Vengeance of Sukesh: John Mason (Legend of John Mason)

by Barbara J Robertson

  “Mason to Admiral Hanson. We sealed the dome. The tower is destroyed. All topside buildings are down, no apparent survivors there. All shuttles and vehicles destroyed. One enemy fighter is left. We do not know how many enemy troops made it out of the transport, but they have gained access to the central corridor, Admiral.”

  “How many of you are left, Mason?” She asked.

  Mason answered at a run, “Eight Space Marines, plus me, Admiral.”

  “Get to the Great Vault at once, Mason. Defend it at all costs. Hanson out.”

  The enemy troops were closing in on the Great Vault chambers. Admiral Hanson went to Admiral Mason and quietly said, “Give me your uniform jacket, Rachel. Trade with me.”

  Admiral Mason refused. “This is my team. I’m responsible for them.”

  Laser fire was heard in the corridor. “Give me your jacket, Admiral Mason. You are a guest on my base. Give me your uniform jacket now, or these Marines will take it from you,” Admiral Hanson ordered. Admiral Mason reluctantly did as ordered.

  “You are all non-combatants. You will descend into the Great Vault’s second level immediately, and close the hatch when the last of you is inside. Under no circumstances will you open your hatch. Is that clear?” Admiral Hanson barked, “Now get moving!” She ordered the Space Marines to hustle them into the Great Vault’s first chamber, down the stairway into the second chamber below, and then they closed and sealed the hatch.

  Admiral Mason said, “Everyone sit, and remain calm. Meditate and breathe slowly to maximize our air supply. Do not speak.”

  Admiral Hanson put on Admiral Mason’s black uniform jacket and went to her private office. The jacket was a little short, and too big around her breasts, but it buttoned. She checked her com tablet; all areas were sealed off. She hoped Earth Command was sending reinforcements from Colonies II and III. The last attacking fighter would probably blow a hole in their new dome to escape. Where was Mason?

  The door of the private office burst open. “What is the meaning of this intrusion? Who are you?” Admiral Hanson demanded, standing.

  “We have come to take the data crystals. Where is Admiral Mason?” The first one asked.

  “I am Admiral Mason, and you will not take those crystals. Now get out!” She yelled.

  The men pointed their laser rifles at her, while two of them put a bomb-laden vest on her. She tried to hold an inhaled breath while they attached the vest, to give her some room inside it. The first man held up a device. “This is the detonator. Try anything, and I’ll blow us all to hell, Admiral Mason.”

  The other attackers quickly entered the first chamber and began collecting the crystals. “Be careful! Don’t break any of them. Put them in the carriers like he showed us. Hurry!”

  Admiral Hanson sat still in the chair, watching the first man. She felt a slight breeze enter the office, but did not look or move; it would have alerted her captor. A noise was heard in the lab next door, and her captor stepped inside the doorway to look. He was immediately killed by Mason, who now held the detonator.

  “Are you all right, Admiral?” He asked, and then noticed the name on her jacket: “Mason.” He handed her the detonator very carefully.

  “The researchers are all sealed inside the second chamber. The intruders are inside, stealing the crystals. Get them, Mason. Get them all. Now,” she whispered. “Try not to fire your lasers inside the chamber.”

  Mason silently led the Space Marines into the first chamber, crawling on the floor. He motioned for the Space Marines to stay down and hold their position at the door. He turned out all the lights at once. Mason’s Prime Marine eyes could see 75% in the dark, but no one else could. He counted eight men. The raiders dropped their carriers with the crystals, and tried to fire in the dark at their assailants. They were easy pickings for Mason. One by one, he attacked them. The first two were victims of his kung fu throwing blades in their throats. As they choked and sputtered their last breaths, Mason threw his knives at two more attackers. One was only injured, and turned to fire in Mason’s direction.

  But the seasoned Prime Marine moved in behind the attacker, and slit his throat. Four attackers tried to make it to the hatch into the second chamber. Mason jumped them and cut another raider’s throat nearly ear to ear, and rolled away out of sight. Three men remaining, now trying to turn the wheel of the hatch. Mason spun and kicked the closest man, and sent him crashing into the plex glass clean room wall, knocking him out. Only two more left, and they were terrified of the assassin in the dark. They fired a single round into Mason’s chest, causing him to stumble for a second. Mason lunged at the both of them, and he took each one out with his hands: he put his hand over their mouth, turned their heads quickly and broke their necks in split-seconds. The last man heard him, slowly coming to, and again tried to fight in the dark. Mason captured him, and ordered the lights on. All but the one man was dead. He was given to two Space Marines to restrain and take to the brig.

  Mason returned to Admiral Hanson. He used his wrist comm link in an attempt to get someone at Earth Command, Colony II or III. It only worked inside the installation. “Okay, so how’re we going to diffuse that bomb vest, Admiral?” He asked her.

  “We cannot diffuse it. They never planned on leaving Admiral Mason alive, Major. This vest has a timer built inside, in addition to the detonator. It has some type of fluid coursing through tubes, probably a liquefied poisonous gas, to take out anyone near the perimeter of the explosion. This is a bitch, Mason,” Hanson summed.

  “We can’t go topside. The fighter’s hovering over us now. We have to go to the tenth level, Admiral.” She carefully stood up, and walked quickly out of the office with Mason. He gave orders to a Marine, “When the lift reaches the tenth level, open the hatch halfway for the research scientists, to give them some air. Tell them to stay there, until ordered to come up.”

  Mason took her to the tenth level, which was unfinished, and they jogged quickly to the very end of the corridor, and he took out his sharpest knife. “Major Mason, I am ordering you to return to the Great Vault and await reinforcements. Leave me!” Admiral Hanson said sternly.

  “I respectfully refuse, Admiral Hanson. Now, please turn around so I can access the back of the vest,” he responded.

  “Mason, get the hell out of here now!” She bellowed.

  He placed his hands on her shoulders, and looked into her eyes. “I did not leave you to die before, Admiral. I am your Prime Marine, your sworn protector. I will not be derelict in my duty to you. I will not leave you now, Admiral Hanson.”

  Her eyes got red. “John, you have a wife and family now. Save yourself. Get out!”

  “How could I face them? Face myself, if I left you. No way. Now please, turn around, Esther,” Mason said gently.

  She finally turned around. The vest was wired all throughout the front and back, and he saw the tubes she spoke of. To cut it would be death by poison gas. His knife was useless. He put his hands under the vest, and pushed against it, stretching it out as far as the fabric would go.

  “Can you slip out of it? Try to wiggle out of her uniform jacket, Admiral, while I hold the vest.” She got one arm out of the jacket, then the other. They both held their breath as he raised it above her head, and she got free from it. He laid it on the floor, and they ran as fast as they could down the corridor.

  “Inside the conduit shaft!” Mason yelled to her. She climbed inside, and he followed her to three floors above; then the explosion went off. He locked his legs and arms around the steel ladder, shielding her and supporting both of them. She held up her hand with the detonator still inside, and threw the worthless thing down the shaft. He helped her up another five floors, into the corridor. They were just outside the Great Vault chambers.

  “Second Lieutenant Meyers!” Mason bellowed. “Open this door for Admiral Hanson!” The Space Marines did so, and welcomed her inside.

  “Release the research scientists at once. Send Admiral Mason to her private office immediately,
” she ordered. Mason was gone again. “And somebody bring down that fucking fighter now, or there’ll be hell to pay!” The Marines scrambled to the armory for a mounted laser gun, and went to one of the topside air lock hatches, directly behind the fighter. They blasted it, and the hovering fighter exploded. Admiral Mason came up the stairway last, and was escorted to her office. Admiral Hanson was sitting opposite her desk, soaked in sweat, and waiting on her.

  “Someone has it out for you, Admiral Mason. I was strapped inside an explosive vest with a built-in timing mechanism, in addition to a hand-held detonator. They also threw in poisonous gas in liquid form, to further add to the kill total. You were not meant to survive this attack, even when they got the crystals they came for, Rachel,” Admiral Hanson told her quietly.

  “How did you get out of the vest, Admiral Hanson? Did you diffuse it, or cut your way out of it, then?” She asked, very concerned, as she returned her jacket.

  “My Prime Marine disobeyed a direct order to leave me. He managed to stretch out the vest’s fabric just enough for me to wiggle out of it. It exploded only seconds later. I’m afraid your jacket is toast,” she said, trying to add some humor to the tense situation.

  “I don’t know what to say, Esther, except thank you.” She bowed her head, and paused. “Is Major Mason all right?” She asked, furrowing her brow in concern.

  “Yes, and he’s probably trying to jury-rig some outside communications for us now. The Space Marines will mop up his mess in your first level chamber—Mason’s handiwork. The entire complex topside is destroyed. I doubt your shuttle is working. I suggest you send your team members off to the general assembly. They can wait there. I’d like it if you went to Mason’s quarters to wait for him, and rested there. In fact, let’s both go there, now. I need a drink.” She ordered the Space Marines to take the research team to the general assembly and post guards for them. She quickly led Admiral Mason through the corridors to her husband’s quarters.

  They stopped in front of his door. Admiral Hanson spoke, “Open it, Admiral Mason. I do not have access.” Admiral Mason smiled, and opened her husband’s door. They raided his bourbon and potato crisps, and the rest of his munchies in the little fridge. “We survived the attack. I’m not letting the mess hall crew get another chance to kill me.” They both laughed. After several drinks, Admiral Hanson’s wrist comm link beeped.

  “Admiral Wilson to Admiral Hanson. What is your situation?”

  She took a deep breath, and gave him a synopsis of their situation. Admiral Wilson said, “We want a full report by eighteen hundred hours tonight, Admiral Hanson. We are sending in reinforcements and damage assessment teams in the morning to Mars X.”

  “Begging the Admiral’s pardon, but Earth Command will have their full report by 0–seven hundred hours tomorrow morning, sir. I just spent an hour strapped in a double booby-trapped explosive vest, and I need a goddamn bourbon and a bath. SIR!” Admiral Hanson countered. There was a pause in his response.

  “Understood. 0-seven hundred hours it is, then. Tell me, how did you get out of a double booby-trapped explosive vest? No one else has done that, Admiral Hanson,” he asked.

  “My Prime Marine, Major Mason, got me out of the vest. It will all be in my report, sir.”

  “Let me just ask you a couple more questions, Admiral Hanson. How did you retake the control tower from the saboteurs?” Wilson demanded.

  “Major Mason and a team of 12 Space Marines,” Hanson replied.

  Admiral Wilson asked, “How were the Great Vault attackers overcome? Any damage done to the labs or clean rooms?”

  “They were killed in hand-to-hand combat personally by Major Mason. Little damage was done to the infrastructure,” she answered.

  “All of them?” He asked, astonished.

  Hanson responded, “Yes, all but the last, and Mason captured him for questioning. He is in our brig now.”

  After a slight pause, Wilson asked, “I’m afraid to ask, but who restored your communications, Admiral Hanson?”

  “Major John Mason, sir.” She sighed heavily.

  “Better save some bourbon for him, Admiral,” Admiral Wilson said. “And have him write a report as an addendum to yours. Wilson out.” The transmission cut off, thankfully.

  “That man gets on my nerves,” Admiral Hanson said to Admiral Mason, who smiled knowingly at her. “Admiral Hanson to Major Mason.”

  “Major Mason, Admiral.” Laser fire could be clearly heard over the comm link.

  “Your situation, XO?”

  “Cleaning out the north corridor, Admiral. The attackers bottlenecked themselves into the dead end of the sealed corridor. I offered them the chance to surrender, but they preferred a laser fight, Admiral. Just a few left, now,” he calmly reported, as the laser fire continued, sounding close to his position.

  “Report to your quarters when you’re finished, Major Mason,” she said. “Hanson out.”

  “He’ll be here momentarily, Admiral Mason. There’s only one way in or out of the north corridor,” Admiral Hanson informed her. “Any more bourbon?”

  After listening closely to the last conversation with her husband, and feeling reassured after Admiral Hanson’s comment, Admiral Mason searched for more bourbon. “Here’s a small bottle of bourbon. I was afraid we’d run out,” Admiral Mason said.

  “We’re going to be crocked by the time he gets here, Rachel,” Hanson said, chuckling.

  “Don’t worry. He’ll understand, believe me,” she said. Admiral Hanson put more ice in their glasses, and they were filled to the brim by Admiral Mason.

  By the time Mason got to his quarters, the two Admirals were tipsy, and all of his snacks were devoured. He was filthy, soaked in sweat, and suffered a head wound, which was still bleeding. He took one look at the two women and started to laugh.

  “Save any for me, Admirals?” He asked, removing his weapons belt and tearing off his shredded combat vest, arm, leg and thigh pads.

  “Yes, John. There’s a tiny bit left, I think,” Admiral Mason said, with a chuckle.

  Mason washed his filthy hands and face, and poured the rest of the bourbon into a glass. He downed it immediately. He rummaged around, and found another bottle in the back of the top cabinet. He poured a glass full, and sat on the floor next to the sofa, by his Admiral.

  “John, you’re bleeding,” she noticed, now concerned.

  “Probably so, Admiral,” he said.

  She got up to examine the left side of his head, showing a long gash from laser fire directly over his left ear. She got out his first aid kit. “Didn’t you wear your helmet?”

  “Yes, I did. One side of it is demolished. Just save it till I take a shower, Admiral, please. I’m too filthy now. As long as it’s bleeding, it’ll stay clean,” he said quietly. “I need to sit for a minute, please, Admiral. All I need is bourbon and a couple of aspirin.” He sipped his drink. His hand was trembling slightly.

  “And some antiseptic gel, bandages, and my laser knife. I’ll be right back,” Admiral Mason said, and quickly left.

  “How many were there in the north corridor, Mason?” Admiral Hanson asked.

  “About 40, maybe 45. They trapped themselves, and refused to surrender. I don’t know what they were after in that location. Nothing there,” he said, sipping his bourbon.

  She looked at him and said, “There used to be something important there, but it was moved. They were working off old intel if they were in there. Any survivors?”

  “A couple of wounded, Admiral. The Space Marines have them.” Mason took another drink. “We would’ve been shit out of luck without those extra Space Marines and Space Forces personnel, Admiral Hanson. Good thing the Joint Chiefs gave in to our request.”

  She noticed his utility uniform was torn in several areas, and his left boot was cut open. “Better hit the shower, Prime Marine. Your Admiral will need you clean to dress your wounds.”

  “Okay. Yes, Admiral Hanson,” he corrected, standing slowly. He got his robe and
clean underwear, and went into the bathroom, taking his bourbon with him.

  Admiral Mason returned in a few minutes with her arms full of medicated bandages, antiseptic gel, gauze, and the like. She set up shop at his table, while Admiral Hanson watched. She scrubbed her hands in the sink, and put gloves on. Mason came out shortly, in a white terry cloth robe. He looked at his Admiral and smiled. “Just like old times, Admiral Mason,” he said.

  “’Fraid so, Marine. Sit down for me, now. The doctor gave me everything I asked for, John. Even this for your stomach,” she said, swabbing his arm and giving him a shot. “Hold your nose, now, John.” She sprayed a numbing solution around the head wound site, and cauterized his head wound with her laser knife. She applied a layer of antiseptic gel, and wrapped his wet head in bandages.

  “Where else?” She asked. Mason took off the top of his robe. His back contained several abrasions, one fairly raw. “Better stand up and let me look,” she told him. He took off his robe. What the hell, Admiral Hanson had seen him naked. His left side bore the brunt this time; bruises on his ribs; a gash on his left thigh; a cut across the top of his left foot; and lacerations on his left forearm and hand. She sighed, shook her head, and began working on his raw back first, then his thigh, foot and hand. She had him all treated and bandaged in minutes. “You should be body-scanned tomorrow, John. Especially your head wound,” she advised.

  “How is it a genetics researcher knows all this?” Admiral Hanson asked, in awe of her first aid skills.

  Admiral Mason smiled and said, “I’m also a surgical nurse. I was the Head Nurse on the Hesperia, where John and I met.” She and Mason smiled at each other.

  “We’d better ask Sarah and Dave to pick up the boys, Admiral Mason. Your shuttle is no more, I’m afraid. Actually, all the shuttles were destroyed. Yours, too, Admiral Hanson.” Mason sat down, and looked at both women.