by Marcus Sloss
“Yes, well,” Linda cleared her throat and had the grace to blush, “There may have been a news report that the virum wasn’t contracted from recklessly saving my son-in-law from our own ill-advised experiment, and instead from the market.” She shrugged, not caring for my disbelieving scoff. “Right now, there are some issues at home that I need your help with. I was sent to trade with you for a few reasons. The government wants to limit exposing its people to aliens; that means dealing with you and not the Xgate. At least until they find out you are no longer a human only stronghold.” She paused and looked up at the sky. “Speaking of which, they should have the spy plane overhead at any moment. The reality is I was sent here not as your President, but for less political reasons. It was thought that you’d be more willing to help your mother-in-law. Also,” she continued quickly, not meeting my eyes, “you’re getting our prisoners. That way—”
“Prisoners?” I ground out scornfully.
“General Ryan, get the prisoner, Ballard. Leave the others for now,” Linda instructed her staff. The woman turned to me as if she hadn’t said anything important. “The man’s wife was caught in bed with her son’s friend. The virum has that effect on people, although this was different. He strangled her, which probably would have not killed her with the virum, but then he sawed her head off.” Linda shivered.
My grunt of furious displeasure startled her.
“Tell me you’re joking,” I said, seething with rage.
“I recommended banishment. Those idiots voted to send our prisoners here. Said that since you’re an ex-con—”
I stormed out of my armory. Between the two chinooks, a man in chains was being led towards us by General Ryan. I whipped Big sploosha around off my back, took aim, and General Ryan dove out of the way. Smart man. I fired a blue expanding orb. The round sizzled across the distance and eviscerated the prisoner. His upper torso melted before the orb that exploded out his back splashed against the cliff wall. The legs flopped over. Suddenly a massive cat by my side, hissing aggressively. I walked to the helicopters to peer into their holds.
A hand reached up to close the ramp. My shotgun snapped up and a warning orb caused the hand to retreat. Brown orbs splashed ineffectively off my shield, unable to get through. Onix ended the fight before I could spin around.
By the time I completed my turn, two guards were dead, their bodies mauled to bits. Longoria was pushing those inside my armory out. She was in armor that matched mine, a sword of acrium in her hand.
“Thanks, Onix. Get over here, now, before I kill you, Linda,” I shouted.
When she rolled her eyes, but started my way, I spun back towards the cargo bay. A dozen men and women in chains sat on top of cargo containers alongside one wall of the aircraft.
Linda arrived at my side with her hands on her hips. She sassily snapped, “So dramatic! Their files are on your Gpad.”
I opened the file and scanned down the list.
“There are two murders, a con artist, and … you banished someone for political dissent?” I looked at her incredulously. “Most of these are felony crimes punishable with ten years or less imprisonment.” I slapped the file against my leg, and growled, “I am piecing together what is happening, here.”
Linda refused to meet my eyes.
“What is your official mission statement?” I asked, knowing Linda was being fed to the wolves. Well, in this case … me.
“We need you to buy us zinc,” Linda replied nonchalantly.
“Why would I do that?” I frowned, “Wait ... why can’t you do that?”
“They voted that it was beneath our sanctuary to aid raiding aliens who savaged our once-great nation. Personally—”
I bitch smacked my mother-in-law with a vengeance. She smirked up at me from the ground. Ugh. A sadist … that explained a lot of things, actually.
“What is in the crates?” I growled.
“It’s all on the list: platinum, yttrium, and gold. The gold was to appeal to your pirate ways. We know it's almost worthless,” Linda said with a snicker.
AH1 and AH2 stormed onto the scene. The aircraft flared as they landed swiftly. Tanks popped out and warriors encircled our group.
I walked to the other chinook and found, sure enough, that it was filled to the brim with goods in military crates. I rubbed my temples as a migraine bloomed behind my right eye.
Linda’s eyes widened at seeing Crixxi in battle gear. She hissed, “Are you using alien soldiers? I will be hung if they find out. I can’t go back with—”
I spun on her, my vicious right hook cracked into her jaw. She did not go down, even though her eyes rolled up into the back of her head.
“Damn those Virum are tough. Bind her, and then gag her,” I said, pointing to Sammie and Mitchell, since they were the first to arrive on the scene. I opened the command net. “I need someone to wake Perci up and bring her to me from inside the eastern portal on Xgate 232.”
Jevon walked over to join me, inspecting the prisons. “What happened, Cap?” He asked.
“Since we are an ex-con unit, the remaining US government thought it fitting that we take their prisoners. We are supposed to buy them zinc, because they are reportedly above dealing with aliens. And—”
“You’re being serious right now?” Jevon asked, trying to stay calm. “The remaining US government voted for us to be their pawns and to use us as a dumping ground?!”
Two jets flew in from the distance. I went to turn the shielding on, but saw that someone already had.
“If they don’t pull up …” Jevon started to say.
A second later, we both winced.
Both fighter jets crashed into the shield, massive plumes of flame shooting into the sky. They would send something else next. Was I at war with my own race? Hmm…
“Well shit, I was planning on returning these people home with zinc to help the population.” I punched the side of the helicopter, making a large fist shaped dent in the airframe. “You! General Ryan!” I shouted at one of the men gagged and bound beside Linda. Mitchell hauled him to his feet and dragged him over to me. His mouth was freed and I asked, “What happens next?”
“They will lob some missiles at you, which spoiler alert … we’re desperately low on. Once they realize President Growlen is compromised, they will start plotting with her replacement. Oh … shit … they probably already have. That explains why I am the only member of the Joint Chiefs here. They’ll blame her, but probably cave and buy zinc through the portal. Linda already bought some this rotation; I bet they find our stash and pretend they bought it,” General Ryan said with a wry grin. “You know, basic politics.”
“If I let you fly home … without Linda, what happens?” I asked and for the first time, he looked frightened.
“Umm… Politically, I am tied to Linda,” he said, fidgeting. Covert, stolen glances of longing at Linda Growlen gave him away. I now understood now how he was tied to her. “I’ll probably get strung up too. Here they c—”
Two concussive explosions blossomed over our shields. Fireballs erupted in massive plumes of smoke outside our shields. Our shielding for Mansion was epic. Two more missiles raced over our shields. Blue fire lanced at the soaring missiles as they screamed by, trying to knock them from the sky. One imploded mid-flight. The other dove to the ground not far from the Xgate.
I cursed at the sight of the explosion. A scowl chiseled onto my face. An alert hit my Gpad. A TG99 had been hit heading for Mansion. Five crew had been on board; all were dead. The note listed five Crixxi soldiers. I did not give any sign of my relief. Perci was out there, somewhere, and we were taking fire in the middle of the day during a golden gate.
“General Ryan, how many more attacks?”
“We still have attack helicopters, fighter jets, and other tools. The attack helicopters can't reach here without a refueling point that will take several days to setup. These big lugs are fine, same with the jets. The cruise missiles ... we only have a hundred left. My guess is—”
<
br /> Two more missiles raced from the north. The smashed into the mansion shield.
“You can expand the shielding?” General Ryan asked.
“Add more generators and you get a bigger shield,” Jevon noted from my side. “I linked our shields together. We should have done this from the start. Our dome is huge now. Everything in a large circle around our bases is somewhat safe. If they drop nukes, however …”
“We don’t have any nukes,” General Ryan admitted with a scoff, “The mother ship took out our entire strategic stockpile.” Three more missiles slammed into the shields. I heard a radio crackle from inside the chinook. General Ryan looked at me and said, “That is probably for you.”
I entered the back of the chinook. My body shifted sideways to fit down the narrow path that ran between the cargo pallets. I shimmied forward until I reached a radio that was calling for one Captain Eric Yang. I picked up the microphone and smashed the detent.
“This is Yang.”
“Ah, finally. We wish to cease hostilities. We acted in response to your aggression and require the return of our supplies or we will continue with our attack,” a man’s voice said.
“You do realize I have detailed information on Teton? And that I have an army you can’t stop,” I said, letting the sentence hang. “I will make you a deal … and after that, I am shutting off these radios. Are you ready?”
“I am afraid we cannot deal with terrorists,” the negotiator said.
“If that’s how you want to play it. I will raid your base, then. You bring your best and I will bring mine,” I said and waited.
“This is Vice president Sinclair, I have just arrived and am being briefed,” Sinclair said, as if she just happened to bust in on our conversation.
General Ryan was standing over my shoulder. He muttered that Sinclair was a snake, but I hollered over him to bring me President Growlen. Perci entered the side door of the aircraft dragging her mom.
“What is your offer, Captain Yang?” Sinclair said, dropping the terrorist tag at least.
“We leave you alone, you leave us alone. Your planes crashed into my shield. You destroyed my tank. I trade your chinooks back with a bit of zinc and you never think of raining missiles on my people again,” I said and Perci frowned. Her mother opened her mouth to complain, then shut it again.
“You keep Growlen, Ryan, and the other prisoners and you have a deal, Captain Yang. Let me assure you, you may have suddenly sprouted an army, but the US Government is not frightened of you. We will defeat you if we have to meet on the field of battle. Fortunately for you, we are pre-occupied at the moment with a fanatic, claiming the ‘gods of the gates’ empower him, ravaging San Francisco. Know that we are the largest settlement of Humans remaining on Earth. Raiding us would remove much that you fought to protect before the Xgates,” she sneered, “but that is why, to keep us secure, I will lower myself to dealing with you.”
“And you get rid of Growlen.” I smirked.
“The cherry on the top,” Sinclair admitted with a chuckle. There was cheering in the background.
“Sinclair. You have drones somewhere. I know you do. I also know you’re buying some stuff from the Xgates. I think you’re crazy to shun the grand market,” I said.
“Oh, don’t you just know it. After a swift defeat by you, after we regretfully tried to retaliate for your seizing the President, I have all the justifications I need to get around the pesky senate. My troops, chinooks, and your zinc come back to me. The prisoners, Growlen, Ryan, and crates stay. In exchange, we cease hostilities.”
“Let me check the crates, first, which shouldn’t take long … ten minutes tops,” I said, leaving the radio. When I turned, I found myself staring at the almost matching twins of mother and daughter. Perci smiled; her mom scowled. A smile pulled at the corners of my mouth as I bounced my eyebrows at my wife. “Hey Perci … or are you Linda?”
I had to run from Perci as she hounded me while dragging her mom.
“I am dying my hair!” Perci shouted in frustration.
Jevon inspected the crates, his hands quickly sifting through the bars of minerals. He looked up at me and smiled.
“Eric, they are insane. This is another fortune,” Jevon said, tossing me a bar of yttrium. I let out a long whistle.
Linda screamed into her rag for attention. I pulled the cloth out of her mouth.
“We learned from a trader what was valuable early on. This … is nothing. Not even a drop in the bucket. When you have a stockpiled list of minerals across the globe, it is pretty easy to zip in, snatch what you need and tuck it away while the world panics,” Linda said with a scoff. “Sinclair is not dumb. She knows this will please you. She knew she had to retaliate when this cat ate two of her people.”
“Good boy Onix!” Perci said to Onix who lazily watched from RV3’s roof. A sigh escaped Perci’s lips as she inspected the crates’ contents. “I guess I need to go to Xgate 201.”
I knew we could have had the working crews dumping old vehicles into the other Xgate. The idea had been discussed, but then set aside because I thought we would get more than enough materials for what we needed before hitting our cap at Xgate 232. I closed my eyes and cracked my neck; Perci did have more shopping to do, especially now that we had this much yttrium. A thought suddenly occurred to me.
“Linda, why did you not load up on zinc?” I asked.
“We were told zinc has a ten percent valuation compared to some of the rarer metals. Zinc is not difficult to get and was not high on the list,” Linda said with a scoff. “I’m smart Eric, but not all knowing. No one had ever heard of the virum or their need for zinc, so we didn’t stash a bunch of it. Now, however, it’s infinitely more dangerous to go looting. The majority of our fleet is out gathering resources, but golden portal time is the only time when we brave the new world.”
My hands went to my hips and I paced.
“Where is AC1?” I asked and Perci shrugged. Longoria raised a hand while approaching.
“In Aspen, my lord,” Longoria said. She was fully geared now, with a generator, shielding, and a rifle.
She still held that sword and I was caught eyeing the weapon.
“As old as I am, Master, I do appreciate an interested eyeing. But this is only an acrium sword—not very effective, but the moment called for something. There are far better melee weapons on the market.” She smiled at me sweetly, “Would you like to know more?”
Perci snickered while I mentally drooled. “You’re going to make him pant with desire, you hussie,” Perci said playfully and a wide smile spread across Longoria’s face. “I like your style.” My diminutive wife turned back to me. “Where do you want my mother and what are your orders, your grace?”
“Isolate her and keep her under guard in an Aspen hotel room with General Ryan. You, me, and a military escort are going to Aspen for AC1. Mitchell, bring your recon team,” I said, raising my voice for him to hear.
“Wilco,” he replied, gathering his troops for the platform.
I turned to a frowning Jevon. “While we’re getting AC1, I need you to load these chinooks up with a quarter of our zinc. The rest fly over to Aspen to load into AC1. The AC1 has its own shield generator so we're flying that into Denver. I need to go make a call saying I accept and then we get to ride the underway! Twice.”
“What about the prisoners?” Jevon asked and I grimaced.
These were the decisions that sucked as the king. “The murders go to see Bonnet. Make it public with a tender last kiss. I want others to know internal feuds are not settled by killing each other. The rest are now prisoners. Assign them to… Nancy. Nancy will get them working.”
“I will see it done,” He promised.
I jogged back to the chinook and Sinclair agreed to our deal. Not like she had any reason to complain. She was getting everything she wanted.
We had a few hours until the golden portal went down and the blue went up, then eleven days of war. I guess the twelfth day might consist of mo
re battle, unless Teton had bigger problems to deal with than Bastion. I was super excited to ride the underway, I even gave a fist pump as my retinue followed me to the first platform.
I rubbed my hands together greedily in anticipation of finally riding the train. When I returned to the group, I caught a glimpse of Linda’s backside as she and her general were loaded onto AH1. Let that sour bitch go bug someone else. I saw Perci frowning at me while chatting with Longoria. I scooped my little babe up and twirled her around. She leaned down and kissed my acrium lips.
Shit. I guess I would need to swap out of my acrium armor at some point before the blue started, to give the little guys a rest.
“Are you ready to travel, my lord?” Longoria asked.
“Most certainly,” I replied in a chipper tone, then turned to my wife. “So, my darling Perci, how are you coping?”
“With what? The fact that we just traded blows with the US government or that you accepted my mom into our home?” Perci said with a pout. She was loving being carried, though. When I pretended to go to set her down, she tightened her grip on me. “No, my handsome King. You’ll carry my heiress booty to Aspen.”
“The lady’s wish is my command.” I grinned cheekily before frowning. “I am sorry about your mom being here. She can be an asset, though, assuming she doesn’t want to hide for a bit.”
“Yea, at least she has a man now, too. Wouldn’t surprise me if she ends up with a reverse harem bigger than ours,” Perci said with a roll of her eyes.
“To be fair, you're the one who keeps putting busty virum babes around me without their stones in,” I noted as we arrived at the platform.
Mitchell was waiting for us, chatting with Willow and Sammie. We exchanged pleasantries. Before we boarded the underway, I broadcast a call to everyone in the Bastion Community.
“Dear citizens. There was a brief skirmish that has been resolved. As a precaution, we will be hunkering behind our shields until the next blue zone. The soldiers who were training can stand down. The citizens building, to make our home better, should keep at it. Thank you for your efforts,” I said, closing the connection.
