Tides of Mars (Omnibus Version) Read online

  “Got it control. Oddly enough, I was about to call to let you know we were going down there anyway. It's hard to tell, but both of us have a scanner ghost on the ground near there. We wanted to check it out.”

  “Approved! The vehicle has VIPs in it. They must not fall into slaver hands! Also, don't forget to scan for antimatter. We don't want another surprise.”

  “Roger that control.” The pilot keyed up the ship to ship. “Did you get all that, Andy?”

  “Yeah, and we best get going. The limo is getting closer to that scanner ghost,” the pilot named Andy replied.

  “Full stealth descent; let's go save some VIP's.”

  Inside the butte that served as the hanger the drones had also dug out a small base for Ariel's guards and the other marines to be stationed here. Presently it was occupied by the remainder of Ariel's guards, and one very grumpy Master Chief named Bri'tell.

  “Aren't you still on light duty, Master Chief?” a marine said as they were suiting up. She was also the unit medic.

  “Yup.”

  “Is wearing assault armor and going into combat considered light duty?” The other guards chuckled, but kept it down. Bri'tell was well respected.

  “It is now.”

  “You're going to make me throw you in the brig aren't you?” she asked.

  Bri'tell grinned like a shark. “No, but I am going to make you try to.”

  They both knew she could easily do it, by having the suit sedate him. But he would have to wake up sometime, and she knew he wouldn't be real pleased with her. She also knew that Captain Ar'del had placed him in temporary command of the 'reserve' unit. He should be going with them.

  She leaned close to him. “Listen up, Master Chief, Sir. If you start to fatigue, or over stress that new leg, I'll tell your suit to dope you and we'll drag your ass out of the way. I'm half tempted to dope you anyway, and leave your ass on the transport.”

  “Condel, did anyone ever tell you that you look super-hot when you're trying to be stern?” Bri'tell replied.

  She rolled her eyes as she leaned back. “If you try to kiss me, I'll knock you on your ass!”

  The marines nearest them laughed at their banter, and finished getting ready. Even with the scene between Bri'tell and Condel, the troopers were on the transport and out the door in ten minutes.

  As the limo came to a stop before making a left onto Northshore road, the engine died, and refused to restart. Although there were only about five other cars with them, they all seemed to be having the same problem as the limo.

  Luke asked the obvious question of the driver. “Is something wrong?”

  Trying hard not to roll his eyes, the driver replied. “Yes sir, the engine has died, and won't restart. I was about to call in for another car for you.”

  “I don't think it'd work. Look at the other cars; none of them are working either,” Luke said again, pointing out the obvious.

  While Luke had been speaking the driver tried to make the call back to his office. He looked a little troubled when his phone didn't work. “Uh, my battery must be dead. I hate to ask this, but may I borrow your phone, sir?”

  Luke shook his head. “Your battery isn't dead; the Phone is. I bet if you tried it, the radio won't work either. We were pulsed.” He held up his dead phone too.

  “We're nowhere near a military base, and they are the only ones that would be doing that. How could we have been pulsed out here?” the driver asked.

  “I'm Luke Janus, this is my wife Karen,” Luke said.

  “Darren Warlay, it's nice to meet you,” the driver replied. “I still have no idea how to fix this problem, and get you to where you're going.”

  Suddenly, off to their left, a short way out into the desert, there was a bright flash, and very loud rhythmic tearing sound.

  The flash had been almost blinding but the rhythm told Luke what had just happened. “Get out of the car! We need to get into the other ditch! Hurry!” he urged his wife. “Darren! Come on!”

  “What the hell was that?” Darren exclaimed, but did as Luke ordered. He scampered across the seat and slithered out the passenger door.

  Staying low, the three of them made for the ditch. Seeing the other people in their cars looking around in oblivious wonder, Luke grabbed Darren's arm. “Get Karen into the ditch. I'm going to go see if I can get some of those others out of their cars before they explode.”

  Shortly after the first bright flash, several more occurred, but this time they came from the sky to the south. On the other side of the road, where the first flash came from, geysers of dirt and rock blew skyward as explosions launched them upward. At this point, it was obvious that they had a ringside seat to a battle using high-powered, futuristic weapons. There was also the added fact that except for the bright flashes of light, nothing could be seen.

  While Luke was moving from car to car, he saw what appeared to be humans moving around by a bus on the road to the north. When he looked again, there was a man with what could only be called a weapon holding the people on the bus while two other men set up a weapon to fire at whatever was in the sky.

  After reaching all the people he could reach with moving towards the men with weapons, Luke escorted the last of the people down to the hiding place. Darren had checked out a culvert to make sure it was free of snakes, and had the children hiding in there. Luke and another man lay at the top- of the ditch trying to keep track of what was going on in order to keep the women and children out of the fight.

  “The really messed up part of this is we don't know what the sides are,” the other man said. “That asshole on the bus is obviously keeping the people on there to use as human shields, so I would guess they aren't the good guys.”

  Snorting, Luke replied. “I'd say that's a safe bet. But the question is, who are the other guys?”

  As if in answer to his question, a craft, this time visible, but so low to the ground it seemed like it was hovering, rapidly came towards them from the south. Less than fifty yards away, it spun around and a big ramp dropped to the ground, leaving a large opening into the craft.

  Large, human-like forms came running down the ramp, and quickly spread out while they ran towards the hiding people.

  “I sure hope these are the good guys or we're humped,” Luke's companion said.

  Three of the huge figures stopped a few feet away from the hiding people and began waving them toward the craft they had just gotten out of. “Hurry, get on the transport! You'll be safe there. Hurry up!”

  One of those forms came up the hill to Luke and the man and dropped to its chest beside them. The face plate of the helmet opened so the men could see the occupant was human. “Report.” he said simply.

  “We got all the people out of the closest cars, but those to the north are still trapped,” Luke explained indicating with his hand as he went. He pointed to the bus. “There are several people on there, but one of the other guys with a weapon is holding them in there. They've also got an anti-aircraft cannon of some kind set up beside the bus.”

  The armored man nodded. “Thank you. My name is Master Chief Bri'tell. Our fighters have placed their ship over there about two hundred meters out. Does that sound about right?”

  Thinking quickly to do the conversion in his mind, Luke nodded. “Sounds about right, I guess. But I'd like to know how come we can't see them?”

  “Because they're using cloaking generators. Now, would you both please get on the transport so it can get you to safety? If you stay out here much longer all these lasers are going to blind you,” Bri'tell said.

  “Good luck, Master Chief,” Luke said, the other man was already scooting down the embankment.

  Bri'tell nodded and motioned Luke back down the embankment as he snapped his visor closed. It was clear that he was giving orders when Luke looked back at the man. Making sure that all the people had cleared the area for the 'transport', Luke headed for it himself.

  As he jogged up the ramp, it was closing. A young woman in a strange u
niform was beside the door frantically waving Luke in. “Please take a seat. We're getting the hell outta here!”

  Luke grabbed the nearest seat as he felt the craft take off. He clamped the seat belt closed and looked up at the young woman. “May I ask where you're taking us, Miss?”

  She gave him a tight smile. “I'm afraid that'll have to wait until we land, Sir.” She'd slid down into another seat close to his and had clamped her seat belt as well.

  He nodded, half expecting that answer. “Okay, can you tell me what that was all about, or is it classified?”

  The woman shrugged. “I don't know Sir, that's why you'll have to wait; I have no idea what or how much I can tell any of you.”

  “Fair enough. Thank you,” Luke replied, surprising her.

  The flight was short, so wherever they'd been taken couldn't have been that far away from the fight. Which meant that Luke and Karen were still close to the 'Villa' that Alex had been having them taken too. If they could make a phone call, they might be able to make it to where ever Ariel was going to be by nightfall.

  In all there were only about eleven people, counting children, in the group. When they got off the 'transport' and they were inside, a friendly looking older gentleman met them. He introduced himself as John, and lead them to what could only be called a large cafeteria.

  There were a couple of women there waiting for them, but there was also a large urn of coffee, juice boxes, bottles of water and cookies.

  Once everyone was in the room, one of the women came forward. “Afternoon everyone, my name is Betty. It's still a couple of hours before dinner, so the only thing available are cold sandwiches if needed. I did make sure there were snacks available. If you need one of those sandwiches I mentioned, please, just let me know. Also, if anyone has food allergies, I need to know that as well.”

  As she stepped back, the man that had watched with Luke spoke up. “Uh, I don't mean to be rude, but when do we find out what the hell just happened?”

  This time the other woman stepped forward. “I'll get to that in just a minute Sir. First, I need to know if there is a Mr. and Mrs. Luke Janis here.”

  Luke stood. “I'm Luke Janis.”

  She smiled warmly, and Luke thought he saw some worry leave her face. “Mr. Janis, I'm Alexis Moran. Could I speak to you and your wife privately for a moment?”

  Since this was the woman they had come to see anyway, Luke took Karen's hand, and led her to where Ms. Moran was awaiting them.

  “Ms. Moran, please, just what's going on, and where is our daughter?” Karen asked, fearfully.

  “She wanted to tell you all of this herself, but unfortunately that isn't possible at the moment. The short version is that Ariel is in a spaceship currently in orbit, trying to track other ships that have come here to take people as slaves.

  “Before you ask, no, she and I are not lovers, she never actually told Brenda that we were lovers, but she did let her come to that conclusion. Ariel did that mainly to keep Brenda from worrying about her.

  “As for what's going on... Well, you ran into one of the slaver ships that has set up an ambush. Ariel sent out her personal guards to rescue you as soon as she knew you might be in trouble.”

  “Space? Hold it, why would she have personal guards? And why aren't they with her?” Luke asked, trying to understand what was happening around him. Most of the people they'd arrived with looked scared and very confused. You could tell by the look in their eyes they believed that most of what they'd witnessed today simply wasn't real.

  “That's a rather long and involved tale. I'd be happy to tell you every detail, but I need to take care of the others first. Then we can go to the house and get you settled. With luck, the limo will survive the battle, and we'll be able to recover your luggage,” Alex replied. “In the meantime, please help yourself to a cup of coffee, or just ask Betty for something else if you would like it.”

  Karen nodded agreement, and Luke once again replied. “Okay, I do think the others need to know what's going on too. I honestly don't think half of them can believe their eyes.”

  Alex smiled slightly. “In a way, it's a good thing no one's cell phone survived. I'd hate to see what would have happened if the police had gotten involved. It's going to be hard enough trying to cover this up as it is.”

  “Why do you need to cover it up? If there is a threat to the people, they need to know about it,” Luke replied.

  “I promise we can discuss it in depth later, Mr. Janis, but for now, I need to convince these people that they need to keep quiet about what they just saw. I really doubt that the Earth is ready to handle knowledge of a Galactic Empire,” Alex said before stepping away from the couple to address the rest of the group.

  Alex told them that what they had witnessed was a classified secret, and she asked them to please not tell anyone. She went on to say that their vehicles and belongings would be returned to them shortly, and they would be able to go on about their business.

  Of course there were the usual questions; what was it they actually saw? Where those really space ships? Who did the two groups represent? And so on. True to her lawyer training, she neatly avoided each question. She did tell them, that if time permitted, someone else might come and explain further, but for now, she simply wasn't authorized.

  The small gathering grumbled, but accepted it. However it was clear that an explanation had only been deferred and not avoided.

  Leaving the group in the very capable hands of Betty and John, Alex led Ariel's adoptive parents out of the base, and into the Villa. Once she showed them a room, and gave them the opportunity to get cleaned up, she met them at the breakfast bar in the large kitchen for coffee and the story of what has happened to their daughter since Alex and she had first met.

  At first, neither of the Janis' were willing to accept the whole story, but all they needed was time to come to grips with what they'd been told. It took a few cups of coffee, and many questions answered before they finally accepted the truth about the girl they had adopted as a baby.

  “Finally,” Alex said. “Ariel asked me to ask you if you would consider becoming our ambassadors to His Majesty. She suggested this as a means to protect you, but you also need to consider the 'coup' we will be staging.

  “No matter what, you'll be safe on Aldus Forward with Cr'ale. He might have to brand you both outlaws, and order your executions, but before you leave, Ariel will proclaim you both innocent of any wrong doing and issue a full pardon. Even Cr'ale can't ignore it, since it will have been written before she 'rebelled'.”

  “I think I'd like to talk to Ariel about it some more before we make a decision, if that's okay. I'd like to know more about this rebellion and how she intends to prosecute it,” Luke replied while Karen only nodded her agreement.

  “That's fine. As I said, she wanted you to consider it. You don't have to make a decision right away. In fact, I think she wanted to talk to the both of you about it anyway,” Alex said.

  Karen, sensing the stress of the situation, engaged Alex in conversation to get to know the woman. She had to be having a hard time with all this as well. After all, less than two months ago the women found out she was a mother to a child she'd only just met.

  Luke watched silently in amusement as the two women seemed to bond as he watched. Even though there was such a large age difference between the two women, they shared a love for the same child.

  While the women talked, Luke got up to explore, and think about everything he'd been told today. Passing a telephone, he picked it up, and dialed Grant from memory. He had been worried about Ariel as well.

  After reassuring Grant that Ariel was okay, and talking to the man for a while, when Luke said something about returning to work.

  Grant stopped him, and said, “Look, like I said before, I can justify you being out there as a liaison for all the trucks we have assigned to disaster relief. Don’t worry about getting back here so fast, if I need you, I know how to get hold of you.”

  �
�Are you sure? I don’t want to leave you hanging,” Luke countered.

  “You never have in the past, I’m not worried about it now. Take the time you need to make sure our girl is okay.”

  Luke heard a noise that caused him to cut the call short, and investigate.

  “I gotta go, I’ll give you a call in a couple days,” Luke said.

  “No problem, talk to you then,” Grant said before he hung up.

  He walked out the back door just in time to see the return of the transport, but this time it was being escorted by a smaller more deadly looking ship that was trailing an almost invisible trail of white smoke. The transport stopped in midair, to allow the smaller craft into the hangar first.

  A more familiar noise from another direction showed a line of cars seemingly winding their way across the desert. He grinned when he saw the limousine in the lead, and the bus bringing up the rear.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  For the longest time, Sean couldn’t figure out what the slavers were up to. She was still contemplating the question when one of her captains reported he’d been boarded. Slavers stood no chance against imperial marines in combat armor. First things first she thought; how did the slavers get aboard the ship in the first place?

  “How did those idiots get aboard our ships?” She asked from her fleet command console. In the flag command, the Admiral, Fleet Space Ops officer, Fleet Ground Ops officer, and the Tactical officer all had consoles surrounding a big holographic ‘tank.’

  “We think they're using boarding pods, Sir. However, we’re having a hard time verifying that assumption as we’re not actually detecting the pods,” the Ground Ops officer replied. “Sir, the marine detachment on the Oranthor is reporting heavy, organized resistance. The boarders seem to be wearing armor as well. We’re taking casualties, Sir.”

  Thinking about that, Sean came to a conclusion. “Where the hell are they getting the armor?”

  “I would say the same place they are getting the new stealth systems, Sir. This actually looks like the slaver's guild is building an army. You don’t use armored marines to round up slaves.”