Page 92 of The Red Woman on Mars

“Intelligence, please … guide us in our hour of need.” Vivian turned to see Secretary Yarrow had come to stand beside her, hands clutching her cane. She must have descended the stairs during the interlude of calm.

“We don’t have any guidance for this situation, Constance. We’re not programmed to advise on matters of military strategy.”

Constance’s face sagged. “Please, you must help us. This is Arcadia’s darkest hour.”

The dais’s wood began to warp as it shook from the force of the invader’s blows on the other side. “Secretary,” Vivian said grimly. “Go back up to safety.”

“What can you possibly do, girl?”

Vivian made sure her skirt was secure and turned to the door. “I guess we’ll find out.”

“They’re coming!” someone behind them shrieked.

The barricade fell with a resounding crash.

Silas stood in the entrance, clutching a greatsword in a two-handed grip. A dark bruise covered half of his face, and he was smeared with blood. He smiled when he saw Xavier standing with his sword raised at the entrance, his body shielding the Red Mothers. “Get out of my way, X, and I’ll let you live. We’re here for the women.”

“No, I don’t think I’ll be moving from this spot.”

Silas growled and swung his sword. Xavier’s smaller sword clanged against it.

Vivian didn’t have time to watch their fight as a Martian man rushed toward her. She attempted to punch him but misjudged the distance and swung her hand at empty air. He grabbed her around the waist and put his sword to her throat. Vivian froze in fear. Max Rinaldi. The shank.No. No more.She let out a wild yell and elbowed him in the stomach. The air left his lungs in a whoosh.

She lifted her head in time to see Silas’s sword slice Xavier’s leg, leaving a long, bloody gash on his thigh. And then she was forced to turn away from them as the man came at her again. This time, she used her foot and knocked him to the ground. Then, herfriends were there, kicking with high-heeled shoes, their colorful knotted skirts swaying, until his body stopped moving.

“Let me through,” a quavering, frantic voice shouted behind her.

Vivian saw Xavier on the floor, his sword several feet away. Silas was smiling again. The sword hovered on Xavier’s heart, moving back and forth like a caress. Vivian blinked back tears. She wasn’t close enough.

But Constance Yarrow was.

Secretary Yarrow held aloft her cane, a short switchblade protruding from the end. “I will not allow you to harm my family again.” She stabbed Silas in the back, and he stumbled.

Vivian picked up the loosening skirts of her red dress as she raced toward Xavier.

Silas turned to face Constance, his face twisted with rage. He raised his greatsword and ran her through.

“No!” Xavier shouted, scrambling on his knees to come to his aunt’s side.

Vivian, finally, had reached the scene, just as Silas raised his sword over Xavier’s head. She kicked Silas in one knee, and he buckled. As Vivian cast around for a weapon, Xavier rose to his feet. The two men grappled with Silas’s sword, until Silas swung one fist in an arc and hit Xavier once, twice, three times in the jaw.

“That’s for yesterday,” Silas said as Xavier fell to the ground unconscious.

Vivian snatched up Constance Yarrow’s cane. “I hope you enjoyed Delilah’s present in the lab,” she said, trying to get Silas to turn away from the helpless Xavier.

Silas whirled to face her. “Your sister did that?” As he took a step toward her, a drop of blood dripped off the tip of his sword. “After all the time I put into listening to her tedious whining and crying. I didn’t think that silly bint had it in her.”

“You underestimated her. You underestimated all of us.” Vivian lifted the cane and, with all her Earther strength, shovedit at Silas’s face. The tiny weapon went through his eye socket and embedded in his brain. Silas’s greatsword dropped from his nerveless fingers as he collapsed to his knees. Vivian shoved the cane deeper and pushed him all the way to the floor.

The sound of yelling wrenched Vivian’s gaze up. A group of Catena soldiers raced into the room.

Headed straight for her.

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

Presentation Day

Vivian didn’t stop to think. She stooped and grabbed the greatsword with two hands. It should have been heavy. On Earth, it would have been impossible.