Chapter 15 – Things Get Hotter
Our station was
laid out as follows; the first room was the office area where we conducted
business with the locals as well as business pertaining to our forces. Then a
barracks, jail, and infirmary. As I had wounded men from both sides of the
conflict on my hands, I had to figure out what to do with them. The city guards
were severely beaten, but had no life threatening injuries, so I placed them in
the barracks. The rioters had some critically injured among them, so they were
located in the infirmary.
Miss Linton had
her hands full attending all of these men, so I sent out for Martian
physicians. I was able to obtain help from two doctors in private practice, but
no one from the government facilities would offer aid. As the guards would not
accept aid from the Martian doctors, Miss Linton, with the aid of two burly
privates, administered to their hurts. The Martian physicians attended the
civilian wounded, with some supervision by Miss Linton.
After a few
days all of the city guard were discharged (without their weapons) and escorted
back to the Mayor’s office. The lightly wounded civilians were also released,
but those with more serious injuries were retained. With the diligent work of
the Martian doctors and Miss Linton, these men were ‘put to right’ in short order.
In the city,
tensions were ever increasing. Reytik issued an edict banning groups larger
than five men from gathering on the streets. The guards were traveling in
groups of three or more. They were also carrying more weapons than normal. To
make matters worse, the guards were flexing their muscles and generally being a
nuisance. This, of course, led to an increase in the clandestine activities of
the democracy movement and these activities centered in the area around our
station.
As the days
passed, I noticed watch towers, similar to ours, popping up all around the
government sector of the city. There was also a sharp increase in the number of
people brought in for questioning by the city guard. More than a few of those
people left the guard stations in worse shape than when they entered. This
further increased the tension. I knew things would come to a head soon.
“I know that
the incident outside our station has caused some consternation with the government,
but the situation seems to be escalating at a greater pace than one street
fight can account for.” I said. “What other factors are widening the rift
between the merchant classes and the government?”
“Aside from the
guards’ strong arm tactics, Reytik is attacking the merchants’ ability to
pursue their livelihood.”
“How so?” I
asked.
“Most of the
people in the democracy movement work in the food industry, either growing,
supplying, or preparing foodstuffs for consumption. Reytik has been placing
tariffs and taxes on all of these businesses in the hopes that it will force
them back in line with the government.” She said.
“But won’t the
government’s faction be affected as well?” I asked.
“Reytik is
importing food for his supporters, so the retailers are being hit twice, losing
business and increased taxes.” She said.
“And this has
had a unifying effect on the democracy movement.” I said. “But they cannot be
in any way prepared to start an all out rebellion.”
“No, they are
not.” Miss Linton replied. “However, Reytik is going to push them until they
either give up or they rebel, in which case, Reytik will crush them.
Unfortunately, I believe that the partial success of the rioters has emboldened
the more radical elements of the movement and they may act rashly”
“That could
destroy the entire movement if it goes badly.” I said. “Is there any way to
dissuade them from such a course of action?”
“We can try.”
She said. “But I think you should consider strengthening the station in town
and preparing the remaining troops for battle.”
“I believe I
shall, thank you Miss Linton.” I said.
I knew if
things came to a head that our station would be the target of an attack by the
government forces. So I ordered the station reinforced in a manner that would
not be obvious to those on the outside. I did not wish to provoke Reytik with
preparations for war. I also billeted two platoons at the station at all times
along with the two Colt machine guns. At the fort, I increased the watch and
kept the remaining artillery ready to move at all times. The two telegraphs
were manned at all times and contact was maintained on an hourly basis. I made
my command center in the station in town and left Lieutenant Ballard in command
of the fort.
With our
preparations made, all that was left to do was wait. The civil unrest increased
over the weeks, thought the scale of the altercations was much smaller and
unorganized. The city guards were still manhandling innocent civilians while
the democracy movement fighters were sniping at the guards. For the most part
injuries to both parties were minor, but it was obvious that it would not be
long before the attacks became more lethal.
It finally
happened when a small group of city guards were assaulting a female shop keeper
a few blocks from our station. Several men ran to the young woman’s aid and
engaged the guards in hand to hand combat. During the altercation, some of the
guards drew pistols and shot two of the civilians down. They then overpowered
the remaining male civilians and redoubled their attack on the woman. My man in
the watchtower, seeing the whole scene unfold, took aim upon the guards’ leader
and shot him dead. At the same time another group of armed civilians appeared. More
shots were exchanged, between the civilians and the guards before the guards
retired. It the end, four civilians were wounded, one critically, and one guard
was dead. I could not determine if any of the guards that escaped were hurt.
The young lady was scared and bruised, but received no major physical damage.
This was the
first time that the fairer sex was involved in the feuding and I headed toward
Reytik’s office to register a protest. I lead five men and Professor Edgren down
the street toward the government quarter. The streets were abuzz with outraged
citizens. On the way we encountered several civilians pleading for us to put a
stop to the guards’ indiscretions. I assured them that we would do all in our
power to bring about peace.
As we rounded
the corner the air was rent by a massive explosion. We were thrown to the
ground by the concussion of the blast as smoke and debris flew past. I laid in
the street stunned for a few minutes. Once I recovered, I staggered to my feet
and checked on the rest of my group. I found that no one was injured, so we
pushed on to the Mayor’s office.
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