See The Worlds Read Free Page A

like we have
her surrounded.”
    “In here, you big dummy,” said Greeley, “but not
out there.  Mars ain’t ours no more.  Think about it.  We’re outnumbered now.”
    I did think about it.  He was right.  If Mars
wasn’t part of the USAN anymore, where did that leave us?  A long way from home
with not a friend in sight.  I hadn’t thought about it that way before.  We
used to be the defenders.  We upheld the law on Mars.  Pillars of the community. 
But now we were the enemy.  And there was a shitload more of them than there
was of us.
    I was mulling that over when I heard a loud ‘ bang! ’ 
This time I knew for sure it wasn’t the kitchens.  The cooks were all in here
with us, hugging their rifles just like we were.  It took a moment, but after a
few quick exchanges some of us started edging our way up the stairs.  I wasn’t
going to go, to start with, but Greeley was off like a shot and I figured I
would be at a safe enough distance behind those at the front.
    We crept up the stairs.  The guys at the front
were making hand signals, gesturing for us to keep quiet and hold back.  They
were crouching and had their rifles at the ready.
    I heard a voice from up ahead.  It sounded like
Edley.  She said, “We need a medic up here, now!”  I turned and saw one of the
medics pushing her way between us.  She had her medical kit instead of a rifle,
and a side arm.  She disappeared around the corner at the top of the stairs.
    Encouraged by the medic, I guess, we all surged
forward.  I got to the top of the stairs, where I could just about see into
Shaw’s office if I leant on the guy next to me.   I couldn’t really see much. 
I could make out the medic’s boots.  It looked like she was kneeling down and
working on someone.  Shaw came to the door.  “Back to the lobby,” she said. 
“It’s all over here.  The situation is under control.”
    And that was that.
    Greeley was right.  Foveaux had come to take our
surrender, and Shaw had surrendered to her there and then.  Apparently Major
Bowers had taken issue with the idea, and Foveaux had shot him dead, just like
that.
    I can’t say we’re going to miss him, but damn! 
That wasn’t what I’d joined the army for.  It felt a little too close for
comfort.
     
     
    They left their own guards at our checkpoints
when they left, and the next day they came back and took Colonel Shaw and Major
Edley away.  They put Captain Gibbs in charge.  A few weeks after that we had
to move out to an old warehouse facility on the edge of town.
    Gibbs had this idea that we should build a new
mini-barracks right there inside the warehouse.  The army has a load of
standard designs so Gibbs picked one out, liaised with the Martians over
building materials and then put us to work on building it.
    A couple of weeks into the build the MSS turned
up.  Some guy spoke to us over a loud-hailer.  He said we could join them
on full pay and help to build the new Mars, or something.
    “Screw that,” said Greeley, and he got back to
laying bricks.
    “You don’t fancy being a traitor then?” I asked.
    “Nope.  I’m thirteen months short.  I’m going
back to an army pension and great employment prospects with the skills I’ve
picked up right here.”
    He was being facetious.  We hadn’t really learned
anything much in the army, despite what they liked to tell you in their ads.  I
guess we’d learned a thing or two about policing, so maybe Greeley could go
back and become a security guard, or something.   But he was right about not
joining the MSS.  That was heavy stuff, treason even.
    I was surprised to see a few people amble over to
the MSS guys.  I guess some of them had taken a shine to Mars and decided to
stay.  They were taking a hell of a risk, though.  They could never go back to
the USAN, and if the USAN got out here and took Mars back they would really be in
the shitter, and deep.
    It seemed surprising to me that people would take
a