The Last Spartan: Different Paths

by A. E. McCullough

  CHAPTER 7

  As he watched his favorite pupil depart, Sensei was filled with sadness.

  Even now, he wished he could’ve told him more but the words of honor spoken in the past still bound him as secure as iron. Taking one last look around his garden, the old man slowly made his way past the koi pond and the cherry trees to return once more to the shrine. As he knelt before the sacred altar, the Sensei wasn’t surprised to find the second sword of Musashi missing.

  “You can come out now. We are alone.”

  A dark shape moved out of the shadows to stand before the old man. Dressed in black, the shadows seemed to cling to his frame, masking the true form underneath. Brief hints of the figure could be gleaned if one stared long enough. When the shadow spoke, it was in a hoarse whisper.

  “Hello Sensei.”

  “The prodigal son returns,” Sensei said without looking up. “Have you returned home only to kill those that love you?”

  “Love?” The shadow spit out the word. “Love is for weak fools. What most would call love is the lust between two primitive species drawing them together to help procreate the race.”

  The shadow lifted the ancient blade and pointed it at the old man. The firelight glinted off its razor sharp edge. “I just came to New Atlanta to pay back some old debts and collect a few things. This is one of them.” He rested the ancient blade against the Sensei’s neck. “I’m only going to ask this once, where is the sword’s twin?”

  “Gone. I sent it away.”

  “That was foolish old man.”

  “No. It was the honorable thing to do.” The Sensei looked up at the shadowy figure for the first time. “I knew this day would come. No one believed me about you. I knew you were flawed from the beginning. I knew your heart wasn’t pure.”

  “Pure? I may be different from my brethren, more enlightened maybe but none of us were pure. No thanks to those of you on the project board.”

  Seeing the look of shock on the old man’s face, the shadow laughed a husky chuckle.

  “Yes, I know your true role in our creation. That fool Achilles doesn’t but I am no fool.”

  “So, I am to die? So be it, I have lived a good life. My karma is clean.”

  “You think I want to kill you?” The shadow shook his head. “I have something more devious in mind.”

  Looking past the shadows that clung to the figure, Sensei finally locked eyes with those of his wayward pupil. For the first and last time of his life the Sensei knew fear.

  CHAPTER 8

  After leaving the dojo, Iaido made his way to the scene of his friend’s death and took the elevator to the thirty-second floor. It had been nearly two years since he had last seen his friend.

  Even if he had never been to the apartment, it would’ve been obvious which apartment had been the Sgt. Major’s due to the bright yellow ‘Do Not Cross’ police tape stuck to the doorway. However, someone had cut the security seal and the door was slightly ajar. Iaido removed his dark shades and tucked them into a pocket.

  Drawing his Graver Mark 7 energy pistol, he toggled the switch to power it up before he pushed open the door with his foot. Using the doorframe as a barricade, he scanned the apartment for any hostiles.

  Nothing moved.

  The apartment was in shambles. If a tornado had landed in the living room, it couldn’t have made more of a mess. Someone had been through the apartment looking for something and didn’t care if they destroyed everything to find it.

  Iaido moved slowly through the apartment with his weapon at the ready.

  The study was only halfway trashed as if whoever was searching had been interrupted. The desk had been overturned and the drawers pulled out and smashed. The Sgt. Major’s pictures and medals were thrown all about the room. Oddly enough, the picture and frame of Omega Squadron was still intact and lying face up on the remains of the desk. Iaido powered down and holstered his Graver Mk7.

  Kneeling down to retrieve the photograph, he studied it for a few minutes before removing the photo from the frame and tucked it inside coat. Ignoring the rest of the room, Iaido studied the markings on the bookshelf until he found three studs that seemed slightly out of place. He tried several combinations of pressing or twisting them until he was rewarded with a loud ‘click.’ Stepping back, Iaido watched as the fish tank slid out into the room to reveal a hidden passageway.

  Squatting down, Iaido glanced inside. The room beyond was dimly lit and he couldn’t see any movement within. “Eve, you can come out now.”

  It was several moments before her blonde locks and emerald eyes peeked around the corner. “Is it safe?”

  “Yes princess… it is.”

  “Uncle Achilles!” Eve screamed as she leapt into Iaido’s arms and hugged him tightly. After a moment she asked, “Where’s my daddy?”

  Taking a deep breath, Iaido knew he was about to step on fragile ground. Telling her the truth at this time could be detrimental but lying to her was wrong, so Iaido decided to be vague. “I’m sorry Eve but your dad is gone but I’m here to take you someplace safe.”

  “I’ve been so scared. Daddy and Amy have been gone for so long. Then, bad men came and made this mess but left when the police arrived.”

  “How long ago was that?”

  “A long time ago.” Cocking her head to one side, Eve glanced toward the main entrance. “The bad men are coming back.”

  Setting her down, Iaido faced the doorway and waited.

  It wasn’t long before two men in black suits with short dark hair and dark sunglass moved into the room and took up flanking positions on each side of the doorway. Even without his armor’s senses, Iaido could tell that both of these goons had full military-grade combat augments just by the way they moved. Iaido gently nudged Eve back into the panic room passageway. She moved inside without complaint but didn’t close the hatch.

  The three men stared at each other for several moments each sizing up his opponent. It’s a natural thing, especially for those who walk the warrior’s path; every person you meet is another predator or prey, ally or enemy, friend or foe. Most warriors do this on a subconscious level but in a meeting like this, it’s almost a tangible thing that fills the air. After a moment, the goon to the left of the door began to reach into his inside jacket pocket. The ringing sound of Iaido’s katana clearing its scabbard filled the room and caused both goons to flinch.

  Iaido kept his voice low when he said, “I don’t know you buddy…but if that hand moves any faster or comes out of your jacket with any type of weapon, it will be lying on the floor a few seconds before your head lands beside it.”

  The goon moved his hand with exaggerated slowness and pulled out a small black metal box that Iaido recognized it as a portable holo-emitter. He pressed the button, placed it on the ground and stepped back.

  A blue-white light filled the air above the emitter. Slowly it refocused until it became a floating head which Iaido instantly recognized. The disembodied head scanned the room briefly before fixing his one good eye on the bounty hunter.

  “Achilles. Please forgive the rudeness of this meeting but somehow I don’t relish being within range of your blades again, even after all these years.”

  “Hello General, what do you want?”

  “Actually its President now or haven’t you heard?”

  “Semantics. General, President, High Chancellor… it doesn’t matter what title you call yourself, you will still be a coward. Now get to the point. What do you want?”

  Anger flared across the President’s face for a brief second before he regained control. “Watch your tongue, pod-born. I could have you killed in the blink of an eye or shipped off to New Leavenworth again.”

  Iaido sheathed his sword. “Get to the point General. You didn’t arrange this meeting to exchange threats about the past.”

  “No. You are quite right. I need your unique skills.”

  “Sorry, not for hire. I’m already working a case.”

  “Yes, I know. The mu
rder of retired Sgt. Major Spenton and his wife, Amy…but my job and your case are linked. They were killed on orders from your former commanding officer, Major Marcus T. McDowell.”

  “So you say.”

  “Incidentally he is wanted on multiple accounts of grand theft, larceny, desertion, dereliction of duty and extortion.”

  “Not interested.”

  “There is a rather large bounty on the Major’s head… two-hundred and fifty thousand credits; dead or alive.”

  “Not interested.”

  The President continued as if he didn’t hear him.

  “I want you to find Major McDowell. His desertion is a stain on my honor.”

  “You have no honor.”

  Again the President ignored the insult. “No one has come forward to claim the bounty but I want him so I have increased the bounty to a half-million credits. I want the best and as much as I hate to admit it, that’s you.”

  “Not interested.”

  The holo-image of the President’s head frowned at Iaido’s continued refusals. “Let me ask you a simple question, Achilles.”

  “That is no longer my name.”

  “It was the name we gave you and it is what you were created to be; the ultimate warrior but that isn’t the issue or the question. What do you remember about a mission twelve years ago called Operation Lodestone?”

  Iaido thought for a second before shaking his head. “There wasn’t an Operation Lodestone, at least not for Omega Squadron.”

  “I assure you there was such an operation and it was the only mission Omega ever failed.”

  “We never failed to attain the mission objectives. Hell, even on Gilese when we lost the whole squadron we still held the pass. The price was high but tactically it was still a victory. We held the pass as ordered.”

  The President nodded. “What you say about Gilese is true but that was the remnants of Omega Squadron, basically the Second and Third Companies. We lost the entire First Company during Operation Lodestone.”

  Iaido’s look of disbelief was obvious. “I find that hard to believe. I was with Omega since its christening. Don’t forget I was the old man in the squad.”

  “How do you think you became the old man?” the President asked.

  Iaido shrugged his shoulders in response.

  “Let me ask you another question, what happened to your brother Hector?”

  “He was killed in an accident. Two cruisers exited hyperspace at the same time and ran into each other, both ships and crews were lost.”

  “Did Hector ever travel solo or on another military transport?”

  Iaido shook his head. “No.”

  “Then how did he die in a starship crash and not you?” The President paused before he added, “What you believe about your brother’s death are lies. We implanted those memories to help you overcome the loss of Hector and the rest of your pod-mates. Trust me on this.”

  “Trust is earned not given and after Gilese you haven’t earned that right.”

  The President nodded. “Point taken but whether you believe me or not, the fact remains that the few survivors of Operation Lodestone are being systematically killed.”

  The holo-gram shifted from the image of the President to a list of over a hundred names, all but four were marked through in red.

  “Over the last several months, there has been a rash of un-solved and mysterious deaths. Their only connection is Operation Lodestone, somehow they were involved. Maybe as an intel officer or a shuttle pilot but they were connected. Of the four left alive, only Major McDowell really knows what happened.”

  “Why don’t I remember anything about this mission?” Iaido asked.

  “According to Sgt. Major Spenton’s report, you were severely injured when you single-handedly dispatched a patrol of Lemurians that was blocking your squad’s escape route. When you three finally made it to the shuttle, you were more dead than alive. Medical records show that you had so many wounds, the med-techs were amazed that you were walking at all. You suffered massive blood loss and a severe concussion. They placed you into a regen-tank as you slipped into a coma.”

  “I still don’t understand what one mission, if it happened at all, has to do with this.”

  “Something happened on that mission, something not in the official report. With your memories modified and the Sgt. Major dead, only Major McDowell has the answers.”

  Iaido pondered the implications for a moment before asking, “Can I assume that you were the officer in charge of planning the assault?”

  “Yes. We had good intel that the Lemurians were planning an assault on Earth and we sent in our best troops to forestall their attack. We didn’t expect you to fail.” The President’s hands made the quotation marks to signify his sarcasm as he said ‘best.’

  “Plan for failure, hope for success. Isn’t that what you taught us in training?”

  “True, every mission has a chance of failure but Omega had such a knack for achieving the impossible. After all of your successes, we got so used to you winning that we became overconfident. But back to the point at hand, shortly after your return from the mission Major McDowell made several accusations against the Coalition Intelligence Agency. Stating publicly that the military was given mis-information and he went as far as accusing several high ranking officers of collaborating with the Confederates.”

  “Was there any truth to his accusations?”

  The President shrugged. “Nothing was ever substantiated.”

  Iaido rubbed his chin as he digested what he was told before asking, “How long before Gilese was Operation Lodestone?”

  “One year.”

  “So the Major was under investigation before Gilese but was still left in charge of Omega?”

  The President nodded. “His accusations weren’t without basis and a full military tribunal was called but never convened due to the debacle on Gilese.”

  “And since the Major disappeared during Gilese, you needed a scapegoat.” Iaido nodded. “Now I understand why you had me charged with an article 94 - sedition.”

  “Yes. After the debacle of Gilese, the masses needed someone to blame for the loss of so many of our troops and you were it. It wasn’t personal, just politics.”

  Iaido’s hands clenched unconsciously at the thought of being used as a pawn. Of course, part of his mind realized the rational aspect of sacrificing a pawn to achieve an objective and as much as he hated to admit it, the President’s explanation made sense.

  “All this is interesting but you still haven’t explained why you need me?”

  “As I said, I need the best. I have checked the records of your hunts and once again, you have never failed a job. I’ll even sweeten the pot. I will triple the bounty if you also retrieve an old book of mine that I am sure the Major still has, an original Mark Twain.”

  Iaido rubbed his chin. “Hmmm… one and a half million for the Major and this book? Any ideas on his location? Any leads?”

  “If I knew that I wouldn’t need to hire you. Does this mean you’ll take the job?”

  “I would be a fool not to but given our past I must insist on half up front.”

  The President chuckled. “I didn’t know we programmed you with a sense of humor.”

  “You didn’t. It developed over time, just as my skills have evolved and my patience has lessened over the years.”

  One of the goons stepped forward and placed a cred-stix on the floor next to the emitter before stepping back.

  “Here is the original bounty; two-hundred and fifty thousand credits as a down payment. When you have completed the job, activate this emitter and one of my associates will arrange the transfer. By the way Achilles, after you get the information from the Major that we need I would prefer that he not return to Earth; if you get my meaning?”

  Iaido nodded. “Understood.”

  The two goons backed out of the room as the holo-emitter powered down and the room fell into darkness.

  Eve stepped out of the pa
ssageway. “So, my dad and Amy are dead?”

  Iaido knelt down next to her and stared into her sky blue eyes. “Yes dear, I’m sorry. I really didn’t want you to find out this way.”

  Tears filled her eyes as she said, “It’s okay. I knew they were gone, I dreamt it. But where will I go now?”

  Iaido pulled the young girl into a hug. “You will come with me. I will look after you until we get this sorted out. Now gather your things, only what you can carry in one bag and do it quickly.”

  Watching the young girl scamper off to pack her belongings, Iaido retrieved the items left by the man that had sacrificed his company during the war, caused the death of his brothers and incarcerated him for eight years.

  But those were all personal issues and this was business. He had been hired to do a job and he would do it to the best of his ability…as always.

  CHAPTER 9

  Iaido scanned the street for anything out of the ordinary before turning to help Eve out of the taxi.

  She glanced around in wide-eyed wonderment at the mass of people which crowded the plaza before she asked, “Where are we?”

  Iaido pointed to a sign with Japanese writing on it. “I have an appointment at my Sensei’s dojo.”

  Eve looked up with a furrowed brow and asked, “What’s a sen-say?”

  “It is an ancient term of endearment that translated from Japanese means, ‘wise old man’ or teacher.”

  “What’s a do-jo?”

  “It’s a Japanese term which literally translated means ‘place of the Way’. It is a training hall for warriors. My Sensei teaches the Way to any who want to learn the Way.”

  Still looking at him with a puzzled look she asked, “What is the way?”

  Iaido chuckled. “That my dear is a good question. Men spend their whole life seeking the answer. I cannot truly answer it, for I too seek the Way.”

  He pointed at a holo-display of two men engaged in a sword fight and continued his explanation, “My Sensei is a master in Kenjutsu and the leading authority on Bushido; ancient Japanese swordsmanship and other martial arts. When I’m in town, I work out here.”