Trails Of Red Dust

Between Two Worlds

The piercing sound of gunfire prompted Jactor to regain consciousness. A scattershot of bullets rained onto the structure whose compromised integrity had apparently provided cover for him and his friend during the fight, however long it had been going on by now. He forced his blurry vision to clear upon hearing the firm yet familiar voice of the figure next to him. "Wake up!"

Another hail of gunfire fell upon them, splintering part of the table they were using for cover. The girl next to him cocked her gun and fired back in defiance. Jactor sat up, his head throbbing. His long-time partner in arms, Nara, was in attack position next to him, rifle poised and a look of intensity etched into her face.

Nara stood up for a better shot and Jactor heard the familiar thump of a body hitting the floor from several feet in the air. Whoever they had encountered had the advantage of both superior numbers and higher levels, even if their training had seemed rather lackluster. But here were Jactor and Nara, pinned to the ground while metal flew at them from every direction.

Jactor reached for Nara's leg and found the baggy texture of her pants, pulling her down. Still unaware of how long he had been unconscious, he now remembered the headcount of his party. "Where's Trose and Alice?"

Nara wasted no time in returning fire to the now less-numerous opposition. "He's taking out some of the snipers in one of the buildings. Don't worry, he'll be fine."

"Alice?" Jactor made his voice stern.

"I don't know! She shouldn't have followed us here in the first place!"

An awful thought crossed Jactor's mind for just a moment. "Not so safe anymore are you?" His regret manifested itself as a mild shaking of his head. Alice, who had followed them upon learning that they were heading to retrieve a Terran artifact, was no soldier. She had come from a wealthy family in one of the more secure sectors of Mars, and yet she lacked the common snobbiness of her type. Jactor had convinced the others to let her come out of his respect for her curiosity, but had regretted it ever since they were ambushed, shortly after which he passed out.

Jactor's eyes darted around, feeling increasingly useless. "Where's my gun?"

He was still slightly disoriented but could tell that Nara rolled her eyes at his question. "I had to drag you here from inside the building right after you had your little 'episode'. You think I had time to worry about your gun? You're lucky to be alive!"

Jactor turned his head to the building on his left and spotted the barely familiar outline of Alice's head over a counter. She was obviously frightened but she didn't appear injured. A sigh of relief escaped him and he forced himself to redirected his focus to Nara.

"So did we get it?"

"No, it wasn't here," replied Nara with less frustration than he had expected. Perhaps she was feeling guilty, it was her idea to come searching for junk in the first place. Often in their escapades they underestimated the resolve of Terrans to defend their belongings.

Jactor's thoughts were interrupted by an impact on the ground just yards away. Trose had jumped out of the window of the building to their left and was now firing from the porch. Jactor had been a long-time admirer of the confidence Trose had exhibited in his missions, but the lone-wolf style execution of their skirmish caused him to look upon his friend with more scorn than anything else.

"We weren't prepared for this." Jactor's resentfulness was growing as he thought more and more about the situation. They had been on Earth for several months, assessing the capacity of the remaining governments to wage war should a conflict, a large conflict, spark between Earth and Mars. However, the three had once again often broken off from the company in order to scavenge. Never having visited Earth before, the idea of visiting the planet of his ancestors intrigued them. However, amidst the current situation, he was beginning to wonder if the intentions had remained the same since their first little adventure.