Tully raised his hands and blocked the first blow, but he knew that he could barely block the second blow, let alone the third or fourth. He also knew that Cole had left his own body open while he attacked, leaving himself no means of blocking any blows from Tully. He punched a right fist straight into the wound he had inflicted with the earlier shot to Cole’s armpit region. Cole yelled in pain. Tully took this distraction to punch at Cole’s thigh – the second gunshot wound – and Cole trembled enough for Tully to get free and grapple with him.
He had a hand on Cole’s throat, but he really couldn’t break through the armor. All he could really do was use it to slam Cole into the ground – so he did just that. Ungracefully, Tully rolled around and reached for the one thing that would bring this entire fight to a speedy and definite conclusion – his sidearm. He made it one or two inches before Cole tackled him. He was now trying to use Tully’s momentum against him and send him tumbling off the crevice less than a yard away.
Tully responded with a back elbow to Cole’s faceplate. It wasn’t sufficient force to break his faceplate, but it succeeded in disrupting his movements, so he followed it up with three more back elbows to Cole’s head. He could hear Cole curse in frustration. Tully extended his hand towards the sidearm – only to watch as Cole leapt above him and pushed the sidearm over the crevice, where it fell into the abyss.
Rolling onto his back, Tully raised his feet and propelled Cole’s overextended body off of his. He quickly rose to his feet, while Cole did the same. This time, Tully dashed to the right and retrieved the crowbar Cole had dropped earlier. Cole’s face paled as Tully smirked.
“So . . . it seems like we are at a bit of an impasse,” Cole pointed out, still jerking to the left and to the right to counter any aggression from Tully.
“I doubt it,” Tully said. “I sparred with my team every day. I’m no stranger to close quarters combat. On the other hand, you haven’t killed anyone who saw you coming.”
“You’re a lot more observant than people give you credit for, Private Tully,” he said. “But you’re overlooking one key factor.”
“And what’s that?” Tully asked as he gripped the crowbar tightly in his hands.
“It’s two against one,” Cole smiled as the earth gave out beneath them once more.
Tully was ready for this. He plowed the crowbar deep into the ground and used it to keep himself steady while he laid two blows into Cole’s faceplate. The problem was, between keeping his balance and trying to fight, he couldn’t put too much muscle into his blows.
The ground stopped shaking. Tully lifted the crowbar from the ground and then beat it into Cole several times. Cole cried out. Tully was just about to smash Cole’s faceplate to pieces when a blinding light covered them. The white light continued to pour into Tully’s eyes.
I’ve been blinded.
Six
The alien spacecraft had done it. The good news was that Cole was now also blind, since the same light covered him. But Tully received his answer when he felt the blunt pain of the crowbar, now in Cole’s hand, pummeling into him. The light slowly lifted from his eyes, but the dizzying after-image remained as Cole continued to beat into him.
Cole was right. It was two against one. Tully couldn’t keep this up. He waited for Cole to get near him, and then he delivered a kick to his thigh. It was sufficient to send the Marine falling to the ground, but Tully knew he wouldn’t stay down for very long. He started to run, but the ground continued to shift and move beneath him.
Tully grabbed the crowbar and used it as a cane, steadying himself. His vision had almost returned, but he could still use the crowbar as a blind man’s staff if he needed to. The problem was, he wasn’t going very fast or very far with this method, and both Cole and the Sovereign were right on his tail.
Escape was Cole’s only option at this point. Who knew what bag of tricks the Sovereign had up its sleeves – if the ship had sleeves to begin with. Tully kept moving, searching the cavern for familiar landmarks or signs. He hadn’t seen where Cole had dragged him, and the ship was so vast, he could be on either side of it. Cole was right about one thing – time was not on his side. If he picked the wrong side, he’d have to backtrack – and face Cole all over again.
The good news was that, for the moment, he had lost Cole. The bad news was that Cole was now communicating over the commlink. Honestly, Tully was really starting to miss Tact. What did it suggest about humanity when the cold, humorless artificial intelligence was better company than the rambling lovesick psycho Marine tailing him?
“Where’d you go, buddy? We weren’t done,” he heard Cole say. He started to respond but stopped. If he talked, even quietly, it would give away his position. He thought about muting the comm altogether, but he decided to keep it on. It could be useful.
“The Sovereign was impressed with those moves back there. I told her they were the same standard issue combo all Marines get drilled into them, but she seemed to think differently,” Cole said. “She seemed to think there was something about you. Something we could use. I told her you weren’t interested, but you’ve seen how persistent she can be, she wanted me to ask anyway.”
Tully didn’t answer. Cole had checked out every box in the megalomaniac list. Stirring monologue, check. Crazy plan that just might work, check. Extravagant overtures to join him, check. The only thing missing was death traps, but Tully was in no mood to see death traps at this point.
“It’s cool,” Cole said. “I don’t need an answer right away. I’ll let you think on it.”
Tully’s heart raced when he saw the strangely carved tunnel coming into view. He looked for any sign of Cole coming his way. Tully didn’t see any, so he carefully started to watch through the opening back to his ship. If he made it to the other side undetected, he could slip out altogether before Cole and the Sovereign even realized he was gone.
What were the lyrics to that old song? If you’re walking through Hell, keep on going. You might get out before the Devil even knows you’re there.
The Sovereign made a pretty convincing substitute for the devil. It was massive, inhuman and apparently capable of attracting – if not bending – multiple followers to her will. And what had Cole said . . . about there being others? This was bigger than he’d even thought.
Suddenly, Tully came to a halt. Cole – and the Sovereign – knew he had come through this entrance. Wouldn’t they be watching? If this was some vast intergalactic conspiracy, would they be prepared for all possibilities? Tully turned around just in time to see Cole with his hand on something.
It’s a trap!
By the time Tully started to run, he heard the charges set within the cavern activate. The explosion started behind him as he ran as fast as he could. There was no denying it now, that Sovereign had built this tunnel, probably for easy access for Cole to come and go. If she had built it, she could certainly bring it down atop of Tully’s head, which she was doing right now.
Tully kept moving, partially from the speed he gained from running and partially from the sheer force of the explosion behind him. He could hear the sound of rocks being ground to dust by the force of the detonation, but he kept his eye on the light of the portal in front of him. As the last yard came into focus, he leapt into the air, falling through the portal as the rocks fell in behind him.
Never before had he felt as happy to be right back where he started.
“I’ll bet that job offer’s starting to look pretty enticing right now. Why don’t you come back here and talk to me and my girl?” Cole invited over the commlink. “We promise to make it worth your while.”
Don’t ever to take a job as a salesman, Cole. You’re making it weird.
It was helpless. Cole had been right. It was two against one. Tully would however rather do latrine duty than bow down to an alien spaceship. That meant his best option was probably charging at Cole head-on. He could kill Cole – he had no doubt about that. He was squirrely, but he was also squeamish and overconfident. Bu
t what could he do against an alien spaceship?
The odds were not looking good.
Maybe I should leave a final message with Tact in case the FDF ever makes it back to this region of space. At least I could explain things posthumously. But by then, it’d be too late.
Then Tully realized the answer. Tact. It wasn’t two against one. It was two against two. He opened a private channel back to the Scout ship.
“Tact,” he said. “Can you hear me?”
“I read you, Private,” the voice came in after a moment. Tully had never been so glad to hear the monotone sound in his life. “By my calculations, you have eighty-two minutes to return to the ship. After this time, your window will have passed.”
“Yeah, yeah, I have bigger fish to fry at the moment,” Tully said.
“I wasn’t aware this moon could support aquatic lifeforms,” Tact said.
“Classic Tact,” Tully said. “Can your sensors pick up my location?”
“Correct. You seem to be twenty foot below sea level. There is considerable interference, though,” Tact explained. That explained why he was losing him. It was probably from the Sovereign’s signal.
“Are our weapons operational?” Tully asked.
The Scout ships were lightly armed. They were not intended for long protracted engagements with other vessels. They were only equipped with a few short-range guns for warding off fighters – and a long-range cannon for delivering targeted attacks against enemy installations. The energy cannon wasn’t extremely powerful – it was mostly meant for taking out enemy patrols behind enemy lines. But it might be just enough for what Tully had in mind.
“Correct. The Athena V9 Miniguns and the Tor Long-Range Cannon are both functional after repairs,” Tact said.
“Good, I’m going to need them.”
“However, the targeting system is still awaiting repair. It was not necessary to sustain takeoff,” Tact informed. Tully cursed under his breath. It was always something.
“How long will it take you to repair the targeting system?” Tully asked.
“Approximately thirty minutes,” Tact replied.
“Okay, that will have to do. Let me know when it’s done,” Tully instructed.
“Prioritizing,” Tact said. “Private, this will leave you with approximately one hour to return to the ship.”
“Well, you better get to work then,” Tully said. “I’m counting on you.”
“I am one,” Tact replied.
“What?” Tully asked.
“You said you were counting on me. I am one,” Tact responded.
“Just finish the repairs,” Tully said as he closed the private channels. He was once again reminded the reason he hated talking with machines.
His commlink was ringing once again. It was Cole.
“Hey buddy, who were you talking to?” Cole asked. “The Sovereign detected signals going back to your Scout ship.”
Tully had thirty minutes to spare. It was time to have a little fun.
He started approaching the spacecraft again, but this time, he made sure to approach it from within the cavern, keeping a wall of stalagmites between him and the ship in case it decided to send off one of those flashes again.
“Who do you think I was talking to?” Tully questioned. “I was talking to the guys.”
“The guys?” Cole’s voice sounded generally lost.
“You know. Rodriguez. Laskey. Conroy. Drummer,” Tully replied. “They’re just relieved you’re okay. They were worried sick. Let’s go back to the Scout ship. They’d really like to see you.”
“No, they won’t, because they’re dead!” Cole’s voice revealed his irritation.
“Are you sure? You left the ship in an awful big hurry,” Tully reminded him.
“They’re dead! They have to be! You put them in the cargo hold!” Cole raised his voice.
“Yeah, but as we can see, I’m not really the best judge of dead,” Tully said. “And it turns out we have this really cool artificial intelligence that can . . . fix things.”
“You’re insane,” Cole said.
“That makes two of us,” Tully retorted.
Cole continue to rant and rave, mostly about how much he hated the team, but Tully didn’t respond. He wanted to keep Cole unbalanced until it was time to strike. He continued to move down the ship’s right side, looking for ways to sabotage the Sovereign before it was too late.
“So your job offer . . . what kind of benefits are we talking?” Tully queried. Feigning interest might slow Cole down just enough.
“You get to witness the end the scourge of the universe,” Cole boasted.
“So you’re doing away with . . . taxes?” Tully teased.
“Humanity,” Cole answered somberly.
“Sounds like overkill,” Tully said as he crouched along a cavern wall.
“No, Lance, Earth was overkill. And we still didn’t get the message,” Cole said. “Humanity is a plague, jumping from planet to planet, system to system. But when the Sovereign has her way, the plague will be contained.”
“Cole, I hate to tell you this,” Tully said over his commlink. “But you’re human.”
“I know,” Cole said wistfully. “That’s why the Sovereign wants to contain humanity. She’s working on a cure. You should see what she had in store for us. They’re just . . . marvelous.”
Tully honestly didn’t know what to say. Just when he thought Cole couldn’t get any crazier, well, he proved him wrong.
“So . . . is there good healthcare? What’s your dental plan like?” he asked.
“Shut up,” Cole’s voice turned from wistful to snarling in a second. “I know what you’re trying to do, and it won’t work.”
“Whatever do you mean, pal?” Tully tormented as innocently as he could over the commlink. “I just want to know my options.”
“You’re trying to distract me. That’s what you’re doing,” Cole said.
Yeah, and it’s working. That’s the downside to zealots. It’s really easy to wind them up.
“I’m just trying to better myself,” Tully said.
“If you really wish to better yourself, join the Sovereign. Cast aside humanity and take your place among the stars,” Cole said.
“So what’s your retirement plan like?” Tully asked.
“I’ll make it easy, Tully. Join or die,” Cole replied. “Join or die.”
Tully was disappointed when Cole turned off his commlink not long afterwards. Well, there went that entertainment. Tully continued to crouch beneath the cavern walls.
I thought he’d never shut up.
Seven
The Sovereign spacecraft glistened less than a hundred yards away. Was it watching Tully? It seemed kind of unlikely. It could really make Tully’s life miserable between blinding flashes and impromptu earthquakes. Instead, it just sat dormant. Plus, one would think such a craft would have its own assortment of high-tech weapons on board. Tully’s working theory was that the craft itself was still dormant, but whatever intelligence piloted it was patched into Cole somehow, feeding him information. It could also directly assist Cole if necessary, but its options were limited. Still, Tully was in no rush to test this theory, nor did he want to find out what other options the Sovereign had at her disposal. The cure for humanity Cole had mentioned was sufficient to make Tully’s skin crawl.
Tully continued his reconnaissance. He could see a section of the ship he’d not spotted before. It appeared to be by the nose of the ship. And sitting pretty at a work bench was Cole Becker himself. It made sense. If he was going to be anywhere, it would be on the head of the ship, most likely near the brain of the Sovereign.
“Don’t be like that, baby,” Cole said audibly to no one in particular.
Tully was of two minds. On one hand, Cole did seem to be alone, and this seemed the best time to strike. After all, Tully had only to sneak up on the unsuspecting Marine, cut off his air supply with a blow to the regulator on his neck and then it would be over. On
the other hand, Cole was talking to someone, although whether they were real was another matter entirely.
At this point, the odds that Cole was crazy was fifty/fifty. Sure, there was a chance he was patched into the big bad alien spacecraft, but there was also just as much chance he was completely off his rocker. It was clear enough that the alien spacecraft, Sovereign or not, did have some sort of alien intelligence that was hell-bent on keeping it on this moon.
“I can tell when you’re mad,” Cole kept going on his little tirade. Tully opted to stay put beneath the cavern wall. This way he was completely out of sight. He figured as long as he could hear Cole, he could keep a mental note of his position.
“I just don’t get what you see in Tully. Do you have a thing for bad boys or something?” Cole continued. “What? That’s absurd. I am so not jealous. I’m the complete opposite of jealous. I’m just trying to understand what you see in him.”
Assuming Cole really was patched into the spacecraft somehow and not crazy (the latter of which was looking more and more likely the longer this conversation went on), this meant Cole was probably the eyes and ears of the Sovereign. So, as long as Tully stayed put and Cole didn’t have an overriding urge to go sightseeing, Tully was safe behind the cavern wall.
“Sure, he has that rugged appeal, but he and I are basically the same. We’re both Marines. We’re both less than nobody, which gives us just as much access within the fleet,” Cole continued. “What do you mean he has seven percent more muscle mass? Have you been checking him out? No, honey, I told you, I’m not jealous.”
Yep, this is getting weird.
It wasn’t as if Tully had any better options. Tully had to bet that he could climb over to Cole’s position without alerting him – a feat in itself given the cracking, thin ice which surrounded the floor – and then proceed to kill him before the Sovereign noticed. He hadn’t had that much luck yet, which made it incredibly unlikely either way. He decided to maintain his position.
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