Resurrection

by Jan Domagala

  This seemed to resonate with them especially after he ordered his own men to lower their weapons and stand ready.

  The Black Knights formed a protective ring around the perimeter of the courtyard mingling with the Col Sec troops to watch the fight.

  “If I were you Major, I’d order your men to evacuate while they still can. You know what the indigenous life is like on this world and we both know they’ll be back and in greater numbers. After your men set off those thermobaric missiles killing all those creatures they’ll be really pissed off. Besides, you don’t want your men seeing you get your ass kicked, do you?” Kurt said, his lips curling up in a mischievous grin.

  As Solon edged closer, his arms up in the guard position, Kurt knew he had calmed down somewhat and was reassessing the situation. He could tell from how his breathing had slowed that the next attack would be more calculated. Solon was larger and more muscular than he was and in a normal fight that would be a massive advantage. Kurt was no ordinary man though and he knew he could handle Solon with ease; the problem was not letting it look too easy.

  Solon fired off a series of vicious punches aimed at Kurt’s head and midriff as he effortlessly switched targets. Clearly he was as adept at close quarter combat as his late father.

  Kurt slipped each punch aimed at his head and blocked each blow to his midsection then countered with a right cross to Solon’s face. The blow snapped his head around sending a spray of blood and saliva shooting out.

  Solon snapped his head back around and glared at Kurt who remained unfazed.

  Kurt knew his opponent would be getting frustrated if he continued this tactic of hit and run so he decided to end it as fast as he could.

  Solon came at him again firing off a salvo of fast punches followed by a series of kicks, first at Kurt’s legs which he took, followed by one to the ribs and finally a roundhouse to the head. Kurt blocked the kick to the ribs on his forearm held tight to his body then he ducked beneath the roundhouse kick and with a sweep of his own foot took out Solon’s other leg. The major crashed to the floor in a cloud of dust and a whoosh of escaping air from his lungs.

  Solon scrambled to his feet only to be met by Kurt who hammered a fist into his jaw so fast it took the major off his feet. He landed heavily and remained on the ground, not moving.

  “It’s over Major, time to leave,” Kurt said and turned to walk away to the expressions of disbelief from the Alliance forces. Kurt walked up to Jake who had Guardian and Cowboy flanking him.

  “Good work Kurt,” Jake said smiling.

  Guardian added, “Nice moves.”

  “Stryder!” shouted Solon from the middle of the courtyard. Kurt glanced over his shoulder to see his opponent on his feet facing him. Kurt saw the movement before anyone else and knew he could evade but that would put someone else in the firing line so he elected to remain where he was.

  Solon was reaching for his pistol strapped to his side; even to Kurt he was moving fast.

  A gunshot rang out at the side of him and he saw Solon fall back as a pulsed plasma bolt struck him in the centre of his torso knocking him off his feet.

  All eyes turned to the shooter, Cowboy. The young Marine had his own sidearm in his right hand after shooting the Major.

  “Wow Cowboy, that was fast,” Torres said, she had seen the whole thing as had everyone else.

  “Thanks,” he said and replaced his Sig in the holster. He looked at all the faces looking at him wide-eyed and shrugged his shoulders. “What?” he asked and before they could say anything he said, “With a call sign like mine I thought I’d better live up to it. Like I said my Dad loved those ancient cowboy movies.”

  “You saved my life,” Kurt said by way of thanks.

  “I think you know as well as the rest of us that’s not strictly true Kurt, but I thought it best these Alliance guys didn’t find out about your little party piece. Now, let’s hope I haven’t killed the rest of us though,” Cowboy said as he indicated the Alliance troops who were walking out to the courtyard to inspect their commander. The rest of them faced the Col Sec troops.

  One Black Knight came up to Kurt and said, “You said something about an evacuation? I think we’re ready to leave now.”

  Jake stepped forward and asked, “Are we good here?”

  “It was a fair fight. I am ashamed that the Major was about to shoot you in the back sir. Yes we are as you say, ‘good’,” replied the Marine as he glanced shame-facedly from Kurt to Jake.

  “Then let’s get the hell off this place,” Kurt said. He looked up at the balcony where Zara had remained watching the fight below and said, “Are you coming or what?”

  Part Three

  Resurrection

  33

  I

  Paradisia

  General Tillic was returning to his office after learning of Senator Tovaric’s escape, his fury was almost overwhelming. How had he escaped, and how would this affect him?

  It might be a blessing in disguise after all. With the Senator gone he would no longer be able to bend the High Council’s ear against him and his tenure in his present position would not be terminated as Tovaric had threatened. As he realised this he felt his anger abate somewhat.

  He had ordered his tac-teams to stand down and he was nearing the office building when he saw a security detail surrounding the building.

  He ordered the driver to stop their vehicle and got out followed by his bodyguard, Popov.

  “What’s the meaning of this, what’s going on here?” Tillic shouted as he walked up to the building.

  “General Tillic, please stand where you are and place your hands on your head. You are under arrest for treason against the State,” replied one of the security detail, clearly the officer in charge, his voice booming across the open space between them.

  “Are you out of your mind?” Tillic screamed back at him, his face contorting in anger as his cheeks flushed red.

  He halted in his tracks as he felt something touch the back of his head, the muzzle of a pistol.

  “I would do as ordered General,” Popov said from behind him.

  “Popov, you work for me,” Tillic snarled through bared teeth, but not daring to move.

  “I work for the State, you were an assignment, nothing more,” Popov replied coldly and he pressed the muzzle against the back of Tillic’s skull harder to emphasise his point.

  Tillic slowly brought his hands up and put them on the top of his head palms down, fingers interlocking. He felt his world collapsing in around him and his shoulders sagged in despair.

  It was over, he had gambolled and he had lost.

  II

  “Find the safest place to put down Apollo,” Tanya said as she viewed the sensor readings as they approached the Alliance homeworld.

  “As you command,” the clone replied.

  “I’ve been monitoring comm. chatter on our way here and there seems to be some talk of a rescue by the Confederation of several ships in the Alliance fleet,” Tanya told him without looking his way. She was focused on the sensor logs and comm. channels that were being updated in real time to her NI so she was staring into space, not looking at anything in particular.

  “Where did this rescue take place?” Apollo asked as he continued guiding the shuttle on his approach through the planet’s atmosphere.

  “Tartaran, something strange happened there. They never found out who hijacked those creatures from them, which might prove a problem if they ever do.”

  “Oh I think they could have a pretty good idea who was involved in that little caper. After all they would know of the attack on Col Sec HQ, your father perpetrated using the creatures we stole from the Alliance on that very planet. They only had to put two and two together to come up with the answer to that little puzzle,” Apollo sneered.

  “I’m going to try and raise General Tillic on a secure line. It’s time to introduce ourselves,” Tanya said as she accessed a secure channel.

  After a short pause she turned to Apollo
, her brow furrowing in worry. “I can’t seem to locate him. Find a safe and quiet place to land, I think we had better get lost in the crowds until I can locate him and introduce ourselves. Until then I think it best we remain incognito,” she said.

  “I think I’ve found the ideal spot,” Apollo told her.

  “Take us in,” she said and sat back in her seat as she wondered what had gone wrong.

  III

  The Liberty

  “We’re coming up on the Solar System, the centre of the Confederation Senator, I thought you should know,” Jared said through the inter-ship comm. channel.

  At that moment he was on the bridge of his ship with his best friend and first officer whilst the Senator was in the quarters he’d been assigned.

  “Do you think he’ll be okay?” asked Mikal Danovic, his eyes narrowing as he looked down at his friend.

  “He’s just had his entire life ripped apart. He can probably never return home so he’s also lost all his friends and family and his career. Apart from that I think he’s fine,” Jared replied honestly.

  “What about us? That little caper we just pulled will put a target on all our backs. We can never return to Alliance space either.”

  “Then we’d better make sure we introduce ourselves before we go knocking on the front door then, and Mikal.”

  “What?” asked the big man with a frown.

  “Play nice,” Jared told him.

  Mikal smiled and shrugged his massive shoulders. “Don’t I always?” he said as he smiled.

  “No, I don’t want a repetition of the last time we were in Confederation space.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Mikal said innocently.

  Jared rolled his eyes, “Are we really going to do this?” he asked.

  “Do what? I have no idea what you mean. I always play nice.”

  “What about that bar on Io?”

  “You always bring that up. Whenever we have a disagreement, you always bring that up. Just let it go will you.”

  “Let it go? You put three guards in the hospital.”

  “They insulted the Liberty; they called her a pile of junk.”

  “She is,” Jared said and Mikal took a step closer, towering over his friend, his face stern and unreadable. Then his shoulders sagged and he relaxed.

  “I know, but I wasn’t going to let them say it,” he said.

  “Okay, but let’s just take it steady when we get to Earth, okay? We may have to stick around for a while so let’s not upset the neighbours shall we, not yet anyway,” Jared said as he let a sigh escape slowly.

  “Copy that,” Mikal said and he turned and walked away towards the helm. Jared heard him tell the helm to take them in to Earth.

  “I think I may be able to help with the introductions you were talking about with your friend,” Tovaric said from behind Jared.

  Jared had heard his approach but had not let on. “That would be very useful Senator,” he said without turning to look at him.

  “You have no need to worry, I have already informed General Sinclair of our approach. I have been in contact with him since this all began. We will have safe passage through the inner planets and you will be able to dock in orbit,” Tovaric told him, his expression one of sadness.

  “Are you alright sir?” Jared asked him when he saw him.

  “You were right about me, I have lost everything but I did it willingly for the betterment of my planet, my people and my home. General Tillic would have led us down a dark path that would have cost the lives of millions of my people. I had to do something to prevent him from taking that path.

  “I may have lost everything now, but my people are safe and one day, I hope to be able to return home too,” Tovaric said. He gave a brief smile and turned and left the bridge.

  Jared was left wondering if he ever faced a situation where he had to make a choice between everything he loved and the greater good of his people, would he have the strength to make the right choice like the Senator had, in spite of the consequences?

  He hoped he never had to face that dilemma. He turned to face the forward viewscreen and silently watched as they made their way towards Earth.

  34

  I

  Col Sec HQ Nellis Base

  Matt Hawk was in the base cafeteria with members of the Wildfire Team and the new addition to the roster, Guardian, Cowboy, Hacker and Hellcat - the Red Team.

  He cradled a mug of steaming coffee in both hands as his mind drifted back over the events of recent weeks. He was completely oblivious to all the chatter that was going on around him as his thoughts were on one person, Tanya Wilde.

  He was still having trouble thinking of her in the context of who she was now. His mind dwelled on who she had once been. In fact who she was no longer existed; he had been present when one of her father’s clones shot her dead in front of him. It was a message he was sure he would take to the grave with him.

  The sight of her again had sent ripples of disbelief through him that he was still trying to come to terms with, and was one reason he had gone to General Sinclair with his plan of tracking her down and stopping both her and her nefarious organisation once and for all.

  His plan had worked far better than he could have expected. At first he had wanted it as a solo mission, but Sinclair had sent along the Red Team as backup with an alternative plan to supplement the one he had taken to him.

  OMEGA was finished now; their ability to defend themselves had been stripped from them along with any potential to recover. Their threat was no more.

  Matt allowed himself to feel satisfied as that thought ran through his mind and a smile crept across his rugged features.

  “Officer on deck,” Guardian said as he stood to attention. All eyes in the room turned to the entrance to see General Sinclair striding through into the cafeteria.

  “At ease gentlemen,” he said. He walked up to the table they were all sitting around and stood looking down at them, his hands clasped behind his back with his back straight.

  “To what do we owe the pleasure, sir?” Jake asked as he sat up straight in his chair.

  “I just came down here to say well done on your last mission. Together you all averted a crisis that would have thrust the Confederation into another conflict with the Alliance. Your actions over the past few days have been exemplary and your records will be updated accordingly.”

  “That’s very good of you to say so sir,” Guardian said.

  “For a second there I thought you were going to come out with that old chestnut, ‘we were just doing our job’,” Cowboy muttered through the side of his mouth. Guardian glanced across at him, his eyes narrowing.

  “You were, weren’t you?” Cowboy said when he saw the look.

  Sinclair also saw it and said, “It matters little whether you were doing your job or not, your actions went above and beyond.”

  “We shut them down didn’t we sir?” Matt said finally emerging from his reverie to look up at the General.

  “Yes Matt, you did,” Sinclair said with the hint of a satisfied smile.

  “Now that I have you all together I can inform you that you have been afforded two weeks of leave, effective immediately. Go have some fun, you have all earned it. I’ll see you all back on base in two weeks’ time,” Sinclair said. Before anyone could comment he turned and was gone.

  Looks of surprise were tossed around the table until Cowboy broke the silence. He got to his feet and said, “I’m off guys before he changes his mind. See you all in two weeks.”

  II

  When Sinclair reached his office his second in command, Colonel Gemmell, was waiting for him.

  “Did you give them all two weeks leave?” he asked as he leant against the doorframe to the office, his arms folded across his chest.

  “I did,” Sinclair said as he passed him by.

  Gemmell’s face clouded over as he said, “Don’t you think two weeks is a bit mean, after what those guys have been through this past
month or two they deserve a month at least.”

  “Trust me, before the two weeks are up they will be bored to death and will be begging for something to do.”

  “And what about you, don’t you deserve some time off?”

  Sinclair looked up, his brows knitting together like he was pondering some puzzle that he had just encountered for the first time. “I don’t follow,” he said then returned his gaze to the desk and the amount of work arrayed across the monitor there.

  “When was the last time you had some leave General?” Gemmell asked pushing himself off the doorframe and walking into the office. The door closed silently behind him.

  “I have no time for that,” Sinclair said with a dismissive wave of his hand as if he was swotting a bothersome fly away.

  “You know it’s okay to have a life outside of Col Sec General.”

  Sinclair simply looked up at him as if he was about to say something, thought better of it then returned his gaze to the monitor.

  “How is the family Abe, don’t you think you had better go see them?” he said without looking at him.

  “Okay General, I’m going. I can see now why you never married, you already are, to this place,” Gemmell said just before he turned and left the room.

  Sinclair glanced up in time to see the back of his head as he walked out of the office. Gemmell was right of course his family was already here.

  He sat back and smiled for the first time in months, probably longer than that. Recent events had concluded with the threat of OMEGA neutralised. All that remained was the mopping up stage where they would weed out the remaining bases and destroy them. Within a few short weeks, maybe even sooner than that, OMEGA would be confined to being just a bad memory.

  Now the rebuilding could begin. With Tillic out of the way and Tartaran returned to her former status of ‘Forbidden World’ bridges could be built once more between the Confederation and the Alliance.