When they taxied on the spur running parallel to the main line, ensign Yagisawa again became aware of their speed. Even when taxing, they ran at 300 kilometers per hour. Since they were running in the tunnel, Yagisawa felt that they were extremely fast. Despite their speed, it took 10 minutes to reach Olympia Base, which existed on the midpoint of the rail.
This was the most logical location since shuttles always accelerate or decelerate in the direction of planetary rotation of Mars. They traveled in comfort as the shuttle hovered above the rail.
Soon their vista opened. They had exited the tunnel and traveled onto the plain of the caldera. Yagisawa thought that the surface of Mars was surprisingly ordinary. Because of its low atmospheric pressure it didn't differ much from the surface of the moon with which he was familiar. Phobos was near its zenith, and its light made the scattered craters expressionless.
During taxiing chief Zanak called the base and tried to find out what happened. But the base crew didn't know either. From their answer he warned only that an undefined interplanet flying object was approaching in a path crossing the Valhalla-Station's orbit at cruising speed.
They looked at each other. The existence of an unregistered artificial flying object was itself illegal. So there was no doubt that it was an act of hostility for such an object plunged toward a station of Air Space Force without decelerating. If this was the reason for sudden departure of the fleet, there could only be one reason.
War...
They hesitated to say it. Both of them thought that it might be a mistake or possibly some minor problem. As soon as their shuttle stopped at the parking area, they hurried to the base headquarters. The base, half of which was buried in the ground for protecting against meteorites, was filled with excitement.
Zanak questioned all crewmen he knew, but no one had reliable information. There were a few crewmen on the base, and most of them gathered around the communicator. A communication officer said with displeased face.
"It was not clear because there is so much static, but there has been strong interference for the last few minutes. Now I'm trying to filter it out."
"Static....Was it sent by radio? By FM?"
Someone asked. Soon another answered of course.
"Well, who would be fool enough to send the message via radio waves? Sun spots are too active now."
"This is..."
The communication officer put on the message, which was sent both in audio and video. He couldn't find the words to say. When they understood the message, no one could say anything for a moment. Then the headquarters erupted into an uproar. The expression was solemn it was obviously declaration of war by Superior Planets Alliance.
"What a dirty trick to send such a message when the sun spots were so active!"
"And it's Sunday today. Are they imitating with Pearl Harbor?"
One of mechanics said in irritable voice.
"Forgot about this, are there any messages from Valhalla? They have a laser communication system."
"We received a message but it addressed to the commanding officer."
"What! Is he still sleeping?"
"Someone go and rout him out of bed."
Just then, an officer stuck his head out of the crowd.
"Show me."
The mechanic who asked if the commander was sleeping saluted him hastily. The commander appeared out of the crowd . He was the shortest person present with piercing eyes set in a black face of South-Asia descent. The commander took a glance at the message and said to communication officer.
"Send the verification of receipt. And..."
He looked at the people in the room angrily and said,
"Man your stations. I'll explain shortly. Go to your post immediately. Do you understand? This is war!"
Speaking of stations, they had no combat capabilities other than small arms. But crew hurried to their own posts. Before then the crew was still uncertain. So the term "war" had shocked them. He interrupted Zanak's salute and said
"Give me your landing report later. You can stay here if you have nowhere to go. But don't disturb us."
After receiving readiness reports from all sections, the commander spoke at a mike.
"This is the commander officer. I'll explain the situation. The Superior Planets Alliance declared war on the earth and the moon 30 minutes ago. Now I'll skip the petty details. But in fact our Air Space Force is currently fighting with S.P.A.Armed Forces... I don't know what kind of forces they are, but they declared themselves as armed forces. They didn't designate the Martian Cities Alliance as an enemy in the declaration. Note that. It is a most important fact. They didn't declare war on the Martian Cities Alliance. Probably Mars won't be involved in the war."
A communication officer turned his head to the commander. They had received another message. The commander stopped talking to read the message on the display and then spoke again.
"We have new message... A few minutes ago, vessels docked at the Columbia Station were attacked. The detail was not known. They will send another message when the situation is clearer. And, Century Station is engaging the enemy, too. So don't neglect to use caution. That's about it... Valhalla Station also experienced an enemy attack. But they are fighting back and the situation is not serious... That's all. In short, the enemies should not come back here but we are ordered to alert and prepare for battle. So stay at your stations."
The commander put the mike back. Watching him, Zanak whispered.
"How do we do to prepare for battle? Do they repaint my shuttle in combat camouflage.?"
"Perhaps they'll practice bucket-relays."
Answered Yagisawa coolly, as he approached the commander at his console. Once they were at action stations, the commander had nothing to do. So he watched the display that occupied most of a wall. It showed the orbit around Mars and objects en route to the other planets.
"On which orbit is the unregistered ship approaching Valhalla Station?"
"It took the southward roundabout orbit."
Ignoring Yagisawa's impertinence, the commander answered.
"It is the simplest orbit. But it uses too much fuel. Now Mars is located its lowest position against the ecliptic route, so they tried to detour southward and to avoid the observation. If they had taken an economical orbit and spent less time in approach, they would have to go near the ecliptic route. Even if they didn't, if they come from Jupiter or Saturn system, they must come under observation from earth."
"But they were noticed long before they came near Mars. Now scrambled frigates are ganging upon them. Because they plunged in without speed reduction, it is only natural that they were found. Well, do you have any idea about that?"
The commander looked up to Zanak, but Yagisawa answered.
"It is highly possible that it is a dummy, isn't it?"
The commander frowned.
"Do you think so, too? This orbit is simple enough, and the enemy could easily send a decrepit ship without crew. The ship could be an empty tanker or container ship, or even an unnecessary drone. The commander of Valhalla Station will grasp the situation, but he cannot ignore the ship. While there is any possibility that the ship might attack the station, he must order some frigates to defend against it. The ship is speeding at so high a speed that they must destroy it before it comes near the station, or debris can cause serious damage to the station."
"Now, if it is a dummy, where are real enemies ?"
"I don't know. There may be none. It is possible that their true target is Columbia and they only tried to distract us with that dummy. In any case, they can't have that much war potential. More than ten armed merchant ships that attacked Columbia have already been identified, so they cannot possibly have more forces.
Even if another force should attack Valhalla, they would be safe. They have some frigates. And warheads a ship debris can be disposed by the base defenses."
"What...is this ?"
Zanak, watching the display, muttered. Yagisawa followed his eye and fixed upon a ship approaching a private station in orbit around Mars. The ship did not appear to be worthy of serious consideration. It finished decreasing its interplanetary speed and was going to put itself into orbit. The data on the display showed it was registered on Titan.
"There is the true enemy. Its target is this base."
Zanak said, and all those present looked back towards him.