Taskoroff shook his head violently in the negative. Hassan could see the man’s hands tremble, as they were locked in front of him on his lap, clasped tightly to control the shaking.
“No S…Sir,” Taskoroff stammered. “Just tell me…anything…anything…”
Mercer clapped him on the back good naturedly, as the Marines within hearing listened to the master at work. Looking back over to Hassan, Mercer disengaged himself from Taskoroff, and moved closer to Hassan. “It was all I could do to keep Jake from carving you up when his wife told him you had ordered her beaten. You ain’t going to live through this, you worthless piece of shit, but you can make your demise a much more mundane experience if you cooperate fully. The US still is a little backwards about torturing yellow bastards like you, but us folks from out in the colonies don’t get upset by stuff like that. We’re more of an eye for an eye group, so we will have everything you know before we get to the US.”
“I will tell you nothing,” Hassan hissed, moving back away from
Mercer.
Before he went more than a few feet, the Marine named Vic, who had been Jake’s guard, dropped down from where he was seated. In an instant, the young Marine had a razor sharp knife under Hassan’s right ear. With one quick swipe, he was holding the ear in his hand. Hassan screamed again, clasping his hands over the bloody spot where his ear had been. Vic stood up and threw the man’s ear down next to Hassan. He looked straight at Mercer then, and came to attention.
“Sorry Sir,” the young Marine said. “Lieutenant Matthews saved my brother’s life on the way back from Bougainville. When I saw what this turd did to her…I…I lost it. I’ll turn myself in when we get back to the US.”
Mercer smiled, and looked around at the other seated Marines. “Anyone know what Private McClure is talking about?”
There was some laughter, and a chorus of no’s. The whimpering Hassan had curled up on the floor. Mercer stood up and walked over to McClure, and gestured for him to sit back down. McClure saluted, and returned to his seat. One of the other Marines had already pulled one of the first aid kits down from the Drop Ship wall, and brought it over. Mercer held up Hassan while the other Marine applied a compress dressing to Hassan’s damaged ear area.
“I guess you know now to just keep your mouth shut until I ask you something,” Mercer said with a grin. “You’re lucky you didn’t see what Jake did to your little dupes on the Earth Command council. I’d take you back to have a look, but my deck gunner buddy, Tim Dougherty, made it into a big pile of ash. You all won’t be having any meetings there any time soon. Uh oh, here comes Jake, my little man, and he don’t look happy.”
Hassan squinted up and watched as Jake’s imposing figure walked purposely towards him, with a shorter red haired Lieutenant beside him. Jake’s fists were clenched so tightly, the tendons stood out plainly through his uniform, almost mimicking the fury radiating from his face. He saw the bloody ear lying on the floor, and the new bandage added to Hassan’s head.
“It seems, General,” Jake observed coldly, “my men have been entertaining you properly.”
Dougherty brushed by Jake in a flash, and kicked Hassan under the chin so hard, his whole body lifted off the floor, before he crashed back down, unconscious. Mercer grabbed Dougherty, as he lifted his booted foot up over Hassan’s unmoving head.
“Easy, Tim,” Mercer said, as Dougherty turned on him. When he saw who it was holding him, the tension drained from him.
“Jesus, Charlie,” Tim whispered, staring back down at the Earth Command General’s body. “You…you just don’t know what this thing did to her.”
Jake stood over the body, staring down with a hate pulsing from him in almost tangible waves. “They wanted her to make a video disc, imploring me to come back and give myself up. She wouldn’t do it, even when Hassan had them burn her all over her body. They broke the bones in her fingers and arms, and still she refused.”
Jake looked up at his friends. “The President has ordered Hassan brought before him, and the Congressional leaders. We just received word from Jas on the Intrepid. They’re ecstatic about the operation at the former Earth Command. It was beamed live to the US, and Jas says the people are rejoicing all over. Even the President was taken aback by the reaction on the streets. When Tim blew the headquarters to kingdom come, America went wild.”
“Well, I guess it will be up to you now,” Mercer replied. “I never figured this prick had anything to say of any interest to us. Jack told me the US would like to know the location of some critical weapons caches, but I figure they can find out about them from someone else. If you all would have restrained yourselves for a moment, I could have let Mr. Snappy say a few words of encouragement to the General here, and he’d be telling us his life’s story.”
“Sorry,” Tim said sheepishly to Jake and Charlie. “I forgot about Mr. Snappy.”
Mercer took out the cylindrical device named Mr. Snappy, and polished it on his uniform tunic. “No harm done, Tim. We’ll just have to take the scenic route back to the US.”
Major Corey, the Executive Officer of the Intrepid, sat next to Colonel Jason Peters, her commanding officer. They piloted the Intrepid’s Alpha Drop Ship down to the landing zone near the congressional building in Washington DC. They were to accompany Jake, Mercer, Dougherty, and the rest of the Marines who had gone on the Earth Command Headquarters mission, into the House of Representatives, where they would present General Hassan. They had both visited with Adrian Byers-Matthews on board the Intrepid, and they were all agreed: Hassan would not live.
They looked out at the tens of thousands of people, waiting to greet them like celebrities. Amongst the sea of red, white, and blue waving flags of the United States, the two pilots chuckled and pointed to the thousands of Jake Matthews in the nest t-shirts. Shutting down the craft, they exited into the rear of the ship, where over a thousand Marines waited in dress uniforms to disembark. Near the rear exit hatch, Jake, Mercer, and Dougherty waited stiffly in their starched uniforms for the two pilots. Just in front of them, cringing at every movement Mercer made, was the Earth Command’s General Hakam Hassan.
“You look great, guys,” Corey stated emphatically.
“I was less nervous going down into the nest,” Mercer quipped.
Colonel Peters laughed, and walked over to the hatch control. “Shallwe?”
Jake nodded. “I guess we’re as ready as we ever will be.”
“I know my new bitch Hassy’s ready, right buddy?” Mercer said, putting a hand on the shaking General’s shoulder.
“I…I am ready,” Hassan whimpered. “I will do…I mean…I…”
“Shut up, asshole,” Dougherty snarled through clenched teeth. “It’s too bad we didn’t have a few more days to get here.”
Hassan immediately stood stock still without moving. Jake smiled at Dougherty. They had both stayed away from Hassan while Mercer retrained him. Dougherty’s attitude at being so close to Hassan, reflected Jake’s own feelings. Mercer had obtained everything the United States leaders had claimed to be interested in, and had it all outlined on a disc to give them. Mercer had wanted to let Hassan do a space walk without a suit; but the suggestion was vetoed reluctantly by Jake. Having given his word to bring Hassan before the President and Congress, Jake did not want to be responsible for showing up without him, and then be faced with an item of information they should have asked him.
Colonel Peters opened the hatch, and Jake held back with Mercer and Hassan, letting Peters, Corey, and Dougherty lead the other Marines off the ship as planned. The thousands thronged around the ship, and along the pathway, set up a virtual wall of sound as the giant vid screens showed Jake’s party disembark. Mercer pointed upwards to draw Jake’s attention to the vid screens as they exited the ship. Jake saw the crews taping the event had been waiting for them to come out, and close-ups of him and Mercer made the din of applause double. Mercer laughed and pointed at the tee shirts of Jake in the nest on Omaha, covered in chamber fluid, b
lowing the Queen’s head off.
Although the path to the Congressional building was lined with security people, some of the crowd would break through periodically, running up to Jake and Mercer, and shaking their hands. As Major Johnson had warned them, Jake and Mercer were the most recognized people on Earth right now. Some tried to get at General Hassan, who was infamous for his actions at Earth Command. Everyone in the country knew it had been Hassan, who had ordered the botched Bougainville mission. Jake and Mercer good-naturedly fended off the well-wishers’ attacks on their prisoner.
The relatively new Congressional building was the prototype of the former Earth Command Headquarters. The Marines were dismissed at the entrance by Major Johnson, who had been leading them, and they happily were enveloped by family and friends in the crowd. Johnson turned and gave a little wave to Jake, mouthing the words ‘good luck’ before walking over to embrace his family, a woman holding a little boy in her arms. Their escort led the rest of the landing party into the building, and on to the huge inner amphitheater, filled with members of the United States House of Representatives, and Senate. The only difference Jake could see from the Earth Command Headquarters was the huge gallery area, where thousands of citizens watched the meetings first hand, and were now on their feet cheering.
Jake, and his now small party, followed their guides down to the audio stage, which operated in the same manner as the Earth Command’s once did. The President, Vice President, and the respective leaders of the House of Representatives and Senate, were standing behind the lectern, applauding as loudly as the gallery. Jake, as well as the small group with him now, had been briefed by Major Johnson as to the identities of the leaders at the lectern.
President Miles Constantine was a man of average height, a bit portly around the waistline, and very dark of skin color. His clean-shaven face was split in a huge smile, which Jake could see carried to his eyes. Vice President Omar Shakir, although a full head taller than President Constantine, appeared to weigh about the same. He sported a full beard, and his jet black hair was combed straight back. The leader of the Senate, who Johnson referred to as the Senate Majority leader, seemed dwarfed by the larger men next to him. His graying hair framed a thin, tightlipped, pale face. Johnson had warned Jake to be careful of this diminutive man, named Rom Datskell. The leader of the House of Representatives, Nelson Rodrigues, or Speaker of the House, as Johnson had explained, was a jovial overweight man of above average height, who Jake liked instinctively.
President Constantine held up his hands finally for quiet.
“We welcome today a group of honest to God heroes, ladies and gentlemen,” Constantine intoned in a deep, base voice. “Please, General Matthews, introduce your group.”
“Thank you, Sir,” Jake replied. “My Chief of Staff, Charles Mercer, accompanied me on every mission, including the battle for Omaha long ago. I owe him my life.”
The gallery cheered wildly, as Mercer stepped forward and waved atthem.
“This gentleman,” Jake said, indicating Tim Dougherty, “is Lieutenant Tim Dougherty. He worked the Drop Ship turret gun, and Major Sara Corey, next to him, flew with me on every Drop Ship mission since I was a boot camp jarhead the first time on Omaha. Sara is now the Executive Officer of the Intrepid. They are the best of the best.”
After long moments of thunderous applause, with Dougherty and Corey waving self-consciously, Jake walked up next to Colonel Peters.
“Colonel Jason Peters commands the Intrepid. He also flew the Command Wing Fighter, which broke the Alien attack, and blew up the first Alien battleship in what may be an interplanetary war. Without him, Charlie and I, along with a whole company of our Nest Marines, would have been Bug food.”
The gallery and members of the Congress applauded the group until President Constantine quieted them once again. “Thank you, General. I have been told your wife was gravely injured during her incarceration, but is recovering well on the Intrepid. We wish her the best.”
“Sir,” Jake acknowledged before the now hushed chamber. “My wife Adrian was tortured brutally by the monster there in front of Major Mercer. If not for your request to question him, he would already be dead. Major Mercer will give you a disc outlining the answers to your questions regarding Earth Command weapons caches, and troop strength. We have determined Earth Command Council was merely a puppet of the United Arab Emirate, and Earth Command is far behind the United States technologically.”
Mercer walked up to the lectern, and handed the disc to President Constantine, with a knowing grin. “Everything that rat knows is on the disc, Sir, believe me. If you or your other leaders here have a question outside the realm of what you outlined the first time, just ask. I’ll get him to answer before we take him with us.”
Constantine took the disc, and nodded at Mercer. “Thank you Major, I don’t.”
“Mr. President,” Datskill interrupted in a silky, oily voice. “I must insist on General Hassan remaining with us. His crimes were committed on Earth, and therefore.”
Boos cascaded loudly from the gallery, drowning out Datskill, until Constantine gestured them to silence once again. Constantine spoke to Mercer questioningly. “Major Mercer, does the Earth Command have any interplanetary vessels developed, or missile capabilities we don’t know about? We are very worried about what has been hidden over the last couple of decades, since we were voted off of the Security Council.”
Mercer turned and walked down to Hassan, who had been gathering his composure a bit, to the point where he had begun to stand a bit more haughtily. The United Arab Emirate owned Datskill politically, and Hassan took hope in the other leaders’ attitudes. He knew if he could remain in the United States, he could eventually be returned to his country. Stepping away from the approaching Mercer, Hassan held up his hands to the US leaders.
“I have been the one brutally tortured,” Hassan whined.
Jake grabbed Mercer, as Charlie went for Hassan angrily. “Easy Charlie,” Jake whispered to him, as the gallery reacted with another chorus of angry shouts and gestures. “Let the little prick speak.”
Mercer relaxed reluctantly, fingering Mr. Snappy with an almost tangible regret.
“I was tortured into making that disc,” Hassan continued loudly, seizing his chance. “Does the United States now condone torture? I am an Earth Command leader, and I demand my rights. I wish to be returned to my country immediately.”
Jake pulled Mercer back with him to where their friends waited. Their disbelief at what was happening ran parallel to the derisive hoots and hollers from the gallery. Jake opened the middle three buttons of his tunic, as Constantine struggled for order. Long moments later, after Congressional ushers went amongst the crowd, imploring the gallery to sit down, Constantine spoke again to Jake.
“Are these charges true, General?”
“Let me answer that question this way, Sir,” Jake said, as with split second precision, he pulled the gear knife out from its hidden sheath in his tunic, and with one powerful movement of his arm, he planted it to the hilt in Hassan’s forehead.
The force of the blow propelled Hassan straight back off of his feet, and flat on his back to the floor, where his body twitched in its death throes, with Jake’s gear knife hilt sticking up grotesquely from Hassan’s head. A stunned hush accompanied Jake as he calmly walked up to the still shivering body, and put his foot on Hassan’s throat. With one jerk upward, Jake plucked his gear knife free with a sickening wet sound. In silence, so total, it hung like a blanket in the air, Jake wiped the blade clean on the deceased Earth Command General’s shirt.
Mercer turned with a big smile to look at his other equally satisfied companions. “Now that’s entertainment.”
Dougherty was the first to lose his composure, breaking into uncontrolled laughter. Soon, the four colonial military friends were all consumed in a fit of hilarity, which brought the tears running down their faces. Jake walked back over to them, returning his knife to its sheath. He glanced at them curiously a
s he buttoned his tunic. By this time the gallery surged to their feet with pumping fists, and the din of their applause drowned out all efforts to quiet them.
“What are you hyena’s laughing at?” Jake asked his friends, which set up a renewed fit of laughter.
“You don’t even know what a hyena is, Jake,” Mercer laughed, pounding Jake on the back. “God, that was a great throw. We’re all going to be killed, aren’t we?”
“Maybe,” Jake acknowledged, looking up at the cheering gallery, and around at the stunned, silent faces of the congressional representatives. The leaders at the lectern were waving their hands at the crowd, trying to regain order. Members of the congressional security force moved down towards Jake’s group.
Jake stepped away from his colleagues and held up his hands. The gallery quieted immediately. He walked up in front of the lectern. “I’m sorry, Sir, but Hassan had to pay for his crimes. You have traitors in your midst. Charlie here uncovered quite a bit of information from Hassan about Vice President Shakir, and Senate Majority Leader Datskill. I.”
“I protest these unsubstantiated accusations,” Datskill screamed, interrupting Jake.
“Surely,” Shakir joined in, “you cannot take the words of torturers, against the word of United States citizens. Any information gathered in such circumstances should be discarded. Arrest these people immediately.”
As the security force moved to comply with the Vice President’s orders, the entrances to the congressional chambers became jammed with Marines. After watching what had taken place inside on the video screens outside the building, Johnson and his Marines had rushed aboard the Alpha Drop Ship. They had armed themselves with particle beam weapons, and rushed through the wild crowds, surging toward the entrance. One look at the armed Marines, numbering over a thousand, and the security force around the entrance to the building stepped out of their way. Now they streamed through the entrances, with weapons at the ready. The security force members stopped in their tracks, and turned to face the Marines, as congressional leaders huddled in terror by their seats. The gallery above cheered the Marines on. Major Johnson walked down the aisle, through the security force members, with a squad of Marines led by Private McClure. He stopped to shake hands with Jake, a big smile forming.
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