Mercer stood up, and looked around at his other companions, who nodded for him to go ahead. “There’s one other thing, Jake.”
Jake sat back down, looking up at Mercer with a puzzled expression. “Okay, what’s up, Charlie?”
“We’re all agreed. If anything happens to your wife, we all stay and kill, until you get tired of seeing blown up bodies,” Mercer said grimly.
There was a strong murmur of assent from the others. Jake shook his head as he stood back up, and pushed his chair in. “I appreciate that folks, but I plan on getting Adrian out alive. If she’s living when we get there, she’ll be alive when we leave. If she’s not alive when we get there, God help them.”
“Are you sure you have to wear these damn energy cuffs down there?” Mercer asked, looking down at the glowing bands around Jake’s wrists.”
They were sitting near the hatch of Alpha Drop Ship, close to Major Johnson, and a company of Marines, prepped for their mission inside the complex. Taskoroff sat next to Mercer with his hands folded, quietly looking down at his feet. Tim Dougherty manned the deck gun turret, with full control over weapons, and Sara Corey piloted the ship. Another thousand Marines were positioned further into the ship’s bay, ready to deploy. They would take the complex, at Major Johnson’s order, from Alpha Drop Ship, all the way to where the landing party would be. They were to kill anyone who resisted, and hold the escape route.
“We can only get a squad in there legitimately, Charlie,” Jake replied. “This has to look good. The rest of our people will get to us when I get Adrian. It will be dicey for a moment, but Jack will bring our backup at a run the moment you signal him. You, and the squad you’ve been training, will have to handle the heavy lifting until he makes his way to us. As soon as I get near Adrian, you turn them off, and we’ll get the party started. Your guys know we’ll need to get their attention, right?”
Mercer glanced back at the grim young faces closest to him, and then back at Jake with a grin. “I picked these boys from the rest, because they’re killers. They don’t just want to be with us because it’s their duty, they want to be there because they want to kill something. Remember when Deke was told to pick a squad to go into the nest on Omaha the first time? We were the first two picked. Deke could pick a killer out without a moment’s hesitation. So can I.”
Jake nodded. “Good. Some folks will be dying in the meeting room, and I don’t want the casualty list to include any of us. Anyone in there not wanting to die better get the hell on the floor.”
Mercer reached over and felt the front of Jake’s uniform jacket. Jake tried to pull away, but the handcuffs put him at a disadvantage. Mercer found what he was looking for, and he started laughing.
“I knew it,” Mercer howled in laughter, as Jake shrugged, and the rest of the Marines looked at Mercer quizzically. “You brought that ugly old Gear Knife with you, you superstitious bastard. What if they frisk you when we walk in.”
“I was thinking you could have one of the Marines hold a blaster up to my head the whole way, with Taskoroff next to me on the other side. You and the rest of the squad will be right behind us. They won’t frisk me with a guy holding a blaster to my head and their chief collaborator right there.”
“Okay,” Mercer agreed reluctantly. “It’s your funeral.”
“It’s my good luck charm,” Jake insisted. “Besides, click off my cuffs for a moment.”
Mercer reached down and touched a small transmitter on his belt. The cuffs disappeared. Jake’s gear knife was at his throat a split second later, much to the amusement of the Marines watching their interaction.
“Point taken,” Mercer grinned. “Now put that antique away before I shove it up your ass.”
Sara landed Alpha Drop Ship as near to the entrance as she deemed safe. She had set it down so the exit, and return, would be a straight shot. Releasing the hatch locks, and lowering the hatch, she made a final check of her com unit. “You reading me, Charlie?”
“You bet, Sara,” Mercer replied, as he allowed a Marine to guide Jake out first, with a blaster to his head, and Taskoroff walking on the other side. “We’re on our way out. Keep her warmed up for us.”
“Will do, Charlie,” Sara chuckled. “Major Johnson, I’ll be closing the hatch up shortly. As soon as I get word from Charlie, Tim will wipe out everything breathing around the ship. The hatch will drop, and you will need to move quick.”
“We’ll be ready, Major,” Johnson said, as he hung back with the rest of the Marines. They could not be seen without actually stepping inside the ship.
A delegation of Earth Command staff met Taskoroff and the squad of Marines outside the Alpha Drop Ship. The leader of the Earth Command group stepped forward with his hands clasped behind his back. He wore a dark brown Earth Command uniform with billed officer’s hat and insignia of General in the special corps. Jake saw the Earth Command General wore rows of ribbons for medals Jake doubted even existed. The man stared up into Jake’s face, with the appearance of a mustachioed bulldog: all jowls and skin folds. His dark complexioned face and equally dark eyes gave no indication of anything but arrogant boredom.
Taskoroff snapped to attention, after glancing back at Mercer, who smiled, and patted the pocket of his armored top. Taskoroff saluted the General, who haphazardly returned the salute as he continued to stare at Jake.
“I’m happy to see you again, General Hassan,” Taskoroff said stiffly, reciting his practiced script convincingly. “As you can see, we have Matthews here. May I present my Chief of Staff, Major Charles Mercer.”
Mercer stepped up next to Taskoroff, and saluted the General, while holding at attention.
The General glanced at Mercer curiously. “Are you not the one who went down into the nests with this man?”
“Yes Sir,” Mercer answered smartly, ending his salute.
“Yet now you are Colonel Taskoroff s Chief of Staff,” Hassan said, as he clasped his hands behind him once again, and walked over in front of Mercer. “Do you not owe this man some loyalty?”
“I follow orders, Sir,” Mercer replied. “I was told he would be turned over as a traitor to Earth Command, and he is most definitely a traitor to Earth Command.”
Hassan nodded. “Very well then, hand the traitor over to the men with me, and this unpleasantness will be at an end.”
“Sir,” Taskoroff put in, and Hassan turned to him.
“Yes, Colonel?”
“Matthews made a deal with the United States to turn himself over of his own volition if he could first see his wife, and she would then accompany us back to the US,” Taskoroff replied.
Hassan shook his head slowly, looking down for a moment. “That will not be possible, Colonel. Earth Command Council has decided to keep Lieutenant Byers-Matthews. You will be permitted to see her in the council chamber, but then you must go. Take the Intrepid to the US, and inform them of our decision. If they protest, simply tell them to have their ambassadors contact us. They can file a grievance with the council at a later date.”
Hassan returned to stand in front of Jake again, who stared straight ahead over the five foot eight inch frame of Hassan. Mercer saw an evil, knowing glint come into the man’s eyes as he addressed Jake. “We most definitely will allow you to see your wife though, Matthews. I hope you will not be too disappointed. She was not as cooperative as we had hoped for.”
Hassan turned his back on the group, and with a condescending wave, he motioned for the group to follow him. Mercer exchanged a glance with Jake, who nodded imperceptibly, with one of the deadliest looks Mercer had ever seen. He leaned over to Taskoroff, and whispered.
“You’re doing fine T. Don’t forget, if you get any ideas, you won’t die like the rest. Take the lead.”
Taskoroff nodded, and led the Intrepid contingent on the heels of the Earth Command group. Mercer looked around, turning his head slowly. He could see a couple of hundred soldiers fanned out nonchalantly, as if they were only on breaks from their duties, but he noticed they
were all armed to the teeth. He panned his helmet cam so Sara and Tim could get a good look at the outside defenses as he walked next to Taskoroff.
“Thanks for the view, Charlie,” Sara’s hushed voice said in his ear. “Tim’s plotting fire patterns even as we speak. That was a close one. I thought for a moment there Jake was going to burst right out of the energy cuffs.”
“That makes two of us,” Mercer whispered as he walked. “I think there’s going to be a small change of plans, so stay hot.”
“You bet.”
As they made their way through the entrance of the mammoth building, more soldiers appeared around them, to look over the small group of Marines from the Intrepid. The main council chamber was housed on the ground floor of the Earth Command Headquarters, just inside the entrance to the Complex. General Hassan and his group led the way inside the council chambers.
The sealed doors to the council chamber opened as the motion detectors sensed the approaching party, to reveal a huge multi-tiered meeting room. A lectern faced out at the rest of the General Assembly Area. Twelve men were seated at the long, upraised lectern, dressed in Earth Command military uniforms. But for soldiers grouped at the entrance, numbering about fifty, no other people were in attendance. Hassan’s group led the way down to the area right in front of the council lectern, where an oval area was set up for individual speaking, either out to the assembly, or up at the council lectern. An enhanced audio scan enabled the voices of anyone speaking within the oval area to be amplified and heard easily by both the council and general assembly.
When Hassan reached the oval speaking area, he gestured for the others accompanying him to be seated nearby. Hassan waited for Jake to be brought down in his familiar pose of head up, and hands clasped behind his back. As the last of the Marine squad escorting Jake walked onto the oval area, Hassan gestured for them to stop. Looking up at the twelve impassive faces seated at the council lectern, Hassan smilingly pointed at Jake.
“Our Colonel Taskoroff has brought the criminal Matthews before us here today for questioning, and eventual judgment,” Hassan said with an imperious tone. “We will soon have the rebel Risling in custody too, and this latest act of colonial treachery will be at an end.”
The representative from the Sudan, who acted as the Earth Command President, nodded in agreement. His country, Sudan, remained an impoverished dictatorship, and still regularly looked the other way, as Arab slave traders enslaved thousands of its citizens, just as they had done for centuries. He acted as the puppet leader of the assembly. The United Arab Emirate, which held the real reigns of power, used a twelve-member panel of third world representatives from the poorest countries on Earth to act as a front for them. The United States had been voted out of all positions of any real power, and its ambassadors were allowed only to speak to the assembly on an advisory basis.
Earth Command President, Teacupi Atton, spoke after glancing around at his fellow puppets. “That is indeed good news, General Hassan. We have it on good authority the fuel cell shipments will be back up to expectations very soon. Why are these men here with the traitor Matthews?”
Hassan looked back at Taskoroff, and gestured for him to answer the question. Taskoroff stepped forward, and Mercer kept by his side.
“If it please the council,” Taskoroff intoned. “The United States government obtained the surrender of General Matthews on the condition he could see his wife, and procure her release in exchange for his internment by the Earth Council. I understood this to have been agreed upon by the council. If.”
“I have informed the Colonel,” Hassan interrupted impatiently, “that this exchange will not take place. I am having his wife brought before Matthews here in the council chambers, and then they will both be held for interrogation. We will need her as a bargaining chip to secure the traitor’s continued cooperation.”
“Of course,” Teacupi Atton agreed, nodding in affirmation with the rest of his fellow council members. “Surely Colonel, the United States must realize they have no jurisdiction over these matters, and must abide by the council’s judgment. They should not have made such a request to begin with. As General Hassan explained, the parameters of this have changed.”
Jake turned his head slowly, to glance back at his Marine guard, who held his blaster at Matthews’ head. “Get ready, Vic.”
The Marine nodded, a grim smile his answer, as he tightened the grip on his weapon. Taskoroff snapped to attention before the council, and Mercer followed suit. Both men stepped back. A few moments later, the hatch at the rear left side of the chamber hissed open, and two soldiers escorted a limping Adrian Byers-Matthews into the chamber. Jake’s hands clenched into fists, as he saw her swollen face, and bandaged arms. The soldiers walked her into the oval area, to stand in front of Jake. Adrian looked up to him through eyes almost swollen shut. Her mouth turned up grotesquely at the corners of her lips, which were cut, and three times their normal size.
“Hi Honey,” She slurred.
Jake glanced back at Mercer and nodded. Mercer hit the button at his belt, and in the split second it took to reach for his own weapon, Jake beheaded both soldiers with his gear knife. While their headless corpses spurted blood, and weaved comically around before falling, Jake pulled Adrian off of her feet and down to the council floor. As the Marines opened fire on the soldiers at the entrance, Jake plucked the screaming General Hassan from his feet and slammed him into the lectern headfirst. He covered Adrian’s body with his own, as he hurried behind the lectern, carrying her as he would a child.
He set her down behind the lectern gently, eyeing the cringing council members, who huddled there too. Jake touched Adrian’s face gently. “Don’t look, Honey.”
In the meantime, after he released Jake, Mercer put in his call. “Let her rip Tim, we’re rolling right now.”
Mercer fired alongside his handpicked squad, and they did not disappoint him. They killed without hesitation, and with each blast, another soldier at the door died. Taskoroff had dived to the floor and covered his head, as he had been told to do. Mercer could hear bloodcurdling screams from behind him, but he could not do any more than risk a glance back. When he could see no danger, he returned to the job at hand. The Earth Command soldiers died in the first five minutes of conflict, and the Marines sustained only one man wounded in the shoulder.
The noise of the battle, taking place outside the chamber, could not be heard through the soundproofed walls of the chamber. An eerie silence reigned within, as the Marines stayed behind the first row of seats, keeping all hatches in the chamber under observation. Mercer crawled around the lectern, switching off his helmet cam, as he continued in the same direction he had seen Jake take his wife. He found Jake, covered in blood, with a protective arm around Adrian. Jake smiled when he saw who it was, and lowered his knife. Mercer looked beyond Jake to the bloody harvest of disemboweled and maimed corpses behind the lectern. Mercer smiled.
“Well, I can see we won’t have to waste valuable time taking prisoners for interrogation,” Mercer observed comically, while he handed Jake a blaster.
Jake picked up Adrian carefully from under the lectern, and stood up. Adrian put her arms around his neck, grimacing slightly because of the injuries. “I have one left to question. Hassan’s still alive.”
Mercer put up his finger, and then handed Jake a headset. ‘Tea, Sara, go ahead,” Mercer said. “The Chamber is secure.”
“Good deal,” Corey replied. “Major Johnson is outside the Chamber, and the first floor is secure. The only things Tim left living out here are a couple of flowers. You all can come out now. Do you need medical aid?”
“One walking wounded, and Jake will be carrying his wife,” Mercer replied. “We’ll be out as soon as we secure our prisoner.”
“See you on the outside, Charlie. Nicely done. Did you get all that, Major Johnson?”
“Yes Ma’am,” Johnson replied. “We’re in position to escort the Chamber party.”
Chapter 25
&n
bsp; Earth Command
Hassan felt as if his face were on fire, as Mercer woke him up with open handed slaps to his face, which whipped Hassan’s head from one side to another. When he cried out, Mercer paused. “Wakey, wakey, my little man.”
Hassan felt the bandage over his head. It ached ferociously, as his eyes began to water from the pain. He could feel the slight hum of a craft under his back. Sitting up carefully, he looked around, trying to avoid moving his neck. Over a thousand Marines were seated around him. He saw they wore the flag of the United States of America as a shoulder patch instead of the baby blue Earth Command patch. Taskoroff was seated next to a smiling Mercer.
“What is the meaning of this, Colonel?” Hassan accused. He saw Taskoroff cringe just before Mercer’s openhanded blow smashed Hassan onto his back again.
Hassan screamed out in a high-pitched voice, which caused the Marines to start laughing. They all knew Hassan had ordered the torture of Jake’s wife. Hassan had not cared to know the fact Adrian had returned on the Intrepid to begin with, for the express purpose of administering to the wounded Marines. Many of the men on the Alpha Drop Ship had also been on the botched Earth Command mission to Bougainville. They had been taken off the Intrepid just before Taskoroff ordered the Intrepid to proceed to Earth Command, where he subsequently turned Adrian over to the council. Only the promise of this mission by the President himself had kept the Marines from a rogue operation to get her back.
Mercer pulled Hassan back up to a sitting position. “You think that hurt, you little pussy? Wait until I introduce you to Mr. Snappy.”
Taskoroff unconsciously moved away from Mercer, who noticed the Colonel’s movement, and laughed uproariously. He let go of Hassan and sat back down next to Taskoroff, putting his arm around Taskoroff s shoulders as if they were good friends. “T, where ya goin’? You and me are a team now. You don’t ever have to see Mr. Snappy again, do you?”
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