Truth of the Children

by Adam DiSalvo

  “That’s what I’m talking about!” exclaimed one from the back.

  Cordon pointed at him.

  “You know it!” he responded.

  Marcus leaned his head back. The pressure upon the metal warped the back of the desk with a pop. Marcus froze. Each soldier grabbed for their weapon and trained it on the desk concealing Marcus.

  “Voice message!” hailed Cordon.

  Dead silence.

  Cordon motioned to the other soldiers to fan out around the desk, its silhouette cast upon the wall in front of Marcus.

  “Voice message!” called Cordon once more.

  Still silence. The lights and lasers from their weapons danced along the wall. The groups slow creep towards the desk proceeded in quiet.

  “Voice message!” Cordon yelled once more.

  “Call back!” screamed Chandra lowering her cloak and firing her weapon.

  Her rounds struck the first two combatants closest to her.

  “Contact! Contact!” cried one soldier. “On our si—“

  Chandra caved in the alerting snatcher's face as she dashed across the room, cloaking once more as she went.

  “I can’t see it!” yelled another soldier.

  “It’s got a cloak!” roared Cordon.

  Automatic weapons fire strobed through the room. Marcus covered his head getting as low as possible under the desk.

  “Three down!”

  Her enemie’s fire chased Chandra though the room shredding everything between the squads and their target. Wood chips and metal pieces splintered in every direction.

  “How can it have a fucking cloak?”

  “It’s fucking illuminated!” yelled Cordon over the gunfire.

  “Fuck! Kill it! Kill it! Kill it!”

  Chandra’s image faded in and out of the visual spectrum to the mussel flash of assault rifles. Two snatchers were caught in the cross fire as she grabbed a third and tossed him into the group. Cordon side stepped the flying soldier and squeezed his trigger. Rounds impacted on Chanda’s face plates kicking her head back. She returned fire sending Cordon diving for cover.

  “Get a shockwave!" he screamed after landing. “Detonate danger close!”

  Bullets criss-crossed through the room. The clouds of smoke and dust grew thick. Chandra took a few more rounds pressing into the group to grab another combatant. She spun breaking the soldiers back while kicking another, assault rifles rounds still impacting on her armor plates.

  “It won’t go down!”

  “Loading mark-two three grenade!”

  Marcus spied the snatcher loading a ballistic grenade into the chamber below his rile barrel. The man racked the grenade round and brought it to bear in Chandra’s direction.

  “Everyone down! Firing grena—“

  Marcus rolled from his cover, spraying rounds down range at the soldier aiming the explosive weapon. Three rounds struck him, tracking up his leg. The dispatched fighter spun to the ground firing the grenade into the ceiling, caving it in. Concrete and metal pipes fell from above filling the room with plumes of dust. Nothing moved in the aftershock of calm.

  “Spear tip one five! Sound off!” called Cordon through the haze.

  “Cordon!” Marcus yelled squeezing off rounds into the clouds of dust. “Where are you?"

  “What the fuck?” Cordon exclaimed, blind-firing back over debris.

  A few surviving snatches pried themselves from the wreckage.

  “Where’s the target?” demanded Cordon.

  Marcus fired another burst.

  “Where the fuck is the target?” he barked again, firing once more.

  “I can’t see anything!” yelled one snatcher through the plumes.

  Marcus spied a staggering snatcher. He aimed down sights and squeezed the trigger. Nothing happened. He scrambled for another magazine only to be tackled by another snatcher. The two fell to the floor.

  “Over here!” he cried before sustaining a viscous knee to the ribs.

  Marcus followed up the attack with a ferocious ground and pound, breaking away the man’s teeth and crushing his nose.

  “Cordon!” Marcus bellowed again pulling the snatchers sidearm from its holster.

  He fired again through the dust.

  “Traitor! I’m going to fucking kill you!”

  Rounds wizzed through the air to Marcus's left. He returned fire striking another snatcher who fell into a heap.

  “Who the fuck?” Cordon murmured.

  The sound of more vehicles pulling up came from behind the building.

  Cordon’s radio chirped.

  “Spear tip one five. Sit rep.”

  Cordon grabbed his radio mic.

  “We got hostiles!” he screamed. "Get the fuck in here!”

  Cordon turned as Marcus descended upon him through the haze. Cordon aimed his weapon only to be disarmed as Marcus delivered a viscous kick to his chest. Marcus dashed after him only to have both legs swept up by one of Cordon’s comrades. Marcus wrestled with him as the two crashed down. Cordon dove for his weapon, picking it up from the ground. Marcus responded by delivering a crushing elbow to his assailant and dragging the helpless snatcher onto his side. Rounds dug into the snatchers back as Marcus rolled them over. Chandra’s avatar burst from under the debris.

  “Marcus!’ she cried rising to her feet.

  Sparks flew as Cordon tuned his weapon on Chandra striking her in the chest and stomach. She weathered the storm of bullets closing the distance, curling up Cordon in her grasp. In a whirl of force she pried Cordon's weapon from his fist and placed it against his head.

  “Marcus!” Chandra called out.

  “Fuck!” he responded.

  A snatcher emerged from the clouds with Marcus at gun point.

  “Voicemail,” called someone from outside.

  “Call back! Get the fuck in here! They’re in he—!"

  Chandra rapped Cordon on the side of the head splitting it open.

  “Fucking let him go!” spat the snatcher holding Marcus.

  “Fuck him, Chandra! Kill that piece of shit!” countered Marcus struggling with his aggressor.

  “Marcus Steelmane?” exclaimed a shocked Cordon.

  “I’ll fucking kill him!” threatened Marcus’s captor placing his weapon against Marcus’s jaw.

  Cordon tried to wrench himself away but, Chandra’s strength was too great.

  “Just fucking shoot him Chandra!"

  “Get the fuck in here!” called Cordon to his comrades. “It’s Marcus Steelmane!"

  Chandra dragged Cordon towards the center of the room in between the exit and Marcus. She faced the door, turning her back to her friend’s captor.

  “Do not let him live!” Marcus demanded. "Chandra?”

  Marcus’s aggressor pointed his weapon at Chandra’s back. Her machine augmented awareness harnessed the opportunity. Without turning her gaze from the door, Chandra reached back and fired her weapon into the face of the snatcher holding Marcus, spraying blood across Marcus's face.

  “Go!” she barked, placing the her weapon back against Cordon’s face. “Go!”

  Marcus dashed for the door as a shockwave grenade flew into the destroyed room. The weapon detonated as he cleared the threshold.

  “Fuck!” Marcus cried.

  He took off sprinting pulling his light from his pants pocket. Clamoring voices filled the room behind him. His heavy footsteps combined with his breath echoed through the empty hallway. He activated his light and grit his teeth.

  “Come on!” he urged himself struggling to stay running. “Almost there! Almost there!”

  The fresh reinforcements stepped into the hallway behind him.

  “Target down range! Fire! Fire! Fire!”

  Bullets chipped away at the cement corner of the hallway as Marcus slid around it. He hit the wall at speed and shot back to his feet maintaining his wild dash down the next hall.

  “Pursue! Pursue!" cried one of the reinforcements.

  A calamity of boots f
lowed down the hallway behind Marcus. He crashed against a double barred door and slid a key into the first lock. The bar dropped to the floor.

  “Stack up! Stack up!” came another voice just around the corner behind him.

  Marcus inserted the key into the second lock.

  “Go! Go! Go!” yelled the voice again.

  Snatchers stepped around the corner firing at their fleeing target. The rounds broke upon the wall and door as the last bar hit the ground and Marcus slipped through. He wove through the narrowing passage with a caravan of flickering laser designators close behind him. He turned the last corner to find a waiting transport.

  “Thank the goddess!” he exclaimed slamming into the driver door.

  He opened it and jumped in. He lowered the sun visor and the key card dropped down.

  “Yes! Two for two!”

  The parade of lasers fanned out behind him.

  “C’mon! There for three! Three for three! Three for three!” he prayed.

  The motor turned over.

  “Yes!” Marcus yelled.

  He ducked as rounds smashed through the back window and he slammed the accelerator. The headlights snapped on as the vehicle side swiped the wall and tore down the dark underground road.

  “Shit!” cried one of his pursuers as Marcus sped away. “Fuck!"

  When the last round had clipped the vehicle Marcus sat up straight. He slammed his hand on the steering wheel wearing a gritty expression of satisfaction.

  “Okay. Now to just get the fuck out of here.” he mused looking through his rear view mirror.

  Marcus kept the accelerator depressed to the floor as he reached behind the seat. He blindly searched until his hand found what it was looking for. He grinned and pulled a fresh automatic rifle from behind the seat. He reached back again two more times and pulled out four magazines and placed them on the seat next to him. He then removed and fresh tac and plate vest. He maintained the vehicle's pace as he slipped the gear onto his torso. He loaded one magazine into the rifle and placed it back down on the seat.

  “C’mon, c’mon, c’mon. Where’s the exit?”

  A tiny light appeared on the horizon at the end of the tunnel.

  “There we go.”

  Marcus approached the end of the POE at break neck speed. His legs bounced in anticipation. The smell of the dry, outside air slipped into the cab as he closed the last thousand yards. Gravel now crunched beneath the vehicle as it went. He looked down at the range left in the battery. The display read three miles.

  “Shit! I fucking knew it! I fucking knew this thing would never make it!” cursed Marcus, slamming his fist on the steering wheel. “Fuck!”

  He kept his foot down, barreling the vehicle through to the outside. He shielded his face from the brightening sunlight that paced him through the trees as he raced down the dirt road leading away from the exit. The hailing light flashed on the dashboard.

  “What the fuck? Who would be hailing me?”

  Marcus punched the activation button and waited.

  “Marcus?” came Chandra’s voice over the com.

  “Chandra!” cried Marcus. “Fucking goddess! Is that you? Where are you?”

  “Look up.”

  Drop 2 streaked through the sky above him engaging its cloak.

  “Ha ha!” Marcus rejoiced. “You’re like an angel!"

  “Don’t celebrate yet.” Chandra warned. “We got Imperial fast movers trying to track Drop 2’s heat signature. There’s a pasture up ahead. I’ll touch down there. Be ready to move!”

  Marcus floored the vehicle and rounded the next bend. Drop 2’s landing thrusters fired as it descended from the sky. Marcus pulled the vehicle into a dust filled pasture of dead grass heading straight for Drop 2.

  “Let’s go!” called Chandra through the speakers in the cab. “Sixty seconds until those fast movers are on us!”

  Marcus slid the transport to a halt and leapt out, his new rifle in hand. The hatch of Drop 2 opened and out leaned Chandra with a new avatar.

  “Move it!” Chandra screamed before reentering.

  The stairs unfolded, hitting the ground. Marcus stomped up the steps and closed the hatch behind him. He clamored up the ladder and stumbled to the cockpit. Still clutching his weapon, he took a seat next to Chandra. He snapped in the belts.

  “Go! Go! Go!”

  The force of the thrusters snapped the pair back into their seats as they lifted into the sky. With the cloak still engaged they shot towards the interstellar broadcast dish.

  “Chandra, we’ll need an army to free Liyth and Jaithen.” Marcus cautioned.

  Chandra glared. Eyes forward.

  “I am an army."

  CHAPTER 16

  THE ROAR OF splintering spacetime filled Taytha’s helmet and with a concussive flash she emerged from the portal. She brandished her AGR tight in her fist as her boots hit the ground. She aimed the weapon, taking in her surroundings. Taytha stood on the edge of a massive granite satellite dish carved into the floor of a deep valley. The dish was dozens of miles wide with a large antenna building at the center, piercing into the sky. Taytha took a deep breath of terrestrial air. She removed her damaged helmet and inspected it. She sighed just stopping herself from tossing it to the ground. She held it in her hands and rubbed the forehead. She shook it in both hands, fighting back tears.

  “It’s okay. It’s okay,” she assured herself. “I have to do this. You made a promise.”

  She tossed the helmet to the ground and looked around.

  “How the hell do you get into this place?”

  She adjusted the scope on her AGR to ten times zoom and peered through the reticle searching in the distance for a possible entrance. Her head shot back from the sight.

  “Transports?”

  She looked again through the scope. Along the edge of the dish Taytha spotted dozens of transports and a contingent of heavily armed soldiers.

  “What the hell is going on here? What in styx is all that?”

  She adjusted her view and followed a dirt switchback road leading down into the dish to the antenna at the center. At the base of the needle, hidden in the shadow of the surrounding mountains were eight STS craft.

  “Haulers? What are surfaces to space haulers here for?”

  She watched as large white pods were loaded into the transports one by one.

  “What in th—."

  She cut herself off pulling away from the weapon.

  “Computer. How many encrypted channels are currently active.”

  “There are currently three encrypted channels in use.”

  “Three?”

  “Correct,” her onboard suite responded. “One of the channels is Imperial. Would you like to patch in?”

  “Will they know I’m here?”

  “Affirmative. They will see the connection.”

  “Then no. Don’t connect.”

  “Very well.”

  “We need to find an entry point. Computer activate compass on my PDC to guide me to the control room.”

  She looked down at the screen on her left inner forearm. A green arrow appeared on the display pointing her in the direction requested.

  “Perfect.”

  She made her way along the dish, keeping her eye on the group of soldiers. The dish’s edge was ringed with trees and soaring mountains clawing at the sky beyond. The bushes behind her rustled. She pointed her weapon. A smile crossed her face.

  “Goddess how cute are you?” she whispered starring into the creatures eyes.

  Taytha dropped her weapon and crept toward the five foot tall animal. It had a set of thin, fuzzy antlers and four hoofed feet. It’s nose was long and its fur was completely white except for a pattern of black spots on the back of its neck. It blinked watching Taytha approach.

  “You’re not even afraid!” cooed Taytha.

  She reached out for the creature's little face. Its tiny nose moved over her hand taking in her sent. With another step forward, it pressed its head
into Taytha’s palm.

  “I need you. What are you?” she squeaked as she rubbed its spotted coat.

  The creature took another step closer leaning its body into Taytha.

  “Oh you’re friendly,” she praised, rubbing he animal more aggressively. “You’re real friendly. But I have to go. Yes?”

  The creatures head shot up, its antlers hitting Taytha in the face.

  “Hey what th—“

  The white animal went rigid.

  “Hey, you ok?”

  Its head jerked to one side as it stiffened the air again.

  “Easy girl, you’re okay.”

  Taytha froze. The faint sound of all terrain vehicles rippled through the air. In a flash the animal turned and fled deep into the trees. Taytha ducked low and initialized her AGR. The growl of more vehicles joined the first, trailing one another through the brush. The line of six came to a stop fifty feet in front of her cover. They wore identical ZGC suits to the one Taytha adorned when dropping onto Styx.

  “We need to hold here,” suggested one of the scouts. “There’s an allied force heading for orbit from the dish’s center.”

  “What are they doing here?” asked a fellow soldier.

  “Don’t know,” replied the lead scout. "Orders came down from High Dutches Dinasty three days ago. Once they depart we're to cleanse the surface and sub surface."

  “Cleanse?”

  “Eliminate any and all non-Imperial assets.”

  “Death squads?” Taytha murmured to herself. “The fuck?”

  She punched a query into her PDC on her left wrist.

  “Unknown. Of course. My database isn’t updated,” Taytha hissed.

  She adjusted behind her cover to get a better view.

  “Is it true they found an opposition installation underground?” another asked.

  “Reports have confirmed that, yes. We have forces securing it now.”

  “How may people?”

  “Does it matter? You’re under orders.”

  The inquiring soldier looked away.

  “Yes sir.”

  The lines of tress reflected off his polished copper visor as he turned and addressed the group.

  “Listen up! There are some of you who aren’t pleased with our mission parameters. I understand. I need not remind anyone here who our commanding ethers are. Let’s just get this job done and get home to our families.”