“First question we have to ask ourselves, and we should have dealt with this much sooner, where are we, and what the hell is the significance of this place?” Huber asked.
Taylor found himself sitting at a different table now, one with just military officials and civilian experts.
“Let me welcome Mr Reiter, who some of you have met, and all are familiar with his technology.”
Reiter stepped into the room with his arm in a brace and a bandage around his forehead.
“Mr Reiter was lucky enough to make it off Earth with only minor injuries.”
Taylor stepped up to Reiter and shook his good arm.
“Glad you made it, Doc. We need you.”
“I know,” he replied modestly.
“Okay, so I want some answers. This system we’re in, what’s here? Are there living inhabitants? What the hell is that gateway, and whom does it belong to? Do the Krys know of our location? What planets do we have here, what resources do they hold, and are any of them habitable to any degree? These are the questions that need answers as quickly as can be done. You have been allocated into research teams to make this happen. Get moving and do your jobs.”
Taylor didn’t even know what he was doing there, as he could do little to help with what they needed, but he kept his mouth shut and waited.
“Sir, I’ve got Admiral Huang on the line. He has requested to talk with you immediately,” said one of his staff nearby.
Huber shook his head.
“All right, I’ll take it in my quarters,” he looked to Taylor, “Come with me.”
Taylor couldn’t help but feel he was being paraded around as a blunt instrument in Huber’s toolbox, but there was nothing he could do about it. He followed the Admiral and took a seat opposite his desk, outside of the view of the transmission about to come through. The Chinese Admiral was displayed for Huber a few seconds later. Taylor had never seen the man before and that surprised him.
Why was he not at the meeting with Bletchley? Taylor asked himself.
“Admiral Huber. I hear you have assumed command of this fleet and are instating a government to rule it. We have not authorised this decision, and we do not accept your self imposed position as our leader.”
Here comes trouble, Taylor thought.
“As the most senior and longest serving officer of this fleet, it is both my right and duty to take the reins and see this thing through,” Huber responded.
“I will not…”
Huber interrupted with a stronger tone.
“Let me make myself clear, Rear Admiral. I have seniority, and I am the leader of this fleet. Should you have a problem with that, you are most welcome to depart this fleet and go your own way. But I cannot advise more strongly against it.”
Huang was speechless.
“So you will shut me and my people out? You consider that acceptable?”
“No, as a leader of your people, I fully welcome your input on all military matters, and advise you to put forward representatives for whatever government may be formed in the coming days.”
“You are going to far with this, Admiral. You have not heard the last on this matter.”
The transmission ended. Huber simply reached for the bottle of whisky on his desk and poured it out into two glasses before passing one to Taylor. He would never have accepted it under normal circumstances in the past, but these were not normal circumstances. He took the glass and sipped it to find it was a smooth oak flavoured vintage that sparked all his senses and brought a lovely warmth.
“Yep, when a day sucks this bad, it helps,” said Huber, watching Taylor’s response.
“You know I’m not a politician, Admiral?”
Huber sighed. “Son, we all have to be and do things we never wanted or expected for ourselves. You are whatever we need you to be, just as I am. You don’t have to like it, you only have to give it your all.”
“But I suck at it. I’m just as likely to cause as much trouble as I resolve.”
“We’ll see about that. You’ve done just fine this far.”
“Huang is gonna come after you. He won’t let this go.”
Huber sighed. “I know, but we will deal with him in due course. We’re an almost random cross section of Earth’s population thrown together on a whim. We have to accept that it isn’t going to be plain sailing.”
Huber’s communicator flashed before him, and he accepted the call.
“Sir, I have a Captain Morris requesting an audience with you.”
Huber looked surprised and then to Taylor.
“He’s one of mine.”
“See him in,” Huber replied.
The door to his quarters opened and Morris entered. Taylor could immediately see the distress in his face.
“What’s up?” Taylor quickly asked before the Admiral could get a word in.
“I just heard my people didn’t make it off Earth.”
Huber looked to Taylor in surprise.
“You said he was one of yours?”
“He is, via the Moon Defence Force.”
“Admiral, did any of my people make it?”
“I do not have that information, Captain, but I can make some enquiries.”
“Please do so, Sir. They are my people. My family.”
Huber got to his feet, seeing the distress in Morris’ face.
“You have my word, Captain. I will do everything in my power to discover the fate of your people. They inhabited an area of Germany, if I remember correctly?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Then please leave this with me, and I will liaise with the contacts I have to find out whatever I can.”
Taylor got up and went to his friend. He placed a hand on his shoulder for comfort.
“You know Kelly. He either made it out or he’s fighting like hell.”
“Yes, that’s what worries me.”
“Trust me, and trust the Admiral. We’ll do what we can.”
Morris accepted his promise and stepped outside the quarters. Taylor took a seat once again before the Admiral.
“This is gonna get a lot worse, you know that?” Taylor asked.
“Yeah, I know.”
“What we need more than anything else right now is to stick together, work together, and fight together. Without that we are finished.”
“That’s what I’m trying to do, Colonel. Just not everyone sees it that way. I think we’re done here. I want you to make sure your people are on the top line and ready for anything. You defended this ship admirably. Please be ready to give such service at a moment’s notice whenever we need it.”
“You got it, Sir.”
Taylor got up and left. He’d only been awake a few hours, and he felt like he’d endured a few days of combat. He could sense the tension throughout the ship and could only imagine how much worse it was across the rest of the fleet. As he left the Admiral’s quarters, he finally looked at his watch and realised it was time to get dinner. He was hopeful he would catch a few of his unit still there.
He reached the canteen and found Parker waiting for him. There was nothing on the table before her except a glass of water. Silva sat opposite her. As he approached, they perked up. He could tell they had been waiting there for some time.
“Thought you’d vanished for good,” Parker said.
“You can’t get rid of me that easy.”
Taylor smiled as he passed them and queued up with a dozen others to get his meal. It was slumming it for an officer of his status, but he didn’t care.
“Colonel Taylor, isn’t it?” a man in the line up asked.
“Yes,” Taylor replied, looking over for the source of the question. As he did so, a fist struck his jaw and snapped his neck back. He staggered back a pace before getting his footing. He looked back in surprise to see a tall, well built Captain had struck him, and his eyes were full of hate and fury, yet Taylor could not understand why. The man wore a Naval uniform, but he was not American. As he turned slightly, Taylor could see
a Spanish flag on his shoulder.
Parker and Silva leapt to their feet and came to Taylor’s aid, but he held up his hand to stop them in their tracks.
“That’s right, you son of a bitch, about time you fought your own battles!” the Captain sneered.
“Man, who the fuck are you?”
“Captain Rodrigo Cordero.”
Taylor spat out blood.
“And what the hell is your beef? You just took a cheap shot like a cheap bitch. So what is it?
“You’re a traitor, Taylor. You changed sides like the wind. You just pick and choose as suits you each day, and expect everyone to rally around you and treat you as some great fucking hero.”
“He is a fucking hero, you low life asshole!” Parker shouted.
She tried to rush forward in a frenzy, but Silva took hold of her and held her back.
“That’s right. You need a woman to fight for you because you’re too pussy to fight for real. Sure, you’ll fight on TV. You’ll fight some bullshit theatre for all your audience to applaud, but when the real fight comes, you can’t handle it.”
Taylor was astonished by what he was hearing. He could only imagine the man had bought into the propaganda spun by the UEN and the Krys agents working within it.
“You don’t know me. You’ve not seen what I’ve seen. What gives you the right to spill this kind of crap about me? What have you done through these wars? I’ve bled and fought, and suffered, and endured. I won’t justify myself to any one, let alone some low life sailor boy like you.”
The Spaniard picked up a nearby chair and swung it at Taylor, but he caught the legs and pulled hard so that the man was launched off his feet and over onto another table. The Captain sprawled rather unceremoniously over the table and landed the far side on the deck.
“Whatever hate you’ve built, it’s all bullshit,” Taylor said, watching the man haul himself to his feet.
He could see the bitter anger was burning ever greater in the Captain’s eyes. He wanted to kill, and there was no doubt about it. He rushed at Taylor in a frenzy and swung a hook with all his force. It was a powerful strike, but it was off balance and telegraphed. Taylor ducked under and delivered a sharp uppercut to his stomach, causing the man’s legs to lift off the ground slightly.
Taylor did not let up. He grabbed Cordero’s hair with his left hand and punched him with three heavy rights until blood gushed from his face, finally throwing him down onto the floor.
Cordero’s friends went to help him to his feet, but Taylor launched towards him. As he did so, one of the man’s friends swung for him, and it was all the cue Silva needed to join the affray, and Parker with him.
A few minutes’ later six men lay on the deck unconscious or crying in pain. Taylor, Silva, and Parker remained standing, and the ship’s marines rushed in with the master-at-arms in tow. They instantly recognised Taylor and hesitated, to which he responded.
“What are you waiting for? Do your jobs!”
Ten minutes later he found himself on a bench in the brig, with Parker and Silva in adjoining cells. After a few minutes of taking it all in Parker began to laugh. Her white teeth were coated in her own blood.
“What is so funny?” Silva asked.
“You know how good that felt? To not be fighting some giant monster, but to have a good old fashioned tussle? Makes me feel alive, more than I have done in a while.”
Silva shrugged. He understood what she meant but was hesitant to agree.
“What the hell was that guy’s problem?” he asked.
Finally, Taylor responded.
“He wasn’t wrong. Back before all this shit went down, I did change sides, and you know it. So did a lot of people. It was civil war on Earth. Only reason he picked on me is because I was on the news, and people made a big deal about it.”
“But you only ever did what you thought was right,” Silva replied.
“Yeah, and look where that’s gotten us.”
“It’s got us here alive.”
Taylor sat back against the wall and sighed. He couldn’t believe how many times he had been behind bars now, and somehow, he knew it was far from the last time. He knew the only way he could ever break the cycle was to become top brass, and that was the last thing he ever wanted to do.
“You’re still an asshole!”
It was Cordero. He recognised the voice. He looked past the bars of his cell and across to the opposite cell. The shadowy figure had been there since they arrived, and it had not occurred to him that’s who it would be.
“You wouldn’t even be here if it wasn’t for him!” Parker called out in his defence.
No response came, but Taylor already knew the man would be more trouble. They could hear the door to the brig open and footsteps approaching. There were more than two sets of footsteps, and that meant someone of note was coming, but Taylor made no attempt to get up. A few seconds later, Huber stepped into view; he was surrounded by marines. He stopped at Taylor’s cell and simply stared at him.
“This asshole came looking for trouble, Admiral. He is a danger to this fleet!” Cordero screamed.
“Shut up, Captain!”
Huber turned to him.
“You are assigned to this ship, but I am still your superior officer, just as Colonel Taylor is!”
He turned back to Taylor.
“Really?” he asked, “All the shit we have to deal with, and you brawl with idiots like him? You have to get yourself together, Colonel. I need you. The people need you. But they need Colonel Taylor, saviour of humanity. The same Taylor who defeated Demiran, not the mess I am seeing here now. Earlier today, I thought you had come through for us and you had, and now I have to deal with this? What do you have to say for yourself?”
Taylor said nothing.
“Right now I need you. I need all of you,” Huber continued, “So you keep whatever this is bottled up, never to come out. Not until we are back home on Earth, and all of this is over. I don’t care what it was about or why it started, that’s the deal. You all got that?”
“Yes, Sir,” they all said in tune, except Taylor who remained silent.
“Goddamn it, Taylor, are you with us or not?”
Taylor shook his head.
“In all these years, why do people keep asking me that?”
“Probably because you keep getting into this shit. I don’t need a troublemaker, Taylor. I need the legend that is Colonel Mitch Taylor. Can you be that man? Because that is the man, that is the marine these people need. So are you gonna be that man?”
Taylor looked across to Parker and could see she was nodding for him to agree. Not just to get them out of the mess they were in, but because she genuinely believed in the Admiral’s words. He looked back to Huber.
“You have my word I will do everything I can to get us back home and to win.”
Huber sighed. “Good enough. Get this lot out of here!”
The cell doors opened, and Huber was waiting for Taylor.
“You’re coming with me.”
Taylor knew he had no choice in the matter, but he accepted his sidearm and carried on beside the Admiral.
When they were clear of the brig, Huber finally opened up the real reason he was released so soon.
“Colonel, we’ve got problems. Problems we could both see coming, and I need your help.
“What is it now?”
“Dissent among the fleet. Huang is winning support amongst a number of the ships. People are starting to question who should be in command, and what we should be doing. Some want to return to Earth and think we should never have left. Others want to see a President elected to rule us. It’s a goddamn disaster.”
“I told you, Sir, I am not a politician.”
“Yes you are, Colonel. You have been for a long time, whether you like it or not. Look, Taylor, there are many things in life we have to deal with that we don’t like and don’t want to do. You just want to lead marines and fight the good fight; I get it. But the people need more f
rom you than that because you are capable of more.”
“Not sure I agree, Admiral, but I can’t hide the fact I am glad to be out. What is it you actually want me to do?”
“Huang, he is the key to this. He has some sway over the fleet, particularly those from the far eastern nations, but his support is growing. Huang is a good officer and a good Admiral, but he has no idea what to do in this situation of ours. He is going to get a lot of folk killed unless he can be made to see straight.”
Taylor was sick to death of being forced into verbal onslaughts to convince people he had no care for, but he knew he had no choice.
“How on Earth am I supposed to convince a Chinese Admiral to accept your authority?” he asked.
“I don’t know, but that’s your task now, and I have every faith in you.”
Taylor was led towards the bridge by Huber but stopped short where he found his Reitech suit awaiting him.
"Expecting trouble?"
"I want you to convey the image of Taylor the marine. I need you to both intimidate and bring a sense of confidence in us all at the same time."
Taylor pulled on his gear and carried on to the bridge where all the crew there turned to him, as if he would be able to speak some magical words that would end all their troubles. Admiral Huang was projected on a screen before him for all to see and hear.
“This is Colonel Taylor. He will act as mediator for us.”
Mediator? That isn’t how it was sold to me.
But he could see from Huang’s response to his presence that his reputation went a long way.
“It is an honour, Colonel Taylor. I am so glad you made it here to fight with us.”
“I didn’t come here to fight,” replied Taylor, “We came here to survive. Maybe that involves fighting, maybe not. All that matters is the human race survives, and for that we need to stick together and work together.”
Huang did not reply.
“If that is to be the case, this fleet needs a leader.”
“But it should not be Admiral Huber, the leader of the failed operation in enemy space.”
“Oh, really? And who should it be, someone with no experience that any of us have heard of? You? You have a third the vessels the US Navy has in this fleet. And you think you should be in charge? Huber is the obvious choice for this. Accept him, or leave this fleet and do not come back!”
Battle Earth X Page 6