Renegade (The Kurgan War Book 7)

by Richard Turner

  He closed his eyes and prayed no one would shoot him for what he was about to do next. At the top of his lungs, in Kurgan, he yelled out, “Rally on me! All Kurgan warriors who can hear my voice, move here now!”

  Sheridan waved the banner for a couple more seconds before jamming it into the ground. He bent down and ran as fast as he could back to his trench.

  “Where the hell did you learn to speak Kurgan?” asked a stunned Adams.

  “School,” replied Sheridan.

  “Not too many people even knew what a Kurgan looked like let alone how they spoke before the war began.”

  “Adams, I know you have your suspicions about me. Trust me; I learned it at school, and that’s all I’m going to say on the subject.”

  “You’ve kept us alive for this long, so who am I to judge you?”

  Sheridan pulled himself up and waited to see if his ruse had worked. At first, one or two Kurgans with minor wounds limped their way toward the flag. Then more and more leaderless warriors rushed to join the others thinking they would find an officer there to give them orders. A grizzled, old sergeant picked up the flag and looked around for the person who called them over. That was Sheridan’s cue. He brought up his pistol and opened fire at the mob of Kurgans. His men quickly joined in. The Kurgans never stood a chance. Brought down in a hail of bullets, at least thirty warriors fell where they stood.

  “Unbelievable. Do think we could pull that off again?” asked Adams.

  “Not unless you want to go out there and give Kurgan a try,” replied Sheridan.

  “No, sir, I think I’ll stay here.”

  Like a tree reaching its breaking point in a powerful storm, the tempo of battle swung against the Kurgans. Sheridan watched as the two remaining Guardians pushed forward in the face of ever-diminishing Kurgan gunfire. They sprayed the ground with a hail of 30mm shells as they forced the Kurgans out of their trenches and into the open where they were mercilessly picked off by the survivors of the 333rd.

  Sheridan let out a tired sigh and shook his head. By the skin of their teeth, they had once again somehow survived. His tired mind itemized everything he needed to do next to keep his men and himself alive. Another reorganization was coming as was the last and most deadly Kurgan attempt to push what little remained of Denisov’s command from the Devil’s Rock. Twelve hours. That’s how much time was left before the Kurgans would realize the hopelessness of the situation and throw in the towel. To Sheridan, it might as well have been twelve lifetimes. He still had to find a way to keep himself alive and find the assassins, if there were any left in action, before they got to Denisov and potentially altered the timeline.

  Chapter 32

  The Terra Nova Senior High School sat quiet and dark at the end of a dimly lit tunnel. Just before the Kurgans arrived almost all the planet’s children had been evacuated to bases closer to Earth.

  Cole parked his “borrowed” quad in the shadows at the back of the building and switched off its engine. He climbed out of his seat, grabbed his pack, and threw it over his shoulder. He smiled at Suparat and said, “Home sweet home for the next day or so.”

  “How do you know the threat will be over in such a short amount of time?” asked Suparat.

  “I don’t. But a friend of mine seems to think everything that is happening right now is tied to a specific timeline and we’re nearing the end of it.”

  “It’s almost as if you already know how things are going to turn out.”

  Cole chuckled. “I wish. No, let’s just call it good intel.”

  Suparat got out of the quad and shivered. “I’ve never had my life threatened before. I don’t mind telling you that I’m frightened.”

  “It’s not something you get over. You do, however, learn to deal with your emotions and compartmentalize them.”

  “You know that’s not healthy for one’s mental health.”

  “I didn’t say it was. Come on, let’s find a spot to hold up in for the night.”

  The back doors were locked, but it didn’t take Cole long to pick the lock and gain access. The air in the corridors was dusty and stale.

  “Any suggestions?” Cole asked Suparat.

  “I think the administration offices will work. You can see up and down the hallway, and there are multiple doors for an easy escape.”

  Cole was impressed. “Where did that little tactical nugget come from?”

  “I play an on-line holographic shooter game with some of my girlfriends from college. You soon learn where’s the best places to fight in a building are by playing the simulation.”

  “And to think I had to learn the hard way.”

  The administration offices turned out to be exactly as Suparat had envisioned. Cole checked the rooms to make sure they were completely alone before taking a seat at a desk and opening his pack. He set a small plastic box down and opened it.

  “What do you have there?” asked Suparat.

  “Some of my toys.” Cole brought out two silver dragonflies and a gray centipede. “I’m going to let the dragonflies loose to fly up and down the hallways. If anyone tries to enter the building, their sensors should detect them and my watch will beep. As for the centipede, he’s going to stand guard by hanging out on the wall behind us. If someone is clever enough to elude the dragonflies, their body heat will give them away when they step inside the room. Once again, my watch should beep, alerting me to the danger.”

  “Amazing. I’ve never seen or heard of this kind of technology.”

  “It’s actually out of date,” lied Cole. “They give this old stuff to us agents in the field when the newer and better models come along.”

  “Old or not, I’m glad you have these things with you.”

  Cole gently ran a finger over the back of his dragonflies, activating them. They fluttered their wings and flew off down the darkened corridors. Cole checked his watch to make sure they were active on his screen. One flew north, the other south. Satisfied they were operating within mission parameters, Cole gently placed the centipede over the door and said, “Guard.”

  Red lights flashed in the mechanical insect’s eyes as it came to life.

  Suparat smiled. “Ingenious.”

  Cole resumed sitting at the table. He rummaged through his pack for a couple of seconds before pulling out a couple of ration packs. “Hungry?”

  “I’m starving.”

  Cole handed her a pasta meal while he took the turkey stew. They ate in silence, both lost in their thoughts. The rumble from the guns may have been less pronounced where they were, but it served as a reminder that people were fighting and dying by the thousands to keep everyone else safe.

  “Like some coffee?” Cole asked.

  “Yes, please, I’d love some.”

  It took Cole only a couple minutes using his mini-stove to warm up two cups of coffee. He handed one to Suparat. “Careful, it’s going to be scalding hot.”

  “I like my coffee hot,” she replied.

  Cole looked around the office at the dust-covered computers and shook his head.

  “What’s wrong?” asked Suparat.

  “I wish these things were up and running.”

  “Why?”

  “I thought I saw someone earlier today who shouldn’t be here.”

  “Is he dangerous?”

  Cole shrugged. “I’m not sure. I can tell you that I don’t trust him one iota”.

  “Maybe I can help,” said Suparat as she dug out her tablet from her bag. She switched it on and waited for the screen to come up.

  Suparat’s striking features were accentuated in the light of her computer. Her looks were hard for Cole not to miss. For a brief moment in time, he wondered if a man like him and woman like her could have a lasting relationship. It was all academic; he’d be leaving soon, and she had her place and her future in this timeline.

  “Okay, what do you want me to do?” asked Suparat.

  “Can you access the security cameras in and around the cafeteria you ate breakfast in t
his morning?”

  “I think so. Because of my job I have a secret security classification.”

  Cole pushed his chair over next to hers and watched as she navigated her way through several portals until she gained access to the base’s security footage.

  “What time are you looking for?” asked Suparat.

  “I think it was close to 0800 hours when you left the mess hall.”

  “You were watching me that closely?”

  Cole chuckled. “Of course. It’s my job. Remember?”

  On the screen were images from four different cameras. Suparat started the feed at ten minutes to eight. They sat there in the dark, intently staring at the tablet until Cole jabbed his finger at the screen. “There! That’s the son of a bitch.”

  Suparat closed the other camera feeds and enlarged the image of Cromwell. “Are you sure this is the man you’re looking for?”

  “Oh, yeah. It’s him all right. Can we track him using the hallway cameras?”

  “Sure, but I’m not a trained surveillance tech. I’ll have to do this slowly, so I don’t lose track of the man.”

  “I’ve got nothing better to do for the next few hours. Do you?”

  Suparat smiled. “No, I guess not.”

  For the better part of three hours they moved from camera recording to camera recording as they followed Cromwell around the base. Eventually, they watched him walk into a small café and take a seat at a table in the back of the establishment. A person entered right behind him and sat down at the table.

  Cole bit his lip when he saw the face of the person who had joined Cromwell. He said to himself, “Why can’t you stay dead?”

  “Pardon?”

  “I’ve already killed two of that woman’s doppelgangers. I guess there’s a third model still on the prowl.”

  “Alan, you’re not making any sense,” said Suparat. Her voice quivered. “What do you mean you’ve already killed two of her?”

  “Solada, it’s hard to explain, but the Kurgs have infiltrated agents that look and act like we do onto the base. That woman sitting there on your screen is one of five assassins who have orders to kill you and another unnamed person in the military. All you need to worry about is memorizing both of those peoples’ faces in case we came across them in the next day or two.”

  “Is that man one of the assassins?”

  “No, I don’t think so. I’m willing to bet he’s up to something else. What it is, I have no idea. But I do intend to find out.”

  “Surely, you’re not working alone? Contact your superiors and have them arrested.”

  “I’m sorry but I can’t. There’s no one I could call to assist us.”

  Suparat placed her hands on either side of her head. “This is getting confusing. If you’re from the military, you have to have people above you that you report to?”

  “Solada, I promised I wouldn’t lie to you. There are things about me and this mission that I can never divulge to you. You’ll just have to believe me when I say I would rather die than see harm come to you.”

  Suparat lowered her hands and looked deep into Cole’s eyes. “I don’t know why, but I believe you.”

  “Thanks. Now where would you like me to roll out your air mattress?”

  “Right here,” she replied, pointing to an open spot on the floor. Her voice turned husky. “Where are you going to put yours?”

  Wendy flashed before Cole’s eyes. She was scowling and wagging a finger at him. They weren’t a couple and had agreed months ago to be nothing more than best friends, but something in the back of his mind told him to play it cool.

  “I’m going to sit up for a while and keep guard,” said Cole. “The thought of another assassin still on the loose has me on edge.”

  “Me too. Can I sit up with you?”

  Don’t do anything stupid, thought Cole. “Sure, why not. If you could bring up the cameras looking down this stretch of the base, that would be great.”

  Suparat moved from camera to camera until she had a clear picture of the passageway leading to the school. “Will this do?”

  “It’s perfect,” said Cole as Suparat propped up her tablet for them to watch.

  “Alan, can I ask you a personal question?”

  Cole cringed inside. “Sure. What’s on your mind?”

  “Am I not attractive to you?”

  “As a matter of fact, yes you are. I’m not exaggerating when I say that you’re one of the most beautiful women I have ever come across.”

  “Then why are you being standoffish? We could both be dead tomorrow.”

  Cole smiled and patted one of Suparat’s hands. “Trust me. You’re not going to die. We’re going to get through this together. As for my behavior, it wasn’t until a minute ago that I realized I already had a person in my life who I truly care about. I haven’t cared for another person the way I do for her in years.”

  “She must be someone special.”

  “Yeah, I suppose she is.” Cole sat back and let his guard down. He tried to imagine where Wendy and Tarina were. Cole glanced down at his watch and tried to figure out if they should be at the shuttle by now. If they weren’t, they soon would be. He reached down and patted the radio he had in his pocket. It was his lifeline to Wendy and Cole couldn’t wait until he made the call asking them for extraction.

  Chapter 33

  He wasn’t alone.

  In the cold darkness another person had somehow entered Michael Sheridan’s world. The intruder seemed to know where to find him in his mind’s labyrinth. No matter where he ran, the man followed him as if intent on causing him harm. From out of the black, a hand reached out, grabbed hold of Sheridan’s body, and shook it hard. A bright light filled his eyes.

  “Sir, you’ve got to get up,” said Adams, shaking Sheridan awake.

  “What? I wasn’t sleeping,” said, Sheridan, slurring his words.

  “Sir, you’ve been out for about ten minutes. You looked bushed, so I let you grab a couple of minutes’ rest.”

  Sheridan sat up and realized he had slid down to the bottom of his trench without knowing it. He struggled to his feet. His left elbow throbbed with every beat of his heart. “You wouldn’t happen to have any more painkillers on you.”

  Adams nodded and administered another dose. “That’s it, sir. If I spot a medic, I’ll ask for some more.”

  “Thanks,” said Sheridan, feeling the edge come off the pain.

  “Sir, we’ve got orders to pull back into reserve.”

  Sheridan chortled. “We’re now the unit’s reserve?”

  “Yes, sir. A runner is on her way to guide us to our depth position.”

  “I hope they realize that we only have two understrength squads in the entire company?”

  Adams shrugged. “I gave them our numbers the last time I spoke with battalion headquarters.”

  “Okay, pass the word to the men to pack up and meet us here.”

  The runner, a teenage girl, led Sheridan’s party back through a maze of destroyed trenches and gun positions. Dead soldiers, both Kurgan and human, littered the ground. The girl guided them to a small rocky ledge which overlooked the shattered remains of Denisov’s command post.

  “Sergeant Hill, your people will be located here,” said the youth. “I’ve also been told that you’re to accompany me to battalion HQ.”

  “Okay then, lead on,” replied Sheridan. “Adams, see to the men until I get back.”

  The youthful soldier tried to avoid walking on the dead Kurgans who lay in heaps outside of the CP.

  “They’re dead,” said Sheridan. “Block them out of your mind, and you’ll be all right.”

  The girl raised her head and carried on. At the entrance of the HQ sat two soldiers with their rifles cradled in their arms. Both were missing a limb, but that hadn’t stopped them from wanting to stay in the fight.

  “He’s with me,” said the girl.

  “Okay, head on in,” replied one of the men.

  Sheridan slung his r
ifle and followed the guide down a set of stairs into a dimly lit bunker.

  The guide removed her mask. She said, “It’s safe in here.”

  Sheridan rushed to remove the annoying respirator.

  The stench of burnt flesh and death was everywhere. Six soldiers and officers were sitting at various workstations. It was hard not to notice they were wounded. Blood-stained bandages covered injuries to the hands, faces, and chests of the duty personnel.

  “Sir, Sergeant Hill is here,” announced the girl.

  A man with broad shoulders and thick salt and pepper hair got up from a chair and limped over. The right sleeve of his jacket had been pinned up. With thick bushy eyebrows and a slightly weathered face there was no mistaking the man as General Denisov’s great-grandfather.

  “Thank you, Convict,” said Denisov to the girl. “You can leave him here with me.”

  Sheridan watched the girl leave, came to attention, and saluted the colonel.

  “Sergeant Hill, I’ve heard a lot of good things about you and your conduct under my command,” said Denisov.

  “Sir, it wasn’t just me. The soldiers have performed admirably.”

  Denisov chuckled. “You don’t sound like a convict. Tell me, Sergeant, are you an educated man?”

  “Yes, but that means nothing if the person with the education is an incompetent fool.”

  Denisov chuckled. “So true. Would you like a coffee?”

  “Yes, I would, sir.”

  Denisov snapped his fingers. “Lieutenant Quarrie, two coffees, please.”

  A young officer nodded and took off to find some cups.

  “I see you have been wounded as well,” said Denisov, looking at Sheridan’s sling.

  “Not as bad as you, sir,” he replied.

  Denisov glanced over at his missing limb. “I still have another one.”

  Crazy S.O.B., thought Sheridan. “Sir, my men are in place as your reserve. I hope your staff have informed you that I have eleven soldiers including myself left in the company.”

  “I was so informed. Sergeant, this regiment began the attack with close to two thousand soldiers. We now have one hundred and thirty-seven people under my command. Many of them, like you and I, are already hurt. Yet my orders still stand. We will hold the Devil’s Rock until we are relieved.”