Much of the platoon had fanned out to investigate the area.
“Colonel, besides your team, we are getting just one reading. One life form.”
“One, are you sure, Admiral?”
“Bolormaa?” Jones stammered.
* * *
Rogers slammed in a new magazine and leapt out from cover to keep up the fire. They were pushing their way down a corridor that opened out into a vast hangar. Twenty of the Ares militia were laying down fire on incoming enemy soldiers, but were hopelessly outnumbered. More enemy ships were flooding into the hangar bay, and the crew of an anti-aircraft gun lay dead at the controls. Rogers rushed right for the weapon, a quad-barrelled cannon in a fixed placement. He hauled the body of one of the crew off and took their seat.
He had no idea how to operate the weapon, but he had to think fast. There were pedals at his feet and a joystick in front. He hit the floor controls, and the entire gun pivoted. He moved the joystick back and forth, and the gun began to elevate and rotate.
“It’s not so difficult,” he said to himself.
The wreckage of an enemy ship was up ahead that the last operator must have shot down. He took aim at the next vessel as it came in to land. He took one deep breath and squeezed the trigger. The gun roared to life as all four barrels hurtled fire at the enemy. The whole weapon platform was violently shaking as Rogers held on and kept his finger squeezed about the trigger. The first enemy transport was blown out of the sky and crashed into the wreckage of the other. Shots landed all around him as the next ship, as well as ground troops opened fire. Several shots hit the gun emplacement around him. One bounced from the gun shield and another hit the muzzle of one of the barrels, blowing it open.
Debris showered Rogers, shocking him for a moment, and he lost his grip. The guns stopped firing. Moments later there was an explosion ahead. Turan was assaulting the enemy positions with grenade and rifle fire. He looked about his body, and to his amazement he was still in one piece, but he could see another enemy vessel was about to touch down. He trained the guns on the target, and once more squeezed the trigger.
* * *
“This doesn’t make any sense; does it make any sense to you?” Jones asked.
“Nope,” replied Taylor.
“And yet we are gonna keep going?”
“If we don’t, we’ll never know. There is one life form left on this ship for a reason, and I want to know why.”
“I don’t think it takes a genius to work it out. It’s a trap. You know it’s a trap.”
“Maybe, and yet all we can do it keep going forward. Have a little faith.”
“Faith in what, that Bolormaa isn’t a homicidal maniac? You know the deal. She doesn’t care for these games anymore. She wants you dead, and she will do anything she has to for that to become a reality.”
“Maybe.”
“Maybe? Are you not listening to me?”
His voice was echoing through the empty ship, and that was disconcerting. It was like they were walking through a haunted house, counting down the moments until something leapt out at them.
“This sucks. In every way it sucks, we shouldn’t be here.”
“You scared?” Taylor smiled.
“Damn right I am scared. This is a stupid plan.”
“You got a better one?”
“Yeah, I have. Get the hell out of here and blow this thing to pieces.”
“At a time like this, when we cannot afford to lose resources and ships?”
“This was never ours to use. If you think Bolormaa is just going to give you a ship, then you really have lost it.”
“And so, we leave? Destroy this magnificent vessel, and never know who that one being was awaiting us? Aren’t you just a little bit curious?”
“Sure, but not enough to lose my head over.”
“Come on. One being. Not even Bolormaa herself would be enough that we couldn’t handle, not in the state she is in.”
“I still don’t like it.”
“Yeah? Well, suck it up, because we aren’t stopping. I said we were going to keep going forward, keep going after her, and that is precisely what we are doing here. We’ve tried to be subtle and play games, but those days are over. We are a blunt instrument, and it’s time to bring the pain.”
“Yeah, I like the sound of that, but this isn’t it.”
Taylor smirked and carried on. He looked down at his Mappad. They weren’t far from the single sign of life, and so he lifted his rifle in readiness. Jones was right. It was silly to keep going forward, but he couldn’t stop himself. There was a large blast door up ahead that looked like it must house something important.
“Watch each other’s backs, and be ready for anything.”
He crept forward warily. He didn’t know why. If there was only one life form, he didn’t know what he had to be scared of. As they approached, the door drew open with them not having pressed a button.
“Oh, I don’t like this at all,” said Jones.
Taylor carried on at the head of the platoon. He stepped cautiously into the room. It was a hangar bay, but without any clear exit into space. It seemed to be hidden deep within the ship, and there were no craft there. There was only one thing in the room, a swivel chair in the centre, facing away from them. It was of such large and heavy-duty construction they could not make out if anyone occupied it or not. Taylor looked down at his scanner once more, and sure enough, that was the origin of the single life form reading.
It looked like some kind of throne, but if so, it was a stark throne room. The chair swivelled slowly, and they all froze. Taylor felt his pulse racing, and yet he was excited, too. Finally, it turned enough that he could make out who was before them, and he couldn’t believe his eyes.
“No,” he gasped.
* * *
“Arhh!” Rogers roared; his finger squeezed so tightly around the joystick trigger he was cutting off the circulation and starting to lose feeling. Enemy craft lay as burning wrecks across the hangar deck floor, but two more still approached. He didn’t let go of the trigger and elevated the guns to fire at the first, but after three shots the guns stopped firing.
“Damn it!”
He looked around for some answer to it. Smoke poured from the red-hot barrels, and a red counter flashed on his screen. The number was a long line of zeros, and it didn’t take a genius to figure out what that meant. The enemy were still approaching, and for a moment he had no idea what to do. He leapt off the gun, picked up his rifle, and advanced to a defensive line that Turan had taken up. He readied his weapon, but as he took aim, the last of the enemy ships slowed and hovered outside the shield of the landing bay.
“What the hell are they doing?” Rogers asked.
“Holding position.”
“I can see that, but why?”
Nobody had any answers.
“I don’t like this. This isn’t normal,” said Denver.
It seemed strange to be concerned that the fight had stopped, but they had every reason to be, because it made no sense.
“Taylor, this is Rogers, come in.”
“What is it, Captain?”
“Something funny is going on. A moment ago, we were under attack, and now they are just waiting there, watching us. What the hell did you do?”
“I think I know. I’ll get back to you.”
“No, wait!”
But it was too late. Taylor had already ended the communication.
“Well, that’s just great!” Rogers slammed his rifle down on a crate and paced back and forth. As an intelligence officer, there was nothing he hated more than being left out of the loop.
“This isn’t right. Something is going down.”
“What can we do about it?”
“Absolutely nothing, Denver. Nothing.”
* * *
Taylor couldn’t believe his eyes. It wasn’t Bolormaa or any of her kind sitting on the throne. It was far worse than that.
“Alita,” he whispered.
&
nbsp; There was a dead look in her eyes as if she wasn’t even human anymore.
“What have they done to you?” he pleaded, “What have they made you?”
Her eyes were black, and her armour of Morohtan manufacture.
“I am a daughter of Bolormaa,” she declared.
“No, you are not.”
“We are each as we choose to be. I choose the winner.”
Taylor didn’t know how to respond, but despaired at the whole experience.
“If you are so precious to your Queen, why has she left you here to die?” Jones asked.
“Die? No, I will not die. I will live on now, forever.”
Jones sighed. She sounded crazy.
“Come on, you can fight this. I know this isn’t you talking,” said Taylor.
“No,” she replied sternly.
“That isn’t her anymore,” Jones insisted.
Taylor wasn’t ready to accept that.
“It is just you here. She cannot stop you coming back to us now. Leave that psycho and come back home!”
She didn’t appear to be considering his proposal.
“I have a message from my Queen.”
Taylor seemed unable to find his words. He was distraught.
“Well, go on, speak!” Jones yelled.
“This war can only end in the destruction of the human race, and all that support it. But my Queen is willing to let humanity live, for a price.”
“Why would she do that?” asked Jones in a distrusting tone.
“Humanity has shown great resilience, and to be a worthy enemy.”
“And what does she want in return?”
Alita smiled with a wicked grin; as if knowing it was a price they would not be willing to pay.
“Colonel Taylor is a rogue among you. A warmonger, and a man without honour.”
“He is nothing of the kind!” Jones stepped forward aggressively.
Taylor held out his hand and blocked the Captain’s path.
“Hear her out,” he said softly.
The smile stretched out over Alita’s face once more, as if she was playing games with him.
"Come on, you know this can't be good."
Taylor ignored Jones.
"The Alliance is finished. Your worlds are finished, and you have no homes to go to. Bolormaa has won, and yet you continue to fight?"
"The war isn't over," growled Taylor.
"It could be," she replied quietly.
"What? How?"
"My Queen asks just one thing of you. One thing and she will leave what remains of your Alliance, and you will not see her again for a thousand years."
"This can't be good, no way she makes a fair offer," whispered Jones.
"What is it, Alita, what does she want?"
"One thing. All she asks is that you end your life."
"Just me?"
"Just you," she repeated.
"Why?"
"You accept defeat, remove yourself from this world, and your people will go on living. Free to do as they will, for a minimum of one thousand years."
"Bullshit, come on, you can do better than that!" Jones shouted.
He could see that the Colonel was giving it some serious consideration.
"What are you doing?"
Taylor drew out his pistol, but kept it by his side.
"What are you doing, Mitch? This is crazy. You know you can’t trust Bolormaa to keep her word."
"One bullet and you can end all this pain and suffering, this pointless killing. One bullet to end it all, and save the people you promised to protect," said Alita.
"Shut up. Bolormaa would never keep her promise. She is not to be trusted!"
"She has not been seen for hundreds of years, why do you think that is?"
"Maybe because people like us kicked her arse!" replied Jones.
Taylor was shaking his head, knowing that wasn't true. He knew the stories. She had withdrawn for no reason all those centuries ago, at the height of her success.
"You can't be giving this any serious thought?"
"I'd pay it, Jones, if it will end this."
"But it won't, and you know it won't. Even if she is telling the truth, she’ll come back in a thousand years even stronger than ever before. This is the best chance we have ever had. She is hurt and desperate," pleaded Jones.
"But when does it end? When does it stop?"
"Soon, you know it will."
He was really starting to worry. Taylor seemed to be fixed on Alita as if locked in a spell.
"All you have to do is pull that trigger and this ends. Your friends will be safe for as long as they live, and generations after them," she said.
"Shut up!" Jones yelled.
"You can end it here and now, Mitch," she said in an endearing tone.
Jones lifted his rifle and fired a single shot at her head. But the shot caused a ripple of distortion in a shield that was dividing them, just as it did the last time Taylor faced Bolormaa. He was powerless to stop her going on.
"Do it, Mitch, save the ones you care about," she said softly.
Mitch lifted the pistol to his head. There was coldness in his eyes, as if he didn't want to do it, but had accepted the price.
"That's it, end this, be a hero, Mitch."
He squeezed the trigger, but as the weapon fired, Jones knocked his arm up and the round struck the ceiling. Jones didn't wait to find out what he would do. He grabbed the pistol and ripped it from Taylor's hand. Taylor shook his head as though he had just woken from a dream.
"Shame," said Alita, "You could have ended this with honour, and saved your friends. But now I will end it for you."
"What is she talking about?"
Taylor could barely find any words or even breathe.
"What have you done?"
Alita lifted up a small detonator. Her thumb was on the red trigger switch.
"Bitch, you could never be trusted," Jones shouted.
"You are going to die here, all of you. In the belly of this carrier, at its primary core, is a charge that will destroy you. All I have to do is press this button, and you are all finished."
"Like this one you mean?" a voice called out.
Razor strode into the room holding a receiver module, and Alita's face turned to stone.
"You aren't blowing anything up. You failed!" Razor shouted.
Alita growled before storming off. She reached a doorway on the far side and stepped through. Moments later the wall separated from the rest of the room, revealing that it was in fact a small vessel buried deep within the carrier, with its own launch tunnel.
"Has she left?" Razor asked.
"Why?"
"Just check, please."
"Admiral, track that vessel," Jones said over the comms.
"It had already made a jump before we could engage, unfortunately."
Razor breathed a sigh of relief. She knew something the others didn't.
"You didn't defuse that bomb, did you?"
"Couldn't get near it. It was well secured and booby trapped."
"Then what is that?" he asked, pointing to the receiver she had shown Alita.
"Something that looks the part," replied Razor with a smile.
"And the actual charge?"
"My team is working on it, but I suggest we move off this vessel while they work."
Jones had to smile.
"A bluff? You're crazy."
"Yeah, and you're alive, you're welcome."
Jones was instantly reminded of Taylor, and went back to his friend. The Colonel looked distraught, but he couldn't tell which was worse. What had happened to Alita, the fact they had almost all died, or that he had been willing to commit suicide.
"We made it. We made it."
CHAPTER 8
Taylor knocked back yet another drink as he sat in the bar aboard the Resolution. It was the only thing Jones could think to do with him. They both looked exhausted and stunned. Rogers stormed in with several others close behind. They all loo
ked deeply concerned for Taylor.
"So it is true?" Rogers saw the state Taylor was in.
"Shhh," replied Jones.
Rogers realised his mistake and took a seat down in front of them so they could talk more privately.
"I heard you tried to kill yourself on Bolormaa's order? What the hell is going on?"
"Not really on her orders, and not really from her."
"What?"
"Alita, and she said Bolormaa would not return for a thousand years if I did it."
"What, and you believed her?"
Jones rolled his eyes as he felt the same.
"Tell me you wouldn't do it? Your life for millions, billions even," replied Taylor.
"Maybe if I had way of holding her to the deal, sure, but you had nothing," said Rogers.
"When do we have any certainties? I weighed up the risks, and I was willing to take the chance."
"And yet she had the ship prepped to blow, so what does that tell you?"
"That she's a lying bitch. She intended to kill you and all the rest of us, no matter. She just wanted to see you grovel," added Jones.
But it was clear that Taylor couldn't get past the fact that Alita had spoken words.
"She can never be trusted. Bolormaa. Not in a million years. She is a devil, and now so is Alita."
Taylor's eyes moved from his glass and deep into Rogers as though he were burning a hole right through him.
"I know it is tough, but that it isn't her anymore. It might look like her, but that is not Alita, and it hasn't been for a long time."
Taylor had no idea what to do with himself. He felt lost and broken, and they could all see it. They didn't blame him for it.
"Look, we need you now, we desperately need you. I know it sucks. You have lost Alita, we all have, but you still have the rest of us. You still have your life."
"And what is the point in living it? This just goes on and on. Everything I ever wanted and loved has been taken from me."
"You have an enemy," said Turan as he leaned in over them.
"I am not sure any of us were ever destined to lead a peaceful existence, but that doesn't mean we can't make sure others do. That is our burden to bear," said Rogers.
Battle Beyond Earth - Box Set (Books 6-9) Page 75