Legacy eg-6

by David L. Golemon

  “It took you long enough,” Jack said, then went down to both knees.

  Everett took two long strides forward and lifted Collins to his feet.

  “Yeah, well, if I had a commanding officer who explained a plan before he acted on it, I would have been here sooner.” Everett helped Jack to a small rock and set him down. Collins slapped at his hands and pushed them away. He pointed.

  “More men coming,” he said, as he grew light-headed.

  Everett pulled Jack’s shirt open, tearing free the buttons as he tried to see how bad the wound was. He cursed when he saw how fast the blood was flowing.

  “Don’t worry about them. We have to get this blood stopped.”

  Collins again tried to push Everett’s hands away. He looked up at the ten men, who were sliding and stopping and then sliding again as they tried to get close enough to kill them both. That was when Jack realized that the men weren’t slipping and sliding down the hill-they were falling and scrambling for cover. Rounds were fired from somewhere, bringing the men down. One at a time they were hit and then slid down the incline, never to move once they came to rest. He shook his head as the last four men turned on their heels and started to run back the way they had come. Then he saw dust and dirt fly from the men’s backs, as bullet after bullet hit their mark, quickly ending their retreat.

  “Tram again,” Jack said as he finally let Carl work on him.

  Everett tore his own shirt at the bottom and created a makeshift pressure bandage. He tied it as tightly as he could, sending a shockwave of agony through Jack’s body. He knotted it off.

  “Yeah, at first I thought I left the little bastard behind, but then I realized that he had taken a liking to you and figured he would show up sooner or later. Now we have to get you to a medic. This bandage won’t hold.”

  “No, get that tube adjusted. We have six rounds of HE right here. We have to get those things away from Sebastian and the men.”

  Everett knew that Jack was right. He took a quick look down below just as the first of the two robots dug a man out of his hiding place and tossed him into the air like he was so much refuse. The man hit the floor and the second mechanical killer raised a large steel foot, bringing it down on the Polish soldier. Everett nodded his head in anger. “Right,” he said, helping Jack back to the mortar tube.

  He put Jack down and reached for a round from the hands of the nearest dead man. That was when he felt hands shove him away from the large caliber round. He looked up and saw Tram. He laid down his M-14 and gestured for Everett to do the aiming of the mortar. The Vietnamese reached down and hefted the first round into his arms, then approached the tube.

  “Handy fella, isn’t he?” Jack hissed as he held his side. Before Carl could nod he saw blood oozing out between Collins’s fingers. As he bent to adjust the tube, he saw Jack try to stand.

  “Sit down, Jack. You’re bleeding to death!”

  “Have… to get… Alice,” Collins said, as his head started to spin.

  “Don’t worry about Alice. That asshole’s not going to hurt her as long as he has a chance of using her. Now stay down or I’ll tie you up!”

  Tram brought the round to the tube as Everett made the last adjustment. He turned and saw that Jack wasn’t going anywhere. He had fallen back to the floor, cursing his weakening body.

  “Adjusting for HE, ready?” He looked at Tram.

  The Vietnamese held the round poised above the tube.

  “Drop!”

  Tram allowed the round to slide through his fingers and into the tube. He ducked away as the high explosive round thumped into the firing pin at the tube’s base. With a loud whump, the round left the tube. Carl watched and waited, hoping he had remembered how to adjust the sighting correctly.

  The round flew out and up. The whistle of the flight could be heard over the destructive digging of the mechanical assassins below. Everett and Tram watched as their quickly adjusted attempt struck just behind the second robot. The round tore a massive chunk out of the gallery floor and the robot fell backward, flailing its giant arms as it tried to regain balance. It disappeared in the flash and debris from the explosion.

  “Yes!” Everett said, as he slapped Tram on the shoulder. The Vietnamese didn’t return the congratulations but only pointed.

  The robot was starting to get up from the spot where the floor had given way to the detonation of the mortar round. First it went to its hands and knees, and then it regained its footing and stood. It looked around as if it knew it had been sucker-punched.

  Everett gestured for Tram to reload.

  The small private turned and went for another round as Carl adjusted the angle again. Tram held the second round over the tube’s aperture.

  “Drop!”

  The round whump ed out of the tube and went on its way. The whistle told Everett that this one would be right on. The round caught the second robot squarely in the chest as it finally regained its footing after the first blast. The HE round detonated and blew the robot backward into the first. They both went down hard.

  As suddenly as the two hit the rocky ground, they were back up again.

  “This isn’t working, Jack. I don’t know what these things are made of, but we’re not harming them. That’s a tough battle chassis.”

  Jack strained to see over the rocks that were protecting their position. As he did so he saw the first robot stand up and start looking around. Then he saw the strangest thing imaginable. Lasers protruded out of a cavity in its head and began rotating. They seemed to lock on to something, expanding into something that resembled the spokes of a wheel. Then the rotation ceased and the single green laser began tracking the heated arc of the expended round. Jack could actually see the laser start to whip back and forth, creating a haze of light that tracked the arc of the round from its origin.

  “Oh, oh,” Jack said, as Everett saw the same thing. He didn’t hesitate.

  “Drop!”

  Another round flew from the tube and arced toward the two robots. The round landed right on top of the second mechanical beast and exploded between its neck and shoulder. The force of the blast knocked the robot from its feet and sent the second machine face forward, where it smashed into the hiding places of their soldiers. But even through the smoke and debris they saw both of them rise out of the smoke and fix their positions high up on the gallery wall. They both started forward at the same moment after locking in on the arc of the second round.

  “I think we may have a problem,” Everett said. He watched far below as the robots not only started coming at them, but began running up the slope, making loud banging noises as their steel feet came into contact with each step. Everett raised his radio.

  “Sebastian, get our people out of there!”

  Carl didn’t wait for a response. He let the radio slip from his hands and reached for Jack as the robots hit the slope of the gallery wall running. He figured they had two minutes left.

  “Come on, Jack. Time to skedaddle,” he said as he lifted Collins up.

  “Put me down and get the hell out of here. Get Alice if you can,” he hissed.

  “Ain’t happenin’ this time and there’s not a whole lot you can do about it. We’ll get Alice together.”

  With the help of Tram, they lifted Jack up and started to scramble up the slope. They felt the vibrations of the robots as they used both arms and legs to scrabble up the slope. They were focused on one thing, the area that had attacked them. Carl knew they would be caught in about a minute.

  “Sit me down,” Jack said through clenched teeth as a thunder of small arms fire erupted from below. “That damn Sebastian follows orders and so will you.”

  Down below the hundred remaining men opened fire on the advancing robots. Their fire was accurate, but it was like watching pebbles bounce off tank armor. The robots paid the men below no mind as they advanced on the more serious threat of the mortar.

  Everett turned to Tram.

  “Get out of here, son. You’ve done real
well today-now it’s time for you to go.”

  Tram looked at Everett as if he had gone mad. Instead of replying, he reached behind him and unslung the M-14. With his eyes still locked on the captain, he inserted a twenty-round magazine into the old rifle. With deliberate slowness, he raised the M-14 sniper rifle and started firing slowly and deliberately at the first robot in line. The mechanical menace was only fifty yards away.

  “Jack, I don’t think these men respect our rank,” Everett said. He kneeled beside Jack and waited.

  “That’s what you get when you set an example like that. By the way,” Jack hissed, “you’re fired, Mr. Everett.”

  “That’s a nice reward for trying to save you.”

  “That’s the reward for not saving me.”

  Everett turned back and his smile was brief as he saw the lead robot nearing their fragile targets. He watched as the first stepped onto the mortar tube, crushing it like it was a straw, and then continued on up the rocky slope to the real threat-the men who had used the weapon.

  Everett reached out and removed his nine-millimeter from its holster. He raised it and fired.

  The flash of the light made everyone in the gallery look away. The momentary brilliance of the blue light was followed by a loud buzz, as if a thousand saws had bitten into the same piece of wood at the same moment. There was a sudden smell of ozone as a beam of light reached out and hit the leading robot in the left leg just as it was seeking purchase against the slippery slope of the incline. Then another flash of light struck the robot as it slipped partially backward from its original position. Everett just stared at the barrel of his nine-millimeter, which was when he saw what was happening below at the bunkhouse. Appleby, Pete, Niles, Dubois, and Charlie Ellenshaw were standing and pointing up toward their position. Ellenshaw was aiming one of the alien weapons from the rack. As Everett watched, he fired on the trailing robot. The beam sliced both of its legs off and Everett saw it fall. Then he smiled as he saw Ellenshaw jumping up and down and pointing at his perfect shot. The others were jumping also, slapping Ellenshaw on the back.

  “You’re not going to believe this one, Jack,” he said.

  Collins wasn’t going to answer. He had closed his eyes and that was when Everett saw that the blood had soaked the bandage. He grabbed Jack in his arms, and with Tram leading the way didn’t wait for Ellenshaw and the others to stop their firing. As the laser weapon discharged again, Everett smelled the molten steel of the monsters as the intense heat melted their huge metallic frames. The thick blue beam arced out and sliced the arms off the first as it tried to right itself. Then another shot creased the giant’s head, separating it from the rest of the body. Everett heard the turbine inside its massive chest start to run down.

  Another shot took the second creature out as cleanly as the first. Then Charlie turned the weapon on the men the Mechanic had sent down the slope toward the blockhouse. The single shot brought them all down, most of them in pieces. As Everett, Tram, and Jack neared the bottom of the sloping gallery wall, there was a burst of light and the sound of a small explosion. When they hit the bottom, Carl saw Sebastian and his men emerge from positions where they had been firing on the metal monsters. They looked as though they were in shock. Carl looked over at the scientists as they finished rolling Charlie Ellenshaw around on the gallery floor in an attempt to smother the fire that had engulfed him after the last shot. There were shouts of anger and happiness coming from the group as Ellenshaw sat up and looked around, the remains of the alien weapon in his hands. His long, stringy, white hair was singed, a mess of electrostatic complications as he sat on his butt, not really sure what had happened to him. Carl approached the men at the same moment Sebastian and his troops arrived.

  “What happened?” Everett asked, as two medics started looking Jack over.

  “I told him that the mineral was still too unrefined, but Wild Bill here had to keep pressing his luck,” Niles said as he walked over and looked at Collins. “Jesus, get him inside.” The medics tried to pry Jack away from Everett. Collins reached out and grabbed Carl, anchoring himself.

  “Alice,” he said, as he was finally pulled away.

  “Now we go and get her, Jack.” Everett watched them take Collins inside and then turned to Sebastian and Tram. “We have one more thing to do.”

  The three men sprinted back up the slope, toward a showdown with the man who was holding their friend hostage.

  ***

  The Mechanic ordered the last of his men to hold off the advancing troops, who were led by the large commando he had seen in Germany. He had witnessed the power of the alien technology and knew he had to secure at least one of the weapons for reverse-engineering, to use in the great Jihad against the unbelievers.

  He pushed Alice Hamilton toward one of his men and ordered him to guard her, as they still had need for her services. Then he wrote out a note in English requesting a meeting with Colonel Collins. He shoved it into the man’s hand and pushed him in the direction of the Americans. With a glance down at the shattered scene below, the Mechanic could see the devastation wrought by the alien weaponry, even as he remained stunned at the destructive power of the giant robotic monsters. In a span of five seconds the tables had been turned by just one of the weapons. He nodded his head-yes, he thought, the weapon was truly a gift from Allah to the true believers. McCabe and Rawlins had been such fools thinking they could just sell off the magnificent gift from the heavens.

  ***

  Everett was moving at a full run toward the spot where he thought the Mechanic had last been. Sebastian and Tram were having a difficult time keeping up with the large Navy SEAL as he bounded up and over rocks to reach the top of the slope.

  As he approached the Mechanic’s last known whereabouts, he saw movement ahead. He steeled himself behind a large rock outcropping and waved Sebastian and Tram to a stop. Ahead he saw one of the Mechanic’s men moving slowly and cautiously down the slope. Everett stood and pointed his nine-millimeter at him. The shadows cast by the lighting from above showed that the man didn’t fear the death that was facing him. Everett had seen this many times before in the men he had faced during the Gulf War and after. A true believer. The man had a rifle, but it was slung over one shoulder. Then he saw the man raise his left hand into the air. With the other he held something out toward Everett. Carl stepped forward, as did Sebastian and Tram. Everett opened the folded note and read.

  “Trade, one Alice Hamilton for one alien weapon,” he read aloud.

  Sebastian stared at the man who had delivered the ultimatum. The man glared at the three men with contempt etched across his harsh features.

  “What are your orders for after you deliver this?” Everett asked.

  “To return with an answer,” the man said with vehemence coloring his broken English.

  Everett raised his nine-millimeter and shot the man in the head. He dropped like a weighted bag onto the rocks.

  “I like the way you negotiate, Captain,” Sebastian said as he kicked the terrorist over with his boot.

  “The conversation sort of dried up. Besides, we don’t reward people who kidnap friends of ours.” He looked over at Sebastian and then at Tram. “Do we, Private?”

  Tram only nodded and gestured upward with his hand. Everett nodded back, then turned and ran, retracing the dead man’s steps.

  Carl, Sebastian, and Tram had gone about a hundred yards when they saw the top of the ridge and the end of the gallery. Everett smelled water and suspected the Mechanic had gained access to the gallery from the very place he and the others had escaped two weeks before. He knew that if they didn’t stop the Mechanic here and now, no one else would stop him. They had no men covering this access point to the mines. The Mechanic would escape justice for the crimes he had committed. He decided to take his chance now and stop him.

  “By all means, keep coming forward,” a voice said from above.

  Carl stopped and Sebastian almost ran into him. Tram was nowhere in sight.


  “I want the German to turn back down the slope and be back here in five minutes with two of the weapons from the blockhouse. If he has not made it back by that time, your Mrs. Hamilton will see Paradise this day.”

  Everett saw the Mechanic as he looked out from behind a wall of stone over the small alcove leading to the underground river. Then he saw a line of about twenty men as they watched from a place of concealment. He took no shots at any of them. Their only hope was Tram and his sniper rifle.

  “Deal. Let Mrs. Hamilton go and I will honor Colonel Collins’s word to you,” Carl said, hoping to buy Tram time.

  He heard several shouts followed automatic weapons fire on the trail above them. As Carl ducked back into the rocks he heard the familiar sound of Tram’s M-14 opening up. Everett grimaced and cursed, knowing that Tram had been discovered. The M-14 was silenced as the small private realized his one shot at surprise had been lost.

  “You astound me in your arrogance, Captain. Now just to be clear as to my intent, I will have the man who thought he could outflank me shot.”

  He heard commands given and then more automatic fire erupted from above. As Carl swung around, he and Sebastian saw the Vietnamese private fall from the outcropping he had been hiding behind. They watched as his body hit the rocks ten feet below. Everett closed his eyes and wondered how many people would have to die over this.

  “I am waiting, Captain. You have lost your best asset. Everyone else has to come up here facing entrenched positions-he was your last hope for diversion.”

  Just as Everett was about to acquiesce to the command, another long burst of automatic weapons fire opened up from above. But this time it wasn’t directed at them or anyone below. It was coming from the Mechanic’s left. The rounds hit his men with deadly accuracy and dropped them like turkeys in a line. The Mechanic’s eyes widened and he pulled Alice in front of him as the last two men dropped at his feet. He had no idea how his men could have been outflanked. The hundred soldiers far below in the gallery couldn’t have come up the slope without being discovered. He placed a gun to Alice’s head. She didn’t fight. She knew all along who it was that lay in ambush, waiting for the terrorist. It was someone the Mechanic could never outthink, and someone Alice had known would be there from the moment she was taken.