by James McEwan
He made grumbling noises and pointed towards the door. Eve believed they understood one another now and she quietly walked out of the building giving them no further trouble.
Chapter 10
Back on Earth St. Claire was overseeing the mission preparations. His best Intel was that his target was believed to be operating from deep within Ralnai space. The planet was known as Trapus and it just so happened to be one of the suspected planets to host the slave markets. A fitting place for a radical religious fanatic to operate from.
He walked into the briefing room and someone yelled “Attention, officer on deck.” The Marines snapped to attention. St. Claire had to resist his own reflex to jump to attention due to all the years he spent as a grunt and an NCO (Non Commissioned Officer). It was strange for him to be a fully commissioned officer now, and frankly, he was extremely uncomfortable with it. To him, it was like wearing someone else’s skin, it just didn’t feel right. Never the less Dominic St. Claire had never backed down from anything no matter how uncomfortable it was.
“At Ease,” he said as he took to the podium next to a briefing screen. His team relaxed and sat down. “I have a new mission for us and unfortunately we do not have the luxury of time to prepare and practice for this take down like we did last time. We will be thinking on our feet.” A man’s holo-gram flashed up on the screen next to St. Claire, “This knucklehead is Yiska Yanisin and he is our target. This ass hat is right up there on the top ten lists of all time worst pricks to ever draw breath in this universe. I’m not going go through his list of crap he has pulled; it’s all there in your mission brief file. But I am going to tell you that we have orders to try to bring him in alive, if possible. Remember that.”
He stopped, as a hand in the back of the room was raised, “And if not possible, Sir?” The question came from Samantha Mitchell a female Marine who was one of the unit’s snipers.
“Well Sam, (she preferred Sam over Samantha) this slippery shit will not walk away from this, under any circumstances. Oorah,” St. Claire said.
“Oorah, Sir,” she said signaling him that she understood.
Oorah was just another strange thing for St. Claire to have to get used to. His first military career was in the army and they used the term hooah, but he was in the New Terrain Alliance Marine Core and he had to do things differently now. St. Claire wondered if he would be able to keep it straight.
He continued, “Now this shit bird is the head of the Paragons of the Divine. A radical religious group that believes that there is only one God and one path to God, and if you choose not to follow their path, then it is their divine duty to remove none believers from the universe. So a real hugs and kisses kind of group,” St. Claire said as he changed the holo image to an image of their holy book the, “Writs of Faith”.
He continued the mission brief laying out their plan for the assault and extraction. They would be using the Eden again for this mission. The Hammer’s Commandos were a wholly unique unit as they were the only unit in the new Terrain Alliance to use non alliance ships, equipment, and personnel. The personnel referred to Kára and Carl. Kára had declined a commission and didn’t wish to be a part of any military, but she did agree to fight by St. Claire’s side and obey his orders. Even though on paper she was not part of the unit, she was every bit a part of the unit. She even held the honorary rank of Captain. Carl wasn’t in the military either nor did he fight with the unit. However, he did cook for them both planet side and onboard the ship. If you asked anyone in the unit, they would tell you that Carl was a critical part of the success of the mission, and no one would deploy without him.
As soon as St. Claire finished the mission brief, he gave orders to go out and have a good night as they planned to deployed first thing in the morning. The unit gave him a cheer and a few Oorahs. As they were whooping it up an aide handed him a note.
Kára approached him curious about the note, “Something interesting I hope?”
“Probably not,” he said as he showed her the note, “I’m being summoned to the Senate House. Oh joy. My heart is all a twitter.”
“Sounds exciting,” Kára replied sarcastically.
He gave her his displeased look. She laughed and kissed his cheek, “I love it when you look all mean and gruff.”
“You keep that up and I will show you mean and gruff,” he said back in a playful banter.
“You promise?” she squealed like a teenage girl. St. Claire was never sure about this Eli woman, as she was a walking killing machine. A warrior in every sense of the word, but on the flip of switch she could be so down right girly it was kind of scary.
“Yeah come with me, and after we can catch a late lunch,” He said.
Kára slowly shook her head back and forth and said, “Not even if you put me in chains and dragged me there. You know how I feel about politicians.” He did know, she hated them, even though she understood the need for them she still loathed them. “Nope, you go see what the blood suckers want and I will meet you after you’re done.”
“Okay, suit yourself, but you will be missing out. Oh and after lunch we are going to pop over to London to the Hammer estate and check on Ruby. See how she is settling into her new home,” St. Claire said.
“Now that sounds like fun,” Kára said with real sincerity this time. In the short time she had gotten to know the little girl she had come to love her deeply, partly because of the transference that she experienced with Thad, but also because they seemed to be kindred spirits. Kára, with her telepathic ability, was able to have conversations with Ruby without the need for speaking. Many times they shared private jokes while the others had no idea that they were communicating at all.
Twenty minutes later St. Claire was waiting in line to pass through security at the Senate house. The building that used to hold the main law-making body for the Terrain Empire was now home to the new Terrain Alliance Senate. The building had two entrances, one for the public and one for authorized personnel only.
Everyone had to be screened by senate security from Senators to the janitor robots. Few people were authorized to carry weapons past the check point. St. Claire just happened to be one of them. He never went anywhere without a sidearm on his body. Today he was dressed in the standard dark gray uniform fatigues that the Marines wore when they were not in their battle armor or dress uniform. The rank of Major was on his collar and the patch on his arm read 303rd logistical group. The 303rd was actually a transportation unit but served as their cover unit. No one in the 303rd knew anything about St. Claire’s real mission. They believed that all the members of the Hammer’s Commandos were nothing more than office pencil pushers because they never saw them outside of the office.
Standing behind St. Claire was a pushy obnoxious female Senator that had once been a Senator in the now defunct Republic of Commerce Senate. She was talking on a com when she bumped into St. Claire, “Now you tell that little shit, I don’t care what he wants, if he wants my vote he needs to give me something in return!”
St. Claire had met this woman once before, at least a version of her back in his original dimension and she was just as much of a pain in the ass then. He gave her enough time to be polite and apologize, which she didn’t, before barking out loud enough for everyone to hear, “Excuse you.”
She looked at him and placed her hand over the microphone of the hand unit she was holding, “Can’t you see I am on an important call?” Her tone was rude and condescending.
St. Claire smiled at her, “I can see that clearly. BUT it’s just that I don’t give a shit who you are talking to. It is no excuse to be rude. After all, it is our manners that raise us above the animals.” He really didn’t believe that, but he really didn’t like people like her with her high and mighty attitude. He was just having a little fun spinning her up and watching her go like a top.
And spin up she did, “Who in the Hell do you think you are to talk to me like that? Don’t you know who I am?”
“Wait! Wait!” St. C
laire paused for effect. “Oh, I don’t know and I don’t care,” he said even though he did know who she was.
“I am Senator Pamela Rosenberg and who are you?” she said again in a demanding tone.
“The guy you impolitely and rudely bumped into,” was all St Claire said.
Her face flushed red, “Well, ah, well,” she was flustered and couldn’t express herself.
His work was done, “Yeah well is right and it is a deep subject. Now go back to your little call and make a simple attempt at being more polite next time,” he said as sticky sweet as he could without laughing. That made her even more upset, but there was nothing she could do but do what he said and go back to her call.
The line moved quickly and it was his turn to pass security. He showed is ID and it was double checked in the computer. The robotic guard said, “Thank you Major. You are cleared for entry. Have a nice day.”
St. Claire nodded and stepped through the scanner. The alarm had been disabled for him so it didn’t go off when it detected the laser pistol in the holster on his hip. However, when Senator Rosenberg saw that he was allowed to carry his gun into the building she began pitching a fit.
“You are not letting him in there with a gun?” She screamed at the robot guard.
“I’m sorry Senator, but he is authorized to be under arms while on the premises,” the robot said.
“Bullshit,” She said. “I want to talk to a human supervisor right now! And I want him stopped.”
The robot had to stop St Claire until the issue was resolved, “My sincerest apologies Sir, but you will need to wait over there please.”
St. Claire was more amused then upset about being detained. It would give him another chance to push the Senator’s buttons and he was in a mood to push a lot! “Certainly. I would be glad to wait,” he said as he walked over to the security office.
Both the Senator and St. Claire stepped inside the small office and waited. While they did she could not help herself. She had to open her mouth. “It is men like you who make my job so hard.”
“Men like me. Please, I beg of you. I would dearly love to know what you mean by that comment.” St. Claire said.
“Unrefined brutes. People like you would rather solve their problems with violence and killing rather than talking out their differences. Does it make you feel like a big man to carry a gun? I bet you have killed woman and children haven’t you. All you military types are all the same,” she ranted.
“Senator I must admit that you really are a piece of work. First, you don’t know the first thing about me or what I have or have not done. Second, when you bumped into me you didn’t chose to talk out things but instead got mad. I could even suggest that you reacted violently. Now did I use violence with you?” He paused for effect. “No. Not even close. Even though you probably need a good slap to the face, I chose to the higher road. I often wonder if there will come a day when you will realize that it is men and woman, like me, that put our lives on the line every day to insure and protect your right to be a raving bitch any time you so choose. You talk about how violence is not the answer and that diplomacy is. But have you ever seen a Necromorph soldier?” Not waiting for her to answer, he continued. “I have. They are the walking dead. You can’t reason with them or plead with them. They will kill you and make you into them. Oh yeah, and guess what? There a whole shit-ton of them coming here. They are coming for you and they are coming for me. Like it or not, you need people like me who are not afraid to stand up and defend all that is good and bad about human society. I would suggest that you climb off your high and mighty horse and realize that there has always been evil in the universe. And all that it takes for evil to prevail is for good people to do nothing,” St. Claire fired back at her.
“Oh I understand that plenty it is just that I don’t think you should have a gun,” she said snottily.
“Ah, I see! So it’s personal for you. And why is that? Did your Daddy not hug you enough or did he hug you a little too much? Were you daddies special little girl?” St Claire said digging back at her while a smile spread across his face.
She completely lost it and slapped him across the face, “You asshole!”
St. Claire took the slap in stride, “Touched a nerve did I?”
She slapped him again just as the security supervisor entered the office, “Hey stop that,” he said as he grabbed her arm to keep her from slapping him again. “What the hell is wrong with you?” He asked as he let her go.
“I have been wracking my brain trying to figure out just that myself,” St. Claire interjected.
The security supervisor looked at him, “Not helping Sir. Now what is the problem here?”
“Your stupid bot was about to let this jerk into the Senate House armed. It has to be a mistake, because no one in their right mind would let him carry a gun,” Senator Rosenberg stated.
“I understand that Senator, but that doesn’t explain why you were trying to slap his face off,” the security officer said.
“Well, ah, he was rude to me,” she stumbled over her words again.
The officer rolled his eyes and turned to St. Claire, “Do you wish press charges Sir?”
“No I’m good,” St. Claire said. “She clearly has enough problems I have no deSire to add to them.”
“You asshole,” She said over the officer’s shoulder.
The officer looked at St. Claire’s credentials then checked them in the computer. He handed them back to St. Claire, “Sorry for the inconvenience Sir, you are free to go.”
“You are letting him go in?” Senator Rosenberg asked.
“Yes Senator, his clearance comes straight from the Emperor, I mean the President,” the officer said obviously not used to the change in title from Emperor to President.
St. Claire smiled widely at the Senator while she stood there with her mouth agape and suffering from a complete lack of words. “Thanks,” he said while he departed the office.
He was again stopped outside the Senate Chamber. The Sergeant at Arms informed him that there was a vote going on and he would need to wait to enter until it was concluded. St. Claire waited patiently outside. To pass the time he watched the vote on one of the many screens that lined the walls around the Senate Chamber. St. Claire saw that the Senate was voting on what to call the new alliance military force.
Many of the former members of the Rep Com and the United Terrain Federation wanted to keep the name Starguard for the new alliance military force. However, there were other names floated around but they had come to a compromise. The vote was to make it official to simply call it “The Alliance Guard” dropping “Star” from the name. He watched as the vote totals were tallied. The vote passed by a 51 present. They would know be known as “The Alliance Guard” or just “The Guard” for short.
The doors opened and people began to file out. St. Claire entered and he looked at the note again and it said please come to desk 333. He made his way through the chamber until he came to desk 333. When he saw who was sitting there going over some paperwork St. Claire smiled.
“Why you old crafty bastard, what you doing here?” St. Claire asked
His old buddy and friend Chief Carpenter, now Senator Carpenter, looked up from his paperwork, “Dom, I see you got my message.” He jumped up and came around the desk. He and St. Claire gave each other a huge bear hug.
“Damn, it is good to see you made it out a live, but you didn’t answer my question. Why are you here?” St. Claire asked.
“Oh, this was not my doing. I guess you save a few thousand people and how do they repay you? They ask you to be there representative in the new government. I represent the refugees of Isis now.”
As the two old friends caught up, outside the building a single man sat in a delivery van praying. Sweat poured down his face. It was Rio in the middle of the summer, but it was more than just the heat making him sweat. He finished his prayers and checked the power cell on his laser rifle. He then checked and rechecked his gear. He kne
w he was only going to get one shot at this. Satisfied that everything was ready, he stepped out of the van.
The robot security guard was busy screening people and didn’t see the heavily armed man approach. The man shot the guard several times. The laser bolts burned holes through his light armor. The guard sparked and slumped over. It was sudden chaos as people screamed and ran for cover. The man next shot the computer that controlled the security scanner so it would not set of any alarms as he entered.
Once he entered the building he started shooting random people in the back as they tried to run away. He pulled out a grenade, pushed the activation button and tossed it in the open doorway of the security office. The two human security guards that were in the office didn’t stand a chance and were killed the second the grenade exploded.
Inside the senate chamber Senator Carpenter and St. Claire were still talking when first grenade exploded. “What was that?” Senator Carpenter asked more out of reflex than wanting to know. As an old soldier he had heard enough explosions to know what it was.
“Nothing good,” St Claire said. Before they could react two more explosions rocked the building. People were screaming and running back into the Senate Chamber looking for anywhere to escape the murderous rampage.
St. Claire drew is sidearm while Senator Carpenter reached for his weapon which he no longer carried. Most military officers, while underarms only carried their sidearm but Carpenter was no longer a military officer and was not armed. St. Claire, on the other hand, had been a cop for over twenty years and always carried a backup. He reached down and pulled the small pistol from an ankle holster and handed to Carpenter.
“Thanks,” he said as he took the weapon from St. Claire.
“You go left and I’ll go right,” St. Claire said. The two men nodded and moved towards the door.
Just then the armed man entered the Senate Chamber. His rifle was slung over his shoulder and he was holding a pistol to the head of his hostage. The hostage just happened to be Senator Rosenberg. “The divine has judged you all and you must die unless you confess your sins and beg for forgiveness!” The man yelled. “You will all burn in the fires of the divine for your depravity and vanity!” He continued to scream out his religious rhetoric while the two former cops moved to get a shot.
