Henry stared back into Emma’s dark eyes. She had high cheekbones that gave her face a perpetually happy appearance despite the half-hearted attempt at anger she usually displayed. Her black hair had finally given up the braids to the rain and was splayed across her forehead in streaks. He had to wonder what he looked like to her. He had let his hair and beard grow in the last few months to blend in with the survivors, and the new bruises and cuts he had acquired on missions probably made him look like a failed boxer. The hair he’d grown was also increasingly grayer than he remembered.
“Well, I need to check the transmitter,” Henry replied, turning away from her towards another corridor. “It’s been two days and I could have missed something.”
The burst transmitter had been dropped onto the mountain the same day as Henry and his team. The idea had been to drop them separately. If the team could not recover the device in seventy-two hours and send a burst, the orbiting slave ship Red Sweeney would leave and not return. Once the signal was chosen, the ship would send a return signal and leave. The team would need to make contact with any resistance in the area and await the next signal.
If no signal was sent, the device would self-destruct and a different location would be chosen for a new drop. If the team could not recover the transmitter or it was incorrectly activated, the team would be left behind on an occupied world. The machine was genetically encoded to Henry and his team. Since he was the last member still alive, he was left to check the machine as often as possible. He had become obsessive about the signal in the last month, not wanting to go on missions to stay nearby. Emma had finally coaxed him out to the factory job in the hopes that he would be able to separate himself from it.
“Oh come on, you old fool,” Emma said, placing her hand on his shoulder and turning him back to face her. “Let’s go get some eggs and that fake bacon stuff they serve. You look like your gonna fall down.”
“Thanks, Em,” Henry said, pulling her hand away from his shoulder, but not releasing it. “I really have to look. They might be trying to—”
“You know better, Henry,” Emma said, squeezing his hand. “They left you here and now they are gone. It’s just us down here to fight the good fight. You have to let go.”
When Henry had made the drop seven months ago, he had been assured that the invasion of Earth would be no more than six months away. He was supposed to be hearing from his contacts every three weeks if everything was going according to plan. After six weeks, the signals stopped coming in. Henry had initially chosen to believe that the courier had been intercepted, or that Connor Jakes, flying the slave ship, was just playing games. After two more missed signals, Henry had to believe that something else had gone wrong.
“Emma…” Henry squeezed back. “It’s my duty to check that transmitter. They said they were coming for us and they will.”
“Who said this?” Emma replied, stepping closer and putting her other hand on his hip. “That commodore of yours? The other fella who launched you from his ship? Face it, Henry. They got rid of you for a reason. We are all we have to look forward to.”
“I can’t accept that, Em,” Henry said, looking her in the eyes. “I know Chang would be here if he could. Something must have happened that is keeping him from the attack, but I can’t give up on them.”
“And the other one?” Emma asked, drawing still closer to her partner. “What about Everett’s son?”
“He lost everything, Emma. I have to believe that he wouldn’t have done that if he hadn’t lost his Alice,” Henry said quietly. “Please, Em. I have to check on that signal.”
“I understand, Henry, I really do,” she said to him quietly. “Let’s go back and check the signal together. Then we can get out of these clothes and into some food.”
Henry thought about her offer. The two of them had become more than partners over the last few months. He had always believed he would never love another after his Priya died, but he had begun to realize his feelings for Emma. She was so different from his wife, strong, brash and aggressive. He was never sure if her flirting was true or just a way to avoid the stress of their life.
“Alright, Emma,” Henry said, looking down to the stone floor. “Let’s go back and check. It probably won’t take long. I’m not sure I’m ready for the mess hall anyway. It’ll be crowded with the new folks just now and you know how they get.”
“Yeah,” Emma replied, turning away and walking towards the residence hall. She had not let go of his hand and Henry was pulled along behind her. “They do get awfully needy when you save their life.”
Henry’s first mission had come nearly a month after his arrival. The commanders of the facility had been ranking military before the fall and had organized a rudimentary force. Henry and his team had helped them train some of the survivors for raids against the Ch’Tauk. They planned a recon mission to a town several kilometers away from the facility. It had been risky, but the team still had their stealth suits and the risk was deemed acceptable.
Two hours into the incursion, one of the suits had flickered back into visibility and Henry’s second in command had been shot by an alert guard. They had needed to take a long, dangerous route back to the facility. They had been pinned down by the enemy in an abandoned apartment building when she had appeared.
Emma Franke had been a schoolteacher before the invasion. When the Ch’Tauk attacked, she had been on an adventure holiday with friends in the caves near Yellowstone Park. They had managed to stay hidden until their food ran out. The group tried to travel to the nearby town, but most were captured and enslaved by the Ch’Tauk. Emma had hidden while her friends were taken in the insect-like ships. She had met up with a few other survivors in the remnants of an abandoned town and stayed safe by scavenging from half-destroyed shops. The experience had changed her into somebody hard.
When Henry had spotted her during the firefight, she was clutching a set of cans. He had broken cover to run to her side, but was intercepted by en enemy centurion. The alien fought him hand to claw, but eventually Henry’s training and Emma’s good aim had prevailed. When he got to her, he realized that she had thrown one of the cans at the creature’s head, distracting him long enough for Henry to break the alien’s hold and its neck. The two had been nearly inseparable since.
“Sergeant Moore?” A voice came from further down the corridor. “Sergeant, I am so glad you are back. How did it go?”
Henry let go of Emma’s hand as he spotted Everett Pearce approaching. The corridor sloped gently downwards into the residence hall and Henry could see how much difficulty Ev was having with the climb. The two quickened their pace to meet up with the older man.
“Ev, wait there. We’re coming down to you,” Emma said, glancing back at Henry as she moved away. “What are you doing out of the medical bay?”
“Those doctors don’t know anything about how I feel,” Ev said, grumbling under his breath at the woman. “They keep trying to stick needles into my arm to prove that they know what they’re doing. I survived four years without them and I’ll be here four more without them as well.”
Henry looked at Everett Pearce with mixed emotions. He had been amazed that the first person he made contact with on Earth had been Lee Pearce’s father. The old man had taken them down from an access tunnel into the holding area in the facility for debriefing. It had been two more months before he heard the old man had been stricken with a rare form of cancer. The man had outlived the predictions after the invasion and become the surrogate grandfather to almost everyone in the facility. As the years passed, the old man seemed to grow stronger and more cantankerous. Despite his differences with Lee, Henry had grown to love the older Pearce.
“The mission went well, Oupa,” Emma said, using the Afrikaans word for granddad. “We brought back about a hundred or so.”
“Did you blow up bugs?” The old man asked. “I really like it when you guys blow stuff up.”
“Yeah, Ev,” Henry said, reaching the man and holding his hand o
ut to shake. “We blew up a lot of stuff.”
“Did you get video at least?” Everett asked. “I want to watch it tonight with the kids.”
The kids were Everett Pearce’s surrogate grandchildren. Whenever children were liberated, Everett would personally see that they were included in games and activities with the other children. Sometime, the children came in without parents and Ev would make sure that they felt like part of a family. Although not a military man, Ev Pearce had proven himself one of the most valuable people on the base with his compassion for the children.
“You’ll give them nightmares if you show them that stuff,” Henry said. “Why don’t you get some of the cartoons we brought back from the last raid?”
“This whole damn world is a nightmare, Henry, and I won’t give them dreams of anything better until we get our planet back,” Everett said, staring right into Henry’s eyes. “These kids got no place for fantasy when they’ve seen their own kind blown to bits by bugs. What they need to see is revenge to get them to sleep.”
Henry held the man’s gaze for a few moments before turning to Emma. She looked unaccountably sad but said nothing. Everett began to cough and she wrapped her arms around him to steady his stance.
“Maybe you better get back to the med bay, Ev,” Henry said. “We were just going to change clothes and get some food. Maybe you can meet us there.”
“Already ate my mush,” Ev said, straightening up and pushing Emma’s hand away. “Thank you, dear. I just need to sit for a bit and then I can go down to processing and see who’s here.”
“Alright, Oupa,” Emma said, stepping back to Henry’s side. “If you need anything, just call. We’ll be around for a few days at least.”
“Yep,” Everett said, tottering back up the ramp towards the intersection. “I’m sure you will.”
The two watched as the old man moved out of sight. As they turned back to the residence hall, Henry’s hand found hers again. He had told the old man about his son once, and how he had rescued so many people on the Terran Princess so many years ago. He had never told him about the last time he saw him, though. He felt the man needed to believe that his son was still out there and still honorable to keep stay strong. Henry feared the truth would break the man’s already fragile hold on life.
The two traveled together down the wide corridors to Henry’s quarters. Since he was not an officer, he would have been assigned group lodging, but Henry’s status as a tactical leader granted him special privileges. His room was small, but held all his necessities. Emma entered behind him and threw herself at his bed, dirtying the covers with drying mud. Henry paused to purse his lips at her before walking to the small closet. As he palmed the door open, Emma pulled herself up and started to peel away layers of clothing, exposing a surprising amount of clean, black flesh. Henry shook his head and reached into the closet for the small box under his own clothing. By the time he had turned, Emma was naked and heading for the private bathroom. Henry watched her back as she turned on the shower and stepped inside.
“As soon as you are done, join me in here,” Emma said from the enclosure. “I’m still cold and I think I need some help to warm up.”
Henry stood with the box in his hand for a long moment before placing it on the bed. He reached up and pulled his own wet jacket and shirt from his shoulders. After removing his muddy trousers, he struggled to pry the tight, black stealth suit from his skin. It did not provide the protection it once did, as the power supply had long since burned out, but it was waterproof and kept his skin warm in the rain.
“Henry, the water is just right for the two of us,” Emma called from the shower. “Stop playing around out there and get that cute bum in here.”
Henry nearly tripped over his pants as he stepped around the bed. At the last minute, he looked back at the small box now partially covered by his jacket. He heard Emma from the other room, splashing herself with the warm water. He made a decision. Instead of moving to join her, Henry reached down to his pants and fumbled for the small key he kept in his pocket. Reaching across the bed and brushing the muddy jacket aside, he pulled the box up and held it close. He inserted the key into the small lock and felt the click.
The metal sphere was barely ten centimeters across and smooth as glass. Henry reached into the box and removed the bauble from its rest. He dropped the box on the bed and slid his finger around the smooth surface of the sphere to find the minute projection on the underside. He pressed it, a small drop of blood was extracted for the mechanism, and a trace of light grew along the otherwise unmarked surface. Henry drew his index finger along the line and across the top. At the apex of the move, a light began to flicker around the equator, growing in intensity. Despite the steam from the nearby shower, Henry’s blood ran cold.
“Henry,” Emma said, stepping out of the shower and looking to him. “Is there something the matter with you? I am naked and asking you to join me in the hot shower. Now, unless you aren’t into girls that are an open…”
Henry had turned to her with the transmitter in hand. He looked up at her dripping on his bathroom floor. Her own eyes grew wide as she looked at the sphere. It glowed a deep, dark green. It was the signal he had been waiting for.
“They’re coming.”
5
Battleship Resolute
Lee Pearce drew in a deep breath as he watched the scene before him. Projected from the conference room table was an image of chaos from Perigee station. The feed was provided by a special transponder and broadcast via the secure military channel. The news was all at once terrifying and liberating to Lee. The ship was hiding in the corona of the Perigee star and maintaining radio silence on orders from Chang. He felt helpless floating in the nuclear furnace of the star, but it was important that they stay hidden.
Crowds had gathered at the base of the government stalk in the lotus-blossom shaped station. Banu Rao and the other ministers had sealed the tower off from the main station and were hiding from the angry mob. Every entrance to the tower had been barricaded and the government had ground to a halt. Military guards held the crowds from rushing the doors and reactivating the lifts.
“How did it ever get this bad?” Lee asked. “This wasn’t just because of me, was it?”
“Don’t flatter yourself, lad,” replied Roy Booth, the ship’s chief engineer. “That man did this to himself. Your execution was just the tippin’ point on the oxcart. The so-called Alliance government was nothing but a cult of personality around that Rao fella.”
“But why doesn’t Chang do something? I mean, this is a mutiny. The military needs to sort this out before the whole thing explodes.” Lee was desperately trying to make sense of the situation. “At this rate, we’ll never be able to retake Earth.”
“I think, perhaps you haven’t been dead long enough to experience perspective, Captain,” Farthing explained. “While you were in prison, the Alliance has become somewhat detached from the people it was supposed to serve. It was Rao who was holding things together by his own strength of personality. The people were only shown the side of him that he wanted them to see. During your trial, the civilian population, most of whom you liberated last year, got to see the other side of the man.”
“I admit he seemed pretty eager to have my head on a platter,” Lee said. “What did he do to these people to make them rise up like this?”
“Despite assurances that the Alliance would include all races as equal partners, Minister Rao began to direct the Terra fleet to the more important missions, pushing aside the Vadne and other members to patrol and resupply missions.”
“But that should have been Chang’s call,” Lee said. “Why did he allow the government to order the military around?”
“A lot of people think the admiral was bought by the new stars on his shoulder, Lee,” Booth replied. “I dinna think such a thing is possible, but the man did not object to any of the orders Rao was givin’. A lot of people think he changed when his brother died. It was not a change for the bet
ter. He’s a broken man, Lee.”
“That’s what he wants people to think.”
Heads turned as a woman strode into the room accompanied by a massive blue-green alien. The woman was short, with long dark hair that fell in thick curls to below her shoulders. Her olive complexion seemed deeper than Lee remembered, but Melaina Petros was always a welcome sight. The Karisien, Tuxor, seemed paler, but otherwise fit and larger than life. Lee noted the faint aroma of peat as the big man walked past him to a nearby chair.
On Earth, frogs tended to be an indicator species of pollution and ecological damage. Tuxor’s race of four-armed amphibians seemed to be of a similar nature when it came to the radiation from the star. Although their shields had been improved dramatically by the creatures Melaina called the elves, Lee still hoped they could get moving before Tuxor took too much damage.
“He set this plan in motion months ago, Lee,” Melaina said. “He wanted everyone to think Rao was in control so that when he made his mistake, he could come back and regain control.”
“What mistake?” Lee asked, giving the woman his familiar grin.
“You,” Melaina replied simply. “He needed to keep you in prison so he could get his plans in order. The longer he kept Rao occupied and in the public eye, the more chance he had to get the fleet under his command and the alliance between worlds solidified.”
“Wait,” Lee said, waving his hands in confusion. “Farthing just said the Alliance was crumbling. How can it be both stronger and weaker at the same time?”
“You’re still a little dead, aren’t you?” Melaina asked with a smile. “Don’t worry, the stuff Reeves gave you will wear off soon and you’ll get all of this.”
Resolute Victory (The War for Terra) Page 4
