Battle Beyond Earth: Deception

by Thomas, Nick S.

  “Tries, Sir?”

  “Taylor always get results, but at what price?”

  Rogers thought on it for just a few seconds. It was clear Nilsson knew that it wouldn’t matter what orders he gave, he had to appeal to his conscience.

  “Good luck, whatever you do,” added Nilsson.

  Chapter 11

  Taylor and Rogers were sitting on supply containers beside their tiny vessel on the deck of the Attila as they waited for the go ahead to leave.

  “Jones took that pretty hard, don’t you think?”

  Taylor nodded in agreement. “Because he knows what treatment at the hands of the enemy is like. He knows what it is to live in a cage, and so do I. I wouldn’t wish it on any man, and I’d do everything in my power to ensure nobody has to live through that.”

  “And if it is already too late? You heard the Admiral, these humans are fighting, and killing in Bolormaa’s name, what could we possibly do to revert that? Heaven knows what hell they must have gone through to be twisted into such a state that they would ever do such a thing?”

  “I don’t know. I didn’t say I had the answers. All I said is I am not willing to give up on our own people.”

  “And neither do I, but you know we have bigger things to worry about.”

  “Yeah? I thought protecting humanity was number one?”

  “You know it’s not that simple. Even an idealist such as yourself, knows that things are never that simple. You can’t just run out the door each day and save the world.”

  “No, but we can try.”

  “You can’t be everywhere at once. You can’t save everyone, Mitch.”

  Taylor sighed. He was right, but that didn’t make him any less determined to try to do precisely that. They could hear footsteps and Jones took a corner up ahead as he approached.

  “I guess this is it?” he asked.

  “The Colonel can’t be near you right now, nor anywhere near his lookalike, that is the way it has to be,” replied Rogers.

  “He’s right,” added Taylor.

  “So these people, these prisoners, you aren’t going to go after them?”

  “I never said that, but I am asking you not to. The Regiment has lost enough lately. It’s time you took it easy.”

  “Like you would do? Colonel Taylor would always rest easy and let others take up the slack when he needed a break?”

  Taylor just smiled.

  “Good luck out there,” he replied as he shook Jones’ hand.

  “And it was nice working with you, Captain,” added Rogers.

  Jones just shook his head. “Is that what happened? You saved our arses, and I won’t forget it.”

  “Thank Taylor. It was his idea, and I go where he goes.”

  They left without another word, but as Taylor took a seat with the others aboard the Lynx, he looked lost. It was hard leaving his best friend again. The door shut behind them as he thought it all over.

  “Get us moving!” Rogers gave the order to Dart.

  “Where I go, you go, that right?”

  “Not quite the way it was supposed to be, but your life, and that suit, I have a duty to protect the two. And seeing as you tend to do whatever you want to, that leaves me with little choice but to follow along, don’t you agree?”

  “You could always try and stop me.”

  “And how well has that worked for anyone who has tried it before?

  “Exactly.”

  “Usata, you aren’t going to let it stand, are you?”

  “You’re damn right I’m not. I will never knowingly let humans rot in prisons of Bolormaa’s making, nor stand for her use of our own people against us.”

  “Even if the same and worse are already happening on Earth?”

  Taylor hadn’t even thought of his homeworld in a while, not since he had been taken from it.

  “How goes the war there?”

  “Brutal, but stable. It is a battleground that the enemy seem to keep throwing resources into, but never quite enough to finish us. It is on Earth’s soil that we might actually stand a chance of grinding her armies down.”

  “I will go back there, sooner rather than later, but there are more people that need our help right now.”

  “At Usata?”

  “Among many others, I am sure.”

  “We can’t carry out a rescue mission on our own. It’s one thing hitting small targets when we can get in and out quickly, but a large scale operation like that is an entirely different story. Our suits won’t last long enough through one like that.”

  Taylor grimaced as he tried to think it through.

  “Forget calling in Jones. We have been through that.”

  “Who else am I supposed to go to get help, then? I can’t reach out to anyone I know that would help, not without giving up this secret and all that we are working towards. Nobody else can know.”

  “Ready to jump!” said Dart.

  “Do it.”

  Seconds later they appeared inside the dark tunnel below the surface of the Atlantis colony and were coming in to land shortly after. As they put down, they could see Rivers waiting anxiously for them. He approached rapidly as the ramp opened, and they stepped out onto the deck.

  “Were you successful? Did you bring the suits back?”

  “Yeah, we did,” Taylor said abruptly, “You know there are some things a little more important than your pet project.”

  “I’ll be sure to remind you of that after you have used them to defeat Bolormaa. Now do you trust in this equipment?”

  “Can’t see how he couldn’t after what we witnessed,” said Rogers.

  “What? What happened out there?”

  “We got into a little trouble with a Prince.”

  “A Morohtan Prince?” Rivers asked. He sounded very excited at the news.

  “Yeah, the real deal.”

  “And? What happened?”

  “The Colonel nailed him,” replied Rogers.

  Rivers was overcome with emotion, but for all the success they had gotten, Taylor couldn’t stop thinking about Usata.

  “Is this not something to be celebrated, Colonel? A creature that a few weeks ago was almost undefeatable, and yet today they are overcome with ease?”

  “Yeah, I guess so.” Taylor walked away.

  Rivers didn’t understand and turned to Rogers for answers.

  “Don’t mind the Colonel. He’s got a lot on his mind.”

  He ran on after Taylor, leaving Rivers stunned and bewildered. He finally caught up with the Colonel. He was ambling along as if he had no idea where to go or where he should be.

  “What is it? What’s wrong, Colonel?”

  Taylor wouldn’t give up anything and said nothing.

  ‘What is it with Usata? What is it that bothers you so much about this over anything else?”

  Taylor then stopped and leant back against a wall. His face was stone cold grey, and it looked as though he was even close to tears. Rogers was stunned, but gave him the time and space to explain in his own time, which he finally did.

  “Humans imprisoned by Bolormaa? Alita could be one of them, couldn’t she? If not on that world, another. I wouldn’t give up on her, so why should any of us give up on the rest of them?”

  “Have we? We keep fighting to keep humanity free, not just for a few, but for all of us. You can see that.”

  “But that doesn’t help those souls right now, does it? Who is doing anything about it? Who cares, or is even interested in chasing down this lead? If Nilsson knows, then you can bet your ass that plenty of others do, and what are they doing about it?”

  “What can they do? You saw what happened to your own people at Hajander, and you would have others risk the same for another operation? We are fighting on every front possible.”

  “I am going to Usata, and I don’t care who comes with me. I will not leave our people to the mercy of Bolormaa, not that she has any.”

  “You can’t do it without help. I will go wherever you do, no
matter what I think of your plans. I promise you that, but we need help. We need manpower.”

  “But how? You have already said I cannot reach out to any of my allies, and nobody will come at the request of Captain Becker. Who else is there?”

  Both fell silent as Rogers backed off against the far wall. He was desperately trying to find some solution, when suddenly his eyes sparkled as an idea came to him.

  “There is one.”

  “One what?”

  “One man with enough resources to help make this work. A man who already knows your secret and will take it to the grave.”

  “What, who the hell are you…”

  Taylor stopped as he realised who Rogers was talking about.

  “No, no way, I won’t involve that murderous son of a bitch in anything.”

  “There is no other way.”

  “I don’t care. I won’t do it.”

  “I guess you just have to decide what is more important, your personal feelings, or the lives of those at Usata,” said Rogers, and he started to walk away.

  Taylor was shaking his head in disgust as he gave the idea more thought, and finally before the Captain vanished from view he yelled, “Set up a meet, but not here. He never sees this place.”

  “Of course,” replied Rogers as he carried on.

  Taylor was shaking his head in despair for what they were about to do.

  * * *

  “Do you think he will come?” Dart asked from the cockpit as their tiny vessel floated in open space.

  “Of course he will come. Don’t you think he’d be more than a little curious?” asked Rogers.

  “For a chance to blow the Colonel’s head off out here where nobody can stop him? Sure.”

  “He’ll come. I have no idea why he fights for the Alliance, but as much as I hate to admit it, he’s been doing a fine job. Whatever problems he and I have, they are for us to settle on our own at a later date.”

  “And if he doesn’t share that vision of events?”

  “Then we’ll make him see the errors of his ways,” said Taylor as he stepped into an AR2 suit.

  “You know the dangers we face by exposing him to this technology?”

  “Yes, I do, and that is a risk I am willing to take.”

  Light flashed, and a warship appeared before their eyes. It was unmistakeable and unlike any other in the Alliance fleet.

  “The Phoenix,” said Dart in amazement.

  “And so it begins,” said Taylor.

  “They are asking us to dock, Colonel. What do you want me to do?”

  “Do it, and let’s get this over with.”

  Dart brought them in slowly and cautiously, with his hand ready to make a jump at the first sight of trouble, but it wasn’t long before they had put down on the deck without incident. Taylor was the first to the door as the ramp went down.

  “Well, I’ll be damned, the Colonel himself,” CJ said as he waited for them to approach.

  Taylor looked at the mix of humans and Krys around CJ. They seemed more like ragtag mercenaries than a disciplined fighting force, and they all looked down on him as if they shared the same bitter hatred that CJ did.

  “Got to say I was pretty curious to get your call. I knew that asshole calling himself Taylor was nothing more than a lie. If I can see through it, who else can?”

  “Colonel Taylor’s cover is in fact just fine, so long as you don’t run your mouth!” Rogers yelled in their defence.

  “What care is it of mine? I’ll deal with Taylor when the time suits me. I don’t need to give away your secrets to have Bolormaa do the job for me.”

  “We didn’t come here to fight!”

  “Yeah, Colonel? More’s the pity.”

  ‘”Whatever is between the two of us, it can wait. Yes, CJ, it can wait until this damn war is over.”

  “Maybe, but if that isn’t your purpose, what the bloody hell are you doing on my ship?”

  Taylor hesitated as if he didn’t want to say.

  “We…I...I need your help.”

  CJ was shocked for a moment, but then he broke out into laughter. Taylor remained straight faced, and that finally brought him to silence as well.

  “My help? You must be running out of friends fast. You must be really desperate.”

  “Life is desperate.”

  One of the human officers whispered in CJ’s ear, but they couldn’t hear what was said.

  “This is Lieutenant King, my voice of reason. He thinks I should hear you out.”

  “A wise man,” said Rogers, remembering that King was the liaison officer to CJ, and his closest equal in it all.

  “What do you all think?” CJ shouted. He seemed to seek the approval of the rest of them, but no one said a word, until finally one tall Krys officer spoke out.

  “Do you want us to fight for you, or die for you?”

  Taylor nodded in agreement, as he completely understood the officer’s concern.

  “I’ve never led any man to his death, not that I didn’t make quite clear beforehand. As much as we have our differences, we fight the same enemy, and more than anything, every one of you has known life behind bars.”

  “Don’t try and think you can compare yourself to us,” snapped CJ.

  “No, I wouldn’t think of it. But I am here to tell you that we know of a world where human prisoners, and perhaps Krys as well, are being held. Prisoners of war. Whatever hell you think you went through in Alliance prisons, you have no idea how bad a Morohtan one is. And more than that, we believe those prisoners are being manipulated into fighting for that bitch of a Queen,” declared Taylor.

  It was enough for them to remain silent as they thought about what he had to say. He could tell that he had struck a nerve as he brought up their incarceration, just as he had intended to do.

  “Why come to us? You have a Regiment of your own,” declared CJ.

  “Not right now, I don’t. For now, Colonel Taylor is wounded and enduring a lengthy recovery process, so he is out of action.”

  “So you can’t exactly call your friends for help? So you came to us instead?”

  “That about sums it up, yeah.”

  “And why should we help you?”

  “You aren’t really helping me, but helping those Bolormaa has taken. Freeing slaves.”

  “Don’t give me that. You’ve toyed with us enough. Tell me the real reason.”

  “You’ve got the truth. I won’t stand by and let Alliance citizens live as slaves to our enemies.”

  “And why should we do this? What is in it for us?”

  “A chance to set people free. A chance to make a difference.”

  “Yeah? And what else?”

  “What else do you want?” Rogers asked.

  CJ smiled, now knowing he held all the cards.

  “I’ll take one of those fine suits you have,” he said, glancing over to the AR2.

  “Impossible, these are all we have,” replied Rogers as he pointed to the four who were wearing them.

  “I don’t see how that is my problem. Don’t think I don’t know the power those things have. I have seen the reports. I should have known it was you, Taylor.”

  Rogers paced up close to Taylor so that he could whisper privately.

  “We can’t give up a suit, and you know it.”

  “And we can’t do this without him, can we?”

  “We give him a suit and our entire operation could fall apart. We can’t have these things out in the public.”

  But Taylor didn’t care.

  “One suit, and that’s all, and the promise you won’t use it in public.”

  “I’ll do no such thing. Nobody tells me what I can and can’t do with my toys. I get a suit, or you can get your asses on out of here, and find yourself another army to do your dirty work.”

  “Damn it, we aren’t here for selfish reasons. There are people that need our help, and they need yours, too.”

  “And I’d say I would be in a far better position to provide th
at help with one of those suits, don’t you?”

  “I don’t…” began Rogers, but Taylor grabbed him and hauled him back out of the way.

  “One suit, it’s yours, but you better not try and fuck with us here. If you are in, you are in until this is done,” snarled Taylor.

  “You got it!” CJ replied with a wicked smile.

  Taylor hated having to work with him. He was just glad Jones wasn’t there to see it.

  “So where do we begin?” asked CJ.

  Taylor gestured towards Rogers to explain.

  “First we recon Usata. Our intel is thin, but we’ll go in with the Lynx so that it’s quick and quiet. Providing we find what we need, we’ll call all you in, and we go ahead with the operation.”

  “How many people are we talking about here? We’ve only got so much space,” complained CJ.

  “I have arranged for four unmanned long-range transports to jump when ready. They have a capacity of maybe eight thousand between them. Let’s just hope they don’t need more. They’ll be programmed to match your navigation and jump commands, so the moment you come in, so do they; same on the way out. If all goes to plan, you can report back to Admiral Nilsson with any survivors that we have been able to rescue.”

  “All right, but the plan is a little vague, don’t you think? What kind of resistance can we expect?”

  “If we are quick, hopefully not too much. Providing we jam signals in and out, and we play it smart.”

  “Smart? Yeah, right,” replied CJ sarcastically.

  “Work with us on this, Captain. We can’t afford to be on different pages in this.”

  “You just do your part, and we’ll do ours.” CJ sounded offended that it even had to be said.

  “All right, then. All of the intel we have will be forward to you, but I am afraid to say that it isn’t much. We cannot risk advanced recon on this. We have to assume that even with the Lynx we will get spotted, and god knows what the enemy would do to the POWs if that happened.”

  “The truth is you don’t really know anything about this Usata place, do you?”

  CJ was studying the information that had been sent and being displayed on his Mappad.

  “No, we don’t, and that is the trend in this war, isn’t it? Sometimes we know little about what we must do, only that we must do it.”