"What the hell?" Sommer asked.
A voice came over their comms on an open channel a few seconds later.
"This is Zaya. I repeat Zaya. I am going down, and I am hurt, but I know where Taylor is. I repeat. I know where Taylor is."
"This is Captain Jones. Come in."
They all watched the small craft try to lift its nose, but it couldn't get altitude quick enough. It crashed into a tall tower block and burst out the far side, vanishing amongst some ruins far into the distance. Sommer felt a shot glance off her shoulder and lifted her shield up in time to stop the next few. Turan's platoon rushed past to engage the enemy, leaving her, Jones, and Babacan looking at one another for answers.
"What do we do?" she asked.
"If there is any chance of finding Taylor, we must go to him," stated Jones.
Neither of them disagreed, but they looked out at the smoke rising from the crash site. It was well over a klick away, and there seemed to be an endless horde of enemy between them and where they wanted to be.
"How are we going to get through that?"
"The Guardians," said Babacan.
Jones had no idea what he was talking about. He hadn't seen any in a long time.
"He's right. We haven't been able to get them to fight since Taylor was captured. They were ordered to follow him, and he is nowhere to be found. They're a few klicks south, sitting in their transport and waiting for orders. They'll defend their position, but they won't move from it."
"Why don't they just return to Irala?"
Then it dawned on her. "You don't know?"
"Know what?"
"Irala fell the day you were captured, killed by Bolormaa herself. Taylor saw it happen, but he couldn't do anything to save the Councillor."
"Well, this certainly isn't getting any better. Is there any other good news I should know about?"
"Lieutenant Hariz, she is missing, too. We expected to find her when we discovered you, but there was nothing, no sign of her."
"Bolormaa has her?"
His face turned to a bitter scowl, and his fists clenched as though he was ready to murder someone.
"I am gone for a few days, and everything has gone to hell."
"It was longer than that, Sir."
He put his hand up to stop her. He didn't want to know.
"So how do we call these Guardians?"
"Guardian Platoon, or G Platoon, and give them orders. That's how the Colonel always did it, but it hasn't worked since."
Jones took a deep breath and opened a comms channel.
"This is Captain William Jones. I am assuming command of the Regiment in the light of Colonel Taylor's absence. All units are to move forward to coordinates as instructed," he said as he managed the data on his Mappad.
"Guardian Platoon, get back in this fight. You have your orders."
He sent an order for them to move in on the crash site. For a moment they just waited and listened. The fight still raged on as the others pushed forward. Turan and his people didn't need any motivation to go at the enemy.
"Things sure have changed around here," said Jones as they waited.
"Colonel Taylor says the more things change, the more they stay the same, Sir," replied Sommer.
Jones smiled. It was the first time any of them had seen him do so since he was taken prisoner.
"I wish that were the case."
They heard the roar of engines, and the Aranui vessel zoomed overhead.
"I don't believe it," said Sommer.
The aircraft slowed halfway to the target Jones had given them and came to a hover as the Guardians jumped into combat.
"This is it. This is our chance."
Sommer nodded in agreement, but she still couldn't believe it. Not so long ago it seemed all hope was lost, and now they were going forward in search of a victory that had seemed impossible.
"All units, advance, kill them, kill them all!" Jones ordered over an open channel.
Gunfire raged as the Guardians attacked, and Turan's unit had already covered another hundred metres with other human elements from their Regiment in support.
"What can we do?"
Sommer looked around. Ness and his squad were looking for some work to do.
"You're coming with us, Sergeant."
That was all he needed to hear as Jones slammed a new magazine into his rifle and ran onward without another word. Thousands of troops rose up from the lines of trenches, advancing like a shield wall across the ruinous terrain of what was once a great city. Automatic gunfire rang out to such intense volume that it was a constant noise. They cut their way to through to the Guardians just in time to see one grab hold of a Gurv, throwing it down as if it were just any other soldier. The Guardian grabbed hold of its head and snapped its neck. Two others laid down a barrage of fire on another, cutting it down as it ran towards them and slumped down dead.
"I can think of more than a few occasions where we could have done with these chaps. They could have got us out of more than a few tight spots," said Jones.
A Guardian was struck by a Gurv at full speed and destroyed outright, but the rest soon turned their guns on the creature.
"Come on, keep pushing. We need to get to that ship!" Jones shouted.
Many of the Amitads were starting to run now, and as their number thinned, they were cut down more quickly. Sommer looked back to see a number of their own dead and wounded on the ground, but medics were already moving up to assist. She wanted to go back, but she heard Jones calling her name.
"Do you think he is still alive?" she asked as she caught up.
"If it is Zaya, he should have no trouble fighting these creatures," replied Babacan.
"Wounded and against this many?"
"Let's not make any more assumptions. Let's just find him," said Jones.
They followed the Guardians and Krys who led the way now, advancing as an invulnerable wall, cutting down all who stood before them, and losing few. Sommer spotted gunfire from the fifth floor of a building up ahead and lifted her shield just in time to stop a shot heading for Jones' head. She returned fire, but within seconds, a volley of fire lit up the whole floor. Finally, an explosive charge struck it and blew out all the windows, silencing whoever was inside for good.
They stepped into a broad street. It was once a wealthy shopping area but now reduced to rubble. Many of the enemy were being shot in the back mercilessly as they ran. It wasn't long before they took a bend to see the tail of fallen craft between some mounds of rubble and with smoke pouring from it. Flames rose up from the fuselage, and it didn't look good, but they could hear gunfire coming from the far side. Jones pushed past the Guardians and rushed for the wreckage.
"Wait, Captain!" Sommer cried.
There was no way he would slow down, and he took the bend. The ramp of the ship was open, and a dozen Amitads trying to fight their way into a nearby building. Shots rang out in defence. They hadn't even noticed Jones arrive, and he opened up on full auto. Sommer and Babacan were soon by his side, helping him cut down the enemy. Two noticed in time to try and face their new attackers, but a Guardian stepped through on the far side and gunned them down. Jones ran in through the building entrance with no care for his own life at all. Sommer shook her head in despair. They had almost lost him once, she just wished he would show more care now, but all that faded as she recognised Zaya lying in the doorway. There was a blood trail running all the way up to his body, and he was slumped awkwardly.
"Are you okay?" Jones asked.
"I am now."
"What can we do?"
He shook his head.
"I can heal myself. I just need rest," he said, and he passed out.
"Shit!" Jones said, "Form a perimeter. I want it clear for half a klick in every direction. Get to it!"
Sommer stepped back outside to pass on his orders as Babacan came in to see for himself.
"Is it really Zaya?"
Jones looked hopeful.
"It had better be. Com
e on, help me get him inside."
They carried him further into the shop. It was a ladies fashion store. Most of the clothes still hung on the racks as if it had been open just the day before. They found a large sofa and rested Zaya down, but he barely fitted on it, and was still unconscious. Jones slumped down in another that faced him.
"He has a lead on Taylor, so what are we going to do?"
"As soon as he wakes up, we'll find out, and then we'll not stop until we find him."
Jones watched him for an hour, but he was becoming more and more tired until finally he fell asleep. When he came to, it was pitch black, but he could make out the shape of Babacan still standing in the doorway on guard. He stood up and yawned. It was the only good sleep he’d had in weeks. He strode out of the room without a word to Babacan.
Hours passed as they waited for some news, and Jones found himself on the rooftop looking out across the war-torn city. He was alone for some time before Sommer came up to join him.
"We thought we'd never get you back."
He nodded in agreement, clearly thinking the same.
"This is what kept me going, getting back to you all. And yet I come back to find half of my friends, my family, are missing. It's not the home coming I had in mind."
"Me, neither. Sir, do you believe the Colonel is still alive?”
"He has to be. I know it."
"Why?"
"Because anyone who wants Taylor dead would want him to suffer to the fullest extent first."
"Like you did?"
"Worse, I think."
"You think he can keep it together long enough for us to find him?"
"I am certain of that. I came back from this, and Taylor is the toughest man I have ever known."
"We need him, don't we? Now more than ever."
"Damn right, we do!"
They fell silent as they watched the fires rage in the distance. The fighting had eased a little in the darkness, but it was far from over.
"Captain, Zaya is awake!"
CHAPTER 13
“Where is Taylor?” Jones asked sternly.
Zaya looked confused and uneasy about talking as he looked around the room at the six others watching. He didn’t seem too surprised to see Jones, and that was strange, considering how he was there when he was taken.
“Why did you leave us and go with Bolormaa?”
There was no response.
“Start talking. Taylor never trusted you, and you never trusted us, so tell us why should we help you now? Any more than we have already.”
“I went with Bolormaa because I had no choice. If I had not, you would never have found her.”
“We haven’t found her though, have we?”
“But I know how we can.”
“First, we get Taylor. You said you know where he is, so tell me.”
Zaya looked around suspiciously once more at all who watched him.
“I am more than happy to share the information I have with you so that we may get Colonel Taylor back together, but there are some things I must talk with you about…in private.”
Jones only had to think about it for a few seconds.
“Everyone out!”
The room was quickly cleared, but Babacan remained in the doorway.
“You, too!”
He groaned before clearing the doorway.
“All right, speak up,” said Jones.
Zaya rose up as if in remarkable condition, considering his wounds and the state of him hours before.
“You guys heal fast.”
“The result of perfect genetics.”
“I wouldn’t go that far. You have Bolormaa’s blood in your veins, and she’s the queen bitch.”
Jones couldn’t help but smile, thinking how much he was beginning to sound like Taylor. Zaya approached to speak as privately as possible.
“You know, Captain, you really have no idea about the genetics that pulse through my veins.”
Jones didn’t respond as he listened. Zaya was half a metre away when he stopped and seemed to smell and study him. It was as if it was the first time they had ever met.
“Enough of this, where is Taylor?”
Zaya’s hand snapped up to his throat and gripped tightly.
“Pathetic human, how could you have made it this far?”
“You are not Zaya,” he gasped.
“No, I am not that traitorous animal. I am Hagan, and I am here to return you to the pit from which you should never have escaped.”
“I hate to tell you this, but I’m not going, and neither are you!”
“You fool, you think you are in charge here? You have no idea.”
Hagan grunted as if brushing him off. He turned and strode out of the door with Jones firmly held as his prisoner. They burst out from the building and headed for his ship, but Sommer stood in front of it as if waiting for him. Six Krys marines were with her. He released his grip on Jones, accepting he wasn’t getting out with ease. Jones began to laugh as he got his breath back.
“You thought you were just going to waltz on out of here? Do you really think we are that stupid? You just made the biggest mistake of your life.”
Hagan heard a sound off to the other side and turned sharply. Babacan’s rifle stock smashed into his face. As he recoiled back, he landed on Turan who struck him to the side of his head with a brutal hammer blow. He was stunned, and Turan locked his arms around his neck as he went into a chokehold. Babacan started working on his body where his wounds were. He weakened fast.
“Tie this thing down,” snarled Jones.
They dragged the Morohtan Prince down the street to a burnt out tank and lashed him to the front with the heavy recovery chains.
“You’re not going anywhere, you son of a bitch,” said Jones as he delivered a brutal kidney punch.
“You will never defeat Bolormaa,” he spat, blood dripping from his mouth.
“Yeah, well, we’ll see about that.”
He walked over to a sidewalk to what used to be a café and grabbed one of the chairs. He dragged it back and placed it in front of the Prince before sitting down casually and drawing out his Assegai.
“So here’s how it’s going to be. I am going to ask you questions, and you are going to give me answers. The right answers might just see you down a path of redemption, and well, the wrong answers…won’t.”
Sommer was speechless. Jones wasn’t acting himself at all.
“Captain?”
He held up his hand without looking at her, as if telling her to pipe down.
“First question. Let’s start with an easy one. We know your name, so we can skip such formalities. Hagan, why did you come here pretending to be Zaya?”
The creature said nothing as it glared at him with disgust and murderous intent.
“No? I think I made the rules pretty simple.”
Still no response came. Without any warning, he swung his Assegai around and stabbed it through the knee joint of one of the Prince’s four legs. He squirmed out in pain as the blade passed right through, but Jones leapt from his chair and took hold of the lower limb. He twisted the blade in the wound to further the damage before ripping the limb from the creature’s body and tossing it aside.
Hagan looked up and let out a deafening screech that was ear splitting, but Jones ignored it. He sat back down casually on the chair as if it were just another day at the office. There was a small smirk on his face as though he was enjoying himself, and that scared Sommer more than anything. She looked around for someone else to say or do something, but the Krys didn’t seem bothered at all by the bloodthirsty display of torture.
Sommer felt that sickness coming over her once again, and she felt paralysed by it. This time it was worse, though. She looked up to Jones almost as much as she did Taylor, and this seemed to be the sort of nightmare she never believed she would see. Blood poured from the open wound as the creature still squirmed in pain. She didn’t care for the Morohtans at all, but she did care for what this w
as doing to Jones’ soul.
“Let’s try that again, shall we?” he asked, “Why did you come here?”
Still there was no response. He put the blade up beside the joint of its next leg, and the tip began to sear into its flesh.
“I came here for you!” he screamed.
Jones lowered the Assegai and looked surprised.
“For me? Why me?”
“You are Bolormaa’s toy, and she wants you back.”
“Mmm, let me think about that. No.”
“Bolormaa will come for you.”
He stood up and paced back and forth calmly.
“I do hope that she does. I really do. Bolormaa and me are going to have words.”
“And you will die.”
“We’ll see about that,” he said and took a seat once again.
There was some fear in Hagan’s face now. Even through all the bitter hatred, that much was clear. It was the only time any of them had ever seen it from a Prince.
“You know I don’t give a damn where Zaya really is, or even if he is still alive. So I have just one question left for you. Where is Taylor?”
Hagan’s lips were sealed, but he was still in a lot of pain. Jones had seen enough. He thrust his blade into the creature’s knee and ripped off another lower limb as he cried out in agony. He tossed it aside into the street as if it was nothing, and once again paced back and forth.
“Two down, two to go!”
He seemed to be enjoying it. Sommer rushed off to one side of the street and threw up as she ran. Jones didn’t bother checking on her. He was too caught up in the moment.
“You know you really aren’t proving very useful. I should end your miserable life, but I wouldn’t want to rob myself of some satisfaction before you die. So this is not going to be quick. Tell me what I need to know, and you can scurry off back to your bitch of a mother, but those legs belong to me now.”
“You would let me live?”
“Not forever, but for now,” he said with a smile.
They could both hear the drips of blood pooling beneath him.
“Make up your mind,” said Jones.
He was gasping for air and in tremendous pain, but finally he nodded in agreement.
Battle Beyond Earth - Box Set (Books 6-9) Page 19