The Last Martians

Chapter 2 – A Secret Society

Chapter 2 – A Secret SocietyAfter beating Evelyn, Linda slowly walked to a nearby spring. She scooped water with her hands and gulped it down to quench her thirst. Satisfied with herself, she washed her body with the ice-cold water. She looked up when she heard Rina’s voice.

‘Just stay calm. You will be all right.’

Evelyn was sitting up. She hurriedly looked all around her, confused about what happened to her. Linda slowly walked back to their fighting arena.

‘Rina is right. You are safe.’

The brunette looked at her with a frown on her face.

‘Why did you not kill me?’

‘Us women should stand together. This is a man’s war, fought to make rich men richer. Women should not be killing each other. We should fight together against the men. Mars was a peaceful and prosperous home, until men became greedy.’

‘What are you talking about?’

‘Do you know how many soldiers I have killed the last few days?’

‘Twelve.’

‘Yes. How many of them were women?’

‘They were all men.’

‘That is what I am talking about. I will not kill a single woman during this war. Neither should you. Men have ruled on Mars for too long. Like on earth, they are destroying our community. This war has no purpose, except to give men more power and more wealth. Rina and I belong to an organisation called Women for Women. It is a secret society. But we will soon rise to take control of Mars.’

‘How will a few women take over the planet?’ Although Linda’s arguments resonated with Evelyn, her plans sounded impossible to implement.

‘We are not only a few women. Most women in the south are members. We are confident the rest will follow when the time comes for action. We also have many members in Dome City. Our leaders there report a significant increase in new recruits. Women are tired of the way men are messing up this beautiful planet. The time to act is near. But we need women of the north to fight with us. We have a few women recruiting already, but we need more. We need you to convince women not to kill each other during this war. If we kill enough men, our revolution will be much easier. Fewer women will have to give their lives to win the freedom and power we deserve.’

‘Why did you fight me? Why did you not tell me this before our fight?’

‘You attacked me.’

‘Yes, but we stopped fighting to move to the grass. You had more than enough time to tell me.’

‘I needed to win your trust. I had the opportunity to kill you. That should convince you we are serious about not killing any women.’

‘I could have killed you.’

‘It was a chance I was willing to take. To reach our goal, some of us will die. But Mars will be a much better place for those women who survive our revolt.’

‘How did Women for Women start?’

‘Like most other good ideas. A few like-minded women discussed the state of Mars one day. They all knew what the problem was and still is, men. As a group, they decided to do something about it. Their initial plan was to support other women, to ensure they get opportunities and are treated fairly. But when war broke out, they decided to take control of this planet.’

‘What do you expect from me?’

‘Do you want to join us?’

‘Yes.’

‘There is an initiation ceremony.’

‘What?’

‘You have to fight me again.’

Evelyn immediately realised this was a joke when she saw the big grin on Linda’s face.

‘Recruit more women. Ensure women do not kill other women during this war. We will meet when an opportunity presents itself. When the time comes for the next stage of our plan, I will contact you. Be ready to mobilise on short notice.’

‘How do I know which women to trust?’

‘If they have breasts, trust them. If they break your trust, kill them. Women have been oppressed for too long, they are all just waiting for somebody strong to lead them to freedom.’

While Evelyn and Linda went to the spring to wash their bodysuits, Rina cleaned Evelyn’s laser gun and knife for her. The brunette hugged the other two women before she returned to her base to report she killed the sniper. At the same time Linda and Rina moved to another hill, from where they could kill more men. The hike back to the camp gave Evelyn plenty of time to think about the information she learned. She could not find any good reason why she should fight for a few men to get richer. Linda was right. Why would she kill other women? At first, she was not sure whether she wanted to kill worker class men, though. Most of them were in the same situation as herself. But she convinced herself they would misuse power, given the opportunity. Women were different. They were caregivers. Women would never abuse power to the extent men would. Although she knew a few nice men, freedom had its sacrifices. If these men had to die to ensure women could live in peace, she was willing to sacrifice them for the cause.

The first few days back in the northern army’s camp, Evelyn observed the other female soldiers. She listened to their conversations, sussing out the ones whom she could convince to join the secret society. Her first chance came when she overheard three female soldiers talking about how destructive this war was. Like herself, these women used to be workers at the mines, farms and logging camps. None of them wanted to bear arms, and they definitely did not want to risk their lives for a war they did not understand. Evelyn looked around to make sure no men would hear what she was about to say.

‘We are all used by men to give them more power.’

‘That is so true.’ A tall blonde named Julie gave her a knowing look.

‘Come join us.’ The shorter blonde, sitting next to Julie, had a friendly smile on her face. Her name was Tina.

‘Thank you.’ Evelyn quickly moved over to their table and sat down next to the brunette called Yvonne.

Although Evelyn knew the three women, she had never engaged any of them in conversations other than a friendly greeting.

‘We were just talking about how this war ruined our lives. None of us knows whether we will survive. And if we do, will we have work, or will everything be destroyed.’ Julie voiced what all three women were thinking.

‘I feel the same. Why are we even fighting this war? Who will benefit from us risking our lives? We need leaders who value us as people, who would not use us as rooks in their deadly game of chess.’ Evelyn carefully looked at the women’s expressions after saying this. Julie and Tina definitely agreed with her, but she was not sure about Yvonne yet. ‘Don’t you agree, Yvonne? Why should we fight to make powerful men more powerful?’ Evelyn looked straight at the woman sitting next to her while saying this. To her surprise, tears rolled down Yvonne’s face.

‘She lost her sister a few days ago.’ Tina handed her friend a tissue before she continued. ‘We are all fed up with this war. I wish there was something we could do to stop it before we all die.’

Evelyn leaned in a lowered her voice. ‘I heard about an organisation which has plans to do just that. There are many women who do not want to kill each other. This is a war started by men to benefit men. We should not have to give our lives to make these men richer and more powerful.’

‘How do they intent to stop this war?’ Julie was also whispering.

‘Women will not kill other women. We will continue to kill men to reduce their numbers. When the time comes, we will take the north, the south and Dome City. Women will rule on Mars. It will be a just and peaceful community. We will never again allow men to think for us and to use us.’

‘This sounds a bit dangerous. If the men find out, they will execute us. And how can we trust the south’s women?’

‘The sniper I went to kill had an opportunity to kill me, but she did not. All twelve of her kills were men. She told me most southern female soldiers already joined the organisation. They just need us to do the same.’

‘I am in.’

All three other women looked at Yvonne. She had a steely expression on her face.

‘I had enough of this war. We need to get rid of the men who got us into this.’

‘Yes, why wait until we get killed fighting for men. I am in as well.’ Tina was next to join Women for Women.

Julie followed almost immediately. ‘I agree. We have to do something.’

‘Good. We need to recruit more women. At this stage we should only approach women we fully trust. We will meet like this, in small groups, looking like a few women enjoying each other’s company.

Recruitment went better than Evelyn could dream of. The northern female soldiers were as demoralised as their southern sisters. They needed somebody to give them hope. Even those who were not blaming men for the war were ready to take a stand, and men were a convenient common enemy. By the time Evelyn met with Linda again, she could report that about seventy percent of the northern female soldiers already joined, and it was just a matter of time before the rest would also be recruited. The southern recruitment went even better. Linda reported that only a small percentage of their female soldiers still needed to be recruited. Like the northern woman, the southern women were keen to live on a peaceful planet. Both women knew time to act was near. Female soldiers already outnumbered male soldiers significantly on both sides. All they needed now was the okay from the leaders in Dome City. Al three regions had to act at the same time.