“I swear if I’d known, I wouldn’t have let him do this to you.” Henry said to the president, a cold churning feeling spreading through his chest and stomach.
“Mr. President, are you alright?” the voice on the radio kept talking. Rand turned it off, and looked over at the chair Sallis sat in.
“You little worm.” Rand said.
“I hope they skin you alive.” Sallis said.
“That doesn’t sound like a bad idea.” Rand began to walk toward Sallis, and Henry stood up right in front of Sallis.
“Get out of the way!” Rand barked.
“You want him; you have to get through me!” Henry said.
“Fine.” Rand swept Henry’s legs, and the rebel leader fell to the ground. With his lizard claws, Rand picked him up, and tossed him to the other side of the room. He took one look at him to make sure he hadn’t broken any bones, before moving back to the president. He leaned down until his scaly face was mere inches in front of Sallis’ face.
“You know what?” Rand asked. He playfully dragged the claw of his middle finger across the president’s neck.
“Rand stop!” Henry shouted. The other commandoes were already on top of him. They held him back as he tried to run toward Rand.
“I think skinning you wouldn’t be a bad idea.” Rand said. The president didn’t respond.
“Rand stop this now!” Henry pleaded, as the other commandoes held him back.
“But sadly, we really don’t have time for that.” Rand shook his head as he spoke. “So, we’ll have to do something a little less elaborate.” The claw that sat on the president’s neck moved like a flash of lighting in a storm. A red, wet gash appeared there, and Henry watched the small river of blood that flowed down the president’s shirt. He sputtered a few wet breaths, before falling out of the chair, and hitting the ground.
“No.” Henry said under his breath. The other commandoes let go of him, and he could again move freely. He stared down at the body on the ground, watched as its blood formed a puddle at Rand’s feet.
In the background, he could vaguely make out Rand telling the other soldiers to prepare for battle. But all his attention was on the pair of dead eyes that stared up at him. His guilt-ridden mind was hypnotized by those eyes. He could only imagine the pain and misery those eyes had witnessed.
“Hey!” said a gruff voice. Henry looked up to see Rand’s yellow eyes staring at him. He looked around. All the other soldiers were gone. “Were you listening? We’re going to have enemy troops on our doorstep any second. You need to get to your quarters.” Rand’s tone sounded calm, but a little annoyed. It was as if he hadn’t just killed an unarmed man.
“You son of a bitch.” Henry spat.
“Oh please.” Rand said. “You humans are the most pathetic warriors I have ever seen. So easily do you allow petty details, and romantic fantasies of nobility get in the way of doing what needs to be done.”
“You won’t get away with this.” Henry said. “When I tell Aric-”
“He already knew!” Rand said. Henry was silent. “Aric has been my superior for over twenty-years, forty-years by Earth time! You think he doesn’t know my methods?” Henry was again silent. “I still don’t know how he can stomach your human nonsense! And I’ll never know what possessed him to join your pretentious revolution.”
“He wanted to do what was right!” Henry shouted. “He wanted to protect his world, your world!”
“And you really believed him?” Rand asked. “If we’d really thought you stupid apes were a threat to us, we’d have shown up with a fleet of our best war ships, and blasted you until you were nothing but dust floating in space!”
“What are you saying?”
“We are not your allies, comrades, brothers-in-arms, or any other pretentious labels your mammal brain can conjure up.” Rand was pointing an angry clawed finger at Henry. “We’re your puppet masters.”
Just then a voice came over the ship intercom. It said, “Attention! Attention! Enemy dreadnought inbound! Estimated time of arrival: twenty minutes! Everyone to battle positions!”
“We’ll discuss this later.” Rand said. “Go to your quarters. Wait until we give the all clear.” Henry didn’t want to leave. He wanted Rand to tell him what he meant by “puppet masters,” wanted ask so many more questions. But the voice on the intercom was very clear.
Henry silently nodded, and went off to his quarters.
Henry sat on his bed, looking at the small security monitor on his nightstand. He flicked through the different camera feeds, watching as saurian troops took position at various points around the ship. They didn’t have enough time to take off, so they had to just wait for the other ship to touch down. The good news was that the military still thought the president was alive, and weren’t going to conduct an aerial bombardment. They were however going to try and breach the ship.
The plasma pistol in his hand was fully loaded. It wouldn’t do much if the saurians were unable to hold them off, but it made him feel safer all the same. Aric came by a few minutes earlier to check on him. He left him a radio, so he could listen in on what was going on. Henry wanted to ask him about what Rand had said, but Aric needed to leave.
He thought about Emily. He knew she was in her quarters near the infirmary. He would’ve preferred if they could’ve stayed in the same place, but they didn’t have time for that. Instead, he just stayed where he was, and hoped everything would be okay.
The first wave came about five minutes after Aric left. They burst in through the cargo bay. The image on Henry’s screen was obscured by plasma fire, and the blurring motion of skinny black bodies. By the time the first wave had been dispatched, only two of the sixty Saurian troops in the bay had died. On the second wave, six died. On the third, ten. On the fourth, twelve.
Through the radio, reports came of more drop ships landing around the Saurian vessel, and of more soldiers pouring out onto the red Martian soil. The feed from the cameras mounted on the ship exterior showed a swarm of black suited human commandoes rushing the ship, running to every conceivable opening.
This was how the government thought they could defeat us, thought Henry. Over the last few months, every attempt to engage the saurians in traditional combat had failed miserably. This was their new strategy; overwhelm the saurians. Throw as many troops at them as possible in one go, and hope it worked. It was an act of blatant desperation, but it appeared to be working.
All but the most skilled saurians in the cargo bay had been killed. Those that remained retreated. On another screen, Henry saw a few squads break in through a window on the port side. Most of them were killed, but there were enough left over to still cause problems. Henry tightened his grip on the gun in his hand, and kept his eyes on the door.
An explosion shook his quarters, and Henry got a call on his radio.
“Aric to Henry! Aric to Henry!” Aric’s voice sounded tiny on the radio.
“I’m here!” Henry said.
“Are you alright?”
“Yeah. What was that?”
“Grenade. I didn’t think any of the soldiers would be able to get this deep into the ship.”
“How many more are there?”
“A lot. But there aren’t any more drop ships coming in. We’ve lost the back cargo bay, and a few other areas, but we’ve been able to keep most of them from getting onboard. We currently have a few squads doing a sweep of the ones who got in.”
“Where are they on the ship?”
“We’re not sure about that. We know they’re a few near the infirmary.”
“How many?” Henry’s voice sounded shaken.
“About three or four. They’re a few more by the engine room. We’re prioritizing that at the moment.”
“But what about Emily! We can’t just leave her!”
“Henry, we have to think of the safety of the ship!”
Henry didn’t say anything. He looked down at the gun in his hand. It’d been a couple months since he’d been in
combat.
“Henry? Are you there?” Aric asked. The rebel leader didn’t answer. He figured he’d spent enough time hiding behind these commandoes.
“Henry what are you-” Henry turned off the radio, and made for the door.
The hallway outside was clear, save for the smoke that spilled down the left side. He made his way down the right side. All around him he could hear gunshots and screams muffled behind the metal walls.
He’d traveled for about two minutes before he’d come across the first dead body; a Spec Ops commando, with a vertical gash that ran from his neck to his crotch. His rifle, loaded with a half-full plasma clip, lay on top of his spilled intestines. Henry ignored the smell and the blood, and picked it up before continuing toward the infirmary.
The path ahead was littered with corpses. Most were humans, but there were a few saurians, their stringy plasma covered bodies bleeding out onto the floor. Henry had never seen more than one or two dead saurians, but in this one stretch of ship, he’d counted no less than seventeen. His grip on the rifle tightened, as he pressed on.
He eventually came to a corridor that exited into a narrow hallway. The infirmary lay about five feet to his left, while the door to Emily’s quarters was directly in front of him. The door had been opened a crack, and Henry could see puddles of blood on the floor.
“Oh shit.” Henry said. He ran to the door, flung it open, and found two dead commandoes lying on the ground. A flash of blue plasma shot past his head, and he turned to the side. Emily sat crouched behind the door, the plasma pistol smoking in her hand. She was breathing hard, and she lowered the gun.
“Oh my god.” She said, staring at the person she’d almost hit.
“Emily.” Henry ran over, and they embraced.
“I’m so sorry.” Emily said.
“That’s okay.”
“What the hell are you doing here?” She asked.
“I heard there were troops here. I couldn’t leave you alone here.”
A soft warm smile creased her face. She kissed him, and said, “Thank you.”
“No problem.” He took her hand, and pulled her up off the ground.
“So where do we go?”
“One second.” Henry took his radio from his pocket, and called Aric.
“Henry, are you alright?!” Aric asked.
“I’m near the infirmary with Emily.”
“Henry, there is a large contingent of commandoes heading that way right now.” Henry and Emily could hear dozens of footsteps marching on the cold metal, and they were getting louder. “Find cover. I’m sending some of our troops down immediately.”
“Yes sir.” He put the radio in his pocket. Emily picked up a rifle from one of the dead soldiers, and they left.
They started down the hallway that Henry had come, but stopped when they saw an Earth commando turn the corner at the end, the sound of his comrade’s marching not far behind.
“Over there!” One of them yelled. They fired a green plasma blast down the hall. Emily and Henry moved out of the way, and ran down to the infirmary.
They opened the door, closed it behind them, and ran toward the back. There were a few large metal cabinets that rested against the wall. They were knocking them down to the ground to use as cover, when the door to the infirmary was kicked in.
“Freeze!” said a commando, as he fired a warning shot that sailed between them. They dropped their rifles, and slowly turned around. There were six soldiers, all pointing their plasma rifles at the two rebels. One of them began to speak into a walkie-talkie.
“We have Patrick. Repeat we have Patrick.”
“Roger.” Said the voice on the radio. “Ask him the location of the president.”
“Where is the president?”
Neither Henry nor Emily knew what to say.
“Where is the president?” The lead solider asked again. The other soldiers were fidgeting, their eyes constantly searching for any sign of the saurian troops.
“He’s…” Henry began. “He’s…not here. He’s on a shuttle to Venus.”
“Stop lying!” The solider barked. “We know he’s on this ship!”
“I’m telling you the truth.”
“You’re lying!”
“I swear that’s where he is.” Henry said. He kept peaking over at the infirmary door, hoping to see some of the saurians there.
“Stop lying!”
“I’m not lying!”
The lead soldier walked over to Emily, and fired a plasma blast just inches from her head. He held the smoking barrel to her head.
“Please no!” Henry begged.
“Tell me where he is!”
Emily slowly mouthed “no.”
“He’s on the shuttle!”
“I’m gonna count to three.”
“I told you where he was!”
“One!”
“He’s in the radio room!” Henry spoke quickly. The solider still hadn’t removed his gun from Emily’s head.
“Where is that?”
“Its-” A howl from one of the soldiers interrupted Henry. Everyone in the room turned in time to see the green and black blur make its way to the soldier that held Emily hostage. He fell quickly.
The other soldiers began to fire about wildly, their plasma blasts bouncing off the walls. Henry ran to Emily, and pulled her to the ground. They ducked their heads, and didn’t look up until the sound of rifle fire ceased. It was a sight that could’ve come from any of a dozen different battles fought in the last six months; a handful of black-suited government troops lying dead at the feet of an unarmed saurian commando.
“Get up you imbecile.” Rand said. He had tears under his eyes, and blood on his uniform. They did, and Rand immediately stepped forward, and grabbed Henry by his throat.
“What were you thinking?” the commando asked.
“Let him go!” Emily said.
“I had to save her.” Henry said. He could again feel the claws pressed down on his skin.
“You pathetic piece of shit!” Rand growled. “You were going to throw away everything you’ve worked for!”
“Was I supposed to just leave her here?”
“Yes!” Rand said. “Don’t you understand?! You are the face of this revolution! When it is over, you will be the hero who is swept into office!”
“I did what I needed to do.”
“You’re a hazard to yourself.” Rand’s grip on his neck tightened.
“Rand, let him go!” Emily shouted.
“Maybe If I broke your spine…” Rand said. Henry’s eyes went wide. “It’d be much more difficult for a cripple to do something stupid. And the sympathy from the public.” A thin smile spread across Rand’s face. “You apes love to worship your victims.”
A wad of green plasma whizzed past Rand’s head, and they could hear Emily shout, “Let him go!”
Rand turned to see Emily’s angry brown eyes staring at him behind the barrel of a smoking plasma rifle. The saurian snarled. He threw Henry to the ground, and lunged for Emily. She fired off a few shots, none of which hit Rand, before she felt his claws come down on her arm. She screamed as the blood began to gush out from the gash that ran from her shoulder to her elbow. The rifle fell to the ground.
Henry lay on his side, trying to reach for the plasma pistol he still kept in his pants. He pulled it out, and aimed. Rand was holding his claw to Emily’s throat.
“Put down the weapon.” Rand said.
Henry’s eyes went wide. He knew he had a good shot at hitting Rand, but he didn’t want to risk hurting Emily. Again Rand said, “Put down the weapon!”
Henry obeyed. Rand sliced Emily’s throat open, before dropping her to the ground.
“No!” Henry said, scrambling to the place where Emily lay on her side, bleeding onto the floor. He took her in his arms, as she stared up at him. He watched as the light slowly left her eyes.
“You should’ve killed me when you had the chance.” Rand said. Henry looked up at him, anguish and r
age clear on his face. “Don’t get so upset. I’m sure they’re plenty of women who’d be glad to be the president’s plaything.” Henry reached for the blood-stained rifle at Rand’s feet, when the saurian slammed a green foot on it.
“You can’t beat me.” He said. “I’m-” Rand’s words were interrupted by a howl of pain. His eyes went wide, and he collapsed to the ground. A large gash ran down his back. Standing behind him was Aric, red saurian blood dripping from his fingers.
He stared down at the corpse, and said, “You were my best solider. But you could never play well with others.” He turned to Henry, and asked, “Are you alright?”
“Why did you help us?” Henry said. He looked over at Rand. “He told me that you didn’t need my help to get rid of Sallis.” Aric’s expression remained blank, as he began to explain.
“Your solar system is rich with minerals and materials that people from my world would pay good money for. I wanted it.” Aric’s voice had lost its warmth and friendliness, and had instead become cold and clinical. It was as though a façade had been taken away, and Henry was seeing the real Aric.
“But this system was inhabited, and we had to consider dealing with the locals. Rand’s initial suggestion had been to simply wipe you out. He was always very direct. You can attest to this.”
“He was a psychopath.” Henry spat.
“A psychopath on your world, a model citizen on mine. We have very different values, but that’s beside the point.
“We knew the native population could provide cheap labor, but forcing them would cause problems. It always does. That was when we sent the probes out, to survey your system, gather materials for us to study and research.
“You’re a very dramatic people.” Aric said. “Romantic. Sentimental: a large emphasis on pathos. This wasn’t too surprising, such traits are very common in mammals. I’d heard of planets with intelligent mammalian species, but had never visited one myself. Neither had Rand. It was a shock to both of us. Our species is more solitary, yours more social.
Monsters Win Wars: A Novella Page 5