The Attempt (The Martian Manifesto Book 1) Page 29

  “Maybe not, but WE can,” Brother Jacobs heard through his helmet. He turned around, and saw the transport with the NASA logo stop in a cloud of dust as it slammed on its brakes. He could see Jean running for the vehicle. Its door opened, and six astronauts quickly emerged. One of them pointed something that looked like a ray gun at him.

  “Move away from her,” Charles said, flicking the gun from left to right.

  “You heard him,” Sam said, also brandishing a rocket pistol that Sergey had provided to her before they left. “Your leadership days are over.”

  “Never,” Brother Jacobs said. He quickly put Bonnie in front of himself as a shield. He whipped out his dagger, and held it threateningly in front of Bonnie’s chest. “She is a sacrifice for the Great Consciousness. Take a step closer, and she will be sacrificed here and now.”

  “Jacobs, listen to reason,” Roy said. “I know we’ve had our differences on the way here, but this just isn’t right.”

  “Yes it is,” Brother Jacobs said. “I have seen it. I am right.”

  Charles almost howled in frustration. “If you don’t let her go right now, you’ll answer to me,” he growled.

  Just then, everyone heard a chatter of an Asian language on their helmet radios. Coming around the nearby crater, two rovers full of men brandishing rifles appeared.

  “The Americans are here first!” Sergeant Wong yelled. “Kill them! Kill them all!”

  # # #

  Bonnie took advantage of the distraction to snap her helmet backwards into Brother Jacobs’ face. Startled at the shock and the resulting star-shaped crack that appeared in front of his mouth, the colony leader stumbled back in surprise. For a moment, Bonnie was free! She took the opportunity to run as fast as she could towards the NASA astronauts. She had only managed a few steps when she heard Charles yell, “Holy crap, Bonnie get down. Everyone head for cover!”

  Charles watched as the Koreans, with brisk efficiency, jumped from their rovers and lined up in formation, their guns snapping forward. The largest of the group was at the rear with his massive arms spread as if to brace them. Seeing the guns, the astronauts started to dive for shelter, and at that moment the Chinese NCO gave an order. The formation let loose a volley at the six astronauts.

  Grant, Roy and Sergey just managed to scramble behind a large boulder and felt the thuds of the ordinance against it. Sam and Charles together dragged the suit containing Jean and Julie under the MMTV, and Charles slid behind one of its wheels, looking out.

  Brad, who was the slowest to respond, howled, “Argh, my leg,” and Charles saw him fall with his arms flailing behind a small rock.

  “Brad, are you okay?” shouted Grant.

  “I’m not sure,” Brad yelled back. “I got hit in the thigh. The suit cinched it off, but it hurts like hell.”

  “Wait, whoever you are, stop shooting!” Charles yelled over the radio. “We can talk this out,” he continued.

  The Koreans let fly with another volley, and Charles ducked as he saw several puffs where the bullets hit in front of his face. He saw additional puffs where other bullets cracked into the large boulder his fellow astronauts were hiding behind.

  “Alright, I guess talking’s not going to work; they’re obviously here to take us out. Let’s give them a taste of their own medicine, men,” Grant ordered. “Everyone fire back.”

  Bonnie peeked out from behind her rock, and saw with horror that Brother Jacobs was snaking his way towards her on his stomach. He had obviously not given up on his obsession. She got up in a crouch and stumbled away from him.

  “No, don’t shoot; Bonnie’s in the line of fire,” Charles yelled.

  “Mom, get down before you get hit!” Jean shouted.

  Bonnie crawled behind another small rock just as another hail of bullets came flying across the landscape. Luckily the Koreans were focused on killing the astronauts and none impacted near her.

  “Everyone return fire!” Grant commanded when he had seen Bonnie hit the dirt. He leaned out from behind the boulder and aimed his rocket pistol. With a pfft, he saw his bullet fly widely askew. Roy leaned out the other side of the rock, and his shot was equally ineffective. Brad, in obvious pain, had just lifted his arm and pulled the trigger without aiming. His shot went flying high into the air.

  Sam crawled up next to Charles and pulled out her rocket pistol. She aimed ahead and said, “I think it’s payback time for that damn Jacobs!”

  “No, he’s too close to Bonnie,” Charles shouted in horror and reached over in an attempt to stop Sam from firing. Too late, Sam’s rocket bullet sped on its way, leaving a smoky trail.

  “What the hell?” Sam said in shock as her bullet bounced off Brother Jacobs and sped away in another direction. “Has he got armor on?”

  Charles realized what had happened. The colony leader was too close, and the rocket bullet had not had time enough to accelerate to the point where it would be effective. “These bullets don’t work when you’re too close,” he told Sam. “Cover me, I’m going out. But for God’s sake just shoot in the general direction of the Chinese, not at them. We shouldn’t be killing fellow astronauts!”

  Charles wormed his way out from behind the transport tire and got on his elbows and knees. Crawling was difficult, but not impossible in the spacesuit, especially in the light gravity. As he inched his way towards Bonnie, he saw Sergey’s head rise up over the nearby boulder. The Russian propped his Gyrojet pistol on the rock, took aim, and fired. Charles saw the bullet’s jet trail heading directly for the firing formation.

  With dramatic effect, the rocket bullet hit one of the Koreans in the upper arm, causing him to spin like a top. The man’s gun flew away, and a large fountain of blood mixed with oxygen hissed high into the air.

  Sergeant Wong caught the wounded man, and pulled him to the ground. Quickly he covered the hole with his hand as best he could. Air was still leaking out of the suit, since the Chinese suits were not equipped with the automatic cinching mechanism of the Americans. “Where is that damned scientist with the patch kits and extra supplies?” he growled. “Lao Li, where are you?” he shouted into the radio. “We have a man down.”

  Julong just then topped a small rise, and saw in the distance flashes of light from the muzzles of the Koreans’ guns. He could also see trails of smoke that periodically shot across the landscape from the Americans’ hiding spots. “I am almost there. Another two minutes,” he responded.

  “You,” the NCO ordered one of the standing Koreans. “Hold this man’s arm and cover the hole until Li arrives.” He then stood, and ordered, “We need to flush them out. Grenades!”

  Only the three Koreans in the front line had grenades, since the rest of the explosives were arriving with the chief scientist on the bulldozer. All three dutifully pulled them from the fasteners on their suits. The ingenious design that had been tested while on the Moon worked perfectly. The mere act of detaching them armed them, and the Koreans hurled the grenades at their adversaries.

  One of the grenades flew through the air and exploded harmlessly. Its timing mechanism was faulty. Another landed near the boulder that Grant, Roy and Sergey were behind. It rolled up against it and exploded. Huge gouts of dust flew into the air. Grant saw a large crack appear in front of him, and then the boulder split in two. He rolled behind one half, and Roy and Sergey managed to squeeze behind the other half. “I don’t think we can last through another one of those,” Roy said.

  The third grenade landed right next to Charles. Without thinking, he reached over, grabbed it, and hurled it away. Luckily, he had reacted quickly enough and the device exploded harmlessly off to one side. Charles took advantage of the slight lull in the action as everyone awaited the results of the grenades. He raised himself up to a crouch and scrambled next to Bonnie.

  “Bonnie, are you hurt?” he asked.

  “No, I’m okay,” she responded. “Are Julie and Jean safe?”

  “Yes, they’re under the transport. We need to get back to them where it’
s safer than being exposed out here.”

  “Who are those people shooting at us?” she asked.

  “We had a briefing that the Chinese also landed a contingent on Mars. That must be…”

  “Look out!” Bonnie screamed.

  Charles turned and saw Brother Jacobs, his hand raised holding a dagger. “She is mine!” the man screamed maniacally as he swept the dagger down. Charles threw up his left forearm to block the thrust, but the bulky suit caused him to mistime his move and the dagger drove into his wrist. “Gah,” he grunted as the pain traveled up his arm. The suit instantly cinched off at the elbow, limiting the damage. Brother Jacobs reared back for another stab.

  Desperately, Charles reached down with his right hand and grabbed his rocket pistol. With a quick motion, he thrust it into Brother Jacobs’ faceplate, right up against a crack that he saw there. “Freeze, or you’re going to eat a bullet!” he growled at the man, hoping he would comply.

  Brother Jacobs hesitated. “Drop it,” Charles said threateningly, pressing the barrel of his pistol harder into the crack. The fracture spread slightly, and that, more than anything, caused Brother Jacobs to drop the dagger.

  “You defy me at your peril,” Brother Jacobs snarled. He lurched back, turned and ran.

  “Coward!” Bonnie yelled towards his retreating back.

  “Uh, oh. We better get moving, Bonnie. I think the Chinese have called up reinforcements,” Charles observed.

  Li Julong pulled up to his comrades, and at that moment another Korean spun from being hit by an American Gyrojet bullet. The woman hit the ground, clutching her leg, as air vented out in a geyser. Julong jumped from the bulldozer and hustled with a patch kit to tend to her.

  “Li, just in time,” Sergeant Wong said. “You three,” he said, pointing at the Koreans who had ridden with Julong, “hand out the extra grenades, and then get in line and start firing. Li, patch these two up and then take over command. I will be gone for a while.” The NCO went over to the bulldozer’s cache of supplies and grabbed his sniper rifle.

  “You are leaving?” asked the chief scientist in amazement.

  “Yes, this has become a stalemate and a war of attrition. We cannot have that. I am going to flank these Americans and take them out. You keep them pinned in place.” Then louder, the NCO said, “Remember, stand fast, men. I am taking the fight to the enemy.” The sergeant turned and loped off at a tangent to the battle.

  # # #

  The Master reached the crater wall and started climbing up the ridge in order to observe the humans’ activity. He used the mental transmitter that was imbedded in his brain to message Spit. “How much longer before the quantum teleporter sends the human samples,” he sent.

  “One half quatlent,” came the reply. To a human being that amount of time would have equated to ten minutes.

  “Plenty of time to enjoy taking care of these creatures,” the Master thought. He wanted nothing more than to wade into the raging battle. He would enjoy decimating the puny Earthlings. However, throughout the ages of the games on his home planet, it was always the honorable thing to allow the weaker enemy to strike the first blow. The Master climbed up the ridge in eager anticipation.

  # # #

  Charles dragged Bonnie using his good hand, and they both dove under the MMTV transport a split second before another volley peppered around them.

  “Mom, Mom,” Jean cried and crawled over to her mother.

  “I’m okay, Sweetie,” Bonnie replied. “How’s Julie?”

  “I’m okay too, Mommy,” came the muffled reply from down in the body of the suit.

  Roy peeked out from behind the piece of the boulder that was his shield. “We’re in trouble,” he radioed the group. “They just got reinforcements. And it looks like they’re picking up more hand grenades from the vehicle that just arrived. We better think of something quick.”

  “They have been firing in volleys,” Sergey replied. “Perhaps we can do the same to good effect. And it might force them to take cover.”

  “Good idea, Serge,” said Roy. “And then let’s get out of here. We can try to parlay a truce from a safer distance.”

  “Alright, everyone,” Grant radioed back. “Let’s all shoot together on the count of three. One, two, THREE!”

  Roy, Sergey and Grant all stood and fired. Brad leaned out from behind his rock, grimaced at the pain in his wounded leg, and let fly. Sam shot his pistol from her prone position next to Charles, while Charles aimed for the Chinese bulldozer. He was hoping to hit some ordinance and light it off, scaring the group that was firing at them. Six contrails from the rocket bullets zoomed towards the Chinese formation.

  Two shots whizzed by the helmets of the Koreans. Another went over their heads, and the fourth into the dirt in front of them. Charles shot hit the bulldozer and ricocheted, sending sparks flying but no explosion. Sergey’s shot flew true, and hit a Korean in the hip, sending him tumbling.

  The volley was too much for one of the Koreans in the second line. He threw his weapon down, turned and fled. He saw a ridge of a crater nearby, and made for it, hoping to hide on the other side.

  # # #

  Sergeant Wong settled in at the acme of a crater rim. He was surprised to see behind him an American probe half buried in the sand, tilted to one side. He briefly wondered where it had come from, but since it seemed to be inactive, he ignored it. He set up his rifle, and sighted along the sniper scope.

  He saw three Americans stand from behind a rock and fire together. He saw one of his men go down, and another flee. “I had hoped that Lao Li would have been able to keep the formation solid, but no matter. I will take the enemy out myself,” he mused. It was obvious to the NCO that the Americans had no army training, as they all continued standing to see the effect of their bullets. Sergeant Wong focused his sights on the astronaut standing in the middle, since he would be the hardest to hit. Once taking him out, the NCO would proceed to the one next to him on the right who was more exposed. He sighted in on the middle fellow’s helmet, and slowly let out his breath, preparing to fire.

  The sergeant was startled by a piercing shriek over the radio. He looked up. Coming up over the rise of a crater near his men was a gigantic monster. It was holding up the Korean who had fled by his neck with one of its gigantic tentacles. The man was screaming incoherently. The beast shook him violently and then flung him away. The Korean landed in a heap on the ground and lay still.

  Silence briefly descended upon the makeshift battlefield as all the humans turned and stared at the creature that had suddenly appeared. The monstrosity spread its four tentacles wide and started to walk towards the Asians. One of the female Koreans screamed in horror and bolted in the opposite direction. The remainder of the formation frantically turned to face the new threat, and started firing haphazardly.

  “What are you doing? Wait, wait,” Li Julong shouted, but to little avail. “We must communicate with it.” The Koreans watching the approaching horror ignored him and just kept firing.

  The Master calmly approached the humans, its tentacles weaving like whirling dervishes in front of it. The bullets merely bounced off of the armor of the appendages, and not a single shot reached its mark. The lighting quick reflexes of the forebrain that controlled the Master’s tentacles worked to perfection. The black beady eyes missed nothing; they noticed every approaching missile. The Master reveled in this use of skill in battle. It itched to grab and rend the weak humans.

  The American astronauts, now standing slack-jawed, watched the creature in amazement. “Oh my God, what is that thing?” Roy gasped.

  “Oh no, there’s more than one!” Bonnie shouted. “My husband got killed in that crater, and the rover video captured the image of some creature, but it wasn’t the same. That thing is trying to kill us all.”

  The NASA astronauts, needing no further encouragement, fired their rocket pistols at the Master. Some of the Koreans simultaneously threw hand grenades at the approaching horror. With disdain, the Master
flicked everything harmlessly away as it closed upon the Asian formation.

  Sergeant Wong turned his rifle to aim at the creature approaching his men. The tentacles were frantically waving around the head of the being, blocking all the attempts to destroy it. He could not get a clear shot at the thing. The NCO realized that he could aim for the body, hoping to hit a vital organ, but that it would probably do nothing to such a large organism. He wanted a head shot. His sniper’s mantra was, ‘one shot, one kill.’ Somehow, he needed a pause in the action, but the thing was almost upon his men and they would certainly not stop firing while standing their ground in front of the monster.

  The military man had almost given up hope and was preparing to try a body shot, when a space-suited figure appeared from nowhere and skidded to a stop in front of the creature.

  # # #

  All firing stopped as the suited figure confronted the abomination.

  “Oh Great Consciousness,” Brother Jacobs intoned, holding his hands wide while standing directly in front of the alien. “I am here to join you. These heathens would destroy you, but you are wiser than all of these pitiful beings. Together, you and I will rise up into the brotherhood of the cosmos. We are one and the same, almighty Great Consciousness.”

  The Master stared with its four eyes at the creature in front of it. The human was saying something, but the Master had no radio with which to detect its utterances. The faceplate was cracked in front of the Earthling’s mouth, making it difficult to read its lips. However, the glass in front of the face was vibrating slightly. The Master focused on the vibrations, intently staring, trying to decipher the words. It slowly let its tentacles droop.

  Sergeant Wong saw that this was his chance. He sighted his scope on the creature’s skull, right where the brain would be located. He pressed the controls on the stock of his rifle to select for Mars gravity and 200 meters. He hoped that he had estimated the distance correctly. The NCO took a breath and then slowly let it out, centering on the target. As his exhale stopped on its own, he waited a second to still all movement, and then squeezed the trigger.