Sullivan Saga 1: Sullivan's War (35 page)

Allen came in right behind him, followed by half a dozen other men. Within seconds, every enemy soldier in the room was dead or wounded.

Sullivan took out his tablet and studied the floor plan of the building that Colonel Miller had provided. “Right through there is the command center,” said Sullivan, pointing ahead of him. “I’d wager Geary’s inside.”

GENERAL THOMAS GEARY, commander of the Edaline military and interim leader of the government, wearily opened his eyes to the noise outside the door of the command center. He glanced at the bottle of Dacian whiskey. It was empty.

Geary staggered from his chair and leaned heavily on the table, knocking over several monitors in the process. “Tactical strike on… command center… my position.”

“No, sir,” came the reply from the man on the other end, the man overseeing the launch facility in a remote location on the far side of the planet.

Geary tightly shut his eyes. “I’m alone,” he whispered. He drew his sidearm and chambered a round.

The handle of the command center door jiggled. Geary opened his eyes and glanced drunkenly toward the sound. A second later, a dozen rounds punched through the handle and the space between it and the door jamb. What he assumed to be a kick shook the door, then another. Geary smiled. They’d be through any second. It would soon all be over. Geary raised his gun to the side of his head, took a deep breath and pulled the trigger.

18

RICK SULLIVAN CLIMBED to the top of one of the tall buildings in the center of Agrona and scanned the city. There were scattered sections of buildings that had been destroyed or damaged beyond repair, but the majority of the city had received only superficial damage. He looked to the south and found his old neighborhood where his parents had died during the first rebellion. The apartment building they had lived in was gone; it had been too badly damaged during the tactical missile strikes Geary’s predecessor had ordered. Turning east, Sullivan found the large expanse of grass and trees that marked Bingham Park. Through the trees, he could just make out the gazebo at the center of the park. In the north he could see the city stretching away, the buildings becoming smaller and more spread out until the sprawling farms took over and continued on until they were lost in the haze of the early morning.

Finally, Sullivan turned west. Fort Hendricks dominated the view. The command center rose ominously at the center of the base. Only the airfield’s traffic control tower matched it in height, but certainly not in size. For so long, he had served the men who’d sat behind desks in that building. But now they, whoever they ended up being, would serve the people of Edaline. Benjamin Alexander’s special ships were all destroyed or damaged, but a message had already been sent back to Faris via standard hyperspace. Steve Hall, the political face of the rebellion, would be on Edaline in a little over two months. Sullivan had no doubt that Hall would become the new prime minister, that he would be instrumental in drafting a new constitution, forming a new government. Sullivan didn’t mind. He had made a promise to Mr. Alexander. He had made a promise to Kate. He would return to Silvanus to be with her.

The door to the roof swung open, and Sullivan turned to see Frank Allen step out. Allen walked up to Sullivan and scanned the horizon. “Word just came in. The last of the military’s forces surrendered. The entire planet is now in the hands of the rebellion.”

“Good. What are the casualty estimates?”

“Miller and I were just talking about that. Planet-wide, we’re looking at twelve thousand or more. That includes civilians.”

Sullivan pursed his lips. “It didn’t have to be like this. It never has to be like this. The things I’ve seen, Frank, here and on Abilene… it still amazes me how unrepentantly cruel human beings can be to one another, how quick they are to exploit one another. And for what? Profit? Power?”

“I’ve been on the same journey you have, Rick,” said Allen, putting his hand on his friend’s shoulder. “My eyes have been opened this past year and a half, make no mistake about that. Before I went to join you on Faris, Kate asked me something. She asked me if I would be able to settle down after all of this, if I could go on to have a normal life.”

“Can you?”

“I don’t know yet. A part of me wants to. But another part knows that without Liz, my life will never be complete. Now that she’s dead, I don’t know how I can ever be… content.”

Sullivan pulled his friend into an embrace. “Whatever you need, Kate and I will always be here for you. You know that.”

Allen wiped a tear from his eye as the two friends broke their embrace. “That means more than you know, Rick. It means the world.”

Sullivan nodded. “You’ll come back to Silvanus, won’t you?”

“I will.”

“You can settle down, see if the planet suits you.”

Allen smiled. “Sure.”

Sullivan looked hard at his friend. Allen was not the same man he had once been. Neither was Sullivan, for that matter, but he felt that his own change had been a positive one. He wasn’t so sure about the change Allen had undergone.

“Just give it time, Frank.”

Allen looked out at the skyline. “If nothing else, I have that, don’t I? Yes, I have time.”

COLONEL JAMES MILLER monitored the work as a crew cleaned up the command center. Geary’s body had been removed and incinerated without ceremony. One of the military’s technicians had just finished checking the computer connections when Miller stepped over to the desk.

“It looks like about eighty percent of the city’s surveillance cameras are out, sir,” said the technician.

“No worries. We’ll have the infrastructure back up soon enough. Get a team on it, will you?”

“Yes, sir.” The technician left the command center, and a few minutes later, the last of the cleanup crew left as well. Miller sat in the chair and leaned back. He hadn’t wanted this, but he was now effectively in charge of Edaline’s military. His first order had been for soldiers across the planet to assist in providing relief to the planet’s civilians, making sure they had sufficient supplies of food and water. Restoring order would be a long, slow process, but if he did it effectively and efficiently, that would go a long way toward ensuring future political stability.

THE SPACEPORT HAD taken little damage during the battle for Edaline, and Dale Hammond had been at work helping to ensure that the ships were in good working condition. He had chosen a small passenger ship that had belonged to Edaline’s government and had received permission from Colonel Miller to take it.

“She looks fast,” said Sullivan as he stepped on board. Allen followed behind him.

Hammond nodded. “We won’t have as much room to stretch out, but it’ll get us back to Faris a couple of days sooner than a freighter.”

Colonel Miller rapped on the open hatch of the ship. “I’ve come to see you off.” The three men aboard went to the hatch and shook the colonel’s hand.

“You take good care of this planet,” said Sullivan, smiling.

“You have my word on that.” Miller looked around the ship. “So you’re heading back to Faris first?”

“Yes,” said Sullivan. “I want to make sure Hall is on his way here before I return to Silvanus.”

“Then what?”

Sullivan grinned. “Then I settle down with the woman I love.”

“Think you’ll ever be back?”

“I think so, yes. Maybe in a year or two. But I’ll be following the news closely. If you guys screw things up, I’ll definitely be back before then.”

Miller laughed. “We’ll do our best.” He said his final goodbyes then retreated off the tarmac as Hammond piloted the ship into the sky.

19

KATE ALEXANDER GLANCED at her tablet. A call was coming in. It was coming from a ship, but she didn’t recognize the vehicle’s ID number. She put the tablet on speaker, tapped on the screen and answered the call.

“Kate Alexander.”

“Yes, Miss Alexander, I was wondering if you might arrange a car for us.”

“Rick?” Tears began to stream down her cheeks. “Is that you?”

“It’s me, darling. We just arrived in the system; we’ll be landing in about twenty minutes.”

“I’ll be there, Rick! I’m coming!”

Kate slipped on a pair of shoes, grabbed her keys and ran to the door of the penthouse. She pulled it open and ran right into the outstretched arms of Rick Sullivan.

“Rick!”

Sullivan beamed down at her. “I had Hammond route the call through the ship.”

Kate buried her head in Sullivan’s chest and began to weep openly. Sullivan lifted her face to his, wiped away her tears and gently kissed her on the lips. As she was gazing into Sullivan’s eyes, she caught sight of movement to her right. She looked over at Frank Allen and broke her embrace with Sullivan to hug him and plant a kiss on each cheek.

“I’m so glad you’re both all right,” she said, looking from one to the other. “Come inside.”

The three went back into the penthouse and Kate made them sit and tell her everything that had happened. At the end of the tale, she folded Sullivan’s arms around her and put her head on his chest.

THEY HAD BEEN back on Silvanus for a month. Dale Hammond had become a regular member of their group, and they had spent the time enjoying each other’s company and life in general. Frank Allen had thrown himself whole-heartedly into their activities, but his pleasant demeanor was hiding an inner turmoil that Sullivan could only guess at. There was no way Sullivan could have known the depths of Allen’s pain.

Allen had been staying at the penthouse, and Sullivan knew that he stayed up late into the night, sometimes drinking, sometimes just sitting in the living room and staring at the wall.

When Sullivan heard a voice, coming low and desperate from the living room one night, he untangled himself from Kate’s arms and pulled on a pair of pants. He quietly cracked open the door and stuck his head out into the hallway.

Allen was whispering in the darkness. Sullivan couldn’t make out the words, but it sounded as though he were having a conversation with someone.

Sullivan slipped through the doorway and strode silently down the hall toward the living room. He could see the back of Allen’s head, seated in a chair facing away from him. Allen had stopped talking.

Sullivan cleared his throat. Allen turned and smiled at Sullivan. “Hey, Rick. Did I wake you?”

Sullivan stepped into the living room and sat opposite his friend. “I heard you talking.”

Allen nodded. “I’m sorry. I’ve been doing that a lot lately, haven’t I?”

Sullivan put his elbow on the armrest and rested his chin in his hand. “Who are you talking to?”

“Liz. I mean, I know she’s not really here. But if I just close my eyes and pretend she’s sitting in that chair across from me, it helps.”

“Frank, you need to talk to me. You need to tell me what’s going on in there.”

Allen looked away from his friend and sighed. “It’s nothing you can help me with, Rick.” He gestured around the room. “This isn’t me. This isn’t my life. I’m just being a burden to you and Kate.”

Sullivan shook his head. “No, Frank. No. We love having you here. We’re your friends, and you will never be a burden to us.”

Allen sighed again. “You’re right, of course. I guess I just feel like a burden because I’m… incomplete. I feel like there’s something else I need to do. The truth is, I’m a burden to myself. I’m weighing myself down.”

“What do you need to do, Frank?”

Allen furrowed his brow. “I don’t know. I’ve been thinking about that for the past month or so, and I think I’m close to having an answer.” He smiled. “But you have your own problems. I know you got a call earlier this evening about your legal troubles.”

Sullivan nodded. “Kate’s father had a lot of powerful friends. Right now, my whereabouts are ‘officially’ unknown, but her lawyer has told me that I can’t stay in hiding forever. Eventually, the fact that I’m here will come out, and Mr. Alexander’s friends will be forced to do something about it.”

“Have you arrested, you mean?”

“Yes. The lawyer says that once all that happens, he should be able to buy me a few more days. It’d be enough time for me to get off the planet.”

“Where would you go?”

“Faris, probably. It’s not a Stellar Assembly planet, so legally they wouldn’t be able to touch me there.”

“Faris is nice.”

Sullivan nodded. “It is. But Kate would have to leave everything she knows behind. The SA would probably freeze her assets. There’s a chance a warrant would be put out for her arrest, too.”

“You see?” said Allen. “You have enough to worry about without me moping around the place. I can check into a hotel.”

Sullivan stood. “Absolutely not. You’re staying here, Frank.”

“Rick….”

“No argument. You’re staying, and you’ll like it.” Sullivan smiled. He stepped over to his friend’s chair and patted him on the shoulder. “Now get some sleep.”

Allen nodded and waited for Sullivan to depart. He heard the bedroom door close then looked expectantly around him. Standing at his left side, Liz Wagner smiled down at him. “He doesn’t understand, Frank. He means well, but he doesn’t understand.”

Allen smiled back. “I know. He’s a good man, a good friend. But you’re the one I need. I need to be with you.”

Liz moved to stroke his cheek, but her hand passed through him instead, sending a chill down his spine. “Soon, my love. Just give me a little more time to prepare.”

Allen closed his eyes. He knew it wasn’t really Liz, but he didn’t care. It was her face, her voice. He knew that it was as close to having her back as he could get.

“What are you preparing for?” he asked drowsily.

“I’m going to make it so we can be together again. Truly together.”

Frank Allen smiled as the cold chill passed through his cheek once again. He rested his head on the back of the chair and drifted off to sleep. Liz Wagner sighed and continued to whisper her promises into his ear, shaping his thoughts and dreams as he slept.

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