Infidel's Corner

by David Robert Morais

  Joe came to offer assistance but was shocked by what he discovered. “Bloody hell. You could have told me it was a competition.”

  Out of breath, she ran to the car, but its batteries were intentionally shorted. It was no time for crying. She returned to the house and checked on the bodies, hoping for a survivor.

  Against the fireplace, Joe’s victim sat clutching his stub. Edra grabbed him by the scruff and screamed in his face. “Where are they taking her?”

  Their intruder possessed a similar cackle to the caller’s. “You can’t stop it now.”

  “Can’t stop what?” she demanded to know and pushed him to the floor. There was no response, so a knife was pressed against his thorax.

  “Tell me,” she repeated until the blade edged through his flesh.

  “Okay,” he cried. “They’re coming to wipe you heathens from the face of this earth, and there’s nothing you can do to stop it.”

  Joe stepped in. “The Alliance?”

  “Who else?”

  Edra stood straight. “Oh my God. That’s twenty million troops and a quarter of a million aircraft.”

  “They’ll hit in wave after endless wave,” said Joe. “We must warn someone.”

  “Do that, and your child shall surely die,” warned the cackler.

  The phone rang before Edra could strike him. Joe was closest and so answered it.

  The caller confidently asked, “Is that you, Joe?”

  Joe confirmed it, “Yes, Captain.”

  “Good. Are they all dead?”

  “But one. He’s quite the chatterbox actually.”

  “Hmm. Since you’re responsible for this mess, you can redeem your sin while saving the life of your godchild by surrendering schematics of that energy drive.”

  “And the invasion?”

  “Play your cards right, and I might have it reversed.”

  “You don’t seem so sure.”

  “Do you really need a third reason to comply?”

  “No,” admitted Joe, despite it being one reason to comply. “How will we do this?”

  The blackmailer suggested meeting at Kielder forest for the exchange. Given Joe’s distance from the labs, he claimed an hour was sufficient time before making the swap.

  An H-fighter was commandeered with a tube full of documents on his persons. Guards at the checkpoint began their timers as Joe took off.

  Edra was collected from her house. When asked if further information was squeezed out of the cackler, she replied, “Dead men can’t talk.” There was no resisting the test-firing of Joe’s weapon.

  Kielder reservoir rippled as the ship came to glide overhead in search of a landing site. They walked another five minutes across an open field and toward a cluster of lights. Edra was the first to break the silence when she recognised their leader. “Dad?”

  Captain Edwards stood there with little Arianne begging for her mother, surrounded by a dozen armed accomplices. “It’s great to finally meet my grandchild.”

  “You’re willing to murder her, for what?”

  “For a slice of history, for what’s in there,” he said pointing at the presumed documents in Joe’s hand.

  “Why not take our vehicle?” asked Joe.

  “We’ve had one for the last year. Bloody idiots can’t reverse engineer it.”

  “What do you expect of a nation fed wholegrain pseudo-science?”

  The Captain stared in response to the slur. “Our world is at war with the Middle East. You’ve had the answer to it for years. Such a selfish bunch of lame softies preferred to dance with the fairies.”

  “So soft that we, outnumbered, scored major victories against Summanus’s armies. Why help him now is what I don’t understand.”

  “I’ve worked directly for the Alliance since learning of Summanus’s takeover. I’ve always wanted him gone, including his idiot father.”

  Sallace stepped from the darkness. “Nor do I side with the Alliance,” he declared, pointing a weapon at Captain Edwards.

  “Don’t be stupid. You’re the one that spoke of peace and co-operation. When the Alliance held out its hand in friendship, Hypatia spat in their face.”

  “And I saw through it, as I saw through you. They would use us as cannon fodder and later invade a weakened Hypatia. But, you were already aware of that.”

  Captain Edwards was perplexed by Sallace’s stance and awareness. “Are you really going to side with these cretins? They will lose this war. Choose your position wisely, dear friend.”

  “If so, you will limp away heavily battered and in no fit state to take on the Islamic Empire.”

  “We’d limp away with hypertron technology in our hands. And in our hands, it will become a weapon of exquisite power that would make the atomic bomb look like a firecracker. A nuclear winter will vanquish those ill-prepared. Or, you can die now?” said the Captain with his gun at Arianne’s head.

  Sallace gave Joe the nod, who then threw over the tube.

  The Captain took a peek inside after placing Arianne on the floor. “Well. If this doesn’t get me finally promoted then I don’t know what will.”

  Edra swooped in to take her child when the Captain seised her, arm across throat. “Not so fast. Our plans must remain a secret. The suspension of Hypatia’s immediate obliteration also stipulates that you die.”

  In a struggle for air, Edra said. “You’ll invade anyway. That’s why you wanted me to betray Hypatia – to first make it weak from within.”

  Sallace stepped closer. “I would offer my life in trade for theirs, but I won’t.”

  The Captain grinned. “Have you finally come around to the light, brother?”

  “No. But they have,” said Sallace who then gazed upward.

  Captain Edwards glanced up to see several flashes of light, which rained down around them. On impact, mud pulverised and blast waves struck, distracting everyone and killing a few of the Captain’s henchmen.

  The Captain worked desperately to remove dirt from his eyes. Sallace pounced on him while Edra fled with a screaming Arianne.

  A shootout began as Hypatian soldiers moved in. The firefight saw Sallace move to evade injury. A co-conspirator of the Captain engaged Sallace, who replied with several shots. Hypatian troops inflicted a deadly blow in a bid to save him, but not before Sallace sustained a gunshot wound to the stomach.

  The then ex-Captain was apprehended for interrogation and Sallace given urgent treatment.

  In Antarctica, news of the impending invasion is met with a swift response. Mezox readied his suit and ran across the airfield toward a circular-shaped transporter. Slower in nature, fighters would reach Hypatia first. It was a surreal moment as family members hugged relatives before scrambling for their ships. Many found it hard to let go.

  Shuttle doors opened and cockpits closed. Fighters and transporters took to the air in their thousands like a swarm of locusts moving to fresh pastures.

  Edra sat on her knees near a treeline and checked Arianne for injuries. Joe provided the necessary light. Overwhelmed with relief, she hugged her child tightly when Joe moved in for a share.

  A means to cheer them up had arrived. Above, countless blue dots glided across the starry background toward the city. “Daddy’s home.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  Great preparations

  Mezox’s family reunion was a short-lived affair. Hypatia was in overdrive. Many civilians and personnel engaged in the construction of a second inner defence barrier. Should the first mound falter, soldiers could revert to the second. A hundred and fifty thousand trained soldiers operated the first wall. Fifty thousand regulars were held in reserve with another two hundred thousand conscripts carrying only a shield and weapon.

  Transporters began extracting non-fighters to Antarctica. They passed another ship on their way. At three-hundred feet in diameter, it was Hypatia’s only battleship. Its primary role was defence. The dome’s purpose was to combat incoming missiles and bombers. Unlike a regular hypertron, the cor
e was designed to destabilise, releasing powerful bursts of energy. An electromagnetic pulse would fry the circuits of anything within proximity. It was effectively a shield. Cannons were positioned around the two halves as additional insurance.

  Squadrons of fighters engaged in attacks on enemy bases, airfields, trains and their tracks and the freeing of captives from places like the Tower of London. A few transporters brought soldiers to help in their extraction and safety. Young soldiers experienced their first taste of battle with a sense of great purpose. Their confidence grew as enemy firepower struck like hail against metal.

  Within hours, the Alliance had imported too much firepower for Hypatia to engage in small acts of sabotage. They also possessed precision-based laser weapon technology and high impact railgun bullet-missile hybrids capable of piercing any armour. Soldiers carried smaller but similar railgun weapons to combat Hypatian armour. It would take fewer shots to weaken and neutralise a walking tank.

  Such humbling news reached Edra’s ear. In an evening’s lull for much-needed recuperation, she asked her husband, “Do we really stand a chance?”

  “Our pilots are well trained and received extra lessons in aviation techniques none of us were previously aware.”

  “Lessons from whom?”

  “You’ll think its crazy, but these lights would often visit and make friendly engagements, demonstrating all sorts of manoeuvres.”

  “Like angels?” said Edra.

  Mezox smiled and said. “Everyone has their interpretations.”

  She paused in reflection of her flight training before stating, “I also wish to fight as a pilot tomorrow.”

  Mezox held her hands as they sat opposite one another. “It would pain me more in battle knowing you’re out there and potentially dead.”

  “In battle? In what way are you in this battle?” She said snappily.

  Mezox sighed. “I joined a strategy meeting today when the subject of mega-carriers arose. These things are made of metallic foam and near impossible to sink. One may serve as a command centre. Several squadrons will attempt to punch a hole for landers to invade and destroy from within. Summanus will be on that ship.”

  “You’re going after him?”

  Mezox pleaded, “I have to be the one who destroys that ship.”

  “Fine, then I want to be the one that enables it.” She recognised his expression of doubt. “I’m not asking for permission.”

  They held each other firmly that night, fearing the coming day and what it may take.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  Mother of all battles

  Edra left early to volunteer as a semi-trained Hypatian pilot. There was no requirement to beg as the carpet rolled out before her. Another female joined as her co-pilot, who turned exuberant over learning Edra’s identity.

  In the hangers, motivational speeches were handed out to those preparing for war. Pilots arose from their pods for potentially the final time and into their vehicles.

  Soldiers suited up and collected their shields. Those with a freshly designated post were the first to march that morning.

  Mezox prepared with hundreds of other landing parties. The air was silent as soldiers contemplated their futures. However, their mood was removed from a negative and sombre one. A glimmer of hope dared show itself with smiles, handshakes and the hugging of strangers, acquaintances and friends.

  Outside, fighters formed a dark cloud overhead, and somewhere among it was his wife. He was the last of fifty passengers to enter their lander. In the air, they held off beneath the shield, awaiting the go-ahead. Fighters must first inflict sufficient damage.

  On the ground, forests crumbled across the realm’s southern flank as enemy forces approached. They did so in bands. The front held shields, too, but also golden crosses for every hundred soldiers. Interlaced between them were heavy machinery such as multiple rocket launchers and tanks. Mortar units and digging machinery neared in tight square formations with endless bands of reserves stretching beyond their horizon.

  With zero tolerance for waiting to see who shot first, Hypatian forces primed their cannons and took aim at their foe’s collection of artillery. In their firing, a plethora of pre-planted explosives were simultaneously detonated. Bodies, metal and mud, were catapulted high in the sky. Shockwaves ruptured eardrums and Hypatians rained a myriad of large and small scale fire upon their rivals.

  Survivors of the first wave bolted for the Hypatian mound. A third wave supported them by firing upon their facing wall. Rockets slammed into the six-foot-thick concrete structure covered in mud and greenery. Their first hits did nothing but chip away at it. Some Hypatians were ejected from their perch. Mortars pelted the area, forcing many Hypatians to fight from within the protective tunnels. The Alliance began carving tunnels and form trenches.

  In the air, Joe’s forces initiated their engagement of mega-carriers. Bullets and lasers filled the air from every direction. Their primary objective was acquired and bombarded by Hypatian firepower. Each provided a minimal level of damage that had no adverse effect. Enemy jets flooded the skies and slowed their rate of infliction.

  As enemy aircraft swarmed, the other three thousand Hypatian fighters remained within the shield’s dome. Like bait, the enemy would give chase. Instruments failed, and systems ceased to function altogether. Hundreds crashed within minutes until the enemy came to understand that a fence existed. Their missiles struck the invisible plain, exploding anywhere within a hundred feet of partition. They also knew the large saucer was responsible.

  Two-thirds of the Hypatian fighters attacked the jets to divert their attention. Another thousand hunted down airfields across Britain and Europe, limiting their capacity to send reinforcements. The homogenisation of dogfights across Europe, high and low, came to spread further still.

  Skies flashed with indiscriminate explosions. Remnants of destroyed aircraft from both sides fell like balls of fire. The faithful praised in glory out on burning streets. Millions screamed in pain and loss. For them, the apocalypse had finally arrived. Some were lured into flames with the promise of getting raptured.

  Joe’s attack on the mega-carriers had neutralised many of its weapons. To evade the rest, Edra formulated a means to slip between the fleet of mega-carriers and warships.

  Mezox’s landers made their move, guarded by other fighters. Three of the twelve landers were downed before making it near their objectives.

  A countdown from three sprung out the blue, and the bay doors opened. In a mad dash across the carrier’s deck, a firefight broke out. Summanus’s top-side forces soon failed to hold Hypatian troops back. A large hole to their right offered an access point, but another laid ahead. As his group vanished inside, Mezox went alone in the other. Its position provided the potential for reaching weapon stores much sooner.

  Down the hole was a regular-looking room. Doors presented a way through. His protective suit was exchanged for that of a dead theocrat’s uniform.

  As his team got held back in firefights, Mezox strolled casually down emptied corridors. Coal-covered topless men appeared after consuming some water and returned to their quarters. Those without the grime were worth following. And sure enough, they guided him to a missile launch room. Rockets on magazine-like conveyor belts launched one after the other in rapid succession.

  Their feeds were followed, taking him down several decks. At their base were stacks of missiles on pump trucks and men loading them. He presented a sticky bomb, and all evacuated the area in the other direction.

  A quick search and a storeroom housed a massive stockpile of missiles. The ship rattled and thudded. And as he moved to set the timer, a voice from behind said. “I knew you’d come.”

  Mezox knew the voice. “Hello, dear Cousin,” he said while turning to face him.

  Summanus laughed. “Told you did they? You know, I dreamt that we would work together as brothers, taking on the world.”

  “You have a funny way of showing it. And I would never side with a theocra
t.”

  “Theocracy keeps people in check. It is the purveyor of peace. How do you not see?”

  “And who keeps you in check? Democracy isn’t perfect, but enslaving minds will make you nothing more than a colony of mindless ants.”

  “So mindless that we’re winning. Yes, how does it feel to know God favours me?”

  “I’d say he sets a low bar.”

  Summanus dropped his cape and rolled up his sleeves. “You’re about to beg for his mercy.”

  “Come and make me,” said Mezox with an aggressive voice.

  Summanus charged for him, but Mezox swerved, landing him in the storeroom. Mezox held him down to administer several punches to his face and body. Summanus frothed at the mouth and growled as he reached for Mezox’s throat.

  The ship slewed to one side with stronger thuds thrown in the mix. They rolled around the floor, but Mezox regained an upper hand. The retribution sought was slow to satiate.

  In a bid to kill Summanus, he raised a bar of metal up into the air and, before it could descend, an explosion tore the room apart.

  The primary ring of defences began to crumble. Thousands of enemy tanks were rendered useless. The Alliance had moved to overwhelm the Hypatians with sheer numbers alone. They clambered over a mountain of corpses to the top.

  Explosives set, surviving Hypatian soldiers performed a tactical retreat to their simpler mound of compacted earth. Wooden bridges between the two rings were removed when the compromised ridge was detonated. A boundary several miles long killed almost half a million enemy. The brief lull sent the Hypatians celebrating, but not for long – another million were running their way.

  Mezox emerged from what felt like a long slumber when, in fact, it had been mere minutes. A pain in his thigh forced him to inspect it. Shrapnel was lodged in his hip but knew better than to prize it out. He peered up to find an opening that led to the surface. Debris allowed him to climb out, but it was slow going.