by Mark Tufo
“Thanks, man,” Reaper said.
“No problem,” I told him.
“Man-card?” she asked.
“See! You don’t even know what the hell it is, it’s been so absent. One thing Keecan! Please tell me you don’t know Billy Buckner!” I closed my eyes and held my breath so I wouldn’t scream, and just pushed off. I must have thought out my demise a dozen times on the way down. Figured I was pitching slightly head first; I could only hope my skull would explode upon impact and I wouldn’t feel a thing. I did not want to land body first and be a broken thing waiting desperately for the end to come. I even had enough time to wonder what would happen if Keecan had allergies and chose that most inopportune of times to break into a sneezing fit. When I figured time had run dry, I felt rough arms wrap around my body. It was a surprisingly tender landing, considering the height and the brute doing the catching.
“Are you alright?” he asked as he put me down.
“Fine,” I managed to grit, though my legs were shaking like I was six and had to take a record setting piss. I was doing my best to keep standing without the aid of a Geno. Tracy was already mid-flight before I could look up. For all her bravado, I think that drop got to her, though her legs weren’t shaking. I checked. Reaper was next. Asshole looked like he’d just gone for a slice of pizza. My wife and he must have dipped in the same ice-cold pool.
“I ain’t fucking doing it!” BT yelled down.
“Get your ass down here!” Tracy yelled.
“Yeah, she did it!”
“Of course she did it,” he said.
I could only shrug at that. He had me there. “What about me, man? I’ll never let you live it down if you don’t.”
“Fuck you both. And fuck you too, Reaper…just because.” He gave us each the finger and even from as high up as he was, it looked huge. He didn’t dwell on it as he leaped. I watched as Keecan grunted for some assistance. BT falling through the air looked like a death-dealing meteor approaching at terminal velocity. It took two Genos to catch him safely; he was in the midst of an Our Father or a Hail Mary when they stood him up. He opened one eye, and of course it was looking directly at me.
“You suck.”
“I didn’t light the damn building on fire.”
“Probably would have just to watch me jump,” he grumbled.
“We need to move.” This from Tracy. We were still in the thick of danger; war was basically being waged all around us. I’m not sure where she thought we were going to go. We were encased in a Genogerian bubble and this was encrusted with a thick Devastator ring. I wished we still had the higher vantage point as gunships circled. Sprays of mini-cannon bullets and bolts of high charged particle beams were ripping through the enemy. It had to have been a hellacious experience—being on the other side of that line—I got a chill thinking that up until a few minutes ago, I was pretty sure we were about to be. Those that ruled the air, ruled the world.
“I do not like this waiting,” Keecan said, which was basically what we were doing; there was nothing else we could do. Had to have been another fifteen minutes we stood there…well actually, we moved a bit because the building was throwing off some intense heat. But still, couldn’t really talk about the weather or make some other idle chit-chat. After all, there was a war going on not more than a quarter of a mile from where we stood. It was one of Keecan’s men, Lumball, that looked up first. Apparently, they had ears like bats; I needed to remember that.
“A shuttle approaches.” And eyes like an eagle—I could barely make out a speck in the distance. We cleared an area large enough for the shuttle to land. There was a part of me that really hoped Dee was going to be on that flight. That wasn’t the case. Tracy was first up to greet the man that opened the door.
“Captain Firth, it’s good to see you,” Tracy told him.
“You as well, Major. I wasn’t sure if you three had survived the desert operation.”
“My husband, the colonel, wanted to make it more…interesting, but yes, we came through alright.”
“My orders are to take you three…”
“Four,” Tracy said, pointing to Reaper.”
“Four out of here.”
“Whose orders?” I asked.
“General Ginson.”
“And the Hill?”
Captain Firth looked over to the Genogerians.
“He’s with me,” I said patting Keecan’s ass. He was as happy about that as you might expect.
“What the fuck is wrong with you,” BT said out of the side of his mouth.
“Drababan is in charge,” the captain said.
The tension I had been holding onto regarding my son’s safety drained out of me and relief filled the void like I’d shotgunned a beer. I was barely able to hold myself upright. If something had happened to Travis, Dee would have never gone to The Hill, plain and simple. He would have gone on some vision quest or performed some alien version of hari-kari on himself.
“Our son is there, Mike.” I could see it in her as well, though she somehow maintained her military decorum. Meanwhile, I was half a heartbeat from shedding tears.
“Good for you man,” BT said in earnest.
I noted that Keecan was watching the exchange intently.
“I’m not leaving just yet,” I told them.
“What? Of course we are; our ride is here…we can finally get to our son.”
“I promised Keecan I would see this battle through. With the gunships, the end should come soon enough, but it would be dishonorable of me to leave beforehand.”
“Sir, I have orders,” Captain Firth started.
“Listen Captain—I’m not much on this ‘rank’ thing, unless it suits me, then I’m game. Last I checked, colonel outranks captain and I’m making a field decision. I’ll let the general know it was my call. As for you, Major, I’m ordering you out of here now. Go to our son; let him know he has a mother and father that love him very much. I won’t be more than a couple of hours behind.”
Oh, I could see the war raging behind Tracy’s eyes, and it was every bit as intense as the one we were fighting. Not like I could actually pull rank; didn’t matter whether it was at home or in the field, everyone knew she was in charge. This was about either seeing to the safety of her husband, who had a penchant for trouble, or getting to the child she’d not seen for nearly a month.
“I have to go,” she finally relented.
“I know; I ordered you.”
“As if.” She came back and gave me a kiss. “Just a few hours or I swear I’ll get a shuttle and come looking for you.”
“Oh God no!” BT exclaimed, remembering our last journey.
“You both as well. Get out of here,” I said.
Reaper headed to the shuttle. BT stayed put.
“Go, man. We’ll just finish up here,” I told him.
“I’m not in your army, and I don’t take orders from anyone. I’m a free citizen to do as I please.”
“What kind of free citizen stays in a hot zone?”
“The kind that wants to make sure the cracker he’s with doesn’t get himself shot.”
“You sure?” I asked. He nodded.
“Alright, Captain. Get them out of here…and please keep them safe.”
“Good luck, Colonel.” He closed the door and in under a minute they were once again just a speck in the sky.
“Should have fucking gone with them, don’t really know what I was thinking,” BT said when the ground shook from a concussive blast.
Chapter 2
THE GUARDIAN
“Stubborn prick!” Paul shouted when he got the message from the troop transport that Mike had not hopped on. “Get me Captain Anders,” Paul said.
“Captain Anders.”
“This is General Ginson. The rooster is still in the coop. Do not, I repeat, do not drop the egg.”
“Do not drop the egg. Roger that.”
“Out.” Paul finished. He nodded to the comm officer to close the channel. “Yo
u’re throwing a wrench in my plans, Mike,” Paul said softly. “Let me know when the major and the others get back to the Hill. I’ll have my radio on me.” Paul was heading to the cafeteria to get some coffee; he had a feeling that these next few days were going to be long ones.
He almost turned around when he saw Beth sitting at a table by herself. If she hadn’t already seen him, he would have done just that.
“I heard the colonel wouldn’t get on the shuttle.”
Paul noticed his wife did not look so good, like perhaps she wasn’t sleeping all that well. He wouldn’t know firsthand; they hadn’t shared a bed for a while.
“How can you already know? I just found out less than five minutes ago.”
“Anything that revolves around Michael is a hot news item. Relax. I don’t have a spy on the bridge. This entire ship knows.”
“Yeah, well we both know Mike walks to the beat of his own personal drummer, and even that guy isn’t on board all the time. I’m sure you’ll be happy to note his wife is fine as well and is heading back to the Hill right now.”
“She went without him?”
“Oh look at you…hoping for trouble in paradise. Good thing you don’t play cards for money. I would imagine she wants to see Travis something fierce. It’s her child.”
“So then why didn’t Mike go?”
“Who fucking knows.” He pulled his hat off and ran his hand through his hair.
“You seem angry about that. Why?” She was eyeing him intensely looking for what he was hiding.
“Because he doesn’t listen to a damned thing I tell him.”
“That’s not it,” she said quickly. “It’s more than that. He never follows your orders; you would almost have expected it, in fact, it would have been foolish of you not to. So, yes, you’re mad he disobeyed an order, but there was another reason you wanted him on that shuttle.”
“Drop it, Beth. It’s nothing you need to know about.”
“You were going to blow up that shuttle,” she hissed.
“What? No! What’s wrong with you? Why in hell would I do that?”
“Just checking…I wanted to see your reaction. Now that I realize that wasn’t what you wanted to do, and it’s not like Mike was going to come up here just to spend some quality time with you, I know you had something else planned.”
“Let it be woman. You’re treading on dangerous ground.”
“Let’s put some puzzle pieces on the table, shall we? You have Genogerians fighting Devastator troops—I think it’s safe to say you’re not a fan of either. Normally you’d just let them fight each other; no harm, no foul. Then somehow Mike goes and finds his way smack dab into the hot-zone. You, out of some sort of loyalty or morale boost, send in gunships, fighters, and a shuttle to take care of business and manage to get the Earth Champion to safety. You look the hero and the world gets back its scrap of hope. How am I doing so far?”
“You don’t need me here. I’m heading back to my bunk.”
“With Mike off the ground, you have basically two enemies there, ripe for the picking. One will win, one will lose—that’s just the nature of war. But that’s not what you want is it?” He felt like she was piercing his soul with her stare.
“Beth, you’re walking close to the line of sedition.”
“Why? Because I’m curious? Or because I’m hitting too close to home? You were going to blow all of them up weren’t you?”
“You forget all of this now or I’ll find an airlock in desperate need of repair to have you sucked out of.”
“I wonder what your ‘friend’ would think if he somehow found out.”
“He won’t.”
“Talk about not playing cards for money. I would have just fleeced you. Mike finds out if I want him to.”
“What do you want, Beth?”
“I want back on the bridge. I want to know real-time what is going on. I’m sick of this freeze out.”
“I’ll think about it.”
“Don’t take too long. One never knows where these recordings can end up.” She pulled out a stick no bigger than a lighter. “Crystal clear quality for something so small.”
“You’re unbelievable. We’re supposed to be a team you and me, not working against each other at every turn. And you wonder why I shut you out. I’m sorry you love Mike and not me, but why don’t you, just once in a while, remember who you came to for solace; who you ended up marrying.”
“Please, we can both drop the charade. You know exactly why I married you.”
“I didn’t—not at first. Mike tried to warn me about you. Thought he was jealous; but no, he was genuinely concerned for my well-being. I was too pig-headed to heed his words, though. You’re a lot like those old Thermos bottles.”
“Is this another one of your obscure metaphors?”
“You know the ones I’m talking about. They had a glass liner inside. They were great until you dropped them just one time; that’s kind of like you. Still all shiny and nice on the outside, but when you shake it, you can hear all the busted up insides.”
“Aw…look at the big bad General having his own little pity party. How about you find your balls and do a little manning up.”
Paul stood. “You know, once upon a time, you were a good person. That was the woman I loved, the one I’d hoped I’d married. Instead I ended up with this twisted, broken version. I want you off this ship in the worst way. I don’t care if you shove that recording up your ass, it wouldn’t really be that big a surprise to Mike to hear about the plans he unwittingly foiled. There’s no way I’d let you go to the Hill; that’s exactly what you want. That family has already been through enough; I will not expose them to your poison. Yet for some unfathomable reason I have yet to discern, I cannot just drop you off in the middle of nowhere. I still care for that person you were. Even if she’s gone for good, she existed once.”
“Wow, would you like a tissue to wipe your eyes?”
Paul shook his head and was walking out.
“Sir, we’re picking up noise on some of the sensor bandwidths,” came over his radio.
“Prog?”
“Like nothing we’ve ever seen, sir.”
“I’ll be right there.”
Paul thought he heard Beth laughing behind him as he left.
Chapter 3
MIKE JOURNAL ENTRY 2
Now that it was just me and BT, all conversation ceased. We were just doing circles trying to be prepared for whatever threat might come. Keecan was off to the side talking to his men and through his radio as well. He had received a message and was coming over to relay. Difficult to get a bead; he’d have exactly the same expression whether he was telling me there was some extra birthday cake left and did I want a piece, or if he was about to let me know that we were all going to be executed by sword thrusts to the junk. Yup. Absolutely no idea why I went there.
“Your fighters have broken through the Devastators and they are in disarray. We have the numbers now.”
“That’s great,” I told him and I meant it.
“And?” BT prodded, he was the one that realized Keecan wasn’t done.
“I would like you to call off the air attack,” he said.
“What? Why? Have they surrendered?”
“They will not surrender.”
“I’m not seeing where you’re going with this.”
“Oh, I do,” BT piped in. “He’s about to go on about some honor shit and how beating your opponent with the fist of God is not a worthy way to send them into the underworld or something along those lines.”
“That’s sort of it, but not quite,” I ventured. “No, this is a speciesist thing. I think it’s eating Keecan up that it’s the Humans beating the shit out of their opponent. Someone is having a hard time sharing their kills. That's it, isn’t it? Please, tell me I’m wrong. There’s no dishonor in winning. We’re allies, here, Keecan. Any way to good is good.”
“This is not always true Michael Talbot. Even our adversaries deserve resp
ect. They came down here to fight us, to erase freedom from our existence; yet we have stood idly by while Humans fly far overhead and destroy our enemies.”
“What is it with Genogerians and philosophy? You’re supposed to be brutes that smash and kill things, not over-think them to death. There is no right or wrong in war—at least as far as combatants go. We are all fair game in how we are dealt death. And the idea that you and me get to stand idly by while fighters rain death? Fuck, I’m fine with that. How about you big man?” I slapped the back of my hand against BT’s chest.
“I’m good with that too, but if you ever slap my chest like that again I’m going to break your hand.”
“Fair enough.”
Keecan wasn’t having any of it. In truth, I knew he wouldn’t; I was basically in full-on stall mode. The longer I dragged my feet, the more mutes the fighters would wipe out and the less likely I would be killed and thus have to renege on the promise I made my wife.
“I don’t have…a radio.” I finished as Keecan held out his hand. “I don’t know…the channel.” He pressed a button and the radio came to life, a better than average chance I was now tuned into the Guardian. “Fuck. Umm…yeah, this Colonel Talbot.”
“Colonel Talbot! Good to hear from you, sir!” I would imagine the comm officer had spoken.
“Thank you, is the general around?”
“He should be here momentarily, sir.”
“Tell him to take his time,” I whispered into the receiver.
“He’s here, sir.”
“Of fucking course he is.” I could hear the comm officer tell the general who was on the line. Even from space, I could tell he was not thrilled to talk to me.
“Colonel, I ordered you onto that shuttle.”