Athena Lee Chronicles 7: The Martian Inheritance (15 page)

“Damn it! Trapped like rats!”

“Major, what about him,” He pointed at Vakulinchuk. “We can trade him to the soldiers for our safety!”

“Björn, have I taught you nothing over the years. Loyalty first, guile second. Our job and our duty is to protect him until told otherwise.” He drew his pistol and shot Sergeant Pétursson in the head, splattering the commodore with bits of brain and bone.

“Why?” Grigory, now covered in the bits and pieces of a man he thought of as a friend, stared at his protector in horror.

“You can’t trust anyone these days. It looks like we get to die together, Sir. Would you like a gun?” Hearing the commodore sob in fear he answered his own question. “I thought not. Maybe I should just let us get captured. Would you like that you sniveling coward?”

“Yes. I can stand trial. There is still a possibility of escape.” A ray of hope entered the commodore’s brain.

“You won’t escape. They intend to pump you dry of information and then execute you for crimes against humanity, you idiot. Capture is not an option.” He shook his head. If his family was not at stake he would just shoot him now.

The gunfire on the floors below was slacking off. Their time was growing short. Vakulinchuk was shaking badly now in fear. He was huddled behind the desk. Major Niers was pacing the floor, repeatedly checking his weapons. He wrinkled his nose in disgust. The man in front of him had pissed himself. What in the name of the gods did the Cabal see in this coward? There was sharp pounding on the door as a battering ram was used against it. Major Niers jerked the trembling commodore off the floor and held him in front of him just as the door gave way.

“I will kill him! I promise you. Let me walk out of here and you can have him!” He was holding his gun to the officers head. His gun slipped just a bit as the commodore struggled to get away.

“I think not.” Dar replied as she shot both men. Explosive specialist Swanson ran over and checked their vital signs. “Ma’am the darts worked. Both are asleep.”

“Excellent. We will take the pair of them. Look around for any documents. Sergeant Carter, would you cuff and load the prisoners. We need to leave so that the Martian forces can clean things up.”

“Eew do I have to Ma’am? This one is all slimy and stinks.”

“Just pick them up. Transport is waiting.”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

The two men were carried to the lift and dumped in. The Hong Kong troops were not gentle in there handling of the two wanted men. Outside a Martian armored personnel carrier had been left running. Dar’s unit dragging Vakulinchuk and Niers outside loaded them up. A quick stop at the embassy and Dar’s operation was over. For Mars it was just beginning.

Chapter 20

Demetrius Dorr had not screamed this much in his entire life. Why don’t these people believe him? So far he had told every lie and every truth that he possessed. He had been recruited while he was still at the academy. One of his classmates began talking to him about his family and his place in it. It had never occurred to Demetrius that his great aunt might not ever die. He had always assumed that one day he would take his rightful place as head of the family. That was what his father had always told him. Men were meant to rule, not women. Amalie had been in charge of the family for more than fifty years. Surely she would pass on the mantle of leadership to someone who was worthy.

The idea of an organization dedicated to controlling the people and making sure that those who deserved power and influence got it, sounded appealing to Demetrius. First his parents and then his great aunt controlled his whole life. They limited the amount of money he could spend or the sorts of fun he could have. He graduated at the very top of his class at both early school and the academy. His grades guaranteed him a spot in the military. What he really wanted was what his father had promised him. A leadership role in the family. That had been his whole goal. But no. That was not to be. Make your own career, leave the family to us had been his fathers reply. So he went off to the military. But he never forgot his academy friendships and his connection with the ‘organization.’

He rapidly worked his way up the chain of command. He learned to speed his way by helping some of his competition have accidents or scandals. It was amazing what could be done with computers. Once he became Admiral of the Fleet his place was secured, now to take his rightful place with the family. Amalie still had not aged. She denied him any place within the family. Work your career she said. Enjoy your life. NO! His place was to be in charge. Using Naval intelligence he tracked down his old buddy from the academy and had him interrogated. The Cabal. That was the name of those that wanted to rule. If he could not rule on his own he would take it and then let them help him to rule.

Strapped to the crooked cross the former Admiral could feel his blood running down his body. His aide Lieutenant Nagetier was already dead. His bloody body lay in the corner. These black-clad demons had beat him to death. They should have taken him in. He gave the proper code and the counter-code. It was Nagetier’s fault. He told them about the Naval Intelligence investigation. After that he was a pile of bloody meat. Teufel was the demons name, this fiendish leader of the Wardens.

Sounds of gunfire and the alarm blaring throughout the complex roused Teufel from his nap. The morning had been wonderful so far. The Admiral’s aide had spilled his guts, literally, about all the little things his boss had been up to. Even his interrogation of a former Cabal operative. Teufel knew that something about him was too good to be true. His answers had been too pat, too rehearsed to be real. That changed when he was first humiliated, tortured, and then allowed to see his friend’s last breath. How quickly things had changed. Plenty of useful intelligence too. A pity that it had to end.

“Go see what that is!” He yelled at the other Wardens. Grabbing his weapons he hurried back to his victims. There was no escape from the Cabal for enemies.

The former Admiral was still hanging there bleeding. The fresh wounds on his back were begining to scab over. “We can not have that can we Admiral? You are not allowed to heal. Did you hear the gunfire? Maybe they are here for you, maybe it is your precious Amalie come to save you. Didn’t you try to kill her?”

Teufel began to laugh. The sounds of gunfire grew louder. Time to get rid of one more enemy. “Admiral say hello to Amalie for us. Tell her that she will see us again. Tell her that we never left.” He drew his ceremonial Pugio dagger from his waist. This dagger was special, given to him by the inner council themselves. Making a quick strike he cut the admiral’s femoral artery. He had three minutes tops, before the last of his life’s blood ran out of him. “Goodbye Demetrius it has been nice talking to you.” Teufel then fled down the hallway to a secret door know only to the Master Wardens.

The sounds of gunfire had died down. Amalie and I had watched from afar as the strike teams surrounded the house and attacked. They had not been long in the structure when an armored car arrived. Dar and her team dragged out two men and threw them into the car. Dar threw a wave in her direction as they sped away. Muffled explosions and gunfire continued from the house. Gaston had take over for Dar and was pouring drinks. We watched as the Martian wounded were removed and special teams went in; Bomb specialists were needed to defuse several traps and unexploded ordinance, Forensic and intelligence teams to vacuum up as much information as possible, and finally medical to tag and remove the bodies of the slain.

It was Gaston that received the word that it was safe for Amalie to enter the building. She and I carefully stepped around the body of the receptionist. She was still clutching both a pistol and an large bloody dagger. It’s the quiet ones you have to worry about. The lift car to go down was riddled with bullet holes. Drying blood was pooling on the floor of the car. There were two lower levels. The first contained living quarters and training rooms. Forensic techs were crawling all over them. The lowest level was were the torture and interrogation rooms were located. The naked and brutally beaten body of Lieutenant Nagetier lay in the corner of the room. His hands were bound behind his back. Former Admiral and wanted fugitive Demitrius Dorr was tied to a crux decussata in the center of the room. His back was red and bloody from repeated whips and other sharp implements. Someone had cut his femoral artery letting him bleed out.

“Cut him down and wrap him up. Don’t let his mother see him like this. Have we found any living members of this …group.”

“No Ma’am. They fought to the last man then triggered grenades upon themselves. The computer banks are wiped clean and they firebombed any hard copies they had.”

“Put the best forensic teams we have on it. I want to know who lived here and who has visited. Prepare documents I want a team at every Beckett-Crowne league facility on the planet. We now know they are a front for the now illegal organization know as the Cabal.”

“Yes, Ma’am. Right away.” He rushed off to complete his orders.

“Athena, will Wilson provide us with copies of the computer records he stole?”

“I don’t think that will be a problem. He likes you grandmother.”

Within hours teams of security forces planetwide began rounding up secret Cabal members using information supplied by Wilson. Doctors, Lawyers, industrialists, teachers, military officers and politicians among others. Many of the newsies were calling this the soon to be largest trial since the Old Earth Nuremberg trials of the Greater-East-Asian-War.

Grandmother’s political opponents were on the defensive. Combat vid from the assault had been shown unedited to the Assembly. Many had gasped in horror when the former Admiral had been found. Records of bribes and murders were uncovered from the Cabals records. Amalie’ s daughter was indeed one, of those that had been assassinated. Many more including some that were not even suspected, were proven to be murders. Over a half dozen assembly members were under arrest or on the run. The fact that a secret off world organization could do this much damage to Mars of all places had shocked the politicians into silence.

Chapter 21

Finally, Captain Gorshin got to take his tour. This trip was supposed to be a cake walk. Talk to some diplomats sign a few documents, have a couple of his officers show off their medals. Easy. But no. This trip had assassins, explosions, secret societies, and unknown relatives popping up. His officers were smack dab in the middle of it all too. The pile of paperwork that the Navy will make him fill out over this boggles the mind. The entire trip here Frank had been thinking about taking this tour. The one thing that every traveler to Mars does is go and visit Old Earth. Or at least takes a telescope and looks at it far away.

Over a century ago at the tail end of the colonization period Earth sealed itself off from the rest of the galaxy. The last colony ships were launched and disappeared. Earth deployed a satellites defense network backed up by small heavily armed automated space stations. At first Mars ships investigating the new stations were allowed to circle them and watch the construction. Not communication was answered. When the system went online, any approaching ship or object was challenged and given a five minute warning to turn around. Those that ignore the warning were destroyed with no mercy. Earth was off limits. A few random communications were picked up by Martian radio technicians scanning the electromagnetic spectrum. The few that were decipherable spoke of Master races and Societies of power. Then nothing. No radio, no communications, no spacecraft were ever seen. Even the space stations were silent and dark unless a ship strayed too close.

Over the years many daredevils took the chance that the stations were nonfunctional or even out of ammunition. One such man, Will Ney, came upon an idea. He launched a group of pods and small meteors into Earth space. Each was challenged and destroyed. He continued the experiment daily for several months. His goal was to deplete a single station of ammunition and clearing a way to the planet. After months of destroying debris one rock made it through, then another, and another. It seemed that the experiment worked. An unmanned pod complete with cameras and sensors was sent through and it survived. It then fired retro rockets and was now orbiting the station. The pictures that it sent through were the first in over twenty years of what the stations looked like up close. Feeling successful a manned mission was rushed forward. Three men, including Ney, followed the same flight path as the camera pod on board a larger pod. The mass was kept as small possible. The manned pod had just cleared the station when it was destroyed along with the orbiting camera pod as well. No other attempts were made or allowed by the Martian government.

Naturally the stations became a tourist destination. Space tour companies would take groups out to the warning zone. Most would stay outside the danger zone and allow guests to take personal vids of the stations. Those with long lenses could capture the distant view of Earth. This was what Captain Frank Gorshin was here to see. He was playing it safe, his tour was staying outside the inclusion zone. Ever since he was a child he had dreamed of trying to catch a glimpse of the home world of man. This tour had been recommended by Commander Lee’s grandmother. She said that it was the best most efficiently run.