At once, grumbling and protests rose up from the gathered crowd. Survivors talked amongst themselves and made gestures of general disapproval. Hank shook his head and walked away, and the trio of Lorenzo, Nina, and Josh wore matched smug grins.
“Lieutenant Cormack,” called Denise from within the throng. “Can you help me find someone to carry my husband?”
A knot rose in his throat, which he cleared loudly. “We are leaving the sick behind, for the protection of the rest of the group.”
“What?” she shrieked. The rest of her sentence was drowned out by shouts from the crowd.
He put up his hand and tried to shout over the din. “Please, we need to get moving.”
Shouts and taunts came at him from all directions. There was no division in the crowd this time; their ire was squarely aimed at him. He scanned the crowd for Hank, but he had already gone. Brett had made himself scarce as well. Panic started to rise within, as he looked for Lorenzo. As his eyes picked him out of the crowd, his jaw dropped. The troublemaking trio had been set upon by the raging pack of survivors, and they were being beaten with fists and sticks. Their weapons were quickly stripped, and Darren saw the glint of a pistol in the hands of Denise.
His hand shot to his waist and drew the Beretta from the holster on his hip. He flicked off the safety and chambered a round as Denise pointed her commandeered weapon at him.
“Drop it,” he yelled.
She hesitated for a moment and the barrel dipped. He kept his own pistol trained on her, waiting for her to comply. Then pain shot through the back of his head and he stumbled forward, dropping his gun. Darren rolled to his back and saw Hank standing above him, with his rifle’s stock pointed in Darren’s direction. Darren drew his hand to the back of his head and felt a slick, warm liquid. His hand came back in front of his face, and the red blood that tinted his fingers gained his full attention.”
“Hank?” he asked in a weak voice.
The last thing Darren saw before his world went dark was the butt of the scout’s rifle crashing into his skull.
Capt Haruka Kimura
Planetfall +19 days, early afternoon
Camp Eight
“Are you ready?” Dr. Petrovsky asked as Haruka leaned forward. The salty air made the old wound sting slightly, but it would be nothing compared to having it lanced and drained.
She balled up a torn and soiled flight suit, then buried her head in it and nodded. She flinched slightly as the scalpel sank through the skin on her shoulder. Haruka grunted in pain, though it was muffled by the cloth. An odd pinching sensation followed, and the air was filled with a putrid stench.
“Almost done,” the doctor soothed.
She let the cloth fall from her face and brushed it off of her lap. “It doesn’t hurt as much as last time.”
“It shouldn’t. I don’t have to drain as much this time around, and the wound looks much better.”
“So can I go back to work now?”
Dr. Petrovsky chuckled, which irritated her. “Not yet. I’ll draw an imaginary box around you that you’re not allowed to leave, if I have to.”
Haruka groaned. “Fine, can you at least tell James where you’re tying me up?”
“Gladly. Of course, with orders that he’s not allowed to untie you,” he grinned.
“Of course.”
“Are you ready for the next part?”
Haruka nodded and retrieved the scream rag. Liquid ran down her shoulder, cold at first, then turning to a searing sensation as the peroxide invaded the wound. She took a deep breath and held it, pushing through the mounting pain. She exhaled and drew in another breath, repeating the process until the doctor washed and dressed the wound.
“That part never gets any easier,” she remarked after he finished.
“Well, hopefully you’ll only have to endure it a couple more times. You’ve made a lot of progress in the past few days. We’ll see what it looks like tomorrow, okay?”
“Thanks, Doctor.”
He stood up and brushed the dirt from his knees. As his eyes met the horizon, he smiled. “Looks like I won’t have to tell James where I’ve stashed you away. He’s on his way over here.”
Haruka slipped her shoulder and arm back into her suit and quickly zipped it up before getting to her feet. James approached from the beach, escorted by Sergeant Leight. Her relief to see James waned quickly when he got close enough for her to read his face. His lips were downturned slightly, and he repeatedly went through his nervous tell. Leight’s usual stone demeanor was missing, and he approached with a grim look.
“What’s wrong, James?” she asked as came up.
James’s jaw dropped as if to speak, but no words came out. Instead, he sat down, and cast his gaze into the dirt.
“You might want to sit back down, Captain,” Leight said in a soft voice.
What the hell happened this time?
She complied with Leight, setting herself down across from James. Dr. Petrovsky sat as well, offering his hand to Haruka. She took it and squeezed it nervously.
“There has been an incident involving your security chief, Luis Serrano.” Leight paused for a moment. “I’m sorry, Captain. He’s dead.”
“What?” she gasped.
“He was murdered, Haruka,” James muttered through gritted teeth.
Haruka stuttered, and then began to hyperventilate. Her head began to spin as the news began to sink in. Dr. Petrovsky leaned in and talked her through taking deep breaths. She calmed down after a few minutes, though her hands shook, and her body was numb.
“How?” she asked feebly. “Who would do such a thing?”
“You don’t want to know,” James replied.
“Just tell me, James.”
Leight interjected with the details. “He was beaten to death. We’re still trying to figure out who. We got a good description from a witness, I’m just trying to confirm my suspicion.”
“Good. When you find out for sure who it is, tell me. I want to make this bastard pay.”
“That might be a little hard right now, ma’am.”
“Why?” she shot back. “It should be easy to find one person in our little community.”
“Of course. But he’s fled into the jungle, according to the witness. Frankly, he’d have to be a complete idiot to just waltz back in.”
Haruka nodded. The idea of Luis’s murderer returning to camp and submitting voluntarily to punishment was laughable at best. The settlement they intended to build was just in its infancy, and no prison existed. Even if he were to return, Haruka would have no place to hold him. On the other hand, she considered that the problem might solve itself; if the killer was not an experienced survivalist, the aggressive predators in the jungle could easily finish him off.
“Alright, once we find out for sure who killed Luis, we can keep an eye out for him. If we bring him back alive, we could probably put him through a quick trial.”
“We don’t have any judges, and only one lawyer,” James pointed out.
She thought for a moment about a potential solution. “Have the lawyer give two people brief training, one as a prosecutor, one as a defender, and have him act as the judge. Would that work?”
Leight nodded and broke off eye contact. James scratched at the bristles on his cheek.
“What, is there something wrong with that plan?”
“No, it sounds fine,” James replied. “It’s just that… just…”
“What is it?” she probed. She had never seen James at a complete loss for words before.
“I don’t even know how to tell you this.” The words escaped his lips as little more than a whisper.
“Tell me what?”
James shook his head but remained mute. Leight cleared his throat when his companion failed to speak. “This is going to be difficult for you. Please try not to let it affect your handling of the situation any.”
“Go on,” she said after a moment’s hesitation.
“The witness who gave the d
escription of Luis’s murderer was Maria Serrano. Gabrielle was with her. They both stumbled across the attack when they went to go have lunch with Luis down by the river.”
Oh fuck.
“The attacker turned on them, Captain.”
“Shit. Are they alright?” Leight shook his head slowly. “What happened, Sergeant?”
“They tried to run. He caught up with them and threw Maria to the ground.” Leight raised his head suddenly and stared at Haruka. The pain in his eyes was evident. “He raped her in front of her child.”
Oh shit. Gabi… Maria…
“Gabrielle screamed. Will and Jenkins were coming back from a mission and heard it. The guy was gone by the time they got there. He probably got scared off.”
“Fuck,” she blurted as fury built inside of her.
“It’s real bad, Haruka,” James finally chimed in. “He probably has Luis’s rifle. Jenkins couldn’t find it when he searched the area. This asshole is armed, and he knows that if any of us see him, he’s toast.”
“Then he’s going to force a fight if we catch him. We can’t afford to lose anyone else. Take him down if you find him, James.”
“We can’t just execute him,” Leight protested. “Even if he is armed, due process says that we’re supposed to try to capture him so that he can be tried fairly.”
“Due process?” she scoffed. “Look around you. Where are we going to process him? And how? This guy is a threat.”
“Do what you want, Captain,” he said as he lifted his muscled body from the ground. “If I find him, I’m going to treat him the same way we would back on Earth. If he draws on me or my life is threatened, yeah, I’ll take him out. But not before.”
“Suit yourself, Sergeant. But I’m not going to let this maniac kill anyone else on my watch.”
“He’s right, Captain,” Dr. Petrovsky added. “We may be in the middle of nowhere, but we’re all from the same place. We all grew up with the same expectations of law and treatment.”
“I hate to admit it, but I agree,” grumbled James.
Her shoulder throbbed as she stood up too quickly. She stifled a wince of pain and steadied herself as the ground beneath her seemed to sway. “I am not letting him harm anyone else. That is final.”
She checked the magazine on her M9 and re-holstered it, then walked away to find some solitude.
2nd Lt Darren Cormack
Planetfall +22 days, late morning
Just outside pod one and two combined landing site
“We’re almost to the other site now. You’re not going to cause any problems if we cut you loose, are you?” Denise asked.
“No ma’am,” Darren replied without hesitation.
“Good.”
She nodded to a teenager with dirt and mud caked over the acne pocks on his face. He flicked out a small knife and sawed through the thin cords around Darren’s wrists. They snapped and fell at his feet, and Darren wrung his hands over the raw, red ligature marks on each wrist. He grudgingly thanked his captors for the courtesy.
“One more push should do it,” the boy remarked, folding the knife up and shoving it in the front pocket if his jeans. He retrieved a rifle that was leaning next to a tree. “We ready to move out?”
Hank stood up and slung his rifle over his shoulder. “Yeah, let’s go. Oh, one more thing.” He reached into his pack and produced a belt with a holstered pistol, handing it to Darren.
“What’s this,” he asked, giving an incredulous look.
“It’s for show. We can’t have you walking up looking beat up and disarmed.”
“Are you kidding?” Denise protested.
“Don’t worry, it’s not loaded. I’m not that big of an idiot. Let’s move. Should be about a mile that way,” he said, jerking his thumb to the east. “I saw the top of one of the pods earlier when I went ahead.”
With little fanfare, the remaining one hundred and eleven survivors packed up their meager possessions and set to march. Darren took a position near the front of the column, marching next to Hank, and behind Denise. The pace at which they took off was easy for him to keep without his hands bound; earlier he had been prone to stumbling or falling behind as his bindings threw his balance off. However, after just a few minutes, the band slowed down again as the sick stragglers had to catch up.
Progress had been very slow for days. The insistence of his captors in keeping the group together had prevented them from reaching the site of Marsolek’s pod. With every step, Darren calculated just how much earlier they would have arrived if they had left the ill to fend for themselves.
One day, he thought. A full day. Maybe two if it had just been a few people moving ahead, like me and Hank.
As they waited for the dozen or so patients to catch up, Darren scanned the crowd, looking for Brett Wu. He spotted the nurse, and was relieved to find him in the middle of the march party, also relieved of his bondage. Darren also picked out the troublesome Lorenzo, Nina, and Josh. They stuck out like sore thumbs; Denise had apparently convinced the rest of the captors to keep those three bound at the wrists like criminals.
She must have thought they’re too much trouble. If she doesn’t want me walking in bound and unarmed, I guess it speaks volumes about her opinion of Lorenzo and his cronies.
So close to the pod site that they had sought for nearly a month, Darren doubted that anyone would cause trouble. Even Josh, who Darren took to be quite hot-headed, carried himself forward with long strides and a muted smile, rather than the bowed head and dragging feet that he would have expected of a prisoner.
Anyone would want to see the end of the hell we’ve dragged ourselves through, I guess.
The stragglers caught up, and the leaders adjusted their pace to accommodate those at the rear. Time dragged on, but after the second hill, Darren caught a glimpse through the treetops of a sleeper pod, not more than a mile away.
“There’s our destination,” Hank remarked.
“Well what are we waiting for?” asked the boy. “Let’s just hurry up and get there.”
Denise stepped across his path. “Hang on there, kid. We all go in together, remember?”
“Are you serious? It’s right there. It’s not like they’re going to get lost or miss it.”
“We stay together,” she repeated. “We’re not leaving anyone behind.”
“No, we’re not,” Hank added. “Have a little patience, Logan.”
The youth sighed and adjusted the load on his shoulders. “Fine.”
Darren did not address anyone in the group; while he was relieved to see the top of the gray steel cylinder, he reflected on the loss of so many of his survivors. He imagined for a moment the terror of living through the landing, unable to see anything from within the dark coffins of the sleeper berths. If that wasn’t bad enough, so many had fallen ill with the terrifying sickness that struck without mercy. He had lived through half of that himself, as the disease tore up his body and left him wanting to die. He counted himself lucky that at least he was able to see on the way down from his seat in the ESAARC cockpit.
I’ve done everything I possibly could to isolate myself from them as well. It’s no wonder they hate me. He let out a heavy sigh. Marsolek will probably do a better job with this command. At least we’re almost there.
Again the band pressed on through the jungle. As the minutes passed and the hill on which the pod was situated drew near, the crowd began to mutter thanks and converse excitedly with each other. Darren did not pay any heed, focusing his attention on the thinning clumps of trees just ahead. The layout of the land seemed eerily familiar, as if it was almost a mirror image of the pod they had left three weeks prior.
He shook off a sudden dark thought that gripped him. No, if they’re still here, they have to have fresh water somewhere.
The jungle stopped abruptly just before the base of the hill in a tangled mess of brush. Hank, Denise, Logan, and Darren stopped at the edge and looked at the thick brambles and vines.
“Gues
s we could just cut through,” Hank remarked as he and Logan drew machetes.
They were joined by a few others from the group, and after a few minutes managed to cut a thin path through the vegetation. Darren looked up the hill at the dome just peeking over, and noticed five figures walking over the hill, cradling rifles as they slowly marched down the slope.
Something’s not right. Goosebumps spread across his arms.
Hank ripped through the last few vines in their path and stepped to the far side, followed by the men that had hacked through the brush.
“Go on,” Denise prodded.
“Wait,” he replied.
“What?”
“There’s something wrong. Wait a minute.”
“Just get your ass through there,” Logan said, shoving him forward.
Behind him, Darren could hear Hank yelling up the hill at the welcoming party. “What the hell do you mean?” the scout shouted.
“Move it, old man,” repeated Logan.
Darren backed up further into the cut. “Wait just a second. You’ve got to listen to me.”
The teenager rolled his eyes and darted under Darren’s arm and through the opening on the far side. Darren spun around and thrust his hand out to catch Logan, but missed, instead brushing his fingertips along the hot, sun-baked steel of the M4’s barrel.
The next minute or so seemed to play out in slow motion for Darren. One of the men who approached their group trained his own carbine on Hank.
“God damn it, I said you need to stay in the jungle until you have no more ill.”
Then Logan’s M4 dropped from his shoulder. Apparently unaware of what was unfolding in front of him, the young man hoisted it in one hand. Two men on the hill saw the movement and spun to face Logan, bringing their weapons to bear. Darren felt Denise try to push her way past him.
“Look out!” one of the pickets shouted, crouching to attack.
“NO!” he screamed, elbowing Denise in the chest and throwing his arms as wide as he could across the cut. She crashed to the ground behind him, and just in time.
Project Columbus: Omnibus Page 50
