The Soldier: Final Odyssey

by Vaughn Heppner

  “The mutants are about to launch an assault upon the Pit. Worse, they’re working in conjunction with the smugglers.”

  Professor Higgins stared at Cade harder than ever. His suspicions must have risen, but maybe so did his fear. If Higgins was part of the conspiracy, he might know that Cade spoke the truth about the coordination between the mutants and smugglers, or maybe between the Diggers and smugglers.

  “When did you arrive?” Higgins asked.

  “I don’t see how that’s germane,” Cade said, “but—a day ago. I’m a surprise addition to the security measures.”

  “And your rank?” asked Higgins, as he eyed Cade’s uniform.

  Cade almost said “Incognito,” but instead, he said nothing.

  “He’s a Force Leader,” Haxo said.

  “Force Leader?” asked Higgins. “That’s an Ultra rank from the War?” He squinted at Cade—

  The soldier acted at once, as speed was critical in these sorts of things. He stepped up and took hold of Higgins by the arm, pulling him aside.

  “I see you’re knowledgeable,” Cade said in a confidential tone. “I appreciate that. They told me you knew the history of the Cyborg War.”

  “I taught a course in it at the Hejlsberg University on Bremen. My concentration is the cyborgs—why are you calling yourself a force leader?”

  “A private joke that is no longer funny,” Cade said. “This is an emergency.”

  Higgins stared at Cade, and he gave a long low whistle. “I get it. Krenz doesn’t think I’m going to keep my end of the bargain. So he sent you.”

  “Yes,” Cade said.

  “I knew it. Look, you tell Krenz the convertor is the biggest thing we’ve ever found, much bigger than the mind scanner. It will be worth—there’s no limit to how much this will be worth. Do you realize we could fix and possibly run it? We could actually create new cyborgs with this.”

  “Impossible,” Cade said.

  “This moment, you’re right. Give me three months with the best technicians—the converter is going to make all of us very, very rich. This is everything we’ve hoped for. You don’t want to screw it up now.”

  “And if the mutants swarm the Pit?”

  “That’s why you’re here, to protect us.”

  Cade allowed himself an evil grin. “So we know where we stand?”

  “I need another twenty-four hours,” Higgins said. “Can you give me that?”

  “Yes. I have some…specialist equipment to install down here first.”

  “Fine. Now, what happened to Souk? Why did he collapse?”

  “He had a bad case of the morals,” Cade said.

  “Souk? He didn’t give any indication of that to me.”

  “I doubt he would have. He’s good, but he was at his breaking point. I…rendered him unfit for duty.”

  “Fine, fine, I get it. Souk lost his nerve. I can understand. This is cutting it close.”

  “Believe me, I know.” Cade turned to go, and then turned back as if he’d thought of something else. “Professor, continue as if nothing has changed. If anyone asks about me…tell them I’m installing extra security.”

  “Sure. What’s under the tarp?”

  Cade gave Higgins a meaningful look. “Do you really want to know?”

  Higgins frowned. “Why wouldn’t—?”

  “You fool,” hissed Cade. “Don’t ruin it. Get back to work. Let me operate with a minimum of fuss.”

  Higgins stared at him, and suspicion once more swam in his eyes.

  “It’s a nuclear device,” Cade said.

  “What? Are you insane?”

  Cade grinned. “That’s what you tell anyone who asks.”

  “Oh.” Higgins cocked his head. “What is it really?”

  “A large canister of nerve gas,” Cade said, “in case the mutants manage to make it down here. They attack but will fall like mice once the gas chokes them. Later, we can come back down and collect the convertor.”

  “Ah… Now, that’s smart.” Higgins shook his head. “You’re a tricky bastard.”

  “It’s why I’m here.” Cade checked his nonexistent chronometer. “Time’s a-ticking, Professor.”

  “Right,” Higgins said. “I’ll let you get back to it.” The professor hurried away.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Cade found an out-of-the-way place for his nuclear device. He left it in the wagon under the tarp and backed the wagon out of sight. After the soldiers went to a water cooler for a drink, Cade raised the trap and crouched by the device’s controls.

  What was the best way to do this? What did he expect to happen? He stood and looked around, seeing the bustling people at their tasks. He didn’t want to kill any of them. But even less did he want a cyborg convertor on the black market. He had to destroy it no matter the cost.

  With a shrug, Cade set the timer for one hundred and fifty minutes, and then he set the proximity fuse for a large vehicle. If a lifter or big machine moved too close, boom, end of the Pit and everything around for twenty kilometers.

  Cade pressed the red switch. The timer started ticking.

  Feeling nervous, Cade lowered the tarp, backed away and then strode to his soldiers. “It’s time to leave. Where’s the nearest car.”

  “Huh?” one of them asked.

  “Electric car,” Cade said. “Where’s the nearest one?”

  “Professor Higgins’ car is over there, but you can’t—”

  “Follow me,” Cade said, as he headed for the car. He didn’t look back to see if they were following. If they didn’t, it was on them.

  He reached the car, saw the key in the ignition switch and jumped in. Cade looked now. The soldiers had followed.

  “Climb aboard. We’re leaving.”

  “You can’t just take—”

  “Now,” Cade said, cutting the man off.

  The soldiers glanced at each other, shrugged and piled in.

  Cade pulled out.

  Higgins must have noticed, as the professor straightened.

  Cade drove up to him, stopping. “It’s time to leave, Professor.”

  “What are you talking about? And what are you doing with my car?”

  “I’m commandeering it,” Cade said, winking at Higgins. “Everyone must leave, now.”

  “But…I thought we agreed—”

  “There’s been a change in plans,” Cade said, interrupting. “I’ve gotten new seismic readings. There’s going to be an eruption any minute.”

  “Seismic? What are you babbling about?”

  “You fool. The mutants have allies. They’ve dug tunnels and are going to erupt any minute. We must evacuate immediately.”

  Higgins stared at Cade with growing incomprehension.

  Cade dared to climb out of the car, grab Higgins by an arm and pull him to the side. “Don’t you get it, Professor? We’re evacuating as a precaution. The Sub-Protector is sending down a lifter. It’s coming straight into Pit Three.”

  “The lifter can’t fit into Pit Three!”

  Cade almost left. But he made one more try. “Professor, the mutants are going to storm through those walls. Do you want to be in their cooking pot?”

  “Are you serious? What about what you said—?”

  Cade pointed where he’d stashed the wagon and nuclear device. “That’s a seismic reader.”

  Higgins frowned. “I thought you said it contained nerve gas?”

  “Yes. And there’s a seismic reader, one much more sensitive than the one used days ago.”

  “Oh. You know about that?”

  Cade gave him a knowing grin and winked once more.

  Higgins blinked several times. “The Sub-Protector gave me his word to hold back the assault long enough for us to bring up the convertor.”

  “I know that,” Cade said. “The Sub-Protector tried and failed. Are you coming or not?”

  “You really mean this instant?”

  Cade decided to switch tactics. “You’re hopeless. Good-bye and good lu
ck.” He headed to the electric car, sliding into the driver’s seat.

  “Wait,” Higgins shouted. “I’m coming with you.”

  Cade didn’t wait but floored the pedal so the electric car shot away.

  Higgins shouted at him. People looked up to see what the commotion was about.

  “Get out of here,” Cade shouted at them. “The mutants are about to attack. You have to leave Pit Three. Everyone is going to the Spaceport. Hurry! Get out of here while you have the chance.”

  The electric car zoomed for the beginning of the grade, the soldiers hanging on as Cade swerved and picked up speed.

  Everyone down in Pit 3 was looking at the huge military man with his pack and laser in the electric car. They saw Professor Higgins sprinting after the car, shouting at Cade to wait for him. A few people more nervous than the rest started running after the professor. And that started a chain-reaction, a panic. People dropped their tools or left the digging or polishing equipment. They began to run after the electric car.

  Cade reached the beginning of the ramp, roaring up it. He saw in the rear-view mirror that everyone or nearly everyone was running after him.

  “Are the mutants really going to attack?” Sergeant Haxo shouted.

  “Hell yes!” Cade roared. “Now, shut up so I can concentrate.”

  The sergeant obeyed as the electric car zoomed up the ramp along the dirt walls.

  Cade hoped Godfrey had everything ready up top. They had to evacuate approximately seven hundred people. Fortunately, he hadn’t seen any children around. This was a crazy plan, but it was working so far. If someone moved a big machine too near the nuclear device, too soon—

  Sweat beaded the soldier’s face as he drove as fast as he could up the ramp out of Pit 3.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  It wasn’t quite pandemonium up top as sweating, exhausted people staggered toward the growing convoy of vehicles.

  Around forty soldiers stationed at the Pit were either inside the five armored cars from the Spaceport or riding in the wagons behind. Others had brought up the Pit’s three armored cars. Various drivers had started up the fastest of the earth-moving equipment as Cade shouted and pointed, acting as a traffic cop, often grabbing people and slapping or shoving them if they didn’t obey his command fast enough.

  Many people were sobbing as panic had taken hold. Cade had actually counted on that to get them moving faster. Now, he needed a semblance of order.

  Lieutenant Godfrey jumped every time he spoke and glanced at him from time to time. She seemed amazed at what they were doing.

  The truth was that was Cade was in his element. He brooked no disobedience. He’d already knocked out two people who’d tried to give him grief. One of those had been Professor Higgins. Two men had carried the unconscious professor to a loader, setting him in back.

  In less time than Cade had expected, the last person he could see jumped aboard a heavy vehicle. The soldier whistled sharply, signally drivers. He turned to Godfrey. “Get into your armored car, Lieutenant. We’re leaving.”

  “Where are you going to be?”

  Cade blinked, and he grinned. “I’ll join you. Let’s both go.”

  Godfrey ran ahead, climbing into her armored car.

  Cade climbed on top and waved his arm. The first two armored cars moved faster. The big earth-moving vehicles followed. The other three armored cars from the Spaceport were in the middle of the giant convoy. The Pit’s three would bring up the rear.

  Cade watched, motioned once and was gratified to see that the drivers obeyed his signals. The earth-moving vehicles were slow, but they were big. They followed the armored cars and tore up the black road as they moved onto it.

  After a kilometer and with the entire convoy moving, Cade knocked on a hatch. It opened. He climbed inside and shut the hatch behind him.

  “I can’t believe this is working.” Godfrey smiled. “No one else could have made this happen.”

  “We got lucky,” Cade said.

  “More than that—” Godfrey turned. “Just a minute.” She flipped on her comm, listening. She turned pale and regarded Cade. “Mutants,” she whispered. “Jackson just saw hundreds of them from the drone. They’re trying to hide in the jungle along the road. He thinks they’re going to ambush us.”

  “Does he have napalm?”

  “What’s that?” Godfrey asked.

  “Can he burn the jungle where the mutants are hiding?”

  “Oh. You want Jackson airborne?”

  “We have to kill as many mutants as we can before the real fight starts. Yes. Get Jackson into the air with incendiary bombs.”

  Godfrey nodded, picking up the microphone and speaking into it. She listened and turned fast. “It’s Drang. She wants to speak to you.”

  Cade traded spots with Godfrey and put comm headphones over his ears. “Arbiter?” he said into a microphone.

  “Jackson says you have the convoy moving,” Drang said.

  “Hit the hiding mutants with incendiaries if you can,” Cade said. “The Pit is rigged to blow.”

  “Professor Higgins and Captain Souk didn’t give you any trouble then?”

  “Arbiter, the convoy is moving. That means I succeeded. It’s go time. We need to strike first and take out as many mutants as we can with air power. They’re going to hit the convoy soon.”

  “Right,” Drang said. “It looks like we’re doing it.”

  “We are at that,” Cade said.

  ***

  The slow-moving convoy continued along the black road. Then, terrific explosions in the distance roared into life as gigantic flames shot into the air.

  Cade had opened the hatch to keep an eye on things. He now ducked down and closed the hatch behind him. He looked through a scope.

  There was a dot in the air, two dots. Those had to be jets. Flames jumped into life, showing where the incendiary bombs had struck the jungle. Had Jackson and his teammate hit the mutants? Airpower usually sounded more impressive in theory than it was in action. Still, the jets had made the first move. Hopefully, it would have surprised the chiefs and delayed their reaction times.

  The earth-moving vehicles simply did not have high-speed in them. But they were huge, and many of the occupants had weapons. The trick, Cade knew, was to keep everyone moving. If they stopped, the mutants would likely be able to swarm them.

  Cade debated using the eight armored cars to rush ahead and attack. The others would think the armored cars were abandoning them, though. That might lead to hysteria. He’d used panic to get the people out of the Pit but if the passengers lost it and ran screaming into the jungle—

  “Cade,” Godfrey said in a shaky voice. “We have company.”

  “Stay calm, Lieutenant.”

  “I’m calm. I’m calm.”

  Godfrey didn’t sound calm. Then rockets roared out of the jungle. The rockets hit the other armored car in front with them. The car shook and smoke billowed from it. Seconds later, it ground to a halt.

  “Fire,” Cade said. “Start firing.”

  “Where?” Godfrey shouted. “I can’t see anyone.”

  “Fire into the jungle,” Cade shouted. “You too, Rick,” he told the armored-car’s machine gunner.

  Cade opened a hatch, shoved his head and shoulders out and glared at the jungle. He didn’t see—yes, he did. Cade aimed the laser rifle and let the hot beam slice into the jungle.

  At the same time, the turret canon began to bark as the machine gun chattered. Anti-personnel shells struck jungle trees, causing some of the forest giants to shudder. The machine-gun bullets cut down leaves, fronds, shredded bark and hopefully hit hiding mutants.

  The soldiers riding in the attached wagon opened up, using their machine guns, rifles and pistols.

  Other soldiers deployed on foot. They were likely the survivors of the first armored-car’s wagon.

  Pandemonium erupted. More rockets whooshed out of the jungle. Rocket-propelled grenades came from both sides of the jungle. Some of t
he grenades hit the big earth-moving equipment. Giant tires burst. Wounded people screamed in agony.

  Defenders fired from the vehicles, pouring machine-gun fire into the jungle. The other armored cars started doing the same thing.

  One of the big earth-moving vehicles halted.

  “Tell your armored cars to scoot past it,” Cade shouted into the interior.

  Godfrey must have done so: because Cade saw armored cars zoom past the stopped earth loader. Several big vehicles halted behind it. Two began going around the stalled vehicles.

  Cade debated climbing out and trying to play traffic cop. He realized the futility of that even as the idea sprung up. This was a death ride. Those who could make it would make it. The others would die. Was that callous? Yes. He’d given the Pit people a chance at life, nothing more than that.

  If they wanted to live, they’d have to use their heads and hope for luck.

  Then their side had a piece of luck. Someone among the Pit soldiers must have recalibrated the perimeter patrol robots, having them join the convoy from the beginning. The robots moved along the sides, their treads churned as .50-calibers opened up against the trees. They literally chopped down some of the forest monsters. That made mutants visible. A hail of gunfire shredded those.

  Did the others run away or fade back? It would appear so, as no more RPGs whooshed from the jungle.

  That allowed the convoy to continue snaking its way up the black road as it headed for the Spaceport over 36 kilometers away.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  At the Spaceport, Ira Drang’s relentless efforts finally paid off as she managed to burn through the jamming and make contact with the captain of the Illustrious, the Patrol cruiser, a large Nimitz-class vessel.

  “What seems to be the problem, Arbiter?”

  The captain was an older man with a white goatee and tired eyes, the military hat looking too big for his head. He did not seem like a conspirator, but someone who just wanted to go home and sit on the couch watching shows. Captain Jon Ford Williams was his name, Yorkshire his home planet.

  “Sir,” Drang said, “the Pit is about to detonate.”

  Captain J.F. Williams appeared confused by the statement.