Mars: The Bringer of Death - E-book - ePub

Sofie has graduated and is now Doctor Sofie Stoyanov, Ph D. She has also moved into Heather's apartment building since her title of Ph D allows that. While Heather and Sofie are checking out her new apartment, Heather gets word of a new assignment, on Mars. There have been 3 murder suicides on Mars in two weeks, normally there are two in a Mars year. Heather and her team are sent there to discover if these are double murders or just a rash of suicides.
Heather and her team learn that Mars is a planet made up of the have and have nots. 70 percent of the population live in deject poverty while the one percent are wealthy beyond imagination, the .01 are trillionaires. They do not share and use the local police to keep the 70 percent in poverty and out of their communities. Once on Mars were everyone lives under a dome since the atmosphere is toxic, Heather discovers that the planet averages at least 2, 000 homicides a day, and about 300 Line of Duty deaths among law enforcement personnel.
There is a poll tax that is so high that only the top one percent can afford to vote. As a result in order to get elected to any position you must have the approval of the top .01 percent. Heather also discovers that one reason for 100 Space Marshals dying every year is because the lieutenant colonel Space Marshal that runs the planet does not allow his Space Marshals to wear the required protective equipment to prevent their deaths.
Heather is involved in the rescue of two Space Marshals that were ambushed. She has her SWAT vehicles fire spreads of eight stun grenades to protect her Marshals and the two Marshals that were shots. The poor of Mars keep coming in waves and more grenade spreads are fired. It seems like the poor of Mars do not have credits for food but do have weapons. In the end, one of the Marshals is dead and one lives because they were not wearing the proper protective clothing.
She is also told that the lieutenant colonel does not allow grenade spreads, they are too expensive. Heather and the colonel have it out. She points out that a grenade spread is 520 credits and the colonel is saying that the life of a Space Marshal is not worth 500 credits. As Heather learns, it is not the colonel but the top .01 percent that does not want to pay for the proper protective clothing or grenade spreads even if it will save the lives of the Space Marshals.
After Heather reports what is happening on Mars and the colonel's boss, General Imari, relieves him of command. Heather discovers there is a plan by the .01 percent to live forever at the expense of the poor. As a result she will butt heads with the super wealthy men that run Mars, and perhaps the United Affiliation of Planets, and stop this inequity even if it means her career or her life.