Chapter 36 – The Jail Break
We marched out an hour before sun-up, the scouts led by Sergeant Fish in front. When we reached a
line even with the middle of town, I took the squad of V.I.C. north, to our hiding place. The scouts continued east until they were out of sight.
We waited anxiously for the sun to come up. Once it was
light enough to see, I ordered the men to check their weapons. I gave the
scouts the bolt action rifles so that they could benefit from increased rate of
fire. My men carried the trapdoor carbines and two revolvers.
The sun had just cleared the horizon when we heard the first
reports of the rifles. I took out my binoculars and scanned the town. To my
delight, I could see the building where ten Martian soldiers spilled out into
the street. From a building across the street from the barracks, I saw a man
dressed in a suit typically worn by officials come out into the street.
“They are on the move men.”, I said. “I have spotted two
buildings where our men might be located. They are across the street from one
another. We’ll check the closer building first, then the second if needed.
The men nodded their understanding. The rifle fire increased
steadily. I strained to hear the report of a pistol. The unique report of the
Martian rifle started up, sporadic at first, then becoming more regular. Still
we waited. Minutes went by, but no pistol shots. Then I perceived our rifles
moving away.
“Our boys are movin’ back.”, Private Adair said. With this,
the men began to fidget.
“It should be soon now.”, I said.
Adair then said, “Sounds like a good number of them Martians
are after our boys. A dozen, maybe more.”
“There’s our signal.”, I said. “Let’s move.”
We advanced to the edge of our cover. We had a hundred yards
of open ground to cover.
“At the double men!”, I ordered, then took off at a run to
clear the open ground. The rifle fire to our right continued unabated. We
halted beside the buildings on either side of the street that we were to enter. I
motioned to the men on the opposite side to move as I rounded the corner. As I
advanced down the street, a door flew open and two soldier stepped out. Two
shots rang out from behind me and the two Martians fell to the ground.
I drew my pistol and hurried to the door. I entered the door
and found an empty room. The room was silent, aside from the men entering. I
moved to the right corridor and motioned to the other half squad to the left.
We entered the corridor and saw civilians scattering.
“Adair!”, I yelled, “You and Benson round up those people!”
The two men fell back to collect the people and push them
behind us. I entered the next tower, which was empty as well.
I turned to my men and said, “Help Adair and Benson get
those people in here.” I then went to the next door. I waited until I saw
Private Cook at the far door.
“Anything!”, I shouted.
“They’re not here!”, he replied. “Just a few civilians!”
“Round them up and bring them here!”, I ordered. “We’ll lock
them up in this tower!”
We moved our captives to a corner as Cook and his men
brought the others. I had him lock and bar the door after everyone was in. We
put all the civilians together. They appeared very frightened, but we could do nothing
for it. We left through the door I came in, barricading it before we left.
“Let’s go to the next building.”, I said. “We’ll find them
there.”
I moved out the door then up to the corner. I looked down
the street to the west then east and saw no one. I waved the men forward and
they rushed past me with a “Rebel Yell”. As I got under way, I saw two of my
men crash through the door and three more dive in after. Shots were fired and
as I made it to the door, my men were disappearing down the hallways.
“No unnecessary shooting!” I yelled. As I surveyed the room.
I saw two officials on the floor and one of our men down.
“Are you alive, private?”, I said to the man. He moaned then
sat up.
“Sorry colonel,”, he said, “I think I broke my shoulder on
the door.”
“Let me get you fixed up so we can get out of here.”, I
said. As I fixed a sling for my wounded man, more shots rang out. I moved to
the corridor and saw my men coming my way.
“We got’em!”, Private Benson said. In a moment I could see
what he meant. There were Banto and Granto in amongst the men.
“What was the shooting?”, I asked.
“Couldn’t find the key.” Benson said.
“Bully!”, I said. “Let’s get back to camp. Banto, Granto,
you help Private Davis. He has an injured shoulder.”
I looked down the street and saw no one, so we moved on. We
got to the end of the street and stopped to observe. Then I noticed that I
wasn’t hearing rifle fire.
“Our men are not shooting.” I said. “We must be viligant.
Let’s move out.”
As we crossed the open, I spotted a group of Martian soldiers
moving toward us.
I shouted, “Down men!” The men dove to the ground. I brought
my rifle to bear and fired. The men followed suit and a sharp firefight ensued.
We were pinned down in a small depression without much cover. The Martian hostiles kept us pinned down while
their comrades rushed forward. It would soon come to hand to hand fighting.
Then, what sounded like a machine gun opened up behind us. I
spun around but could see nothing. Reytik’s men stopped, confused. My squad
took advantage of their pause and opened a rapid and telling fire. I turned
back to see the Martians throw down their weapons and run.
“Let’s move, cautiously.”, I ordered. We crept forward,
toward the shooting. We broke into the brush and found Professor Edgren.
“Professor!”, I shouted. “What are you doing here.”
“Well,”, he started, “I heard you tell the troops that you
needed them to make as much noise as possible.
The others came back, out of
ammunition, so I grabbed a bucket of water and a box of Martian bullets and
came here to help.”
“Well, you scared off the lot.”, I said. “And you gave us a
fright as well. Let’s get back to camp.”
We made it back to camp with no issues.
The paintings are by Charles Johnson Post. who was visiting from Nodus Gordii.
