Vengeance (The Kurgan War Book 4)

by Richard Turner

  An odd grinding sound coming from the floor above them made them both look up. A black metal plate was slowly moving to block off the water before it got any higher. In an instant, they both knew that if they weren’t quick enough they were going to drown.

  “Run!” yelled Cole, pushing Sheridan in front of him.

  Both men’s legs and lungs ached from the strain, but that did not slow them. The horrible thought of dying with their lungs filled with sea water drove them both on. In seconds, they were just below the moving steel plate. Sheridan got there first. He jumped up and hauled himself to safety. Right away, he flipped himself around and reached down for Cole. With less than a meter to go before the water-tight door slid home, Cole grabbed ahold of his friend’s outstretched arms and scrambled to get out of the water. Sheridan hauled back with all of his strength. Like a jack in the box, Cole shot up and landed beside Sheridan just as the barrier slid into place.

  “That was too close for comfort,” uttered Cole in between labored breaths.

  Sheridan sat up and looked down at his soaked clothes. “I wonder how many poor souls never made it to safety?”

  “Probably hundreds. It all happened way too fast for most of them to have gotten away.”

  Sheridan was tired and angry. He couldn’t wait to get his hands on Harry when he saw him next. He got to his feet and tried the nearest door. It was locked.

  Cole moaned, shook his head, and stood up as well. “I’m not running anymore. I’ve had my fill of it for today.”

  “After you,” said Sheridan, indicating to the stairs with a hand.

  Ten minutes later, they came out on a maintenance floor and were met by a couple of emergency technicians who were surprised to see that someone had made it up from the lower levels alive.

  Cole took a seat and rested his sore feet for a minute. One of the workers walked over and handed them a bottle of water each.

  Sheridan pulled up a chair and sat beside his friend. He swallowed down a long swig of cool water before saying, “Come on, let’s find us a working elevator and get topside. We have to let Admiral Oshiro know what has happened and book ourselves onto the next shuttle leaving for Tranquility Station.”

  Cole nodded and stood. They made their way to a service elevator. Sheridan was about to press the up button when he saw that an elevator was already on its way down.

  “That’s handy,” remarked Cole. He regretted his words when the doors slid open and four police officers pointed their pistols at them.

  Chapter 17

  Sheridan glanced over at a clock and saw that twelve precious hours had been lost while he and Cole languished in a prison cell on Atlantis. Earlier, while one of the emergency techs had handed them bottles of water, the other had rushed to call the police.

  A guard walked over to the cell and gave the Marines each a plastic tray with some warmed-up food on it. It looked like three-day-old fish and smelt just as bad. Sheridan placed his food down on the floor and shook his head while Cole poked at it with his fork before also giving in.

  “You know for the life of me I can’t figure out why they left behind a booby trap,” said Sheridan. “The room was spotless. No one would have ever found out who they were, so why leave behind a bomb?”

  “I’d have to say that it was intended for the police if they had been the ones to trace them back to Atlantis.”

  “So they intended to kill two birds with one stone?”

  “Precisely. They get to kill some humans while further covering their tracks. Quite clever of them if you ask me.”

  A tired-looking guard rapped on the cell’s bars with his truncheon. “Someone’s here to see you.”

  Sheridan turned his head to see who it was and smiled. It was the young West African girl from the bar. She waited until the guard was gone, reached into her purse, and held up her ID for them to read.

  Cole chuckled. “ADF intelligence. You sure had me fooled.”

  “I’m sorry we had to meet like this. I thought you were both dead. It was only a few minutes ago that I learned that you were being held here. My name is Staff Sergeant Anne Elba. I was asked by my boss, Major Pollock, to keep an eye out for you two.”

  It took a second for Sheridan to recall the name. “Oh yeah, we met him yesterday in Rome. Him I get, what’s your story?”

  “There had been rumors circulating headquarters of Chosen sympathizers hidden among the workers on Atlantis. My job was to root them out if they existed. Unfortunately, they were good at keeping to themselves and hid their tracks all too well. If only I’d been able to find them before all of this happened, three hundred people would still be alive.”

  Cole looked her in the eyes. “Anne, never think like that. You did your job as good as anyone could have. None of this is your fault. The captain and me, we’ve been fighting these people since the war began and should have known better. We’re the ones who walked in and set off the bombs.”

  “Thanks for that, but I still wish I could have done something to prevent this tragedy.”

  “There’s no point in worrying about what happened here,” said Sheridan. “Perhaps you can help us prevent another disaster from happening. Anne, there’s a Chosen agent still on the loose.”

  The sergeant’s eyes lit up at the news. “How can I help?”

  “Is there a room around here with a secure computer that we can use to speak with Admiral Oshiro?”

  “Yes. I have one in my room that you are welcome to use.”

  “Can you spring us?” Cole asked.

  Elba smiled, turned, and flashed her ID at the closest guard. “Get me your boss . . . now!”

  Ten minutes later onboard a ship moored in one of the city’s marina’s, Elba opened her computer and typed in a request for a secure line to the Federal Expeditionary Navy Headquarters.

  “Nice ship,” said Cole as he admired the brass and wooden interior.

  “It’s not mine,” replied Elba. “There’s another agent here. He spends most of his time around the more high-end clientele. From what I’ve learned, treason doesn’t recognize class.”

  “You’re not wrong there.”

  Elba typed in her secure password. Thirty seconds later, an image of Admiral Oshiro came up on the screen. “Gentlemen, I am pleased to see both of you alive. After I had heard what had happened, I feared the worst.”

  “It was a close call, Admiral,” said Sheridan. For the next fifteen minutes, he described what they had learned about the fourth Chosen operative and his suspected whereabouts.

  “It should be simple enough to track him on Tranquility Station,” said Oshiro. “Have Atlantis send a picture of the man to the station and they can have him detained.”

  Sheridan shook his head. “Sir, it won’t be that easy. The hotel he was staying at is now under water. Also, I doubt his image was recorded anywhere along his trip. These people are well-organized and are experts at hiding their tracks.”

  “Captain, do you have any suspicions as to what they may be up to?”

  “No yet, sir, but whatever it is, I think that it’s going to be big.”

  Oshiro’s eyes hardened. “What makes you say that?”

  “Sir, the botched attempt to kill the president wasn’t just an exercise in terror, I believe it was done to test our ability to respond to an attack on or near a major defense installation. My gut tells me that the enemy is planning to conduct a series of guerrilla-style raids in the very near future. Where? I have no idea, but the attacks are coming, I’m sure of it. The thought that one of the insurgents may be loose on Tranquility Station is disturbing to say the least.”

  Oshiro sat back in his seat. “You may be right, Captain. The presidential debates are going to be shown all around the world and the outer colonies tomorrow evening. The media will be covering the event. I can’t think of a better time to raise some hell back here on Earth. Can you?”

  “No, sir,” responded Sheridan and Cole in unison.

  “I’ll speak with General Sa
dir and see if he can’t convince the president to hold off the debates. If we had a few days’ grace it might give us the time we need to discover what the enemy has planned for us.”

  “Admiral, what are the chances of the debates being postponed?” asked Sheridan.

  “Slim and nil, but I’ll still try to see what can be done.”

  “Sir, can you send a shuttle to Atlantis to pick us up? The sooner we get up to Tranquility Station, the sooner we can get to work tracking down this fourth agent.”

  “I’ll give the order. It should be there within the hour.”

  “Thanks, sir.”

  “Gents, before you go, there is one last thing you should be made aware. However, before I say a word, I need to know that what I’m about to tell you will be kept a secret for the rest of your natural lives.”

  “You’ve got it, sir,” said Sheridan. “That includes Staff Sergeant Elba, who is in the room with us.”

  “I’m cleared to top secret,” called out Elba.

  Oshiro said, “People, this is information is well above any security classification you have ever heard of.”

  “Sir, you have my word that I will not say a word,” replied Elba.

  “If any of you do, you will be locked up in a prison on Io and left there to rot. Am I understood?”

  “Yes, sir,” said Sheridan, wondering what the admiral was about to tell them.

  “A few days ago, a biological agent was taken from a secret lab on Eris. I believe that it was your ship that initially responded to the distress call.”

  “Yes, sir, it was.”

  “The agent that was stolen is known as the Alpha Virus.”

  “I’ve never heard of it, sir.”

  “Very few people have. It was created at the end of the last war when it looked like the Kurgans were about to win. It was a plan born of desperation. The agent would have been left behind on planets the Kurgans were going to occupy. It is a deadly strain of hemorrhagic fever that lays dormant for a week to ten days before exploding and spreading like wildfire. Although Kurgan physiology isn’t the same as ours, the virus is so powerful that it would have wiped out any Kurgan invasion force that came into contact with it.”

  The news that someone could have gotten their hands on a virus of such potency shook Sheridan to his core. In the blink of an eye, his private vendetta with Harry was forgotten. The future of the entire human race was now at stake. “Sir, the colonel who took over the investigation from us on Eris, is he one of your men?”

  Oshiro nodded. “His name is Colonel Valens. He is a special warfare officer who commands a team of medical and military specialists who are trained to deal with biological outbreaks.”

  “Does he have any idea where the virus could have gone?” Cole asked.

  “Not right now. To be honest, it could be anywhere. Valens’ people are working night and day to try to recover the virus before it can be used. All we know for certain is that there are people on Tranquility Station who assisted the enemy in obtaining the virus.”

  “All the more reason for us to get up there without delay,” said Sheridan.

  “I agree. Good luck and good hunting.” With that, Oshiro ended the conversation.

  “Good God, if that virus were to be released here on Earth it could wipe out all ten billion people living on the planet,” said Elba.

  “Yeah, and they’d all be dead because of a bug we designed and built ourselves,” said Cole, shaking his head. “Sometimes our own stupidity is beyond belief.”

  Elba looked at Sheridan. “Sir, can I come with you? I did a stint up there a few months back. I can help. I know my way around some of Tranquility Station’s less-traveled paths.”

  “If things are as bad as it sounds, we could use her,” voiced Cole.

  “What about her boss, what are we going to tell him?” asked Sheridan.

  “Nothing. By the time the ADF figures out where she is, we’ll either have found what we’re looking for, or we’ll have failed spectacularly and it won’t matter what happens. Come on, sir, we need her and you know it.”

  Sheridan let out a sigh and held out his hand. “Welcome aboard, Anne. From here on out drop the rank and we’ll all get along just fine.”

  Elba smiled as she shook Sheridan’s hand. “You won’t regret this . . . ?”

  “My fake ID says Mark, but my real name is Michael.”

  “You won’t regret this, Mike.”

  Sheridan’s face turned serious. “No, but you might.”

  Chapter 18

  Harry Williams opened the door to his room and stepped inside. It was a tiny space with only a collapsible cot and a slender plastic locker for furnishings. It, however, was perfect for him. The less he had, the less he had to worry about when it came time for him to leave.

  He sat down on his bed and let out a tired yawn. He had been on the go for the past few days and had yet to take a break. His exhausted body had told him to get off his feet for a few hours before he fell asleep standing up. He glanced at his watch and saw that Solari would be arriving in just over twelve hours’ time along with Generals Sadir and Wagner. The generals were going to conduct a morale tour of the facilities on Tranquility Station, the highlight of which would be a speech to the men and women who tirelessly worked in the station’s control center. Williams smiled when he thought of the reception they had planned for the foolish humans. He decided to take a four-hour nap so he’d be rested when the time came for the real work to begin.

  Before laying back on his bed, he reached into a pocket on his coveralls and brought out a picture of his parents and his younger sister. It had been taken at his graduation ceremony from the Academy. He hadn’t heard a word from them since the day he had learned he and his family were Kurgan operatives. Once the authorities were alerted to his family’s treachery, they had been detained and shipped to an internment camp on Mars. Anyone suspected of being a Kurgan sympathizer was held at the heavily guarded Utopia Isolation Center. He had heard the rumors of the brainwashing and forced conversions going on inside the camp. He feared for his sister’s well-being. She was a quiet and reserved girl who could easily fall victim to the military’s aggressive mind tricks. His life meant nothing to him. He was resigned to the fact that one day he would die fighting for what he believed in. Everything he did now was for his family.

  There was a gentle knock on his door.

  Williams put his family picture away and sat up. “Yes, who is it?”

  “It’s me, Bill, can I come in?”

  “Come.”

  The door slid open and a short man with curly black hair walked in the room.

  Although dead tired, Williams tried to sound awake and alert, “What’s up?”

  “I thought you should know that there has been an explosion on Atlantis. It would appear that a couple of men were snooping around and set off the explosives we left behind.”

  Williams forgot his fatigue and stood up. “Were they killed in the blast?”

  “I don’t know. My usual informer was drowned when water flooded the bottom floors of the city.”

  Williams gripped his accomplice’s shoulder. “Bill, this is important, I need to know who these people are and if they are dead or not. Can you do that for me?”

  The curly haired man nodded. “Sure, Harry, I’ll get on it right away.”

  “Thanks.”

  Bill turned and left the room.

  For a few seconds, Williams debated whether he should rest or not. He knew he’d be of no good to the mission with a cloudy mind and sat back down on his bed. He knew precisely who the men were. They were the same ones who had killed Solari’s men in Rome and were the same ones he had enticed into coming back to Earth to try to catch him. The one thing that drove him on was the thought of personally killing Michael Sheridan and his friend Alan Cole. After all, they were the ones who had stopped him once before and had brought his family to the attention of the authorities. They were responsible for his family’s plight and would
pay for that transgression.

  Williams laid back on his cot. He could feel his eyes growing heavy. Before giving in, he brought up his watch and checked when the next scheduled shuttle flights from Earth were due to dock at the station. With hundreds of ships coming and going each day, it would be pointless to send his few spare men to look for the two Marines. The thought of taking stimulants to keep him awake flashed in his mind. No, it is humans, not Kurgans, who are weak and use drugs that pollute their bodies and their minds. He was Kurgan, he would remain pure. What will be . . . will be, he thought as he placed his weary head down on his pillow.

  Within seconds, he fell into a deep sleep.

  Chapter 19

  “We’ll be docking at Tranquility Station in the next five minutes,” announced the shuttle’s pilot over the craft’s speaker system.

  Sheridan nudged Cole with his elbow waking him up from his all-too-short nap. Both men had changed out of the clothes they had bought in Russia and were now wearing green coveralls and caps to blend in with the station’s military cargo handling personnel. There was a rainbow of colored clothing for the people working at the spaceport. From purple to white to red to blue to orange, each one represented a different duty station on the orbiting city. They had chosen the one worn by the largest number of base personnel which hopefully wouldn’t draw any attention their way. Elba was dressed like a tourist who was looking to get away from it all and have fun during her stay.

  Before the war, the space station had been under civilian control and had been a lucrative enterprise for its business owners. Now things were different. Federalized the day after war was declared, the armed forces now ran Tranquility Station and kept it running day and night.

  Sheridan sat up and looked over at his comrades. “Alright, since we have no idea what our fourth infiltrator looks like, we’ll have to go with the only things we do know. If our shady friend on Atlantis is to be believed, the Chosen operative came up here in the past couple of days to work, and his name is Bill.”