See The Worlds Read Free

door. 
“You two, get to the entrance hall, now!”  Edley never shouted, but when she
said ‘now’ that was the most forceful thing I’d ever heard her say.  She was
already gone when I heard her shouting, “And take your weapons with you!”
    I looked at Greeley.  He just shook his head, but
he was moving toward his rifle.  I went to get my rifle, and I went to grab my
side-arm too.  It was then that I remembered I was only wearing my shorts
and flip-flops.  I tossed the side-arm on the bunk and followed
Greeley to the door.  I put my hand up to my face, remembering that I hadn’t
finished shaving.  Half of my face was still covered in shaving foam and
bristles.
    In the corridor were others like us.  Half-dressed
and looking confused and worried.  We made our way down to the entrance hall
and tried to figure what was going on.  I heard someone loudly insisting it was
just a drill but another voice disagreed.  “I saw them go down.  It wasn’t our
guys.  It’s an attack.  I’m telling you, it’s an attack.”
    “What do you think?” I asked Greeley.
    “I don’t know.  Seems like a funny kind of a
drill,” he said.
    We could still hear people running about.  Over
the next minute or so those sounds petered out.  There was the odd distant
shout or the sounds of chairs scraping, but soon even those had stopped.
    Edley came down the stairs.  She had her pistol
drawn and she was focused on the main entrance.  I think that was when I knew
for sure that it wasn’t a drill.  She wasn’t looking at any of us, assessing
our performance or anything.  She was looking at the door and nothing else.
    There was a group of guys over by the window.  I
heard one of them say, “It’s a transport, Major,” and I could see others about
him struggling to get a look.  I heard the sound of a vehicle approaching.  I
heard it slow down, and then the engine cut.  There was a spooky silence.  We
were all straining to hear what might happen next.
    “This is Commissioner Maya Foveaux of the Martian
Security Service.  I would like to speak with Colonel Katrina Shaw.”
    It must have been through a loudhailer or
something.  The garrison had blast doors and toughened windows, and we could
still hear it pretty clearly.  There was dead silence, then we heard
footsteps.  Not running, but deliberate and at a steady pace.  It was Colonel Shaw. 
She came down the main stairway into the entrance hall and walked right up to
Edley.
    “Are you going out there?” said Edley.
    “I am,” said Shaw. 
    I felt scared and impressed.  Shaw’s voice didn’t
betray a flicker of emotion.  She sounded double-hard and like she knew
exactly what she was doing.  It’s not something I would have done.
    “We’ll have you covered,” said Edley.
    “Thank you, Major Edley,” said Shaw, as casually
as if Edley had just offered her cake.
    They walked to the door and Edley opened it.  I
saw Shaw lean into Edley and say something, but I didn’t quite catch it.  As
soon as Shaw was gone Edley closed the door.
    I don’t know what happened next.  I couldn’t hear
anything but, like I said, the doors and windows were pretty heavy and cut out
a lot of noise.
    Next thing Edley was on her comdev.  “Yes, sir,”
she said, and she went to open the door again.  Shaw walked in with this
woman.  She was tall and she looked like she meant business.  She was wearing
full battledress and she had a pistol on her hip.
    “Would you please come with us, Major Edley,”
said Shaw, and the three of them walked through the lobby and up the stairs.
    None of us knew what was going on.  I heard some
murmured conversations and I could see that the guys by the windows were still
glued to them, looking nervously out to the parade ground.  I could see their
knuckles white as they gripped their rifles.
    “That was Foveaux,” said Greeley.  “She’s come in
to negotiate our surrender.”
    “Surrender?” I said.  “Looks to me