Starship: Free Mars

Part 5: Attacked!

The lock they used was distant from the main parts of Hellas City. During the day it was the access point to the solar field and mining operations in the splash fields of ejecta around the basin. This evening they saw no one in the corridors this far from the populated parts of the city. Tate was explaining how the structure of the Martian academic year was different from Earth's when he heard a step behind him. Before he could turn, two men stepped out of the cross corridor ahead.

Glory put her hand on Tate's arm, and they stopped. Tate looked back. The man behind them was tall, but all Martians were tall. He carried himself with the air of assurance which Tate had always associated with trouble. He also carried a gun, something Tate had never seen on Mars.

"Good evening, Captain Aurillia. Out walking your pet academician?"

Tate looked at Glory just as the other two men seized her arms. "What do you want?" she said.

"Disruption." The man's confident smile was an irritation. "I'm afraid your little project to build a fusion engine is going to lose its director."

"Eliminating me won't stop the project," Glory stated flatly.

"No? When they find this little Earthie and his trusty gun did you in, the Council will get to bring up the whole subject of funding again. Since they weren't real enthusiastic first time, this should be all they need to shut down the whole over-budget and behind-schedule thing."

"I don't have a gun," Tate said. He could not think of anything else to say, and he wanted to divert the man's attention away from Glory.

The man smiled and flipped his fingers open to show Tate a small, black pistol. "No? Well, you will have. This little baby has a biometric safety tuned to me, but a little software wipe will fix that." He chuckled and pointed the gun back at Glory. Glancing at Tate he said, "We'll imprint with your biometric, and suddenly her murder will be solved."

The man stood right beside Tate, but his attention was focused on Glory. Tate reached across with his right hand and grabbed the man's gun hand and rolled the weapon inwards over the man's thumb. Tate pushed the man's arm straight with his left hand on his elbow at the same time he kneed the man in the back of the leg. Their assailant pitched forward, and Tate pulled the man's arm upwards forcing him down faster. The gun popped free, and the man hit the ground hard.

Tate put his foot on the man's back while he held the man's arm upwards adding force to push him into the ground. Their attacker was down, but Tate was not about to give him a chance to get back in the fight. He held the man's arm up stretched stiffly behind his back, and he kept the pressure on. The man twitched under him but gasped with pain. Tate's anger finally kicked in. This man wanted to kill Glory. His Glory. Tate clenched his teeth and forced the man's arm up farther yet. He felt a grinding snap through the bones as the man's shoulder separated. The man screamed.

Glory! The thought pierced him to the core. What had happened to her?

Tate looked up and saw her standing above the other two men. One was sprawled face down limp on the ground while the other moaned and thrashed holding his crotch. Tate relaxed. He already knew she could take care of herself.

"Are you all right..." he started, but laughed when she said the same thing.

Glory took out her personal assistant, but instead of using a quick swipe to activate the emergency code, she held it to her mouth and said something quietly.

"Aren't you calling the safety watch?"

"Not directly," she answered. "This has political implications, I'm calling the Navy. They'll bring the safety watch."