by C. R. Daems
"Are you calling me a liar?"
"If you believe what you are saying, the solution is simple. End the contract with the Black Guard, and we will be gone within the hour," I said to stunned faces.
Even Haeckel looked shocked and ready to panic. She had planned a coup, but I was critical to her plan, not to mention sweet revenge for the embarrassment I had caused her on Suryah. She recovered quickly as all eyes turned to her.
"You're right, Captain Sapir. I don't trust you, but to be fair I need to verify the rumors I've heard."
"You have until tomorrow to apologize for spreading malicious rumors. If I haven't heard from you by noon, I will terminate the contract so you can sleep easier at night." I left the room, which caused it to erupt into chaos.
"Did you mean what you said?" Marshall asked, looking ashen.
"As you've said before, Miss Haeckel and I are engaged in a game. She is planning a coup and wants to set the stage for why she had to attack the Black Guard and how we murdered you and your wife. I just let her know it was tonight or never. You noticed how fast she backtracked."
He nodded.
"The attack will be tomorrow in the early hours, so we have all day to prepare. I'm hoping I've forced her to move up her operation a few days and that consequently she won't be fully prepared."
* * *
"Lieutenant Walsh?" I was in the process of a final check. It was midnight and the attack would come soon or Haeckel would win—I would leave and she would eventually kill Marshall and come to power.
"You have four combat shuttles, each with ten marines, presently within five minutes of this building." He smiled. "The marines are on the second level at the stairs prepared to cover the retreating Black Guard. They are a bit disappointed they won't be more directly involved."
"Anything could go wrong. They could get more than their share of fighting. Lieutenant Ceder?"
"I have two Guard on each entrance. They know to retreat. Their objective is to slow down the invaders, killing only as necessary to protect themselves and to slow them down from advancing too fast to the second floor."
"They are not to risk their lives but no unnecessary killing. Lieutenant Elijah?"
"I have Guard assigned to the President and First Lady and Guard in every room on the third floor along with marines. The gas cylinders have been placed in all the air vents along with detonators. All Guard have stars. This should be an interesting night, sir."
"I hope never to repeat Blackwood, but I would see no Jax die to save the life of someone trying to kill him. Let's hope the space gods are also tired of the killing."
* * *
No one slept as we waited, but it wasn't a nervous waiting. In fact, I felt a certain amount of amusement from the Black Guard at the coming confrontation, even though the odds would not be in our favor.
Just after two hundred hours, the cameras showed a mechanized unit of tanks, armored troop carriers, and a heavy vehicle with an air defense turret mounted in the back. Units were deployed on all four sides of the building.
Doyle's security guards manning the entrances wisely put down their weapons and walked away.
Several minutes later, the troop carriers began disgorging their personnel in full combat gear—at least fifty on each side with another hundred staying with the vehicles.
I notified the marines and Guard stationed at each entrance with a prearranged signal, which sent them moving back to positions with at least partial cover. The two entrances on the ground floor that gave access to the servants' area sent each marine and Guard pair to the stairways leading to the first and second floors at each end of the building. The Guard stationed there covered their retreat. All had orders to slow the UF troops' access into the area but not to kill unless in eminent danger. They killed three and wounded ten with shots to exposed areas like elbows, ankles, and hands.
The marine and Guard pairs stationed at the three entrances on the first floor—the front and two side doors—used the same technique, taking advantage of the partial cover of the four stairs leading to the second floor to slow the UF troops, who were attempting to blitz the first floor area. In the twenty minutes it took the UF troops to force the marines and Guard to retreat up to the second floor along with the Guard from the ground floor, we killed seven and wounded twenty of the assault troops.
"Lieutenant Walsh, it's time. Notify the combat shuttles to attack," I said now that the UF controlled the ground and first floors, which had been empty of everyone except the marines and Guard which now were defending access to the second floor and the president's wing. Of course, the weakness with my strategy was that the entire Jax contingent was now on the second floor, and whoever was in charge of the assault could decide to torch the building, since they had us trapped. So I had to give them a reason not to.
The reason came like a volcano erupting. The night sky lit with explosions as missiles and pulsed laser energy rained down on the tanks and armored vehicles as the Jax combat shuttles struck. That was our safety net, as it meant the UF troops in the building couldn't safely leave.
In desperation, they renewed their efforts to gain the second floor.
I sent the next prearranged signal and the marines and Guard appeared to retreat, allowing the UF troops to storm the stairs while the marines and Guard again found safety in rooms along the long hallway.
"Lieutenant Walsh, time for the tranquilizers." I clicked on my gasmask icon, which would alert everyone to put on their gas masks.
Walsh smiled in relief as he clicked on his hand-held device and multiple pops could be heard throughout the building. "About three minutes at most," he said as he slipped on his own mask.
As the seconds ticked by, the firing became less until there was only a random shot now and then. I clicked on my star icon and put my arm to cover my eyes even though I was inside a room. That signal would have the Guard flinging stars into the hallways and stairwells and then a third of the troops making a mad rush for the first floors and another third to the ground floor, with orders to shoot anyone not incapacitated by the gas. The Jax quickly bound each UF trooper—over one hundred and fifty.
"What's the status outside?" I asked the lieutenant.
He smiled. "Those that survived surrendered. The marines have them secured. They have one dead and five wounded."
"Lieutenant Elijah, Ceder. What's our status?"
"All floors secured. Two dead Guards, six with non-life-threatening wounds, two dead marines, two with life-threatening wounds, and four with less serious wounds," Elijah said after a brief conference with Ceder.
I fought to quiet my mind as I walked back to the room where Marshall and his wife were sequestered. Some might have considered this a great victory; I considered it a flaming disaster—five dead. Dead because I wasn't smart enough. Damn the maniacs and their quest for power, I screamed mentally.
When I opened the door, Marshall and his wife rose, their faces a pasty white.
"The confrontation is over. I've called Doyle. He will need to conduct an investigation to determine the leaders of the attempted coup."
* * *
The Guard stayed, but I released the marines back to the War Horse as the investigation proceeded. Three weeks later, the investigation had concrete evidence that Miss Haeckel and three senior officers in the UF military had planned a military coup to take control of the government under the premise that they had protected the country from a coup by the Jax.
Everyone was happy except me. The JCC because the contract had been very lucrative, the marines because of the action and scope of the victory, Marshall because we saved his and his wife's lives and rid him of a radical opponent, and the Guard because it was over and the casualties were few considering the situation. That it could have been much worse didn't ease the pain.
I was glad to be returning to Sasser Mountain. Hopefully, Hada would be there to help me heal. And I decided I would visit Abhaya. I wasn't ready to say I was a Buddhist, but I believed in the Fou
r Noble Truths and the Noble eight-Fold Path. But believing in them and fitting them into my life was complicated, to say the least. Maybe Abhaya could help. I don't know if I sought enlightenment or just a better understanding.
Novels by C.R. Daems
crdaems.com
talonnovels.com
Science Fiction:
The Riss Series:
The Riss Gamble: Book I
The Riss Proposal: Book II
The Riss Survival: Book III
The Riss Accession: Book IV
The Riss Challenge: Book V
Red Angel
Fantasy: Epic
The Shadow Sisters Series
The Shadow Ryana: Book I
The Shadow Gypsy: Book II
Zara the Wolf
Talon of the Unnamed Goddess
Women of Power
Scales of Justice
Blood Duty
Urban Fantasy / Adventure:
Kazak Guardians Series:
Lynn's Rules: Book I
The Unthinkable: Book II
The Black Guard Series
Least Favorite Child: Book I
Evolution: Book II
ZAP Agent Mathis
Supernatural/Horror:
Laughing Hounds
Guardians of Evil