Horsemen United: Horsemen Origins Books 1-5

by Benjamin Hartman

  “This is pointless!” Brooks growled. “I can’t reset the access codes without the original set! Some military safeguard, and we don’t have the software which will decrypt the password. We need someone who can run the numbers and figure out what Griffin’s pass code would’ve been!”

  Sulture thought for a moment. “I know just who to call,” he said.

  O’Malley and Murph arrived at the weapons stores. “What is it guys? I got a lot of patients I gotta tend to.”

  “He’s a medical doctor!” Brooks said.

  “Just tell him,” Erikson snapped.

  “Okay, we need to figure out what the pass code to the weapons stores would be, and I can’t reset the access codes until I know the original. The problem is that Griffin took them with him when he ran with his tail between his legs,” Brooks said.

  “I’m guessing you’ve tried the big ones?” Murph asked. “12345678, password, etc.?”

  “Yes, we’ve tried them. We’re at the point now where if we fail, the system will shut down and deny all access,” Brooks replied.

  “Whoa! No pressure right?” Murph chuckled. “How many numbers is the access code?”

  “Five,” Brooks replied.

  “Okay, that gives us 90,000 possibilities,” Murph said. “Was there ever anything personal on Griffin’s desk? A picture, a date, anything?”

  “I once saw a picture of him with his ex-wife,” Erikson said. “Would he have used her name?”

  “Not likely,” Murph said. “Only 5 percent of men use their partner’s name, and that’s if they’re still happily married. Was there anything else?”

  “He had a picture of his dog on the desk,” Brooks said.

  “That brings it up to 21 percent. What’s the dog’s name?”

  “Scout,” Brooks said. He punched in the numbers 72688 into the access panel. The lock in the doors clamored open, the haunting echo music to the ears of the desperate men.

  “Seems like you would’ve been a mathematician with a talent like yours Murph,” Sulture said.

  “Well, Epidemiologist doesn’t have the practical application that a medical doctor does,” Murph replied. “But it’s still an interesting field of study,” he grinned.

  Behind the steel door was an elevator, where the men climbed aboard and descended into the darkness.

  Sulture flipped a switch, where the fluorescent light buzzed to life from the generator, and through the dim room there was an impressive cache. Every weapon required to wage a small war was here: artillery guns, shells of every caliber, machine guns, assault rifles and canisters full chemical and biological agents.

  “All of this held here for months while the people of Angkor were getting slaughtered,” Erikson hissed.

  Brooks got to work on the security systems, changing the access of who could come and go. “Who do you want to be able to get in Dr. Sulture?”

  “All of us in here. Ideally, anyone we draft if we have to,” Sulture said, absent-mindedly looking over the weapon crates.

  “Okay, I’ll change the input code,” Brooks said.

  “That’s fine. You can pick the numbers. Everyone memorize it,” Sulture ordered, still exploring the weapon stocks. He hadn’t been around this many weapons since the Unification Wars.

  “Where have we seen the most activity from the Tritops?” Sulture asked.

  “The Western jungle has had a lot of activity, but there’s also been a lot of movement to the South as well,” Erikson replied.

  All of the other men confirmed what Erikson said.

  “South and West it is then. Retaliation is in order,” Sulture said as he lifted a cannister off the ground and placed it on the table. “Since the attack today came from the West, we’ll start there. Does anyone know what this does?”

  Erikson looked at the label on the canister. “Yes sir, it will melt their skin,” he said.

  “Exactly,” Sulture replied with an evil smile.

  Erikson lead the six teams and covered the perimeter with Tritop pheromones. The colony was still recovering from the morning’s raid, but Sulture was more concerned about devising a counterattack. He watched the colony and assessed his priorities, trying to get a feel for his next move. Murph walked up next to him.

  “How’re you holding up Adam?” Murph asked, concerned for his friend.

  “Planning the counterattack. You?” He replied, his gaze fixed on the surrounding jungle.

  “Got everyone we could save bandaged up. Look Adam, you need to rest. Everyone’s getting concerned and-”

  “Murph, I need someone here I can trust in charge of civil affairs. I’m not known for my people skills, and I’d much rather have someone more…charming talk to the people. I need you to run civil affairs.”

  “Yea, of course,” Murph replied. “But Adam I think you should rest. You lost your fa-”

  “Excellent! I’ll put you in charge, and I will deal with the Tritop situation,” Sulture said, ignoring Murph’s advice. “We have a batch of chemical weapons I intend to use to wipe out the Western nest.”

  “When do you plan on doing that?”

  “Tomorrow. I’m also going to begin a new project, and I could use your help Murph.”

  “What is it Adam?”

  “I want to begin a genome mapping project of the Tritops.”

  “Ambitious program. Do we have the technology to do it?”

  “We do. We just need the time. I think I can get some software to scan and record the Tritop’s genome automatically.”

  “From where?”

  “Off site source. If we can get a signal, I can download the software. Then we can begin the final phase of my plan.”

  “What’s the final phase Adam?”

  “It will all become clear in time Murph.”

  The sweltering day descended into a sticky night where the air hung heavy over the freshly dug graves. O’Malley approached Sulture, not having spoken to him since the transition of power between the two men.

  “Report,” Sulture grunted.

  “No attacks sir. It’s as quiet as…well…midnight sir,” O’Malley replied.

  “We’ve seen a couple, but they don’t approach because of the pheromones,” Erikson said.

  “Or they ate their fill for today. Regardless, a night without an attack hasn’t happened since we landed on this God-forsaken waste,” Sulture hissed.

  “Sir, you should get some rest. It’s been a long day…for all of us,” O’Malley said.

  “Now would be the perfect time to retaliate against them,” Sulture said.

  “No, sir,” Erikson pleaded. “Please let everyone rest. The colonists need it. You need it.”

  “What about you guys? You’ve been up all day, still on night watch,” Sulture said.

  “We’re used to it sir,” O’Malley replied. “It’s a quiet night, and with luck, it’ll stay quiet.”

  “If we move now, we’ll make damn sure that it stays quiet!” Sulture hissed. “Now let’s go!”

  Murph, Erikson, O’Malley and a few others joined Sulture as they delved deep into the jungle to snuff out the nest. The men covered themselves in pheromones and plugged their ears with Toub’s specially made ear buds. Sulture lead the men single file into the jungle, the fading lights of the colony becoming a dim reminder of the civilization they sought to protect.

  As the men approached the nest, Tritops walked right past all of them, paying no mind. They noticed the squad’s movement, but after a quick sniff they meandered along as though nothing was out of place. Sulture pressed on, leading the men deeper in, but the others were in awe that they’d traveled this far into the jungle unhindered.

  Three miles from the colony, the squad came across the Tritop nest. Tritops leaped between the branches, chirping to each other as they cared for the thousands of infant pods which clung to the trees.

  The men pulled four canisters of chemical agents from a duffel bag and primed them to detonate. Sulture set the timer personally.

&nb
sp; “Alright, masks on. Hazmat suits too,” Sulture ordered.

  The men sealed up their gas masks and suits. The seconds counted down. Once the countdown ended, the top half of the canister rose up, and belched a sickly pea-green colored gas from the interior pores. A pair of soldier Tritops descended from the trees to inspect the canister. The gas was supposed to be odorless, but Sulture suspected the Tritops had a much finer sense of smell than humans based on their nasal cavity.

  One of the Tritops screeched in horror and clawed madly at its arm. As it clawed the skin literally fell off, and formed a puddle of goo on the ground. The other Tritop screeched as its skin fell off, exposing muscle, bone, organs and other tissues to the hazardous gas. The creatures collapsed, helpless against the hazardous vapors, and died a slow, agonizing death from melted organs. Something splashed behind the squad. The pods on the trees containing Tritop offspring peeled away and exposed the fetuses to the harsh gas which caused them to melt even faster than the adults.

  Pods high up in the trees fell, splattering like water balloons as the infants become an indistinguishable slime. The strike team doesn’t flinch as they observe the effects of the gas. Low screeches and squeals filled the air as the offspring either suffocated or dissolved. More Tritops came to see what was going on, but they dissolved immediately. Within two minutes, the entire nest was a scene of gore and decay from the liquefied bodies of the Tritops.

  “That was a good counter strike,” Sulture said. “Split up and deliver one of these to the nests even deeper in the jungle. No one more than 20 metres apart. Clear?” He asked. The team nodded in agreement. The six men separated, each carrying one of the canisters containing the deadly gas. One of the men set the timer and watched again, while another activated the timer and rolled it away. The end result was that for at least three miles into the jungle the ground was saturated with Tritop blood. The strike team headed back to the colony, rinsed off any poisons, and began to discuss their next move.

  “What’s next sir?” Erikson asked.

  “We’re going to be clearing out an additional five kilometre perimeter of jungle that surrounds the colony,” Sulture said. “Our goal is to give the colony a buffer in case the Tritops attack.

  “That’s ambitious,” O’Malley said.

  “Yes, but the areas contaminated by our chemicals must be burned or we risk the possibility of poisoning our own colonists.

  “What do you want me to do Adam?” Murph asked.

  “Two things. First, I’ve reached out to a contact who will secure us genome scanning software. I don’t want anybody knowing that communications are live again. Second, tell the colonists to gather all of the lumber inside the colony. We’re building a wall.”

  The ships screeched overhead as they unleashed payloads of Napalm on the Angkor jungle. Once the contaminated area was cleared, colonists began to assemble a second fence beyond the perimeter. The wooden planks from the homes of fallen colonists were sharpened and positioned to Toub’s calculations. Designed to stab and spear any Tritop that leaped over, the artillery guns were positioned to cover any gaps left between the two fences. The entire colony was put to work, grateful that Sulture was taking action for their defense. The fence worked too: for three weeks, not a single person was kidnapped or killed from a Tritop attack.

  “Everyone’s relieved. Hasn’t been a single Tritop attack in weeks,” Murph said.

  “Not only have there not been any attacks, but nobody’s seen them,” Erikson added.

  “Maybe those freaks got the hint that we can fight back,” O’Malley said.

  “Not likely. We wounded them, but this planet is covered with Tritops,” Brooks replied.

  “But not much else…” Sulture said with a pause. As he rummaged through a pile of papers a particular note caught his eye. “What do we know about the Tritops so far?” He asked.

  “Seriously?” Erikson asked. “We know they eat us.”

  “They’re savage,” O’Malley said.

  “They travel in packs,” Murph said.

  “Yes, but that’s all rudimentary,” Sulture said. “Every time we’ve encountered them, they’re near a nest of some kind.”

  “So what?” O’Malley said.

  “All the Tritops we’ve ever faced have been female,” Sulture said. “How would the eggs get fertilized?”

  “You can’t have a kid without a dad,” Murph said.

  “Exactly,” Sulture said. “We haven’t come across any males to date. What if these packs are led by an alpha male, like a lion in a pride or a band of gorillas?

  “If those were females we were encountering, can you imagine what the boys will look like?” Erikson asked.

  “The only way to find out is to go deeper into the jungle and find them,” Sulture said.

  “Wait, we have to go into the den?” O’Malley asked.

  Sulture looked up at the men. “Find it. Get someone in the air and find that den!”

  The soldiers rushed out of the station. Only Murph remained.

  “How you holdin’ up?” Murph asked.

  Sulture sighed. “I barely sleep. When I close my eyes I’m haunted by images of Katrina and Joey being ripped from my arms.”

  “I know. You look exhausted Adam. You’re headed for a crash from sleep deprivation,” Murph says.

  “I don’t care. I lost Joey and Katrina, no one else in the colony should suffer,” Sulture said.

  “I think this is more about revenge than saving the colony,” Murph replied.

  “So what?! Because of me there’s no more traumatic injuries right?” Sulture asked.

  “No there aren’t, just a stuffy nose now and then. Common cold,” Murph responds.

  Sulture turned to Murph. “Why haven’t we seen any Tritops catching our diseases? The influenza virus must be new to them, they shouldn’t have an immunity.”

  “Now that you mention it, that is strange…” Murph trailed off, lost in thought.

  “The blood!” Sulture exclaimed.

  “They were using it to expose the young to our diseases, make themselves immune,” Murph said.

  “Then let’s find a disease they’re not immune to,” Sulture said.

  The two men explored the weapons depot for biohazard containers. Most of them would kill humans just as effectively as they would kill a Tritop. It was a dead end.

  “Damn,” Sulture exhaled.

  “I know. This is definitely the harder stuff. Nothin’ here we can use that won’t kill us too,” Murph said.

  “That leaves us with one option,” Sulture said.

  “What’s that? Murph asked.

  “Ever heard of a Chimera Virus?” Sulture asked.

  “Oh, no, no, no, no, no. You can’t possibly be suggesting…” Murph said.

  “Of course I am Murph! We create a virus that wipes them out!”

  “Adam, chimera viruses are like opening Pandora’s box! Once unleashed, they cannot be contained! They wiped out that Colony on Neferteri - 6, a place humans still can’t inhabit! You can’t guarantee the safety of Angkor’s people from your modified virus,” Murph snapped.

  “You’re right Murph. I can’t. However, this is the best chance we’ve got to destroy the Tritops once and for all!”

  “At what cost?!” Murph screamed. “I will not risk the lives of our people so recklessly!”

  “Then we don’t do it recklessly. We document everything, step by step. We will know where we went wrong. We’re scientists after all,” Sulture argued.

  “We won’t know until it’s too late!” Murph snapped.

  “Immunization. If I can prove that I can immunize people from my virus, then-”

  “How? How are you going to do that Adam?” Murph asked. Sulture stood there, unable to answer. “That’s what I thought! You know as well as I do that all it takes is one mutation and your immunization is worthless!” He hissed.

  “Look Murph. The colony is on the brink of collapse. We’re not getting any relief from Earth.
We’re on our own. If I don’t do this, then the entire Angkor colony will be devoured by the Tritops.”

  “Adam, your defenses are working!”

  “For how long though Murph? How long before those ravagers break through?”

  “If the defenses weaken or collapse and the colony is exposed, I’ll give you the go-ahead,” Murph said.

  The following morning, Erikson and Brooks came into the command center and saluted Sulture. “What do you have for me?” Sulture asked.

  “Photographs of a strange clearing within the jungle,” Brooks said. “There is a large concentration of pods along the rim, even more so than the nest we eliminated two days ago.”

  Sulture glanced over the picture. “Jesus Christ, looks like a breeding ground. Do we have global positioning coordinates?” He asked.

  “Right here,” Brooks said.

  “Excellent. Now we can go after-” An alarm cuts Sulture off. His radio crackled with hysteric voices. “Sulture here. What is it?”

  The static cleared up. “Movement sir,” the voice replied. “Huge wave of Tritops coming from the East. Thousands of them are about to storm the walls. Immediate action suggested.”

  “What do we have on the bombers?” Sulture asked.

  “Three payloads of Napalm sir.”

  “Wait until they’re out in the open, then blow them all to hell. Command on the way, over and out,” Sulture said as he tuned the radio to the megaphones. “Angkor colony, massive Tritop attack coming in from the East. All able bodied fighters flock to the eastern wall immediately!” Sulture dropped the microphone, cocked his rifle, and grabbed a machete.

  “Let’s move!” He said.

  “Yes sir!” both men replied as they cocked their rifles.

  All three ran out of the command center and rushed through the crowd. When they got to the eastern wall they met up with hundreds of colonists ready to protect their homes. As the colonists took their positions the guard aligned the artillery guns for the impending assault.

  The Tritops rushed through the charred forest and leaped the first fence. A quarter of them were speared or electrocuted, but the rest made it through the first barricade.