“Yeah, well, sometimes the best plans are the simplest.”
Jones slapped him on the back.
“Damn right, that’s the spirit. So will you come and enjoy this party?”
Taylor begrudgingly accepted and finally left the little room. He stepped out of the building and into the open air where music was playing and fireworks continued to rocket into the sky. The truth was he didn’t appreciate it at all. He had seen enough bright flashes, and heard enough explosions to last a lifetime. Even the music was pounding through his sore head.
“This is for you, enjoy it!”
He didn’t much feel like enjoying it. Lorenzo passed him by and pushed a beer into his hands. He was at least happy to accept that.
“Nice one, Colonel.”
That was about the best compliment he could get from the medic. He took a sip, and it was a welcome relief. He had wanted to stand on Earth’s firm ground and smell the sweet fresh air for as long as he could remember. The only thing he wanted more was to have Alita back beside him, but it was nothing like he had hoped. The celebrations raged on, although far into the distance he could still hear the thunderous echo of artillery as fighting raged on many kilometres away.
“We did it, didn’t we, Sir?”
“No, Sommer, and you know we didn’t. You were there. You saw it all.”
“I saw you kick the crap out of her. She was barely alive when we last saw her.”
“Alive being the operative word.”
“Surely she can’t still be alive?”
“I told you like I told everyone. Until I see her dead with my own eyes, I have no faith that our task is done. We had our chance, and we failed.”
Sommer didn’t know what else to say. There was nothing she could say or do to make him feel better, only the proof he wanted would do that.
“Look on the bright side, though, Sir, we survived.”
Taylor threw back his beer.
“Yep, that’s never a bad thing, but when a sword dangles over your head, suspended by the thinnest string known to man, it’s hard to feel particularly good about it.”
“Ever the cynical bastard,” Jones said, approaching with a fresh drink in hand.
“It pays to be cynical. It’s kept me alive this long.”
Rogers soon joined them. For a moment, they marvelled at the party going on below them. Thousands of troops partying as though the war were over, even though they could still hear it continuing in the distance.
“This transit camp, it is nothing more than a rest stop before going back into action, but you wouldn’t know it, would you?” Rogers asked.
“People want to believe it’s over.”
“It might well be, or the beginning of the end.”
“You know it isn’t.”
“I don’t know anything for certain.”
“Come on, don’t bullshit me. You work with intelligence, and on the balance of probabilities. Honestly tell me you think based on that, is she dead?”
“I wish she were. I pray that she is.”
“Exactly,” said Taylor.
He was looking up into the sky now. It looked so peaceful, yet Bolormaa’s ship, the Leviathan, and what was left of her fleet were still up there, and they were powerless to do anything about it.
“We are going to push them out of the system, don’t you worry,” insisted Rogers.
“Sure, a few weeks for repairs, and we can get back out there and clear a path. Time is on our side,” added Jones.
Taylor wasn’t convinced. None of it sat right with him, and the concern on his face was clear for all to see.
“You shouldn’t worry so much. The whole world saw you beat her, and most of the universe has probably seen it by now,” said Jones.
“He’s right. Even if she could survive those injuries, her reputation is shot. She has been humiliated live on TV.”
“So?”
“That changes everything. People followed Bolormaa because they were terrified of her, and she has been able to force them to fight for her. But now it is clear for all to see. Every man and woman has an option. They can resist, and they can fight. And not only that, there is a chance they can win.”
Taylor still didn’t look convinced at all.
“You say that, but the fighting rages on.”
And as he finished, he noticed an odd expression on his face, a moment of doubt.
“What aren’t you telling me?”
“I don’t have anything of note.”
“What is it? Come on, spit it out.”
“Just that, a number of Morohtan forces around the world have withdrawn. They aren’t putting the kind of pressure on that we have known since the invasion.”
“Isn’t that a good thing?” Jones asked.
“Well, that really depends on the reason why, doesn’t it?”
They both looked for answers from Rogers now, and the Captain just sighed as though his bubble had been burst.
“They could be withdrawing. Consolidating what they have, or even be preparing to leave this fight altogether.”
Taylor studied the Captain’s expression carefully during and after he had finished talking.
“You really have no idea why, do you?”
“I wish I did, but there are some logical explanations for it.”
“What else could they be doing? What else is there to do but run or fight?” Jones asked.
Rogers shrugged, and that made Taylor uncomfortable. It was the least certain and confident he had ever seen the Captain, and that was unfortunate, as he had come to rely on him very heavily.
“What are you thinking?”
“That I don’t like this at all, Jones. It stinks.”
“I don’t know what else to tell you. I have feeders out, but we really don’t know what the enemy is up to. Maybe after having seen their queen get the crap kicked out of her, they are hightailing it out of here.”
“And couldn’t they just as easily be regrouping to redouble their efforts?”
“Maybe, but that is not their way. Or at least not something we have ever seen before. These armies Bolormaa sent, they aren’t exactly great tacticians, they are blunt instruments.”
“I am a blunt instrument,” he snapped.
“No, not even close,” replied Rogers.
“Jesus Christ, why can this never be simple? Why did we not kill her when we had the chance?”
“We tried,” a voice growled in the shadows behind them. Rogers jumped at the sound of it, and looked about to see Zaya lurking behind them. It was an unsettling sight. He had not given them any reason to fear him, though his resemblance to the enemy put them all on edge, all but Taylor.
No one particularly wanted him there, but nobody had the balls to tell him, and he had remained with them since the battle had ended. Taylor didn’t mind. Having their own personal Prince at hand certainly put his mind at rest when he was not in an AR2 suit.
“Could we have killed her? With the weapons we had?” Taylor asked.
“I wish I knew. I always thought it a myth that she cannot be killed but by a singular weapon. A story she maintained to protect her reputation and strike fear into her enemies.”
“And now?” Rogers asked.
“How to separate the truth from her lies?”
“I wish I knew,” added Taylor.
The party went on. Taylor told himself he would stay sober, as he had no idea what was coming next. But as the night wore on he gave in. He couldn’t help it. The excitement and enthusiasm from everyone around him made the place come alive. It was as though only he, Rogers, and Zaya had any doubts at all. Even Jones was happy to accept the generally held belief that it was all coming to an end. He kept drinking and tried to enjoy the night, but eventually his vision blurred, and his memory went altogether.
He woke up with a splitting headache. He was still dressed and lying in bed in a pop up shelter. Light was penetrating the thin walls, and he could tell the sun had been up for som
e time. He didn’t want to move, and for a moment the events of the day before were a blur. Then it came flooding back to him. It was enough for him to not want to get up at all that day.
“Taylor, Colonel Taylor!” a voice called out.
He recognised it immediately. It was Rogers. He was running about outside yelling his name over and over. He looked down at his comms unit to see it was flashing with many message requests. He had no desire to answer them. Rogers would find him soon enough.
“Colonel Taylor! Colonel Taylor!”
“I’m here,” he tried to answer, but his voice was croaky, and barely a word came out.
He coughed to clear his throat and tried once more. It was a pathetic effort, but enough to project far enough for the Captain to hear. He rushed through the doorway like an elephant.
“Colonel, finally!”
He wasn’t trying to shout, but the noise rang through Taylor’s head like a hammer beating on his brain. He forced himself up, but held up his hand as if to ask for silence.
“Take it easy, will you, please?”
Rogers remained silent and waited for him to compose himself.
“Goddamn my head,” he said, wiping his face and trying to wake up fully, “What is it? What’s going on?”
“It’s the enemy.”
“What about them?”
“Well, they’ve gone, or near enough. A few left holding positions. Enough to keep up appearances through the night, but with first light it is plain for all to see.”
It took a while for it to settle in. He rubbed his head again, trying to make sense of who and what Rogers was even talking about. For a moment his memory of the whole previous day was blurred. Bits were coming back to him, and that only made him feel worse. He was starting to remember how he’d felt when the day was over, and they had turned to the celebrations.
“Gone? Gone where?”
“We’re not exactly sure.”
“But they have left the surface?”
“Yes.”
He looked elated, but Taylor looked more than a little concerned.
“Come on, what’s not to like? Earth is safe. The enemy has fled. We have pushed them out!”
Taylor cringed again as the Captain’s enthusiastic words reached a volume and made his head pound.
“Bolormaa, the Leviathan, is it still up there?”
“Still in orbit, yes, with about a dozen other ships.”
“Shit.”
“What? What is it?”
“It just stinks, is all. If Bolo wanted out of all this, she would have got the hell out by now. She’d be gone; never to be seen until the moment she wanted to.”
“If she is alive…if.”
“Why would the ship even be there if she wasn’t? If the enemy has left, why is that fleet still there?”
“I think you are looking for trouble that isn’t there. Maybe…just maybe, we won. Even if she is still alive, she must be a mess, and we know her resources are running thin.”
“We think they are. We have no idea what the limits of her resources really are. Even now she fights Krys, Human, and Cholan worlds.”
“Did, but not anymore, Earth is all but free of Morohtan presence.”
“I still don’t like it. Something is not right.”
“What could I possibly do to make you feel better?”
“Bring me the body of Bolormaa, and let me see it burnt to ashes. Until then, there will be no end, and there will be no peace, no matter how you want there to be.”
Taylor pulled on his shirt and strode out into the camp to find it was a disaster zone. There were bottles and cups strewn all over the place. Many of the troops lay about inebriated, unable or unwilling to move.
“This won’t do.”
“Give them a break, Colonel. You know what they have been through.”
“And they’ll go through a lot worse if they are caught napping like this,” he snapped.
He got little enthusiasm to get up and do anything even from Rogers. Taylor grunted in irritation at the scenario.
“Find out where the enemy has gone, and what that fleet is still doing in orbit!” he yelled as he strode off.
He didn’t even know where he was heading. He just needed to be away from it all to clear his head. He reached the edge of the encampment overlooking a vehicle park where mechanics were busy at work to get near wrecks back into action. He stopped for a moment and tried to clear his mind. He was trying to make sense of it all, but he couldn’t stay still for long. He started pacing back and forth on the narrow knife-edge ridge as he tried to piece it together in his mind.
Bolormaa isn’t dead. She can’t be.
“What the hell are you up to?” he asked himself in reference to the enemy Queen, “What are you doing, what the fucking hell are you doing?”
It made no sense to him. She didn’t retreat. She didn’t accept defeat, what was going on? He didn’t understand it. He turned and froze. It was her, Bolormaa standing barely three metres in front of him. He gasped in horror and reached down to his side, only to find he was unarmed. The wind was picking up, and he noticed dust through her as if she wasn’t really there. A moment later her projection flickered and blurred before refocusing. It was a relief that she wasn’t physically there among them, but he didn’t like where this was going. She hadn’t spoken yet, but he knew it was confirmation enough that she was still alive.
“You couldn’t accept that you were beaten. You couldn’t just leave us alone, could you?”
“This war is not over until…”
She had to take a deep breath. Her body wasn’t moving at all; as if she was being held up rather than standing on her own two feet. She sounded weak and tired. Any other day it would have been a welcome sight to see her in such a bad state, but today it was precisely the opposite. All it did was confirm his worst fears. She still lived.
“Until I say it is,” she went on.
“Why? Why not end this now? There is nothing more to gain here, haven’t we all lost enough?”
“Not until you have lost everything will you have lost enough to pay for what you have done.”
She wasn’t going to be reasoned with, but it had to be worth a shot. Now he knew it was time to try something else.
“You lost. Everyone saw you lose…” Taylor said with a smile.
“They saw nothing but cheap tricks and manipulation.”
“Call it what you will, the whole universe will surely know by now that you were defeated.”
“They will know nothing!”
She coughed and spluttered. Taylor had no idea what she meant, but he didn’t like the sound of whatever it was she was talking about.
“All signals out of the Solar System were jammed before and since my arrival.”
“So? Probably more than a billion people still alive on this world saw what happened. They know the truth.”
“And that truth will die with them,” she said with a wicked smile.
It was more than a little unsettling, but she couldn’t figure out what her agenda was.
“You are a mess, and your armies have fled, so what the hell do you think you can do to us?”
She began to laugh, even though she coughed every few seconds of it, she continued laugh as if most pleased with herself.
“A billion people saw this fight that you concocted, then a billion will die for it.”
Taylor’s face turned to stone. In that moment he understood why her forces had departed the planet.
“That’s right. I am going to take from you the thing you care most about in life. I thought it was a woman, and it gave me great pleasure to educate her in our ways and make her a loyal subject. But there is one thing even more important than her. Your world, your precious Earth…”
“No, you can’t,” he pleaded.
He prayed that she didn’t have such resources, and yet he feared that she did.
“I can, and I will. The mockery of a fight you lured me into will long be
forgotten when the people of Earth fall. The Battle for Earth…is over...”
She began her wicked laugh once more. It lasted for several seconds before her hologram faded away. For a few seconds he had no idea what to do. She had given him no clue as to what she actually meant.
Did she mean now or in a year’s time?
He looked back and forth in desperation, as if trying to work out what he could do. Finally, he leapt over the edge and darted down the rough shale. He could barely stay on his feet, and he tumbled and crashed into a rock at the bottom. A cut opened at the side of his head. He had landed hard, but he didn’t feel the pain. He was too focused on the task at hand.
Taylor was on his feet in no time and storming back to where he had last seen Rogers. He had no means of communication on him. He had left it all behind when he went out to take in some fresh air. Many of the troops there greeted him, but he ignored every one of them as he desperately searched for Rogers, or Jones, or any one of his people.
Finally, he spotted Turan and rushed towards him. As he approached, the Krys officer stepped aside to reveal Rogers who had been talking with him. The Captain looked shocked to see him approaching at such a speed and with a look of dreadful urgency on his face.
“Rogers, Rogers!” he yelled.
“What is it? What’s happened?”
“It’s her. She reached out to me.”
“Who?”
“Bolormaa!”
“What? How, and why even?”
“She isn’t through with us, not by a long shot.”
“What are you saying?”
“She didn’t retreat from this planet. She just cleared a path for what is to come.”
“What? What is to come?”
He looked around cautiously as if making sure nobody was going to hear. He carried on in a quieter tone.
“She said she was going to end us all, every human on the planet.”
Rogers recoiled back. He could find no words for a moment, and Taylor didn’t known what else to say.
“Everyone? Every human on this world?”
“That is what she said.”
“But that is preposterous. It’s insane. She is just trying to scare you.”
“Yeah? Well, she’s doing a bloody good job of that.”
“Hey, what is it?” Jones stepped in upon seeing the heated discussion.
Battle Beyond Earth - Box Set (Books 6-9) Page 63