War Dogs

by Jan Domagala

  “You’re a bold one Captain Riley, nearly as bold as your Lieutenant there,” Matthias said with a brief laugh. “What you’re actually offering me is plausible deniability if I read between the lines here.”

  “It’s a win, win situation all round, sir,” Jake said.

  “And you want Major Thorn to accompany you, why?”

  “I think he deserves to try and help free Garrison’s family it would give him closure for not being able to help him while he was alive. Now though, he can at least help his family. Also let’s face it General, until he proves he can control his temper, you’ll never feel safe with him around.”

  “Very astute of you Captain.”

  “Like I said sir, it’s a win, win situation.”

  “I like your way of thinking Captain, we could do with more officers like you in the Home Guard.”

  “Thank you, sir, but if I’m not mistaken, you already have one in this room,” Jake told him.

  He saw the General glance quickly at Alex, saw the fear there in his eyes however briefly and knew it would take time for the people of Genotia to get over that fear.

  “Quite,” Matthias said, clearing his throat. “Okay, then he can go. What do you need from me?”

  “Nothing, sir, everything we need is already on board our ship,” Jake replied in an echo of an earlier conversation with General Sinclair.

  “Then I’ll wish you all adieu and good luck,” Matthias said.

  II

  Back on board the Pulsar the Wildfire Team plus one stood on the bridge.

  “Artie plot a course for the Independent Worlds Sector and the nearest outpost of the Orion Cartels,” Jake said.

  “We’re really going to do this then?” asked Joe with a raised eyebrow.

  “We have to Joe,” Jake told him.

  “You really want to go up against a group that we know very little about except that they are hostile and prey on weaker colonies. We don’t even have an idea of their numbers?” Joe reiterated belabouring his point.

  “What’re you getting at here, Joe?” Jake wanted to know, his eyes narrowing in suspicion. Something was bothering his friend and he needed to know if it would affect their mission.

  “Nothing,” Joe said then made to move off. Deciding against it he turned back and said, “We’re going up against odds we’ve never faced before and we’re going alone. This sounds a lot to me like a friggin’ suicide mission.”

  “Joe, you know as well as any of us that any mission we take can be the end of us, so what’s really goin’ on here buddy?” Jake said concern pinching his eyes further.

  Joe looked at his friend and team leader, unable to express what he was feeling into words. He looked away folding his arms before saying, “I don’t know man, I’ve just got a very bad feeling about this.”

  Jake relaxed a little and placed an arm across Joe’s shoulders as he guided him away from the others. “Okay, I think I see what’s happening here. Since we had the serum administered we’ve all gone through some changes. It affects us all differently; in your case it may be enhancing your intuition as well as your physical side. You have to know though that we may be out here alone but we’re not without backup. Artie is our backup, the Pulsar has more firepower than any ship in her class and with Artie in control we have all the sensors and data we could need to mount a full offensive at our command.”

  “I know all that Jake, you know I’m not afraid of going against serious odds with you guys, I’ve done it before and I’ll do it again, it’s just. I don’t know, I have this feeling of dread I’ve never experienced before, I mean real dread.”

  Gina said, “He’s just picking up on the fear General Matthias exhibited when Alex was in his office. Did you not pick up on that? Maybe Joe is just feeling that a little more than we are.”

  Jake and Joe looked at her in surprise, she had walked up to them without them hearing.

  “Enhanced hearing remember guys?” she said with a smile.

  Jake looked at Joe and said, “She could be right. Matthias was really spooked when he looked at Alex.”

  “Of course I’m right,” Gina said with a snort of derision.

  “That would explain everything except why Alex would cause such a reaction from the General,” Jake said, his words trailing off as he was deep in thought.

  “I reckon he gives off some sort of pheromone that triggers fear in others. It was probably why so few could overpower so many in the Separatist War,” Mack suggested.

  “That would explain why it was so hard for them to be reintegrated into the general population. It had nothing to do with the peoples’ reaction to them, it was because they were afraid of them, not of what they were capable of, just physically afraid of them,” Jake said clapping his hands together as he realised the truth.

  They turned to Alex who had remained apart from them as they talked. He was looking at them; he too had heard their conversation and the haunted look in his eyes told Jake he had hit on the truth.

  “I’m right aren’t I, they were afraid of you,” he said.

  “Yes, it was part of the programming of the serum. It made us exude a pheromone that induced fear in others we faced, not in massive amounts but enough to put off those we fought. Unfortunately, we were unable to control it just as we were unable to control the other aspect of the serum. When we returned people began to evade us, they couldn’t stand to be in our presence as it made them uneasy so we were hunted down on the pretence of us being a danger. Garrison knew the truth and wanted to negate the effect of the pheromone so we were herded up to the station. When we were there though it all changed, the rest you know,” he explained sombrely.

  “How much control have you over this effect?” Gina asked quizzically.

  “I wouldn’t say total control just yet, but I’m working on it.”

  “So why do I feel like crap?” Joe shouted angrily.

  Alex held up his hands, “I have no idea,” he said.

  “Not to worry, at least now we know, and it’s something we can use,” Jake said.

  “That’s easy for you to say Boss,” snarled Joe.

  “Yes it is, now pull yourself together man, we have work to do,” admonished Jake.

  He turned away from his team then went to stand before the forward viewscreen near Alex. He said, “Artie how many jumps will it take to reach the Rim?”

  “Approximately ten, sir.”

  “Best get to it then,” Jake said. As he turned to look at Alex he said, “We have to work together on this so whatever you can do to control this thing you do would be appreciated. Leave it ‘til we need it then you can give it all you’ve got, but ‘til then I want it controlled, do I make myself clear?”

  “Perfectly, and I think there’s something else you should know too. When I was on the station I saw the logs that showed someone from the shuttle that had docked earlier talking to Garrison. It was clear they were a member of the Cartel and Garrison handed over a sample of the serum. I think you were right about the Cartel being behind this. What I can’t figure out is why did they want him to change the serum like that?”

  “Do you think they plan on using it as a biological weapon?” Jake asked.

  “If they do it gives us another reason why we have to stop them.”

  “Why didn’t you give us this detail earlier? I think General Matthias would have been pleased to know this fact, don’t you?” Jake asked his eyes wide in surprise.

  “You needed to get here, he needed you here to give him plausible deniability like you said and I was going to get here one way or another so we won all around,” Alex said calmly.

  Jake looked at him with renewed respect.

  Alex smiled then said, “If you need me I’ll be in my quarters.”

  Jake watched Alex leave and saw Joe’s reaction as he walked past him; he actually recoiled slightly. It was an involuntary reaction but it was there.

  This was a new development and it gave them a better insight into Alex Thorn
. He was an asset to this mission of that Jake had no doubt; he just had to keep an eye on the situation. Fear could be a terrible weapon but it was one that could easily backfire.

  15

  Colonel Black sat in the back of the transport. He had been taken to the detention area prior to his being taken to the holding cells before trial. His uniform had been taken away and replaced by prison scrubs, a one-piece lime green jumpsuit.

  His hands and feet were shackled to the seat on which he sat and his mood was dark. He had worked for the Movement since the civil war ended. It had been decided that he would remain working under cover behind the scenes to keep an eye on the government and its plans; it was a decision he was not comfortable with. Had it been left to him he would have preferred to fight out in the open with the rest of the Movement. He was a soldier and all this deep cover shit was not something he liked, it felt cowardly but he had agreed. A decision he was now regretting.

  Along with the guard sitting across from him were two others up front, the driver and the guard who was riding shotgun.

  All he had to look forward to now was a quick trial and the rest of his life in a penal colony somewhere in orbit or on a moon away from the home he loved.

  The detention area was in the heart of the city where he had been taken directly from General Matthias’ office. They were driving through the city streets when he noticed that the guards took note of something happening close by. He turned to look out of the back window, just a small pane of Plexiglas in the rear door of the armoured vehicle, and saw a small sleek roadster flanked by two bikes speeding towards them.

  Inside the transport vehicle Black felt the tension rise as the guards went on high alert. Something was about to go down and it seemed he was going to be in the centre of it.

  A flash from behind the transport caught Black’s eye and he turned in time to see a small missile streaking towards the back of the transport. As the small projectile snaked its way towards them leaving a smoking trail behind it, Black braced himself.

  Unable to move he did the only thing he could, sit and wait for the inevitable.

  Inside the transport the guards also saw the missile and panic took over. They had no time to act before the rocket impacted on the rear of the transport blowing the doors open and sending the rear of the large vehicle high into the air. End over end the transport flew up twenty-odd feet, the rear overtaking the front as it flipped over in the air. It came crashing down to the ground on its roof. The shell of the vehicle was armoured so the structure remained intact, but it crumpled slightly on impact and those inside were thrown around like rag dolls, all except Black.

  Being shackled to the seat saved his life, that and the harness that kept him strapped to the seat. Still the pain from the crash cascaded through his body and he almost lost consciousness.

  The guard riding in the rear compartment with him lay across from him on the inside of the roof, his neck at an impossible angle. His head was turned towards him and Black could tell by the way he was lying, the glassy wide-eyed stare and the trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth, that he’d died during the collision.

  The driver had been sent hurtling through the windshield to land several feet from the vehicle, arms and legs bent not in any way nature had intended which left only the guard who rode shotgun. He was scrambling through the window of the door onto the pavement. Black could hear his grunts of pain as he exerted himself through obvious injuries to exit the transport. Black heard the two bikes’ screech of tyres as they pulled up alongside the crashed vehicle and dismount. They both walked around the front of the vehicle and Black heard weapons being primed. All he could see from his angle were the guards’ feet still visible through the open window at the front. He saw them twitch as gunshots were fired.

  He remained calm, there was nothing he could do; if they had come to kill him too he would not give them the satisfaction of pleading for his life. He would meet it face to face. He would look them in the eye as the shot was fired.

  He heard footsteps approaching down the side of the upturned vehicle and the two riders came towards him. One of them held wire cutters and proceeded to free him, his feet first so he could brace himself for when his hands were freed.

  As he collapsed onto the ceiling of the vehicle he looked up at the two men all dressed in black with helmets that had full visors concealing their faces.

  “Come on Colonel, you still have a job to do,” one of them said and the two of them helped him unsteadily to his feet and walked him to the roadster.

  As he climbed inside the driver said, “Welcome back Colonel, the Movement still has need of you.”

  Before Black could respond, all three vehicles sped off down the street leaving the carnage behind.

  16

  I

  Talipso

  Mace Fallon stalked around his room, hands thrust deep into his pants pockets. His brow was furrowed as thoughts of his plan unravelling caused anger deep inside his gut.

  Walker entered and when Fallon looked at his face he knew it was bad news.

  “What?” he asked, not really wanting to hear what he had to say.

  “I sent a scout out to the station. It’s gone,” Walker said.

  “What do you mean, it’s gone?” Fallon hissed.

  “The scout called back and said the station is no longer there, just debris. He didn’t stay around for long as there were other craft in the area cordoning it off while they investigate. Something happened on there and destroyed the whole station,” Walker elaborated calmly as he looked hard into the eyes of his leader.

  “Mace, what did you do? What did you want Garrison to make for you? What the hell does this stuff do?” Walker probed holding up a phial of the serum.

  Fallon rounded on him, eyes glaring with a fervour Walker had rarely seen.

  “It was to be our salvation. I wanted the serum to make us invincible so we could conquer this space and move on to other sectors,” Fallon roared.

  “Mace we have our orders to stay right here, do you really think we could challenge the Confederation or the Alliance?” Walker asked trying not to anger his leader and friend any more than he obviously was.

  “With that serum we could’ve been Gods,” Fallon shouted back at him.

  Walker was rocked back on his heels by the outburst. He was seeing another side to Fallon he never thought possible.

  “You’re insane!” he said and backed off.

  “Prepare the serum for administration, I’ll show you who’s insane,” Fallon snapped.

  “And who is going to be mad enough to let you give them this knowing what we know now?”

  “I’ll take it myself and you can all cower before me,” Fallon shouted, his eyes going wide with rage.

  “You’re mad Mace, I’ll have no part of this,” Walker shouted back and he turned and hurriedly left.

  Fallon fumed at the exchange; he had rarely been challenged by anyone in his organisation and certainly not by his lifelong friend Walker. He thought about what he’d said to him and went after him. As he exited his habitat he saw Walker entering the place where Garrison’s family was being held.

  “What are you up to old friend?” he muttered as he saw him duck into the habitat.

  By the time he got there and had entered he saw Walker standing with Garrison’s widow and daughter. They had been released and looked tearful.

  Walker was still holding the serum in a phial as he turned to look at him.

  “So it’s come to this has it, you’re turning against me after all we’ve been through?” Fallon asked, real emotion breaking his voice. They had been friends since boyhood, since the Cartel found them as orphans and took them in. They had both risen within the ranks of the organisation. Now his one true friend had turned against him and it broke his heart.

  “What did you expect Mace? Did you really think I would go blindly along with this scheme of yours? Garrison is dead, there is no one left to properly administer the results of t
his serum so it’s over. I say we forget this and get back to how it was.”

  The two women howled at learning their father and husband was dead, something Walker was unconcerned with.

  “What were you doing with them?” Fallon asked calmly.

  Walker looked at them then back at Fallon. “We have no need of them anymore,” he said.

  Fallon agreed, “You’re right,” he said and took out his pistol and shot them both.

  Walker was shocked at the suddenness of the brutal action and stunned into immobility for a second.

  Fallon took his chance and rushed him wrenching the phial from his fingers and tossed it back swallowing the entire contents.

  “What have you done?” Walker asked as he watched his friend closely.

  Fallon stared at him and shuddered, “I have become God,” he growled.

  II

  Jake walked onto the bridge after a short nap in his quarters. The Wildfire Team had taken turns to remain on the station should anything happen. It was SOP when on a mission because, should anything happen to the AI controlling the ship someone would need to be on hand to reboot the system and/or initiate safety protocols.

  “Is it that time already?” asked Mack who was on duty.

  Jake said, “Yep, go get some rest; we should be there in the next hour or so.”