Semper Mars(116)
“Hell, sir, it wasn’t nothin’ like that!” Slidell insisted. “It was just, you know, to kinda remind us of home, and everything.” He sounded hurt. “It wasn’t like we was smuggling drugs or hustling our buddies or anything.”
Garroway stared at the man. “You were aware, weren’t you, son, that every kilo brought to Mars is precious? I’d guess you have several tens of thousands of dollars of beer here, if you go by the cost of boosting it up from Earth and then hauling it all the way out here on the cycler.”
“We’ve been over this already, sir,” Barnes said. “I found him and Fulbert here sneaking a couple of beers a week ago and got the story out of them then. Maybe I should’ve put ’em both under arrest, but, well, I couldn’t see turning them over to the UN, and, well—”
“You did right, Captain,” Garroway said. “Marines take care of their own.”
The way he said the words had a chilling effect on Slidell. “Uh, really, Major, we didn’t mean—”
“Stow it, Marine. For now, consider yourself, both of you, on report. Who else was in this with you?”
“I was, sir,” Kaminski called out. He looked miserable, his eyes very white within the grime and dirt smearing his face. The only other clean part of his face was the skin around his lips, where a long swallow of beer had washed it off. “It was the three of us. Nobody else.”
He stared at the man for a long moment. “I’m disappointed in you, Ski,” he said. “You show real potential as a Marine.”
Kaminski’s face fell, but Garroway pressed on. Discipline—and even-handedness—were all-important. “Very well. You’re on report, too.” He allowed himself another sip. God, it did taste good….
He drained the last of the beer. He’d been drinking bottled and recycled water for so long that he’d forgotten that anything liquid could have any taste at all. He felt light-headed and wondered if the alcohol of a single can could affect him. Well, maybe it could. He was probably pretty dehydrated, and his stomach was empty. But he was feeling okay.
“All right,” he said, setting the empty can back on the table. “You said the rest of the UN people are in the commo shack?”
“Yessir,” Barnes replied. “I think someone in one of those crawlers they sent out to bring you in must have called in that things weren’t going so well for ’em. The word went out over the PA for all UN personnel to report to the comm room, and that’s the last we’ve seen of any of them.”
“Well, I’d say it’s about time we paid them a visit, don’t you?”
“Sounds like a plan to me, sir.”
The UN troops and personnel in the commo shack surrendered without a shot being fired or anything, in fact, stronger than a threat to blow the door in. As they were being led out, Garroway walked in and checked the consoles. It wouldn’t take long, he thought, to plug in a new set of encryption keys and get full communications working once again with Earth.
“You might as well surrender now, Major Garroway.”
Garroway looked up, surprised. Colonel Bergerac’s clean and clean-shaven features stared down at him from the comm center’s main screen. He was suddenly aware of just how dirty, disheveled, and out-and-out seedy he must look. “Hello, Colonel,” he said. “How do you figure I should surrender to you?”
“Obviously, you were able to ambush my men in the desert this morning, but you cannot think you could do that again, with me. I have thirty men here, and we will know when you are coming.” He smiled. “Unless, of course, you’d care to try the overland route once more. I don’t think, somehow, you would find five thousand kilometers as easy to cross as 650. You certainly don’t look as though you would survive!”
“Don’t bet on it, Bergerac,” Garroway growled. “We have the main base now. You’re cut off. Surrender now.”
“You don’t understand, my friend. We have plenty of food here, and extensive permafrost to provide us with all the water and fuel we need. We have more troops on the way, and they’ll be here in five months.” He gave a Gallic shrug. “In the meantime, we have the ruins here, the whole reason for Man’s presence on this planet, under our control. And, not to put too fine a point on it, we have two Marines here, including your commanding officer, as well as a number of American civilians. I suggest that everyone would be spared a great deal of pain and trouble if you would submit to United Nations authority on this.”