Tree of Liberty (Book 3 of The Humanity Unlimited Saga)

by Terry Mixon

They’d set up some kind of portable missile launcher a bit back from the gate with its tubes angled to fire into the small area. Harry hoped none of them missed or they’d destroy the gate and probably kill a lot of people in an ugly blue on blue incident.

  His people were closest to the gate and held satchel charges. They’d throw them through as soon as the gate stabilized. That would clear the immediate area of threats as they charged in.

  As soon as everyone was ready, Harry gave the signal and the gate came to life. The fight to protect the Earth began now.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  To say the battle began with a bang was insufficient, Clayton thought. Even covering his ears, the explosive charges Harry’s people threw into the French base deafened him.

  Then the missiles fired, roaring through the gate and detonating so strongly that he feared the ceiling would collapse. The pressure wave actually made him stumble.

  The soldiers seemed unperturbed and rushed through the active gate. There must’ve still been an active threat on the other side because they immediately opened fire.

  He stuck close to Kevin McHugh as the young hacker raced into the other chamber and was momentarily stunned at the devastation. Rows of Asharim ships had become blasted, burning wrecks in seconds.

  Bodies littered the floor and someone at the far side of the huge chamber was actively shooting at the friendly forces. Neither of the other gates was open.

  The hacker had his comp out and was tapping the screen as he huddled behind what was left of some crates. Oddly, the thing that stood out to Clayton was the phone lying just out in the open.

  It was the duplicate of the one in his own pocket. It had to be Jess’s.

  He resisted the impulse to reach for it when flechettes slammed into the crates.

  “Got it!” McHugh shouted. “Dialing now!”

  The gate to their left rear came to life and men began pouring through it from their side. There were a lot of bodies in the room on the other side, but no active resistance. The stench was incredible. No way these were from this fight.

  Harry’s people led the way in, their weapons up. The SEAL team followed closely behind. Commander Krueger held a large case that Clayton assumed had the nuclear weapon.

  “Are you sure this is the right place?” Harry asked McHugh. “I’d have expected resistance.”

  “This is the only gate to open since the attack started. It has to be the right place. Hell, the dead guys kind of point that way.”

  “I suppose so. Wait a second.”

  His son turned and frowned at the gates. “I know this place. This is the ship Nathan stole. He blew up the gate and cut that one guy in half.”

  “So what do we do?” Krueger asked.

  “We make sure this area is clear while Mister McHugh checks the gate for a different destination. If they aren’t here, they used the ship as a waypoint. Maybe my mother and brother didn’t want to reveal Earth’s address directly to these people.”

  The armed men spread out, setting up at the entrances to the room. One of them called back. “I have fresh blood here.”

  Clayton stayed back from the front, content to let Harry and Krueger lead the way. If they found anyone looking for trouble, they’d be the ones to give it to them.

  The blood drops were numerous and frequent. If they were Jess’s, the young woman was in a bad spot.

  Krueger sent men out at cross corridors to search. That cut their numbers down, but they needed to make sure no one came at them from the sides or behind.

  Harry stopped when they reached a closed hatch where the blood stopped.

  “Get ready,” his son said before opening the hatch and heading in with his weapon up. Others followed him in.

  Once they called out that the room was secure, Clayton went inside. The compartment was fairly nondescript. The only odd thing about it was what looked like a large piece of equipment that resembled a technological sarcophagus.

  The blood drops led up to it and there was some smeared across one side.

  “What is that thing?” he asked Brenda.

  “I think that’s some kind of healing unit,” she muttered as she walked around it. “Some of the oldest stories talked about how the Asharim could miraculously heal themselves and their most trusted allies. Kevin, can we see what’s inside it?”

  “Maybe. Let me find a port and check.”

  He opened panels until he found something that made him grunt. “Here we go.”

  It took the man a few minutes to plug his comp in tap into something. Then he swore.

  “What?” Brenda asked.

  The man turned the comp and showed them the video feed he’d tapped into. Jess Cook lay there, pale as death.

  He opened his mouth to curse, but automatic weapon’s fire from outside the room cut him off.

  * * * * *

  The shots made Brenda almost jump out of her skin. She’d been in fights before, but this was a whole new level of pressure. The FBI hadn’t trained her for war and her Glock felt a little underpowered.

  “See if you can get her out of the thing,” Harry said. “We need to get the hell out of here.”

  He ran out the door before she could argue.

  What if they couldn’t? What if Cook was too badly injured to move?

  “Talk to me,” she ordered Kevin.

  “Hang on. Accessing medical telemetry now.”

  The man’s face went pale. “I’m no doctor, but even I can tell we won’t be able to move her. It looks like something ripped her intestines apart and she’s lost a lot of blood. It says she’s alive, but in what amounts to extremely critical condition. If we pop her out, she’ll die before we even get back to the gate.”

  Brenda rubbed her forehead. “Is this portable or connected to the ship’s power supply?”

  “It’s connected to the ship, but it might have some contingency for emergency power. Let me look.”

  The man gestured for the other techs to come help and they started pulling panels.

  Brenda stood near the door with her weapon out. Two men guarded the hatch from the corridor, but she wanted to be sure no one came in while she wasn’t looking.

  Clayton stepped up beside her. “This isn’t going to have a happy ending, is it?”

  “Most likely not,” she admitted. “I’m sorry.”

  The older man shook his head. “What a tragedy. She was the brightest, best person I’ve met in too many years to count. She was the hope for humanity.”

  Part of her wanted to tell him things might still work out, but she couldn’t make herself mouth the pat phrases. His partner was almost certainly already dead. She just hadn’t finished dying yet.

  “There’s a slot for a power cube,” Kevin called out.

  “Too bad we don’t have one,” she sighed.

  The man’s eyes darted toward his backpack. “Well, I happened to find one in a partially disassembled ship at the French base. I hope you don’t mind that I borrowed it, Mister Rogers.”

  The old man barked out a laugh. “If you save Jess, I’ll give you a whole damn ship. Thank God for sticky fingered hackers.”

  The man pulled out a glowing cube about ten centimeters across and slid it inside the device. He checked his comp. “It’s on backup power now. We can disconnect the unit from the ship.”

  “Work fast,” she ordered them. “We might have to pull out at any moment. I don’t want to leave her behind.”

  The sounds of fighting outside were getting louder. Someone was pushing the friendly forces back toward them. Time was running out.

  * * * * *

  Harry sent a burst into the heavy-worlder in front of him. The man stumbled and went down. The man behind him fired a storm of flechettes that turned the two New Zealanders in front of him into hamburger.

  They were outgunned here. They’d lost almost all of their people and were still getting pushed back. They needed to get off this ship.

  “Slow them down as much as you can,” he tol
d the remaining soldiers. “We need a fighting retreat to the gate room.”

  A Marine Corps gunnery sergeant threw a grenade up the corridor to give them time to break contact. “I’ll stay here and make sure no one gets by. Good luck.”

  “Don’t be a hero, Jacob,” Krueger said. “You have a family waiting for you.”

  “Aye, sir.”

  Harry and Krueger retreated back down the corridor.

  “Realistically, they won’t be able to give us more than a few minutes,” Harry said.

  “Gunnery Sergeant Danvers will give us the time we need. I only hope you get good news on your partner.”

  They arrived back at the room just as the techs were pushing the sarcophagus out into the hall.

  “We’re good,” Brenda said. “Let’s go!”

  They’d almost made it back to the gate room when someone ahead of them opened fire. They all hit the deck, but none of the shots seemed to be aimed at them.

  To his amazement, someone in the gate room laughed. “I’d stop resisting if I were you. We found something important.”

  It was Nathan’s voice.

  “Oh, crap,” Brenda said from where she crouched beside the box with Jess inside. “We sent the noncombatants ahead with the other two soldiers. Everyone except Kevin.”

  Harry edged forward until he could peek around the corner. Sure enough, his brother Nathan stood grinning beside the gate. He had a pistol to his father’s head. Kathleen Bennett stood beside her son.

  The techs were gathered into a small knot off to the side and the two soldiers lay sprawled in pools of their own blood.

  “You can come out now,” Harry’s mother said. “This fight is over.”

  Harry came out slowly, his weapon aimed at the three. Nathan only seemed to have a pistol and his mother was unarmed. Still, they didn’t need much when they had his father.

  That’s when he noticed how young his mother seemed. Unnaturally so. She could pass for someone in her twenties.

  “You’re looking good, Mother. New skin cream?”

  She smiled coldly. “It’s been a long time, Harry. You never call or come to visit. Don’t you love me?”

  “Let him go and I’ll let you go,” he said, aiming his rifle at his brother’s head. The shot was tricky and he’d be almost as likely to kill his father, but he might have to take the shot.

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” she scoffed. “We have the trump card now. Lay down your weapons.”

  His father laughed. “Now who’s being ridiculous? We all know you and Nathan can’t be trusted to keep your bargains. Nathan would ignore you and kill Harry for sport even if you did mean it.”

  His mother cocked an eyebrow and slowly nodded. “I suppose you have a point. That poses a bit of a problem since we have no intention of releasing you.”

  “Then don’t. Let them go and keep me.”

  “Screw that,” Harry said. “I might not like you that much but that’s a death sentence.”

  His father shrugged. “Making a deal is all about the art of the possible. Right now, I don’t see a way where you get out without me staying. Take Jess and go back to Earth. You might figure out a new angle and still turn this around.”

  Nathan bristled. “You can’t have her. The woman belongs to me.”

  His mother held her hand up. “I wish I could tell you all to screw off, but your father is right. My options are limited. That means I’m willing to make a one-time deal. Leave with the woman. I couldn’t care less about her. I’ll keep Clayton as a consolation prize. We have so much to talk about.”

  “Done,” his father said before Harry could reject the offer.

  He lined up the shot only to have his brother duck even farther behind his father. He really, really wanted to take the shot.

  His mother and brother seemed to realize that and started edging toward the other exit from the gate room. With no clean options, he had to let them out of sight.

  “Fuck,” he said. “McHugh, take my phone, look up the address for Freedom Express, and open the gate. I’ll keep you covered.”

  Commander Krueger and Gunnery Sergeant Danvers used their weapons to cover the corridor behind them as Brenda and the rest pushed the sarcophagus with Jess inside into the gate room.

  As unsavory as it was, the others had to drag bodies out of the way to get to the gate. The machine had almost no clearance.

  Reinforcements poured through as soon as he opened the gate. Harry was tempted to go after his father, but he knew these people were not trained soldiers. If they ran into more heavy-worlders, it would end in disaster.

  With a sigh, he stepped through the gate last and made the gesture for McHugh to close the gate.

  His mother and brother had won.

  * * * * *

  Clayton heard the gate shut off and knew he was alone with his ex-wife and murderous son. This wasn’t going to be pleasant, but it gave Harry a chance to prepare.

  Nathan shoved him back into the gate room after he peered in to make sure it was clear. “I can’t believe you let him go, Mother. Worse, you gave him my woman.”

  “Grow up, Nathan,” Kathleen said. “You can always get her back when we take over the Earth. I’ll have to go back to the base in France and open a gate directly to the planet. Thank God I got the address. We can throw assets at your brother until we win.”

  “At least the Grand Dick Head is dead,” his son grumbled. “They know the ship’s address. Can you disable the gate until we get some more bodies?”

  She pulled out a controller and did something to it. “Done. I also have the address they just went to. We can visit Harry and pay our respects very soon. Take dear Clayton back to where you had me locked up. We’ll leave him there while I take the shuttle to the station.”

  Nathan shoved Clayton roughly up the hall, but stopped when he saw something up ahead. “What is that?”

  Clayton smiled as he recognized the open case. Commander Krueger had left the nuclear bomb behind.

  Oh, this was absolutely perfect. Hollywood couldn’t have come up with a better ending. The only thing that could improve on it was timing.

  Nathan pushed Clayton forward and he saw a digital counter. Nine…Eight…

  “It’s a nuclear bomb.”

  His son raised his weapon to shoot it, but Clayton planted a knee in the brat’s groin and sent him to the floor.

  He hurled Nathan’s gun down the corridor and turned toward his ex-wife with a grin. “Looks like we get a karmic ending after all. I’ll literally see you in Hell.”

  Her mouth was only starting to open when the counter hit zero.

  * * * * *

  Jess sat bolt upright. Fear flashed through her as she looked around for Nathan.

  She was sitting in the same box he’d put her in, but the room had changed. This looked more like a basement with a bare concrete floor, cinder block walls, and a decrepit-looking elevator off to the side. A portable gate sat nearby. Brenda’s gate?

  “She’s awake!” a voice said from behind her.

  She turned her head and saw Kevin rising from a folding chair beside a table filled with equipment. He dropped the phone receiver and raced over to her.

  “You’re safe,” he said. “You’re okay.”

  She looked down at the ripped, blood-soaked blouse she wore and doubted that. Yet her questing hands found only healthy skin. The pain was gone. It was as if it had never happened.

  A black cat—probably the mechanical one, she suspected, rose from where she’d been curled at Jess’s feet and walked up the bed to be petted.

  “What’s going on?” she asked as she stroked the purring device. “What happened? They’re trying to capture the French base.”

  “Slow down,” he said with exaggerated softness. “It’s been three days. We poured people into the base and they finally surrendered.”

  She blinked at that. “Three days? Forget that. What about Nathan and his mother? We need to stop them, too.”

  Even a
s she said it, she knew they must’ve already done something. They had her and Nathan didn’t.

  “Harry got you out. His brother and mother aren’t a problem for anyone now.”

  His sad expression filled her with dread. “Something else happened.”

  He nodded. “It’s a long story and I know Harry will be pissed if I tell it before he gets down here. He’s almost been living here when he hasn’t been negotiating with about a billion other people.

  “He just went upstairs to grab a bite to eat and a shower a few hours ago. Give him and Brenda a few minutes and they’ll tell you everything.”

  She heard the missing part of his statement. “Where is Clayton Rogers?”

  The bald man sighed. “I’m sorry, but he didn’t make it. If it’s any consolation, he got the most spectacular Viking funeral in history. Harry said he went out exactly the way he’d have wanted.

  “Harry buried an empty casket for him yesterday. He put a quote from Thomas Jefferson on his tombstone. ‘The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.’ He said his father was a bit of both, so it felt right.”

  Her eyes teared up and her throat tightened. Clayton would have liked that. His son had embraced him at last.

  “Now lay back until Doctor Granger gets down here,” Kevin said. “If I let you hurt yourself, he’ll have Victor hold me over the edge of the roof again.”

  Jess lay back in a state of shock. She had so many things she’d never have the chance to say to the cantankerous old man now. How could he be gone? He’d been such a force of nature, how could they go on without him?

  This must be eating at Harry. He’d never liked his father, but no one lost a parent and just shrugged it off. What could she say to him? How could she help him?

  She had no idea. Her mind was swirling with loss and she couldn’t seem to swim out of it. It was like a whirlpool trying to suck her down.

  Well, she’d deal with it like any other problem. One moment at a time.

  The elevator dinged and she knew that process was about to start in earnest, whether she was ready or not. She’d get her answers and do what she had to do. The Earth was depending on her.