Ensign Yagisawa looked at the red ground spreading below him. He had to assume an unnatural posture to look down through a very small window in the narrow cockpit. Now he was flying such a lower than before, and could only see clouds.
"It will be clear on the surface, now."
Chief Zanak cheerfully informed to Yagisawa. Their cargo-shuttle finished its initial speed reduction, putting it into its landing course. So he had no important works till just before landing.
"I cannot see whether it is clear or not."
Yagisawa, the only passenger of the shuttle, replied. He gave up trying to identify the landmarks of the surface and got back to his seat.
Zanak laughed so hard that Yagisawa thought that he might go into convulsions. He was large and bulky. He was so big that Yagisawa wondered that his gravity seat could restrain his mass. He looked rough, but he was a gentle North-American. Every time he speaks, his boyish eyes smiled in the bearded face.
Valhalla-Station was already out of sight. They had not left that long ago. But even if Yagisawa wanted to see the station, he wouldn't have to climb over the cargo to the upper view port. Even then, the station would appear near or in front of the sun. It was invisible to the naked eyes.
He had been to Mars several times, but never land there from Valhalla-Station. Since their destination was a relay base built in the caldera of Mt.Olympus, many people would not consider that as surface of the planet.
With the low atmospheric pressure of the Mars and a volcano that rise to greater than 25 thousand meters above the plain, atmosphere near the summit is as thin as that at an altitude of 60 kilometers over earth. The place has been called "the point at which the ground touches space". Here you see instead sky red with sands, which is peculiar to Mars, but monotonous black sky day or night.
Not only was this his first landing of Mars, Yagisawa had never even landed on the moon or Earth near his home port. So he was under some strain. Zanak spoke to him in a loud voice.
"The home port of your ship is not Valhalla, is it ? But I think it's been based there for a long time."
Though Zanak never met Yagisawa before this flight, he treated him like an old friend. This was technically classified, but not really important, so Yagisawa answered his question, partly because he was suspicious. At being given a vacant crew seat on a shuttle exclusive used for freight traffic.
"Our home port is Colombia-Station. Usually we get all regular maintenance and supplies there. But this time we were ordered to have an inspection at Valhalla. We are ordered prepare en route. We're also bringing some supplies from Olympus Base."
"Your ship is the fourth one..."
Zanak's Voice dropped and the ensign couldn't understand him turned to stare.
"Many ships, all have ported elsewhere, are detailed here for inspection or something. Now here are only four ships, but I heard there are several more ships coming and will arrive here soon.
It is curious... Most of the ships are from stations orbiting Earth or at the la grange point between the Earth and the moon. The distance from Mars to the earth is no more than 1 AU at this season. If the earth had been located at the opposite side of the sun, an inspection en route would be reasonable."
"Some ships were being inspected at Colombia. Indeed stations around Earth are crowded..."
"But the schedule of regular inspections should be made out more in advance. It is still curious that they inspect no more ships than their station's capacity and the ships they cannot inspect are sent to stations around here."
Yagisawa sank into silence. This chief seemed a good guy. Yagisawa was well aware of what he meant. Moreover, they were only two on this shuttle, so he didn't have to be secretive. Even then, he was still cautious. It was partly because this was classified information, even if an open secret. But mainly he still was vaguely anxious talking about it. Zanak, however, spoke without care.
"Now the rumor seems to be true. War will break out..."
"War breaks out..."
"Yes. You know. The Superior Planets Alliance is going to attack the Air Space Force. So all the new and high-speed warships of ASF are gathering around Mars to forestall a surprise attack by SPA. With their forces in the Jupiter or Saturn systems Mars is screened by the Earth and the sun in this season. And they have further to travel. So there are only worn-out ships and lightly armed frigates around the Earth and the moon. So even if they launch a surprise attack, we'll lose nothing but rubbish."
The rumor that the war was imminent had spread again and again. But it was hardly likely that SPA would start such a war now. SPA had only merchant ships converted into warships, while ASF had vastly more war potential than SPA had. Common sense said that SPA would not make war until they had the armaments comparable to ASF, so they arranged some escorts or frigates that could evenly match the ASF's warships in a single combat. It would take several years before they could have to do so.
If war broke out now, it should begin with an attack by ASF before SPA could upgrade its armaments. ASF declared again and again that they would not initiate hostilities in any case, after all no engage in provocation.
But this is what you would expect them. A surprise attack can only succeed when no one is expecting it.
Yagisawa decided that this line of thought was useless. He was no more than a crewman of the fleet. Whether war broke out or not, he had no choice but to obey his orders.
He suddenly noticed that it was dark outside of the window. Their shuttle had passed into the planet shadow. The surface was not pitch-black, and Yagisawa could easily make out details. He first thought that it was lit by starlight, but if that was true, it should be darker. Soon, from the shape of the shadow of the crater on the plain, he identified the source...Phobos.
When Phobos is full, it is as bright as the new moon on the earth. Now it was on the wane, but it was bright enough to illuminate the surface. He couldn't find Deimos. As the shuttle descended, the shape of Mars changed from a sphere to a gentle curve, and then to a plane.
At this height, Yagisawa could easily see the surface from the observation window. The edge of the crater shone white in the dark. It was when the shuttle was at an altitude of less than 100 kilometers that Zanak gave a wild cry.
"Look...There is something queer about the station."
Yagisawa glanced at him, wondering if he was joking. But he fumbled his receiver into his ear and looked confused as he tried to call the ship. After a few minutes he finally said.
"We're below the horizon...I'm only picking up static."
"What happened ? Has war broken out?"
Yagisawa meant this for a joke, but neither laughed.
"Don't understand...it looks like the convoys and their escorts at Valhalla have made take off. I don't know where they've gone."
"Have all the ships left?"
"A good many ships have...It happened that..."
Said Zanak. He pulled off his receiver and threw it down.
"We don't know anything more. We don't have a direct channel to Valhalla. We can get further information in the base."
After that, they kept a sullen silence. Their cargo shuttle was now in the last phase of its landing pattern.