She didn’t know who this Bearcat warrior was or why he’d so readily exchanged his life for hers. All she knew is what he’d done and for that she thanked him, holding him close to provide what scant comfort she could.
***
Darting out of a Bearcat armored personal carrier, Trent rushed to Susan’s side. A mixture of horror, relief, and profound gratitude fogged his thoughts as he came to comprehend the scene before him.
He knelt, removing his helmet as he did and smothering Hido’s limp hand with both of his own. The rest of the rescue force flowed past them in pursuit of the routed enemy.
“Medic!” he shouted. Other words struggled to form in Trent’s mind. “I can’t, I simply cannot thank you enough, old friend. We’ll get you help. You’ll be fine.” His friend was dying, giving his own life to save Trent’s granddaughter. The exchange that relieved him beyond measure also struck to his heart, deep down. The sick emotion made him nauseous. No, Hido, you have to live! “Medic!” he screamed again. “You’ll be fine,” he repeated to the Bearcat, knowing all the while how hopeless it was.
Hido stared at Trent. It was the gaze of a dead man looking into two universes, a look Trent knew all too well. The Bearcat spoke in a weak whisper. “We both know that is not true.”
“No! Dammit, don’t you die on me, Hido.” Trent gripped harder on the massive hand. “This war isn’t over yet. We need you.”
“It is not my fate to see the end of this glorious conflict. I’m not sad, though. I’m happy that your child lives on through her progeny. She is most brave. You should be proud.”
“Where’s that damn medic?” Trent’s head whirled around.
“My friend.” The weakening voice told Trent these would likely be Hido’s last words. “Promise that once you’ve extracted revenge for both of us, that once this war is over, you will live the life taken from you. Live it for both of us. And … and tell our clan of my death. My Order’s honor restored.”
“I swear it, my brother.”
Hido nodded and slipped away.
The last charge of the 14th Order had ended. In victory.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Patriots
“So,” Frost said, in between sips of coffee, “anything yet?”
His father swirled around in his chair. Rubbing a set of tired, red eyes, he sighed from exhaustion. “It’s morning already.” The windowless basement made it easy to lose track of time.
“Yep.” Frost handed him a cup of steamy black coffee. “Did you get any sleep?”
“I think I dozed off for a few minutes, a couple of times.” A long yawn rolled off his face.
“So. Anything?”
“I’ve written some subroutines to search for keywords and other indicators to help us sort the data for something important and immediately useful.”
He frowned. “I’ll take that as a no, then.”
“You can’t come in here and dump terabytes worth of raw data in my lap and expect results, literally overnight,” Ericksen brought the hot liquid up to his nose and savored the aroma. “It would help if you had any idea of what we’re looking for.”
Frost took a seat. “I wish I could help.” He shrugged. “Com was simply a data processing center. I doubt that even if we had more time with him, he’d’ve been able to help us narrow the search down.”
“Makes sense. Any intelligence body would compartmentalize functions to ensure data security.” He took a long sip. “Not to get ahead of ourselves, but what’s the plan for when we find whatever it is we’re looking for, anyway?”
“Depends really what we find. Could be as easy as leaking some compromising information to every press outlet in the galaxy, or it could be something that requires a bit more strategic thought.”
Ericksen leaned back. “What kind of assets do you have left?”
Frost looked off into space. He hated to think about how little was left of the organization he’d spent his life in. So many friends and colleagues, just … gone. “It’s hard to tell. I think it’s safe to say I can’t use any of my fixed assets. IS seemed to have all of them targeted pretty well. But we made infiltrating UES a fine art over the last hundred years. I can’t imagine that they’ve managed to wipe them all out.”
Ericksen frowned. “Those double agents weren’t any use in giving you a little warning,”
“Yeah.” He sighed. “That’s been bothering me. I’d have to say that some of them were probably turned or neutralized beforehand. We should’ve gotten some kind of heads-up. I’ve still got off-world assets in deep cover. I’m confident they can be trusted, and they could be our most important tool.”
. “How so?”
“I’ve been gaming this out in my head for a while. I keep coming back to the conclusion that the key to their plan is gaining control of Earth. Its population, GDP, and manufacturing are too important. The key to controlling Earth, of course, is out there.” He pointed up.
“The amount of force,” Frost continued, “needed to make a hostile takeover here would be impossible to gather together without being discovered. Plus, the threat of fighting it out on Earth would be too great. You’d risk destroying what makes Earth the prize.
“However, if you could isolate the colonies somehow, you could bring them into line, one at a time. By themselves, they’re not that strong.” He made a fist. “Once combined, though, they represent the majority of ship-building capacity in the UES and hold most of the natural resources as well. The disruption in trade would also wreak havoc on Earth’s economy. After that, you could start making deals with individual nations on Earth ‘til anyone left out would, well, find themselves left out.”
“What about the Fleet and Legion?” Ericksen crossed his arms. “I doubt they’d go along with a coup.”
“Of course they wouldn’t. But that’s why the war needs to end for the final stage of their plan to start. Once peace is declared, you can bet that a massive demobilization will hit both forces hard. I’d imagine more than a few decommissioned ships might find themselves new life in a secret IS fleet. The Fleet and Legion probably won’t be strong enough to stop a coup. Double agents within both forces would also do their best to divide what of them there are.”
“Well.” Ericksen scratched his chin in deep thought. “That does sound like the logical way to do it. They’d still be a pretty damn small minority against the mass of humanity. Getting billions of people to just fall in lockstep with a new order won’t go as smoothly in reality as it does on paper.”
“Yeah, I keep coming back to the same thing.” Frost leaned back. “Too many places where the plan could fall apart. If it were me, I’d want an ace in the hole. Something to shock and awe the public.”
“Maybe that’s what’s in here.” Ericksen jerked his thumb at the computer humming away.
“Let’s hope so.”
“Look.” Ericksen said, his eyes down on his cup. “It means a lot to me that you came here for help.”
“I didn’t have a lot of choices left.”
“No, no, you didn’t. But I’m still glad you thought this was an option, even if it was your last one. When a man who’s dedicated everything to a job retires to an empty house, he has a lot of time to think about the past. You’re bound to find a lot of mistakes and regrets when you start examining your life honestly.”
Frost put his elbows on his knees. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Was his father, the man he held most responsible for destroying his childhood, really going to apologize?
“I guess what I’m trying to say is that I...”
Beep.
The computer was signaling it had found something. It stopped the heart-to-heart conversation cold. They both leaned in to take a closer look at the design schematic embedded with alien symbols.
“What’s that?” Frost asked, slack jawed.
“That, my son,” Ericksen said, “is what they call an ace in the hole.”
Beep! Beep!
The computer so
unded a more urgent alarm. Ericksen went to work immediately. His fingers hammered away at the controls.
“Ummm, Dad... this came up with results real quick. Where did you get all of that processing power?”
“I hacked into a few more powerful mainframes to boost my strength.”
“You did what?”
“With the load of data you dumped in my lap, we’d been stuck here for God knows how long before we found anything if I just used what I had in-house. Now we have what you’re looking for.”
“IS tracked your hack, didn’t they?”
“Um, well...yes.” Ericksen worked feverishly. “It would appear so.”
“Great, just great. Grab the data-chip and let’s move it.”
The two men hurried up the stairs and into the garage. Frost jumped into the idle car and spied his father tinkering with a safe he exposed from behind a toolbox attached to the wall.
“Hurry the hell up,” he called out.
“Patience, my boy,” Ericksen said as he pulled out a case and casually walked to the driver’s side. “Even IS will take a few minutes to get here, and we may find ourselves in need of this case’s contents.”
“What’s in it?”
“You’ll see when the time is right.” He hammered the throttle, sending the car speeding out backwards. Cranking the wheel, he shifted gears and raced down the quiet residential street. The taxed anti-gravity generators kicked up loose leaves.
Taking a right at the corner, a pair of ominous looking black vehicles dropped from the skylane behind them. The twin cars radiated an odd vibe that Frost quickly picked up on. “Um... Dad?”
“Yeah, I see ‘em.”
“So much for your few minutes theory.”
“It was really more of a working hypothesis than a theory. Clearly it was wrong. Hold on.” He floored the accelerator, driving Frost back into his seat.
The black cars matched their speed, weaving through traffic to keep pace.
“I think you’re going to need to do better than that, Dad.”
“I’m just getting warmed up.” He smiled, enjoying his return to action. “This beats the hell out of retirement.”
“I’m glad you’re having a good time.”
“No.” Ericksen pushed a button and jerked the wheel back. They rapidly gained altitude. “Now I’m having fun.”
Cars honked and several drivers gave them the bird for violating numerous traffic protocols. Ericksen continued his steep climb until he reached the skylane and merged illegally with it, causing quite a fuss. Undeterred, their pursuers followed.
Ericksen glanced at the backseat. “Be a pal and reach for my case in the back.”
Frost set it on his lap.
“There’s a button on the lower left corner. Press it,” Ericksen ordered. He moved the wheel in all directions, going over, under, and around slower traffic. “You almost never get to drive off autopilot. If I hadn’t hacked it, we’d probably be dead by now. I haven’t had this much fun in years.”
Frost hit the button. Nothing happened. “So, what did that do?”
“Our car’s transmitter is now being jammed. They also won’t be able to lock on to us with scanners.”
“That’s great, but what do we do about the ones who can see us?”
“Open the case.”
A shiny new MRG with an ammo belt sat waiting.
“Lock and load,” Ericksen said, opening the sunroof.
Frost took the weapon and positioned himself to pop out. He scanned the sea of traffic around the car. “Any chance you can clean up my field of fire? I don’t feel like killing any civilians today.”
“Picky, picky.” His father pulled the car higher, out of the skylane. “Remember, a clean field of fire works both ways.”
Standing tall with a windshield at his back, Frost took aim. He hurled a steady stream of fire at their pursers. The rounds deflected off the sloped, hard armor on the lead black car.
A center panel of the first vehicle opened and return fire poured out. He ducked back into the car. “Christ!”
Ericksen put them in a steep climb to get out of the projectiles’ deadly path. Holes speckled the car’s thin carbon shell.
“Try the grenades,” Ericksen suggested.
“They’re not going to cut it, either.”
“Then what would you recommend?”
A light went off in Frost’s head. “Level off. Let them get squarely behind us again. Before they fire, I want you to cut our speed by half and drop ten meters. Then punch it to catch the other guy before he knows what’s going on.”
“Nice,” Ericksen replied like he understood his son’s idea. “Get ready. You won’t have long.”
Frost held tight onto the back of the passenger seat. His arms strained to keep from bouncing off the walls while his father executed the planned maneuver.
Seconds later, the first black car streaked overhead, exposing their soft underbelly. Shrapnel from five grenades collided with the tender point. Hot metal plowed into the car’s anti-gravity generators, ripped open sensitive compartments and sliced important wires.
The nose of the mortally wounded vehicle dipped down and began its long voyage to the surface.
Ericksen gave their car all it had to give Frost a clear shot at the other black car’s rear generators. He quickly dispatched them. Its back end fell, pointing the car straight up. It wouldn’t fall, but it wouldn’t give chase, either.
Frost fell back into the car. Looking forward, he held the MRG between his legs. He let out a deep breath slowly. Their eyes locked before both burst into hysterical laughter.
“We should’ve done this years ago,” Frost said.
“I wish we had. My God, I wish we had.”
“Where to now? We need to get this intel to my contacts at Alpha Gate Base. They’re the only ones who can do something about it.”
“Don’t lose hope yet,” Ericksen reached over and shook his son’s shoulder. “There are still patriots out there that can help us.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Regroup
“General.”
The word pulled Trent’s attention from the horizon in which he’d lost himself. He’d been reflecting on life and death, a topic he’d given great consideration since Hido’s sacrifice for Susan. Turning toward the voice, he viewed the familiar tall, solid Colonel Nina Jones vigorously walking to him with a heated expression. Her usual short dark hair appeared to be a bit longer.
I wonder if she’s growing it out? I can’t imagine her with long hair. She’d look so - feminine.
“Yes, Colonel?”
“Sir, may I speak frankly?”
“Colonel,” he said with a soft, exhausted voice, “you are one of only a couple people in the universe who don’t have to ask permission to speak your mind to me in private. I think you’ve earned that.”
“Then, sir,” she blew past the compliment, “what the hell is the deal with the recall order? We’re abandoning the valley?”
He stared off into the horizon again. “That is correct.”
“Sir! What the bloody hell for? We bled for this ground. Men, good men have died here. They died for you.” She jabbed a finger at him. “Now you just want to throw that all away and leave? Is this about Hido, sir?”
Jones’ comments got under his skin. He wanted to verbally beat her down for them. Instead, he exercised restraint. The intense combat of the past few days would make anyone short-fused, and anyway, he liked her moxie.
“Nina,” he used her first name to calm her, “we can’t really hurt the Kitright by taking and holding these cities. We came here to gather intel and hopefully force the enemy’s hand. Get them to show us where to hit them next. They’ve done that, and now we’re regrouping to hammer these bastards in the balls, right where it’s really going to hurt. The blood spilled here was not in vain. I promise you that.”
He knew she understood what he was saying. He also knew the very idea of pulling out ran counter t
o her being. It felt like retreating, and Colonel Nina Jones, formerly of the British Army, member of the Red Barons, commander of the 1st Cohort of the 1st Legion, and an all-around bad-ass bitch with an MRG, didn’t retreat.
“And,” he continued, “they didn’t die for me, Colonel. They died because that’s what legionnaires do. They fight because of duty and sometimes they die. Nor does this decision have anything to do with Hido.”
The energy drained from her face. She nodded and went to walk away but paused. “I can’t speak for them all, sir. I can assure you that the 1st Legion doesn’t just fight for Earth or humanity. They also fight for you. We’ll follow you anywhere.”
“I appreciate that, Colonel. That just may become necessary before all this is over.”
She left him to his thoughts.
“It just may be necessary,” he muttered to himself, not knowing how true those words would become one day.
***
Bearcats didn’t believe in caskets and Trent didn’t blame them. The wooden boxes always seemed like a waste of money, material, and time to him. Why spend resources on something to house a decaying body in the ground or be burned during cremation? He much preferred the Bearcat tradition of dressing the deceased in simple robes and doing away with the remains in the most convenient fashion available.
The religious ceremony for Hido was short and to the point. The massive lifeless body lay in an airlock, awaiting its final fate as a frozen chunk of debris destined to burn up in the planet’s atmosphere. Amanda and Trent’s status as fellow members of the deceased’s clan gave them the right to attend. He was very thankful for the privilege. Not only did he wish to say a final good-bye to a dear friend and brother-in-arms, he also needed to thank the man who saved the life of Susan one last time.
Susan had begun to stitch the hole left in his heart after Anna’s death. Hido, having lost his own family to the curse of relativity, had understood that his friend couldn’t bear the reopening of such a mortal wound. He had charged headlong into the teeth of the enemy and saved his friend’s sole connection to the family he’d lost.
The Last Revenge (The Last Hero Trilogy Book 2) Page 25