Commander Henry Gallant (The Henry Gallant Saga Book 4)

by Alesso, H. Peter

  CHAPTER 28

  Winner Take All

  Gallant and Alaina raced their single-seat turbojet flyers to the junction of two mountain trails on a ridge of the Brobdingnag Volcano. The noise and vibration of the straining sputtering engines roared into the rainy night as they descended from five thousand meters to a few hundred. There were several sharp mountain peaks in their way, a few of which were volcanoes; one tremendous one which was Brobdingnag, flanked by two smaller monsters, all puffing out smoke. Lava was visible flowing down a steep path along the furthest erupting crown. A vent on one side exhaled a steamy mixture. Besides the fiery cones, there were summits of rock spurs shooting out across the range. One mountain top glowed red, lighting up the sky. Noting the relative heights and positions of the topography, they were able to distingue the location were the trails crossed.

  Despite the overhanging jungle canopy and their limited visibility, they were able to make out Liam’s rebel force working its way up one mountain trail while a marine contingent led by Neumann and McCall was on a converging trail. They landed their flyers at the only open break in the canopy. They made their way on foot in the darkness toward the crossroads. As they felt their way up the winding mountain path, they had to climb up several hundred steps cut out of lava and then cross a dilapidated wooden bridge several hundred meters long that was suspended over a kilometer deep precipice. At this mountain altitude, they needed to breathe deep to fill their lungs. At the corner of the path, the jungle surrounded them with shadowy shapes. There were screeches from wild animals in the dark around them.

  Any doubts or fears they might have had, vanished when they reached the crossroads. They caught a glimpse of the rebels who quickly vanished back into the tangle of jungle and volcanoes.

  Neumann reached the crossroads nearly at the same moment.

  The two men faced each other—Neumann demanding and controlling—Gallant steadfast and unafraid.

  Neumann couldn’t keep the surprise from his voice as he asked, “What are you doing here? We’re pursuing rebels. What’s your involvement?”

  “We’re here to try and prevent bloodshed,” said Gallant.

  Neumann looked as if he were about to reign unrestrained carnage on Gallant, but McCall interceded, “I’ve never thought of you as rash, or reckless, nevertheless I’ve been astonished at the bizarre escapades you’ve recently conjured up. You’re involvement with this woman has led you into a serious indiscretion. You should leave immediately and let the marines carry out their orders.”

  She looked at Neumann to see whether he was appeased.

  “We’re staying to ensure that the rights of my people are respected,” said Alaina defiantly.

  “Stay out of my way,” growled Neumann. “Captain Pickett, deploy your marines throughout the area and find those rebels. They shouldn’t be far.”

  The moonless sky provided little help for the rebels, but the marines had night vision goggles.

  Gallant was startled by Neumann’s appearance. He didn’t look his usual ‘perfect’ self. Surprisingly, he seemed bloated, and out of shape—a caricature of his former self. There had been rumors about his recent erratic behavior and his reputation was on the wane. And while Gallant had listened to those stories with detachment, seeing their truth came as a shock.

  He said, “The men you’re pursuing are freedom fighters working for the rights of the people of Elysium. They’re not rebelling against the UP. You had no right to impose martial law and treat them as traitors. Your actions are inflaming the violence in this land, rather than maintaining the peace.”

  McCall and Pickett showed signs of sympathy with his words, and neither wanted to be complicit in a massacre. Neumann’s fixation on the rebels was troubling to them all.

  Neumann voice was filled with contempt and his manner was like that of a stone wall. “I always knew you were a fool, Gallant, but I hadn’t realized the extent of your disloyalty until now. Perhaps the mental stimulation you experienced on Gliese has rotted your brain.”

  “We need to deal with this dangerous situation without enmity. We should resolve this in a civil manner,” said Gallant.

  After a lifetime of believing in his genetic superiority, and getting his way all too often, Neumann wasn’t about to back down now.

  He said, “Now you’re being sarcastic, but believe me drastic measures are necessary. I’m an uncompromising man, I’ll admit. I don’t have patience with those who stand in my way and I will not take responsibility for what happens to those who do.”

  Gallant’s face flashed an angry grimace.

  Neumann exploded, “Don’t sneer at me, you genetic freak!”

  “I can’t reason with you. It’s too late—years too late—for you,” said Gallant. “I’m telling you to recall the marines and return to your ship.”

  “Don’t give me orders.”

  “Consider your choices before you act rashly, like you did by executing an innocent man and starting this insurrection.”

  The flicker of surprise in Neumann’s eyes looked genuine.

  “I don’t doubt the locals have their own method of dealing with traitors. As for you—choosing to side with these rebels will not end well for you,” he said, spitting the words from his mouth.

  “You can’t get away with treating this planet like your personal fiefdom,” said Gallant.

  “Ahhh!” Anger transformed Neumann’s face—a callous ruthlessness poured out of his cold eyes. The tormenting hurt that had been buried deep inside him erupted, “Once I annex Elysium for NNR everything will change.”

  He paused, as if trying to contain himself. He snarled, “My father will respect me. Kelsey will come back to me. Everything will be as I desire.”

  “Calm down,” said Gallant, but passing through his mind . . .

  Private wars and petty jealousies—how much energy is lost just to placate the powerful?

  “Neumann, that’s enough sophistry. Control yourself,” warned McCall. She moved closer to him.

  “Stay out of this,” he said, pushing her back.

  A distant shout came from the jungle.

  “Captain Pickett! Captain Pickett!”

  Captain Pickett turned toward a yelling marine and ran to the disturbance, leaving the two men and two women on their own.

  Neumann refused to be distracted and remained focused on Gallant. “You’ve violated your oath by providing aid to the rebels.”

  “And you’ve violated your oath by usurping this constitutional government for your private enterprise, NNR.”

  “Stop it! Both of you!” shouted Alaina.

  “Neither of you has clean hands,” said McCall.

  Neumann said, in his most malicious voice, “I’ve been considering bringing formal charges against you for a number of misdeeds you’ve committed since you returned to Tau Ceti. I considered you disloyal to the UP for not sharing the superintelligence technology you discovered at Gliese—and then there’s suspicion of your escapades in providing material aid to the Elysium rebels—but I think it would be best to charge you with dereliction of duty for your reluctance to close with the enemy during our engagement with the Titan cruisers. Yes, I’d prefer to label you as a coward. You’ll face a court-martial when you return to Mars. I’ll see you booted out of the service.”

  Those words finally reached a boiling point and Gallant grabbed Neumann and shook him with all his strength.

  He said, “I’m not qualified to diagnose your psychosis, but you need help.”

  Neumann let out a snort of surprise and dismay. His knees buckled slightly and then straightened. For a flash his eyes closed and then opened, glaring red with fury. Pushing himself free, he said, “How dare you lay hands on me?”

  Neumann snorted. “I’m not going to wait to charge you. I’ll convene an immediate court martial.”

  “Even with your hyper-aggrandized self-image you don’t really believe that.”

  Neumann was keyed up with bitterness and rage—a danger
ous mixture—to a state of near hysteria to express his wrath. He swung his fist and struck Gallant on the jaw so hard, that Gallant thought his teeth screamed at him and his jaw might break.

  They grappled together for a moment, each trying to maintain his balance.

  Neumann swung again, but this time Gallant’s muscle’s coiled and he was able to deflect the blow. With a violent corkscrew motion, he twisted and pushed the man away while thinking . . .

  I can’t fight my commanding officer.

  Nevertheless, the two men squared off taking a fighter’s stance.

  The brawl had driven all reason from Neumann’s mind. Now he was engrossed with an all-consuming temper. Suddenly he leaped forward, but Gallant held his ground. His right foot lashed out in a sweeping motion that slapped against his opponent’s leg bringing them both crashing to the ground. They grasped and parried blows each protecting themselves with elbows and knees and then at once attacking again.

  They tore apart and backed away, circling once more for advantage until in exasperation, Neumann drew his handgun.

  Unexpectedly, it wasn’t a brawl any longer—it was life and death.

  With a gun pointing at him, Gallant raised his hands to shoulder level and grabbed Neumann’s right arm with his left hand. He used his forearm to apply pressure on the side of the gun as he twisted and pushed it towards his assailant—forcing him to let go of the weapon.

  The heat was palpable and sweat trickled down his face and neck. The stagnate air failed to offer a cooling breeze.

  He wanted this to stop, but Neumann was now more out of control than ever. He used his combat training to launch several deadly hand strikes at Gallant’s throat, temple, and the top of his head—all of which Gallant blocked effectively, but left his body tingling. His eyes almost shut, but his jaw was taut from his concentration.

  Changing the tempo from defensive to offensive, Gallant cupped his hand and slapped his attacker’s ears causing him to stagger back, blood streaming along his neck. Kicking out blindly, Neumann's shoe connected and Gallant felt the sting of the blow on his shin.

  As the drizzling rain continued, Neumann shook his head and then lunged forward, but Gallant stuck his foot out tripping his opponent’s. Getting back up, Neumann tried swinging his knee at his opponent’s groin, but Gallant parried the blow. It cost him a painful smack against his inner thigh.

  As he inhaled a deep breath to steady himself, Neumann dove down and grabbed hold of Gallant’s legs, pulling them towards him. He used his shoulders to push against his opponent’s body taking him down. It was a horrible maneuver that whipped Gallant’s head back forcing him to let out a gasp of pain and curse.

  “Dammit.”

  As he lay still for a moment, he closed his eyes and waited for feeling to return to his limbs. There were shouts and exclamations coming from the jungle farther up the trail.

  Did the marines find someone?

  Weakly he got to his knees and then scrambled back upright. There were three throbbing sources of pain robbing Gallant of his strength and focus, one in his jaw, one in his inner thigh, and the most painful was his left eye—an agonizing ache forced it closed.

  Gallant bent forward as the two men rose and once more stood facing each other. He grabbed Neumann’s collar pulling his head downward to meet the upward motion of his knee—breaking his genetically engineered perfect nose.

  Bleeding Neumann groped on the ground and found his gun. He got up and once more pointed the weapon directly at Gallant.

  “Don’t, Anton,” cried out McCall who had been standing to the side.

  Alaina, who had also remained a bystander, now ran forward and threw herself in front of Gallant, blocking Neumann’s aim.

  “Get away,” yelled both men.

  Neumann dropped his arm long enough for Gallant to rush toward him and knock the weapon away.

  As the two men continued their struggle on the edge of the dark dense jungle, the undergrowth tangled around their feet—tugging and restraining them—as if nature herself were trying to stop the violence. They grappled and thrashed until one man lashed out and hit the other hard on the jaw, sending him to the ground with a thud.

  BANG!

  The shot came from deep in the jungle.

  Whether the fateful bullet came from a marine’s gun, or from a rebel gun, they never knew. The bullet struck the one dark figure still standing. It pierced a lung and nicked an artery. The figure fell.

  It took a moment for Alaina to realize it was Neumann who is shot. She ran to Gallant, still lying on the ground.

  McCall went to the wounded man and knelt over him. Examining him, she said, “He’s still alive.”

  A firefight broke out between the rebels and marines. The crash of gunfire batted back and forth between the mountainside and jungle growth. Gun shots and plasma bursts whizzed through the air all around them.

  Gallant stood up, showing nothing of his pain and injuries. Grunting and coughing, he picked Neumann up and began running full stride to his flyer—Alaina beside him. Without pausing to catch his breath he got on the flyer, and with Alaina’s help, they heaved Neumann sidesaddle onto the machine. Gallant used one hand to apply pressure to the bleeding chest of his commanding officer and flew his small craft with the other.

  Ghostlike in the moonlight, they flew through the sky to the mining camp medical center where Neumann was taken immediately to surgery.

  Gallant’s swift action saved Neumann’s life.

  “Why did you save him?” asked McCall, later that night.

  His mouth twisted wryly. He said, “I want him to live—knowing who saved him.”

  ***

  With Neumann in medical stasis recovering from his nearly fatal wound, McCall moved swiftly to effect a change of command.

  McCall said, “Strange as it may seem, Commander Gallant, you are now the senior United Planets line officer.”

  As the senior line officer, Gallant took operational command. To his surprise, her reaction toward him showed a new-found respect. She was still a dominating personality, but now she was willing to defer to his authority.

  Gallant’s first action was to rescind martial law. He also gave the marines new orders. Instead of chasing rebels, they were to round up Wolfe and his police.

  He appointed Lt. Roberts as temporary commander of the Achilles.

  An emergency election was held and to no one’s surprise Liam Larson won. As president of the new Elysium council, his first order of business was to write a new bill of rights and return the NNR settlers to immigrant status. He restored the original constitution and eliminated the mandate for genetic engineering along with many other disreputable decrees that Wolfe had instituted.

  The native population rejoiced. But Gallant had a feeling that a final determination of Elysium’s future would wait until he got back to Earth and dealt with Neumann’s powerful father, who could still work to reverse everything.

  CHAPTER 29

  The Question

  As the past flowed into the present—repeating the most perplexing events of his life—Gallant stood before Alaina, wanting things he was uncertain could ever be. What he was certain of, however, was that there were exceptional people that focus one’s life along a path—they hold an emotional lock on one’s being. It requires only seeing them again to unlock all the memories and unleash all of one’s passions. He had often envisioned this rendezvous, but at this moment, he was reduced to a bundle of nerves. Just like many of his encounters with Alaina, he was paradoxically filled with a bursting desire to express his innermost feelings while being confused and speechless. Was it possible that he possessed some defect of character that caused his normally competent self to become dumbstruck and graceless whenever he was in the presence of someone he was emotionally involved with?

  His dilemma remained—as always—could he and Alaina find a future together?

  Their past contained many loose strings from events wound together in a tight ball of persona
l history. There were many strands that Gallant could pull on to start a conversation. Instead, he gently took hold of her shoulders and pulled her close. She was intoxicating. Their awkward position mirrored their emotions.

  He put his hand on her cheek to caress it. She leaned forward resting her head on his chest. She looked up and put her hand on the nape of his neck, as if she was pulling him to her for a kiss, but at that moment she hesitated.

  She said, “Last summer I pushed you away when I should have held fast.”

  She looked at him, her excitement boiling over. He felt her desire.

  In a flash they were in each other’s arms, kissing while the world around them spun away and disappeared.

  He spoke from his heart, “Alaina, I’ve loved you for so long, I can’t lose you again. The most painful regrets in life are those where you know you had a choice.”

  “Are you giving me a choice now?”

  “Yes.”

  She said, “There are so many uncertainties facing us, coming from every direction. I don’t know what to do.”

  “I love you, Alaina. I want you.”

  “I’m insanely in love with you, Henry.”

  For a moment, he thought she would cry. With tenderness he pulled her close once more.

  They kissed again—a deep passionate kiss—filled with longing and desire.

  “Oh, Henry, Henry, Henry, what are we to do?”

  Gallant said, “I’ve struggled to make sense of my life, but I still don’t have the answers. Ah . . ., why does love have to be so bewildering?”

  At that moment, her eyes seemed to peer into his soul and her expression revealed a serene understanding.

  She said, “It’s really not so bewildering. You just have to love the other person more than yourself.”

  “Alaina, I love you. Marry me and we’ll face whatever comes—together—just say yes.”

  “Yes.”

  — the end. —