Portal Wars: The Trilogy

by Jay Allan

  He turned, taking a look at those gathered…and finally at Taylor himself. “So, General, if you honor my pardon, I will retreat to my estate in the Swiss countryside and slip away into comfortable retirement…and interfere no more in your undertakings.”

  “Your pardon will be honored.” Taylor didn’t smile, but his look was less than overtly hostile, which was an improvement.

  “And my men? There are only fourteen of them left…the rest perished in the fighting.”

  “And your men. They will all be pardoned.” Taylor paused then extended his hand. “And thank you again for what you have done. Whether you believe in our cause or not, you helped bring it about.”

  Drogov shook Taylor’s hand. Then he turned toward the others and said, “Now, if you will all excuse me, I will make my exit…and leave you all to discuss the future of the world.” He turned and, with a last nod, he walked away.

  Taylor watched him leave, and then he turned back to the others. “So, don’t you think it’s time you caught me up on things?”

  “Well, Jake…” Karl Young sounded nervous, tentative. “…things have been chaotic. There are UNGov remnants hanging on in some areas. I’ve sent military teams to take care of them.” He hesitated.

  “What is it, Karl?”

  “Well, Jake, we’ve got other problems too. Some cities are descending into anarchy, others are overrun with criminal elements. Over just the past few days, the number of problem spots has multiplied. Our resources are already stretched thin, and things just keep getting worse. We’re trying to govern along the principles we’d agreed upon, but…”

  “But?” Taylor’s voice was grim, tense. He knew where this was going, what it would push him to do. And all he wanted in the world was to resist.

  “But the only way we’re able to restore order anywhere is with brute force. Jake, we’ve got to keep a world in order, and we just don’t have the strength to do it. We’ve lost too many soldiers in the fighting. There just aren’t enough.”

  Taylor sighed. “Well, we can’t let the world slip into chaos, can we? We have to make this work, somehow. Maybe if we move up elections…” Taylor let his voice slip away to silence. He knew as well as the rest of his people. Rushed elections, without any safeguards or controls, with no constitutions or guarantees of rights in place…they would only allow the same kind of people to gain positions of power. Taylor had no intention of allowing any vestige of UNGov to remain, but he was just as determined to avoid repetitions of the corrupt, dishonest governments that had preceded it.

  But how do we get from here to there?

  “Excuse me, General, but if you’ll allow me a moment, I might be able to help, at least with regard to manpower if not political nuance.”

  Taylor turned toward the man standing behind Karl Young. He was old, much older than anyone else in the gathering. He had a few stringy strands of gray hair hanging from his otherwise bald head. His eyes were deep in the sockets, and he looked like death warmed over. But there was something in his stare, an energy, a strength.

  “Jake,” Young said, “this is Captain Stan Wickes. He was an American Marine back in the day. He was also the head of the New York Resistance.”

  Taylor nodded, a look of respect replacing one of confusion. “Captain Wickes, it is an honor.” Taylor’s tone softened. “I don’t know what to say about New York, Captain. We all grieve with you.”

  Wickes nodded, giving himself a few seconds and then wiping the bleak look from his face. “Thank you, General. It is a great honor to meet you, sir. New York was my home, but now all we can do is fight to ensure its sacrifice was not in vain.”

  “What would you propose, Captain?”

  “Well, sir, as I see it, you need trustworthy troops now, to serve as garrisons, to keep order and maintain the peace until a new government can be created. I am old, General…” He gestured toward his head. “…and I look all the more so since the dose of radiation I took as I watched New York consumed in nuclear fire. But your medical personnel saved my life, General. They tell me my hair will even grow back. And I would like to help you. There are more military veterans, sir, not just Americans, but British, German, French, Japanese…from all the old nations. They are all at least sixty, but that doesn’t mean they can’t serve again, to fill in the breach. And to train the next generation. I say we rally them, call them back to service. And I have contacts with the various Resistance movements too.” He looked down for a moment. “My comrades in New York are all gone, but there are hundreds in other cities…no, thousands. Let us reach out to them, form a core of operations for each city around them.”

  Taylor looked around the group. He could see Young and Daniels both smiling. Clearly, they liked what they were hearing. And it made sense to him as well. “Very well, Captain Wickes,” Taylor said. Though we didn’t not meet until just now, it appears we have been fighting the same war against the same enemy for a long time. Let us now work together to see that victory is not lost…is not wasted.”

  He forced a smile. “Captain Stan Wickes, you are hereby appointed Brigadier Wickes, Army of Liberation. Your first orders are to coordinate contact with all Resistance groups. I want you to vet them all, General Wickes…we will have no vigilantes, no local vendettas, no power plays. Groups that wish to join us must be cleared by you, and they must be sworn into the AOL. I want no rogue groups…we will come down hard on anyone pursuing their own agendas.”

  Taylor took a breath, fighting back a wave of nausea. He didn’t like how easily, how naturally, he snapped out political orders…the rigidity, the brutality with which he spoke of suppressing groups that stood in his way. He told himself he was fighting for what was right, that he would stand aside as soon as he could.

  The battle cry of every brutal dictator who has ever lived…

  “You will also find as many of the old veterans you spoke of as possible, offer them a chance to help us rebuild this world. They must also join the AOL.”

  Wickes nodded. “Thank you, General. You have my solemn word I will do my best in your service.” A short pause. “And thank you. Thank you for everything.”

  Taylor turned toward another of the officers gathered around him. This one wore a different uniform, one Taylor’s people had fought against. “General Akawa, I would also appoint you a general in the Army of Liberation if you will accept.”

  Akawa nodded. “I would be honored, General.”

  “And your first order will be to seek out all the UNGov soldiers who were conscripts, men like us, forced into military training and destined for a life of battle on a Portal world somewhere. Their place is with us. But the enforcers, the security troops and the others who had willingly served as UNGov’s terroristic thugs…they must pay for what they have done.”

  “Understood, General. I give you my heartfelt promise, I will see it done.”

  “Very well, General Akawa. Welcome aboard.”

  “Jake, there is one last thing.” Hank Daniels had a strange expression on his face. Anger, hatred…and a touch of uncertainty. “We have all but two of the Secretariat members under guard. What should we do with them?”

  Taylor looked back at his friend. Hank Daniels had been the most aggressive, the angriest of his officers. But now he could see his friend’s fatigue. At some point, there is too much death and suffering, even to sate the wildest rage. But some times mercy is just out of reach. He no longer felt the desire to dole out draconian punishments…but there was no choice, and certainly not for those who stood at the top of the machine that killed so many.

  “They have to die, Hank. You know that.” He looked at the others. “If we are to show mercy, to pardon those we’d never thought to spare during our long marches and bitter struggles, it cannot begin here, not with these self-appointed elites who ruled over the world with lies and brutality. No, they cannot live. They must die. Publically. Sic Semper Tyrannis.”

  Taylor felt the hypocrisy of his words. What would he and his officers be bes
ides a new elite claiming power for themselves? What was he but a tyrant?

  “Yes, Jake,” Daniels said, nodding. “You are right, of course. They must die.”

  * * *

  “People of the world, I am General Jake Taylor, commander of the Army of Liberation and temporary military governor of Earth.” The words sounded unreal to him, like he was listening to someone else, not speaking them himself.

  “I will speak to you of much today, of the lies that allowed UNGov to seize worldwide power, of the true nature of the alien Tegeri, of how and why my soldiers and I returned to Earth, to destroy an unclean government and to help mankind move boldly into its future.” It had been a week since the climactic fight in Samovich’s office, four days since Taylor had checked himself out of the field hospital. He had worked like a madman over that 96 hours, redeploying troop formations, organizing new recruits from the old militaries and Resistance forces, and issuing a blizzard of edicts and laws. He’d embraced his role, his new power, all the while fighting the part of him that screamed from deep within, called him hypocrite, tyrant.

  “But first, I must urge you all to remain calm, to wait and allow us to restore order and maintain economic activity. All cities and provinces are under martial law, and they will remain so until further notice. All citizens are instructed to stay home whenever possible, except when working or out obtaining needed supplies. For those needing assistance, AOL teams will be distributing food, medicine, and other necessities.” Taylor’s voice was firm, commanding. He couldn’t show weakness, not in public. He didn’t like it, but he realized fear was as powerful a tool as any other, and now he needed everything he could muster.

  “The remaining members of the Secretariat were executed this morning, and soon, the last traces of the old government will be gone, wiped clean from the rolls of human history. We begin anew now, all of us, and we commit ourselves to build a new future, one with greater freedom and enlightenment, one offering a better world to our children and grandchildren.”

  And a new war, one more terrible than any that has come before. They’re not ready to hear about that, not yet. But how long can I wait? How much time do we have? It is all well and good to speak of bright futures, but the Tegeri are counting on us. And unless we stand together, we will all be destroyed.

  Taylor knew little about the coming Darkness, save that he trusted T’arza, and the wise old Tegeri was clearly scared to death. For all his desires to quickly give up power, he knew that wouldn’t happen—couldn’t happen, not until this final war was won. But that was a truth he’d save for another day. Now he would worry about feeding people and keeping hospitals open. About sustaining the fragile and moribund UNGov economy and policing the streets.

  And already, you are lying to the people, choosing what facts to tell them, and which to keep hidden. They face the worst challenge in history, and you decide they should not know yet, that even your closest aides and friend should not know. You fought, struggled against UNGov. Will you now be different?

  He told himself he would be, but deep down he wondered. And that scared him more than any other battlefield.

  Epilogue

  C’taung stood in the hazy dusk of Ghellusan’s twilight. The world was the farthest from Homeworld the Tegeri had yet explored. It was an eerie world, haunted in some way C’taung could feel but not see. It had no strategic value, at least not to his warrior’s eyes. But the Council was steeped in the ancient writings and histories, and the words that had been passed down through the millennia said one thing. The Darkness would return, and when they did, it would be here, on Ghellusan.

  C’taung wasn’t even sure he believed in the Darkness. Was it real? Or some old legend used to scare the young when they refused to sleep? C’taung was a warrior, and he had done his service during the pointless conflict with the humans. He’d chafed for decades, restrained from employing the needed force to sweep the enemy away. But he had held back as ordered, and the war had continued, year after year.

  It was over now, and he looked out at the true manifestation of Tegeri might, not the pathetic forces put into the field against the humans. His camp was immense, and as far as he could see there were the tents and shelters of the New Ones, soldiers gathered together in their millions…indeed, tens of millions. And many thousands of Tegeri as well, warriors from the many Clans, come to face the great enemy that had been spoken of for as long as any could remember.

  If there is a Darkness out there, we shall be ready for them. They shall not pass us. No, the Tegeri are ready. C’taung turned to walk back to his tent, but he stopped suddenly. There was a breeze, and he felt it in every cell of his being. Not a cool wind, not cold, not even a frigid arctic blast, but the icy numbness of death itself. C’taung had led many warriors, fought many battles, but now he felt fear, a cold panic like nothing he’d ever experienced. He stood transfixed, frozen, and he looked out over his army, watching as the rays of late day light were extinguished, replaced in a few short moments by blackness.

  C’taung tried to turn, to run to his headquarters and sound the alarm, but it was too late. He couldn’t move. His feet were frozen to the place where he stood.

  There was a flash in the sky, a beacon in the darkness, but not the illumination of sun or fire. It was a ghostly light, a cold shimmering that made him feel of death. Then another appeared. And another.

  He felt the temperature dropping, the icy coldness coming upon him. And he looked down at the endless rows of shelters, the millions of warriors in his army. They all stood, stone still as he was, in the streets of the camp.

  Then he watched as the eerie lights began to descend. There were hundreds of them now, perhaps thousands, and the sky was awash with the cold illumination. They moved quickly, zipping along above the rows of shelters, and the frozen, terrified warriors standing outside them. Then it began.

  Beams, great shafts of the deathly light blasted down, slamming into the ground, welling up into massive clouds of fiery death. And they expanded, moving through the rows of troops, through tents and great shelters and lines of massive war vehicles. And where they went, they consumed all, an orgy of death and destruction.

  C’taung watched, unable to move, his spirit gripped with a fear so primal it ruled him utterly. All around him, the army died, its millions of warriors consumed, its equipment vaporized…and when it was done, naught remained of the great force save its commander, standing on the hill and looking out at the dark and eerie silence that was all that remained, where tens of millions of soldiers had been moments before.

  He stared, both feeling and not feeling his grief and despair. Then he saw the light coming for him, encompassing him. He tried to avert his eyes, but he couldn’t move, and he gazed relentlessly on the swirling lights, the horror he knew was his own death. And then he was gone.

  And nothing remained on Ghellusan…nothing but the silent emptiness of death…

  Portal Worlds: The Darkness

  A New Portal Worlds Trilogy

  Coming Soon

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  Also By Jay Allan

  Gehenna Dawn (Portal Worlds I)

  The Ten Thousand (Portal Wars II)

  Homefront (Portal Wars III)

  The Dragon’s Banner (Pendragon Chronicles I)