not give him away, but to get her something that might get her in more trouble than she was already in.


    He tapped one panel, then another, and then stopped at the third and knocked hard. Pressing on it, the panel popped open then swung out. Tory¡¯s eyes went wide. It had revealed a big cabinet packed of all sorts of equipment. Totally curious about what was in there, she got back up to her feet and stepped over to get a better look. Once closer examination, the cabinet appeared to be a whole set of emergency tools, despite the fact that it was behind a blue panel and not one of the red ones her newlander class had been taught to look for ¡°in case of...¡±. From within he withdrew something she did recognize, at least after he¡¯d pulled it from its packaging ¨C an oxyinjector, a lot like the one she¡¯s left in her bedroom. It was bigger, less sleek, more mechanical looking.


    Valentine then turned to her, held the thick pen out to her.


    Tory shook her head. She couldn¡¯t take the chance.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± he told her. ¡°This is an obsolete model, the Y-55. No RFID, disposable. They didn¡¯t start making wireless mandatory until the Y-62. And this one only has five uses, so, I¡¯d advise you to keep your track and field training to a minimum.¡±Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    He chuckled at his joke.


    ¡°But-¡± she started, gazing at the object in his hand, both afraid of taking it but desperately wanting it at the same time.


    Tory looked back up at him. Valentine was being altogether too generous and had to want something from her, right? Even on Earth, no one got something for nothing.


    He let out a big, dramatic sigh.


    ¡°I¡¯m not going with you,¡± he stated. ¡°You¡¯re going to need something the next time you go all blotchy and purple.¡±


    ¡°I do not go blotchy and purple!¡± Tory protested.


    Did she?


    He waggled it at her again and she reluctantly took it from his long pale and wrinkly fingers. Tory held the cool device in her hand, checked to make sure it was loaded as he¡¯d claimed, then looked back up at the old man towering over her.


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand. Why are you helping me?¡± she asked. ¡°You don¡¯t know me, and you don¡¯t have any reason to help me escape. You might even get into trouble for it.¡±


    She lifted up the big heavy oxyinjector he¡¯d just given her.


    He cocked his head twisted his mouth, looking really ugly in that moment, but still entirely unthreatening.


    ¡°You¡¯re young and motivated, not to mention you seem to know where you¡¯re going through this labyrinth. That takes guts. Even I get lost down here these days, have to check the map to find my way out,¡± he noted patting his spreader cylinder. He smiled again, gave her a look that suggested he bore some kind of secret knowledge. Which was of course, impossible. It was just another geezer acting smug probably. ¡°And I think you¡¯ve got a real heart for adventure that¡¯s just kicking in. I¡¯d like to see how this gamble of yours works out.¡±


    Wow, though, that was something The Steal would have told her.


    He stopped his speech for a moment while his eyes looked her over.


    ¡°Are you hiding any food or water in all those pockets you¡¯ve got there?¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± she asked, while she bent a little to stow the injector in one of her coverall¡¯s leg pockets where she usually put hers.


    Yes, most of her pockets bulged a bit. That was one thing about Martian clothing. It made people look like walking bundles of pockets and pouches. Taking her pack would have been too obvious, so she¡¯d bought herself an outfit that had a good twenty of various capacities between the vest and leggings. It wasn¡¯t the first time she¡¯d ever snuck out from home before for a ¡®trip¡¯. Although, her clothes back home at least didn¡¯t make her look like a total dook.


    ¡°It¡¯s a bit of a hike to the transport hub, and then there¡¯s the ride to the Elysium Field,¡± Valentine told her, ¡°Assuming you take a transport. I doubt you¡¯d want to risk the hopper. You¡¯ll need to keep up your strength. hungry or thirsty on Mars is not a good combination. Never has been.¡±


    Again, he did something weird, laughed to himself, and then Valentine tapped one of the marking on his maintenance uniform¡¯s sleeve, an odd stencil of interspersed red rings.


    ¡°You¡¯ll spot one or two articulated transport rigs with a symbol like this on them. You get on any other and you¡¯re in deep shit, and will be right back where you started when someone finds you¡¯ve hitched a ride,¡± he added. ¡°That¡¯s you safest bet. Hoppers count passengers and weight. And then you¡¯ll probably have to wait a few hours for the next shuttle¡­¡±

 Captives of a Red Planet – 06 – Get a move on

    Tory realized he was right about everything. Maybe she hadn¡¯t thought this plan all the way through, figured she would nick a suit when she got to the hub, on arrival she¡¯d spotted a number of airlocks that had to be equipped for emergencies. And it would definitely be safer to stow away on a transport and probably smarter than try to walk all the way to the landing field right out in the open.


    ¡°Maybe I don¡¯t have enough then,¡± Tory agreed.


    She had maybe a couple 500ml bottles of flavored water and a half dozen lunch bars. The way he talked she might need more. But she hadn¡¯t wanted it to look like she¡¯d run away. There was only so much food in her families quarters at any time in any kind of surplus. Another crappy thing about this ball of crap world. Crap. Crap. Crap.


    When she glanced back over, Valentine opened up another panel, pulled a small pack about, about the size of her old Clipjets school backpack out and tossed it to her. Like any toss on Mars, the small back hung in the air a lot longer than she was used to, before she had to scramble to catch it.


    ¡°There¡¯s days food and water in there, for a full grown adult,¡± he told her, squinted again. ¡°At you size you could probably stretch it to five.¡±


    Tory opened the pack. It was what he said it was. Nine full-sized food packs were inside, plus a 3 one liter bottles of vitamin water. She pulled out one of the food packs, started going over the writing on one. Salisbury Steak? Oh, these were even self-heating. That was... good! These were just like The Steal and the team they¡¯d found in the vault of that long dead prepper. Those had been tasty too.


    She put the food pack back, glanced up at the smiling old man who loomed over her.


    ¡°Thanks¡­ Valentine,¡± she said, still unsure about his intentions, why he was helping her.


    I mean, who was that nice and meant it on this world?Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    He kept grinning back.


    ¡°Just don¡¯t get caught in an airlock,¡± he advised. ¡°And make sure the p-suit you steal has a variable size setting for the suit. Oh, and has fully loaded main and backup tanks. Got it?¡±


    Tory nodded.


    ¡°Then get a move on girl,¡± Valentine ordered with a wave. ¡°Before someone notices you¡¯re not where you¡¯re supposed to be. And more importantly-¡±


    He took a glance around with a worried and then confused expression on his face.


    ¡°-someone notices I¡¯m not where I¡¯m supposed to be.¡±


    Tory took a couple steps back, eyeing the old guy, then turned and headed down the corridor. She looked back once when she reached the next T. He was still watching, even as she turned the corner, so she waved goodbye and sped away.


    She couldn¡¯t stop thinking about that encounter, all the way to the transport hub. Valentine was a bigtime historical figure! And she¡¯d just run into him, and had even been saved by him! How crazy was that? Just thinking about him, brought back the multimedia lessons about the first colonization, how it failed. But, more importantly, how he had been one of the few who had survived until help came five years on the planet without aid, proving that despite the risks, Mars was going to be a new home for humanity, even if it was the most miserable second home of all time. Definitely like The Steal would be as a granpa.


    She stopped for a moment when another thought came to her. Valentine had to be a hundred years old now maybe more. Shrugging again, Tory figured she¡¯d just been lucky, and Valentine had been in the past a bit of a rebel ¨C he had been arrested a lot, according to the records. It was a funny thought, her having something in common with the first Martian. Maybe they were supposed to meet up for some reason, minus the being arrested bit ¨C at least hoped.


    A couple hours later, she reached the hatch that was her goal. Opening it, Tory slid out into a massive hangar several times the size of a basketball arena filled with vehicles of all kinds. To be honest, she wasn¡¯t surprised she didn¡¯t get lost, even if most newlanders couldn¡¯t even get around the Underhill Complex without referring to their spreaders. Her sense of direction had never failed her, not on Earth and not here on Mars.


    She took in a deep breath of accomplishment and let it out.


    Step one. Getting out of the CU: Complete. Step three: stowing on a ship back to Earth and not being found out until it was too late. Wait. she was getting ahead of herself. Step two was next: Finding a rig that would get her to the spaceport before anyone realized she was gone!

 Captives of a Red Planet – 07 – Pay attention!

    Gurminder


    CU Control was being biggun a pain, again with these exit delays. It was like they knew he had a schedule to keeps.


    ¡°What¡¯s holding things up?¡± Gurminder Kalsi, Indiclan bornhere wanted to know, leaning forwards to check the queue his rover had been stuck behind and then leaning back in his seat hard in frustration.


    ¡°Standard pass check, Kal Rover Four,¡± the gruff feminine voice crackled over the speakers. ¡°Priority rated. You know the drill. No one likes the OT, least of all me.¡±


    Of course he knew the drill. First it was the Corps, Then MarsGov. Then newlanders. And finally bornheres, last as always. But his stress increased every minute he had to stand there. His codes had cleared, but that didn¡¯t mean CU was going to do a check, but it definitely felt like they¡¯d singled his rig out.


    A whole hour and three minutes passed before he was allowed to pull his rover out into the red. And thankfully no secondary inspection. He was able to roll out onto the sand and rock free and good and was on his way. Wish he¡¯d been out when he¡¯d been supposed to, though, what with the durst storm he now had to outrun.


    The storm turned out to be lighter than broadcast though, affecting a slight tinkling sound on the cockpit glass of his rig as it rolled along the relatively newly flattened A3 bypass, but he still took the op to swear at it. Something else too, the rig felt different somehow than the way it had since he¡¯d pulled it into the CU transport hub the night before. He¡¯s taken account of the refuel and the cargo adding weight, but there was something else that had seemed out of order, a feeling that had grown as his 24-wheeler rolled east across Elysium Planitia an hour now out of Cerberus Underhill. It wasn¡¯t his first trip to the Hole and he was taking a different route. Was it visuals he was following tracks of more vehicles than he¡¯d expected. No, that wasn¡¯t it. Just something that nagged at him. Had he missed any checks? Nope, the onboard confirmed, all was marked, if anything he over listed.


    What then?


    There was something cracked about the rig, had to be. In the rearviews, the sky was pinking above the craggy silhouette of the Cerberus Fosse. It would be day soon. He¡¯d have to wait until light to do a full check. Worse came to worse, there was an emergency reststop half way to his destination, five hours away on the main road if there was real trouble.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    It was still beyond the hills, the horizon even.


    But, yeah, Gurminder did follow his hunches. Everyone did on this big dumb red rock. But that wasn¡¯t going to happen until it was a lot closer to zero.


    In the meantime, he repeatedly glanced over the meters on the cockpit dashboard for any anomalies the big articulated transport systems might reveal. He finally spotted what was off just after full sunrise. That was it!  He tapped the oxygen meter to make sure it wasn¡¯t sticking.  Yes.


    Three hours out of CU and it had moved well more than it should have, almost twice as much down from 99% to 92%. Not enough to be a problem, he¡¯d still have more than 50% on reaching his destination if the line kept it¡¯s drop, which it looked like it was doing, but a definite anomaly and trouble if for any reason it got worse. Ten-ton wheeled carriers like this rig had nominal sixteen hours of air in the main tanks, tripled effectively when the scrubbers were taken into account.


    Still, according to the log, the drop had been steady from a couple hours before leaving Cerberus.


    Could just be a faulty relay sending bad information? If so, he had to check it out. Inaccurate data on the meters could kill you just as easily as a hole in the windshield.


    ¡°Anything you don¡¯t pay attention too will kill you,¡± his nanna always said. The prima mechanic of Indiclan, her mantra had been since forever. ¡°We depend on machines, and but they will break down without a moment¡¯s notice. So pay attention!¡±


    Crack!


    He still remembered the canings he¡¯d received when she ever caught him not paying enough attention to her warnings, orders, still feared her scrutiny even when he grew to tower over her. She¡¯d been a newlander from way back, and they were all strong as hulks, just like the colonizers now were as well.


    Once the temp gauge pulled up enough for him to risk an EVA if he needed to, Gurminder took a breath and unlocked his belts. Getting up, he wiped his hands on his ribbed shirt, unbent his tall lean body and began to check the cockpit linkages as the first step of potentially a long work test.


    If there was a leak, or a problem with the scrubbers, what looked like steady drop would quickly and unpredictably get much worse. He didn¡¯t like the idea of having to call for help out on the Planitia. MarsCorp was getting more suspicious these days, all things considered, and not everything he carried was legal according to the new ColCorp red book. Some of what he was carrying would land him on Phobos if MarSec even got a whiff. With a sigh, he leaned over the controls and pulled the big rig to a shuddering halt. He had to check it out what the problem was and if it made him even more late than he was, but Rusclan would be happier they got their haul than if it never showed.

 Captives of a Red Planet – 08 – Two brown eyes

    Gurminder turned around, flicked the switches that lit up the inside of the rig through the cars all the way back to the rear hatch and headed back to the first articulation. First glance didn¡¯t show anything but the relit cargo latches along the narrow space twenty meters long. Three steps and he turned left and right, and checked the seals for leaks, then the linkages there for any possible flow of air out into the thin atmosphere of Mars. All good. Next were the scrubber modules. They also tested out.


    Each block had its own manual meters, so it would be easy to determine every step if any were out of sync as he suspected, but none were.


    He continued checking down the vehicle. All the seals and linkages tested out, too. The tanks tested fine, so where was the problem? The levels were still dropping, just about twice as fast as they should. It was as if there was another person on board, like he was running with a co-pilot.


    Or had a stowaway.


    ¡°Oh fricken baggit,¡± he swore.


    CU security must have been enjoying had an off day or something. How in fear and terror did anyone get through out onto and across hanger four to pick his rig to flip into? Damn served him right for not changing his codes since his last flow through. Didn¡¯t really matter, though. If someone could get through three levels of exit clearance, then they could get aboard a rover.


    His wasn¡¯t a MarSec operation after all.


    But now what, he wondered, slightly hunched halfway down the cars as he passed under the next articulation. And how dangerous was his stowaway?  Or might it be a MarSec agent looking to make their way into a clan fortress?


    Gurminder didn¡¯t normally carry a weapon on the rig. More suspicion would turn his way if he did, and then full blown trouble if he carried anything other than a beacon shooter and didn¡¯t register it with each and every pass. So yeah, he his emergency flare gun was the best he had for self-defense. So, he headed up to the cockpit, pulled that out and headed back to the rig¡¯s cargo cars in search of what and who shouldn¡¯t be there.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    If he was a stowaway, that was where he would hide and had.


    He slowly walked back down the narrow interior access corridor, listening, banging on compartments he knew to be empty. When Gurminder thumped the one marked 7BE, the echo sure didn¡¯t sound as empty as it should have. Adding to that his thump was followed by the faint sound  of muffled rustling.


    There you are...


    Holding the gun high in his left hand pointed straight, Gurminder popped the compartment up and open.


    Two brown eyes peered at him from the compartment¡¯s dark depths.


    What?


    There was a... a girl in there dressed in a p-suit that was way too big for her. She was young, and by her size and shape, dark clumpy hair longer than most Martians would cut it. She sure wasn¡¯t a bornhere. Her skin was tan, even ruddy, the kind of rosy complexion only newly arrived Earther¡¯s bore. Hells. Just his damn luck. He¡¯d somehow picked up a runaway newlander and a kid at that.


    ¡°Don¡¯t hurt me,¡± the girl pleaded, and scrunched further back into the compartment as if she could somehow push herself back into the shadows and disappear. ¡°I just wanted to go home, I didn¡¯t think anybody would notice me.¡±


    Home? Where did the girl think she was going? No newer would ever call The Hole home.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± he demanded to know, realized he was waggling the rocket barreled flare gun at her while he did. Gurminder lowered it, but raised his voice as he leaned closer to her, adding, ¡°and what do you think you are doing on my rig? How did you even get in there?¡±


    ¡°I was just trying to get to Elysium Field,¡± she squeaked out, still plastering herself against the rear of the compartment as best as she could. ¡°And your code block was just 4 grades deep. Anyone could figure it out.¡±


    If they had a compulock spinner, sure. But what the hell? Where does a newlander get that kind of tool?


    ¡°We aren¡¯t going anywhere near there,¡± he told her. ¡°Didn¡¯t you read the markings before you crawled in here? This is a Planitia long hauler not a field transport!¡±


    They were going in the exact opposite direction. How could someone who want to stowaway to Elysium pick a rig like his?


    ¡°But the markings¡­¡± she offered in a small voice. ¡°I was told it meant you were going to the field.¡±


    ¡°And what dustpicker would tell you that?¡± Gurminder wanted to know.

 Captives of a Red Planet – 09 – Who told you to pick on my rig?

    The girl had been directed at his rig?


    Now it made sense. He¡¯d pissed off someone in the CU enough that they planted this runaway on him in the hopes of... in the hopes of what? Was there an alert out? No their couldn¡¯t be. If he¡¯d pulled this on someone, they wouldn¡¯t find out about a stowaway 3 hours into the red. He¡¯d have been stopped at the security wall and in custody for abduction of a colonist. No, there was something different going on here.


    But what?


    Gurminder let out a breath.


    ¡°Well, newer, who was it?¡± he asked. ¡°Who told you to pick on my rig?¡±


    She didn¡¯t answer. Nor did she move from her corner of the compartment. Gurminder pursed his lips, took another look at her. She certainly looked scared and kind of defiant but didn¡¯t seem like a threat. Still there was no way he could keep going business as usual with an unwanted passenger on board, especially a newlander kid who had to be in a stolen p-suit and one the authorities back at CU would likely already be searching for now. They may not have been tipped off by some brad with a grudge, but her parents would probably be wondering where she was, maybe even have tracked her to the hangar and then to his rig.


    But where were they then?  This just didn¡¯t make sense.


    And, damn, damn, damn! He was on a schedule Varlamov¡¯s people had already shown they were edgy about and with good reason. Gurminder stood, pulled his arms up and grabbed at the short hair on the back of his head until the moment anxiety and conflict passed. He only had one choice, though. Late was one thing, locked up was another.  He was going to piss someone off no matter what he did.


    ¡°I¡¯m taking you back,¡± his mouth finally decided.


    What else was he going to do? With any luck they¡¯d take the girl and let him go without an investigation, without a detailed search, without trying to pin something on him from the get go. She¡¯s have to tell them what she did. From the looks of her terrified expression, she¡¯d have to crack pretty fast.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    And then his newer stowaway started shaking her head.


    ¡°Please no,¡± she pleaded. ¡°You can¡¯t take me back there. I¡¯m not going back!¡±


    ¡°And how are you going to stop me?¡± he argued. ¡°Come on, get out of there. Do it or I¡¯ll close the hatch on you and lock it and you won¡¯t see any light before it¡¯s the MarSec police.


    That at least got her moving.


    The girl worked to climb out of the compartment. Gurminder stepped back and accommodated. Damn, she was definitely a true-born Earther, at least a head shorter than he was, the suit folding up around her knees and elbows, but with shoulders as wide as his. A true newer dwarf if there ever was one.  She stared up at him, eyes wide, brushing back a dark hair clump that had fallen over her eyes. The girl hadn¡¯t learned how to wash her air to keep it from picking up static dust.


    ¡°You don¡¯t understand. They¡¯ll lock me up, or put an ankle bracelet on me to make sure I don¡¯t run again, I¡¯ll be grounded!¡± the girl insisted. ¡°I don¡¯t want to go back there. CU is like a prison. This whole planet is. Can¡¯t you just take me to the Elysium Field. I promise I won¡¯t cause you any trouble.¡±


    He offered her a smirk at that.


    ¡°Any more trouble,¡± she amended apologetically.


    Gurminder leaned down and pointed a finger at her. She¡¯d lost her fear now, didn¡¯t flinch, and he was beginning to suspect she was accustomed to being lectured. What kind of trouble though could she possibly be in that would make her so insistent to escape the colony they¡¯d just left? Cerberus Underground was hardly a prison. If you wanted to know what it was like on Earth, that was the place to go. They had an almost real Earther park with trees inside that complex. A lake even. What more could any newer ask for?


    Gurminder shook his head.


    ¡°This isn¡¯t a bus shorty, and you didn¡¯t buy passage. Any MarSec inspector would accuse me of illegally transporting you at the very least if I don¡¯t take you back right now, criminal abduction at worst,¡± he told her. ¡°And I¡¯m on a schedule. I¡¯m not going fifty kilometers out of my way for a...¡±


    What was a kind of word that would get through to her as her expression turned more to defiant than pleading.


    ¡°Delinquent,¡± he decided, must have heard that word on an Earther vid at some point. ¡°I¡¯m not even registered for ColCorp runs anyway, and they¡¯re the only ones that are allows on any port field. And I sure as hell am not going to risk my commission and freedom over a drop like you.¡±


    ¡°I have a name,¡± she replied indignantly.

 Captives of a Red Planet – 10 – I just want to go home

    Gurminder crossed his arms over his chest and glared down at the stocky and obnoxious brat.


    ¡°What is it then?¡± he asked. ¡°And did you bring your ID? What¡¯s your landing code?¡±


    ¡°Tory,¡± she told him, crossed her arms in response, trying not to appear intimidated and for a moment not succeeding. He considered pulling the flare gun back out of its holster. ¡°Who are you?¡±


    ¡°Gurminder,¡± he told her. ¡°Gurminder Kalsi. Don¡¯t you have a last name? I know you have a code, every one of you get one. Give me your spreader, it¡¯ll be on there in case you¡¯re too stupid to memorize your alphanumerics.¡±


    ¡°Spreaders have a built in geotracking,¡± she told him. ¡°If I wanted to get out of the CU I¡¯d be stupid to take a spreader, or anything that has a RFID chip that can¡¯t be removed. Would I have gotten this far if I was that stupid?¡±


    That stopped him for a moment as Gurminder tried to think up a decent retort. If she was like this to her parents or teachers he had no doubt she was used to being locked up.


    ¡°Well you weren¡¯t smart enough to pick the right rig for one thing,¡± he told her. ¡°You are not welcome here, newer, none of your kind are.¡±


    That she was smart enough to not bring along any trackable tech, though, forced him to reassess her.  And her p-suit had to be stolen, so she was skilled enough to shut down any of its tranceiving capability. All that meant she had real commitment to her attempt to escape the CU.  Gurminder dropped his hands to his side and she followed suit, glancing down at her hands for a moment, seeming shamed by his comment, before she raised her eyes again.


    ¡±I don¡¯t want to be on this planet any more than you want me here,¡± she continued. ¡°You want me to go back where I came from then, I¡¯ll be happy to go. Just get me where I need to go to make that happen. How hard can that be? Maybe I¡¯m not the stupid one.¡±


    Gurminder laughed. No matter how smart she was with tech, she clearly had no idea how the real Mars worked.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    ¡°You don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about,¡± Gurminder told her. ¡°Don¡¯t you remember the whole security setup up you had to pass through on your way here, on landing, on entering CU? Besides, even if I could get through the outer ring of the field, and that¡¯s as far as a rig like this would be allowed, you could find a way onto the port complex, you wouldn¡¯t make it further than that. Security at The Big Drop is High Triple A. They¡¯d tase you, bundle you up in a crate and send you back to whoever brought you here.¡±


    He wondered how old this girl was. It was hard to tell with newers. She could be as old as he was, twenty or so. Then again she could be as young as ten. His gut suggested it was closer to the latter. Her brattish attitude certainly suggested it was.


    Then the girl told him how screwed he might be.


    ¡°Fine,¡± she said, ¡°You can take me back, if that¡¯s really what you think you have to. But I¡¯ll have to tell them about the stuff I found back there in the other compartments back there.¡±


    Gurminder took a step back, unsure how to handle her blackmail threat, his spine hitting an articulation  stanchion. The girl had searched through the other compartments? Had she actually figured out their electronic keys? It wasn¡¯t impossible if she did what she said she had done to board the rig but it was fricken trouble.


    What he was looking at was ten years up on Phobos at least, what he had back there. And there would only be one way to shut here up, out here.


    He sank down onto his behind and looked up the girl and pressed a palm into his right temple. There was no way this was going to end well for either of them.


    She narrowed her eyes at him, obviously not expecting his response to her threat.


    ¡°I don¡¯t care about them if I don¡¯t need to. I just want to go home,¡± she insisted again. ¡°Would you please just give me a ride to somewhere I can at least find another rig that will take me to the field?¡±


    Gurminder let out a breath. How did he keep finding himself in situations he had to twist himself half crazy to get out of? This girl, Tory, wasn¡¯t even his first stowaway, even if she was his first newlander. This was more than just bad luck. Something like this had been pushing him away from a trouble free life ever since the Force Out of Indiclan. But even if MarSec and MarsCorp had screwed his clan out of their land, he wasn¡¯t going to kill or abandon a kid in the middle of the red. He didn¡¯t doubt she hated the planet and wanted to go home.  Who from the green and blue marble should? And he¡¯d done some stupid things as well when he was younger including what she was doing and hadn¡¯t gotten the punishment he¡¯d deserved.


    But still, Gurminder wondered, gazing over into Tory¡¯s now uncertain gaze. Who was going to have to deal with this custerfluck when it came due?

 Captives of a Red Planet – 11 – Where are we going?

    Gurminder let out a sigh. This was going to land on somebody and it wasn¡¯t going to him.


    He decided to pass the buck. Varlamov and his people could decide what was to be done with her. Who knew, they might even be able to trade her back to her family, depending on how important they were for a few resources they needed.


    He then looked at the p-suit she had on and winced. Yeah, it needed adjusting. It was fine horizontally, but she clearly had no idea how to adjust it to fit her height-challenged body. Her shoulders and hips were wide enough, but if she was going to survive, he¡¯d definitely have to do some work on the arms and legs. Those folds were catching on everything. Tory wouldn¡¯t be any use to the big man if she started ripping it and her blood boiled out.


    He motioned her to come closer. The girl stared at him and didn¡¯t move an inch.


    ¡°Look, you¡¯re not going to get anywhere with your suit like that,¡± he told her. ¡°Let me get it fit for your frame. I¡¯ve figured out how this might work out for the both of us. Come on, do you want to get that suit ripped. Believe me, you rip it enough, it isn¡¯t going to self-seal, newer.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± she finally relented. ¡°But stop calling me that. I had to punch the last kid who called me that.¡±


    Gurminder had to smirk, not surprised that she had.


    Tory stepped within arm¡¯s length, close enough for him to work the belts and bands to straighten the folds. It only took a minute. Done, Gurminder stood back up, head bent as he loomed over her, casting her in shadow as he blocked the overhead light.


    ¡°Honestly, I don¡¯t have time turn around,¡± he told her. ¡°CU Exit Control held me back so long that I¡¯m already late with my delivery. But I can take you to where I¡¯m going and the people there can decide what to do with you.¡±Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    She narrowed her gaze. If she knew what he was carrying, then she was probably right to be suspicious.


    ¡°Would they take me back to Cerberus?¡± she wanted to know.


    He laughed.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure that¡¯s the last place they are going to want to take you,¡± he told her. ¡°But I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll do what they can to make sure that once they get you back, your parents will want to go back to Earth as well.¡±


    The girl didn¡¯t grin back. Nor should she. The Rusclan weren¡¯t likely to take her presence on his gun run with good humor either, but it was either that, or dump her in the red. He wasn¡¯t going to radio MarSec and it seemed Tory didn¡¯t want him to anyway.


    He motioned her to the front of the transport, and she started waddling in her suit up the cars, him following behind. When they reached the cockpit, Tory plunked herself down in the passenger¡¯s seat, while he returned to his chair and started up the engines. She glanced through the dusted up windows of the rig¡¯s cockpit while he flipped switches and then jerked the vehicle back into motion. Finally she turned back to him.


    ¡±So, who exactly do you work for?¡± she asked, then, ¡°and where are we going?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s better that you don¡¯t know,¡± he told her, briefly glancing at her before returning his eyes to the terrain up ahead, ¡°You¡¯ll get into less trouble the less you know.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to find out anyway,¡± she said, ¡°So you might as well tell me. It¡¯s not like I can do anything about it.¡±


    What a brat. Maybe she was the tween he¡¯d originally pegged her as, but he wasn¡¯t going to give her the satisfaction of not already having figured it out.


    ¡°Did you pull crap like this back on Earth?¡± he asked instead.


    ¡°Kind of,¡± Tory admitted. ¡°All mom and dad seem to want to do is keep me locked up whenever I have. It¡¯s like their scared of what might happen to me every time I¡¯m out of their sight. I think bringing me here was they¡¯re idea of punishing me.¡±


    Gurminder sighed.


    Or they¡¯re scared of what might happen to the people you get in trouble.


    ¡°Just be quiet and pretend to enjoy the scenery,¡± he told her, ¡°I need to think. And so do you. We¡¯re both going to have some explaining to do.¡±

 Captives of a Red Planet – 12 – This planet is a prison

    The next few hours went by as the rig continued on its way, giving Gurminder time to think. He only occasionally monitored the controls while the transport drove in silence over the flat sandy planitia roadway for a while. He was considering what he was going to say to Varlamov, the right words that would convince the man that this wasn¡¯t his idea, that he hadn¡¯t been careless, and how to ensure that the Rusclan headman didn¡¯t find out that Tory had seen the cargo he was carrying. He wasn¡¯t quite sure who would suffer most from that admission, him or the girl. Honestly, Gurminder didn¡¯t think the big man would think twice about killing any newer if he felt there would be some advantage in it for him. It would probably be better to discuss it with Mina, the man¡¯s daughter first.  She might be able to smooth it over with her father if he was convincing enough.


    More than a couple times he glanced across the cockpit at Tory, but she seemed content right now to keep her mouth shut. She had pulled out a bar to munch on, even offered one to him. A kid she might be, not to mention a newer, but she had at least made her break for it prepared.


    Soon enough, however, questions started popping up in his head. Most of the Earthers he¡¯d met or worked didn¡¯t have the kind of issues with life on this planet. Many were happy to be included in the development of their new home, dismissing the original inhabitants all together as they claimed all the territory the bornhere clans had explored. Newlanders to a man or woman singularly self-centered, they didn¡¯t care about the Martians who had toughed it out for three generations before Earth decided they wanted to colonize Mars again. When he thought about it, he¡¯d never personally ever met anyone from Earth who actually said they hated it life on Mars and wanted to go back to their ruined home. Almost all had claimed Earth was a doomed world, and that Mars was the future for Mankind. Not this girl.


    She acted like she¡¯d been kidnapped by her own parents.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    To be fair Gurminder hadn¡¯t come across many newlander kids directly. He turned back to Tory who was staring at him now.


    ¡°Why do you want to go back to Earth?¡± he asked, ¡°Most of your people seem excited to be here. Or at least they think it¡¯s some noble sacrifice they¡¯ve made to come here to make this their new home.¡±


    She turned and stared at him, her eyes seeming to peer directly into his head. It was a little unnerving.


    ¡°Most weren¡¯t forced, and almost everyone else has drunk the koolaid.¡± she told him. ¡°You know they had non-stop videos we all had to watch all the way here, right.¡±


    ¡°Um.. not exactly,¡± he told her. ¡°At least not that anyone has told me. Drunk the koolaid? What does that even mean?¡±


    She smirked at him.


    ¡°Don¡¯t hang around many of us, do you?¡± she said.


    ¡°The Corps don¡¯t like that much mixing between us and your lot,¡± he told her. ¡°Didn¡¯t they tell you much about the bornhere clans?¡±


    ¡°Well, you all proved that we could survive here,¡± she stated. ¡°And that you all think you own the place and need to realize that Mars belongs to all humanity, not just a handful of troublemakers who think the planet belongs to you because you were here first.¡±


    Gurminder snorted.


    ¡°No nation may claim Mars,¡± Tory quoted. ¡°I guess that means even a Martian one, right?¡±


    ¡°So you newlanders claim,¡± he told her. ¡°But really, why do you want to go back home so bad, especially if your parents are here?¡±


    ¡°I had a life on Earth. Friends. Things. I belonged there.  Have you ever been to Earth?¡±


    He scowled at her.  She had to know he couldn¡¯t go to Earth.


    ¡°No,¡± he said, ¡°I wouldn¡¯t want to go there even if I could. They¡¯ve had to have taught you Martians can¡¯t go to Earth.¡±


    No way he couldn¡¯t survive there, having grown up under Martian conditions, the gravity would be crushing, then there was the pollution and all the diseases Earth was famous for. No. Never. But-


    ¡°You¡¯re not even curious about it at all?¡±


    She seemed surprised.


    ¡°Curious sure,¡± he replied. ¡°Earth is the mother planet, but I¡¯m a Martian. This is my home. It¡¯s all I have.¡±


    All he would ever have.


    ¡°Everyone on the ship that brought us here complained about how bad Earth is now. They said it¡¯s all used up and the environment is ruined, poisoned¡± Tory said, ¡°But it¡¯s not bad. Not like this, this planet is a prison.¡±

 Captives of a Red Planet – 13 – Who is this midget?

    She gestured out the windows at the flat rocky terrain various shades of orange with a bit of red underneath the pinkish Martian sky.


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t given a choice,¡± she complained. ¡°My parents took the offer from MarsCorp to move us all to  ¡®greener¡¯ pastures. Well, ¡®redder¡¯ pastures. Packed me up too like I was luggage. I never wanted this. If I was a few years older, I¡¯d be where I really should be. Earth is home, even if it''s a toxic dump with a runaway greenhouse effect.¡±


    Gurminder smiled. A funny little Earther, this one. Despite his earlier assessment of Tory, he decided he was starting to like the girl. She was pretty honest about what she thought, and that wasn¡¯t so common among most newlanders he¡¯d ever encountered. If only more Earthers were like this girl. The clans would have Mars back to themselves, and the planet would belong to who rightfully had conquered it.


    The rig reached The Hole around thirteen hundred. As with most older Martian habitats, it had been built into a crater, with most of the living areas far enough beneath the Martian regolith to keep the inhabitants safe from radiation. On the surface it didn¡¯t look like much, maybe a hundred meters across and a few stories high. The Rig drove down through the opened entrance gates into a central circular area where several other vehicles were parked and pulled up beside the original landing tower in the center of the crater that hadn¡¯t been used for its original purpose once the old nations pulled out and left them on their own. They¡¯d put a big gun up there, for security, but if MarSec really wanted to take it down, it wouldn¡¯t take much effort.  Indiclan had big old guns as well, and MarSec just threatened to bomb from orbit.


    There were a few vehicles parked around the dusty floor of the crater, a few of the folk in p-suits walking about, some armed, some not.


    It looked a lot like the places he¡¯d spent most of his life in, old military bases fallen into disrepair after the pullout when the Earthers decided to fight their last world war, and reclaimed by Clans who cleared out the booby traps left behind. here it was the Rusclan, who had been pushed out of their old territory by ColCorp as was happening all the time now. It wasn¡¯t exactly Gurminder¡¯s kind of home anymore, but it did make a decent enough rest stop if need be.  And then there was Mina, who had hooked up with him the last time he¡¯d been here.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    But this was where he needed to deliver his cargo, so this was where the rig ended up.


    Since Gurminder could rely on the rig¡¯s autopilot to handle even driving that required finesse, he spent the last few minutes before it drove down into The Hole on finishing fixing up Tory¡¯s p-suit. It wasn¡¯t a big job checking the seals sealing the arm and leg folds, but, with his nanna¡¯s warnings forever in his head, he was going to make sure she never accidentally cutout her suit¡¯s integrity. He¡¯s seen the results of that more than once. Not pretty. Still, there was no way she was going to pass for a Martian of any clan so there was no point in pretending.


    So, he¡¯d spent some time with her making sure they got their story straight, well as it turned out the truth.


    ¡°They¡¯re probably going to have to prove what you said,¡± Gurminder told her. ¡°Coding and that. But you cannot say you saw what was in the cargo. If you do, I promise you, Varlamov¡¯ll have you shot in the head and dumped in a sinkhole. Guaranteed.¡±


    He¡¯d repeated that enough to get the predicted response.


    ¡°Okay, okay,¡± she¡¯d told him. ¡°I won¡¯t say anything about the weapons and explosives. I¡¯m not stupid, Gur.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t call me that,¡± he told her. ¡°Just use my name, no silly nicknames.¡±


    He didn¡¯t wanted to be reminded of the last girl who called him that.


    ¡°You¡¯re so gruff and grumpy,¡± she told him. ¡°I think it works for you.¡±


    ¡°Keep it up and I¡¯ll shoot you myself,¡± he warned her.


    It was clear, however, that she knew that wasn¡¯t a serious threat.  It was like she thought she was his kid sister or something.


    The minute they walked up to the receiver, Soshnikov, the tallest man around, he saw what she was immediately and gestured rudely she wasn¡¯t one of them.


    The tall man called over a couple of his fellow Rusclan, both of whom were sporting decent quality rocket rifles despite the patched up condition of their orange-dusted p-suits. Strange. He was bringing weapons, and didn¡¯t expect they¡¯d already be so well and heavily armed. One of the others was someone else he recognized, The Hole¡¯s third in Command, the attractive, blonde and hard-looking but hard partying woman about ten years older than him, Mina Varlamov, Rus Patriarch Ivan Varlamov¡¯s eldest daughter. Despite the larger size of the two men, Mina usually came across as the most intimidating, at least in public. She was different in the sack, he¡¯d learned the last time he¡¯d been here. Still, he¡¯d considered it a good idea not to mention their hookup to her father. And he wasn¡¯t expecting to many favors either. It was always best not to try to push things with the Rusclan.  They had the nastiest reputation among the bornhere¡¯s, but occupied the land of least worth.  Two reasons why MarsCorp hadn¡¯t wiped their stations off the map as they did Usclan and Indiclan.


    Mina activated her radio link with his.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on Kalsi.¡± she asked over the radio, gesturing at Tory. ¡°Who is this midget?¡±

 Captives of a Red Planet – 14 – An itchy trigger finger

    ¡°Name¡¯s Tory Ciarelli, she¡¯s a newer kid,¡± he told them. It had taken some time, but he¡¯d finally squeezed a last name out of her. ¡°A stowaway headed for The Big Drop. Someone gave her bad directions, she¡¯s here by accident. Got some tip on how to crack this model¡¯s security block.¡±


    Mina gave him a ¡®gah¡¯ look and then cut her radio link. She waved for a couple of the men in the area to come over. He could see her talking with Soshnikov quietly on another channel, before turning back to the two of them. As suspected the magic they¡¯d had together wasn¡¯t a subject worth talking about, at least in public. Gurminder was fine with that.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you take her back to the CU?¡± Mina demanded to know, ¡°You know this is the last place Earthers are welcome.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d already gone too far to turn back, did you want me to be late? I was told it was needed urgently,¡± he said, bending the truth a little. ¡°Considering what I¡¯ve got for you, turning back might have meant never. But it¡¯s not a problem. You can unload, let me refuel and I¡¯ll take the kid right back to Cerberus Underhill, no harm. If we head off soon, we¡¯ll be back just after nightfall, probably before anyone really notices she¡¯s missing.¡±


    The point was to make her see Tory wasn¡¯t a threat. he didn¡¯t want her killed.


    ¡°I know what you¡¯re doing here,¡± Tory said over the radio. How had she clicked in so quickly? Damn the kid was tech smart but danger stupid. ¡°You¡¯re trying to resist colonization. Send us all back to Earth, right? That¡¯s what the weapons are for. Good. Send us all back! Me first!¡±


    All three of the Rus scowled and Gurminder winced. He turned and slashed a gesture for her to cut her radio. She might not just get herself killed. The men around them lifted their guns up, looking ready to shoot on command.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    He made another silent appeal to her and also to Mina.


    Clearly his stowaway didn¡¯t understand the gesture, or just didn¡¯t want to shut up. And there was no way he could stop her, as her radio controls were internal.


    ¡°I can help you,¡± Tory continued. ¡°As long as you make sure I can go back too. To Earth I mean.¡±


    Mina stared at the girl, eyes wide, clearly not knowing what to make of her. The woman finally turned back to him, a seriously perturbed look on her face.


    ¡°What have you been telling her?¡± she guessed. ¡°You know there can be no information about what is going on her repeated outside the clan. Do you really want the both of you dead, Gurminder? Are you such a coward Kalsi that you couldn¡¯t do it yourself? What the hell did you think, bringing an Earther here?¡±


    Damnit! Gurminder backed up in front of the girl, holding his hands up. They were both kaput if he didn¡¯t talk the Rus down right now.


    ¡°Nothing, hardly, I didn¡¯t tell her anything. She¡¯s some kind of kid coding savant or something,¡± Gurminder said, ¡°She found out about the weapons on her own. She¡¯s smart. But she¡¯s still just a kid. She isn¡¯t a spy and she doesn¡¯t even have a tracker on her. She made specifically sure MarSec couldn¡¯t track her. The newer is smart, but she¡¯s not our enemy. If anything, she¡¯s a traitor to her own kind. And we could use more of those if we are going to-¡±


    Mina held up a hand, turned back to Soshnikov. The other guy leveled his rocket gun at the girl. Gurminder tensed. Soshnikov was known for having an itchy trigger finger. Tory¡¯s sudden movement to putting him between her and the guns pointing at her showed she¡¯d just realized she¡¯d done something incredibly stupid and was just starting to figure that out, about three or four stupid statements too late.


    ¡°Don¡¯t,¡± Gurminder said waving his arms as he grew frantic, and suddenly stupid protective of her himself. ¡°I¡¯ll take care of her, she¡¯s my problem, okay. There¡¯s no need to for that. She won¡¯t do anything, she won¡¯t say anything. I swear it.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t,¡± Tory pleaded over the radio. ¡°I just want to go back to Earth. And if anyone is going to help me, It¡¯s going to be you. Tell me what I have to do to convince you all that I¡¯m on your side!¡±


    She was finally scared, although that meant she had moved behind him, meaning if she was going to get shot, so was he. Thanks a lot, shorty!

 Captives of a Red Planet – 15 – When we’re all dead

    Mina stared at the girl who was now cowering behind him, now having realized that her big mouth meant five different kinds of guns were pointed at her, at them.


    ¡°Please, Mina, she¡¯s just a girl,¡± Gurminder pleaded, if to at least survive this himself at this point. ¡°She¡¯s not threat to the clans or any of the actions that are going to be taken. She¡¯s not lying. She fricken hates this place, hates that she was dragged her and does not want to help the Corps or MarSec. She doesn¡¯t have to die!¡±


    Mina clicked to a private channel, put a hand up to keep her trigger happy goons at bay at least for the moment.


    ¡°What about you?¡± she asked. ¡°This was really stupid, Gurminder. Why didn¡¯t you tell her to keep her mouth shut? Those were about the stupidest things she could have said.¡±


    ¡°I did,¡± he told her. ¡°The whole journey here. Didn¡¯t seem to sink in. What can I say, she¡¯s a newer. You know they have shit for brains.¡±


    Mina narrowed her gaze, and then nodded.


    He let out a relieved breath.


    ¡°I¡¯ll see what I can do,¡± she said. ¡°Hopefully we can come up with some reason to keep her alive. Not sure I can say the same thing about you.¡±


    His heart stopped before seeing that she had offered him a brief smirk. Maybe their throw together hadn¡¯t been that disappointing for her after all.


    She clicked back to the open circuit and turned to address her gunmen.


    ¡°Sosh,¡± Mina said, motioning to the man now lowering his weapon, ¡°Put her in with the other kids. We¡¯ll figure out what to do with her later. She¡¯s probably worth something alive.¡±


    Soshnikov¡¯s flinty face reorganized into a full on scowl. He clicked to a private channel. Whatever went on between the two was clearly a row, given that Mina was yelling at him only after a few seconds. Gurminder kept a hold of Tory¡¯s arm, tight, that only relaxed when the tall man nodded and responded to Mina¡¯s gesticulated order.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    He did not look happy at all, but he holstered the gun, and motioned for the girl to follow him. Tory glared at Gurminder.


    He stepped up to her, cut the radio, leaned his helmet against hers, wanting to make sure that they didn¡¯t need to use a private channel, that no one could listen in on them. She made to pull away, but he grabbed her by the shoulders, stared into her glare.


    ¡°Please don¡¯t make things worse by opening you¡¯re mouth again,¡± he warned her. ¡°I¡¯m going to try to get you out of here. Okay? I might even be able to get you to Elysium, or close enough for you to get there. Understand? Just go with him and do what you are told. We¡¯ll talk later. Just do what frick you are told. They won¡¯t hurt you if you don¡¯t. Please.¡±


    Her stubborn expression softened.


    ¡°You¡¯re on my side, right?¡± she wanted to know.


    ¡°I am,¡± he told her. ¡°But please stay on mine, huh? I want to stay alive as much as you do. And you do, right?¡±


    She nodded but didn¡¯t look happy. Gurminder let out a breath of relief, then watched her get hauled by the big man towards a nearby hatch.


    Mina stepped up to him as he watched. She clicked a private channel.


    ¡°One might suspect you¡¯ve known that shorty for more than just a few hours,¡± she said.


    He turned to her, trying to look sincere.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t plan for this,¡± he told her. ¡°I just don¡¯t like the idea of killing kids, even newer ones.¡±


    ¡°What makes you think she¡¯s a child,¡± she told him, raising an eyebrow. ¡°They¡¯re all like that, short, no matter how old they are.¡±


    ¡°Oh, she acts her age,¡± he told her. ¡°As you saw from that shitshow.¡±


    Mina chuckled, and then turned to the important stuff.


    ¡°The Chin are sending help,¡± Mina she told him. ¡°They insisted. Their offer was accepted. Out of my hands.¡±


    ¡°You asked for a thief,¡± he told her. ¡°And you want to saddle him with psychos?¡±


    It was her turn to scowl.


    ¡°Your status does not grant you any say in the matter,¡± she told him in a harder tone. ¡°Now help check and unload your cargo. It has to be moved out quickly.¡±


    ¡°What do the Chin have that you don¡¯t have here?¡± Gurminder asked, ignoring her order.


    ¡°They say they have insurance,¡± she told him, then started walking towards the Admin entrance. ¡°The negotiation was between their leader and my father. Not my decision. But I¡¯d rather they get killed by bullets meant for you if it comes to it. I¡¯m not quite finished with you yet, hon. This will be taken care of. That¡¯s what the clan demands.¡±


    ¡°Well at least our clans will be taken care of when we¡¯re all dead, then,¡± he offered sarcastically at her backside.


    Mina offered him a scowl that turned to a smirk as she headed back towards The Hole¡¯s command center. She did have quite a backside. He hoped he¡¯d get the chance to see it naked again, at least one more time before she got him killed.

 Captives of a Red Planet – 16 – Another Martian Maze

    Tory


    ¡°Just do what frick you are told. They won¡¯t hurt you if you don¡¯t. Please.¡±,¡± her former tall dark and Martian friend told her.


    Tory scowled at Gurminder. He said he was her friend. That he¡¯d help. But now she was being dragged away by the angriest looking giant she¡¯s ever seen. Sure, she realized that she¡¯d made a big mistake when everyone started pointing their huge guns at her, but how else was she going to make anyone serious that she meant business? And that if anything they did meant to send people like her parents back to Earth and the team, then she meant to help.


    Adults everywhere, weren¡¯t so big on listening, but they were big on dragging.


    The tall angry man to lead her into the old base, through a rusty looking hatch and into a tunnel. It was the dingiest place she¡¯d ever been on Mars, all dust and rust, stained walls and floors.


    If he had his radio on he wasn¡¯t listening to her. Tory tried to tell him that she was on their side, but got no response no matter what channel she tried.


    The airlock looked gross, like it hadn¡¯t been scrubbed in forever. It was like some of the worst parts of lower Angeles, the part where the city had flooded and was like a canal city. Not the upper parts. They were amazing, but the slimy underbelly for sure.


    They passed through an airlock, then at a locker he removed his helmet, gestured her to do the same. Well, if he could breathe it. Tory instantly regretted taking off her helmet. The air here smelled worse than the CU, even if it seemed to have enough oxygen.


    ¡°You know I can help you people,¡± she insisted. ¡°I want to leave Mars.¡±


    He pointed at an open cabinet in a row of stained metal cabinets along the stained wall.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°You will one way or another. Now remove p-suit, Shit for brains, and put it in locker. Won¡¯t need it,¡± he told her in a thick accent that barely sounded like English. ¡°There is good air in here. And you¡¯ll empty your tanks anyway. Be a waste.¡±


    He too began to remove his suit, revealing dirty looking overalls underneath. They were even in worse shape than Valentines had been back in the service tunnels underneath Cerberus Underhill. Tory was starting to regret horribly what she had done to get her here and hesitated, then started to remove her suit.


    The man was a lot bigger than Gurminder, and likely could have removed her suit if he wanted to. The air wasn¡¯t as good as he claimed. It was rank, smelled like urine maybe? Sweat and a lot of other bad stuff. She wrinkled her nose. It was worse than the ruins underneath New Angeles here, with no topside.¡±


    ¡°Pockets too,¡± he ordered. ¡°All of them.¡±


    Tory sighed and empty her pockets, the oxyinjector Valentine had given her was the last thing she pulled out. She didn¡¯t want to give it up.


    ¡°I need this,¡± she told him. ¡°Your air isn¡¯t good, not for me. And you wouldn¡¯t want me choking to death on it, now would you? You know what this is right?¡±


    Soshnikov scrutinized it for a moment, then nodded.


    ¡°Fine, you can keep,¡± he told her. ¡°Now come.¡±


    The inside the structure was another Martian maze, cruder than the CU¡¯s but not as vast, and much of it carved from the bedrock, not dressed up nicely. Tory kept track of turns they went through and the markings on each of the hatches he lead her through. She¡¯d be able to find her way back. One thing she never, ever forgot is how to get back to anywhere she started.


    Soshnikov finally brought her to a corridor that ended in a hatch entitled ¡®§º§¬§°§­§¡¡¯ opened the hatch then shoved her inside. Beyond was a nook an older woman in patched up clothing and not much taller than her waited. At least she and the room Tory had been lead to was cleaner than the rest she¡¯d seen. It did look a bit like a schoolroom, she realized.


    Tory let out a breath. Why did everyone on this planet want to treat her like a child? It wasn¡¯t her fault she was so short.


    The big Rus talked to the woman for a few moments in what Tory assumed was actual Russian or some pidgin version of it, since it sounded like they were all speaking backwards, then returned out the hatch they¡¯d come by. She turned to watch him go. Where was he going? She started to follow but the woman grabbed her arm, hard and painfully enough to make her gasp.


    ¡°You stay,¡± she said in an accent similar to Soshnikov but a lot more commanding. ¡°I am teacher. You are student. You do as you are told.¡±


    Despite being not much bigger than her, this woman was a lot more intimidating than even the lumbering giant guard. Tory was used to teachers, though. So she nodded, and went where she was led.

 Captives of a Red Planet – 17 – Back to the stone age

    The woman led her out of the reception nook with its desk, computer screens, and shelves with books and slogans, some in English, some in what had to be the Russian language into a larger chamber, carved out of solid rock like the most of the rest of the tunnels she¡¯d seen on the way through the maze. The nook had seemed the first nice corner of the place, but where Tory was next led to wasn¡¯t so much.  It was just a big room with several tables where a bunch of kids sitting around.


    Was this what a bornhere school looked like? It didn¡¯t look like the other kids were being  who mostly looked younger than Tory were being taught much of anything.  There were maybe 20 or so, clustered in small groups, dressed in their rough, patched  clothing, mostly patched coveralls of various muted colors that it seemed living in caves on Mars did to clothes.


    The ¡®teacher¡¯ marched her to a desk of her own and sat her down.


    ¡°Stay and be quiet,¡± the woman ordered.


    While the other Martian kids, girls and boys alike took notice of her, all stared as she was put in her seat. Tory couldn¡¯t help stare back. She hadn¡¯t been a place with so many Martian kids. All the kids in Cerberus had been immigrants from Earth like her. The only other difference, other than most were taller than her, even the young ones, was that all of them seemed to have decent hair on their heads, unlike her. About half did back in the CU, but no one yet had bothered to tell her what to do with all the Martian dust that seemed to cling to her own straight hair. Tory just couldn¡¯t figure out how to solve even with the instructions she¡¯d been given on arrival on Mars.  Nothing she¡¯d tried so far worked.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    She was seated far enough away from the other kids to not be able to talk to any of them, and that probably encouraged the staring even more, at least until the teacher slammed something on her own desk and started to speak to the class in Russian, forcing them to turn back to their teacher, forming their scattered collection of chairs and desks back into a semblance of a classroom with most operating their own tablets at the teacher¡¯s command.


    Where Tory had been seated there was an old console on the desk, a screen built into the surface, and a couple tablets laying by it, but on investigation, they were all kind of prehistoric, not just in appearance, but function as well, not to mention their GUIs were entirely in Russian as well. Given the rough stone that made up the walls and ceilings of the room, the entire complex really. Tory was starting to feel in addition to being a prisoner again, she¡¯d also been sent right back into the stone age.  Fossil might have been able to figure out the old tech, but like anyone else she needed on this planet, she was fifty million miles away.


    Quickly bored, Tory checked out the tablets for a while, figured that maybe there was some way she might be able to hack into them, but their operating systems were so medieval that none of the tricks she knew worked to get them out of their front ends. Otherwise there wasn¡¯t much of interest on them and no apparent option to change to English.


    While the teacher droned on, a couple of the kids still snuck peeks at her, a pair of them talking quietly, one even looking curious, probably wondering who had been sent in to make their day the least bit exciting.

 Captives of a Red Planet – 18 – Stand still!

    And that went on for another half hour, while Tory tried to break into the tablets to no avail. The desk screen didn¡¯t even work, so there was no point in that. Finally the class ended, or something, and the other kids got up and started getting together into groups again and talking with each other, most looking at her, most seemed to be asking questions to each other in their backwards sounding language, but not  approaching her.


    One student wasn¡¯t curious at all though, giving her a look that Tory recognized. His look was hostile and he was tall, but couldn¡¯t have been any older than her based on his baby face. He met her gaze with a glare, and started stalking towards her. He was clearly the biggest kid in class, and probably the class bully by the way the others looked at him, moved back in his wake.  Oh, Tory had seen his like before.  And was already kind of getting ready for the sort of thing that had repeatedly got her suspended.


    ¡°I am Yvengi,¡± he stated, pointing at his chest. ¡°What are you doing here?¡±


    His English was a little better than his teacher¡¯s, but not much.


    Tory stood up. The boy towered over her, not quite as tall as Gurminder or the guard who brought her here, but still pretty tall.  She¡¯s faced bigger back home, though.  That snob, Arla for one.


    ¡°I¡¯m Tory,¡± she said, getting up to cut down on his height advantage, not feeling like she needed to answer his question.


    Standing didn¡¯t help much, he still loomed way over her.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    ¡°What do you want here, tiny?¡± he repeated a bit more belligerently, ¡°What do you think you are doing with the bornhere? We don¡¯t want you. Go back to your blue ball.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a blue marble,¡± she corrected. ¡°And I don¡¯t want to be here either. I¡¯ll be going home as soon as I get out of this¡­ crater.¡±


    ¡°Maybe I should help you,¡± he snarled stepping right up into her personal space, looming over her in an attempt to intimidate her like bullies always did.


    Tory didn¡¯t step back, just looked up to meet his glare. She¡¯s really had enough. Around them the other kid¡¯s had suddenly gathered. This was fast. Had the teacher told him to pick a fight with her? She didn¡¯t think that would be a good idea. Nobody here knew it, but Tory had had lessons in self-defense. That had started the third time a bully had singled her out. And she was from Earth, a world with three times the gravity that Mars had.


    Yvengi stuck out his hand to knock her back but his telegraphed his move so clearly she was able to step to the side and let the boy stumble over instead, totally losing his balance. His fall was funny, a slow motion collapse.  She had to giggle at how it looked, like something from a cartoon.


    Unhurt, but face reddened and twisted into a glower, he jumped right back up ready for more.


    Tory glanced towards the teacher, but the woman¡¯s eyes were fixed on the spreader she had out in front where she sat now, some kind of document scrolling across the flexible screen. Yeah, she¡¯d certainly put him up to this. Wouldn¡¯t be the first teacher Tory¡¯d had who thought she needed to be taught a lesson.


    The boy tried again. She just got out of the way. The move was so much easier in one Mars gravity. Back on earth a kid his size would have caught her by now.


    Damn Gurminder, though. He¡¯d left her to fend for herself in a school of psycho Martian kids! Even if it wasn¡¯t exactly hard the idea made her mad. Frick would he get it when she saw him again. Tory was pretty sure what ¡®frick¡¯ meant to these people by now.


    ¡°Stand still!¡± Yvengi raged and took another swing at her.

 Captives of a Red Planet – 19 – Funtime is over

    This fight was actually the first bit of fun that Tory could remember having in a long time, certainly since she¡¯d stepped onto that rocket back on Earth. Martians just weren¡¯t that fast in any way, and it didn¡¯t look like Yvengie had much training on how to fight anyone.


    He tried to punch her, this time it was kind of a old-style boxing move, a right hook.


    Tory blocked the punch with ease. She might be short for her age, even on Earth, but that had meant she had to get used to bullies and had learned how to fight. Oh, yeah, that was certainly another thing that scared her parents. But New Angels was a tough place, and she needed to be tough there as much as she needed to be smart.


    Now it was time to teach the ogre a lesson if his nana back on the other side of the room wasn¡¯t going to do it. Tory flattened her right palm and pushed him hard in the chest. It wasn¡¯t a move he had at all expected and it knocked Yvengie right back. Then she stepped forward and did it again while ducking his swings with ease.


    ¡°Stoyat¡¯!¡± he yelled and tried another punch, accurate enough she needed to block. Tory smiled, feeling a bit of adrenalin, an impulse to finally hit back.


    The Martian boy hadn¡¯t hit her once, and his friends weren¡¯t really trying to help out at all either. Did any of them like the big bully? In her experience, probably not.


    She held up her fists, ready to play his game if that was what he really wanted.


    ¡°Come on,¡± she told him. ¡°Can¡¯t you hit me? At all?¡±


    Triumph turned to fear as she could feel her breath suddenly quicken and knew what that meant. She was having too much fun. The rush of adrenaline was too much. Damn the crap air on this planet.


    Tory backed up, pulled out her injector. Yvengi offered an ugly grin and stepped towards her as she pressed the pen into her arm and held it for an entire injection, praying that the rush of oxygen into her blood would work and he wouldn¡¯t get the chance to start wailing on her while she was trying to breathe.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    He got one swing that knocked her to the floor. Tory¡¯s injector went flying, but at least the medicine was in her system no, and she could feel her lungs stop fighting.


    ¡°That is enough!¡± the teacher yelled in heavily accented English. ¡°vospr zakonchilas¡¯. Vernut¡¯sya k mestam.¡±


    She waved the gathering crowd of teens back and frowned at Tory and Yvengi. Tory smirked up at the boy, he glowered back. For a moment she hoped he¡¯d ignore the order, and maybe she¡¯d get a chance to try and knock his feet out from under him, but he finally backed down and returned to his group.


    ¡°You, outsider back to your chair,¡± the woman ordered, pointing. ¡°Funtime is over.¡±


    Her breathing had steadied. With a sigh, Tory got to her knees, retrieved her injector, and returned to her own table, plunked herself down with her archeological dig.


    A few minutes of boredom later, she heard the hatch open, looked up, and saw it was Gurminder. He didn¡¯t look happy. He turned away and talked to the teacher. Then he headed over to her. Tory stood back up. Was she going home? Or at least one home or another? Or was he going to hit her?


    ¡°Are you all right?¡± he asked in a concerned tone, that was the exact opposite of the expression he had on his face. ¡°She said there was a fight.¡±


    Oh. He does care.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± she told him airily. ¡°The bully couldn¡¯t even touch me. I¡¯m like stronger and faster than anyone here. You Martians need some better training.¡±


    He didn¡¯t look relieved at her response. Behind him, two big Martians with their big guns stepped into the room. Tory took one look and knew things had suddenly taken a bad turn. She turned her accusing glance at Gurminder, who had screwed up again, regardless of how much he might seem to care.


    ¡°They¡¯re taking you out of here,¡± he told her, ¡°Before anybody gets hurt, especially you. You¡¯re too valuable to get your head cracked in a fight with dumbass school kids.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean too valuable?¡± Tory asked. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±


    He shook his head and gave her an apologetic look.


    ¡°You should¡¯ve told me who your parents were, Tory,¡± he said, almost angry at her for some reason. ¡°If you had I would have never ever have brought you here.¡±


    The new pair of guards came to take her away. One grabbed her arm hard enough to make her yelp, but she didn¡¯t fight back. They weren¡¯t Yvengies to be just pushed down with a palm

 Captives of a Red Planet – 20 – A real prison

    Twenty


    ¡°Okay, okay,¡± she told them as they pulled her along painfully. ¡°I¡¯m coming, you don¡¯t have to drag me.¡±


    The two men finally relented, let go and motioned her to walk on ahead of them, Instructing her to go left or right or to climb up a set of stairs when they wanted. Well, where was she going to run? Even though she could visualize the maze so far, getting out would mean going back, not forwards to where she was being put. Tory had yet to cross her path.


    And then she was put in a small room, a cell of some kind, this time absolute solitary confinement.


    ¡°You stay here,¡± she was ordered, and then the door was closed in her face and locked.


    There wasn¡¯t much to the room. There was a cot against one wall, and a thick window on the opposite wall so caked with dust on the outside she couldn¡¯t even see out of it. There wasn¡¯t much light anyways coming through, so maybe it was dark, night, but she didn¡¯t think so. Perhaps the windows didn¡¯t look out on the outside, but into some other cave chamber, or would have if it wasn¡¯t so caked with orange-red dust.


    Tory swore and raged through the room, trying out everything that she wasn¡¯t supposed to say in front of her parent or classmates, either back in the CU or home, The kind of words the team back home would use when they thought she wasn¡¯t listening or didn¡¯t care. But all that didn¡¯t really make her feel better. She wound up lying on the cot and staring up at the cracked ceiling, imagining the cracks represented this place, folded them over in her mind into a three-dimensional maze, and went over all the ways to get out.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    She¡¯d always liked mazes for some reason, always. New Angels was a maze really, just a massively big one, and Tory mourned that she would never get the chance to explore even the tiniest bit other than what she had. The outer towers had been the borders, the city itself, rebuild most of the central part had been flooded when the sea came in. Levels and levels, millions of places to sneak around and check out.


    And then her life had compressed into a Mars-hard rock of a real prison. As much as Tory had complained about the CU, she¡¯d managed to put herself in a real prison right her, all on her own. Stupid, stupid, stupid!


    It was better to think of mazes, trace her steps all the way back to the airlock out. Easy.


    Mazes were easy. Locks were harder. Guards with guns had to be worse. And she was being held in a crater millions of kilometers from anywhere.


    But now she had an idea why.


    ¡°You¡¯re a hostage,¡± one of the guards had told her. ¡°Your parents give us what we want you get to leave.¡±


    Was she being held for ransom now? How did that make any sense? It wasn¡¯t like her parents were rich or anything like that. The corp had paid for their trip, relocation from Earth to Mars.


    How could her parents be so important to some group of Marian terrorists? They were just A.I developers. What were they doing? It had something to do with a big ice field in the northern hemisphere. Utopia Planitia, that¡¯s where it was.


    And probably just programming robots here to cut up the ice to make water, oxygen for air to breathe and hydrogen for fuel. Robots who did what they were told, unlike Martians. Martians.


    Tory decided that she hated them as much as the people who had brought her to this planet in the first place. But saved her most burning hate for Gurminder. He was the one who had pretended to be her friend, brought her here and left her to rot, he deserved the worst that could be coming to him.

 Captives of a Red Planet – 21 – Gone to silence

    Hate, though, was boring when you couldn¡¯t do anything with is. It got to be so boring that Tory even turned out the lights. The voice had come to her before, in that deep dark hole that she had been trapped in only a few months before the trip to Mars.


    ¡°Maybe there¡¯s a reason you are here, now, alone,¡± the voice that had sounded a lot like hers had said as she shivered in the blackness. ¡°To teach you that you don¡¯t have to be afraid and that you aren¡¯t alone as you think.¡±


    ¡°But who are you then?¡± she¡¯d wondered.


    The voice had never told her. By the time Fossil and The Steal had located her, it had gone to silence, as if it was never more than a voice in her head.


    It was at least an hour before she turned the lights back on, but there was nothing to hear much at all other than the sound of her own breathing and hum of the air conditioner. Oh, there was the occasional crackle from the bare light bulb overhead which she figured was probably some kind of bad wiring. Tory had worried that she might be left in darkness for her stay in here, permanently, but as time went by and the light didn¡¯t flicker out so she figured it would keep work, at least for as long as she was stuck in the place and didn¡¯t try to turn it off again.


    Muffled voices came from somewhere behind the door. Someone was approaching? Tory jumped to the thick metal and tried to listen, her ear right up against the cold rough rusty metal. There were voices behind the door now. One male, gruff, one female, tentative. But they were all in Russian or whatever these people spoke, so she couldn¡¯t make out what they were saying.


    And then something was happening to the door, scraping, crunching, clicking. The lock had been turned, someone was opening it. Tory jumped back, glanced around, but there was nowhere to hide and make a move to run out.


    The door opened, wider than expected. A thin figure slipped through, casting a shadow over her from the harsh lighting beyond. Tory put a hand over her eyes to try to get a better look who might have come in.


    ¡°Tory? That is your name?¡± a girl¡¯s voice asked as the door closed and her sight readjusted.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    Lowering her hand, Tory found she was looking at the face of a girl, one she recognized from the group of kids in The Hole¡¯s classroom school. She was small for a Martian. The girl wasn¡¯t that much taller than her and really skinny. She wouldn¡¯t have weighed much on Earth, had to be like a feather here. And somehow her own long black hair was shiny and completely clump-free. Tory felt immediately jealous again. She probably looked like a freak now, with her hair sticking around everywhere stiffly.


    And that was the one thing she was jealous of all these Martians, man, woman, kid. They had a secret that they would not share.


    Then Tory noticed something more important.


    The girl was also carrying a tray of food. A really welcome sight.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. What¡¯s your name?¡± Tory asked stepping forwards from the far side of the room towards the girl and the food. The girl approached her tentatively, tried a smile on her near bloodless lips. Yeah, this girl was pale too, probably hardly ever got much sun. Didn¡¯t these Martians at least have sun lamps?


    ¡°I am Ekaterina,¡± her visitor said offering a tentative smile, ¡°I thought you might appreciate some food and water. You need to eat, true? You are hungry?¡±


    Tory nodded. Oh, yes she was.


    The girl placed the tray next to Tory on the bed and sat down on the floor, cross-legged, looking up at her.


    Now the food. It wasn¡¯t much, not those wonderful packaged meals Valentine had given her, but it was better than nothing, and kind of smelled appetizing. There wasn¡¯t much. A slice of some kind of cake or bread and a cup of water, but her rumbling stomach didn¡¯t care.


    Tory tried the spongy bread/cake. Nibbled a bit first. It was crumbly, fry, but edible, and for some reason tasted a bit like sweet corn or maybe carrots? She then took a sip of the water. It didn¡¯t taste as bad as she expected, seemed mostly clean and only a little metallic tasting. Ekaterina simple watched silently with her big, almost unearthly large blue eyes. Did the girl have nothing else to do? Living in this hole must be exponentially worse than CU if the kids got their kicks by hanging out with prisoners.


    Tory tried to imagine the girl having nice, doting parents, maybe a grandmother who would comb her long blonde hair. Someone had to.


    ¡°This is... tasty,¡± she said wiping crumbs from her lips, before completely devouring every last bit.


    The girl nodded and smiled shyly ignoring what a slob she must look like.


    ¡°I help my mama make it,¡± she said.


    Tory smiled back. At least Ekaterina might offer a bit of distraction from her current predicament, and she really appreciated the food. Without any way of telling time, Tory had no idea how long it had been since she ate. Mazes she was solid with. Time, not so much.


    She looked back at the girl. Maybe Ekaterina could give her some clues that might help her escape. But how to tell your only potential friend you want to get as far away from her and her home as you possibly can?

 Captives of a Red Planet – 22 – You could be a ruler here

    ¡°What¡¯s it like?¡± the girl suddenly asked. ¡°The Earth, I mean? We¡¯ve studied it in school but I¡¯ve never met anyone who has actually been there... or Is from there.¡±


    ¡°Exciting and loud,¡± Tory said not knowing what the girl really wanted to know, ¡°Everything is so open. Not like out here. You can just go outside and breathe. Everything is so old too. Cities are all hundreds and thousands of years old, with so much to discover. There¡¯s great big oceans of blue water, still green forests in some places still. It pretty hot most of the time, at least where I lived.


    ¡°Where was that?¡±


    ¡°New Angeles,¡± Tory said. ¡°A huge city of millions of people. A lot of it was rebuilt when the big floods came, but the old places are still there, for those who want to look. It¡¯s amazing!¡±


    She talked for a while, describing her former life to the wide-eyed girl.


    ¡°It sounds even more magical than we¡¯ve been told,¡± Ekaterina replied. ¡°But weren¡¯t the other Eather¡¯s cruel and mean and treat each other badly?¡±


    ¡°Not most of them,¡± Tory told her. ¡°Although there are bad people, most of those kinds are found and put into jail.¡±


    She glanced around her room. Um, yeah.


    ¡°On Earth, no one locks someone in a room even though they never did anything bad,¡± she told Ekaterina. ¡°I haven¡¯t done anything bad, but I have been locked in here just because I¡¯m not like one of you.¡±


    That got the girl to return a guilty look.


    ¡°I am sure you won¡¯t be kept here for long,¡± she argued. ¡°And it¡¯s probably safer, too. Some don¡¯t like people from Earth and say bad things about them. Even Yvengie-¡±Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    ¡°He is a bully,¡± Tory told her. ¡°He came after me and deserved what he got.¡±


    ¡°Oh, yes,¡± Ekaterina agreed, nodding her head vigorously. ¡°No one likes Yvengie. We were all so happy that you knocked him down. Don¡¯t think me and the others are mad at you.¡±


    ¡°Thanks,¡± Tory replied. ¡°But I wish I was home. And I can¡¯t get there locked in here.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not so bad here, in my home¡± Ekaterina offered cheerily. ¡°Once you learn how to live here.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s home to you, you see the beauty I guess. You don¡¯t know anything else,¡± Tory insisted. ¡°My home is Earth.¡±


    ¡°Then why did you come to Mars?¡± Ekaterina wanted to know.


    Tory raised her eyebrow as if the answer was obvious. She repeated the same story she¡¯d given Gurminder and Valentine, but found she received a more sympathetic response from Ekaterina.


    ¡°Is that why you snuck onto the Indi¡¯s transport?¡± the girl realized. ¡°You were trying to get home then?¡±


    Tory nodded and looked at the floor. A lump formed in her throat as she thought about her situation but she swallowed it down. She turned back to the girl.


    ¡°I have to get out of here,¡± she insisted.


    ¡°You¡¯re so desperate to leave?¡± Ekaterina asked, ¡°You haven¡¯t even given this place a chance. You are very strong, much stronger than even Yvengi, that pig. When you grow up, you could be a ruler here! Better than even Great Mina!¡±


    The girl¡¯s sudden unabashed admiration was surprising to Tory. Sure, she was strong, but her, running this place, that was just absurd...


    ¡°I can¡¯t survive here,¡± Tory said, then pulled out her injector ¡°If I kept fighting with Yvengi I would have died without this. My lungs can¡¯t get enough oxygen, because there isn¡¯t enough in the air here, and it messes them up. It¡¯s horrible. I¡¯m not supposed to be here and everyone knows it. The whole planet knows it! Mars wants me to go home!¡±


    Someone pounded on the door.


    ¡°I¡­,¡± Ekaterina began, then started to get up ¡°I have to go now.¡±


    ¡°You have to do something to help me,¡± Tory pleaded as the door opened, grabbed and held onto her hand before the girl pulled away on sight of the hulking Martian guard who motioned her to come.


    Ekaterina gave one sad glance in Tory¡¯s direction then withdrew, closing the door softly behind her. As her footsteps faded, so did Tory¡¯s only hope.

 Captives of a Red Planet – 23 – If you are small you must be smart!

    ¡°Wake up, wake up,¡± came a high pitched command through the darkness.


    She must have dozed off after more hours of doing little but staring at the ceiling and navigating the most treacherous of imaginary mind mazes. Suddenly, Tory was pulled out of her dreamless sleep by someone shaking her by the shoulder and demanding she awaken.


    Tory opened her eyes. It took a moment, as her lashes were kind of stuck together before her lids pulled them open. A pair of big blue ones were looking back at her.


    ¡°We can go now, you can go,¡± Ekaterina told her. ¡°If that is what you still want to do.¡±


    ¡°Really? Where?¡± Tory asked, half asleep and yawning but also both excited and apprehensive. She started to get up, threw the blanket off of her. ¡°Where are we going?¡±


    ¡°To get you home,¡± the girl said smiling, reaching out her hand.


    Confusion filled Tory¡¯s head, maybe she was dreaming after all. Ekaterina now wanted to help her get home, after arguing how great hers was? Still, she wouldn¡¯t pass up the opportunity to escape this Hole, this prison, this world, so she followed the girl out the now strangely wide open and seemingly unguarded door.


    Nope, no sign of any towering man with a gun in either direction when she stuck her head out.


    ¡°What happened to the guards?¡± Tory asked, turning to Ekaterina for an answer.


    ¡°They are gambling,¡± the girl said with a smirk. ¡°They think if you are small you can be smart. They don¡¯t understand that if you are small you must be smart!¡±


    Tory nodded in agreement. Big did tend towards dumb, at least here.


    Locking the door behind them, the girl noted that it would likely be hours before the guards realized she was gone, then Ekaterina lead her though tunnels back towards what Tory hoped was the airlock she¡¯d come in through. When they reached a part of the maze that Tory recognized, she started leading, having committed to mind every turn that would lead her to her p-suit and supplied. They didn¡¯t pass anyone along the way, but that didn¡¯t stop Tory¡¯s heart from racing every single turn they made and her left hand firmly gripped around the injector in case the adrenaline in her system triggered another attack. Finally, they reached the inner airlock chamber. Tory spotted the set of lockers, the one which held the Pressure Suit and her stuff and opened the locker she¡¯d been ordered to stuff her belonging in. She swore something nasty enough that Ekaterina lifted her hand to her mouth.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    ¡°Do they speak like that back on Earth?¡± the girl wondered.


    Tory gave her a scowly smirk.


    ¡°They do when they¡¯ve been robbed,¡± she said.


    Maybe half of what she had given over was still there, and not a bit of it food.


    Thieves!


    Next was the airlock. Tory could see it was night beyond the outer lock, stars gleaming over the crater beyond the dusty porthole. The clock on her p-suit display said she¡¯d been in The Hole for eighteen hours. So long! Mom and Dad would surely be looking for her by now, that was unless they¡¯d received a ransom demand. Then maybe Marsec would take over once that was delivered. And even Tory knew that wouldn¡¯t be good for anyone, least of all anyone here.


    That made her wonder again about what Gurminder had said. What were her parent¡¯s working on that could be so important she had such value as a hostage? But that she¡¯d only likely find out if she was rescued and returned to them in the CU. And while there was still a chance she could get to the Elysium landing field, who cared?


    ¡°This is as far as I can take you,¡± Ekaterina said from her side as they both gazed out the airlock window. ¡°I heard over the radio two transports are leaving soon, but I don¡¯t know where they are going.¡±


    Tory nodded and thanked her.


    ¡°Best of luck,¡± Ekaterina said, ¡°perhaps we shall see each other in the afterlife.¡±


    It was an odd and way to say goodbye. Tory couldn¡¯t tell if the girl was being hopeful, morbid or both.


    ¡°Maybe,¡± Tory replied. ¡°Take care of yourself, and make sure that bully of yours is kept in his place.¡±


    She started toward the controls to open the lock.


    ¡°One question though, how do you keep your hair from not clumping in the dust?¡± Tory asked running her hand through a clumps.  She hadn¡¯t put her helmet on yet.


    ¡°It¡¯s easy,¡± Ekaterina said, smiling, then whispered how it was done in her ear.


    Tory felt like throwing up. What the girl had suggested was absolutely gross.


    ¡°I¡¯m not doing that!¡± she told the girl. ¡°Well, maybe if it¡¯s the only way, but ew! Thanks. That was the last thing I could have imagined. Now I¡¯m not going to be able to stop thinking about it.¡±


    Both of them laughed.


    She gave Ekaterina a quick hug.


    Once through the airlock, Tory dashed toward the collection of transports across the crater and with any luck, freedom!

 Captives of a Red Planet – 24 – Long drive ahead of us?

    There was some activity in the crater, even in the dark, but Tory had experience evading notice at night. Besides, she was small, and there were more than a few smaller vehicles and stacks of crates out in the crater so there were plenty of places to hide-dash-hide behind. Ekaterina had pointed out the two rovers which were scheduled to leave imminently, but once she reached them, the question became, which one to choose.


    They were the same articulated type as Gurminder¡¯s, and with identical markings as far as she could see. He had to be gone by now, she decided, remembering he¡¯d told her the plan was to leave as soon as he unloaded his cargo, and that had been most of a day ago. Spotting movement in the darkness coming her way, Tory used her unlocking crack on the rear hatch of the furthers away rig¡¯s last car. Despite the warning Gurminder must have given the people here, her trick still worked. It was like the bornhere¡¯s wanted their vehicles broken into.


    Light seeped through the crack in the opening hatch. Tory lifted it as much as she dared, enough to creep through and quickly closed it behind her, not wanting to risk being spotted and caught again. One the inside the rig she chose she found an empty compartment and crawled inside, this time keeping her helmet on. Even if it meant she was using up the oxygen in her tanks, Tory did not want to get found out like she had before and be discovered before it reached its destination and she could move on.


    She heard the other transport start up and leave. Of course she¡¯d choose the wrong one again. It wasn¡¯t until she heard a voices over the suit¡¯s radio, that she realized how wrong her choice had turned out to be. Her suit¡¯s comm was still programmed to the last channel it had been used for, the open one the Russ used for common communications. Tory held her breath as she recognized the voices speaking over it.


    ¡°What we are doing will change the world,¡± a woman¡¯s voice said. Mina Varlamov, had to be. ¡°Just do what you are told and everything will be fine.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what I always do,¡± Gurminder replied.Stolen story; please report.


    What? No! How could this happen? But then, despite the fact she hated him for abandoning her, he was probably the one least likely to throw her in a locked room until whenever.


    So, yeah, she was torn.  Angry, but relieved.


    ¡°Then good luck and be safe. Try and return, huh.¡±


    ¡°I will, and maybe...?¡±


    ¡°Maybe.¡±


    Okay, that last bit was kind of weird. They were speaking in the kind of way that older teens and adults spoke when they really liked each other.


    The radio then went dead.


    Tory heard a hatch banging closed. Then she heard and felt the rig start up, felt it lurch into motion. They were off.


    Tory wondered about what to do. What did it mean that she had again chosen the same rig, that she was Gurminder¡¯s stowaway, again. She certainly thought about pulling of her helmet, but so close to The Hole he might just turn around if he found her inside again.


    Better to wait. She could stay where she was and hope he didn¡¯t find her before they arrived at¡­ wherever he was going, or at least wait a couple hours along so he wouldn¡¯t be able to turn back. She could try to convince him to help her again, but should she even try? Gurminder had betrayed her before. He might do it again, even if he hadn¡¯t seemed happy the Rus had taken her as a hostage.


    In the end she opted to wait, hoping that it wouldn¡¯t be that long before they got to where they were going, and she could find another way to get to the landing field. Unfortunately, the ride turned out to be way longer than she¡¯d been expecting, hours and hours, and her suit¡¯s oxygen warning began to flash and the beep alarm grew insistent. Tory pulled her helmet off. Gurminder would find her now, he had already proven he could do that, he seemed pretty diligent when it came to the meters on his console. So she sidled her way out of the compartment, walked up to the rig¡¯s cockpit, helmet under her arm.


    ¡°Nice to see you again, Gurminder,¡± she said. ¡°Long drive ahead of us?¡±


    Gurminder turned to look at her and swore. Even though his curses weren¡¯t that terrible, Tory tensed, but then he started shaking his head and looking up at the roof. She plunked herself down in the passenger seat, hung her helmet on the side.


    ¡°Did you really think I¡¯d stay put,¡± she told him, ¡°One of the reasons I hate this planet because everywhere I go people want to put me in a prison, and you know what I do when I¡¯ve been put in prison? I get out. Oh, I left my pack in here. Where is it? It still has some food packets in it and your friends stole all the rest of what I was carrying.  I¡¯m so hungry!¡±

 Captives of a Red Planet – 25 – Steal a nuke?

    Gurminder


    ¡°Why couldn¡¯t you pick on someone else!¡± he shouted at her. ¡°If you thought your last trip with me didn¡¯t end well for you, this one is going to be a lot worse. You¡¯re pack¡¯s back there. I didn¡¯t touch it¡±


    He pointed behind the passenger seat where it has been stowed.


    It was like the whole planet had it in for him. This mission was insane, Mina seemed hot for him and then immediately kicked him out of bed, and this newer girl was like a bad oxygen line, always kinking up when it was the worst possible time.


    He glanced over at Tory, who had hopped off the seat and was now rummaging through her pack, smiling and adding a ¡°yes!¡± when she found the food packs she was searching for.


    She then plunked herself back in the passenger seat, ripped off the top of the pack and began to eat. The aroma floated across the cockpit. Wow, that did smell good.


    Gurminder turned back to her, not giving an inch though, and turned his face turn into a sneer.


    ¡°How the hell did you find me again?¡±


    Tory frowned, shrugged.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to get back on your rig,¡± she told him, and added more while she ate and made noises of ecstasy as she did. ¡°It was an accident, just like the first time. How was I to know this was your rig. It was dark.¡±


    ¡°You expect me to believe that?¡±


    She stuck out her tongue at him. Whatever she was eating had made it turn purple.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t want to come with you,¡± she said. ¡°I just want to go home and I thought this transport might help me get there. If I¡¯d known it was yours ¨C again ¨C I¡¯d probably have set it on fire or something.¡±This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    ¡°You would set a metal vehicle on fire? How? Especially in an atmosphere that doesn¡¯t have any oxygen.¡±


    ¡°What about the fact it has external has oxygen tanks?¡± she shot back, not holding back the smirk. ¡°And you use hydrogen fuel cells, right? Boom!¡±


    Gurminder rolled his eyes and turned back around to face forward. He certainly wanted to be angry with her, but he was glad she had gotten out of The Hole. He didn¡¯t trust the Rus with a newer girl as their hostage. And he didn¡¯t want to fight with her. Not with what this mission was going to entail. Finally, it occurred to him to wonder how a young Earther knew anything about setting up that kind of a bomb.


    ¡°So where are we going?¡± Tory asked.


    ¡°You don¡¯t want to know,¡± he told her.


    ¡°Oh? Is that why I didn¡¯t just ask? You should just tell me. I¡¯ll find out eventually, you know, when you get wherever you are going and stat doing whatever you are there to do. Wouldn¡¯t it be better for me not to find out then.¡±


    He could feel a headache coming on. Kids weren¡¯t supposed to be that good at arguing. He certainly hadn¡¯t been at her age.


    Gurminder rubbed his temples and closed his eyes. Maybe some Meditation might help? No, not with her sitting right beside him. Finally, he gave in, let out a deep sigh and told her. There was nothing she could do about it anyways.


    ¡°I supposed you¡¯re going to find out anyway, so there¡¯s no point in hiding it now. The rig¡¯s programmed to head to the Elysium Planitia Nuclear Cracking Station.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Tory asked, ¡°Why? Wait. That¡¯s where they store the bombs they¡¯re using to thicken the atmosphere.¡±


    He turned and narrowed his eyes at her. Again, how did she know so much?


    ¡°Oh come on, don¡¯t look surprised,¡± she told him. ¡°I was forced fed just about everything Marcorp is doing to terraform Mars in minute detail, first on the ship here and then again in CU school. Not that it mattered, the air here won¡¯t ever be thick enough for me to breath. Not in my lifetime, anyway. I mean it¡¯s going to be hundreds of years, right?¡±


    Gurminder nodded. That would be his best guess.


    She was silent for a moment. And then, blurted out her next exclamation.


    ¡°Why are we going to a nuclear bomb station?! What could you possibly be doing there?¡±


    ¡°Stealing one of the bombs,¡± he offered with a tight grin.


    He glanced over to her, and did feel a twinge of satisfaction as she rolled that thought around inside her head. Steal a nuke? She had to be trying to have that make sense to her. He nodded while the rig bumped along down the road to that actual theft, planned anyway.


    ¡°Why would you want to steal a nuclear bomb?¡± she said slowly, both horrified and fascinated by the idea. ¡°Why would anyone?¡±

 Captives of a Red Planet – 26 – This is war then

    That was a question he himself brought up with Mina when he had been hauled in to the discussion of who the Rus wanted to do the job. While he had gotten into trouble before, it had never been serious and Gurminder had always been able to extract himself somehow. Often he himself couldn¡¯t exactly explain exactly how. Maybe he¡¯d been lucky.


    ¡°We need that kind of luck,¡± Mina stated.


    ¡°But this is a 100 kiloton nuclear device,¡± he said, even knowing himself the kind of backlash that would come down on the clans from such a theft. ¡°They have to have them locked down them under the highest levels of security.¡±


    ¡°Which is why we¡¯ve gathered the best we have, as well as what moles within Marsec that can be called upon to provide us with what we need.¡±


    The others agreed on this, but in private, in bed, naked and perhaps vulnerable Mina had been more honest with him about their reasons. Perhaps it was a better position to get him to agree, perhaps be the fall guy if things went wrong.


    And he had gone along with it. Maybe he could not say no to her, not now. The things she¡¯d let him do to her. Mina Varlamov, the daughter of the Big Man Varlamov. That meant something. It made him someone, even if it was just between him and her.


    ¡°They¡¯re killing us,¡± she confessed. ¡°All of us. You¡¯ve heard that they¡¯ve been shutting down communities, forcing borneheres into their colonies, separated and erased. It¡¯s only a matter of time before there are none of us, one way or another. The clans are desperate. It¡¯s the only weapon we will have against them. I need you.¡±Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    And so he had agreed.


    ¡°You¡¯re thinking about your girlfriend,¡± Tory accused.


    ¡°No I¡¯m not,¡± he shot back.


    How could she know anything about that anyway? She was just a kid.


    ¡°I¡¯ve seen that look, I heard how you talk to each other,¡± the girl told him. ¡°I thought it was weird, but I¡¯ve seen it before. I know what¡¯s going on.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t really know what it is until you¡¯ve done it,¡± he snarled. ¡°Until then you¡¯re just a kid with a big head who thinks she knows everything. And that¡¯s not a survival trait on this planet!¡±


    ¡°What about the nuke?¡± she continued to needle. ¡°Why do you want to steal it?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to steal it,¡± he told her. ¡°But the Clan Council does. Because it¡¯s time we had a weapon of our own that can make ColCorp renegotiate the agreements. Something to force MarsCorp and ColCorp to take us seriously, to treat us the way we need to be treated and stop stealing everything we have. Your people seem to forget the Clans explored this world for the Old Nations back before ColCorp even existed, proved humanity could survive here, could thrive, they owe us respect, they owe us our claims. You all owe us everything you¡¯ve taken! And if we have to bomb you to do it, then we¡¯ll bomb you! If you make us!¡±


    That shut her up for a couple minutes as her face went through a few contortions as she absorbed the threat, tried to work out what it meant.


    ¡±Oh,¡± Tory replied. ¡°This is war then. You¡¯re going to force us off the planet. Blow up-!¡±


    ¡°No! No, that¡¯s not it, not yet anyways,¡± he protested. ¡°We need Earth. At least for now. Its insurance. Something we can use to deter them from burying all of us, destroying our homes, forcing us into some second class labor in your colonies. We want to stop the colonization, stop us from being erased. Turn it back, even.  At least slow it down.¡±


    ¡°Send people like me home!¡± she replied excitedly. ¡°How can I help?¡±


    He stared at her. Tory Ciarelli was categorically insane, he decided.


    ¡°There¡¯s got to be guards, security,¡± she added. ¡°There has to be so much of it. How are you going to get past it all? Unless you have the codes to get in. How Gur?¡±


    ¡±You should know by now what happens on Mars when someone is motivated enough,¡± he told her raising his eyebrows.

 Captives of a Red Planet – 27 – They don’t exist

    Mina had been adamant, back in the meeting room at The Hole, before and after they¡¯d done what they¡¯d done in private. But all that had given Gurminder the courage to speak up about a plan that really didn¡¯t seem like it would work. To him there were now too many moving pieces.


    ¡°Why do we need the Chin?¡± he¡¯d asked. ¡°I¡¯ve got the codes. I can go in with Sosh and a couple others, get the bomb and get out.¡±


    ¡°This can¡¯t be tracked back to us directly, they are the distraction¡± she argued. ¡°The Chin have agreed to take the fall for the rest of us, since they are getting decimated anyhow.  So you provide them codes and receive the NFB. It¡¯s been agreed. You do what you¡¯re told.¡±


    ¡°Fine,¡± he¡¯d agreed.


    ¡°I still want to help,¡± Tory him. ¡°Do you have a map of the base? Maybe I can find a quick route to the storage chambers. We can get in and out without anyone noticing. I mean, that¡¯s if you have all the security clearance and codes and such.¡±


    How did she know about all that? Why wasn¡¯t she horrified? Did she really hate her own people as much as his fellow Martians did?


    ¡°You¡¯re not going!¡± he insisted. ¡°You never should have been here in the first place! Or the second.¡±


    The girl just stared at him like he was mouthing nonsense.


    ¡°Do I have to keep reminding you, I¡¯m good at getting out of places I¡¯m not supposed to,¡± she said. ¡°Do I have to keep reminding you I want to get kicked off Mars! More than anything. The sooner the better, even if lots of people get scared for a while. So let me help you. I¡¯m good with codes, I¡¯m good with mazes. There has to be something I can do. Look at what I¡¯ve done so far. I¡¯m not some kind of ignorant firstlander as you Martians keep insisting I am!¡±Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    If he wasn¡¯t as scared as he was about this mission, Gurminder would have told her to shut up then and there. But he was. And she had the most irritating ability to do what not only what she wasn¡¯t allowed, but shouldn¡¯t have been able to.


    Gurminder sighed, figuring he¡¯d regret it, but passed her his spreader, cleared her for access.  She was going to keep at him all the way to the end, and he just didn¡¯t have the will to fight right now. Tory grabbed it the thing eagerly, extended the screen in front of her and began checking out the schematics of the base he¡¯d been provided.


    An hour later Tory figured out three routes that were both faster and ran through fewer security chokepoints than what the Rus and Chin leadership had decided on.


    ¡°How did you do that?¡± Gurminder said now looking at the spreader himself and the paths she had drawn.


    ¡°I¡¯m good with labyrinths, mazes, spatial mapping, tesseracts are really fun, but they don¡¯t exist, really,¡± she told him with a smile. ¡°That¡¯s my thing.¡±


    Her smile faltered.


    ¡°Mom and dad want to put me on The O¡¯Neill Project when I get out of school, they put me through so many brain tests it was crazy,¡± she continued. ¡°As if Mars isn¡¯t bad enough, they want me to help design artificial planets for people to live because it¡¯s so complicated figuring out all the things that might go wrong that most people just give up. Why people want to live like that, I don¡¯t know? We have a planet, all we need to do is take care of it. It¡¯s so simple. Why is that so hard for everybody?¡±


    Gurminder shrugged.


    ¡°I have no idea,¡± he said honestly.  Then he sighed. ¡°What do you want to do?¡±


    Here first response was of suspicion. Then her gaze glazed over, like a few of the more fanatical people he¡¯d worked with.


    ¡°I want to change things back to what they were,¡± she told him. ¡°Make Earth good again. So no one will ever have to leave it. Or want to.¡±


    Okay.


    ¡°Good luck with that,¡± he replied.


    ¡°But first, I¡¯ve got to get back there to do it,¡± she told him. ¡°And I guess that means we need a nuke. Maybe two. You know, for insurance.¡±


    Gurminder didn¡¯t say anything. This girl was crazier than Mina or any of the clan leadership, that was for sure, but in no way was she stupid.


    They reached the location for the rendezvous with the Chin. They waited. And waited. Waited until it was almost time to do the job. The team never showed.

 Captives of a Red Planet – 28 – You’ve got a deal

    Tory wouldn¡¯t stop craning to stare out the windshields of the rig, trying to catch a glimpse of the team the moment their rig showed in the canyon.


    ¡°They would have contacted us over the secure channel,¡± he reminded her the fourth time she said she spotted a light. ¡°If it¡¯s anything other than them, it¡¯s Marsec and we¡¯re probably dead, or worse.¡±


    That finally shut her down, thankfully. She was getting on his nerves. Again.


    Finally, after four hours of waiting, he decided it was time to give up.


    ¡°No!¡± Tory argued.


    ¡°We can¡¯t do it,¡± he told her. ¡°It¡¯s going to be light soon. We wouldn¡¯t be able to sneak in without the cover of night even on our own, even if the Chin did show up.¡±


    ¡°We still have time then,¡± she said.


    ¡°They haven¡¯t even contacted us, one way or another,¡± Gurminder argued.


    Had they changed their minds? Had they been caught? Killed? Jailed? Talking?


    ¡°If they¡¯ve been captured, we could be blown,¡± he reasoned. ¡°If we get moving now, we¡¯ll be a hundred klicks from her by the time the sun is up.


    Gurminder started up the transport¡¯s engine.


    ¡°That¡¯s it,¡± he told Tory. ¡°It¡¯s not happening.¡±This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    She had a shocked look on his face.


    ¡°What are you going to do?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Head back to The Hole,¡± he told her. ¡°Maybe they¡¯ll have another plan.¡±


    ¡°No, no, no,¡± she started. ¡°I¡¯ve shown you how we can get in there and out. You have the codes! And you told me they are only good for one more day, and you said you didn¡¯t want the Chin help anyways. We have to go in, if not tonight, then tomorrow night.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m alone and you¡¯re a kid,¡± he told her. ¡°We¡¯ll get caught in five minutes or less.¡±


    ¡°Stop saying that!¡± Tory protested. ¡°I got out of CU without anyone knowing, which is a lot harder than you think, and onto your transport, without you even knowing, twice! I¡¯m not a kid, and I¡¯m good at this. I used to do this all the time back on Earth. There¡¯s like a big city under the New Angels. Me and my friends used to explore it. It was pretty freaky!¡±


    ¡°Stealing nukes? ¡±


    ¡°You know what I mean,¡± she told him. ¡°I want to go back home. And if your people having a nuke will scare everyone, even my parents enough to go back, or maybe they¡¯ll send me back for my own safety, I¡¯ll steal that nuke with you! We can do it!¡±


    Gurminder stared at the girl.


    Tory didn¡¯t stop there.


    ¡°You need to defend your people right?¡± she challenged. ¡°Have you ever had a chance like this? When do you think you¡¯ll get another chance? Marsec will figure out they¡¯ve been hacked and plug the holes. That¡¯s what happens, am I right?¡±


    He suddenly felt himself nodding, then checked his gauges. Nope, the levels were fine, he wasn¡¯t suffering oxygen deprivation.


    ¡°Okay,¡± he told her.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got a condition, though,¡± she told him. ¡°You don¡¯t take me to The Hole after. You take me to Elysium Field when we¡¯re done. I¡¯m not going back to that filthy pit where I almost died from the smell.¡±


    He shook his head.


    ¡°I¡¯m not going to The Big Drop with a nuke in the back,¡± he protested. ¡°But I could drop you off at a rest stop on the Planitia Route. Since you are so smart, you¡¯ll should find a way to catch a ride with some other unsuspecting driver whose headed to the drop, or back to the CU where you can find yourself another ride.¡±


    She let out a breath, gave him a smile that he could only describe as a bit creepy, and nodded three times.


    ¡°Close enough,¡± she agreed. ¡°You¡¯ve got a deal. any place on this planet would be better than The Hole.¡±

 Captives of a Red Planet – 29 – Hope their orders aren’t shoot to kill

    Gurminder chortled at that. The Hole was actually pretty nice when it came to the old bases that the first wave had left behind for the bornehere¡¯s to spread out and occupy.  He wondered what would she have thought about The Shiv or Home of the Brave. He decided not to go into a description of those worse places he¡¯d been on Mars, he could name at least three more than even those two. The Hole was the CU by comparison.


    ¡°Good,¡± he told her, then to test her memory added, ¡°Now go over your route again, I¡¯m still not getting a couple things about it.¡±


    Tory pulled out the spreader.


    ¡°I knew you¡¯d do it,¡± she told him, and started going over their route. ¡°Okay, here goes...¡±


    An hour later they both were sneaking down a dark passage in the complex, all lights on their suits down, a spray on cover of infra-red reflective to hide their signatures. It had been a quiet drive to the nearest outpost, a quick drop in, and the girl new her stuff when it came free climbing in caves and entering the complex codes.


    Again he wondered how the hell she was so good? Was Earth so much more advanced than he¡¯d ever had been told or seen? The girl though claimed to have no idea that her talents were so bizarre. She just said that her parents were coding experts, specializing in artificial intelligence. A lot of the must have rubbed off on her, he decided.


    Tory led the way without even having to refer to the spreader. He was starting to think she might be an asset to the cause going forwards, maybe as a spy inside the Marscorp complex, well, except for that creepy smile of hers and those she¡¯d offered him. He doubted the Chin would have been as adept at determining the best route. Then again, they¡¯d been chosen to be sacrificed, and clearly had decided it wouldn¡¯t be worth it. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    The further they got into this maze, the more he wondered if they weren¡¯t right.


    ¡°All right, we¡¯ve passed through the outer security ring,¡± Tory told him, pointed ahead to the entrance they¡¯d reached. ¡°I¡¯ve played so many games like this back home. That¡¯s the hatch on the map, your turn to enter the code. I¡¯ll check if it activates a flag.¡±


    Although maybe she was getting a bit full of herself. In reality, if they got caught, Tory would probably swim through, being a daughter of Green level parents, or so she said. That had to be why she seemed so calm. Him not so much. He¡¯d probably be told to take a walk without a p-suit if he was lucky.


    ¡°Take it down a notch,¡± Gurminder warned her. ¡°We¡¯ve barely gotten started here.¡±


    He entered the code on the hatch. The lights turned from red to green.


    ¡°Yes,¡± he whispered as it opened, adding, maybe this is going to work! ¡°Come on.¡±


    Through the hatch was another set of curving corridors, Tory lead the way again, talked about some of the tunnels beneath the New Angels rebuild and the amazing old things she and her Team would find there, weird artifacts from the old days that he¡¯s never even heard of and had no idea what they were.


    Was this really just a game to her? He wondered if she even grasped the ramifications of what would change on the planet if they succeeded. Probably not. She was a kid, with total tunnel vision, and no interest in anything else that might get in her way or slow her down. Best not to distract her then. Change the world by all means, little newer. Maybe they¡¯ll even build a statue of you.


    And then blow it up.


    He kept up with her loping stride, but the both of them suddenly skidded to a stop and his heart started pounding like a bedrock hammer.


    A pair of armored soldiers were standing no more than ten meters down the corridor. Upon seeing the pair, the two turned, stared right towards them, raised and pointed their rocket rifles.


    He let out a breath. It had been fun while it lasted.


    ¡°What do we do?¡± Tory asked her voice turning terrified. ¡°Gurminder, what do we do?!¡±


    ¡°Hope their orders aren¡¯t shoot to kill,¡± he told her.