He interfaced with his wrist implant, and started reorganizing files. The directories and files were trashed, almost like a messy room. He usually never let the data get clustered up like this, but he hadn�t exactly had a quiet moment like this in a while either.
William walked over to him, towel slung over his shoulder. His hair was still wet, and needed a trim. He sat in the chair next to David, and sat there thinking.
�Well, that was fun. It�s been a while since we�ve been able to use the M-13s.� He rested his back against the chair, looking at the brownish crimson ceiling. David nodded in agreement; it was quite a thrill to be back in his favorite plane again. When it was in space he had more maneuvering capabilities, but he liked flying it no matter where he was.
�We�ll be landing soon,� David said. �Looks like our division will be in charge of the rest of the AGF�s.�
�Wait a sec�� William interrupted. �Sir, are you saying we�re going to be playing mall security?� David slowly nodded. He didn�t like the assignment of watching over civilians or commanding thousands of troops either, but he had to. His opinion was of no importance; he had a duty to fulfill.
�Permission to speak freely sir?�
�Granted.�
�That sucks.� A slight chuckle came from Jean, who had walked over to them unnoticed. She sat in another chair near them.
�Honestly Will, you could complain about anything. There�s much worse jobs that we could�ve been assigned, so let�s just appreciate what we got.�
�That,� David pointed out, �and we�ll be flying the M-13s on recon missions a lot more.� William�s grim face faded away to a grin.
�Well, sir, you didn�t tell us we�d be watching over the kids with our favorite toys.�
A tone rang out over the speakers, just as N�tn�see came out from the shower room.
�Attention all personnel, prepare for landing procedures. Separation in two minutes. Attention all passengers, I repeat, separation in two minutes. Please vacate to your designated dropship and prepare for landing. Secure all cargo.�
David got to his feet, as did the rest of his team. They didn�t really have anything to do, but they could help others. He didn�t receive any orders from the command ships up front. They went down to the cargo holds, and helped the soldiers on duty down there secure crates of supplies and fuel.
The vessel shuddered as the docking locks that held the ships together were released. One person tripped and dropped a crate, spilling bullets all over the deck. David helped the soldier up to his feet, and helped him put the bullets back into its crate. The man looked very young, and seemed on edge. He had just seen his home world taken by Clanners, and was on his way to Mars. David couldn�t blame him that much, but was still thankful none of his men were so susceptible to trauma.
His men. He had N�tn�see, William and Jean. Only a fraction of what his squad was mere months ago� he shut the thought out of his mind, and got back to hefting crates.
After all of the crates were secure, David walked over to the window on the port side. Mars� surface was visible through it, with the awkward blue hue of its artificial atmosphere. About a century ago, when the world was still divided into power hungry nations, the world�s superpowers raced for control beyond Earth. They terraformed Mars, putting plants and single celled organism colonies on its surface. They had to build large air recycling facilities at first, but eventually just abandoned them.
The air didn�t have the same familiar quality to it that Earth�s had, but it was completely breathable. It also felt heavy in the lungs from its artificial density enhancers added to it, since Mars� gravity couldn�t hold a standard atmosphere of pressure.
The ships� enormous engines kicked back to life again, slowing their descent to the planet. Slowly they lowered through the unnaturally thick air, until they touched down a few kilometers away from the alliance�s military facility stationed there. Accommodations for the civilians still had to be made, but for now, the red dirt, bluish green sky and monstrous mountains were home.
