Battleground Mars Read Free

Josh. I’m Rahm, this is Saul Packer. He’s my toolpusher.”
    “Rahm, no other name?”
    “It’s no secret, my first name’s Cal, short for Caleb. They’ve called me Rahm since, well, a long time ago. What’s this about the Taurons?”
    “That useless creature Ryles described them as ‘quite tall’, did he? That’s a pile of bullshit. They’re enormous, built like tanks. The Taurons are bipeds, like us. They’re very strong, very clever, and so aggressive you wouldn’t believe it. Their hides are tough too, it’s like a kind of scale armor. And one more thing about the Taurons.”
    “Yes, what’s that?”
    “Forget that ‘live and let live’ crap. They hate us. If they take a human prisoner you wouldn’t want to know what happens next. When you get near a Tauron you get away as fast as possible. Even then, it may not be fast enough. When they see one of us it’s like a bull when it sees the matador’s red cape.”
    Saul glanced at Rahm. “They didn’t say anything about it being that bad back on Earth. The raid was hushed up, too, we only heard about it while we were waiting for the flight to leave.”
    Josh smiled. “They figure it’ll upset their recruiting figures. Look, they’re really bad news, the Taurons. If you stay away from them, you might make it back to cash in your pay.”
    “Might?”
    “I had a six man crew on the last contract. Three of us came back, the others didn’t make it.”
    “Do they ship the bodies back?”
    Josh thought about his answer for a few moments. Then he shook his head. “No, they don’t ship the bodies back, you can forget about that.”
    “So they bury them on Mars?”
    “Something like that. You’ll find out soon enough.” He looked at the people seated in front of Saul and Rahm. “Is this the rest of your crew?”
    Rahm nodded. “Yep, that’s Brad Haakon, Kaz Yasan, and Nathan Wenders. Our technician is Kacy Lakkin. She went to the ship’s library to stock up on technical manuals.”
    He noticed that Nathan was sitting slightly apart from the others, his face morose as usual. He recalled their first meeting at the funeral service for Christine Blake. Rahm had stood at the back of the old church. The cool, dark interior was dimly lit by shafts of sunlight that penetrated the stained glass windows. Her family had packed out the front rows and he didn’t feel ready to face them, not yet. He’d noticed the guy staring at him as if he knew him. He was very thin, to the point of emaciation. His hair was cropped close to his skull and his pale, thin face accented the dark, brooding eyes, making them look huge and intense. Like an old-time religious fanatic.
    “You’re a friend of the family, aren’t you?”
    Nathan nodded curtly. “Something like that, yes.”
    “I’m Rahm, pleased to meet you.”
    “Yes.” They shook hands. Rahm shrugged off the man's coldness. He knew that some people were like that, especially at funerals. Later, when he signed up for the Mars contract and he’d been introduced to his crew, he found Nathan amongst them. At first he’d been taken aback, he was here to forget everything to do with that terrible time. Not be constantly reminded of it every time he saw Nathan. But it wasn’t the guy’s fault, and he did his job, that was what counted.
    “Well, I’ve got to get back to my own people, you’ll meet them later, I expect,” Josh smiled. “It’s a crappy way to spend the next twenty four months. An early introduction to hell.”
    Rahm realized that he’d been drifting, thinking about Nathan. “I’m sorry, what was that?”
    Josh repeated his verdict on the Martian colony.
    “Why did you come back if it’s so bad?” Rahm asked the old crew boss.
    “Money, pure and simple. I didn’t make enough on the last trip. I plan to buy a piece of land up in the mountains and set up a skiing operation, with my two sons. This is the only way to earn big money, and so here I am.”
    “Are your two sons on the