by Saxon Andrew
“Oh? Why do you make that statement? My Legion was the only human one I knew about,” Desiree replied.
“What do you think a Pirate is? They go out and attack other ships in an organized military fashion. They can also be hired to do it for others and the most successful Pirates are humans. John Blakely is a good example of that.”
“We were not Pirates!!” Desiree said sternly.
“Desiree, you can call it what you want but your actions match up very closely with pirates. Victoria and Leonidas believe that Blakely was hired by someone in Romanov’s Business to attack the Starliner she was on. That is mercenary behavior.”
Victoria lowered her head, “I’ve pretty much lived in the lap of luxury my entire life. I’ve never wanted for anything but I really haven’t been very happy.”
“Why not?” Desiree asked.
“I don’t know. I guess at some level I could tell that my parents really didn’t love me and my sister. I was forced to only associate with people that were trusted by the company and had to have guards go out with me wherever I went. Now that I know we were bought and used as a target for kidnappers or as agents to carry out dangerous assignments, my suspicions were validated. I knew in my heart that my family was ruthless in their business dealings and I didn’t feel good about what we did most of the time. I have to say that being on this ship has been the best time of my life.” She looked at Gem, “Your gift of Victoria’s DNA changed me. I’ve enjoyed our time out partying on different planets. I guess I’m more outgoing than I was before the change. Desiree, you are as close to me as my own sister.”
Desiree raised the corner of her mouth, “It has been fun.” Victoria nodded and knew Leonidas would be showing up the next day. She wondered how that was going to go. She glanced at Desiree and knew he would have to make a choice between them eventually. She didn’t know if she wanted that to happen…yet. She needed more time with him to make him see she was the one he needed in his life. Besides, she was rich enough to turn his head. She wondered if that made her like her father. And would wealth attract Leo or possibly push him away?
• • •
Leonidas looked at the monitor and saw that Jester was about eight hours away from their current position. He looked at Barney, “You have the ship. I’m going to take a break to get some sleep.”
“Yes, Captain.”
Leonidas left the bridge and went to his quarters. He fought to find sleep but kept thinking about what could be done about the Romanovs searching for Victoria’s ship. He knew that Victoria was interested in him and so was Desiree. That kept swirling around in his thoughts as well. He also thought about how Mark had deceived him about Desiree and between the three issues, sleep was impossible.
He forced himself to focus on each item one at a time. Victoria may just have to stay out of the Romanov’s galaxy. She was safe as long as she didn’t come back. He realized they would think differently but that was the most logical thing to do.
“Which of the two women had his attention? Well…both of them did. They were different from each other but both of them were attractive in their own ways. Desiree shared a common history with him and shared his fighter’s soul. Victoria had an innocence that made him want to protect her. She was also pretty strong of spirit and would take on anyone that threatened her family or friends. She was also incredibly wealthy. He thought about the wealth and decided that it really wasn’t important to him. It was nice but not something he craved. He did fine before he met her and would continue to be fine after she was gone.
He sat up straight. Something in his subconscious was telling him that he would not stay with her; he was already looking at life without her in it. Did he feel the same way about Desiree? He wasn’t sure. Either way, this was not a decision he was going to make now.
What about going after Mark’s killer? Ummm…Mark used him and deceived him about Desiree over the years…but…Mark took him in when he was a starving seventeen year old on Earth and gave him a home and purpose in the Legion. The reason Mark deceived him was he didn’t want to lose him. He was selfish in doing it but his affection was clear. Mark must have seen that if he knew about Desiree, he would have eventually chosen to go with her. Desiree was a strong willed woman and wouldn’t be easily controlled by Mark. He was given his purple card as a result of Mark’s decision to fight off the pirates attacking a Unity ship. Neither of them knew the President of the Unity was on that vessel and he later rewarded him with a Purple Card. Mark would have received one as well but died in the aftermath. It took the President a while to find his savior and thank him for saving him. Leo closed his eyes and remembered when Mark promoted him the first time in the middle of a battle on Haden. He could almost smell the ozone and burning trees from the heavy blaster beams that had his platoon pinned down.
• • •
The Platoon was trapped behind a line of burned out trees. The Lieutenant had just been vaporized by a blaster beam from the center heavy blaster bunker two hundred yards in front of them and sticking one’s head up to check out the three bunkers facing them was an invitation to join the Lieutenant. Captain Anderson’s voice came over the communication links and everyone in the platoon heard him say, “Corporal Piper! You’re promoted to Lieutenant and you will take your platoon and take out those three blaster bunkers in front of your position now!!”
Leo keyed his link, “But Sir, there are others in the platoon that outrank me…”
“I know who’s in your platoon! Now follow your orders and take them out. This war is lost if we don’t break through those blasters. Now get moving!!”
Leo looked around and saw the other members of the platoon were all staring at him; they knew they were all about to die. Leo looked at Carl laying on the ground next to him and said, “You should be the one doing this!”
“Forget it, Lieutenant! I’m perfectly happy hugging this piece of dirt I’ve grown quite fond of in the last ten minutes!”
A brilliant blaster beam flashed over their heads and a tree two hundred yards behind them exploded into flames. Leo rolled over on his back and keyed the platoon’s frequency. “First squad will remain here and dig in. Second squad will belly crawl fifty yards to the left and dig in there. Third squad will crawl fifty yards to the right and dig in. I want the Automatic Heavy Projectile Guns in each squad to be set up on their tripods and sighted in on the bunker directly in front of each squad. Second Squad has the one on the left, First Squad has the center bunker, and third squad has the one on the right. Now get this straight; you will sight in on the openings to those bunkers and on my command open fire and don’t stop. I don’t care if we run out of munitions doing this, we’re dead if we don’t pull this thing off and saving rounds won’t do us any good.” Leo paused and said, “Jeff, Chuck, Billy, and Glenny pick up two explosive packs each and be ready to jump up and start sprinting between first and second squad’s fire toward the bunkers. Carl, Jack, Embree, and I will do the same between first and third squads’ fire. We will stay between their lines of fire so the rest of you keep those bunkers sighted in and don’t lose your sight pictures. The only way we’re going to make it to those bunkers is for everyone to fire everything they have at the openings to those emplacements and keep it going. If you let up, they’ll raise their armor covers and all of us running toward them are dead. Report in when you’re ready to fire.”
“First Squad Projectile Gun is locked on target. All shoulder blasters are locked on target.”
“Second Squad is also ready.”
“Third is ready, Sir.”
Jack looked at Leo, “Sir, you’re in command now. Shouldn’t you send someone else?”
Leo said over the link where everyone could hear, “I’ve chosen the fastest runners in the platoon. That includes me. We win or lose using our best elements to make it happen.”
Carl looked at Leo, “Care to make a wager on my beating you to the bunker?”
“What would you like to wager?”
; “I’ve always wanted a certain gold watch.”
“Alright, Carl. If I ever get to a point where I can afford it, I’ll get you that watch. What do I get if I beat you?”
“Nothing, Sir. That’s for choosing me to do this. Now I at least have a reason to leave this beautiful patch of dirt.”
“What’s the matter, Carl? Do you want to live forever?”
“Tomorrow would be just fine by me, Sir,” Carl replied.
Leo chuckled, “We’re going do this or I’ll have the record for the shortest promotion on record.”
“Sorry, Sir. Lieutenant Madden was blown up by an enemy rocket the moment after he received word about his promotion a week ago. You’re already two minutes behind his time,” Embree said over the link.
Leo rolled his eyes as he pushed two explosive packs into his pouch, adjusted his shoulder blaster’s quick swivel sling, and said, “Well, let’s hope I don’t take second place. Alright, on my command, open fire with everything you’ve got; ready…FIRE!”
Leo heard the heavy projectiles leaving the three squads and he used his arms to push himself up to his feet, jumped over the burned tree trunk directly in front of him, and started sprinting toward the three bunkers two hundred yards away. He jumped over on a fallen tree trunk and leapt over a blast depression. The smoke from the burning trees obscured the view ahead but he cleared the last of the trees and saw the bunkers directly ahead as a brilliant wall of blaster fire passed him on both sides. He focused on the three bunkers in front of him and saw that the clear armor blast covers had come down over the bunker openings. The brilliant sparks of the heavy projectiles hitting the three bunkers and ricocheting away were almost mesmerizing as he passed the half way point and zigged around another blast crater. He was ten yards ahead of Carl as he approached a hundred and fifty yards into the run and he could actually see one of the soldiers in the center bunker pointing at him as he jumped up and down. He leaned into the sprint and saw the blaster cover start to rise but a volley of heavy projectiles forced the blaster crew to slam it shut. He knew the blaster crew wasn’t going to just sit still and he narrowed his eyes and focused on the center and right bunkers. When he was ten yards out from the central blaster, he saw three enemy soldiers come out from behind the bunker and raise their weapons. He slid to a stop and went to a knee as he raised his shoulder blaster in an instant and quick fired a blaster bolt across the three soldiers cutting them in half. He jumped back up as Carl ran past him and threw himself against the center blaster’s wall.
“Go get the one on the right and get back here!” Leo ordered Carl.
Carl ran toward the right bunker as Jack used his shoulder blaster to kill any enemy soldiers that stuck their head out of the back opening. Leo pointed toward the left and Embree rushed around the center bunker toward the bunker on the left; he arrived without being seen. He glanced out at the platoon and saw that Billy and Glenny were pinned down. Jeff and Chuck’s bodies were on the ground smoking to their right. He slammed an explosive pack on the blaster’s wall, turned, and ran at his best speed toward the center blaster. He dove after thirty yards and felt a giant explosion behind him rock the ground under him. A moment later, the ground was rocked by the second blaster’s destruction. He jumped up after the shockwaves passed and continued to run toward the center bunker.
Leo saw Embree and Carl place their explosive packs, he counted off in his mind, and then yelled, “EVERYONE DOWN!!” Embree was already prone but Carl was still running when he heard Leonidas. Jack, Carl and Leo hit the ground together and pushed their faces into the dirt. Four enemy soldiers came rushing out of the center bunker and started to raise their shoulder blasters when the explosive packs went off and all four soldiers were blown apart by the debris coming at them from both sides.
Leo shook his head trying to remove the cobwebs as he jumped to his feet. He staggered up to the open back entrance on the center blaster, raised his shoulder blaster, and shot the two surviving enemy soldiers through the chest as they struggled to shake off the effects of the two blasts. Leo yelled out, “CARL, GET IN HERE!! JACK, EMBREE, COVER US AND HAVE BILLY AND GLENNY JOIN YOU WHEN THEY ARRIVE!”
Carl came running into the bunker and Leo pointed at a large metal wheel to the left, “Turn the wheel!”
“What?”
“Turn that wheel! We have two more levels of enemy blasters above us on this hill!” Carl grabbed the wheel and began turning it as fast he could. The turret housing the heavy blaster began turning slowly to the left and Leonidas prayed the enemy forces above them wouldn’t charge before he could get the heavy blaster turned. The blaster bunkers behind them were at a decided disadvantage. They could fire straight ahead or raise the barrels of their blasters to fire at aircraft…but they could not depress the blaster barrels enough to fire on the bunkers directly below them. Leo saw the slope of the hill moving around in his vision and saw enemy troops start moving down from the next line of blasters. “KEEP TURNING, CARL!!” He turned the heavy blaster’s barrel and began firing at the approaching troops as well as the blaster bunker to the right above their position. Jack came rushing into the bunker and took the wheel with Carl and they turned it as fast as they could. Finally, the bunker’s opening was centered on the hill and Leo began firing the brilliant beam across the slope ahead of them burning all three enemy bunkers in the next line above them along with the enemy forces moving down the hill toward them. Leo shook his head as he moved the heavy blaster back and forth across the slope. “We could use some help!”
Carl was lying on the floor with both hands on his shoulders, “You’ll have it shortly. You owe me a watch!”
Leo said over his shoulder, “If I hadn’t stopped and fired at those three warriors, you wouldn’t have an arm to put it on.”
Carl waved an arm and grimaced, “You should have done it on the run!”
Jack started laughing and, after a moment, Leo joined him. Carl watched them and said, “YOU OWE ME A WATCH!” Jack laughed even harder.
Jack looked out of the open back entrance to the bunker and saw the platoon was arriving and setting up around it. Right behind the platoon, the rest of A Company was moving across the blasted terrain in mobile troop carriers. With the blasters removed from the hill, the Legion’s attack fighters came roaring in overhead hitting the hill with a massive missile launch making the entire top of the hill look on fire.
Leo lowered his arms from the blaster controls in exhaustion and saw Captain Anderson stick his head into the bunker. Leo looked up at him and Mark smiled, “You done good, Piper! Your platoon will remain here and recover while we clean up the rest of the enemy positions.”
“Yes, Sir.”
The platoon dug in and they knew the new Lieutenant had their support and loyalty. He had placed himself in the most dangerous position and they knew he would do everything possible to keep them safe. They had no doubts about his bravery.
• • •
Leo opened his eyes and sighed. That battle broke the enemy’s lines and the Legion poured through the break and rolled them up. Captain Anderson was promoted to Colonel in command of First Battalion and his first act was to promote Leonidas to take command of A Company. That was how it worked from that moment forward; Mark would be promoted and Leonidas was immediately promoted to take his former position. Leo knew that Mark had manipulated him…but…he still deserved his respect; Mark’s killer should pay a price for his death. He lay on the bed, closed his eyes, and after a few minutes, sleep finally found him.
Chapter Thirteen
Gold looked at Gem in his private quarters and twisted his triangular shaped head to the right, “I thought you must be wrong about this metal but it appears it’s even stronger than I thought. Where did you say it comes from?”
“A planet named Bellingham. I’ve seen another human recently with a sword like this one and it appeared someone was attempting to capture him. I don’t know who trained him but his actions showed he’s further advanced than the three
humans I’ve trained, which also means he’s faster than either of us.”
“What?! How is that possible?” Gold asked incredulously.
“I have no idea.” Gem pressed a button on his console and Gold watched the human kill the alien outside the tavern. He started twisting his head from side-to-side and Gem said, “There is another agency somewhere capable of training humans to an extremely high level of efficiency.”
“You were right about Humans being dangerous. This supports that view.”
Gem nodded and asked, “What did you decide about the question I asked you?”
Gold blew out air through his breathing tube, “You are right. I possess no consideration for any other species than my own. I think that comes from being raised only within our society. Coming out here has shown me a larger view of the universe we inhabit and has changed how I see it. The humans that possess this metal represent a real threat to us.”
“No they don’t,” Gem corrected him.
“Gem, this metal would make them far ahead of us technologically. A warship coated in this would be indestructible.”
“But that doesn’t mean they’re a danger. It just means we should see if we can acquire it for our own use.”
Gold raised his thorax in a shrug, “That is something we’ll have to take a look at in the future.”
Gem clacked his agreement, “Are you ready to go to the meeting? Leonidas is moving this way now.”
“What are we going to do about this Romanov issue?” Gold asked.
Gem clacked again at Gold before saying, “Let’s see if the humans have figured out anything.” Gem turned and left his quarters with Gold following close behind him.
• • •
Leonidas exited the shuttle and the crew in the landing bay cheered his arrival. Jack saluted him and smiled, “I’m taking you to the conference room, Sir.”
Leo returned his salute and then hugged him, “It’s good to see all of you again. I understand you’ve handled a couple of pirate ships.”