LANCEJACK (The Union Series) (33 page)

‘I’ve
got Leaman!’ Konny shouted over the net, ‘O’Leary’s patched him up! We’re gonna
get him back to Johnno!’

‘Roger,’
I acknowledged gruffly, though I was glad that he had survived. Luckily O’Leary’s
moment of madness hadn’t cost any more lives.

‘Get
him out somewhere in cover where I can see him,’ Johnno ordered, hearing the
message, ‘Mark him and leave him!’

Konny
acknowledged there wasn’t anywhere for Johnno to take our casualties, I
realised. They were being treated and left where they were. Eventually, when
the battalion arrived, they would be collected.

There
was an explosion in front of us, and Two section began their assault into the
trees, rendering my section redundant.

I
knew that my section would be dropping back into reserve, and that I was to
wait until either called for on the net or collected by Johnno. It was a quick
chance for us to recuperate, deal with casualties and redistribute ammunition,
not that we had much left anyway. I glanced at my section ammo state on my
datapad. Fifty percent.

Westy
poked his head up from behind the slope I had used to assault, looking
concerned, ‘You alright?’

I realised that I had been so pumped up with adrenaline that I
hadn’t given my own body much consideration. I glanced down at myself, looking
for any sign of injury.

‘I’m
okay,’ I said, ‘Did you see what happened? O’Leary just sacked the battle!’

‘Yeah,
I saw.’

Okonkwo
turned to look at me angrily, ‘You can’t blame him for that, he was
just
helping his
mate.’

I
stared back at the senior trooper, shocked by his scathing outburst.

Okonkwo’s
glare softened and he shook his head, ‘We don’t care about New Earth, Andy, we
just care about each other.’

Westy
caught my eye and shrugged. There was nothing that I could really say in
response to Okonkwo’s rebuke, because in a way he was right. Loyalty was a
powerful thing, and it drove troopers to do crazy things in order to help their
friends, even if that meant breaking orders. I remembered my mad dash into the
Chinese tunnels during the invasion, ignoring a wall of enemy darts. I hadn’t
done so because of a desire to complete my mission, I had done so because I
wanted to protect my friends. Who was I to tell O’Leary to leave his friend to
die?

The battle raged on for another ten minutes before the first
dropship passed overhead. By then our ammunition was depleted to critical
levels and the platoon had taken several more casualties. Johnno and his work
party had been run ragged as they desperately tried to organise the injured
troopers and rebels left in our wake, and his ammunition reserve was quickly
distributed and expended by the assaulting sections. Our attack was rapidly
running out of steam, and the arrival of the battalion wasn’t a minute too
soon.

The
platoon cheered as the rebels broke and ran at the sight of the first four
dropships soaring low through the valley,
ready
to unleash fresh troopers onto the ground. Salvos of missiles shrieked over our
heads and vulcan cannon roared as they unleashed a devastating barrage into the
forest.

‘Well
done, two platoon!’ Mr Moore congratulated us all over the net as the dropships
settled a few hundred metres in front of us, ‘Consider yourselves relieved!’

‘Right
lads,’ Johnno spoke up,
pulling us back to reality,
‘Keep switched on! We need to push back and collect together our casualties!’

The
platoon were no longer required, I realised. They had done their work, and now
the battalion could sweep up the mess.

I
glanced up to see another two platoons unloading from their dropships onto the
high ground, disgorging their trooper cargo into the fray. It was an awesome
sight to behold, an entire company of dropship infantry attacking in the same
place at once. I knew that there would be another two companies, waiting for
their turn.

Now
it was time for the platoon to go back to help their friends, and hope that
those who hadn’t died outright had survived long enough for the company medics
to get to them.

I
realised that Westy was staring at me intently, and I knew what he was
thinking; it was time to find our own friend.

Konny
had returned from moving our casualty, and he saw the look on our faces. He too
knew what we were silently considering.

‘Go,’
he said.

I
looked at my section 2ic, the man whom I had once hated. Maybe he wasn’t a good
section commander, but he wasn’t a bad man. The section regarded me from their
fire positions amongst the trees, and a few of them nodded their agreement.
After our battle through the forest any shred of doubt about our loyalty had
faded, they wanted us to find our old comrade.

‘Go,’
Konny urged, ‘Go get your mate! I’ll look after the lads.’

I
turned back to Westy, and he nodded.

‘Let’s
go,’ I said. I spared one last look at my section and ran into the forest.

The
boss saw us bolt past him toward the platoon in front, his eyes wide with
surprise, ‘Where the hell are you two going?’

I
didn’t look back when I shouted my answer, ‘To help our mate!’

I
waited for the platoon to open fire on us as we ran, but they never did. The
boss probably could have ordered us shot, but he had seen and heard enough now
to know that we weren’t the enemy. We were simply two troopers trying to rescue
their old friend. I doubted that anybody would have obeyed the instruction
anyway, and even if they did, it was too late. We were long gone.

We
disappeared into the undergrowth.

18

James Evans

It
was fortunate that the rebels no longer had the city net and their hacking
ability on their side, because it was only our integrated net and sophisticated
targeting systems that kept us from being shot by our own. I hoped that our saucers
and smart missiles had managed to destroy enough communication equipment to
stop the rebels from sending their virus. Our ships would already be moving
away from orbit, powering up their drives, but the process took time.

We
snaked through the trees and undergrowth, ignoring the battle that raged
through the middle of the valley.

The
rebels were in full retreat. They knew that they were beaten and they were
running for their lives, harried as they went by showering darts and missiles.
Clods of earth and vegetation flew into air like confetti as various ordinance
detonated on the forest floor.

I
kept my head as low as possible as I ran, ever conscious that I was as
vulnerable to friendly fire as I was that of the enemy. We had run far beyond
the forward line, and as we bounded through the undergrowth I spotted the roof
of the building that I had seen from the far end of the valley. It was some
kind of Chinese command bunker, or at least it had been. I knew that it had to
be the EW centre that Klaus had told us about, where the rebels would have
attempted to prepare and send their deadly virus.

The
bunker smouldered from a blackened hole on its roof from where one of our smart
missiles had struck it during the attack.
We had achieved the main effort
given to us by our platoon commander,
I thought to myself,
we had fucked
the rebels up
. But I wondered as I looked at the wrecked bunker whether we
had killed Ev in the process.

We
sprinted the last fifty metres toward the bunker, trampling through the sea of
green as the battle continued to rage behind us. We crashed against the side of
the building, gasping for breath.

‘I’m
too old for this,’ I said, still panting.

Westy
frowned, ‘Too old? You’re barely twenty, lad!’

‘I
feel
too old!’

He
cast a nervous look back through the forest toward the battle, ‘We’d better
hurry up.’

We
found the entrance, or what was left of it. It appeared that two missiles had
struck the bunker, one had destroyed part of the roof and its antennae, and the
other had blown a hole out where I presumed that the airlock had been. Fires
burned inside, and black smoke poured out from the gaping airlock.

‘You
think he’s in there?’ Westy asked apprehensively.

‘No
idea, mate!’

There
was no time to think about it. We burst into the bunker, ignoring the searing
heat.

Had
we not been wearing our protective equipment and respirators we would never
have been able to get inside - it was rapidly becoming an inferno. We
disregarded our room clearance drills, we just desperately needed to find our
friend. I doubted very much whether any rebels would have been stupid enough to
stay in there anyway.

‘EV!’
I called out as we moved from room to room, desperately searching for him. The
hope in my mind faded as the building slowly began to fill with black smoke. Perhaps
Ev was already dead.

I
entered a large room filled with computer screens and ground to a halt, stunned
that they were even working...but when I looked closely at each screen, my jaw
dropped further. Each one displayed an image of a different city on New Earth.

‘
What
on earth
…??’

But
Westy grabbed me by the arm, shaking me urgently, ‘Look!’

I
followed his outstretched finger, and there was Ev, tied to a chair and tucked
into one corner of the room so that he overlooked all of the monitors. I made a
thankful prayer to God; he was wearing a respirator.

We
ran to him.

‘Ev!’
I shouted, but he didn’t respond. His civilian jacket was spattered with blood.

Panic
gripped me, and I shook him by the shoulders.

‘Ev,
wake up!’

Westy
snatched my bayonet from my rifle and sawed at the plastic ties that held him to
the chair, ‘He’s alive mate, but he’s been beaten black and blue!’

I
saw then that Ev’s eyes were swollen, and blood coated his mouth, but he was
indeed breathing.
Somebody had wanted him alive.

The
plastic ties snapped and Westy returned my blade, before gripping Ev by the leg
and shoulder.

‘Help
me get him up!’

We
heaved and lifted Ev’s comatose body up onto the stocky Welshman’s shoulder,
and he set off back the way we had come.

We
moved as fast as Westy could carry him, weaving in and out of collapsed
machinery and burning furniture. Flames licked up the walls as the fire
intensified.

Suddenly
a massive metal cabinet fell, striking Westy clean on the head. With a painful
grunt he collapsed to his knees under the huge weight of the cabinet, before
toppling forward onto the ground.

‘
Westy!
’
I hollered in dismay, ‘
Get up
!’

I
tugged at him, but he was unconscious. Despite his helmet, the sheer force of impact
had knocked him out cold, and now both he and Ev were trapped beneath the
massive piece of furniture.

‘WESTY,
GET UP!’

I
tried to lift the cabinet, but I could barely move it.

NO!
A voice inside
my head screamed at me. After all we had been through, it couldn’t end like
this! I pulled again, frantically trying to release my friends before it was
too late. The heat was already getting through my armour, and sweat poured from
my forehead into my eyes. My filters whirred madly, fighting an impossible
battle to keep me cool.

Suddenly
a set of hands gripped the cabinet, surprising me. It was Klaus, somehow he too
had managed to release himself from the platoon. Either Mr Moore had let him
go, trusting him blindly, or Klaus had sneaked away and the boss would be a
very angry man indeed!

‘On
three,’ he shouted, ‘One, two, THREE!’

We
heaved, every fibre in our muscles straining as we slowly drove the cabinet
upwards and away from our friends. Finally it tilted to the side and crashed to
the ground.

‘You
grab Ev,’ I yelled, as I grabbed at Westy, and we ran with the unconscious pair
out of the building and into the light.

As
soon as we were clear of the building I dropped Westy’s limp body and fell into
the ferns in exhaustion, my chest heaving as I fought to get my breath back.
The rain struck against my visor and combats once more, but for once I welcomed
it. I willed for every droplet to seep into my combats and cool my skin.

Still
gasping for breath, I lifted my head to see how far the battle had progressed.
A section of troopers were engaging a rebel automated gun that had been dropped
in the forest a hundred metres behind us. It sparked as darts pelted its
armour, but the gun continued to fire back with devastating accuracy, striking
two troopers down before the others could dive for cover.

I
heard Westy groan, and I turned my head to look at where I had dropped him. He
stirred, slowly regaining consciousness.

Klaus
lifted Ev up, and I saw that his blackened eyes were open. He regarded me for a
second as if he were trying to figure out who I was, then he smiled.

‘Andy,’
he said my name softly.

I
smiled, ‘Yeah, Ev,’ I said, ignoring the rattle of gunfire behind me, ‘It’s
me.’

‘You
came for me.’

I
laughed, ‘Of course I did, you’re my platoon sergeant!’

Ev
began to come back to his senses. He looked around himself, taking in his
surroundings, ‘Where’s Ruckheim?’

‘Running
away, no doubt’ I said, ‘The rebels are retreating. We’ve knocked out your
electronic warfare centre, so his rebellion has failed…’

‘We
still need to stop Ruckheim,’ Klaus interrupted urgently, ‘He will be escaping
up into the hills.’ But I ignored him, my attention was on Ev.

He
looked down at where Westy lay crumpled and unconscious, ‘Is that… Westy?’

I
nodded.

‘We
need to stop Ruckheim…’ Klaus said again.  Again I ignored him.

Ev
smirked, ‘Not sleeping on the job again, is he?’

We
shared a laugh, forgetting where we were for a moment, and what was going on
around us.  Suddenly Ev’s face turned serious, and he stared deep into my eyes.

‘My
wife…’

‘We
found her,’ I said, as my gaze fell to the ground, ‘I’m sorry.’

He
nodded slowly, as the meaning of my words sank in, ‘I understand.’

We
remained silent for a few seconds, ‘I wish you could have met her.’ Ev
whispered, ‘She was a wonderful woman.’

‘I
have no doubt,’ I replied.  Ruckheim had probably shot her himself, in the
process of trying to find out where Ev had hidden the codes to the EW centre.

‘She
loved life,’ he continued sadly, ‘And she loved this place and everything that
it stood for.’

I
looked about me at the garden that Ev and his peace-loving companions had built
within the valley.  It had now turned into yet another battleground. As we
spoke it was methodically being torn to pieces.

‘
We
need to stop Ruckheim
,’ Klaus cried again loudly, ‘He will be escaping up
into the hills.’

‘What?
Why?’ I asked, suddenly hearing what he was saying ‘He lost the battle The
rebels are running!’

‘
He
still has the virus
…’

Ev
sat upright, flinching ‘
He still has it?!
’

‘Yes,
Ev. I checked inside,’ Klaus flicked his head toward the building, ‘He has
taken all the computer software with him – I think he intends using it again
somewhere else.’

I
frowned, struggling to understand, ‘How can he use the virus without the EW
centre? Where will he use it?  
Is this as bad as it sounds
?’

Ev
looked at me angrily, like I was nuts, ‘
Of course it’s bad!
’ he yelled.

#

Ev,
clearly still in a great deal of pain, led me to a path that had been cut into
the escarpment near to the building, snaking upward toward the high ground. We
left Klaus with Westy, who was still unconscious, and Ev took the Welshman’s
rifle with him.  We looked back at him, anxious for his safety, but knowing
that we had no choice but to act on what Klaus has told us.

‘It’s
funny how we ended up back here again,’ I said, sparing a glance back down at
the battlefield. The dropships continued to bring fresh troops into the forest,
each time dropping them further and further forward as more positions were
taken and the rebels continued to fall back.

‘Yeah,’
Ev replied sadly, not looking back as he strode up the steep rocky path.

I
thought again of the pain he was going through - we had all lost friends – but
I had never lost a loved one, ‘I’m so sorry about your wife.’ I said softly.

‘It’s
not your fault.’

Beneath
Ev’s short response I could sense a fire raging within him. He was out for
Ruckheim’s blood. I fell silent, and we pressed on ever upwards.

Eventually
the path led to a tunnel that cut into the rock.

‘Where
does this go?’ I asked as we peered into the darkness.

‘You’ll
see.’

We
crept through the tunnel, and as we did I could hear a sound through my
headset. It was a distant sound, but it was unmistakable. It was the sound of
somebody shouting instructions. I checked my rifle, it still had almost a full
magazine.

The
shouting became louder as we moved further along the tunnel, until eventually
my headset identified the German voice was issuing the instructions; it was
Ruckheim.

‘
Hurry
up!
We don’t have much time!
’ Ruckheim barked.

‘Are
you sure about these co-ordinates?’ The other voice sounded unsure.

‘
Of
course I’m sure
!’

We
approached a sharp right bend, and I realised that we were at the entrance to
some kind of cavern. A cool breeze whistled past us.

Ev
held out a hand for me to stop and regarded me carefully, ‘Are you ready for
this?’

I
nodded, ‘Yeah.’

‘You
don’t have to come with me.’

I
smiled, ‘I know. But I haven’t got anything better to do!’

Ev
was consumed by his thirst for vengeance, and I wanted him to quench it.
Ruckheim was a vile man who had twisted a peaceful group’s dream into a weapon
of war. He deserved to die, and I was more than happy to help make it happen.

We
took a second to prepare ourselves, and then as one we rounded the corner, our
weapons raised.