"I'll do that right now," she said, putting her coffee down and turning her computer terminal towards her. "Computer," she told it. "Initiate order 74-1." 74-1 was the section of the Martian constitution that allowed the governor to call up all Martian Planetary Guard units to active duty to repel an imminent invasion of the planet. It authorized the planetary government to take over the MarsTrans public transportation system to facilitate the movement of soldiers to the MPG base and ordered all employers, under penalty of treason, to release the MPG members from their regular jobs. It was an order that had never been initiated before, not even as a training exercise.
"Order 74-1 is pending," the computer told her, flashing a text of the call up notice upon her screen. "Voice recognition of Whiting, Laura E, Governor of Planet Mars, is confirmed. Please give the authorization code."
Laura rattled off a nine-digit number that she had long since memorized.
"Authorization code is correct," the computer replied. "Please sign the order."
She placed her right index finger on the screen, signing it.
"The order will be initiated," the computer told her.
Within ten seconds the main MPG database was contacted and the names and PC addresses of every single member were called with a pre-recorded message. At the same time the MarsTrans office was contacted and given some very unpleasant news. They would have to surrender use of their trains for the next twenty-four hours.
"Okay," Jackson said after watching all of this. "Now get those cops out of here. While you're doing that, I'll get the guys up on Triad moving." With that he left the room for the office next door, where he had his own terminal set up now.
"Computer," Laura said, "get me Chief Sandoza of the New Pittsburgh Police Department. Highest priority."
"You have forty-three callers attempting to reach you at the moment," the computer told her. "Would you like me to list them?"
"No," she said, knowing that most of them were people like Corban Hayes or William Smith. "For the time being accept no incoming calls."
"Accepting no incoming calls. Contacting Chief Sandoza."
"Thank you," she said, leaning back in her chair and closing her eyes for a moment. Things were moving fast now. Soon they would move even faster.
It took about three minutes before Sandoza came on the line. Laura understood. He probably had a lot on his mind at the moment. His handsome, aristocratic face appeared before her, his eyes stern but confused. "Governor Whiting?" he said. "What the hell is going on over there?"
"Nice to hear from you too, Nick," she said lightly. "I suppose you've caught a small glint of the proceedings here?"
"Governor, to tell you the truth, I simply can't believe what I'm hearing. The FLEB director himself called me up to ask me to mobilize my force and move in on the capital building because your security troops are holding his men and all of the workers inside of the building hostage, including the lieutenant governor and the legislature." He shook his head. "Hostages? Surely there is a mistake going on here. He also said that an indictment has been handed down on you and that you are to be taken into custody. Is this true?"
"It's true, Nick. A federal grand jury in Denver..." — she emphasized the name of that city, knowing that most Martians hated the very sound of it — "... has indicted me on corruption charges. FLEB agents came to the capital to arrest me for extradition to Earth. My security team prevented them from doing that."
"Jesus Christ!" he said, shocked.
"Unfortunately, some of the FLEB agents did not surrender peacefully. Ten of them are dead, three badly wounded. The rest of them are in the basement being held under guard. As for the lieutenant governor and the rest of the workers, they are not hostages but they are being kept in their offices to keep them out of harm's way. They'll be allowed to leave as soon as this situation is under control."
"Laura, what in the hell do you think you're doing over there? You've killed federal agents! You've resisted arrest! You'll be given the death penalty!"
"Nick," she said quietly. "I know exactly what I'm doing. I know that right now your cops are surrounding the capital building at the request of the FLEB, initiating a hostage response. I've known you for a long time and I know that you're a Martian, not an Earthling. I need to ask you something and I want you to answer me honestly. Do you believe that the indictment against me represents real corruption charges or is it simply a result of WestHem trying to remove a troublesome governor from office?"
He stared back at her, though he was actually staring at a screen in his own office twelve blocks away. "Of course they're not real charges, Laura," he said. "Everyone knows that. But it's a federal indictment. The place to fight it is in court, not in the lobby of the capital. The corruption charges are going to be secondary to..."
"Nick," she interrupted. "I don't think you understand where I'm going with this."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm not going to be removed from this building. Events are bigger than a simple hostage situation. This is the opening move in a revolution. I need you to pull your cops out of here."
"I can't do that!" he exclaimed. "We're not talking about refusing to cooperate with a questionable raid on Martian citizens here. We're talking about the illegal seizure of a government building in which deaths have occurred. The deaths of federal law enforcement officers! The law..."
"It's WestHem law you're talking about," she interrupted again. "I'm telling you, Nick, I will not be removed from this building. MPG troops are already on the way to secure it and they will follow my orders, at least for the time being. Your cops are all Martians and I don't want them to get hurt. Pull them back. This is not between them and me, it's between the feds and me. Don't let the feds involve your people in this. Your cops are not equipped to deal with army troops and they are not the enemy my people need to be fighting. Pull them back and withdraw your cooperation with the FLEB. You are under planetary control, not federal. I'll take the heat and I'll tell everyone I ordered it."
He stared some more, his brain obviously on overload. Laura knew she had struck several chords with her words, something she had a knack for, something that had brought her as far as she'd come. "What exactly are you planning?" he finally said.
"I can't discuss it right now," she told him. "Like I said, things will be clear in another day and you'll have the opportunity to evaluate my actions along with all of the other Martian citizens. But for now you're just going to have to trust me. Pull back your people. Keep them on the right side of this thing and let them decide for themselves in the next two days. If you keep them in place here, some of them are going to be killed and that's the last thing in the world I want. Pull them back. I know you're recording this conversation and I take full responsibility for this action. If you have red blood flowing in your veins, you'll do as I ask and give no more assistance to the FLEB."
He bit his lip nervously as he stared at her, a simple Martian politician who had just had the most important decision of his life dumped into his lap. But he was not a dumb man by any means. He was a former street cop who had risen through the ranks to achieve the position he now held. He knew Laura Whiting and he knew what she stood for. "They'll be pulled back," he finally said. "And God help you, Laura."
"God help us all." Laura replied with a grateful smile.
Officers John Williams and Zifford Resinman of the New Pittsburgh PD had been on scene less than ten minutes. They were sixty meters from the main entrance of the capital building, covering behind their police cart. Their M-24 rifles were in their hands, pointing at the doors, the selector switches set on full automatic fire. Their helmets were firmly in place and their combat goggles showed only a glare of the dim Martian sunlight reflecting off of the glass and a strained view of an empty lobby beyond it. Their radios crackled out a hundred different orders and inquiries, adding to the general feeling of confusion that was pervading the scene. All around them were other NPPD police officers deployed in a similar matter. The elite SWAT team had just arrived and was taking up position against the walls of the capital building itself. They had primacord and anti-tank lasers with them for breaching the doors if that became necessary. About a hundred yards down the street, well out of the line of sight of the capital, the FLEB troops had arrived and were milling about behind their vans, talking to Lieutenant Bongwater, who was in charge of the police aspects of the operation.