The Forgotten Outpost Read online

  The Forgotten Outpost

  Gus Flory

  THE FORGOTTEN OUTPOST

  Copyright © 2018 by Gus Flory

  All Rights Reserved

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by photocopying or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage or retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

  This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

  ISBN: 9781983198694

  First Published, 2018

  [email protected]

  THE FORGOTTEN OUTPOST

  Timeline of the Settlement of the Solar System

  2028: Chinese taikonauts land on the Moon.

  The Second Space Race accelerates as nations aggressively ramp up their space programs.

  2029: An International Consortium of the USA, Japan and the EU lands on the Moon and establishes a permanent base.

  2030: Russia lands on the Moon.

  Rockets from the spacefaring nations travel routinely to and from the Moon.

  2033: India lands on the Moon.

  2035: First human is born on the Moon.

  2036: International Consortium establishes a base on Mars. All seven astronauts die within a year from accidents, radiation poisoning and immune system disorders.

  2038: International Consortium establishes a station in orbit above Venus. A manned dirigible cruises Venus’s upper atmosphere for the first time.

  2040: China establishes a base on Mars. All five taikonauts are dead a week after landing when the outer wall of their habitation is accidentally ruptured.

  On the Moon, the population reaches 5,000 permanent residents. Multinational corporations dominate the transport of supplies and people between the Earth and Moon and begin to establish their own Moon bases.

  2042: Earth population exceeds 10 billion. Population pressures result in excessive crowding and poverty, existing alongside opulent wealth, resulting in widespread anger at the established global political order. Neo-Fascism arises as a significant political movement in several nations.

  2045: Both China and the International Consortium re-establish bases on Mars.

  2047: Russia establishes a Mars base.

  Galactic Transport is the first corporation to begin regular supply runs between Earth and Mars. Several more corporations follow suit and soon set up their own small bases and stations on Mars.

  2050: The first human is born on Mars.

  2051: India establishes a base on Mars.

  2055: The population on Mars surpasses 1,000 residents in the International Consortium settlement. The Chinese settlement surpasses 500 permanent residents. The Russian settlement surpasses 300 permanent residents. The Indian settlement has 100 permanent residents. Galactic Transport has 50 permanent residents—20 in orbit and 30 residing in the government-run settlements. The mortality rate in all the settlements is high due to harsh living conditions and the difficulty and expense of re-supply.

  The population on the Moon surpasses 100,000 permanent residents.

  2057: Martian colonists begin exploiting the Asteroid Belt.

  2058: Trillionaire explorer Bentley Hernandez and his crew of 20 orbit Jupiter. Hernandez sets foot on Ganymede, Callisto and Europa before returning to Mars nine months later.

  2059: The mortality rate on Mars drops as humans master living on the planet. Huge fortunes are made from mining operations in the Asteroid Belt where all the elements necessary for civilization are readily available. The Asteroid Belt “Gold Rush” sets off a wave of emigration to Mars from the Moon and Earth. The Mars population quickly swells to 300,000 permanent residents. Martian families reside in large habitations and own huge swathes of land where they operate hydroponic farms and 3D printing factories that supply them with all their wants and needs. Martians achieve the highest standard of living in the Solar System.

  2063: Martians establish permanent stations on Ganymede, Callisto and Europa.

  2065: Bentley Hernandez is the first human to set foot on Saturn’s moon of Titan.

  2067: Bentley Hernandez reaches Pluto.

  Diego Zanger is born on Mars.

  2069: Mars population exceeds 1 million.

  2071: World War III begins when a border conflict in the Himalayas between China and India erupts into a clash involving hundreds of thousands of troops, aircraft, tanks, missiles, drones and robots. Pakistan sides with China. Japan and Russia side with India. The USA assists Japan in naval clashes with China in the East China Sea. The first nuclear exchange between Pakistan and India results in the destruction of New Delhi and Islamabad. Whole Indian and Pakistani armies are vaporized in the nuclear melee. The Chinese launch a massive ground attack into India and simultaneously nuke American and Japanese fleets in the Pacific and Indian oceans. The USA and Japan retaliate with nuclear strikes on Chinese naval bases setting off a nuclear exchange that destroys cities across the Northern Hemisphere, causing over a billion deaths in one week.

  2072: Epidemics sweep the globe killing tens of millions. Nations lose control of their borders as massive migrations from Africa, Asia and Latin America flood North America, Europe and Australia. Widespread looting and anarchy occur around the planet as distribution systems are disrupted and law and order break down. Chaotic warfare continues between the militaries of the Great Powers.

  2073: Famine and radiation poisoning kill hundreds of millions across Earth.

  Vladimir Noer establishes the first settlement on Titan.

  Pristina Sage is born on Titan.

  2074: On Earth, the migrations of hundreds of millions of refugees have effectively destroyed what is left of the integrity of nation states.

  2075: The Jerusalem Convention establishes an Earth Federation, an Earth Currency and an Earth Military. National borders are declared obsolete. The people of Earth welcome the formation of a global military force in hopes of re-establishing law and order and ending famine. Millions enlist in the Earth Federation Army for a steady paycheck, three hots and a cot. Global warfare continues for three years as Earth Federation Forces establish control over the planet in a series of increasingly decisive victories over demoralized national militaries.

  2076: Colonists on Mars hold the Martian Convention and establish the Martian Republic.

  2078: Largescale warfare ends on Earth as the Earth Federation establishes sovereignty over the planet. Guerilla warfare and terrorist attacks against the government continue.

  Millions emigrate to Mars fleeing poverty, disease, crime, terrorism and ethnic violence, which have become endemic on Earth.

  2080: The Earth Federation enacts sanctions on Mars, ruling Martian independence illegal. All travel and trade between Earth and Mars cease.

  2081: Illegal emigration from Earth begins. Smuggling between Earth and Mars becomes a lucrative but dangerous pursuit.

  Ten million humans now call Mars home.

  2085: The Earth Federation declares sovereignty over the Solar System and establishes the Solar System Assembly led by an elected President of the Solar System. In the new Solar System Assembly, Mars, Ganymede, Callisto and Titan are represented by dissidents. A single currency for the Solar System is declared legal tender. All other currencies and governments are declared illegal.

  The actions of the Solar System Assembly cause contentious debate on Mars between those who wish to remain an independent republic and those who wish to accept the jurisdiction of the Federation. The Earth Loyalist faction holds a slight majority in the Martian Assembly and votes to accept the dominion of the Solar System Federation. A large faction rejects the vote and independent militias begin to form. The m
ilitias are the first military forces established on Mars.

  The Solar System Federation begins construction of a fleet to transport an army to Mars to assert jurisdiction over the planet.

  2086: The Solar System Federation Fleet arrives in Mars orbit and begins landing troops.

  Militia leader Amad Robodan organizes the Neo-Fascist Axis and begins a terrorist campaign against S.S.F. troops and Earth Loyalists.

  A missile armed with a hydrogen fission warhead detonates and destroys the S.S.F. fleet in orbit above Mars. Conventional warfare on Mars begins as Robodan consolidates his power and begins an offensive against isolated S.S.F. troops based in the Martian city of New Moscova.

  Neo-Fascists commit genocide on Earth Loyalists in several settlements across Mars. The attacks on Loyalists spread to Ganymede and Callisto where Neo-Fascists seize control.

  2087: Fierce space battles are fought as S.S.F. warships attempt to control transportation routes between Earth, Mars and the moons of Jupiter. Neo-Fascist ships are greatly outnumbered but successfully conduct devastating hit-and-run attacks against S.S.F. ships and convoys.

  2089: In the Asteroid Belt, Neo-Fascists control Ceres and Vesta for two years until S.S.F. forces land and seize the asteroids in battles that result in more than 50,000 S.S.F. troops killed. Neo-Fascists suffer about 1,000 casualties in the defense of the asteroids before retreating to Callisto. “Remember Ceres! Remember Vesta!” becomes a Neo-Fascist rallying cry.

  The S.S.F. lands a large army on Mars and begins the pacification of planet.

  Diego Zanger is commissioned on Mars as a second lieutenant in the Army of the Solar System Federation. He serves as a HUMINT Exploitation Team (HET) leader during the most chaotic and murderous period of the Mars Campaign when colonists turn on each other and exact vengeance on entire settlements.

  2094: The Neo-Fascists on Mars are defeated. Amad Robodan flees to Callisto where he continues to lead a terrorist insurgency against the S.S.F.

  2095: S.S.F. forces land on Callisto and Ganymede and begin pacification campaigns on the two moons. Capt. Diego Zanger serves as a company commander in a military intelligence battalion in the severe mountainous terrain of Callisto. The campaigns on Callisto and Ganymede are marked by the harshness of the moonscapes and the brutality of the Neo-Fascist resistance. Terrorist attacks and atrocities committed against S.S.F. troops cause tens of thousands of casualties.

  Over one hundred thousand Neo-Fascist sympathizers flee to Titan from Mars, Callisto and Ganymede.

  Neo-Fascists on Titan commit genocide on Earth Loyalists.

  2096: S.S.F. Space Force gunships bombard Titan from orbit. The S.S.F. Army lands a large force on the surface. Camp Hammersteel is established, from which a pacification campaign against Neo-Fascists is conducted.

  2097: Titan is pacified.

  Guerilla warfare and terrorism continue on Ganymede and Callisto. Callisto remains a Neo-Fascist stronghold.

  2099: Maj. Diego Zanger nears Titan aboard the troopship The Diversity Bell, carrying the 801st Dragon Brigade.

  1. Titan

  The flash and blare of the alarm focused his mind. The red flashes and urgent wail carried with them the threat of imminent death.

  “Bay 5,” Maj. Diego Zanger said.

  “Hull breach,” Staff Sgt. Roy Ozawa said. He swiped through screens on the monitors in front of him. “In the female latrine.”

  The ship’s compartments were sealing shut. The passengers and crew were now in lockdown.

  “Could’ve been a negligent discharge,” Ozawa said.

  “Negative.” Diego scanned the data on his screen. “All ammo is accounted for.”

  “Smuggled ammo? That means it was an intentional discharge.” Ozawa looked over at Diego in the dim light of the operations room. “Active shooter?”

  “Only one shot fired. More likely a suicide. Or a murder.”

  Diego and Ozawa were the only soldiers on duty. They were on third watch while the rest of the brigade was in quarters, as was most of the ship’s crew, who had presumably been asleep.

  During the shift, Diego had been reading S.S.F. Army Field Manual 300-13: Information Operations: Doctrine, Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures. Ozawa had been playing a video game—something with dragons and scantily clad female warriors. It had been a long, slow shift until the sudden blast of the alarm jolted them into a state of high alert.

  Their massive troopship, The Diversity Bell, was cruising through the starry darkness between the orbits of Jupiter and Saturn, the farthest out in the Solar System that Diego and most of those aboard had ever been. In the convoy with them were two cruisers, a destroyer and a civilian supply ship. The Bell was the largest ship in the convoy. It had a civilian crew and was owned by the Galactic Transport Corporation, which had been contracted by the Army to carry troops to and from Saturn’s moon of Titan. Their voyage to Titan had been uneventful until now.

  “Emergency breach system initiated,” Ozawa said. “Looks like the rupture is being sealed.”

  Diego searched his screen for the two military policemen currently on duty. He located them on the bridge on the opposite end of the ship where they had been chatting and joking with members of the civilian crew. He watched on the surveillance feed as the MPs scrambled off the bridge and down the main corridor toward Bay 5. They floated down the corridor in the zero gravity.

  “We can get to the breach before they do.”

  “We’re supposed to shelter in place, sir.”

  “I’m going down there. Keep the MPs informed of my location. Don’t let them shoot me.”

  Diego pushed himself up from his console and floated across the operations room. He pulled himself out the doorway and propelled himself down the narrow corridor, pulling against the handgrips.

  The doors that lined the corridor were locked shut. He floated down the corridor as the alarm flashed and blared.

  He reached Bay 5 floating quickly past the doors of the enlisted quarters where no doubt everyone inside the pods was now awake. He unholstered his pistol, loaded a magazine and chambered a round.

  He reached the door to the female latrine. He seized a handgrip on the wall, stopping his forward momentum. His magnetic boot soles clicked as he planted them on the floor. He pressed his back against the wall beside the latrine door.

  He pounded his fist on the metal door. “Who’s in there?”

  No answer.

  He pounded again.

  “You OK in there?”

  No response.

  “Talk to me, Ozawa,” Diego said into his radio.

  “The MPs will be on your location in less than one mike. Colonel Butcher is on his way to the ops cell.”

  “What’s the computer saying about the latrine?”

  “The breach is 98-percent sealed. The latrine is 49-percent re-pressurized.”

  “Who’s in there?”

  “I can’t access the roster of who entered the latrine over the last hour. Looks like it’s been scrubbed.”

  “What?”

  Diego waved his badge over the panel beside the latrine door, but it didn’t beep. He jiggled the handle, but the door remained locked.

  “You there,” a voice shouted down the corridor. “Put your hands where we can see them.”

  Diego held up hands, with pistol up. The military policemen had their pistols drawn and aimed at him.

  “I’m Major Zanger. Brigade S7. Don’t shoot.”

  The two MPs cautiously pulled themselves down the corridor toward him keeping their pistols aimed at center mass. One was a sergeant, the other a specialist. The MPs took cover against the wall.

  “You were on watch, sir?” the sergeant whispered.

  “Roger,” Diego whispered back. “I figured I could get here before you. No answer inside.”

  “Active shooter?” the sergeant asked.

  “No answer,” Diego said. “No record of entry in the computer.”

  The sergeant placed his index finger on his
ear listening to his radio. “Copy that.” He looked up at Diego. “The breach is sealed, sir. The latrine is re-pressurizing.”

  “Have the medics been alerted?” Diego asked.

  “Roger, sir. They’ll be here as soon as the room is secured.”

  “Open the door and secure the room.”

  “Back-up will be here in three mikes. My LT is on his way.”

  “Someone could be bleeding out in there. No time to waste. Open the door.”

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea, sir. Shots have been fired.”

  “It was a single shot. Open the door.”

  “Sir, I’m not doing that at this time, sir.”

  The specialist against the wall shook his head in disapproval of his sergeant’s hesitance.

  “Give me your badge.”

  “Uh. That’s a negative, sir.”

  “I said give me your badge. Now.”

  “Sir?”

  Diego pulled the security badge off the sergeant’s chest and waved it over the panel next to the latrine door. The panel beeped and the latch clicked open.

  “Stand back.”

  Diego pulled down on the handle and pushed the door open. Air from the corridor whooshed through the doorway.

  Diego popped his head into the open doorway and quickly pulled back behind the wall. He saw no motion inside.

  “I’m going in,” he whispered. “Cover me.”

  The specialist nodded.

  Diego pulled himself through the doorway with pistol extended at the ready. He scanned left and right as he floated weightless over the tiled floor, past mirrors, hygiene stations and enclosed stalls.

  Droplets of blood and organic matter floated in the weightlessness, swirling in eddies caused by the rapid re-pressurization of the room.

  Diego stopped himself on a hygiene station and scanned the stall doors with pistol pointed forward.

  A thump from inside one of the stalls caused him to quickly aim his pistol at the sound.