Hey everyone this is Dave the Miricle Maker up here in the high desert of California. It’s getting hot up here so I had to take a dip in the pool today. This is my first post since I got back from my vacation, so I thought that I would tell you about my trip. My journey began on May 31st at two thirty PM. My wife dropped me off at the bus station in Barstow California and I caught a bus to Las Vegas Nevada. It was about a three-hour bus ride and I arrived in Las Vegas at around six PM. The bus dropped me off on the strip and I caught an Uber ride to the airport. I had just checked in and had my boarding passes. I was on my way up to go through security. Two young women were on their way up the escalator, I think they were both blonds, when somehow about three feet up the escalator they both fell and came tumbling down. Luckily, they weren’t hurt. After I went through security, I found my departure gate and then got something to eat. My flight took off at eleven PM that evening. I had an aisleway seat next to a young woman and her three-year-old son. The plane taxied out to the runway and was about to take off when the boy said, “Are we there yet?” That made me laugh. I slept through most of the flight and we arrived at Charlette North Carolina at Six twenty-eight AM east coast time. My body was still on California time and I was tired. Our plane landed at gate B and my departing flight to Alabama was leaving out of gate E-29. There were no shuttle buses or trams so I had to walk. The signs said it was a fourteen-minute walk but it felt longer to me. When I reached my departing gate, I hung out until around nine thirty AM and then caught a flight down to Birmingham Alabama. The flight to Birmingham was only about an hour and twenty minutes, but when I got there no one was waiting to pick me up as planned. So I made a phone call and sent out a text. Within a half hour or so my ride showed up. when I arrived at the clubhouse it felt like I was coming home. I spent four days partying with my brothers in the motorcycle club in Northern Alabama. believe me, it was a great time.

On Sunday, June 4th, one of my club brothers gave me a ride back to Birmingham and I caught a flight to Manchester New Hampshire. I had a layover in Charlette again but this time I didn’t have to walk so far to reach my departing gate. My daughter picked me up at the airport at seven PM that evening. I had a fun week hanging out with my daughter and my grandkids. On Thursday I attended my grandson’s high school graduation. He was also awarded a scholarship from the American Legion Riders. We also held a party by a lake at an Airbnb. On Sunday my grandson Shane and I along with his girlfriend’s cousin went down to Laconia New Hampshire. They were hosting the one-hundredth anniversary of Laconia Bike Week. On the way down there we stopped at McDonald’s. My order came and I ate my food, but it seemed like they were taking a while on my grandson’s order. Three teenage kids came in and went into the bathroom. Suddenly, the fire alarm went off and we had to evacuate the restaurant. The kids that had gone into the bathroom were smoking pot and they set off the alarm. They came back out and left real fast. We waited in the parking lot for about a half hour while the fire department came and turned off the alarm. They cleared the bathroom of smoke but when they let us back inside you could still smell it. They remade my grandson’s food and we headed over to Laconia. Two years earlier when I made this trip on my motorcycle, I hit rain in Pennsylvania and pulled under a bridge to get out of the rain. Two Harleys were parked under the bridge and I met two old bikers. One was from Georgia and the other was from Florida. We wound up staying the night at the same motel, went out to dinner, and rode three hundred and fifty miles together the next day. We friended each other on Facebook. The guy from Florida was in Laconia, so I sent him a text. He was in a pavilion drinking beer and watching midget wrestling. I stopped in to say hi and I also bought some cigars and a rally T-shirt. I caught a flight out of Manchester on June 13th and arrived back in Barstow around ten thirty that night. Check out the picks below from my trip.

I encourage everyone to live their best life. Go on trips, have adventures, and enjoy your life to the fullest, but be grateful for what you have and the people you leave behind because there truly is no place like home.

Now for your reading pleasure check out chapter seventeen of my science fiction novel, the Battle for Europa. The Battle for Europa is the first book in my series the Space Corps Chronicles.

Chapter 17

David Gallagher and Paul Rosenbaum followed a crowd of marines to the shuttle port. The port serviced the New London Colony on Mars. The EVA suit he wore made David’s movements cumbersome. He stopped for a moment and looked across the barren Martian landscape. Off in the distance, to the Northwest, David saw the lights of the colony. It looks like an oasis in a sea of darkness. He slung his rifle over his shoulder and took his place in line waiting to enter the shuttle port. David listened to the excited conversation buzz across the com-net.

David and Paul entered an airlock along with twelve other marines. The interior of the shuttle port was atmospherically contained. Even so, the transit marines kept their EVA suits on. A loud plangent voice boomed over the shuttle port’s PA system. “All transit military personnel assemble at the airlocks on the north bulkhead! We have half-tracks waiting to ferry you to the colony!”

“Let’s go,” David said, elbowing his way through the crowd and Paul followed. They stepped into line at the nearest airlock. When they reached the head of the line, they entered the airlock with twenty other marines. David wiped the sweat from his brow. The outer door of the airlock opened. They stepped out onto a cement walkway underneath a covered awning. Several troop carriers and main battle tanks set parked at the curb.

The marines converged on the vehicles. David and Paul found seats in the second troop carrier in the long convoy. A couple of main, battle tanks occupied the point position. Another set in the middle and two more took the tail end Charlie position at the rear. Once inside the vehicle, they took off the helmet of their EVA suits and listened to the excited conversation buzz through the vehicle.

David grinned. “Well, buddy. Are you ready to party? We’ve got forty-eight hours to kill before we report for duty.”

Paul nodded. “You better believe it. Where is this base supposed to be anyway?”

David shrugged. “I heard some guy say it was a few clicks west of the colony, but who gives a shit? We’ll worry about that when the time comes. Right now all I’m thinking about is getting drunk and chasing pussy.”

Paul laughed. “I imagine you’ll get us into another card game. I see fresh meat everywhere.”

“If our funds run low, I will.” The convoy pulled away from the shuttle port heading across the rough, rocky Martian landscape. David looked out the porthole to his left listening to the rumble of the troop carrier’s engine. “It’s as dark as the Devil’s asshole out there.”

Paul nodded. “Yeah. Have you ever been to Mars?”

David shook his head. “Nope.”

“My parents took me here when I was little. My Dad had some business with one of the mining executives. There are several colonies scattered about the planet, but they’re few and far between. You have to cross vast distances if you want to travel between the colonies. It’s pretty rough by land vehicles.”

“I hear they have some type of Magna lift or monorail train.”

“Yeah. People either ride the train or take a shuttle.”

“I don’t see why people would want to live here. These miners are a weird bunch.”

“They’re rough and independent.”

The convoy traversed a vast rocky plane. It passed through a rough hilly area and entered a narrow rocky gorge. Laser bolts hit the troop carrier they were riding in. David looked out his window. A rocket streaked across the night hitting the track of the vehicle in front of theirs.

“Time to earn your keep! Put your helmets on and check your air supply! We’re caught in an ambush!” the driver yelled. His voice boomed through the vehicle’s PA system. David and Paul jumped to their feet, put on their helmets, and did a quick oxygen check. David’s heart hammered inside his chest and his breathing became erratic. All the military personnel inside the troop carrier stood locked and loaded. The back ramp of the troop carrier opened up. The marines charged forward storming down the exit ramp and into the night.

***

Alonzo Garcia and Louis Martin shuffled up the boarding ramp onto one of the Port Royal’s shuttles. They found seats near the rear of the shuttle’s passenger compartment, sat down, and took off their helmets. Conversation wafted through the shuttle. “It’s gonna feel good to set foot on solid ground for a change bro,” Alonzo said.

Louis nodded. “Right, mate. It will also feel good to have some bloody free time and see some new faces. The birds on this tub are getting old.”

Alonzo grinned. “Yeah they have kept us busy, what with eight hours in class, plus standing watch for four hours. We have to make the best out of this forty-eight-hour liberty as possible, bro.”

“Right, mate. Lead me to the first pub you find. I plan on enjoying my holiday to the fullest.” The shuttle moved forward to one of the launch bays. The voice of the shuttle pilot boomed through the shuttle’s PA system.

“Ladies and gentlemen, ETA to launch is two minutes! Strap it on!” Alonzo put on his seat belt and Louis did the same.

Alonzo felt adrenaline shoot through his body. “I’ll never get tired of this part, bro.”

“Me neither, mate. It’s like getting shot out of a bloody cannon.” The shuttle moved forward, stopped for a few seconds, and shot down the launch tube. The gee forces slammed them back in their chairs, the launch bay doors opened and the shuttle shot out to space.

Alonzo let out a wild whoop. “Now that’s what I’m talking about bro.” The shuttle completed one revolution around the red planet and descended toward the surface.

Louis grinned. “The launch was a bloody rush but the flight was a little anti-climactic.”

“I don’t know. Didn’t you feel like a meteorite when we descended through the atmosphere?”

“Yeah mate, but it was over too fast.” The shuttle touched down on the landing pad at the Martian shuttle port. They stood up, put on their helmets, and followed the crowd through the airlock. David headed down the exit ramp, and onto the surface of Mars. Louis strolled along next to him. Crossing the tarmac to the shuttle port, they went through one of the airlocks on the north side of the building. David and Paul boarded a troop carrier in the center of a convoy setting next to the curb. Captain Chambers boarded the last troop carrier in the convoy.

Alonzo and Louis took off their helmets and sat on a bench waiting for the convoy to leave the shuttle port. A few minutes later, the convoy pulled away from the curb. It left the shuttle port behind and Alonzo gazed out of the porthole setting in the bulkhead beside him. Darkness covered the landscape. The convoy passed through the perimeter and headed into the night.

“I guess that’s the colony,” Alonzo said noticing lights in the distance.

Louis nodded. “Right, mate. I don’t know why they call it New London. It looks lonely, off there by itself.” They were approaching the outskirts of the colony when their vehicle came to an abrupt stop. Alonzo glanced out the porthole next to him and saw laser flashes light up the night.

“We’re under attack!” Alonzo yelled. The military personnel in the troop carrier jumped to their feet. They gathered around the porthole. Alonzo’s heart hammered inside his chest.

“Mate, that battle tank riding tail end Charlie broke away and started firing its main gun up into the hills!” Louis yelled.

“A few squads jumped out of a troop carrier near the front! They’re in a firefight!”

“Please remain in your seats, but secure your EVA suits! Lock and load! Stand by for deployment if so ordered!” the troop carrier’s driver yelled over the vehicle’s PA system. Alonzo’s breathing accelerated. They put on their helmets, charged their weapons, and sat down waiting for further orders. “Ladies and Gentlemen the attack has broken off. Maintain alert status until we reach the colony,” the driver said. The troop carrier lurched forward; Alonzo let out a sigh and tried to relax.

“Our first chance for some action and we miss it,” Louis said.

Alonzo nodded. “Yeah, sometimes I wish we’d drawn peacekeeper duties here on Mars, bro.” The convoy reached the colony twenty minutes later. They checked in at the visitor’s center and caught a taxi to the Utopian Mall. The Utopian Mall was a massive domed structure housing, an urban metropolis. Alonzo gazed out the side window of the taxi at the buildings lining both sides of the street. He took in the domed-shaped buildings along with several boxy-looking structures. Masses of humanity filled the sidewalks and gathered at the intersections to cross the busy streets. They all looked the same in their EVA suits. The taxi passed through an airlock. It entered the Utopian mall and the holographic driver pulled up next to the curb.

“Gentlemen. Welcome to the New London colony. If you would like, you may check your gear in at the visitor’s lounge. There you will find information on all the business establishments inside the mall. I hope you enjoy your stay at the Utopian,” the driver said, using a strong British accent.

After they stowed their gear, Alonzo stood on the sidewalk listening to the hover cars buzz by. “Where to first, bro?”

“I don’t know about you, mate but point me to the nearest pub.” Louis stepped over to hail another taxi.

***

David and Paul sauntered into the Final Frontier. It was one of the popular drinking establishments inside the Utopian Mall. David stood for a moment, breathing in the smell of tobacco smoke and cheap alcohol. He took in the bar’s essence. They found a table near the center of the crowded barroom and sat down with two other marines from the Pathfinder. David headed to the bathroom to empty his bladder. After taking care of business, he staggered out the bathroom door and ran into another marine.

“Stand easy bro. You’ve had a few too many,” the marine said.

David looked up, his eyes widened and a big grin spread across his face. “Alonzo?”

“David. I didn’t recognize you in this dark hallway. How are you doing bro?”

“I’m doing fine now that you’re here. I’ve got a table. Paul’s here too.”

“Louis is over by the bar; I’ll go get him and we’ll join you.” They met at the table a few minutes later.

“Well, there’s my big-nosed friend. How’ve you been mate?” Louis said when he stepped up to the table.

Paul’s eyes widened. “I was doing fine until you showed up. You had to start with the nose business.” David and Alonzo laughed, Paul stood up and they did some hugging. David introduced the other marines and they sat down.

“When did you guys get here?” David asked.

Alonzo shrugged. “We just arrived. Our convoy got attacked on the way in.”

“We must have been in the same convoy. Ours got hit too.”

“We were near the middle. We stopped but didn’t engage.”

“They hit the vehicle in front of us. We stormed out of the troop carrier and jumped into a firefight. It didn’t last long.”

“You lucky buggers. You got to see some action right off,” Louis said.

“We didn’t feel so lucky at the time. It’s kind of hard to keep it together with laser bolts flashing right by your head,” Paul said.

“You’re lucky it didn’t take off your nose,” Louis said and laughed.

“It was safely tucked into the helmet of my EVA suit. Thanks for your concern.”

“What’s with the little bars on your lapels?” David asked.

Alonzo grinned. “We’re third lieutenants. The rank is temporary. It’s a way to put the cadets in the chain of command. The brass enrolled Louis and me in an officers’ training school aboard the Port Royal. You may have to salute us someday, bro.”

David bent over pretending to gag, but he bought the next round. A half-hour later Captain Chambers and First Officer Bannister stepped into the bar. Chambers noticed Alonzo sitting across the bar room. He motioned to one of the android waitresses and had her deliver a round of drinks to their table. They brought their bottles up in salute.

“Your captain seems okay for an officer,” David said.

Alonzo nodded. “He is bro. He cares about everyone on board his ship. You can tell by the way he acts.”

“If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t be in this bloody officers’ training class,” Louis said. They spent another two hours at the bar and headed for the door. The other marines who had been drinking at the table with them went their own way. David, Alonzo, Louis, and Paul piled into a taxi and headed for the nearest whorehouse.

***

Alonzo and Louis strutted down the exit ramp and onto the launch bay of Port Royal. Hustle and bustle filled the ship with shuttle pilots ferrying troops back to the Port Royal. They hit the rack for a few hours of rest before going on duty. While they were sleeping, the Port Royal, along with the rest of the fleet, broke orbit leaving Mars behind, and headed toward the asteroid belt. Louis and Alonzo fell back into their routine of attending officers’ training classes for eight hours and serving as officers for four hours before turning in for a few hours of sleep.

Three weeks after leaving Mars, Alonzo and Louis were heading down the main corridor to class. The gravity generator went out. The cadets strapped themselves into their chairs to keep from floating up to the ceiling. Three hours later the cadets gathered in the corridor. They began to clown around leaping into the air and floating up to the ceiling. An announcement came over the ship’s PA system announcing that the restoration of gravity would be in ten minutes.

“Watch this, Mate,” Louis said, trying to make one last jump. He leaped up touching his hands to the ceiling when the gravity returned. Louis let out a startled cry, fell to the floor and Alonzo ran to his crumpled form.

“Bro, are you all right?”

“My leg, mate. I broke my leg.” Louis’s face looked ashen.

Alonzo tapped the com-link on the lapel of his uniform. “Third Lieutenant Alonzo Garcia to Fleet Marine’s HQ. Send a medical team down from sickbay to the training center. My buddy broke his leg.”

“Roger that Mr. Garcia. A medical team is on the way,” the receptionist at Fleet Marine HQ said.

Two hours later, Alonzo sat at Louis’ bedside in the sick bay. Louis had a bright blue bio cast on his left leg. All though he was somewhat groggy from medication, Louis was his jovial self.

“The things some people will do to get out of work. I’m on to you bro,” Alonzo said and they both laughed.

“I had to do something, mate. These long hours are killing me.”

Alonzo was about to speak but then he saw Captain Chambers come into the room. He shot to his feet, snapped off a salute, and Louis, though unable to stand, fired off a salute as well.

“At ease men. I thought I’d see how our patients are doing.” Chambers stepped up to Louis’s bed.

Uh, I’m fine sir. The doctor is releasing me in the morning,” Louis said.

“You know we expect better from our officers.” Chambers laid a friendly hand on Louis’s shoulder.

Louis’s face fell. “I know sir. I’m sorry. It was a dumb stunt. It won’t happen again.”

“Don’t be sorry. Learn from it. We’ve all done a few bonehead things that we’re not proud of. I’m sure Commander Dawson will want to talk to you when you get out of sickbay.”

“I’m sure he will.” Louis sighed. “I’ll probably get a letter in my file.”

Chambers smiled. “I wouldn’t worry about that too much. Those letters don’t mean much. You should see my file.”

“You mean you’ve done some bonehead things in your time, sir?”

“You should talk to First Officer Bannister. He’d give you an ear full. He thinks it’s his job, to babysit me.” They both laughed. “I have other patients to see, so get well. We need you back in class.” Captain Chambers paused before leaving and looked at Alonzo. “And how are you doing Mr. Garcia?”

Alonzo smiled. “I’m fine sir.”

“Good. Keep up the good work.” Chambers headed down the aisle to visit other patients in the sick bay. Louis showed up for class the next morning using a pair of crutches and he had to wear the bio cast for three weeks. Louis and Alonzo kept busy for the next three months while the ship traversed the asteroid belt en route to Jupiter.

They sat in the officers’ pub having a beer with their eyes glued to a viewscreen behind the bar. The image of Jupiter looming in the background filled the screen. Hundreds of battlecruisers surrounded the planet. Other ships orbited the planet and its moons. They faced outward in a direct challenge to the main battle fleet. The Port Royal, along with the rest of the deep space fleet stayed in a holding pattern further out.

“I hope we don’t get caught up in this shit, bro,” Alonzo said.

Louis shook his head. “Yeah, mate. Those crazy bastards on Europa are gonna play bloody hell. Before it’s over, the Navy brass is gonna go balls out.”

***

David Gallagher and Paul Rosenbaum stood outside the Utopian Mall. Their forty-eight-hour liberty over, they headed for their permanent duty station on Mars. David gazed about the street, watching people in EVA suits move back and forth on the sidewalks. Tracked vehicles moved up and down the streets making David wonder about the people. Some were military personnel. Others were miners and some were civilians working in the colony.

“What do you think we’ll be doing once we report for duty?” Paul asked.

David sighed. “Keeping the peace.”

“Yeah but how and where?”

David shrugged. “I guess we’ll find out when we report for duty.” A troop carrier pulled up to the curb. The outer airlock door opened. They stepped inside and found seats near the rear of the vehicle.

“You can remove your EVA suits. We won’t be stopping anywhere until we reach the base,” a young NCO moving down the aisle said. David and Paul took off their EVA suits and set them by their feet while the troop carrier filled up with marines. David felt the vehicle lurch when the driver pulled out onto the main thoroughfare. He sat back to enjoy the ride and glanced out the window taking in the sights. Several boxy-shaped buildings were set on both sides of the road. Other domed-shaped structures were set further back from the main street. A burned-out structure was set at the end of the block with a red fist painted on the scorched brick wall.

“That’s the work of the People’s Fist. They’re part of the local resistance,” a marine sitting across from them said.

“Those bastards are up here too? Will we be fighting them?” David asked.

The marine shook his head. “No. Not unless you happen to be in town and get caught in one of their ambushes. They sneak into town, fire off a few rockets, and disappear like a ghost.”

“What will we be doing?” Paul asked.

“You’ll work security in the Utopian Mall, the John Glen Plaza, or the Red Plaza. You might draw mobile duty cruising the colony in a land cruiser. Sometimes the miners cause trouble. Then we have to go out there and take care of things. That duty sucks. I hate hard rock miners.” The troop carrier left the colony heading west. David noticed lights coming from several buildings setting off to the south.

“What’s over there?” David asked, motioning to his porthole.

“That’s Consolidated Mining site A,” he said. “Ever since this business started on Europa, the miners have been causing trouble.”

“What kind of trouble?” Paul asked.

“They call wild cat strikes. Throw up picket lines and when we show up they pelt us with rocks.” The troop carrier traveled across the rough barren landscape for another forty-five minutes. David looked out a porthole. There were more lights to the south of their position. A massive domed structure ringed with razor wire and earthworks set nestled between two massive rock formations.

“That’s Camp Rizzo. That’s where we’re headed,” the marine sitting across from them said. The troop carrier pulled off the main trail heading south through the hills toward the base. A bombed-out structure set off to their left.

“What happened there?” David asked.

“The resistance got lucky. They hit an ammo dump with a rocket. That’s the first time they’ve ever tried hitting anything that, close to the base.” The troop carrier turned off the main trail heading south and the driver stopped at the main gate. He crossed an open area to the airlock. A set of steel doors on the outside of the domed structure opened. The troop carrier pulled into the airlock. They heard a hiss of air, the inner doors opened and they pulled into the base.

David gazed out his porthole in wonder. They traveled down a tree-lined paved road. Grass covered the ground beyond the road. Illuminated rectangular-shaped structures lay to the south of their position. A three-tiered barracks set to the west of a massive office complex. From a distance, it looked like a massive city housed underneath the dome.

“Welcome to Camp Rizzo. Report to HQ to log into the base and receive your duty assignments,” the driver said. David and Paul stepped out onto the sidewalk and followed the crowd into the office complex. They fell into line at a reception desk. David reached the head of the line. A pretty blonde-headed female receptionist looked up and smiled.

“Run your wrist across my scan pad, marine.” David complied. “Welcome to Camp Rizzo, Mr. Gallagher. You’re on the third watch, colony security detail. You report for duty at twenty there hundred hours.”

Breathing in the smell of her perfume, David said, “Report where ma’am?”

The blonde-headed officer turned her head and pointed down the hallway to her left. “Security HQ is down the hall. At twenty-three hundred hours, you’ll attend a briefing and head into the colony. Until then, find a bunk in the barracks to the west of HQ, stow your gear and get some sleep. You’ll need it.”

“Thank you, ma’am.” David stepped out of line and waited for Paul to get his orders. “What duty did you draw?” David asked.

“Third watch mall security. The same as you. What is it eighteen hundred hours?”

“Yeah. That gives us five hours to get some sleep.”

“Then let’s stow our gear and hit the rack.”

They woke up four and a half hours later, took a quick shower, put on their uniforms, and headed to HQ. Louis and David joined a group of marines in the briefing room. A stocky red-headed officer sat behind a desk smoking a cigar. David breathed in the rich aroma. A group of marines lined up at a beverage dispenser and poured themselves cups of coffee. They each took a doughnut from a box sitting on a nearby table and found their seats.

“Let’s get started. For you new guys, I am Lieutenant James Cook. I’d like to go over a few things before you go on duty. As usual, we’re having trouble with the miners. We’re getting a lot of drunk and disorderly arrests at the local bars plus a few fights and brawls. I want to caution the new guys about not going anywhere in the New London colony alone. When we move, we move in pairs or, in force. If you’ll listen up, I’ll read off the duty assignments.” The young NCO that rode on the troop carrier with David and Paul stepped up to them.

“I’m Corporal Robertson, but you can call me, Mike. You boys will ride with me. Do what I tell you, and everything will be fine. Get your EVA suits and get back here pronto. After that, we’ll sign you your gear and head for the motor pool.” Forty-five minutes later, they sat in a land rover on their way back to the colony. Corporal Robertson sat behind the wheel. David sat on the passenger side and Paul rode in the back. When they reached the colony, Robertson pulled into an airlock. He entered the Utopian Mall and drove down the main boulevard.

“The mall is a city unto itself. Every kind of seedy business you could imagine is on these streets. The further you get from the main drag, the worse they get. Anything that an off-duty miner or military person could want is underneath this dome. The people who work in the mall also live under the dome in the housing section. We get called there sometimes for domestic disturbances.” Robertson pulled into a parking lot to their left. “This is our substation. We need to check in before we go on patrol. The substation also contains a cafeteria and our break room.” They checked in and attended another job briefing and then hit the streets.

They cruised the streets for the first two hours. The night seemed quiet. The radio in the land cruiser beeped. Roberts flipped on the com-unit. The voice of the dispatcher reverberated through the car’s speaker. “All units. All units. Converge on the Bucket of Blood. We have disturbance in progress.”

“On our way, dispatch,” Robertson said and glanced over at David. “The Bucket of Blood is one of the favorite hangouts for the hard rock miners. They call us out there at least once or twice a night. Every night, someone stabs or shoots someone else. It’s time for you boys to earn your keep.”

Robertson flipped on the overhead light bar and turned on the siren. A few minutes later, they pulled up in front of a dingy-looking bar. Rough-hewn logs covered the exterior walls. Glass bottles littered the street and a rough-looking wooden boardwalk fronted the building. The MPs stormed into the bar in force using stun guns, tasers, and electrically charged Billy clubs. When David stepped through the door, a big ugly miner punched him in the mouth. By the midpoint of their shift, David had a split lip and a black eye. They had arrested ten miners. After lunch, they received a call sending them out of the colony to one of the mining facilities. They sported riot gear and formed a line to defend the mining complex from a mob of disgruntled miners.

“Is it like this every night?” David asked while they drove back to the base at the end of their shift.

“Pretty much. Sometimes it’s worse,” Robertson said and pulled the land cruiser up to the main gate of Camp Rizzo.

David and Paul fell into a routine, working hard and partying harder on their days off. One night after they had been on Mars for three months, they responded to a disturbance at the Bucket of Blood. David was about to enter the bar when a black hovercraft pulled up to the curb. Three men in dark clothing jumped out. One of them hit David in the back with a stun gun and David collapsed to the pavement. Two of the men grabbed him by his arms, dragging him toward the vehicle. Paul pulled his handheld laser and fired a blast at the two men. Two more squads of MPs pulled up. The men dropped David to the ground, jumped back into their vehicles, and fled.

“What happened?” David asked when he regained consciousness.

Paul shrugged. “It looked like they wanted you. They were trying to drag you into the vehicle.”

The following evening, David and Paul showed up at HQ to start their shift. A crowd of marines gathered in the hallway. They elbowed their way through to the briefing room. Lieutenant Cook looked up when they came in.

“Gentlemen. Go back to your barracks and pack your gear. You’re shipping out. The brass has decided that we need to establish a presence out in the bush to deal with these rebel attacks. You get to stop being policemen and act like marines. Be on the tarmac with your gear in a half-hour.”

An hour and a half later, they boarded a troop carrier and joined a convoy leaving the base. The company of marines left Camp Rizzo heading east. Passing through the colony, they headed out onto the rough interior and traveled for eight hours crossing the rocky, barren terrain. The convoy stopped at a point where three massive canyons converged, opening up to a flat dry lake bed. A group of marines unloaded prefabricated shelters. Another group erected defensive positions stringing razor wire. David and Paul’s platoon took up defensive positions providing security. Other marines set up their new firebase.

One group of marines unloaded bulldozers from flatbed trucks. The operators mounted the dozers and formed Earthworks surrounding the new base. Within eight hours, the new firebase was up and ready for business. The following morning, David received orders to report to HQ for a mission briefing. He filed into the briefing room along with thirty other marines. A colonel with short sandy blond hair and a barrel chest stood before a holographic map depicting the landscape to the north of their position.

“Gentlemen. If you will look at the map, you’ll see why we chose this area to establish the base. We believe that the rebels operating in this area have bases in one of these three canyons. Possibly underground. They have to cross this plane to get to the colony, and we are sitting in their path. You gentlemen will go on our first recon mission. You will travel up this large canyon lying in the center. I would like you to locate the rebel bases. You’ll need to use extreme caution. These canyons on Mars make the Grand Canyon back home look like a little ditch.” The briefing carried on for a few more minutes and then the colonel opened the floor to questions. There were none. “Okay, if that’s all then be on the tarmac in fifteen minutes. The mission launches at zero-eight thirty.”

“What’s going on?” Paul asked when David stepped out of HQ.

David shrugged. “We’re going on a recon mission. What duty did you draw today?”

“I’m in a bunker on perimeter defense. I wish I was going with you.”

David laughed. “I do too, but you’d get your big nose shot off.”

Two hours later, David climbed up the boarding ramp and onto an armored troop carrier. Two main battle tanks led the convoy, followed by three more troop carriers. Two more battle tanks took up the tail end Charlie position at the rear. They left the firebase heading north into the canyon country. David bounced off his seat and fastened his safety belt. They entered the largest of the three canyons. Sheer granite walls towered above them. Large rocky boulders lay on the canyon floor while the convoy snaked its way around them.

The canyon narrowed, turning ninety degrees to the right. They slowed to make the turn. David heard a muffled explosion and debris rained down on the top of their troop carrier.

“The tank on point took a hit from a rocket! We’re under attack! On your feet marines!” the driver yelled over the vehicle’s PA system.

David jumped to his feet. His heart pounding inside his chest, he charged down the exit ramp with the rest of his squad. The lead battle tank billowed flames. A rocket streaked down from dug-out positions in the canyon’s wall. One of the tanks traveling in the tail end Charlie position exploded. They received laser fire from their direct front. David took cover behind a large boulder. He jumped up and fired off a burst with his M-23 Blaster when a laser bolt hit his chest on the upper left-hand side. It spun him around, knocked him on his ass and he struggled to catch his breath. He heard the screams of his fellow marines coming through the com-unit and heard other vehicles exploding. A figure in a black EVA suit loomed over him. I’m dead. The figure standing over him brought the butt of his M-23 Blaster down on the helmet of David’s EVA suit. His helmet cracked right before he lost consciousness.

***