“Good doggie,” added CJ.
Jones was fuming, but he knew he had to at least appear to keep his cool, and the truth was, he didn’t know if he could really beat CJ if it came to it. It sickened him to even look at the clone, having been so familiar with the photos of his own ancestor who shared the same face.
“So where is the great Taylor now? What is he really up to?”
“You know where he is, recovering aboard this station,” said Sommer.
CJ laughed loudly and took another drink.
“No, not whatever poor bastard you got to play the part, the real Mitch Taylor.”
It was obvious from the slurring of his voice that he had already been drinking heavily before he came into the bar. Jones leapt from his stool, rushed up to CJ, and grabbed him by the collar of his uniform.
“Enough of this shit. You have no right to risk the lives of everyone around you like this. You’ll have your shot at Taylor before long, but right now you need to stay the hell away. Either go back and crawl under whichever rock you came from, or shut the hell up and be a man.”
CJ laughed all the more and didn’t even try and fight, as if he was impressed.
“Well, well, you found your balls, after all. You tell Taylor I’ll be having that day of reckoning, and sooner rather than later.”
He knocked back the drink and staggered out of the room. Jones did much the same and sighed as he walked off in the opposite direction, but Sommer knew something was up.
“Wait!” she yelled as she rushed on after him.
He was moving at a surprising speed as if he were trying to escape the scene, but she soon caught up with him and walked alongside.
“What the hell is going on here?”
He grimaced and refused to answer.
“Captain, whatever is going on, I deserve to know.”
Still he said nothing. But she barged him aside and pinned him against the side of the corridor.
“Enough of this silent treatment bullshit. I don’t care if you are my superior. I am also your friend, and your fellow officer. You know I have a right to know.”
He groaned as if he agreed but still didn’t want to say.
“Taylor doesn’t keep secrets, and I thought we didn’t keep them from one another either? Isn’t that at the very heart of what our Regiment is? Are we not friends that trust one another?”
He pushed her aside and kept going, and she did not follow. She had lost hope of trying to convince him, but as he made it five metres down the corridor, he stopped and looked back.
“You really want to know?”
“Do I honestly want to know the truth of what is going on with those I care about? Do I want and need to know the truth that could get me killed? Yes, I do.”
“Then follow me,” he said as he went on.
She rushed on to walk side-by-side with him once again, but neither said a word until they had reached his quarters and stepped inside to ensure the utmost privacy. For a moment they stood looking at each other as if he were trying to find the words, or deciding for certain if he even wanted to share them.
“What is it?”
“What that animal CJ was saying, he’s not wrong. I can’t admit it publically, and we better hope to God that he keeps his mouth shut.”
“Can’t admit what publicly?”
“That the Taylor you see hobbling around the corridors of this station isn’t the Colonel. That isn’t Mitch Taylor, and it hasn’t been for a few weeks now.”
“What? I don’t believe you. How can that be?”
“Trust me, I don’t like it any more than you do, but it was a decision Taylor had to make.”
“But why? Why would he do that?”
“Because as long as he is wounded and unable to fight, she, Bolormaa, won’t come after him.”
“What? That’s crazy.”
“A little crazy, yeah, but I also happen to believe it. Whatever Bolormaa’s reasons for doing any of this, we know one thing that is for certain, she sees Taylor as some kind of conquest to overcome. And she won’t be satisfied to have beaten him when he is not at his best, or to let anyone else have the glory of doing the job for her.”
“And this is the answer? To fake it and have a double walking the corridors?”
“Sounds crazy, doesn’t it? But Bolormaa is primed and ready to strike. If she came after Taylor now and…killed him…what would happen to the Alliance? Can you imagine the chaos? What hope could you expect people to have if the Alliance’s greatest hero could be singled out and killed at will? And the rest of us were powerless to stop her?”
“Are we powerless?”
“Right now, we might as well be. We took our best shot at Bolormaa, and still we couldn’t take her down.”
“But we came close, didn’t we?”
“With the help of Zaya sure, but where is he now? Right back with her.”
Sommer groaned as she tried to wrap her head around the impossible situation.
“If that isn’t Taylor out there, then where is he?’
“That is one piece of information that I was not made privy to, and nor should I be. The Colonel is working with a team of specialists and finding a way to change his fate, for when that dreaded day comes that he has to face Bolormaa for the last showdown.”
“I just don’t understand it. The most powerful creature in the universe, and this is what she chooses to do with her time?”
“I wish I understood it, too, but not even Irala did, and he lived through the first war. Either her motivations are very simple and just a bit sick and twisted, or she is a very clever individual with a very peculiar method of achieving her goals. Perhaps we are merely pieces on a board to her, and she plays with us as she sees fit.”
“That is an unsettling thought.”
“You’re not wrong.”
“So what do we do now?”
“Same as we have always done. We keep fighting and doing what we can, where we can. When Taylor is ready to come back, he will, and with any luck, he will bring with him a new resolve and a new strength with which to fight this war.”
“And CJ? What if he keeps running his mouth?”
“Short of killing him, I don’t think any one of us can change what he says or does, and as much as I hate him, the things he does are remarkable. And if I am completely fair, he didn’t choose to be born the way he was, looking that way, and with a bitter desire to kill the Colonel. That is the way he was programmed, and he will have that inner struggle going on for as long as he lives. I don’t so much as hate him, but pity him.”
“He is dangerous, though.”
“Yes, that much is certain.”
“Well, what are we going to do about it? He is toxic.”
“I will go to the Admiral with this and ensure that he is kept busy.”
“The Admiral is in on all of this?”
“Yes.”
“Jeez, how many people don’t know this secret?” she asked wearily, as if angry that it had taken so long for her to find out.
“Only a handful of people on this station know. CJ was never told, but he pushes Taylor all the time, and when his double took over, his act was just not enough to fool him. I should never have let the two be in the same room. That was a failing on my part, and those of us that knew. I had no idea that CJ was even going to be in this sector. It’s as if he is here just to stir up trouble at the worst of times.”
“Isn’t he?”
Jones nodded in agreement. “It’s entirely possible. Listen, you speak of this with no one, not even those who you believe might be a party to all this. Silence, and if there is anything that needs to be discussed, you come to me in private, you hear?”
“Yes, Sir, of course.”
“And that double of Taylor, as far as you are concerned, you will treat him as though he were Taylor. I am not even going to tell you his real name. You don’t need to know, and it is just more information that could get us all into trouble.”
&nb
sp; She nodded in agreement.
“All right, then, we won’t speak of this again unless it is absolutely essential, you got that?”
“You have my word, and, Captain, please remember that you can always trust me.”
“It’s not a matter of trust here.”
“Yes it is. I cannot protect what I do not know.”
“I hear you.”
He led her out of the room, and she could see he was at least a little relieved to have got it off his chest. They parted and went their separate ways.
“Make sure the Regiment’s ready to go. We’ve been idle long enough!” he shouted back to her.
Jones was heading for the bridge with a new sense of purpose. More than anything he wanted CJ off the station, and he wanted work for himself in equal measure. As he stepped onto the bridge, he was guided into the Admiral’s cabin as if Nilsson had been expecting him.
“Captain Jaeger…CJ has already been assigned to a mission for which he will be leaving presently, no matter what state of intoxication he is in.”
“You were watching?”
“Of course, Colonel. It is my job to know what goes on. Never assume that I don’t keep a keen eye on everything that goes on under my watch.”
“Glad to hear it, Sir, but that is not my only purpose of being here.”
“What can I do for you, Captain?”
“My team, we need something to occupy us.”
“The rest of them, or just you?”
Jones shrugged. “I can’t just sit around resting when there is work to be done.”
“You returned from your latest mission six hours ago. How much rest have you had in that time?”
“Enough.”
“I highly doubt that.”
“Sure, but you know how little sleep Taylor manages on? Sometimes we just have to get by.”
“What do you want from me, Captain?”
“A job, something to do. Work that we are fit for.”
He sat back and contemplated it for a moment, but he could see Jones was raring to go, and he could also recognise how much he needed something to occupy his time and dedicate his mind to.
“One day, Captain, you will value the beauty of the quiet. Of peace and rest.”
“Gladly, when we have earned it.”
“Okay, I’ll entertain you. You want a job. I can always find something to be done,” he said and flicked through information on a screen projection from his desk.
“Ah, yes, this. We have had unconfirmed reports that humans have been spotted working in the service of the enemy.”
“Humans? Why would they do that?”
“Why does anyone follow any leader? Because they respect them, fear them? I can see why some might feel one or both towards Bolormaa.”
“She is a scourge, a disease on this universe.”
“She is also strong, and many are drawn to strength, no matter the nature of how it is employed.”
Jones groaned. The thought of it made him sick.
“Do you want the job or not?”
“You haven’t even told me what it is.”
“That would require knowing more about what is going on. The world is called Hajander, and I will send you all the information you need. It was a world once considered for human colonisation.”
“What stopped us?”
‘The indigenous population, a breed of hunter that ensured life for humanity was simply not safe nor desirable.”
“When was this?”
“Hundreds of years ago, not long after the death of Erdogan, when humans looked to the universe for new places to find peace. Those who colonised Hajander found very much the opposite. Nearly fifty thousand colonists were killed.”
“Out of how many?”
“Nearly fifty thousand,” he replied in a horrified tone.
“Then why would anyone go back there?”
“That is for you to find out, Captain. Something is drawing people to that world, and it is not in service of the Alliance. Not only that, we have had isolated reports of humans involved in attacks against Alliance targets. It is in small numbers so far, but everything we have seen centres around that planet, Hajander. I have no idea what is going on down on that world or why, but I’d sure like to know.”
“Then it will be done.”
“Be careful what you wish for, Captain. I appreciate your willingness to go back out in service of the Alliance, but don’t be too hasty, it could lead you to places you may wish you had never ventured.”
“Too late for that. I was there the day we reawakened Bolormaa and her hordes. It was our perpetual curiosity that got us this far. Why would we ever stop now?”
“Perhaps there is a lesson in all of this?”
“Maybe, but we are too strong-willed and pig-headed as a people to learn from it.”
“You are becoming more and more like him, you know, the Colonel.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“You should. I don’t approve of all the things Taylor does, but none of us are perfect, but one thing is for certain, he is a great man.”
“Yes, he is.”
“I’ll have all the details sent to you. Operational details are, of course, your choice, but my recommendation would be that you take a small investigative party to find out what is happening on Hajander. You can always go back later, and in greater number.”
“I’ll check it out.”
“I’ll assign the Attila to you. She is fast, small, with a good Captain, and perfectly suited to your needs. Good luck, Captain.”
“Thank you, Sir.”
He walked out and yawned moments after he got through the door. He really was tired but also glad to have something to do. He wanted to take the entire Regiment and pile drive whatever was before them, but that wasn’t what was being asked of him. It wasn’t really the sort of mission he had gone looking for, but he was just glad to have something. He reached the docking bay. The whole Regiment was formed up, as he had asked Sommer to do. He looked past to see a well-worn vessel on the docking bay floor, and he could read the name clearly. Attila. It looked like a downsized destroyer and was far smaller than he had expected.
Was the Admiral just fobbing me off with a shit mission and a shit ship? Well, it doesn’t matter now.
“We’ve got a job to do. It’s small, but of extreme importance. I need a single Company to assist me in this task.”
“We will come with you!” Turan declared, waiting before his Krys Company. They were the largest, toughest, and most heavily equipped of the Regiment, and he was glad of their support.
‘That right there, the Attila, that is our ride for today. Load up!”
Turan began shouting commands, and Jones went over to Sommer to speak to her.
“See that they get plenty of rest and are ready to move for whatever comes next.”
“Don’t think I am not coming with you,” she said.
It was clear he had no choice in the matter, and Lorenzo paced up to them as well.
“The word is these are humans who are following Bolormaa, so you are going to need someone who understands human medicine and anatomy to come along.”
“How the hell can you know that?”
“Word travels fast, and news of these attacks by humans is rife. That’s why we are being sent, isn’t it? Send your best when faced with a dilemma like this?”
Jones hadn’t thought of it that way. He agreed for Lorenzo to follow on with them and stepped aboard the Attila. He was surprised there was nobody to greet them, and in fact no crew to be seen at all. He roughly recognised the layout. It was similar to a navigator vessel he had served on years ago.
“What a heap of junk,” said Sommer.
“Sorry we aren’t up to your usual standards,” a voice said as the Captain appeared in a doorway they were walking past. Sommer looked embarrassed, and the Captain was not going to let her feel any less guilty for the insult.
“She ain’t the Independence,
but she’ll take you anywhere you need to go, and get you back safely. I’m Captain Roworth.”
He was old for a Captain of such a small ship, a little portly, and his face pockmarked as if he had lived a hard life. He was also calm and demanded respect, despite his look and his tunic hanging open.
“Captain Jones, and these are Lieutenants Sommer and Turan.”
He carried on without another word, but Jones glared at Sommer and shook his head at the horrific first impression she had made.
“You seen much combat in this old girl, Captain?” Jones asked politely.
“Plenty, and it’s always kept her crew safe, but that is more than I can say for many of the men and women we have carried. I cannot guarantee your safety once you step off this ship. That is your job, but once you are on board, I will do anything and everything in my power to ensure your safety, even those who do not have respect for an old girl like this.”
“I meant no disrespect, Sir,” replied Sommer.
“Yes, you did. You just didn’t intend for me to hear it,” he said. He stopped and looked back at her with an accusing point.
“What you are soon going to realise is that this ship, and this crew, they are one and the same. We have lost just two members of this crew since the war began. We are a family, and don’t let the look of this old girl fool you. Before the war began, the Attila was two months into a refit to bring her up to the operating standards of the newest vessels in the fleet. War broke out before the work could be finished, but she has the latest engines, navigational equipment, countermeasures, and everything we need to get the job done. If you treat her right, she’ll see you through. Treat her wrong, and you and I will have words.”
He didn’t wait for another apology, and Sommer looked mortified, but Jones smiled back in response. He could see that him and the Captain were going to get on just fine. They reached the bridge. It was a dark and crude looking setup, and the only lights were low. It looked like they had stepped into a museum ship, and not something that should ever fly. Sparks flew from a console as a mechanic was working.
“Combat damage?” Jones asked.
“Like I said, the Attila was going through a refit that was never quite completed. Despite the advantage of many upgrades, some of our older systems still require regular work to keep them going.”
Battle Beyond Earth: Deception Page 11
