Battle Earth VII (16 page)

“Put them to work or put them to death.”

“Hardly humane, is it?” asked Armand.

“Is civil war?” retorted Taylor.

“So now it’s a waiting game? Waiting for what could be the start of a war between major powers, the likes we have not seen in a few hundred years? Have we not fought enough recently?”

“You like war though?” asked Jafar.

Taylor turned and looked pained, already wishing he hadn’t made those comments.

“I didn’t say I liked war. I said it wasn’t all bad, and some elements were preferable to the life I now had to lead. And anyway, I was talking about war with the Krys, not other human beings.”

It seemed Jafar couldn’t tell the difference, but he nodded in acceptance.

0900 hours.

Taylor had barely slept waiting for the news. He’d been expecting a call from General White all night. He’d done his utmost to stay out of trouble, but it had found him that night, and yet, no call came.

Every news agency was focused on the gathering of Spanish forces and awaiting their next move. Five seconds past the hour, and nothing had happened. Taylor prayed for a moment that it had all been a sabre-rattling exercise, but then it started.

“We’re getting reports that the thousands of soldiers are boarding craft ready to cross the sea as the President warned. This is it.”

“Christ, Europe could be at war in a matter of hours, and what the hell can we do about it?”

Just as he said it, a message came through that interrupted the news. He accepted it and was pleased to see Captain Ryan before him.

“Sir, glad to see you’re all right, but damn, what the hell are you doing in Brussels? General White is livid and is after your balls.”

“Yeah, well, he can wait in line. We have larger problems. Where are you?”

“On our way. We’ll be putting down at a landing zone one klick south of your hotel. I am ordered to recover you and Jafar immediately, and return you to report directly to General White.”

“Yeah, well you can pick us up, but I’m not leaving Europe while there is still a chance we can make a difference.”

“Sir, I am under strict orders.”

“Do you not trust me, Captain? I knew I could always depend on Captain Reyes and his crew, and you have honoured him, will you sway from that path now?”

He shook his head. Taylor knew he had persuaded the man who had long called Taylor a friend.

“Sir, no matter what you do, the shit seems to slide off you. Can you extend that luxury to us when we get home?”

“I wouldn’t worry about getting home, Captain. We’ve got a war to stop.”

“One last thing, Sir. Just moments before I called, Tsengal woke up.”

“What? Is he talking?”

“Not yet, but his eyes are open, and something’s going on in there.”

It was the best news he had heard in a long time.

“Thank you, Captain. We’ll be there when you land.”

As the message ended, Armand stepped through into the room.

“My ship is en route, will you join us?”

He looked unsure, but Taylor continued in an excited manner.

“I have aboard a friend of Jafar. He’s the only survivor from Red 1. I have long believed he may hold some vital information for us. Before he slipped into a coma, he tried to tell me something important, who knows what.”

That seemed to get his attention.

“Of course, Colonel. If I may, I will have my personal staff transfer over to your ship where we can work from.”

Taylor was surprised at his enthusiasm, but it gave him a great excuse for not obeying White’s orders. Taylor couldn’t wait to see Tsengal, and it seemed forever that they stood at the landing pad awaiting the ship. Finally, the sight of it made Taylor feel the best he had done in days. The Deveron was an eternal sign of hope for the Colonel.

Captain Ryan came out to greet them in person, but Taylor did not stop for any pleasantries. He rushed inside and towards the room where he knew Tsengal would be. Jafar was close at his side but didn’t seem to share his enthusiasm.

“Have you not looked forward to this moment for all these years?”

“Yes.”

“Well, you don’t look it. Four years he’s been dead to the World and is now awake.”

“I always expected him to wake up, and I could wait as long as need be.”

“Yeah, well, I’m not that patient.”

He rushed into the room to see the ship’s Doctor at his side monitoring levels. Tsengal turned his head just a little to acknowledge their arrival and seemed to recognise the two of them.

“My God, you really have woken up. It’s good to see you back from the dead.”

Tsengal did nothing but nod in recognition.

“You must have so many questions, as do we. Important thing to know is that we won the war.”

“He needs rest,” said the Doctor.

“Any chance of him speaking anytime soon?”

“His body seems to be coming online fairly rapidly. He could well be talking within a few minutes or a few hours. It’ll be quite some time before he walks again.”

“You let me know the second he shows any sign of improving. I want to know what he knows. God knows what he saw in the time he was away.”

He left the room feeling the best he had in a while.

“The World maybe going to shit, but we’re coming back together,” he whispered.

Armand stood waiting outside the room. He had with him three assistants and two bodyguards. It appeared the wounded man had already been replaced.

“Step this way.”

He led them through to the operations room where he imagined they would be spending many days, but right now the most important thing was the news. He turned it on to see a live feed of ships landing in North Africa.

“They’re really doing it?” he asked.

“It was inevitable they would cross the water. The only question is are they willing to fire on the Germans?”

“What do you think?”

“Doesn’t matter what I think, only what we can affect.”

“How long do we have until all this kicks off?”

“Protestors will move out of their way. Having soldiers rolling in willing to kill every Kry in the land is exactly what they have been calling for. It’ll take them an hour to get assembled and in place ready to assault. Then the only question is how much are they willing to negotiate with the German forces there before they go in?”

“How long would you give them?”

“I wouldn’t set an ultimatum on allied forces. We shouldn’t be killing our own. But I guess they’ll give the Germans a thirty-minute ultimatum to think it over. Anymore than that, and they risk other forces being moved into play.”

“You’re a smart man, Colonel.”

“Smart enough to have stayed alive this long, so what’s our play here? We heading over to negotiate with the Spanish forces in person? I know a few among them. I might be able to sway a few senior officers.”

“No, we tried going to the source once and look how that went. We’re sitting this one out for now. The UEN will call upon us when they need us.”

“Shit, the World’s going to hell, and you want us to sit tight and watch? I’m not too good at that.”

“Even so, that is our job. There are forces at play here far larger than either one of us.”

“That’s what worries me.”

Taylor got up and left, for there was nothing more to say on the matter. He strode up the bridge where the crew sat idle.

“Your orders, Sir? Where are we heading?”

“Absolutely no where,” he said with a sigh.

“What? World’s going to hell and we aren’t heading for it? Colonel Taylor isn’t heading for it? What’s happened?”

“Can’t say I like it either, but this isn’t our fight. If the Spanish and the Germans really want to kill each other because of a few Mechs, who are we to stop them?”

“Somebody has to.”

“This isn’t our fight, Captain! We are members of the United States armed forces! We have zero authority in these lands!”

“Amazing how they were happy to have us when aliens were crawling through every street.”

The bridge went silent. None of them liked sitting there while the World seemingly went to hell again. Taylor knew he had to raise morale, something to break through the thick and depressing atmosphere that had arisen. He stood up tall and proud.

“I know what you are all feeling, because believe me I feel exactly the same. It makes me sick to the stomach what is going on right now. But don’t forget what we got through together these past few years. Nobody ever said life was gonna be some paradise once we beat the invasion. We stick together, survive, and do our duty to our country, the Corps, and our race, and we’ll be just fine!”

It sounded uplifting. He wasn’t sure he believed it, but at least the rest of them did. Just when they expected him to continue, a call came through from the Doc.

“Sir, Tsengal is coming to.”

“Thank you, Doctor.”

He looked back up to the crew. “You see that. One who was lost to us has returned and is making a recovery. That’s hope if I ever saw it.”

He raced off the bridge to reach Tsengal. As he got to the entrance to the room, Armand met him.

“What can I do for you, Councillor?”

“I hear your friend is awake. If what you tell me about him is true, I’d love to meet him and see what he has to say.”

Taylor nodded in agreement. He didn’t even think about it. All he cared about was seeing his friend was okay. He entered the room to see in his eyes that his mind was returning to him, and that was a great relief.

“Great to meet you,” added Armand.

Tsengal turned his attention to the Councillor, and Taylor noticed an odd expression on the alien’s face, almost as if he recognised the man but could not understand how. It was something for a later conversation in private.

“Great to see you again, buddy. We were all wondering if you’d ever wake up. It’s been four years.”

He was silent, clearly trying to piece together his memories.

“Last time I saw you, Tsengal, sounded like you had something real important to tell me. You remember what that was?”

He was racking his mind for the memory, but it wasn’t coming to him.

“It may take some time before his memory fully recovers, and he may still have blank spots for awhile, maybe permanently,” added the Doctor, “He should get some more rest.”

“Councillor, can you give us a moment?”

“Sure, Colonel.”

Something was eating at Taylor that he had to ask. The second Armand was out the room; he came right out with it.

“You recognised him, didn’t you? How and from where?”

Armand was just the other side of the door and listening in. He was as eager to know the answer as Taylor was. Tsengal was still racking his brain for answers, but he could find none. He shook his head.

“It’s okay. You get some rest and tell me anything you can, when you can.”

Armand was long gone by the time Taylor stepped out of the room. He returned to the operations room and found Armand sat there as if he had never moved. He had no real reason to assume otherwise.

They were watching the news and were absolutely fixated on it.

"Guys, this sucks. We can't just stand here helplessly watching this unfold," Taylor murmured.

His words fell on deaf ears, as they all knew they had to do exactly that. The Spanish troops were formed up and ready to move at any moment. Reporters were at the scene of several prisons, waiting to film the scenes of carnage that may ensue. But then the news network went back to the studio with an important message.

"President Marin of Spain is about to make a statement from Madrid, live in..."