Battle Beyond Earth Box Set

by Nick S. Thomas

  “Are you not going to rest?”

  “There is too much to do. Will you join me, Lieutenant?”

  Alita was too curious not to do. “Yes, Madam President.”

  “Come on, then, it’s time to face the music.”

  Chapter 9

  Taylor awoke feeling surprisingly fresh and turned over expecting to see Alita beside him. He smiled, remembering whom he had shared the room with. The tap in the bathroom was running for a moment, and Jones stepped out with a towel in his hands, drying his face. He had taken a shave and would have looked parade ready were it not for his dirty uniform.

  “A night in a good hotel and a bathroom like that, that’s something I could get used to. It sure beats our digs on the Indy.”

  Taylor couldn’t argue with that. He stretched, got up, and walked to the balcony. Even through the thick glass and shutters, they could hear the sound of gunfire in the distance. He opened the shutters and stepped out onto balcony. The sun was up, and the skies were clear. He could see for twenty kilometres in every direction. Jones strolled up beside him.

  “They’ve pushed the enemy back a few blocks in the night. That’s some good progress.”

  “Yes, it is,” replied Taylor as he further surveyed the scene, “So Bolormaa wants Earth for herself, and she wants to ensure none of us escape to come back and try and retake it again down the line. Do you think that’s what it all boils down to?”

  “I guess it makes sense. If war isn’t over money, land, or power, what is it about?”

  “Who knows? With this crazy bitch queen, I’m still not even sure, but I’m certain there can be more motives that that. I think it’s all a game to her, and she’s enjoying every minute of it.”

  “I’d prefer to think this was about land. That she just gets a kick out of this amount of death and misery is a depressing thought.”

  “Agreed. I just can’t figure her out. That’s what makes it all the more frustrating. In most battles it is clear what’s being fought for and what the goals of each side really is, but not this one. I don’t think anyone really understands it. In fact, were Bolormaa not so intelligent, I would go as far as to say she doesn’t know either.”

  “But she is that intelligent.”

  “Exactly.”

  “So we have to face the prospect that she doesn’t want us to know what she really wants. Or maybe she gets a kick out of tormenting us as we try and figure it out?”

  “Yep, what a bitch.”

  They looked out at the scene for a moment. They could hear troop and vehicle movements down below, and aircraft still came and went overhead, but far less than the day before.

  “She is starting to weaken,” announced Taylor.

  “Why would you say that?”

  “All of the armies she has thrown at us to try and whittle us down, yet she might just have started to realise that she doesn’t have the resources she thought she did. Perhaps that is why she was so desperate to get the Cholans on side. It always struck me as odd that she made a deal with them rather than just destroy their homeworld. She needed their numbers.”

  “God, I hope so. I hope you’re right.”

  “Look at what she has struck us with here.”

  “Massive numbers,” added Jones.

  “Seemingly yes, but what if this isn’t just the first stage? What if this is it, the one big call up? One big push to try and break us.”

  “Like the Germans in the Ardennes in World War Two?”

  Taylor smiled as he remembered what a curious historian the Captain was.

  “Yes, exactly like that.”

  “Except for the fact that they attacked one point, and threw everything in. This is far more widespread.”

  “Not if you scale it up. What if she rallied everything she could on an assault on this world only in an attempt to break the Alliance, and take what she ultimately wanted all in one?”

  “I can see that, and you come out with some great ideas, but I have to wonder what facts they are based on.”

  “That’s just it. They aren’t based on any. If anyone actually had any facts on what motivated Bolormaa, and what made her tick, I would be first on the list to hear them. I...”

  He cut off abruptly as an enemy craft soared towards them with guns blazing. He didn’t need to say a word as they both rushed inside the room. Jones ran into the bathroom, and Taylor leapt behind the bed. A hail of gunfire ripped into the room, and it was lit up from energy pulses smashing the décor all around them. The heavy bed was struck and shunted towards the wall, pinning Taylor to it in the process, but it was soon over as the craft went by.

  He pushed the bed back off him and stood up. Jones was just as annoyed as he was.

  “I guess that’s our cue to get back to work,” said Taylor. They quickly pulled on their armour, “Do you think they knew we were here?”

  Jones shrugged.

  “Bloody uncivilised, though, and before morning tea.”

  Taylor laughed. The Captain was playing to a stereotype that he knew so well. As they stepped out into the hallway, another strafing run rocked the building.

  “I guess it’s too much to ask for a morning of peace?” asked Nile.

  “What would you even do with it?”

  “I’d sleep, Sir.”

  “We’ve slept enough. There is work to be done.”

  He led them out of the hotel and into the street as he headed for Greer. He wanted to see her in person to get a full understanding of the situation. Troops still rushed back forth, and the line of wounded seemed to be never-ending. As they passed many who lined the street, they heard some whisper Taylor’s name. They thought of him as some kind of saviour, and that never made him comfortable.

  “Colonel, come on through,” said Greer as she saw him reach the front of the bar she had set up as her command post. A sole marine guarded the entrance.

  “Good morning, Sir,” he said.

  “Get some good rest, Colonel?”

  “As good as can be expected. Sir, you need to up your protective detail and find somewhere a little more secure.”

  “Nonsense,” she replied and pointed towards the map projected on the table.

  “In the north we have progressed well. Civilians are being evacuated where possible. Casualties are not as bad as it might look. We are holding out.”

  “Good, how can we help?”

  “I am sure you would like to get right back onto the front line, wouldn’t you?”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  “Well, that would be a waste of your talents and those of the men and women under your command.”

  “You have something a little more exciting for us?”

  She nodded. “Your rescue of Lisa Caron was nothing short of a miracle. That may hold together the fragile Alliance, and I thank you for that.”

  “Don’t thank me. It’s my job.”

  “I disagree, Colonel. You go above and beyond your job on a regular basis. It’s what makes you such a good fighter.”

  “If you don’t mind me saying, Sir, I don’t need to be buttered up. What have you got for us?”

  “Another extraction, and this one could be equally as important as your last.”

  “What is the target?”

  “General Ben Phillips, the highest ranking military officer in the United States, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.”

  “You said it was confirmed that all of the Chiefs of Staff had been killed?”

  “Those were the reports I had received, but they can be wrong. Things are such a mess right now that nobody could say much for certain, without seeing it with their own eyes. If he is still alive, he would be a major asset to us.”

  “And the fact that he’s your boss has nothing to do with it?”

  “Damn right it does, Colonel,” she snapped but leaned in closer to whisper to him, “I am the youngest General currently in the service of this country, and as far as we knew yesterday, I was left in charge of the nation. You know how
daunting that is?”

  “Yep, I do, I really do.”

  She knew he did, so she did not press the matter.

  “Who else knows that he might have survived?”

  “Only us. The man who delivered the news died moments after arriving here.”

  “That’s convenient,” added Jones.

  “Not for him, it isn’t,” replied Greer, “Now Phillips, if he is still alive, is vital to the future of this campaign. However, if the enemy knows he is alive, we will never get to him.”

  “Why, where is he?”

  “That’s the problem. He is in a top secret fallout shelter north of New York.”

  “North?”

  “Yes, I know, Colonel, now behind enemy lines,” she said, bringing up a map of the vicinity.

  “There it is, The Newman Building.”

  “It looks like an office block,” said Jones.

  “Above ground, yes it is, but below the surface it is a complex and well protected facility.”

  “If it is such a great place, let him stay there until we can retake the surface,” complained Taylor.

  “I wish it were that simple, but the facility has been compromised.”

  “How so?”

  “In the fighting and bombardment, they lost their life support systems, and damage above the surface has made it impossible to repair with the enemy ever present.”

  “So how long do they have?”

  “Fifteen hours, maybe, if they’re lucky.”

  “Then we can’t wait for nightfall.”

  “No, Captain, but I can give you the next best thing.”

  “I’m listening.”

  Greer brought up a new map of tunnels.

  “The old underground. Most of it has been out of use for more than a hundred years, but a lot remains intact, and will take you almost all the way. With a small covert unit, you might just have a chance.”

  “A lot remains intact? How much?”

  “I can’t say for certain, Colonel, but it’s the only way you are going to cover that distance in the short time we have.”

  “Then we don’t go quiet. Let me take my Regiment north. We will retake that ground in fifteen hours.”

  “Negative. Cleveland has fallen,” she stated.

  That news silenced them.

  “Fallen? How many troops were there?”

  “The whole Seventh Army. It has been scattered. Elements continue to fight on the withdrawal to the south, but whatever hit them is coming our way.”

  “You’re sure?”

  She didn’t need to say a word; the certainty and despair was all over her face.

  “So when do we set off?” Taylor asked calmly.

  “Colonel, we are going behind enemy lines in small numbers, based on vague information and using dangerous tunnels in an unknown condition?” Jones turned to Greer. “Tell me there is another way, Sir.”

  “I’m sorry Captain, but there isn’t.”

  “We’ll take the mission, General. Send all the underground maps to me. If Phillips is alive, we will get him out,” said Taylor.

  She looked relieved and hit a few keys on her Mappad. The information was delivered to him instantly.

  “I wouldn’t ask you to do this if I didn’t think it wasn’t of the utmost importance. I send the best when they are needed.”

  Taylor smiled and walked out. As he stepped out, he sighed.

  “Are we really doing this?” Jones asked.

  “Yep.”

  “You know it’s crazy, right?”

  “Yep, but that’s just the business we’re in, and you can’t deny that if he is alive, he will be valuable.”

  “Sure he will,” replied Jones wearily.

  “Form up!” Taylor shouted.

  Fifteen minutes later they found themselves in the sports hall of a school. Taylor was poring over maps.

  “According to this, there is a station right beneath our feet. X marks the spot,” he said, pointing to the cross of lines on the polished floor.

  “All right, set the charges. Let’s get this done.”

  “You know blasting your way into an old and fragile tunnel that you want to actually be able to use, might just not be the best solution?”

  “I get that, Jones, but every access point has been long covered over and lost. This is the closest we can get to the tunnels.”

  He gestured for them to go on. They stepped back as one placed the shaped charge on the floor, and they skirted the room in readiness. The charges blew and ripped a hole in the floor.

  “You see, that wasn’t so bad,” added Taylor, but even before he had finished speaking, the ground beneath them began to shake. Parts of it collapsed into the tunnel, taking Jones and two others with it. Taylor rushed to the edge.

  “Jones!”

  He got to the edge and found they had fallen barely five metres into the floor of the tunnel. Jones was lying flat on his back as if not wanting to get up.

  “Thanks, really,” he said sarcastically.

  Taylor laughed. He jumped into the hole, and put the flashlights on his armour and his gun on. He stepped up to the Captain and helped him brush off the dust and debris. He coughed from the dust that coated his face and nostrils. They looked around. They had come down on the platform of a station. Taylor was surprised to see that the station was clearly hundreds of years old.

  “Does it take you back, Sir?” Bailey asked.

  “It’s still a long time past mine, but it’s a whole lot closer to what passes for architecture today,” he joked.

  “It’s still intact!” someone called out.

  They turned to head north through one of the tunnels. It was surprisingly dry inside and had been well sealed. They made a hundred metres when Jones finally spoke up to complain once more. He was certainly not a fan of the plan.

  “What are the chances of this being intact for what, forty klicks?”

  “Pretty good, I’d say,” replied Taylor.

  “Ever the optimist, aren’t you?”

  “What is your problem with this fucking mission? You’ve been a grouchy son of a bitch since we first took it.”

  Taylor could tell from the way Jones peered around with such fear and suspicion, and it made him smile.

  “You’re afraid of tight spaces? Of tunnels?”

  “It makes no sense to go into a deep, dark hole,” snarled Jones.

  Taylor laughed out loud so that it echoed down into the darkness beyond.

  “It’s not funny.”

  “Damn right it is. Captain Jones of the Parachute Regiment. Fearless warrior. Happy to jump out of a perfectly good aircraft and free fall, but stick him in a hole, and he shits his pants.”

  Jones still didn’t see the funny side.

  “Laugh all you like, but the idea of being buried alive is not one I ever want to imagine as a possibility.”

  “We aren’t gonna be buried alive. Relax.”

  “Really? We’re in tunnels that are antique at best. They aren’t maintained, and above surface there are repeated ground bombardments that send shockwaves through these structures. Tell me that you still think there is no risk?”

  Taylor had to concede the point, but he still thought Jones was overreacting.

  “Okay, so there is, but there is a risk every time we do anything. Of all the dangerous shit we do in the line of our work, this seems positively pedestrian in comparison.”

  “Here it is!” a voice yelled up ahead of them.

  “Just don’t let me die down here? You promise me,” added Jones.

  “Okay, you’re not gonna die down here…I promise.”

  He had never seen Jones so rattled.

  They reached an open top repair car that the rest of the platoon was climbing aboard. One took out a power pack he had been carrying on his pack and plugged it into the car.

  “What are the chances this works after all these years?”

  Jones certainly wasn’t going to get over his fear until they were back a
bove ground.

  “Pretty good, I’d say. These things are built to go on forever.”

  “Colonel, we’ve got a problem,” said the man who had put in the pack.

  “You were saying?”

  Taylor stepped over to the pack.

  “The systems won’t start up, Sir.”

  Taylor lifted up his right foot, smashed it down on the battery, and the lights immediately lit up.

  “You see, it just needed a little encouragement,” he said, smiling at Jones and sat back down beside him. Bailey took command of the controls and got them moving. The almost silent electric motors made a low whining noise that would soon grow to be irritating.

  “You see. Greer said we’d find a repair car here, and we did. She said we’d find the access point beneath the school gym. Maybe her intel about Phillips is right, too?”

  Jones only grumbled in response.

  “Don’t worry, we’ll be out in the fresh air before long, where the enemy can see and shoot at us,” said Taylor cynically.

  They trundled along at a slow but steady pace for an hour when they were shaken violently, and sparks began to fly as the front wheels came off the line. Bailey reached for the brake and pulled it on. The metal on metal squeal was painful, as they held on tight.

  “Oh, no,” said Bailey.

  Taylor stood up to see the problem. They were sliding towards a pile of fallen rocks and debris where the roof had given way.

  “Hold on!” he yelled.

  The brakes had taken most of the momentum out of the car when they smashed into the debris and crashed to a halt. Most of them were thrown off the open car and landed amongst the rubble. A dust cloud kicked up which made it hard to breathe.

  “Is everyone okay?”

  Taylor could see lights piercing the dust, and many of them getting up and helping others. Jones was beside him, clutching on for dear life to a handle on the car. He offered out his hand and made no attempt to shame his friend any further.

  “We’re okay,” he said.

  Jones was trembling, but he took Taylor’s hand and was hauled to his feet.

  “Still feel confident we’re going to make it out of here alive?”

  “Damn right I am. We didn’t make it this far in life to die in a goddamn abandoned subway.”

  “Some people do. We can’t control our fate. We never know when we will die, but we can certainly increase the chances by coming into stupid places like this.”