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.I hadn’t understood what I was seeing, until Kitty pointed out that most of the guards had come from the inner cities and malls of Earth and knew less than I did about industrial equipment.The workers could probably run rings around them.It wasn't much better in deep space.The Heinlein starships were still mounting their hit-and-run raids, each time trying to take out a cruiser or a troop transport starship.I had worked out the logistics behind that myself.If we lost troop transports in unacceptable numbers, we would have to start using freighters, or colonist-carriers.If we started losing those in significant numbers, the war would be on the verge of being lost, all over the Human Sphere.Without the freighters and heavy transports, the UN wouldn’t be able to hold what it had.It certainly couldn’t found new colonies further away from Earth.“Bastards,” I heard Anna say, at one time.“They could just come out for a fight!”“That would be stupid of them,” Konrad pointed out, in return.“All they have to do is keep going and they’ll drive us mad.Why should they waste themselves butting their heads against a stone wall when they can undermine it instead?”The news from the planet seemed to range between the insanely optimistic and the extremely depressing.Another order was being passed banning all contact with Heinlein’s vast array of prostitutes – except they weren't prostitutes, but something else, something honourable in their society I never understood – after a prostitute somehow drugged and killed seven men.Other orders banned drinking in local bars, or eating local food, or even talking to local children.I didn’t understand the motivation behind all the orders, but I knew one thing.Morale was falling right through the deck.“Perhaps the locals can help,” Anna said, tiredly.“They’re coming out in our favour, right?”I doubted it.I’d only seen videos of the Heinlein Front for Progressive Unity, but they didn’t strike me as impressive.Their spokesmen talked about the benefits of UN rule, parroting back UN propaganda to the point where I was sure that everyone knew that they were just talking heads.There were real collaborators down on the surface, but some of them ended up dead after their security had slipped – just once – and others had proved to be working for the other side.An arms dump of captured weapons had been betrayed to the insurgents by a collaborator, who’d vanished into the night with his new friends.The war knew no end and the death toll – on both sides – was mounting rapidly.We’d lost over ten thousand, mainly infantry.God alone knew how many they’d lost.“You’re going to have to check in on the reporters,” the Captain ordered, one day.It was something of a relief.I might not have participated in any more bombardments, but I knew that the day was coming.The Captain had had to sent two of his Lieutenants and three Ensigns to the cruiser Susan Sontag after several of the crew were caught in a rigged asteroid and killed in a massive explosion.Several Captains had just started blasting suspect asteroids from long range, despite official orders against it.“Take some leave after it and check out Lazarus.I want a full report when you return.”I saluted and took the next shuttle down to the surface.The only change was that this time we were greeted with several SAM weapons, instead of just one.The Heinlein Resistance had obviously been stockpiling them for the invasion and distributed them widely.We lost several helicopters a week, and at least seven heavy shuttles had been shot down.I was lucky – again – and escaped serious injury, although the pilot kept swearing all the time until we hit the surface.I should have written him up for losing his cool under fire, but he had landed us safely, despite that.I doubt I could have done as well.Heinlein really was a beautiful place, I reflected, as I joined a military convoy leading into Lazarus.It was marred by burned out towns and villages – the Infantry had cleared away every place near the roads leading to the city – but even so, it was beautiful.Earth no longer looked like that, as far as I knew.The planet was so heavily polluted that it was growing increasingly hazardous to life and limb.It was no wonder that the inhabitants were willing to defend it and, judging by the twitchy demeanour of the soldiers, were doing so successfully.None of the Infantry had signed up for an all-out war.“We found the remains of the last patrol in this area,” the Infantry Captain told me, after I asked.“They’d cut off their balls and stuffed them in their mouths.The girls had knives rammed up their cunts.It’s growing harder to patrol so close to the city and it’s giving them time to bring up new weapons and resupply their people.”The city looked like a war zone.The vast majority of civilians were now gone, replaced by UN Infantry and endless convoys of supplies being shipped to distant outposts.Even so, the city kept fighting – I heard the sounds of several IEDs as we drove into the expanded secure zone – and it was far from secure.A handful of arrested girls were being raped by a group of Infantry, their screams echoing for miles…and I turned my head and looked away.There was nothing I could do.“The men need to blow off steam,” the Captain said, seeing my expression.“It doesn’t matter.The bastards will kill us all in the end.”I should have reported the defeatism, but again, I just couldn’t be bothered.The secure zone looked more like a fortress than ever, covered with gun emplacements and heavy roadblocks.A line of armoured tanks seemed to follow us with their machine guns as we drove past them.It was almost a relief to see Frank Wong and the rest of the reporters.They’d lost weight, I noticed, and they were pale and trembling.The compound, it seemed, was shelled daily.The locals could set up a mortar, fire a few rounds, and then vanish before the Infantry could locate them.“You have to get us out of here,” Frank insisted, desperately.I was tempted to twit him about his endlessly optimistic statements, but it wasn't the right time.“It won’t be long before they break in and kill us all.”I looked back at the defences.“I don’t think its that bad,” I said, unable to resist the temptation.He had been a major pain in my ass.“They’re not going to lose so quickly, are they?”“They broke in last week,” Frank said, seriously.“They killed seven of the officers before they were hunted down by the Infantry.You have to get us out of here.”I smiled as another flight of helicopters raced overhead, their stubby wings crammed with weapons and sensors, hunting human prey.“I’ll do my best,” I murmured.“I’ll see to it as soon as possible [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]