Portal Wars 1: Gehenna Dawn (27 page)

“I was recently captured by the Tegeri.” He
continued to step forward, moving well into firing range now. He
slowly slid his rifle off his back and let it fall to the ground.
“I discovered something terrible…something that changes
everything.”

“Colonel, that’s enough.” Simms was getting
annoyed, that much was obvious from his voice. “None of this has
any bearing on why we are here. Now, are you going to surrend…”

“To the contrary, Major, it has tremendous
bearing, and it is something everyone here must know before
deciding how to proceed. But first, I will demonstrate my
sincerity.”

Taylor paused again. “Attention 213th and
173rd Strikeforces. Every man is to fire five shots straight up at
the sky. Now!” There was a short pause before the fire started. It
was sporadic, increasing with each second before peaking and
tailing off. The whole thing took ten, perhaps twelve seconds.

“You all know what your orders were. Your
entire force was going to assault my trench line…and you would have
been attacked on the flank by those hidden strike forces.” Taylor
was practically screaming now. He’d gone all in, and he was working
it with everything he had. “You would have been defeated,
destroyed. You all know this now. I could have won this battle…but
I sacrificed my advantage. I have done this to prove my sincerity
to all of you. Because I did not want to harm any of you.”

Taylor kept moving forward. He could make out
individual soldiers now. A thousand assault rifles were aimed in
his direction. He felt a shiver in his body as he took each step.
All it would take was one soldier…one shot could end Taylor’s
rebellion before it even started. Keep going, he thought, forcing
his feet forward.

“The Tegeri and the Machines did not attack
the first colonies, as all of you were told.” He shouted as loudly
as his strained voice could manage. “It was a UN force that
destroyed the settlements. It was done to create a crisis…one that
would compel the remaining nations to yield to UN Central’s
control.”

Taylor’s hand moved to his neck, fingering
the talisman T’arza had given him. He touched it as he spoke. “I
will…”

“This is enough, Colonel.” Simms was angry,
though Taylor could hear the uncertainty in his voice as well.
“This is my last warning. Surrender now.”

Taylor pressed the button on the talisman.
“See for yourself…this was given to me by the Tegeri, who then
departed from this world as they promised me they would.” The
images appeared behind him, the same ones he had seen in T’arza’s
lair…the ones he’d shown his own people. The image expanded,
towered 30 meter over Taylor’s head...scenes of murder and
destruction, carried out not by Machines or Tegeri…but by other
humans.

“This is what truly happened to the first
colonies.” There was silence, save for Taylor’s voice, every eye
riveted to the video projected behind him. “These soldiers you see
are pre-Consolidation UN special forces…troops the Tegeri should
never have seen. This war is a terrible fraud…a lie perpetrated by
a small group of people so they could make themselves rulers over
us all.”

Taylor stared out at the entrenched forces
deployed before him, eyes still focused on the graphic images
behind. “It is corruption, deceit…murder. Your brothers who poured
their lifeblood into the sands of Erastus, your families left
behind, the thousands of men who will follow us through the Portals
to their deaths…all for lies. For the base greed and lust for power
of those who would be our masters.”

Now, Taylor thought…make your play. “It must
stop! This unholy evil must be destroyed.” He was shouting into the
com, struggling to keep him voice firm, confident. “My forces have
sacrificed their surprise, their guarantee of victory because you
are all our brothers.” He took a deep breath and balled his fists
in a mighty scream. “Join us, my brothers. Stand up with me, with
all of us…” He held his arms outstretched, gesturing toward the
forces deployed before him. “You are our brothers, all of you. You
have shared hell with us, and now we will march out together.”

Taylor took a few steps forward, flipping the
latches on his armor and letting his breastplate and exos fall to
the ground. “Join us!” He held his arms out, exposing his unarmored
chest. “Or shoot me now…kill your brother and serve those who have
made you slaves.”

Taylor stood stone still, staring at the
helmets peering out over the trenches in front of him. There wasn’t
a sound…nothing. All Taylor could think about was Blackie going
crazy back at the command post.

The silence continued, seconds feeling like
hours. Then he heard it…a scream, and the glimpse of an assault
rifle flying through the air as a single soldier climbed up over
the trench and ran toward Taylor. The whole thing was surreal, slow
motion. Taylor was transfixed on the solitary figure moving toward
him. Then, slowly, another…and another. Then hundreds…a tumultuous
surging mass running toward him, cheering, screaming.
“Taylor…Taylor…Taylor!”

From the Journal of Jake Taylor:

I hated the Tegeri…at least I
thought I did. They had attacked us for no reason, murdered my
people in cold blood. Destroying them was a cleansing, the one
thing that made my consignment to hell bearable. Until my encounter
with T’arza, my hatred was resolute. Whatever gripes I had against
UN Central were subordinated to the crusade against the alien
enemy.

Still, now that I look back, I
realize there was always a sliver of doubt. They are aliens, I told
myself in my most introspective moments…their perceptions are
different from ours. Perhaps we unknowingly offended them. Could we
have destroyed sacred religious sites or hidden nesting grounds?
They had been there before us, after all. How would humans have
reacted if an alien raced swarmed onto worlds they had long
occupied? Could there be a reason for the hostility, one more
justifiable than pure xenocide?

Such meanderings tended to end
abruptly for me, usually accompanied by the scenes of dying
colonists. No, I would say to myself. There is nothing that could
justify what they did. Nothing. And yet that tiny doubt remained,
surfacing again every so often.

Now I know it was all a lie, that
the Tegeri were blameless. In their place I have a new enemy to
hate…and for them there is no doubt, however small. The men who
ordered the deaths of the colonists – who lied to the world and
sent me and thousands like me here to fight and die on an alien
hell far from home – there is no misunderstanding about them. They
are human monsters, hideous creatures devoid of morality. They
crave only power and dominion over others. No lie, no atrocity, is
too much for them to employ in their foul and base
schemes.

They are men who consider themselves
above me, more worthy than the soldiers who fight at my side and
the families we left at home. The suffering they cause is of no
concern to them as long at their lust for power is satiated. There
is no sacrifice too great, in their estimation, to demand of the
people to sustain their grotesque, self-proclaimed
elite.

Yes, I have a new enemy, and one who
will see no weakness from me, not even those few doubts I afforded
the Tegeri. I will not listen to their lies, to their schemes, to
their frauds. I will be blind to their pleas for mercy. I have only
one purpose…to visit death upon them. To hunt them down to the
last, down whatever rathole they may seek refuge. I will kill them
all. Every one of them, so help me God.

Keita slammed his fist hard onto the dark
walnut desk. “Do you have any idea of the problem we have on
Erastus now, Kazan?”

Kazan was standing in front of the desk,
noting Keita’s lack of an invitation to sit. He’d been named
Under-Secretary just days before all hell broke loose on Erastus.
Admittedly, that was considerably better timing than a few days
later would have been, but he didn’t fool himself. Keita could
strip him of his position in a heartbeat if he wished. And if
making Gregor Kazan a scapegoat for what was already being called
Taylor’s Rebellion was expedient, that is exactly what would
happen. Kazan knew he could find himself shuffling papers in some
clerk’s office at any moment…or worse. Maybe even a reeducation
camp. And he knew exactly what went on in those facilities.

Kazan nodded, keeping his mouth shut. He knew
Keita wasn’t even close to finished yet. The longer Keita ranted
and the more he said, the better a chance Kazan was going to get
some kind of chance to deal with the situation. If Keita – or the
Secretariat – had already decided to scapegoat him, he’d be in
shackles by now.

“The Supersoldier program brought you to the
Under-Secretary’s chair, and you allow this to happen?” Keita
normally controlled his emotions like a razor, but this time his
anger was getting the better of him. “You allow a soldier, one who
had already proved to be insubordinate, to rally support and raise
a rebellion…a challenge to UN Central itself!”

Kazan could see the large vein bulging on
Keita’s head. He began to wonder if he was going to get another
chance after all, or if Keita just wanted to slap him around a
little before he was dragged away. He struggled to hold himself
upright, but he could feel his legs slowly buckling. Kazan was a
bully and, like most, he was a coward at heart.

“Then you sent other Erastus army units to
face this man…the most famous soldier on Erastus, the first
Supersoldier…with no support, no external supervision?” He stared
right into Kazan’s eyes. “So, of course, he sweet talks them and
they spread their legs for him. He doubles his strength in a few
minutes, thanks to you.” He paused. “What kind of fool are
you?”

Kazan parted his lips, still unsure what to
say. “Mr. Secretary, I assure you, I had no idea that General
Hammon was planning precipitate action against Colonel Taylor.”
That wasn’t true…Hammon had asked for Kazan’s orders before sending
Major Simms against Taylor. But Kazan was pretty sure he’d erased
all records of that communication or his subsequent instructions.
It had been his stupid mistake, but General Hammon would hang for
it in his place…he’d make sure of that much, at least.

“So, your defense is merely that you were
neglecting your duties and General Hammon is the fool? That you are
simply a lazy imbecile and not criminally negligent?”

Kazan took a breath. “I assure you, Secretary
Keita, that if you allow me, I will take full control of the
situation and deal with this crisis.”

Keita looked back, undisguised disgust on his
face. What a spineless creature, he thought…he will take any abuse
I hurl at him and then kiss my feet for another chance. It didn’t
occur to Keita that this was how the entire system functioned, with
officials groveling to their superiors and scapegoating their
subordinates. The battle cry in UN Central headquarters was, “It’s
not my fault.” And Anan Keita was no different than any other. His
anger was fueled not because he demanded excellence from his
subordinates. He didn’t care how much of a fuck up they made of
things, as long as it didn’t blow back on him…and this mess was
splattered all over the place.

“You will take full control? What does that
mean? You will eradicate the rebellion on Erastus? Will you do so
as effectively as you did with your first effort? Because all that
served to do was swell the size of the rebel army.” He glared at
Kazan. “No, we must assume that Taylor has taken full control of
UNFE by now. There is no reason to suspect that the other lifers
would be any less susceptible to his manipulations than Major Simms
and his people.”

Keita sighed loudly. “We do not have
sufficient trained troops available in the Military Affairs
Department to handle this situation, not while maintaining force
levels on the other worlds.” His voice was raw. “I will have to go
to Secretary Samovich now, and request internal security forces to
invade and retake Erastus.” Keita was glaring across the desk with
murder in his eyes. “Do you know what an embarrassment that is for
me?” He let out a deep, angry breath. “Do you have any idea how
costly it will be…especially since it must be rushed? There are no
more warring armies on Earth, you stupid fool, no easy place to
pull the soldiers we need. By losing control of the situation on
Erastus, you have created a problem beyond the scope your infantile
mind can grasp. Samovich will have to strip every internal security
unit of its heavy forces in order to field the expedition we need.”
Keita paused again. “He will take it out of my hide.” His eyes
zeroed in on Kazan’s again. “And I will take it out of yours.”

Keita sat quietly, respectfully. He was on
the other side of the desk now, about to face the same kind of
tongue-lashing he’d given Kazan. Keita was more than willing to
sacrifice his terrified under-secretary as a scapegoat…and he was
well aware that Anton Samovich would do the same to him if it was
expedient. Keita was smarter than Kazan, and he figured he had a
good chance to survive the storm if he was careful. Very
careful.

The room was dark, one side of Samovich’s
face dimly lit by a small lamp in the corner. It was late outside,
a dark cloudy night, threatening of rain. “Secretary Keita, as you
are well aware, I sponsored and actively supported your candidacy
to the Secretariat.” A half-smoked cigar sat neglected in a silver
ashtray, small wisps of smoke rising slowly into the gray
darkness.

“You and I had not been close allies before
your candidacy; I made my choice to support you based predominantly
on my perception of your competence. Indeed, you had essentially
been doing the job for several years, as Raj Patel sat in a
hospital bed and drooled on himself.” Patel and Samovich had not
been fond of each other, but Keita hadn’t realized how strong their
rivalry had been until he’d become a member of the Secretariat and
started hearing stories.