The remainder of the settlement was as uninformative as the schoolroom.  All electronic devices seemed to have been looted, along with the bodies ... and the remainder of the settlement had been scorched.  Looking at the damage, Charles couldn't help wondering if the aliens had used grenades to destroy all traces of their presence, once they’d swept the colony and killed or captured the inhabitants.  But they could have obliterated the entire colony from orbit, once they’d withdrawn.  It made no sense.

Yang cleared his throat.  “Shouldn't we try looking for survivors in the countryside?”

Charles snorted.  “There’s twenty-two of us,” he pointed out.  “We don’t even begin to have the manpower to search even a small part of the countryside.  All we can do is sweep the settlement and hope any survivors decide to show themselves.”

He took one last look around the settlement, then called his Marines back to the shuttle.  “We’ll leave a message behind,” he added.  It was risky – if the aliens found it, they would realise that someone had been on the planet’s surface – but one he knew had to be taken.  If there were survivors, at least they would know they hadn't been abandoned.  “They will know we were here.”

“Sir,” one of his Marines said.  “What will happen to the planet?  I mean, once the war is won?”

“I have no idea,” Charles said.  The Mexicans held clear title ... assuming they could hang onto it while they struggled to pay their debts.  But if the Captain was right and there was an alien world only one or two jumps from Vera Cruz, it was unlikely that the other interstellar powers would allow the Mexicans to keep the planet.  They’d want to ship in reinforcements and planetary defences, then monitor the aliens indefinitely.  “Why do you ask?”

“It's a beautiful world,” the Marine said.  “I could apply for settlement here.”

“But very vulnerable,” Charles said.  It wasn't uncommon for ex-soldiers, particularly SF operators, to be headhunted by colony world settlement corporations.  Their training and experience made them good at keeping law and order on the frontier.  “The aliens might be right next door.”

He took one final look into the distance, then cracked open his helmet.  The air of Vera Cruz flooded in, a damp warmth tinged with smoke.  He wondered, suddenly, if this desolation was the fate the aliens had in mind for Earth ... then pushed the thought aside as he resealed his helmet and motioned for the Marines to return to the shuttle.  They'd inspect one of the farms, but he wasn't hopeful.  The colonists had been taken too badly by surprise to organise a resistance.

“Let's go,” he said.

***