by J W Murison
‘Why would we need his cooperation? He is a prisoner, we could force him.’ Stated the Australian.
Steven whirled, ‘because we don’t need to. He will help us willingly.’
The head of the council raised a pencil he was taking notes with, ‘Captain Gordon, you mentioned in your email you believed that we were are risk from the Modloch emperor did you not?’
‘I did sir. Right now the Modloch Empire is struggling after a protracted war against members of their own race. They are in dire need of cash. That is why this treaty is so important to them. They can make a packet off of selling the exotic grasses we sent them. Our solar system has barely been tapped for its resources. The Engineer from The Burning Wind, our Modloch ambassador has survived the ordeal from our sun. That is because his people live on a planet that is close to the gravity of our own planet. That makes their bodies much denser and able to withstand the neutrons from our sun.
After the meeting with Orlath I did quite a considerable amount of research on the Modloch race and the type of treaty that we are supposed to be signing up for. It is a trade agreement only. One where by we will provide a considerable force to help protect the assets we jointly own. The ships we have built are Modloch ships. That of course makes them vulnerable to a race that designed and developed the ships. The emperor has offered us Modloch staff to help train our people. Again that makes us vulnerable. They will learn about the wealth of our solar system and believe me these people have no problems wiping out non sentient races. He has a whole planet of people capable of living on Earth. It is not without the bounds of possibilities for him to order the whole population of that planet to relocate on Earth.’
‘You mean after he has wiped us out?’ The head of the council interrupted.
‘Yes sir.’
‘You believe this treaty gives us no protection from the Emperor himself.’
‘None.’
‘You believe him capable of carrying out a plan like this?’
‘I have discovered nothing to persuade me otherwise sir.’
‘Thank you captain Gordon. I know you want a quick decision on this so we will not keep you waiting for long.’
‘Thank you sir.’
The council watched him leave and more than a few sighed with relief. Suddenly one of them burst out laughing and was soon joined by the others.
‘I am amazed he thinks we won’t grant his wish,’ laughed the Brazilian.
The leader waved his hands in the air, ‘for god’s sake don’t give him the impression that he can walk all over us. We need to play this very carefully. Not only should we grant his wish but we should seriously consider hiring this Albany and putting him in charge of foreign affairs. The rest of our race may well think that this organisation is a bit of a joke, but no other race in the universe will. They will turn to us and we in turn need to be able to turn to our own people and stamp our feet.’
The American didn’t like the sound of it, ‘my government won’t tolerate being told what to do by this council.’
‘None of them will, but they had better learn too. If we become the official representatives of Earth then the power will come into our hands. We will have real clout. These other planets have one emperor and a world council like ours. That council is responsible for taking their orders from there emperor and making sure he is informed of what is happening. Our world council will have to be run like the universal council. They report to many planets as we will have to report to many countries. It would be our responsibility to liaise between the two. The Earths Defence Force will sooner probably rather than later, fall under our jurisdiction as well. Gentlemen, the human race is growing up and we had better heed Captain Gordon. We also need to find our own feet, begin planning ahead. We start with this Orlath Cannies. We get him his human identity, then we bring him on board. We need him far more than he needs us. Agreed.’
Fifteen minutes later Steven was leaving the council with a smile on his face. Buzz suddenly appeared at his side.
‘We got it, they have agreed to make Orlath human.’
Buzz grabbed his arm. ‘I got bad news Stevie, it’s about your friend Charlie. Two generals walked in to his regiment’s brig with a squad of heavies and ordered the release of Charlie into their care. That was a few hours ago. No one can find him.’
Steven was shocked, ‘did De’ Beer allow this?’
‘The regiment was out on exercise at the time including De’ Beer. It was the man himself who called. He can find no trace of Charlie. The man’s going nuts.’
Chapter 59
The Bear sat with the communique in his hand. He was as white as a sheet. He handed it to his RSM in silence. The RSM had to read it three times before it registered.
‘This canna be right sir.’
‘It’s completely out of our hands RSM.’
‘It’s not right sir. They can’t do this. What trial, what court martial, what witnesses, and since when has our army ever supported the death penalty?’
‘I have no idea. We don’t, there is no rule book for this EDF, these assholes are making this shit up as they go along.’
‘Two generals, who the hell are they sir?’
‘I have no idea RSM, I have never heard of them before.’
The RSM stabbed the communique with a thick finger, ‘what the hell does this mean?’
‘Traditionally it is the man’s own platoon and officer that supplies the firing squad. The final indignity.’
‘They won’t shoot Charlie.’
‘No they won’t and that puts them right on the firing line themselves. We are going to have to think this through very carefully RSM. I will command the firing party myself and brief the men.’
‘You won’t be allowed to take your own weapons sir. They will be supplied.’
‘I know. Right now I need to get in touch with Captain Gordon, he may well be able to prevent this.’
Five hours later Steven felt he was going insane. He still couldn’t find Charlie, no matter what he did he was thwarted at every turn. He sat with the Bear in his HQ drinking coffee.
‘It’s all got something to do with the intelligence community,’ he informed Steven. ‘It’s like a blank wall.’
‘It is an ugly beast that has reared its head Mr De’ Beer.
‘Just call me Bear Captain Gordon.’
‘Steven.’
‘Well Steven if you can’t find out anything with your resources then we are all fucked. Please pardon the expression.’
Steven waved a hand, ‘I feel the same way Bear. I did manage to get some information on the generals.’ He shoved over a tablet with their pictures.
The Bear growled, ‘I know this pair. I have seen them before. Didn’t know who they were though.’
‘Where?’
De’ Beer told Steven about the Jamaican warehouse incident and Charlie’s involvement. Steven thought it over. ‘It looks to me like they are cleaning house. From what little information I can gather they were retired not long after that.’
De’ Beer found himself in agreement, ‘it is possible they were held accountable in some way. The facts buried along with their carrier. This war has resurrected a lot of careers.’
‘Aye and no sooner than their carriers are back on track and up pops Charlie.’
De’ Beer took a sip of his coffee, ‘Some shit will follow you around to the grave Steven. It looks like this pair want to bury it along with Charlie. He is the only witness to the whole incident. Did you find out where he is being kept?’
‘No it isn’t on the ship you have to report to that’s for sure. I have no doubt he will be delivered there just before the execution is scheduled.’
De’ Beer sat back with a sigh, ‘my biggest fear is that he is already dead and this is just some form of cover up. I shouldn’t have locked him up, they would never have caught him.’
Steven found himself grinning, ‘can he still do it?’
‘Do what?’ De’ Beer asked him suspic
iously.
‘When we were kids there was a family that had five brothers all bad to the core. They used to try and ambush us all the time. Charlie could smell them a mile off, saved us from a lot of kicking’s.’
De’ Beer half smiled, ‘Charlie was in my first platoon. We go back a long way, I was also his company commander before becoming his commanding officer. I remember Sergeant Banks who was my platoon sergeant back then, just before I left the platoon; introducing two recruits to Charlie. He took them into Charlie’s room where he was lying on top of his bed reading a book. ‘You see this guy here? If he says stop you stop, go back, you go back. Go left you go left and go right then you go right, understand?’ One of the Jocks said no, and Sargent Banks turned on him, ‘aye well laddie, neither do we, but we still fucking do it.’’
The two men laughed awkwardly, ‘that’s Charlie,’ Steven agreed. ‘A good man to have at your back.’
‘Charlie is a good man to have at your back. He’s a great man to have at your side; but where you really want Charlie is way out front looking for trouble.’
Steven laughed, ‘I never thought of it like that before, but you are most likely right.’
‘Oh I’m right. You have to watch him though. Charlie doesn’t always avoid trouble.’
Steven slid a small bag across, ‘let’s hope we can pay him back.’
De’ Beer took possession of the bag and stood, ‘I had better get back to the men.’
Three hours later they were taken to a nondescript freighter and guided through to a closed off part of the cargo bay. They were shoved inside a small room. Eddie stood beside De’ Beer as a nervous American MP Sergeant handed out weapons. When he was finished he stood with one of the American rifles in his hand. ‘Watch this way. All of the rifles have been loaded with one round apiece. Not all of the rounds are live, half are blanks. That way no one will really know whose shot killed the prisoner.’
‘His names Charlie, you fucking asshole,’ growled one of the Jocks.
‘Can that shit,’ Eddie snapped.
The Jock dropped his head. The MP eyed him for a moment before going on. ‘OK guys, I know this is all fucked up but I ain’t got no choice, just like you guys. Pull back on this handle and release to load the weapon.’
‘We know how to bloody use one,’ Eddie interrupted the sergeant pulling the magazine from the rifle. He looked at the blank round and flicked it out with his thumb. ‘Give me a live round.’
The rest of the Jocks did the same and the MP suddenly had blanks rounds being tossed at him. ‘Give us live all live rounds,’ Eddie insisted.
‘I’m not allowed.’
Bear moved forward with the pistol he had been given. He cocked it and placed it against the MP’s temple. ‘Give them live rounds, I know the one in this one is live. I will kill you and take them if I have to Sargent, do not question my resolve in this.’
The MP broke out into a cold sweat, ‘don’t try anything sir.’
‘Each man, one round, each man bears equal responsibility.’
His eyes flicked to the jocks faces and saw the resolve there, ‘I can live with that sir.’
He dished out the rounds and the men reloaded their weapons. ‘When the prisoner is taken in your doctor will check if he is fit enough to be executed. You and your padre may then approach to see if he has any last words. Once the padre has said his piece you will return to the firing line. His crimes will be read out by my officer and his sentence. You will then be ordered to proceed. You will give the order to load sir, that’s when you cock the weapons. Aim and fire. Speaks for itself. Is that all clear sir?’
‘Perfectly. May I have a word with my men alone Sergeant?’
The MP Sergeant stood, ‘of course you may sir, five minutes.’
‘Thank you.’
He waited until the man had gone. ‘Reload.’ De’ Beer ordered.
The men whipped off their Tam O’ Shanters. They had been swept for weapons with a hand held metal detector. Of course it had gone off when it swept over their bodies. The normal belts and buckles along with money or change they had in their pockets. They hadn’t even bothered sweeping their headdress as it was obvious the large cap badge would set off their detectors. Behind everyman’s badge was tapped five rounds of ammunition. They ripped them out and added them to the magazine in their rifles before reloading them. The type of weapons to be used in the execution had been stipulated in the orders and luckily for them Colonel Howe’s men had a stash of the correct ammo for their own personal weapons.
The MP returned to wait with them and the hard faced Scots kept their silence. After a brief wait they were ordered into a large empty hanger. A pile of sandbags had been set up and a wooden post fitted into a bracket welded to the deck. Ropes hung from metal rings. The Scots tensed as the minutes passed. It was almost a relief when the two interrogators appeared dragging a bloody sack between them. It wasn’t until they attached the sack to the post that most of the jocks realised it was in fact their friend. The two men walked to the side to watch with smug grins on their faces.
De’ Beer and his regimental doctor swapped looks. Both men were in shock. A MP Officer approached them, ‘you need to check your man sir.’ He looked pale and swallowed nervously.
The doctor took the first step and the Bear followed hesitantly. The doctor pressed his stethoscope against the bloody sacking. ‘He is alive, but I would say barely.’
The De’ Beer took a deep breath, ‘Charlie, can you hear me?’
The sack twitched, ‘Bear.’ The word were slurred but De’ Beer took a deep breath of relief.
‘Do you know what’s happening Charlie?’
‘Execution!’
‘That’s right.’ De’ Beer slid a small silver pin into the sacking.
‘No trial.’ The figure managed before slumping.
De’ Beer felt the rage course through him. He walked up to the American MP Officer who was waiting with a notepad and pen.
‘Did he have any last words sir?’
De’ Beer growled, ‘he said there was no trial no court martial.’
The man reeled, ‘that’s impossible sir I have the orders here. All the paper work.’
‘It’s wrong, I demand my man be returned to me at once and this whole farce called off.’
The large white interrogator suddenly appeared at the lieutenants side with a drawn pistol, ‘it was a closed court martial, he was found guilty and sentenced to death. If you don’t carry it out you and your men will take his place after I shoot him.’
De’ Beer could see the naked hatred on the bruised face of the man. This was obviously personal and De’ Beer had a feeling he would be next on the man’s list. ‘So be it.’ He turned and walked away. Their final chance at a peaceful solution gone. He knew the jocks under his command would want no peaceful solution, but as an officer it was his responsibility to at least try. The blood pumped behind his eyes as he spoke to each of his men in turn. It made focusing difficult.
‘What are you doing?’ Asked the MP Sergeant.
‘Telling them to shoot straight, now piss off.’
The man took a deep breath and stepped back.
The padre finished praying over Charlie and stepped back. He nodded to De’ Beer.
‘Listen in.’ De’ Beer growled. ‘Attention. Shoulder arms. Load.’ The men swung their rifles round in front of them and cocked them. The metal click of rounds being chambered seemed to ring round the hanger. They could see Charlie slump farther. ‘Present, Aim, Fire.’
It all happened so fast no one had time to react. The jocks swung their weapons and the two interrogators fell to the crash of the rifles. They then snapped off warning shots above the heads of the MP’s. Men ducked instinctively as the metal rounds whipped round the hanger bouncing off of the metal walls with a strange zipping sound.
‘No one move,’ roared De’ Beer and the MP’s froze. ‘As you can see we brought our own ammunition and have enough to kill all of you. Lie on
the floor with your hands in front of you.’ They obeyed reluctantly. De’ Beer walked over to the bodies of the two interrogators. The large black man’s eyes fluttered open. He barely had time to register De’ Beers presence before two shots to the head ended him. Another two shots made sure of his companion and De ’Beer pressed something on his lapel. In an instant they were gone.
Chapter 60
Steven dry heaved in to the bowl in the medical lab. The doctor had tried to keep Buzz and him out but they had insisted. Buzz had walked out a few minutes before after finishing being sick. He had simply patted Steven on the shoulder and left. Most of the soldiers had left with Buzz and he guided them to the ships rest room for visitors. Only De’ Beer and Sergeant Eddie were left beside the bloodied lump of meat on the table. The doctor handed him a towel and Steven covered his face with it.
‘Tell me,’ Steven prompted.
Her eyes dropped, ‘I’m sorry Steven, he is so close to death, there is nothing I can do for him but to give him pain killers.’
‘You mean put him out of his misery?’
Her eyes lifted for the briefest of moments, ‘Yes.’
‘What did they do to him?’
‘They cut off his fingers and toes. Smashed what was left of his hands and feet. Almost every bone in his body has been broken. He has five skull fractures, his right eye burned out.’ She shook her head, ‘his body is full of stimulants. His internal organs aren’t in bad shape considering the rest of him. Bruised yes, but not badly enough that it would kill him or to stop his organs from working. A way of keeping him alive longer,’ she explained before he could ask.
‘Why stimulants, what were they for?’
‘To keep him awake, enhance the pain.’
Steven felt tears spring to his eyes, ‘animals.’
‘He is unconscious now, doesn’t feel anything. The poisons in his blood are beginning to build rapidly. His organs will begin to fail soon and he will die before he wakens.’