by Knox, Barry
***
“Gunny, let’s make a door,” Gideon said as he set his weapon to particle-beam mode. Xia raised his weapon and waited until Gideon was ready. “Now!” Gideon ordered. The two men began slicing the metal building’s wall, and Xia rushed in as soon as the rectangular piece of metal they had just cut hit the floor inside the building with a loud clang.
Prisoners lay on the floor under their bunks, shaking, crying, and screaming from fear because of the battle raging outside and the sudden entry of these strangers into their building. Pieces of shrapnel from the mag rail projectiles that were hitting the cafeteria showered down on the prisoners’ building, sounding like metallic rain.
The environment in the prisoners’ building, compromised by their entry, began to cause the prisoners to gasp for air. Joseph immediately entered and began covering the hole with thin, flexible, self-sealing plastanium, while Gideon and Xia continued to secure the building. No guards were in the building, and Xia and Gideon began to search for Dr. Qasim.
“Everyone, stay down, remain where you are, and be quiet. We’re US Marines!” Gideon yelled through his helmet speakers. “We’re not going to hurt you. The environment in the building will be back to normal in a few minutes.”
A few seconds later the screaming stopped, and the crying turned into sobbing. Xia began walking up and down the center aisle of the building, which was laid out like a military dormitory. Rows of bunks and lockers lined both sides of the long, narrow building.
Now that it was a little quieter, Gideon spoke again, loudly enough for everyone to hear. “We’re looking for Doctor Vashni Qasim. Doctor, please stand. We’re here to help you.”
After a few seconds no one stood, and Gideon spoke again. “Doctor, we know you’re here. We’ll check everyone in here until we find you. I suggest you stand so we can take you to a safe place.”
A woman, who was a few bunks down from where Xia was walking, crawled out from under her bunk and stood. Gideon noted she looked a lot thinner than the photo he had seen. Xia walked over to her and waited until Gideon arrived.
Gideon took off his helmet and spoke in a low voice. “Doctor, we’re here to rescue you. We have a starship and want to offer you political asylum to the United States. Do you except?”
Xia had stepped behind her as Gideon spoke, ready to use the small syringe.
“Yes, I want to go with you!” she almost yelled with joy.
“Do you have an environmental suit?” Gideon asked.
“Yes, in my locker,” she answered.
“Put it on, and let’s get out of here,” Gideon said.
The doctor hurried to her locker, took out her environmental suit, and began putting it on. The prisoners under the bunks closest to her crawled out from under their bunks, opened their lockers, and took out their environmental suits as if expecting to be able to come along.
“Back under your bunks!” Xia yelled through his helmet speakers. The few who had gotten up fell to the floor. Some began sobbing again.
“You can’t make them stay here,” Dr. Qasim said to Gideon in an insistent voice. “They at least deserve a chance to escape, even if you can’t take them with us. The czar regular army will send reinforcements soon, and they’ll kill every prisoner here, no matter if they tried to escape or not!” She finished putting on her environmental suit.
“Everyone!” Gideon yelled. “Get up, put on your environmental suits, and get back under your bunks. We’ll let you know when you can leave.”
Gideon then turned to Dr. Quasim. “Is that fair, Doctor?”
“Yes, thank you,” she said.
In unison, the prisoners emerged from under their bunks and began putting on their environmental suits. Some of the prisoners were old and had problems putting on their suits. Younger prisoners, after putting on their suits, began helping those who were having problems. Gideon looked down the line of bunks toward the end of the building, where Joseph had sealed the breach. Joseph was now helping an old woman put on her suit. In a few minutes everyone was suited up and back under their bunks.
“What now, Lieutenant?” Xia asked.
“We get out of here,” Gideon said as he put his helmet back on. “Sipes, prepare to move out.”
Political Prisoner Camp, Planet Leonis
0455—February 28, 2372
As the Leonis sun began to illuminate the eastern sky, Mucha watched as the guards continued firing mag projectile after mag projectile into the same building. Shrapnel from the impacts zipped through the air in all directions. Holes in the building reminded him of Swiss cheese, and he assumed Michael was in that building, either hiding or dead by now. Mucha then scanned the prisoners’ building, and everything looked quiet. The nearest guard to the prisoners’ building was fifty yards away.
“Mucha, are we clear?” Gideon transmitted over the platoon channel.
“Yes, sir. No guards nearby,” Mucha said.
“Do you have a location on Michael?” Gideon asked.
“Yes, sir. Looks like he’s held up in a building a hundred yards southwest of you. The building is surrounded by guards, and they’re pounding the building with mag rail rounds as they approach,” Mucha said.
“We’re extracting now. Keep an eye on us, and unless we hear from you, we’re not going to stop until we’re at your location,” Gideon said.
“Yes, sir,” Mucha responded.
***
“We’re leaving!” Gideon transmitted over his helmet speakers so the prisoners hiding under their bunks could hear. “Wait here five minutes and then leave.”
“Gunny, you’re on point. Doctor, you and Sipes will follow, and I’ll bring up the rear,” Gideon said.
The doctor looked up at the big man standing beside her, and Joseph looked down and smiled. “Doctor, I’ll make sure you get out of here okay. That’s my job.”
Xia led them to the front door of the prisoners’ building. He opened the door slowly and looked around. It was clear, but the sound of mag rail guns firing and shrapnel zinging around intensified as he stepped outside. A few moments later the extract team exited the building and followed Xia back toward the water tower. He started off walking but eventually began trotting.
***
Michael stood fast in the center of the cafeteria. Mag rail projectiles and shrapnel ricocheted all around him. Everything that normally would have hit him was deflected. He knew all the czar guards and army regulars, with the exception of the men in the towers, were close enough now. He slowly lifted his weapon over his head, and in a flash it emitted beams of light in all directions. Again, individual beams struck the heads of the guards and soldiers, and they were killed instantly. A microsecond later a pulse of energy burst from his weapon, and the building he was standing in exploded outwardly. He stood alone with his weapon over his head for a second and then started walking toward the nearest guard tower.
***
Mucha jumped at the explosion and looked around. He saw that the building where he thought Michael was hiding had exploded. He also noted the dead czar guards and soldiers lying on the ground, surrounding the exploded building. A few seconds later he watched as Michael emerged from the destruction and began walking boldly toward a guard tower.
Prisoners poured out of the prisoners’ building; scared, confused, and not knowing where to go, they just started running in all directions. Guards in the towers began firing at Michael and then at the escaping prisoners. Mag rail projectiles and laser didn’t affect Michael, but some of the escaping prisoners began to fall.
Mucha took a quick scan to make sure the extract team approaching his position was clear, and then he turned his weapon toward one of the towers. He began using proton beams to pick off the guards one by one. He soon deduced there were too may guards in the towers. If he shot them one by one, all the prisoners would be dead before he killed all the guards.
“Sir,” Mucha transmitted over the platoon channel, “don’t stop at the water tower. You’re clear to the f
ence. I’m going to take out the guard towers to stop them from killing the prisoners.” Mucha then set his weapon to mag rail, high power, and large projectile.
***
“Xia, don’t stop. Continue to the fence. Kindle, Manelly we’re headed your way,” Gideon transmitted and took a quick breath as he ran. He added, “Mucha, don’t worry about the prisoners or Michael. Get down now and meet us at the fence!”
***
Mucha listened to Gideon’s transmission as he aimed his weapon at the guard tower closest to the escaping prisoners and began squeezing the trigger. “I will, sir, as soon as I’ve taken out the towers.” The blast from his weapon spat a large plume of plasma as the high-speed projectile left the mag rail barrel of his weapon. An instant later the impact of the projectile disintegrated the guard tower.
***
Gideon stopped as soon as he heard Mucha fire and turned back toward the water tower. “Gunny, get everyone out of camp and call in Bernice for extraction. I’m going back to get Mucha before he gets himself killed.”
“Yes, sir,” Xia said.
Gideon switched to a private channel, began to run, and shouted, “Mucha get down now—that’s an order! If you fire another mag rail round, the plasma plume will give your location away, and the other guard towers will take the water tower down with you on it!”
***
Mucha was already aiming at another guard tower. “Sir, I can’t just let those prisoners die. I have to help them.”
“No you don’t! That’s not part of our mission, and those people aren’t our responsibility. We weren’t ordered to rescue those people!” Gideon said as he continued making his way back to Mucha.
Sergeant Mucha pulled his trigger again, and another guard tower went down.
Using the water tower’s catwalk, Mucha slowly moved into position to destroy another tower. As he was setting up for a shot on one of the two remaining guard towers, he looked down and saw Michael walking toward the guard tower he was about to destroy.
“How can he still be alive? He’s going to get himself killed for sure now,” Mucha muttered to himself and continued to watch.
The tower Michael was walking toward was continually firing at him, while the remaining tower that had been firing at the escaping prisoners stopped and targeted Michael. Laser and mag rail projectiles ricocheted off Michael; he suddenly stopped and raised his weapon.
His weapon fired a large solid beam of intense white light, and the top of the guard tower simply vanished.
Mucha watched the power of the weapon in awe and tried to understand what he’d just seen. “What could’ve done that?” Mucha muttered to himself. Then he stopped and smiled when he realized what he’d just witnessed.
***
A microsecond later the water tower Mucha was on was hit by a high-speed mag rail projectile fired by the remaining guard tower. Pieces of the tower showered down on the camp. Gideon suddenly stopped running and dove for cover under a nearby transport vehicle.
“Gunny!” Gideon yelled as he lay under the transport, protected from the falling twisted metal and gallons of water. There was no response. Gideon quickly checked to make sure his com equipment was operational; he transmitted again. “Gunny! Come in!” A moment later Gideon heard the fire of several high-speed mag rail weapons firing together. The last guard tower was destroyed.
“Manelly, Kindle, and I destroyed the last guard tower, Lieutenant,” Xia transmitted. “You’re clear.”
Stunned, Gideon replied, “What happen to the other guard tower?”
“Don’t know, sir. It’s just not there,” Xia said. “The base of the guard tower is intact, but the guard house that was on the tower is gone. It looks like it was simply erased out of existence.
“Is Tidwell on his way to pick us up?” Gideon said.
“Yes, sir, but it’s going to take him a while to get here. Bernice’s landing gear won’t retract, so he’ll have to take it slow,” Xia answered. “Our extract LZ will be on the other side of the hill we crossed earlier.”
“Understood. Take the team to the LZ. I’m going to see if I can find Mucha,” Gideon said.
“Yes, sir,” Xia said. “There’s probably a lot of czar guards and troops still around, so be careful.”
“Roger. Get the team on Bernice and then contact me,” Gideon ordered and then added, “If I don’t respond, leave!”
“Yes, sir,” Xia replied.
“Anna, can you contact Mucha’s Anna?” Gideon asked.
“Yes, his Anna is still active,” Anna said.
“Locate it and guide me to it,” Gideon requested.
“I have it. Follow the path on your heads-up display,” Anna said.
Gideon crawled from under the transport vehicle and began following the path to Mucha. He ran to the safety of a wall of a nearby building. Shouldering his MPB-92, he inched his way to the end of the building. His heads-up display suddenly showed thermal images of people standing around the corner. He took a quick peek, expecting czar guards and soldiers. Instead, he saw Michael standing there, his robe slightly swaying by the wind from another storm coming in from the west. Behind him stood several prisoners.
“Lieutenant, all of your enemies are dead. Your man, Sergeant Mucha, and I have killed them all. You can go to him, but hurry. He will die soon.” Michael said.
Gideon didn’t say anything. He didn’t care if Michael was telling the truth or not or how he knew Mucha was alive. Gideon hurried past Michael and the prisoners, and ran to Mucha, following the path on his heads-up display.
Gideon found Mucha lying on his side, covered with debris. Gideon holstered his weapon on his back and got down on his hands and knees. He looked into Mucha’s helmet visor. Blood was smeared on the inside of his visor and flowing from his mouth. Mucha’s eyes were open, and he smiled when he saw Gideon.
“Sorry for disobeying your orders, sir. I had to help them,” he said through his helmet speaker.
“Good job, marine. You did it. The prisoners are safe,” Gideon said.
“Will you do me a favor, LT?”
“Anything, Reuben.”
“Tell Sipes I read the book and it saved my life. Tell him that’s why I sacrificed myself to help save the lives of the prisoners,” Mucha said. He smiled again and then stopped breathing. His eyes remained open, locked on Gideon.
Gideon got to his knees and began removing the debris that covered Mucha. He gently pulled the marine’s body out of the remaining debris and laid his body over his shoulder. He stood and started walking to the extract LZ.
***
The sun was rising in the east, and storm clouds continued to gather in the west as Gideon exited the partially destroyed camp. The early dawn provided enough light to see, and Gideon’s vision system automatically went to normal-vision mode.
Michael stood in the access road in front of what had once been the main gate. Prisoners stood around Michael. They weren’t talking, crying, or asking questions; they just stood in place as though they were in shock and waiting for someone to tell them what to do.
“Lieutenant!” Tidwell almost yelled over the platoon channel, “Bernice’s sensors have detected three czar small-troop transport aircraft headed your way from the east. They’ll arrive before I can get there. I suggest that you head west and select another extract LZ. I’m working on the landing-gear problem, and I’ll get there as soon as I can!”
“Gunny, did you copy that?” Gideon transmitted.
“Yes, sir,” Xia said.
“There’s a small building on the hill on the other side of the camp. It looks like it might be a good place to set up a defensive position until Tidwell arrives,” Gideon transmitted.
“I remember the building, sir. We’ll circle around and meet you there,” Xia said.
“Double-time it. I’d like to be there before the czar troops arrive,” Gideon said.
“Affirmative,” Xia said.
“Michael, there are czar troop transports coming
in from the east,” Gideon said over his helmet speakers.
“I know,” Michael said, “The prisoners and I will meet you at the building on the hill after I have checked if there are any more prisoners who survived. You should be safe there until your escape vehicle arrives to pick you up.”
Gideon didn’t know or even care how Michael knew he and his team were going to the building. If he and the prisoners wanted to come, it was okay with him. All Gideon wanted to do was to hold on until Tidwell arrived. He knew the armament on Bernice would easily take out the czar soldiers and transports when he arrived.
Small Building, Political Prisoner Camp, Planet Leonis
0522—February 28, 2372
Xia set up a defensive position around the little building upon their arrival. He, Manelly, and Kindle spaced themselves out behind the sandbags for protection and to get a 360-degree view around the building to see any approaching czar soldiers, and to establish fields of fire. He ordered Sipes to take Dr. Qasim by the building wall, sit down, and make sure she was protected. Xia used his helmet’s visual and acoustic sensors to determine the contents of the building, but none of the sensors could penetrate the walls. His Anna told him the walls were lined with lead and an aircraft-type stealth material.
***
Minutes later Gideon arrived, and Xia helped him with Mucha’s body. They carefully got the body over the sandbag embankment and gently laid him down by Sipes and Dr. Qasim. The doctor slowly moved away from the body as if death might rub off on her.