Marine Defenders

by Isaac Stone

  “That is the one. I think she may be an infiltrator. Don’t let her go any place with an escort. She’s just the right type for the invaders to use.”

  The man yawned and stood up. “Either she’s crazy, commander,” he told her. “Or she’s the real deal and we are don’t have to worry anymore.” The grin told her what he really thought.

  “Precisely. Just what those bastards would want us to think. I’m going back upstairs.”

  Sura entered her office soon afterwards. She woke Tripada to let him know she was going to lie down and get some sleep before sunrise. He nodded and went back to sleep. The building was quiet and only the sound of insects punctuated it.

  Sura sat down on the couch in the former minister’s office she used as a bed and remembered her school days. The small schoolhouse in the little farm town where she’d come of age was attached to the temple her parents visited every other week. She remembered the small statue in the back and the faithful who left prayers written on paper. She remembered her mother lighting incense in front of the fierce image every time they visited.

  “Mom,” she asked her mother once, “why does that lady have so many arms?”

  “What do you think?” Shamsana asked Krodha as they sat at the table near the atrium. They’d woken early and listened to Commander Sura interrogate the strange woman found wondering on the street. Neither one wanted to be obvious about what they heard, but privacy wasn’t valued in this level of the building.

  “That woman has to be an infiltrator,” Krodha spoke up over the weak coffee they’d found in an office supply room. They brewed some up in expectation of leaving on another mission.

  “Why are you so sure all of the sudden?” Shamsana asked him. “You didn’t seem to be so concerned when we found her.” She took a sip of her coffee and stared at him.

  “Too many things add up,” he explained. “The way we found her. The battle armor that looks similar to what you’d find on a Jacobite knight. And the way she claimed to be Kushmanda. She scared the crap out of the refugees while she was howling after we brought her into the building. She might not even know she’s been conditioned to play a role. Doesn’t matter, Sura needs to do something about her before that woman gets us all killed.”

  “And what do you suggest?”

  “Take her out behind the building with a silencer and shoot her in the head. It’s the only way to make sure she doesn’t cause any more damage to the brigade.”

  Shamsana looked at him in disbelief. Who the hell was this man she’d fought and killed with over the past few weeks? Had the invasion reduced them all the level of the invaders? What kind of people would they have to become to free this world? And in the end, if they turned into monsters, would they be no better than the beasts who invaded the planet?

  “You’ve become paranoid,” Shamsana said to him. “This invasion has turned us all into monsters.”

  “We may have to become better killers than the Jackies or Synners if we are to defeat them. Right now, I’m ready to take her out back with a gun if the commander wants me to do it. Better she should die than the rest of us.”

  “What happens if you become a worse demon than the ones outside?” Shamsana asked him. “What will happen to all of us? Will we become the very things we’re trying to get off this planet? What then?”

  “We’ll be alive demons,” he told her. “As opposed to dead angels. I’d rather be alive than dead. All this talk makes us weak. Besides, if we defeat the invaders, the other star systems will never have to endure this.”

  Shamsana tried to ignore him and clutched the beads she held around her wrist. It was the one personal thing she brought with her. She turned to face the sunrise and carefully repeated her prayer in the old language she’d been taught as a child. One hundred eight beads, 108 times she chanted the same phrase. Her companion finished his coffee and checked the lacing on his boots.

  Suddenly, Krodha shot up in his chair and listened.

  “Was that gunfire outside the building?”

  Chapter 6

  Kushmanda woke again. She’s slept for a good hour after the fierce woman left her, but now she was awake. She tried to remember where she’d been before those two marines found her. Her head was a fog, a cloud floating on a sea. There would be flashes inside it and she’d remember a few things, but not enough to ground her in any reality. Why was she here and who was she? She couldn’t remember no matter how hard she tried. There were so many things that didn’t make sense to her.

  She had a vague memory of a laboratory and team of people in white coats. They wanted her to lay down on something and relax. Then she was given something to drink and the world went black. Why was she there? Was this a real thing or just a dream? Was there even a difference anymore? She seemed to recall volunteering for whatever it was.

  She remembered a family, parents, relatives, but no names. There was something very important she had to do. Yes, that was right; she was here in this place for a reason. An important reason, but she couldn’t remember what it was she had to do. It would come to her eventually, just as soon as the throbbing stopped in her head.

  She leaned out of the chair she sat on and looked into the big room where all the people slept. At the other side, there was a table where two people were in the middle of some discussion. They seemed familiar and she remembered this was the man and woman who brought her into the building. The man didn’t trust her and she couldn’t blame him. She didn’t trust her own body right now.

  She looked across the people sleeping on the floor and noticed a young girl with shallow breathing. The little girl had a bad sinus infection and would need treatment soon if it was to improve. She diagnosed her in seconds and came up with the best plan of action. It would only take a simple antibiotic that anyone could find at a pharmacy.

  She was surprised with the amount of medical knowledge in her head. Where did it originate? Kushmanda glance around the sleeping forms on the floor and gave each one an assessment of their physical condition. Some had broken bones they didn’t know about, some had internal injuries that were slow to heal, but most were in decent, if malnourished, shape. It was so easy to tell what needed to be done to each if you knew what to look for and what to do.

  She leaned back and wondered how this information came to her. She wondered why the marines weren’t doing anything when she could feel the vibrations of many armed men approach the building. These were not the steps of the local people, but the heavy thud of off-worlders with thick boots.

  Then she heard the sound of gunfire. The same sounds that cause the man called Krodha to jump up suddenly. He had good senses, she told herself.

  The sound reached the office where Commander Sura tried to get some rest. She leaped out of the bed and had her boots zipped up seconds. Sura preferred the kind of boot with a zipper on the side and lacing in the middle. They were easy to get on and perfect for any sudden attacks. Like now.

  Commander Sura, with her second racing behind her, threw open the doors into the atrium after she’d flown down the stairs. The small woman found Krodha standing near the window nearest to him as he tried to peer around the cover they’d put on it that night. There was the light of dawn in the atrium from the ceiling glass, but not much else.

  “Get away from that window, soldier,” she told him in a firm voice. “I heard gunfire and someone could line up a shot on you from across the street.”

  “Heard it too,” he affirmed. “I think it came from the street below.” Krodha backed up from the window and almost walked into Shamsana who stood in place.

  “The Synarchists have found you,” it was the strange woman who called herself Kushmanda who stood in the doorway of the office where they’d placed her.

  The sentry blocked and refused to let her leave. “I can help you, commander,” she told Sura from across the atrium. “Give me a gun.”

  Sura spun in her direction. “I will do no such thing,” she swore. “Get back in that office or I’ll have
you tied up.” She turned to Krodha. “Keep an eye on her. I don’t know who she is, but we can’t have her wandering around until we know.” Seconds later, Tripada emerged from the stairwell and moved next to the commander.

  She turned to Tripada. “We need to find out what the hell is going on outside. Did you receive any transmissions last night after we talked?”

  He looked down. “Nothing, commander. Not after, I sent out those reports. I don’t even know if anyone received them.”

  There was the sound of more gunfire. The refugees who slept on the floor stirred and looked frightened. They’d been through this many times before and knew how badly it would end. A few mothers hushed their children.

  “I’m going down the ground level to find out what the situation is outside,” Sura told them. She turned to the sentry who’d blocked the woman called Kushmanda from leaving the room. Krodha was next to him.

  “I want you to come with me now that he’s going to watch her,” Sura said to the sentry. “I need to get down there and assess the situation. And I want you to come with me too, Tripada.” The trio swiftly vanished down the stairs, which lead to the main floor. Their steps sounded a pattern as they went.

  Commander Sura and her second stepped down to the main floor to see two of the sentries they’d posted that night in position in front of the glass doors to the entrance. Although fragmented and spidered, the glass doors were still intact. The sentries, two young men in their twenties turned around to face them. Each carried semi-automatic rifles.

  “Where are those shots coming from?” Sura demanded. “Do you see anyone outside?” She stood in place with both hands on her hips.

  “Sorry, commander,” the one on the right said to her, “I’ve been here all night and haven’t been outside. Manish, you see anything out there? You were out there until a few minutes ago.”

  The man he addressed turned to look back at the busted doors. “I was out there all night with Jad,” he said. “It’s been quiet all evening, I don’t know whose popping off those rounds, it could be one of the invaders at target practice.”

  “Is Manish still out there?” she asked him.

  “Why, yes, commander, he wanted to take a smoke break before he came inside. We need to get the next watch for sentry duty. Let me go and ….”

  “Mother of the Universe!” Sura swore. “You idiot! They waited until you went inside and shot him.” She turned to Tripada and yelled. “Get back up those stairs and send those people to a higher floor. Send every marine down here we can spare!” She whipped out her pistol and ran at the door as her second flew back up the stairs.

  The glass door exploded in front of her, sending shards in every direction.

  Through the new opening, the first Synarchist troopers poured inside. These where the green recruits, eager to prove themselves to their masters. However, they had very little military training, which saved Commander Sura’s life.

  She turned her body to one side to make a small target as possible and began to fire directly at them. The first four Synarchists who crashed through the opening. Spent shells flew through the air as all four fell to the ground with fatal wounds to the head and chest. The steel frame around the former doors was splattered with red blood as each slug of her gun found its mark.

  The two marines behind her fell the floor and began firing at what came next. Sura leaped behind them to give the two a better line of sight and slapped a full clip in her pistol. The air was filled with the smell of burnt propellant. Muzzle flashes came from the other side and bullets spun over her head. Somehow, she survived and Tripada made it to the top of the stairs to call for backup.

  “Don’t forget to keep an eye on her!” Tripada yelled at Krodha as he ran past him. “She could be working for thosebabuchaks downstairs!”

  “I can still help,” Kushmanda said behind him. “Why don’t you give me my gun back and let me do something?’

  “Not taking that chance,” Krodha snapped at her as he pushed the woman back into the office. He reached down to make sure the safety was turned off on his pistol that was stuck in his back pocket.

  Now Commander Sura was halfway up the steps that faced the entrance to the building. She could hear the refugees flooding out of the atrium and to the staircases. At least the marines could buy them some time. Through the door transom glass she could see at least twenty Synarchist troopers try to shove their way inside building. She leveled her pistol and fired two more rounds through the windows. They went wild on the other side, but the sound of the bullets cause the Synarchist mob to back up. They couldn’t get inside as fast as they wanted because of the pile of bodies that blocked the door.

  More bullets spun past her. She saw the troops take aim at her image and fire from the other side. Good for her the glass distorted the image. The first two marines were still on the floor, but only one fired at the mob that tried to get inside. His companion was already dead from a gunshot.

  Two more marines joined her on the stairs. “Just tell us what to do, commander,” the one on her right said.

  Sura looked over at him and saw he carried a machine gun. “Get down there and support the man on the floor,” she ordered him. “The movement they cross the line into the building, open up with that machine gun. It should hold them off for a few minutes.

  She turned to the other marine. “You come to the top of the stairs with me.” He heard the boots of the first marine thud down the stairs to support the man on the floor.

  At the top of the stairs another group of marines gathered, eager to go into action. “I want the rest of you to form a cup around these stairs, she told them. Get down behind the tables and use them as concealment. They won’t stop any bullets, but you can at least surprise them if they make it this far. Let the first groups come out of the stairs and pump them full from all sides. Are you with me?”

  They cheered in affirmation.

  “Good!” she sounded back. “I’m going to be here too. Let those bastards get up here and we’ll show them how free men fight!” She began pushing men into position based on their size and skill level.

  The machine gun opened up and she heard the screams of the Synarchists who made the mistake of rushing through the door. The sound stopped suddenly and she heard the marine who carried it swear. The gun had jammed, always a problem with that model. It was enough time for the next wave of Synarchists to rush over the bodies and gun down the two men who defended the entrance.

  There was a gunshot from the floor and Sura watched Vatuka fall back with a bullet wound in his chest. He jerked for a few seconds and was still.

  “Just let them come here and meet us,” she ordered the score of marines who were around her. There were all levels of skill near the stairs, but luck was a big part of who would survive in the next few minutes.

  “I just wanted you to know, commander,” a man in his thirties said next to her, “this is the way I’d want to end it.”

  “Shut-up!” she snapped at him. “We’re going to make sure this is their last stand, not ours.” Sura cocked her pistol back and rested a finger on the trigger.

  “Don’t shoot until I give the order,” she reminded them. She could see the look of fear, excitement and anticipation in their eyes. “We’ll tell our grandchildren about this day!”

  They could hear the Synarchists talking downstairs. The language they used was close enough to the one spoken on Jyotish to understand. There was a lot of confusion as to what they should do next until some kind of superior began to bark orders at them. Sura could hear the thud of a boot on flesh as the officer kicked several Synarchist troopers in place. It would happen any second now.

  “Come on kids,” she said to herself. “Mama wants to see you.” Sura’s hand began to tremble with the surge of adrenalin.

  The stairs rumbled as the combined boots of the Synarchist troopers raced up it, screaming as they ran. Sura watched as every marine in her field of vision waited for the sign. She kept her eyes focused on the rails
at the top of the stairs as she waited for the first Synarchists to come over them.

  Two Synarchist troopers leaped over the final step and raced to the middle of the atrium with their rifles in front of them. They failed to notice the over-turned tables where the marines hid in anticipation. Then two more came behind them. And four more behind those.

  “Now!” Sura screamed and began to fire at the Synarchists nearest to her. One went sprawling back down the stairs, taking two more with him as he fell. They tried to climb over his body, but she shot both of them as they tried to get up the next level.

  The atrium floor turned into a slaughterhouse as the marines fired into the mob of Synarchists in their midst. Sura made certain when she positioned everyone that no single marine was across from the other one. The last thing she needed was two groups of marines killing each other from friendly fire. As she fired with precision at the Synarchists near her, the marines liquidated the ones who first came over the stairs. She could smell the rusty scent of blood in the air. She leaned over the staircase and hit two more as they fled down the stairs.

  At the bottom of the stairs, back to the entrance stood the proconsul. He was a huge man in the ornate robes of the Synarchy. Sura was tempted to take him out, but he was too far out of range and she didn’t want to waste ammunition.

  “You brought them here!” Krodha yelled at Kushmanda. His eyes were on fire.

  Kushmanda realized the man was no longer in control of his own emotions. She could sense the testosterone in the air about him and realized he was crazed with fear and anger. In his current state, there was very little she could do to help him. He could be dangerous and the man carried a gun.

  “You’re wrong,” she pleaded with him. “I had nothing to do with this!” In the atrium, just outside the office, she could hear the guns fire. The cries of the dead and dying followed each volley.

  “You let us find you, didn’t you!” he snapped at her. “If we’d just left you there, this would never have happened. Your masters knew that a cute young thing would attract our sympathy. Whom are you working for? The Synners or the Jackies?” He pulled out his pistol from behind and cocked it.