‘How do you know? Do you really want to take that chance?’
I licked my lips, my finger pressed lightly against the trigger of my rifle. He was bluffing, I knew it.
Without warning Ruckheim tossed the device into the air, and we both jumped. His arms were a blur as he then swung a pistol around from his back and brought it up to fire.
He managed to squeeze off a single round just before I shot him repeatedly. His body jerked as the darts struck him, and he fell backwards. I shot him again and again, not stopping until I was absolutely sure that he was dead.
I roared, ‘Have it, you belter!’
Ev walked toward the fallen major as though he were sleepwalking, and he looked down in utter disgust at the man who had killed his wife.
I gave him a second or two to say whatever he felt that he needed to say, when suddenly I noticed a patch of red around Ev’s back. Ruckheim’s dart had struck him.
I ran toward my old platoon sergeant, just in time for him to collapse on the ground.
‘Shit,’ I exclaimed, rolling him over.
It was a clean gunshot wound, the round having punched straight through his front and exited through his back rather than ricocheting off the bone. It had been dangerously close to the heart, though, and I wondered if the round had damaged any vital organs.
I stuffed my hand into my medical pouch, withdrawing a pack of quick-clot. If I moved quickly and help arrived in time, I knew he had a good chance of making it.
‘Don’t worry, Ev,’ I said, placing my hand upon his shoulder, ‘You’ll be okay. I can get you to a medic in no time.’
I moved my hand to apply the foam, but Ev brushed it away. I tried again, but I met the same response.
‘Leave me,’ he whispered. His eyes glistened.
‘Come on, mate,’ I pleaded, and my bottom lip trembled, ‘I came here to help you, not let you die.’
Ev looked into my eyes, ‘Please, Andy. Let me go.’
I shook my head, I couldn’t allow it, ‘No.’ I said quietly.
So many of my friends had died. I couldn’t lose another, not Ev, not when I had the chance to save him. The memories of all those who had died beside me came flooding back, threatening to overwhelm me once more.
He smiled a sad smile, ‘I’m tired, Andy. It’s my time. I want to go to my wife.’
‘No,’ I repeated, ‘No!’
He gripped my hand and squeezed it tightly, ‘You turned out alright, Moralee.’
Finally I sobbed. I squeezed his hand back, ‘I don’t know, Ev. I think I’ve turned into a proper nasty bastard!’ I said, my voice breaking.
A tear rolled down my nose and onto my visor, and the motors whirred as they tried to clear it from the glass.
‘You’re not as nasty as you think you are.’
Footsteps pounded behind me, and I turned to see Westy and Klaus sprint into the hangar. They checked themselves when they saw Ev.
‘Ev!’ Westy cried, ‘No!’
Ev smiled up at us, ‘Look after each other.’
‘Don’t die,’ Westy begged, ‘You can’t die like this!’
‘Why not? I’m surrounded by my friends.’
I don’t know how long it took for Ev to die, I didn’t looked at my visor clock. I held his hand as the life slowly slipped away from him, until the fingers became limp. I gently placed the hand to the ground. He was gone.
We stood around our old friend, and silently we mourned.
19
The Aftermath
I sat alone in the underground cookhouse of Lash, slowly spooning cereal into my mouth. It was breakfast, though it might as well have been any meal time of the day, for I hadn’t been able to sleep. Whenever I tried I simply wound up staring up to the ceiling, willing myself to drift away.
My grief had caused my body to become numb, and I had spent the few weeks since Ev died walking around the base locked into a nightmare from which I couldn’t wake up. I had lost all of my friends, and it felt like there was nothing left for me to live for, yet still I lived. I yearned for death, and several times I had contemplated it, but every time something had stopped me. Strange, but I assumed that I hadn’t even the courage to take my own life, and this caused me to hate myself even more.
Mr Moore had forced to me see one of the base psychiatrists, but I had refused to talk to the man. I didn’t have to. So long as I could do my job then I would be left alone.
Ev’s body had been taken away, to where I did not know. I liked to think that he had been buried somewhere next to his wife, but I knew that wasn’t the case. She still lay in the tunnels beneath Nieuwe Poort, and he had probably been incinerated in Archer’s Post. A fitting end for a deserter some would say.
Westy had been taken away by the military police to be investigated for withholding critical information, a charge that I had only just escaped myself. It was that damned medal again that had saved me, that and a word spoken by my platoon commander, so I was told.
But I didn’t want to be spared. If Westy was to be charged and imprisoned then I wanted to receive the same punishment, in the hope that I might end up in a cell next to his. There was no point, though, for Westy hated me. He knew about Ev’s wife, Klaus had told him right after Ev had died - though why I do not know - and he couldn’t control his fury. I still had the bruises to remind me of when he had turned on me, right there in the hanger.
‘You sick bastard!’ He had screamed as he beat me, throwing me against the wall of the hangar.
‘I’m sorry,’ I pleaded as the enraged Welshman struggled to control his emotions. Tears streamed down his cheeks as his eyes burned with hatred into mine.
‘I killed my mate’s wife,’ he shouted, spittle spraying onto his visor, ‘And you didn’t even think to tell me? What the fuck is wrong with you?’
I had tried to apologise again, but was cut short by a dozen punches to the gut and ribs. Meanwhile, Klaus had crouched over our dead friend, looking up at us in dismay.
‘We knew each other from way back. Way back! We served on Eden when you were still in nappies! How dare you? HOW DARE YOU?’
I fell to my knees, clutching at my battered ribcage. No amount of armour could protect me from the full power of Westy’s rage.
‘Never speak to me again,’ he said, ‘NEVER!’ And he was gone, walking from the hangar back down toward the battlefield. He was arrested in the forest minutes later, caught by a platoon of troopers busy clearing the undergrowth for hidden enemy.
The rebellion in Nieuwe Poort had been crushed. The NELA fighters who hadn’t been killed or captured quickly melted away into hiding, no doubt licking their wounds whilst they waited for their next opportunity. They would try again, I knew. We all did. NELA wasn’t a global organisation that could be destroyed by taking out its leaders, and it couldn’t be defeated militarily. NELA was an idea, or perhaps a series of ideas, but it was so sad that the idea had become warped and twisted by the New Earther’s lust for blood and violence.
I thought back to the beautiful garden that the small group of student scientists had created in the mountains. It had been destroyed, of course, burned to ashes, and we had been instructed to deny its very existence. The garden had represented everything that was good in humanity, turning a hellish world into a peaceful paradise, but even that had been a casualty in the end. It seemed that as long as there were people on New Earth, there would be war. The surface of the planet stayed red; red like the endless blood we poured upon it.
I don’t know how long I sat in the cookhouse, watching as the queue of troopers slowly passed through the serving area, collecting their food and finding a table to eat. I had nothing else to do.
A shadow passed over me, and I looked up.
‘Mind if I sit down?’ It was the boss.
I grunted, ‘Go ahead.’
He slid back a chair and sat across from me, placing his tray down on the table. He stared at me expectantly, waiting for me to speak, but I said nothing.
&nb
sp; ‘It seems that ex-Major Ruckheim had quite a few contacts within the region,’ the boss began.
‘Oh?’ I was barely interested.
‘Since the end of the war he busied himself getting his fingers into as many pies as he could. Since his death we’ve managed to shut down countless rebel operations and arrest countless more rebel leaders. You wouldn’t believe how many of them were hiding in those warrens. I don’t think NELA will be around in Nieuwe Poort. Not for a while.’ He paused.
‘Amazing,’ he said and then went on, ‘Your old platoon sergeant was quite a character too. He set out like a one-man-army trying to stop the major from getting into the Citadel. Admirable, really.’ The final sentence was an admission.
Still I said nothing. I didn’t care anymore. I knew that Ev had been tricked, and that he had nothing to do with the rebellion. A part of me had known that all along. But that wouldn’t bring him back, or his wife, and it wouldn’t make Westy forgive me. Everybody that had ever been dear to me was gone.
‘I haven’t written you up,’ the boss said finally, breaking the silence.
I looked up at him, ‘Good.’
He had wanted to write me up for yet another medal, but I had vehemently refused to accept it. I didn’t want anything to remind me of Ev, or Westy. They were both gone, and now only I remained.
Mr Moore frowned at my one word response, ‘Look, Corporal Moralee, you’re alright. But I’m not sitting with you to share pleasantries. So I’ll cut straight to the chase. You don’t belong here.’
Now he had my attention, and I frowned, suddenly worried, ‘What do you mean?’
I couldn’t be kicked out of drops now, my mind screamed at me, where would I go if I returned to Earth? What would I do? Once again it felt as though the ground had been swept out from under me, and I was falling ever deeper into the abyss.
‘Moralee, you have a talent for reading the battlefield and getting inside the enemies head. You’re also close to being one of the craziest most bloodthirsty NCOs that I have ever met. Your method of working is slightly unorthodox, and you don’t take well to being told what to do, you constantly step outside of your box.’
I bristled. Was he simply enjoying insulting me? I had lost all of my friends, narrowly escaped being thrown into jail, and now I was being thrown out of the dropship infantry as well? My eyes burned into his angrily as I prepared myself to throw the first punch. What does it matter, I thought to myself, I had nothing to lose now, anyway.
‘I’ve been speaking to the OC,’ the boss continued, ignoring my glare, ‘And it would seem that a vacancy has come up. Something that I think you would be better suited to.’
I was listening, ‘Like what?’
‘Reconnaissance. It involves working in much smaller groupings, often working well forward of the fighting troops. Sneaky stuff, much more interesting than slugging it out in the mud with the rifle companies. What do you think?’
I thought about it seriously. I needed to get away from the battalion, I couldn’t stand the stigma that surrounded me. I wasn’t a rebel, but I had been closely connected to the rebellion in Nieuwe Poort. Sure, many of the troopers in my platoon regarded me with respect for having fought with them, but many more in my company eyed me warily as they passed me, as though I might suddenly lunge at them. It was stupid, but I supposed it was natural. Troopers loved to gossip, so God only knew what crazy stories had been hatched about me.
‘Do I need to go back to Uralis?’
‘Yes,’ the boss admitted, ‘Why, don’t you like it there?’
‘No,’ I replied sadly, ‘I just want to get away from here for a bit.’
‘Ah,’ he leant back in his chair, ‘You know that there’s no guarantee that you would return here at all, right?’
‘Well, where would I go instead?’
The boss smiled, ‘Eden.’
The hairs rose on the back of my neck as I heard the name… Eden.
Ev had been to Eden, as had Westy. He never spoke of it to anybody, not even wanting to remember it. The terraformed planet was a hell far worse than New Earth, ripped apart by several opposing factions.
Anywhere has to be better than here, I thought to myself though. I couldn’t bear to be on New Earth a minute longer, and the thought of returning grief stricken to my family filled me with dread. There was nothing for me there, just as there was nothing more for me here on New Earth.
I finally nodded. What did I have to lose?
Mr Moore smiled triumphantly, ‘Excellent! I know that you’ve made the right choice, Moralee. I know that you think I’m palming you off, but believe me when I say that you are an outstanding trooper. You simply don’t belong here, and I think you need to get away.’
‘Okay.’ I said quietly.
‘I’ll see to it that you get the next available ship out of here, probably in the next few days,’ the boss said, and he stood, lifting his tray away from my table. He didn’t want to sit with me, I was only a lancejack after all, and he an officer. There were some lines that were not meant to be crossed.
‘Good luck to you, Moralee,’ he spoke sincerely, ‘Who knows, maybe one day we shall meet again.’
I watched as the platoon commander made his way across the cookhouse to sit with his fellow officers. Whether or not he was trying to get rid of me I didn’t know, but I was glad to be getting away from the battalion.
There is no longer any use for me here, I thought to myself as I scraped back my chair and left the cookhouse. If there was to be peace in the foreseeable future in Nieuwe Poort, then what good was I? I was only useful when I was on the battlefield.
A dark smile spread across my face.
I was going to Eden.
# # #
Also by the Author
C.R.O.W.
(Combat Replacement Of War)
Book One of The Union Series
Andy Moralee knew that life with his new company of Dropship Infantry would be hard, but nothing could prepare him for life in one of the toughest units in the Union army. New arrivals, nicknamed ‘Crow’ by their platoons, are the lowest form of life in his Company, and he finds himself at the mercy of unforgiving commanders and bullies, all the time knowing that the real enemy are waiting for him at the end of his journey through the void. The enemy know that the Union are coming, they have dug in and fortified, and they are ready.
C.R.O.W is a Military Science Fiction novel that follows Andy Moralee across the cosmos, and into combat against a well-equipped enemy prepared to fight to the very end.
Published in 2012 and available on Amazon – Kindle:
www.amazon.com/dp/B008S1VH5K (U.S. and worldwide)
www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B008S1VH5K (UK)
Author’s Notes
C.R.O.W. (Combat Replacements Of War) was originally meant to be a stand-alone novel, reflecting upon my experiences as a very young soldier. I decided to write again after some very positive reviews, and thus Lancejack was born.
Those of you who have read C.R.O.W. will notice a clear change in Moralee, as he becomes more confident in his abilities and experienced in combat. He is no longer wet behind the ears, and his past suffering has caused him to develop a bit of a temper! This is not due to a deviation to the plot in any way, but rather the common result of a prolonged exposure to frontline combat. War forces young men to grow up fast, stripping them of their innocence. Andy Moralee is merely an example of that.
Lancejack steers slightly away from C.R.O.W. with a much heavier emphasis placed upon counter-insurgency operations and the electronic battlefield. Make no mistake that in future conflict, wherever it might be, electronic warfare will almost certainly play a pivotal role.
Despite the inclusion of technology, the insurgents use similar tactics to that seen in operational theatres today, using the ‘human terrain’ as their camouflage. Unable to face the Union in head-on combat, they seek to use the Nieuwe Poort network and its own people as cover, enabling them to materialize almost anywhere. Thi
s creates chaos and confusion amongst even the most sophisticated military force, rendering that force even more vulnerable to attack. In the case of the Union, the larger force becomes reactive, rather than proactive, which in turn enables the insurgents to steer them into their trap. The golden rule is simple- never underestimate your enemy.
#
Thank you for taking the time to read my latest book, I sincerely hope that you have enjoyed reading it as much as I have enjoyed writing it. If you have a few spare minutes, please visit Amazon and write a review for my book. Your objective review will help other potential readers make informed choices.
Many thanks,
Phil
Formatted and published by
The Electronic Book Company
www.theelectronicebookcompany.com
Language: UK English Spellings
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