"So it's true, that was CJ in that fighter?"
Nobody needed to answer. She saw the look in their eyes, and now the same sorrow overcame her face, too. Taylor was in shock. He could never have believed he would feel so much for an old enemy, especially one that had committed such grievous sins as he had. King was the first one to pick herself up and take control of the situation.
"What are your orders, Colonel?"
Taylor knew he had to take control of what was going on, even though he felt like lying down and falling into a state of unconsciousness. He was exhausted, hurt, and as damaged emotionally as he was physically. But something at the back of his mind told him he had to go on.
I won't quit. I won't give in. Because if I do, everything I have ever done has been for nothing.
He tried to get to his feet, but his leg was too weak, and he was aching all over. He wanted to go back for CJ, and try to find him, but he knew he couldn't.
"We must go back for the Captain," Mirov stated in his thick and strong Russian accent.
"CJ is gone. You saw that," Kanor replied.
The two platoon leaders were at odds, and Taylor couldn't find the strength to intervene. He was a wreck, and he knew he was. He had read about the effects of war on men long ago, and never fully appreciated it. Yet the longer he lived, the more he understood the harrowing complexities that plagued the mind of a warrior, or anyone that had lost so much in their lives. He was starting to appreciate the scale of the loss and despair that so many on Earth had felt over the last decade.
"What are your orders, Colonel?" King asked again.
She seemed unwavering, even in her loss. Taylor knew she cared for CJ, but she was fighting the urge to break down like so many of them were. He looked at the display screens around them. They were in the middle of nowhere.
"Where are we?"
"Nowhere of significance. Our navigation systems were badly damaged in the fight, as were near everything on this ship."
Taylor stood up, as if his leg was of no concern at all. He had found reason to go on. He remembered all those that he had left at Poka, and that enough.
"Right now, we have a job to do. Our mission was at Poka, and we found what we were sent to find. We need to get back there and continue this mission. How long until we can make the jump back to Poka, back to M590?"
"We took a lot back there...but.."
She could see that he didn't want to know the specifics. He didn't care.
"A few hours, three or four, maybe."
"Everything we have set out to achieve may be on that world. Don't spare a moment. We must get back."
They could all see that Taylor was in a bad way, and yet no one doubted his motivations. Taylor collapsed where he was. Exhausted from everything he had seen and done. He was hurt. He had lost a lot of blood, and had been awake too many hours.
* * *
"Get him to sick bay, stat," Newman ordered. Taylor was being carried out on a gurney from the shuttle.
He was amazed to see the Colonel still alive, knowing he shouldn't be. Although Taylor seemed to make it through the most extreme scenarios, he looked half dead now.
"Corporal Newman to the bridge. Corporal Newnan to the bridge," a voice called out over the speakers all around him.
I don't like the sound of that at all. It sounded serious, and what could be worse than what I’ve just seen? My hero has just returned to me as a broken man.
"Newman?"
"Yes, Sir?"
"Tell me we made it? Did we make it?"
He sounded delirious, and yet Newman knew well enough that he should never underestimate Taylor.
"You made it back, and you rescued the crew of the Trident."
"But not the ship?"
It seemed that he had little recollection of what went on.
"No, but you saved a lot of lives, Colonel."
"Where are we?"
"We are in orbit of Poka, Sir. As you ordered."
Taylor nodded in approval, as if relieved and satisfied that they had made it back.
"Get him to sick bay, and make sure he gets whatever help he needs," insisted Newman.
He rushed back to the bridge of the Attila to find a projection of the President before them. He and the Captain were talking openly, and that had to mean one thing, that Rivers himself had come.
"Captain, we have more than five thousand marines ready and able to descend on that world and take what we need," said Rivers.
"Mr President, I must speak freely here. We have enough experience of this world to tell you honestly what we think."
"Go on, Captain."
"Sir, this world is hostile beyond belief. I have no doubt there are things down there that we must investigate. Things that may well prove vital to your work, but I cannot risk another marine's life while I know what is down there. Not until we have the resources to do it safely. That world is a hell beyond our comprehension. I have never stepped foot there, but I know enough to not wish it on any man," said Roworth.
"Captain, you will do what is required of you by the Alliance. You have served with Colonel Taylor, and I have no doubt that he has explained to you how important this work is. There will be no delay. There will be no hesitation."
The doors of the bridge opened, and Colonel Taylor stumbled in. He looked weak, but remarkably composed.
"Colonel, what are you doing here?" Roworth asked.
He opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted.
"Sir, I am getting jump signatures. We have something big coming in," said Segura.
None of them had any words, but they watched as the jump gates opened, and two-dozen Cholan vessels passed through.
"What the hell is this, what are they doing here?" Newman asked.
Taylor still had no words. He had some idea, but they would all know soon enough. He thought back to their time on the Cholan moon, and the conversations they had between them on that docking bay. They were never to be trusted, and he should have known. He was kicking himself inside for stupidly ever trusting them, although he couldn't believe that Tuin would ever betray him.
A dozen Alliance warships lay in orbit over Poka, with another two-dozen support vessels and countless fighter squadrons. Still the Cholan presence outnumbered them.
"What do they want?" asked Newman.
"Sir, we are getting an open channel frequency from the Cholan flagship," said Murphy.
"Put it on screen!" Roworth ordered.
Ikal appeared before them. It was unmistakeable, the unassuming, suit-wearing Cholan that seemed to hold even his own President to account. They could see him and Rivers square off, the whole fleet could.
"I am Ikal, of the Cholan Empire, and I declare this planet Cholan territory."
It would have been laughable had it not been for the fleet that he had brought with him.
"I am sorry, but this is Alliance territory. We have..." began the President.
"Unacceptable. The assets on this world are essential to the Cholan people."
Taylor was shaking his head in disgust as Newman tried to make sense of what was going on. All he knew was that whatever was on that planet may well be essential to the survival of the Human race. That was all that was going through his mind, but he could see Taylor communicating with someone via text on his Mappad.
"What are you doing, Colonel?"
"Talking to Jones, and trying to work out what the fuck we can do."
Newman couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"What you can do? This is our world, this is the lives of our people!" He strode over to Roworth. "Captain, it is time that this worm knows what we are about. Open a channel for me."
Roworth was shocked, and he looked to Taylor for explanation. But Taylor could see something in Newman, something he had not seen in a long time.
"The man wants to speak. I say we give him a voice."
"They won't hear anyone," replied Roworth.
"Then tell them I want a word in this,"
he replied.
They didn't have to wait long for a response.
"You are alive, Colonel. Colonel, perhaps you can talk some sense in to your President. Like all powerful men, they need others with reason in their heads to see..."
"Shut up," stated Taylor.
Ikal was taken aback.
"This is Newman, and he is going to speak for us all, and you will listen. He has my full support."
He was weak and pale, barely able to stand, but he had done enough. Nobody said a word as Newman stepped forward. He had never expected so much pressure to be placed upon him, but to have the faith of Taylor meant the world to him. Newman took a deep breath as he stood tall and proud to deliver his message.
"I...I never wanted to be here. I never signed up to this. I never wanted to be a marine. But circumstances have brought me to this. More than anything I want to see my home restored. I want to see Earth as the way I remember it. President Rivers is the best chance we have of seeing that day. I believe that in my heart, and if you stand in the way of that, you are my enemy. Stand with me, and you can be my ally. The people around me are willing to sacrifice everything for that future I dream of. Are you willing to do the same? Because if you are; you will stand down, and you will let us go on with our work. Or we can fight, and destroy one another, and fade into the history books. Or maybe just into time, as nobody will be left to record it."
Ikal appeared to be considering his offer, and there seemed to be hope for them all. It was a long and drawn out silence, and finally he spoke.
"While the Humans take from us, there can be no Alliance. This world is ours. Fire!"
Newman watched in horror as the enemy fleet opened fire on them. It was the war amongst the Alliance that he had never thought possible in his lifetime. This was the nightmare he had prayed to avoid.
The Alliance was finished. It was time for war.
Beyond Earth- Civil War Page 22
