by Jay Allan
He climbed to his feet and ran out into the field, jogging up the hill toward the woods. There was no sign of enemy activity, but he didn’t forget his training. Carelessness gets soldiers killed…he’d been told that a thousand times going all the way back to when Jake Taylor had been his lieutenant so long ago. He ducked down and paused at each bit of decent cover, turning both ways and keeping tabs on the rest of the unit as he did.
He pushed forward, into the cover of the trees, realizing immediately that the wood was considerably larger than it had appeared from down below. The treed area widened considerably as it worked its way north, and it stretched all the way down from the top of the high ground as far as he could see. He slapped his comlink. “Torba, head out to the west, and get a look at north as soon as you’re out of the woods.” The forest seemed large inside, but Garth knew it didn’t extend very far to the east or west along the top of the ridge. He’d seen that much as he’d approached.
“Sir!” came the immediate reply.
Garth walked forward, toward Eddings and Lynch. “Anything new?” he asked as he walked up behind the two men.
“No, sir. I mean, yes…I’m definitely convinced these two were civilians…the poor quality weapons, bad aim, the fact that the rest of them turned tail. And…”
“And what, Corporal?”
“Well, sir, I think these guys are miners.”
“And why is that? Inspiration?”
“No, sir…I’m from the west, sir…in old America I mean. My family…they were miners, for four generations. I’d have worked in the mine myself if…if I hadn’t gotten in trouble and taken service to avoid a jail term.” He paused, leaning down over one of the bodies, grabbing an arm and twisting it. “Look at his hands, sir. See the residue all over them, the gunk under his finger nails? I’d know that anywhere. This guy must have come here straight from a shift.” He let go of the arm, and reached down, turning the other body over. “Same thing with this guy, Cap. I’d bet my last clip there’s some mining town around here somewhere…and that’s were these two came from.”
Garth sighed. “Okay, Eddings, let’s say you’re right. What do we do now? Leave these guys behind us and move forward? Or chase them down and try to get to the bottom of it…and maybe end up in a firefight with a bunch of civilians?”
“I don’t know, Cap, but I’m glad it’s you with those bars on your shoulders and not me.”
Garth nodded, and he turned and looked behind him as the rest of the unit moved up. A few seconds later, Torba came running over.
“Sir, the woods get real wide down there. They swing maybe two klicks to the west, right up to what looks like some kind of river. I saw the civvies, Cap, at least half a dozen. They came out of the woods about a klick ahead. They’re heading west, sir.” Torba turned back to the west and pointed. “They look like they’re slowing down, sir. If you want to catch them, it shouldn’t be any problem.”
Garth nodded. “Thank you, Corporal.” Then he looked down at his feet, kicking a small rock as he did. The idea of chasing after a bunch of civilians—and very possibly having to kill them all if they put up too much of a fight—sickened him. But his people were at the head of the whole army. A few pissed off civvies weren’t going to do much damage to the army as a whole—though he reminded himself they were perfectly capable of killing some of his comrades. But what if this was more than that? Some kind of UNGov militia? Maybe there were more of them, with better weapons. They might try to get behind the army, interdict the supplies flowing through the Portal.
No, I can’t just move forward without knowing what is going on. We’ve got to capture one of these guys, find out why they’re trying to kill us.
“Alright, let’s go. We’re going to run these bastards down and find out what the hell is going on.” He took a couple steps, and then he stopped and turned back. “We don’t kill anybody if we don’t have to, you guys got that? If you have to shoot, try to go for the leg…incapacitate them if possible.”
His troops replied with a chorus of yessirs, but he knew what he was asking was mostly pointless. His men were armed with heavy assault rifles, weapons designed to kill on the battlefield. A shot to the leg was as likely as not to tear the whole thing off, leaving the victim bleeding to death in agony. Better to take a quick shot to the head then to spend an extra few minutes in pain and hopeless fear.
He shook his head and leapt up, moving swiftly through the trees, in the direction Torba had given them. Maybe they’ll give up when we catch them, he thought. But he didn’t believe it. And he was beginning to suspect the battle for Earth would be even more bloody and difficult than he’d expected. And a lot more morally ambiguous. He’d signed on to topple corrupt politicians, not gun down a bunch of miners.
* * *
“They’re coming…they’re coming!” Josef Talinn ran through the village, his six companions following close behind. “They can’t be more than a few minutes back.”
“We’re ready, Josef.” It was a woman’s voice, from the doorway of one of the rickety buildings near the entrance to the town. Nyrob was a small village, just the kind of place that had largely disappeared from the Earth when UNGov relocated the inhabitants of all but essential rural settlements. But it’s location in the foothills of the Urals near two producing platinum mines had saved it. It was home to about 300 miners, and their families, along with those providing support services for the tiny community. There was a UNGov supervisor as well, though after he had instructed the people to resist the invaders, he’d hastily fled, claiming he had been called to Geneva for a briefing.
The miners had never liked the supervisor anyway, and they prepared to fight now not because of his order, but because they wanted to strike back at the traitors, the murderers. Nyrob had proudly sent six sons to the war against the Tegeri, and three of them had been on the worlds where the massacres had occurred. They had no idea if they had been killed by Taylor’s forces, or even if any of the three had still been alive. But that didn’t matter. Their people had bravely faced the Tegeri to protect Earth…and a bunch of filthy traitors had murdered their comrades at least, and possibly them too.
Talinn stumbled into the town, falling to his knees and gasping for air, as did the rest of his people. “They’re fast,” he rasped out. “Faster than any men I’ve ever seen.” He doubled over and retched, but only a bit of foam came up. Then he forced himself back up again. “No time,” he said. “No time.”
He stumbled forward a few steps, turning and opening the door to one of the buildings. He paused for a second to look at the makeshift display in the small townsquare, a galley of sorts with three bodies hanging there limply. They’d been in a vehicle when they stopped just outside the town. They had only been out of the transport for a minute when the townspeople came rushing out . The soldiers had left their weapons in the truck, and they yelled to the mob, waving their hands and crying for them to be calm. But there was no calm where traitors and murderers were involved, not to the people of Nyrob. They were on the soldiers in an instant, clawing at them, dragging them to the ground and beating them ferociously. A cursory look at the hanging bodies confirmed the men did not die easily.
But the soldiers coming now were not just three, and they would not be taken by surprise. They’d already killed two of the townspeople, and they had pursued the rest in a murderous rampage. They brought death with them, Talinn knew, but Nyrob would fight them off, kill as many of the traitorous bastards as they could. Or this town with its centuries-long history would at last vanish like its neighbors, and its people would die at the hands of the monsters who had killed 20,000 Earth soldiers.
“Inside, all of you. Get your weapons and go to your places. They are coming!”
Talinn slipped through the door of the dilapidated old shack he called home. He took a deep breath, and he looked around at the house, the place where he had been born. The place where now, he would very likely die.
* * *
Garth move
d slowly, cautiously. His people had tailed the civilians, driving them hard but staying back far enough that they didn’t catch up. He wasn’t looking to gun down seven terrified miners in the Russian countryside…he wanted to get back to wherever they had come from, and talk to their leaders, explain that he and his men were here to free them all.
“Hold up,” he snapped, pausing behind a large tree just outside the town. He stared down into the small streets of the village. It was quiet, too quiet. Something was wrong.
I hope this town isn’t full of homicidal crazies…
Garth sympathized with the townspeople, to a point at least. They’d shot at his people, but they hadn’t hit anyone, and that made them a lot easier to forgive than if they’d killed any of his men. But if these villagers attacked his team en masse, he knew his soldiers would fight back. And he knew he would let them.
Farmers and miners might get lucky with a shot or two, but his twenty enhanced Supersoldiers would reduce this town to a smoking pile of rubble in a matter of seconds. If these people started a fight, they were all going to die.
Which means I need to make sure no fight begins.
“Hello,” he yelled as loudly as he could. He knew the Tegeri-made attachment to his com unit would translate his words into any Earth language…and do the reverse with any response. “I am Captain Calvin Garth of the Army of Liberation. My men and I do not mean you any harm. We are here to free you all from the unjust rule of UNGov.”
He looked down into the town. Still nothing.
“Okay, Torba, Eddings, Lynch…you three with me. Everybody else, grab a spot with good visibility into the town and sit tight. And be ready.”
He took a few steps forward, looking back to make sure his companions were with him. They all had their rifles out and ready. Garth didn’t want a fight with these people, but he had a bad feeling about the whole thing, and he wasn’t about to be caught napping.
It’s bad enough we’re walking up right in the open…
He looked around, his enhanced eyes giving him a good view of everything in his line of sight. He could see shadowy forms behind the windows, men and women crouched down. He caught the line of a gun in one of their hands.
Damn. They’re lying in wait for us.
He knew what he’d do on the battlefield. His people would already be laying waste to the town, obliterating the buildings with mortars and raking the whole are with automatic fire. But this wasn’t the battlefield.
At least I hope it’s not.
“I can see you hiding in the buildings. You are planning to attack my soldiers, but there is no reason. We mean you no harm. If you come out…”
“Cap!” It was Eddings, and his face had gone as pale as a ghost. His expression was one of horror changing quickly to uncontrollable rage. His arm was extended, pointing toward the town.
Garth took a few steps forward and looked where he was pointing.
My God…
He froze, his eyes fixed on three bodies, dressed in the remains of uniforms. Uniforms from the AOL. Even from here he could see the men had been beaten, hideously mutilated.
One of the infiltration teams…it has to be…
He felt his discipline slam into place, his military instincts trying to exert control, to cut off the rage he could feel surging from the darkest places in his mind. But when the anger came, it was an irresistible force, and it tore right through his feeble control. These filthy townspeople had ambushed one of the army’s teams, beat them to death, savaged their broken bodies. He knew he should hold back, call this in to HQ, and wait for orders. But those thoughts were too little too late. All he could think of was his need to avenge his comrades.
He was never sure afterward if he’d fired first or if Eddings had. But the next thing he knew he was blasting away at the town and screaming for the rest of the unit to open up. And by the time they were finished there was nothing left to show Nyrob had ever existed…nothing save ashes and a pile of rotting corpses.
Chapter 14
From the Journal of Jake Taylor:
For more than five years, ever since that fateful day I learned the terrible truth, I have imagined our return to Earth. I envisioned the terrible battle I knew we would face. I saw my soldiers dying, fires raging in Earth’s great cities. I saw the people rising up to join us, taking the chance to claim their freedom, to destroy their oppressors…and I saw them dying by the thousands, the brutal cost of freedom.
There were times I wasn’t sure we would get here. Standing on the burning sands of Erastus for the last time, staring into the Portal ready to take the first step on the long road home, my doubts threatened to consume me, the need to radiate confidence to my soldiers an almost unbearable burden. Yet I walked into that Portal, and through battles and fire, my soldiers and I continued. We fought many struggles, lost thousands of our comrades. But our message spread, and on a dozen worlds, the UN soldiers, conscripts as we were, flocked to our banners. Our ranks swelled until we had many times the number we started with. And the Tegeri supplied us. The invasion of Earth wouldn’t be like the other battles we’d fought on our march, perpetually low on supplies and ordnance. No, thanks to our allies—our former enemies—our depots were overflowing. The battle for Earth would be brutal, but we were a well-supplied, veteran army. I let myself believe we had a chance, that the cataclysm ahead of us might be less terrible than my mind had made it.
I was wrong. Not about our strengths, nor about our chances in a fight. We have met UNGov’s air forces, and we have soundly defeated them. And now the army is on the move, the struggle for our homeworld begun. A terrible, difficult war still lies ahead of us, but my soldiers are ready to fight it, to press on until they are victorious.
But my imaginings have also proven dismally, depressingly false. My visions of mobs rising up to join our quest have been replaced with the reality of civilians attacking my troops, of wandering crowds throwing rocks and shouting epithets at our columns as they advance. Of partisans ambushing our forces, taking potshots from the woods at passing patrols. The reports were a mystery to me at first. I knew it would be a challenge to get our message out, to communicate to a world what UNGov had done, how it had seized power. But I hadn’t expected the widespread hostility, the resistance we have encountered every time our forces have approached a population center.
Now I know the truth, and I curse myself as a fool. I had considered the campaign from every angle I could envision, and I planned for every contingency. Every contingency but one. For while I knew UNGov would do anything to maintain its power, kill any number of people before it would yield control, it never occurred to me they would repeat the strategy that put them in power initially. A lie, one simple lie…along with a few visual props. They did it again, and it seems to have worked as well as it did forty years ago. And I have no idea how to counter it…before my soldiers are forced to kill thousands of the civilians we came home to free.
“It’s the same thing coming in from all over. We’ve had almost a dozen patrols attacked, fired on by all kinds of weapons…ancient rifles, shotguns. And every time our people return fire, the survivors bolt and run…and the bodies they leave behind all appear to be civilians.” Hank Daniels had a frustrated look on his face. He was a decisive man, not afraid to give difficult orders, but now it was clear he didn’t know what to do.
“UNGov troops in civilian clothes?” Taylor was shaking his head even as he spoke. He didn’t believe that any more than he suspected Daniels would.
“With piece-of-shit shotguns and eighty-year-old hunting rifles? We’ve been attacked at least ten times, Jake, and all they’ve managed to do is wound two men. What’s the point of UNGov infiltration teams getting to our units if they can’t really hurt us?”
Taylor sighed. “Then what, Hank? Any ideas? I’ll listen to anything right now.” The reports had been coming in for two days. He had scouting parties out in front of the army’s advance, mostly his Erastus veterans. They were still moving acr
oss the Russian steppe, an area that had been virtually depopulated by UNGov redistribution orders, but every time they got near any of the few population centers they ran into partisans. Taylor had been worried about avoiding any public connection to the Tegeri, and he’d realized there would be enormous confusion when he let it become public, that it would be difficult to educate the people, to explain the terrible truth. But that was supposed to be tomorrow’s problem. He hadn’t been ready for miners and farmers trying to kill his men every step they took. What the hell was going on?
“I’ve got nothing, Jake. They’ve got the people around here roused up against us, but I’ll be damned if I know how.” He paused. “Maybe…”
“I know how.” It was Bear Samuels standing in the doorway to the headquarters shelter. The normally cheerful giant had a stricken look on his face. “You have to see this now.” He held up a small data chip. “It’s tape of a UNGov broadcast. One of my patrols found it playing on a vid in one of the mining villages they passed.” Samuels hesitated, his voice filling with emotion. “My boys had to kill twenty civilians there, Jake. The whole damned place went crazy as soon as they walked up. I’d ordered them to try to contact whoever was in charge, but the second they got within a hundred yards, the villagers started shooting.”
“And this explains it?” Daniels walked up and took the chip from Samuels’ hand.
“Oh yeah, Hank,” Samuels replied in his thick drawl. “You bet it does.”
Taylor felt a chill move through his body. Samuels was really upset, and Bear usually took everything in stride. He had no what the broadcast would say, but he knew it would be bad. “Play it, Hank. Let’s see what is going on.”
