Tarizon, The Liberator, Tarizon Trilogy Vol 1

by William Manchee

26

  Extraction

  Late that afternoon Red woke Peter up and said it was time to go. Sy had volunteered to wait in the storage room for Tam. Red agreed to back him up in case there was trouble. Peter would stay back and watch the base from a higher vantage point where he could quickly spot any potential threats to the mission. They'd all be in constant communication. Sy and Red left and Peter looked out over the base looking for anything unusual. All seemed quiet.

  After a few loons Peter noticed some commotion over at the officer's barracks. Two miliary police vehicles were parked outside and a group of officers and miliary police were having an animated conversation. Unfortunately, Peter didn't have long distance listening equipment, so he couldn't hear what they were saying. He figured they must have finally realized there was a stranger on the base.

  "R2, there are three MPs at officers’ quarters—may be looking for you. I'll keep a close eye on them."

  "Confirmed," replied Sy. "I'm in place. They won't be able to spot me."

  Red replied, "I can see the storage unit and have a good view of the surrounding terrain. No activity."

  "Good," Peter said taking a deep breath and slowly exhaling.

  It was near dusk and there was a steady flow of soldiers going in and out of the nutrition center. Peter searched for any other signs of activity but saw nothing. Then the discussion at the officer's barracks broke up and two ATVs began moving toward the infirmary. As he watched them, he noticed two men come out of Barracks C. One of the men shook his head and motioned back toward the barracks. The second man lingered, but finally went back inside. The first man looked around and then began walking briskly toward the infirmary. Peter was pretty sure it was Tam.

  "Tam's on his way," he said into his communicator. "Two jeeps with MPs are heading your way as well."

  "Great timing," Sy said with a sigh of despair.

  "Confirmed," Red said. "No sign of them so far."

  "What do we do if they spot Tam?" Sy asked.

  "Just pray they don't," Peter replied. "I'd hate to have to engage them. That could jeopardize the entire mission."

  "Just give the word and I'll neutralize them with my laser," Red said. "They'll never know what hit them."

  "Only if there is no other option," Peter replied. "Maybe we'll get lucky and Tam will—."

  "There he is. . . . Tam! Over here," Sy whispered. For a few moments sounds of running and heavy breathing came through the communicator. Then Sy said, "Okay, I've got him. Heading back."

  "Wait," Red warned. "The ATVs are coming. Stay out of sight."

  "Confirmed. Advise when clear."

  There were several moments of silence and then Red said, "Crap! They must have seen you. They've stopped."

  "All right. If they become a threat, take them out," Peter said. "Use your laser. We can't afford for anyone to hear gunfire."

  "Confirmed. . . . Two of them are on foot and heading for the storage unit. I'm going to have to neutralize them."

  The idea of killing someone hadn't ever even crossed Peter's mind prior to coming to Pogo Island. Then in boot camp, killing became the main focus of his life. Still, up until now it all seemed theoretical, like training on the simulators or playing a video game. Now suddenly reality was smacking him right in the face. His stomach turned. One word and two human lives would be destroyed. Their most precious treasure, life itself would be obliterated forever. These were living human beings, like himself, with families and friends who would be devastated at the loss of husband, father, or friend. How could he order such a horrible thing to be done?"

  "Ten seconds and they'll be out of range," Red advised.

  Peter swallowed hard. He had no other choice. "There's no other option. Do it now!"

  There was a flash of light in the distance. Peter closed his eyes and it felt like his heart had stopped for an instant. He began to tremble and tears welled in his eyes but he quickly wiped them away. It was just a video game. Just a video game. None of this is real. You'll wake up soon. Peter listened for any kind of reaction to the flash.

  "Threat neutralized," Red advised, breaking the eerie silence. "We'll hide the bodies in the shed."

  Peter took several deep breaths trying to calm his nerves. Then he replied, "Come back in the ATVs. It will save time and get them away from the bodies. That should buy us more time."

  "Confirmed."

  There was a scuffling noise through the communicator and then the sound of bodies being dragged through the dirt. A door creaked, . . . more dragging, . . . silence, and finally the hum of the ATV's engine. All seemed to have gone well. Peter watched the ATVs wind there way back toward him. They were driving slowly, trying not to attract attention. All was quiet on Muhl now, but that would be changing quickly. When the convoy arrived the passenger side door opened and Tam stepped out. Peter ran over to him and embraced him.

  "Tam. It's great so see you. Are you okay?"

  Tam shook his head and said, "What are you doing here? We're going to be in a world of trouble. When Luga told me you were coming to rescue me, I almost refused to meet you. This is treason."

  "No, it's not. We're joining the Loyalists. We're pledged to defend the Supreme Mandate. It's Videl Lai who is the traitor. He's assumed power and is already making plans to scrap the Supreme Mandate and rule Tarizon as a dictator."

  "How do you plan to get us off the Island?" Tam asked skeptically.

  "We've got a few fighters across the mountains. We don't have time to waste. We've come a long way to get you but I'll understand if you don't want to come. . . . If they catch us we will be put on trial for treason. But, if you go back now to the infirmary, they'll never know you were missing. We just killed two MPs so you don't have a lot of time to make a decision."

  Tam smiled, "Go back? Are you kidding me? The only reason I'd ever go back to Pegaport would be to blow the place up. Do you know what they did to me?"

  Peter smiled. "No, but I'm anxious to hear about it, and we are going back to blow it up, but not on foot."

  Tam returned Peter's smile and got back in the ATV. Peter climbed in the other ATV with Sy and they began to lumber up the narrow road back into the Drogal Mountains. Just as they traversed the first foothill and were out of view of Pegaport sirens began to blare. Peter looked back and said to Sy, "Step on it."

  Peter told himself that the sirens didn't necessarily mean that they would be pursued. It could be that the bodies had been found or Tam had been discovered missing and the base was being searched. There was no reason to think base command could know or suspect that their security had been breached and they were there to extract Tam. That idea was quickly dispelled when they heard the sound of choppers in the distance and saw fighters scrambling from the distant airfield.

  "These ATVs are going to be sitting ducks for those T47s," Peter said. "As much as I hate hiking over the mountains, I think if we value our lives, we should go it on foot."

  Sy nodded and put his foot on the brake. "Let's get the hell out of here," he said as he cut the engine and engaged the brake.

  Peter jumped out of the ATV and advised Red that they'd best go on foot. He frowned but didn't argue. They gathered their gear and hustled off the main road. After they'd hiked for about fifteen loons there was a tremendous explosion behind them and they could see smoke rising from the trees in the distance.

  "That would be the ATVs," Peter said. "We better get a move on. We're not very far ahead of them."

  "How did they discover the bodies so quickly?" Sy asked.

  "Oh, crap!” Tam said. “I didn't think about it, but the ATVs have tracking devices on them. Command knows exactly where they are at all times. The moment we left the base they knew something was wrong." Tam kicked at the dirt in disgust. Then he looked up in horror. “Oh, Sandee! I've got an implant as well. As long as I am with you, they'll know exactly where we are."

  Peter swallowed hard. "I can’t believe this! A man's got no privacy on this planet. They don't keep track of e
very single human being on Earth. Crap! What are we going to do now?"

  "Surgery is the only answer," Sy said. "We'll need to remove the implant."

  "But do you even know where it is located?" Peter asked.

  Sy nodded, "More or less. I've seen the procedure done on the VC."

  Peter rolled his eyes and replied, "Wonderful."

  The sound of choppers could be heard in the distance. They all looked back anxiously. Tam said, "Do it. We don't have any choice."

  Sy shook his head and grabbed his back pack. From it he pulled out a first aid kit and began rifling through it. He found a small knife and said, "Lie down on you stomach. I'll put some Painfree over the spot where I'll be making the incision. Hopefully it will ease the pain a bit."

  "Hopefully?" Peter asked.

  "Painfree is good stuff, but I'm not sure it was meant for surgery."

  Tam closed his eyes and began to quiver slightly in anticipation of the pain. "We better hold him down, Red," Peter said. "We don't want anybody getting accidentally stabbed."

  "Okay, I'm ready," Sy advised them.

  Peter took a deep breath and held Tam's right shoulder while Red held his left. Peter closed his eyes when Sy plunged the knife into Tam's neck. Tam lurched about from the pain but didn't scream. Peter and Red struggled but managed to keep him still. Sy worked for a moment and then pulled out a small device that looked like an ordinary computer chip.

  "Got it," he said. "Okay, I'll sew him up and then we can get out of here."

  "You okay, Tam?" Peter asked.

  Tam frowned. "Yeah. That wasn't any worse than being flogged by a drill sergeant."

  "They flogged you?" Peter asked.

  Tam nodded. "Pretty regularly, but like you said, we can talk about that later. Right now we better put as much distance between ourselves and this tracking device as we can."

  Tam's words made Peter think. He'd seen it done in the movies many times—a tracking device or cell phone is used to lead a foe off in the wrong direction. "Too bad we can't put this implant on something moving away from us. That might take the heat off of us."

  There was a explosion in the distance and the sound of the choppers getting closer.

  "I don't know," Peter said and then noticed the rhutz sitting in the meadow watching them.

  Red saw him too and said, "You think your friend could help us?"

  Peter shrugged and replied, "I don't know. If I can make him understand, he might. Give me the implant."

  Sy handed it to Peter and he walked slowly over toward the rhutz. As he got closer the rhutz beared his teeth and growled. Peter took a long breath and closed his eyes. In his mind's eye he saw the rhutz standing before him. Take this far away from us quickly. Drop it and then return. It's a matter of life or death. Peter opened his eyes and wondered if there was any chance the rhutz had understood, or, if he did, would he do as asked. Suddenly, the rhutz stepped forward and opened his mouth. Peter dropped the implant on his tongue and he ran off in the opposite direction.

  "All right!" Red said.

  Tam shook his head and added, "That's incredible. I was almost killed by a rhutz one time."

  "Really. You’ll have to tell me about that later. Right now, let's get the hell up to Shaft 22. We'll be lucky to get there by daybreak."

  The sound of choppers in the distance waned and the rest of their night's trek through the Drogal Mountains was peaceful and without incident. As they made their way in the darkness, Tam filled them in on his duty at Pegaport.

  "After the assassination attempt I saw the sniper jump down from the observation deck,"Tam said. "I knew if I didn't go after him immediately he'd get away. I didn't have time to argue with Lt. Londry about it."

  "He was really pissed off," Peter replied.

  "Yeah, he gave me an earful when the MPs brought me back to them. I thought he'd be happy that I’d caught the guy, but he couldn't care less about the fact that somebody had tried to kill one of his candidates. All he could think about was the fact that I disobeyed his order, even if it was a stupid one."

  "So what did he do after he chewed you out?" Peter asked.

  "He told me I couldn't be an officer in the TGA if I couldn't take orders. Officers had to take orders without question, even if they didn't like them. He said I had been a troublemaker since the first day I stepped foot on Pogo Island and if it hadn't been for Sgt. Baig's intervention, he'd of washed me out long before then."

  "I can't believe he wouldn't give you another chance after all you had been through," Sy said. "I bet he's one of Videl's cronies."

  "I wouldn't be surprised if he was in on the assassination attempt," Peter suggested. "That would explain why he wasn't concerned about the security of the squad. He knew there was just one target."

  Tam nodded and Red asked, "So, what happened when you got to Pegaport?"

  Tam sighed and replied, "I was in trouble almost immediately. They dumped me into the Hell Squad even though I hadn't had time to get in trouble. It was non-stop PT—long morning runs, forced marches through swamps and up steep hills, weight training, martial arts, and, in our spare time, latrine duty and trash pickup."

  Red cringed. "Oh, Sandee. How horrible that must have been."

  "I could handle that. It was the verbal abuse and the floggings that took their toll."

  Tam stopped, turned around, and lifted his shirt. They all stared in disbelief at his mangled back. It was red and swollen with long deep scars from the lashings he'd taken. Peter shivered at the sight of it and thanked God that he hadn't had to go through that kind of an ordeal himself.

  As the night slowly passed, they realized it was taking them longer to get to Shaft 22 than they'd planned. Peter didn’t know if they'd slowed down while they listened to Tam's tale or they'd just underestimated the length of the journey, but as daylight broke Shaft 22 was not yet in sight. Now they not only had Pegaport Command to contend with, but the Drogals as well.