Battle Beyond Earth: Revenge

by Thomas, Nick S.

  Chapter 4

  Taylor waited anxiously on the main hangar bay with several dozen of his marines. Jones was to his right and Alita to his left. Several shuttles came in to land, two of them Krys, one Cholan, and another Aranui. Jafar was the first to step out from one of the shuttles. He was an imposing figure in his armour, and in one hand he carried a steel staff decorated with gilding which he used to aid his old body, but Taylor had no doubt that it was a weapon first and foremost.

  Close by his side was Sarik, and Boz and Gur followed as his guards. Taylor was glad to see they were still alive, as he remembered their loyalty. From the second ship came three Barbalar representatives who stayed close to Jafar's side and dared not take a pace in front.

  "He’s really brought them to heel," whispered Jones.

  Taylor agreed, but he was still shocked to see them all there. The Cholan shuttle landed as Jafar approached, and Tuin himself stepped out. Nobody said a word as they stopped in front of Taylor, and Irala joined them.

  "What is this? How can you all be here?"

  "We have come to fight alongside you, my old friend," said Jafar. Taylor was trying to find his words when Jafar continued, "I speak for all of us. Your world was always where this war was going to be decided, and we will make our stand against the enemy there beside you."

  "What about the rest of your worlds?"

  "Earth is vital to us all. It always has been. There is a reason why the Krys fought so hard to take it from you."

  "It was their mythical paradise, I get it."

  "Not just to the Krys, to all of us."

  Taylor looked confused.

  "Your world is in the history of all our races. Long forgotten how or why, but one thing is certain. All roads lead to Earth."

  "I don't understand. You're saying that Earth is at the centre of all your combined myths and legends, but how?" Jones asked.

  "It is one of the great mysteries of the universe; a mystery far, far older than any living being or their descendants. Many choose to forget or disregard such information, and yet the proof grows stronger every day."

  "Proof of what?"

  "I once called you the Dusmus Kahraman," declared Jafar, "At the time I did so to further our position in that moment, but what I did not tell you, was that I truly believed it."

  Taylor was shaking his head.

  "No way, I am not some legendary ancient, mythical bullshit. I am just a guy looking to fight for what I can."

  But as he looked to Tuin and Irala he could see they were very much in agreement.

  “Surely not you, too?” he asked Irala.

  He simply nodded in response. Taylor gasped in amazement. “Has the whole fucking world gone crazy?”

  There was no reply.

  “Irala, you of all people can see past superstitious bullshit. You are a practical man, a thinker. I have seen you predict and calculate things far beyond what I could even hope to understand. How can you believe this now?”

  “It is true that our people have become quite adept at predicting the future through science and precise methodology. That is why now I choose to believe in the words that Lord Jafar is saying.”

  “How the hell did you come to that conclusion?”

  “By considering all the facts before us. You have done, achieved, and survived more than any human being could.”

  “You think we’re weak, and that because I am human I couldn’t have done all that? That’s it?”

  “No, it’s more than I could have ever done, or any of my people,” he added.

  That silenced Taylor, as he was starting to realise how much they believed it.

  “Some humans might call you lucky for what you have achieved. That could be the case for a small element of your life, but not when it is all considered. The odds are unfathomable.”

  “What odds?”

  “That you could have survived so many near death experiences, and that you have fought so many personal combats against far superior and more powerful opponents. It just isn’t statistically realistic. When you realise that, you might begin to understand why this leap of faith isn’t so surprising or unbelievable. You are special, Taylor. I don’t know why or how, or what force in this universe made you that way, but the fact remains that there is much more to you than meets the eye.”

  Taylor looked across to Jones and Alita to see what their responses were. Jones just looked glad that their allies had turned up, and he didn’t seem to care why.

  “I didn’t need them to convince me. I have always known you were special,” Alita said.

  In was nice to hear, but it didn’t help.

  “I don’t believe it, and nothing you have said convinces me, but I don’t care. You’re here now, and we need all the help we can get,” he added and turned to Jafar. “You and your people want to call me the Dusmus Kahra…whatever, fine. Call me Shirley if you want, just so long as I have you with me and willing to fight.”

  Jafar made no comment, but for whatever reason, he truly believed he was the one, and that Taylor would now have to accept that. He still thought it was a load of nonsense but accepted he wasn’t going to be able to convince anyone otherwise anytime soon.

  “I am gonna keep fighting and kicking ass till the day I die. So how will I ever convince you that you are all deluded? I could stop now, retire from all this, and find a quiet corner of the universe to my feet up. Would that do it?”

  “But you won’t,” stated Jafar firmly.

  “You aren’t capable of it,” Irala said.

  “Capable of what?”

  “Leaving your world to burn. Leaving other people to suffer. It is not in you, and that is what makes you special.”

  “Even my world you would not see burn. You had no reason to help us,” Tuin joined in the conversation.

  “Damn right I did. We needed you in this fight.”

  “No, you are a hero to my people, just as you are to your own and all of the worlds in the Alliance.”

  Taylor sighed. He didn’t want any of it, and worst of all, he could see the pressure mounting upon him was growing every day. All he could do was try and ignore it and move forward.

  “This is all fun and games, but what now?” he asked.

  Nobody said a word, but he could tell they were waiting for him to give them the answers. Finally, when he did not, Irala spoke up, “You pluck success out of scenarios where no others would ever conceive the possibility of doing so. Lead the way, and we will follow.”

  “And if I am wrong? What if I lead us all to our deaths.”

  “We will not follow you blindly, Colonel. We need a leader, not a dictator. Conceive a plan to free Earth, and we will fight to make that plan a reality.”

  “Colonel Taylor, Colonel Taylor!” a voice cried.

  A young nurse rushed into the room and to his side so that she could whisper in his ear. It was clearly urgent.

  “Colonel, it’s the President. You need to come quickly!”

  “Can it wait?”

  “No, no it can’t,” she insisted.

  He looked back to the others who waited for some news.

  “You’ll have to excuse me. Thank you for coming. Return to your ships. You will hear from me shortly.”

  He could see the surprise in their faces. They had been expecting some kind of sit down and discussion, but without another word, he left. Jones stayed behind to see to their departure, as he knew somebody had to, but Alita ran after Taylor.

  “What is it?” she asked, trying her best to keep up.

  He didn’t respond, but when she saw him take the turn towards the medical facilities, she started to understand and managed to catch up and walk beside him.

  “It’s the President, isn’t it?”

  “Yes,” he said quietly but kept up the pace.

  “What's wrong?”

  “I’m not sure, but it doesn’t sound good.”

  "Well, what are you gonna do if he dies?"

  Finally, he stopped and glare
d at her.

  "I don't know, okay. I have no fucking idea. I never asked to be in charge of any of this, and now they want to call me some mythical saviour, and I have a feeling I am about to get another shit sandwich, so give me a break, will you?"

  She was shocked by the way he lashed out at her, but she didn't have time to respond before he turned away and carried on. She wasn't even sure if she should follow him, but she was too curious not to. They entered the room to find five medical staff standing around the President's bed, along with several more civilian staff that had managed to survive and reach him. Isaacs was still conscious, and that was a relief, but as Taylor looked to those beside him, he could tell that it wasn't good news at all.

  "Well? What's the deal?"

  The snooty doctor who had been caring for him before stepped forward to address Taylor.

  "I am sorry to say that the President's injuries were more severe than we first thought."

  "More severe? How could you not know that? All this hardware and you couldn't tell?"

  The doctor looked a little sheepish as he looked away, but it seemed he was more sad than disappointed.

  "It was something beyond us and even the most sophisticated of equipment. Something which did not manifest itself until it was far too late," he added.

  And then he remembered how the Morohtans worked.

  "Poison?"

  "Of a sort, yes."

  "They poisoned me and I survived."

  Although it was a reminder of the wound he had suffered. He still felt the pain every day, but he would never admit it to anyone, even though he suspected Alita knew it.

  "You are stronger, younger, and with a strong constitution. Even then, I would speculate that whatever the President was infected with, it was far more concentrated than what you suffered, or that is what I would speculate without having access to your records, Colonel."

  Taylor shook his head as he walked to the side of the President's bed. He looked weak, though far more composed than he had been under the effects of the drugs not so long ago.

  "You did your best, Colonel. I thank you for coming to my aid. There was nothing more you could have done."

  Taylor bit his lip, thinking about all the things he could have done differently.

  "Is there nothing more you can do?" Taylor pleaded.

  The doctor seemed sure as he calmly shook his head.

  "My time is over, Colonel Taylor."

  "No bullshit now, how long does he have?"

  The doctor seemed reluctant to answer, and they all knew that wasn't a good sign.

  "I'm gonna die. You can't make that any better, so at least give us the truth, Doctor."

  His voice was weak, and he wasn't even able to get up from the raised and seated position the bed had been made to for him.

  "Mr President, Sir, your body is shutting down at a rapid rate. I..."

  "Just give us a time, how long?" Taylor insisted.

  The doctor acknowledged Taylor but turned to address the President directly.

  "At the current rate, I do not believe your heart will hold out much more than a few minutes."

  "Oh, God," Alita muttered in the background.

  Taylor's eyes widened. He couldn't believe it was all happening so fast. Two of the President's staff began to weep, but he didn't seem bothered at all.

  "I never expected to go out like this, but like every other poor soul who has been lost in this war, I don't have a lot of choice. That is my fate."

  "I don't believe in fate, Sir," replied Taylor.

  "No, maybe not, but she sure believes in you. You, of all people, you can go through hell and come out without even a scratch."

  "Not quite, Sir." Taylor smiled.

  The President reached out for his hand and took it as firmly as he could.

  "Colonel, if there is one thing you were born to do, that was to protect our planet. You must see it. Whatever force keeps you alive, it does so for you to protect our Earth, do you see it?"

  Taylor didn't want to believe any of that pre-determined and fate inspired talk, but neither would he argue with a dying man.

  "I do, Sir," he replied sincerely.

  "While you are alive, and you keep fighting, Colonel, it seems that our world will always be free. So you have to promise me."

  "Anything."

  "You promise me you will never give up. No matter how bad it gets, no matter what it costs. You will fight for the freedom of our world and the people who inhabit it, all of them. Will you do that?"

  "I...I will. I will," he repeated.

  The President smiled and stared into Taylor's eyes.

  "I wish I knew what it was that made you special. What made you able to do all the things that you have done. Maybe I will finally find the answer on the other side. Good luck, Colonel, and..."

  He gasped for air as if suddenly he couldn't breathe. He was trying to say a few more words, and Taylor knelt down so that he could whisper in his ear.

  "Do not stop until Earth is...free."

  No one moved forward to help. They knew it was hopeless. With his last ounce of energy, he squeezed Taylor's hand as tightly as he could, and then he died. There was complete silence as they tried to take in what had just happened. Taylor stepped back and looked at the President's lifeless body, and his words echoed in his mind. It had taken him a while to warm to the President, but they had grown to respect one another in the end, and Taylor knew what a loss to the Alliance he was.

  Everyone looked to him now as if he had the answers, and yet he didn’t have any at all.

  “What do we do?” Alita asked.

  Taylor tried to think through their options, but only one thing kept repeating itself over and over in his head. Isaac’s last words; ‘Do not stop until Earth is free.’

  That struck a nerve that was all too familiar, and it was causing anger and bitterness to manifest deep within his heart that he had to act upon before it destroyed him.

  “We are going back to Earth, and we are going to kill every last one or them, or die trying.”

  Nobody seemed enthused by the idea, but neither would they argue with him.

  “You,” he said, looking to a member of the former President’s staff, “Get a list of those in line to the Presidency. We need someone to take those reins, and I’ll be damned if it’s gong to be me.”

  Although he knew that in reality he would be running things for a while now. Everything rested on his shoulders, and he hated it. He really wanted to find something to kill to release some of his anger and feel that he was doing something useful. The civilian he addressed looked terrified.

  "Colonel, I doubt a single one of those in line to the Presidency made it out with us. Almost no civilians did. As far as we know, President Isaacs' personal staff didn't make it off the Forbin.

  "What's your name?"

  "Lucy Cardoza."

  "And what do you do? What is your station?"

  The woman appeared to be stunned by his question. She looked exhausted and bedraggled, despite the fact she wore an expensive tailored suit and had no experience in the conflict they were involved in. She looked around fifty years old. Clearly, she was intelligent and well educated, but that didn't help her get through their near disastrous situation any better than the rest.

  "I...I am a public relations advisor to the President. Or I was."

  "A spin doctor?" Taylor asked abruptly.

  "Yes...yes I suppose so."

  "I am making it your job to find us a President, and until you do, the job is yours."

  "But what about the candidates back on Earth?"

  "If we can get to them, then fair enough, but right now they are under siege and have no knowledge of the President's death. Until we can do better, and you can find someone alive, it's on you."

  "I..I cannot..." she began.

  Taylor lifted up his finger to call for silence.

  "You talk shit for a living, I am sure you can manage."

  He turned to l
eave when Cardoza yelled out in panic, "Colonel Taylor, where are you going?"

  It was if she were awaiting his orders.

  "To carry out the last orders of the President of the Alliance."

  He stormed out with Alita trailing behind.

  "What is that? What did he ask of you?"

  He was quiet as he tried to make sense of it all in his mind.

  "Mitch? Please don't leave me in the dark."

  He stopped as she had tapped a nerve. He looked into her eyes to see how lost and desperate she was feeling.

  "The President asked me to do the right thing. To not stop fighting until Earth is free."

  "And we won't, but please don't do anything brash."

  "Billions of people live on Earth, our homeworld. Every minute that we stay out here will likely mean scores more of them dead, imprisoned, or worse. We should never have left."

  "We had to, you know that. If we had stayed, we would have died."

  "We would have found a way."

  "No, we wouldn't have."

  "It's like Jafar and Irala said, somehow I always do. I always get through."

  "You do, but at what cost to everyone else? How many more of us have to die?"

  "That's not up to me."

  "Please don't believe this nonsense they have been telling you. You aren't a mythical hero or champion sent by some god. You are an actual hero, flesh and blood. Fate isn't what has kept you alive. You have done that, and all those who care for you."

  He seemed to think about it for just a few moments before shrugging it off.

  "We have a job to do."

  "If you're going into a fight, then I am coming with you."

  "He looked down at her arm in a sling, but even as he did so, she drew out a knife and cut the brace away, lifted the loop from around her neck, and cast it aside.

  "Don't you dare try and stop me. If you are gonna be a stubborn son of a bitch, then you'll just have to accept that I am one, too."

  "He smiled at her and then headed back towards the bridge.

  "You think that Cardoza woman can handle what you have thrown at her?"