“I know the situation sucks, but we are in this together.”
“We came here to serve Colonel Taylor,” declared the ringleader.
“What’s your name?”
“Asik.”
“All right, I am Sommer. I should have known your names by now, and I am sorry for that, because we are as one.”
“Without Taylor, we are nothing at all,” Asik scowled.
“Really? Doesn’t look like nothing to me. Looks like some of the meanest and toughest fighters I have ever had the privilege of knowing, that isn’t nothing.”
“There is no reason for us to stay here. Taylor is gone.”
She wasn’t getting through to them and needed to change her angle. She looked to Babacan for help, but he hadn’t moved from the wall where he was sitting.
Big help! Taylor, it all comes back to him.
“You say you are here to fight with Taylor, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then fight for him. He is not dead. He has been taken, and it is all our jobs, no, our duty to get him back. We don’t run at the first sign of trouble. That is not the Krys way, is it?”
“We run from nothing,” he scornfully responded in a deeply offended tone.
“Okay, if that is true, then don’t run from this. We are going to get the Colonel back, and we need your help to do it. That was your mission wasn’t it, to fight with and protect Taylor?”
“Yes.”
“Then how do you think your Lord Jafar will take it when you return having failed in your mission? He and the Colonel are best of friends. Do you think he will take it well that after all they have been through, you could not keep him safe?”
Asik hissed and rushed towards her aggressively, as if he wanted to strike her for what she had done to insult him. Finally, Babacan leapt up from his perch and hurried to support her. Turan formed up on her other side, and it soon brought him to a standstill.
“That’s right. That is exactly what I want to see. Some aggression, some fight. Krys don’t run, and neither do we. Taylor never runs from his troubles, will you do so now?”
She had struck a nerve, but still he did not respond.
“Did you hear that!” she balled so that the rest of the Krys could hear loud and clear, “Taylor needs you. He is not dead and buried. He is alive and missing. Will you run and leave him to his fate? No, you will not, because that is what cowards do, and you are not cowards, are you?”
She strode back up to Asik and got right up in his face, or as much as she could, considering how he towered over her.
“So what’s it going to be? Have you got what it takes to see your mission through?”
Asik couldn’t refuse, despite the fact he looked annoyed at how she had shown him up in front of the others. He said nothing as she continued to address them.
“Colonel Taylor made Turan acting Captain before we came down here. That makes him the boss right now. He has given you your orders, and you will follow them. There will be no more talk about going back home, you hear?”
They clearly accepted her word, and Turan looked more than a little grateful.
“Back to your posts!” he ordered.
They soon scattered, leaving just Babacan and Turan with her.
“That was a fine speech,” said Babacan.
“Yeah, well I learnt from the best.”
“It won’t keep them back for long. Asik will keep pushing them to leave, and eventually you will not be able to stop them,” said Turan.
“I know. We need Taylor back, and we need him fast, but if we are going to stand any chance of finding him, we have to have them on our side. Catch twenty-two.”
“We don’t have Taylor, but we might have the next best thing,” said Babacan.
“I’m listening. Go on.”
“Captain Jones. They would follow him without question.”
“The Captain is not the man he was, we all know that.”
“No, but he could be. Deep down inside he is still there. He is a fighter, and he will come back to us now, when we need him most.”
“That time is certainly now,” said Babacan.
“So what is the plan?”
Sommer smiled. Turan was looking to her now to lead them. She never wanted the mantle, but she would take it, and run with it.
“First things first, we have to find General Greer and establish a line of communication with the rest of the Regiment. Once we have done that, just maybe we can take a shot at the Captain.”
“I am not sure they will last that long,” said Turan, indicating over to the elements of his platoon he could still see. She sighed, seeing what a battle they faced even among their own ranks.
Where is Taylor when you need him?
“Then we do both.”
She held up her comms unit.
“Dart, I need a ride, right now,” she said in a commanding tone.
Nothing came back for a moment. She waited, hoping for a response.
“Yes, Ma’am,” he replied in a cheery fashion.
“I’m going to get Jones. You find Greer,” she said.
She rushed off without another word and hit the stairway of the school they had taken shelter in the night before. She charged up the stairway with purpose, and by the time she hit the roof, the Krys vessel was making its descent. He must have been lying low in the near area. All she could think was that if they’d had the comms working the day before, they might have been able to go after Taylor. She kept beating herself up over it even though she knew she could have done nothing differently.
As Dart came in to land, the building shook from the turbulence of the engines. Parts of the roof began to crumble, but Dart had already seen it. He came to a hover, and the door opened. The distance looked huge, and the day before the sight of it would have terrified her, but she had turned a new page. She took a running jump, leapt up in through the doorway, and casually strode to the cockpit, sitting down where Taylor always had.
“Reports say Taylor is missing, that’s bullshit, right?”
When she didn’t respond, he turned to look at her. Her expression told him everything he needed to know.
“Well, damn! How the hell did that happen?”
“Honestly, I am not even sure. It was not like him, but he was tricked. Someone turned up in the night looking like Turan and led him away.”
“Led him away? That doesn’t sound like Taylor to me. He doesn’t go anywhere he doesn’t want to.”
“It’s stupid really. He went after a hog.”
Dart laughed, but she didn’t seem to find any humour at all in the situation.
“I am telling you, something isn’t right here. Taylor is brash, but he is not stupid.”
“No, I guess not. So where to, Lieutenant?”
“The Independence.”
“Why, what have you even got left to do there?”
“Just one thing. It’s time we put this family back together.”
* * *
“Let’s move out!” Turan barked.
Ness and his squad were the first on their feet, but his own platoon soon followed.
“Do you think she can succeed where everyone else has failed?” he asked Babacan.
“Sommer is not the woman she was a day ago. She has the fire inside her that Taylor seems to carry wherever he goes. If she has just a fraction of that power within her, she will succeed.”
“I hope so,” he replied as he saw the disdainful look on Asik’s face, “You know the Krys never had this problem. Insubordination. It is a human quality.”
“Count yourself lucky, Turan, that we live in a more enlightened age, and that we have learned so much from humanity. Jafar lived through the old times, the dark times, and they were darker than you can ever imagine.”
“They could be far darker if we fail. Cakir would plunge us back into those days, just long enough to be crushed by Bolormaa. He is a fool.”
“That much is certain. Just wait till Taylor gets his h
ands on him.”
“You think the Colonel is still alive?”
“Of course I do. If Taylor was dead, we would know about it.”
“Death in combat is something I could have seen in his future, but not this.”
They started moving and were soon covering the same ground that brought them back from the attack on the enemy jamming column. Gunfire rang out a few minutes later, and they all scattered to cover.
“It’s a shame Sommer isn’t here. She’d have loved to have gotten a piece of this,” said Babacan, “And your platoon, they need to know you still have what it takes, what do you say?”
Without any warning, he rushed out from cover with his shield activated and ran down the open street towards the source of the enemy fire. Turan laid down covering fire as shots hit the ground and vehicles around Babacan. He ran like the wind. He hit the edge of the building, drew out two grenades, and threw one in through each of the front windows before waiting for the results. Turan was rushing towards the building as two Morohtan warriors appeared in the windows above. He fired at both, but it only forced them back inside.
The blasts rang out and blew out the remains of the glass. Babacan hit the door full force and barrelled through it. Turan was right beside him. Gunfire erupted in the building as the rest of the Krys and humans watched in astonishment. They saw Turan rush past an open window on the first floor, and a Morohtan warrior was thrown out of it a few seconds later. He was still alive as he hit the ground, but a burst from the acting Captain’s rifle finished it soon after.
“Your LT sure knows how to kick ass!” Ness yelled to Asik.
He was fuming on seeing some of the others now going over to Turan’s side. The two Krys were out of the building soon after and continued on as if they hadn’t even broken a sweat.
“You see,” said Babacan.
“Thank you.”
They turned a bend only to find a line of guns pointing at them, but lowered their weapons in relief that they were friendlies.
“Have you found General Greer?” Turan demanded.
“Yes, Sir, we have.”
“Then take us to her.”
* * *
Sommer stepped up to the window of the ward where Jones was being cared for. His room looked more like a cell to her. She hit the door lock, and it slid open, but she didn’t enter. She stood two steps outside.
“Captain Jones, your presence has been requested.”
He looked up at the sound of his name. He looked suspicious of her.
“Sommer?” he asked.
“That’s right, Lieutenant Sommer. Colonel Taylor is in trouble, and he desperately needs your help, Captain.”
“No, no, it’s a lie. You are not real. I won’t talk. What have I told you people? Taylor is coming for me!”
“No, he isn’t.”
“Don’t lie to me!”
“Taylor is missing, and if that isn’t bad enough, we aren’t doing too well in this war. The Regiment is weak, and it needs someone to hold it together. I can’t do it alone.”
“Then why are you still holding me in here?”
“I am not. Come with me. You are free.”
“What on Earth are you doing, who said you could talk to the patient?” said the doctor as he rushed towards the door lock.
Sommer stepped into his path and stopped him dead.
“Stay out of this, Doctor!”
“I am politely asking you to leave before I report this incident to the President, personally.”
“And I am impolitely telling you to go screw yourself.”
He tried to push past once again, but she gave him a firm backhand to the face. He recoiled from it and went into a spin, crashing into a trolley and falling rather unceremoniously to the ground. He reached up to feel blood on his forehead where he had fallen, but more than that, his ego was bruised. It was clear he’d never encountered physical violence before in his entire life.
“You just made a big mistake,” he snapped.
He attempted to use a console to call for help, but arms wrapped around his neck and choked him until he was unconscious. His attacker lay his body down and stood up to square off against Sommer. It was Jones.
“I knew someone would come for me. Come on!”
He took her hand and pulled her along. They burst out into the corridors of the ship, but he stopped and hesitated.
“No, it can’t be!”
He ran on by himself, and Sommer desperately tried to keep up. They ran onwards as he crashed through a number of personnel. Nobody tried to stop him, as they weren’t given any reason to. Nobody had been alerted to the situation yet. She heard several call his name as they recognised him. Finally, after a few minutes, he drew to a halt as he came to the viewing deck and just froze as if in shock and awe.
Sommer didn’t know what to expect. She paced up beside him and stopped a few paces away so as not to spook him.
“It’s really true? I escaped Bolormaa and her foul creatures?”
“Yes, it is true, Captain. Taylor saved you, but it nearly cost him his life.”
“So this is real? I am on the Independence? And that really is Earth?” he said, admiring the view of the planet below.
“Yes, Captain. It is all real.”
He turned so that he could look her in the eye, but he didn’t need to ask again. Sommer had some inkling as to what he was going through.
“I have been free all this time? Trapped in what, my mind?”
She could see he was still not himself, but he was starting to return to reality.
“You have been through a lot. I wish I could say you could sit this one out and let us handle it, but the truth is, we need you now more than ever.”
“Why, what has happened?”
“Colonel Taylor, he is missing. Presumed captured by the enemy.”
“Bolormaa has him?”
“Maybe not, it is a long story.”
He shook his head. “No, this can’t be happening. I kept telling myself that if I stayed strong, and if I made it out, everything would be okay. Everything is not okay!”
He collapsed down onto his knees and began to weep. Sommer felt deeply for him. She knelt down beside him and put her arm around him, but he initially recoiled at the physical contact.
“It’s okay. You are among friends…family.”
“I can’t do this anymore.”
“Yes, you can. You have to. You have to for Taylor, and for all of us.”
He was trembling. He was a broken man, but Sommer couldn’t go back with that information.
“What do you want from me?”
“To be the man you were born to be. The Captain who Taylor relied on as his most trusted friend.”
“What if I can’t?”
They heard the hammering of boots as a security detail arrived, but Sommer stood up and put her hand up to call them to a stop, and they dared not argue when they saw who she was. She knelt back down so that she could whisper to Jones.
“If you can’t be that man, then at least look like him. Will you do this for us, will you do it for Taylor?”
She could tell he was a wreck, but she would have to take anything she could get.
“I will come with you, but I won’t promise anything.”
“That’s good enough, Captain Jones, Sir.”
Chapter 11
Taylor was thrown into the arena for the fourth day in a row. He was battered and bloody, but he was still breathing. He was thrown to his knees as Cakir loomed over him. Taylor spat on the floor in front of him and climbed to his feet in defiance, as he always did. He could see it was finally starting to get to the Krys Lord.
“What’s the matter, the game not going your way?” he taunted.
“You will continue to fight for our amusement until we grow tired of you!” he boomed.
Taylor laughed aloud. It was unsettling to the Krys Lord who just didn’t understand.
“Karadag, he was a despicable piece of shit
, but he was smart and strong, but not you. Karadag fought his battles with his own hands. He brought the fight to us. Not like you, you have to trick your enemies to win, and have them beaten in cages. Do you ever fight your own battles?”
No response came, and Taylor laughed at him even louder.
“You’re scared. It’s perfect. The spoiled boy who wants to play King, and live up to the father he never had. Well, guess what, kid? You ain’t him, and you never will be!”
The Krys in the arena above looked to their Lord in disbelief, but they were also beginning to question his actions.
“Do you all let others fight for you? Do any of you have any balls? I thought the Krys were a strong people, but I guess Jafar carries that torch while you lot hide in the shadows like the petty small fry boys you are!”
Cakir let out a cry of anger and threw the goblet in his hands across the room so that it struck one of the Krys beside him. Taylor smirked; he was cutting deep now.
“Come on, Cakir. Let’s see what you are really made of, or are you afraid you’ll never live up to the reputation you feel you deserve?”
The alien Lord rose up in anger. He punched a button on the control panel on his throne, and light flickered at the top of the arena as the shield deactivated. He took a few steps and then leapt into the arena, landing a few metres from Taylor. No weapons had been brought in yet, and Cakir wasn't wearing any. Nor did he wear any armour. He was in his finery, dressed like a King. Taylor smiled as he circled him.
"I guess it's time to find out if you really have got what it takes?"
Cakir seemed furious and rushed towards him with a surprising turn of speed. He punched Taylor across the jaw as he soared past him. Taylor recoiled as he felt his head snap back but quickly recovered his balance. The blow was hard, and it hurt like hell, but he'd taken far worse. He laughed again.
"You find your death amusing?" Cakir snapped.
Battle Beyond Earth: Survival Page 16
