Uranium Fist | Page 9

'I'm an old man. I'm not involved.'
"I tried to pick him up and help him away but a gloved hand grabbed the collar of my jacket and I was roughly dragged to my feet. Another cop rushed over and grabbed me in a headlock before I could do anything. Screaming abuse, the cops dragged me towards a waiting van and roughly manhandled me into the back. The last thing I saw before they slammed the door was a group of young militiamen. They were frightened youths, called up for routine compulsory service. They didn't know what to make of the situation.
"As for the old man, he was left to bleed on the street!"

Chapter 3
OVER the next few days, these ugly scenes were repeated all over Greyermede as the police ransacked party offices and shut down opposition newspapers. Not all these actions produced riots. For the most part crowds gathered round to abuse the police. Otherwise, the police were little hindered.
What was striking about the riots that did occur was their cross-class nature. All social groups were united together to resist the government clampdown. Whatever their differences, working class and middle class, small businessman, and Greyermede capitalist, all united against a common foe: Terran capital, the Colonial regime, and its machinery of oppression.
Revolutions often begin with such a honeymoon period. When all classes are united against their immediate enemy. During such a period, the class struggle is focused on the governmental machinery of the old order. Not until this has been dealt with does the class struggle boil over between the different factions. Greyermede had not yet reached this phase. The working class and the middle class organisations began to come together in alliance against the Government, temporarily forgetting their differences.
The working class did not trust their middle class allies, while the latter hoped to nullify what they considered the excesses of working class aims, and bring them into line behind an independent capitalist programme. But for now the different class interests were submerged beneath the need to deal with an oppressive Terran-backed state.
The developing Opposition Coalition lost little time in taking to the streets to demonstrate against martial law, while strike activity escalated across the planet. Yet, there were no clashes with the militia. These armed troops assumed a more prominent position, but they did little more than assist the police in their mundane duties.
The riot cops and the CIS5 conducted most of the counter-insurgency operations. The militia was an unknown quantity. What were its views - would it remain loyal to the government? Would it open fire on the people? These were the sort of questions being discussed.
"BY May, the Government was as isolated as ever," Carter said. "They'd increased the guards outside Colony House and strengthened the fortifications. Machine guns covered the approaches to the building and Terran troops could he seen mingling with the militia.
"Behind those fortifications it seemed they continued in the belief that they were the sole authority on the planet, but whatever was going on in there the people regarded as irrelevant. Preparations were still being made for the election of a Colonial Assembly, in secret since political activity was now illegal.
"Otherwise life went on as normal. People went to work, the transport systems were running, shops and cafes still did trade. Art galleries, cinemas, theatres still opened their doors to the paying public. Politically things seemed quiet. Until a few days later, when the demonstrations began."
"THOUSANDS of people gathered at Trafalgar Central Station for the demonstration," Nidel said. "Some of the Coalition leaders were caught in a dawn raid and arrested the week before. They were being held somewhere in the city, but the police hadn't disclosed the position. The other Opposition leaders still at liberty organised the protest to demand their release.
"New Station Road was crowded with people. Banners and placards were stacked everywhere, waiting to be handed out. The air was filled with the babble of excited voices, discussing politics, the wave of arrests, and the prospects for the march.
"Maxwell Steadman had been arrested. It was widely rumoured that the leaders of the Opposition Coalition had tipped him as the first President of a free Greyermede. He was one of the founder members of the Independence Party. As one of Greyermede's few industrialists able to compete with Terran capital, his wealth helped get the party off the ground. Arresting him was pure provocation.
"Someone started handing out the placards; the preparations well under way. It was a confusing time. People were wandering back and forth, giving out hurried instructions, unfurling banners and so on. People were shuffling into place, forming ragged lines under the guidance of the official stewards, marked by yellow vests for identification.
"'What do you reckon the cops'll do'?' someone asked me nervously.
"'I don't know. Don't worry, we'll be okay.'
"'But