Shroud of Doom

by William Manchee

  Chapter 27

  The Will of God

   

  Threebeard felt a great relief when the big transport plane landed on Pogo Island. Somehow he had miraculously survived basic training and Hell Squad. After Sgt. Hovic’s death there was a general inquiry and the sergeant’s death was finally determined to have been an accident, but the new drill sergeant treated the squad with much greater respect nonetheless. He apparently still had his suspicions. After graduation the best mutants, including Threebeard, were sent on to Pogo Island for officer training. Although OTS was intense, Threebeard knew he had a lot to learn if he was going to raise a mutant army, so he relished the opportunity to learn all he could.

  It was not surprising that he graduated number one in his class by a large margin and gained the respect of his fellow mutant officers. After the graduation ceremonies each of the new 2nd Lieutenants or Ensigns, depending on whether they were being deployed into the Army or Navy, were granted ten days leave before having to report for duty. Threebeard took that opportunity to go home to Liehn and check on his sister Artis who was in a deep depression over the apparent extinction of the nanomite life-form on Tarizon. Threebeard felt equally distraught by the loss the nanomites. Just as they were about to establish a link between the two life-forms the volcanoes began erupting. He knew they had done all they could but that didn’t make the loss any easier to swallow. But now they needed to press on if they were going stop the mutants and the rhutz from suffering the same fate.

  The situation in Liehn, like all the cities without a dome, was desperate. Food production had taken a nosedive since the planet had been encompassed by a shroud of ash and toxic gasses. Water was another problem. Most of the rivers and lakes that had provided water in the past had been polluted by the endless ash that fell from the sky. Before any of it could be used it had to go through extensive filtration which took time and was expensive. This shortage of food and water was a major problem for the Mighty Jolly Taverns which had turned into refugee centers since the volcanoes began to erupt.

  To get Artis out of the doldrums Threebeard assigned her the task of setting up large camocube greenhouses near every Mighty Jolly so they could grow all of their own fruits and vegetables. Realizing the importance of the task and knowing Threebeard’s time in Liehn was short, she immediately jumped on the task and, within a few days had a camocube farm, complete with a water filtration system and artificial light, up and running just outside the city limits. Unfortunately it would take several phases for the new crops to grow and mature enough for harvesting, but at least it was a start and gave everyone hope for the future. Her actions attracted much attention too, and inspired the town council to get busy with their own projects to ease the food shortage in the city.

  A more immediate problem was the health of the citizens outside the dome. Before the great eruptions the air quality was poor but now it so toxic no one could live without breathers outside or air filtration systems in their homes and businesses. Unfortunately, there weren’t enough breathers for every citizen nor did many of the homes have air filtration systems. As a result, the hospitals and clinics were flooded with far more patients than they could possibly treat. With the world’s transportation system at a standstill, the inventory of medical supplies and drugs were rapidly being depleted.

  With so many mutants not getting the medical attention they needed to survive the respiratory ailments that plagued almost everyone, the death rate began to soar. This created another problem—what to do with all the dead bodies. Central Authority had dictated that the dead be cremated but the crematoriums were working at full capacity yet bodies were stacking up so quickly in their inventory rooms that they were becoming a health hazard. Finally, temporary burning sites had to be cleared where thousands upon thousands of the dead were incinerated in mass fires much to the horror of their families and loved ones.

  When Threebeard reported to his duty station at Gallion he was exhausted. His ten day leave had been anything but relaxing. Trying to deal with Artis’ depression, all the problems his Mighty Jolly Taverns were experiencing, and seeing so many of his friends and neighbors in such desperate straits had taken a toll on him. He was fighting off depression himself, wondering if there was any hope for those outside the domed cities.

  Shortly after he had reported to his assigned barracks, Threebeard was summoned to base headquarters by Colonel Zitor. His barracks were located adjacent to the docks so as he was walking to headquarters he couldn’t help but admire the hundreds of naval vessels in port and notice how many Seafolken were on the ships and working on the docks. It made sense as the Seafolken were at home in the sea, but he wondered what they would do if civil war broke out. Would they remain loyal to the TGA if they backed the Purist in the war, or would break their oath and join the Loyalist? He hoped the later would be the case.

  When he got to headquarters he pulled off his breather, left it in the anteroom and stepped inside to the reception area. A Seafolken woman manned the front desk. She immediately perked up when she saw Threebeard.

  “You must be Lt. Nocteris,” she said with a broad smile. “It’s an honor to meet you, sir.”

  Threebeard nodded and looked around to see if they were alone. “You can call me Threebeard,” he said, “if we are alone. I hate formality. What’s your name?”

  “Corporal Londoria,” she replied. “Colonel Zitor is waiting for you. Go right in. Down the hall, third door on the right.”

  Threebeard nodded and started down the hallway. When he saw a door with Colonel Zitor’s name on it, he knocked.”

  “Come in,” a voice said.

  Threebeard opened the door and stepped inside. There were three desks in a row flanked by various pieces of office equipment and communication devices. A secretary motioned to Threebeard to come over.

  “Lt. Nocteris?” she asked as she stood up.

  “Yes.”

  “Right this way.

  The woman led Threebeard down the hall to a conference room where he found Colonel Zitor and Lt. Stixx Leode.

  “Threebeard. Come in. You know Lt. Leode.”

  Threebeard nodded, happy to see his friend from Hell Squad. “Yes. Stixx, how are you?”

  “Excellent now that Hell Squad is behind us.”

  Threebeard laughed. “Yes, that was an experience you would never want to relive.”

  “Sit down,” the colonel said. “We’ve got a lot of ground to cover.”

  Everyone sat down and the colonel began. “Stixx, you are here because Threebeard requested you be assigned to him to help build the mutant army. You’ll be his executive officer. I’m assigning both of you officially to our base in Mapi, however, you will actually be quartered fifty kylods north of there along the north fork of the Rini River. That’s where you will begin assembling your mutant army. You’ll initially be assigned ten thousand mutants and you’ll have six phases to get them organized and trained for deployment around Lemaine Shane for humanitarian duty. Once they have moved out they will be replaced by twenty-thousand new recruits. After that our funding runs out, so we’ll just have to see how things are going. If your troops are doing a good job, we may be able to convince the World Assembly to increase the number of mutant troops.

  “In case we lose our support in the World Assembly you should be working on alternative funding sources and also be prepared to restock the supplies and armaments you’ll be needing for your troops. You’ll have to find alternative sources of supply. Do you understand?”

  Threebeard nodded solemnly. “Yes, sir.”

   Colonel Zitor swallowed hard. “I have recently received some disturbing news which you need to know about. Just after you left boot camp on Muhl there was a gathering of Purist leaders led by the commandant Videl Lai. Among the attendees was the man who orchestrated the attempt on your life, Threebeard.”

  “Rupra Bruda?”

  “Yes. Word is he is has been personally selected by Videl Lai to remake the Purist Party
into a ruthless and soulless political force.”

  Threebeard shook his head. “Well, they picked the right person for that job. Bruda has no conscious and cares only for himself.”

  “They brought his mate Essyria along too, apparently.”

  “She’s just as evil as he,” Threebeard noted.

  “Who else was there,” Lt. Leode asked.

  “Capital Lugart, Lt. General Bratford, Colonel Lugwin and quite a few others. Oh. . . . Commander Rugge Brunns was there.”

  “How did you hear about this?”

  “Ensign Aerial Muri provides us with intelligence. You should get to know her. She’s part Seafolken but Brunns doesn’t know it. She sleeps around and keeps us informed as to what’s going on. ”

  “How can I meet her?”

  “I’ll make sure she has an occasion to go to Mapi and I’ll alert you to her arrival and assign you to show her around. Since you both have telepathic abilities you can establish a link while you are together. That will make it easy for her to report in to you.”

  Threebeard laughed. “And she’s Commander Brunns lover?”

  “Not only his. None of the officers can keep their hands off of her. They say Videl Lai has his eye on her. He’s just waiting for the right opportunity to steal her away from him.”

  They all laughed hard.

  Later that day Threebeard and Lt. Leode met with twelve other mutants who had been at Pogo Island with them and discussed the organization of the ten thousand troops they were soon to be assigned. They decided to split the troops in to ten divisions—two medical, two engineering, four infantry, one airborne, and one logistics. This organization would be optimal for their current disaster relief assignment but could easily be modified for military action if need be. When the first class graduated ten percent would remain behind to train the next class coming in.

  Before they returned to Mapi, Threebeard took a three day leave and returned to Liehn. When he arrived back at the Mighty Jolly he was amazed with how much progress Artis had made at getting agricultural production up and running at all the Mighty Jolly locations around the globe. Nic was also there and reported that he had established cells in every state in Lemaine Shane, Turvin and Azallo. In fact he was packing to go the Lower Azollo when Threebeard arrived.

  “So, there was a lot of support for our cause in Azollo?” Threebeard asked.

  “Not as much as in Turvin. The people are very independent and would prefer just to be left alone. I explained to them that the Purist wouldn’t let that happen. If they wanted to be remain free they needed to support our cause. So, most reluctantly agreed.”

  “Good. When you are in Lower Azallo I want you to contact the Seafolken commanders down there and get them linked into our networked. They are very strong there and can be a big help.”

  “I’ll do that. Who should I contact?”

  “Quirken. General Quirken in Zangor. Just ask anyone down at the docks. They’ll be able to lead you to him.”

  “Okay. I’ll do it.”

  After talking to Nic Threebeard went to check on the replica of the Nanomite city. He was still morning the harsh reality of their extinction. He looked down at the intricate design of the crystal facade and thought of how incredible it was that something so small could be intelligent and build structures millions of times larger than themselves. As he was mourning their loss Artis walked in.

  “I can’t bear to come in here anymore,” she said quietly. “I wanted so much to learn about them and become their friend.”

  “I know. I had such high hopes of establishing a partnership with them. I dreamed of them building great cities for humans and in return helping their swarms multiply throughout Tarizon. It would have been a glorious partnership.”

  Artis began to weep. “I know. It is such a tragedy. If only there had been a way to protect them from the volcano.”

  “You did all you could. There was no way you could have prevented the sinkhole.”

  They both felt it at the same time. A weak presence in their mind. They looked at each other not daring to hope.

  “Concentrate,” Threebeard said closing his eyes. The presence became stronger and stronger until—

  “We are not extinct!” a voice in their heads said.

  Artis felt her heart skip a beat. “Swarmmasters?”

  “Yes,” the Speaker thought. “We have been waiting a long time for you to speak to us.”

  Threebeard smiled joyfully. “We didn’t realize there were any of you in the replica of your city. If we had known we would have communicated earlier.”

  “Why did you think we left you the replica? It was our contingency plan in case the volcano consumed our city.”

  “Thank God and Sandee!” Artis said weeping tears of joy. “You are so wise.”

  “We have strong instincts for self-preservation.”

  “I am so sorry about your brothers and sisters who perished in the Ural Desert and all over Tarizon.”

  “Yes, it is sad for every life-form, but the important thing is that we all have survived.”

  “Yes, indeed,” Threebeard agreed. “Somehow, no matter what happens, we’ll all survive.”

  “And if we help each another as God has commanded, all our life-forms shall flourish together in peace and harmony.”

  Threebeard closed his eyes thinking of the growing Purist threat. He swallowed hard. “But, I’m afraid there are those who would subvert God’s will and try to take all His gifts to the exclusion of all others.” Threebeard unleashed his memories of Rupra Bruda and the atrocities at Shisk. He wanted the nanomites to realize the full extent of the threat that confronted them.”

   The swarmmasters reeled at the revelation. “Why are these Purists so full of evil and hatred,” the Speaker asked. “What have any of us done to them to warrant such wretched plots and schemes?”

  “They are greedy and selfish. They want all of God’s gifts for themselves and care nothing for God’s other creations.”

  “We are a peaceful life-form but we can and will kill those who attack us. Survival is paramount. Tell us how we can help thwart the plans of these soulless Purists. We will be your ally and will fight to victory or death, as is the will of God!”