Last Man Out (Poor Man's Fight Book 5)

by Elliott Kay

  An explosion sent all four of them crouching reflexively. It couldn’t be far off. The sustained rumble that followed suggested another building collapse.

  “Any idea how we’re doing?” asked James.

  “They’re fighting us. That’s what we want,” said Alicia.

  “You look clear. Go,” said Janeka.

  The missile team took off. Alicia and Janeka watched the street for any movement. Olsen and Parker made it to their spot without incident. It wouldn’t be long.

  “We’re not doing well, are we?” murmured Alicia.

  “Like you said, we wanted to bring the fight to us. Every minute they shoot at us, they aren’t shooting at civilians. Mission accomplished.”

  “Still don’t know what to do after that.”

  “When I figure that part out, I’ll let you know, ma’am,” said Janeka.

  “Really? Even in a dark alley alone, you’re gonna call me that?”

  “You volunteered, ma’am.”

  Alicia let out a grumbling sigh.

  “The Union platoons found us and we have air support now,” said Janeka. “This hasn’t gone long yet and we’re stronger than when we started.”

  “One bit of air support. Crappy communications with them. We’ve taken casualties, too.”

  “Casualties are inevitable. We give better than we get. That’s what counts.”

  “Is it?” asked Alicia.

  “It’s what counts until we think of the next step. Here they come,” she warned.

  Red lights appeared in the dark street, first two, then two more. The stone men walked along opposite sides of the street, spacing out better than they had in earlier engagements. Behind them, Alicia could barely make out the dim black-on-black of shields in the darkness.

  “That’s a lot of them,” she whispered.

  “Yes.”

  “Hope they wait for a good shot.”

  “If we wanted to call it, one of us should have gone with them,” said Janeka.

  Alicia frowned. The gunny was right as always. She waited for the boom and their cue to pour on the suppressive fire.

  The robots stopped. The raiders following them didn’t move, either. Alicia held her breath, wondering if they sensed a trap. She didn’t know whether to breathe when the raiders backed into the darkness down the street again and the robots turned to follow.

  “What the hell?” she hissed.

  “Listen,” replied Janeka.

  The boom and rattle of fighting in every direction continued, but Alicia heard the difference. She slipped halfway into the open on the street to wave both arms at Olsen and Parker. She half expected them to misinterpret and send a missile flying past, but no such bumbling happened. The street remained quiet.

  Streets not far away quieted, too. The sounds of fighting tapered off.

  “What the hell happened?” Alicia wondered.

  “I have a guess,” said Janeka.

  * * *

  “Signal from the planet!” called out a voice from across the bridge.

  Every head at the central command station turned. “What is it?” asked Khatri.

  “It’s… weird, but it’s steady. This is… holy shit. Ma’am? I think—I think we can get this on screen,” said the signalman. “You’d better see this yourself.”

  “Then get on with it,” said Khatri. She glanced to Young. “The Minoan ships are keeping their distance now. Perhaps they want to talk?”

  The image on the screen surprised her: a woman with golden skin and a bloody nose, too close to the camera, her expression stiffened and regal and marred with soot. A gloved fist held a live grenade under her chin.

  The other face, uncomfortably close to the first, drew gasps across the bridge. “Oh, thank fucking Christ,” he sighed.

  “Tanner?” asked Naomi and Gina.

  Over the net linking captains among the task force, Khatri heard a familiar drawl: “Told ya.”

  “Who’s in charge there?” asked Tanner. “Sorry, I don’t recognize you.”

  “Mister Malone, I am Admiral Khatri of the Union Fleet. What is going on?”

  “Admiral, this is Empress Amara of Minos. Her people claim this planet. They were here before us. I’ve negotiated a cease fire in exchange for a complete evacuation and withdrawal from the planet.”

  Khatri said nothing. She leaned in, seemingly at a loss for words.

  “We’ve got as long as I can stay awake holding this grenade,” said Tanner. “You might want to call in help.”

  Chapter Thirty-Seven:

  Damage Control

  “Mister Santos, thank you for handling the executives. In answer to their queries, please remind them of their loss of planetary sovereignty and their lengthy violations of Union law. The Fleet does not recognize Minos Enterprises as a creditor nor as a contracting entity.

  “I imagine that point may provide some relief to our other refugees. These people have lost so much already. We should at least give them the assurance of leaving their debts behind.”

  --Admiral Divya Khatri, Beowulf Internal Communications, August 2280

  The ships came fast: liners, freighters, chartered short-run carriers, even yachts. The General Response call of the Union Fleet gave authority to press a wide variety of vessels into service for matters of Union security. Such authority had only been invoked in times of war and remained a point of debate and suspicion in times of peace.

  When the Fleet destroyer Hoplite returned to Qin Kai demanding full mobilization and flight to Minos, dissent was minimal and muted. Most were already prepared to move per the General Response alert. No one dismissed the gravity of a full emergency evacuation of a human colony.

  Hoplite’s run required a little over two hours. The return trip with support in tow required the same. The people of Minos, shaken and battered by their experiences, had only six hours to prepare for evacuation. Some needed every minute to sort through belongings and take what they could carry. Many had almost nothing left to bring.

  “This isn’t fair. I don’t know what to take. I never have any new clothes and now I can’t even keep the stuff I’ve got?” Jeff sat in front of his dresser, shorter than its top drawer even when he stood. Its metal shelves had been dented and scuffed before he’d ever been born.

  “Take all your underwear and anything that doesn’t have holes in it,” said his mother. She swept through the little room with a single box of memories. “This isn’t complicated. You already packed your toys.”

  “No, I didn’t. You told me to pick my three favorites. You didn’t say we were packing to leave forever. It’s not fair.”

  “Honey, we don’t have time for this,” Ruby fumed. She already had to hold back her own stress and fear. Anyone could hear it in her voice. “You were such a good boy all night. You did everything right. I need you to be good for this, too, okay? We don’t have time. This stuff isn’t that important.”

  “It is important. It’s all I’ve ever had.”

  “He’s looking for whatever control he can find.” Chen passed through the door with a look of sympathy toward Ruby. “Like the rest of us.”

  “I know,” she said. “I know, I just… can you…?”

  “Yeah,” said Chen. “Do what you need. I’ve got it.”

  “Be nice to Chen,” Ruby told her son. She swept out of the tiny bedroom.

  “This is bullshit,” Jeff declared once she was gone. He knew what he could get away with.

  “Yeah,” said Chen. “Can I help? She said take all the underwear. You mind?”

  “I can do that.” Jeff pulled the drawer open and resentfully stuffed the bag at his side. He missed Chen’s smirk. “Mom was scared all night. She’s still scared.”

  “Weren’t you?”

  “Yeah. A little. But I wanted to do something, not hide.”

  “Your mom felt the same way.”

  “Then why did we hide?”

  “Because she had something to do. She was protecting you.”


  Jeff stopped. He stared at the drawer, then grabbed the last bits of clothing to shove in the bag. His wrist came up to wipe something from his face. “Grownups are weird.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Where are we even going? Am I ever gonna see my friends again?”

  “We’ll be on the same ship, at least. We have to figure it out from there. Listen, this is going to be hard. You know what you can do to help?”

  “Help Mom?” Jeff asked. Bitterly.

  “Yes. Other people, too. There are gonna be a lot of scared people who have lost everything.”

  “We’re losing everything.”

  “Not quite. We’re packing bags. And we’ve still got each other. Some people lost family. They need whatever help they can get.” Jeff stopped packing. Chen gave him the moment.

  “Did we lose anyone?”

  “I don’t know yet, buddy. I don’t know. I hope not. The ones who did lose someone may need help. It’s hard to think straight when you’re scared and hurt, y’know? Hard to do simple stuff. That’s why it’s important to help. That and because helping makes some of the fear go away. You think less about yourself and less about being scared.”

  Slowly, Jeff nodded. “How come you’re better at explaining this stuff than she is?”

  “She’s better at a hundred other things. And I went to school for this stuff, remember? She’s a computer programmer and she’s still got me beat most of the time.”

  “Will you tell Mom to let me help? And not just help by being good. I mean help for real. I can do stuff. I’m nine.”

  “Yeah, I know. Let’s get this done.”

  Stress and fear aside, they didn’t have much. Though the journey would take only a few hours, Ruby wisely stuffed a little food and drink into their bags on the way out. Even if they didn’t need it, someone else might.

  Others outside the low apartment building streamed by in much the same shape: everyone on foot, bags slung over shoulders, some dressed in layers of clothes purely for the sake of carrying out what they could. The neighborhood was only a few streets away from the slums. Chen, Ruby, and Jeff joined with the flow, walking through ash-covered streets toward the nearby field that passed for a park.

  Not every building they passed remained standing. Soldiers and rescue crews searched through the rubble to make sure no one was left behind.

  They made it an entire block before Jeff ran forward to return someone’s dropped shoes.

  “You have the greatest kid,” said Chen.

  “Yeah. I do.” Her eyes never left her son, who waited for them at the corner looking past the turn ahead. “He’s going to need a lot of help with this. Whatever happens.”

  “Not much need for an insurgency now. I’m done. You can get rid of me if you want, but otherwise I’m not going anywhere on you. Either of you.”

  “You’d better not. I took a lot of risks for this relationship.”

  “You were a dirty subversive before we ever met. I’ve seen your propaganda pieces.”

  “Don’t talk dirty in front of my kid,” she joked as they reached him. Jeff stared down the turn at the block with wide eyes. “Honey, what is it?”

  “I don’t know, you tell me,” said Jeff. He pointed down the street.

  Even with the large, empty field to hold most of its bulk, the ship still needed room. Had it not been for the buildings demolished in the night to either side, she’d never have fit. Crowds of people waited under the hull, growing every minute.

  “That’s a destroyer. It’s called the Monaco.”

  Jeff’s eyes lit up. “I’ve seen that place in movies! We’re going to Monaco?”

  “No, silly. That’s on Earth. Anywhere we go is gonna be a step up from here, though.”

  * * *

  “We’ve got feelings about refugees in Archangel. We’ll take ‘em. Take a lot of ‘em, at least.”

  “Archangel is much farther from here than Qin Kai,” said Khatri. “Transportation like that will require time and planning, to say nothing of the long-term costs of resettlement.”

  “Oh, there’ll be some shit over it, for sure,” said Branch. “All I’m saying is we’ll do our part. It’ll be easier if the rest of the Union does theirs.”

  “I can make no more guarantees about the Union Assembly than you can.” Khatri remained at her station on the flag bridge, having hardly left since taking command. Images of Minos lined the borders of the main screens while the center provided views of alien ships. The Krokinthians and Nyuyinaro held their positions. So did the Minoans. Khatri’s formation stayed in the middle to hold everyone at bay.

  Beowulf’s captain had at least moved from his post to speak face to face. “Yeah, I hear you,” said Branch. “Not trying to put it on your shoulders.”

  “My shoulders.” Khatri’s smile held little joy. “Inevitably some will say Archangel owns this problem now.”

  “Like I said, there’ll be some shit. It’s been six hours and I haven’t come up with a better solution. Have you?”

  “Not since we made first contact, no. I cannot start a war with every known alien species over a colony of four million when I have another way out of it.” She shook her head. “It’s been a day for conversations I never imagined.” Her eyes drifted down to the smaller screens at her console. One image stood out differently from the rest, showing neither starships nor cityscapes, but rather a single hostage situation.

  He’d held that position for six hours. Even with all the pressures and motivations upon him, it had to require a ferocious act of will.

  “Speaking of such details,” she said, “I understand there are certain delicate legal concerns at play for Archangel here. Technically the asylum deal still holds, does it not?”

  “Far as I’m concerned, ma’am.”

  “Then we should make arrangements for extraction.”

  “Yeah, I’ve got a suggestion about that,” said Branch. “And I’ve had a request.”

  * * *

  “I feel like we’re standing around not doing anything,” said Alicia.

  “We’re not wasted if something happens,” said Janeka. “That’s the point of a military.”

  “Okay, but this feels pointless.”

  “Would you rather be trying to separate the insurgents and political prisoners from the actual criminals in the jails?” asked the gunny.

  More gear filed out through the wide exits than people, but in this case it made sense. Some sites required more complicated evacuations than others. The largest hospital in the capital was one of them. Patients rolled out strapped to beds with vital life support. Some were in procedures ordered purely to make them travel-worthy. Despite the location’s importance, the two marines had little to do here besides stand watch in case of trouble.

  “I feel pointless here,” said Alicia.

  “You are not.”

  “More important stuff than this is happening.”

  “Miss Wong, you were one of the most crucial people in this entire incident. For all we know, you may be one of the most crucial people in the Union right now. Would you like to go back to doing that? I’m sure we could run a reminder up the chain of command.”

  “I was important for three minutes and someone else might’ve handled it, anyway.”

  “They did not. You did. Miss Wong, people died in three minutes here. How many more would have died while Ambassador Young tried to draw out info the Noonies gave you freely?”

  “I know,” muttered Alicia. “Trying not to think about that. It’s the rest of this.”

  “How is Crewman Apprentice Mendez?”

  “Huh? He’s fine. They ran him back up to Beowulf to help with the evac shuttles.”

  “In three seconds of nonsense with broken gear, you made a decision that bought the lives of Lieutenant Torres and most of second squad. Maybe all of the platoon. You see what followed. The rest of this was your plan. Captain Hancock knew to listen.”

  Alicia bit her lip. “I get what you’re saying, gu
nny. I do. I appreciate it. All I’m saying is now we’re guarding a hospital that has its own security and staff.”

  “Ah.” Janeka turned away. “Do you think I’m important, ma’am?”

  “Obviously, gunny.”

  “How many bullshit details do you think I get in between doing important things?”

  Alicia sighed. “Point, gunny.”

  “Mm-hmm. They get lippy when they go to the academy.”

  “Technically I outrank you now,” Alicia ventured.

  “Start thinking about how you’re gonna write that citation for Mendez, ma’am.”

  “Aye aye, gunny.” She looked out into the arrival zone and parking lot as the next shuttle settled in. “Less equipment going now, huh?”

  The flow had turned more to people on foot than on beds. Some were in hospital clothes. Most wore civilian outfits. “They prioritized patients dependent on gear first,” said Janeka. Her holocom buzzed on her wrist. She brought up a screen, then scowled.

  “What’s wrong?” asked Alicia.

  “I had a recommendation denied.”

  “For what?”

  The gunny dismissed the message, looking up from her wrist. “To get us involved in the other important thing going on here.”

  “What’d they say?”

  “Apparently the Navy is to stay out of it. Too political.” A thought occurred to her. She brought up her message program again to type out two lines on a holographic keyboard and send it on. “At least we have communications back,” she said.

  Alicia watched the faces passing by on their way out, some overwhelmed, others simply exhausted. One caught her eye amid the rest. Her arm came out to touch Janeka’s. “This just got important,” she said.

  “I see,” said the gunny.

  The man in the crowd looked down as he passed, scratching his head to cover his face. It didn’t help.

  “Mister Geisler,” said Janeka.

  He hesitated but kept walking. Alicia stepped in front of him. “Sir. She means you.”

  “I’m sorry?” the man said. “I-I need to get home. There’s not much time before my ship leaves.”