Chapter 4B

Laura gave a scathing statement to the MarsGroup channels less than an hour later. She called for an immediate independent investigation into the events on Triad and the arrest and trial of the FLEB agents that had fired on the protestors. "Those people are common murderers," she said, her words being transmitted all over the planet. "They fired without provocation on an unarmed, peaceful protest against their fascist tactics. They belong in prison for what they did and if there is any justice in this solar system — something that seems more and more doubtful every day — they will be put there."

The big three media channels downplayed the incident as much as they could. Though they were competing corporations, all three reported the story virtually the same way. Their take on the matter was that a violent group of protestors attempted to free a band of hardened terrorists that were being extradited to Earth for trial. In the ensuing scuffle the "besieged" FLEB agents were "forced" to fire their weapons to protect themselves and prevent the escape of violent criminals. It was reported that "a few" people were killed or injured in the fracas. No video clips or interviews were shown and the entire segment carried less than a thousand lines of text on the print sites, less than thirty seconds of coverage on the video sites.

That evening, at 6:00 PM New Pittsburgh time, Laura Whiting gave one of her speeches. The primary topic was the Second Martian Massacre (that phrase had already achieved proper noun status among the Martians) and what she felt the reaction to it should be.

"It's easy," she told the Martian people, ninety-six percent of whom we're recorded as watching, "to blame the FLEB and their agents for what has happened on this planet over the past few weeks. After all, it is they who we see snatching our people out of their homes at gunpoint. It is they who are seen marching them onto Triad Naval Base for extradition to Earth. It is they who are gunning us down like rabid dogs when we protest their actions. But try, fellow Martians, to remember that FLEB tactics and responses are only the enforcement arm of the opposition against us. Somebody is commanding the FLEB to act in the way that they are and I think we all know who those somebodies are. They are not the executive council back in Denver, although I'm sure that's where the official orders originated. No, these orders came from the corporate boardrooms back on Earth, by the very people who are threatened the most by our drive for independence and autonomy.

"We've been over this before in previous speeches that I have given. I have explained to you all how these corporations and their CEOs are really the ones who rule WestHem. They rule with their money and the absolute power of corruption that it wields. They are motivated by greed and self-interest and the quest for ever increasing power. Sure, the FLEB agents are cracking down on us and cracking down hard, but they are doing it on the indirect orders of Steve Carlson of Agricorp, Brent Holland of IPC computers, Roger Fairling of MarsTrans, and a hundred other CEOs — the men and women who control ninety-eight percent of WestHem's wealth. These people have blocked our attempts at negotiation for independence with the WestHem government and they remain our true enemy in this fight."

She looked into the camera, her expression anger. "I believe that it is time we stop throwing ourselves at the FLEB agents. That is doing nothing but getting people killed and wounded. I believe that we should attack the real enemy and attack them in a way that hurts them badly: their pocketbook. I'm asking all Martian citizens that work for an Earth based corporation to band together in a general strike starting next Monday, four days from now, and lasting until the following Friday. That means everybody that works in any way for any business that is owned at any level by Earthlings, with the exception of hospital personnel and commuter transportation personnel.

"I know that I'm asking a lot of you, particularly those in the blue collar class. You will not be paid for the days that you miss and you will be risking your very jobs by taking this drastic action. However, if everyone sticks together, if everyone does what I ask, unity will provide the protection you need, just as it did for the legislature when they were pressured to impeach me. A general strike of this scale will hurt these corporate Earthlings very badly even if it were just one day. If it is carried out for an entire week, it will be devastating to their productivity and their profit margin. My staff reports that they will lose more than sixty billion dollars of raw profit from being shut down for a week. This, my fellow Martians, is a language that they will understand. I propose that you undertake this general strike for one five-day period and then, if these corporations do not allow negotiations for our independence to commence, that we extend it to a two week period, and then a three week period, as long as it takes before they agree to listen to our demands and bargain in good faith for our freedom. And believe me, they will be forced to listen to us. A halt of productivity is something that they will not be able to tolerate or absorb.

"Fellow Martians, let this be our most potent weapon against the greed that is ruling us. Undertake this general strike on Monday and deliver a staggering blow to the very heart of that which controls us. You have stood beside me before when the corporations tried to expel me from my position. I ask you now to take the unity that you showed then a step further. Pass the word to everyone. General strike against the corporations! General strike for freedom and self-destiny! Show those Earthlings what we are capable of! United we stand, fellow Martians! Remain united and we will not fall!"

Lieutenant Eric Callahan was a ten-year member of the WestHem Marine Corps. He was thirty-three years old and a native of Dallas in the Texas subsection of the state of North-Southern on the North American landmass. A dark-haired Caucasian of American descent, he was handsome and superbly fit in a physical sense. He commanded the 3^rd platoon of the 2^nd Battalion of the 314^th armored cavalry regiment stationed in Salta, Argentina sector, a mountainous, hellish part of the Earth snugged right up against the towering peaks of the Andes.

Salta, a small city of only two million, was at the center of the thickest concentration of Argentine nationalists in the northern portion of the troubled province. In the mountains to the west of the city were thousands of pockets of poorly armed and trained rebels that were willing to die in their cause to usurp WestHem rule, which, since the end of World War III, they had never accepted as being legal. The mission of the marines from Foxx Barracks, just outside the city, was not keeping Salta itself secure and under control — that was the job of the army — but to patrol and keep secure the perimeter and the outskirts. Platoon strength units regularly forged into the high mountains to seek out the pockets of rebels and eliminate or capture them. It was this mission that Callahan and the forty men under his command were undertaking now as they marched up through the foothills to the higher peaks above.

It was mid-autumn in Earth's southern hemisphere and, as such, it was the beginning of the rainy season. A constant drizzle fell from the leaden sky above, the drops little more than a mist but steady enough and thick enough to require the camouflage rain gear. Callahan was marching near the center of the formation, his M-24 held at ready, his heavy combat boots squelching wetly through the mud and pine needles of the terrain. He, like all of the men, wore a Kevlar helmet upon his head and a pair of combat goggles upon his face. Thick Kevlar armor, heavier even than that which police officers wore, adorned his chest and upper abdomen. The armor was covered by web gear that contained a combat computer, several fragmentation grenades, and extra sixty round magazines for his rifle. He had no rank markings of any kind upon him and had instructed his men not to salute him or give any other indication that he was the man in charge lest the rebels single him out for a sniper's bullet. The targeting recticle of his combat goggles bobbed up and down with each step that he took, the range display changing constantly as different features were crossed by it. Less than two hundred meters to the right of the platoon was a paved road leading higher up into the mountains, but Callahan was far too experienced to do anything as stupid as lead his men along a predictable route. Though the rebels, as a fighting force, were almost hopelessly outmatched by the marines, there was no sense in sending out open invitations for an ambush.

"Hammy," he said into his command radio link, his words being transmitted via a throat microphone to his four squad leaders, "spread your guys out a little more, will you? That right flank looks like shit."

"You bet, skipper," Sergeant Hamilton, one of his newer and greener squad sergeants replied back. Hamilton and his squad had been forced upon him a month ago after a long stint in the boredom of Alaska region, which contained the heaviest concentration of military forces in all of WestHem but which never saw any action of any kind. They seemed like they might make the grade some day but every last one of them had yet to have his cherry popped, as the term for combat went in the corps.

Callahan watched in semi-satisfaction as Hamilton adjusted the inverse wedge that his squad had been in into something approaching a proper formation. He turned his attention forward again, his eyes sweeping over the towering peaks rising into the mist before them. There were literally thousands of places up there that could potentially contain teams of rebels ready to attack them with ancient weaponry for the sheer harassment value of it. Most of the fighters were the direct descendents of those that had fought the WestHem army and marines during the initial occupation after World War III. They knew these mountains better than anyone else ever could or would and usually the first sign that they were there was when the bullets started coming in. From interrogating prisoners of the past, it was well known that an Argentine nationalist considered it a great victory if they could kill one marine for every ten of their own that was lost. They were willing to lose a hundred in order to kill that one though. And often that was just how many it took.

"You ever wonder why we're doing this?" asked Sergeant Mallory, his first sergeant and the second in command of the platoon. His squad was taking rear guard on this particular march and he had maneuvered himself to be next to his commander. He had turned off his radio link so that he could talk freely, without everyone else in his squad listening in.

Callahan flipped off his own link and looked at his closest friend in the corps. "Doing what?" he asked, although he was pretty sure he knew what he was referring to.

"Laying our asses on the line up here in these mountains, chasing these gomers around every damn day." He grunted a little. "I mean, really, what's the damn point of it? We can protect the base and most of the area around it and the gomers aren't really that much of a threat anyway. So why do it? Why not just let them be up there in their mountains?"

"Because the powers that be think it's a good idea to go kill them," Callahan answered. "They want us to suppress this rebellion and to suppress it firmly, so it doesn't spread to other places, so that those who are fighting it are kept at the lowest level of morale possible. If we didn't go out and slaughter them on a regular basis, pretty soon we'd be elbow deep in gomers. And then where would we be?"

"I suppose," Mallory replied doubtfully, spitting a stream of tobacco juice onto the ground. "When you come right down to it though, I'm forced to wonder what the hell WestHem even wants with this shithole province in the first place. What's here that's valuable? This entire province is nothing but mountains and desert populated by vermin and thieves. Hell, most of them have refused to learn English even. What would we lose if we let these gomers be independent? It's not like they're Mars, which is actually worth something. I say give them their fuckin independence and see how they do with it. Once we stop given them welfare and food shipments they'll come crawling back to us."

"They're part of the empire," Callahan told him. "And once you let one part of the empire go, the rest will start fighting for it too. Right now we have Cuba and Argentina wanting to rebel."

"And Mars," Mallory put in. "Don't forget about them."

"And Mars," he allowed, although he obviously had little regard for the way that they were going about it. "Anyway, if WestHem were to grant Argentina or Cuba their freedom, within a year you'd have all of those other provinces that used to be their own countries trying to do the same. Can you imagine what it would be like if Brazil or Mexico or Canada tried to break out of the union. Shit, this whole nation would fall apart. We'd have to quadruple the corps and the army just to keep our own people under control."

"I suppose," Mallory said again, wondering why anyone would want out of WestHem. After all, they were the greatest democracy that ever existed. The Internet and the schools always said so.

They marched on, gradually tightening up as they entered the steeper terrain. Point men stared into crevices and around the bases of trees, searching for trip wires or loosely covered pits. Fingers tightened imperceptivity on the stocks of weapons. This was the extreme danger zone, the area where the mountains met the foothills, the area where the Argentines loved to initiate their ambushes since it allowed them to strike at their quarry in relatively open terrain while keeping themselves concealed on the peaks and in the thick vegetation. The platoon was ready for trouble and they were expecting trouble. It wasn't long before they encountered it.

As was almost always the case, the first sign that the rebels were attacking was the flashing of their weapons from the hillsides above. They came from a thick stand of pine trees, bright strobes of orange, at least four distinct rifles firing. A second or two later the bullets came whizzing in. The old M-16s and AK-47s that the rebels used had a very slow rate of fire and a pathetic muzzle velocity compared to the modern M-24s that the marines carried. This meant that the rounds would not actually penetrate the Kevlar armor that the marines wore. As such, the only way that the rebels could score a kill was to hit their targets directly in the face or neck, a task that was quite difficult from a range of nearly three hundred meters without combat computer assistance. The only real hope that rebels had of scoring a good kill was in the first few seconds of the battle, before the marines had a chance to react to the incoming gunfire.

In this case the experience of the marines prevented any lethal casualties. Once the flashes were spotted thirty of the forty men dove instantly to the ground, even before the sound of the shots reached them. As bullets came whizzing in, slapping into the mud and zinging into the trees, the only two men left standing were Sergeant Hamilton and a green private, fresh from boot camp, in second squad. Fortunately for them the rebels had not been aiming at them and they were not struck. And once they realized exactly what was happening, they too managed to get into the mud before the second wave of gunfire came rolling in.

"On the hillside! Ten o'clock!" Callahan barked calmly into his throat microphone. "First and third squad, get some fire on them! Second and fourth, get under cover!"

The marines acted as they had been trained. The front two squads began firing up into the hillside, their M-24s chattering rapidly and spewing expended shells onto the ground, the rounds showing up in goggles as almost solid streams of white. The men carrying the squad automatic weapons quickly set up their guns and added their heavier penetration power to the fight, hosing down the entire tree line for suppression. While they were doing this the rear squads scrambled along on their bellies to find rocks or trees or mounds of mud to hide behind, therefore improving their positioning. Within a few seconds they had all found such things and they too began to fire.

Callahan, positioned behind a large pine tree, did not fire his weapon. He kept it by his side and instead concentrated on the big picture around them. He ordered first and third squad to displace and get under better cover. They did so, all of them sliding through the mud, one of them getting hit in the leg by a lucky shot. One of the men crawling in front of him backtracked and dragged him clear. Callahan nodded in satisfaction as he saw this and then frowned as he saw how Hamilton was responding to the situation. He and his entire squad were bunched behind a single fallen log in neat line, all of them shoulder to shoulder. "Hammy!" he yelled at him. "Get your people spread out more! This isn't Alaska, motherfucker! For Christ's sake, if they have an RPG or a mortar they're gonna take you all out at once."

"Right, skipper," Hamilton said, his voice bordering on the verge of terror.

"Fuckin newbies," Callahan muttered, not bothering to damp his link first. A few bullets came plunking into the mud within a meter of him. He didn't even flinch. He called up the geographic display from his combat computer and a moment later a map of the terrain was superimposed on his view through the combat goggles. The map was extremely detailed and very accurate, composed from years of satellite digitals and radar imagery of this most active hot zone. The location of every one of his men — information that was provided by GPS links on their computers and radio linked to his own — was represented as green dots. The location of the enemy position — which the goggles and the computer had automatically pinpointed based on the infrared signature of their weapons flashes — was represented as a series of red dots. "Computer, secure link with fire support!" he said. "Priority one."

"Priority one link established," his computer told him in his earpiece.

"Who's this?" Callahan asked over the encrypted frequency, not bothering with niceties and knowing that whomever he was talking to would understand.

"Lieutenant Burgess here," said a calm voice. "Is that you, Callahan?"

"It's me, Burger," he answered, using Burgess' nickname. "I'm in contact with a squad sized group of gomers. I need some thirty meter fused HE rounds dropped at coordinates 34.17, 41.12."

"On the way," Burgess said.

"Thanks, Burger," he said, edging a little closer to the tree that was providing him with cover. "We'll adjust if need be." He switched back to the command frequency. "We have arty on the way, guys," he told his sergeants. "As soon as they hit I'll get an air strike rolling."

None of them acknowledged him. They had been trained not to. About twenty seconds later four 150 millimeter artillery shells came screaming in from the east, their approach marked by distinct, fast-moving white blurs in the infrared spectrum and the low-pitched whistling produced by their passage through the air. They exploded thirty meters above the tree line where the rebels were firing from, showering them with deadly shrapnel. There was no need to adjust fire; the coordinates and the gunnery had been perfect.

"On target!" Callahan told Burgess. "Fire for effect! Pound those motherfuckers!"

"Copy, on target," Burgess responded. "Firing for effect."

A few seconds later more shells came arcing in over the hills, exploding with fury over the target area. The concussions of the high explosive rounds thundered through the mountains, echoing and re-echoing, hammering into the chests of the marines. The enemy fire came to an abrupt halt.

But Callahan wasn't done yet. He switched his radio to the command frequency and asked for an air strike. The marine aviation unit, which always kept planes in the air and on stand-by during the day, quickly directed a flight of two A-50 light attack planes to the coordinates. Just as the artillery barrage let up, the small, stubby jet aircraft came banking in from the south, their engines screaming horsepower, lethal ordinance hanging from their wing pods. The A-50s had been designed as close support aircraft for anti-tank missions but they worked just fine against the non-armored rebels as well.

"Fast movers coming in," Callahan announced over the command net. "Everyone get ready for the big bang!"

The aircraft shot less than 400 meters over the top of them and dropped two cluster bombs apiece. For a second it looked as if a mistake had been made, that the bombs had been dropped directly atop of the marines themselves, but, moving at 700 kilometers per hour, they quickly passed over and zeroed in on the hillside. At about 100 meters above the target area the bomb casings split open, raining submunitions down over the tree line. The explosions were a series of sharp cracks and the trees that had been concealing the enemy were suddenly engulfed in flame and smoke, branches and bark flying in all directions.

The aircraft banked sharply to the left and spun around to make another run. Less than a minute later they were back, dropping another two cluster bombs apiece on the area immediately uphill from the first. More explosions ripped the area and more trees disintegrated under the onslaught. With that the A-50s banked back around and headed lazily off the way they had come in.

"All right now," Callahan said in satisfaction, looking at the smoking ruins that had been left behind. "That's overkill if I've ever seen it. First and third squad, advance up that hill and check it out. Second and fourth, keep hunkered up and cover them. Move!"

First squad, which was the most experienced of the platoon, quickly jumped to their feet and spread out, forming up into two distinct wedges for the advance. Third squad, which was the newbies, was a little slower on the uptake, most of them plainly reluctant to stick their heads up despite the horrific firestorm that they'd just witnessed in the target area. Still their training as marines directed they do so and eventually all of them did. Hamilton did a half decent job of forming them up for an uphill advance.

Under the direction of Sergeant Mallory the two groups moved in, weapons ready for action. They closed in from two different directions on the obliterated tree line while the rest of the platoon kept an eye out to their flanks. Hamilton, after checking on the wounded corporal from second squad and ordering a helicopter for him, directed his combat goggles to patch into the combat computer of Private Wesley, who was on the point for the advance. Once the patch was made Callahan was able to see what Wesley was seeing through his goggles. Though it kept him from seeing what was going on around his own body he trusted the other marines would keep him safe and warn him of any danger.

"You patched in, skipper?" Mallory asked him a few minutes later, as they entered the kill zone.

"Yeah," he replied, watching without emotion as Wesley looked back and forth. "It looks like we got 'em all right."

And indeed it did. Scattered everywhere throughout the hillside where the torn shreds of what had once been four Argentine rebels. Smoking arms, legs, pieces of skull and bone fragments were spread among the smoldering tree branches, bark, and mud. It was impossible to tell exactly how many men had been up there by the body parts but the broken pieces of their rifles were more easily identifiable. Three M-16s and one AK-47 — the latter with a burned hand still clutching the stock — were pieced together.