LANCEJACK (The Union Series)

by Richards, Phillip

‘Let’s go,’ I said. I spared one last look at my section and ran into the forest.

  The boss saw us bolt past him toward the platoon in front, his eyes wide with surprise, ‘Where the hell are you two going?’

  I didn’t look back when I shouted my answer, ‘To help our mate!’

  I waited for the platoon to open fire on us as we ran, but they never did. The boss probably could have ordered us shot, but he had seen and heard enough now to know that we weren’t the enemy. We were simply two troopers trying to rescue their old friend. I doubted that anybody would have obeyed the instruction anyway, and even if they did, it was too late. We were long gone.

  We disappeared into the undergrowth.

  18

  James Evans

  It was fortunate that the rebels no longer had the city net and their hacking ability on their side, because it was only our integrated net and sophisticated targeting systems that kept us from being shot by our own. I hoped that our saucers and smart missiles had managed to destroy enough communication equipment to stop the rebels from sending their virus. Our ships would already be moving away from orbit, powering up their drives, but the process took time.

  We snaked through the trees and undergrowth, ignoring the battle that raged through the middle of the valley.

  The rebels were in full retreat. They knew that they were beaten and they were running for their lives, harried as they went by showering darts and missiles. Clods of earth and vegetation flew into air like confetti as various ordinance detonated on the forest floor.

  I kept my head as low as possible as I ran, ever conscious that I was as vulnerable to friendly fire as I was that of the enemy. We had run far beyond the forward line, and as we bounded through the undergrowth I spotted the roof of the building that I had seen from the far end of the valley. It was some kind of Chinese command bunker, or at least it had been. I knew that it had to be the EW centre that Klaus had told us about, where the rebels would have attempted to prepare and send their deadly virus.

  The bunker smouldered from a blackened hole on its roof from where one of our smart missiles had struck it during the attack. We had achieved the main effort given to us by our platoon commander, I thought to myself, we had fucked the rebels up. But I wondered as I looked at the wrecked bunker whether we had killed Ev in the process.

  We sprinted the last fifty metres toward the bunker, trampling through the sea of green as the battle continued to rage behind us. We crashed against the side of the building, gasping for breath.

  ‘I’m too old for this,’ I said, still panting.

  Westy frowned, ‘Too old? You’re barely twenty, lad!’

  ‘I feel too old!’

  He cast a nervous look back through the forest toward the battle, ‘We’d better hurry up.’

  We found the entrance, or what was left of it. It appeared that two missiles had struck the bunker, one had destroyed part of the roof and its antennae, and the other had blown a hole out where I presumed that the airlock had been. Fires burned inside, and black smoke poured out from the gaping airlock.

  ‘You think he’s in there?’ Westy asked apprehensively.

  ‘No idea, mate!’

  There was no time to think about it. We burst into the bunker, ignoring the searing heat.

  Had we not been wearing our protective equipment and respirators we would never have been able to get inside - it was rapidly becoming an inferno. We disregarded our room clearance drills, we just desperately needed to find our friend. I doubted very much whether any rebels would have been stupid enough to stay in there anyway.

  ‘EV!’ I called out as we moved from room to room, desperately searching for him. The hope in my mind faded as the building slowly began to fill with black smoke. Perhaps Ev was already dead.

  I entered a large room filled with computer screens and ground to a halt, stunned that they were even working...but when I looked closely at each screen, my jaw dropped further. Each one displayed an image of a different city on New Earth.

  ‘What on earth…??’

  But Westy grabbed me by the arm, shaking me urgently, ‘Look!’

  I followed his outstretched finger, and there was Ev, tied to a chair and tucked into one corner of the room so that he overlooked all of the monitors. I made a thankful prayer to God; he was wearing a respirator.

  We ran to him.

  ‘Ev!’ I shouted, but he didn’t respond. His civilian jacket was spattered with blood.

  Panic gripped me, and I shook him by the shoulders.

  ‘Ev, wake up!’

  Westy snatched my bayonet from my rifle and sawed at the plastic ties that held him to the chair, ‘He’s alive mate, but he’s been beaten black and blue!’

  I saw then that Ev’s eyes were swollen, and blood coated his mouth, but he was indeed breathing. Somebody had wanted him alive.

  The plastic ties snapped and Westy returned my blade, before gripping Ev by the leg and shoulder.

  ‘Help me get him up!’

  We heaved and lifted Ev’s comatose body up onto the stocky Welshman’s shoulder, and he set off back the way we had come.

  We moved as fast as Westy could carry him, weaving in and out of collapsed machinery and burning furniture. Flames licked up the walls as the fire intensified.

  Suddenly a massive metal cabinet fell, striking Westy clean on the head. With a painful grunt he collapsed to his knees under the huge weight of the cabinet, before toppling forward onto the ground.

  ‘Westy!’ I hollered in dismay, ‘Get up!’

  I tugged at him, but he was unconscious. Despite his helmet, the sheer force of impact had knocked him out cold, and now both he and Ev were trapped beneath the massive piece of furniture.

  ‘WESTY, GET UP!’

  I tried to lift the cabinet, but I could barely move it.

  NO! A voice inside my head screamed at me. After all we had been through, it couldn’t end like this! I pulled again, frantically trying to release my friends before it was too late. The heat was already getting through my armour, and sweat poured from my forehead into my eyes. My filters whirred madly, fighting an impossible battle to keep me cool.

  Suddenly a set of hands gripped the cabinet, surprising me. It was Klaus, somehow he too had managed to release himself from the platoon. Either Mr Moore had let him go, trusting him blindly, or Klaus had sneaked away and the boss would be a very angry man indeed!

  ‘On three,’ he shouted, ‘One, two, THREE!’

  We heaved, every fibre in our muscles straining as we slowly drove the cabinet upwards and away from our friends. Finally it tilted to the side and crashed to the ground.

  ‘You grab Ev,’ I yelled, as I grabbed at Westy, and we ran with the unconscious pair out of the building and into the light.

  As soon as we were clear of the building I dropped Westy’s limp body and fell into the ferns in exhaustion, my chest heaving as I fought to get my breath back. The rain struck against my visor and combats once more, but for once I welcomed it. I willed for every droplet to seep into my combats and cool my skin.

  Still gasping for breath, I lifted my head to see how far the battle had progressed. A section of troopers were engaging a rebel automated gun that had been dropped in the forest a hundred metres behind us. It sparked as darts pelted its armour, but the gun continued to fire back with devastating accuracy, striking two troopers down before the others could dive for cover.

  I heard Westy groan, and I turned my head to look at where I had dropped him. He stirred, slowly regaining consciousness.

  Klaus lifted Ev up, and I saw that his blackened eyes were open. He regarded me for a second as if he were trying to figure out who I was, then he smiled.

  ‘Andy,’ he said my name softly.

  I smiled, ‘Yeah, Ev,’ I said, ignoring the rattle of gunfire behind me, ‘It’s me.’

  ‘You came for me.’

  I laughed, ‘Of course I did, you’re my platoon sergeant!’

  Ev began to come back to his
senses. He looked around himself, taking in his surroundings, ‘Where’s Ruckheim?’

  ‘Running away, no doubt’ I said, ‘The rebels are retreating. We’ve knocked out your electronic warfare centre, so his rebellion has failed…’

  ‘We still need to stop Ruckheim,’ Klaus interrupted urgently, ‘He will be escaping up into the hills.’ But I ignored him, my attention was on Ev.

  He looked down at where Westy lay crumpled and unconscious, ‘Is that… Westy?’

  I nodded.

  ‘We need to stop Ruckheim…’ Klaus said again. Again I ignored him.

  Ev smirked, ‘Not sleeping on the job again, is he?’

  We shared a laugh, forgetting where we were for a moment, and what was going on around us. Suddenly Ev’s face turned serious, and he stared deep into my eyes.

  ‘My wife…’

  ‘We found her,’ I said, as my gaze fell to the ground, ‘I’m sorry.’

  He nodded slowly, as the meaning of my words sank in, ‘I understand.’

  We remained silent for a few seconds, ‘I wish you could have met her.’ Ev whispered, ‘She was a wonderful woman.’

  ‘I have no doubt,’ I replied. Ruckheim had probably shot her himself, in the process of trying to find out where Ev had hidden the codes to the EW centre.

  ‘She loved life,’ he continued sadly, ‘And she loved this place and everything that it stood for.’

  I looked about me at the garden that Ev and his peace-loving companions had built within the valley. It had now turned into yet another battleground. As we spoke it was methodically being torn to pieces.

  ‘We need to stop Ruckheim,’ Klaus cried again loudly, ‘He will be escaping up into the hills.’

  ‘What? Why?’ I asked, suddenly hearing what he was saying ‘He lost the battle The rebels are running!’

  ‘He still has the virus…’

  Ev sat upright, flinching ‘He still has it?!’

  ‘Yes, Ev. I checked inside,’ Klaus flicked his head toward the building, ‘He has taken all the computer software with him – I think he intends using it again somewhere else.’

  I frowned, struggling to understand, ‘How can he use the virus without the EW centre? Where will he use it? Is this as bad as it sounds?’

  Ev looked at me angrily, like I was nuts, ‘Of course it’s bad!’ he yelled.

  #

  Ev, clearly still in a great deal of pain, led me to a path that had been cut into the escarpment near to the building, snaking upward toward the high ground. We left Klaus with Westy, who was still unconscious, and Ev took the Welshman’s rifle with him. We looked back at him, anxious for his safety, but knowing that we had no choice but to act on what Klaus has told us.

  ‘It’s funny how we ended up back here again,’ I said, sparing a glance back down at the battlefield. The dropships continued to bring fresh troops into the forest, each time dropping them further and further forward as more positions were taken and the rebels continued to fall back.

  ‘Yeah,’ Ev replied sadly, not looking back as he strode up the steep rocky path.

  I thought again of the pain he was going through - we had all lost friends – but I had never lost a loved one, ‘I’m so sorry about your wife.’ I said softly.

  ‘It’s not your fault.’

  Beneath Ev’s short response I could sense a fire raging within him. He was out for Ruckheim’s blood. I fell silent, and we pressed on ever upwards.

  Eventually the path led to a tunnel that cut into the rock.

  ‘Where does this go?’ I asked as we peered into the darkness.

  ‘You’ll see.’

  We crept through the tunnel, and as we did I could hear a sound through my headset. It was a distant sound, but it was unmistakable. It was the sound of somebody shouting instructions. I checked my rifle, it still had almost a full magazine.

  The shouting became louder as we moved further along the tunnel, until eventually my headset identified the German voice was issuing the instructions; it was Ruckheim.

  ‘Hurry up! We don’t have much time!’ Ruckheim barked.

  ‘Are you sure about these co-ordinates?’ The other voice sounded unsure.

  ‘Of course I’m sure!’

  We approached a sharp right bend, and I realised that we were at the entrance to some kind of cavern. A cool breeze whistled past us.

  Ev held out a hand for me to stop and regarded me carefully, ‘Are you ready for this?’

  I nodded, ‘Yeah.’

  ‘You don’t have to come with me.’

  I smiled, ‘I know. But I haven’t got anything better to do!’

  Ev was consumed by his thirst for vengeance, and I wanted him to quench it. Ruckheim was a vile man who had twisted a peaceful group’s dream into a weapon of war. He deserved to die, and I was more than happy to help make it happen.

  We took a second to prepare ourselves, and then as one we rounded the corner, our weapons raised.

  I gaped as I saw that the cavern wasn’t a cavern at all. It was a hangar. It was built into the rock with a huge open door facing out to mount Rottenberg. It wasn’t the scale of the hanger that caused my jaw to drop, though, for cradled in wires and girders and filling the entire space was the massive shape of a Chinese gunship.

  There were two rebels stood on my side of the hangar. Their eyes widened with horror as they saw me bearing down upon them like the grim reaper dressed in red.

  The first rebel spun around from a series of computer consoles mounted onto the wall. Within a fraction of a second I identified that he was unarmed, and I switched fire to the other man who held a rifle slung at his side. The rebel collapsed against the consoles as my darts struck him, and I shot the other before he even hit the ground.

  Ev shot another three rebels on his side of the hangar, and we quickly moved toward the gunship in search of more targets. None of the rebels I had seen were as old as Ruckheim, they were so young. But where was Ruckheim?

  A voice suddenly called out from the far side of the hanger, ‘Don’t shoot!’

  We rapidly halted our advance. And then Ruckheim menacingly appeared from behind the gunship, holding something in his hand. My finger twitched over the trigger.

  My eyes narrowed, ‘Why shouldn’t I?’

  Ev moved around to my side of the gunship, and both of our rifles trained onto the ex-major’s head.

  A sickly grin spread across Ruckheim’s face as he recognised Ev, ‘Ah… Evans. I thought you would have perished in the flames by now! That perhaps you would have joined your wife! Who is your friend?’

  ‘It doesn’t matter,’ Ev replied darkly, ‘Put it down!’

  ‘I’m sorry, Ev, but you know I can’t do that,’ Ruckheim said, and his finger hovered over the strange object. I saw that it was some kind of remote device.

  ‘Put it down, mate,’ I warned, ‘Whatever it is, if you use it, I’ll shoot you anyway!’

  Ruckheim laughed like a mad man, and flicked his eyes to Ev, ‘You haven’t told your friend what this is?’

  Ev said nothing. His eyes burned with hatred.

  ‘This device,’ Ruckheim explained to me, his eyes suddenly burning intensely, ‘Is the key to the future of New Earth. A future without the Union, without China. If I press this button then a burning phoenix will rise from the ashes! No longer will the people of New Earth allow themselves to be bullied by the empires of Earth. Everywhere on this planet the slaves will turn against their masters! You see, I realised something about this planet; it can only be controlled if the people allow it to be controlled. All this device will do is allow the people to realise that.’

  ‘What?’ I said in disbelief, ‘By bombing Union troops? You’ll have a job getting all of us, half the army is buried underground!’

  ‘Bombing Union troops? Why bother? What would that achieve? No, young man, I won’t waste my time with Union Troops.’

  I didn’t understand, ‘Ev,’ I whispered, ‘What the hell is he on about?’

  �
�Cities,’ Ev said without taking his eye off Ruckheim, ‘He’s going to bomb the cities.’

  ‘What? Why?’

  ‘Isn’t it obvious?’ Ruckheim grinned, ‘Union ships bombarding the people of New Earth in order to force them into submission - imagine the outrage - and not just here! Every country on Earth will reel with revulsion at the atrocity, even the citizens of Europe themselves. While the people of New Earth rise in fury against their oppressors, the people of Earth will demand an end to colonialism!’

  I shook my head, ‘You’re mad!’

  ‘Mad? Perhaps. But who can blame me for being mad in a world like this? There are many more people on New Earth who think like me, who have the vision that is required to do what must be done in order to realise NELAs dream. If people must die in order to unite them under our cause, then so be it!’

  ‘It doesn’t matter anyway,’ I said, ‘The EW centre is destroyed, you no longer have any way to send the virus.’

  Ruckheim leant over to the gunship with his free hand and stroked its hull, ‘I anticipated this possibility. That is why I have had this craft rewired by some of the more… ah… free thinking members of Ev’s little community, some of whom you have just killed,’ he flicked his head toward the two rebels I had shot beside the consoles, ‘Did Ev tell you that most of his friends are on my side?’

  ‘They didn’t know what you were going to do,’ Ev said, as though he were defending them. He looked to me, ‘I tried to tell them, but they wouldn’t believe me. They thought the same as you - drop bombs on Union troops. They thought I was just trying to protect my friends.’

  I didn’t take my eye off Ruckheim, ‘And were you?’ I asked Ev.

  ‘New Earth has seen enough blood.’ He replied.

  Ruckheim laughed, ‘New Earth yearns for more blood,’ he retorted, ‘That is why I had your gardener friends prepare this for me. They’re quite amazing when they put their minds to things, but then I suppose you know that already, Ev!’

  I glanced nervously up at the gunship and the mass of wires that trailed away from it, then I looked down briefly at the bodies slumped beside the consoles.

  ‘You’re bluffing,’ I said, ‘I heard you from the tunnels. You haven’t finished setting it up.’