Counterstrike

by D. J. Holmes

  Alfaro’s hands on his arm shook James out of his stupor. “Admiral, Admiral,” his Flag Lieutenant said. “We have to get you inside now! Admiral!“

  Turning slightly, James saw that the two marines in combat armor who guarded the main entrance to the Palace were charging towards him. Though he didn’t have the mental capacity to think about it, he vaguely grasped that they were afraid of a follow up attack that would be targeted at him. James didn’t care in the slightest. Flicking his arm, he released himself from Alfaro’s grip and shot off towards the rising smoke. The shuttle had crashed a couple of miles from the Palace. There was only one place James was going. Thanks to incessant nagging from Admiral Russell and General Johnston, both he and Christine had received a number of augmentations over the last six months. It didn’t put them even close to the level of a special forces marine, but James felt his augmentations kicking in as they boosted his speed and strength and tempered his adrenaline. The clarity the chemical rebalancing brought only redoubled his efforts. The shuttle hadn’t been completely destroyed by the hyper velocity missile. It had hit the mountainside hard yes, but there was a chance!

  Quickly the two marines in combat armor caught up with him. “Emperor,” one of the marines called out. “You must come back with us immediately.”

  James ignored them. Instead he put his head down and tried to run even faster. Johnston had boasted he could outrun a marine in combat armor, James didn’t have the same augmentations, but he intended to try. He wasn’t going to let the marines grab him. When they caught up with him again, James looked over. “I’m going to their shuttle. I order you to escort me there. If you disobey you will be court martialed. Understood?” he bellowed between breaths. When both marines turned to look at each other through their faceplates, James knew he had them. Neither had the rank necessary to even begin to disobey their Emperor. Ignoring them, James ran down the mountainside. Within four minutes he reached the edge of the forest and had to slow slightly as he weaved between the trees. The smoke billowing into the air from the crash site was easily visible through the canopy. It was like a signal fire drawing him ever closer. Overhead he heard the sound of other shuttles as search and rescue teams sortied from the Palace and other nearby areas. Though it was irrational, James cursed them all. He needed to be the first one there. He needed to get to Christine and Jonathan.

  Just six minutes after the missile had struck the shuttle, James broke into the clearing the shuttle’s crash had made. The scene that greeted James almost tore his heart in two. The shuttle had broken up on impact. What was left of its rear was ablaze. Above it, a rescue shuttle was hovering and spewing out some kind of fire-retardant foam. On the ground several rescuers in protective suits tried to approach. Knowing he could do nothing there, James rushed to the front of the shuttle. Its cockpit was smashed to bits but the structure appeared intact. Running up to it, James pushed his way through the naval officers who were scrambling over it. “Christine!” he called out. “Christine,” he desperately repeated.

  “Over here Emperor,” someone called, causing James to spin. On the ground to one side of the forward part of the shuttle two men were leaning over a shuttle seat. Someone was still strapped into it. James rushed over to them. “Her seat must have been thrown from the shuttle on impact,” one of the officers said. “We have a pulse, but she is badly hurt,” he added as he moved back slightly.

  James swore as he saw the state of his wife. Her left arm and leg had clearly borne the brunt of the force that had thrown her from the shuttle. Both were bent at bad angles. He could see a bone sticking out of her thigh. Reaching down he grasped her uninjured hand. “Christine,” he said just as loudly as before as he took her hand. “Christine, can you hear me. Are you okay?”

  When Christine didn’t move or acknowledge him, James shook her again. He knew her augmentations would dull her pain and reduce any internal bleeding. “Christine!” he repeated. When her eyelids fluttered, James leaned in closer. “It’s me, it’s James. You’re okay,” he said as much for himself as her. “You’re alive. Please tell me you’re alive.”

  Instead of opening her eyes, Christine started coughing. Blood bubbled out of her mouth, coating James’ hand and shoulder. Then her eyes snapped open. For a couple seconds she looked around wildly as her arms thrashed. Then a howl of pain escaped her lips. James grabbed her shoulders and did his best to hold her still. Any kind of movement would only cause her more pain. “It’s all right. It’s all right,” he said as he tried to reassure her. “I’m here. I’m here.” After a few moments her thrashing died down. Then Christine’s eyes locked on James’. “Jonathan,” she croaked. “Jonathan. Where is Jonathan?”

  James shook his head. “I don’t know, I came to you first. You’ve been badly hurt your left arm and leg…”

  Christine looked down at her left arm. Her eyes widened and she tried to move it. Another groan of pain escaped her lips. She looked back at James. “I don’t care about me. Get our son.” The intense look made James release Christine’s hand at once. Without thinking, he stood and turned, moving quickly towards the forward of the shuttle. Jonathan travelled in a specially designed shuttle seat that was meant to protect him in the event of a crash. Please let it be intact, James thought as he pushed through the rescuers who were inside the forward part of the shuttle. If his seat had detached and fallen into the rear part of the shuttle, James knew there was no hope.

  “My son,” he called as he fought his way through the rescuers. “My son, is he okay?”

  “We’ve got him Emperor,” someone slightly ahead of the others called out. “He is here Emperor. He is still in his seat.”

  As if by magic, the rescuers parted for James and he was greeted by the familiar sound of Jonathan wailing. Moments later he was standing beside Jonathan’s flight seat. The seat was on its side and Jonathan’s hands were pushed up against the glass that sealed him in place. “The seat looks intact Emperor,” the rescuer said. “But we can’t get it open. It’s lost its power connection to the shuttle. Nor can we disconnect it from the shuttle to get it out of here.”

  “Here,” James said as he slipped in beside the rescuer. “It has a tricky release mechanism.” Praying that that was all that it was, James reached over and undid the manual release. As the top glass panel flicked open, James deftly caught Jonathan before he tumbled onto the shuttle’s side. He scooped him up into his arms and hugged his son to his chest. Closing his eyes, James let out a prayer of thanks. Then, though Jonathan continued to scream, he held the boy at arm’s length. Visually and then with his hand he examined every inch of Jonathan’s body, watching his son’s face to see if he had been hurt or broken anything. When Jonathan’s wailing continued but didn’t get any worse, James hugged him back to his chest and gave another prayer of thanks. Then his mind went to Christine. Ignoring everyone around him, he pushed through the crowd and moved back to his wife’s side. “Here he is,” James said as he held out Jonathan to Christine. The rescuers had released her from her seat and she was lying on a portable stretcher. Someone had wrapped her in a blanket and several medical devices were attached to her good arm. “He is fine dear,” James assured Christine. “He is shaken up, but I think he is okay.”

  Though Christine didn’t speak, James saw the relief wash over her face. Her mouth moved up and down slowly and James guessed she was thanking him, but no sound came out.

  “May I take him Emperor?” someone beside James asked. At first James didn’t hear them but when they asked the second time he turned. “I’m a physician,” the woman said. “I’ve been treating your wife. Can I look at him?”

  James shook his head and hugged Jonathan closer, his crying had subsided slightly, but he was still terrified. A croak from Christine made him turn back to his wife. She had raised her good hand and was pointing at the medic. When James met her eyes she nodded ever so slightly. As reluctantly as James had ever done anything in his life, he half turned to the medic and held Jonathan out. Out
of the corner of his eye he saw Christine nod again and close her eyes. The medic whisked Jonathan away and placed him on a much smaller stretcher. She felt over Jonathan and scanned him with a medical scanner. As James watched, first Christine and then Jonathan were lifted and carried to a nearby shuttle. Within thirty seconds the shuttle took off and headed towards Geneva. Before it cleared the tree line, four other shuttles closed in around it, providing a protective cocoon. All of a sudden, James found himself standing alone. More alone than he had been in his life before. He wanted to believe that they would be all right but it was difficult while looking at the wreckage all around him. Christine had been very badly hurt, and he had no idea whether Jonathan had been seriously hurt or not. The medic hadn’t even spoken to him after taking him. She had just scanned him and rushed off. As the rescuers around him continued to move about frantically, James fell to his knees. Exhaustion from his frantic sprint to the crash site caught up with him. Closing his eyes he fell to the ground as he fainted.

  Chapter 5

  Often I have reflected on how the death of one individual can sway the course of Human history.

  -Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD.

  Geneva University Hospital.

  Forty-five minutes later James was sitting in a small hospital room. He couldn’t remember how he came to be there and nor did he care. The room he was in had an open viewing area that allowed him to watch what was going on in the adjacent medical suite. Initially there had been a flurry of activity as a bed had been rolled in and a handful of nurses had set up a number of different medical devices. Then they had all left. For more than twenty minutes James found himself essentially alone. Twice Alfaro had come in. The first time was to ask if James wanted anything. Rather than answer, James had asked if there was any news on Christine. When Alfaro shook his head James had turned away from his Flag Lieutenant. The second time Alfaro informed him that Fairfax and several other people were outside waiting to come in. James again asked for an update on Christine and then ignored him when none had been forthcoming. He didn’t care about Fairfax or anything else, he just wanted to know what was happening.

  Eventually, after what felt like an eternity, a doctor entered the room. James hesitated, almost afraid to ask. The doctor clearly picked up on his state of mind. “I have come to update you Emperor,” she said gently. “Your wife is not out of the woods yet, but she is in good hands. She is in surgery now. We had to stabilize her before we could begin, but the best surgeons in Switzerland are working with her. We should know more in an hour or two.”

  “What condition is she in?” James pressed. “Why can’t I see what’s going on?”

  The doctor shook her head. “You don’t want to see what’s happening now. Our scans indicated that she had suffered some internal injuries, there has been a lot of bleeding. They had to open her up to clear out the blood and accelerate the healing process. We’re still waiting for results of a series of scans. Once they come back the surgeons will know exactly what needs to be done.”

  James closed his eyes, he didn’t want to picture it, but he had seen far too many people mangled and torn apart by weapons fire. It was easy to imagine what Christine would look like under the surgeon’s knife. Within moments his mind brought him back to Suzanna’s funeral. Before she had been buried he had insisted on opening her casket. He had seen what the plasma pistol had done to her stomach. Christine’s injuries sounded almost as bad. James felt tears wet his eyelids as he thought about it. “Please tell me she’s going to be okay,” he said, forcing himself to look at the doctor.

  The doctor took a half step forward and placed a hand on James’ shoulder. “She is in the best hands we have got. Her injuries are life-threatening, but there is much we can do. I can’t promise you more than that.”

  James stood and turned away from the doctor and stared through the glass into the empty medical suite. “And Jonathan?” he tried and failed to ask without his voice breaking.

  “He is in much better shape,” the doctor replied. “We’re doing a few more scans, but so far everything is coming back okay. His safety seat took the brunt of the impact. Whoever designed it knew what they were doing. We can’t be sure yet, there could be internal damage or bleeding like with the Empress, but we should know soon.

  With his back still turned to the doctor, James nodded and lapsed back into silence. For a couple of minutes the doctor stood near him, but eventually James heard her take a few steps back and slip out of the room. Alone again, James’s mind whirled as he imagined what was happening to Christine and all the potential scenarios that could lead to Jonathan suffering complications.

  It was an hour before anyone entered the room again. When they did, James turned to demand an update or send whoever it was away if there wasn’t one. The noise that greeted him made his anger evaporate. He recognized Jonathan’s crying right away. In the blink of an eye he crossed the small room and whisked Jonathan out of the nurse’s hands. At once, his seven-month-old son stopped wailing and wriggling. As if he sensed his father’s despair, Jonathan grabbed James’ shoulder tightly and pressed his head against James’ neck. James held Jonathan tightly to him as he closed his eyes and enjoyed the comfort the cuddle gave him. After a few seconds, the sound of someone clearing her throat made James open his eyes. The same doctor who had spoken to him before was standing on the threshold.

  When James’s eyes met hers she spoke quickly. “Our scans came back negative. He has a few bumps and bruises, but there doesn’t seem to be any brain swelling or internal damage. He’s been very upset, understandably.” She nodded to Jonathan’s limp form, “though it seems like he has got what he wanted now.”

  “And Christine?” James asked as he shifted Jonathan on his chest slightly.

  The doctor grimaced. “I’m afraid there has been no update. She is still in surgery. I’ll let you know as soon as we hear something.”

  “Thank you,” James said with a nod. He was still deeply worried about Christine, but holding Jonathan was giving him some balance. “Thank you for everything you have done.”

  “Do not worry Emperor, it is our duty, and we are happy to help,” the doctor replied. James nodded to her and she turned and slipped out of the room.

  James lost track of time. To keep Jonathan happy, he paced back-and-forth across the small room. After counting to eighty-seven he lost track of how many lengths he did. Back-and-forth, back-and-forth he walked as he bounced Jonathan gently and held him close. Though James was ecstatic that Jonathan was okay, his mind threw up every possible outcome that could take Christine from him. His imagination was full of thoughts of Jonathan growing up without a mother, of him having to juggle being a father and leading the Empire. Of the Karacknids defeating the counterattack Ya’sia and he had been planning without him there to be involved. A hundred different scenarios raced through his mind. The only brief respite he got was when two of Jonathan’s maids arrived. They quickly made up a bottle and gave it to James. Watching Jonathan greedily down the bottle made James smile for a second. But then his son fell asleep in his arms and James was left alone with his thoughts once more.

  It wasn’t until three hours later that movement on the other side of the glass panel made James stop his pacing. Without warning the double doors into the medical suite swung inwards and nurses came rushing through. Moments later a bed was wheeled through and James recognized Christine, though her head was in some kind of brace and the rest of her was covered by a thick sheet. As James watched the nurses transferred her to the bed that had been waiting for her. Then they attached several devices to Christine and finally stepped back. They were still watching her when the door to James’ small room opened.

  “Emperor Somerville,” a man dressed in a doctor’s coat said as he stepped in. “I am senior consultant Jack Keller. I have just finished operating on your wife,” he continued as James turned towards him. He broke into a smile. “I’m pleased to say that she is going to make a full recovery though it
will be a long road for her. Both her left arm and leg were badly damaged. We’ve repaired as much of it as we can, it’s now over to her body to do the rest. She will need several months of physiotherapy, but after that, she should be as good as new.”

  “The internal bleeding?” James asked, not willing to accept the good news just yet. “And her head?”

  Keller nodded. “Both were more concerning than her arm and leg but we believe we have both under control. Her head took a nasty knock, there was some brain swelling, but we reduced it before there was a chance of any serious damage. I imagine she’ll have a headache on and off for the next couple of weeks to a month, but that should be the extent of it. As to her internals. Her spleen was ruptured and her liver scarred. There was quite a lot of blood loss but we’ve repaired the damage and given her a transfusion. Again, she will be tender for a while, but I don’t believe there will be lasting damage. I must say, she is a lucky woman. I saw the footage of the shuttle’s crash. It could have been much worse.”

  “It could,” James found himself agreeing as the last wisps of his fear and despair evaporated. Instead he felt deep-seated anger bubble up within him. Someone had tried to kill his wife and child. They almost bloody succeeded! he thought. With an effort, he pushed down his anger. “Thank you,” he said to the doctor as calmly as he could. “I have my wife and Jonathan has his mother thanks to you. I won’t forget what you’ve done for us.”