The Last Martians

Revolution Part 4

Evelyn continued recruiting female soldiers. She was not as careful as she had once been. Female soldiers outnumbered their male counterparts two to one. The men knew the female soldiers had some kind of sorority. This did not bother them much as they had no idea what the purpose of the Women for Women organisation was. The women felt powerful. For the first time in most of their lives, they had a political purpose. They belonged to an organisation which had their best interest at heart. The more they shared their experiences of discrimination with each other, the more they truly believed there was no other way than to revolt against male domination.

Tensions between female and male soldiers slowly rose. A few scuffles broke out between them. With each of these scuffles, many women would join the fray, without caring who or what started the fight. The women became bolder by the day. They were convinced their views were pure and people who did not fully agree with them, hated women. Some women felt it was their duty to agitate men. They constantly looked for arguments, during which a bunch of them always shouted their victim down, not giving him a chance to make his argument. It was only a matter of time before the powder keg exploded.

When Evelyn returned from another meeting with Linda, she spread the word. Justice Day was only two days away. Men would later refer to it as Treason Day, but by then, their views no longer counted. The general of the southern forces planned a full-scale attack on the northern camp. Although the leaders of Women for Women in Dome City had not yet given the green light, Linda knew this was the perfect opportunity for the revolt to start. She also knew it would be good for her political career if her plan was successful. Linda was more naïve. She had not considered a political career yet. Her intentions were truly pure, to free all women from what she believed was oppression.

Some men sensed something was brewing, but most of them did not have the energy to confront the female soldiers. Others lazily prescribed to the theory that women were not suitable as soldiers because of their fluctuating emotions. Although the female soldiers' perceived arrogance bothered most men, they had more pressing issues to focus on. The deathrate in this war was high. Most men accepted they might not go home alive. Some of them had boys at home, and the thought of them having to grow up without a father was difficult to these men to reconcile with. Marriage was a long-forgotten practice. Courts had ruled centuries before that mothers should raise all children to the age of six. After that, boys went to live with their fathers, while girls remained with their mothers. They based their ruling on the theory that men are better suited to raise boys to become responsible men, while the same applied to women and girls. Although there were exceptions, this had pretty much become the rule whereby most parents decided who would have custody of their children.

Linda went to her observation post two hours before dawn on 11 March 3187, knowing very well the south would arrive soon. The plan was straightforward. She would raise the alarm, and the female soldiers would join the men in defence of their camp. None of the men would suspect anything until it was too late. Her warm breath created thick clouds in the chilly morning air. This amused her for a while, but she was getting anxious. Doubts were entering her mind. Agreeing with the enemy not to kill female soldiers was one thing, but killing their own male soldiers was a whole new level of deceit. She had slept with some of these men. Although she did not have any children, some other women had children with these men. But she convinced herself sacrifices were acceptable in a war for justice. These men would be sacrificed for a better future for all, including the men who would survive the revolt.

The morning breeze soon brought sounds of movement in the forest to her ears. As there were no animals on Mars, Evelyn knew this was the southern army. She carefully climbed down the ladder and made her way back to the camp before the southern soldiers would notice her. When she raised the alarm, orchestrated chaos broke out. Sleepy soldiers grabbed their weapons and ran to their posts, ready to battle the enemy bearing down on their camp. A five-hundred-yard clearing around the camp meant the enemy had to exit the forest to have a realistic chance to take the camp. This happened a few minutes before first light. Hoping to make use of the cover of darkness, the southern soldiers carefully exited the cover of the forest. In the dark, the male soldiers did not realise the female soldiers stayed behind in the forest. They also did not realise the northern soldiers were ready for them. Thousand-foot flares suddenly lit up the clearing.