Revolt on the Iron Planet — Thomas T. Thomas

Exiled to Mars!Major John Hessian of the U.S. Army's fabled 82nd Airborne Division is leading a recon group on an international rescue mission composed of American, Spanish, and Greek national troops in Guatemala. They are there to free a contingent of Chinese traders held by the local chapter of the Golden Road insurgency. By the year 2136, China's powerful mercantile empire has created many enemies, including some among the soldiers sent to rescue its representatives. In the catastrophe that follows, Hessian is held accountable, stripped of rank, and sent as far away as possible.Reduced to heading up security at the U.S. embassy on Mars, Hessian discovers he has nothing to defend. His team is composed of the ambassador's secretary and two janitors. And the ambassador himself is a retired scientist and old drinking buddy of the planet's U.N. governor. The only bright spot in the assignment is the governor's daughter, Delphin Wagner, whom Hessian met and briefly romanced on the sunjammer trip outward from Earth.Also on that trip, he saved the life of the ship's purser, Narendra Rao. More than just a minor shipboard functionary, Rao is also a secret member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which opposes the Chinese hegemony on Earth and its influence in the solar system's colonies. With his life in danger, Rao jumps ship on Mars and contacts the ASEAN network in the planet's capital, Hellas Planitia.When Delphin Wagner visits a mining site in the Valles Marineris and is taken hostage, the governor asks Hessian to attempt a rescue, and Rao tags along. So begins a cascade of events that leads to invasion, war, and the birth of the Martian Republic.